Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Be Good to Yourself

Play the game you want!
I am increasingly convinced that what we play, how we play, and who we play with matters.
We play games for the enjoyment it brings. Enjoyment naturally involves a number of factors and is individualistic. What is enjoyable to one person, may not be to another.
Throughout the decades, games have been a social thing for me and group play constituted my preferred way to participate in this hobby. This is one of the reasons why I have only dabbled infrequently into the video and computer RPGs, but I never really devoted myself to that aspect of the gaming pastime. It's also a contributing factor to my hesitation around playing online. I honestly prefer the comradery and interpersonal interaction associated with in-person play around a physical table.
However...
There comes a time when not everyone can agree on the system to play, on the schedule of game-day or time, or on one or more of any of the myriad of other factors upon which modern humans find reasons to disagree. 
I currently find myself faced with a choice of playing at a game that I don't enjoy, one that centers on a style of play I find less than appealing, and is published by a corporation that seems intent on alienating a segment of the FRP gaming hobby as they brand their way to success, or of my going my separate way from friends who are uninterested in the style of play or the systems I prefer, so as to continue to enjoy the hobby. 
I also find that as a result I have nearly lost my interest in this hobby. 
Nearly, mind you. (I have pulled back from it for a time as I re-examine what it all means to me.)
I am somewhat comforted by the knowledge that I am not completely alone in experiencing this alienation. I know there are others who also enjoy the style of play I prefer. There are gamers who play the systems that I find interesting and appealing. I know all this because I read their blogs and watch their videos. I also see that some of them play games solo, either occasionally to complement their group play or exclusively solo as a preference.
I have played solo TTRPGs as part of my hobby enjoyment for many years. I don't recall now whether my first foray into solo play was via a Tunnels & Trolls solo adventure such as Buffalo Castle or perhaps playing the Death Test MicroQuest using Melee and Wizard (all published by Metagaming Concepts). I have fond memories of both game systems and have frequently revisited them over the subsequent years. Finding enjoyment in these early solo adventures, I have been encouraged to sample various solo friendly products from a variety of publishers. At this point, my collection of solo and solo-friendly materials allows me quite a variety in gaming choices without the need for gathering a group.
Feeling comfortable is a good thing. So is compromise. Adaptability is often a necessity, as is patience.
And when I find myself alone, there are still many ways to enjoy the hobby.

Monday, March 11, 2024

The Black Hack

 
An OSR First Edition Hack
If The Black Hack (1e or 2e) has escaped your attention and if you are a fan of do-it-yourself tabletop role-playing, then The Black Hack written by David Black (hence the title) is something I highly recommend taking a look at. I am a fan of the World's First Role-Playing Game and a devotee of making any game my own by adding rulings, customization and my own setting materials, and The Black Hack is among my favorite published products. 
This slim black booklet has been around long enough to generate a second (larger) edition and as a quick web search will reveal, loads of independent "hacks" that use The Black Hack as their basis while adding more specialized and genre specific materials to create variant games. 
The first edition is presented (straight from the creative imagination of David Black, I suppose), as a game that is streamlined, rules lite and a FRP system featuring player facing dice-rolls implicitly in a classic fantasy milieu as players take the role of Warrior, Thief, Cleric or Conjurer exploring and fighting their way through whatever setting the DM comes up with (which may or may not resemble something similar to Middle-earth). 
The Black Hack seems to be an introduction to many popular modern concepts such as the "usage dice" chain (at least it's the first time I recall seeing this mechanic used). In The Black Hack (and in some more recent systems) Expendable Resources are rolled for using a usage die rather than being strictly tracked in the inventory. The Resource, such as rations, torches or arrows, is initially assigned a starting usage die which can be any of the popular polyhedrons. As the resource is used the die is rolled. A rolled value of of a 1 or 2 drops the resource to the next lower die in the descending chain, thus a d6 becomes a d4. Once a 1 or 2 is rolled on the smallest die, (d4), the resource is exhausted. 
The Black Hack has the player make most of the die rolls in The Black Hack including when the PC is attacking and defending. The DM may roll a die for damage inflicted if the player misses the defense roll for their character. Otherwise, the dice are in the player's control.
As I look about my collection with an eye to making the most of the best games I have available, The Black Hack has come to the top of my list. Mechanically The Black Hack differs significantly from the original little brown books, but when I consider the principles upon which the original game was conceived, The Black Hack seems a very suitable successor to Volume 1, Men & Magic.

Friday, March 8, 2024

Dragonslayer

It's Here!

This print-on-demand traditional tabletop role-playing adventure game just arrived at my desk. 
Cover art by Jeff Easley

and the name seems to describe the author's intent.

here's an Excerpt: 
The League of Ordinary Gentlemen: Player characters are not superheroes born with extraordinary powers. Rather they are ordinary people thrust into extraordinary
circumstances. What does this mean? It means that you must bring your intellect, ingenuity, guile, and craftiness to each character you play. The secrets do not rest on your character sheet, they rest in your ability to problemsolve unique situations and role-play at the table.

and finally I will offer a Warning: This Tome contains Old School Attitude.

