WAAAGH!

Yesterday, as my son and I left Lumen Field following the Seahawks' overtime victory over the Rams, I started chanting, 'Let's go Lions! Let's go Lions!' and it didn't take long before other voices joined me in the cheer. Not that I had any faith in Detroit's ability to beat the Packers at Lambeau.

And then the Lions, with nothing to play for but pride, curb-stomped Green Bay.

I'm not a man to have the optimism of Ted Lasso (or Pete Carroll)....I've been disappointed just a few too many times over the years.  But I don't consider myself to be a true cynic, either. And so I was surprised at how, well, stunned I was that the Lions actually won, sending the Seahawks back to the playoffs for the 10th time in the 13 year tenure of Seattle's head coach. Amazing. 

On the arm of Geno Smith. Double amazing.

While I'm not one to shy away from admitting when I'm wrong (I'm actually well-practiced in it), my assessment of Smith's quarterbacking ability has not changed all that much. Still: as a pro bowler this year (triple amazing!) I feel I have to assign his Blood Bowl profile some extra skills. It's only fair to upgrade him to 'star player' status when he was one of the stars of the team this season.

Here he is:

Geno Smith

#7 Ork Thrower  MA 5 ST 3 AG 3 AV 9

Skills: Leader, Pass, Safe Throw, Sure Hands

It's been a good year for Geno, for the team, and for Seattle sports fans.  The Russel Wilson era has finished, the Pete Carroll era continues. Looking forward to Saturday's playoff game versus the Niners.

Have a good week everyone. D&D posts to resume shortly.

Go Seahawks!

; )

Moral Compass

So. Let me be the first to admit that any "fame" (notoriety) or "fortune" (beer money) I have acquired in the RPG hobby is almost entirely due to the internet. 

And yet I am hopelessly naive about the business of using the internet in any kind of effective way. I have a (personal) Facebook page that I never update or look at. I have a Twitter account that I only use to follow local sports team reporters. I don't use Instagram or TikTok or..."Mammoth?" (that's a thing, right?) or even have the apps to access them.  I don't really worry about "cancel culture" or being "cancelled;" if the few hundred folks who check up on what I have to say suddenly stopped doing so, it really wouldn't affect me very much at all. I'd probably even continue writing books (slowly)...just because I've now, at this late point in my life, found that I enjoy the act of creating and self-publishing game material.

But, of course, I have the luxury of acting this way, because I don't rely on this RPG stuff as my livelihood. It is not my means of supporting (feeding) my family. It is not the way that I pay my rent. I can act in cavalier fashion, because if no one purchased another book from me or if I never wrote another blog post again, it would not affect my quality of life one iota. Hell, it might improve my quality of life, if I tossed everything aside and started a bagel shop or something (I don't know...just spitballing). I could still play D&D (with friends and family) even if no one outside my locale wanted anything to do with me...and to be clear there are VERY FEW people outside my locale (even in the RPG community) that even know I exist, even now. 

I'm just some dude: a faceless name in this niche of a niche hobby.

James Raggi is not a faceless name. In fact, as far as publishers go in the so-called "OSR" I daresay he's the BIGGEST name in the biz. Gavin Norman's OSE may sell more than Lamentations of the Flame Princess, but LotFP has been around longer. Dan Proctor and Stuart Marshall may have penned their retro-clones earlier, but the scope of their ambition was far more limited than Raggi. Goodman Games may be a powerhouse in the OSR world, but they have an entire team of individuals doing the work that Raggi has taken on his own shoulders...at least, that would be the assumption based on press releases (Joseph Goodman isn't quite the shameless self-promoter that Raggi has been over the years). 

Everyone else is 'small potatoes' in comparison...and with good reason. Raggi's impact on the OSR business has been immense. Turning his passion into a livelihood, as opposed to a garage-band hobby. Cranking out high quality product rather than vanity press releases. Pushing the envelope of artistry and taste and innovation within the OSR realm. Taking risks and blazing trails in ways that few, if any, had the gumption to do.

All that might make me sound like some kind of "super-fan" of Mr. Raggi. I'm not. I've purchased exactly two of his products over the years: a PDF of Death Frost Doom and a slim hardcover of LotFP volume 1, "Rules & Magic." Most of his products are simply items in which I have no interest. Many of the ideas that fascinate and entertain James as an artist and creator hold no water for me. It's not that I find the content abhorrent, revolting, or morally repugnant...it's just not 'my thing.' Same as I'm not into the cutesy D&D exemplified by Strixhaven Academy and such.

