The First HotDC Adventure Title Announced

Danger In The Dwarven Dungeon - TK1-1

A Dungeon Adventure for 4-6 0 Degree Characters

Something funny is going on at the homstead of the Dwarven Hero Pradius Stoutheart. He left months ago to visit friends in the mountains to the North-West. That's when all manner of orcs, kobolds, goblins and other foul creatures moved in and infested the dungeons built below his home. Why are these creatures there? What are they up to? Is the son of a prominant Dragon Vale citizen being held captive there? It will take brave adventures to find the answers and solve these problems. Are you up to the task? Then grab your weapon and come face the Danger In The Dwarven Dungeon!!!

My Gencon Trip Part 8

Seminars, Games And Other Fun Stuff Part 3

Kenzer Fun

So, I've already discussed the fact that Dave Arneson called in sick for the Blackmoor Memories Seminar. It was disappointing, but not surpring. I know he wasn't feeling well. He didn't look well. I can't help but think that he was a little disappointed by the lack of attendence numbers. I'm sure he knew there were maybe ten out of 100 people here, and if you aren't feeling well to begin with, why bother? I understand this situation a little, at least I think I do anyway. Could be off the mark. Had there been 90-100 people signed up, things would have been different. I believe I would telling you some of what Dave had to say. But, I've already covered that elsewhere, and I don't need to do it again here.

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40 Years Of Gencon

I was happy to see Dave was at this seminar. They say he is the unsung hero of gaming, and I agree. A game like D&D may exist if Dave hadn't started Blackmoor, but it wouldn't be D&D and probably would have been created by somebody who didn't live in Wisconson, in my opinion.

Dave On Gencon: Gencon was used for getting the word out on D&D. Then, D&D was Gencon and took it over. In the early days, word of mouth was used to get the word out. D&D made Gencon and vise versa.

Dave and Gary Gygax did Don't Give Up he Ship together. They met at Gencon 2. Initially, it was a con for war games. Gary organized the first few cons in Lake Geneva, Wisconson, which is where Gary lived. Gencon 2 was on Gary's porch.

Dave was with Flying Buffalo (Tunnels & Trolls) for a time. He tells a story about using some four ply rubber bands that Flying Buffalo had and arming them with four sided dice at one convention. The dice would stick to the wall.

Dave on Gencon: Gencon to me is meeting people. It gives me a feel for what people are into. Seeing old friends again. It's the people more than the games.

There were other interesting stories, such as the bagpipe player on the misty hill that TSR hired one year, who played for about 30 minutes and walked off into the mist. The days at the Hoticulture Hall with the Gygax girls selling hot dogs. The main hall doubled as a sleeping quarters. It was just a bunch of gamers getting together to play games.

They Changed Dave's on Me

Earlier that day, Dave Kenzer showed up to run the seminar in place of Arneson. There was just one problem. Dave knows NOTHING about Blackmoor. He's more of a Gygaxian D&D'er I suppose. I was a little disturbed to read his "only 23 people play Blackmoor" comment at the Kenzer forum, but I'll let it go. An Arneson fan who didn't want to take the high road might say something like, "That's 1 more than the people who use the Kalamar setting."

All but the lady sitting next to me stayed for Kenzer, and why not? Hackmaster, Aces & Eights and Knights of the Dinner Table are part of the KenzerCo. catalogue, and there are plenty of fans. He spent his time discussing various Kenzer related topics, but I did get an opportunity to ask the OSRIC question. Basically, since Dave is a lawyer, I wanted to know his take on things.

His comment was that he'd stay away from OSRIC, because he has concerns over it. Every time one of it's key creators is given a tough question, according to Dave, they guy claims that he lives on an island and the laws don't apply to him there. Only thing I'll add is that can't you blame any of these established companies from staying away from it. Why risk a lawsuit? At some point, it will either fade, or Wizards of the Coast will challenge it.

Kenzer Fun

The Kenzer team did a meet and greet on Friday. It was a chance to learn a little bit about the company, the people involved and the products. Dave Kenzer owns the company, and he is a lawyer. Gaming is a hobby of his, and he has done well enough as a lawyer that he decided to form Kenzer. Some of the employees have other jobs and some don't. Most of the time, KenzerCo is making enough to keep things going, but at times Kenzer is using his own funds to keep it going.

The guys love what they do. They love gaming. I already mentioned how they are in western wear at their demo booth during the day to help promote Aces & Eights. They are very excited about this game and it's what they are currently playing. In fact, suppliments for A&E are in the works. Hackmaster was discussed too. There will be a new Hackmaster in the next couple years, and some ideas on what to expect for game mechanics can be gleened from A&E. By the way, A&E is a nice looking book, and if you are interested in Western RPG's, you should check it out.

In recent weeks. Wizards of the Coast has been pulling back it's licences for things such as Dungeon and Dragon Magazines and DragonLance. This raised speculation as to what happened between Kenzer and Wizards with regards to Hackmaster. Hackmaster is basically an attempt to create the game played by the characters in the Knights of the Dinner Table Magazine. They had the license to use 1st and 2nd Edition AD&D rules, sprinkled with Knights humor.

Some loved it. Others hated it, but is was a nice effort. I have managed to pick up three modules that they converted to Hackmaster, and it's still pretty faithful to the old game with humor added. Well, Kenzer had made a decision not to renew some time ago, but he admitted that he didn't expect Wizards was planning to renew either. My opinion is that Dave chose the high road, rather than having it pulled from him and causing a stir of negativity towards Wizards. There are fans of Dungeon, Dragon and DragonLance that aren't happy with Wizards right now.

Well, the way it goes down here is Kenzer chose to walk away from Wizards, and they actually began developing their own rule set for Hackmaster some time ago. It will take another year or two to iron out the wrinkles, and Aces & Eights will take center stage at this point anyway. Kalamar will be the official Hackmaster setting, and a place called Frandor's Keep will be the first adventure released, along with a basic rules set. So basically, Kenzer has a plan, and new stuff will be coming (Book of NPC's for A&E and a couple of town books).

David on the Hackmaster Plan: The plan is to make a game that feels the same and plays like 1st Edition. We'll have to change the rules, but the game should feel the same."

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As The Knights Would say, "Hoody Hoo!"

Many of the people at the meet and greet are fans of that little comic strip Jolly Blackburn created called Knights of the Dinner Table. I noticed several HMA card carrying Hackmaster players, and yes, the Hackmaster tournament was part of the Gencon too. Jolly created this comic as filler for a magazine he did back in the early 90's called Shadis. People started commenting on it immediately, and it wasn't too long before Dragon Magazine came calling. Jolly decided to see if he could make a comic book with this strip, and KotD was born.

It was only a few issues in when Jolly realized he needed a partner for this, and he and Kenzer made a deal. Jolly, David, Steve Johansson and Brian Jelke are the D-Team for the magazine, which released issue #130 at Gencon. There was an empty chair at the table for Jelke, who was unable to attend the con, and Mark Plemmons stood at the podium for the meet & greet. Mark set up the magazines and prizes at the live reading the next night. By the way, Mark was planning to get married on the day the Wizards-Kenzer agreement expires.

We had a lot of laughs at the meet & greet, and it was amusing watching Steve write on the board behind him when something funny and noteworthy was said. I don't have the whole story written down, but the Bitter Stevil character in the Black Hands group is named after Steve. It was Evil Steve, and it evolved from there. Jolly's wife is the inspiration for the Sara character of the Knights. She always wanted to feed and talk to the NPC's.

