I made it!
Already in the minis hall!
2014/08/15
3600 Miles to GenCon: Claremore OK
Lots of construction in Oklahoma slowed me down last night and I only made it to Claremore which is east of Tulsa.
Got in about 1AM local time and I am up at 4AM to finish the drive. Maps show lots of construction in my path....I expect a frustrating day.
2014/08/14
3600 Miles to GenCon: Amarillo TX
Dodged the storm in NM and west TX. ZZ Top was blasting on the stereo when I rolled across the state line. Gonna grab a bite then get on my way to OKC.
3600 Miles to GenCon: Albuquerque
Well 20 miles west of Albuquerque.
No, I am not following Bugs' advice.
Had a nice sub sandwhich my mom packed for me (Daw!!!)
And back on the road...
3600 Miles to GenCon: Flagstaff
Beautiful country. Saw a meteor about 4:30AM. Saw an elk standing in the mist on roadside at about 4500 feet of elevation.
Funniest roadsign: Dry Beaver River
3600 Miles to GenCon: Half way
Mileage-wise, that is. 4AM local time with 1750 miles to go.
Update in Flagstaff....
2014/08/13
3600 Miles to GenCon: Vegas
Waiting to deplane.
Will need to haul ass.
Addendum: plane just got here. Bumped into some gamers.......
3600 Miles to GenCon: No Nukes!
I carried on the Nuclear War game. Showed to a manager type on the way in and they said no prob just pop it right back in my messenger bag and pass it right through.
👍
3600 Miles to GenCon: Packing
Farewells said to the wife and kids and I am packing my bags.
As I am going straight to Indy, I need to take my gaming stuff. I wonder if Illuminati and my 40th Anniversary Nuclear War card game will get me in trouble. I think I will carry on the nuclear war game and just flip it open as it goes through the conveyor. On second thought I think I will just leave them....
2014/08/12
3600 Miles to GenCon: Night Before
Besides my badge I think I may need a lot of this.
More in the morning.
3600 Miles to GenCon
Well, the family van blew up, just before GenCon.
Good News: Found a new vehicle.
Bad News: It's in Surprise, AZ
Good News: I should be able to get to GenCon, as I have every year since 2003, inclusive. This year, I'll have to wait to get there until late Friday, rather than the traditional Tuesday.
Bad News: I'm going to have to travel over 3600 miles to get there, despite living 72 miles away. That's a 50:1 ratio to what I normally travel.
Tomorrow, I get on a plane, and the Odyssey will begin.
This is ridiculous.
Good News: Found a new vehicle.
Bad News: It's in Surprise, AZ
Good News: I should be able to get to GenCon, as I have every year since 2003, inclusive. This year, I'll have to wait to get there until late Friday, rather than the traditional Tuesday.
Bad News: I'm going to have to travel over 3600 miles to get there, despite living 72 miles away. That's a 50:1 ratio to what I normally travel.
Tomorrow, I get on a plane, and the Odyssey will begin.
This is ridiculous.
2013/08/05
Something else to consider when funding kickstarter projects.
Third party pledge managers......
So, a kickstarter I chipped in for completed last week, and was successfully funded.
Today, I get a note saying that they have decided to use a third party pledge manager. This is like the 3rd or 4th time this has happened to me, and it's starting to piss me off.
I understand doing this sort of thing frees up the people working on the actual product to do what they do best, but why should I be expected to cough up more info to a third party, especially when there was no expectation of such a thing when I pledged in the first place?
I mean, at a minimum, I'll have to surrender my kickstarter username and associated e-mail address. If I was getting a physical product, this heretofore unknown to me entity would be getting my home address. If I wanted to add anything to my pledge, post-funding, I'm presuming I'd have to cough up some credit card info.
It's one thing to pledge for a funding drive by some guy I've never met, but who is creating something I am interested in, and let amazon.com handle the monetary transaction. Amazon.com is a company I already have a relationship with, who I have chosen to share personal information with.
