RPGCON #1

And there will be many more to come.

This was the best organized convention I have been to, thanks to Doug and Mike and crew. Everyone had a blast.

Lance Hawvermale's thief died a true 1st Edition death while playing in the first adventure into my Castle El Raja Key: missed his climb check while in a deep pit, a nearby PC (Jeff Imrie's spider-climbing mage) grabbed for him, missed, he fell while grabbing for two already secured ropes, missed those, and landed in a spider web in the depths below, where after a failed attempt to rescue him he was bitten by the giant spider inhabitant, paralyzed, and of course devoured at the spider's leisure... Lance was all smiles of course...

The second adventure Saturday evening was very chaotic to the point that the usually reserved Paul Jaquays finally took charge as the party leader, but not until after the mage played by Andrew? had tossed a dead body of a drow down a trap door where, "unbeknownst" to him, a fellow party member was climbing upwards at the time. Head almost through the hole, the priest was met by the hurled body and fell to his death with the drow body atop him. Not as exciting as Lance's PC's death, but pretty hilarious (and not caused by myself as the DM, heh).

The convention saw tours (as mentioned by Allan in his post) lots of raffles (Dragon #1 went to Brian Kawano) and Chris Finch won $300.00 and other prizes. The BBQ was also great, though the mage (Andrew) sprayed me with some pool water (I reminded him of this act as he was adventuring later that evening, heh...).

I will have some more commentary later, but all in all it was a great event with high energy, non-stop action and, as noted, very well organized. Highly recommended for those who have any qualms about attending next year, as this Con will grow fast.

North Texas RPG Con - a great show!

I'm back from spending the weekend with ~50 other gamers from The Acaeum, Knights & Knaves Alehouse, and Dragonsfoot, at the North Texas RPG Con.

I got very little sleep at the show, and for most of last week, so here are some quick highlights before I crash:

• meeting many folks whom I've only known online, from the various boards: it's always great to put faces to names, and spend time communicating without a keyboard!: getting to meet some folks whom I've known online for several years---including Adrian "TSR Archive" Newman, Matt "Mythmere" Finch, Jason "Philotomy Jurament" Cone, Matt "Center Stage Miniatures" Solarz, Jason "Index Greyhawkiana" Zavoda, and many others---was a special treat!
  
• catching up with Rob Kuntz, Paul Jaquays, Frank Mentzer, Dennis Sustare, and Tim Kask; I'd not met Paul or Dennis before in person, and it's always a pleasure to spend time with Rob, Frank, and Tim
  
• I DM'd 10 players (including Paul Jaquays) through my version of Castle Greyhawk, in a scenario that I apparently needed to make a bit more deadly since no single PC was killed, despite me dropping 7th-8th level characters into the 14th level of the dungeons (which included a 19 HD titan as a wandering monster!)
• A wonderful tour of the Reaper Miniatures warehouse and production facilities, arranged by Gus Landt, and lead by Matt Clark (Reaper production director); I also got to meet Ron Hawkins, the art director and his two cute sons
  

The convention thread @ the Acaeum has some highlights, starting on page 25, and I'm sure that additional stories will be forthcoming soon.

And a final shout-out to Doug "RPGMarketplace" Rhea (he runs _the_ alternative to eBay for OOP RPGs) and to Mike "Badmike Books" Badolato, for putting on such a great convention (especially noteworthy as first-time convention organizers!). I'm already looking forward to next year's show!

As Summer Approaches

I will be in a warmer Texas come Friday, but leave you with the speed and vitality that only an approaching summer can imbue us with. Life, just like D&D is an adventure. And there can be no better a time when summer streaks in upon us with its so many colors and forms, beckoning us to partake of life again in all of its nuances.

Summer...

What Are You Reading These Days?

OK, I will end this as I have a very long list.

Opened Comments To All

After some deliberation I decided to open posting for all readers here who have a Google account.

Please respect the nature and professional tenor of this Blog and its contributors.

Have Fun while I'm in Texas, the 5th-7th.

Rob

On The Near Horizon

Part of what I have been busy with, a special project. I will let the picture speak for itself.

RJK

Been Busy

I apologize to the followers here for my recent absence. With company business, writing, my daughter's recent college graduation, my upcoming trip to Texas and preparations for that, I have been in a word swamped.

I will no doubt get back on track after my return from Texas. I encourage authors here to post when they can. I am also thinking of making the blog open to all. The main point being: professional acumen. I have no reserve at all for deleting posts that are inflammatory or derisive of others here. Opinions about eventually doing this--opening comments for all--would bve appreciated by the current authors.

Enjoy our great weather.

