Big Setting Books

Why I love them...
This is not really about The Northlands Saga Complete (804 pages) pictured above, it's just an example of a type of game aid I find especially exciting. As far as these products go, Frog God Games, the publisher of Northlands..., makes a number of very fine big setting books. Rappan Athuk needs no introduction inside the hobby and for years has set the standard for megadungeons. Slumbering Tsar is a prequel to Rappan Athuk and tells the tale of the destruction of the abandoned City of Orcus. All three are offered by Frog God Games, as well as a number of other products.
You may note the small "Pathfinder" logo on the cover of Northlands... This designates it as the Pathfinder version of the play aid which also comes in a Sword & Wizardry version. I think the contents are probably the same with the exception of stat blocks for monsters/NPCs. I ordered this version because I am thinking of using it with a regular group I play Pathfinder with when it's my turn to referee. I greatly dislike designing stats for the more complex versions of "The Game" such as Pathfinder. Having a number of ready-made encounters is helpful.
The way I plan to make use of this play aid is by turning it into a sandbox. I'll take it on vacation, read through it, taking notes and by the time I return will hopefully have a pretty good idea of the area, NPCs, factions, etc. and things likely to happen. Plop some PCs into the setting and see where it goes. I nice big book like this is full of setting details, critters and NPCs...oh and it probably has a story arch, but only pieces of that are likely to get used by me. Nothing goes to waste, however and ideas I read, whether novel plots/subplots or story arcs in play aids, often get recycled as an improvised idea inserted someplace else.
A good referee has a lot of varied skills. One of those is to have lots of ideas freely floating around one's brain from which to drawn on when an opportunity presents itself. Those ideas can come from anywhere...other players, film, art, literature, music, the imagination and big play aid books like Northlands...

What It Is About

The Role of Gaming in Friendships
There are many activities that bring us together and make it likely that friendships will be formed. Work, school, church, social clubs and volunteering all offer great opportunities to meet people and develop friendships. Many of those friendships will be based on mutual interests, some on shared experiences. Abraham Lincoln once remarked, "The better part of one's life consists of his friendships."
Many of the people I have known the longest and consider my best friends were met gaming. This is not an unusual story among gamers. The shared interest brings us together and facilitates shared fun and enjoyment. Other hobbies serve a similar purpose. The act of participating in a hobby (any hobby) allows us to not only gather in a group to share our interest, but to extend the pleasure of time together through individual time spent in pursuit of the hobby itself and in preparation for those corporate gatherings. 
Tabletop gaming is a social thing. Discussing matters pertaining to the hobby with other like minded people and sharing the interest is a joy. Retelling tales of tabletop adventure (embellishments included) can be as much fun as playing the game itself. The RPG hobby and tabletop games in general is a more social hobby than some others. It really comes down to the people. It's a social gathering, with certain accepted parameters, offering a chance to express oneself in a relaxed environment.
So what is gaming? It's using our imagination. It's learning about new things. It's about being creative. It's about the people you meet and the shared experience of playing the game. Steve Jackson, designer of GURPS and other games, writes, "The enjoyment you get out of a game is largely about who you're playing it with." Among people who want to have fun, treat others with respect and kindness, and enjoy a bit of a challenge, tabletop gaming can be the perfect hobby.

Verisimilitude

Is it Believable?
Suspension of disbelief, sought by film makers and authors, allows for immersion in a fictional setting. Your mind temporarily suspends the fact that you are sitting comfortably and allows the story to take you along to exotic, exciting and sometimes scary places - a "you are there" experience - to identify with a fictional character, to worry about the character, to share in the triumphs and heartbreaks of the character almost as if they are real. This is verisimilitude, to feel like something is true and it can be a goal in roleplaying.
White Box is a game. The Last of the Mohicans is a novel and Gone with the Wind is a film. But they all can be a little more. With willingness to put our own lives on hold for a few hours and immerse ourselves in a fictional setting focusing on fictional characters, we can enjoy a mental adventure full of laughs, joys, triumphs and tragedies. Story-telling around the fire, drama, tragedy and comedy of the theater and the singing of the epics are how this form of entertainment began and there continuance through the ages proves our desire human desire for mental imaginings.
So what role does believably play? A joke can make us laugh even though nothing about it seems real. A story about animals that talk and wear clothes can entertain us and even teach us a few lessons (Aesop's Fables). So why escape reality by immersing ourselves in an imaginary setting full of imaginary characters and imaginary danger? White Box is a game and it can be played just like other games, moving pieces about measuring inches, rolling dice, etc. But it can also be so much more.
Before I discovered White Box, I played other traditional tabletop games and many "wargames". Some of the "wargames" were advertised as "time machines" - a simulation that could transport the player back in time and put you in command during an historic battle so that your decisions affect the outcome. Perhaps because of this wargame experience, I sometimes think of fantasy RPGs as "transporters" to a time that never was, but could be, to a fantastic world of adventure where I get to make the decisions. Verisimilitude is very important in such an imagined experience.
At the end of the day, it's still just a game - something we do for fun and entertainment. The experience, shared among friends is real, however. Like most in this hobby, I have great memories of games past, shared among the best of friends. Making the adventure seem real in the moment can enhance everyone's fun and heighten the strength of the memories.

