Random Encounter 3: The Secret of Kopao Cave

This is a location based encounter. It is inspired by the article "Last of the Cave People" by Mark Jenkins in the February 2012 issue of National Geographic. In the article, Jenkins and photographer Amy Toensing follow the Meakambut , the last of the nomadic cave dwellers still residing in Papua New Guinea. It is an interesting article and I encourage you to seek it out; however, as a disclaimer in this encounter I portray the nomadic cave dwellers as antagonists. This is fantasy and in no way am I proposing that the Meakambut are a savage people. In the article, Jenkins does make mention that the Meakambut do believe, and are terrified of, sorcery. At one point, he fears for his safety as a member of the Meakambut led him to a cave sacred to them called Kopao and told him the secret of the cave. That night John, the member of the Meakambut tribe that led Jenkins to Kopao and told him the secret of the cave, had terrible dreams. In his dreams, his ancestors were angry at him for telling the Meakambut's secrets to a white man. That morning, a member of the tribe fell terribly ill with pneumonia. Jenkins feared that if the ill member were to die, he would be blamed. That story is the kernel for this random encounter.

This encounter takes place in a jungle environment. It can be run as an outdoor adventure, perhaps a hex or two, or several must be explored as the exact location of Kopao Cave is not known. Random encounters with jungle beasts are possible. I myself am always fond of Robert E. Howard inspired giant snakes, not to mention savage apes. Of course the less mundane critters from your favorite monster manual could always be added. The tribes that live in the area do not welcome outsiders. The subsist from hunting and gathering. The intrusion of outsiders can disrupt their hunting and gathering by either killing game or scaring it away. In either case, they are very protective and will deal with all outsiders. They prefer not to attack openly; instead, they will rely upon their superior knowledge of the area and set traps for the party, or attempt to lead them into dangerous areas. If they must attack, they prefer to do so from high up in the jungle foliage. They are experts at camouflage, and their weapons of choice are poisoned tipped javelins and darts. If forced into a face to face melee, they wear little armor, but do make use of small wooden shields and long curved knives of bone (which also may be poisoned).

The characters have heard stories whispered that amongst the nomadic jungle tribes, there is a sacred cave with a secret. If time and resources are spent discovering what this secret is, they will find vague creation myths. Basically, the tribes of the area believe that they were "birthed" from Kopao cave and that it is a conduit which leads directly to their gods. They do not frequently visit the cave, but do take the skulls of honored members of their tribes there to be put to rest. This is an honor. Rumor is, that these honored members (chiefs and great warriors and hunters) are put to rest with valuable treasures. What these treasures might be is up to the DM, but rumors of gold and relics should be discovered to entice the players to find Kopao cave.

Kopao cave should not be easy to find. Much exploring must be done. Even when the location is discovered, the party must make a dangerous climb up a vertical face that even thieves will have a hard time with without the proper equipment. Of course the tribes of the area set traps for the unwary as safe guards.

Entering Kopao cave, the players hunch under a low overhang that only halflings will not find uncomfortable to enter. Within, they are greeted by a gantlet of skulls, most of which are green with age, but others appear more recent. Past the skulls are numerous hand prints stenciled in blood. The hand prints are the first indication of the true secret of Kopao cave. Once a year, the tribes select one of their best hunters as a sacrifice. He is brought to the cave. As an honor, he is cut, then dipping his hand into a saucer of his own blood, he makes his mark amongst those of the past sacrifices. This honor completed, the ritual begins and he is sacrificed to appease the dwellers of the cave. There are indeed treasures left beyond the hand prints, these too are left to appease the dweller of the cave. Here the players will find large feathers, the hollow avian bones of which are full of fine gold dust and capped with a gum made from the sap of trees. There are also garments spun from fine fabrics and favored weapons, some of which are magical. These are there for the taking, if the players can deal with the dweller first.

