Non-Game Related Music Video

I was just knocked on my ass this morning when I accidentally ran across this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVOi5Hdbd7Q

My band used to use their second album to check our stage sound set-up before a set.

Not bad for a bunch of old guys. :)

Hope you enjoy

FOR EVERYONE SAYING GAMING IS DEAD...

I offer this little piece that basically says what I have been saying all year:

http://www.austin360.com/recreation/dungeons-dragons-grows-up-1698450.html?page=2&viewAsSinglePage=true

Thanks to Sea of Stars for turning me onto this:

http://seaofstarsrpg.wordpress.com/2011/09/03/wandering-the-web-12/

DEEP DELVE – THE RPG- PROGRESS REPORT

Work progresses toward the release of DEEP DELVE - THE RPG.

I'm hoping to have the 5th alpha build up soon.

Track the progress of the system at:

http://classicrealmsofadventure.blogspot.com/

The Latest Churnings

So nothing is getting posted here because I have had my head buried in the PROJECT THAT IS TRYING TO KILL ME and after finally deciding I needed a break from MATH I got a jump start after reading the following post over at The Mule Abides:

First, how do you make roleplaying games something that anyone can pick up and play for as much or as little time as they like – for example, at a party where people who aren’t already gamers are walking up and looking to experience this new thing without having to commit their whole evening to something they’re not sure they’ll be into?

http://muleabides.wordpress.com/2011/08/19/some-interesting-questions-for-rpgs-and-the-osr/

So after reading some other blog entries commenting on this and generally thinking that D&D is what was to be played and how it wouldn't work.

And they were right. The method described is not workable with D&D. But there is more to getting people interested in rpgs than just D&D and the manners and methods we are accustomed to in our world of play.

But you can play a game where there is zero prep and players can come and go from the table without disturbing play.

So I decided to write it. Oh nooooooooooo...I don't already have enough irons in the fire I need to drop in another one in cause nothing says luvin' like 1,000 irons in the oven.

I believe I have lost my mind.

Anyway, let nothing spoil the parade.

I started a separate blog for projects OTHER than FORSAKEN SOULS (MUST FINISH IT! MUST FINISH IT!) and thought what better way to start off the new blog.

Classic Realms of Adventure will play host to several projects including the Junior edition of FORSAKEN SOULS (thought the parents might appreciate a little lighter tone for little Johnny than trying to explain a post-apocalyptic god-less setting to an 8 year old-then again they might dig it) and now it will also host 2 lite rules projects - DROP & DELVE RPG and THE ZONE.

DDRPG will be a freebie (I just want to see how it goes and I've never done one of those 24 hour challenges so I want to see if I can use this to break through to getting some real work done again on FS) and I'm considering releasing it as a standard pdf and as a series of Pocket Mods to make it easy to tote to parties and such.

If you like the idea of the Pocket Mods please chime in. I count those as yes votes :)

And after doing some research and noting that we have had a system released just about every week this year I'm backing up a bit and trying a different approach with my Basic Edition of FORSAKEN SOULS. This new presentation method is based on ideas I have been reading here in the blogosphere that I thought sounded solid and exciting at the same time.

I too want to bring more players to the table but I want to do it the right way. Don't just make Gerber pablum to get everybody to the table. Make something exciting and relevant. Make something honest. I think that is the single must important thing that a publisher brings to the table. To make the best product they possibly can for the public and don't try to sell something that it's not and make them feel like chumps. The big boys have done this and chased nearly everyone away from their tables.

Ok, back to the silicon mines...

A Word About The Eternal Keep Meeting Place.

I pushed this little guy out front in the event that someone had trouble with G+ or any other Blogger problems recently.

But I just wanted to say please feel free to visit and post whenever you like and tell others. I made it for folks who were tired of the fighting on other forums and the inevitable bias that always seems to take place.

And if your favorite isn't listed or you have an idea for a new board to add please let me know. Just consider it a little backwaters tavern where you can put the sword and shield down for a moment and relax.