The Knight's magazine has evolved from just the comic to the magazine that features all the strips, letters from readers, game articles and lots of cool stuff. That will continue. At one time, there was talk of making a movie about the Knights, but Hollywood wanted to change the characters into heroes. They didn't think you should have characters who lived in their parent's basement. Actually, I think Adult Swim would be the perfect place for the Knights if KenzerCo ever wanted to explore that option.

On Saturday night, it was time for the popular Live Reading of Knights of the Dinner Table strips. We had a guy (why didn't I get his name?) sing Still D&D To Me (To the music of Still Rock N Roll To Me) and Dice Life (To the tune of All Star). He was pretty good, and the crowd was into it. They had several stips planned from some of the best in Knights history. Readers got to pick up certificates (such as one for a free potion of healing, among others).

With Wizards announcing plans to release 4th Edition D&D next year, they had a reading from Knights past about having to get all the new Hackmaster books from the coming edition. This came out about the time of D&D 3.0, I think. One of my favorites was a strip about The Black Hands getting ready for the big Hackmaster tournament at GaryCon. While the Knights work together a little better, The Black Hands do more harm to each other than their foes at times. So, the DM from their group, Nitro, was grilling all four on how badly they worked as a team. The reading for Gordo was inspired and damn near brought a tear to my eye. All five did a great reading.

The Live Reading is a highlight to any Gencon. A bunch of fans gathering to celebrate a great magazine done by a great company of game lovers. There was even somebody there wearing the dreaded "Hub Cap Of Shame", though I'm not sure why. As I said, I had a lot of fun at this event, but I probably didn't do it justice here.

The Gamers

There are several movies screened during Gencon. I know Army Of Darkness and Conan were screened, but there were also movies with gamer humor. Gamerz, Fellowship of the Dice and The Gamers were three of them. I signed up for what I thought was Gamerz, because it was the only one that fit into my schedule, but I ended up seeing The Gamers, which is what I wanted to see. It's a movie done by a group calling themselves The Dead Gentleman.

That name alone lets you know these guys are fans. Remember The Dead Alewives and the two D&D paradodies they did? Used to play on Dr. Demento's show all the time. Well, The Gamers has five guys at the table in a college dorm playing, (what else?), D&D. You see some from the table, but then the scene switched to their actual characters. One gamer says, "I'm gonna steal from the guy at the bar."

We watch as he makes his roll. The guy at the bar is just standing there as he gets robbed blind. The thief keeps making his rolls. Another time, the guy with the fighter character fails a strength check trying to remove some bars from a passage way and hurts his back. The guy with the weak theif gives it a shot and succeeds. We see the thief daning around in celebration of his success. It was funny stuff, and I'm probably not doing it justice here. After screening this movie, I headed over to the Paizo booth and bought the DVD. I'd love to have screened Fellowship of the Dice, but I couldn't fit it into my schedule. Perhaps next time.

To be continued

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Next

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DragonLance, Forgotten Reams & Hickman's Killer Breakfast

My Gencon Trip Part 5

Roaming The Exhibition Hall Part 3

The Paizo booth was on my list. Basically, Paizo has made a name for themselves through the D&D product. They published Dragon Magazine and Dungeon Magazine during the past few years. They covered a lot of ground and campaign settings. In fact, they did a few adventures in the old Mystara setting (formerly The Known World from Basic D&D). The last issue was set to have an adventure called Kill Bargle (the villain first introduced in the Mentzer Basic Players Book). Larry Elmore did the cover of it. I held the last copy at Gencon in my hands, but I put it back as I was trying to keep funds open for other things.

Paizo does some amazing work. If you have seen the Game Mastery stuff they do, then you know it's top notch stuff. Quality printing too. They do some nice D&D compatible modules as well. I wasn't really browsing their stuff too much at Gencon, but my local game store owner was showing me their Module D1: Crown of the Kobold King. Very nicely done with color pictures and everything. Paizo also offers most of the old D&D and AD&D modules and rulebooks online as pdf's for a low price.

When I put back that copy of Dragon, I had picked up the DVD of The Gamers. This was the movie I had screened on Friday, and I laughed hard throughout the movie. Funny, funny stuff. Paizo i selling the DVD though their website as well. Don't wanna get into it too much here, but you see the gamers at the table playing, and then we see the scenes as their characters do what The Gamers want then to. As I said, funny stuff, but I hope to get into it in another thread.

Though Paizo is not longer publishing Dragon or Dungeon, they have a new quarterly magazine in the works for gamers who need that fix. Also, they will continue to make D&D compatible modules through the D20 and OGL.

One of the companies that jumped on the D20 bandwagon in a big way was Goodman Games with their Dungeon Crawl Classics. This is basically a nod to the old days "when adventures were undeground and all NPC's were there to be killed." I've purchased a couple of their first level adventures and find them to be very old school in feel, even with the D20 rules. At Gencon, they were on my list for two reasons. First, they were doing a 1st Edition AD&D compatible module called Saga of the Witch Queen. I bought it.

Second, Erol Otus was brought in to sign autographs. Erol has done several covers for the Dungeon Crawl Classics line, but old schoolers will also remember his art graced the covers of Tom Moldvay Basic D&D and David "Zeb" Cook Expert D&D, among other books. As luck would have it, I found a copy of Cook Expert for an autograph on Friday and a Moldvay Basic on Sunday. Otus and Larry Elmore are two of my favorites, and I met them both.

Larry had a booth with all of his art, and there is some amazing work to buy and put on your walls. He did the covers of Frank Mentzer's Basic, Expert, Companion and Master Sets of D&D. I went to Gencon intending to get Larry, Frank and Gary Gygax to autograph my Basic D&D Book, and I did. How cool is that? To me, it's pretty cool. I had a dilemma. I wanted Larry's Basic and Expert pictures, but I didn't feel I had a way to bring them home that wouldn't screw them up. By the time I realized on Sunday that I could have shipped them home (duh!), I had spent too much money, going over my Gencon budget.

This was a shame as I had my eye on Larry's Art Book that covers his history in art. That is on my list for next time, and yes, a next time is being considered seriously. Once doesn't seem to be enough. Larry had various colored post cards and black & white stickers. Yes, it's the cheap way to get something, but I had to get something. Anything. His work is that awesome. If I could afford to have Larry (or Erol for that matter) do art for HotDC, it would happen. He had an amazing selection to choose from, some beautiful ladies too. By the way, there were some lovely ladies at the booth with him too, perhaps inspiration for his art?

Make no mistake, there was plenty of art on display and for sale at Gencon. In reading the 40 Years of Gencon Book I bought, I noticed that Larry was one of the instigators way back then who got a section at the convention for the artists. Medieval, SciFi, Fantasy, you name it, there was art for it. I didn't spend as much time as I'd have liked to looking at it all.

There was also a section for guests from the entertainment industry who were signing autographs, including Ellen Dubin (Lexx, The Collector), Matthew Atherton (Who Wants To Be A Super Hero), Lani Tapu (Frascape), Adrienne Wilkinson (Xena). I did grab a couple snapshots from the autograph booths, but alas, I didn't seek autographs as I'm not that familiar with their work.

There was a booth I happened to pass on Saturday for Dark City Games. That had what looked to be a very basic games called Legends and some affordable modules for it. It looked very basic, which is a plus for me. Too many companies make it all convoluted. In this age of computers and an easy option to just play World of Warcraft, we need basic games to get them back at the table. The more convoluted a game, the less likely to attract a new gamer. But, that's for another post. Fact is, Dark City appears to be a small company trying to get into the game, and I wanted to support the cause on Sunday. Alas, something else grabbed my money along the way.

