10 Days Till GaryCon! Lest We Forget.

To those of us gamers that willingly take up the screen. To spend hours prepping monsters that will not be fought, planting clues that won't be sought, crafting villains that won't get caught. To put up with players that accuse you of cheating, playing favorites, and being unfair. To those of us that play games, but don't get to be called 'players'.

Happy GameMaster's Day. We couldn't do it without you.

40 Days Till GaryCon! Up All Night, or Not.

Last year I made a list of things I wanted to do at GaryCon. One of them was to pull an all-nighter of gaming. Staying up gaming until the sun came up the next morning rolling the dice with friends old, new and not yet made. That didn't happen of course, and I am of the opinion that it was a good thing that I didn't.

The longest I have ever gone without sleep was when I was 19 years old. I was a sophomore architecture student at the University of Illinois on academic probation trying to get a project done before a critical deadline while attending every class I could. I went for three days with a maximum of two hours of sleep, one of which occurred at my job at the Undergrad Library. I practically lived in the studio, eating Grog's Pizza and drinking Mountain Dew. When my project was finally finished, I stumbled back to the frat house where my brothers were wondering where I had disappeared to since Wednesday. I remember crashing for about six hours and then waking up that evening in time for a party we were throwing at the house.

I also remember how I felt like crap the entire time. Going without sleep is like suffering from the worst symptoms of a head and stomach flu simultaneously. And when you're on vacation, the last thing you want to do is feel like crap. On top of that, I turn 39 two days before the convention. The 'up-all-night-sleep-all-day' thing may work for a 20-something college student, but not for someone who's pushing 40.

50 Days Till GaryCon! Yesterday, Today and B1.

By now everyone has heard about DnDClassics.com, yes?

Like most everyone else in the OSR that has heard, I also grabbed a free copy of Module B1 In Search of the Unknown. I never had a copy of the original when I started playing D&D. Or if I did it has been long lost and forgotten. But I also have a PDF copy of B3 Palace of the Silver Princess, that I got for free from Wizards of the Coast back when they offered it on their site, and I noticed something interesting about the two modules. They have a lot of instances where they expect the GM to fill in the details of the module themselves.

This is one of those things that I believe separate the OSR from modern games. In the OSR, there is a pretty big 'do-it-yourself' mentality when it comes to gaming, and especially GMing. The idea that a Dungeon Master could take a published module and stock it with monsters, traps and treasures in a completely different manner from another GM is one that seems to call to the old-school gamer and horrify the new generation. For those of us that started in the 70s and 80s it was our game. By that I mean that regardless of the rules, published modules and magazine articles, in the end you were the one responsible for creating the world you ran and/or played in. No rules on how to resolve a particular issue? Make something up. The module you purchased isn't set in your campaign setting? Move it to your campaign and change a few words to make it fit. Party is too high level for the adventure, beef up the monsters for a greater challenge.

Nowadays, too many gamers want something 'official' before they will use it. Creativity has been stifled in the name of uniformity. Somehow, gamers have become afraid of the companies that produce their favorite games rather than seeing them as a provider of resources for their own home game. Any challenge must first be approved by the Powers That Be lest it force the new gamer to think and grow. Players have gone from recalling the time they traveled to the Barrier Peaks to ticking adventures of a to-do list so they can reach the next level and make sure it's been reported in the proper online database.

Pfft. I'm a gamer. I game to have fun. I game to be challenged and to offer challenges myself. To think. To learn. To grow. Give me something I'm not expecting. Give me something me and the other gamers can laugh about for years to come.

I'm in search of the unknown. Give me that.

72 Days Till GaryCon! So it's 2013.

I stopped making New Year's Resolutions a while back when I realized that anything that was important to do was worth not putting off until January 1st. But the start of a new year does provide some impetus to start up new things and make changes that we really need to make.

Now, most of my 'resolutions' revolve around non-gaming stuff. I need to lose 50 pounds. I need to study for the PE Exam. I need to save money. I need a girlfriend. You get the idea. But since this is a gaming blog, I should probably get a few gaming resolutions set as well.

So here goes.

I will find myself a regular gaming group.

I will introduce someone to tabletop gaming that hasn't done it before.

I will stay at GaryCon until it closes.

I will make sure to hang out with people at GaryCon.

I will try to attend another con this year.

I will try a new game I haven't played before.

I will try an old game I haven't played before.

I will get a decent bookshelf to carry all my gaming stuff (the one I bought at Target is falling apart under the weight of all my books.)

