tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22961042834522100182024-03-18T04:48:40.804-05:00Uncle Matt's Blogswordsandwizardry.blogspot.comMatt Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07678557558458924177noreply@blogger.comBlogger414125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-69386327003143878782018-12-08T10:17:00.000-06:002018-12-08T10:17:26.160-06:00Iain Lovecraft, 3D Sculptor<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
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 doing 3D printing then this post probably isn't going to be terribly interesting.<br />
Iain's one of the sculptors who distributes his 3D work through Kickstarters, like Fat Dragon Games, Hobgoblin 3D, and many others of the small companies that are rising to fill this particular niche in the tabletop aspect of games.<br />
I won't go into the details of his Kickstarter -- if you're interested in seeing a bit of a summary and some discussion, I actually screen-shared to the Kickstarter site during the conversation and went through it item by item with my questions and comments on it. So that's a good resource, but mainly I want to share some interesting thoughts that got raised during the conversation.<br />
3D Printing Effect on Traditional Market<br />
First, it really looks to me like 3D printing is going to cause a serious problem for companies that mold and ship miniatures, like Games Workshop and Reaper. Frankly, I think Games Workshop is facing an existential crisis with 3D printing. Reaper, I think, will survive (and possibly thrive) because the Bones plastic still has a low enough price point to be a good product for seeing-and-buying at a game store. Metal casting as a primary source of miniatures is going to be dead in 10 years even though the detail on metal is sharper than either Bone plastic or 3D printing. I do, however, think that the companies (hurting right now) who produce highly-unusual metal casts are actually going to get a bit of a bump upward -- because their combination of "unusual" and "sharp detail" still remains an alternative niche to 3D printing, and at least some of the people who currently buy "ordinary" metal minis will stick with metal after it becomes price-prohibitive for the non-specialty stuff. I think we'll see more Kickstarters of unusual metal miniatures.<br />
Art Drives Imagery<br />
The other thing that I found really interesting in this conversation was Iain's point that the sculpting of 3D files is inherently an artistic process, and that unusual representations can drive the gaming imagination into places one wouldn't usually go. For example, his Meso-American city pieces and his Rome city pieces offer an alternative to the Tudor-type terrain that utterly dominates most tabletop representations of fantasy worlds. That part of the conversation, which is toward the very end of the video, got into a lot more nuance than I can really type in a reasonable period of time, so if it sounds interesting you'd have to go watch it take place in real-time. My fingers only have so much typing in them. One of my take-aways from that part of the discussion, though, was that with cheap 3D printing of terrain, it's definitely possible that the omnipresent Tudor look of tabletop worlds could very well start to be replaced by much more interesting and unusual mental settings and imagery.<br />
Of course, his current Kickstarter's terrain section is ... Tudor. Okay, so there's the factor of what people want, too. Nevertheless, his older sets - Rome and Jungle Fever - are available on his site, which I'll link at the bottom of the post. And here's the bottom of the post, how convenient!<br />
Link to Uncle Matt's RPG Studio Channel home page: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwQ6cSVDLklOoQ8VSMsxp5Q" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwQ6cSVDLklOoQ8VSMsxp5Q</a><br />
Link to the video with Iain: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XN-j3_SY_0" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XN-j3_SY_0</a><br />
Link to Iain's current Kickstarter: <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1612773283/riders-of-the-storm-elves-dwarfs-miniatures-and-dr" target="_blank">https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1612773283/riders-of-the-storm-elves-dwarfs-miniatures-and-dr</a><br />
Link to Iain's web-store for the past projects. (Note - I have purchased from Iain and received my files, so this isn't a blind link): <a href="https://i-lovecraft.com/" target="_blank">https://i-lovecraft.com/</a>Matt Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07678557558458924177noreply@blogger.com150tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-50402448118692547292018-12-02T14:14:00.000-06:002018-12-02T14:14:02.008-06:00Please, I don't do paid advertisements - don't ask.A little note since people have asked me about this. My video channel's <b>not</b> an advertising platform, so I'm not available for hire if you want to promote a Kickstarter. I don't take advertising money because that's not what my channel's about. On the other hand, as long as I know you or like what you're doing, I do in fact like to do interviews when people are mid-Kickstarter. Why? Because the moment of a Kickstarter is when peoples' heads are truly in the game, when there's a tangible expression of their passion for gaming, and when they're making actual contact with a wider fan-base than they normally encounter. The conversations have a lot more to "grab on" to, so to speak, because there's a focus, the Kickstarter, that represents real decisions made, with consequences for a product good or bad.<br />
<br />
The same circumstances are also there when someone releases a free resource, and I'm even more interested in hearing about when you've just set one of your ideas loose in the world. If anyone wants to use me as a publicity source on a free product, I'm probably going to be happy to help spread the word. (As long as you're willing to do an interview, because that's how the show works).<br />
<br />
To contact me about that, I'm: mythmere at yahoo [dot] com.<br />
<br />
The channel, if people don't know what I'm referring to, is Uncle Matt's RPG Studio, at: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwQ6cSVDLklOoQ8VSMsxp5Q" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwQ6cSVDLklOoQ8VSMsxp5Q</a>Matt Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07678557558458924177noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-45541150965710684962018-11-30T08:42:00.001-06:002018-11-30T08:42:59.249-06:00Tegel Manor Panel Discussion 11-30-2018Last night I ran the most uncomfortable video panel of my life - not because of the content but because of the sneezing. When they tell you to wear a dust mask while cleaning enclosed areas with a lot of dust? Yeah, listen to them. I spent half the video off-screen and muted while having sneezing attacks.<br />
Link to the Tegel Manor video where I am half incapacitated: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLmOaPb1U7Q">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLmOaPb1U7Q</a><br />
The topic of the video was Tegel Manor, mainly focusing on the Frog God expansion of it that's an ongoing Kickstarter right now. I do have a small financial interest in this Kickstarter since I'm a partner in Frog God, but as you'll see if you watch the video, it's not a commercial. What I was aiming for was a set of anecdotal snapshots of the history of Tegel Manor in 1977 followed by the development of the Kickstarter from the deal to the contract and then into the art, writing, cartography, original D&D version, 5e re-structuring to keep the original feel in the 5e rules, and the overall management of the project by Zach Glazar.<br />
Link to the Kickstarter page: <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/froggodgames/tegel-manor-returns/description" target="_blank">https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/froggodgames/tegel-manor-returns/description</a><br />
Best quote of the night: "I came in through the appendix." - Edwin Nagy<br />
Frog God's Tegel Manor follows the massive collapse of the Judges Guild City State of the Invincible Overlord, and while Tegel isn't a white knight project, the Judges Guild share of the proceeds is going entirely to the rescue of the City State Kickstarter. This is important to lots of fans who backed CSIO, and it was one of our requirements in structuring the new version of Tegel.<br />
In the chat room, one of the big issues for people was the question of whether we were changing any parts of the original manor. The answer was no, but there is additional detail in those parts of the manor.<br />