The guy next to Crazy Egors took about $20 when he plopped down that Moldvay Basic book and the accessories to Basic D&D and Hollow World (many in shrink wrap still) at $2 a pop. Just missed a copy of Castle Amber too. Then, I grabbed the Gencon book, and that was it for me. The fact is, I could have easily sunk $200 or more at these used book booths (Crazy Egors, Troll & Toad and I forget, sorry). I was looking for B & X modules and some were there. I bought a few. One booth had some Companion and Masters Mods unmarked, but when I asked, ouch!!! Pricey.

I just can't convince myself to pay $20 or more for modules, even ones I don't have. I'm sure that's a fair price considering, buy there's this thing called ebay. Also, Half Price Books and other sources. My luck, I spend $20 on Rhasia (B7) and find it at the used book store for $5. I'll take my chances, thank you. As I said, I intend to come back, and maybe there will be a budget for me to spend more. Oh, the used game books and boxed sets these places have, a collector's dream. I did add a few affordable books to the collection at least.

The auction was going on accross the hall from the Exhibit Hall. Frank Mentzer and (Former Editor of Dragon Magazine in the early days) Tim Kask were there. Met Frank, didn't get a chance to meet Tim. The auction seemed to be a huge success. I missed getting a Keep on the Borderlands for $1 when I couldn't get my card out of the bag quick enough, but I got a BSolo Mod, the Ghost of Lion Castle. There were other items I'd have loved to have gotten, but you gotta keep your head at a place like this or money gets spent quickly.

One collector, probably a game store owner, sat with two others. One guy was on a laptop probably checking the going rates on things. These guys must have easily spent $500 to $1000 just during the time I was there. I'm sure there were a few people just wanting that one thing or another that didn't care for being outbidded by hoarders, but that's the way these deals go down. If you really want it, then you have to spend the money.

I'm in my third part of this column about the Exhibition Hall, and I fear I'm not doing it justice. I'm only giving you a small picture of things. I'll add a little more, though it's not gonna be enough. Only thing I can say is if you haven't gone, start making plans now and go.

Did you know there was a little obstacle course in the back behind the computer demo area for Segway Races? That's right, they have Segway Races there.

Mayfair Games had a booth. These guys were a co sponsor of Gencon, along with Wizards of the Coast, Upper Deck, Tenacious Games Inc. and WizKids. Mayfair does a wide variety of card and board games. You know, back in the 80's, Mayfair did Role Aids, which were compatible with AD&D. Tenacious is the company that makes The Spoils card game, and there was a Spoils Tournament. They also sponsored the Rukus On The Roof Party on Thursday. Some of the companies in this paragraph I'm not familiar with, but as sponsors, they helped make Gencon 40 go.

Card Games were represented. I can't really ignore that, but to be honest with you, I'm just not into them. Magic The Gathering allowed Wizards of the Coast the money to buy TSR and the D&D line back in 1997. When I was still occasionally playing Basic D&D with my cousin, I remember looking to see what this Magic stuff was all about. People looked like they had fun, but one look at the prices turned me off quick. $20 for a card in some cases? No thanks. Sure the card might help you win, but sheesh.

At Gencon, there were booths selling some of these cards, and they went higher than $20 for some cards, let me tell you. If people have fun playing Magic, The Spoils, Yu-Gi-Oh, Pirates and the other games, more power to them. That's really the point anyway. But it looks like it would get expensive real quick.

I wanna mention the clothing apparel, shirts, hats and the like. You could get a shirt with fantasy or SciFi art or whatever sayings they had on them. There were medieval outfits for sale. You could get your own shirt designed. Speaking of medieval, there were swords, daggers and that sort of stuff available as well. How will I get that on the plane? You could design your own foam weapon too. Lots and lots of miniatures were available for sale. In one area in the main hallway, there were miniature painting contests.

Need dice and dice bags? Well, there were lots of booths for that. Dice of every color and compound imaginable. Col. Zocchi had the Gamescience booth. He did a seminar that I attended, and I understand he's been to more Gencon's than anybody. I got a coupon for my Zocchi dice, and yes, I went and got it. His had a very informative seminar on game design, by the way.

Chessex was there with their assortment of dice, battle mats and other useful game accessories. I actually picked up one of their battle mats at my local game store a while back. You use their special pens to write on it, and windex will clean it right off at the end of the game session. Good stuff.

I'm going through my cards and stuff to cover a few tings in closing, but again, I'm only scratching the surface of things.

By the way, a starter pack for the World of Warcraft Card Game was included in every swag bag when you signed in. Haven't opened mine. Not surprised to see them doing this, but I would think they are making good money with the online game.


Got a sample card for a game called Scion, a scifi card game.

Got a couple cards for the new card game 24, based on the TV show, of course. They had a demo table at the booth.

Got a card for the Star Wars game. I believe this is a game put out by Wizards of the Coast. That one was demo'ing at the Wizards booth.

Another card for Stargate. As I said, lots of card games.

Got a few collectors cards at Weis & Hickman's DragonLance booth for the upcoming movie. One was signed by the voice actor. The character is Tasslehoff Burrfoot, voiced by Jason Marsden.

Got a card for something called Eve. I think it's a card game as well as an online role playing game.

Got a business card of Larry Elmore, because it looked pretty cool. If I had the money, I'd hire him in a minute to do art for my game.

A card for a game called Kill The Hippies. This one looks like it would be a fun game to play for laughs. The card appears to be the Font Of Revirginization.

Got a business card for something called itabletop.com. Sounds like it could be a useful tool for playing table top RPG's on line.

Dave Arneson signed a card for me that was when he won the Orgin's Hall Of Fame award. Pretty cool actually.

There was a post card sized card for National Security Decision Making Game. Trust No One. What made me grab the card was that it had a little kitten positioned at a window aiming a rifle towards the street. I got a chuckle out of that one.

I got a card for a game callec Skrall that offered 50% off the purchase at Gencon. I believe this is a scifi game.

Michael Stackpole, who did three of the writing seminars I attended, had a card for his podcast Fortress Draconis. this guy is an excellent speaker, and it is probably worth a listen.

I grabbed a couple cards for the card game Full Metal Alchemist.

By the way, it's worth the mention that there was plenty of Anime representation at Gencon.

Lulu.com had a booth. I plan to publish through them. When I got to Gencon, I thought I might be able to order Labyrinth Lord through them and my HotDC Charts Book that I had uploaded to their site, but they weren't set up for that. They do sell quite a bit of stuff that may interest RPG fans. What is really cool is anybody can publish a book through Lulu.

A game called Dragons of Kir was represented with a booth, and they handed out book marks. Looks like a fast paced, two player strategy board game that might be fun to check out. I think they had a demo table at the booth as well. It would probably take two FULL days to really go over everything in the Exhibition Hall and demo what you want to demo, and even that may not be enough time.

Cliche Games had a card for Dragon Hoard that read, "Did you know that 1% of the world's dragons own 90% of the world's wealth. Do you think that's fair?" dragonhoard.com is the site, but I haven't checked it out to see what it's all about.

There was a booth in the back for Fellowship of the Dice. They were screening this movie during the convention, but it didn't fit my schedule. I considered coming back to check out the DVD on Sunday, but alas, money was tight.

Got a card saying, "Join the revolution" It was for the 2nd Annual Indie Game Developers Showcase. It was an electronic gaming exhibit.

A card for something called Campaign Coins. I believe these people do coins you can use if you are a Live Action Role Player.

Got a card advertising a collectible strategy card game called Pox Nora. Looks like you could register online and get in on the game early.