I will find a Friendly Local Game Store.

And finally, I will try to keep up with the rest of the online gaming community even after this 100 day challenge ends. Lord knows I have enough people on my Google+ account I should be connecting with.

80 Days Till GaryCon! So I Got Sick.

Yeah, even after admonishing people 18 days ago about how not to get sick at a con. Sure enough the day before I go on Christmas Vacation I catch a cold. It has been pretty miserable to say the least. The good news is that I have gotten past the worst of it during my travels yesterday. Outside of a stuffy nose and an occasional cough, I am back to normal. But what if this happens again at GaryCon, or any other event that requires travel away from home? Here are a few tips on how I managed to get over my illness that may help you get over yours.

Get Some Rest As Soon As Possible
This may sound antithetical to the idea of going to a gaming convention. But if you find out that you're sick, the best thing for you to do may be to go back to your hotel room and go to bed. Even if it means missing a game session, you'll be doing yourself a big favor in the long run. When you're sick your body needs rest and being at a con is no excuse not to get some. You may miss out on a morning or afternoon of gaming, but it might save you from being miserable the rest of the weekend.

Hydrate!
Your body is trying to flush whatever it is fighting out of your system. It's going to need help. Drink water constantly and you'll help gets those bugs out of you faster than they got in.

Hit the Pharmacy
If you or someone you are traveling with don't have cold remedies on you, get some right away. Most over-the-counter remedies will treat your symptoms. Look for generics as they run fairly cheap, but have the same amount of medicine as name brands. Also, most of them recommend taking them with a full glass of water. So hydrate!

Be Honest with Everyone
You may feel well enough to return to gaming, but you may still have something. If you do insist on gaming, tell the people you are with the you are catching/batting/recovering from some illness. That's just common courtesy so people can avoid catching what you have. Plus it will keep people from touching your dice.

If Things Get Worse, See A Doctor
Use common sense here. Most of us know when we have a bug or when it's something more serious. If your symptoms get worse, see a doctor. You may even want to see one before they get worse just to be sure. The main point is you need to focus more on your health than on gaming. There's always next year for that.

There's not much else after all that. The key thing is that you need to take care of yourself if you're going to have any fun. Even if something catches you by surprise, you still have some options to get you back in the game.

87 Days Till GaryCon! What to Wear.

Ten days ago, I discussed some of the little things you might need to bring to GaryCon that you wouldn't normally think of. Today I'll discuss something you probably have thought of bringing, besides games of course, and that's clothing.

I am from the Midwest. I was born in Iowa, raised in the suburbs of Chicago, went to school in Milwaukee and lived for a few years just outside the campus of Notre Dame. I know Midwestern winters, and they are not what people expect if you're not from the region. Here's a bit of advice.

98 Days till GaryCon!: How to Stay Healthy at a Con.

While there are benefits to having people from all over the world gather in a small town in Wisconsin for the love of gaming, there can be a few drawbacks. It's great meeting new people, but I prefer my cultural exchanges to not be of the bacterial variety.

Despite my history of respiratory problems, I have been able to dodge the 'con flu' every time I have gone to GaryCon. This is not a case of luck or superior resistance to illness. It's all a matter of preparation. Here are a few steps you can take to make sure you get through your convention experience without spending the next week sick.

Hygiene
Your skin is your bodies first line of defense against infection. But if you touch something (or someone) that has germs on it, and then touch a more vulnerable area, such as your eyes or mouth, you will get sick. Get in the habit of washing your hands after every game, meal, and trip to the bathroom. And make sure to shower daily, the rest of the convention will thank yo for it.

Diet
Con food tends to run towards the junk food end of the dietary spectrum. I'm sure that for some people having nothing but donuts for breakfast and fried cheese for lunch and dinner sounds perfect. But the truth is, you need to get your daily supply of vitamins to help fight off infection. Hit the store in town for a veggie plate to snack on at the least. I carry a bottle of Vitamin B & C tablets as well to keep the immune system running.

Hydration
Water. Not pop. Not energy shots. Not coffee. Not alcohol. Water should be your primary drink throughout the day. Not to say you can't have a rum and cola after hours. But keeping yourself replenished with fluids is a must for keeping your body running smoothly and avoiding getting sick.