But now, if I want to actually get what I pledged for, I'm basically forced into sharing some or all of this information with a new, unknown to me entity. Who the hell is this guy? Why the hell should I even have to worry about it?
So, a kickstarter I chipped in for completed last week, and was successfully funded.
Today, I get a note saying that they have decided to use a third party pledge manager. This is like the 3rd or 4th time this has happened to me, and it's starting to piss me off.
I understand doing this sort of thing frees up the people working on the actual product to do what they do best, but why should I be expected to cough up more info to a third party, especially when there was no expectation of such a thing when I pledged in the first place?
I mean, at a minimum, I'll have to surrender my kickstarter username and associated e-mail address. If I was getting a physical product, this heretofore unknown to me entity would be getting my home address. If I wanted to add anything to my pledge, post-funding, I'm presuming I'd have to cough up some credit card info.
It's one thing to pledge for a funding drive by some guy I've never met, but who is creating something I am interested in, and let amazon.com handle the monetary transaction. Amazon.com is a company I already have a relationship with, who I have chosen to share personal information with.
But now, if I want to actually get what I pledged for, I'm basically forced into sharing some or all of this information with a new, unknown to me entity. Who the hell is this guy? Why the hell should I even have to worry about it?
2013/07/31
Stupid Fishmen.
Tired of trying to say "Kuo-Toa" out loud.
Henceforth, I'm calling them "fishdudes", "deepones", or "Kay-Tees".
Henceforth, I'm calling them "fishdudes", "deepones", or "Kay-Tees".
2013/07/28
Top Ten Troll Questions for Your Game: My responses
(1). Race (Elf, Dwarf, Halfling) as a class? Yes or no?
Nope. Race as race.
(2). Do demi-humans have souls?
Nope. Just like Don "No Soul" Simmons.
(3). Ascending or descending armor class?
Descending.
(4). Demi-human level limits?
Yup. If yo don't want limits, I think it is just fine to get rid of them, as long as Humans gain a 10% XP bonus or something along those lines.
(5). Should thief be a class?
Yup.
(6). Do characters get non-weapon skills?
No delineated skills, but they can roll on the Secondary Skills Table on pg. 12 of the DMG if they so choose.
(7). Are magic-users more powerful than fighters (and, if yes, what level do they take the lead)?
Low levels (1-4): no.
Mid levels (5-9): yes.
High levels (10+): no.
By the time characters are 10th level, they should be facing opponents who are: 1) High level NPCs or 2) High-end monsters with MR. Both of these tend to nullify the effectiveness of the the magic-user, unless the DM plays them like patsies.
(8). Do you use alignment languages?
No. This is where I diverge from the book quite a bit.
(9). XP for gold, or XP for objectives (thieves disarming traps, etc...)?
Both! But the PCs gotta earn 'em.
(10). Which is the best edition; ODD, Holmes, Moldvay, Mentzer, Rules Cyclopedia, 1E ADD, 2E ADD, 3E ADD, 4E ADD, Next ?
1e AD&D.
Bonus Question: Unified XP level tables or individual XP level tables for each class?
Individual. Unified tables are for "balance" obsessed nerds and videogamers.
Nope. Race as race.
(2). Do demi-humans have souls?
Nope. Just like Don "No Soul" Simmons.
(3). Ascending or descending armor class?
Descending.
(4). Demi-human level limits?
Yup. If yo don't want limits, I think it is just fine to get rid of them, as long as Humans gain a 10% XP bonus or something along those lines.
(5). Should thief be a class?
Yup.
(6). Do characters get non-weapon skills?
No delineated skills, but they can roll on the Secondary Skills Table on pg. 12 of the DMG if they so choose.
(7). Are magic-users more powerful than fighters (and, if yes, what level do they take the lead)?
Low levels (1-4): no.
Mid levels (5-9): yes.
High levels (10+): no.
