We cruised into a second episode for our Beyond The Supernatural role playing game. It was a fun week, even if I struggled with move forward with my character. I made one spectacularly bad roll and earned a new nickname behind the scenes. I am now Mr. 114, however briefly.
If you’re into checking out the game, we’re live on Twitch when we play and then the videos get posted up to the YouTube channel. You can check out the latest episode here:
The Plymouth Meeting Meeting – The Ether Network
A few days ago I posted about how great it felt to be gearing up to be a player in a Dungeons and Dragons game again. It was a really cool feeling I haven’t had for quite some time.
About that game… turns out that less than half of us really *know* 5th Edition rules. I was digging into the PHB and working hard at catching up when there was a choice made. That choice was to switch to a different game that others had a level of comfort with. We were assured this was not a bait and switch, but a temporary move to avoid losing the momentum our game had picked up.
Suddenly I spun about and landed in a supernatural horror game set in the modern day, albeit and alternate (darker if you can believe that) version of today’s world. The twist on this game for me? We live streamed the game while we were playing. We’re on a Twitch channel. When the games are finished, they live on Twitch for a while and then are moved over to a YouTube channel. It was a new and fun thing. IF you’re at all interested, hop on over and check out the video:
I feel like I’m taking a small cue from Jack Skellington. My jaded and tired self is getting a fresh look. I’m doing something I haven’t done in a very long time, and I’m excited about it. Probably sounds odd given how much I talk about my hobbies here, but stick with me on this.
I’m going to play Dungeons & Dragons.
Yes, you read that correctly, but perhaps you didn’t understand. I’m playing Dungeons & Dragons. I’m not talking about it, writing about it, world building or lining up NPCs and monsters for the grinder. I’m not plotting, planning or otherwise looking at the machinations of evildoers in the game world at large. I’m going to be a player. I’m actually excited about it ~ and that’s refreshing! I haven’t been an active player in a campaign for probably 20 years. I’ve spent the vast majority of that time running games and teaching new players.
I was invited (totally weaseled my way in) to join a private and exclusive game. It consists of seasoned, experienced gamers (old guys). It may shock you to know that I’m not even the person that’s been playing D&D for the longest among the group. I may be like 3rd in line (holy shit are we old). I’m not sure about that as I don’t know a couple of the players yet – but there’s a LOT of years gathering around this virtual table. The person running the game is a story teller that consistently makes me think while hitting me with turns of phrase that just lodge in my lexicon and don’t leave. I’ve gotten some details on the game world and it looks like this is going to be crazy good.
Here’s the other really fun thing about this. The game is going to be 5e. That’s right, I’m going to have to up my game and move into 5th edition.
I haven’t had the disposable income to spend on D&D the way I might have wanted to over the past couple of years (crap, I guess I mean decades). I have enough source books here to continue to play any version up to D&D 3.5. I skipped 4th because it was an unholy abomination and then when 5th came out I just couldn’t give up the time and treasure to dig in the way I would have once upon a time.
I popped over to a local shop (support your local game store!) and picked up a 5e players handbook.
Yeah, the part about the treasure? Not kidding. The freaking thing cost $50. ONE BOOK! There’s a commentary to be made here about the amount of pure privilege that is expressed in the cost of picking up the materials to play this game. I would not have seen that in days gone by (clearly didn’t slow me down as I have dozens of these books from past editions – I can reach more than 40 game manuals from this seat). I am going to have to pick apart the costs, diversity and other related issues at another time. There’s a list of things to unpack and give some real thought to in there.
Now that I have said book in hand, I’m doing another thing I haven’t done since ages long gone – I’m sitting and reading the Players Handbook. From the start. I read the intro material and the basic explanations. It seemed fitting since this is a system that is close to what I have known for many years, but is changed in subtle and distracting ways. Different methods for generating ability scores. Touching on Advantage / Disadvantage rolls (something I’ve not seen or heard of before). Specific notes about rounding down, even if the resulting fraction is more than .5 (it’s a game that’s defying math, not glorifying it with the THACO! What is this world coming to?).