And fair warning to any who test that tranquility. I'm a Libra, the scales are my sign and I will not tolerate bashing about on other folks.

In other words be nice :)

As always it can be found at:

http://the-eternal-keep-meeting-place.1048279.n5.nabble.com/

(PLEASE NOTE-The policy above does not discourage spirited conversation. Just when we resort to name calling or some such thing it is just childish.)

News on Dinky Page

I listed a handy little web site provider the other day that is having to work out a problem from someone abusing the service. Hopefully they will get this cleared up soon.

SOME GAME TOOLS FOR ONLINE PLAYERS

I have been using a couple things I haven't seen others mention who seem to be having a good time playing on Google+ and thought I would share them.

Free Disposable Webpage
http://www.dinkypage.com/

I thought this would be helpful. Set up a webpage in seconds that never goes away. Very simple (bookmark your link so you can find your way back)

Free Corkboard
http://corkboard.me/simple

I've been using this for some time with the ability to post pics to it as well for maps, monsters, items, etc it really has proven quite handy. Again, bookmark your link so you can find your way back.

Just a few simple yet powerful tools.

Enjoy!

DRAFTS-NOT JUST FOR THE NFL ANYMORE

So I'm looking through my drafts-good god!

I notice most are dated from the time of the house damaging winds and contractor period.

I got a lots of finishing up and scheduling to do! :)

Time to get back on track...snow snow snow...hey, I can dream can't I?

A Request To The Blog Community-PLEASE READ

Hi all. Yes, I know...I have been slack at posting but something has come up that I feel I must address:

PLEASE STOP DELETING YOUR BLOGS!

It seems like everyday now I visit another blog only to find it on the verge of being deleted or sometimes they are just gone.

As someone who has archived everything I can from the early days I can say I'm not the only person who felt like preserving our gaming heritage in those fragile, acid based paper fanzines or amateur publications. Axe & Hammer is another valuable resource for Gygax and Greyhawk material (do not feel left out if I don't mention every site-I just helped them to recover the blog after a complete wipe by unknown forces recently so it is fresh in my mind).

But I feel we face an even greater loss in the modern age when someone deletes their blog and it vanishes forever. Now, I understand if somehow you are paying out of pocket for the space or domain or any other cost. Times are bad and every penny counts.

But when I see the word 'blogspot' I know generally you are paying roughly the same amount to host your blog as myself...$0.

I know we don't always have time to post a comment or even follow every blog, but believe me when I say how important your work and the time you have invested into your blog is to myself and countless others.

I would implore those who about to close up shop just leave the blog 'as is' with a final post if you like about not continuing to update it. I will even start a new blog just to catalog those that have concluded so that others may research the work and benefit like I have from the knowledge and the, dare I say it, love we have for such an arcane past time. In a day and age when a new video game console comes out and replaces its predecessor every few years and computer game fans are realizing how much is being lost in their culture we have the ability to maintain ours by simply doing nothing at all.

I understand if for some reason you feel like you have to take it down, but if there is no other reason than just moving on please leave the blog so that others may still enjoy the benefits of your knowledge.

What good is the "Links of Wisdom' wiki if all the content is gone?

Thank you for taking the time to read this and if you know someone who is about to delete their blog I would appreciate you directing them to this post.

JOHN CARTER: WARLORD OF MARS Early Years

It's taken me a few days to take this moment in and be able to type this.

A Princess of Mars was the first novel I ever read. It would set the tone for my reading habits for many years.

I was 8.

It would also color my world of what was possible, that as a species humans were capable of great things, and be contrasted by images of villages and bodies burning in Vietnam on television.

I didn't like television very much then. I preferred the company of my books. The confusion that a child feels is one of a deep and lasting nature. Children don't generally understand things like that at such a young age. I only knew that somehow, someway, as we reached out into space and landed on the moon that we were on a way to a great adventure and knowing then that Mars could never be what was written about in the books that somewhere we would find another Barsoom.

My only question was would we save it or would we burn it...