One area we only touched on briefly was the cartography of the new Tegel's presentation, because the cartographer, Alyssa Faden, wasn't available for the panel. To get an idea of the size and scope of the cartography, there are some examples on the project's Kickstarter page. It will be usable for 28mm scale battlemaps for those who want to use minis, and anyone familiar with the scale of the original map should at this point have pretty wide eyes at that statement. For those who play on a VTT, the map is also going to be available in the layers that allow hiding details from player view.<br />
This isn't a review of the project because (a) I'm not personally a fan of haunted-house adventures, although I did enjoy Tegel Manor when I played it in 1981 or so, and (b) as I mentioned, I have a financial interest in it, however slight. But this video, I think, will be very interesting for those who want to see how a Kickstarter proceeds from soup to nuts.<br />
My next video interview is going to be with Iain Lovecraft, who designs 3D-printable terrain. As with many of my interviews, he is also running a Kickstarter, so I'll note that I don't accept money for doing videos -- but it's easy for me to spot interesting people when a Kickstarter is launched, and it gives me a hook into what drives the gaming life of my interviewees since a Kickstarter is almost by definition a tangible expression of their core interests. If you're into 3D printing, the interview with Iain should be interesting to watch. He has done a couple of cityscapes in the past (Rome and a Meso-American type of city) and this Kickstarter involves some cool stuff. My favorite part is a funky-Gothic-Tudor set of buildings along a bridge. There are also elven tree-building (not my cup of tea) and some nice looking miniatures that look to be of pretty good quality.<br />
Iain's Kickstarter page: <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1612773283/riders-of-the-storm-elves-dwarfs-miniatures-and-dr" target="_blank">https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1612773283/riders-of-the-storm-elves-dwarfs-miniatures-and-dr</a><br />
Until then, no matter what kind of D&D you play, Imagine the Hell out of it!<br />
MattMatt Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07678557558458924177noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-33771781430635974172018-01-06T09:19:00.001-06:002018-01-06T09:19:33.984-06:00Growing the OSR if you want: part 2So, based on the various realizations I talked about in the last post, what are the things I'm trying to do in 2018 that will boost the signal of the OSR and provide more material for us to use? As I mentioned in the last post, these two goals are highly linked, because a rising tide lifts all boats. More signal tends to create more material.<br />
<br />
My plan basically has three parts to it, addressing a mix of the issues with each point. (Those points being a missing generation, different communication patterns in that missing generation, the community-building power of face-to-face contact whether by video, hangout, tabletops, or conventions, and then lastly that rising tide lifting all boats.)<br />
<br />
Part 1 of the plan was to create a website that pulls together and links the various media sources of the OSR: blogs, youtube, facebook, G+, podcasts, and others. Those aren't currently shown in the same place anywhere as an OSR smorgasbord because social media doesn't link them in any useful way. That website is now up and running as Old School Gamer Radio (<a href="http://oldschoolgamerradio.com/">OldSchoolGamerRadio.com</a>). As of today, we are still adding content and fine-tuning the functionality, but it's looking good for becoming the type of resource that will do what it's supposed to do.<br />
<br />
Part 2 of the plan was to create an OSR youtube channel that does a few different things. First is simply to create that face-to-face feeling of community. I have been "interviewing" lots of people from the OSR, ranging from DIY stars like Matt Jackson up to publishers like Jim Raggi and bloggers like Tenkar. I'm including artists, cartographers, and a wide range of people. I have gotten LOTS of comments that these videos offer a much greater sense of connection to the community than a blog format (that's not a criticism of blogs, which are better at content, just the fact that video offers something more powerful at a <i>different primary goal</i>). The youtube channel is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwQ6cSVDLklOoQ8VSMsxp5Q" target="_blank">Uncle Matt's D&D Studio</a>, and since it's been established longer than the actual Old School Gamer Radio site, it has pretty good depth of content already.<br />
<br />
Part 3 of the plan was to get an actual example of old-school play into the mainstream of that "lost generation," since old school gaming tends to require "show," not "tell." So I am running an online Swords & Wizardry game called <i>Swords of Jordoba</i>, pointing out that it's the original version of D&D, and airing the episodes on the channel. The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySFgf6ormq4&t=4s" target="_blank">first episode</a> is mission and marching order, so it might not be as engaging as the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFJymVHuQhs&t=4s" target="_blank">second episode</a>, which is where the actual dungeoneering begins. Watching online games is a much more common pastime in the youtube generation than it is for us older farts. The game itself is still in an evolving technological phase, and I'm calling both of those episodes "pilots," but it should be up to full quality very shortly.<br />
<br />
Funding is an issue for these projects, although this post is a summary, not a plea for cash. For those interested, the patreon for the website (still a very disorganized patreon presentation with no rewards or other whistles and bells) is at <a href="https://www.patreon.com/mattfinch" target="_blank">patreon/mattfinch</a>, and the better-looking one for the Swords of Jordoba game is at <a href="https://www.patreon.com/Jordoba" target="_blank">patreon/Jordoba</a>. Contributions are welcome, of course, but both these projects are still in formative stages.<br />
<br />
Next post on this topic will be about what those who enjoy the project of growing the OSR can do to move that goal forward.Matt Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07678557558458924177noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-50385126538816599892018-01-05T10:52:00.000-06:002018-01-05T10:52:53.868-06:00Growing OSR if you wantFirst off, the reason I say "If you want" in the title is because growing a hobby is a separate hobby, not a moral imperative for anyone in the hobby. Ultimately the whole point of the OSR is to improve the resources of a group playing at the table, not to grow for no reason.<br />
So I'm talking here to the specific niche of the OSR that's got an independent goal and enjoyment in increasing the scope of the OSR as opposed to being an OSR player, which is the ultimate point of the whole thing.<br />
<br />
As some people know and others don't, I have a set of resolutions to make 2018 the year of the OSR. Given the age of the OSR (ten years or more) it might seem like that's an odd objective. There's no particular reason to expect that there'd be any sort of development that's fundamental to the hobby in this year. We've had major watershed events like Gary's death and the release of 4e and 5e, but there's nothing like that, at least nothing visible right now, that's expected to happen this year from the outside. So why pick 2018?<br />
Basically, it's an "out of nowhere" goal that I'm basing almost entirely on some of the observations I made in 2017 about ways the OSR can improve, rather than any sort of sense that we've got any critical problems. The OSR is chugging along nicely, although one of the themes of the last couple of years has been with it's interaction with the newly old-schoolish nature of the commercial edition of D&D.<br />
The observations that I've made (and many of you will say "duh) are the following:<br />
1) we are largely missing a middle generation, although the 30 year olds are extremely active. (see, e.g., Questing Beast).<br />
2) That middle generation doesn't connect with the internet in the same way as our "older" generation. They follow twitter, they look things up on youtube, and in consequence our flagship communication vehicles of blogs and G+ tend to be areas they don't access due to spending time in other media.<br />
