A Vote for DND Kids is a Vote for Gaming

The DND Kids webcomic is looking for some "up votes" on 9Gag.com.

The comic is by +Uri Kurlianchik and Jamie Keys and it is some of the finest (and most biting) gaming humor I've seen. The fact that it's simple two panel layouts is awesome to me, as the joke either works or it's dead on arrival. No long set ups.

So, what's the actual comic that you're being asked to vote on?

Sad but true. Funny too.

I cast my vote. Let's see what kinda havoc the Taverners can raise ;)

Even if you don't want to vote (or do vote but want more), you can catch the rest of the DND Kids stuff here.

I'm Leaking... I Have an Upcoming Project with...

Damn it!

I'm not allowed to give details just yet, but I am allowed to say that I'm working on an "official project with Frog God Games."

We just need to nail down the legalese.

I'm so stoked!

Soon I'll be able to explain more. Oh, and probably ask for input and feedback from The Tavern's Community.

Does this make me an Auxiliary Frog?

Right. Back to work. Fuck. Glowing...

Update: Tenkar's Tavern Opens on Facebook - Ask and Ye Shall Enter - And Stuff

What a day.

The Tenkar's Tavern Community over on Facebook is currently at 140 members. Pretty much all in the last day and a half. Simply amazing. You all rock. I expect it will be a fairly active community and it will be a vetting place for some post topics and themes.

I've been laid up on the couch most of the day will a rebellious stomach, so no work for me tonight. If I had been at work, I'm sure today's events in California would have been on everyone's lips.

+Dyson Logos drew this with The Tavern in mind earlier (no ill intent - I'm sure it relates to some pushback I've received for my more active use of Facebook) but it has a further meaning for me today. I'd like to send this out to ISIS and their sympathizers:

I'm getting really close to swapping out my off duty 5 shot 38 for my duty 9mm 15 + 1 with some extra mags. That's a whole 'nother non gaming discussion.

Thank You All for Keeping it Civil - Yesterday Was a Busy Day at The Tavern

Two posts yesterday.

Fifty-four comments on those posts thus far, including twenty-nine on the polarizing "OGL and Fair Use" rant.

You've all kept it civil.

I really appreciate it.

With the exception of the occasional piece of spam that slips through, I moderate a handful of comments a year, if that. This year, I've had to moderate exactly zero.

Without you, readers and commenters and guest posters, there would be no Tavern.

On that note, a piece of entertaining spam:

ALL THANKS TO OLUMBA SPELLCASTER 

i was married for 6 years and we were living happily together until he traveled to France for a business trip, where he met this girl and since then he ma treat me and the kids and love her only. Any time my husband comes back from work,he said he does not want to see me and my kids ever again and he drove us out of the house.he was always going to France to see the other woman.i moved my kids to my mother's house out of frustration. we were not well treated due to the fact that my mother remarried,i was so confused that i started searching for solution from every angle until one fateful day, i was browsing with my computer when i saw a testimony about olumba spell caster testimonies shared on the internet by a lady and it impressed me so much that i decided to give it a try. At first i was scared but when i thought of what myself and my kids were passing through i contacted him via mail at olumbaspellcaster@gmail.com and he told me to stay calm for just 24 hours that my husband will come back to me and to my greatest surprise i received a call from my husband on the second day asking after the kids and i called Dr olumba and he said your problems are solved my child. so that was how i got my family back together after our long break up. please i want everyone on this forum to join me to say a huge thanks to Dr olumba and i will also advice for any one with this similar problem or any kind of problem to contact him. via email olumbaspellcaster@ notmyfuckingemail.com he is the solution to all your problems and predicaments in life. He is the best in casting of spell of the following: 1) If you want your ex back. (2) if you always have bad dreams. (3) You want to be promoted in your office. (4) You want women/men to run after you. (5) If you want a child. (6) You want to be rich. (7) You want to tie your husband/wife to be yours forever. (8) If you need financial assistance. (9) How you been scammed and you want to recover you lost money. (10)if you want to stop your divorce. (11)if you want to divorce your husband. (12)if you want your wishes to be granted. (13) Pregnancy spell to conceive baby (14)Guarantee you win the troubling court cases & divorce no matter how what stage (15)Stop your marriage or relationship from breaking apart,(16)If you have HIV AIDS, E.T.C once again the email address is olumbaspellcaster@notmyfuckingemail.com or phone +99nevermind contact him immediately

Missed a Day of Posting for the First Time in Over Two Years - Starting New Count ;)

Just got home a few minutes after midnite.