I’m sure that as I go I’ll have more to say about my adventure of digging into 5th edition. Now, off to create my character!
I had a lot of fun with this particular video. I hope you get the chance to listen and check out how you end up as a professional dungeon master!
Art and it’s influence on Dungeons & Dragons for me – It’s fantastic to sit and talk about all the parts that have kept me on board with this hobby for all these years. You can check out the video here:
My notes on it all ~
Art has always been an important part of the D&D experience. Even from the earliest days when some of the production was created (clearly) using a typewriter and blurry copies there were sketches. I am a super visual person. In fact, the entirety of my day job right now is creating three dimensional representations of building designs. Design, drawing, art, aesthetic considerations are the core of what I do.
I have always been drawn to, and absolutely love the visuals of this amazing and wide ranging fantasy game. It is a constant source of inspiration to me, even now, in my current game and world building. I back very, very few Kickstarter campaigns, but when I saw that there was one about the art of D&D I went as high as I could afford on it right away. It matters that much to me. IF you have the chance, go out and grab a copy or watch via your streaming service the film “Eye of the Beholder – The Art of Dungeons & Dragons”. I Highly recommend this film.
What are my top ten art pieces from D&D? That was both a simple and a massively complex question all in the same breath. I can see them in my head. I remember the feeling when I first saw them. I have many of them collected up in their original book covers, box art, and magazines. I have a handful of prints from conventions that are from product production runs showing the art without the text added in. I’m not a hardcore collector, but I can say without question this art surrounds me almost every day in my home.
The real question is where to start?
#1 – Sketchy Art. I do not in any way want this to sound like I’m trying to be down on these pictures at all. Quite the opposite. I found them inspirational simply because they looked like they could be achieved to me. One example (there are many) is this cartoon from Dragon Magazine. It’s funny and it’s clearly hand drawn. I looked at pictures like that in my gaming materials and thought, “I can do this too”. So I started drawing and creating trying to match the cool, funny, fantastic pictures I saw in the gaming materials – and even got some published!
This piece was part of an actual book of cartoons published by my middle school. I think I was 11 at the time it was published. Little did I know how hooked I’d be on that feeling.
#2 – Cartoons. Particularly in the AD&D 1st edition books. Black and white single line drawings with text below. They were fantasy art AND they cracked me up. Anyone that played then will know them. I can say, “… or it’s a +2 back scratcher” and you’ll know exactly what cartoon I mean.
#3 – Emirikol the Chaotic. Staying in 1st edition, in the DMG there were full and half page art pieces that were just fantastic. One of my favorites was this crazy wizard riding through town just blasting people. It was a snapshot of action. It was proof positive that not everyone was a good guy. It was how you set up an adventure with a single idea and give it location. It’s right there! Start at the Green Griffon and go from there! Love it.
#4 – The cover art for the AD&D 1st Ed. PHB. It told a story. It didn’t stop with a single image, it wrapped around to the back of the book too. There were monsters and maps and gems. There was a ton of ways you could dig into this picture and see what was going on here. An absolute classic.
#5 – The Wizard’s Room. Cover art for the Grenadier miniatures. Wizard’s room I think was the very first set of miniatures I ever got… although it might have been the hirelings box… hazy memory right now. I still have them all. It was art that went beyond the cover. There was actual sculpture in the box that YOU could paint. I wanted any and all that I could get from that series. If I saw the yellow edge of that box in any hobby shop I was going to see what it was and most likely try to buy it.
#6 – Draonlance Art. I could totally put any in here, but I’m going to pick just one. “The Death of Sturm” stunned me. It was character death in a novel. It was art that showed characters took damange and there were consequences to choices made. This is my favorite, but Dragonlance is a total “pick ’em” set. Larry Elmore’s art is amazing. Go look up any of it. Full stop.