Stress
Even though most people go to gaming conventions for vacations, that doesn't mean people automatically relax once they get there. The pressure to get a bit of everything can raise the stress levels of any person, which in turn can lower your immune systems ability to ward off infection. Just remember, it's okay if you don't get to do everything at the con. Just do what you can and leave yourself some down time in between events to relax. And if there is something that you do miss, just remember to make it a priority the next year. You're there to have fun, and stressing out and getting sick afterwards is not my definition of fun.

Sleep
I'll be 39 by the time GaryCon V comes around, and my days of all-nighters are long over. You may still be young and full of energy, but it's still a good idea to get 6-8 hours of sleep every night to keep your body working right.

In the end, use some common sense. If you're feeling run down or under the weather, take a break and get some fluids in you. And remember that as much as you are trying to avoid getting sick from others, they are trying to avoid getting sick from you as well. Do your part and you'll be helping more than just yourself in this matter.

The Trials and Tribulations of the Play-by-Post Game.

As of yesterday, my play-by-post game of HackMaster has been going on for five months. Five months is not an inconsiderable amount of time as far as role-playing games are concerned. Typically, a character advances in level once every four to five weeks of real time. By the end of level one, players will have received at least one decent magic item. Then you take into account the the amount of "game time" spent traveling, training and recovering from wounds and you would expect that in the game world the PCs are level six with some really good items and a year has passed since the campaign started.

In reality, exactly one day has passed in game time. The party has fought exactly one battle and haven't found any treasure. I have accomplished in five months what most campaigns get in their first hour. It has been so slow that at times I have had to railroad the party just to keep things going.

Another problem has been player attrition. I have had four players drop out of my game since it started in April. And out of that four, only one had the courtesy to give me a heads up. The rest just disappeared, never to post again. Fortunately I have been able to get the party back up to five players. Unannounced dropouts happen in normal games, particularly ones at game stores. But on a message board where a quick PM to the GM to say, "Sorry, I don't have time to do this anymore," is quite aggravating.

That's not to say it's been all bad. One thing I have enjoyed about the game being play-by-post is the amount of role-playing the players have put in. For example, out of the five PCs only one (a dwarven Cleric of the Guardian) doesn't speak a common language with the rest of the party. While there are two other characters that speak dwarven, one is a soft-spoken dwarf that rarely says more than a few words to anyone, and the other is an absent-minded mage that forgets to translate for the party unless prodded. It has led to some entertaining conversations to say the least.

Also, the pace has allowed me to flesh out some of the backstory for the archipelago. It has also allowed me to make changes to the setting that weren't part of the original concept. It's nice to come up with adventure ideas without feeling rushed.

Ideally, this would be a weekly game played either in-person or through something like Skype or Google+. But since I have to make due with what I have, I might as well make the most of it. I'll try to keep everyone appraised of how things go as the happen, no matter how long it takes.

T is for THAC0

Am I the only person in the blogosphere that never had a problem with this?

THAC0 (pronounced like the sound of a sword hitting an orc in the head) stood for To Hit Armor Class Zero. Prior to 3rd edition, Armor Class started at 10 and went down as better defenses were applied, with an "upper" limit around -10. Hitting a target required rolling a twenty-sided die, adding modifiers, and then comparing the result to a number on a table that cross-referenced the target's armor class (AC) and the attacker's class and level. This took up as many as three pages depending on what version of D&D you played. This was a pain in the ass, but it was soon figured that since the tables' progressions were all linear, you just needed the number to hit zero and work the rest out using basic algebra.

P is for Party

Put the lampshade down, not that kind of party.

Role-playing games are a team effort. A group of hopefully like-minded individuals work together to accomplish a goal. If the party is not on the same page, things go pear-shaped quickly. I have played in and GMed for parties that have had problems. Here's just a little advice to any would be player that wants to avoid problems.

Fill a niche
This is better known as having a "well-balanced" party. For classic fantasy gaming it means having one member of each character class represented. In classless system it means each character having their own distinct skill set. But what you really want to accomplish is being able to do something that no one else in the party can do. Even if you are playing characters of the same class, you want to customize your PC to be unique. Having a niche in the game means that there is less of a chance of you getting shut out by other players trying to accomplish the same thing, which leads to the next point.

Don't try to upstage the other players
Part of playing as a team is working with your teammates, not against them. Unfortunately, some players are under the impression that they have to beat everyone else at the table in order to win. They get in the way, kill-steal and overall make nuisances of themselves. I know one game where a player was so obsessed with taking the limelight from the front-line fighters that he was completely ignorant of his character's ability as a long-range sniper, a skill set that would have been a greater asset to the party. But he preferred to be the center of attention, which only served to make the rest of the group resent him. No one is going to watch your back if you're constantly turning yours to them.

