Game Day

It's 8:36am. I've been up for nearly four hours.

I have difficulty sleeping on game days...well, any day when I'm on the docket for an activity that requires preparation. At conventions (like the one I'll be going to in October) I'm lucky to get four or five hours a night. It's hard for me to get to sleep, and I often wake up hours before my alarm.

Excitement and stress...these can play havoc with one's circadian rhythm.

First day of the (school) soccer season. I am coaching my daughter's team. It has been a madhouse just trying to get practice slots. I've had three since last Friday (the day after I got home from Orcas). Three. The last two were yesterday and Thursday. We'll see how this particular band of misfits performs. 

Of course, I had to be up early for D anyway...he had a cross country meet at 7am. Jeez, these kids. He also has club volleyball this afternoon and club soccer tomorrow. Sofia has her club soccer match this afternoon.

But that's all fine and dandy...that's just driving (and I have a full tank of gas (I mean, since I was up this morning anyway...). This morning's game, I'm coaching. My team. My responsibility. No rest for the wicked/weary.

I'll let y'all know how it goes. It's just nice being back in a sport where I get to yell from the sidelines.

; )

[EDIT: we won, 5-2. Shaky first half, but we pulled away in the second. One in the books]

World Cup

Spending my early mornings watching World Cup (it's halftime right now). Sorry, folks.

ALSO...my in-laws are flying in this evening and will be with us till the end of the year. Makes for busy evenings.

If you don't see anything here before Thursday, please know I'm wishing all my readers a happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy your loved ones; and be safe. 

Putting A Bow On It

Last soccer post for the foreseeable future.

Our season ended yesterday, as we lost our semi-final game against the #1 team in our division. And I am content. Our opponent had not only beat every team they faced this year (including several strong, playoff teams), they had demolished them, scoring 5+ goals in five of their eight games (including their quarter-final playoff). I was more anxious leading up to that game then any other game we'd played this season. Hell, it was the most anxious I can remember feeling prior to ANY sporting event since the 2012 Super Bowl (when I actually had to go to a gym beforehand to work off the stress/nerves). It wasn't because I was hyped to win...we knew it would be a tall order. I was afraid we'd be embarrassed. Frankly, I was afraid we might show ourselves to be frauds...a team that had a puffed up record based on weak opponents, who didn't really deserve to be in the same conversation with the "class" of our league.

Instead, we gave them their toughest match of the season. We played our game (using all our players, good and bad) with equal playing time and held them scoreless for 55 minutes, frustrating and stifling their vaunted offense with our ragtag misfits...who played spectacularly out-of-their minds. Kids who had a hard time just getting a foot on the ball this season (often swinging and whiffing) were taking on players with twice their skill and athleticism and winning...winning possessions, clearing shots, doing their damn jobs out there. 

It was glorious.

When the other team DID score, it was in the last ten minutes when we (the coaches) had subbed in our best players for a last push...and here we made a tactical error. In an effort to put all our best players on the field we moved a kid who'd been playing center back for nearly the whole season to right back...and he couldn't help himself drifting to the center. He lost a very good shooter on the right side who was able to take a pass and put in a goal (many "soccer parents" on our side complained afterwards that the kid was off-sides but Diego, playing left back, assured me that it was on). We then started pressing to get the equalizer and an unlucky bounce gave their other striker a wide-open shot in the box that he smoked. The final score was 2-0...the fewest goals our opponent scored all season.

[after the second goal, with three minutes remaining, we subbed out our stronger players to give other kids more play time]

Thing is, we had multiple chances in both halves to put the game away. Our offense just failed to get it done. After the first goal was scored, Diego was able to win a ball, juked a guy, and got a perfect pass to up to our most skilled player. Miles has blazing speed, amazing footwork, and plays striker for the same premier club as my son...but he plays a team up in a tougher bracket. With nothing but green grass and the goal in front of him, he dribbled all the way to the goalie box, and from three yards out he bricked the ball off the post.

It was unfortunate...mainly because the kid, a showboat who refuses to pass the ball (and, frankly, looks down on this "school league" stuff as beneath him) had the chance to make good with all his big talk. After the game, my son was in angry tears..."Three yards out! Easier than a PK!" But we had an even easier chance in the first half when the goalie lost the ball in the penalty area and Bastien, with NOBODY in front of him and the ball on his foot, failed to put the ball on-target. 

Fact is, we could have won the game but for a couple of bounces. Fact is, we put some fear in this team...a team that came to the field with F'ing WARPAINT on their faces, chanting and singing fight songs and shit. They had rolled everyone they faced...they did not roll over us. 

I was...I am...immensely proud. And we did it without chippy-ness, without fouling, without complaining to the two referees (who had a great game). In our quarter-final, we played a team who drew three yellow cards, gave us multiple direct and indirect kicks, three PKs (in regular time!), and talked smack the whole game. That game should never have gone to overtime, but it did, and we won in a shootout at the end, and several of the opposing players refused even to shake hands at the end of the match. Our team, on the other hand, was able to hold our heads up and keep both our dignity and sportsmanship. 

Which is important! As I told my kid afterwards: 

• We don't play the game to have fun...there are lots of ways to have fun (most not involving so much effort).
• We don't play the game to exercise...there are lots of ways (better ways) to stay in shape without risking injury.
• We don't play the game to win...the joy of victory is as fleeting as the sting of losing.

We play the game because we want to play soccer. Because we love the sport. It's the same reason we play Dungeons & Dragons, instead of something easier or more accessible or more popular. There are LOTs of ways to have fun and play with friends and be active. There are lots of sports (and games!) that test your mettle, your resolve, your mind and body. We made a choice to do this one...because we want to do this one. And it doesn't matter whether we are taking home a trophy or not...we are fortunate to be able to play.  A lot of kids who want to don't get to. 

My son, to his credit, understands and agrees (though he still prefers winning to losing). After the game was done, we drove home so that he could change into his training jersey, and then we drove to his club practice to work out with his premier teammates. That practice went from 6:45-8pm (I had a beer at a nearby pizza place while watching some Monday Night Football). He was smiling and in good spirits by the time practice was over and we were driving home for our usual, late night dinner...laughing about the game and how we frustrated our opponents, gushing about the fantastic play from our "lesser teammates," bemoaning the inability of our offensive players to get a cross in to a wide open man.

Our usual debrief.

Diego has club soccer practices Wednesday, Thursday, and (for the next three weeks) a special Friday session. Saturday he has a game against PacNW soccer (they play out of the Sounders Starfire facility in Tukwila); just one more game in a looong season. 

Today, however, he has the day off...because the school season is over. We've already decided we will be playing Dungeons & Dragons tonight. We're both looking forward to it.

: )

Playoffs

About a month ago I posted a long scribbling with regard to my son's school soccer season. Again...this is his school season, a season that lasts only seven weeks, and that features a bunch of kids who (for the most part) only play this sport seven weeks out of fifty-two. As I've been coaching these kids for six years now, I care about these kids. Because I've got a competitive streak and actually enjoy soccer, I also give a shit about how they perform and the results.

The season's been...tough. As in stressful. We won four games (yes, including the game I was stressing out about in that last post). We had one game cancelled (due to poor air quality). We tied one game (neither Diego nor I were at the game and the head coach...well, it wasn't his finest effort). 

And yesterday we were beaten 3-1 in the pouring rain at an 8am game time in the cold and dark after a two week layoff.

Today starts the playoffs. We are the #4 seed. Game kicks off in two hours. We will be playing the same team that I was worried about facing in my "soccer haze" post...when we were down to 12 players and missing most of our defensemen. We squeaked that one out 4-3 (I played Diego in the backfield a LOT for that game). Today we have everyone. Season will either end today or continue to tomorrow's semi-final.

Okay, got to go feed my kid now.

Soccer Haze

Soccer. I'm going to write about soccer. It's not D&D. We'll see if I can tie it into D&D (somehow), but writing out what's in my head at the moment will...hopefully...clear space for the D&D-type stuff folks want me to write about.

This year, due to a lack of sufficient players in any single school, my son's school team is partnered with three other schools. We have a total of 21 kids on the team (at this level...6th grade...we play 9v9) fifteen of whom I'd never met before this year. It's...a lot.

Because we joined them (rather than vice versa), the team does not operate under our school name. For the first time in...mm...six years, I was not expecting to be the coach. Truth be told, I wasn't expecting Diego to want to play, not with all the club soccer he's already doing and after an extremely difficult season last fall.

[last year, our 5th grade class was combined with 4th graders due to them not having a coach or sufficient players...4th graders who, for the most part, were entirely new to soccer or who had not played since pre-Covid. When they were, like, seven years old and coached (poorly) by a volunteer parent. Suffice is to say our team was NOT competitive...at all!...and this caused a LOT of frustration, tears, breakdowns, etc. among ALL the players on the team]

But Diego did want to play, and so did all the kids from last year (minus Maceo who moved to a different school). And, somehow, I got wrangled into being the assistant coach for this year's team. 