Likewise, I don't follow his blog these days (haven't for years, ever since it became mostly biz-related / promotional), or keep up on Raggi's role in whatever's the latest OSR drama. LotFP does, however, continue to exhibit it's own gravitational force in the waters I swim, and so I am at least peripherally aware that the company continues to limp along, existing.

On or around January 2nd, I had the chance to listen to Raggi's video declaration of "commercial suicide;" for those uninterested in the state of James's physical, mental, and financial health, I'd recommend skipping to minute 18 in the video. For those who don't want to bother, I can sum up pretty easily: going forward, James has decided that his company (LotFP) will publish products by artists and creators regardless of any controversy surrounding said individuals or any public outcry for giving such individuals a platform to express themselves creatively. 

I think I've listened to the entire screed some three times now (generally with the speed turned up), and I find myself 100% supportive of his position, his reasoning, and his moral compass. In fact, regardless of any commercial success or "suicide" that might result from such a stance, I think it's the only rational position...or position of integrity...that Raggi, as the man he professes to be, as the possibility he professes to believe in, can take.

Back in 2021 I wrote a post describing how I would henceforth forgo questions of politics (or opinion or belief) when it came to my gaming purchases...and, in part, this was due to with the fatigue of arguing politics and the downright inanity of trying to "vet" or police every product that crosses my path. Raggi's non-manifesto manifesto is a cry for logic and reason...a statement based in the fact that the internet (and social media) is not necessarily reality. For all any of my readers know, I may well be something extremely different from what I represent on this blog...people I've never met in person, but with whom I've had plenty of 'net interaction might be completely fictitious avatars representing, well, anything (any person) who has a finger that can poke at a keyboard.  Those of us who allow ourselves to be controlled by "internet opinion" or any story/rumor/gossip/scandal are...hoo-boy, we are asking for it.

But set all that aside (i.e. just keep it in the back of your mind while I write the next bit): we humans (yeah, all of us) are HUMANS...fallible humans. Some of us are real fuck-ups when it comes to getting along with our fellow humans on this planet...and, yet, there still exists within all of us the chance to create something of positive value for our fellows and (the possibility, at least) future generations...REGARDLESS of our failings.

Set aside the "gaming scene" for a second and let's look at a different scene: the National Football League.  The NFL is an industry that generates billions of dollars per year...it is gigantic. And, yet, the employees of this organization (players, coaches, owners, admin staff) contain individuals who are fallible humans. Some beat their domestic partners. Some are sexual predators. Some are rapists. A handful have been murderers. And many of these individuals could (in their younger years) have been accused of the same kind of BULLYING that schools have attempted to crack down in the last decade or two. 

And yet...and yet many of these people do HUGE, POSITIVE things for their communities, donating their time, their fame, their fortune to helping individuals in need. Visiting cancer wards in Children's hospitals on a weekly basis. Digging wells in Africa. Rebuilding homes wrecked by hurricanes. Donating millions to disenfranchised children and victims of domestic violence. Raising money for cancer research. And THAT is just the "charitable" aspect of the NFL...the NFL itself creates jobs and revenue for all the people whose livelihoods are tied to the sports: hotels and restaurants and bars and service industries and all that goes with the billions of dollars of television revenue. That's putting food on tables and gas in cars.

All that besides the entertainment the League brings...and besides the way sports teams galvanize communities, bringing together individuals of all different races and religions and beliefs in support of their hometown colors.

Some of the people in this world are real pieces of shit: guys like Harvey Weinstein for example. I'd imagine that many of his victims are happy that he was convicted in a court of law and is now in prison. Probably there are those who wish Weinstein's punishment had been harsher or had happened decades earlier (the allegations of his sexual predation and rapes extend back to 1980). 

But say Weinstein had been jailed and thrown out of the movie business decades earlier; what would be the impact on the lives of individuals. Weinstein was directly responsible for the launch of many young actors and filmmakers careers. His company produced many uplifting, moving, and groundbreaking films. He's been an activist and philanthropist on a number of health and social issues; he was a founding member and board director of the Robin Hood Foundation since 1988, raising hundreds of millions to fight poverty. Miramax (Weinstein's company) release and distribution of The Thin Blue Line in the that same year is directly credited with gaining the release of wrongly convicted death row inmate Randall Adams...I'd guess he'd have some nice things to say about Mr. Weinstein.