3) Regardless of the above, we tend to have less face-to-face visual contact with each other. While for many people that's actually more comfortable than direct contact, I think the rising popularity of conventions indicates that we are all made happier by feeling more personally a part of a community.<br />
4) In our hobby, based on looking at phases over the last ten or twelve years, I think it's clear that in all respects a rising tide lifts all boats. The more DIY content that's shared, the more people feel comfortable sharing their own. Similarly, the more that we have community events, the more that people feel a part of a community. Again, being part of a community is irrelevant to many, since they're focused only on game-benefits, the emails and comments I've gotten since starting the oldschool gamer radio website and my Uncle Matt's D&D Studio youtube channel have contained a huge number of comments that the contacts (especially the interviews) make people happier, and the reason for it is feeling more of a community spirit and/or a sense of less isolation in the hobby.<br />
<br />
Next blog post I'm aiming at the idea of a general "what can we do, and what are the ways of springboarding off these observations. Those who have been following my videos already have a strong sense of what I'm trying to do, but I know from long experience that the assumption people hang on your every word is utterly incorrect. But it's the completely understandable viewpoint of a blogger from behind the blog-master screen.<br />
So, more later.Matt Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07678557558458924177noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-21593250669641104872017-10-02T10:54:00.001-05:002017-10-02T10:54:19.330-05:00OSR October Spring<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwQ6cSVDLklOoQ8VSMsxp5Q" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga-do7wRFnbPBrxCqbWuszMYikh_BWBz5owRUjYG3DupDY1hfdYeYz5DJ7dXAf330N4I1rwustcoMNPrGii9r8uB34trDWBZsxNU9dC9PSRgKWd-xLD4hOhwNkKgrACyFtLH8Obt1Crj0/s320/logo+for+KS+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I had an idea about how to "reboot" tension in the OSR G+ community, and then I scaled it back to just me and what I was going to do. Since I made some notes on the idea in general, here's what they are. Also, link to the video where I discuss it is below:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://youtu.be/j7n_VTP4Y1Y" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/j7n_VTP4Y1Y</a></div>
<br />
The idea was to do two things: a personal set of objectives for communication, and a set of objectives for content.<br />
<br />
The communication objectives were (are):<br />
1) Reward content with comments<br />
2) Give only constructive criticism, and only if asked for.<br />
3) Avoid jumping into any disputes.<br />
<br />
The content objectives followed one rule: don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Post what you're working on already, not something designed specifically for posting, and don't worry about whether it's perfect.<br />
<br />
The ideas I had for that were:<br />
Pictures:<br />
picture of gaming in progress<br />
terrain picture<br />
piece of art/sketch, good or not<br />
a piece of art you like (Here I mean sharing a cool piece not your own)<br />
a selfie of you and your favorite D&D thing. I have to dig out the plush bulette<br />
<br />
Game Content: Not polished, but including as possibilities:<br />
map<br />
monster<br />
trap<br />
puzzle<br />
spell<br />
magic item<br />
deity<br />
adventure hook<br />
DM tip<br />
player tip<br />
<br />
Community content:<br />
Mention and link to some favorite posters (not a top-ten type list, though)<br />
positive review on a favored piece of work, even if from the far past<br />
collaborate on written content with a sketch-person.<br />
<br />
Overall focus is on fun value, not production value.<br />
<br />
Just my thoughts. :)Matt Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07678557558458924177noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-40156652518326534572016-07-14T14:26:00.000-05:002016-07-14T14:26:12.042-05:00In the corner pocket...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnbt3SYubID54We63XbjrusndS-NKLHE2TRbRBeH-nJOHYzMInEkVbl3kCJ4q_LtxW4Pp9A0Zrz0lcrKTFyv2P3_HOC62MNs_W7DIKbzNIoNlGT5tbr3nvzcJ7bvO7_de-k8HAAwK6c4c/s1600/cargo+shorts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnbt3SYubID54We63XbjrusndS-NKLHE2TRbRBeH-nJOHYzMInEkVbl3kCJ4q_LtxW4Pp9A0Zrz0lcrKTFyv2P3_HOC62MNs_W7DIKbzNIoNlGT5tbr3nvzcJ7bvO7_de-k8HAAwK6c4c/s320/cargo+shorts.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I think it shows how tired people are of political wrangling that the absolute most-active post on my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/matt.finch.14855" target="_blank">facebook page</a> is about cargo shorts. If you're going to wrangle, make it about Wranglers. Fashion criticism of yours truly brought to you in Technicolor by my much-more-stylish spouse.Matt Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07678557558458924177noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-51779831629932644592016-07-10T09:12:00.000-05:002016-07-10T09:12:03.173-05:00A Fun Old-School Discussion with Moe TousignantStarting on July 7, I had an interesting discussion about the structure of a couple of retro-clones with Moe Tousignant, who is something of a games expert, running lots and lots of game nights in Canada, and thus extremely familiar with the general structure of games, how they work, and what makes some fun while others are less well-designed for fun.<br />
<br />
Moe had started reading the Swords & Wizardry pdf, and had the following comment on facebook as he was reading:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"<span><span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span>I'm finding it hard to see what makes this any different from the other games of its type. Every OSR game reads very similar," and then, later: "</span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span>Found some bits I did like, multi-classing and dual classing seemed to be handled well. Alignment seems to be based on Mike </span><a class="profileLink" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/hovercard.php?id=68010155724&extragetparams=%7B%22hc_location%22%3A%22ufi%22%7D" dir="ltr" href="https://www.facebook.com/michaelmoorcock/?hc_location=ufi" target="_blank">Michael Moorcock</a><span>
vs. Tolkien (or wherever D&D got their alignment system). I dig the
few extra abilities Fighters get. At least I'm finally starting to see
some differences."</span></span></span></span></span></blockquote>
<br />
<span><span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span>I happened to be in that sort of mood, so I jumped on the thread with some thoughts. Granted, I created something of a wall of text, but I came up with the following: </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span><span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span><span><span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span><span>Hi
Moe, you're absolutely right that the system itself is extraordinarily
similar to other OSR games, just because as a retro-clone it tries to
reproduce a system that was very similar to the other D&D versions
that came out prior to 3d edition. All th</span></span><span><span><span>e
retro-clones are highly similar, and then you see the sudden massive
shift in the 3E-based Pathfinder retro-clone-method. S&W is to some
degree an outlier because OD&D (the S&W source system) had more
areas that were basically gaps left for the table to rule, which is why
the S&W book has lots of areas where "there's no rule here, but here
are some of the historical ways that people ruled it." Initiative is
the biggest one of these gaps -- there wasn't an initiative system in
OD&D until one of the later supplements. What I tried to do with the
book was to (a) codify and combine supplements, (b) present the system
in a way that's more readable for people who learned to read an RPG book
using the organizational presentation used in AD&D and beyond, (c)
provide a pathway for people to begin an introductory game from what is
at a more advanced level a welter of potentially-confusing options and
gaps, and (d) offer those alternative versions of tested house-rules for
when people essentially understand the game and want to try out the
various other options. So if you're looking for what's unique in S&W
as opposed to other OSR systems, it's actually the *gaps* that are the
unique features, not so much the places where there's a firm rule.