I think I mentioned it's a lot of kids?

Anyway. The head coach...I'll call him "HC." He's a nice guy. Totally on the same page with me as far as what's important (kids participating in sport, kids having fun, kids learning valuable life lessons like team work and sportsmanship and effort). Good guy. Not a soccer guy. 

Football guy, yes. Baseball guy, yes. Soccer guy, no.

He told me I could handle the "strategy side" of things if I wanted. His plan for the season was to have one practice a week, consisting of a warm up (he has the baseball guys on the team lead the team in a baseball warm up) and then have the kids just scrimmage each other for the remainder of practice. Because we have so many kids.

The kids from his school include some "really athletic kids" on it. He's not kidding. Many of them are big, strong, and fast. They play flag football on the side. Some of them play "select" soccer and/of baseball. Some also run cross country...right now, during the soccer season. In past seasons, his M.O. has been to put the best athletes up front and the "less strong" kids on defense and let them "kind of figure out their own positions." He won a lot of games the last couple years, mainly, because he had better athletes on his team than other teams. Teams like the team we fielded last year.

Our school doesn't have kids with the raw athletic talent of these kids. They have my boy who, despite being a short, skinny, slow kid (much like his father was, back in the day) is blessed with a pair of incredibly strong, accurate boots, excellent coordination, a wicked intelligence, and a tenacious, ultra-competitive fire. We were blown out every game last year, but we were never shut out because Diego would always find a way to score a goal or two and salvage our school's dignity. And I only ever played him as much as any of the other players (in CYO sports, we are trying to give equal participation time to ALL the players). 

The other kids on the school range from "high motor/effort" to "passable" to "struggling" to "hopeless." I've always seen it as MY role to coach them up and put them in the best possible positions to succeed and contribute (thereby having an enjoyable time and...hopefully...continuing to pursue sport as a fun activity). Until last season, I was always able to do that...with positive, productive results.

SO...enter me and the new team and the new HC. As the kids are now in middle school, this is the first season that results count and that there are "play-offs" in CYO. Kids who don't enjoy soccer or who have decided it "isn't for them" have dropped out...perhaps to pursue flag football or other fall sports. Teams are larger...we're not the only team that's combined schools. Several non-Catholic private middle schools are a part of our league...many with expensive athletic facilities, paid coaches, and (I kid thee not) sports nutrition programs. It's still Catholic Youth Organization where "winning isn't the most important thing" (and where, if you beat a team by more than six goals, you have to appear before the board and explain why you are not adhering to the values of sportsmanship, etc.)...but, still, it's Big Boy soccer. We have seven weeks to accumulate enough points to be one of the top eight teams.

So, I convinced the HC to have two practices a week instead of one, with the rationale that the kids who could make both (because they're not participating in multiple sports) probably could use the extra practice. I convinced him to let me run some drills every practice (before scrimmage) and not just "make kids run." I convinced him that maybe when a kid says he plays "defense" on his select soccer team that he's suitable to play defense, not just striker (because he's big, fast, and strong).

The first week, I spent evaluating the kids, getting to know them. Our first game, I wanted to implement a formation that I thought would play to our strengths. He asserted himself as HC, however, saying the kids would just get confused, wanting to keep it "basic." I deferred to him, though I put forth very strong opinions of which role various kids should play (and why) and HC, to his credit, went with most of my suggestions. 

Our first game was tight...we went down 2-0 before coming back to even, then going ahead 3-2, only to give up the equalizer, before finally (finally) wearing them out and finishing 6-3. And I mean "wearing them out:" we played 19 kids against a team that had 9 total (no subs) and just ground them down with fresh legs. They were tough and played with a lot of heart, even playing (and scoring!) with eight men after one of their defenders took a smoked shot off the face and had to sit down for a few.

Afterwards, HC was positive and (mostly) effusive with his praise, mainly citing "areas of improvement" as being the defense...half of which had been ALL my school's kids save Diego (who played midfield).  One mother later contacted the coaches and apologizing for their son's performance, and asking if there were extra things he could practice to "train up"...when I spoke with her later she related that he had been disappointed with himself because the other kids had been yelling at him for letting in the scores (he was not playing goalie).

...

Mm.

For week #2, I told HC I wanted to implement the formation I'd talked about (a 3-1-3-1) as I felt it would give us a stronger defense, and told him I would coach the kids up on it during the week and make it work. He grudgingly agreed to this because our second opponent had just gotten their asses kicked 10-1 in their first week ("this should be a pretty easy one, so a good time to implement new stuff"). He also didn't trust one of the kids who'd be playing goalie (we let the players volunteer for the position and rotate from week-to-week...this week would be one of the "less proficient" kids from my school). We would also be playing without two of our best offensive pieces: a kid with blazing speed who plays striker for the same club as Diego (however, a year up due to an earlier birth year), and an insolent snot-nosed punk of a kid who only knows how to shoot goals (he's a real piece of work...think Jaimie Tartt in miniature).  Little did we know, that our BEST player (in HC's opinion) would spend most of the game on the sideline, getting a bloody nose in the first half.

We won the game 6-0. The last fifteen minutes we just played keep away from the other team, so as not to violate the "lopsided victory" rule. Four of our goals came from assists. It was some lovely soccer.

We are entering the third week (practice...the "extra" one I requested...is today, Tuesday). HC will not be at the game Saturday ("you can do the line-up however you want this week!") as he is going on a camping trip with several of the boys. And I don't even know if my own kid will be available...we're still waiting on his other team's schedule for the weekend.

[the problem with participating in two different soccer teams is that sometimes there are schedule conflicts (duh) and then hard choices have to be made. In our home, we leave this choice up to the kids...even though one team costs about a hundred bucks and the other one costs...mm. I'd rather not think about it. Suffice is to say we've been navigating this conflict the last five+ years]

I know, I know...this is all dumb-ass drama and not worth stressing out. Absolutely right. But I have been stressed...in a year where I thought the soccer season would be, well, stress-free (because I didn't think I'd have to do much, if anything) suddenly I have been experiencing more stress than I have in years. Which is crazy, yeah, I know.

Fact is, I love these kids...my own child not least of all. But the other kids, both the old hands from previous years and the new ones (who are all, rather quickly, growing on me...yes, even the mouthy ones). They're just kids. Well behaved for the most part. Good teammates for the most part. Doing the best they can...for the most part. How can you not love these kids? And want them to have success? For their own sake?

Let's tie this to D&D for a sec. All the games I've run the last couple years have been for kids this age...my son, his peers, etc. And I've prepped the hell out of these games BECAUSE I WANT THEM TO HAVE A GOOD EXPERIENCE. Because I want them to enjoy themselves. Because I want them to come back. Because D&D is awesome and it's something they can do and play and enjoy their whole lives.

Soccer...soccer is awesome, too. For kids this age, it's unlikely to do any permanent harm to their bodies. It's solid exercise. It's good training, not just in the physical realm (speed, stamina, flexibility, agility, etc.) but in the arenas of teamwork and camaraderie, sportsmanship, focus, and discipline. Players learn to both win AND lose with grace and dignity and how to play with respectfulness and gratitude (for their teammates, their coaches, their opponents, and for themselves). Soccer isn't something they can do forever (unlike D&D) but while they have this window of time, I want to instill a love of the game in them. I prep the hell out of my soccer practices and games, too.

My son...he already knows all this stuff. He and I have had long talks about both D&D and sports and why they're valuable and to what degree and their place in the grand sphere of...well, of everything. I'm not really worried about him. He'll give 110% and do his best to win, and shake hands respectfully when he loses while vowing to learn from the experience. Ultra-competitor that Diego is, his head is screwed on right most of the time (probably part of why his premier club coach named him captain of the team this year. Last year he was named captain by the coach, too...and it was a different coach). 

It's the other kids, I'm coaching for. Not my kid, who's already won trophies and has plenty of confidence. No, it these other 11 and 12 year olds...the ones who aren't "great athletes" and, probably, even the ones who are (I've noticed some ego cracks here and there). Because I want them ALL to see their own potential...and to see the potential in each other. Everyone contributes on this team...the team is the sum of all of us.

*sigh* Two practices to prepare. Against the only undefeated team left on our schedule till the playoffs...a team that just spanked some poor bastards 7-1 last week. Notice the goal differential? Another "mercy rule" game...this team is good.  And we will again be missing the same two offensive weapons, at least three defenders, and possibly Diego.  Three other "maybes," too...none of which I want to lose. 12 players. Not a lot to work with. And no help that I can count on from HC, bless his large, carefree heart.

Damn. Better make these good practices.

Warming Up

Just got home from a three day soccer "jamboree" in Skagit County...the daughter's first, the boy's upteenth. Sofia was nervous at first, but had a lot of fun...her team was competitive but didn't make the finals, unfortunately. Diego's team dominated their games and walked away with the trophy for their age/division...the team looks very strong this year, and the new coach seems really on top of his game.