Character

Where does it come from?
I often wonder if a beat-up box or heavily worn book says something about the game at the game table? Does it announce, "This has seen a lot of use because it's a really good game!" By contrast, does a shiny new game invite suspicion as untried? The above box has some "character". It's been split at the corners, taped with duct tape which deteriorated over years and is now replaced with clear packing tape. The lid is "dished", rubbed and worn. Removal of the duct tape took part of the cover illustration with it. So what does this say about the game?
The idea of character encompasses a lot of related concepts. In role-playing games we speak of "playing our character", the PC or playing piece in the game. Depending on the rules and the style of play, the PC may be "fleshed out" or just some numbers on a sheet. White Box allows for as much or as little fleshing out as the players want to do in this regard. GURPS incorporates advantages and disadvantages (and quirks) into PC design and therefore pushes us toward fleshing out the character as a personality with more than number statistics. One is expected to role-play the advantages and disadvantages during the game.
Some players like to start with a character concept in mind before any dice are rolled or points spent in character generation (chargen). Other players like to let the character's "personality" develop during play. Some don't care about either. One common feature of the game, regardless of rule system, is "introduction of characters" where each player in turn introduces the character they are playing by stating their name, often in a "funny voice" and describing their appearance. It certainly can be helpful if everyone at the table shares the same preferences for chargen, but depending on the system and milieu, this may not be necessary. Role-playing is a very flexible hobby.
The referee is responsible for bringing "character" to a number of NPCs during play. This can be rolled randomly, or be thought out as part of preparation. I frequently draw on old PCs, either my own or others I've seen played, for inspiration regarding NPCs. Sometimes I even use the original name, but not often. When you want a memorable NPC, it helps for the referee to have a pretty good feel for who that person is, what they are about, and what makes them unusual? Sometimes I like to show the players a picture of the NPC (or location because places can have character also).

Greyhawk

City of Adventure
In 1989, 15 years after the release of the White Box, TSR gave us the above product, The City of Greyhawk. Mentioned countless times in supplements, articles and modules, the Free City of Greyhawk had been Gary Gygax's original setting city, giving its name to his campaign. For years we in the hobby knew of the existence of the fabled Greyhawk, saw its location on maps and felt the weight of its influence, but until the release of this product we had no maps and little in the way of hard facts of the city itself. In the absence of an official Greyhawk, many of us would substitute something of our own design or re-label another product such as Judges Guild's City State. It felt like a long time coming before an official Greyhawk made its appearance.
Mr. Gygax had left TSR by the time of The City of Greyhawk's release. His name does not appear in the list of credits, so I wonder how much of this product reflects the Greyhawk of Mr. Gygax and how much is invention by others using the Greyhawk name? I suspect mostly the latter. Regardless, the boxed City of Greyhawk has earned for itself a reputation as a sound design. Consisting of four large color maps, two 96 page books and 23 "card encounter sheets", there is a lot of information inside this box. The product compares nicely with other fantasy cities such as Pavis (Chaosium), The City State of the Invincible Overlord (Judges Guild), Sanctuary (Thieve's World/Chaosium) and Haven (Gamelords).
The maps use a 3/4 aerial perspective allowing individual buildings to be seen. One maps takes us below street-level showing the sewers and "underside" of the famous city. The individual cards describe brief adventures in and around the city suitable for an evening's entertainment, perhaps when the referee hasn't had time to plan something or the players take an unexpected "time-out" from another adventure. The long list of detailed NPCs, organizations and locations included in the two paperback volumes provides lots of fodder for adventure and there is no reason an entire campaign involving years of gaming couldn't be set entirely withing the city and its immediate environs.
The City of Greyhawk boxed play aid came along amidst a number of other setting products released during an era of such products by TSR, which in its last years seemed to focus on more and more independent setting products, many being entire worlds. Greyhawk was an old campaign setting, but with The City of Greyhawk box it was given new life.