That's where OD&D really differed from the post-OD&D systems.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span><span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span><span><span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span><span><span><span><span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span><span>Most
other retro-clones also have interesting design-backgrounds and author
intents. Labyrinth Lord, which is a clone of Moldvay Basic D&D,
tries to reproduce an approach that was (at the time) quite the opposite
of OD&D -- namely, an emphasis on a mor</span></span><span><span><span>e
elegant rule-system that was internally very complete. Still open-ended
and designed on a concept of a high level of DM fiat, but without the
need to house-rule any fundamental portions of the rules (such as
initiative). The rules of Moldvay basic, as reproduced by Labyrinth
Lord, have a much more defined outer boundary than OD&D, and it was
that outer reach where the house-ruling and the high-creativity are
supposed to kick in, based on a firm foundation of a well-defined,
elegant, clear system. In OD&D, the house-ruling and high creativity
are required at the very fundamental level of the essential rules,
which is nowadays probably considered bad game design. My "default
introductory path" through the rules, in S&W, was intended to help
people jump the gap over the vagueness of the basic rules, and then
return to that creative-point once the basic functioning of the game is
well established and people can be comfortable with the idea of options
that strike right to the core of the game's basic rules.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span><span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span><span><span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span><span><span><span><span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span><span><span><span><span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody _1n4g"><span><span>It's
these relatively subtle nuances that distinguish the clones from each
other. As playable systems, resources for one retro-clone are almost
entirely usable with another clone rule-set. As approaches to the "feel"
of a game, though, they are quite d</span></span><span><span><span>istinct
and nuanced. For those who aren't stalwart aficionados of the old
games, a discussion of retro-clones sounds as bizarre as a wine-tasting
discussion (or beer, as the case might be <span class="_lew" title="smile emoticon"><span class="emoticon emoticon_smile"></span><span class="_4mcd">:)</span></span>
). And frankly, those distinctions aren't really important at that
level of subtlety to almost anyone. The "old school" experience
generally has to do with the open-endedness of the rules, and all of
them have that common quality.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></blockquote>
Matt Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07678557558458924177noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-23786088716410676322016-07-06T08:35:00.002-05:002016-07-06T08:35:54.103-05:00Kickstarter News: City of Bard's Gate Headed for Stretch Goals<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/froggodgames/the-lost-lands-bards-gate-for-5e-pathfinder-and-sa" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/froggodgames/the-lost-lands-bards-gate-for-5e-pathfinder-and-sa" border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgldL2sMeIkRROIeDhPfW02U637GtK85irPEx260ba9CcQgXZk78EUVkZyZ6zHVBllxZJ_-GeQzrReuw0zofBVUJGlCrQwhQ6-N06IvMotKbwsmliDoJoRUks6-gy_lja9JX73tystK5lQ/s320/Map+graphic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/froggodgames/the-lost-lands-bards-gate-for-5e-pathfinder-and-sa" target="_blank">If you like fantasy cities</a>, you're probably already watching this Kickstarter, but the news of the day is that it has funded at the $70,000 level and is now headed into stretch goal territory with 60 hours left to go. It's hard to say how many of the goals it will hit, but Frog God Kickstarters tend to have a massive surge within the final 48 hours or so. At least another $10,000 will flow into this project before it finishes.<br />
<br />
The cloth map is incredible, and the book is going to be massive in the tradition of Frog God releasing one or two giant, epic books per year. This will indeed be an epic book, in full color, and while it's perfectly usable as a stand-alone city in any campaign, it's also tied in to over a decade's worth of Necromancer Games and Frog God Games adventures. Basically, it's the "City State" of the Lost Lands world setting.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/froggodgames/the-lost-lands-bards-gate-for-5e-pathfinder-and-sa" target="_blank">Very much worth taking a look</a>.Matt Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07678557558458924177noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-64292281623430064562016-07-04T21:46:00.003-05:002016-07-04T21:46:54.593-05:00The Spawning of Haskins!Chris Haskins of Frog God Games, Nord Games, and Tabletop Library is officially a dad! The baby is a healthy boy, and all of us are waiting impatiently for him to eventually join a gaming table in the footsteps of his illustrious and very tall father.<br />
<br />
So here's to wishing Chris a good night's sleep at some point in the next couple of years, if he's lucky.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://tabletoplibrary.com/?affiliates=2" target="_blank">I am putting Chris's affiliate number into this link, so if you want to buy anything from Tabletop Library today (or at any point), go through this link (not the one on the side over there)</a>, and Chris will get an extra share of the amount of your purchases. ALSO: if it's the 4th or 5th of July when you read this, remember to put in the code HAPPY-4TH so you get the 25% discount for 4th of July.<br />
<br />
I'd say it might give Mr. Haskins an extra bit of beer money, but it's all baby-formula money for a little while, Chris! <br />
<br />
Congratulations!Matt Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07678557558458924177noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-38988906084732792762016-07-02T12:16:00.001-05:002016-07-02T12:16:21.096-05:00Flashback to the Present (a new review of S&W)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://tabletoplibrary.com/products/swords-wizardry-complete-rules-0e/" target="_blank"><img alt="https://tabletoplibrary.com/products/swords-wizardry-complete-rules-0e/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM2CFEnRFyMQLIFD5Qc28LQ32D7mDZZnz_GBNt5NKijJDCCfup29tL7rB8ZerteKVyWZfC9ONVenRRcEBk3AyXYVcjK_XqDbCM3_agh0HOw2jrL5DQhV9alnXbu0hRN8BHu5bLKEODfvM/s1600/SW+Cover+thumb.jpg" /></a></div>
It has been a while since there was a review of Swords & Wizardry, since the game's several years old now, but <a href="https://tabletoplibrary.com/products/swords-wizardry-complete-rules-0e/" target="_blank">Endzeitgeist has just posted a review on the Tabletop Library site</a>. This is actually rather important, in my view, because Endzeitgeist is known as possibly the pre-eminent reviewer of Pathfinder books, not old-school rule sets. So this represents another step into the mainstream gaming audience for old school rules. Obviously, that march has been going on for quite some time, but this represents a new piece of the mainstream terrain.<br />
<br />
I've linked to the page (you might have to hit the "reviews" tab to see the review. The pdf is free, and if you haven't taken a look at these rules, I encourage you to follow Endzeitgeist's advice and do so. As he points out, this is Original D&D (as close as you can get, anyway) in a codified and re-organized format.<br />
<br />
While you're on Tabletop Library, browse around and take a look at some of the other products, too. Publishers get paid a higher percentage here than they do at the big competitor.<br />
