Since I've been up here in the grand land of Fayetteville (Northwest Arkansas), I have made some contacts and friends up at the hobby/gaming store Castlehouse Games. While gaming and buying board games, books, and dice (always need more dice), I have spoken off and on and even gamed with the owner Chris. He's a great guy and truly has a passion for games of any flavor. On top of that, he knows his stuff and can answer most questions or find the answer (suprising how many store owners don't care enough to do that). Anyway, Chris is not without his faults, but he's new to retail and is learning along the way a very steep learning curve.
I mention him only to say that I have recently approached him about Free RPG day and I am excited that he has ordered supplies and we are all set for Free RPG Day 2010 at Castlehouse! If you're reading this and are going to be in the Fayetteville area on June 19, 2010, then stop by the store and get something free!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Free RPG Game Day 2010!
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Updating Again: Characters and the Writing Itch
I don't know if anyone else out there enjoys to write for fun, but every now and again, when the bug hits me, I take pleasure out of putting pen to paper or fingers to keys and getting a story out. It's not near frequent enough to call myself a writer or to be very good at it, but I enjoy it all the same. Anyway, as I was musing on what to write (blog-wise and story-wise), I came across a couple of my gaming blogs. Then it hit. I thought I would blog about some of the sources for my story ideas.
Many of my ideas actually come from three main sources: from the media, from my wife, and from RPG character creation. The media is pretty self-explanatory, and the ideas I get from the wife are usually during or after we've been talking about whatever new topic that comes along. She's a great source of inspiration for both intellectual and leisure pursuits in research and writing.
The last area of creative inspiration is via character creation for any of the various RPGs I have played or do play. In any RPG (roleplaying game), each player creates a character which they then play sort of like an actor plays a character in a show or movie, and I enjoy creating the character as much as actually playing. It's because, for me, the character drives the story and the plot. Without Harry Potter, it would just be and the Chamber of Secrets or and the Half Blood Prince.
I know that's a bit overexaggerated, but you know what I'm getting at. So much of our literature is character-based and whether we're describing people or talking about general human personalities, if we want to explain persistance and madness, we refer to Captain Ahab. If we're trying to describe altruism, we use Mother Theresa or Christ. There's a name used to describe practically any and every aspect of human nature. That's why I enjoy character creation so.
And after reading this, you still sit there asking what RPGs are about, I'll share links to a few of my favorites: Call of Cthulhu, Star Wars, Dungeons & Dragons, and Shadowrun. Enjoy!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Ennies 2009
"The Gen Con EN World RPG Awards (the "ENnies") are an annual fan-based celebration of excellence in tabletop roleplaying gaming. The ENnies give game designers, writers and artists the recognition they deserve. It is a peoples' choice award, and the final winners are voted upon online by the gaming public.Leia Mais…
The ENnies were created in 2001 as an annual award ceremony, hosted by the leading D&D/d20 system fan site, EN World in partnership with Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News. Since they were originally conceived the ENnies have expanded from an Internet-based awards selection to an annual award ceremony at Gen Con Indy. The ENnies have also branched out from their roots as an award ceremony focused upon d20 system publishers and products to celebrate the achievements of all tabletop RPGs and the publishers and products that support them.
With award categories recognizing the components that make a game great to the types of products fans have come to love, categories for fan-based websites and much more, the ENnies are the best way for fans to acknowledge outstanding effort from and to say "thank you" to the publishers, designers and artists who make this hobby great.
2009 is the 9th year of the ENnies, and the 8th time that they are hosted by Gen Con. "
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Some Time Away...Update for Today
So, quite a bit has been going on while I've been away, and I must apologize to my readers. I know that some of you look forward to my bit of wackiness and insanity everyday and some of you just wish I would stop I'm sure! Well, after hearing about the mishap and craziness with Little Rock and the State Troopers, I have gone flying around Northwest Arkansas sending emails, faxing resumes, and turning in applications anywhere and everywhere. As of yet, nothing, but it's only been a couple of days. Also, I talked with the lady who would have been my supervisor at the Troop Headquarters up here, and she said that my 2.5 years at DeGray using the small radio there might be enough to get the position up here, but she wouldn't know until she spoke with the Captain who would have to chat with Little Rock. We'll see what happens!
In addition to that run of events, I've been hanging out with the local gamers up here having all sorts of fun and keeping my mind off of the serious depletion of funds and lack of gainful employment. Saturday was Game Day July '09 where a bunch of geeky gamers got together and played various RPGs. It was actually a lot of fun, and I was able to push my character to a spectacular death in a one-shot Call of Cthulhu game: Death at Luxor. It was great! I played a professor from the U. of Chicago by the name of Theodore Ruxpin and we spent a few hours "running" around Egypt to solve a mystery and prevent ancient alien monsters and gods from escaping and destroying the earth. Easy, right? Well, the first character to die did so at the hands of a bartender after giving too much lip.