Thursday, January 11, 2024

Be Inspired!

The Power of Imagination
This is a blog about tabletop games, especially role-playing games. I frequently ponder what role my games play in the wider scope of real life. The following thought stream may be of interest, or not, but writing often helps me clarify my many thoughts. 

We are all special, unique human beings AND we are all normal, regular people who are capable of doing amazing things. 

Stories shape our reality. We imagine what can happen which can give us insight into how to accomplish or how to avoid certain outcomes. 

The so-called modern fantasy game seems to focus on telling stories about super-powered characters who exercise abilities well beyond the normal. A side effect of this is that the stories, the characters in the stories, are significantly detached from our selves and from reality.  
The game I prefer involves characters who seem more normal, more relatable to ourselves, but who can accomplish fantastic feats of heroism often while aided by magic in the form of spells and items, but ultimately it is force of will, determination and a good bit of luck (in the form of the dice) that also play a significant role in the outcome. The stories that develop from such play can inspire and motivate our real life actions because we can see ourselves in our more normal and believable characters. Drive, determination, willpower, clever tactics and knowledge are all things that we ourselves can achieve and use to shape our real world, solving problems and accomplishing great deeds. We can perhaps see ourselves in some aspect of our game characters and becomes inspired. This is the power of role-play and the power of story, and why I favor a more realistic level of character in my games. 

Thursday, November 30, 2023

Building Bridges in 2024

In 1974 the then new Tactical Studies Rules, TSR for short, released their premier product, Dungeons and Dragons. This revolutionary product consisted of three little brown booklets that according to gamer legend were three typed on a typewriter, hand assembled and put into a box with a glue-on label bearing an amateur illustration closely resembling comic book art. The publisher reportedly sold copies from the trunk of a car. The product, which really was an extension of a previous product, Chainmail, published by another amateur company, Guidon Games, started a gaming revolution as the concept of playing a character going on adventures rapidly caught the imagination of hundreds, then thousands of hobbyists.
A half-century later things are much different. The past year has demonstrated that most convincingly. The positive side of this change is that the hobby of fantasy role-playing games has become widespread, maybe even mainstream in our society. The stigma once felt by people who played at being elves and magic users is nearly gone, and few people today are completely unaware that the game exists as a harmless form of entertainment. It has never been easier to find a group - or has it?
The game released in 1974 contained options, and required decisions to be made by the referee, as the person who set the game up and ran the adventure for the players was then referred to. An early observation made in those days was that each group played the game differently as custom content was added and rule adjustments made including interpretations and additions. By the end of the decade, the principle author, Gary Gygax, would promote a more standardized version of the original game he titled Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. The idea was that all groups should have a more common understanding of how to apply the rules of the game, even if they were still expected to create their own setting and adventures.
Fast forward fifty years to 2024. As I gaze into my crystal ball in order to "see the future" of our hobby, the corporate giant looms large and in charge of the famous brand. In the giant's shadow, however, I see many interesting things. As a person often out of step with popular trends, I frequently find the 'one size fits all" approach to not fit me at all. While this may describe me, it leaves aside the many who enjoy precisely the popularity of going with the crowd. Hence, the subject of this post. How to enjoy a more personal version of the hobby within the wider context of the popular "giant in the room" phenomenon.
As said giant stumbled and perhaps stepped on a few toes in 2023, an opportunity born of necessity presented itself. In my last post I touched briefly on three games that were released in the wake of this kerfuffle. Notably, new versions of Swords & Wizardry, Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game, and Pathfinder have appeared devoid of all reference to the branding and licensed materials. The familiar holds a certain appeal and the popularity of a thing rests on more than marketing hype - there must be some good substance or it can't last. Rather than complete rejection of the familiar, some game designers have instead chosen the path of revision, remastering and re-imagining the game. There are three products that I see in my crystal ball which I believe hold significant promise for bridging the separation between those who enjoy the familiar, yet desire to put the past behind us. 
I have had the pleasure of running a couple of sessions using the preview version of Tales of the Valiant from Kobold Press. The game's mechanics are (imo) an improved version of a popular system. The creative folks at Kobold have produced some of the best supplemental material in the past and I look forward to the final release of Valiant. 
The image above may be familiar to some readers. Shadowdark is written by Kelsey Dionne, illustrated by Brandish Gilhelm and others and it should be published next year by The Arcane Library following a successful crowdfunding 2023. Shadowdark leverages the familiar mechanics, but gives them a decidedly "old school" twist some will appreciate. The Shadowdark quick-start and digital beta release have already generated interest in the game across the hobby including some additional adventure material as any quick online search will reveal. If crawling through some dark and dangerous dungeons sounds appealing (it does to me!) then Shadowdark may be just that answer. I am reasonably certain that once we have the physical books there will be people playing Shadowdark. 
When a gamer for whatever reason becomes dissatisfied with the game they are currently playing, the tendency is to look afield and see what else is available. Shadow of the Weird Wizard by Robert J. Schwalb is yet another game I hope to see more of in 2024. Mr. Schwalb has contributed to various versions of the worlds most popular fantasy role-playing game and is the author of Shadow of the Demon Lord. Anyone familiar with that product knows Mr. Schwalb has a lot of ideas as Shadows of the Demon Lord has been very well supported with additional materials. The Weird Wizard takes a bit more of a "traditional" approach in its fantasy world setting as compared to what we see in his Demon Lord game and of course, he applies the same creative design talents that Mr. Schwalb has demonstrated in all his previous work. I expect good, fun things when the Weird Wizard project is published. Shadow of the Weird Wizard is still in its alpha stage and as a backer I have some digital content, I don't have a cover image to share.
The year 2024 holds promise of even more creativity to come. 