But, man, it was hot. Burlington reminds me quite a bit of western Montana (where I'll be road-tripping next weekend)...a lot of open sky, foothills in the distance. The river through the middle of the town was reminiscent of Missoula (though Missoula has grown so much the last 15 years...it's practically unrecognizable from my youth). Ah, well. Lots of inspiration for my D&D campaign to be had in such surroundings...Bellingham, too (where we stayed during the tournament). Probably a good place for a land of giants (everyone there seemed REALLY tall...does Western have a major basketball program or something?). 

Anyway, it's good to be home (with my own coffee). My "running beagle" ...now fifteen years old and more of a "doddering, lazy-ass beagle" ...is certainly glad to be back with her half-dozen sprawl spots for dozing the day away. Too much awake time for the old girl this trip. But it was a good warm up for (what will be) a much longer road trip starting on Thursday.

SO...D&D. The kids are anxious to play and I promised them we'd do so today and over the next couple. I do have some blog posts I want to write, and I'll try to get to those in the early morning this week. Like, GOOD blog posts...I've got a couple-three percolating in the old noggin, but it's a little too late in the day to start them now (apologies...had to catch up on some stuff this morning and, now that it's 10am...I'm sure children will be waking and clamoring for breakfast soon enough).

One more note, before I sign off. Prince of Nothing is hosting his...

[hold on, hold on...the lazy beagle needs help getting up on the couch for her second nap of the morning. Stop taking my seat, you mooch! Jeez, so little respect for the hand that feeds you...every day! *sigh* Go back to sleep...I'll find a different place to write. Need more coffee anyway]

*AHEM* As I was saying, Prince has announced the second run of his (now annual?) "No ArtPunk Contest." Even if you don't fancy yourself an adventure writer/designer, I'd encourage folks to check it out and the compilation book from last year's event; there's a lot of good adventure in that FREE publication (as well as theft-able ideas for one's own campaign). My kids, with whom I share this kind of news, are fairly excited by the contest: both want to write and submit their own entries to the contest. Listening to their individual concept ideas while walking to the local taqueria last night, I think that they'd have a fairly strong piece...if they were willing to combine forces.

[this, with typical sibling rivalry, they have refused. However, Sofia *did* say I can happily steal from her ideas...good since she tends to be more creative/unhinged from convention. We'll see how it all shakes out]

I, too, have an idea or two for a contest submission, though I'm already fairly booked solid with projects for the summer. Do I need one more item on my plate? Probably not...but competitive fires get stoked when you come so close (my entry didn't make the cut last year) and you get a second bite at the apple. I don't know...I'll think about it. Probably depends on whether or not I can find the time to draw a decent map. Most dungeon scenarios are easy to write once you have 1) a concept/theme, and 2) a map. It is, after all, 'just' D&D...not rocket science.

; )

All right...kid is up, time to go. Yak at y'all later.

Pizza Party

It's Wednesday...time to blog something.

The school soccer season is officially over...actually ended the weekend before last, but we had our post-season "pizza party" last night (outdoors, in a covered pavilion, in the rain). It was great and everyone had a wonderful time (funny, since I was the one that "organized" the thing...and I'm pretty terrible when it comes to party planning). 

I'm not a big believer in participation trophies, but I did buy medallions for all the kids (with their names, their school, and the year) to commemorate the season. This was a hard season, but an important one...it was our first time playing a team sport as a school in the "time of Covid," after not having ANYTHING last year. It was rough and emotional and stressful (for the kids!), but they soldiered through and no one quit and everyone got at least a little better on the pitch and they all had a good time. 

And no one got sick. Masks helped.

We lost every game, but we were never shut out (my kid is a goal-scoring machine) and we just played better and better with every game. Still hopeless, of course (half our team was composed of 4th graders, several of whom had never played soccer before this season)...but we were at least becoming competitive. Our last game we went 11 on 11 (full sized field) and only lost 5-3. Everyone wants to come back next year. 

Everyone wants me to coach again. We'll see.

[I do enjoy the coaching thing, but it takes a lot of effort to coordinate four separate team activities for two kids simultaneously; and it's possible I might be working (a regular job) by next year]

Anyway. That's done. Sofia's school season will be done after this coming weekend, and THAT will lower the household stress level to manageable proportions, right before the holidays. Serious D&D action appears to be just around the corner...need to get back to my Dragons of Insanity project.

Around the blog-o-sphere, I've been reading some good things lately. "Good" because they give ME interesting ideas and inspiration. For example, this review over at tenfootpole: I have absolutely zero desire to actually buy or run this adventure, but it makes me want to try my hand at writing something "rat related," something I don't recall ever having done in the past. Hell, maybe I'll run some sort of contest, similar to the Fat Frog Challenge...remember that? I mean, it's only been a decade plus since the last time I did that (jeez). I wonder if I have any kind of glittering prizes to offer for such a thing; hmmm....

[EDIT: yes, I am doing a contest]

Other good stuff: Well, this review of Underground, gave me insight into one of the best premises I've heard for a supers RPG. A review of Under the Waterless Sea reminded me that I have to get around to finishing my own submarine adventure module one of these days (it has the rather unoriginal working title "Sea Castle") because there just aren't enough watery challenges on the market. Alexis has been working on a great series of which I think this post and this one are the best and most useful (though I'd recommend reading all his "Other D&D" posts). Oh, and GusL beat me to the punch with his recent post on treasure, though I still plan on writing up my own thoughts on the topic because (if I can find a way to communicate effectively) it gets to the heart of why treasure is such a vital component of the D&D game.

["adventure"is another, and I think there are some things to take to heart from this old Gygax interview]

So, there...even though I'm not offering much of anything in this post (other than a look into my family's activity levels), I'm giving my readers some reading material to peruse. Hopefully, I'll have some deeper blog material in the next day or two.

Changing Seasons

The family Blood Bowl season ended over the weekend, with my boy's wood elves triumphing over the ork team (me) 4-3.  He beat me fair and square despite having (in my opinion) a pretty crushing advantage in terms of team. But I had a costly mistake to end the first half, and I got greedy with my fouling (leading to two ejections) leaving me no room for error in the second half. Thus when the double skull roll came up for my star black ork...and the elves were able to take a two TD lead...the game was effectively put away. "Catch up" is just not a game the orks can play, and my third TD was what NFL fans would simply call a "garbage time" score.

On the bright side, that means we'll be getting our dining room table back (finally!), which increases the possibility of OTHER types of gaming.

So, too, does the end of the school soccer season. This coming Saturday will be our final game, and while year round soccer will continue for both my children, my coaching responsibilities will be coming to an end, as will the Tuesday-Thursday practices. The kids are already planning playdates and a Halloween "D&D party" (via zoom) that they expect me to DM.

Should probably prep some sort of adventure for that.

Diego re-started his D&D club at school this week and, surprise-surprise, he has decided to go back to the B/X system, albeit with some modification (specifically: bumping up hit dice to AD&D levels and adding negative HPs to increase player survivability). He is capping his group at six, though he already has kids on a "wait list" to join the game. He is also using my book The Complete B/X Adventurer, which he spent the last couple days reading. "You're a pretty good writer, Pops," he told me. "Reading your book makes me want to play D&D!" That kind of thing is always nice to hear.

Regarding the print copies of the new book: my printer can't do hardcover and couldn't recommend any other local printers. I found a couple via the internet and requested quotes on print costs: no response. It's like people don't want to take my money or something; I really don't get it. Right now, I am strongly considering just doing a Print On Demand thing with DriveThru though I'd prefer not to...it's less money in MY pocket, and I can't exercise any quality control...plus, I get no hard copies on hand to sell to local retailers, etc. On the other hand, it's a lot less hassle to just use their services (assuming I can make the thing work). *sigh* I don't know. At least the PDF has been selling well...gross sales have surpassed my costs, and the thing appears to have driven a resurgence in my other books' sales as well.

SO...gaming stuff. The seasons are changing. We are deep into Autumn. Holidays just around the corner. Conventions are out (for me), but D&D is definitely IN. 

I think I want to talk about campaigns. Let me scribble some notes and I'll come back with a proper post. Dentist appointments today.

Justification

Yesterday, the Seattle Mariners won again and got within half a game of a playoff spot...a playoff spot that has eluded them for two decades. They are currently vying for one of two open "wild card" spots along with Toronto, Boston, and the Yankees. Those teams have respective run differentials of +167, +72, and +49, a number that means how many more runs have they scored over their opponents for the season. The Mariners? Their run differential is -50. Throw out Monday's 14-4 win over Oakland and they'd be -60. Generally speaking, they haven't won games by blowing out other teams...the M's don't have the Big Bat offense other teams have, and their starting pitchers have been UGly. They've just been a scrappy, never-say-die team that's managed to gut out a bunch of 1 and 2 run games with clutch hitting, lights out bullpen, good defense, and inexplicable lucky breaks.

It's ridiculous. I'm still wearing my Mariners ball cap, and with four games to go in the season. Still not quite buying in...but I am watching. The kids and stayed up way past bedtime last night.

