1. February 2012 by Dregg.

About three weeks from now I will be attending one of the best Gaming Conventions on the Eastern Seaboard called TotalCon. The Total Confusion people really know how to put on a show. From day one till the closing ceremonies the staff, guests, gamers, and venue people are top notch.

This year I will be returning as an Industry Guest gathering up interest in some of my newer projects and doing two very special playtests  of source books I am writing. The first is The Colony. This setting piece/adventure is set at the time of the final days of the Roanoke Colonists. A fantasy Elizabethan age where magic is quite real and Native American magic and folklore is vengeful and deadly. Looking forward to feedback and getting a chance to play out some modifications to the original draft. The next is my Tales From the Fallen Empire. A source book written for Goodman Games’ new Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG. The setting has been inspired by Howard, Leiber, Moorcoc, Roger Corman movies, and  the Stargate series. This will be a playtest of 4 new classes and a delving into the setting. I will also be running the Ghost Tower of Inverness, and my Death Race Z game. If you are in New England and a Gamer there is no reason not to come out. Check out www.totalcon.com for more info.

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1. February 2012 by Dregg.

I am not sure of what to think about all the talk about D&D Next (or 5e or whatever). About 4 years ago WotC had me really excited for the newest and brightest of the D&D line. They had me hook, line, and sinker. In my mind 4e was going to be the one system that I could be happy with… well here we are 4 years later and the kind folks over at Hasborg is trying to rally for my money again. So what am I to think? Should I be happy to fill yet another bookcase with new D&D products? Will this be it for perhaps a time longer than 4-5 years before they start up the band wagon again? The one thing that the OSR movement has taught me is that I should just enjoy the game I like to play. Screw the brighter, shiny, new system that will make rolling dice a fucking rainbow. If I like to play AD&D 1e then damn it this is what I will play. Now mind you I am a gaming whore, I spend more money on RPGs than I do on clothes and real life necessities.  Fuck I would rather drop $100 on a new game than buy myself a pair of shoes. If you catch my eye, I will shortly be giving you money… plain and simple. All my nerd rage aside, I have faith that this will be the version of D&D that I will want to play (heh, as I have said in 2007, 2002, 1999, 1987, etc) and WotC will give me a game that will be AD&D wrapped in cleaned up modern game design. Until then I will play my Pathfinder. When I get the chance I will run AD&D and B/X for those who appreciate it. There is a lot of good stuff out there and this year looks to be promising with the release of DCC by Goodman games. D&D has come a long way, even if we do not call it D&D anymore.

My last bit of advice… go out and pick up the Apocalypse World Hack “Dungeon World”. If you like B/X or BECMI D&D, you will find this right up your alley. Not a clone, but a very fun RP experience in the vein of Old School Play.

Posted in 5e, Game Mechanics, D&D, gaming | No Comments »

5. January 2012 by Dregg.

As I look back at the posts I have made during 2011, I seem to notice that I cannot stay focused on a topic. There are a lot of part ones that I never finish… nor do I plan to. Pretty sad I guess, but it seems to be a common theme with me. If I were a GURPS character I would have the Blogger ADD disadvantage.

Now it is time to focus on 2012. Attempt to earn enough EP to burn off that disad, and perhaps take on more. The year so far looks pretty promising. A OSR module for a really cool company (I will disclose who in the near future), my Setting book “Tales from the Fallen Empire” for Goodman Games’ new DCC RPG, and a Savage Worlds Wold Book called Death Race Z.

With the dying in flames steampunk campaign of last year, I am doubtful that I will see a return. Sad to put work and effort into something and then the Holiday slits it’s throat. Way to go Nov/Dec! I will be running two (or hope to run) campaigns this year. One will be the playtest of the TftFE setting, and the other I am hoping with be a Shadowrun game. This time I even promise not to give up because the rules were designed by Master Len (there is a awkward reference for you).

Anyway… new blog name, same old blogger.

Posted in Blogging, Geek Culture, gaming | No Comments »

11. October 2011 by Dregg.

So after having a brief e-mail session yesterday with my friend and fellow gamer Matt Milman, I came to the realization that when I next run pathfinder I want to do it in the spirit of “Old School”. That leads to the question, what steps would I need to make playing pathfinder a bit like playing AD&D. I don’t want to start ripping mechanics out of the game (if I start doing that I might as well be playing AD&D), but there has to be a way to give that sort of wonder. One of the ideas I have been pondering is not allowing players to roll for perception, disable traps, etc. While this defeats one of the design concepts of Pathfinder/D&D 3.X, it does put a bit more control back into the GM’s hands and allows for that sense of “did I actually succeed” on the players end. I think I found my new blog topic.

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13. September 2011 by Dregg.