Monday, November 27, 2023

Bridging Troubled Waters

It is the time of year, as the days grow shorter (in terms of daylight hours) and the holiday season approaches with all its associated buying and gift-giving - it's a time of looking backward and a time of looking forward and above all, a time of hope and promise - that my thoughts once again turn to the future of our hobby and my participation in said hobby. 
To say that 2023 has been "uneventful" would seem to completely ignore the reality of our past year, but rather than rehash the past year's "drama", and in so doing risk adding to exactly the sort of negative divisiveness I would like to avoid, I will instead look forward - with the hope of joy to come - and write about the future.
We currently enjoy a wealth of tabletop role-playing game choices availably today. There are (I believe) more good games than anyone can ever find the time to play, or the funds to purchase. We have excellent games that are free for the download, and excellent games that are beautifully printed, bound, boxed and widely available at what I consider to be very reasonable prices. Much of what was once in print, is available again, at least on the secondary market if not in digital or print-on-demand. Creativity in game design has never been more evident, and there are titles available that address nearly any play-style, setting preference, or game design philosophy imaginable. Dungeon crawlers, story telling games, combat simulators, romance themes, licensed products, and original way-out-there imaginings are all just an electronic transfer away. 
And yet many of us find it difficult to find a group that is keen to play the game we desperately want to play. To be sure, online play has made this task easier, but for those who are fortunate enough to have a group of friends with whom to game, deciding on what system to play can present a challenge. Do we play the "giant in the room" or an independent somewhat niche game system? Do we go "old school" or avoid that label entirely?

Contentiousness and the Pursuit of Fun in our hobby seems antithetical - at least to this peace-loving old gamer. 

I will end this reflection with a favorite quote:
"My role in society, or any artist's or poet's role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all." - John Lennon


(Images are of three new TTRPGs that all interest me, Dragonbane, Swords & Wizardry revised, and Pathfinder remastered.)

Friday, September 15, 2023

Tolkien’s Middle Earth and D&D

A Coming-of-Age Story
Once upon a time there was a professor in England who wrote tales of a fantasy world which he called Middle-earth. In many ways this fantasy realm resembles our own world, although much is also different. Technology in the good professor’s Middle-earth resembles our dark ages or medieval times long ago in the sense that folks went to war using horses, armor and swords. There are men and women in his stories that seem much like ourselves, but there were also creatures of legend and imagination in Middle-earth. An in the historic middle ages, there is magic in Middle-earth!
Professor Tolkien was a well educated college professor and for inspiration he drew upon many sources. The fairy tales and traditional stories about the knights of King Arthur, which he had first read as a youth, and from his experience of war as a soldier during the Great War of 1914-18, and also from his academic study of historical sources such as the epic of Beowulf, he borrowed ideas to include in his Middle-earth. To the roots of these inspirations, the good professor added a great deal of his own personal creativity and his active imagination, and he gave to our world a very engaging tale, or two, of an epic struggle between the forces of good and that of evil. A tale that from the time of its first publication right up to the present day has captivated an eager audience.
Coinciding with the rising popularity of Professor Tolkien's fantastic fictional Middle-earth has been the publication and growth of a little tabletop fantasy game which has changed first the wargaming hobby and ultimately entered popular culture bringing a widespread awareness to many of those same fantasy themes found in Middle Earth. The world’s first role-playing game did not claim to be based on Middle-earth and it contains many elements drawn from sources of inspiration other than the good professor, some quite contrary to the subject matter found in the creation of the notable college professor. There was however enough overlapping themes between the two phenomena to make both products appealing to a number of people who came to enjoy both game and fiction. In fact, the popularity of the tales of Middle-earth and of games based on the original fantasy role-playing ideas have continued to grow right up to our present time. we are told that the hobby of fantasy role-playing has never been more popular. Fantasy tropes have become widely known and appear in computer, video and console games, in movies and other media and of course in many novels written in the wake of the Middle-earth volumes. Today elves, wizards and hobbits can be seen throughout much of our popular culture. It's been a grand journey.