Speak up!
Not every person is an extrovert. Even my Myers-Briggs test has that big letter I in it. But at the same time if you're not giving any input into the party, you're not contributing anything of value. Sitting in your chair, playing with your phone and waiting for the GM to tell you it's your turn isn't adding to your enjoyment of the game, and it's certainly not adding to everyone else's fun. One of the nice things about role-playing games is the escapism involved. While it may take a while to loosen up and get comfortable around the people you game with, it will be well worth your while.

N is for Names

A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet, but a bad character name can really stink up the joint.

Choosing a name for a PC is never easy. A good name should be appropriate for the campaign setting, as well as help establish the character itself. For example, when I was playing Engines & Empires, I played a fighter named Lt. Reginald Hornsby. The name was perfect for the character. First, it fit the pseudo-Victorian pseudo-England setting of the campaign. Second, the rank helped establish a sense of authority from a character that started with an 8 Constitution and a 9 Charisma. Third, the name was remarkably versatile in determining who was addressing him. Those that recognized his authority called him Lieutenant. To those who new him more formally, he was Reginald. To his best friends, he was just Reg. And you always knew when an enemy approached when they shouted "Hornsby!" By the time the campaign ended, he added "Lord Reginald" and "Baron Hornsby" to the list of addresses. It's of little surprise that he became the leader of the party. The only name that came close to my PC's in coolness was our party's scholar, Dr. Matthew DeVault. That was a name that said, "I am an erudite and cultured individual, and I slay monsters for a living." No wonder he ended up with the Sword of Dracus.

On the other hand, we had a few characters that naturally fell to the back of the pack. First there was Bob the gnome, a character that was sadly played by a woman who had no idea how to play an E&E gnome/tech. Bob's major contribution to the party was being cursed to grow an inch a week until he was 6'8" tall. Not exactly the stuff legends are made of. On top of that was one of the party's halflings. Engines & Empires replaced the thief class with the more versatile expert, a skill-oriented character that could quickly become a master of many things. Halflings were the demi-human counterpart to the human expert. So one would expect a character that made up for his lack of size by using intelligence and guile.

Instead we got Bayonetta, the halfling stripper.

Yes, a gaslight fantasy campaign filled with high adventure and political intrigue had a character named after a then-popular video game character whose weapon of choice was based on it doubling as a stripper pole. John eventually made the player change the character's name to something more appropriate, but I'll be damned if I can remember it. And why should I? The player obviously didn't give a damn about the game, and came up with a character that was only memorable because of some juvenile shock value. So it's no surprise that it fell into the ranks of the supporting cast. In the end, the party really consisted of four or five heroes and a bunch of glorified hirelings. and those at the front of the line were played by players that cared enough to give their characters a decent name.

After all, you can't make history if no one knows who you are.

K is for KickStarter

According to Blogger, this is my 100th post. I was going to have this post be about the campaign world the archipelago is set in, but instead I am going to hold that off until S (for Setting) and focus on something different.

A lot of would-be game designers have been using Kickstarter as a means to raise funds for their pet projects. I usually pass on a lot of them. There's a joke that goes, "How do you make one million in the gaming industry? Start with two million." So it never seemed like a good investment. But I am making an exception far a gaming product that I do think deserves backing.

Douglas Gray has created a KickStarter for PopAble Polyhedrons, a product that puts the unusual dice we gamers love into Pop-A-Matic bubbles like you see in the board game Trouble. Originally, Douglas made them as a neat little variant die-roller, and gave one to Jolly Blackburn, creator of Knights of the Dinner Table. as may you remember, Jolly and his wife Barb lost their daughter Amber last year. Amber spent her entire life in a wheelchair with limited mobility. As a result, the Blackburns have had a keen eye for devices that would help the disabled, especially when it came to gaming. Needless to say, for people with limited motor control function in their hands, picking up and rolling dice can be a problem. So a Pop-A-Matic die roller can be of great use to them. That inspired Mr. Gray to start his Kickstarter project to make PopAble Polyhedrons a reality.

Douglas' goal is to raise $2,800 (US) by May 2, 2012 to get things going. Pledges of $10 or more qualify you for something special. Like all Kickstarter projects, if the project does not meet it's pledge goal, your account will not be charged. Hopefully, we can help Doug make his goal and start opening up new opportunities for all gamers.

F is for Fighters

Fighters are awesome.