By the time characters are 10th level, they should be facing opponents who are: 1) High level NPCs or 2) High-end monsters with MR. Both of these tend to nullify the effectiveness of the the magic-user, unless the DM plays them like patsies.
(8). Do you use alignment languages?
No. This is where I diverge from the book quite a bit.
(9). XP for gold, or XP for objectives (thieves disarming traps, etc...)?
Both! But the PCs gotta earn 'em.
(10). Which is the best edition; ODD, Holmes, Moldvay, Mentzer, Rules Cyclopedia, 1E ADD, 2E ADD, 3E ADD, 4E ADD, Next ?
1e AD&D.
Bonus Question: Unified XP level tables or individual XP level tables for each class?
Individual. Unified tables are for "balance" obsessed nerds and videogamers.
2013/04/21
My "Trapped on a Space Station in Deep Space" boardgames....
Usually with lists like these, people talk about being marooned on a desert island. We live in the 21st Century now (well, some of us, anyway...), so lets update the setting:
You're trapped on a space station in deep space. Food, water, and health care are all assured by the on-board systems. You'll not starve or die of anything besides natural causes. However, you won't ever make contact with earth again, nor have any hope of establishing contact outside of the station. However, you're lucky to be marooned with good friends.....so, what boardgames would you stow in you locker? (I'll do RPGs, cardgames, minis, and miscellaneous staff later...
My list:
1) RoboRally - insane factory floor robot war, instigated by a psycotic mainframe
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/18/roborally
2) Cosmic Encounter - travel the universe, encounter strange beings, stab 'em in the back, and settle their systems! (I'd probably take the Mayfair version, but the link is for the entire family)
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamefamily/133/cosmic-encounter
3) Fire and Axe - trade, settle, and raid europe!
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12495/fire-axe-a-viking-saga
4) Ticket to Ride - hop aboard and become a rail baron (would probably bring the 1910 expansion)
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/9209/ticket-to-ride
5) Carcassonne - build a city, farm, and be a highwayman!
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/822/carcassonne
6) Circus Maximus - ever seen the chariot race in Ben Hur?
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/244/circus-maximus
7) Formula De - Formula One racing
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/173/formula-de
8) Close Action - Age of Sail combat
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3553/close-action
9) War of the Ring - fight for Middle Earth!
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/115746/war-of-the-ring-second-edition
10) Blue Max - WWI aircombat
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/508/blue-max
Those who know me might be surprised to see Crimson Skies missing......I'm going to include that in my minis post.....
So, what are yours?
You're trapped on a space station in deep space. Food, water, and health care are all assured by the on-board systems. You'll not starve or die of anything besides natural causes. However, you won't ever make contact with earth again, nor have any hope of establishing contact outside of the station. However, you're lucky to be marooned with good friends.....so, what boardgames would you stow in you locker? (I'll do RPGs, cardgames, minis, and miscellaneous staff later...
My list:
1) RoboRally - insane factory floor robot war, instigated by a psycotic mainframe
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/18/roborally
2) Cosmic Encounter - travel the universe, encounter strange beings, stab 'em in the back, and settle their systems! (I'd probably take the Mayfair version, but the link is for the entire family)
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamefamily/133/cosmic-encounter
3) Fire and Axe - trade, settle, and raid europe!
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/12495/fire-axe-a-viking-saga
4) Ticket to Ride - hop aboard and become a rail baron (would probably bring the 1910 expansion)
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/9209/ticket-to-ride
5) Carcassonne - build a city, farm, and be a highwayman!
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/822/carcassonne
6) Circus Maximus - ever seen the chariot race in Ben Hur?
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/244/circus-maximus
7) Formula De - Formula One racing
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/173/formula-de
8) Close Action - Age of Sail combat
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3553/close-action
9) War of the Ring - fight for Middle Earth!
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/115746/war-of-the-ring-second-edition
10) Blue Max - WWI aircombat
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/508/blue-max
Those who know me might be surprised to see Crimson Skies missing......I'm going to include that in my minis post.....