[this 2017 analysis of Academy Award acceptance speeches from 1966 to 2016 found that Weinstein had been thanked or praised in 34 speeches—as many times as God, and second only to Steven Spielberg]

Point being: Weinstein is an example of human potential...a person with the capacity for doing both good and evil in this world. Plenty of other examples are available, from Alfred Nobel ("the merchant of death") to Marion Zimmer Bradley (whose aid was invaluable in getting many young authors...especially female authors...their start in the publishing biz). The longer people are around on this planet, the more opportunities they have to do both good and bad. Doesn't mean we should condone harmful actions (harmful actions should be condemned), nor am I trying to imply in any way, shape, or form that "the end justifies the means," or that good actions excuse bad actors; they do not. I'm only pointing out that good can come from anyone.

Back to LotFP: Raggi is not about supporting "the good;" his concerns (aside from those of his profession) is supporting creativity and art without judgment...at least, without judgment on matters and concerns outside of the art being created. And as I wrote above, I support this position. If I were James, I'd be running out and soliciting creators from ALL points of the gaming spectrum, making LotFP a truly egalitarian publishing house catering to beliefs from every side of the market: left, right, center, and "weird."

Because creativity isn't bad...the act of creation is a positive thing. I truly believe that. Some acts of creation are more positive than others...greater or lesser lights, I suppose. But creation is better than destruction; far too much of the latter in our lives. Creating, sharing, building...people need more of this, as much as we can get, at least until our species reaches that enlightened stage where a critical mass understands that we are all part of one body, one world, one existence. 

[sorry, don't want to wax too philosophical, but one should realize that positive and negative are simply two forces going different directions and assigning one as "good" and one as "bad" is actually a mistake as both forces are necessary and essential for existence. However, as the vast majority of people on this planet tend to be unenlightened individuals who get bent out of shape over destructive forces...especially when those forces occur in our own lives...and tend to fear death and not see the eternality of the human soul, I think it's best to focus (at THIS STAGE of our species' development) on the less problematic (causing) side of the force equation, i.e. the positive, and let God handle the rest. For now]

Now, I am sure there are folks out there who feel that it is against their principals to support (i.e. pay money to) a company that supports (i.e. does business with / pays money to) individuals, talented or not, who are 'bad actors' (i.e. people who behave in a fashion one disapproves of). I grok that. I have principals that determine how and what I support, too (for example, I refuse to shop at Walmart...for many reasons). 

But I also recognize the truth and wisdom in Raggi's statement: just because a hate-filled person (say, Hitler) writes a hate-filled book (say, Mein Kampf) doesn't mean people who bother to read it will become hate-filled, any more than "bad" people who read, for example, The Bible will suddenly become holy, Godly types. I suppose there are "impressionable" types who are easily manipulated, but the sheer amount of manipulating material in the world today utterly dwarfs the tiny amount of game material being produced ANYwhere, let alone by one lone indie publisher in Finland. Imbeciles and the ignorant are likely to fall into vast pits of crazy long before they succumb to the influence of elf-game propaganda.

Creation is preferred to destruction. Vote with your wallet. Encourage better creations (whatever "better" means to you). But don't discourage the act of creation itself

I still can't say I'm a super-fan of James Raggi's LotFP imprint. But I am a fan of the possibility for which he stands. Hopefully, his health will improve in 2023 as a result of this new authenticity.

Happy Friday, folks. 

; )

Imagining 2023

Happy New Year!

My first post of the 2023 and don't let the title of it give you any preconceived notions...just had to call the post something.  I am currently sitting in the lobby of my local VW dealership getting my 22 year old Jetta diagnosed as to why it won't start (battery seems fine). *sigh* First pain in the ass of the new year; I really don't want to buy a new car but I really want to have two vehicles that drive.

[while it may seem decadent for a pinko liberal like myself to even own two cars, it sure makes it a lot easier to coordinate being in multiple places simultaneously when you've got a family of four. Just saying...]

Anyhoo, it affords me a little time to write. Plus: free coffee.

