FINALLY Back to Gaming - and its Not Even NTRPG Time!

Renovations and the recent holiday weekend killed my opportunity to get into my regular Monday Night Game run by Tim Shorts for over a month. Tonight, I finally get to make a triumphant return. Well, at least "a return."

Woot! Rathgar is now a second level cleric.

Of course, best-laid plans often kick you in the face. After the game, I have to drive my son's fiancee home as she has a killer migraine.

Still, it's amazing how much I missed this. The game, the bullshitting, the escape from the daily grind.

Fuck - we split the party!

I'm Back! Back in the Player's Saddle Again! X 2

I've had a bit of a dry spell in my non-convention gaming. Saturday nights used to be my gaming night but my niece has been staying weekends an awful lot (no complaints - heh) and my weekends have gotten hectic with interviews and such.

So what happened recently? Tim Shorts invited me to a Monday Night B/X Essentials game. Players include Jason Hobbs, JoeTheLawyer, Matt Jackson and others. My cleric is ready to roll in two days.

You can guess what happened next. James Spahn asked if I was interested in playing in a biweekly Sunday Night Swords & Wizardry Complete game with Jim Wampler, Skeeter Green and Rocky & Ian from Silver Bulette Publishing. Damn! I think I've maxed out my gaming opportunities over the better course of a week and a half :)

No, we don't plan to record the sessions. Most of these fine folks are still gainfully employed ;)

Expect session recaps Monday / Tuesday.

I'm a bit giddy...

Getting New Gamers into the OSR isn't About Slapping on a Fresh Coat of Paint

The truth of the matter is that the cover to the 3rd printing of Swords & Wizardry Complete and the all female art team isn't going to make a noticeable dent in the numbers or percentage of female gamers in the OSR. Why?

Because it isn't a retail release.

Not many are going to be looking at a shelf of gaming books in some bookstore or game store and stumble across Swords & Wizardry Complete. Not the Otis cover. Not the tree on acid cover. Not any cover at all. Simply because it won't be on a shelf to be seen.

Those that find it either will have found the Kickstarter itself or, afterwards, the Frog God Games webstore. They are already IN the gaming hobby. Most likely they are already in the OSR and are already playing Swords & Wizardry.

So, how do you bring more gamers, regardless of gender or age, into the OSR?

It isn't by playing in your weekly group composed of real life friends. That group has it's own dynamics and is probably a bit insular. It's never easy to add to a group like that and the vetting process for prospective new players is often on par with joining a secret society.

It isn't with new art or old art. Not unless you can get it in a retail environment, either in a boxed set (visibility) or distributed for free (viral marketing.)

The answer is quite simple.

Play in public.

Open spaces. Game stores. Libraries. Pubs. Cafes. Whatever it takes to make the play visible.

Last night I played in Tim Connolly's Benchledale Campaign at Legendary Realms out in Plainview, NY. We are using the AD&D 1e rules. My first session had 11 players. I think last night had nine. It's a mixture of grognards who have played the game in one form or another since the late 70's and Pathfinder players that are trying something new. That just happens to be old. And they like it.

See, the play is the key. Roleplaying games don't sell themselves while in a virtual store or on the shelf in some retail environment. You have to know about RPGs to be interested enough into finding out more about them. The way to gather that interest is public play.

I'll even put my money where my mouth is, so to speak. Or at least, my DMing time. Come Spring of 2017 I'll offer my services to run Swords & Wizardry twice a month at Legendary Realms, if they will have me. Games run, in public for other gamers to see, question and hopefully gather interest. You could be a 18 year old from the Planet Alpha Centuri or a 60 year old Grognard, we'll find room for you at the table.

I noticed they have +Joseph Bloch 's Adventure's Dark & Deep prominently displayed near their D&D / Pathfinder section. Maybe as time goes on we can get other OSR games there as well.

Prepping for the Evening Game in Long Island Tonight - Benchleydale

My first (and only) session of AD&D 1e at the Legendary Realms Game Store was 3 weeks ago. It was a blast and my dwarven cleric, Calishun, survived the day and still hope to make 5th level.

We had a very full table, so I learned the following lessons:

1 - Getting a seat early can keep you from accessing the bathroom easily. I would have had to have disturbed about a half dozen of the dozen at our table. Yes, we had that large a group and it was fun. Ensure empty bladder prior to game time ;)

2 - Dice rolling off the table is not fun. I don't want to lose dice. Therefore I now have this snazzy dice rolling tray.

3 - Cool dice. I'm breaking out my cool dice. With this tray they shouldn't damage the table. They should also avoid the floor - see number 2

4 - My own mini. Part of the Reaper Bones 2 collection. Cant see much detail in the light, but it's a dwarven cleric. Woot!

RPGs Are a 35 Million Dollar Market (out of a 1.19 Billion Dollar Hobby Game Market)

There's an interesting article over at ICv2 about the size of the Hobby Games Market and it's components.

