Good Gaming Blog

Had a pretty crazy week after Memorial Day… lots of good things have come up on various blogs. Right now I’m sort of running around like a chicken with his beautifully plumed head cut off, but here’s the roundup so far:

Growing on Me:

=Superhero Necromancer is really getting my attention with some Nice Posts on various topics. Actually was hipped to this blog through Noism’s Monsters and Manuals and after some digging through the thing… well, let’s say there’s a reason why I’m posting it here .

=A Hamsterish Hoard is actually making me want to go out and crack some books I haven’t used in awhile. Creatures like Ksshri here need to come back to D&D in general and with the quickness.

Joe the Lawyer from over at ENWorld has a blog full of enough snark that it is kinda scarring to read some times. His painfully blunt Response to an essay over at Grognardia should show you the flavor I’m pointing at.

Not Forgotten:

In the move I forgot to show a little love for some blogs which get reads on their respective sites, but deserve more eyes on them:

Jack7 should be writing treatises on gaming for the guys who bitch and moan about various and sundry issues. Sometimes veering into psuedointellectualism, Jack7’s poorly named (but increasingly incredible) Tome and Tomb brings the Hot Fire to ENWorld’s blogging community. Accepted but not well-liked amongst the ‘in-crowd’ on that site, Jack’s work is always thought-provoking and rarely at a level which does not scream fantastic.

Plans for the Month:

Hoping to post some regular good-old-fashioned info on that arc of adventures I’m hoping to work on. Also, there has been some discussion going about of a writer coming to the Good Gaming Blog either through posted guest spots or as a full member… and he’s bringing his ideas on some interesting topics with him. If it works out you’ll be kept up-to-date. Also: We’re going to be entering the RPG Blog Carnival early this round. From the New Site. And it will be glorious .

Until Then,

Good Gaming,

Slainte,
-Loonook.

Monsters and Manuals, a great site for good gaming, just celebrated its 1st anniversary last week. Since I’ve been reading the blog for awhile now, I figured I’d hip my readers to some recent topics on the site which are thoughtful and thought provoking:

-Theory of Demihumans: A lot of solid thought put into this post, with some great citations.

…

-A Rant on the Use(ful/less)ness of Class: Don’t let the names of classes define your character (this prevents me from writing up the exact same rant again .

And of course The Writer’s Choice for best entries of the year. None of these will disappoint .

Give them a read; they’re worth it. While I’m at it, NiTessine in the deep freezing wastes writes an amusing and amazing blog. Check his stuff out; his rants on various issues in the industry are always top-notch.

As Always, Good Gaming,

Slainte,

-Loonook.

Just got done with a large amount of mind-numbing work on various projects at the homestead, so I figured I would post a list of what has been keeping me relatively sane over the last few days of 3-day weekend madness.

=The Chatty DM just posted a great discussion on Dungeon Reality Shows. Definitely give some props, and your suggestions, to the pot so that these ideas could percolate and make up for an interesting setting.

=Johny Drain posts an excellent set of blog roundups on a (somewhat erratic) basis… this is going to be my ‘browse while doing other things’ list, but

=Groknard is throwing up his own update blogroll for those who like the SF side of the SF&F equation (especially ST) when it comes to homebrewing. It’s hit or miss for the fantasy reader, but the information on Atomic Sock Monkey’s PDQ is definitely worth it as it points to a great little freebie list (reposted here) that is worth checking out.

=Gnome Stew’s John Arcadian andWalt Ciechanowski wrote up a great two-fer on collaborative DMing which actually gave me some insight into some entertaining possibilities when it comes to a different style of play and mastering.

Short roundup as I need to get some rest, but check these out and get back to me on anything which proves interesting.

Slainte,

-Loonook.

Though we all read setting materials, sourcebooks, etc. and we all know our fantasy reading, I find that a lot of geeks need to work on their outside reading. NiTessine posted his Appendix N after being inspired by a post by Zachary the First over at RPGBlog2 . The following books and series are not my whole ‘Appendix N’. I have chosen these 5 books because they are outside of the realm of Fantasy, and are great sources for ideas which will influence your gaming.

