Happy Birthday to the Blog

               I cannot believe that it has been one year already. With cliché styling it seems like only yesterday I was writing my first post about breaking my D&D group. This initially started as an attempt to combat some personal demons and try and connect with the outside world a little bit. I was recommended to start blogging by my therapist as part of the process. I was literally paralyzed by the thought. It actually took me a month to write my first article due to massive fear. I am not exactly sure what the fear was attached, but it was there. Nowadays, I cannot wait to produce another article and truly enjoy the feedback that I get from them. With that I had about 75,000 hits in my first year, that is outstanding. In general the community is amazing and people are supportive and wonderful. Thanks to everyone that has made my small corner of the internet a great one for me.

                I wanted to write something a bit more grandiose due to the occasion, but currently my house is suffering from the flu. Due to the nature of my job I received a flu shot this year, but my wife and son did not. They are both currently suffering through it and I am doing a lot of nursing. I you wanted to get me a gift, though there isn’t a need, please just find your favorite post of mine, and share it in whatever way you choose. That does more for the blog then you would ever know. Once again thanks for everything, and I am hoping for an even better second year. Starting next week I am going to have a new series that I think everyone will love, more to come.

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Is There a Way to Make Our Hobby Healthier?

                Last Monday while I was actually in the middle of posting my Orc race as class, I started having some chest pains. I was on break at work and was rushed by EMT to the local hospital where I had to stay for 24 hours of observation. I appears to not be related to my heart directly, in the sense that I did not have a heart attack, but I still might have some blockages, tests will tell. I also noticed lately that many of our producers of content that have passed on, on average, went before a ripe old age. The doctors spoke to me about diet and exercise and the entire realm of “lifestyle” changes. The issue that comes up though, does my hobby make me unhealthy?

Trying to protect this bad boy.

                First and foremost this is not solely pointed at roleplaying games, I also have a desk job where I sit for 8+ hours a day. I have an extremely busy life that sometimes prevents any form of exercise, and not the best eating decisions. These factors weigh in far more than anything RPGs are doing to me. That being said, sitting for prolong periods of time and eating the common fair at the usual RPG session is not doing me any favors either. This does not include the time I spend reading RPG books, watching RPG Youtube shows, and writing this blog.

                I am thus reaching out to the community, have you found a way to possible make your RPG time a healthier experience? I think the obvious is to cut the poor foods out of gaming and substitute healthier options, but that only gets you halfway there. Beyond being in a boffer LARP, can you get any form of exercise in your RPG hobby? I think this issue is important to the community as it ages and we will have more and more premature deaths happening in the community.

                This was short and to the point, but I am hoping it can spawn some decent discussion in the community.

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What is Dead May Never Die

               This is a catch-up post because I have been out of action for a bit. I do apologize but life got the better of me for a bit. I was (and still am) working three jobs, taking some Masters level Applied Ethics classes, dealing with my son’s school issues due to his special needs, and having a minor health crisis that almost landed me in the hospital. Enough about my personal life let’s talk about my game life, which is another form of crisis. I basically due to all the stuff going on had to shelf a lot of my games. The games club that I ran at my school is limping along, and are running games amongst themselves with little assistance from me. My hope is that with the new semester coming up, a few things are happening. 1) I am not teaching next term, so that is one less job. This is good and bad, stress-wise it helps, but fiscally it hurts a bit. 2) I am taking a term off of school and focusing a bit more on health stuff. 3) I am going to start writing more again. I still have plans to produce an Old School Essentials book in some form, I just need to tackle some software and get the stuff out there, which is the scariest part.

                I want to take a moment to talk about the ever expanding OSE community which I have come to love quite a bit. If you are not a member of at least one of the major social media platforms it is active on, you are missing out. The three that are very active are the Facebook Old School Essentials Group, the MeWe Necrotic GnomeGroup, and the Necrotic Gnome Discord group. All of these channels are quite active, especially since the books have started shipping. I am still waiting on mine, hopefully this week they will be in though. I really want to be able to finger through the pages and just soak it all in as I have been an avid fan since the Kickstarter went through.

                As for the gaming front I plan to start a new campaign in the next year. I would love to do Barrowmaze because I heard it is very good. I don’t like the price though, and I have a few qualms professionally with a professor making students buy his expensive books for class and therefore profiting off students directly. I know he is not the first professor to do it, but it is not my cup of tea. I am trying to find possibly a used copy, I’d love to buy one off one of his students complaining that they have to own it. If anyone knows of someone selling a copy of the OSR version, I’d love to talk to them.

