Back Behind the (Virtual) Screen

Anyhow, I'm sitting in a semi crowded room, waiting for my son to get interviewed for a volunteer position he's interested in, and I'm feverishly answering emails on my iphone from my gamer friends.

Suddenly, I get the "Wasn't Erik going to run a game using one of those online interfaces he's been using?" Next thing I know I have 4 players (2 from my old pen n paper group from 13 years ago) talking about what they want to play.

It appears I'll be running a Labyrinth Lord game (possibly with the Advanced Edition Companion thrown in the mix) using Fantasy Grounds 2. I would use Silvertable (from the guys at iTabletop) but it's not outa of alpha yet. I have 2 weeks to prep. Wish me luck ;)

Classic Traveller for Free

Lo and behold, I logged into my RPGNow account when I got home from work and I see the Classic Traveler Starter Set, the very same set I purchased as a teenager. It was the second game I purchased for myself (Gamma World was the first... my parents bought me the three AD&D books that got me started in roleplaying).

Anyhow, the set is being given away for free. You may need to check your email on your RPGNow account to download part 2 (the charts) and part 3 (the adventures).

This is a great game at a great (free) price. Get it now, before someone on the other side changes their mind and actually puts a price on it ;)

Vacation is Over... Did I Miss a Party?

After a fine 9 days off, I'm back to work tomorrow. If things had gone perfect in the scheme of grand karma, the iPad would have shipped on its first reported date and in all likelihood the iPad w/ 3G would have come out this past week and I would be giving a hands on review right now... especially as to how it handles PDFs.

Alas, the 3G won't be shipping until the end of April... which means I won't be getting my iPad until then. In for a penny, in for a pound. If I'm willing to blow 5 bills, may as well blow the whole wad and have access to the net away from Wi-Fi.

Yes, I'm a techie AND a gaming geek... so beat me! See, the money I save getting my gaming in PDF format is funding my iPad purchase. Really! Or not, but it sure sounds good ;)

In the meantime my Kindle DX is serving me well. As an aside, if any of my Kindle subscribers (and there are a few) have trouble with any links i may have posted (or will post) email me at Erik AT Trublunite DOT net. Amazing what you have to do to fend of the trolling spam bots!

Amazing Thing About the OSR

Is that there are always new products hitting the Virtual Shelves. Or old products that gets rediscovered.

Course, if you are like me and want just about every new product that is Old School in presentation price, and space becomes an issue. PDFs tend to cost less then print and consume no space... tastes great AND less filling.

So I say thank God for access to PDF publishing software. And PDF distributors. And PDF publishers, writers, artists and fans. Without all of them I doubt much of the OSR would have taken hold.

PDF publishing lowered the cost to enter the market. Yet with little overhead for PDF distributors the D20 Implosion won't be an issue.

Oh, and Lulu isnt all that bad... except when the US Post Office loses your stuff... but that's a rant for later.

Enjoy the Holidays / Holy Days all!

Are You a Fan... zine?

It seems like this little thing collectively known as the Old School Renaissance (wow, spelled that w/o the spell checker)has spawned another fanzine. We have two print / PDF magazines so far (Fight On! and Knockspell) and two PDF only magazines / fanzines. OD&DITIES is a fairly recent resurrection and bang for the buck has been good so far. Really, at 2 bucks an issue its hard to go wrong.

The newest addition is Oubliette. Again, bang for your 2 bucks is pretty good. My personal highlight? Subdual rules for LL. My low? The gobbie themed adventure. Sorry, too far from the norm for me to take to it.

4e has one print mag, and its not even from WotC.

Long live the OSR ;)