What is the dweller? Think Lovecraftian. Kopao cave is portal that leads to another dimension. Luckily, it is weak and the dweller can only enter from its dimension no farther then the cave. There is a large crack in the ceiling. It is about twenty feet long, and three hand spans wide. From this crack, an odor is noted. An odor reminiscent of rotten fish, but not overpowering. It is as if dead fish were stuffed into the crack, left for a few weeks, then removed a week ago. Magic-users and elves get an uneasy feeling in close proximity to the crack. Their stomachs feel queasy and they find the hairs on the nape of their necks stand up, they may also get goose bumps. The closer one gets to the crack, the cooler the air temperature becomes. Standing right beneath it, the air is so cool, one shivers. A darkness in noticed within the crack. Torches and lanterns will not illuminate it, a light spell does not even penetrate it. Voices are heard from the within the crack. Whispers in a language that none can fathom. The hushed whisper increases into a present drone. Finally, a tentacle slithers from the crack, followed by another. That is when the darkness radiates from the crack acting as a Darkness spell.

Now is when the characters, if they are smart, run. I use insanity rules in my games, and would require sanity checks. If they stick around to fight it out, they most likely will perish. They should be able to grab some treasure and run before all hell breaks loose.

Bygone Golden Days of Gaming

I miss running a regular game. I've enjoyed the board gaming I've done lately, and if I never am able to run a regular game again, I would be okay as long as I could at least occasionally play a good geeky fun board game such as Arkham Horror, any of the Catan games, the occasional game of Zombies! and have the ability to try out new games every now and then.

However, I will always have the longing to run a good, long roleplaying game.

The problem is, whenever I start one and get into it, and when I am into it, I am REALLY into it (I have taken sick time from work before, just because I had a good idea I wanted to prepare for that night's game). The problem is my career is demanding, and by demanding I mean I travel lots.

I have looked into other options, Google+, Fantasy Grounds, Skype and such, and those are options, but the problem is I travel in Alaska, and take it from me, the Internet coverage in AK is spotty at best.

The same thing always happens, I get a good game going and going strong for a month, maybe two, playing once a week. Then, I have to travel. First, my group and I will miss one session, which becomes three, then a month, then several months. Whenever I try going back to that game that was so strong when I left it, it just isn't on fire in my head anymore. I think the same is true for my players.

There is no point or moral to this post, and I've made other posts like it before. Sometimes, I just need to vent. I miss my golden days of gaming.

Class as Caste in Classic Dungeons and Dragons

I've read this series of posts by Greywulf before on why he feels the Dungeons and Dragons Rules Cyclopedia is the most awesome version of the game ever published (this being an opinion I share); however, ever since re-reading them yesterday, I have been putting much thought into his concept of "Class as Caste" and how it might be used to add flavor to a campaign setting.

If you haven't read Greywulf's posts, please do so. But for my purposes, I will quote what has been causing my gaming gears to turn lately (the italics for emphasis are mine own):

In the Rules Cyclopedia we have Fighter, Thief, Magic-User and Cleric – all of whom are Human – and the demihuman “classes” of Elf, Dwarf and Halfling. In our campaigns we say that humans undergo a Casting ceremony while still a child (at birth or later, depending on religion and culture), and their path in life is revealed. The D&D human Classes are the character’s Caste, and wars have been fought over a child being Casted a Thief to a long line of noble Fighters. The other races have no such ceremony – an Elf is just an Elf – and are bemused by human’s pre-occupation with pidgeonholing each other. In many cultures, ordinary folks can’t afford the Casting ceremony (unless a kindly Cleric offers it for free), and end up as castless Commoners, shopkeepers, etc.

For me, the class as caste concept is an intriguing basis for a campaign. What kind of world is it that has "Thief" as a viable social caste? I think, if I were to adopt something along these lines into one of my games, there would be guilds associated with each caste that a character could join, and probably should unless he wants to be an outsider in his own caste.