The delay was not work related. Or maybe it was. Rach and I met a recently retire Detective at our local pub and hit it off like long lost friends.

Folks in common. Lost brothers in arms in common. Even the same escape from city life in common.

Reinforced the idea that I'm leaving when I hit 20 years and not a day longer.

Heck, even delayed a rant I've had brewing all day - My Podcast Pet Peeves.

I guess it will have to wait till tomorrow.

1208 AM - so close ;)

Damn but it's Cold This Morning - Gaming Thoughts Have Fled

It was 9 degrees when I started up my car this morning. It was mid 60s this past Sunday.

I had some gaming thoughts bouncing around my head as I showered, but the moment the cold hit me they failed their morale roll and fled.

Hell, my fingers are STILL cold.

Last night's chat session went really well and will only get better as we work on a regular day and time for this. I say WE, as +Vincent Florio is going to co-host this with me. We are leaning towards Wednesday nights, 830 - 1000 PM Eastern. Great time to brainstorm some topics for the Brainstorm Podcast (hint hint ;)

Damn, I think I need some tea to shed this chill.

I'll Be Lurking in the Tavern's Chat Room for 830 to 930 Tonight, Eastern Time

I'm going to try and spend an hour or so catching up on communications tonight - emails, G+ messages, Facebook - it's amazing what can build up when your time isn't your own for the better part of a month.

So, as I work my way through emails and the like I'll be lurking in The Tavern's spanking new chat room. I plan on setting time aside once a week on a regular schedule to lurk in the chat room (and of course I'll pop in as time allows throughout the day.)

I'm thinking of running an AD&D 2e Trivia game next Friday, the 16th, via said chat room. Not written in stone yet, as it is the evening before a holiday weekend here in the States, but I should know by this weekend.

This weekend will also see the continuation of OSR Christmas. It's still cold, it's still Christmas season as far as I'm concerned.

As an aside, we now have 25 members in The Tavern's Common Room, the new forum that was set up earlier this week. Very cool :)

What you see to the left are the yearly post totals here at Tenkar's Tavern going back to back to 2009 (2008 had one post, and that was just to secure the the blog over at Blogger.)

As you can see there was a significant ramp up of posts thru 2012 / 2013, with a noticeable drop off in 2014. Still an insanely huge number, but a drop off of nearly 200 post a year is significant. Considering the type of year 2014 was for me and my family, I'm actually surprised I surpassed 900.

One thing I do pride myself on is not missing a day of posting in 2014 or 2013. It could go back to 2012, but that would require me to do some heavy scanning of a couple of thousand posts. Ain't happening anytime soon ;)

One thing I might do for 2015 is put a couple of potential posts "in the hopper" so to speak. Life does not politely ask when it's a good time to intrude, and having stuff ready to go would be nice. I've never done it before, but it seems like it would make sense.

What does 2015 hold for The Tavern? Damned if I know. Mini reviews, Kickstarter highlights, gaming thoughts and observations, some gaming content - probably some Tunnels & Trolls goodness if deluxe T&T ever releases, OSR articles, some 5e thoughts if I ever get the time to read the core books, and whatever news, drama and loopiness that effects this hobby of ours.

That in and of itself is the main reason I don't write posts in advance - how do you write about a vibrant and constantly growing hobby and it's community and then put it on a back burner for weeks or months? I've seen that with some gaming podcasts - they talk about events in gaming that are current when the episode was recorded, but it's all over and done when finally released.

I'm still open to guest posters, as The Tavern is a community first and foremost. I'd like to get the community more involved with the blog and I'm certainly open to suggestions. I'd add a forum, but they tend to either be wastelands without activity or battlefields of personalities.

So, goodbye 2014 and hello 2015! May you be a kinder mistress going forward ;)

2014 - A Tavern Keeper's Review of the Past Year

2014 certainly had it's highs and lows. From a personal POV, losing both one of my Detectives to cancer and the family dog to a brain tumor early in 2014 didn't give much of a high note. It really did start out as a crappy year. It hasn't ended much better with the assassinations of two of my fellow officers just days before Christmas. So on that level, 2014 has been a fairly crappy year.

