Please read the following very carefully because I don’t want any misunderstandings or misconceptions to be formed.
Last month, I mentioned in a post that I thought it would be very cool if the old school community made 2009 the year we took back the megadungeon. Over the past week, it seems that a lot of other people have had the same idea. I claim no responsibility for this sudden influx of interest in the megadungeon. If anything, I just caught a whiff of something that was in the air and commented on it.
In a recent announcement, Monte Cook stated that he plans to start a subscription based site called Dungeonaday.com, where subscribers would have access to a new megadungeon setting and its environs with new material posted each weekday. His plan is to do something rules-light and detail heavy that might be useable to players no matter what their personal edition preference might be.
James Maliszewski posted about Dungeonaday over at Grognardia and the comments began. “Why can’t the old school community do the same thing?” was a very common reaction. Thus, a very tiny germ of an idea was born.
I’d like you to go over to Grognardia and read the comments there if you haven’t already. Just so you know what’s being kicked around. What I don’t want you to do is take this post as an announcement that the old school community is going to do what Monte Cook is doing and James is in charge of it. This is NOT the case. I don’t want an angry email from James saying that people are thinking he’s spearheading the old school megadungeon project, simply because there is no old school megadungeon project. At least, not yet.
A very tiny idea has been born and it may die a crib death without going anywhere. There is no current direction to this idea and there is no roster of contributors being drawn up. This is just vaporware. I wouldn’t even mention it except that I was asked to help make people aware that this idea is out there and, for some crazy reason, people come around these parts and read what I have to say.
I hope this increases awareness without starting any crazy-go-bananas rumors. Thank you.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Wise Words From A Fellow Gamer
Wil Wheaton, actor, writer, blogger, and fellow gamer wrote the following in his column for the L.A. Times today:
The good news is that I've got one of my submissions out the door and I'm about halfway through my second. The first installment of Level 3 of Stonehell just requires me to ink in the location numbers, scan the map, and slap in into the completed template.
The bad news is that I've got the second installment mapped out but have yet to begin the stocking process. On top of all that, I've got a new writing project in mind that looks like it could be rather lengthy, so even if I clear off the backburners of my creative stovetop, there's a big old roast waiting to be put in the oven. I was also hoping to submit something to Green Devil Face.
I think I'm good for the evening, writing-wise. I'm going to start shutting down some applications or maybe cast a few detect magic spells to clear my head. Maybe watch Spartacus on DVD.
I just wanted to thank everyone for their patience while I reboot my head. Content of a more deeper depth will appear again next week. Hopefully, the wait will be worth it.
When a computer tries to run too many applications at once, it tends to slow down until it becomes useless and crashes. This is what happened to the computer in my brain yesterday...I completely get where he's coming from. This week, my own CPU has been running pretty heavy and I'm trying to finish running those apps as quickly as I can to free up some space. Or to put it in more D&D-friendly terms: I feel like I'm trying to memorize spells with all my daily selections already filled.
The best way to fix a computer with a maxed-out CPU is to close all the open applications, give it some time to cool off, and then reopen only the essential files.
The good news is that I've got one of my submissions out the door and I'm about halfway through my second. The first installment of Level 3 of Stonehell just requires me to ink in the location numbers, scan the map, and slap in into the completed template.
The bad news is that I've got the second installment mapped out but have yet to begin the stocking process. On top of all that, I've got a new writing project in mind that looks like it could be rather lengthy, so even if I clear off the backburners of my creative stovetop, there's a big old roast waiting to be put in the oven. I was also hoping to submit something to Green Devil Face.
I think I'm good for the evening, writing-wise. I'm going to start shutting down some applications or maybe cast a few detect magic spells to clear my head. Maybe watch Spartacus on DVD.
I just wanted to thank everyone for their patience while I reboot my head. Content of a more deeper depth will appear again next week. Hopefully, the wait will be worth it.
Fight On! #4 Available
The fourth issue of the fanzine dedicated to the old-school movement is now available through Lulu. This is the perfect time to place your order for both Knockspell #1 and Fight On! #4 and save on shipping.Continuing the tradition of dedicating each issue to one of the trailblazers of the hobby, Fight On! #4 is dedicated to David A. Hargrave, the legendary creator of Arduin. Like him or loathe him, you must admit he made his own mark on the game that we all share. The Table of Contents for Issue #4 is reproduced below.