Rob Kuntz

D&D Archival and Paper Collections

I need your help. I need to locate archival collections related to Dungeons and Dragons, or perhaps papers donated by individuals involved with the game (in any era). Does anyone know if Gygax, Arneson, or others, donated their personal papers to a local, state, or university archive? I am aware that R.A. Salvatore donated his papers to Fitchburg State College (MA), but I need to find additional collections. WotC must have a corporate archive too, I'm guessing. Our initial database searches haven't turned up much. I thought perhaps a call within the LotGD community might bear more fruit. Thank you in advance.

PPP @ North Texas RPG Con: 5-7 June, 2009 (DFW area)

Rob Kuntz and Allan Grohe will be appearing at the first annual North Texas RPG Convention, in Bedford, TX (between Dallas and Fort Worth), on Friday 5 June through Sunday 7 June.

Rob will be running two events for 1st-2nd level PCs, on both Friday and Saturday nights. Allan will be running one event on Saturday morning for 7th to 8th level PCs.

Convention details and event registration are available at http://ntrpgcon.com/ (convention admission is free).

Skeleton attack! Eeeek!

Ship of Fools Contest

I'll be announcing the Ship of Fools contest started earlier this month in about a week. I've had several interesting submissions but not a huge run. If you are feeling creative, give it a go.

Etretat in Dinnsenchas

Burning crows in amber dawn,
Shattered waves shine through gold
In arcs of drops and silvery foam
As years fade in childish games of old.

Beaches and cliffs dancing in half-light,
Sea gulls flirting with rain and cloud,
My heart beats and shivers with delight
As my soul cries memories so loud.

Sacred groves and blessed hawthorns,
Venerable oaks and hidden thorns,
Ancient oaths and promises fade away
As gentle spines lead my lonely way.

Glorious battle born from an alliance
Covered the grass with tender crimson.
Salty tears and memories kill vengeance
As mothers' mourns ramble in off-season.

Dream-like birds and kites in dawn
Recalls a forbidden childhood
For which today I quietly moan,
Creating verses for our brotherhood.

Burning crows in amber dawn,
Shattered waves breaking in rays of gold,
Arcs of pearls shine in silvery foam
As years fade in childish games of old.

Note : Composed according to the Irish Dinnsenchas. Etretat is well-known in France for its cliffs and beaches. It is located in Normandy, where I used to live when I was a child. The "Glorious battle born from an alliance" evokes of course memories of D-Day. I thought the Lord of the Green Dragons could use a few of my own verses. Please let me know what you think.

The Academic Study of Dungeons and Dragons

(Below is an excerpt from a larger work. I thought it might be of interest to LotGD followers. I've made a few edits of interest here and there. I'd be happy to read your questions and comments. Thanks to Benoist for getting the ball rolling.)

Despite the 40 year history of the game, and the very recent development of Game Studies as an interdisciplinary field of study, no critical mass of cultural research exists on Fantasy Role-Playing Games (FRPGs) or Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) specifically.

However, there are individual studies and pieces of research notable for their contribution to this subject. Fine’s often-cited landmark study of FRPGs as social worlds, published in 1983, is the only sustained, full-length ethnographic study on D&D subculture. Given the time period of the early 1980s, his monograph was forward-thinking in relation to the application of ethnographic methodology to an object of study from popular culture. Alas, no scholar extended Fine’s work.

With few exceptions (Toles-Patkin, 1986; Lancaster, 1994), published studies of D&D between the mid 1980s and the late 1990s came not from the developing fields of cultural studies or popular culture, but rather from psychology. These studies, somewhat stereotypically, examined the personality traits of gamers as they relate to issues of deviance and emotional instability (Simon, 1987; Derenard and Kline, 1990; Blackmon, 1994; Carter and Lester, 1998; Raghuraman, 2000). These studies found no correspondence between gamers and these personality traits.

In the last ten years, a group of young interdisciplinary scholars from around the world have sparked the study of D&D and FRPGs (Marshall, 2007; Mona, 2007; Williams, Hendricks, and Winkler, 2006; Patri, 2006; Borah and Schaechterle, 2006; Hernandez, 2006; Chrulew, 2006 and 2005; Waskul and Lust, 2004; Mackay, 2001; Ronnick, 1997). These studies likely stem from the demographic of original or second wave D&D gamers (such as myself) now in their 30s with their PhDs. In contrast, Master of Arts (MA) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) level graduate students in their 20s study MMOs almost exclusively, with little beyond a brief acknowledgement to D&D. Academic conferences and research on MMOs far outstrips the work on D&D and FRPGs today.

The above research provides a foundation, and does indeed point towards recent and increased attention from interdisciplinary scholars. However, the research on D&D/FRPGs does not constitute a critical mass of secondary academic literature.