On the gaming front, 2014 has been fairly good. 5e has finally released and appears playable to my eyes (but not to the point that I'd put aside S&W or DCC.) On the Kickstarter front, Dwimmermount finally released in a usable format. Deluxe Tunnels & Trolls has not. Metamorphosis Alpha, the deluxe Reprint funded in April of 2014 and arrived in December. The Metamorphosis Alpha Roleplaying Game funded in April of 2012 and still hasn't shipped. Then again, there were all those Kickstarters that entertained the crap out of us. Cardboard gaming tables for the win (go to the link - watch the video - it never gets old for me ;)

Podcast-wise, Tenkar & the Badger is awaiting a reboot while The Brainstorm is about to release it's 27th episode on January 2. Yes, I started the year listening to podcasts and ended the year co-hosting two of them.

I really appreciate everyone's patience, especially as the 12 Days of OSR Christmas slowly slip into 2015. We will get the next 4 days out. Trust me. It's just that 2014 was "that kind of a year" from beginning to end.

Thank you for reading this small blog. Those that listen to the podcasts, thank you for listening. Thank you for being part of the community. I really do appreciate it :)

Wasting Time with Frozen Food Reviews on Youtube? There Must be Some RPG reviews Floating Around...

No game this week, so instead of doing useful things, I'm watching episodes of Freezer Burns on my computer as my wife does some online certification for her job on her computer.

Does anyone know of  a series of YouTube videos that spend about 5 minutes or so per episode reviewing RPGs?

I find that my attention span for YouTube videos is in the 5 to 10 minutes mark - anything longer than that and my attention wanders.

Crap, I need to get back to my own series of OSR reviews, don't I?

Alright, no rest for the wicked. Let me work on some OSR for the Lapsed Gamer next...

Of Dachshund Remolding Projects and Other Vacation Activities

So, my vacation is coming to a close in a few days. While I've accomplished much of what was needed around the house in the terms of projects and chores, I've been distracted in a large part from accomplishing what I had planned on the blog side.

Days 7 and 8 of OSR Christmas are closed to comments. Days 6, 7 and 8 gifts will be announced tonight. One uber post. Lots of gifts in the mix.

As an aide, Danke the Dachshund Puppy tried a little remodeling on Christmas Eve, as she was unable to participate in the festivities downstairs. I wonder what the paper was from when i opened the door later that night, fearing one of my gaming books had been turned into a chew toy, but alas, that was not to be the case. Instead, the little darling went to work n some wallpaper. Sigh.

My awesome wife did very well in the gifting department with me BTW. An excellenthigh end Keurig, which will never brew a cup of coffee but makes some awesome teas (about the only thing that comes close to a good beer in my eyes is a good tea.) I also got Ticket to Ride European version and the Rivals of Catan card game.

Haven't even looked at the latest Dragon Age game that came for my PS4 about 2 weeks ago, and as the PS Network is offline right now due to hacking, I guess the point is moot ;)

Sometimes You Get the Perfect Gift - I May Need to buy These in Bulk :)

My sister did very well in her gift giving this year, as you can see above ;)

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah and simply joyous times to all those that frequent The Tavern.

Many blessing upon you and your families.

Catching Up Aint Hard to Do - I Hope - Mythoard, Day 4 Winners, Emails, Messages and more!

I'm FINALLY finding time to do catch up, here at The Tavern, my emails, my G+ messages, my projects around the house and more. It didn't hurt that today is day 5 after little Danke's surgery, and her long snout seems to peek out from any Cone of Shame you put on here. Part of my duties have been to ensure she licks her wound as little as possible. Notice I didn't say prevent - IO gave up on that last night ;)

(picture "borrowed" from +Tony T ;)

I got my Mythoard envelope on Saturday. I'm also one of those Lott Crate fans. Not idea why. haven't found a use for anything but I still find it cool. Kinda like a monthly Christmas present for adults, and in general, you know you won't be getting socks. Mythoard has no socks - it has gaming goodness. Where / when do I sign up for this to arrive monthly? Never mind, it's at the Mythoard website. Dec 29th for open sign ups. Dec 26th for those that did the "beta." Woot! Christmas once a month is in my grasp!

I just, as in minutes ago, finally forwarded the addresses for the Day 4 gift receivers. Still waiting on darthbrooks. Yeah, it's been that kind of a month for me. I'll be forwarding Day 5 info tonight.

I can't even begin to tell you how many emails and G+ messages I need to catch up on as it's beyond my ability to count. Lots. If you feel I've been ignoring you, I haven't. Playing catch up today and tomorrow. Hopefully I get there.

Tonight we record more of The Brainstorm Podcast.