Roleplaying Games make up 35 Million of the 1.19 Billion Hobby Games Market. Which is small, but grew 40% from 2014 to 2015 (from 25 Million). Hobby Games as a whole grew 29% over the same period.

As for the top 5 RPG game lines for the 2nd Quarter of 2016, D&D 5e tops the list. I'm surprised to see Shadowrun in the top 5 myself.

I suspect the drop off after the first 3 is huge.

All this is before Dungeons & Dragons finding it's way back into the public's eye this summer.

Still, the OSR is a niche of a niche.

I'll need to dig out the latest Roll20 report for some further analysis.

Gamer's Man Cave in the Works - With Props to My Wife

In the midst of everything else going on, we've been having renovations at the Tenkar Abode for a few weeks now. The final part of the major projects (at least for now) was the closet being build behind my back - literally. It's behind me when I'm sitting at my computer desk.

Now, the closet literally holds a crap ton of clothes - we have a high clothing bar and a low clothing bar inside. We have cubbies on the left side and two large cubbies above. I asked what we were doing with the two large cubbies and I was told "use it to display your boxed games - so when you are online gaming or interviewing you can look the part".

And yes, 90% of the plush is mine... heh

I'm only partway done with filling in the cubbies, but what a joy it is :)

Surprises From the Dusty Sky...

In the midst of all of the Kickstarter and other pre-orders that are shipping now to arrive in time for GenCon madness, I received this piece of awesomeness from the mind behind ...and the sky full of dust blog.

I just had to post the magic before I post the more mundane reviews to follow;)

We need more parts to solve the puzzle. Who has the other pieces...

Whereupon Joe the Lawyer Took Us To "Blood Island"

Just add some tentacles and shit and we killed it! ;)

Late yesterday afternoon, Joe the Lawyer offered to run last night's game session. He knew I'd been working 60+ hours a week the last 2 weeks and was willing to shoulder the burden for me. He's also been working on his own adventure, "Blood Island" and was interested in giving it a little test.

I was on board so long as the rest of the group was, and they were, so it was time for me to create a Flailsnails character for Joe's Blood Island (in which he was running a modified LotFP Weird Fantasy ruleset).

So, I used the Autarch website to get me my 5 characters and actually landed one with a 17 strength, 18 con (19 with bonus due to being a Dwarf) and a 14 wisdom. Tenkar Calishun, Dwarven Fighter / Cleric 1/1 using the LL AEC rules was thus born. Like how I combined two rulesets to generate a character to run in a third? heh

Joe kept a great pace going last night. We had but one true casualty (well, two if you count Greg's Fighter going to negatives but getting saved by one of my CLWs) of the four of us, and the challenges were challenging. Our sole death was in the final encounter - it was basically a random sacrifice as we all ran to safety. Craig, thanks for taking the hit for the rest of us ;)

It is fun being a player sometimes :)

Reboot - Restarting the Campaign

Our DM got frustrated with the rules last Saturday and asked for someone else to take the reins.  To tell the truth, last week I wasn't even sure if there was going to be a game tonight.  I knew I wasn't going to be stepping up - I have a plan as to start running two campaigns myself in the next month or so, a third will kill me ;)

Luckily, one of the other players stepped up to take on the DM's Mantle.  I'm sticking with my Dwarven Cleric - no need to reroll or rebuild this way and I already have his personality sorted out, such as it is.

So, it's a new start, new DM, new campaign - same PC.

Should be fun :)

Feast or Famine - At What Point Do You Have to Say "No" to Gaming?

I went though a number of years where I wasn't able to get any table top RPGing in.  Whether it was face to face or a virtual table top, my gaming was nonexistent.

From there I found myself some fairly regular gaming via Fantasy Grounds, which was cool while it lasted.  I followed that up with a dry spell.

Virtually the same week I started playing in a weekly D&D game via G+ Hangout I also started attending weekly sessions of Games That Can Not Be Named.  I went from no gaming to gaming twice a week, and an opportunity for a third session - my wife, who had encouraged me to get myself back into gaming, would have rightfully killed me if I had opted for the third.

I'm down to just the Saturday night game now, so when I was offered a spot in a Apocalypse World game this sunday night via G+ Hangout with some really great gamers (more on that after the game) I couldn't say no.  I guess I'll see if it really does play better than the mess it is written as ;)

Mere hours afterwards, I got an invite to James Mal's Dwimmermount game for tonight via G+ Hangout.  Hangout is outa control!  heh.  I had to pass until a later time with James, as gaming all three nights on the weekend would have gotten me some wife agro.  I might be knew to this, but I'm a quick learner.

So, what's your weekly limit of gaming goodness?

If You Run a Game and No One Shows Up, Do You Roll Dice?

Lonely Dice

Well, apparently the afternoon session at the Brooklyn Strategist was a success, as they had 10 year olds playing Labyrinth Lord with their parents.  Ten year old kids, kicking open doors, killing things (and gutting them looking rubies) and learning the secret of fire.  A good time and I'm sorry I missed it.

For the evening session, potential DMs outnumbered potential players by 3 to 0.  It wasn't that the location wasn't doing business - we just weren't getting players.