                I want to keep running WEG Star Wars too. I have a true passion for this game and I have reacquired a large portion of my old collection. I plan to do a review or two of some of the older books and let people have a glance at my growing collection. In fact I just won a SUPER cheap copy of Tramp Freighters for $17 via the Facebook group RPG Auctions. Considering they average eBay price is around $60, I was thrilled. I have managed to get many of the books for under $5 and even printed the REUP version of the rules via Lulu.

REUP Rule are amazing

                To sum up, I know it has been awhile, but I am back in the saddle and will be pushing content soon enough. One final paper and I am done with school for a while.

I went ahead and created a Facebook group for the blog, if you are interested the link is here.

Something Smells Foul in Facebook

               Odds are this post is going to come off as “Old Man Yells at Cloud”, but I am frustrated. I tried to vent my frustration on some places on the internet to no avail. Then I remembered, this is my corner of the internet and I can say and do whatever I want here. This is going to be a rant, and I am just doing it to get it off my chest, and release it into the ether so I can move on. Generally, I try to be the mediating voice in conversations, especially when it has to do with D&D. I am try to spread a pro-D&D message regardless of edition. I don’t condone people insulting older editions, and I do not condone people insulting 5e, mostly because I play them both. The issue I tend to have is with the gatekeepers of the 5e world, especially on the 5e FB main group.

Maybe I am just getting old.

                I try to reach out to the 5e community, but one of two things are abundantly clear; 1) 5e players just do not like reading blogs, or 2) they do not like my personal style. I make allowances for both. The truth is that when I write articles for 5e, the juice is often not worth the squeeze as far as traffic is concerned. I try though to reach out, I really value the opinions of the newer generation of gamers and would love to engage with them more. I was surprised when I posted my article on the D&D Cartoon Review and it picked up traction. It had 100+ reactions and around 60 comments and I was having a great time conversing with the people in the group about the topic. It was up for about 24 hours before it was pulled down for “Not being specifically about 5e”. This is not the first time I have had an article pulled, but this is the first time it was pulled when it had some good momentum around it. Normally I just accept it and move on, but this time I was angered because it was a good post.

                Now was my article FULLY about 5e, no. Though I did include at the end some best practices for D&D and mention 5e at least once specifically. I talk about the lessons in the episode that a DM can learn from and possibly emulate in their home game. I discuss the cool settings and the colorful villain that might make for interesting encounters for your players. I talk about the idea of facing overwhelming opponents, but using non-combat tactics to subdue them, like they do in the show. All things that could directly help a person running 5e. This time I wanted an explanation, especially because it wasn’t deemed bad for 24 hours.

                I respectfully requested that one of the admins contact me, mostly not to get this post put back up, but to ensure future posts will not be taken down. I have talked with some of the admins before, each time we came to a reasonable solution to the issue, and all parties were completely civil. This time was a much different experience. This time I managed to get a certain admin that has a bit of a reputation in this particular of wielding a mighty ban hammer and using it indiscriminately. I am not going to do a word for word of our conversation, but I will give the general overview.

Should be a ban scalpel.

                I began by stating that I just wanted to know why post had been taken down and that people seemed to be enjoying it. I was told that it should not have gone up, and that it had nothing to do with 5e. I did not come to this conversation unarmed though, because I took several screen shots of things that were approved and seemingly had less, or at least equal to do with D&D as my post. I want it said that I have no problem with any of the posts that I am mentioning, just that I do not understand how they have a direct tie to 5e and my post does not have one. To say it a second time, I did not want these other posts pulled, just and explanation.

                The first post was an advertisement for a semi-famous play, She Kills Monsters. This is a play about D&D, and I saw it about a year ago. The person was not talking about 5e, just advertising the play that he is involved with in his local area. I was told that the reason it can stay was, “They play 5e”. Ok, I mention that I play 5e as well, and was told “Great, it’s a fun game.” Seeing this one was not going anywhere, I moved on. The next was a post of a tin with dice in it. I was told that “Dice are used in this edition”. Ok, how about this one? It was a picture of someone painting a five headed dragon medallion. “Yep. That is Tiamat.” I then go on to explain that my article several times talks about Tiamat and I use the 5e picture of her for her representation. If having Tiamat in general in your post is enough to get in, my post should have been fine.

If you get a chance, go see this.

                I was asked “Is your article a review about a cartoon?” I answered in the affirmative, but also mentioned it was more than that as well. I talked about themes and troupes in D&D. Gave advice to DMs and in general had more to do with D&D than a play that was written before 5e existed. It was also a collective piece of our D&D history. “I failing to see a sufficient link with 5e”. I then try a different approach, which was to say that people were enjoying it, and were actively participating in the post. “People liking it doesn't make it right for this group. People LOVE DnD Memes. People LOVE pictures of naked people. Those don't work for our group either.” At this point it was going nowhere and we parted the conversation. I was upset, but I was going to let it go.