Busy busy. Just made room for the cat's pan near my desk and out of the living room. Ashley is happy, my wife will be thrilled. Myself? Less so ;)

Hitting the Reset Button - Current Tavern Plans for Christmas Week

The events of this past weekend really took the wind out of my sails. Time to hit the reset button and see where we are at.

OSR Christmas Day 6 should get posted tonight. Perhaps his afternoon. We'll see what state I'm in after I share some adult beverages with my bartender who is an NYPD vet from the 70's and 80's, when police across the US were being ambushed and killed. Knowing history is always the best way to avoid repeating it.

I'll finish off forwarding the gift receivers info from Days 4 and 5 later today.

As for the rest of the week?

Gaming posts, pure and simple.

More OSR for the Lapsed Gamer, more reviews, more thoughts - quite simply, a whole lot of more.

Keep on keeping on. It's what we do.

Soon We Will be Back on Pace - OSR Christmas, OSR For the Lapsed Gamer and More

Left for work at 530 AM. It's a bit after 8PM and I just got home. It's been that kind of a month. I've fallen behind on lots of planned stuff, but I'm on vacation for a week starting whenever I get home tomorrow, so yes, there will be some catching up to do.

There should be a bunch of gifts for OSR Christmas going up tomorrow night. I'm thinking PRINT and INTERNATIONAL shipping. That is, of course, assuming I get home at a reasonable time. If not, Saturday morning. I expect the pace of the posts to pick up.

I'll be getting back to the OSR for the Lapsed Gamer series of posts this weekend too. I've been away for it for too long, so time to pick up where we left off.

Other stuff too. I got's plans, I just need some down time to do them ;)

Radio Rivendell - Fantasy Music Streamed for Free

I'm going to tip my hat to +Glen Hallstrom . Last night, before we recorded the latest episodes of The Brainstorm Podcast, Glenn mentioned Radio Rivendell. I didn't think much of it at the time, but after we were done for the night I decided to give it a listen.

Very good background music to listen to while surfing the web, blogging or just reading thr latest RPG purchase. Much of it feels Celtic in nature.

All it needs is an android app...

Give it a listen and tell me what you think.

How I Lost a Day and Other Quirks of Christmas Time

So, last week, due to various events here in NYC (primarily protests) I seem to have lost a day. I started work on Thursday at 6 AM and didn't head back home until nearly noon on Friday. Amazing how much that screws with your internal clock.

My weekend was basically a wash too.

What does all this mean? I'm still playing catchup on this end. I need to forward the info for the Day 3 gift receivers on to their respective gift givers. That makes thirteen matches I need to make and send

I need to actually open my Lulu hardcover box of goodness that has been sitting in the living room since Friday.

I probably should flip through the 5e DMG that arrived yesterday, and then there's the small package of goodness from +Lloyd Metcalf that I haven't even unbagged yet.

At least the overtime from last week will take care of paying for the recent gaming purchases and more ;)

We haven't even mentioned the chores around the house that need to get addressed, have we?

What does that mean? OSR Christmas Day 4 will stay open for comments through tomorrow as I play catch up on my end. Besides, the awesome bundles deserve at least 150 comments :)

Does that mean that the Twelve Days of OSR Christmas is going to run through the end of the month and not rap up before Christmas as planned? Shit, when does anything go as planned?

Tavern Doors to Reopen Tomorrow

I worked 30 hrs straight from yesterday until today. I napped for about 2 hrs this afternoon and expect to fully crash shortly.

I know that The Tavern is known for consistent posting and my plan is to obviously continue with that, conditions permitting.

Tomorrow expect updates for the 2014 OSR Christmas (as well as emails out to those providing PDF gifts from Day 1), list of Day 2 gift receivers, photos of my amazing Frog God Games grab bag and other bits and pieces.

As for now - I do believe sleep calls...

Happy Caturday! Wait, It's Turkey Day? Damn!

Yep, it's Thanksgiving Day here in the States, which means way too much food to be eaten later. Woot!

Followed up by turkey driven coma. Fun times.

In between the two I will be updating with more Black Fridays Sales posts and the every expanding bag of OSR Christmas Gifting Goodness.

Enjoy your day and God bless :)

Puppy Pickup Was Successful ;)

Danke, our miniature long haired dachshund, was brought home yesterday afternoon, and is already being chased and chasing my parents' cats.

She's only loud when she's put in here crate.

I suspect I have a second model for the gaming book pictures ;)