A Role Playing Games Blog
Humor
Dark Dungeons – The Animated Film
1November 1, 2011
As a roleplayer you surely know the Jack Chick tract “Dark Dungeons” and if you don’t you definitely need to check it out. It still baffles me that there are people out there who believe in magic and think D&D (and other roleplaying games) can teach you how to cast spells. Heck, if I could mind control people using magic, I wouldn’t probably need a day job but I would rule the world … or at least a small European country. But I digress. 
Last year a group called “Boolean Union” created an animated film based on said Chick tract. That may actually be old news to some of you. I don’t actually know what reminded me of the existence of said movie, I think someone mentioned it on Twitter or Google+ the other day. Alas I can’t remember who it was. Nevertheless, the animated film based on the Chick tract is fun to watch even though the animation looks very old school. But hey, it fits the source material.
Enjoy!
My edition of D&D
21September 22, 2011
Recently it was announced that Monte Cook is working for WotC again. And of course the rumors that they are already working on D&D 5th Edition flared up again. But that’s not what I want to write about today.
Sometimes I think about what would I have done if I was in charge of the development of D&D. Luckily I am not in that position so I can freely think about what I would like to design and play instead of worrying about what the fans would like to see. Because – you can trust me on this – I love to slaughter sacred cows. 
Let me start by a disclaimer: I haven’t been a fan of D&D before third edition and while OD&D in form of the retro clones has a certain charm for me, there are many other games I prefer.
Caught unaware…
7September 6, 2011
I am not a closet gamer! By that I mean I do not hide my love for role-playing games. If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter you know I regularly post about RPGs and other assorted geek interests. I actively support my local gaming community as much as I can. Heck I blog about it!
People around me know about role-playing. Coworkers and acquaintances know that I play “the game” on Tuesdays and know about the “geek picnics” I get involved in periodically. I talk about RPGs to my non-gaming friends (which there are not many of since most of my friends actively game or have gamed with me at some point in their life) when they ask about it. I am not pushy and try not to force my hobby on the uninterested.
Role-Player’s Cant
12August 25, 2011
Tell me if this has even happened to you. You sit down to play for the first time with a group of gamers who’ve been at it for a while (be it a few months or many years). As the new guy or gal there you may feel a little trepidation, there is of course the expected period of adjustment, and then someone uses a phrase that has no meaning for you and everybody start laughing. A common word to which you attach no particular importance elicits a reaction from the others around the table. If you can identify yourself with this experience then you have witnessed what I like to call role-player’s cant!
True many of us (well at least in similar age groups and from similar cultures) may share some references we throw around at the table. Like brushing off a terrible critical as “just a flesh wound”, calling a particularly deadly weapon the “holy hand grenade of Antioch” or calling any mysterious chivalrous order the “Knights who say Ni”… Thank you Monty Python, we are in debt to you! But this is not the type of patois I’m thinking about. I’m referring to the words, phrases and concepts that form around a tight knit group of friends over a period of time.
I began to think about this after writing my post on “puerco papers”. This is a concept that I associate with my immediate group of gamers and I know that when I have used it outside that group I have always had to explain what I’m referring to. Daniel (@Highmoon) left a comment on how I was introducing our very own terminology into the greater gaming community, and that got me thinking. I asked around my friends and players for suggestions, and began to compile the words and phrases we have come to use over the years in our groups. Let me share some with you…
Gen Con 2011, a retrospective… Part 4!
5August 24, 2011
I fear this whole Gen Con retrospective might be getting a little old, after all Gen Con ended 2 weeks ago. With all the complications I’ve had to write these posts you’d figure I’d get the hint the universe was trying to tell me something. Heck, last night as I was getting ready to write this last post (yeah its finally over!) a tropical storm hit Puerto Rico. You might say the fates were against me.
Well the fates be dammed! I intend to finish this thing even if it’s the last thing I do. (If Michael sees the readership number plummeting and you see my name stricken from the authors list you’ll know what did me in!) I’ve covered RPGs, other games, “stuff” (t-shirts, artists, authors, et al) but this last post is about the most important reason I went to Gen Con. What was it? Read on…
Gen Con 2011, a retrospective… Part 3: On to other stuff…
0August 22, 2011
So we’ve covered role-playing games (and I missed a couple of things but I’ll get to that in my next post), other games and minis, but there is so much more to do at Gen Con. One of the things I wanted to get where t-shirts. My last time around I stocked up and while most were worn to tatters, but a couple lasted through the years… So getting new shirts was high on my to-get list. Unlike some games that were impulse buys with t-shirts I took the time to shop around see what was available and I brought the ones I wanted on the last day.
The Off World Designs booth had the official Gen Con t-shirt for sale so I stopped there and got two for friends (including the esteemed creator of this blog to whom I am yet to ship his shirt, shame on me!) and while there I picked up their Boba Fettish t-shirt for a friend. While I love their designs, and just browse their webpage to see some great ideas, in my circles they are probably the best known geek shirts purveyors, so I get to see their shirts on friends… I wanted something different!
Gen Con 2011, a retrospective… Part 1: Role Playing Games
8August 12, 2011
by Sunglar
in Blogging, D&D4e, GenCon, Humor, Legacy D&D, News & Reviews, Other Systems, Pathfinder, Random musings, RPG, Savage Worlds
Last time I wrote about Gen Con was a week ago as I did my first day wrap up in the wee hours of the night. Then and there I realized writing posts after a long day of gaming and fun at the con would probably be unlikely. So I decided to enjoy Gen Con to the best my stamina would permit and I would write about it early the next week. Well you know what they say about the “best laid schemes of mice and men”…
First I got home to a work week of unforeseen dimensions, then the con-crud hit! The combination kept me down for two days. Then last night when I finally sat down to write my laptop crashed, and apparently my smart phone followed in a sign of support. I had about half of my pictures and a smattering of videos on the smart phone. I restored the laptop and solved that problem, the smart phone proved another matter. I lost pictures and videos, never to be recovered. So if I took your picture at Gen Con and you never see it, I apologize.
But you didn’t come here for the sob stories; you came here to read about games, specifically role-playing games which are the main topic of this blog. You’ve probably read about some of the big news which I’ll link to in case you only read this gaming blog (and we can’t fault you for your impeccable taste!). Margaret Weiss Productions announced their deal to produce a Marvel superheroes RPG. Sounds like a well planned project, and while I am not currently on the market for a new supers game (more on this later) I will take a look. (more…)
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