#7 – Dragon Magazine issue #92. Dragon, maiden, wizard. Spells, danger and the knight wasn’t just any knight, he was a centaur. I was all over this. It was such a popular cover that Ral Partha made a miniature of that cover. I still don’t have the nerve to paint it because I’m afraid I can’t live up to that cover.
#8 – Dragon Magazine issue #86 “Stalemate”. Glowing multi-level chess warriors with some crazy lich in the background? Any cover from the “chess” series was amazing, but this one really worked for me. I tried to emulate that glowing effect in my own art (unsuccessfully) for a really long time. (I didn’t realize how many amazing covers this artist did, nor how much I really admire his art. Check out this stuff here: Dragon Covers )
#9 – Al Quadim (I can’t figure out the name of the painting). I’m picking this piece as a representative of the whole line. This was a limited run, not an ongoing set of world building pieces. It had an exotic look and the bonus of laying out (via the Secretes of the Lamp supplement) the fabled City of Brass as shown on the 1st ed. DMG. There was so much to love here. I wish I could remember how I came to lay hands on a packet of promotional art – but these pieces have been in my collection since the very early 90s and they are fantastic.
#10 – Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana: A Visual History. I suspect that some people will consider this “cheating” as many consider two dimensional paintings to be “art” but I disagree. This magnificent book is over four hundred pages of glory. My lovely wife got me the special edition box set with extra art included. It covers everything I’ve talked about here and so much more. There are pictures showing the entire line of handbooks from the earliest all the way up to 5th edition. There are old print ads, module maps and photos from the earliest days. I am happy this was made and delighted that I was able to get my hands on one.
There is so much art that ten pieces really can’t cover it all. Art and D&D are intertwined at the very core of what the game is. Imagination with a little something to spark it. Nudge your brain with a bit of a sketch or blow it away with some of the masterful works of these dedicated artists. I’m amazed at the variety of art that exists out there now and I intend to keep looking for it for the foreseeable future.
I am delighted to share another video where I get to chat with Jon about D&D. This time we’re covering the top 5 novels that are fuel for your imagination – inspiring to your game. It was a fun conversation. I really look forward to our next chance to chat.
IF you don’t have the 50 minutes or so to watch, or if you’re at all interested I have put the notes I made up before we shot the video below here:
Top 5 fantasy books to read for inspiration (and why…)
I thought this was a great subject for a lot of reasons. First and foremost, reading anything is important. The further you reach, the greater the inspiration you’ll achieve. Reading a fantasy novel is what got me started along the path toward playing D&D.
Reading fantasy is a great way to pick up ideas, stretch your characters, expand your game world, learn new things about the real world AND sharing what you’ve read with others is a great way to connect with friends. There’s a lot of good that comes from digging into a book.
Why five? Because if we didn’t put a limit on this, the list would be boundless. There are hundreds of fantasy titles out there. You absolutely can find something you want to read. It will definitely help your game, but we don’t want to turn this into a book-cast.
This was not an easy list to compile. Not for lack of choices, but the shear number of things to pick through!
I’m going to eliminate 2 series right off the bat.
First – The Hobbit (and by association the LOTR trilogy). This is a tried and true “go to” for fantasy. It’s the starting point for so much that I don’t know how to take a fresh look at it. IF by some chance you’ve never read any Tolkien, it’s the basis for a huge amount of what we’re talking about.
Second – I’m not going to pander here. Any novel by our esteemed host is great inspiration for fantasy AND I absolutely recommend Blood and Iron for a setting that is not a traditional pseudo medieval fantasy look. I just think that “advertising” wasn’t necessarily the right way to go.
So – top 5 to read for inspiration – and why!
#1 – Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed. (DAW books, 2012)
This is a great book. Above and beyond that, the inspiration part is in the use of a non-traditional hero character, a middle-eastern background, a murder mystery AND considerations of religion (like we talked about in our last visit).
If you’re doing an adventure involving genies, shifting sands, flying carpets, anything along those lines this is a book you need to get!
