I've got my coffee

Here we are, just getting started on this Wednesday. The big move meant a purge of all manner of items I did not need, or could replace. The easy stuff was old posters, notes for games long gone(alright, that last one was a little tough at times) and music/movies. Then there was the books and games. Oh some were easy, as in will I ever play or use this for inspiration. Star Frontiers and Gamma World got donated to a nearby libraries game section. Just stop for a moment, a library had a game section, and it is in active use thanks to the dedication of Jason Paul McCartan of Infinibadger Press. That made it easier to part with those, knowing they would be used by the next generation of gamers. Hmm, I may need to interview Mr McCartan in the near future. Actually, I have started to forget what the rest was, it seemed so long ago. 

So, on to Jacksonville! Apparently known to be a Pathfinder town, which I have nothing against it just puts it in the category of games I would rather play than run. Also, I am not in the market to purchase a new game book, as hard to believe as that sounds. There is a Savage Worlds group here, which gives me hope that I may not be required to do all of the heavy lifting. I might be able to convince folks to try Call of Cthulhu, Cryptworld, Dungeon Crawl Classics, and various retroclones.

  

My little art studio/closet has most of my game library, and below is my bedside bookcase where I have put my Savage Worlds and Goblinoid Games stuff.

Anyone here, or around Jacksonville just let me know. It would be cool if anyone reading this was local to me. Take care and great gaming

Cryptworld Comic Conversion, issue one

     Tim Snider makes some fantastic stuff for Mutant Future, and now Cryptworld. In addition to helping bring the rules set to the masses, as well as Monsters Macabre, he has a zine for Cryptworld. What Tim has done is take a classic horror comic from the 50's, reprinted it in the first half of the zine then turned it into a scenario in the second. He gives the cryptmaster the story background (basically what is going on) and then how to run the scenario with different ways you can get the pc's involved. The main creature gets statted up, as well as a lesser critter that appears in the comic.

   Look at that back cover, a Defense Against Paranormal Agencies advert. Just like in the olden days! 

Here is the cover to the second issue, The Fleshless Ones looks to be even more amazing than the first. Tim hopes to have this ready sometime in the near future and I can't wait. Woot!

NaGa DeMon 2014? Plus Monsters Macabre

     I was mistaken, I thought last year I was working on Alucar but after looking through my blog I discovered it was an adventure for Cryptworld. The Gates of Hell is a scenario where the players are brought together for the reading of a will. A distant relation has passed and his estate calls for all the living relatives. What happens next could mean the end of the world!  
   
       My main issue is how should I present it! I did not put it on my blog last year because I had wanted to run it some more and polish it up. Then there is the desire to surprise people with it when I run it. This is all new territory for me, so if any of you have some ideas then let me know.

     Monsters Macabre was one of several purchases I made at Con on the Cob and it is well worth it. Besides 71 all new "things" to throw at your players, it adds rules for creating your own creatures and allowing your players  to create "monster" characters. Also there is a section on variable weapon damage and one on creating random organizations. Art by Mark Allen and Brian Thomas is amazing and it is topped off by a scenario by Tim "Sniderman" Snider. It is an invaluable resource and I hope they continue to support Cryptworld as well as their other Pacesetter products. Totally worth your time.

So much excitement, so much to do

     Tomorrow morning I leave for Gary Con, but today I almost ready to go. I feel like my heart is going to explode, since this is the first road trip I have ever taken without my family. There is a sense that any moment everything will unravel, thankfully I can c8mbat these feelings but it is rough sometimes. The weather in central Ohio decided to take a step back into snow, though I feel it will disappear soon enough.I have been charged by Tim Snider (Savage Afterworld) to carry the torch and report daily on the happenings at the Con. That of course means I need to remember to take pictures, which I hope my comrades help remind me. My pack of games will include DCC rpg, Labyrinth Lord, Cryptworld, and the Castles and Crusades player's guide. Doctor Who may be included in there, since Nick Seidler from Diary of Doctor Who rpg's will be there. Trying to only bring things I will play and/or run. Wish me luck and hopefully I will get to see some of you folks soon!

Alucar, city of the future

     Polishing my Cryptworld scenario that I began this past November, making necessary corrections/additions. Starting on a new Pacesetter project.....  

Just a little something I came up with while on break at work. What if at the start of the 20th century, a city was built to be a technological marvel. People flock to this city and are amazed by the wonders contained their in. There is a monorail and clockwork "guards" at city hall. The main creator of these things has his laboratory, known as the Steam Works, at the heart of this place.    
   