Got a card for Days of Wonder. Looks like you can register to play online versions of Days of Wonder or Ticket to Ride for free for 60 days.

Got a card for a game called Prophesy - Heed The Warning. Looks like a role playing game on a world scale.

Got a Gleemax card. Before D&D 4th Edition was announced, Wizards of the Coast unveiled Gleemax. This will be part of their Digital Initiative and a way for gamers to hook up and get into other games.

It's worth noting that Robert E Howard Days was a part of Gencon. I know there were many fans of Conan. I grabbed a free comic. There were books and other stuff.

In the exhibition Hall, the Age Of Conan game was being unveiled. There was a booth with screens to demo the game, and free swag was given to all who visited the booth. Sounds like a fun game, and there are so many to choose from for those who don't have time or can't find a table to game to play.

Star Wars Galaxies had a 14 day free trial for their game. It says Celebrate 30 years of Star Wars. Has it been that long already? Wow!

Gods & Heroes - Rome's Rising had a card offering people to join their Beta Playtest. It's always nice to Beta Test if you can. I got to do that with Turbine's Asheron's Call. Didn't see Turbine represented, and I thought I would be for Lord of the Rings Online.

A card that had a 14 day free trial of Linneage 2 on one side and Dungeon Runners for 7 days on the other side. Wonder how the dungeons are in Dungeon Runners?

Geek Squad was there.

Atari was there.

Eidos was there.

Didn't see Obsidian there, but there was one screen to demo Neverwinter Nights 2's Expansion Pack (Mask of the Betrayer). With 4.0 rules coming out, wonder how long it will be before Neverwinter Nights 3 comes out?

But, they still play Neverwinter Nights 1. There was a flier advertising a free persistent world with NWN1. nwnaria.com is the place to check out if you want that online multi player experience without the monthly fee.

The ENnie's were held at Gencon for the 7th year, and they handed out fliers to let the people who didn't attend the banquet know who won. enworld.com is the place to go to check out that and other cool stuff. They are covering 4th Edition D&D pretty heavily there.

Got a flier from Immortal Eyes Games, makers of such board games as Pecking Order, Conquest of Pangea and Terra Nova.

Dronolan's Tower had a nice colored flier advertising music by gamers for gamers. hey had several CD's at their booth, and it can be a good mood setter for your games from what I heard.

Dwarven Forge had a flier advertising their Cavernous Lake Expansion Set 25mm gaming terrain for miniatures. If you do the miniatures thing in your D&D or other game, this stuff may be for you.

Gamer Print Shop had a flier. They print RPG Maps for Gamemasters and RPG Publishers.

Origins was there handing out swag bags and advertising their convention, which takes place June 25-29 in Colombus, Ohio next year.

Mark O'Bannon of Shadowstar Games had a little illustrated book called How To Tell A Story.

I also grabbed a poster and a little book for the computer game, The Witcher. The book was a short story called The Lesser Evil by Andrze J. Sapkowski.

They also had places for the kids. As I said, there was quite a bit to cover. I hope this gives you a decent idea of some of what was there. It's time for me to leave the Exhibition Hall.

Next

Seminars, Games And Other Fun Stuff

My Gencon Trip Part 7

Seminars, Games And Other Fun Stuff Part 2

What I Learned At Gencon

I am a writer. I have been for most of my life. For nearly 20 years, I covered auto racing in my area, mostly dirt tracks. I did a magazine of my own for 18 years, worked as a publicity director at two tracks and announced at three tracks. That's just some of the stuff I did. I have attempted on a few occasions to write a novel, only to have it end before completion. I do have one book complete and in the editing stages, but not the type of novel I'd like to write. I'll get into some of my attempts in a later post as they tie in with something else I discuss here on occasion.

I have other story ideas I'd like to pursue, some are of a fantasy or science fiction nature. I have the game as my main project now and another project covering racing that I'd like to get started on in 2008. But, I also have some story ideas I'd like to pursue. When I realized gaming wasn't an option at Gencon, I also noticed some interesting seminars on the schedule concerning writing novels and games. I decided to see what I could learn here. As it turns out, I learned quite a bit from one man alone. Well, the others were useful too.

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Michael Stackpole is the man who impressed me the most. Obviously, others were impressed as well, because the three seminars I attended of his were packed. They were $7.50 a piece, and well worth the money. I could give you an in depth look at what he covered, but I'm not going to do that. First, I don't know that he would appreciate it, and second, it would get wordy very quickly here if I did. I do need to go back and retranscribe what he said as I will have a hard time reading some of my notes if I don't.

Before I go any further, Michael has two web sites I wanna plug here:

This is a page with a podcast of his creative work.

http://www.stormwolf.com/

This is a podcast for the serious writer. You wanna learn about technique and the basics, go here. I believe this one is subscription based, but it's worth it if you wanna be a writer.

http://michaelastackpole.com/thesecrets/podcasts/

I had no idea who any of the people running these seminars were, but I left being impressed with some of them. Let me say that Michael is very passionate about what he does. He loves to write, and it shows. He's not up there giving a line of bull. He's up there for the love of writing and the desire to see others be successful. I wouldn't hesitate to go to another one of his seminars next time.

The Writing Career and 21 Days to a Novel were two of Michael's seminars. The latter was maybe the most useful, but all three of them had information. I'll highlight some stuff.

1-21 days covers all the steps you need to take to outline what you want to do with your novel. It covers creating characters, giving them backgrounds, plot development and that sort of thing. Let me just say that I will be using these 21 steps to outline my future writing projects.

2-Michael advocates short chapters, around 2500 words, with endings that get people wanting to start on the next chapter. At 2200, he recommends looking for a way out of that chapter.

3-Michael wasn't the only person I heard say this, but 90,000 to 120,000 words is the recommended length of a book. The publishers generally pay by the word.

That's just a small example of what I learned in a little over 3 hours of Stackpole seminars. He says it's best to write about what interests you. Don't let anybody tell you you can't do it. Never start editing your book before you are finished writing it or you'll never get done. It sounds pretty basic, because it is. But, you'd be surprised at how many people lose their way in writing and never get done.

But, I don't wanna give away all of Michael's secrets. You really should check out his web site if you are interested. You won't be disappointed.

Colonol Louis Zocchi gave a seminar on how to sell your game design. Lots of useful information and lots of territory was covered. Zocchi is a dice manufacturer and an award winning game designer. He covered area such as what you need to put on the box of your game (don't use a bunch of flavor text. Briefly describe what is it, how many players, how long does it take to play and that sort of thing.) Originally, until just before I left for Gencon, the back of the HotDC Quick Charts book had flavor text on it.

He covered Copyright, Trademark, what the law is on copyrighting a game (The Anti Monopoly lawsuit was covered briefly), what to sell your game for and how the money is earned from writer to publisher to distributor, ISBN numbers, the dangers of printing too many copies of your game with your own money. He also explained why it's better to ask your printer how much to print 1000 copies (instead of 100) and places to get cheap boxes for your game.

There is a little bit about Zocchi over at this web page if you are interested:

http://www.advancinghordes.com/about_gamescience.php

Bringing Your Game Design Concept To Life, Game Design Theory & Principles and Getting Into Game Writing were the three other seminars I went to that focused on game writing, and all three were panel discussions. I found the Stackpole and Zocchi seminars to be more useful to me, but there was much information at these three as well. Let me just throw out a few observations as we are running long with this post too.

