Musings on Our Fifth Session
Session 5 of our War of the Burning Sky campaign was the best session yet! Not only did we get six hours of gaming in, five of those hours were solid roleplay; the session’s combat only lasted one hour. We finally hit the sweet spot of how long combat should last! Between Condition Cards, the initiative board, and a familiarity with their character’s powers, the players zipped from turn to turn with barely a moment in-between. Also: My marriage to Janelle Kann is less than a month away! Unfortunately, this means scheduling future sessions will be difficult as the excitement,...
Read MoreLooking Back on Yesterday
Recently, my life has taken a decidedly nostalgic turn. As a memory pack rat, I’ve kept a little under a decade’s worth of e-mails, journal entries, pictures, and chat conversations. After reliving those years by sitting in front of the computer and smiling—or sometimes scowling—a single question continued to rear its head: what pushes me to forge on and not just pack in my wizard’s hat? I’m referring, of course, to the tumultuous times I’ve had with D&D groups. Not every group is made in Heaven. Oh sure, I’ve had more good groups than bad....
Read MoreA Model Way to Play, Part I
In 2002, a small industry made its way to the tabletop roleplaying scene: papercraft. It’s true, wargamers had been making sturdy terrain pieces for their battles out of cereal boxes, cocktail sticks, polystyrene, and balsa wood for decades. However, only in the early years of this century were companies beginning to realize that terrain could be designed cheaply on a computer and then distributed online via high-quality PDFs. With this business model, customers were simply responsible for printing and building—and at a relatively low price. This was a relief for those who had no...
Read MoreThe Player From Hell
In September of 2006, I had the privilege and horror of meeting someone who would change the way I look at inviting new people into my home and gaming life… forever. Be warned: this is a very long story. Go to the bathroom, grab a bowl of chips, maybe a few beers, and a comfy chair. It’s a tale that might be hard to believe—but it’s exactly what happened with absolutely nothing left out. It is my hope that this cautionary tale will help, in some small way, the gaming community at large. As much as I’d love to spill the beans on this douchebag’s identity...
Read MoreThe Golden Rule
With the exception of my four-year stint in the Navy, every job I’ve ever had was a customer service job. As many in the field know, it’s a tireless job, filled with demanding people and unreasonable goals. Nevertheless, if you choose to put yourself in that industry, it really is your job to make sure that your customers have an outstanding encounter with your company; you never know who that customer is or what kind of importance they could play in the future. My girlfriend and I are getting married. The venue, a McMenamins located in a suburb of Portland, Oregon, is not only...
Read MoreI’m back, nerds!
It’s kind of a long story as to what’s happened between then and now—then being the last time I dug around in some code and made a footprint on the web. For those of you who don’t know, or those who would like to take a walk down memory lane with me, follow along—but not too close. I do have a bubble, after all. Near the end of 2003, I put my first Dungeons & Dragons website onto the Internet. Now, I’d always had some kind of web presence via one of millions of personal web sites with little “Under Construction” signs blinking and rotating...
Read MoreTurn Up the Volume
Starting a new campaign is always a taxing proposition. It’s typically full of complications, from getting the new players together, to settling on a type of game, to putting all the pre-campaign information together. What turns the volume up a few notches, so to speak, is when the game is improvised. Most DM’s probably think that these kinds of games are easier to get going, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. What is true is that, once it gets going, there’s nothing to it—you simply have to create the story as you go, keep it untangled from previous...
Read MoreNight of the Skull
Last year, it seemed like I couldn’t get a game together to save my life. The stigma of my old group weighed heavily on me and I was cautious at best to get into a new game. Still, I pressed on, finally making headway with my best friend, my girlfriend, her best friend, and my roommate. Then, little by little, new players heard about the game and wanted to join. Before I knew it, I was running two campaigns, a third was being planned, and the Time of D&D was upon us. That’s when I realized the answer to that age-old question, “Can there be too much of a good...
Read MoreThe Game Room
Thanks to the good shopping sense of Lia’s mom, we now have a gaming table! Er… uh… ahem. A “dining room” table. Truthfully though, I’ll never do anything but game on it—and I suspect Lia and Kevin have similar ideas about it. Initially, there was some worry about whether or not it would fit our style because Lia’s mom purchased it before we could take a look at it. On top of that, she gave us some dire warnings about it “needing work.” A table that needs work probably isn’t something we’re interested in—after all,...
Read MoreThe Gold Rush
This month’s motto: “When it rains, it pours.” 2005 was a dearth of D&D. An amazing feat, considering how much I love roleplaying. Anyone who’s taken part in one of my campaigns can attest to the fact that I put copious amounts of time and detail into games I run—and I enjoy every moment of it. So why was 2005 devoid of any and all gaming? The unfortunate, honest truth is that I was jaded from D&D due to negative experiences from my previous group. Though leaving that group was the best thing I could have done for my psyche, it removed me from contact...
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