     Then tragedy strikes, as a massive sinkhole opens and swallows everything. Not everyone survives, but those who do learn to adapt to their new surroundings. It takes a year for city to pull itself together, and now it is up to the players how to proceed. Stay in town and deal with local issues, or strike out and explore the various caverns branching off from Alucar? Go crazy and do both, maybe figure out what caused the catastrophe in the first place?

      I may be running a game tomorrow, if the snow does not scare off my players. Depending on how many show up, I may run my Cryptworld game, Dwimmermount, or a little test run of Alucar. I will let you all know how that shakes out. Later guys, take care!
   

New Blood

     Since the end of last year I have been encouraging some of my co-workers to participate in some role playing games. My first victims were Daniel and Shereea, who I ran through the introductory Cryptworld scenario "Red Eye". It was a lot of fun, though they almost learned the hard way that they should have a plan before you confront the big bad.          
  
     My next test subjects, er players were Jeremiah, Vickie and the venerable Tim Snider. I ran them through part if the first level of Dwimmermount, using Labyrinth Lord rules. It was great helping two new players navigate the start of this amazing mega dungeon. I asked each player to come up with a reason their character wanted to explore; Jeremiah's fighter wanted gold, Tim's cleric wanted to help maintain the balance between law and chaos, and Vickie's elf wanted to find out more about her culture (since Dwimmermount is where elves originated) It was a great start and I hope to get them back to finish exploring, unfortunately I did not get a picture of that group nor the next.

     I ran a playtest of a Cryptworld scenario I have been working on and Shereea, Barbara(newbie), Drew Bergstrom and Tim Snider. Everything went fine despite the two newer players needing to leave early. I am hoping to run a game on the 22nd of February, if I get different players I may test my Cryptworld game on them, either way I will keep you all up to date.

     What this has done is give me additional confidence, especially in regards to running Cryptworld. Also the desire to work on more stuff for secret setting using the Pacesetter rules. More to come!

Con on the Cob 2014!!

    

Tim, Ken, and Dave

     Things have been busy around here with conventions, artwork and real life taking my time. Last weekend was Con the Cob 2014, and man was it fun. I ran two scheduled games plus a pick up game, and played in two games. I arrived Thursday just in time to run my first game, Dwimmermount using Labyrinth Lord. Three people showed up including Tim shorts (Gothridge Manor), Ken H. (Rusty Battleaxe), and Dave (Forgotten Runes). The session went well, the group made two forays into the dungeon, their characters needed a break midway through the session. Just before the end, one of them got a bit greedy and died from a trap. Later that evening I got to play in Tim Snider's (Savage Afterworld) Death in the Dust Cryptworld game. The Pacesetter system is amazing, plus Tim runs a fantastic game. Our Pc's were investigating an old mining town being turned into a theme park(?) where terrible vandalism has taken place. A couple friends of mine joined me, as well as Tim Shorts and Ken H. Everyone had a great time, if you have a chance to play in a game run by Mr. Snider then I highly recommend it.

     Now, before I get into Friday, I should talk about two important aspects of the dealer's room. Tim Snider was manning the Goblinoid Games/Pacesetter booth and Roy Snider was in charge of the Goodman Games booth. From Tim I acquired Rotworld and Time Master, and from Roy I worked on completing my DCC fanzine collection, I'll write more about what I got later.

     First thing Friday, I played in Tim's Thundarr the Barbarian game. I got to play the mokk in training,Oosoo the mokk. My die rolls fit in with the neophyte angle, since I couldn't make any decent rolls. Oddly I was the only person to damage Thundarr. Thankfully my luck turned around and I dealt the final blow to the villain. Next I ran Mutant Future for four, this was one of the scheduled games but apparently I talked it enough that they were all my friends. We had a great time as they explored the last tower of Ol' Bus, scavenging for supplies and artifacts.

My friends Jason, Chuck

Mysti and Derrick

     I was really looking forward to Saturday, since that was when I would unveil my Patrick Troughton second Doctor costume.

Wow, look at those pants! The next thing I was looking forward to was three of my friends (Jason, Chuck and Derrick) wanted to play Dwimmermount. I had my notes from the previous game, since my plan was to run subsequent games as if they had occurred in real time (ie. doors that were battered down would be that way, dead monsters would be laying wherever they fell) Ironically the entered a different way and therefore it never came into play. It was lots of fun and ended on a tpk.

     Con on the Cob, once again, was awesome. This year even more so, and I will be back next year, definitely running games again. Hopefully showing some artwork as well.