Bringing Your Game Design To Life

Mike Gray (Hasbro), Matt Forbeck (Author, Game Designer), Richard Garfield (Magic: The Gathering), Reiner Knizia (Game Designer, Board Games) were on the panel.

Gray offered lots of information on getting published by big companies, such as Hasbro. It's not easy, but I didn't think it was. You need a business agent to get your stuff submitted. They don't deal with designers. You have to go to a broker (Costs $100 or so). At this level, you're not just walking in there. Do you want to make a lot of money, or a little. It's about mass appeal, not just what you like. He had other helpful information for dealing with the "big boys" of game making.

Reiner jumped in and said that if your strategy is to get published by Hasbro, listen to Gray. His strategy was to get a few games published, so he went to smaller companies. Smaller companies are more easily approachable. There is better contact with smaller companies, because they live and die by these deals.

Richard pointed out that self publishing is a good way to go, because you will learn how to do it. The tools are so easy now in the age of in demand printing. Then, big publishers can look at a game that is published.

Matt pointed out that you don't have to have art to make the presentation, just use clip art. He adds that your art may be used, depending how good it is, but companies have their own artists.

It wasn't a bad seminar. I'm looking at self publishing at the moment, but it doesn't hurt to know this stuff.

Game Design Theories & Principles

There were four people on the panel here, Luke Johnson (Freelancer), Chris Pearson (DragonLance Writer), Don (RPGA Staff) and a guy whose name I missed (TSR, Wizards of the Coast).

There were fliers on the table when we came into the room, including a contact list of companies, Publishing 101, A Few Basics and Game Design Theory & Principles. This seminar highlighted some of the things you need to know about designing a game. Offer balanced choices for the players. Risk vs. Reward. Player Control vs. Designer Control. Make sure your design plot is forwarded regardless of what the players do. It gets too boring if the players have it too easy. You want them to seek out options for some challenges. Make sure the DM knows what the main plot is supposed to be so he can adapt things to his player's actions. There was more, but you get the general idea. All in all, good information here.

Getting Into Game Writing

Another panel. Part of my challenge getting to these things on time was booking some too close in time, but not close enough from building to building. Getting to the Embassy was a pain, and I was late for one of Stackpole's seminars by about 5-10 minutes. This one I was a few minutes late for as well, so I don't have panel names.

Like writing and playing. You have to be able to look at it analytically. Figure out what you like and go with that. You have to know the product front and back. Five years ago was the D20 boon, but it's not going to be that easy now. You have to be comfortable with writing on demand and deadlines. If you make deadlines, return calls & e-mails on time, you will be more popular with companies. Be professional. Have a friendly attitude, but not too friendly. You are just a cog in the wheel. There are others in the process. Hit your word limit. Don't go over or under it. Sometimes you can get into companies by doing a few things for free. Write reviews for games. Develop a good reputation in the forums. Companies notice that. You get the gist of it. Another good seminar.

When I learned of Dave Arneson's calling in sick for the Blackmoor seminar, I was disappointed. Dave Kenzer showed, which I'll get into in the next post. However, I was hoping to see Arneson in the 40 Years of Gencon seminar later that Friday. I went early. In fact, I was an hour early and ended up in another seminar, From, License To Game with Andrew Parks. I actually had to look for this yesterday, because I had no idea what this seminar was, and it wasn't listed in the book for this room at this time.

I had every intention of just bailing on the Gencon seminar if there was no Dave. I could have left Andrew's seminar, but I didn't want to be rude. There weren't that many people here, so I figured I'd listen. Andrew does card games, which I don't play, but I admit to thinking about the idea. Could I design a card game? Hmmm.... Well, Andrew discussed getting licenses for games. He did a 300 game based on that movie. The Harry Potter Card Game was another he mentioned. He's working on card games for Gremlins and Office Space. He talked about the challenges of getting use of the Intellectual Property for these games. Sometimes certain things are expected by the IP holder, because they don't want their characters acting in a way hat goes against how they are depicted on screen or in books.

It was an interesting seminar, and I'm glad I stayed. I see I have run long again, so we'll have to add another part to this ever growing Gencon Series.

Next

The Entertainment Seminars And Stuff

My Gencon Trip Part 6

Seminars, Games And Other Fun Stuff Part 1

How It Became A Seminar Convention For Me

I wanted to get into a game or two. I'll be honest. Gencon is gaming. How do you go there and NOT partake in at least one game. Well, let me tell you how. You procrastinate. That's how. Gencon was on my radar for several months before I decided to go. Fear of flying held me back until it very nearly kept me from going. I happen to have a good friend, a best friend, actually. Like a brother to me. We did our share of good in the sport of auto racing once upon a time, and he and his wife offered the plane tickets and a place to stay. And you didn't jump on it immediately? You suck. Like I said, fear of flying.

Had I made the decision to go just two weeks earlier, I could have caught the tail end of prereg and signed up for a game. Had I done it even sooner, I could have had my pick of anything. Up until my arrival at The Convention Center on Wednesday, I had hopes of gaming, most of it old school stuff. Ken St. Andre himself was listed as Game master of some Beginner's Tunnels & Trolls sessions (it's been a while for me). Problem was I could find them on the web on Tuesday night, but not in the book on Wednesday.

I had brought a my copy of the Dungeon Board Game rules as a session was scheduled for what I thought was Thursday. It was Wednesday. Well, I was with my friend, he's not into the whole gaming thing and I didn't think it would be appropriate for me to sign up. He didn't mind, but I had made up my mind to try and make things as convenient for him as possible. After all, I'm here because of him, and I didn't want to be too greedy. Looking at the book on Wednesday, I decided to make this convention about the Exhibit Hall and Seminars. There were some entertainment ones I wanted to see and some writing and publishing ones. Gaming would have to wait til next time.

I believe there was gaming happening in places from 7 AM to 12 AM, so it could have been an option if I had stayed on site or nearby. That is a rather costly proposition for me, but had I made that investment, it would have enhanced the Gencon experience. My friend is graciously driving me back and forth, about a 30-40 minute drive, all four days. And, he's not a gamer, he's doing this for a friend. I'm getting there at about 10 AM and leaving at my self imposed curfew of 9 PM. Again, he wanted me to enjoy whatever I wanted to do there, but I could not see asking for more time considering how much he had already done.

I had considered the Motel 6 option, some 6 or 7 miles down the road, but even at that cheaper cost, it's gonna be another $200 or more easily. I wish I had the money, but I don't, not without spending money I really didn't have to spend. I'm sure there are plenty of Gencon goers who crossed that line. I sort of walked up to it on Sunday, but I didn't get carried away. But, I'm drifting a bit here.

If you are on staying on site or nearby, you have the option of using the early morning hours or the late evening hours to get a game in. There's not much else going on by then as the Exhibit Hall is closed and there are no Seminars happening. When I'm planning the next time and considering what I can and can't do, I will have to consider the place to stay option. This would make it so that my friend wouldn't have to do all of that driving back and forth, and it would also allow maximum Gencon time for gaming.

And believe me, it's never too early to start planning for the next Gencon. Registration will not open until April or May 2008 (I'd have to look), but there is a LOT to consider if you want to take it all in. Really, I'm not unhappy with the way this one went down. I made it an Exhibition Hall & Seminar Convention and learned, laughed and had fun. I bought some of my event tickets on Wednesday, along with a few Generic Gaming Tickets (which didn't get used).

After reading the event book more closely (it was a bit overwhelming on Wednesday), I thought I might have a chance on Thursday to get a game or two. Coupled with the fact that the Exhibition Hall wasn't opening until a 11 AM, I figured I'd take a shot at it. Well, I managed to get into the seminars, but Hackmaster For Beginners and Beginners D&D weren't gonna happen. The guy at the desk told me that before he even saw my slip. So, gaming was just not in the cards.