I have no delusions about this upcoming film version. Nothing can ever compare to the imagination of a child and the images that formed in the minds eye. But it's the thought that counts and for that I say thank you to all those who will have brought this special part of my childhood to the big screen.

Presented for those who have a bond with this type of literature is my small contribution to the re-examination of these worlds of wonder.

JOHN CARTER: WARLORD OF MARS Early Years

Forum For All

I had been working on this for other purposes but have now added a sub-forum for bloggers to stay in touch during these hectic times with Blogger / Google, etc.

Scroll down to Blog Announcements.

Remember to back up your blog to your hard drive and if something happens drop in to the forum here:

The Eternal Keep Meeting Place

This is the same link listed at the top of Eternal Keep.

If you have any problems posting let me know. I too may be looking into moving services to Tumblr or somewhere else. I have not experienced any other problems with the service but I am hearing and seeing a lot of folks who are.

More later.

Stay in touch! :)

Pulp Fiction - The Golden Age of Sci-Fi, Fantasy & Adventure-Documentary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzlbRjmWEQ8

This was a nice find for a Saturday afternoon. This is a 52 minute version of what appears to be an even longer doc (noted at the bottom of the description on the page at Youtube).

FROM THE DESCRIPTION:

Discover the true behind the scenes history of Pulp Fiction and the Golden age of Sci Fi, Fantasy and Adventure, in this amazing fact filled documentary.

American Library Association - Booklist Review:
Pulp fiction (named for the low-quality paper on which the stories were printed) blossomed in the early twentieth century. Audiences (beaten down after WWI and the Great Depression) sought tales with strong heroes, exciting adventures, and alien encounters. This entertaining program traces the golden years of pulps, beginning in the 1920s, by highlighting numerous writers (including Earl Stanley Gardner and Edgar Rice Burroughs who turned out hundreds of stories. In interviews, popular and prolific authors Ray Bradbury and Frederik Pohl recall nominal pay, short deadlines, and insatiable demand for copy. Facing competition from movies, paperback books, and television, the demand for pulp fiction dwindled in the 1950s. However, many works have been recently reprinted for readers seeking escapist fiction. Great fun for pop-culture and genre-fiction fans. — Candace Smith, Booklist

Featuring
* Tim Powers
* Kevin J. Anderson
* Otto Penzler
* Ray Bradbury
* Frederik Pohl
* Marc Zicree

Enjoy!

READ THIS IF YOU USE BLOGGER

And we just thought Blogger had been giving us hell lately.

READ THESE TWO ARTICLES:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/web/07/06/google.picasa.blogger.mashable/index.html?hpt=hp_bn7

http://mashable.com/2011/07/06/private-google-plus-profiles-retire/

It's so nice to have to find this out from a 3rd party with no notice from Google on this at all.

We may need to set up a meet point somewhere to find each other. It's very unclear whether this means we have to be a part of Google + but I have no intentions of standing for that.

I would also suggest emailing Google for clarification on this as I plan to do.

Modern Gaming-Part the 2nd

First I would like to make it clear that I am not a game nazi who believes there is only one true way or one true game. I have said on many occasions that I believe our strength lies in the IDIC (Yeah, I know, cheesy Vulcan bit so sue me).

And no Sarah, I'm not mad at you or making too many assumptions. It is something I have heard time and again. Let's forget the old stuff and get on with the new stuff.

Well, when the new stuff sux let's not.

Should children drink Bacardi Rum? Or should Bacardi just tone down the liquor, maybe just put water in the bottle. This is what happened to D&D a long time ago and has fostered nothing but ill will ever since. D&D was an adult game made by adults for adults. The day it became a toy for children was the beginning of the end:

Commentary: Dragon Magzine #52, Moldvay Basic D&D Boxed set

http://swordandshieldrpg.blogspot.com/2011/07/commentary-dragon-magzine-52-moldvay.html

Issue #52 of Dragon Magazine features articles from Tom Moldvay AND Dr. J. Eric Holmes looking at the basic boxed sets for D&D. They are very interesting to me for any number of reasons. As the Moldvay boxed set is where I started, I will start with Moldvay's article on the 2nd edition D&D Basic boxed set. , I think my historian background requires me to simply let you read the article for yourself first prior to adding any commentary. I will follow this post later with a commentary.