It looks like a lot of people are going over their Gamer Origins today, so I will get on the band wagon and explain a little about how I became a Geek. Growing up I was an only child so I was spoiled with large amounts of toys to compensate for not having any siblings. I was very protected and form many years all I had was my imagination and bazillion action figures and play-sets to bide away the time. My toys and I would have many adventures in which I would set up elaborate story arcs in which they all played a part in. Batman, Starsky & Hutch, and Captain Kirk would battle off the evil forces of The Joker, and his army of fischer price little people.  It was great times.  Being a socially akward kid I did not have many friends so my comforts were back at home amongst my toys. As I got older I started enjoying cartoons such as battle of the Planets, Speed Racer, Spiderman, The Superfriends, and whatever superhero show I could watch on VHF or UHF (yea pre cable baby!). In middle school my best friend Ofilia and I would hang out on Saturdays and watch movies, play games, and pretty much geek out (I think in the span of a year we tried to start a new wave band and learn to break dance). We had both seen the Dungeons and Dragons Cartoon on Saturday mornings and wondered if the actual game was cool. Well my Grandfather bought me the Moldvey Basic Box set and Ofie and I tried to play… well lets say we did not get it. We tired to play it like a LARP and lost interest pretty soon after. About two years later a friend of mine who went to boarding school in the Napa valley came home and talked about all the fun they had playing this game called Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. I told my friend Mike that I had tried to play some years back and it never worked out. Long story short, he and a group of my cousin’s friends began a campaign (one that ended up lasting about four years) that I eventually took over later on. I met a great group of people and played way too much. Later I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Greg Stafford (then with Chaosium) and the person who would become a very close friend Ian. With that group I learned to drop my passion of D&D and learn to play a variety of games. As the years went on I had met more and more gamers and designers in the bay area like Mike Pondsmith of R. Talsorian Games and started to really enjoy the hobby. Before I left for the east coast I met Jared Sorenson and worked with him for awhile along with my good friends Jon Richardson and Michael Smith. My game Pulp Era was eventually publsihed as a free game from Jared’s begining Memento Mori Theatriks website, and eventually became the system for Jared’s OctaNe RPG. in 1999 I moved to Long Island from San Francisco and that is where things got even better…

Posted in Nerd Culture, Geek Culture, Speak out with your Geek out, gaming | 1 Comment »

12. September 2011 by Dregg.

I had to abbreviate “Speak out with you Geek out” or else my whole title would have been way too long  The title today was stolen from a good friend and most awesome person, writer Jess Hartley. I first heard her say this at I-CON 29 a few years back and I think the question sums up my theory about people in general. Everyone of us no matter who we are (or say we are) has a streak of Geek in them. Not to say that all of us sit around playing Magic the Gathering, D&D, or stress over games of Settlers of Catan, but we all have that passion about something. A good example is a football fan, while they might pull off a macho jock exterior underneath is the beating heart of a Geek. Most football fans I know (and some still pick on me for being a gamer) have their jersey that they have to wear/watch to games, play in online fantasy football leagues, and have desktop backgrounds of their favorite team logos. Is this any different than having a favorite dice bag, playing in a forum based RPG, or wearing your Horde teeshirt to the company outing? Not really! They even have their own Nerd Rage, two people I work with are a good example of this. One is a Red Sox fan and the other is a Yankee fan. While there working and personal relation ship is fine, you just don’t talk about baseball in the presence of both of them.  With that said I feel we all have an inner Geek, for whatever reason society has told us this is a bad thing. Growing up I heard because I owned D&D books I was doomed to hell, people in high school never openly admitted their passions about nerd culture, heck even being a member of the computer club meant ridicule. WTF? Really! I am very happy that we can express ourselves and show our Nerdom these days. My son proudly wore his Munchkin shirt to school for many years (still does today), co-workers expressing wanting to learn to play D&D, and local conventions and game days are building higher attendance due to those feeling empowered to do what they love.

Hollywood has helped a litte as well with stars such as Vin Diesel, Robin Williams, Steven Colbert, and others speaking out on thier hobbies. Needless to say it is OK to be a GEEK, wear it proud, you are not alone in this. Take a look around this week at all the blogs, writers, and companies who are supporting “Speak Out with your Geek out!” Then write about your experiences as well and let us know What Flavor of Geek you are.

Check out Speakoutwithyourgeekout.com for more details

Posted in Geek Culture, Nerd Culture, Speak out with your Geek out, D&D, gaming, Uncategorized | No Comments »

9. September 2011 by Dregg.

While looking through an old email account I ran across an email from Gary Gygax this morning. Something I had totally forgotten about for 6 years, but sort of a treat today after being bummed out about having to miss my Pathfinder game last night. It was for I-CON 25, and I wanted to invite Gary back to I-CON to be a guest of honor. Unfortunately due to budgeting I could not get him and Gail to fly out. I feel a bit sad that I missed my chance to get to know one of the Fathers of D&D, but in a small way I did have my chance to interact with him.

“Thanks so very much for your interest in having me appear at I-Con. It has
been many years since I’ve been a guest at the convention, and we always
enjoyed attending.”