In most cases, this makes a lot of sense. Many campaigns have Thieves Guilds, and having a Wizards Guild and a Warriors Guild is not uncommon. In some cases, the guilds would not be called or considered as such. For instance, Clerics would belong to a Cult, Temple or Church and Wizards might belong to Universities or Colleges with each college of magic having its own branch. Again, this is nothing new to most gamers. I can think of several game worlds off the top of my head that have organizations such as these in place for players to have their characters join.

In the case of some zero-level NPC's, they may not belong to a guild and are in fact caste-less. Farmers and barmaids for instance might not have a caste; however, I believe in a society that places so much emphasis upon a caste system, there would be guilds set up for even the zero-level NPCs. I can envision several guilds being in place for farmers, slavers, merchants, prostitutes and town watchmen, just to name a few. Aristocrats would belong to a line of families, that again like Clerics and Wizards "guilds" may in fact not be called as such, but would work much the same way.

In such a caste driven society, the importance of belonging to something is paramount to identity. For example: "I am Graven of the Warriors Guild", "I am Celina of the Comforters Guild" (Comforter being a polite term for prostitute), "I am Benjamin of the Agriculture Guild", etc. etc.. A further identifier could be what level the character is.

Once upon a time, when I was a pre-teen gamer, my group got into a heated argument about levels. Some of us believed that what level a character is was meant to be background noise; in other words, a simple rule mechanic illustrating how powerful any given person is. Others of us believed, and I was in this camp, that since name levels were provided for each level (and here I am referring to first edition AD&D) that each character was aware of what level he is. For clarity, I will post those levels from the AD&D first edition Player's Handbook for those that don't know what I am referring to (and I include only the four "basic" human classes offered in Classic D&D):

Cleric
1: Acolyte
2: Adept
3: Priest
4: Curate
5: Perfect
6: Canon
7: Lama
8: Patriarch
9: High Priest
10: High Priest (10th level)
11: High Priest (11th level)

Fighter
1: Veteran
2: Warrior
3: Swordsman
4: Hero
5: Swashbuckler
6: Myrmidon
7: Champion
8: Superhero
9: Lord
10: Lord (10th Level)
11: Lord (11th Level)

Magic-User
1: Prestidigitator
2: Evoker
3: Conjurer
4: Theurgist
5: Thaumaturgist
6: Magicician
7: Enchanter
8: Warlock
9: Sorcerer
10: Necromancer
11: Wizard
12: Wizard (12th level)
13: Wizard (13th level)
14: Wizard (14th level)
15: Wizard (15th level)
16: Wizard (16th level)
17: Wizard (17th level)
18: Wizard (18th level or Arch-Mage)

Thieves
1: Rogue
2: Footpad
3: Cutpurse
4: Robber
5: Burglar
6: Filcher
7: Sharper
8: Magsman
9: Thief
10: Master Thief
11: Master Thief (11th level)
12: Master Thief (12th level)

I like this concept coupled with Class as Caste. Thus now one might introduce himself as "I am The Footpad Collin of the Thieves Guild" or "I am Magrill, Hero of the Warriors Guild". From these two examples, we know that Collin is a second level thief and that Magrill is a fourth level fighter, or at least that is what they claim to be. There would be no stopping someone from lying about their caste, but I think such a crime would be a serious one in a society that takes caste so seriously; however, buying one's way higher into a guild would most likely be an acceptable practice. Therefore, if Magrill has not paid his dues, while he may mechanically be fourth level, as far as the Guild is concerned, he might still be considered "Magrill, Veteran of the Warriors Guild"; thus, the dungeon master has a good way of eating up some of that extra gold that his players have lying around. If a player wants to be able to use his new name level, he must pay to do so. 100 gold pieces per level sounds reasonable. Of course, a social power hungry player that wants to quickly climb the social ladder could easily buy a name higher then that which he should actually be.

