A blog featuring the game related ramblings and ideas of a role-playing gamer since 1980. My interests include many games and gaming related topics, but my main focus will be on Open Ended Original Edition Old School Fantasy Adventure Sandbox Role Playing Games (OEOEFASRPG™) The Open-Ended Sandbox Exploration of Dungeons, Wilderness and Cities. Occasionally, other topics outside of gaming will be discussed here as well.
Monday, May 20, 2024
[Miniature Monday] Another Giant Mushroom
Monday, May 13, 2024
[Miniature Monday] Giant Mushroom
After the Xpress Colors dried, I used Dark Tone from the Army Painter line. I like how dark and grubby this giant mushroom looks after using this wash over the Vallejo Xpress Colors. These miniatures are available at one of the local stores for 99 cents each so I'm going to pick up some more of them to use for a cavern with several large mushrooms on the floor.
If you paint miniatures, have you tried any of the speed paints from the available brands? Do you have a method you developed on your own or do you follow something you saw in a video? Do you have any suggestions for people learning this method?
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
April 2024 Reading Progress
I caught up on some reading this month as I completed two books and I have started on a third.
People of the Dark: The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard Volume II was the first book I completed reading in April. I should have finished it much sooner but between work, my daughter's competitive cheer commitments, and every day demands that I wound up dragging my feet. It certainly wasn't due to a lack of interest. Simply put, I've never read a Howard tale that I didn't enjoy tremendously. I'm always pulled in by his storytelling and I have completed his books in a single setting back in my youth before I had other real-world commitments. I may not be able to give a truly objective review of his work and I will no try.
Dave Arneson's True Genius by Robert J. Kuntz is the second book I read in April. This book is a good read, but I ultimately felt like it lacked a little meat on the bone. Don't get me wrong at all, I enjoyed it tremendously, but it was just too short and a little too light in some areas. I'm guessing it's meant to serve as a teaser for his planned book, A New Ethos in Game Design, that I suspect will be much more detailed. I'm waiting...
I have begun reading The Forgetting Moon by Brian Lee Durfee. I'm a big fan of his YouTube book review channel. His reviews are always entertaining, so I decided to see what he had to offer in the realm of fantasy fiction. I've read almost 100 pages so far and I'm looking forward to reading the rest. that has me at 3 books read out of a goal of 8 this year; 37% to be exact.
Now that my reading is updated, what else is coming up? I will do at least one post each about the Cha'alt trilogy. and I'm working on a post about the Cults, Sects, and Faiths of my campaign world.
Sunday, March 31, 2024
March 2024 Reading Progress & General Update
March has been topsy turvy at work so I haven't been able to post as much as I would like to but here's a general post over a few subjects that will serve as an all-encompassing update.
Gaming: I still have no face-to-face group, but I am playing in two different play by post campaigns at The Ruins of Murkhill forum and blog. The first game is an OD&D campaign ran by Halenar Frosthelm celebrating the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons. It's interesting because I have never actually played OD&D. I've done Basic (many forms), Advanced, and 3E. The second game I am playing in is the sequel campaign to the original Sunflower campaign. I am playing the son of my character in the original campaign so it's definitely making for an interesting campaign as well.
Reading: I had planned to be finished with People of the Dark, The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard Volume Two and well into my third book of the year by this point but that has not happened. I am currently at 55% but that is not from lack of interest. As stated previously, work has been so hectic the last month that I have been wiped out every day and couldn't give the book the attention it deserves. I always find Howard interesting and the tales he weaves have always caught my attention.
Writing: I have three projects that I'm currently working on completing as well as diving into the Cha'alt books in finer detail. I will post on these as they are completed.
That's it for now. Maybe April will prove to be more fruitful.
Sunday, March 10, 2024
A Little Catch Up...
I had planned on posting about my reading progress through the end of February, but my son and I came down with a wicked case of strep throat. That should have provided the opportunity for some prime reading time, but it did not happen. Consider me paused at the last update for anyone keeping score. Both of us were wiped out and he missed a week of school while I missed a week of work. I've been focused on getting us both caught back up in our respective responsibilities. It seems to be the case now, so I will return to regularly sporadically posting from time to time.