Why does no body of research exist on this topic? I can explain this situation with each of the following three factors contributing equally to the current academic context. First, the lack of research has stemmed, at least in part, due to what Brian Sutton-Smith calls the “Triviality Barrier.” By Triviality Barrier he references that - despite politically correct claims to the contrary - not all subjects are considered appropriate for study in universities (not all subjects will get you hired either). Without question, a broadening of the definition of “appropriate” has taken place in universities in the last decade. However, the ontology of scholars stills suggests the unworthiness of D&D as a topic for study. When calls for research do come forward they emphasize ethnographic approaches - a point reiterated in the inaugural issue of Games and Culture. Second, as a subject hidden in full view, D&D subculture takes place quietly at dinner tables during weeknights or weekends and remains at the fringe, outside of the contemporary social spotlight. Finally, the D&D gaming phenomena reached its peak in the early 1980s prior to the development of academic units devoted specifically to the interdisciplinary study of popular culture subjects. By the mid-to-late 1980s, when the disciplines of Cultural Studies and Popular Culture began to coalesce, D&D had already moved to the margins and was effectively missed as an object of study.

Interesting gaming historian

I thought folks might be interested in Rob MacDougall's blog @ http://www.20by20room.com/2009/04/the-new-history-of-old-gaming.html, in particular his observations on the need for a good, reliable history of RPG gaming.

What applies to Game Rules applies to Game Settings

“The secret we should never let game masters know is that they don’t need any rules”

This quote has been attributed to E. Gary Gygax. I do not know if it truly belongs to him, but I sure see the wisdom in these words.

We’ve been talking for a while now about rules systems and how they stole the thunder of role-playing games. How they have been progressively worked on, refined, and balanced to the detriment of immersion, fantasy and enchantment.

The solution to this death spiral of game design, I believe, is to take a step back and consider the rules as a tool, a mean, and not an end. Rules help bring entertainment at a game table, but they are no substitute to the cooperation and good sense of the people participating around the gaming table. Rules help to support and share the make-believe but don’t replace the imagination of those who end up playing the game.

In game design, I believe one should at all times remember that the game elements offered via products are just that: unfinished, unassembled pieces of a puzzle that will ultimately be pieced together by other people around a game table.

The same goes with game settings. Any world of fantasy presented via sourcebooks is composed of set pieces that aren’t worth anything in game terms until they are brought to life and pieced together at the game table.

If the designer should keep this in mind and make sure these set pieces can be used effectively in a number of different circumstances by a wide variety of users, the user himself should also make sure that the set pieces themselves do not hijack the creative process of role-playing games.

I’m alluding here to the idea of “canon” as it refers to setting materials. To put it simply, the notion that there is a canon to consider when running a game in a particular setting originally designed by someone else is anathema to the raison d’être of role-playing games. If we consider the rules as tools, support for actual role-playing and rulings at the game table, it makes no sense not to consider a published setting any other way. It is a support, a collection of unassembled set pieces which support the backdrop the DM and players use at the game table, but no substitute for the actual process of bringing the setting to life by piecing it together.

This means there is no such thing as “canon” in role-playing games. When a DM peruses through a boxed set searching for ideas and inspiration, he shouldn’t need to consider any of the ideas developed on the paper as more than just ideas. There is nothing sacred in this instance, nothing that would be set in stone, and thus nothing that should or could be considered heresy when the world comes to life at the game table.

Let us start a Greyhawk campaign, for instance. We know that the campaign was run by EGG and Rob in some way. We sure can benefit from the knowledge of how these men managed their games, and came up with this or that element of the backdrop and pieced them together themselves, but it makes no sense to me whatsoever to consider it the right way to play a Greyhawk campaign.

What if I don’t want any Iuz the Evil? What if I want to use the Greyhawk Wars or, God forbid, the Dragonlance Cataclysm components to alter the setting and make it my own? If I discuss it straight and make the changes clear to my gaming partners from the get-go, there can be no objection that this wouldn’t be “the real Greyhawk”.

It is. It is my Greyhawk.

My point here is that role-playing settings are not and should not be evaluated the same way literary settings are. Role-playing game settings are not complete settings in the sense that they only exist when they are actually put into play. Using a setting under the assumption that it has to be played in a particular way described by this or that sourcebook or boxed set is in essence committing the same mistake as assuming the rules have to be played as written.

There isn't, and shouldn’t be, any such thing as “canon” regarding role-playing game settings outside of a theoretical discussion of written sources, but even then, it should be clear that the written material alone is not alive. It is not yet used as it was designed to be used: at a game table, with real people, real needs and wants, real imaginations.

To quote the old-schooler: imagine the hell out of it! Don’t shackle yourselves to game materials written by others. You have to trust in your good sense, your wits and imagination to make the game world come alive. If it contradicts some clause of the written product, so be it! Your game will be all the better for it.