They aren't required to follow a particular ethos, philosophy or religion. In the heat of battle, all are warriors.

Fighters are unrestricted when it comes to weapons and armor. The mounted knight with plate, shield and lance. The dual-axe wielding wild man dressed in skins. The unarmored swashbuckler with the sabre. They are all fighters with their own style.

Fighters can go anywhere. They are as comfortable in the city as they are in the wild. As deadly in the desert as they are in the tundra. As useful in the darkest dungeon as they are stark battlefield.

If you go through a fighter's belongings you will not find the tools of a thief, nor the gruesome components of a wizard, nor the religious icons of the cleric. They will not have to worry about being accused of being a criminal, or burned at the stake for being a witch or heretic.

In battle the wizard, thief and cleric laugh at the fighter as he takes the enemy's shots while they prepare their counter-attack. But in the tavern after the battle, the patrons will hear how the fighter went toe-to-toe with the ogre while the others, stood back, hid and prayed.

Give a knife to a wizard, and he'll tie up some helpless damsel to sacrifice her to a demon. Give a knife to a thief, and he'll skulk in the shadows and stab an innocent passerby in the ribs for a few coppers. Give a knife to a fighter, and he'll hold it in his teeth as dives in to wrestle with an owlbear.

Fighters get all the glory. Fighters get the stories told about them. Fighters get free drinks from appreciative citizens. Fighters get all the chicks.

Fighters are awesome.

C is for Conventions

I have only attended on con in my entire life, which would be GaryCon. It's a con that started small and got big. And much like the con itself, my approach to attending it started small and got big. In fact, I think I may have overstepped my endurance in the last couple of years. But that's a different subject for a different time. However, after attending GaryCons I-IV, I can't believe that I waited until my mid-to-late thirties to attend a convention.

Tabletop gaming is a social hobby. Usually the groups one runs in are pretty small. You may get half a dozen at the table and a few more in your local game store. With the hobby moving from the tabletop to the laptop, we've been getting more isolated from our fellow gamers. as my friend the Geekpreacher would say, "Gamers are not socially awkward, they are awkwardly social." Like a lot of people we need human (or demi-human) contact every once in a while to keep us sane. The nice thing about conventions is that they provide a temporary oasis for gamers. For a weekend, we get to be around a rather large group of people that aren't going to look down at us as freaks or nerds. It's pretty awesome to know that in a small hotel in Wisconsin I have managed to meet people from around the world who I have something in common with.

Next year I will likely spend less time gaming and more time socializing. But the important thing is that I have a con to attend. No matter what your hobby may be, it's nice to get out to someplace and feel like your little hobby isn't so small after all. And more importantly, it's nice to know that there is someplace out there where you belong.

I guess I better say something about this...

New York Times- Players Roll the Dice for Dungeons & Dragons Remake

So it looks like Wizards of the Coast is going to try for a 5th edition of (Advanced) Dungeons & Dragons, with the difference this time being that they will be soliciting input from the gaming community on how to make the new edition more inclusive for all players.

I am of two minds of this. I stopped playing D&D after 2nd Edition, but not because I had any problems with 3rd Edition. I had "moved on" from fantasy role-playing for the cyberpunk world of Shadowrun, so there was no reason for me to look into what Wizards of the Coast did to D&D. If it weren't for DDO, I wouldn't have any idea how anything post-2nd edition worked. When I got back into playing D&D years later, it was either 2nd edition, Kenzer & Company's HackMaster "4th Edition" or John Higgins' Engines & Empires. It was a rule set I was familiar with that I could get back into easily. Frankly, I don't like having to re-learn how to play a game I should already know how to play. It's part of the reason I stopped playing Shadowrun after 4th edition of that game came out.


On the other hand, D&D is THE game when it comes to RPGs. You can mention games like GURPS, Shadowrun, Gamma World, etc. to non-gamers and they would have no idea what you are talking about. But as soon as you say "Dungeons & Dragons" they have an idea what you are talking about. Keeping the brand alive is going to help the hobby a lot more than "edition warriors" think. Because to outsiders Dungeons & Dragons IS the hobby. It's the gateway to all the other games out there. And if Wizards is truly serious about soliciting fan advice to make the game better and more inclusive, the better it is for all of us.


So I will remain optimistic about D&D5e, though cautiously so. Ultimately, I want to see more people getting into the hobby than being driven away by the arguing between grognards and munchkins. Like it or not, D&D is still our best bet for keeping tabletop gaming alive.