One of the more interesting aspects of the early days of role-playing games was the assumption that campaigns were something that lasted some time. Certainly Greyhawk and Blackmoor lasted a very long time – but in the first decade of gaming, there did not seem to be any sort of assumption that a campaign would… Continue reading Open-Ended Campaigns
I’m moving to Madison, Wiscowsin at the end of the month. Not too surprisingly, I’ve decided to invest in a lot of standard-size boxes to make the move go more easily. A quick check of Uline revealed that they had 12x10x10 boxes (that’s 30.5cm by 25.4cm by 25.4cm for metric folks), for 51 cents in… Continue reading Moving and various issues
As it turns out, Aaron Allston has had an emergency bypass operation. Aaron’s a science fiction writer, and in the past contributed significantly to The Space Gamer and other SJG projects. Details on how to contribute money for Aaron’s recovery can be found here. This isn’t the first time someone in our community has needed… Continue reading Aaron Allston needs your help
I ended up recently having an online conversation with Jonathan Tweet about his recent experience with Old School gaming. He seemed to mildly enjoy it, but had this to say about the rules: The problem with such games is that there’s a lot of bad stuff that people are nostalgic for. For every bad rule… Continue reading De gustibus non est disputandem…and all that
Sometime in the past decade – probably about seven or eight years ago – WOTC decided to bring out miniature versions of various AD&D and D&D books. I picked up the three core books for AD&D 1st Edition. I kept them in my desk in grad school, apparently hoping for the spontaneous lunch session game… Continue reading Three *really* little books
Something of an unintended vacation took place over the past month. Between end-of-semester grading and then going to WisCon, I found myself for little time for the Old School Movement. It didn’t help matters that my weekly game on Monday afternoons had to shut down due to schedule changes for my players. But it’s June,… Continue reading I’m Back
“Hate” might be too strong a word here, but I have a difficult time seeing the appeal of gaming in someone’s – anyone’s – home. Before everybody goes bonkers over this, lemme explain. In an earlier post, I reminisced about different gaming clubs of my youth. One important fact about all of them was that… Continue reading I hate gaming at home
It’s a safe assumption that most gamers have heard of Wil Wheaton – you know, Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation? And you might have heard that he’s been running a D&D game, yes? In the crush of end-of-semester grading, combined with the passing of Dave Arneson, I managed to miss this (see… Continue reading Missing Out – Grr!
When I was much younger (like in my teens), I was an avid wargamer and role-player. One of the things that made this much easier for me was the existence of three different gaming clubs: the Conflict Simulation Association (CSA), the Fantasy Role-Playing Game Association (FRPGA – pronounced “ferp-gah”), and the 6th Precinct Wargaming Club.… Continue reading Gaming Clubs
Having just gotten back from Dave Arneson’s visitation and funeral, I hope you will forgive me if my mind wanders just a little. It was a decent funeral, and I was glad for having Michael and Jean Mornard there, as well as connecting with all sorts of old friends and making a few new ones.… Continue reading Remembering dead PCs