Table of Contents
Delvers Delve (David Bowman)………………………3
Silver Knights of the Eld (Beaudry and Calithena)….…7
Knights & Knaves (Kesher)………….………………10
House of the Axe (Calithena)……………………...…12
Random Rooms (Michael Curtis)…………………......37
Dungeons and Librarians (Jason Vasché)…………….38
Dungeon Home Remedies (Jeff Rients)……...………41
The Spring Temple of Ai (Gabor Lux)………...……..42
Education of a Magic-User (Will Douglas)……...……45
The Tower and Spells of Duvan’Ku (J. Raggi IV)….....46
Creepies & Crawlies (Jeff Rients)…………………….52
Ghost Stories (Geoffrey O. Dale)…………………....54
Vault of the Magic Goddess (Matthew Riedel)……….57
Tables for Fables (Age of Fable)……………………..65
Proclamations of the Fomalhaut Oracle (G. Lux)……66
Magical Weapon Drawbacks (Wayne Rossi)………….68
Carousing Mishaps (Jeff Rients)……………………...69
Fungoid Gardens of the Bone Sorcerer (G.McKinney)70
These Mean Streets (Baz Blatt)……………………....79
Oceanian Legends (Del L. Beaudry)………………….91
The Airships of Mistworld (Steve Marsh)…………….95
The Kitsunemori Campaign (Alex Schroeder)………..96
Chrysolia (Monty St. John)……………………….…100
The Darkness Beneath (James Maliszewski)………...106
Merlin’s Mystical Mirror (Jeff Rients)……………….117
Guest Editorial (Calithena)………………………….118
Artifacts, Adjuncts, & Oddments (J. Raggi IV)……...120
This issue looks to be especially funky with a bevy of sci-fi and Cthulhu-esque mashups inside. Don’t delay! Operators are standing by.
Luck of the Draw
Please excuse me while I continue my week of content-light posting. I’d like to quickly touch upon something that happened to me during my last week’s regular gaming session that might be of use to other referees running games.
After a quick side trip to dispatch some wyverns that had been thinning the local lord’s horse herd, my character and his fellow adventurers found themselves standing over the slain carcasses of two wyverns: bloodied, poisoned, and triumphant. As the rest of the party took the time to collect the beasts’ tails to bring back to collect the bounty on, old-school player me took the time to ransack the nest.
Since this whole side trip was a spur-of-the-moment quest, the DM was running it without any notes other than the Monster Manual. But, since wyvern’s have a Treasure Type, there was a chance that something was in that nest. I don’t think the rest of the players even thought of searching the beasts’ lair for anything of value – a clear example of where expecting too much realistic simulation in a game can be detrimental to one’s pocketbook – but I certainly did and was well rewarded to boot. The gold coins found therein were worth more than the bounty on the wyverns. But there was magic to be found as well!
My DM happened to own a set of the Deck of Magical Items and, rather than rolling on the magic items table and sub-tables in the DMG, allowed me to pick blindly from the deck to reveal what was found. A moment later, the rest of the party watched in awe as my little gnome suddenly appeared well-garbed in finery and possessing a regal, commanding aura and a gleaming smile. I’d pulled the card for a rod of splendor.
I’d never put much stock before in such game accessories like cards, fake coins, and the like, but I now see the attraction of them for both sides of the screen. As a player, when cards are used in a fashion like the one described above, the player knows that he is responsible for his destiny: either for weal or woe. That’s much more exciting than knowing that the DM placed an object in the game either by design or by his own random method. The player feels more involved in the mechanics and direction of the game, even if it’s only by blind chance. As a referee, especially one like myself who enjoys random tables in the game, it keeps things exciting and unpredictable, as any game should be. The player may draw almost anything and it will then be up to the referee to either make the result plausible or plan for later ramifications of that draw to the campaign world.
While I wouldn’t resolve all treasure determinations this way, as over-reliance on such a method smacks too much of “board game mechanics,” I wouldn’t be adverse to implementing this to my own games to some degree. I can’t see plunking down the cash to buy a pre-made set of these cards, but some time, a stack of index cards, and a little elbow grease would produce a similar set customized for my world.
It looks like it’s time to add another pot to my overcrowded creative stove…
After a quick side trip to dispatch some wyverns that had been thinning the local lord’s horse herd, my character and his fellow adventurers found themselves standing over the slain carcasses of two wyverns: bloodied, poisoned, and triumphant. As the rest of the party took the time to collect the beasts’ tails to bring back to collect the bounty on, old-school player me took the time to ransack the nest.
Since this whole side trip was a spur-of-the-moment quest, the DM was running it without any notes other than the Monster Manual. But, since wyvern’s have a Treasure Type, there was a chance that something was in that nest. I don’t think the rest of the players even thought of searching the beasts’ lair for anything of value – a clear example of where expecting too much realistic simulation in a game can be detrimental to one’s pocketbook – but I certainly did and was well rewarded to boot. The gold coins found therein were worth more than the bounty on the wyverns. But there was magic to be found as well!
My DM happened to own a set of the Deck of Magical Items and, rather than rolling on the magic items table and sub-tables in the DMG, allowed me to pick blindly from the deck to reveal what was found. A moment later, the rest of the party watched in awe as my little gnome suddenly appeared well-garbed in finery and possessing a regal, commanding aura and a gleaming smile. I’d pulled the card for a rod of splendor.
