Support Just For The Sake of It?

I was watching Star Trek (original series) the other day on Amazon Prime and remembered a conversation I had with one of my friends.  Both of us grew up as Star Trek fans and would faithfully watch the episodes as they were aired on television.  Both of us enjoyed the original series and The Next Generation but as every new series was added, our opinions became drastically different about the state of Star Trek on television. 

 

I was - and still am - a fan of TOS and TNG.  I hold those two series as canon and TV Star Trek ends there for me.  My friend liked and watched all of the series from TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise.  I do admit to watching a few episodes of each of the additional series but they just were not for me.  We were discussing our differences when he stated that "with so little science fiction on television, it is our duty to watch and support it all so the networks will give more shows a chance." 

 

What do you think?  

 

I think it is a flawed argument.  Ratings are determined by the Nielsen viewing participants, right?  I have never participated in that but isn't that right?  Does anybody know?

 

I also think that if you support "bad" shows and the networks find relevance from those numbers then all that does is encourage more "bad" shows.

 

Does anybody else have any thoughts on this?  It does not have to be just Star Trek but any show you want to discuss.  Think of the difference between Battlestar Galactica and Galactica 1980 or something similar...      

Anyone Remember ENVOY?

I was a pretty regular readeer of Cryptych magazine from the early 1990s.  It was different from most other gaming mazines at the time because it was not a house organ of one company but was an actual industry magazine.  It was quite common to see newsletters from several different game companies in the pages of this magazine. I was not pleased that it was put on hiatus after only 8 issues.  A young Wizards of the Coast also gave the magazine a ton of support.  One of  resources that WoTC provided was the ENVOY rpg system.  ENVOY was described as a "Generic game system designed to be easily convertable to other systems on the market" according to the Cryptych index.  I am unable to locate my issues of Cryptych and was wondering if anyone has a copy of ENVOY in pdf or some other form?  My Google-Fu has failed me...

Looking For a New Fantasy Series...

I enjoy the big epic fantasy series of novels and I recently completed The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson.  I have read other stuff like The Rover series by Mel Odom, Runelords by David Farland, and several others.  I am looking for a new series to read and was wondering if anyone has an opinion on any of the following:

Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson

The Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind

Shadowmarch by Tad Williams

Any opinions and input would be highly appreciated.

Leather Bound AD&D

There is a good chance that others are already aware of this but over at the Goodman Games there is a thread started by oldschooldm that shows off his customized AD&D library. He took the Players Handbook, Dungeon Masters Guide, Monster Manual, Fiend Folio, and Dieties & DemiGods and bound them together in a huge leather bound tome.  There are a few pictures of his leather bound AD&D included with this post but if you want to see more just follow the link to the thread above or go to the image gallery. 



+1 Or Not?

(I have a confession to make.  My name is Charlie and I have Gamer ADD; I have seen a few bloggers expressing similar thoughts since I started blogging and following blogs written by others.  I need to get back on track and get focused again.  I will still post on a variety of subjects other than just gaming but I need to develop some structure and get a routine established.  Maybe it will come quickly or maybe it will come slowly but it begins here with this post.)

 

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A Sword +1 is quite possibly one of the most common magic items ever handed out by Dungeon Masters in the (A)D&D game.  The name is not very intriguing but it does the job.  Many campaigns work perfectly fine using that labeling and there is nothing wrong with that. 

 

I have used the "+x items" as is without modification but I have wondered if there is a better labeling method.  For instance, what if the +1 to hit was replaced with "heightened accuracy", "greater accuracy", "true aim", or something similar for a bonus to hit?  Another example could be replacing the +1 to damage with "greater penetration", "minor sharpness", or something else similar to those listed?

 

I think it is interesting to consider but I also wonder how you would handle the higher bonuses.  If a +1 is "greater accuracy" or "sharpness" then what would the higher bonuses of +2, +3, +4, and +5 be labeled?  How would the low end and high end of the bonus range be labeled in a manner that would make sense and be more in touch with the feel and tone of the campaign?

 

Has anyone reading this tried anything like this?  If so, did it work well?  Did you keep using it or change back?

Heads Up...

...On The Quick6 RPG System

I have finally had some clear thoughts about the Single D6 RPG system that I was brainstorming for a while back.  My concept is a game that is easy and quick to get up and running so people can just get to playing instead of preparing.  Some decisions I have made include:

 

1. The name of the system will be Quick6 and will be completely - or maybe "almost completely" based around the use of six sided dice for game play.
2. There will be a basic version of the rules will use a single D6 vs. the simple Action Result Table for task resolution. 
3. There will be an "advanced" version using 2D6 vs. the expanded Action Result Table for task resolution.

I have begun working on the draft document of the basic version of Quick6: Fantasy and it seems to be coming together pretty good.  This will just be the initial ideas and will need further expansion and clarification.  I hope to have the draft document available for download in the next week or so.  I would not mind a bit if people would provide feedback once the document is available.  I know it has been a little while since I put down my very basic ideas but I would definitely appreciate any and all input.  I am not going for anything revolutionary to the hobby - just an easy to comprehend game with quick setup and smooth play.     

Demons & Daggers [video]

I found this parody video again earlier; I have seen it plenty of times and I keep stumbling across it every now and then.  This video is pretty hilarious because it reminds of the satanic panic in the 80s that had all sorts of misinformed people convinced that Dungeons & Dragons and heavy metal music led to devil worship.  Aaahhh, the good old days.

 

 

The Dungeons & Dragons Experience [full video]





I am sure that most of the OSR or RPG blogosphere has probably seen this video, the Dungeons & Dragons Experience, but I decided to post about it today anyway.  The video was originally uploaded to YouTube in 7 parts but someone has uploaded the film as one complete piece.  The contents of the film include the origin and early days of D&D, information on how to play, information on different play styles, recollections by players, DM stories, homebrew world information, and more.  I dig and maybe you will too... 

 

Recovered Treasures...

I was digging around in the attic at my parent's house this weekend and found the following old gaming products:

 

[BECMI D&D]

Basic DM's Rulebook

Expert Rulebook

Companion Players Book

Companion DM's Book

Master Players Book

Master DM's Book

B1: In Search of the Unknown

X1: The Isle of Dread (original cover, iirc)

X1: The Isle of Dread (updated cover with a T-Rex on it)

 

[AD&D]

Dungeon Masters Adventure Log

I1: Dwellers of the Forbidden City

N2: The Forest Oracle

 

[Spelljammer]

Lorebook of the Void

Concordance of Arcane Space

Lost Ships

 

Not a bad find at all but there are a few missing items.  I could not find the Players Book for the Basic set or the rest of the contents of the Spelljammer boxed set.  I do happen to have the complete Moldvay version - Basic & Expert books - so the missing players book from BECMI is not that big of a concern.  Back in the day I looked at Spelljammer but I honestly never tried it.  The premise sounded good but all of us sorta thought it was goofy.  I would have liked to have found everything from it to see what I think of it now.  Oh well, maybe next time...