So, what are yours?
2012/04/26
The Way of the Axe.
This is my obligatory "who I am" and mission statement post. It's dry, boring, and self-aggrandizing. If I have other stuff to read on this site, go read it instead.
My name is Rich. I work for a conservative, mid-western state university. I'm not surprised, but I didn't think this would ever happen to me.
I also have a history of posting as "francisca" at various rpg-centric messageboards around the 'net.
The focus of this board will be tabletop gaming, primarily concerned with old school D&D, which for my purposes, I'm loosely defining as AD&D, OD&D, and Basic/Expert D&D as published by TSR up until the time Gygax left the company. (Gaming material outside of that timeframe is fair game too, but my point of view is from a 70s/80s perspective.) I'll also be blathering about other RPGs, boardgames, and miniatures from time to time, as well.
Topic and content-wise, I intend to provide commentary and reviews of various products which I find interesting. I'll also use this as a sounding board for bits and pieces of homebrew material. In short, this blog will be very much like a multitude of other old-school D&D boards...only far less clever and interesting.
This is also my 3rd, and last attempt to blog.
My background as a gamer:
I grew up in a family of card players, with double-deck pinochle being the game of choice. I had the typical boardgames found in a many North American suburban homes when I was a kid: Monopoly, Yahtzee, Battleship, and Stratego.
I first encountered D&D in the late 70s, witnessing a much older cousin playing it on a ping-pong table in a basement, complete with lava lamps, smoke hanging in the air, and Rush playing on the turntable. My mom would usually usher me out of there in a hurry, so I didn't learn much about it.
In 1981, I noted some guys at school were playing a mish-mash of Moldvay Basic and AD&D, and I soon joined them. Lacking any published material, I created my own game on 3x5 index cards and used dice liberated from the Yahtzee set. I talked my Dad into playing, and a few days later, he came home with the Moldvay D&D Basic boxed set, followed by the Gamma World set a month or so later.
At some point in late middle school, I saved up my allowance and gift money, and bought the core 3 AD&D books, along with A1, G1-2-3, and D1-2 in one big purchase. That, along with the boxed sets my Dad picked up for me, was all I had back in the day. No Dragon subscription (though I mooched a couple issues over the weekend from time to time), and I only knew one kid who had Unearthed Arcana in High School. Pretty spartan compared to the plethora of material many others had.
I played AD&D and Gamma World all but exclusively, almost entirely in home-brew settings, until 1986, when I left the group I was in due to "philosophical differences". That is to say, they were enamored with the new style of AD&D exemplified by DragonLance and the Survival Guide books. I didn't play really much of anything again until 1997.
In '97, a guy I worked with got me into Magic: the Gathering, which I described as "Kinda like D&D without the 6 month commitment." In 1999, I joined his AD&D game, and trekked down to Indy nearly every other saturday for 7 years to play good-old home-brewed AD&D.
In parallel, I also spent 2002-2006 running 3e D&D in a homebrew world along with a B/X game set in Mystara. When my 3e game wound down, I was very dissatisfied with the game as a DM. The B/X game wound down at the same time, and I merged the groups and ran series of 1e AD&D games set in Greyhawk until I handed off the campaign to my buddy Joe in 2009, due to too many demands on my time.
I continued to play in a friends 3.5e game set in DragonLane (ironically! though it was non-canon and very "Sandboxy") from 2005-2010, as well. So, when I complain about 3e, it's from experience, not some irrational, luddite-esque hatred of anything "new". I also gave 4e a try, playing the original gamestore demo, and read the PHB. It isn't for me.
Apart from D&D, I've amassed a bunch of other RPG material and boardgames. Somewhere between 2000 and today I morphed into a more general "gamer guy", though in my heart and mind, I'm a D&D player first, and a generalized tabletop gamer second.