5.) Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. While I don’t necessarily enjoy all of the presentation, Quinn’s portrayal of a non-human (in this case a telepathic gorilla) and how the titular character’s viewpoint is different from the norms of humanity proves to be an exercise in thinking outside the box.

4.) The Baroque Cycle from Neal Stephenson. Amazing historical fiction with a swashbuckling, intrigue-filled air of entertainment. So much to read (almost 3000 pages worth of goodness) but all of the series is a real page turner. The book discusses the life of ‘real world’ adventuring, from merchants to pirates to the pitfalls of running afoul of your employer. Great read, worth every page.

….

3.) LA Confidential by James Ellroy. Amazingly in-depth work in the noir crime drama style. This shows an amazing ‘campaign’ between several police officers, their subordinates, and information network to uncover the evils of the modern world.

2.) The Book of Imaginary Beings by Jorge Luis Borges. Tales and information on various creatures from folklore and fantasy. Worth every penny if you can find a copy, as it gives a unique look into the lives and minds of many creatures which are in the Fantasy canon.

1.) The Arthashastra (Author Disputed). A Book of Statecraft from the Indian subcontinent .. . more than a thousand years before Machiavelli. Later texts actually include ways to use mysticism to your advantage in statecraft. The thought process behind this statecraft manual is a little alien to the average reader, and will give you an outlook in a long-term pattern of thinking which your older races may have.

Well, after tracking down the Blog Carnival at its current stop atRoleplaying Pro I found some really Interesting New writers, and of course the excellent work of Zachary over at RPGBlog2:Electric Boogaloo.

My Thoughts?

The Future of RPGs is in new blood, fresh ideas, and players who have a deep understanding of the past and present of the industry and the power of various forces. Technology (Especially the Web), and places like ENWorld and the Giant in the Playground forums both help and hinder our hobby. While they help bring together fascinating new ideas from both the crunch and fluff, they also bring about things which most roleplayers aren’t fond of (character optimization, cliched settings, and places where various shady dealings occur.

The future will mean the death of some types of things; just like Mortality.net was once a very entertaining source of podcasting and is now just a 403 message, we may lose some resources and others may come into being which are not exactly what we want.

As good gamers we need to foster community in the next generation of roleplayers. We have to toss away some of our old ideas and embrace some new ones. The five things to improve the future of roleplaying that YOU can do include the following:

1.) Try out new systems. Yes grognards, this is pointed at some of you . On the other side…

2.) Bring what you love about the game out for the new breed to read. Remember that old Crazy, Odd, or even COMPLETELY INSANE setting or game that you loved? Bet some newbie may love it too.

3.) Read! I’m posting an article soon on part of my Appendix N, and I think that adding new concepts to your gaming will improve it severely.

4.) Use the New to Support Your Habit. As listed above there are many forums, blogs, and even IRC networks that have a focus around gaming. Check them out… a lot of them are worth it. I’m usually found on #enworld @ Otherworlders if you want to chat some time .

5.) Support your Community. Buy products, get out and run games, go to conventions.

In short… these steps will give us a future to look forward to.

Good Gaming,

Slainte,

Loonook.

Fascinating Article on the requirements of a DM over at Gnome Stew. Kurt Schneider makes some brilliant points… check it out .

EDIT: Got to post for my followers… Rob over at Groknard writes a great blog… check it out.

Oh, so many things which have started to be interesting when it comes to various pieces of gaming, or my interests… I’m going to put some links to interesting webcomics, blogs, books, and other information I’m reading which could bring you some entertaining reading…

Webcomics, General:

Penny Arcade… Always Good Times. Penny Arcade is one of those things which I would be amazed you haven’t heard of… but stranger things have happened.

Sordid City Blues. Interesting webcomic from a different perspective… has nothing to do with gaming, but it is enjoyable.

Templar, Arizona Another weird comic… but gods does it have great idea. Jakes, gas masks, urban protesters, and places that sell guns, liquor and… adult products. Worth a read.

Webcomics, RPG

Nodwick and Full Frontal Nerdity Great stuff, from far in the past into the future. Must reads.

Points of Light. A great comic which rips into 4e and survives based on raw determination. Definitely worth checking out.