Con on the Cob 2014

     Here we are, looking down the barrel another year of conventions. It was recently announced that Goblinoid Games will have a presence at Con on the Cob this year, which compels me to register and maybe run a game or two. I know Tim Snider will be there, which means a Saturday morning game of Thundarr the barbarian should be in store for us mortals, and hopefully some Cryptworld! I will most likely run Labyrinth Lord, nothing complicated but I want Goblinoid to feel inclined to come back. October 16-19 is when it is and registration is open, so get over there and sign up. Don't worry, it'll be fun!

    

Tim Snider Interview!

     I have been sitting on this interview for awhile, lost track of it but here it is. Trying to get back on track after all this crazy weather, school closings and people (myself included) getting sick. Here is Tim Snider, co-writer of the Pacesetter book Cryptworld, and author of the blog Savage Afterworld!
 
Alright, what first got you into playing RPG's

I kind of stumbled into them. As a kid, I enjoyed boardgames and reading fantasy/sci fi novels. In junior high, I met some guys who were into D&D -- it was the 80s, after all -- and they invited me to play. Loved the game, and it opened up a whole new hobby for me.

I know you from your blog and as a co-author of Cryptworld, what got you into writing?

I've always been a writer. As a kid, I drew comic books and designed my own games. In high school, I was on the newspaper staff. I majored in journalism, becoming a reporter and, later, an editor. I've been writing as a hobby the entire time as well.

Aside from your blog and Cryptworld, you have just put out One Year in the Savage Afterworld. Can you describe it for the folks who are unfamiliar with your blog?

"One Year..." is a collection of 52 post-apocalyptic mini-modules for the Mutant Future RPG by Goblinoid Games. They're designed for a few quick hours of gonzo end-of-the-world gaming. They can also be used as side treks, or one-shots at conventions, or campaign springboards. They were inspired by the One-Page Dungeon contest as well as the "Side Trek" features that were seen in Dungeon magazine. And with 52 of them, your group can play one each weekend for an entire year, hence the title.

What is your favorite horror movie?

Got a few, actually. Anything by Hammer Horror or starring the Universal Monsters. The Romero zombie trilogy of Night, Dawn, and Day. (I ignore Land, Diary, and Survival.) And for good ol' gore, I love The Deadly Spawn.

Groovy! What is your favorite subject to write on/about?

When hammering out fiction, I like stories of normal, everyday people thrust into bizarre, fantastical situations. There's usually a touch of comedy as well, so let's call it "urban humorous horror-fantasy." It's also how I approach any adventures I write. Normal folks finding themselves in the midst of the abnormal.

As a follow-up, I have two (unpublished) manuscripts that illustrate the mindset of my fiction. "Due to a bureaucratic mix-up, a soul slated for Heaven is instead routed to Hell. While the screw-up is resolved, this angel-should-have-been must toil as a demon-don't-wanna-be." Imagine being stuck in a dead-end job you're pretty bad at. Now imagine your boss is The Devil. (Working title: "I, Demon")
Another manuscript that's in the rough stages takes place from the point-of-view of a 9-year-old kid. He's like any other kid, struggling with his grades, becoming interested in girls, and embarrassed by his parents. The twist: his father is one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and they've just been called to duty. The everything is coming to an end just as Billy is starting to get interested in the world around him. Can he stop the End Times? (Working title: "Meet Billy Pestilence")

s/b "Everything is coming to an end...."

Can we expect any Cryptworld stuff from you in the future?

Absolutely! Dan Proctor has mentioned that he has some ideas and irons in the fire as far as future Cryptworld support. I've been posting new "Things" in a running post at the Goblinoid Games forums. And I'm currently writing up a Cryptworld adventure collection that will contain three separate scenarios to torment players with.

Sounds great! Who have been your influences in regards to writing?   

I love the world concepts and style of Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Douglas Adams, and Robert Aspin.Are you currently playing/running any games?

I'm between groups right now, so I do most of my gaming at conventions and online. Nothing underway at this time though.

Of all that you have written, what are you most proud of?

Tough question. I've written a lot of non-gaming stuff I'm pretty proud of. Did a lot of investigational reporting in my days as a reporter. I've been blogging for years. I've released a few gaming supplements of my own. Co-wrote Cryptworld with Dan Proctor. Written two unpublished novels. Singling out any one of these as more of an achievement than the others is impossible.

What was it like, working on Cryptworld with Dan?

I was very pleased that Dan brought me onboard to co-write Cryptworld. As a longtime Pacesetter fan, I was already running games at conventions using the Action Table System. When Goblinoid Games acquired the brand and the available RPGs, I was thrilled that it was being resurrected. Then new Pacesetter RPGs like Rotworld and Majus were released, showing the system still had old fans and was gaining new ones. However, there was still a demand for a Pacesetter "general horror" RPG. So Cryptworld was written from the ground up as the new Pacesetter Action Table game. It was incredibly fun to be a part of, and I'm very proud with what we've created.