The school soccer team I'm coaching is struggling. We've been blown out and blown out and blown out, and unlike the M's, we don't get a 162 game schedule. Although we are playing in the 5th grade boys league, almost half our team are 4th graders. Only five of our 15 players have played together. Only a couple kids played any type of soccer last year (when the schools were closed for the pandemic), and for several kids this is their first time EVER playing soccer. Every team we've played against has been bigger, stronger, and faster than us...many have had multiple kids known to play on "select" or "premier" teams. 

This weekend, our best player (my son) has a schedule conflict: his premier team is playing at the same time on the east side of the water. While my plan was to have him go to that while I coach the school team, he has asked if he can skip his premier game in order to play with our band of misfits. See, he's scrappy, too. And even as he gets frustrated with the school's team to execute even simple concepts (he refers to them as a "dumpster fire"), even though there's less than half a dozen kids on our team that he's even known, and only three that he'd really call "friends"...he feels a duty, a responsibility to helping them out. He knows what he means to their team and he doesn't want to give up on them, let them down, pick your pithy phrase to reflect "loyalty" and an unwillingness to quit.

The other day, Havard was reflecting on the "edition wars," the pointlessness of...and the wasted time spent...bashing other folk's preferred versions of the Dungeons & Dragons game. In his view, those who engaged in such grumpy bickering should look at their actions with embarrassment. Instead of "focusing on the negativity and the things that divide us," Havard urges us to...um...have fun experiences together? Remember that "we have a hobby that we love?" Something?

I guess he's not urging us to do anything except to NOT be negative. To be open-minded about other's preferred editions and welcoming to their preferred style of play. And (if I'm inferring correctly) to be glad and grateful that this is growing the hobby (i.e. getting more players into it).

So, okay...I have a different take on the "edition wars" from Havard.  For one thing, if it is (or ever was) a "war" it's one that my side LOST a long, long time ago. Circa 1986. The "war," if one would call it that, was over about the time Lorraine Williams took over TSR and changed its focus from creating games to publishing books. When 2nd edition AD&D was published in 1989, replacing Gygax's byline with Zeb Cook's, the war was officially, completely lost.

Folks like me have just been fighting guerrilla actions since then. 

My bitching-and-moaning about new style players and my criticisms of 2nd or 3rd or 4th or 5th edition D&D isn't a "war." Really. It is an attempt to keep alive an older style of the game that some folks might prefer to be relegated to the trash bin. Because it's one thing to say:

Hey, there are older editions of D&D and, here, you can buy copies of it on eBay, or PDFs from DriveThru and isn't that an interesting curiosity / piece of history? You can really see the war gaming roots and how funny, strange that style of play once was (not to mention how misogynistic, racist, and unenlightened the gaming community might have once been)....

And it's quite another thing to say:

Hey, there was this game that was new in the 1970s that blew people's minds and that was really fun to play, so much that it grew into a phenomenon that had profound effects on games and culture, and while it changed substantially some fifteen years after it's creation, maybe there's something to its original game play that's still fun and profound and exciting and worth playing, not just watching as a live-streamed "show."

See, I'm scrappy, too. And while I'm smart enough to know the "war" has been lost and times have changed, and more people would rather be shown or informed by others than take the time to educate themselves (by reading books, for example)...while I'm smart enough to see "times have changed" I'm stubborn enough and squeaky enough to keep shouting "hey, but don't forget..." 

And sometimes I say (or write) things in an incendiary way in order to get forgetful folks' attention.

Last week I wrote a post that declared there is only one, true edition of Dungeons & Dragons, and that the particular edition in question was Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, the first edition, penned/compiled by Mr. Gary Gygax. This...predictably...ruffled feathers, but as the point of my post wasn't about justifying the position, I didn't take the time to elaborate on my statement. 

Here, then, is the elaborate justification; we'll try to take this in order:

OD&D (the original Little Brown Books) was a proto-version of Dungeons & Dragons. It is not and was not "complete," crystalized, or a fully formed vision of game design. Its own creators (Gygax and Arneson) did not agree on how it was to be played, and had wildly divergent styles. Until it ceased being published, it was in a constant state of evolution, each new supplement adding or changing the original rules. Other gamers ended up creating their own versions and variant designs: Warlock, Arduin, Tunnels & Trolls, etc. It is amorphous. It is imaginative. It is wonderful...but it is not a single, concrete game. It cannot function without addition. AS A GAME (not "as a concept" or "in spirit") it is not "true;" in many ways, the LBBs themselves were supplementary material for the Chainmail rules that only (later) evolved into a distinct form of play.

Basic (Holmes edition) D&D was designed to be introductory, specifically introductory, to the game of Dungeons & Dragons, and is thus far from complete. It draws parts from OD&D, the first supplement, The Strategic Review, Chainmail, and the Warlock variant. Its rules diverge from the AD&D game it was written to introduce and is not compatible with that, nor with "official" OD&D rules.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (first edition): this is the TRUE version of D&D. It took what had come before then adjusted, edited, and codified it into a singular vision of game play with rules covering every anticipated potentiality of game play. Note: not "every potentiality," just what was judged as being part of the scope of game play. Folks interested in "coloring outside the lines" would certainly be allowed to do so (outside of official, sanctioned tournament play), but were adjudged to be be playing something other than "standard" (i.e. "true") Dungeons & Dragons.

B/X(Moldvay/Cook/Marsh) D&D: another introductory game; it is a streamlined version of OD&D + Supplement I that leaves out some of the stickier complexities (race/class separation, weapon adjustments, AD&D ability score modifiers, 9-point alignment) in favor of simplicity. The best introduction to "true" D&D and nearly fully compatible with AD&D...so much so that many folks in the 1980s were able to combine the two editions into a single mishmash with varied results. It sacrifices complexity and nuance for accessibility and ease of play.

BECMI (Mentzer) D&D: yet another revision of the introductory game; not only was it written for an even younger audience (complete with solo tutorial adventures), but it was written in such a way as to NOT include monsters, spells, and content specifically designed/developed for Advanced D&D. It became its own separate line of play, though again designed for simplicity, lacking the complexity, nuance, and interlocking of systems found in AD&D. While it is designed as a "complete" line (taking player characters from level 1 all the way to immortality through discreet rule systems) it deviates far from the singular vision found in "true" version of the game. Played straight, BECMI D&D does not call to mind the fantasy literature or pulp fiction that inspired the original game; instead, every player is on a quest for legendary power and (eventual) godhood. It is staid and mechanical, less organic, and in an effort to be more "family friendly" (or less controversial) has lost some of its original character...and thus some of its potential game play. The original game may have accounted good stronger than evil, but evil (as a player choice) was still a possibility. That possibility was all but excised in the presentation of BECMI.

In terms of the Seven Elements identified for "true" D&D game play, it begins to fail on both the "magic is limited" and "economy is present" scale. BECMI D&D lacks the various checks-and-balances for both magic and wealth found in AD&D; as a consequence, long-term game play turns into something very different from "true" D&D (see the Principalities of Glantri and Thyatis/Alphatia gazetteers for examples). 

[just like to note that I spent a couple hours yesterday combing through some 100+ pages of Frank Mentzer interview notes to find his own preferred version of play. As of the early 2000s he was still running his home game with what he referred to as AD&D 1.5 (AD&D + the Unearthed Arcana) in combination with his own Immortal set rules. His reasons for including the UA was fairly simple: he'd compiled and edited much of the work himself and was quite satisfied with its usability in terms of the D&D game. He also did not favor the totally "humanocentric" vision that Gygax did, and so liked the extra power given to demihumans in the UA]

Second Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: while mechanically very similar to 1E, it lacks the original vision of the "true" game's designer (evidenced by many stylistic changes) and begins to fall down in both the "economy is present" and (mainly) the "cooperation is necessary" categories; the latter because the default reward (advancement) system of 2E has the character classes pursuing disparate goals from one another. The shift in tone for supplementary material (especially "module" adventures) starts to break the elements of "PCs are heroic" and "the Universe does care" as more and more railroad-y or excessively moralizing texts are published, forcing PCs into certain avenues of play.

Third Edition Dungeons & Dragons: moves farther from the game as originally designed, overemphasizing "violence is inherent" (through its reward system), breaking "cooperation is necessary" (by de-emphasizing asymmetry), and paying only lip service to "economy is present" with rule stipulated treasure/monetary amounts at every level for both PCs and NPCs. On the adventure front, more of the same trends as from the mid-1980s (see 2E above).

Fourth Edition Dungeons & Dragons: extreme over emphasis of "violence is inherent" coupled with extreme DE-emphasis of "magic is limited" and "economy is present." Interestingly, there is a return/resurgence of "cooperation is necessary" but NOT via asymmetry so much as specific "adventure roles" needing to be filled for successful endeavors...still this is more of an aside, and adventures can certainly be written for specific groups lacking particular role characters. The same issue with published adventures continue.