A few days later………

               

                The same admin post an article, from her own blog, about how using the terms guys, dudes, and fellows can be offensive to women and non-binary people. The sad thing is, I don’t disagree with her, but what does this have to do with 5e SPECIFICALLY?  There was a torrent of hate that flew her way and the post was locked down either by her or another admin. I do not think it was a bad article, but at a minimum it has to be equal with mine in the amount of 5e content.

                This is the crux of the issue though. The application of the policy is incredibly willy-nilly and in my opinion people should err on the side of the creators, then hit something with a ban stick without reading it. I just want to produce content and have it read by people free of charge, I don’t even have ads on my page. I write mostly to connect with people, and that group’s 144k worth of D&D fans is a good place to meet people.

I just had to get that off my chest, I am going to move on with my life and try and get part 2 of the Saturday Moring D&D out tonight or tomorrow.

It's Over 9,000!

               Yesterday we were barely over 9,000 total views on the website, and today we are over 11,000 views. We had a very big day and have been very successful for the limited time the blog has been around, and the limited posts we have had. I am extremely happy with the progress, and thank you to everyone that comes out and reads my rants.

More Rants to Come

I got this screen shot to post a 10,000 view update, and we blew right past it.

Critically Failing as a DM aka Why I Do Not Want Backgrounds Anymore

                   I am going to start a new campaign for OSE in about a month and I have begun talking with some of the potential players. They are starting to have “ideas” for characters, and wanted to begin writing backgrounds. Normally this would not be a big deal, in fact, in the past I use to offer my students bonus XP for having a background. I had rules, that it could not be over 500 words, it could not use trite, overused troupes like; your parents were killed in a raid, you are an orphan, you are searching for a lost relative, or you are seeking vengeance on the man that harmed you in the past. The grammar had to be good, and it was to be treated as an assignment you would turn into a professor, but was completely optional.

Have to take a honest look at my mistakes.

                The last campaign was supposed to be a pure dungeon crawl sandbox (for reference Morgansfort), but it ended up being a sandbox that started to take a narrative life of its own. I started to add portions of the character’s backgrounds into the overall world, and I started to tie characters together. This actually led to me changing my style of campaign as things happened. I grew attached to the characters that the players had, and I liked the stories that were being produced. I found myself taking it easier on the characters, and even fudging a few things here and there, because I wanted the stories to continue in a certain way.

                As time progressed, the sandbox became less and less open, and I started to have a “vision” for how the game should go. The focus became my vision, and less about the player’s desire of the game. I even got so possessed with my own genius that I switched editions mid-campaign. I went from a BECMI to 2nd Edition because it had mechanics I wanted in the game. This through my game for a loop, and just as they were getting the BECMI rules down, I went and upset the applecart. This was generally hubris, and I did not see the cracks forming in the foundation when many of these changes happened. Eventually, I wrote an article about how I did not know how to end the campaign which can be found here. Little did I know, I would not get to that point in the game.

Should have kept it simple.

                The game collapsed with in-fighting and a general toxic feel to the game. I got the people so invested in their personal story, that they did not see themselves as part of a group anymore. I had tried to snake plotlines into the game that set the group at odds with one another, trusting that they would take the narrative option to form together and defeat evil. This did not happen, many paid lip service to the party, while plotting the doom of other PCs. The game ended when players got so upset over each other’s actions, that they either tried to get themselves killed to leave the game, or try to kill other players. It was a mess, and an absolute failure as a DM. When the campaign was simply about going into dungeons and getting treasure it was fine, but eight players seeing themselves as the main protagonist in a larger narrative ruined the game, and I fed that notion.

Actual picture of my campaign.

                With DM’ing, as with most things in life, it is important to look at your failures as well as your successes. I ran half a year’s campaign that was prosperous and focused, then I changed the focus mid-stream, assuming I was amazing enough to counter ANYTHING that could come up and I was wrong. I allowed players to get far to invested in their characters, to the point that they took things personally. I allowed some toxic behavior at the table, assuming that I could mitigate it with time. I thought myself immune to the mistakes a younger DM could make, and in all my advance techniques forgot about some of the basics. Keep the game focused. Keep the game understandable. Correct toxic behavior immediately and firmly. Let the player’s decisions matter. Remember it is just a game.