That is all for me, thank you for your time and take care!

Games for 2014

     So Shaintar in January, but what about the rest of the games? Nothing is set in stone, but here is what I have to work with. Savage worlds is a big part of my gaming collection; 50 Fathoms, Evernight, Rippers, Deadlands, Necessary Evil, Slipstream, Sundered Skies, Low Life, Tour of Darkness, Weird War II, Streets of Bedlam, Agents of Oblivion and Iron Dynasty. In addition there is Dungeons and Dragons, which has been a part of my gaming life since the beginning. In I love the retro clones, they clear up some of things from the originals example Labyrinth Lord refines basic/expert D&D, Mutant Future is a Labyrinth Lord compatible version of Gamma World, and finally Cryptworld is the new Pacesetter version of Chill. Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space is also on the table. I would be amenable to running any of these in 2014, and look forward to any preferences if any of you were interested in playing at Ravenstone. Remember, comments are welcome.

NaBloPoMo comes to a close

     So here we are, last day of November, and the last day of my involvement in National Blog Post Month. It has been fun making sure I post something on a semi regular schedule. November was full of stuff happening that I enjoyed writing about, especially with the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who happening. Just over half of my posts were Who related, sometimes because of recovered episodes but mostly the bits of stuff leading up to the big day on the 23rd. I interviewed Andrew Raymond about his contribution to the local Who community and the amazing event that he helped coordinate at the local Grandview theater. When I attended the showing there, I almost felt like a reporter, though with a sucky camera. It was great and I look forward to attending more of these events and recommend the same to anyone able to, do it.

     I decided to give a shot at making a D&D character class, the Tinker, driven by cogs and gears. They use devices and mechanisms designed for defense and offense, and trap detection/removal and lock picking. I love D&D and various related OSR games, a special love for Labyrinth Lord. In addition, I got to go to Con on the Cob and play in a game of Cryptworld run by Tim Snider (co-author of Cryptworld) I loved reporting on that game as well as other events at the con. A wonderful interview with Jason Braun, and me wanting to go to Gary Con 2014 rounds out my posts for the month. I hope you all have liked what I have to say and I will continue this type of post, though not everyday, at least during the holidays here. Take care, and enjoy!

Con on the Cob: Friday Night

     Friday night and I was able to get a ticket for Tim Snider's Cryptworld game. Thankfully I there were three other players, so Tim went over the basics of the system for those of us who were unfamiliar with it. Basically a percentile based system, you want to role under the target number for general checks. For specific ones you take the difference between what you rolled and the target number and consult an action table.

The game was called Condition Critical, and is this; Dr. Howard Eastman has called a press conference at his remote research facility to announce a medical breakthrough that will “eradicate human illness and suffering forever.” But what if the cure proves to be worse than the disease? We were a newspaper reporter, his photographer partner, a magazine journalist, and a medical researcher (me). We ended up at a creepy building that had been converted into a small country hospital and it went downhill from there. Tim set the scene beautifully, so to speak, I felt like I was in a seventies b-movie. Since it was set in modern day, we all had cell phones, as much good as that did us. We all had a great time and Tim had a copy of Cryptworld that Dan Proctor had sent with Tim to give away, since one guy already had it and the other two did not have a gaming group with which to play, I got it!

Once again, I can't remember any names, except Tim Snider (far left) and myself

     So, after the game I hung out with Tim and helped him in his quest to find Brian Thomas. Brian had some original Cryptworld art That Tim wanted to check out. That is a whole other story, after that the night kind of went downhill. My family was running a little late and when they were almost to the con, a deer jumped out in front of them. thankfully no one was hurt (besides the deer) and the van was drivable. It really was a awful end to a pretty great day. Remember, comments are welcome and they help decide what I do or do not write about. Take care everyone!

Savage Afterworld and NaBloPoMo

     So I met the amazing Tim Snider at Con on the Cob (more about CotC later) and subsequently learned of his blog, http://www.savageafterworld.com/ which for the most part deals with Mutant Future from Goblinoid Games. In today's post on his blog, he spoke of three writing exercises for the month of November (national novel writing month, national game design month and national blog posting month) It is the last one that caught my interest, with my spotty postings. I will endeavor to have at least one post a day for November, of course I will have to make up for yesterday. Also, he mentions that tomorrow there will be a big announcement on his blog. I am hoping for something from Cryptworld (Tim has co-author credits that book), but whatever it is I am looking forward to it. Let us see what this month brings us!