One of the guys in my gaming group just got his table and chair set like 2 months ago. Seems he narrowly dodged a bullet! I hope all the people with in-flight orders get their tables or money back!
That's a super bummer. I haven't read the whole thing, but it sounds like crash really screwed them (if they didn't do due diligence research, they are culpable as well, of course, but stealing their truck and fleeing the nation? WTF?) Just a crap sandwich for all involved.
It is not the price that is charged, yes they are over priced, but in the custom furniture business it is all about the cost to produce those pieces and how efficient you can be at it. GC had 50 employees but still had a 7 month production time. That means the demand was there but that doesn't mean that they could turn a profit. I know because we have faced this same proposition several times over the past few years. We make custom gaming tables and have done so by word of mouth for the past several years. The temptation to go bigger has been there but we have decided to stay small and only focus on the Southwestern United States. By doing this we keep our production time down to about 6 weeks and are able more than busy enough to keep the shop humming.
It's a tough deal for everyone, but to be honest, I feel worst for the customers. As awful as it is to lose one's business, I cant even imagine being out 5k+ through no fault of my own and with little recourse. I hope for all involved that GC can reopen or at least have the owners able to satisfy their customers and creditors and break even, or close to it. For myself, I live overseas and so there is no way that any of these US shops would be an option. However, I'm tempted as we get ready to build out our new apartment, if a custom table like this is a option.... I think where our flat is, work can be had for quite cheap.
Peril Below the Pile
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By Louis Kahn Starry Knight Press OSR Levels 4-6 The Pile is a lone hill
which overlooks the forest village of Naofahill, which lies on the far
eastern bor...
Miskatonic Monday #185: Game Night
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Between October 2003 and October 2013, Chaosium, Inc. published a series of
books for *Call of Cthulhu* under the Miskatonic University Library
Associati...
New Release - Swords & Wizardry Treasure Generator
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*tl;dr:* Stephen Faure and I are releasing a fork of the original Swords &
Wizardry Treasure Generator created by Brian Ramsay (foont.net).
Our version ...
Campaigns I’d like to run one day
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Old-School Essentials Sword & Sorcery West Marches campaign set in Kaendor,
exploring the ancient ruins of the northern forests which have only
recently be...
Magical Magic That Feels Magical
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*14. Heart Of The Beast: Cast this spell on a slain monster’s heart (or
reasonably equivalent organ or portion), then consume it. At any time, you
may ...
Incident Report
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On Monday, July 20, the Mentor™ learning service suffered an outage that
lasted from 4:53AM until service was fully restored on Wednesday, July 22
at 6:1...
Warsmith's Words: March to Victory
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Welcome back to the Vault! I can't believe it's over a month since my last
post; time is flying by these days. Whilst the blog has been quiet, my
hobby ...
DF Felltower, Blink, and Grapples
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So apparantly this came up as a question to one of my players online, and
was related to me.
Desmond was grappled from behind (no defenses!) by a torturer ...
How to Handle Parley as an OSR DM
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One of the most unforgiveable things that mainstream D&D has ever done was
to make Diplomacy a skill.
Weapon skills and knowledge skills, sure. We can't...
Anthem, G.I. Joe Trooper
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Time for me to start putting some actual stats to figures I plan on playing
with. I'll get to make up some characters in the process. Win win
win...win...
Reviews Again, the never ending battle vs new stuff
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Finally finished this
*Advanced Adventures Compendium Four 💓💓💓💓*Not quite as good as some
previous ones but still very good. Was on LuLu and I've...
More Thoughts on 5e and D&D
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Real life has again stepped into the path of our gaming sessions which have
stalled - but I'm kind of ok with that.
You see, as an old-school DM running ...
Universal Creature Profile
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It was fun playing around with another type of Universal Profile last week,
so let's keep it rolling. Can we make this work for creatures?
*UNIVERSAL CR...
Dragon Magazine's Banner Year...
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1982; it was a banner year for AD&D, and a banner year for yours truly,
both thanks to Dragon Magazine. Not only did its awesome Out on a Limb
feature co...
Megadungeon DM Overview
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As I have said before, running a megadungeon is fundamentally different
than running other types of campaigns. As such, it must be approached
differently t...
Sci-Fi: Unexpected Desirable Outcome
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Paul Pepera
Unexpected Desirable Outcome
They’d let him name his ship. He picked “Hope”, after the virtue and after
his sister. Translating Hope into Gal...
Post-Singularity Hardcopy Concepts
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Chatbot evolution, deepfakes. conspiracy and counter-conspiracy and
counter-counter conspiracy. re-editing of children's books (is your copy of
'The Twits'...
pledge allegiance
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*Booty and the Beasts* is a 1979 monster and treasure book from Fantasy Art
Enterptises. Art by Erol Otus, text by Otus, Mathias Genser, and Paul
Reiche ...