#2 – The Misenchanted Sword by Lawrence Watt Evans (DEL REY 1985)
Empires at war. Wizards, warriors, miscast spells and curses. IF you want to see the sort of variety you can have with some of the traditional characters in a D&D setting this is a great one. This is great if you want to teach your players to be careful what they ask for!
#3 – Thieves World edited by Robert Asprin (ACE 1978)
Adventures featuring a party of sneaks, rouges, assassins and other double dealing sorts can be a huge amount of fun. The thieves’ world series is shared world. It’s the same setting with shared characters over a series of short stories. There is a lot to be gleaned from these pages AND there are stories by some of the fantasy greats in there (Poul Anderson, Joe Haldeman, Robert Asprin…)
#4 – His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik (DEL REY 2006)
Dragons as weapons. Aerial combat. Navy ships. Kingdoms at war. This series really gives a lot of reasons to love it. Yes, it is outside the “traditional” swords and horses time frame. I don’t like to have pistols or cannons or modern weaponry mixed with my D&D campaign, but this book has a lot to get the creative juices flowing. Absolutely worth the read, even if you’re not using it for D&D.
#5 – The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson (TOR 2010)
Massive, immersive, epic fantasy. Knights, wars, magic and myths all mixed together in a fat, meaty book. Ballpark 1200 pages. This has rich, detailed views into a fantasy world that any gamer or game master should be reading (and there’s a lot to read!) Sanderson’s style is easy to read and the pages really melt away – do not let the size of the book intimidate you!
Because so many of you have heard me lament all the free time I have on my hands (Ha!) I went and got into something else.
My buddy Jon has a YouTube channel and produces a show about Dungeons and Dragons called “Attacks of Opportunity”. Guess who he was kind enough to allow to be a guest on the show?
That’s right – I’m stepping out of my comfort zone and speaking very publicly about my lifetime hobby. I’m a gamer and have been for a long time. Dungeons and Dragons has been my game of choice as long as I can remember. I even remember talking my grandfather into playing at some point when I was a kid. I had passion.
Turns out, I still have that passion it has just been tempered over the years.
I’m really glad that I got the chance to be part of the production. It was a tough subject to start with (as mentioned in the video) but it was one that frequently needs attention. I have a lot of ideas on stuff to talk about when it comes to gaming and D&D particularly. I’m hoping to have a chance to be part of the channel again.
Here’s the video:
What sort of topic would you like to talk about? Is there a question that’s been hanging around out there that you wanted somebody to address? I’d like to hear it!
This post could have also been titled, The past, exclusion, anachronism and genre. It’s a conversation that has come up more than once with others and in more than one context, so I thought I’d try to lay out some thoughts to get them in order here.
The past and exclusion:
I’ve been involved in genre stuff for a long time. OK, a long time for me but not long enough for others. Even as somebody who’s supposed to be the perfect person to ‘fit in’ at 50, straight and white, I find that I still don’t fit within certain groups in the science fiction landscape. This came up again after the most recent Hugo ceremony where a famous author apparently made a speech that excluded wide swaths of folks and made a bunch more feel angry about how it was all presented. The term “microaggression” came up. For that I defer to somebody much more in the know – an author I would recommend you read when you get a chance! See his post about said microaggressions here.
That feeling, that nagging tiny comment that seems to slide off the chosen group but digs directly into your subconscious is something I deal with frequently. That probably sounds a bit odd, but it’s true. I often feel as though I’m just outside “the group” or that I’m part of the group in question, but only in my particular slice of it and don’t get into where everyone else is.
The microaggression part is in reference to science fiction authors. It is an odd club and one that has for a long time had some twisted form of gatekeeper. This is not the only place where I’ve felt as if I am the outsider. Running conventions has always been on that list too. Fandom in general if I’m being honest about it. That’s where the anachronism part comes in.
