McCain Staffer Disses D&D Tuesday, August 19, 2008

From Boing Boing, by way of a friend:

It may be typical of the pro-Obama Dungeons & Dragons crowd to disparage a fellow countryman's memory of war from the comfort of mom's basement, but most Americans have the humility and gratitude to respect and learn from the memories of men who suffered on behalf of others.
—Michael Goldfarb, "Smears the Left Can Fight For"

As if there wasn't enough to hate about McCain, now he's dissing on the grandaddy-of-them-all. No, sir. This sort of anti-gamerism will not be tolerated. McCain owes the gamers of the world an apology. Learn how to "do a Google," Grandpa, before you start messing with the people who control the entire infrastructure of the information economy.

Is it just me, or does every last statement made by the McCain campaign amount to "I was a POW so how dare you disagree with me"? What a fucking joke.

My favorite response from the comments on Boing-Boing: "You know what to do, kids: ROLL FOR INITIATIVE."

Architect of the Now Monday, March 10, 2008

Wired editor Adam Rogers wrote an op-ed piece for The New York Times eulogizing Gary Gygax, crediting him with grandfatherhood over all virtual vistas:

Today millions of people are slaves to Gary Gygax. They play EverQuest and World of Warcraft, and someone must still be hanging out in Second Life. (That “massively multiplayer” computer traffic, by the way, also helped drive the development of the sort of huge server clouds that power Google.)

But that’s just gaming culture, more pervasive than it was in 1974 when Dungeons & Dragons was created and certainly more profitable — today it’s estimated to be a $40 billion-a-year business — but still a little bit nerdy. Delete the dragon-slaying, though, and you’re left with something much more mainstream: Facebook, a vast, interconnected universe populated by avatars.

Maybe he's overstating, but he's not far from the point: Dungeons and Dragons changed the world that may not yet be fully appreciated by anyone but the hobby's truest disciples. It influenced an entire generation that is now coming into their own. In a very real way, Gygax was, in Rogers' words, "the architect of the now".

D&D, Past and Present Monday, November 05, 2007

By way of a forum sig, I found this little gem of a rant by Charlie Martin that sums up the commercial and political history of Dungeons and Dragons, the grand-daddy of all roleplaying games; the gaming phenomenon arguably responsible for all modern, medieval-themed games, from Ultima to Golden Axe to Diablo to World of Warcraft.

As a longtime D&D player and an amateur historian of the gaming hobby, I'm surprised at how little of the infighting I actually knew about, as well as who was responsible for which innovations. Surprising tidbits I picked up:

• It was Dave Arneson, not Gary Gygax, who came up with the idea of role-playing as we know it: each player is responsible for playing a single character instead of commanding entire platoons in a wargame.
• The original release of Dungeons and Dragons required both Gygax's older game Chainmail and Avalon Hill's Outdoor Survival rules to supplement it.
• Tactical Studies Rules, Inc.'s original founders were Gary Gygax, Dave Arneson, Don Kaye, and Brian Blume. After the falling-out between Arneson and Gygax, Gygax created TSR, Inc. with Brian and Kevin Blume. Thus, TSR and Tactical Studies Rules are two different companies, albeit with some common owners.
• The split between "Basic" and "Advanced" D&D in 1977 was primarily an effort to appease Dave Arneson, who had sued for both recognition and royalties. Gyagx continued to churn out material for AD&D while relegating the basic D&D line to other authors.
• Lorraine Williams, who took over TSR after the Blume family had basically run it into the ground, was a financial consultant who despised gamers. It was under Williams that the second edition was produced.

Martin sagely notes that "every single person who has tried to screw someone over in the name of getting more money out of Dungeons & Dragons has got what was coming to them. It’s quite a nice bit of justice that is rarely found in the real world."

And for those of you who may not keep up with all the latest happenings in the world of role-playing games, you may have missed this one: Fourth Edition D&D was announced at GenCon Indy 2007. According to the latest scuttlebut, the three core books (new cover art here: PHB, DMG, MM) will be released in June, 2008.

Beholder Pumpkin Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Tomorrow's Halloween, the only holiday dedicated to mischief and evil rather than all of that feel-good stuff, religious stuff or government-mandated social consciousness. And Steve Jackson's Daily Illuminator helps us remember to let our inner geek shine through with this awesome picture of a Beholder pumpkin.

But sadly, this bit of text accompanying the image just ruins it:

When I was a kid, we played Dungeons and Dragons in the 5th grade. It was fun, but so complex that we had to cheat to make it more interesting. Soon afterward, I decided that riding my BMX bike was more fun and didn't do so much gaming.