                Moving forward I am going to focus on getting back to the basics, literally. I will be using B2 Keep on the Borderland to introduce a new group of students to the wonderful world of D&D. First thing first, no backgrounds. I actually want less investment in the characters, because the characters are disposable. We will forge the narrative of the characters as we go. Also, they will likely die, but the group will go on. Emphasizing the success of the group will be the most important feature. Keep the sandbox an actual sandbox and allow the players to dictate what direction the game is going to go in. Do not switch the game mechanics mid-stream. That does not mean I cannot house rule or modify, but the core mechanics should not change. Do not get cocky and realize that you might need to re-examine the campaign at regular intervals to see what is going on and make sure that you are on the path that is good for everyone. No “world-ending” events, play should consist of a local area, and a localized threat.

Going back to the beginning.

                It is easy to write and discuss the victories of you DM’ing career, it is actually quite hard to take a look and realize that you did not do as well as you could have done. It would be easy to turn this on the players and say that they did not do well, or they made certain decisions that drove the game in certain directions, but at the end of the day the buck stops with me. So I made some mistakes, I have hopefully learned from them. In my second year running the school campaign I will do better.

               

EDIT: This article proved to be very popular. I went ahead and created a Facebook group for the blog, if you are interested the link is here. 

The Gut Punch

I started this blog back in 2010, and wrote three small pieces, of no real note, one is still on the site just as a reference as to where I came from.  I restarted the blog because I was told that I need to express myself and connect with people in a broader way. I decided to take back up the RPG blog, because it is what I know. It has been a constant in my life, for a majority of it. I started when I was nine years old, and thirty years later it is still here. I have traveled all over to play and run games, and supported with my meager funds companies that I enjoy. I am an educator by trade, and I love teaching people new concepts, and helping students become better people. I state all of this as a representation of how much this hobby has meant to me, and how much I enjoy sharing it with others.

This week was a gut punch, not an unexpected one, but a gut punch none the less. We have to go back about six years to just before my son was born. My wife and I were super excited as most new parents are at that time. We were also extremely nervous, which is also par for the course. We both had our things we wanted to share with the boy, and we purchased many of them and put them away for when he was old enough. My wife has an extreme love of books, and especially picture books, which we have an entire large chest. I went ahead and purchased some great starter RPGs and hobby games that would be perfect for him once he was old enough. I painted miniatures that I still have not used, waiting for the day we would bust them out and I would get to share my passion with my son. Wait until he gets to the same age I was, and get him into that Heroquest box set I got again. I heard from many gamers that Space Hulk was a good first game for kids and I purchased that too. I even hunted down some old AD&D books and modules for that perfect time to introduce him to the Caves of Chaos.

That is not going to happen though.

When Atticus (my son) was about one, I noticed something was a bit off. I taught Psychology for years, and you discuss milestones in children, and he was not hitting his milestones. He could not hold his own bottle, he was not babbling in a manner appropriate for his age, and he did not responded to loud noises appropriately. At first we thought he was deaf, we could drop a large book from 5 feet up directly behind him and he would not respond. We took him to his doctor, and we heard for the first time the preliminary diagnosis, autism. We were told to get him tested and into therapy as soon as possible, this would give him the best chance of maximizing his potential. We did as we were told, and he has been in some form of treatment since he was a year and six months old. We have had hearing test, allergies tests, brain scans, genetic tests, and ear tube surgery. Speech therapy, ABA therapy, and Occupational Therapy, with visits to more specialist than you can imagine. He has done private programs at great cost, and public ones with little to no cost. We’ve seen quack specialist that promised improvement with simple supplements, and we’ve been gluten, soy, and casein free for years. I say this not to pat myself on the back, but to express that we have tried any and everything, even when it sounded ridiculous, to help him.

My son is now five and a half, and is having to prepare for school next year, and still cannot talk. We discussed with his therapist options, and they are now suggesting for him to get a communication device. Basically an iPad that he can push and express himself more. This is, to us, the kiss of death as far as him ever being able to communicate verbally. This is the last resort to get him to communicate in any manner. This is now the crux of the issue. I cannot share my love of these games with him, because they are games that fundamentally revolve around communication. We will never travel the lands of Faerun together, or sail the space lanes to The Rock of Braal.

I do not want this to come across that I in anyway dislike my son, or love him ANY less. When you ramp up to being a parent, you have certain expectations and certain hopes for your child, and for the things you will do together. It is that aspect that I will miss. Currently he is a VERY active little boy, which loves running, laughing, and swimming more than anything. I am very grateful for him, and very grateful for my wife, who takes all these things in stride better than I. I also know that this feeling is transient and I will get past it, but writing this out and expressing it to the world helps with the feelings a lot.

I am unsure how to end this, it was not really planned, and is not really the focus of the blog. Life gets pretty real at moments, at least I can retreat back into a fantasy world every now and again to help with those times.