Fifth Edition Dungeons & Dragons: extreme de-emphasis of ALL elements EXCEPT "PCs are heroic" and a warped/twisted version of "the Universe does care" which does its best to coddle the players rather than challenge them in any meaningful form. Even the idea of "D&D is a game" (element #1) is de-emphasized, as the idea that D&D is an amusing pastime, performance/show, becomes ascendant and character advancement is no longer tied to character's pursuit of specific objectives but is instead linked to how well the players perform the story being told. The singular vision that once guided the GAME of Dungeons & Dragons has been cast aside for a "do anything you like" attitude...objectives of play, mechanics and rules, all are meant to be changed and discarded as whim (and "fun") dictates. The term "D&D" doesn't refer to a specific game but, rather, a particular brand/IP that has been purchased...ostensibly to be "played," but what that play looks like will vary from table to table.

"Sixth" Edition Dungeons & Dragons: are you serious?

Harsh, harsh words, Old Man (actually, I'm trying NOT to be harsh in this post but, whatever...). JB, you're telling folks there's only one way to have D&D fun, and if it's not the same way as yours, then they totally suck. 

No, I'm not.

At least up until 1985 or so (i.e. about when the "war" was lost), the D&D game still had a uniting, singular vision that people could fall back on REGARDLESS of the rule set that was being used at the table. That vision, clumsily stated in the original Advanced D&D game allowed all players, regardless of system, to get on the same page when it came to the question of "what is (D&D) game play all about?" Some folks didn't like the answer to that question, and handled their dislike in different ways (drifting the system, changing games, quitting the hobby, whatever). Some folks just took a break for ten or twenty or thirty years, either because they either A) didn't see the potential promise of game play or B) didn't feel the effort needed to reach that potential was justified, and they could get their "kicks" somewhere else. 

[you can count me as one of the latter folks who first kicked AD&D to the curb in exchange for other games (a LOT of other games) and then spent a decade plumbing B/X and finding its depth (as designed! and well designed!) to be less than satisfying]

But that singular vision, incorporating those seven elements (to a lesser or greater degree) was a unifying force and you can SEE that in, for example, Prince's recent "No ArtPunk" adventure design contest: adventures were written for AD&D, B/X, BECMI, OD&D, retro-clones, ACKS, etc. but all finding a way to create interesting "dungeon" adventures suitable for their particular systems. Dungeon crawling by itself is NOT indicative of "true" D&D play, but it IS an important portion of the game aspect of D&D...and recent adventure offerings (both 5E and "OSR") seem to have very...mmm..."strange" ideas of what such design entails.

The point being: *sigh* yes, you're still playing "D&D" even if you're not playing AD&D. But if you want to play the game in its "highest expression," you have to start with AD&D. Other versions...especially pre-1985...have similar guiding spirit/principals and (more usually) recognizable tropes. But you can't play post-1985 editions of D&D as they are designed and written in the same way that the game was originally set down and codified.  Sure, you can take a late edition version and twist it or tweak it or drift it or whatever...you could also just run GURPS or write your own damn game.

OR...you could play the TRUEST version ever written and just spend your free time designing a fine campaign that is supported by the rules.

That, I guess, is my "scrappy" message. If you've never tried it and you find "old" D&D objectionable for some reason (it was written by white American men for white American men, or it exhibits too many colonialist sensibilities, or whatever)...I get it, I sympathize, I understand. Try giving it a chance. Try giving the crazy-ass rules a chance. If you're an "OSR" aficionado who prefers something lighter, rules-wise and are turned off by the opaque, clunky writings of Gygax...I get it, I sympathize, I understand. Try giving it a chance. Try reading it and parsing it and running it.

If you've run or played AD&D before, and just can't understand why anyone would still want to play the game based on that particular antiquated/clunky version of the rules anymore (or for WHATEVER reason)...I get it, I sympathize, I understand. I do! Really! But did you really give it your best shot? How long ago was it that you tried running it? How have you grown/changed since then? I know technology has changed a lot since the 1970s...the ability to create easy-to-use spreadsheets and play aids is incredibly simple. And it makes it O-so-easy to run the crunchy bits with just a little time and energy.

Maybe...try it one more time?

All right, that's all I have time for today. Have to go pick up the kids from their (club) soccer practice. Which they are doing in the pouring rain. Like troopers.

Go Mariners. Keep proving me wrong.

: )

Sports Stuff

I know I said I was going to write about D&D stuff, and I am, but there's just so much to write about that I'm not sure where I want to start...and I don't want to just barf a bunch of randomness all over a single blog post.

So to buy myself some time (to formulate my thoughts) and to get a little bit of a handle on the blogging, I'm going to write about some sporty stuff (mostly personal and/or Seattle-based). It will be fairly short, I think. Or not. Maybe.

First: the Mariners. I am not watching Mariners baseball right now, even though they're only 2 or 3 games out of a wild card spot and playing some fairly clutch ball (well, they were until they dropped 2 of 3 to a historically bad Diamondbacks team). I'm keeping track, but I just don't have time to sit down for three hours a game with very real probability of having my heart broken by a team that has disappointed for twenty years. Twenty years! You'd think they would have lucked into a playoff game in that time...you have to really try to be that poor/mediocre. I have been wearing my M's cap (to cover my bald head) because they are still over .500. But I have been in "show me" mode for the last few years, and that hasn't changed. Yes, I am a literal "fair weather fan:" I enjoy going to the park when the weather is sunny and beautiful (and when there isn't a pandemic). But I am not going to live and die by the ball club who's given so little as far as results are concerned. Not when there's so much else to watch.

[and, yes, I am all-but-convinced that the new ballpark was built on top of some ancient Salish burial ground and the team is cursed. Cursed! I say!]

What other things? Well how about the NFL? Hey, folks: there are D&D nerds...and there are football nerds. I, of course, am both. Fantasy football is just as nerdy and ridiculous as any tabletop gaming...(as my sporty buddies will freely admit)...it's just been better monetized. The last few years, I haven't played it, but this year I decided it was time to introduce my FAMILY to fantasy football. So we started a four-team league for just us: wife, kids, and me. They (the rest of my family) have never played fantasy football, so we've spent the last few days (I just started it up Thursday afternoon...on a whim) totally geeking out with drafts and trades and waiver wire pick-ups and roster moves. My 7-year old daughter has soccer practice tonight, but she's on the edge of her seat to see if Lamar Jackson (her QB) can get her 50+ points to pull out a win (good luck with that).

The Seahawks looked great, by the way. But then, their defense played against a woefully depleted Colts offense. And Chris Carson will be lucky to last the whole season with his running style (91 yards on the ground, 72 yards after contact!). Besides, they still need to win the west and ALL the NFC West teams looked good (49ers, Rams, and Cards dominated every game). Fortunately, we weren't bitten by many injuries. Cautiously optimistic for the season.

The Seattle Kraken drop the puck September 26th. NHL hockey, y'all. Still need to research what the hell "icing" is. It's been a few years since I last attended a T-birds game (like, since, the 20th century) and it was mostly about chanting for the fights.

And then there's soccer...glorious soccer.

The USMNT finally got a win in World Cup qualifiers, only after Berhalter deigned to replace the high profile European stars with MLS stand-outs. Funny how players who play IN their own country seem to have more fire, energy, and passion when it comes to playing FOR their country. Whatever. *sigh* 

[I will not rant I will not rant I will not rant I will not...]

Sounders got another win. That's great. Over projected-Most-Awesome-Minnesota-super-star team (again). Even better. And did it without the guys who've been playing on their international squads. Helped to have our #1 goalie back (finally) from his injury. Steph looked great. Should be a nice run-up to the season's finish. 

And then, of course, there were my own kids' games: the team I coached (boy's school team) was thoroughly overmatched and dominated on Saturday. The final score was 6-1, only because the other team stopped trying to score on us in the second half. The coach (me) turned out to be the guy with the most "rust;" I did not put my players in a position to succeed. And to be fair, half our "5th grade team" is made up of fourth graders (7 out of 16) and most of the team doesn't even know A) positions or B) their teammates' names. "You're going in for Lucas!" "Who's that?" "The guy playing midfield!" "What's a midfielder?" Ai-yi-yi. It was a rough outing; Diego ripped off his jersey in disgust at the end. 

We have a LOT of work to do this coming week.  

[D then proceeded to get beat 3-0 his premier game, though that was more bad luck (and some poor play from normally reliable players) than any kind of "domination"]

Finally, my daughter Sofia played her first club soccer game on Sunday, and I got to be amazed at just how much she's grown in skill over the last few weeks. Wow. They only had 6 players show up for a 7v7 game, and decided to play a man (*ahem* lady) down rather than forfeit against a team that brought 12. My daughter is one of two 7-year olds on a team that ranges up to age 9, and she tracked the entire field with, quite frankly, astonishing effort, energy, and determination. I completely underestimated the reserves of strength she has within her. They lost 4-0, but their goalie saved about 20, and Sofia's track back ability from a forward position (she often beat her own defenders) aided a lot of those saves.