I did keep one relic of these days, it is a book called the Monster Manual and it describes all sort of different monsters. Someone sent in this carving of the monster called "The Beholder". I am unsure what it is, but it looks spooky.

I wonder if the monster manual is worth anything on E-bay.

"We had to cheat to make it more interesting"? This guy sooooo missed the point.

Sex Advice from a D&D Player Monday, December 18, 2006

Man, Gnomie. You always manage to find the gems.

Many thanks to the small, furry one for providing a link to this blog post featuring Sex Advice from a Dungeons and Dragons Player. Some of the highlights:

My lover and I enjoy role-play, but I’ve gotten tired of the same cliché scenarios like student/teacher and boss/secretary. Any recommendations for new roles that might help spice it up?

I don’t know what system you’re playing, but "student/teacher" and "boss/secretary" do not sound like choices that would inspire one to role-playing greatness. Consider a classic like "cleric of the watcher from the depths/virgin" or "half-orc paladin/gelatinous cube." And remember, silken rope may be more expensive, but it’s nearly half the weight in encumbrance.

I’ve been dating someone really great for a few months, but he’s never referred to me as his girlfriend. How do I take it to another Level?

While the obvious answer is "“Accomplish a story task in the boyfriend track for XP equal or greater to your next level threshold," I get the feeling you might be hinting that you want to descend into the fetid labyrinth that festers beneath his ancient wizard’s tower. In that case the stairs are in quadrant M23, behind the Throne of the Kobold Hetman.

My girlfriend is older and more experienced than me. What can I do to impress her in bed?

Ah ha! Clearly you are looking for Feats, introduced in the Third Edition ruleset, which offer a variety of abilities that can be used to impress or distract your opponent. Consider: "Acrobatic," "Alertness," "Animal Affinity," "Armor Proficiency (Medium)," and "Athletic." (And that’s just from the As!)

See also: "Blind-Fight," "Cleave," "Craft Rod," "Deflect Arrows," "Enlarge Spell," "Extend Spell," "Greater Two-Weapon Fighting," "Iron Will," "Mounted Combat," "Rapid Reload," or "Shot on the Run." (Actually, pretty much all the Feats are gold.)

Careful how hard you laugh at this one. Laugh too hard and it's obvious you once cracked up with your friends in Chess club about the "Rod of Lordly Might".

Colbert's Homage to D&D Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Many thanks to my man The Gnome for pointing out Stephen Colbert's homage to D&D, which I have transcribed here:

Earlier this week marked the introduction of Dungeons and Dragons: Stormreach, a new, online version of the popular swords-and-sorcery game. I myself played a lot of the D&D way back when. Actually, I once met Len Lakofka at Gencon 10. I'll never forget when I lost Ferrenith, my 21st level lawful good Paladin. I know, that's redundant. He was on a campaign searching for Tenser, wizard of the circle of light. En route from the Sheldomar Valley to the Thilronian peninsula, he got cornered by a displacer beast and a mind flayer and he failed to save against psionic attack. See, he had already lost a lot of hit points battling a beholder and the cleric in the party couldn't regenerate enough hit points with his heal light wounds spell. All-in-all, a sad day in Badabaskor.

But I gave up D&D in 1984 - my parents were concerned I was being possessed by demons. So one summer they sent me to an exorcism day camp. Eight weeks of sailing, casting out the devils within me and making laniards did the trick. Oh, and I also got a girlfriend.

Anyway, it is the end of an era, and as the cyber-elves and the e-wizards log on to the digital dungeon, I sadly place on my shelf these now-obsolete polyhedral dice. The good news is with D&D now available on the Internet, the social outcasts of today's junior high schools are relieved of the agony of any human contact. Enjoy your magnificent isolation! Don't forget to bathe.

Let me point out that this was a pretty well-researched little rant! Thilronian Peninsula, Sheldomar Valley and Badabaskor are all canonical references from the Greyhawk setting. But there are a two pretty obvious blunders: first, "Heal" Light Wounds was no Cleric spell I ever heard of and second, "save versus psionic attack"? That one's absurd. Every old-school AD&D geek knows that the first edition psionic system was a complete system unto itself that relied on combining attribute scores and would never stoop to reuse a mechanic used elsewhere in the game. Universal mechanics are so 1990's.

But this is what happens when the mundanes try to speak geek. It just grates on the ear of those for whom it is a native tongue.

Gamers Thursday, April 20, 2006

There's a movie coming out this year called Gamers, a lighthearted mockumentary about my favorite hobby from writer/director Christopher Folino.