The system must be played with, in my mind "The Arch-Bishop Draven of the Cult of Entropy" sounds better then "Draven, Arch-Bishop of the Cult of Entropy", but others may disagree. Also, it is a stretch to say that every 10th level magic-user is a Necromancer, but what if it's not? Meaning, what if to advance through each level, a magic-user must concentrate his studies on a different branch of magic for each level? Thus every 10th level magic-user is a necromancer. That is a thought that may be worth plumbing itself for ideas.

Review: Citadels - A card game by Bruno Faidutti

I picked up Fantasy Flight's Bruno Faidutti's Citadels on a whim. It was a good choice.

I am not familiar with Mr. Faidutti's previous games, amongst his previous credits are Knightmare Chess, Mystery of the Abbey and Diamant; however, I admit to being a Fantasy Flight Game Boy-Whore, so the fact that this little gem was made by Fantasy Flight Games was good enough for me.

The premises is simple: two to seven players control various characters and attempt to build a city.

The basic game has eight numbered characters, one through eight. The Characters are, number: 1. the Assassin, 2. the Thief, 3. the Magician, 4. the King, 5. the Bishop, 6. the Merchant, 7. the Architect and 8. the Warlord. Each character has a different power. Part of the strategy of the game is deciding which character's power would be most beneficial to you this round and at the same time, determining which character your opponents will most likely select to use against you and/or your other opponents.

I have played this game now on two seperate occasions and both times have had three players, so I will be reviewing the three player style. There are different rules for two players, and four to six players and eight players. There is also an option for seven players. The game is optimal with four, five, six and eight players.

The object is to build a city consisting normally of eight districts, but it could be as few as seven, depending upon which cards are in play. Districts are purchased with gold coins, some cost more others cost less. Those costing more, are worth more points towards winning. There are various "purple" districts which often give their possessors various powers that can be used to score more points against her opponents. The game consists of "turns" and continues until the first player has built enough districts to constitute a city; after-which, points are added to determine a winner.

At game set up, each player is given two gold coins and is dealt four district cards, then the eldest player (a common Fantasy Flight Games rule) starts as the "Crown" player and she possesses a wooden yellow crown piece -- later the Crown player will be selected by who ever chooses the King character, if anyone does at all. The Crown player first randomly selects one character of the eight (she should do this with the cards face down so even she does not know which character is selected), this character is placed face down, and will not be an option for anyone that turn. After doing this, she then secretly selects a character for herself. After selecting her first character, the crown player now passes the remaining six cards to the player to her left. That player secretly selects her first character, then passes the remaining five to the third player. This continues until the last two cards are handed off to the third player. At that point, she has last picks for her second character, and then places the character she didn't pick face down on the table, this character also will not be an option for anyone that turn.

Game set-up now complete, the crown player calls out each character by number; thus the Assassin goes first, if in play. If the Assassin is not in-play, the crown player goes to the next character, the Thief. This continues until a character is found that is in play. Each character's turn is taken in order of lowest number to highest number. When it is a players turn, that player first has the option of either selecting two cards from the top of the discard deck. She may look at both cards, decide which one of the two she wants for her hand, keeps that card and places the other at the bottom of the deck. If this option is not wanted, she may instead receive two gold coins from the bank. Early in the game, most players will choose gold over districts; however, after two or three hands, district cards become short in order. After doing this, she then may build a district from her hand, if she wishes and if she has enough gold to do so. At any time during her turn, she may opt to use her character's power. As an example, the Assassin may select any character she wishes to be assassinated. Whoever possess the chosen target character, if anyone at all, looses her turn when that character is activated.

That is the game in a nut-shell. We found it simple to learn with just enough strategy to keep in interesting. Both times we played, in a two hour period we played three games each night, so each game takes approximately thirty to forty-five minutes to play.

The set I purchased also comes with the Dark City Expansion included. The expansion offers ten new characters, two of which -- characters numbered "9"-- are only usable with seven players. The expansion also offers a number of new "purple" districts.

In short, Citadels is a fast learning strategy game with much replay value. I highly recommend it.