I don't mention my daughter as much as my boy on this blog, for a couple reasons. One is the blog's main subject matter (gaming) which my son is far more invested in than my daughter. The second is so much of our (family's) time has been taken by my son's activities (he's older, so he does more). But while both my children have great depths to them, Sofia has (I think) far deeper, more mysterious depths. Her imagination, creativity, inventiveness, and humor are profound, and different from Diego's intellectual precision. Both children take after both their parents but Diego takes all the "surface stuff:" the fiery emotions, the competitiveness, the sharp mind and grasp of concepts. Sofia has all the hidden stuff: the fears, the darkness, the inner resolve, the secretiveness, the independence. Diego cares so much about his identity in the world and how others view him. Sofia cares about what she cares about...those things that matter to her, the rest of the world be damned!

[Hmm, I suppose they pretty much match their astrological signs...or I am viewing them through my "astrologer's lens" which is something I haven't done in a while. Interesting]

But, okay, that's enough of that...I am straying far afield from my topic of sports. It's just a lot on the mind these days: each of my kids play on two teams. One has practice five days per week (with games on the weekend); the other has practice three days per week (with games on the weekend). Even without the distraction of...well, everything...it's a lot to continually process and coordinate, mentally and physically. 

My dog is snoring on the couch next to me. Tough morning, huh, Chewb?

All right, things to do. Next post will be about gaming. I'll try to start writing it this afternoon.

Back To The Field

For the first time since 2019, my kids' school is playing Fall sports...specifically soccer...and once again I will be coaching my son's team. Monday evening was our first practice.

It was glorious.

[more on that...perhaps...later]

However, complications have already arisen. Our practice field has been yanked. We are currently negotiating with other schools (and Seattle Parks) for a change of venue. Kids have schedule conflicts. Parents have concerns. Our Athletic Directors are new this year. The first game is this Saturday. And to top it all off, my team is double the size that it was two years ago.

So, I'm juggling a bit this week. Lots of emails, zoom meetings, phone calls to make and stuff to coordinate. And what with the OTHER busy-ness going on (first full week of school, other soccer teams for both kids, meal planning, etc.) I'm a bit slammed at the moment.

Normal blogging will (hopefully) begin again in a few days...perhaps after Saturday. I have stuffs to write about...and not just Blood Bowl! D&D stuffs!

Though, of course, there will be Blood Bowl: the semifinals have started. First semifinal match: Amazons (The Kick-Butt Ladies) versus the Orks (Bubblegum Dynamite). 

More later.

[hey! And don't people have football to watch this weekend anyway? Beats screaming at the USMNT for not being able to beat Canada on our home soil. Jeez, Louise]

High Level Work

September 1st, and the kids are off to school (at least till noon) for their first day of the school year. It does feel like summer's over...and I'm not terribly sad about it. Autumn has always been my favorite time of year.

I wonder if I'll still feel like that when they're grown and gone. 

*sigh* Melancholy thoughts.

Got through the soccer weekend...our matches went 6-0, 1-0, 2-0, 3-0 and we came home with the trophy. My kid was a beast. I'd rather watch my own children play soccer then watch the Seahawks; funny how that it is. The drive back wasn't nearly as bad (three-and-a-half hours as opposed to five). 

Spent several morning hours Monday and Tuesday writing my adventure for Prince's contest. Got the thing done by the afternoon (no small feat considering everything else on my plate, including preparations for the start of school). Ended up being about ten pages (plus maps). I am, of course, less than happy with how it turned out, but that was going to be a given...no proofreading, no chance to edit, no chance to play test. Plus, me being me, I'm usually less than thrilled with my published work. Usually.

However, I'm not the judge of the matter. Prince's plan is to take the best eight to so submissions and compile them in a single book which will be sold (I believe) for charity. He received double that number...including my own humble work...which gives me a 50-50 chance of making the cut. 50% of being my first, published AD&D adventure. 

First days indeed. Never did complete that module for my B/X Companion.

[yes, I realize I did that thing for Patrick's adventure writing contest. That was more a challenge of inserting content into a predetermined format than creating an adventure from whole cloth]

For the interested folks: the adventure is a "short" excursion for high level (10th to 14th) characters. Originally conceived as an invasion/sacking adventure, the scale of the contest had me pare down the thing to (more or less) a single dungeon...a return to a location that had already been invaded/sacked, but that had more secrets to reveal. Spurning the usual demon cultist thing, I turned to the OTHER big baddies of the MM...the devils...to give me my adventure theme. I ended up using just about every "lawful evil" monster in the book.

Except beholders. I haven't written (or used) an adventure that included a beholder since I was 12 years old. One of these days, I'll go back to that particular well...

10th to 14th level is an interesting range of player characters. Generally, AD&D characters have hit their "name" level by then, and the experience point needs have leveled out (no pun intended). That is to say, a 10th level fighter needs just as many x.p. as the 14th level fighter to advance. Likewise hit points differences are far more compact between such characters (a +6 difference between a 12th and 14th? That's hardly a single dice roll difference, especially considering CON bonuses). 

Spell use, special abilities (especially turning), and access to powerful magic items DO, on the other hand, represent a significant difference between high level and the low-mid range, and these are the major hurdle for the DM seeking to create significant challenges for high level characters. However, AD&D is as much a resource-driven game at the high levels as it is at the low levels...all of these miraculous powers have their limits, even (and especially) in Advanced D&D.

This is why I found Prince's contest so particularly exciting. Use by the book monsters and magic items. Limit yourself to a single edition. Considering these constraints, and whether or not simple monsters could be made dangerous for high level characters in the space allotted (20-30 "rooms")...especially with my own personal constraint of a Lawful Evil-themed adventure (no vampires! no demons! no red dragons!)...well, now, THAT was a challenge!

[I know Alexis will be gritting his teeth at all this alignment talk. The adventure was written to use AD&D RAW...those were the design parameters. The adventure can still be run without alignment, and very little "fun" lost]

Much of the adventure's design was inspired by (or stolen from) my activities over the summer: Yellowstone, the Lewis & Clark Caverns, Fort Casey, and Orcas Island, as well as various blog posts and news stories I've been reading. The two levels of the temple are clearly modeled on the U.S. National Cathedral. Reflections on lies and hell and musings on how to make devils "interesting." Anthony Huso's essays on high level play. Etc.

[nothing related to Covid, Afghanistan, or politics (thank goodness). I've enough of that]

And despite my being "less-than-happy" with the quality of my writing, I'm fairly happy with the results of the design over all. I'd like to run/test it...and my kids are certainly excited to play it (they wanted to play test it before I emailed the thing to Prince; unfortunately, I was working with a tight deadline). Of course, they don't have high level characters, so I'd have to make some pre-gens for that to happen, and that is a tall order: you're not just talking a few stats and an equipment list, but followers and henchmen and strongholds, etc. Because those things are a part of "high level play," too.

[one might consider such NPCs as "bonus" hit points, attacks, and spells]

But we'll get something done. Probably not this week (still finishing up our Blood Bowl tournament...plus I'm coaching school soccer again). But soon...before the month is out.

Anyway, if the adventure does make Prince's cut, folks will be able to access it once he's done with his compilation. Otherwise, I'll give the thing a couple polishing passes and make it available myself. Just for fun. Just dipping my toe in the adventure-writing arena. See what people think, get some feedback, etc. I mean, why not?

By the way, the module's name is Hell's Own Temple, altered from a longer (and more pretentious) title. It is "modular"...that is, designed to be dropped into any campaign (well, maybe not a landlocked one, as it takes place on an island), so long as the campaign's run with first edition AD&D. The adventure is written using ONLY the PHB, DMG, and MM; no other books are required...and, in fact, I strongly suggest NOT using additional rulebooks when running it (especially not Unearthed Arcana). 

I will, of course, let people know when it's available.

; )

Vancouver Problems

I'm having a tough time.

Currently, I'm typing in yet another darkened hotel room; this one in Vancouver, Washington. Folks unfamiliar with the Northwest Territories may have only ever heard of Vancouver, British Columbia, the thriving metropolis a couple hours north of Seattle (both were named for the explorer, George Vancouver). However, despite being only a quarter (or less) of the Canadian city's size (and probably less than that in terms of prestige), the American Vancouver is the older, dare I say "the Original," city to hold the name. It is, in fact, older than Seattle and at one time was (briefly) the capital of the state. When I was a kid, my father would sometimes have business trips that would take him to Vancouver...in those days (the 1970s) the two cities (Seattle and Vancouver) were far closer in terms of scale and economic impact than they are today.

Getting here was a bitch...a 2.5 hour drive turned into four by a combination of road construction and a near endless string of car accidents (seriously...there were not less than four collisions on the interstate that would cause an incredible slowdown every 30 miles or so). We're in town for a three-day soccer jamboree for the boy, and we barely managed to make it to the field prior to the Friday night game (kid changed in the car during a 7.5 mile stretch that took as an hour to traverse). But make it we did. 