Filmed through the lens of an ever-present camera crew, Gamers shares the story of a group of high school friends on the eve of breaking the longest streak of D&D competition. (That’s Demons, Nymphs, and Dragons.) 23 years and some ridiculous 70,000+ hours after school, weekends and into their adult lives has the gang played and they are now one session away from snatching the record held by some Iowa corn farmers.
—Eric Childress, eFilmCritic.com

You have to check out some of the clips and quotes from the movie. Hilarious stuff. Could it be there's finally a movie that does the hobby justice, even if it's poking fun?

According to at least one review, it's well-produced despite a limited budget, attracting cameo appearances from well-known actors such as Beverly D'Angelo and Kelly Le Brock, who the filmmakers would never have been able to afford. They appear in the film because they like the material.

If this film lacks anything it's the chance for exposure to be given an opportunity to find an audience. Apparently it has been passed over by a number of the major film festivals in the USA. Gamers has a redeeming atmosphere and reminds me of what might have happen if the creators of Napoleon Dynamite meet up with the team behind the National Lampoon films.

The production values and quality of this film far exceed its budget and the team behind Gamers should be proud of their film. Gamers is an original and funny independent film, something many Hollywood comedies today don't delivery even with their A list cast and huge budgets.

—Indie Film Nation

And some quotes to give you an idea of what the movie is all about...

PAUL: Okay. You know what? I was gonna wait until everybody else got here, but... There's your present, Reese. It's a comforter. It's got the names of every character that has died on Reese's watch listed out on it. It's a California King size. It's full on both sides. Here, help me hold it up for the camera. Show 'em.

REESE: He's joking. You're joking, aren't you?

PAUL: Well, actually, I am. It's only on one side, my mom kinda ran outta time, but there are more names on this than on the AIDS quilt. I checked it out, Reese.

and...

KEVIN: You're introduced to Baytor, the bard, who for five gold pieces will sing you a song about the legend of Theddian Selimar. Kevin gets his guitar ready.

REESE: Five gold pieces? Damn, does a wand of blow jobs come with the song?

I can't seem to find a release date, though. I've gotta get a copy of this movie.

On The History of D&D Friday, March 03, 2006

For those interested in such things, this Forge article is an excellent discussion of the origins of Dungeons and Dragons, with an eye towards examining the different forms and styles of play that grew up around the hobby. An oldy but a goody.

Dungeon Masters in Cyberspace Monday, February 27, 2006

Is this one of the signs of the Apocalypse? The New York Times has decided to talk about DDO vis-a-vis traditional pen-and-paper gaming.

Getting an Education in D&D Wednesday, December 28, 2005

In late November, Wizards of the Coast posted a blurb on their website saying that Columbia University was planning on offering a 3-credit, graduate-level course in Dungeons and Dragons:

How would you like to take D&D for credit? Columbia University is planning a 3-credit graduate studies course on D&D -- in fact, researchers were here at WotC last week, interviewing members of R&D!

I wanted to blog about it then, but since I could find no supporting information, I figured I'd wait until I knew more.

Well, there's still no more information available on Columbia's planned course, but as you may already know, Barnes and Noble has recently begun running free online courses in a wide variety of topics. And one of their newest offerings is a course entitled "Discover Dungeons and Dragons", led by Eberron co-creator James Wyatt.

Introduced in 1974, Dungeons & Dragons is the leading fantasy role-playing game. D&D products are the benchmark for adventure role-playing game excellence.

As a beginning player, this course will guide you in understanding how D&D works, explaining the various worlds and characters types that it is based on, creating a D&D role for yourself, and understanding how your player role interacts in the world and with other characters. You will learn the extent of your abilities and the possibilities that lie ahead for your player, including magical spells, mythic quests, and epic battles with incredible monsters.

To play D&D, all that is required is a core rule book, D&D dice, a pencil, some paper, and imagination. With this course, you will be put in contact with a Dungeon Master who will guide your play through an adventure in which your character will perform feats and wage battles with other players, while gaining power, knowledge and experience.

Role-playing games have in the past been a topic of interest in sociological and psychological terms because it provides a window into the workings of psychological escapism, creates virtual economies, and explores the nature of myth. I will post an update if and when more information becomes available.

This Deception from the Devil Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Playing with Dragon Fire is a 1994 article from a Christian magazine for boys called Breakaway.

... I traded in my Bible for the game's rule book, trying to shut out the voice of Someone who loved me. Then, somewhere in the middle of the "fun", I came back to my senses -- and got back on my knees.

*Lord, what have I done?* I prayed. *I'm sorry for turning my back on You-- again. Give me the strength to resist this deception from the Devil ... and to keep my eyes on You.*

The real evil as described in the article was the obsession with gaming, and I think we'd all agree that obsession in all its forms (including an obsession with the Bible) is destructive.