Looking back over 2022, I see I got a couple of my half-dozen resolutions knocked out, which is...well...a pretty shitty track record. In addition, all the weight I had lost seems to have come back over the holiday season (since Thanksgiving...). Go figure, right? So, really it's more like one or one-and-a-half resolutions. I do still fit into my snow pants...

I suppose writing an adventure that made the cut for Prince of Nothing's most recent NoArtPunk contest counts as having an adventure "published and reviewed" (here's the review), but that's not quite what I meant when I wrote the resolution. Still, maybe another half point?

***LATER***

Car's fixed. Only cost more than I care to spend (about half what I made in book sales for last year). Lots has happened in the meantime (7:15pm as I sit down to write more); currently I'm having a beer while waiting for soccer practice to finish. Yes, turns out D's team is back on the field already (shocker).

Monday Night Football has been suspended. A player, a Bills safety named Damar Hamlin, was injured on the field, unable to breathe unassisted. I've seen a lot of NFL injuries over the years...never have I seen a game suspended like this for anything but extreme weather (lightning storms in Seattle once). That's rough. I wonder if Hamlin is related to ex-Seahawk safety Kenny Hamlin who was  beaten over the head with a sandwich board in Pioneer Square suffering brain trauma as a result and missing the 2005 Super Bowl. "The Hammer" Hamlin we used to call him. 

Sad. Rough. Still a lot of people dying in Ukraine, though.

[which is not to say I didn't send up a prayer that he'll be all right. Just as I send up prayers for the folks in Ukraine]

Perspective. 

Okay, the game's been postponed indefinitely. I appreciate that people are a bit more important than profits for the League.

I, of course, am not terribly worried about profits...I mean, other than the ones that pay my rent, fund my kids' soccer, and gets my car up and running. I'm little different from most people: self-absorbed. Well, at least I continue to notice it. ALSO: it's the New Year...let's hope (and work) to do better.

[truthfully, I am. But I won't go into those details as they're a little on the "personal" side]

I am sure there are folks who think it's all a joke: considering the New Year, making resolutions, blah-blah-blah. "You frigging hypocrite! You want to change, just change! Don't wait till some arbitrary calendar date like January first!" And, while there's truth in that, it's NICE that there's also a designated date and time that folks of my culture have set aside for personal reflection and consideration. A designated "life evaluation" point similar to the evaluations one might receive (annually) on-the-job or in school. A time to set expectations; a time to consider methods of growth.

SO...here, without further ado, are my resolutions for the New Year:

1. Write at least ONE PAGE (let's say 1,000+ words) every day, rain or shine. At this point, it doesn't much matter to me what I'm writing, just that I'm writing. I want to create a habit of work, even when I don't "feel like it."
2. Write at least two blog posts per week.
3. Cut back on my alcohol intake substantially. No stocking beer in the fridge (that actually helps) and limiting myself to one beer when I'm out. A little wine when cooking or at festive events.
4. Cut back on the caffeine and be back to decaf only by the end of February (I was on decaf before my in-laws came to town, but I've only got one coffee maker and they like their joe).
5. Cut the the sweets out entirely...once we've finished the holiday goodies that are left over (I don't like to waste food).
6. Get an hour of decent exercise in every day. 
7. Be more attentive to my wife. 
8. Publish an adventure on DriveThruRPG.
9. Make time to play D&D once per week.
10. Consolidate and organize my campaign notes for my world rather than having them scattered over dozens of random documents.
11. Cook one new dish every month (and learn to cook at least one Mexican dish). 
12. Run at least one game for adult players, either in person or on-line.
13. Find a way to one gaming convention this year.

Okay, that's enough. Let's see how many I can get through THIS year.

; )

[posting this Tuesday, January 3rd]

In Search Of The Unknown

So...huh. Looks like I do have another post or two left in me before 2023.

Holiday playdates have been going on this week...Wednesday, we had Maceo over and Lo and Behold, the kids did not want to play laser tag, sing karaoke, or show off their Minecraft creations. Nope, they wanted Dungeons & Dragons and nothing but. 

Not only that, but they're starting to get to the point they can sit and engage with the game for hours without needing 'brain breaks.' Kid got over to our house around 12:20 and after 15-20 minutes or so of the usual catch-up with buddy you haven't seen in weeks, they had butts at the table and ready to go. And stayed that way till 5pm. Could have continued, but we had to kick the kid out at 5 since we had plans to hear Beethoven's 9th at the Seattle Symphony in the evening. 