<br />Matt Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07678557558458924177noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-44561897889466540952016-07-01T11:22:00.002-05:002016-07-01T11:22:22.605-05:00Bard's Gate Kickstarter: Final Week<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/froggodgames/the-lost-lands-bards-gate-for-5e-pathfinder-and-sa" target="_blank"><img alt="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/froggodgames/the-lost-lands-bards-gate-for-5e-pathfinder-and-sa" border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2evn5dqU27Vi26BcyL5O40zyKFdC4gOBYbly1m_Am3EMSSxCsMYTG3LzOMVrXf_IVcmWoocHD_R9Ucrg5cFVMF2nV-3aHSZXm5-K8mME_3HlyXnojHkaNReAtPGLPXpJPu7N3Wpfn_1g/s320/Map+graphic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Bard's Gate is a city of burgeoning political and mercantile power, filled with intrigue and danger. Almost every large book by Necromancer Games and Frog God Games has some sort of tie to Bard's Gate, since it's historically the "big city" of the Lost Lands campaign. <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/froggodgames/the-lost-lands-bards-gate-for-5e-pathfinder-and-sa" target="_blank">The Kickstarter is for a full-color, greatly-expanded city book</a>, and is available for Fifth Edition, Pathfinder, and (best of all) Swords & Wizardry!<br />
<br />
If you're doodling around with a Lost Lands campaign, or if you want to import a city into your own home campaign, this book is a must-have. The Kickstarter is in its final week, so <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/froggodgames/the-lost-lands-bards-gate-for-5e-pathfinder-and-sa" target="_blank">take a look now</a>!<br />
<br />Matt Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07678557558458924177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-15874415124366753222016-06-30T09:26:00.002-05:002016-06-30T09:26:21.590-05:00Two New 5e Resouces - One free, one inexpensive<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://tabletoplibrary.com/products/deep-magic-clockwork-for-5th-edition/" target="_blank"><img alt="https://tabletoplibrary.com/products/deep-magic-clockwork-for-5th-edition/" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoxB6GeKTlSPM-rFjG3OnfSUvwQOAlpn_1Uwz3rkCpU9X6YVjhy3VHQJ47-lMrBF91G9JIV_AmfJYglBcVPD2Z61cnNvdnTLhpD1NsvmBxIEWNntUsPtuvpVhjCezGUyKCpvdUSCmGsiY/s320/Deep+Magic+Clockwork-Cover-300x392.png" width="244" /></a></div>
We had a couple of new Fifth Edition products at Tabletop Library today. One is free, and one is the first in a series. The Deep Magic series is by Kobold Press, and is a serialized conversion of their Pathfinder Deep Magic book. This first part of the series, <a href="https://tabletoplibrary.com/products/deep-magic-clockwork-for-5th-edition/" target="_blank">Clockwork</a>, contains some stuff that's definitely new in terms of Fifth Edition:<br />
<ul>
<li>A Clockwork domain for clerics, featuring Improved mending, Channel Magic, and Clockwork Apotheosis</li>
<li>The Great Machine pact for warlocks, with three new invocations: cloud of cogs, heat of the furnace, and voice of the machine</li>
<li>A Clockwork Mage school of wizard magic, with new abilities
including Clockwork Savant, Clockworker’s Charm, Metal Shape, Golem
Form, and Clockwork Mastery</li>
<li>45 new and updated spells, including <em>chains of the goddess, gear barrage, hellforging, robe of shards,</em> and more!</li>
</ul>
<a href="https://tabletoplibrary.com/products/deep-magic-clockwork-for-5th-edition/" target="_blank">Clockwork is currently only $2.99 for the substantial pdf</a>, which makes it a smoking good deal if you're building unusual ideas into a 5e campaign. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://tabletoplibrary.com/vendor/rusted-iron-games/" target="_blank"><img alt="https://tabletoplibrary.com/vendor/rusted-iron-games/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBFpavvK-E2QfPzDX8dqT8YWvZOeuFUQthkOPtcN2_9XmptY09co-2947ci4lAZjIaz1vL6pQD_l-HTEwt9Jlf7JjK9YC8lbLEL6kazg2btVqAiV8u4B7SkuoBXeBI6Bf0XvzNGgBnoMs/s1600/RWI-Books-Cover-Image-232x300.jpg" /></a></div>
Our other new Product is a free one-page generator for books found in a library, published by <a href="https://tabletoplibrary.com/vendor/rusted-iron-games/" target="_blank">Rusted Iron Games</a> along with <a href="https://tabletoplibrary.com/vendor/rusted-iron-games/" target="_blank">several other free one-page resources</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />Matt Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07678557558458924177noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-592846454634907342016-06-29T11:30:00.001-05:002016-06-29T11:30:46.708-05:00Old School "Syndrome"Note: this article only really talks about old school D&D, not about other game systems, even if they date back to pre-1980. Certain parts of it can probably be applied to other games, but I don't think that the analysis necessarily translates.<br />
<br />
One of the factors involved in the Old School Renaissance (which is now pretty naissanced, to coin a phrase) has always been quite a bit of argumentation about who's "in it" and who's "out of it." At the very beginning, Rob Kuntz emphatically rejected the idea that he was in an OSR, since he'd been playing old school all along. Many people got very dogmatic about a certain set of "tests," and different "tests" were a popular topic for quite a while. Rob saw the proliferation of "tests" as being the manifesto of a "movement," and since he considered himself not to be part of a movement with exclusions, he opposed the entire idea.<br />
<br />
That may have been a correct read on that particular phase of the OSR, actually. It hit a dogmatic patch early in its self-definition, which is also the reason, I think, that RPGPundit also rebelled against the idea that the OSR had any particular value. This despite the fact that his own opinions dovetailed fairly closely with what most of the OSR people were saying.<br />
<br />
Anyway, I'm not going to even try, in this article, to propose any kind of overarching definition of the OSR, especially since it still has a variety of different expressions. However, I'd like to mention a very incisive comment by a poster named Wheggi. His comment was that old-school gaming isn't defined by any particular set of attributes: it's more like a syndrome, where if enough factors from a larger set are present in a game, it can be called old-school for lack, frankly, of a better term.<br />
<br />
I'll propose a few of these factors, but what's interesting is that some are purely historical, and others evince a system approach that stands outside of its historical context. I tend to think in terms of that ahistorical system approach as being old school, although I also have personal preferences in favor of lots of the other factors -- I just wouldn't consider those other factors to define borders on the definition. I also think that some or many of the historical-context factors can serve to make a game <b>more</b> old school than another, without necessarily making it better or worse.<br />
<br />
My own, overarching view of what old-school means is that the rules are open-ended, meaning that the players aren't constrained to particular actions on a character sheet, and that there is a great deal of interpretation, or refereeing, required on the part of the DM. This generally means that "rules-light" is a factor, but not necessarily. You can have an extensive set of rules that don't constrain the DM, they simply define player options. D&D 5e is thus in my mind considerably more old school than D&D 4e, and even 3e. As a rule-set, anyway.<br />
<br />
However, here are a few other factors, and REMEMBER I'm not saying ANY of them are independently a defining feature of old-school gaming. Most people will react to several elements with "that's not old school at all," which is my point. The thing is that all those people who reject particular elements ... will pick a DIFFERENT combinations of elements to criticize. Which makes all of them relevant, and none of them dispositive. Also, just because I say something is ahistorical doesn't mean that it's not also part of the historical context, it just means that it can be seen as an old-school principle that isn't <b>purely</b> lodged in time.<br />
<ul>
<li>The open-ended, few-rules-on-DM approach I just mentioned (purely outside historical context, it's a game-design and play-method principle)</li>
<li>Actual rules from the old days, not a retroclone or a later-produced edition (part non-historical, mostly historical context)</li>