Perhaps, understandably, our team had some frustrations to work out, and they shellacked the other guys 6-0. It could have easily been 10. We'll see how today's games go.

But that's for later, after everyone's awake and breakfasted and I've had something to drink besides hotel room instant coffee (a Keurig machine, actually, which has a nice Italian roast, but forces me to get up and fill the damn thing for every cup I drink). Since the kennel fiasco that led to the death of my dog in July, all our road trips have included the original "running beagle," and she was happy to get me up at the crack of dawn for her morning meal and walk. She now dozes (with the family) while I sit typing in the dark. As usual. Having a tough time.

Problem: okay, here it is. I have four days left to write this damn adventure for Prince's contest. I've got the maps done and PDF'd (getting better with Ye Old "Dungeon Doodler"), I've got the encounters named and numbered, I've got the treasure catalogued to the copper piece, I've got my monsters and traps and tricks lined up and ready...

I'm having a damned hard time writing it all up.

And I'm not sure what it is that's stopping me. I've got into a habit with my recent adventure writing of using a simple, three bullet-point system: #1 is general description, #2 is monster stuff (if any), and #3 is any treasure (valuable or not). Here are a couple examples from my DL1 re-mix:

29. Sage Front

• Rotten books stained with green fungus line the decrepit shelves on the north side of this room. The air smells of decay and rotting paper.
• The books crumble if handled. All are worthless. 

30. Sage’s Court

• Unlike the outer room, the interior is meticulously clean and uncluttered, though the stench of decay is still strong. Several shelves of intact books grace the walls; a gold-painted chair stands near a solid oak table. A single, emaciated figure works in the darkness.
• The unliving sage putters around the room, working to keep his remaining books in excellent condition. Unless approached with politeness, he assumes intruders are thieves and attack. WIGHT (AC 5, HD 4+3, HPs 25, MM100). Though amenable to seekers of knowledge, the creature will only talk for D4 minutes before attacking in a fit of life-starved hunger.
• Treasure: the wight obsessively cares for and preserves many of his most valuable books. He has 20 tomes worth an average of 100 g.p. each, as well as a tome of clear thought (8,000 x.p.), a tome of leadership and influence (7,500 x.p.), and a tome of understanding (8,000 x.p.).

Stuff like that. However, I'm having a hard time using this format for my "No ArtPunk" adventure. For one thing, it's a high-level affair: an AD&D scenario suitable for a band of characters levels 10th-14th. Which, in my opinion, requires a bit more tactical description in order to challenge such experienced PCs. And writing that up is a wordy affair, cluttering up bullet-points and/or rendering them a joke. The bullet points are, after all, supposed to be there for the convenience of the DM reading the text.

No, it's not that I'm writing stuff like "if the PCs do X, then monsters do Y, otherwise they do Z." I just mean there has to be more than "the Beholder attacks!" For example, in the previously mentioned adventure, the creature with the largest tactical description is (duh) the black dragon at the end of the module. Here's how I wrote up that encounter:

84. Dragon’s Lair

• An immense chamber rises four stories to a cracked and broken translucent dome. A black dragon, reclines on an enormous horde of coins, precious jewels, and exquisite items. This is Onyx, and she was old three centuries ago, before the city was buried beneath the swamp.
• ANCIENT HUGE BLACK DRAGON (AC 3, HD 8, HPs 64); she is a warlock and may cast the following spells: charm person, detect magic, identify, unseen servant, darkness 15’ radius, knock, locate object, dispel magic, hold person, protection from normal missiles, curse, and minor globe of invulnerability. Onyx expects submission and abject worship. If the party has been able to enter without noise (such as through #83) there is a 50% she is sleeping. She will have otherwise taken the chance to cast protection from normal missiles on herself in preparation for intruders. Her first action will be to fly out of melee range and bellow for her guardsmen (any left within the palace will immediately hear her call and respond). If she sees characters engaged in spell-casting she will cast minor globe of invulnerability; otherwise she will cast hold person on any obvious melee types. She will then attack lightly armored characters in melee. Onyx will try not to use her breath weapon inside the chamber, so as save her treasure; however, if the party proves powerful, she will (sadly) do so.
• Treasure: The dragon’s hoard is immense and growing larger as her minions gather more spoils on her behalf. 20,000 c.p., 25,000 s.p., 30,000 e.p., 18,000 g.p., 3,000 p.p., 56 200 g.p. gems, platinum miter (10,000 g.p.), platinum encrusted staff (8,750 g.p.), potion of flying (500 x.p.), clerical spell scroll with raise dead and restoration (1,200 x.p.), shield +4 (1,200 x.p.), spear +3 (1,750 x.p.), periapt of health (1,000 x.p.), and splint armor +1 (700 x.p.). All treasure is loose and will take hours to collect, count, and examine.

That's a lot of text regarding spell use and tactics, and it still makes a lot of assumptions...for example, there's no mention of the awe/fear effect ancient dragons cause, assuming the DM will be well aware of that when running the encounter (low level henchfolk and hirelings tend to scatter or cower when a dragon pops up). Nor does it detail the dragon's longterm plans or motivation (though it hints at her general greed and arrogance).

However, the adventure I'm writing now (or, rather, not writing; instead, just blogging about) has to have MANY "dragon-level" encounters...encounters that work together with each other in a sensible, interlocked fashion that provides a decent challenge to PCs possessing extraordinary resources of magic ad might. And maybe I don't trust DMs to be able to run high-level adventures without a bit of handholding: there's just such a dearth of genuine interest in such adventures to be found on the internet these days (and a plethora of pundits decrying attempts to push adventures past mid-levels). It feels a bit like I'm trying to write some sort of primer/tutorial for DMs, not just a modular adventure. And that's weighing on my mind.

Then again, maybe that's not it at all. Maybe it's just that I'm writing this thing for a dude who's made a name for himself doing scathing reviews of published adventures and I'm too concerned with creating something of sheer awesomeness, something so beyond reproach (and criticism) that ALL will be forced to BOW DOWN BEFORE MY MONUMENTAL SKILLS. And the simplistic manner that I'd normally use...just...isn't...good...enough.

*sigh*

Ego. Perfectionism. Procrastination. All contributing to a lack of constructive action. Maybe I just need to let shit go and get it done. Worry about the "editing for perfection" later.

Time's running out, after all.

Okay, everyone's up. The call of the wild. Time to hunt and gather.

Chicken Dinner

Great season, great win.

Regular posting will resume eventually. Kids are home form school today.

Happy Vets Day.

: )

Willow the WTF?!

It was a hard weekend for the Seattle sports fan...at least for one like me, who doesn't pull for the Huskies. Saturday starting with my 3rd graders soccer team being stood up by our opponent. Then my kindergartener's team got blown out by about 20-1. The boy's premier team could only manage a 1-1 tie with my kid missing on a direct kick by inches. Stayed up till midnight watching the Cougars blow a 32 point lead, despite a QB throwing nine touchdown passes. Then sat in the pouring rain watching the Seahawks throw up all over themselves against Teddy Bridgewater and the Saints while all three of our division teams (Rams, Cards, Niners) won their games. Oh, yeah...and the Sounders lost 2-0 against DC United and old man Rooney. Come on, man.

[yes, the Mariners lost, too, but they've been doing that since May...well, really since 1977. I wouldn't have even known there was an M's game Sunday if I hadn't looked it up]

So I'm a little tired and hoarse and cranky today. Mostly dried out at this point (save, perhaps, for my liver) but still a little salty.

Which is what leads me to say, WTF Gygax? Will-o-the-wisps? Are you kidding me?!

It's been a long time since I played AD&D, and I don't ever remember using will-o-wisps as a monster. I didn't include them in my B/X Companion because I consider them more of a trap/trick (little bobbing/floating lights that lead adventurers to their death) than a monster to be faced and beaten. It's been a long time (decades) since I've bothered reading the description in the MM, but one of Icespire Peak's adventures features three will-o-wisps as the main (only) encounter/danger...an adventure that is fairly lucrative from a loot perspective. And so I was checking the original stat block to see what kind of challenge this really was.

Holy crap. Negative eight (-8) armor class. Nine (!) hit dice. 2d8 damage per attack. Immunity to most magic spells. 18" movement rate.

These will kill you
dead...and eat your soul.

Forget the white dragon. A young adult white dragon has 24 hit points in AD&D...just one will-o-wisp would have no problem taking down a dragon, let alone three.

What the heck is this supposed to model, exactly? Even in their original appearance (the Greyhawk supplement), they were this beefy...I can understand giving them a high armor class OR a high number of hit dice, but not both. The thing has an AC equal to Demogorgon (or, as written in Greyhawk, plate +5 and shield +5), and hit dice nearly equalling a balrog. With a speed far exceeding any human adventurer, the ability to alter its shape or turn invisible at will, and its huge AC, why would it ever be cornered? Considering its immunity to spells, how can one ever expect to reduced in hit points to the point that it will give up its treasure?

This is a really weird (or really poor) monster design, in my opinion. And it irritates me. And it irritates me to have such a creature in an adventure, any adventure.