[it was magnificent, by the way]

However, the kids did NOT want to run with their beefy, mid-level (elven) assassins. Instead, they wanted to make brand new 1st level characters. Reason being: level restrictions. Knowing they were starting to reach the top end (well, being more than halfway there) and seeing the writing on the wall, they decided to move onto new characters rather than invest more time in the old ones. The new characters: an elven thief ("Donc"), a human ranger ("Luther von Dink"), and a human cleric ("Brother Dank").

[yes, Dink-Donk-Dank...there was some silliness involved, and that's fine. Always some jitters/nerves when starting out...we can always retcon and rename later if we want]

Luther had a rolled strength of 18/93, which makes him the second-strongest ranger to have graced our table (Diego had previously had a ranger with...natural!...18/00 strength that perished in Hommlet). Using my updated height/weight tables we determined he was 6'2", 313# , giving him roughly the same size and build as Drew Desjarlais of the New Orleans Saints (I pick Drew because he's from Ontario and most rangers should be modeled after Canadians). 

Donc is typical of elven adventurers in my campaigns: a lowdown scoundrel with a debased and incorrigible disposition. I don't get it, haven't these kids ever watched those LotR films?  I suppose Diego ran a Legolas clone in his early days, but...well whatever. Mace just likes roguish wastrels with pointy ears. 

Sofia refuses to play elves (half-elves are okay). She joined the game a little belatedly, jumping in with a new cleric to round out the party. Clerics aren't her usual shtick, but so long as her character can wield a flail (her preferred weapon) she's generally unbiased in what she plays. 

SO...yeah, new characters, so no Desert of Desolation reclamation project. Which is, you know, fine. It's not really ready anyway...and, as with my (similar) Ravenloft project may end up being for lower leveled characters than the 5th-9th range, more like 3rd+.

[what I'm actually doing is reworking the whole thing as a more open "sandbox" environment for exploration with various interconnected plots/factions, all laid over a map of southern Idaho...however, the dungeons/monsters get bigger/meaner/tougher the deeper one gets into the desert. Fewer purple worms in the west than in the east, for example]

New characters need a new adventure and I decided to run B1: In Search of the Unknown, an adventure that I haven't ever run "straight" (at least, not in recent memory). For my world, Quesqueton is located in the Cascade foothills, just outside of Issaquah, up the side of Tiger Mountain in what the internet tells me is "the Issaquah Alps" (I have never heard this term and I've hiked Tiger dozens of times over the years). The party was hipped to the location by a local thief ("Garbo," halfling) who was willing to sell them a map to the 'legendary stronghold.' Little did they realize this is just the local scam business, and all number of adventurers have picked the place over during the last couple-three decades.

Turned out to be a fun little romp. My players are pretty solid with regard to adventuring logistics...outfitting themselves with lanterns, oil, donkeys, saddlebags, rope, rations and water. Upon locating the entrance to the old fortress, their first priority was building a shelter for the animals and a base of operations for themselves. Initial scouting found old guard stations that...with modification...could act as a makeshift stable. Thus securing their pack animals, the delve proceeded.

It was soon apparent the the place had long been picked over by prior invaders. Various vermin-type monsters were found and dispatched (giant rats, a pair of primitive troglodytes), as well as humanoid looters (gnolls..."we hate these guys"). A small tribe of goblins were found to be squatting in the fortress barracks and negotiations were struck up with them and bloodshed avoided altogether. 

Lots of neat discoveries...B1 has a lot of "interactivity" within it, leaving aside monster encounters and plunder. The famous "pool room" accounted for quite a bit of fun, with the players using fish from the "fish pool" to test the waters of the various magical pools. Much harm was avoided in this way, though the cleric still managed to get himself magically silenced, prompting the adventurers to depart (no voice, no spells).

The treasure take wasn't bad for their initial excursion: in addition to a scroll of clerical spells, they recovered a bit more than 500 gold pieces worth of salvage, with some 'big ticket' items (a marble statue, a beautifully carved rosewood bedroom set) left behind and marked for later carry-out. Plans were made to return to town and hire mercenaries, using acquired loot, for the removal of these exceptionally heavy/bulky objects (the statue in the lounge has no weight but is described solely as a "life-sized" marble statue; the Venus de Milo is a bit larger than life-sized and weighs some 900kg. Based on some rough dimensions and the density of marble, the statue probably comes in somewhere between 1500 and 1800 pounds).