Anachronism:
There are a lot of times when I think I have landed just a decade or two later than I was supposed to. I seem to be interested in things that were really big, but really big in the past (recent or otherwise). The fanzine is an example of that. In the 70s and 80s the fanzine held a vital place in the genre landscape. Connections were made, thoughts were shared, and in some cases careers were launched. I’ve helped out with a fanzine for two decades now, but find that ours started about two decades too late for that “control group”. Even when I have reached out to those groups I’ve gotten no reply. WE were here long ago ~ you “newbie” are unwelcome here. It’s rarely said directly, but the feeling is certainly there. It’s something that truly bothers me about a genre that’s supposed to be so progressive (hint – it’s totally NOT).
That lead to another discussion about older works in science fiction. Do you really need to read the works of the people given grand master status? Should you pick up and push through something that was written thirty years before you were born? Maybe. Maybe not. Does your familiarity with these works, chosen by folks that believe they control who’s in and who’s out, matter? Other authors have taken on this topic and put forth decent opinions about it. I tend to like this take on the subject, but I don’t think it fully expresses where I am.
Genre:
I frequently enjoy any number of those old works. Reading the words of Ray Bradbury were amazing to me when I was a kid. He was truly gifted. His prose is smooth, evocative and moving. Sneaking out of the house to go to the local carnival is not a thing that any child I know today will relate to. Tattoos are not seen in quite the same context as when “Illustrated Man” was written. I like to dig into the history and see where so many amazing ideas came from. It gives context to so many things, as any study of history will… but that’s just it, they’re history. They are not entirely irrelevant, but their relevance is limited. Do they have the tug of nostalgia or the faint whiff of ‘this was big‘, of course they do. They were big and important or nobody would remember them. Movie makers have dug into many of those old works and adapted them to great success. None of them have had the cultural impact of a certain boy wizard, but even his influence has already started to change and fade. Things grow and change. It happens.
It has happened with gaming. My dearest lifetime hobby has undergone a vast change in the forty years that I have been playing it. Dungeons and Dragons is not what it used to be. Guess what? It shouldn’t be! If it had been static all this time it would have been relegated to the dust bin a long time ago. It has grown and changed and become something that looks a lot like what I have always loved, but is something new. Should I scoff or brush away people that don’t remember what it was like to have to poke chits out of a piece of cardboard because polyhedral dice were not a thing when I started? They haven’t “paid their dues” … that’s an amazing amount of bullshit all in a few simple words. Thing is, it’s an easy feeling to get. It’s easy to be resentful of people that didn’t go through challenges and to be protective of what you endured pain for.
The simplest answer is no. Whatever my feelings about genre fiction or role playing games might be, they should never be a limiting factor of how others enjoy them. Being the curmudgeonly old bastard yelling about kids and lawns is the fastest way to ensure that what you love dies. IF you’re driving people away from your hobby because they “don’t fit in”, first check your bias and privilege and second, you’re directly complicit in said death. Science fiction is supposed to be about the future. Fantasy gaming is supposed to involve your imagination and dreams. If you can’t see the future or evoke your imagination and are mired in the past, perhaps it’s best if you step aside. The best response, as far as I can tell, when somebody likes something new and shiny (that is entirely a remake of something from way back when particularly) is to say something like, “Oh, really? If you like that, I bet you’ll love this…”. The most important part of that whole statement being a welcoming and social attitude. Helping folks find more of what they love by aiming them at the things you’ve found that you love can be a fantastic way to make a personal connection and the absolute best way to get what you love to live on for a long time to come. I want science fiction and role playing games to be around for a long time to come. I hope I can share some history with you as we go.
This review was originally published in Watch The Skies – October 2019 issue.
The Bodhana Group is a nonprofit organization that advocates the use of tabletop gaming as a directed therapeutic and clinical practice that can benefit personal growth as well as enhance social and educational services to individuals and families. Over the weekend of October 11 through 13th they also ran their annual convention “Save Against Fear”. IF you’re in the Central Pennsylvania area and enjoy playing games, I would highly recommend putting this event on your calendar.