<li>Black & white art, the printing methods used in the early time period (this I consider only to be partly historical, since it's actually something else as well, not just the way books looked in the early days of D&D, but also the way they looked during the Medieval period being presented).</li>
<li>Blue maps on graph paper (okay, that's purely based on historical context)</li>
<li>Maps are very much diagrams, with few artistic elements (partly historical-context, but also a non-historical preference for having maps that are easily read during play)</li>
<li> Gygaxian prose. (Mainly historical, but as a writing style it does have some independent, non-historical effect in terms of flavorful reading)</li>
<li>Using retro-clones in preference to newer games, even if you don't use actual original rulebooks. (In many cases this is due to the fact that retro-clones have a large audience, available and often-free pdfs, and new products coming out, so it's more of a community and convenience issue than a game-method -- I guess that's non-historical).</li>
<li>Killer DMing style. This sucks, and is one of the potential failures of an open-ended gaming style, not a defining attribute.</li>
<li>Letting the dice fall where they may. This is different from aggressive killer-DMing, and I think it fits in as a characteristic of old-school gaming as long as you realize that many, many old-school DMs don't necessarily stick to this approach all the time. Frank Mentzer is, I think, one of the group that focuses on player skill as an offset to the game's purely random element. On the other hand, I think the "dice fall where they may" is an outgrowth of the wargaming roots of the game. It's also a definable, non-historical style of play. So I'll include it as a non-historical element of old school gaming, and a good example of how not every element here is required to push a game into the "old-school" category. </li>
<li>Weapons and armor remain within historical boundaries, not reaching anime proportions. (I think that's actually a non-historical element, although it's mostly aesthetic)</li>
<li>Rocks fall, everyone dies. (Non-historical, this is simply a gaming method that takes common sense into account rather than using dice in silly situations. However, filling your adventure with this sort of lethal-but-common-sense trap approach can still fall into the killer-DM category, which is poor adventure design)</li>
<li>Zero to Hero. This is non-historical, having to do with the strength of starting characters relative to regular people. Many people in the oldest days would still start the characters at higher level than first. It provides, though, a human scale to the heroes, making the game grittier even when the game is at higher level, so it's a definite contrast to newer approaches in which the characters have a sort of super-human feel.</li>
<li>Sandbox, not railroad. This is both historical and non-historical. It's clearly a matter of design and play-style, which is independent of historical context. However, it's very much connected to the fact that during the 2e period a series of highly railroady adventures were published by TSR, and that most post-2e published adventures are also far more railroaded than what was common in the pre-2e era. This is one of the areas where 1e and 2e people tend to squabble about what's "old school."</li>
<li>Whatever edition you started with is old school. Very common psychology, obviously not actually relevant in any objective sense.</li>
<li>No diplomacy checks or other die rolls that can substitute for role-playing that sort of encounter. This is ahistorical, and I think it's a fairly major element.</li>
<li>Level tends to be more important than character attributes. This is ahistorical in the sense that it is clearly an attribute of the game's design rather than the way in which it's played. It's also probably the one feature of old-school that absolutely doesn't map onto other games than D&D, and doesn't even map onto other games existing in the late 70s.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Matt Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07678557558458924177noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-65010117846460153932016-06-24T11:15:00.002-05:002016-06-24T11:15:24.475-05:00Gamehole Con registration starts tomorrow<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlQovBT1gwaVgk9tmEp-IUKzuGIWE1zf5QYnp_m4QE72B_cdgqv-NFCn0MASieGatmLavOo1BIlde5OqDndKCRi4SUNONlv2pxhsmSJEE-PpzVuiVGapqwcsFefUUJrK5ccyn79qeedmY/s1600/gameholecon.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="79" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlQovBT1gwaVgk9tmEp-IUKzuGIWE1zf5QYnp_m4QE72B_cdgqv-NFCn0MASieGatmLavOo1BIlde5OqDndKCRi4SUNONlv2pxhsmSJEE-PpzVuiVGapqwcsFefUUJrK5ccyn79qeedmY/s320/gameholecon.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1466779361646_13886" style="color: #1f497d;"> Registration for Gamehole Con 2016 opens this Saturday, June 25 at noon CST. Gamehole is a fast-growing RPG convention in Madison, Wisconsin on November 4th-6th. Alex Kammer, the con's organizer, asked all of us special guests to spread the word about the convention's registration, so I am dutifully doing so.</span><br />
<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1466779361646_13886" style="color: #1f497d;"><br /></span>
<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1466779361646_13886" style="color: #1f497d;">Gamehole is an excellent convention, and a great place for OSR folks to meet each other and game. I met lots of cool people last year, and I was pretty psyched to be invited as a special guest this year.</span><br />
<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1466779361646_13886" style="color: #1f497d;"><br /></span>
<span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1466779361646_13886" style="color: #1f497d;">Hope to see you there!</span>Matt Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07678557558458924177noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-36766331262307628632016-06-23T19:01:00.003-05:002016-06-23T19:01:51.178-05:00OSRIC is Ten!Allan Grohe has pointed out that OSRIC is 10 years old today. Man, it seems like it was only a few weeks ago that Stuart Marshall and I released it ... with the expectation that only fifty or sixty people would ever find a use for something as weird as this "retro-clone" thing we had dreamed up.Matt Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07678557558458924177noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-7337143791614735872016-06-22T09:02:00.001-05:002016-06-22T09:02:17.112-05:00Small Publisher Tip: The term "Full Bleed"If you're like me, as a small publisher, you're learning some sides of the business in bits and pieces. In my case, I had the writing skill, but no graphics or printing knowledge. And sometimes, if you're learning things in bits and pieces, you'll get the wrong understanding of some of the jargon used by the other guys involved in the process. In fact, the better they are, the more likely that they'll assume you know something you don't.<br />
<br />
In my case, one of these misunderstandings was about the term "bleed," when applied to printing a cover. I managed to go at least three years with a mistaken understanding of what this meant. As far as I understood it, "bleed" was just a layout artist's weird way of saying that the artwork was supposed to go to the edges of the page. Almost all the time, you can tell an artist that the graphic is "full bleed," and they'll just say, "okay," and you'll get what you need.<br />
<br />
However, it becomes an issue if you want two pages to lie next to each other and match up at the borders (this is how my mistake got revealed). Because here's what "bleed" really means:<br />
<br />
When the artist produces something with full bleed, it means the graphic is actually bigger than the space you want to fill. It's slightly larger, in the case of cover art, than 8.5 x 11. Part of the artwork is designed to spill off the edge of the page, and this is called the "bleed."<br />
<br />