But, overall, it was a successful little venture. Three-ish hours of delving netted the characters a good amount of experience, and if they can somehow recover that statue, they should all level up (even the ranger!). Personally, I would have tried to harness the goblins as a work gang, but they'd still need some sort of cart to get the thing back to town (some seven miles distant on foot). An interesting quandary.

Anyway. Good fun. Not sure what 2023 is going to hold as far as gaming is concerned, but it's nice to see the kids are still interested in that old edition magic.  If I get another post off before year's end, it will probably be some sort of "review" or discussion on new resolutions. Time to make the kids some breakfast. 

Happy Friday, folks!

: )

Killing It Softly

All right...maybe a very SHORT blog post. 
; )

There is weirdness in the virtual (internet) air these days...anxiety over Dungeons & Dragons that I simply don't understand. Stuff about One D&D and the new OGL and the "death" of the game or the "death" of the OSR or...I don't know. Anxiety.

And I conclude this is just a cyclical thing, because Once Upon A Time, many years ago, I had similar anxieties. The Game Will Die. Go extinct...like the dodo. And my children's children's children will never know the joy of kicking in a dungeon door and sticking their imaginary blade in some fairytale monstrosity.

Alexis used to give me a hard time for worrying about that kind of thing. 

Who would carry on the legacy of D&D when all the old idiots like me had passed from this planet? Who would be left to understand the "right" way to play D&D?

*sigh*  It seems like every few years I have to take stock of my own past idiocies. It's a constant process of refinement called "living an introspective life."

Cyclical. I was recently hipped to this old Raggi blog post from waaaay back in 2008...never read it at the time, and only heard about it through this video post of him reading the transcript.  However, even if I had read it back in 2008, I'm afraid much of it would have been over my head...just as it is clear from the comments that much of it was over LOTS of folks' heads. The problem is, he is conflating multiple issues into a single rant and thereby burying (or at least, confusing) the kernels of truth that he'd hit upon. 

It's taken me decades of self-work and re-wiring analysis to synthesize this kind of thing. Here's probably the best bit:

You're not playing a game pretending to navigate your playing piece (called "a character") through some story where you get to be the hero! You are using the rules to pretend to be someone and experience and react as that person would though a dangerous world. Nothing more, and nothing less. If you want to be the hero...then you get to try. To guarantee success is to defeat the entire purpose of role-playing.

[if you want to read the most pertinent bits of the post, rather than the entire screed, I'd suggest beginning your read AFTER the indented tangent]

And, you see, to me that IS fun...if by 'fun' one means an enjoyable pastime that one wants to continue pursuing for the pleasure of it. Despite his provocative title, Raggi doesn't "hate fun;" he hate's a particular brand of time-wasting that some folks (including he himself!) lazily assign the convenient label of "fun."  

I can grok that. I've been hitting the holiday goodies and holiday booze a little too hard lately myself (and my waistline bears witness to the fact). Tis the season, as they say. And while it's all well and good to hate one's lax discipline in January (and vow to take steps to rectify the back-sliding), it's important that we appreciate just why we have this period of time when we "let ourselves go:" we are enjoying the company of our fellow humans and sharing a bond of seasonal joy (and stress!) together.

Which is, of course, one of the great benefits of the Great Game of Dungeons & Dragons. It helps us connect with our fellow humans, sharing joys and excitements and stresses with them in a fashion that is UN-likely to leave (real) folks dead and bleeding on the ground.

Has crass commercialism killed the spirit of Christmas? I realize that sometimes it can feel like this. But what IS the "spirit of Christmas?" It's not like Jesus (the dude my fellow Christians and I celebrate) was born on December 25th...that was simply the day the Romans celebrated their winter solstice festival...the darkest day of the year and the mark of the return to growing light in the world. Folks wanting to listen to cheerful music, decorate their homes with lights, give gifts, and eat/drink special foods with loved ones this time of year should feel little guilt in their holiday enjoyment...whether they're believers in Christ and His message or not! If you're celebrating your shared humanity...and not robbing and murdering folks...then you're probably showing more "Christmas spirit" than MANY of us display for MOST of the year.