He went on a bit more in the e-mail about his heath and other matters (which I am will not post here), but he really wanted to come out. He told me he would have to make a decision and within a few day Gail contacted me to make arrangements. One thing that makes a lot more sense 6+ years later is the Quote at the bottom of Gary’s email “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and
give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16″ In my mind that last thing I would see from Gary was a bible quote. Not that I though Gary was not Christian or a man of faith, I just thought Gary would have had some sort of Tolkien or Lewis quote… Some years later I would learn from Frank Mentzer that Gary was very religious and took god quite seriously in his life.

Rest in Peace Gary

Posted in Heores, I-CON, OSR, Game Conventions, D&D, gaming | No Comments »

8. September 2011 by Dregg.

Well tonight will most likely end part 2 of 6 in the Curse of the Crimson Throne story arc. I must admit this has been a fun adventure path so far, and I look forward to picking it back up in late fall./early winter with the next installment. One of the things I find irritating about running modules is the dedication to constantly reading the mod to keep up. I am a lazy GM in general and If I can help it, I just like the players to take a lead and go with it. Sandbox I believe is the term I hear used for this style. Anyway, tonight’s battle looks pretty brutal. On board we have our Paladin, Cleric, Monk, and Rogue so it is a good mixture, although I have heard from players who have gone through this module that with a party of seven toughs, there is an average casualty rate of 2 player characters.

Lazy GMing aside I will say that I LOVE pathfinder! This is a bit odd since I completely hated 3.5 and refused to run games in it. I try and play in Pathfinder Society games when I get a chance, and I will run a module from time to time (my favorite being “Crypt of the Everflame”) at a convention or game day. Nw I am not saying this is the game for me. Personally I would rather run a system that fits my GMing style like Cortex +, Fate, Savage Worlds, Lamentations of the Flame Princess, or the game I can never get people to play with me Barbarians of Lemuria. I think what clicks for me with Pathfinder is Paizo actually play-tests their materials and there is less bloat. Yes, Paizo does but out a good number of books, but they all don’t contradict themselves or introduce classes that break the game. WotC seemed to just write down ideas, stick them in a $40.00 book and sell them. My lord by the end of 3.5 it was so broken I wanted to just chuck my books out the window… heh, actually I traded them off or sold them, but the same principal. I did however keep my Eberron books, for all of WotC’s retarded marketing strategies I will admit the contest that brought us Eberron lets me forgive them a bit. I will not get into 4e today because that is a whole other can of worms. I will say that 4e is like a mistress, she can give you what you need, but after that you feel guilty and dirty.

Posted in Modules, Gaming Groups, Pathfinder, gaming | No Comments »

7. September 2011 by Dregg.

While there are many great game conventions in New England (Totalcon I am looking at you) Carnage is one of the more unique gatherings of the nerd tribes. Held a the beautiful Lake Morey resort in Fairlee Vermont, this convention is more like a fall vacation with lots of around the clock gaming. I had to miss last years event due to a wedding of two close friends (and an unfortunate surgery), but this year I am ready to rock this joint. If you plan on going look into nearby hotels as the resort has been sold out for some time. if you are going to end your year with a convention, Carnage should be it.

I am planning three events for Carnage, two will be me whoring some up-coming work of my own and one will be a unique Wonderland themed game that I have had rattling around in my head for some years. I look forward to seeing the full list fof games for this year, there are some of the usual suspects running games this year: Bradford Younie, Dr. Nik, and I believe Jeff Talanian will be gracing the convention as well. These are amazing GMs and writers, it would be a sin to not stop in and play in their games.

So…. my games

#1. Death Race Z: This is one of Chapter 13 Presses GrindHouse games. The players will break up into two rival teams of “Dragsters” in a violent game of a 1970’s gone wrong bloodsport. Expect lots of Gore, Girls, and of course Zombies.

#2. The Land of Nod: This will be a play-test of an adventure setting/module for a well known OSR game system. Return to the shores of Roanoke Island where an ancient evil has awaken and the fate of the 114 colonists hangs in the balance. Having just lost your ship and drifted to this god forsaken island, would you have been better off dying in the storm?

 #3 . Stargate 1889: Young Alice first fell though the portal in Giza when she was age 9. She claimed to have awoken is a strange world turned upside down. This portal (now under the control of the Crown) has been referred to as “Project Looking Glass” and Alice (now age 25) has been asked to return to her “Wonderland” with a team of experts to prevent the invasion of the Red Queens’ army into London.

There is a bit more to these, but I think that is enough teaser for now.

Posted in Alice and Wonderland, Chapter 13 Press, Carnage, Game Conventions, Conventions, gaming | No Comments »

10. March 2011 by Dregg.

As I write the adventure that will be ran at the I-CON 30 celebrity D&D game, I am thinking that perhaps I would like to self publish the module afterward. It is an old school tribute to Frank Mentzer and is based in my home brew fantasy world. Why not?

Posted in D&D Clone, OSR, Old School, D&D, Uncategorized | No Comments »