My character was the next to die as I ate some alien bacteria which was designed to multiply and ooze as a green slime, and it did so from my stomach and out all orifices including eyes and ears and nose! I thought it was great, but to add to it my character decided to go out in a blaze of glory by lighting five sticks of dynamite to blow the tomb closed. I nearly killed the entire party of characters, but the escaped through the sand and sewage. Eww... But have no fear, as the other three characters, two females and a male, ended up fighting a large starspawn alien to their deaths so that the ritual could be completed with their sacrifice and keep the alien at bay for another 100 years. Yep, it was a lot of fun! If you don't roleplay, you might try it!
As for the other gamers, they played a game of Exalted, which I don't really know much about. And a third group played Paranoia XP which is basically what is sounds like. You spend the game paranoid about who's on a mission to kill your six-pack of cloned characters. Yes, death is so rampant in Paranoia that you have not one character, but six! Clones of one another with a hive mentality so that the six know the experiences of one another.
The game is a lot like the movie The Island where you live in a colony run by a computer. The computer knows all, and you're either a Loyalist (to the computer) or a Communist (against the computer) and if the computer finds out the Commies, it executes them. So, it's actually a great mix of paranoid people running around to complete goals and to stay alive. You can even get perversion points for completing goals skillfully or creatively (such as killing an enemy by loaning him your clean room suit that has plastic explosives taped behind the oxygen tank set to explode one minute from then -- yep, stuff like that). It actually reminds me of playing Goldeneye in multiplayer mode! It's got that feel to it!
Anyway, after Game Day was over at 5 on Saturday, we ate and then played a long game of Arkham Horror which is a board game designed around the Cthulhu mythos and the fictional city of Arkham (of Lovecraft origin). It's a game that feels like a mix of Clue, Risk, Stratego, with a bit of roleplay goodness in it. Truly unlike pretty much any other game out there! Lots of fun though, and we lasted until 2 am when the Ancient One "awoke" and devoured us all. Yep, it's fun being devoured...you should try it some time!
So, that was that. Sunday, we played a one-shot quick start to a new World of Darkness game coming out in August called Geist: The Sin-Eaters. You basically play someone who went to the brink of death, made a pact with a Geist (spirit) and came back to life as a dual-natured person. You have a give-take relationship with your geist, you can interact with ghosts, and in this one-shot we were a group of Sin-Eaters who formed the group The Bronx Saints and we had to chase down a ghost who was re-living and re-enacting the Son of Sam murders to open a gate to the underworld. We were supposed to stop him and did so by destroying his one tie to this world: a .44 revolver. Lots of fun and major kudos to Roy, the Storyteller/GM for this game! He did a superb job of getting through it and with loads of fun!
After that, on Monday, I got cracking with job hunts and resumes! And now it's Wednesday which means I couldn't, under any circumstances, miss posting today. It's the most sought after day of posts with Happy Wednesday which will be coming up here shortly! Thanks for reading! Good day.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Wednesday...a Day of Random Posting
Today's brief comic strip courtesy of Toothpaste for Dinner web comic. Speaking of great web comics, this one is a great on-going comic, etc. site put out by great people straight from Arkadelphia, Arkansas: Rocket Llama! This is the latest update to the comic.
After last time's blog, I left you with a couple of links to the new Sherlock Holmes movie which contains three of my favorite things in a movie: Guy Ritchie (without Madonna), Sherlock Holmes, and Robert Downey, Jr. This movie is sure to be explosive, and it has reminded me that I have yet to finish the entire Holmes works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle which is what I have again picked up to continue (hopefully by December when the movie comes out). It looks to be an exciting movie and show a closer representation of Doyle's Holmes and Watson than films have done in the past.
Additionally, going into the events of life here in Fayetteville, yesterday the wife, our friend, E, and I went to the local game shop, Castlehouse Games, to participate in a small gaming event where about a dozen people showed up to "dungeon delve" into Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition. It was pretty fun, but that many geeks/nerds in one place can cause havoc and it did, at least in my mind. I was about to be driven up the wall when we arrived because that many people disturbs me in such close confines. J and C, coworkers from the park, know I get a bit nervous with people a bit too close and when there's nearly 20 of them, wow, I wanted to scream. Instead, though, I simply counted to 23 in my head to calm myself because I really know that it's my lack of social-ness that does that. Hopefully these events will bring me out of my shell a bit so that I can resemble something of a normal human being. Yeah, right! :)
So anyway, that was fun and the wife feels that it was good overall because it is boost the self-esteem of E to get out with some friends and just goof off and laugh. I hope so, but either way it was fun, so not a waste.