I celebrate Christmas in my own way...just as I play Dungeons & Dragons in my own way. I have adapted holiday traditions of my mother's family, my father's family, and my wife's family, as well as creating traditions of my own for my own family. My children will synthesize these traditions and add their own twists and tweaks...just as they will do with their D&D games. Just as their children will do, some day down the road.

Will the continued commodification of D&D and the iron grip of corporate greed destroy D&D? Are you kidding me?

Pick up an extra copy of your favorite rule system (print on demand is still available for many books). Teach the game to someone young and imaginative. Pass along the rules to them to explore on their own. Share your joy. Engage with your fellow humans in a deep and meaningful way...one that is active rather than that of the passive consumer.

Doing this might assuage some of the anxiety. Maybe even cause it to dissipate entirely.

I (half-)joke that I'm an old man. "Old" is an extremely relative term. I'm not even 50 (that's next year), and my low impact, semi-healthful lifestyle has kept me at about the same level of fitness for a couple decades. Even so, I've been playing D&D for longer than many players have been ALIVE...that makes me a real geezer in relation to the gaming community.

Here's my "geezer wisdom" for my fellow gamers this holiday season. Worry less, play more. Play for the experience; play for the connections it makes with others. 

I'll talk at y'all in the New Year (or possibly, next week). Have a happy one, folks!

Baby, It's Cold Outside

It's not the snow...hasn't snowed in a couple days and Seattle didn't get more than 3-4 inches anyway. It's the temperature. 20 degrees right now (which is nothing compared to Montana, yes, I know) and the little snow received has been packed down into a sheet of ice covering the roads. Which in a hilly town like Seattle (city of Seven Hills...and upteen smaller ones) makes for not-too-safe driving.

Tuesday, I was out in it...had to go to Queen Anne in order to pick up a last-minute, hard-to-find Christmas gift for the boy. This was...extremely...rough, as it was the first day of the serious ice, and the snow was still falling. Somehow I made it there and back but it's not an experience I'd want to repeat, and when I finally pulled into the garage it was with a flat-as-a-pancake tire. Spent 4.5 hours at the dealership yesterday paying an exorbitant amount of money on four tires and a realignment. 

And that was with the temperature around 27ish. It's been dropping steadily since then.

Now, I'm prepping to go out in it again. Well, I say "prepping" but I'm really just drinking coffee and surfing the blogs while waiting for shops to open. 10am is the time things open and I've got a haircut, a vacuum repair shop, and one more (secret) shopping run to make. 

Ugh. It does look exceptionally cold out there, though. Gusty, too, Not really looking forward to stepping outside.

RE Gaming Topics

Turns out I might (MIGHT) have one(-ish) more gaming subjects to discuss before the end of the year.  Yeah, it's about D&D...all that sitting around the dealership yesterday led me down too many internet rabbit holes (and I had no laptop on which to type). 

Probably tomorrow, if I can find the time. Just let me think on it a bit.

Shutting Down For '22

Wow. Things just got real busy around here real fast.

I've been sick with a flu bug for the last week or so (did I already mention this? yeah, I did)...just have this lingering cough that is a killer for trying to get to sleep at night. *sigh*  Lots going on around here...probably working myself a little too much.

[doesn't help that every time I have a beer I suffer a bit of a setback. And yesterday's shellacking of the Seahawks at the hands of the 49ers was worth three...]

A week till Christmas and the tree's not even up yet. 

So, apologies to everyone but I'm going to have to shut it down for the year. Totally lame since this has been my lowest output of blog posts since 2018 and I was really hoping to at least hit triple digits this year. Unfortunately, far too many of my posts have simply been tiny missives like this or mini-rants...not really enough content for my taste.

But what can I say? I wasn't trying to putz out on folks. Fact is, I probably did more gaming this year than my B/X hay-days, pre-Paraguay. Both running AND playing. That's...well, that's good progress. If I haven't been writing as many theoretical essays, or posting the speculative rule modifications of yesteryear, you can blame it on the fact that I've been deep in the AD&D...and the game just doesn't need much change at all. It's a solid game (as I've written more than once) that simply needs to be respected and taken seriously to provide solid hours of enjoyment.

Ya basta. Enough of that noise. Folks can go "rules light" if they wish, and still get more-or-less the same result, so long as they put in the world building stuff (just means you end up doing more heavy lifting down the road). I'm not harping on that.

Instead, I'll just wish folks a festive holiday season and a happy New Year. 

See you all in 2023. Blessings and best wishes!