I did try one more time (as mentioned in another post), but no success. The wish list for next time is some D&D, Hackmaster, old Basic D&D, T&T, HeroQuest, Dungeon and Decent. That's right off the top of my head. I walked past the open gaining area several times during my frustrating attempts to get from the Hyatt to the Embassy, but the seminars were booked too close together to find time to make an attempt at the open gaming.

All through the weekend, I walked past areas that had games happening. The D&D room was busy all the time. There were lots of card games set up. There were many board games. Miniatures set in several different types of games, from fantasy to war to science fiction. But, alas, I never had a chance to do more than walk by the rooms and look inside.

It mirrors my frustration with the way things are here. The people I have gamed with are all gone, moved away. The game has changed, and I'm unable to find something I can fit into. My game local store is moving closer and will have open game rooms available, but alas, I don't think he would want any of the games I'd like to play to happen there. Labyrinth Lord is new and on sale, but the community seems to have a problem with the OSRIC document. I haven't discussed anything to do with HotDC with him as I'm still not where I would like it to be. This is one reason I'm looking at 4th Edition D&D. It will be a new edition, and perhaps a new chance to find a game. I still prefer the old school basic stuff though.

So, for seminars, I lined up several very informative ones about writing, a few on game design, one on card games that I mistakenly walked in on and stayed for, a couple from KenzerCo., one on DragonLance, Forgotten Realms, one on 40 Years of Gencon that had Dave Arneson, a Blackmoor seminar Dave Arneson called in sick for, a screening of The Gamers movie and a bit of Hickman's Killer Breakfast.

As we wrap up this seven part feature, I will cover a little bit of what was discussed at the Seminars I was at.

Next

Seminars, Games And Other Fun Stuff Part 2 - What I Learned At Gencon

My Gencon Trip Part 9

Seminars, Games And Other Fun Stuff Part 4

DragonLance Movie, Hickman's Killer Breakfast, Forgotten Realms And Costumes

I really thought I could wrap this up in the last post, but I got too wordy with the Kenzer stuff. No problem though. This post should wrap things up, I hope.

Forgotten Realms Lives

Once upon a time, back in the late 80's, a campaign setting was created for AD&D called Forgotten Realms. It was created by Ed Greenwood. Ed had been writing novels and creating stuff for TSR for years before that. I have some of his Dragon Magazine articles, and I had my hands on one of his Companion Edition modules at Gencon (put it back as it was a little pricey). I don't know the exact story, but Forgotten Realms would replace the Gygax created Grayhawk as the #1 campaign setting of AD&D. Even now, just a few years into the existence of Eberron, The Forgotten Realms is #1.

It's easy to understand why. The Forgotten Realms is everywhere. If you are not in the game, you can read books about characters in the land, such as Greenwood's Elminster Aumar and R. A. Salvatore's Drizzt Do'Urden. Many of the best D&D computer games are based in the Forgotten Realms, such as Neverwinter Nights, Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale, three games I have played and enjoyed. I also have the Undermountain 1 & 2 Boxed Sets, and within the last year was actually able to successfully play to completion the bug riddled Descent To Undermountain (I rather liked that game). Let's not forget the Gold Box games SSI made based in the Forgotten Realms.

Yep, FR is everywhere, and the room was packed with players wanting to know that the setting would live in 4th Edition D&D. It will. Are you kidding? The FR is a cash cow. It's not going anywhere. As Greenwood and the panel explained in this 2 hour presentation, the best is yet to come. Greenwood doesn't do the act of putting on the wizard's hat and becoming Elminster anymore. I would have loved to see that actually. You can tell he's still excited about the future of the world he created.

Ed confessed that he misses the days of the boxed set with all the maps, such as Undermountain 1 & 2 had back in the day. The Expedition To Undermountain book that came out a couple months ago was lacking in the map department. Now the map to the old boxed set was something you could get lost in, or spend a whole night gaming with it and still not get very far. Ah, the old days of the serious dungeon crawl...

If you are late to the Elminster party, Ed revealed that the Annotated Elminster hard cover set is coming. It features The Making Of A Mage, Elminster In Myth Drannor and The Temptation Of Elminster, along with behind the scenes stuff from Ed. Oh, and there is lots of Salvator's Drizzt goodies coming in the future, and more Drizzt vs. Elminster comparisons by fans too, I would guess.

Richard Baker has a book coming called Sword Mage. Halberg of Moonsea comes home and finds that all is not as it should be. What's going on? Guess you'll have to read the book to find out. And, there are other novels coming as well.

Now, in 4th Edition D&D, not all of the FR will be covered in the books the way people may like, at least not at first. The reason is the cost of printing. It's not cheap. Some material for 4th Edition FR will have to go into the Digital version of Dragon and Dungeon Magazines, which will require subscriptions. However, it sounds as if the first campaign setting book to come after the core rule books are released next year will be for the Forgotten Realms. There will be a book to help you create Realms characters, and the first (as of yet unnamed) module is also in the works.

Yep, the Forgotten Realms lives, and it figures to continue for the foreseeable future. Now, if we could get a little bit of love for Mystara...

Weis, Hickman And DragonLance

I'm not sure what the future as a campaign setting for DragonLance is, but I'll yell you one thing. It has loads of fans, and they seem to want more. I'm less familiar with DL than FR, but when I heard the next D&D Movie would be in a DL setting, I wanted to know more. Recently, Wizards of the Coast revoked the license from Margret Weis & Tracy Hickman to create more adventures in that campaign setting. As I don't know all the details, I won't say anything else, but they did comment on stage that they weren't happy about the situation.

I would guess not. A movie is coming out with the possibility of more, and suddenly this happens. I hope for the best. Wizards has to realize the possibility to make money here, and the creators of this setting should still be a part of it's future. They certainly seem like they want to be. Then again, if Wizards can have people other than Gygax creating Grayhawk stuff...

At this point, we'll have to wait and see and hope for the best.

Let me just throw a link to what is still the official DragonLance page for now.

http://www.dragonlance.com/

They showed a trailer to the packed room of several hundred people. The movie is called Dragons of Autumn Twilight, by the way. Some of it was in black and white as it was still unfinished. We heard some of the musical score to the movie and a making of the musical score film was shown. Among the cast for this movie:

Tanis Half-Elven: Michael Rosenbaum

Raistlin Majere: Kiefer Sutherland

Verminaard: David Sobolov

Goldmoon: Lucy Lawless

Flint Fireforge/Fewmaster Toede: Fred Tatasciore

Tika Waylan: Michelle Trachtenberg

Caramon Majere: Rino Romano

Tasslehoff Burrfoot: Jason Marsden

They have assembled a good cast of voice actors for this one. It was mentioned that Sutherland insisted on getting all the pronunciation right on the words. They said he was really into doing the job right.

They want to do sequels to this movie. Paramount is putting it out and has the option to do a theater release in November, but they are hoping for direct to DVD. The reason they want to go straight to DVD is there is a better chance to make money, and that gives them a better chance to make more movies. Sound logical to me. People are hoping for a better D&D movie than the first two.

An army of dragons descends upon Krynn after 300 years of peace, and they have to assemble an army to save themselves. The movie will be about an hour long, and Margaret Weis was involved in the making of this movie all the way. They are using some 3D effects in certain key scenes, and some will be regular animation. The reason being they want to tell the story and thought the best way would be with regular animation. The destruction of Istar is in this film. The story is contained within this film. As for when they will know if they will be able to make a second film, they say within 90 days of the release. They wanted to do a making of the movie book, but finally gave up as Wizards bogged things down.