"...the market has changed since the earlier rules edition. The first D&D market was made up of game buffs and college students. Today, the majority of D&D players are high-school and junior-high students. The new rules edition takes into account the younger readership in its style of writing."

The beginning of the end.(And no, I don't think that children should be banned from gaming-I'm writing a system specifically for children with notes, background and references for parents to become involved and better understand what I believe is a very important part of child growth-make believe and pretend activities-that they rarely seem to get these days with passive entertainment modes).

When TSR caved to pressure groups the face of gaming was changed forever. After '89 it has been a fractured world at best.

I don't think gaming is for everyone. I don't think D&D is for everyone. I don't feel the urge to have to pull more people in to satisfy a bottom line. I think there is a natural balance in gaming that sets itself. The more you try to make a product for the masses the less relevant the product becomes.

The Neo post to me symbolizes what is wrong with the industry and I understand where they are coming from completely. 'PLEASE let me sell you something' becomes WotC's battle cry.

Even though your comment was mild in temper it says the same thing that made me quit most forums:

"This is likely to get me into trouble, but I’ll say it anyway. One of the biggest positives and negatives of the D&D community is that we care too much. We love the game, we love sharing the game, but we want to share our own version of the game. We will repeat old stereotypes, gather around our “the right way to play” banners, and drive off most of the uninitiated. Honestly, it sucks sometimes.

Personally, what I wish sometimes is that we could drop D&D into the hands of the uninitiated devoid of the 70s and 80s context that surrounds the game."

-Sarah Darkmagic
http://www.neogrognard.com/article/374/essential#comments

See, taking out the 70's and 80's context you take away the game. Call this new beast "Forever Combat" or "Ultimate Tactical Combat Simulator" and run with it. Build your own history.

But Dungeons & Dragons has a history. I know because I helped in my small way to make it. I went through a lot of crap for this game and the thought of kicking it to the curb just rubs me wrong. You have people burning crap in your yard yelling you are doing the work of Satan and end up closing a shop because people are tired of having to run the gauntlet of freaks scaring their kids and you will see things a little different.

I think it is best summed up with a post from WotC's own forums:

Plea to Hasbro: Please just release the D&D franchise:

"Sell the D&D franchise to someone who cares."

http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/26682845/Plea_to_Hasbro:_Please_just_release_the_DD_franchise?pg=1

Ouch.

And I think the numbers tell the story. Paizo is now pulling ahead, D&D has went from 24 million players to 1.5 million almost overnight and now the word is they will announce the next atrocity this year at GenCon. Mike Mearls claims in his interview with The Escapist they didn't set out to run off all the players but ever since the release of 3.5 that seems like all they have accomplished.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/writersroom/8115-Complete-Mike-Mearls-D-D-4th-Edition-Essentials-Interview

I think it's Nintendo time for the Wizards...either build a Wii this time or you are out of he game.

Around About

Ok, I can't take it anymore. Time has drained around here lately to the point of being a chrono-desert. But I have to dip my hand into what is left of that muddy little stream and bring you these:

The World Of Lia-DragonQuest Rules Archive-Limks

For fans this is a cool drink. It's been sitting on my desktop for days waiting to be posted...and this is just the meaty links page.

Dungeon Adventures

A slow starter but deserving of love just for this bit alone:

http://tormacksdungeon.blogspot.com/2011/06/few-pictures-and-maps.html

For those who have been enjoying the paleo-gaming articles lately (Like the Ryth Chronicles piece) there is some great stuff here circa '84.

Ghola Scale

A chronicle of projects restoring and sculpting scale fantasy and science fiction miniatures

I've never quite seen one like this before.

Avalon Hill's Magic Realm

A resource site for the game. Ton o' goodness.

Small But Vicious Dog Steals Hearts, Humps Leg

Ok, I'm not even going near a description for this one...just go forth weirdly...