I did receive a copy of the three Cha'alt tomes from the recent kickstarter by Venger Satanis so I will be making some posts on those books as I make my way through them. As far as first impressions go, he made some excellent choices with artist and the book construction. These manuals are top notch quality and much better than many of the professional products I have purchased over the years. They are sturdy and I am not concerned with being overly cautious as I read through the contents. More to come on these in the future and I look forward to the fourth Cha'alt volume when it is released.
Monday, February 12, 2024
One of These Days.....
I think all of us have some games in our collections that we have never played for one reason or another. I'm listing my top four games. Some of these games are new and some are old. I'm leaving out games that are similar to other games but vary in how they handle some aspect of the game system. Without further delay, let's look at the games.
ALIEN The Role-Playing Game: I have the starter set and the core rulebook so far and I would buy more books. I've been a fan of the original Alien movie and Aliens for many years. I have all 6 of the movies on DVD and I've read 10 of the novels so far. While opinions on later films differ, I find something of interest in all of them.
Ars Magica Third Edition: I bought a copy of the core rulebook and Mythic Europe last year from a friend that was thinning out his collection. I was intrigued by the focus of the game being on wizards when it was originally released, and I always intended to buy a copy. Years later and I finally own a copy. The reading has been interesting so far.
The Dark Eye: I have the three main rulebooks. I picked up the digest-sized versions because I could buy all three of them for basically the cost of the standard sized core rulebook. TDE fascinates me because it's basically "Germany's D&D" and the world is open and growing with fan contributions.
Lejendary Adventures: I bought the three main books upon release. I know some complain about this game because it is so different from D&D in the rules, but I actually like the differences because it makes the game unique. I admit that it was a little challenging upon my first reading, but I did get it figured out when I changed my approach. I started with the definitions at the front and expanded out from there and everything clicked. I would have to refresh my memory, but I would play the game if the opportunity came.
The reason I havne't played these games is simple. I don't currently have a group and I haven't had one for years. I'm sure there are games that you have but you have never played so what are they?
Monday, February 5, 2024
Crafting Ultima-inspired Runes
Wednesday, January 31, 2024
January 2024 Reading Progress
I enjoyed this fantasy tale quite a bit. I welcomed the change in focus from Eragon and Saphira to Murtagh and Thorn. I have no doubt there will be more books focused on Eragon but it's nice to see the series feature other characters. Although Eragon and Murtagh are both Dragon Riders - and half-brothers as well - there are plenty of differences between the two. They approach situations and obstacles differently. Murtagh is a little bit rougher in execution and a bit of a darker hero. Just as this book changes the central character, this book is also about change. Murtagh and Thorn are fighting to change by overcoming their enslavement by Galbatorix and the reputation that followed.
I find Paolini works to be a smooth read. I don't mean that in a negative manner at all. I mean that it's easy to follow and easy to read large chunks at one time. There is world building and lore sprinkled throughout the book, but it's not labor intensive to keep the facts straight. There are also several illustrations, a small section on Runes, and another brief appendix or two.
Rating: I gave the book a 5-star rating on Goodreads. The site only allows full star ratings so that somewhat limits how accurately you can rate your experience. I definitely thought it was better than a flat 4 and somewhere closer to 5 so a 5 seemed closer than rating it lower. I'm not a professional reviewer by any means so when I rate a book, I'm just looking at stuff such as "did I struggle with staying interested" or "would I read more books in the series" and similar topics.
Progress: I have completed 1 out of 8 books on my planned reading list this year.
Next: My second book is People of the Dark by Robert E. Howard. I'm ending January with completely 24% of this book. Let's see what next month brings...
Monday, January 22, 2024
Crafting a Moon Gate
I'm a big fan of the Ultima series of computer role-playing games. I spent many hours playing them on various platforms over the years. One of the most memorable things about the older releases was the lore and the extras included in the boxes. They used to have small rulebooks reminiscent of the OD&D little brown books, cloth world maps, and maybe other stuff like coins. Of course, this type of stuff would influence my fantasy gaming and I would include similar items in my worlds.