For the next attempt, I think I'll go with Swords & Wizardry - less books to lug around.  Besides, the wife has given me her blessing for me to try again, even if it means on a weekend.  Sacrificing our quality time so I can get some time in behind the screen.  God bless her.  No, I'm not trying to butter her up, but if I was, do you think it would work? ;)

Back Behind the Screen Today - Wish Me Luck

It's been 15 years (almost to the day) since I've been behind the screen.  Like many things, I've heard the experience is much like riding a bike - within minutes you have your balance and are back to comfortable ground.

The things is, the first time I rode a bike in nearly 15 years, no one told me it had no brakes until I was already picking up speed and going downhill.  I wiped out in a junkyard at the end of the hill (and walked away to ride again nearly 10 years later).  I hope today goes a bit smoother ;)

I Get To Play In a Sandbox!

I'll be playing in a new campaign starting this coming Saturday. We'll be using Google+ Hangout.

Our GM has given us a quick overview of the starting area, and we even get to chose our starting location out of a handful that are detailed. Which means we are in a sandbox right from the start. Should be fun and an Old School feel.

Of course, the actual rules system has yet to be nailed down. As long as it includes dice rolls, some numerical stats and a spell list, I should be able to adapt ;)

Eh, who am I kidding. It's going to be a D&D game, we just need the DM to nail down the system. I'd vote for Crypts & Things, but I think the setting is more standard fantasy, so it probably wouldn't be a good fit.

Video Blog - Counting Time on a Tombstone - Part 1 of 2

This is part 1 of 2 of my time walking around one of the cemeteries in Bethany Pennsylvania over the past weekend.  My narrator's voiceover may be a bit low, but I'm still a little self conscious about blabbing in public while filming. ;)

Part 2 should be up in a day or so.

Next time I get up to the Poconos I want to hit the Catholic Cemetery in Honesdale.  There is a section that has a Civil War Officer buried with some of his men in a circle.  There is an RPG scenario somewhere in that scene.

Oh, and working on the random table I mentioned earlier.  If I like it when it's done, I'll post it.

Free Time... What Free Time?

As am sitting at my desk at work, digging myself out of paperwork, it suddenly full dawned on me - I don't have much in the way of free time until after my wedding. How the hell did that happen?

Two nights a week I shuttle my son back and forth to EMT class. In between the shuttling I also have to drop the fiancée at her apt in The Bronx. So, those two nights are shot. Weekends always revolve around renovations, so they are shot. Tuesday and Thursday nights. I think I have majority ownership of them ;)

After November my son's classes are over, renovations will be done, trips to The Bronx will no longer be needed - I think the New Year will bring some fairly regular gaming back into my life.

Oh, wait - football season starts soon. Okay, Sunday's will still be shot for a while... heh

Hardware Upgrade in Progress (and another week without gaming)

I've moved from a PC / MacMini shared peripherals setup to an iMac that I'll be dual booting with windows. Haven't gotten around to BootCamping windows just yet. Still trying to get Apple to give me my free upgrade to Lion. Sigh.

Enough tech talk. I noticed something over the weekend. My son's core group of friends at the age of 18 closely mirror my core group of friends from that age (and with whom I remain friends with to this day). For us, it was AD&D and other RPG's that helped forge the bond. For this generation, it seems to be the XBox 360. Still, I have hope for them yet. They enjoy games like Fable and Oblivion and Fallout on the 360 - surely they may one day graduate to "true" RPGs ;)

It looks like the sometimes weekly OD&D chat game is on indefinite hold. I may need to find a game to fill the gap. It's a noticeable gap, as its the only game I've been playing in recently. A well.

To Be Eighteen Again

My son turns 18 at the end of the month. Amazing how time flies. I remember sitting down and helping him with math homework in elementary school. Now he wants an Emergency Medical Technician Course for his birthday. Basic math to EMT... overnite it seems.

When I was 18 I lived to game. If we were off for a week from school, we probably gamed each and every day. Dungeon Magazine was gold when it first came out, as I devoured adventures as a GM like they were going out of style.

Work? As little as possible. School? Grades came easy for me. College was a vehicle for more gaming, work was there to buy more gaming books.

I had little focus, no idea what I wanted to make of my life.

My son has found his focus. Grades may not come as easy for him as they did for me, but he's about 10 years ahead of me at that age. I didn't find my focus until my late 20's.

Can ya tell I'm proud? Of course, I still need to turn him into a gamer like his old man ;)

I'm Getting That Itch

You know the itch. It's the one that tells you it's been too damn long since you've rolled the (virtual in my case) dice. I don't think I've played in the monthly C&C game via FG2 since June... It could be longer, as I know I had to miss a session.

I'm going to start looking for a weeknite EST game I think to supplement it. Weekly or twice a month... Weekends are rough to work gaming into these days.

I'm not too concerned with the system or the genre... a good group makes gold from most anything.

I'll post an update if I should find anything. Wish me luck ;)


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