In other news, here is a great web comic I came across on Reddit either today or yesterday, don't remember. I always wondered if Vader went through that little monologue...
Lastly, I think I'll just mention a bit about the people of Fayetteville in general. It was really a crazy thing to move up here with very little money, few friends, and only the three cats to keep us cheered up (you know how that goes). We were both worried about settling down up here and worried about the whole transition, but I have to say, two weeks in, and we are enjoying the heck out of the area. We've been to see the lake and the Farmer's Market and various other places, and one thing that has stood out to both the wife and me is the caliber of people up here. For the most part, they are kind, considerate, and well spoken. Now that isn't to say that Arkadelphia was different or worse, but we were simply worried about "fitting in." The people here have enabled us to feel at home a lot faster than we would have otherwise. We joined a couple of forums and those folks have just brought us under their wings and accepted us even knowing how strange we are. So, to the people of the Fayetteville/Springdale area and specifically the NWARPG, Castlehouse, and CWNWA forums, Thank You All!
Cheesy? Maybe. But we wouldn't be enjoying this place without them!
Oh, and I almost forgot! Apparently, this guy is still trying to get somewhere in MMA fighting. Perhaps he and this joke should be locked in a cage together, hmmm?
Monday, June 1, 2009
Today: Like Any Other Day
So, I always check the "One Minute Writer" blog to check if the prompt inspires me in any particular musing way to write and today's happened to prickle the brain in just such a manner:
"Write about an encounter you had with nature that left you awed, inspired, or overwhelmed."
The goal is to write for one minute about said topic, so here goes (perhaps for more than just a minute): Nature, hmmm, I'm not usually the go-out-and-frolick type person, but I have my moments from time to time and the wife enjoys being outdoors any time she can be. As far as awed, inspired, or overwhelmed, I am reminded of the time, just recently, I was driving up to Fayetteville moving the second load of our belongings along I-40 and then up I-540, and since it had just rained recently for almost two weeks straight, I was overcome by a feeling of just the sheer size and power of the water. It overflowed the banks of many a lake and river and there were several fields which should have been planted but could not because they had been flooded and were now small ponds. The crops would have to wait, and it is likely that some will not yield much of a harvest. It was a moment when you just look around and think, "wow, the forces of nature do not follow any rhyme or reason." There is certainly a thankful heart in my chest because I would rather have the rain than not, but it is humbling to see the destructive power of something so seemingly gentle as water.
So, that's the prompt, and in other news, it has been two weeks now in Fayetteville. My sister and her friend, N, visited us this weekend and following their visit, a friend, E, came over for the afternoon Sunday. We also received a short visit from members of our church here in Fayetteville as it has worldwide congregations. They seemed kind and offered any assistance they were able should we need it. I haven't yet decided whether I wish to return attending church, but that is neither here nor there for this arena. Religion, and spirituality, is best left to be pondered and discussed in the home and in the place of worship. Anywhere else, and it's often simply a point of vanity or egotism.
Well, that's that. As for today's happenings, the wife had her first day of stats: six students, female, and one professor. She enjoyed it but worries too much that she won't understand it. I know she will because she is very alert and receptive. She's great. As far as my day went, I had a bit of a lazy day at home with reading and movies. This evening, we both enjoyed a rousing session of the Call of Cthulhu RPG. Yes, I like to roleplay, and it has been, in my experience, an aid to improving social skills of which I had a fairly limited selection. It has helped in understanding how to speak with people without acting like an arrogant arse and has led to a decrease in foot-in-mouth disease outbreaks. It can be fun with the right group. Try it sometime.
And this should conclude the day's entry. It's late, I'm tired, and I would like to read a bit more
of Virginia Satir
and Sherlock Holmes.
Friday, May 29, 2009
The Final Lesson: A One Page Dungeon
So, a few weeks ago, I entered a simple, one page dungeon design to Chatty DM's contest, and since he already has so much on his plate, here it is on this blog for those interested to view. For you who don't know, I'm a fairly avid gamer who likes to GM quit a bit, but I know there are many others out there much more skilled than me. So, here it is, for better or worse: The Final Lesson.
And good luck to all the other 111 entries! I'm sure there was a lot of hard work, creativity, and heart put into every entry, so whichever entry wins, they surely deserve it!