What's that all about? Isn't this whole process digital? Well. if you think about it, there's one part of the process that isn't entirely digital. Think about how, when you print a document, your home printer shakes a bit as it moves blank paper into place and prints on it. The presses used by book printers do the same thing. They vibrate, they shake, and they jiggle while printing. Thus, the page of paper can't be guaranteed to be EXACTLY in the right place. The bleed is a bit of excess picture that will get printed if the page is off center by a fraction or two of an inch. If the graphic is precisely and exactly the size of a sheet of paper, you risk having a white line along one side if the paper is off center in any direction.<br />
<br />
So, if you're printing on lulu or somewhere similar, and you've ween white lines along one edge or another of the cover, it's because you didn't have any bleed outside the margins of the page.<br />
<br />
This little note will probably only help a few people who make the same mistake I did, but since it happened to me, it might have happened to other publishers with no graphic/layout experience.Matt Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07678557558458924177noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-78242940033183261752016-06-21T08:17:00.000-05:002016-06-21T08:17:12.523-05:00Adventure Design Starting PointsI've had several people ping me in the last couple of days, including my Sorcerer's Apprentice, about starting points for designing an adventure. From talking to lots of gifted people over the last few years, I think I can definitely say that there is no objective "right" starting point. The most common things I have heard tend to divide between those who write monsters first, and those who draw maps first.<br />
<br />
In my case, it's usually the map first, starting with really tentative sketches. Then coming up with a basic idea and writing it as the "Background" just so there are words on the blank page (a completely blank page is a real inhibitor for creativity).<br />
<br />
Then I put some numbers on the map and begin filling in what's in those numbers. This process totally changes the background, and it often means going back to earlier encounter areas and changing them to match the new ideas that are developing. There's a lot of inefficient re-writing, but usually it's worth it as the adventure develops into something I really didn't expect at the beginning.<br />
<br />
The final product is usually completely different from the starting point, and being surprised by the outcome is definitely part of the fun of writing an adventure. You never know what you're going to find in your own head.Matt Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07678557558458924177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-54750807800732079562016-06-20T14:34:00.002-05:002016-06-20T14:34:43.032-05:00Sometimes I don't know why things are importantWhen I first wrote OSRIC, I couldn't put my finger on why I felt it was so important. I've got another interesting example of that, on a smaller scale, and I'd love to hear some input.<br />
<br />
I'm working with a teenager who's writing their first module for general consumption. The very first thing I did -- and I don't know why -- was to have them open a commercial module and read it for 5 minutes, telling me what they were looking at as they went.<br />
<br />
The result was a lesson that most of us know. No one reads a module sequentially. You flip around from introduction, to maps, to interesting locations you see on the map, etc.<br />
<br />
What I don't know is why I felt so intently that this was a FIRST lesson in writing a module.Matt Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07678557558458924177noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-28632341333935269812016-06-18T17:27:00.000-05:002016-06-18T17:27:14.867-05:00Fathers Day Sale at Tabletop LibraryThe coupon code is Fathers-25 at <a href="https://tabletoplibrary.com/" target="_blank">TabletopLibrary.com</a>. 25% off, now through Monday.Matt Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07678557558458924177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-48040692436062423392016-06-18T11:10:00.000-05:002016-06-18T11:10:06.235-05:00Neat idea re: wandering monstersIn most old-school games, especially in the types of sandbox adventure where there's no time sensitive mission involved, wandering monsters provide the only disincentive for spending infinite amounts of time checking every wall and every item, thereby eroding some of the crucial decisions that make the game fun. Wandering monsters are, essentially, the measurement of time ticking.<br />
<br />
Many people don't like wandering monsters because the whole concept is a bit unrealistic -- infinite numbers of monsters roaming around? But they play an important structural role in a sandbox adventure, one that needs a substitute if you eliminate the concept based on realism.<br />
<br />
Over at The Dragon's Flagon, <a href="https://thedragonsflagon.blogspot.com/2016/06/quick-thought-on-wandering-monster.html" target="_blank">Waywardwayfarer has proposed a tiny little trick</a> for making the wandering monster checks a bit easier to track. It's basically a change in probabilities so that the check can always be made each turn instead of using one check on staggered turns.<br />
<br />
Take a look - it's simple and elegant.Matt Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07678557558458924177noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-66563666781278814532016-06-12T12:22:00.002-05:002016-06-12T12:22:49.972-05:00Until Death Do Us Part. (Not about gaming).Several people already know this, but I'm a straight guy in a same-sex marriage. After 20 years of marriage, my husband realized that he's transgender -- a man, not a woman. Lots of people asked us if we were going to stay married, and I think the answer to that is pretty obvious. You get married "until death do us part." I married my best friend, I didn't marry for sex. I live in an unusual marriage landscape now, in terms of what other people think, but I'm proud to be married to Ian and love him with all my heart, just as I loved the female "incarnation" before. Being trans doesn't change who a person is; they don't suddenly become a "discard."<br />
<br />
But that's all only by means of introduction to the issue. See, yesterday Ian happened to be at a gay bar, hanging out on the porch with friends from his LGBT circle. And yesterday, in another state, at pretty much the same time, someone opened fire in a similar gay bar, killing 50+ people. Except for an accident of geography, Ian and I could have hit the point of "Death Do Us Part."<br />
<br />
In 1991, I worked on the 96th floor of Two World Trade Center, one of the floors that was hit directly by the planes in 9/11 ten years later. That's only a tenuous link -- I don't feel like I dodged a bullet there, because I was a long time gone -- but it did reinforce that every once in a while you have a direct connection to "large" issues.<br />
<br />
We live in Texas. And unlike many people who have made sweeping statements about leaving the country if a Republican takes the White House, we've looked pretty closely at moving to a different state if the executive branch suddenly stops eyeballing what the states are doing with their individual citizens.<br />
<br />
But then, and geographically in this case, there's that "until death do us part" issue. I'm proud to be a native Texan, even if the rest of the state seems to have absolutely gone off the deep end recently. I don't like the political or the social atmosphere here, but I've also got a characteristically Texan attitude about it, which is that no one, and that's NO ONE, pushes me off my ground. Not other Texans, not anyone. I stand my ground.<br />
<br />
ISIS hates gay people just as much as a big contingent of Americans do, and from BOTH of those vectors I see it as a direct attack on what America, and Texas, actually stand for. I don't have any sort of deep analysis of the connection between a massacre in Orlando, anti-LGBT politics in Texas, working in the World Trade Center, and so on, but I have the same reaction to all of them.<br />
<br />