Analysis of Causes of PC Death in OSR Games
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In my previous post, I mentioned that in my weekly campaign we average
around one PC death a month. In the comments somebody asked me about the
causes of...
Arnesonian Time Keeping
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The original Blackmoor game as Dave Arneson ran it between 1971 and 1975
may be described as a living world campaign. - that is, the world moves
through ...
Dark world
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While I'm still working on my greyhawk saltmarsh campaign, I did have an
idea the other night for a different campaign.
I recently got the fifth edition ...
Monster Manual (AD&D 1e) (1977) - Third Printing
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From the front cover:
"An illustrated compendium of monsters: Aerial Servant to Zombie"
From the back cover:"*OVER 350 MONSTERS*
This book provides a com...
Into the Unknown vs 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons
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I learned about the *Into the Unknown *fantasy role-playing game last
summer at the RPG Pub. Intrigued, I ordered it from *DrivethruRPG *(both
PDF and pr...
Flux Space
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I’ve been inspired by my time working with Gus on Tombrobbers of the
Crystal Frontier, and want to play at making something similar: a big intro
adventure ...
Free GM Resource: Syrinscape 2nd Look
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[image: Free GM Resource: Syrinscape 2nd Look]
I covered Syrinscape back in .....2013(?!). It's been just shy of a decade
and when I got an email from the...
[Review] Lost Dungeons of Tonsiborg
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Received this thing in the mail a couple days ago, purchased as part of the recent
Kickstarter. It was originally only offered as a deluxe hardcover
"col...
On the Final 48 hours
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Sinless has just been amazing guys.
If you haven't checked it out, you should back now. Campaign ends Friday.
It's around 700 people, which is enough fo...
Harnworld in Hardback Kickstarter
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I have been a fan of Harn, both the setting and the Harnmaster rules, for a
long time. Ever since I encountered the original Harn setting folio at Games...
Beneath the Temple of Elemental Evil now in Spanish
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Hello! A while ago, Manuel Martinez offered to translate one of my ToEE
expansion modules, T5 Beneath the Temple of Elemental Evil, into Spanish. I
am plea...
Gargax's Glorious Gewgaws & Pryce's Price
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Good Day to You All!
There is no better way to start off a New Year than with -- not just one
but TWO -- brand-new, never-before-published creative, exc...
OGL Rollercoaster – End of the Ride?
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The end of 2022 was full of rumbles about the OGL, but WOTC said it would
be OK. January, 2023 soon revealed WOTC’s (Wizards of the Coast) claims
that all ...
The Blade Itself
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I just finished listening to the audiobook of The Blade Itself, volume one
in Joe Abercrombie’s The First Law trilogy. This was my first exposure to
his wo...
Seven Sins of RPG Writing
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The Seven Deadly Sins of RPG Writing
All these sins are relative. For example, you might find a system is your
jam that I found unusable due to complexit...
Genteel Magistrate at FenCon XVIII
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Victorious author Mike Stewart will be a guest at FenCon XVIII this weekend
at the Sheraton DFW Airport hotel, 4440 W. John Carpenter Freeway, Irving,
TX, ...
Starter Set: Dragons of Stormwreck Isle Review
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I thought it odd when I saw big name YouTubers talking about the new
starter set WotC published, but I hadn't heard anything about it. I don't
keep up...
This is an Important Game Mechanic
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*"That's the GM's Regional Map from my AOWG. And it's a damned good
regional map. It's not a good map for a Simple Homebrew Campaign. It does
some s$&...
Clean Your Room
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Looking back at my little blog here. That last post… wow, I was having fun
playing WOW Classic! That was August of 1999 and I was having a blast… it
was ...
People of the World, Spice up Your Life
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I have seen the *Dune*. It’s good, but, like all “content” now, too long.
The forms of many designs are quite nice (love the costumes of the imperial
de...
My RPG Zine Trilogy is on Kickstarter!
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I can't believe I didn't post about it here!
The Dead are Coming, Screams Amongst the Stars and Running Out of Time are
on *Kickstarter right now!* Thes...
Maximum HP 004, one week to go
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Just one week to go for Maximum HP issue #004, the undead. We are pushing
through stretch goals and wracking up contributions for the best issue yet.
We...
Steve Jackson Interview
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James Maliszewski recently did an interview with Steve Jackson over on his
Grognardia blog. Steve chats about the beginnings of The Fantasy Trip and
upcomi...
Undermountain Map Origins
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As documented on the Ruins of Undermountain sales page, "TSR didn't
actually use Ed Greenwood's original maps," at least not in their entirety.
This post d...
WB:FMAG Total Print Sales
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Hello Folks,
The last time I did a quick sales report was in September 2018.
I pulled reports from Amazon, Lulu and DrivethruRPG from October to current
fo...