I’d never put much stock before in such game accessories like cards, fake coins, and the like, but I now see the attraction of them for both sides of the screen. As a player, when cards are used in a fashion like the one described above, the player knows that he is responsible for his destiny: either for weal or woe. That’s much more exciting than knowing that the DM placed an object in the game either by design or by his own random method. The player feels more involved in the mechanics and direction of the game, even if it’s only by blind chance. As a referee, especially one like myself who enjoys random tables in the game, it keeps things exciting and unpredictable, as any game should be. The player may draw almost anything and it will then be up to the referee to either make the result plausible or plan for later ramifications of that draw to the campaign world.
While I wouldn’t resolve all treasure determinations this way, as over-reliance on such a method smacks too much of “board game mechanics,” I wouldn’t be adverse to implementing this to my own games to some degree. I can’t see plunking down the cash to buy a pre-made set of these cards, but some time, a stack of index cards, and a little elbow grease would produce a similar set customized for my world.
It looks like it’s time to add another pot to my overcrowded creative stove…
“More Present Than the Living Man”
"He who has gone, so we but cherish his memory, abides with us, more potent, nay, more present than the living man." - Antoine de Saint-ExupéryAs many of you are no doubt aware, today is the first anniversary of the passing of Gary Gygax. I’m certain that there will be a number of tributes to Gary and remembrances of the Dungeon Master occurring throughout the day, many written by scribes more gifted than myself. I would be remiss, however, to not mention it here. I have no stories of Gary to share. I met the man on only one occasion, very briefly and many years ago, and my memory of that meeting is not as pristine as it once was. So I will let others speak eloquently and at length about Gary, offering only what I can:
Thank you, Gary. We miss you.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Dwarven Wisdom
This week, I really mean it. I’ve got a lot to catch up on and posts will be brief in nature while I tie up a few loose ends and step away from things fantasy role-playing oriented for a well-deserved breather. Even my thrice-monthly gaming group is taking Saturday off.
This weekend, I had the opportunity to get a look at the draft of Open Game Table: The Anthology of Roleplaying Game Blogs that Jonathan Jacobs of The Core Mechanic has been putting together. Jonathan, assisted by a volunteer crew, has assembled an anthology of role-playing blog posts that were recommended by the reading community-at-large as the best of 2008. I was quite pleased to have one of my own efforts included amongst those nominated and delighted to have made the final cut for inclusion in the anthology. Having has a chance to see what Jonathan and others put together was quite a treat; not only because I can now officially add “artist” to the list of my credentials – something that I never thought would be included on that list and when you see my drawings, you’ll likely agree – but because the company in which I’m included is of the highest caliber.
Many of the posts in the anthology are ones which I might have never laid eyes upon without this project. The future opportunity to peruse them away from monitor and keyboard is one that I’m anticipating greatly.
Since my own contribution to the anthology was collected pieces from my commonplace books, I thought it might be fitting to revisit that ramshackle compilation of ideas good, bad, and indifferent to select something for today’s post. The following is due for an appearance in Stonehell and, due to space allowance, it might be prudent to reproduce it here for later reference rather than in the two pages allowed in the .pdf.
This weekend, I had the opportunity to get a look at the draft of Open Game Table: The Anthology of Roleplaying Game Blogs that Jonathan Jacobs of The Core Mechanic has been putting together. Jonathan, assisted by a volunteer crew, has assembled an anthology of role-playing blog posts that were recommended by the reading community-at-large as the best of 2008. I was quite pleased to have one of my own efforts included amongst those nominated and delighted to have made the final cut for inclusion in the anthology. Having has a chance to see what Jonathan and others put together was quite a treat; not only because I can now officially add “artist” to the list of my credentials – something that I never thought would be included on that list and when you see my drawings, you’ll likely agree – but because the company in which I’m included is of the highest caliber.
Many of the posts in the anthology are ones which I might have never laid eyes upon without this project. The future opportunity to peruse them away from monitor and keyboard is one that I’m anticipating greatly.
Since my own contribution to the anthology was collected pieces from my commonplace books, I thought it might be fitting to revisit that ramshackle compilation of ideas good, bad, and indifferent to select something for today’s post. The following is due for an appearance in Stonehell and, due to space allowance, it might be prudent to reproduce it here for later reference rather than in the two pages allowed in the .pdf.
Carved into the walls of the temples of Droshnor Orethain, Dwarven god of Riches and Knowledge, are the Eightfold Veins of Wisdom. These collected proverbs are meant to guide a pious, devout, and, most of all, hard-working dwarf to a life rewarded by both intellectual and pecuniary prosperity. The Eightfold Veins are:
1) Strength may seize but it is thought that controls.
2) Even the basest of metals may be cleansed of their dross.
3) Rock only reveals her tale to those willing to hear.
4) Too many is as hurtful as too few.
5) Treasures do not all glitter.
6) Only the future may unlearn the past.
7) The first action equals the last.
8) Time is a Dwarf’s greatest ally.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Easy Week Ahead
I'm going to fulfill my promise of a light week of content this coming week. I've got my posts set through Friday - one of which decided to show up early and had to be pulled - and will be taking the time to clean up loose ends on outstanding projects. I'll be reading comments as usual and be available via the email address on the right if needed. Otherwise, I'll see you folks again next week.
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