Dig in. Stand your ground. And fight. That's what protects a free society, nothing else. I don't mean fighting on foreign soil, I mean fighting right here, for the country's soul. A free society has an extremely difficult line to walk: protecting ourselves without becoming the enemy. Many of us see the balance differently, and that's fine, as long as we all see that there's a balance. If we ever lose sight of the fact that there <i>is </i>a balancing act, though, then we are lost.<br />
<br />
There are going to be several take-aways in the aftermath of this massacre, I think. But whatever they are, there's an overriding message already. Freedom is a matter of "until death do us part." You have to hold onto it to keep it. And it's not just the freedoms you like for yourself -- it's the freedoms you don't like, for people you don't like. It's all connected in a fragile web that other people would love to tear apart. <br />
<br />
Don't let go of your people, don't let go of your freedom, and understand that part of the battle is going to be fought on behalf of people you don't like one bit. That's how it works. All of us civilians in free societies are still, ultimately, soldiers. Our militaries try to keep that from happening, but civilians are still the final line of defense. And we have to stick together: Until death do us part. Rest in peace to these Americans who died because they lived in freedom. You were ours, and now you are gone.<br />
<br />
Death has parted us.<br />
<br />Matt Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07678557558458924177noreply@blogger.com38tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-59489992373810534292016-06-08T13:22:00.002-05:002016-06-08T13:22:44.515-05:00Goals and Plans<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://tabletoplibrary.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="https://tabletoplibrary.com/" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9mXJoxYxHiyCTD8Wj07VDLUkQviTFGsjOAKRRFFrvr94DgeVDGl6_cR-AbmrV_2ZfhQa2vLuT-Rk-N0Zdubc9aMRQBGJgZ6zrP8bD3Gkz87N8se0I4XSNm7odMDT8xUJZVjUFzGE_4do/s1600/Tabletop_Library_logo-300x82.png" /></a></div>
So I'm back from North Texas RPGCon, and I'll probably blog about it soon. Couple of days. Right at the moment, all I've got on that is, "it was great!" Plus, Tenkar did a great job of providing excellent blogging coverage while the con was still ongoing.<br />
<br />
So, today is my day for catching up. I had a couple of "rest" days when I took care of family housekeeping-type stuff, and I'm back around on the net to catch up on the gaming stuff.<br />
What I really want to move forward with is <a href="https://tabletoplibrary.com/" target="_blank">Tabletop Library</a>, which is my current pet project. The RPG market needs a second large online retailer of pdfs, and we're trying to start that up.<br />
<br />
<b>The Goal:</b><br />
Basically, on a project like this, a rising tide lifts all boats. There's a cycle that can be either virtuous or vicious, depending on how it's working. Basically, the publishers need to see sales before they get excited about adding new products, and the customers need to see new products before they get excited about visiting the website. Behind it all, the affiliates (who are key to rising visibility) need to be brought into the loop by sales -- much like publishers.<br />
So, I've got a tri-fold mission for this month, which is to bring in all three groups: publishers, customers, and affiliates. My number targets for June are these:<br />
<ul>
<li>10 new affiliates</li>
<li>10 new publishers</li>
<li>200 new customers</li>
</ul>
<br />
Here's the benefit for each group:<br />
<ul>
<li><i>Affiliates: </i>we offer a longer tail (30 days) than our big competitor, with the same payout. There's no downside to simply adding our link to your site, and the publishers are paid better when you do.</li>
<li><i>Publishers: </i>we offer a higher payout than the competition. Ours is 75%, theirs ranges from 50% to 70%, and at 70% you're committing to an exclusivity clause that bars you from selling anywhere else. Not only is the payout better, but we do lots of specific support for products on social media.</li>
<li><i>Customers: </i>We think our website offers a better experience when you visit, and like the affiliates, you're supporting the publishers by getting them a better payout than they get elsewhere. We have some exclusive products (mainly for 5e, but there will be more), and this list of products you can't get anywhere else is growing.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<b>Conclusion:</b><br />
<a href="https://tabletoplibrary.com/" target="_blank">Come and take a look</a>, possibly sign up to be notified of sales (we do GOOD sales), possibly sign up for the newsletter if you are intrigued with our ideas. Supporting us in this project is something that will, eventually, help all of us. I'm not going to bore anyone with the economics, but competition is good for everyone in a market. Help us to build this competition -- we can't do it alone, that's the nature of competition.Matt Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07678557558458924177noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-43839828235327112552016-05-31T09:34:00.001-05:002016-05-31T09:34:43.226-05:00Creeping Conventionality<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5IhBVEagjW10C3iRJ3JBivLfO_mVXXBgNFMcGiEtieKZMrmbIXAvK_PAqgSEQw_lsonT3GyBiqAZxdYFsntlW7oaNvFZtbh9luj2Vx8GETLSJQSCjHqmtmKCUo14eLuqn_McjmZnj7fc/s1600/NXTRPG+Con+logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5IhBVEagjW10C3iRJ3JBivLfO_mVXXBgNFMcGiEtieKZMrmbIXAvK_PAqgSEQw_lsonT3GyBiqAZxdYFsntlW7oaNvFZtbh9luj2Vx8GETLSJQSCjHqmtmKCUo14eLuqn_McjmZnj7fc/s1600/NXTRPG+Con+logo.png" /></a></div>
It's that day when suddenly a convention has crept up on you, and you suddenly have to (1) Shop so that the family doesn't starve during your absence, (2) get some shorts that don't have the back pocket ripped out, (3) make sure someone feeds the birds while you're gone, (4) pack, (5) consider that the dungeon isn't exactly ready for adventuring, and (6) pick up the dry cleaning. You have to be time-efficient.<br />
One piece of advice I can give to con-goers preparing for a trip is this: try to do two jobs at once, like updating your blog at the same time you make your to-do list...<br />
<br />Matt Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07678557558458924177noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2296104283452210018.post-80481766174041265942016-05-30T11:49:00.002-05:002016-05-30T11:51:20.280-05:00Another Memorial Day sale - Tabletop Library<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://tabletoplibrary.com/products/?swoof=1&wcpv_product_vendors=tabletop-adventures/?affiliates=4" target="_blank"><img alt="https://tabletoplibrary.com/products/?swoof=1&wcpv_product_vendors=tabletop-adventures" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglb2V-2JQxvAVQqQNuq8ogKrrAUX6N1Q4iK0OXWCQII-HVhVLWQ3D-TJQHPjMz1xx281P6rGBph99vwxE2btG7vbxfsOwlFJU4O4fI79YMt-Cemrj5z5p6_2B1wV-hphiwQuFGClh_E-M/s1600/TTA+cover.jpeg" /></a></div>
I already posted one of the Tabletop Library Memorial Day sales going on, in a <a href="http://swordsandwizardry.blogspot.com/2016/05/one-day-299-sale-on-undeath-rpg.html" target="_blank">previous post</a>. Here is another, coming from the (unaffiliated) <a href="https://tabletoplibrary.com/products/?swoof=1&wcpv_product_vendors=tabletop-adventures/" target="_blank">Tabletop Adventures</a>. Until June 1, <a href="https://tabletoplibrary.com/products/?swoof=1&wcpv_product_vendors=tabletop-adventures/" target="_blank">all of their products</a> are 20% off. As a personal note, I think their "Bits of" products are awesome, although the crunch in them is for 3e. I'm not familiar with Against the Darkness, which is their RPG, but anything with the word "Vatican" in the description makes me sit up and take notice. Here's the description:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><b>Do you have what it takes to stand Against the Darkness?</b>
Find out in Tabletop Adventures’ exciting game of modern Vatican
horror, conspiracy and investigation in which demons, ghosts and
vampires exist to torment and feed upon an unprepared humanity. The only
defense is a small and steadily shrinking cadre of holy defenders.</span></blockquote>
<br />Matt Finchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07678557558458924177noreply@blogger.com1