My Own Sword and Sorcery Game: Part 2, Influences

I'm still in the note-taking process of mashing together my own role playing game, but it is fun just thinking about it.

Step one of this process is declaring "what" my game is going to be about. In three words: Sword and Sorcery.

The definition of Sword and Sorcery I prefer is by Philip Martin in his work The Writer's Guide to Fantasy Literature: From Dragon's Lair to Hero's Quest.

"Sword and Sorcery [is characterized]...by a strong bias towards fast-paced, action rich tales set within a quasi-mythical or fantastical framework. Unlike high or epic fantasy, the stakes tend to be personal, the danger confined to the moment of telling" (Martin 35).

I also like Karl Edward Wagner's definition: "[Sword and Sorcery is]...a fascinating synthesis of horror, adventure and imagination...displayed to best effect in a universe in-which magic works and an individual may kill according to his personal code". I like KEW's definition for it puts "horror" first. This is important for I feel that the proper father of Sword and Sorcery is Robert E. Howard.

The roots of Sword and Sorcery, just as those of Epic/High Fantasy, stem from the great epics (Gilgamesh, Beowulf, etc.) and the much later Lord Dunsany story, "The Fortress Unvanquishable Save for Sacnoth"; however, it was Howard's 1929 Kull story, "The Shadow Kingdom" which solidified what Sword and Sorcery would become, even if the phrase Sword and Sorcery would not be coined until 30 years later by Fritz Leiber. Howard, of course, was heavily influenced by his contemporary, H.P. Lovecraft, and horror, and/or a sense of dread, was often a large factor in the Sword and Sorcery writings of Howard, and those of Clark Ashton Smith.

Thus I've begun my project by deciding upon my own early Appendix N. I'm sure the list will change as I go along.

Another early decision I'm trying to arrive at is a good working title. The best I've come up with so far is: Sword and Sorcery Game Algorithm, or SAGA. It is a mouth full, and the use of the word "Algorithm" is forced as an synonym for "System", but works as an acronym in the spirit of Fudge and GURPS, and it serves as a tribute to both the North sagas and the 1960's Swordsmen and Sorcerer's Guild of America, whose membership included Lin Carter, Fritz Leiber and Jack Vance, just to name three.

My second option is MOSS-Game, My Own Sword and Sorcery-Game.

Advice, votes and suggestions are welcome.

My Own Sword and Sorcery Game

In a recent post, I spoke of my wish to design my own version of D&D; however, not for general consumption, but only for my own use. I now realize that what I really want is my own Sword and Sorcery game.

I make this distinction because while a quick look at the Appendix N (from the AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide) will show that D&D is strongly rooted in the traditional roots of Sword and Sorcery (i.e. Robert E. Howard, Fritz Lieber), it also tries to be rooted in the genre of High Fantasy (J.R.R Tolkien being the most obvious example listed in Appendix N). In fact, I believe this is D&D's greatest appeal; however, it is also it's greatest limitation.

While it is cool that players can "make their own game" by simply omitting aspects of the game they do not wish to include; I suspect that the willingness to do so is more apt to be found amongst those that enjoy the OSR. Furthermore, I believe, and this is merely opinion, I believe that with the publication of AD&D, TSR began moving its fan base away from the idea of "it's your game, do what you want", and more towards, "this is the official way you should play". This is, as I said opinion only, but consider the old house organ magazine of Dragon back in the day and the regular feature "Sage Advice" in which any questions of "what's the official rule here?" were answered. I don't mean to be repetitive, but there was a definite drive towards making things "official".

It is damn hard to be "official" and all encompassing with a game like D&D, for it involves the tropes of Sword and Sorcery, High Fantasy and at times even a splash of Historical Fantasy and Sword and Planet. I believe as the game progressed towards the late 80's there was a drive to be more High Fantasy then anything else.