So there you go. That's my general background which forms the lenses through which I view gaming material. There are certainly other influences and experiences which I'll allude to when appropriate, but I think that should be enough to give you a rough idea of my frame of reference.
--Rich
My name is Rich. I work for a conservative, mid-western state university. I'm not surprised, but I didn't think this would ever happen to me.
I also have a history of posting as "francisca" at various rpg-centric messageboards around the 'net.
The focus of this board will be tabletop gaming, primarily concerned with old school D&D, which for my purposes, I'm loosely defining as AD&D, OD&D, and Basic/Expert D&D as published by TSR up until the time Gygax left the company. (Gaming material outside of that timeframe is fair game too, but my point of view is from a 70s/80s perspective.) I'll also be blathering about other RPGs, boardgames, and miniatures from time to time, as well.
Topic and content-wise, I intend to provide commentary and reviews of various products which I find interesting. I'll also use this as a sounding board for bits and pieces of homebrew material. In short, this blog will be very much like a multitude of other old-school D&D boards...only far less clever and interesting.
This is also my 3rd, and last attempt to blog.
My background as a gamer:
I grew up in a family of card players, with double-deck pinochle being the game of choice. I had the typical boardgames found in a many North American suburban homes when I was a kid: Monopoly, Yahtzee, Battleship, and Stratego.
I first encountered D&D in the late 70s, witnessing a much older cousin playing it on a ping-pong table in a basement, complete with lava lamps, smoke hanging in the air, and Rush playing on the turntable. My mom would usually usher me out of there in a hurry, so I didn't learn much about it.
In 1981, I noted some guys at school were playing a mish-mash of Moldvay Basic and AD&D, and I soon joined them. Lacking any published material, I created my own game on 3x5 index cards and used dice liberated from the Yahtzee set. I talked my Dad into playing, and a few days later, he came home with the Moldvay D&D Basic boxed set, followed by the Gamma World set a month or so later.
At some point in late middle school, I saved up my allowance and gift money, and bought the core 3 AD&D books, along with A1, G1-2-3, and D1-2 in one big purchase. That, along with the boxed sets my Dad picked up for me, was all I had back in the day. No Dragon subscription (though I mooched a couple issues over the weekend from time to time), and I only knew one kid who had Unearthed Arcana in High School. Pretty spartan compared to the plethora of material many others had.
I played AD&D and Gamma World all but exclusively, almost entirely in home-brew settings, until 1986, when I left the group I was in due to "philosophical differences". That is to say, they were enamored with the new style of AD&D exemplified by DragonLance and the Survival Guide books. I didn't play really much of anything again until 1997.
In '97, a guy I worked with got me into Magic: the Gathering, which I described as "Kinda like D&D without the 6 month commitment." In 1999, I joined his AD&D game, and trekked down to Indy nearly every other saturday for 7 years to play good-old home-brewed AD&D.
In parallel, I also spent 2002-2006 running 3e D&D in a homebrew world along with a B/X game set in Mystara. When my 3e game wound down, I was very dissatisfied with the game as a DM. The B/X game wound down at the same time, and I merged the groups and ran series of 1e AD&D games set in Greyhawk until I handed off the campaign to my buddy Joe in 2009, due to too many demands on my time.
I continued to play in a friends 3.5e game set in DragonLane (ironically! though it was non-canon and very "Sandboxy") from 2005-2010, as well. So, when I complain about 3e, it's from experience, not some irrational, luddite-esque hatred of anything "new". I also gave 4e a try, playing the original gamestore demo, and read the PHB. It isn't for me.
Apart from D&D, I've amassed a bunch of other RPG material and boardgames. Somewhere between 2000 and today I morphed into a more general "gamer guy", though in my heart and mind, I'm a D&D player first, and a generalized tabletop gamer second.
So there you go. That's my general background which forms the lenses through which I view gaming material. There are certainly other influences and experiences which I'll allude to when appropriate, but I think that should be enough to give you a rough idea of my frame of reference.
--Rich
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