But then, maybe I'm just irritable this morning.

American Hero

'Nuff said.

[let's go Reign FC!]

Coaching

The Seahawks' season ended on a disappointing note last Saturday with the team's 24-22 playoff loss to Dallas. Still, it was a far better ending than most analysts predicted at the beginning of the season, when Seattle was projected to win four to six games and miss the playoffs completely.

I say "most analysts;" not everyone was so pessimistic at the beginning of the season, and that includes Yours Truly. I was very curious to see how the 'Hawks season would go this year, but I didn't see the loss of key players as the same grounds for disaster as even the local reporters. After all, the team was still returning proven blue chip commodities in the two areas most important for American football: quarterback and head coach.

True, having those two pieces doesn't automatically guarantee success (see Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and Green Bay this year) but, in general, a proven, veteran quarterback always gives you a chance to win games, and a solid coach can turn the most motley crew of rag-tag yokels into a team. That's what happened this year with the Seahawks, as Pete Carroll coached up a defense consisting of cast-offs and young players (and, yes, two pro-bowl linebackers...one of whom was injured most of the year), to the point they could grind out a ten win season and make the postseason as the #5 seed in the NFC. In the end, it wasn't quite enough to win a close game against a good team on the road, but for me it demonstrates the importance and value of good coaching.

Pretty good coach.

I think it's easy for folks, especially non-athletes, to underestimate the benefits of coaching. Coaching is more than simple instruction or teaching, and it is different from "mentoring," a term I've grown to dislike as it's proliferated through our language in recent years. In a coaching relationship, a person with a certain amount of expertise (the coach), provides training and instruction to another person (the person being coached), with the focus of accomplishing a specific task or objective.

Per Ye Old Wikipedia, the term "coach" comes from Oxford, circa 1830, when it was applied to tutors whose aim it was to carry a struggling student to success in a class or exam...the same way a horse drawn carriage would carry a traveler to a difficult-to-reach destination. The term was quickly adapted to  sport, where a coach's aim is (presumably) to transport a team to victory...and from there the word has evolved into a part of our ever evolving lexicon.

These days, we have coaches for all sorts of things: "life coaches," "relationship coaches," "personal finance coaches," etc. Some of us (i.e. "me") may turn up our noses at these (can a person really be more expert at living my life than I am?), but that doesn't mean we should denigrate the concept of coaching, nor of how it works and how it can be useful.

A person with expertise in a field...even minor expertise...can hold up a mirror to what we are doing wrong (or what we could be doing better), helping us sharpen our skills to an end result of being better than when we started. My 71-year old mother doesn't get out to the golf course anymore, but when she did (15 years ago or so) she'd take the occasional lesson from the resident golf coach at the course she belonged to. Not because she didn't know how to play, or how to hold her club, and not because she had any plans to turn pro; my mother will tell you she was a mediocre golfer at best (though she enjoyed the game). But having a coach can still help you improve and develop your potential. A coach can help you become the best whatever it is that you want to be. And if your hobby of choice is something you love, this is probably important to you.

[back when I still fenced, I paid for weekly lessons from my coach for the same reason, even though my opportunity to become an Olympian...or even be competitive in local tournaments and such...had long since past]

The last two years I've had the great joy of coaching my son's (school) soccer team. Because it is youth sports and we're talking 6- to 8-year olds, my objectives of coaching are a little different: helping kids improve at basic skills (passing, dribbling, shooting), getting the kids to work together as a cohesive team, and instilling in them an enjoyment and love of the sport such that they'll want to keep coming back in future seasons. The latter isn't just important because we'd like healthy, active children, but because if players start dropping out we won't be able to field enough players for a full team...and then even the kids who want to participate will have to look elsewhere for their fun.

Fortunately, it appears I'm a fairly good coach (at this level). The parents like me, the kids like me, and everyone is having a good time...probably me most of all. It helps that I give all the kids equal playing time (spreadsheets work great for this), and that we tend to dominate our games (we don't officially keep score or track wins/losses...but the kids know). And that's helped grow our program. My first year we had eight kids on the team. Last year we had ten from my son's school (out of sixteen kids in his class), plus four kids from another, smaller school who didn't have enough players to field a full team. I'm hoping to add at least two or three more next year, as we will be required to split into two teams ("boys" and "girls") and we'll need at least 6-8 kids for each squad. But I'm pretty confident we'll get there...there was a lot of enthusiastic support at both schools.

Still, my expertise as a soccer coach is fairly limited. My son...who spent nearly three years in a South American country where the boys eat, drink, and breathe futbol...happens to be a talented athlete with a passion for the sport. Last April he tried out for (and was accepted to) a local "premier" team that plays high quality, competitive soccer 10-11 months out of the year. It's been a bit of a transition for our family to become "soccer people," but it's been very good for my son: the training and coaching he receives from dudes with British accents and extensive resumes (not to mention deep connections to the local MLS team) is far and away greater than anything I can teach him. He loves it, and his skill long ago outstripped anything I've learned about the sport after decades of play.

Even so, he enjoys playing for his school team, and wants to continue playing for it (seven weeks, every Fall). He understands that I, as a coach, have a much different objective from his premier team coaches: building a foundation for a consistent, coherent team and trying to bring everyone up to a similar level of skill. Diego's coaches at Seattle United, on the other hand, have the objective of developing each individual's talent and skill to their greatest potential. They are not overly concerned with team building, or even winning matches against other premier squads; instead they are seeking to train and groom players for long-term success at a high level.

Here's the reason I write all this (and the reason I've been wanting to write about this subject for over a year): I am of the opinion that our hobby...specifically the Dungeons & Dragons game and particularly individuals who wish to take up the mantle of "Dungeon Master"...could benefit from some coaching.

Ah, hell...that's not a strong enough declarative. I think DMs need coaching...not simple one-time instruction, and certainly not just examples of play from some YouTube video, but on-going training with a pointed objective of creating quality, competent game masters. Waaay back in September of 2017, I hinted at "strategies for enhancing and retaining player enjoyment" (though I never wrote the follow-up post)...this is one of the main ideas I wanted to propose.

And it's not a matter of me thinking there's not enough coaching available; over the last couple years I've come to the conclusion that there really isn't ANY coaching available. Not in the way I think there needs to be.

"And why should there be?" some folks are certainly asking. "It's a game, not a sport. A fun hobby, not a way of life. Read the instructions found in the book and then try running a few games...you'll get how to do it."

Really?

Most of would admit that Dungeons & Dragons (and role-playing in general) is a bit more complicated than your average game. I think people can easily see that the instruction manual, even for "basic" editions, is a bit more cumbersome than that found in your average board game...even those of the "Euro" variety. And, um, we do coach other games, just by the way...my soon-to-be eight year old has a chess coach with whom he's trained (along with several classmates) for an hour after school every Monday the last three months. And didn't I just read something about a new, competitive video game league being formed???

[Jesus...there's your "decline of Western Civilization" right there, folks]

I've bitched before, long and loud, about the lack of teaching available for D&D, how the game is marketed (and written) almost entirely for individuals who are already experienced players, and how the corporation's general strategy for acquiring new players is: 1) get people interested (with "buzz," strategic marketing, and pretty books), 2) have them join a game and learn from 'experienced' players who are probably half-assing the game themselves, then 3) get them to shell out money for adventure campaigns till they stop being willing to do so...probably because they throw up their hands in confusion or boredom or despair of ever being able to do it like those video-stars that first got them interested in the game.

Rinse and motherfucking repeat.

[mmm...do you coach the 7-year olds with that mouth, sailor? Let's tone it down a smidge]

Not really a coach.

That's a vast simplification, of course, but the real fact of the matter isn't (I don't think) one of vast "corporate conspiracy" so much as a lack of plan for growing and cultivating the hobby (which I've also talked about before). Because the job of the corporate suits is to make money and the job of the game designers is to write games for publication (to make money). As long as the money continues to flow into the coffers (and the paychecks into designers' bank accounts) no one's worried too much about where the hobby is or isn't going. When there's a downturn, they'll just layoff a bunch of staff, until they're ready to put out the next product that's going to give them a cash infusion.

[something tugging on the edge of my mind here about history repeating itself...]

ANYway, I think (yes, little old me, who is a very small fish, even in terms of this particular niche of a niche)...I really do think that even a little coaching (i.e. a little more than none) could go a loooong way toward improving, not only the quality of play around gaming tables, but also our perception of the hobby itself. And by "our" I mean "everyone who's aware the hobby exists" (whether or not they play D&D).

Because a game that has coaching is a game that has a perceived desire for improvement...and that usually means it's something respectable (i.e. worthy of respect) rather than just a "silly pastime." Silly pastimes are things that are just fine when played by children, but held as contemptible when pursued by adults. Because adults should be "doing something better" with their time...as if playing golf or tennis or piano was so much more world-shaking in its impact on our communities and the world at large.

All right, that's enough to chew on for now. Probably more than enough.