All of this is fine, but it's not the game I want. So fine, I'm a firm believer in the OSR (even if I don't solidly play in the OSR sandbox), so I am free to do what I want. Don't like the Cleric class? Nix it. Don't want Players running magic-users? Don't let them. Don't want hordes of cannon fodder monsters running around? Fine, then throw out the Monster Manual and make your own creepy-crawlers. All of those decisions are easy.

It is even easy enough to make crunchy rules decisions. Don't like alignment? Don't use it. Think Wisdom is a silly attribute? Don't use it. etc. etc. etc..

It comes to a point though when you have to ask yourself: am I still playing D&D? It's okay if the answer is no. My answer is No. I find it liberating. I am now free to do whatever I want.

In another recent post, I listed my ten favorite rpg products.
Now that I am free to do whatever I want, why not combine all of the elements I like from those products and make my own game? The first non game changing rule I would make is my game will be grounded in Sword and Sorcery, minus all the high fantasy. It will be markedly low fantasy. I'm simply going to mash together everything I like and make it work.

This will be fun. Now if I only actually had time to game. *Sigh*

Ten Favourite RPG Products

If I had time to game, I would be using one of these, my all time favorite RPG products. Some are games, some are supplements:

10. Star Trek: The Next Generation Role Playing Game

Known as LUGTrek by those who played it (LUG short for Last Unicorn Games), this was a simple set of rules with a character creation system that I loved. A series of templates were used and were over laid upon the basic character to create the hero wanted for the game.

The system wasn't perfect. Somethings were glitchy; for instance starship battles were long and drawn out and just about anything was solvable with a creative use of skills and technobabble. However, I ran a year long campaign with this that everyone had a blast with.

I don't think I would ever run it again, although I have considered it, but when I did play this game, I had a blast.

9. GURPS Fantasy Folk (3rd edition rules)

This is a great book stuffed full of lots of cool factoids and adventure seeds. I owned many GURPS supplements, but this is the only one that I used as much as the main GURPS rulebook. My D&D races were and are heavily influenced by this book. I can't recommend it enough just as a source of good ideas.



8. Tunnels & Trolls (5th edition)

Tunnels & Trolls 5th edition is a game I love, but every time I try to get people to play it, there is always that "one guy" that sneers and bitches so much that it isn't worth the effort. Consequently, every time I am lucky enough to join in as a player in T&T, it never lasts.

Simply, I love this game. I choose 5th edition, for it is the edition I own. It is easy to learn, plays fast and the only solid rule is use common sense. It is the ultimate old-school game, in my not-so-humble-opinion.


7. GURPS (3rd edition)

I've played lots of roleplaying games in my day, and a lot of those games were played with the third edition of Steve Jackson's GURPS. I went through a phase in the late 80's and early 90's where I wouldn't play anything unless I could run it with GURPS. I was, in fact, a GURPS Snob.

I had lots of the world books and supplements, but used very few of them. Honestly, I found GURPS to be most useful when I was converting other games and supplements for use with it.

I fell out of love with GURPS, and can't honestly see myself using it again, but man I got a lot of mileage out of this baby. My copy is so beaten, it barely stays together.

6. Birthright
While I was never a fan of the 2nd edition AD&D rules, I spent a greater part of the 90's running my fantasy campaigns in TSR's Birthright setting. I initially picked it up in a bargain bin at a book store, and was so impressed with it, I couldn't wait to run it. For the next six years, all of my D&D campaigns were in the realm of Birthright. When WotC came out with 3rd edition, I converted my BR campaign to 3rd (only to later discover that there was a thriving on-line BR Community that had done the work for me). I even once ran BR with GURPS 3rd edition (again, GURPS Snob).

I still have a fond spot in my heart for BR and have been tinkering with a FUDGE version of the game off and on for years. Someday...


5. FUDGE

Speaking of Fudge, I've never actually played this system, but have been tempted to so many times. I've lost track of how many different Fudge campaigns I have planned and never played.

It is such a simple system. It is easy to learn and has my favorite price: FREE!

Someday I will play this game. I must. I promise myself.