All in all, it sounds like it should be a winner. I'll be checking it out when it comes out.

Now, Tracy and Laura Hickman have a little tradition they do at Gencon called The Killer Breakfast. Stupid me, when i came to the event, I actually thought it was a breakfast. What it is is Tracy up on stage with his wife hosting an informal game where all of the players die and are immediately replaced by another player. There are games and other fun stuff that happen during the 2 hour tradition. The honor is getting up there and having you character killed. Maybe you last a few minutes or a few seconds. The crowd gets a laugh out of it, and this is what it is all about. Members from the crowd get up there and their characters get killed, right along with celebrity's such as Gary Gygax and their characters.

I wasn't there for a long time, but I enjoyed the time I was there.

Costumes & The True Dungeon

I have mentioned this elsewhere, so I won't get into it too much, but there were people in costumes throughout the weekend. Everything from elves to demons to wizards to storm troopers to Darth Vader to Klingons to orcs. Well, there were some pretty neat costumes, let me tell you. They had contests at various times during the weekend, and I'll bet the judges had a hard time picking the winners. This is the fun part of any con, checking out the costumes people go to great lengths to make. I didn't take nearly enough pictures, and the camera I was using made it a challenge. I'd consider taking part in something like this, but I wouldn't even know where to start.

There was also the True Dungeon event. I had read about this when it came out to Gencon LA a few years ago. At a cost of $40, I decided not to partake. It sounds interesting, but I need to do a little more research on it before spending the money. Maybe next time. As I don't know much more than it being the size of an actual dungeon that you explore, I'll include a link to the page here.

http://www.truedungeon.com/true/dungeon.html

In Closing

That about wraps it up. I hope I gave you a decent idea of some of what happened at Gencon 40. I know I didn't see all I could, but who does? This is a huge event, and you have to see it to believe it. I'm glad I made it on the 40th Anniversary of the convention. What a time to pick my first visit. I learned things, met some of my gaming heroes, was there when D&D 4th Edition was unveiled, added to my collection and had fun. I'm not sure if I will get back there next year, but I am already considering it. If you've never been there, you should make the trip and check it out. Heck, come a few days earlier and see the sights, check out a race and have some fun. Indianapolis and Indiana in general is beautiful in the summer. You won't be disappointed.

My Gencon Trip Part 2

Meeting The Fathers Of The RPG As We Know It

The fact is that Gary Gygax AND Dave Arneson are the fathers of the RPG as we know it. Without BOTH of them, the hobby would be very different. Most people are more familiar with Gary. Why shouldn't they be? He is the man who guided TSR and Dungeons & Dragons for over a decade. He wrote the original book, based on Arneson's notes and his own ideas thrown in. He then authored 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and commissioned (is that the right word?) Basic D&D to be written by Dr. Holmes, then Tom Moldvay and finally Frank Mentzer. He authored numerous adventure modules, not to mention creating Grayhawk. He authored many articles for Dragon Magazine. He went to Hollywood and got the D&D Cartoon made. His leadership led to the first computer and video games with the D&D name on it.

And that's just some of what Gary did with D&D. He was the face of the company, and he seemed to love it. The fans have grown to respect him and his opinion. These days, Gary is just as busy as ever, authoring a new set of rules for his Lejendary Adventure game, published by Troll Lord Games. He also has authored several supplements for Castles & Crusades, a game that attempts to come as close as you can to 1st Edition AD&D using a D20 system. He has a new campaign setting for C&C. Oh, and there's that spot he did on Futurama a few years back.

Gary was a Guest of Honor and was available for autographs throughout the weekend. He even did seminars for 40 Years of Gencon and Religion In Gaming. Unfortunately, I missed them both. You better believe the lines outside the Troll Lord Games booth for his autograph were long, and Gary took the time to chat, pose for pictures and autograph whatever book was presented to him. I had my Mentzer Basic D&D book for him, but he also autographed the Lejendary Adventure Essentials boxed set I purchased.

It's great to see that Gary is making the effort to do something more basic for the fans like the LAE Set. He has been commenting on that at Enworld lately about the need for this. The Trolls will also be doing something like the old Basic Boxed Set soon. It seems the gaming companies are finally realizing a need for this, and I'm sure Gary's prodding of The Trolls helped speed them up. By the way, the Troll Lord Games guys were very curious and answeed any questions about C&C. They had a small white box for C&C that was in the style of the original D&D. I'm waiting for Basic C&C.

So, what do you say to Gary? Actually, it was more "fan boy" stuff from me. Thanks for the great work and I really enjoy the posts on the various forums. I'm sure Gary heard that type of stuff all weekend, and it probably gets old. But, this was a man who seemed to really enjoy interacting with the fans who have helped put him there. I'm sure The Trolls realize how lucky they are to have Gary as part of the team, or I hope they do.

Guys like Gary and Dave made it all possible. I know Gary realizes how much he's appreciated. However, I couldn't help but feel a little bad for Dave. This is just my observation, and I realize I could be off the mark with what I'm about to say. But, I'm gonna say it anyway. Dave's always been the guy in the shadows. After the Original D&D came out with his name next to Gary's, he was moved down to the Basic line. I say moved down when Basic is the game I loved, because most people who played AD&D back in the day didn't look at Basic with much respect.

There were lawsuits that Gary and Dave don't discuss to this day, and I wouldn't ever ask. Was Gary creating AD&D to leave Dave out of things, or was he doing it because the game needed defining of rules? That's a debate I'll stay away from, but you can look at AD&D and see it's a different feel from Basic. More complex and in many ways a much different game. But, as AD&D gained popularity, Gary became more popular. Dave? Not so much. Could there be hard feelings? Oh, you hear rumors, but I'm not going there.

Think about it, though. It's 1970. Dave has veered away from the war miniature game to an individual character game that takes place in the dungeons under Castle Blackmoor. Whole new terminologies have been created and new methods to resolve situations. The game is being created on the fly. Dave kept a now legendary note book to keep track of his rulings. This game was very popular in his circles in Minnesota. It wasn't just a campaign setting, it was a game. Where would D&D be if Dave didn't create Blackmoor? How many gamers know this or even care? Yet, the game existed, and people from Dave's table even admit that the main difference between Dave's Blackmoor and Gary & Dave's D&D (1974) is they now had rulebooks they could use.

It struck me as a bit sad that while they are lining up to see Gary, Dave is over at the far end in a wheel chair, talking to a few visitors as they come. If it bothered him, I heard nothing. What did bother him was being in that damn wheel chair, and I can't blame him there. When I was in Indy the week leading up to Gencon, I received word that Dave may not make it to Gencon. I can see where, health wise, he probably didn't feel up to it, but as a game designer who had done so much for the hobby, he wanted to be there and be a part of it.

I was in the hallway waiting to get in to the Exhibit Hall Thursday when Dave was wheeled past me. I was thinking, "Is that Dave?" He looked familiar from pictures, but I had never seen him before. When I got to the far end of the hall, I saw Dave at the Zeitgeist Games booth. He asked that no pictures be taken, which I respected. I thought it was cool that he gave me a card with his picture that he autographed. I'm not a player of 3.5 D&D, but I did pick up Blackmoor and The Dungeons Under Blackmoor books.