ErfWorld doesn’t get the respect it deserves… and I’m going to change that with this. Check it out . Of course GITP hosts Order of the Stick, which is well, well known… but again worth the mention.

This is all I have off the top of my head.

Slainte,

-Loonook.

I have attempted to write this blog post several times without coming off as snooty. Perhaps it is the sickness which has curtailed most of my writing efforts for the past weeks, or perhaps it is just the cloudiness of the medications which are getting me through said sickness, but I find it difficult to deliver this piece of flotsam advice in a manner becoming of the true gist of the whole piece. Mostly this came from sitting in bed discussing gaming with a friend across the world online at the moment when 2008 drew to a close.

I was bedridden (and remained so until yesterday) and miserable, and they were fighting off a considerable amount of alcoholic bliss to continue the discussion. We discussed the GG Blog, a couple of other pieces, the newest things in various editions and rulesets… then we began to discuss a horrific DM experience which my friend had had in his travels. We’ll not discuss the horrors of said experience too deep . . . suffice to say, it was bad enough that I became woozy and ill-at-ease from laughing too hard at 1 in the morning. We both wondered why DMs suck so badly these days, and why there are so few ‘good gamers’ out in the hinterlands with the spread of the Internet and its bounty of information.

The next day I had my resolution; I will convert a group of players to competent DMs in the next year. I will take a group of players who seem to be the worst, most despicable ‘Bad News Bears’ group of ne’r-do-wells in the history of gaming and I will turn at least half of the group into solid DMs.

And here’s why it will never work . . .

Learning to be a good DM doesn’t start in a vacuum. It doesn’t start with your first game, and it doesn’t start with someone telling you all of the secrets of the process. I could write a hundred articles on this blog and have it be more popular than Google . . . yet I cannot make any individual reader a better DM than they themselves want to be. I feel I lucked out in my gaming experience, as I would guess most allegedly good DMs would attest, and had a perfect storm of good, reliable players, great DMs, and a location which was fit for play at the worst of times and amazingly suited for gaming at the best.

Environment can produce great DMs, but it also takes a lot of work. For every good session I run I had probably ten horrific, pre-teen nightmare wish fulfillment games that I either played in or (to my horror in admittance) DM’ed in my younger days. For every good artifact or backstory I’ve probably burned through a hundred poor, ill-fitting, or just silly ideas. I utilize tropes, backwards concepts, archaic gaming jargon and styles . . .

but I learned at the heels of giants. Guys who were unrepentant destroyers of PCs, whose various story arcs could inspire madness just in their labyrinthine twistings and turnings. I had the luck of spending a couple of years with a safety net, a couple of campaigns of being a co-DM to some of the worst PC beatdowns I have seen to this day.

And that doesn’t really exist anymore. In this gaming culture there are too many players, DMs, and writers who believe that everything just comes together. Decades of experience behind me, I can tell you that if that were the case most of the bloggers on RPG topics would be sitting on gold-plated thrones dispensing wisdom via ruby-keyed laptops while sipping the finest colas from chalices shaped like d12s.

I own none of these things, and it saddens me.

My Resolution is to form a new group, bringing in some of the best players and DMs I can find, and then indoctrinating some of these new players into the ways of the old. And then, maybe, showing these snowflakes a little of how it’s done.

Slainte,

-Loonook.

I’m going to be out of town for an unknown period of time on a job . . . sadly, you won’t be coming with me. Until I get back, read up on some of the local flavors in the blogosphere and I’ll try to update when I get there:

A Divine Wind: Great blog from Kamikaze Midget over at ENWorld. Kamikaze is working on a port of Final Fantasy using 3 & 4e styles . . . the project is coming out great. Check out his Starter characters, or the Freelancer class preview.

Tome and Tomb: Has a lame name and is working on organization, but good times overall. New blog that is working on itself.

Worlds in a Handful of Dice: Good work by NiTessine as cited in the last article. Had a little controversy a bit back as a 4e tester who didn’t like 4e. Oh nos!

Jonathan Drain’s Blog: Provides a hell of a lot of great sources, and since I’ll be out I linked you to his “Friday Link Adventure” for this week so you double your pleasure and fun.

Gotta get going, so enjoy yourselves and don’t wreck the furnishings…

Slainte,

-Loonook.