4. Death on the Reik

Of all the pre-packaged adventures I have ever run, this is my all time favorite. Death on the Reik (DotR) was originally written for the first edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay.

It is the ultimate sandbox adventure. Early into it, the characters come into possession of a trading ship and become traders. Along the way, they can go anywhere, but they are hounded by cultists, Skaven, vampires, and come across some pretty cool places to explore.

It is part of the mega-campaign called "The Enemy Within", but is my favorite part of the whole campaign. I've played many miles with this book and have many memorable campaign moments.


3. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide (1st ed.)

I love this book. While first edition may not be my "go-to" edition of the game that is dear to my heart, this guide is my "go-to" reference. I have referenced Gygax's big-book-of-everything even when I'm not playing D&D. For instance, are you playing a science fiction game and your players are stranded on an alien planet with only horse-like creatures for transportation and you need to know how long it will take them traveling overland to reach civilization? Look here. What if there is a monsoon? Look here. Need trappings for an abandoned temple they found? Look here.

This is such a use full book and even if a game master doesn't find it as use full as I do, it is hard to deny the influence this one tome has had on every edition of Dungeons & Dragons, and just about every other fantasy RPG that came after it.

I chose this cover, for this is the one I have in my collection. I also go against the grain of the norm, and find this cover to be my favorite.

2. Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (1st edition)

The past ten years of my gaming life have been dedicated to both 1st edition WFRP and 2nd edition. I own the controversial 3rd edition, but have never played it.

This game is genius. What would you get if you took D&D, crossed it with Call of Chtulhu and really hyped up the violence level to the point that combat is deadly and should be avoided? What if that game had a really cool character advancement system where the characters advanced through different careers versus "leveling up"? What if that game had a solid Sword and Sorcery vibe versus a Tolkienish Fantasy realm? What game would it be? Answer: This guy.

I currently play 2nd edition, but the first edition is still one of my favorites; namely, it is my favorite because everything needed is in one book: character creation, game master material on running the game and a monster manual. I love gaming products where everything needed to play is in one volume.

WFRP is a game I will always return to.

1. Dungeons & Dragons
And when I say "Dee and Dee" I'm sayin' any version that came before 1989. This bad boy pictured to the left is the first version of D&D I owned, and was the first RPG I owned (but not the first I ever played - that distinction goes to The Fantasy Trip).

When I was playing in the early 80's, me and my buddies made no distinction between "Basic" D&D and "Advanced" D&D. We also didn't care what version of D&D "Basic" we played with either. Meaning, we gleefully used the Moldvay "five basic sets: Basic, Expert, Companion, Masters, Immortals" and combined them with AD&D.

Our games were a mash of all the available rules. We used Classes and Races, but ignored level limits, and race/class restrictions. We used the Immortal rules to advance our characters to godhood. We got our hands on The Expedition to the Barrier Peaks and had laser weapons alongside vorpal swords. It didn't matter to us, it was all D&D.

When I play the Grand Daddy now, I tend to use Chris Gonnerman's Basic Fantasy Role Playing Game (BFRPG), but in my heart, I'm still playing this game and I'm still 12 and in wonder.

My Ignored Blog

Work has been hellishly busy for me the past few months, hence my silence on this blog. On a sadder note, I've finally admitted to myself that my work schedule just does not jive with being able to participate in a face-to-face group. I really dig the people in my group and hope to do the occasional board game with them; however, running or even taking part in a regular game just is not in the cards for me. I'm hoping for a career change in three years, but that is a ways away.

I am currently trying to put together an online game. I play in a Tunnels and Trolls play-by-post and enjoy it, but it is slow and I don't mean that as a criticism of the game, it is just the nature of play-by-post.

I'm not sure if I will run a play-by-post or not. I can't guarantee any regular posting. I would much rather try running something using Skype and/or Fantasy Grounds II. Until I get something going, my gaming is done for now. I will continue posting. I actually have some changes for this blog that I am anxious to get under way. More to come on that, hopefully soon.