This year was the ninth year for the event and the third time I had attended. I was not alone. The con this year brought in about 450 people from all across the area and nearby states. The convention took over a large space in a local mall and used it all. There were literally dozens of games running at any given time all weekend long. Role playing games, computer simulation games, board games, card games – even beta test games. There were at least six game design groups set up and showing off their latest creations. Massive miniatures displays and games took up the rear section of the game floor covering everything from the Civil War to Star Wars. The miniatures on display were painted in myriad colors and stood out against all sorts of terrain. Some folks took the opportunity to learn how to paint the minis and add spectacular bases to them. In short, if you like to game this was the place to be.
Registration was right up front. It was fast, clearly marked and a breeze to get through. In fact, all the aspects of the convention were super smooth. There was a bake sale if you needed a snack. Vendors took over a section of the floor and brought a wide variety of items in for sale, from art to books to the next set of dice that you clearly need. The game designers had a lot of interesting things to play test and just have plain fun with.
The single biggest part of the con was the game library. It’s massive. It was overwhelming. When I say those thing it feels a bit like hyperbole, but there were hundreds of games to chose from. The games were all laid out along a huge set of tables and roughly divided into sections based on how long it would take to play the game. If you can name the game, I’d wager it was there. I know there are some skeptics out there but when I saw Gnip Gnop, Payday, and Canasta next to the Mork and Mindy board game I began to have trouble choosing what to play. If there’s any criticism of the con it would be that. The game selection was too much if you were even a tiny bit unsure what to play. The best part would be the fine folks working all the tables. All the people working were gamers and fans of the work they do. They were happy to come up with a recommendation based on what you were thinking and even an explanation of how to play if somebody in your crowd didn’t know how to play.
The convention had easy parking, easy access via the mall and was just down from the food court. The staff was fantastic, the games and programs were smooth as could be. I know I’m missing some of the things that were going on (Oh yeah! There were raffles and a silent auction too) but I think that’s what’s going to recommend this con the most. There was a ton to do all weekend long. If you’re in the area next October I would highly recommend you make your way there. I know I’m looking forward to it already.
I spent the weekend at a local game convention with my daughter. It was time well spent. The folks at the Bodhana Group really put together an excellent weekend. This year was the second time in their location at the Harrisburg Mall. It was also the second time I got to attend the convention.
Great stuff – it’s local to me, affordable and filled with activity. Added bonus, I was only an attendee. I wasn’t part of the team putting the show on, I wasn’t working or speaking or any of the other things that I’ve come to associate with conventions. I was simply attending and enjoying the time with my daughter.
More Great Stuff – we had the chance to put in for door prizes each day, could pick up tasty tasty treats from the bake sale and got the chance to participate in the “play to win” promotion. Play to win is a super cool idea. Game companies donated a number of games to the convention. You could check out a game and play it. When you did, put your name on the list and you’re entered for a chance to win. Call them out on social media and get an additional chance to win. We came home with two FREE games this weekend just because we took the time to sign them out and test drive them. Combined with the door prize I won I think the winning balanced out what we paid to attend this year.
Even more great stuff – it really was a fantastic little convention. The people attending were nice and friendly. We got to play games with new folks and both learn and teach new games. We got to meet and talk to game designers. Test drove 3 different games that are still in development. Couldn’t pick them up as they’re still in development, but signed up to be notified when the games come out so we can get them then. All kinds of fun.
Really, the only down side to the whole thing involves the location. Being at the mall is excellent. It’s a ton of free parking, easy access and short walk to the food court when we chose to break for something to eat. Close to the house and easy to get to any time. The space itself is one of the large stores that hasn’t been rented out yet. It’s not pretty. It is as unfinished and worn out as you might think. The temperature was all sorts of out of control. It got hot enough in there to make a number of folks not feel well on Saturday afternoon – and I don’t know if the HVAC system was something the con could control or not, but it was a real issue. Also – just on a personal level – I HATED the chairs that were provided. To be fair, they DID provide chairs and tables for around 400 people. NOt easy. I still hated them.
If you’re in the area I highly recommend looking this convention up next year. They’ve already announced it – and as soon as registration goes up I’m signing up to go again!