The Nature of Magic

Magic in the Game
Is there an explanation for magic? I was watching a YouTube vid by Corey Morine (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiPaYoq_UFw) and he mentions an old handout he made up to explain how magic works. I took it that he wasn't talking about game mechanics, after all, that's in the book. No, I think he is talking about explaining the theory of magic in his setting. It got me to thinking and this post is the result.
White Box is pretty vague on just how magic works, or maybe it is clearer to say, why magic works. It just does. A cleric prays for spells and is granted a number each day which are cast through utterances and presenting the "holy symbol". It isn't stated, but often assumed, that a devine being is involved. A magic user studies a spell book, commits a number of spells to memory so they can quickly be cast with a few verbal utterances and somatic gestures. If we follow the logic into the Advanced game, there is a small material component as well. If the source of such magic is known, it remains unstated.
Other games make more effort to define the theory of magic behind their rules. Looking at SPI's DragonQuest game, it states the basis for the ten schools of magic can be found in myth, legend and literature. In other words, DragonQuest (Chivalry & Sorcery and Fantasy Wargaming) derives their ideas about magic from research and therefore presents more than one type of magic.
If one includes literature as a source, the types or theoretical origins of magic seem almost limitless. Perhaps the simplest form is it comes from pacts with demons, devils, elementals or other supernatural beings and such pacts give the magic user the opportunity to cast a number of spells that day.
A more naturalistic explanation of magic might be that it is everywhere and the magic user has a special ability to focus the energy and shape it. Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play calls this "the winds of magic". Some areas may have stronger magic energy than others. The world may have magic bands, called ley lines in some sources. Magic involves shaping forces of chaos in Lamentations of the Flame Princess and Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG. Fey magic in Adventures in Fantasy is song magic.
Where magic comes from and how the user of magic masters his art can be left open to interpretation or can form a major theme in the setting. I like the way White Box handles it (or doesn't) leaving it up to the referee, who again may say very little about the nature of magic, thereby leaving it up to the individual players. Personally, I rather prefer this latter method as it encourages each player to use their own imagination. For me that is always the goal, engage the imagination.

The Fellowship of the Game

FLGS and more
Having just spent a couple weeks in San Diego, I am once again reminded of the wonderful friendliness of our hobby. While on location, I was able to visit three local SD game stores, At Ease Games, Empire Games and The Villainous Lair and was welcomed by staff and customers at all three. I have experienced the same open reception and eagerness to meet a fellow hobbyist and share a game most everywhere I have been these past 40+ years.
The Friendly Local Game Store or FLGS has been a place to meet other gamers as well as to buy games. Today's FLGS usually has a "gaming area" with tables and chairs where gamers can play and socialize. Even before tables became prevalent, the FLGS was a place to meet other people interested in games. Most had bulletin boards where we could post "players wanted" notes. The nicer store owners would even take names and numbers and try and match-up interested customers with other customers of a similar age and interest. In fact, this is precisely how I met my first "gaming buddy".
The hobby has always been one of acceptance and tolerance. Most referee's have run an open table either at the FLGS, school game club or at a convention where anyone is welcome. Just show and interest and an invitation to join in usually comes quickly. Other players are usually eager to help teach the system and bring the new player up to speed on campaign details. It's always been a friendly hobby open to everyone with an imagination and some manners.
As the hobby matured, we insiders have started to discuss and write about introducing new players in the friendliest manner, making the game more fair and empowering everyone's idea of fun. Respect for diversity and tolerance of players having different goals for playing has become the norm. Creating a safe place for everyone to enjoy themselves and have fun together is a valued goal of most gamers, referee and player alike. The shared interest and love of the hobby brings all who participate into a happy place where fun is anticipated and eagerly shared. Friendships frequently follow. In many ways, it can be said, this is the best part of the hobby.