The Minotaur for Old-School Essentials
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*Minotaur*
*Requirements:* Minimum STR 9, Minimum CON 9
*Prime Requisite:* STR and CON
*Hit Dice:* 1d10
*Maximum Level:* 8
*Armor:* Leather, including shield...
WIZARDS OF POHJOLA
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Init +0
Melee Atk
• sword or dagger +1 (1d5 or 1d3)
Ranged Atk
• hot iron sparks +3 (1d4+2 to two targets within 20' but not closer than
5')
AC 14
HD 12d...
Dungeons & Dragonmead Fall Schedule
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*As you know, I run public classic Dungeons & Dragons games at **The Loaded
Die**/Metro Detroit Game Night's Board Game Nigh at **Dragonmead**, in
Warren...
D&D Sling Damage vs. Large Targets
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In many early editions of D&D, weapons were assigned two damage values: one
for small/medium targets (i.e. man-sized) and one for large targets (giants
and...
James A. Smith, Jr. Memorial Video
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A beloved father, devoted friend, and D&D Dungeon Master extraordinaire. We
miss you! To view video, click here Memorial Video
Note - The original video...
Let's Talk About Pacing!
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The idea, I think, is that the RPG is ultimately about the long game. Even
rolling back to the early days of Basic & Expert, the goal of the player
was...
Profane and Profound Prep Part 2
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This is part 2 of my work to edit my magic items for a DMsGuild release,
along with adding cursed items along the way. Here is part 1. Bone of a
Saint 8000...
SHORT BREAK.
-
I'm going to take a break for a week or so and will start up again in the
New Year. Thanks for reading and we'll start with Level 6 when I get back.
Iain Lovecraft, 3D Sculptor
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Nope, it's got nothing to do with Cthulhu. I just did a video conversation
with Iain Lovecraft, who designs 3D miniatures and terrain. If you're not
doin...
New website!
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Slowly but surely, all the content here will make its way — in updated
form! — to my new website: timbannock.com. For fairly obvious reasons, that
site wil...
Please Update Your Link!
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If you're seeing this, it means your link to the Greyhawk Grognard blog is
out of date.
Please update your link to www.greyhawkgrognard.com (RSS feed is
h...
Mord Mar - Session 6
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We weren't able to play Mord Mar last week, due to a family funeral. This
week we played on Monday for the first time, due to kids returning to
school and ...
A Small, Quiet Plea
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There has been a great deal of discussing political agendas, social
grievances, and personal attacks within the little corner of gaming that is
my hobby....
Don’t Sleep It’s Broken
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Expanding/editing my comments from What Makes Something Broken G+ thread:
“Broken”, for me, is anything that makes normal character choices, tactics,
or ro...
Swords & Wizardry Light-Themed Birthday Party
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Last month, my wife and I helped our oldest to celebrate his birthday in
style. Ever since 2013, we have hosted a themed birthday party for our
now-15-ye...
One of the guys in my gaming group just got his table and chair set like 2 months ago. Seems he narrowly dodged a bullet! I hope all the people with in-flight orders get their tables or money back!
ReplyDeleteLike Grandpa Riley always said "everyone is reputable till they screw you".
ReplyDeleteSad story all around.
ReplyDeleteBummer
ReplyDeleteThat's a super bummer. I haven't read the whole thing, but it sounds like crash really screwed them (if they didn't do due diligence research, they are culpable as well, of course, but stealing their truck and fleeing the nation? WTF?)
ReplyDeleteJust a crap sandwich for all involved.
It also might be that too many people are making their own, themselves. There are a lot of videos and blog posts on doing just that.
ReplyDeleteWell, maybe if they didn't charge thousands of dollars for tables that a local craftsman can make for less than a fourth of the cost...
ReplyDeleteIt is not the price that is charged, yes they are over priced, but in the custom furniture business it is all about the cost to produce those pieces and how efficient you can be at it. GC had 50 employees but still had a 7 month production time. That means the demand was there but that doesn't mean that they could turn a profit.
ReplyDeleteI know because we have faced this same proposition several times over the past few years. We make custom gaming tables and have done so by word of mouth for the past several years. The temptation to go bigger has been there but we have decided to stay small and only focus on the Southwestern United States. By doing this we keep our production time down to about 6 weeks and are able more than busy enough to keep the shop humming.
Robert
Uniquely Geek
It's a tough deal for everyone, but to be honest, I feel worst for the customers. As awful as it is to lose one's business, I cant even imagine being out 5k+ through no fault of my own and with little recourse. I hope for all involved that GC can reopen or at least have the owners able to satisfy their customers and creditors and break even, or close to it.
ReplyDeleteFor myself, I live overseas and so there is no way that any of these US shops would be an option. However, I'm tempted as we get ready to build out our new apartment, if a custom table like this is a option.... I think where our flat is, work can be had for quite cheap.