Monday, January 15, 2024
Chance Cards
I've owned Champions of ZED and Dragons at Dawn for a while now. I enjoy pulling them out and reading through them both for inspiration. Both of these games have sections discussing chance cards and how to use them. The idea behind chance cards is pretty simple. The DM and the players use a stack of index cards to write down events that could take place in their campaign. At certain points in the campaign - the start of every game month, every 90 days in game, etc. - the DM will draw one of these cards and apply it to the campaign. The group could also use these cards to generate a background history for the campaign world as well. For example, the DM could want to use two events per year for the last 12 years of game time to develop a history for the campaign world. 16 cards would be drawn from the cards available and then the DM would string them together and get the history they wanted.
I know I could do this with some simple brainstorming, rolling on tables, or some other method but I want to do something different. I've become really interested in using the chance cards in my game for the physical aspect of it. I think that comes from two influences. First, I watch a lot of the videos put out by Game Methuselah on his YouTube channel. He mentioned writing the monster information on index cards and using them in game; basically, a map, notes, and a box of index cards to run his game. Second, since I began painting miniatures a few years ago I really want to start using them in my game as well. I never used them back in the day, but I've gotten the itch to use them now.
Do you use chance cards or something similar in your game?
Monday, January 8, 2024
2024 Reading Plans
After the disappointing low number of books read last year, I got motivated to do better this year. I typically read 12 or more books in a year, but I set a goal of 8 for 2024 because several of these novels are epic length fantasy over 1,000 pages. I am keeping a reading journal to help with this goal. If I can read more, I will. Without further delay, here are the novels I plan on reading this year.
Poul Anderson (Three Hearts and Three Lions): I've always wanted to read this for two reasons. I remember it being referred to as a fantasy classic by many readers and - I hope I'm recalling correctly here - it seems that many claim this has the best representation of a Paladin. This book was read in 2023 and will be replaced by Murtagh by Christopher Paolini to keep my reading plan at 8 books for the year.
Ray Bradbury (The Martian Chronicles): I remember seeing this book on the shelves of my middle school library and I also caught some of the PBS television mini-series. I've always intended to read it so 2024 will be the year I do so.
Brian Lee Durfee (The Forgetting Moon): I stumbled upon his YouTube Channel while browsing the various "booktubers" looking for reviews of fantasy novels. This guy reads a ton of books, has an impressive home library, and has completed a trilogy of novels. His videos are funny because he doesn't hold back about how passionate he is about books, and he doesn't take things so seriously that he does a hundred takes to "get it right".
Frank Herbert (Heretics of Dunge and Chapterhouse Dune): I enjoyed the first four books so I'm going to complete the original six books. Maybe I'll give the expanded Dune universe novels by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson at some time.
Robert E. Howard (People of the Dark): Howards' Conan tales are amazing! I enjoyed Shadow Kingdoms so I'm sure this collection will be excellent as well.
Christopher Paolini (Murtagh): I got this as a Christmas gift from my daughter, so I added it to the list of books for 2024. I've read the entire Inheritance Cycle so I might as well continue on. They have always proven to be smooth reading that doesn't require a stack of notes to keep up so that's a bonus.
Brandon Sanderson (Oathbringer and Rhythm of War): I really enjoyed the first two novels in The Stormlight Archives, and I need to get caught up with the series. The series is planned to be ten books at completion so it's a good time to not fall behind any further.
Monday, January 1, 2024
Happy New Year!
It's a new year and I've been doing some reflection to see what I want to change in 2024. I have a short list spread over several areas that I could explain in this post. I'm not going to do that because it all boils down to just one change that will help me achieve the changes I want to make. I am striving for a better work/life balance in 2024.
I allowed work to become all-encompassing last year and this blog, my reading, and my creative endeavors suffered because of that decision. Don't get me wrong, work is important and there will be times that I have to completely focus on it at that time but working 55 to 65 hours a week for months at a time will burn you out.
Having the last three weeks off work recovering from having my gall bladder removed let that lesson really sink in. I had planned to bring my laptop home and be available "just in case" but my backup told me to "...relax and not do that. We got this while you're gone. I can always ask one of the other guys for help if I need it.". I did take my laptop home, but I didn't turn it on even just once. I didn't receive any texts saying the plant had to close down and I didn't see any stories on the news about my absence causing undue hardships to production.
The point? Take your time off and enjoy it. You can't be replaced at home, you can and will be replaced at work. I hope everyone has a great year! I'm looking forward to being more active.