For the autograph, I pulled out a copy of Dave's First Fantasy Campaign book from 1977. He was surprised to see it and commented that it was a nicer copy than the one he had. We made idle chit chat. Dave remarked that the chair wasn't very comfortable. I commented how cool it must have been to be at the table for those early sessions when he was creating this stuff. He said that they didn't have a book and jokingly asked what book God used to create the world? I found that amusing. They really were putting something special together back then.

This is one of the things I think the Wizards have done right since unveiling D&D 3.0. They have made an effort to respect both Dave and Gary for what they did. I'm sure both would have an open door to create a module if they wanted. There's no attempt to exalt one above the other. D&D wouldn't be where it is today without both of them. Gary may have the more impressive looking resume, but without Dave, I doubt D&D would even exist.

So, I was looking forward to some old stories of Blackmoor on Friday. There may have been ten people in the room, if we were lucky. I can't believe that's all we could get to hear Dave speak of Blackmoor. Why? Was it lack of advertising? Lack of interest in gaming history? I tend to think it could have been better if it had been properly hyped. It turned out, Dave didn't show. He wasn't feeling well, or so we were told. We got Dave Kenzer instead. Not that I mind Kenzer as I am a fan, but I came for Blackmoor, of which he knew nothing.

A couple hours later, Dave was on hand for the 40 Years of Gencon seminar, so I got to hear a few old stories. It made me wonder about the no show. I don't doubt he wasn't feeling well, but the lack of signups made me wonder if he was a little disappointed in the numbers. I could be way off base here, but I'm just being honest. If you're not feeling well to begin with and maybe ten (of 100) people sign up to hear you tell a story of how it all began, what do you do? Dragon Lance and Forgotten Realms were packed for their seminars. I guess it was a bit disappointing that Dustin or somebody from Zeitgeist Games didn't come in Dave's place, but what the heck. The seminar was free anyway.

With D&D 4.0 on the way, fewer and fewer people may care about events that took place over 35 years ago. Sad, but true. I know Gary feels the love, but I'm not sure about Dave. Of course, Gary has a bigger presence in the community than Dave these days, and I'm sure that's a personal choice. It is a business, and the more you put out, the more you will get back. In the end, it was still nice to meet both of them and to thank them for their work. I doubt I would be working on my own game if not for what they did all those years before.

To be continued...

Next


Roaming The Exhibition Hall

My Gencon Trip Part 3

Roaming The Exhibition Hall Part 1

On Thursday, my primary goal was to roam the Exhibition Hall and pick up a few items that I had planned to buy. With all of the seminars I had booked for the weekend, this was the longest span of open time I had available. Really, you need the better part of a day to take it all in, and more if you want to sample the demo games. There were lots of demos, and some of them looked pretty fun.

I had a few goals in mind for Thursday, pretty simple ones actually. I wanted to get a new boxed set of Tunnels & Trolls. The Flying Buffalo booth was one of the first I saw, so I headed over to it. As luck would have it, T&T's creator Ken St. Andre, happened to be working the booth. There was a copy of 7th Edition T&T, which I've heard has several changes from the rules I remember. The person next to me actually bought that one. Ken was talking to another person who was interested in the game and made another sale.

T&T was the second RPG game to hit the shelves after D&D. I still have my old copy of it. I believe it was my friend Brian who introduced me to this game after he showed me D&D. I liked the fact that you could play it solo and the rules are very simple and easy to learn. Plus, it's a six sided dice system. It's nice to see the game still lives. Actually, Flying Buffalo released a quick start rule book and Goblin Lake adventure on Free RPG Day, and I made sure to get a copy.

I also happened to sign up for three writing seminars done by Michael Stackpole (this will be covered in my next post). I didn't know Michael was doing them or really who he was. His seminars impressed me though. Michael did some solo adventures for T&T, and I got a copy of Sewers Of Oblivion at the booth. Later, Michael would autograph it for me. After purchasing my new T&T boxed set, I had Ken autograph my old book.

Flying Buffalo has an award winning play by mail service, snail and e-mail. One of the neat things about T&T is how easy it is to learn the rules. If you don't happen to have a group to play with, they have you covered. Just create a character and get one of their many solo adventures. I believe they were the inspiration of Steve Jackson & Ian Livingstone's very popular Fighting Fantasy books.

The Steve Jackson Games booth was also on my list. They do the popular Gurps RPG and the Munchkin card game, among other things. I've seen the Munchkin card game at my local game store, and it looks like it could be a lot of fun. If I had a group to play with I'd probably have given it a try. I had thought of bringing The Warlock Of Firetop Mountain or one of my other FF books for Steve to sign, but I didn't. I thought I might find a copy there, but no such luck. Not sure if Steve was even there, but the booth had a lot of cool stuff.

I already mentioned elsewhere that Dave Arneson was on my list. I had a First Fantasy Campaign book and map (from 1977) in nice condition that I recently won on ebay. I had to get that signed. Dave is at Zeitgeist Games these days and graciously signed my FFC Book. I already mentioned that elsewhere, so I won't get too much into details here. I'm happy to see Dave is actively involved in the game, even if it is one of the lesser hyped deals. I get the feeling he may not be comfortable promoting himself.

Dave was a name on the Basic D&D book to me for a long time. I could have had him autograph the copy I brought, but it didn't seem right to do that. I'll spare you the reasons why. Recently, I've taken an interest in Blackmoor and learning more about the first Dungeon Crawl in RPG history. It's fascinating stuff. You know, a few years ago, Dave screened his documentary, Dragons In The Basement, at Gencon to nice reviews. I asked him if that would get to DVD soon, and he said not in the near future. I hope it makes it one day as this is a story the 3.5 and soon to be 4.0 crowd needs to hear.

I could have left with my autograph, but I decided to support the cause and get the Blackmoor Campaign book. There was just one problem. There was a Dungeons Under Castle Blackmoor book, and I recognized some of the maps from the First Fantasy Campaign book. I decided to get both. I'm not playing 3.5 these days, but this looks like a nice read. Plus, it could come into play one day at my table.

The KenzerCo booth was a must. I hit that one early on too. Hackmaster and Aces & Eights were both featured prominently along with Knights of the Dinner Table books. I got the latest Bundles Of Trouble book and Knights #95. Nearly have all of the first 100 in the series now, and that will be covered after two more issues of the BOT. I credit discovering this comic, I guess five or six years ago now, for rekindling my interest in RPG's.

The Kenzer Crew was all cautious and dressed in western wear to promote Aces & Eights. I've never really been a western fan, but that's just me. TSR failed to reach me with Boot Hill too. I will say that they really did a nice job with the A&E book, and if Hackmaster's next edition is that nice looking, it could win people over. The old Hackmaster was represented, but I've got to wonder if that many people bought it. You see, it was done with satire and based on AD&D 1st Edition Rules.

People who have bought Hackmaster have enjoyed many sessions. Heck, Kenzer even started the HMA (Hack Master Association). You get a licence to hack and everything. It's like the RPGA, I suppose. I doubt Wizards of the Coast expected much from Hackmaster when they granted the seven year deal on the licence, but people bought it and the mods Kenzer did, like Little Keep On The Boarderlands. Unfortunately, Hackmaster in this edition is done. The licence has expired.

Kenzer said they decided not to renew, and they probably did. They've been working on a new edition of Hackmaster for a while. But, it's very likely that Wizards wasn't going to renew anyway, and this was Kenzer's way of parting on their own terms and avoiding the backlash that would come out against Wizards. Wizards didn't renew with Paizo on Dungeon or Dragon Magazine. The two will be pdf's on the Internet now. They also didn't renew DragonLance with it's creators Hickman and Weis.

The rumors were this was because 4th Edition D&D was coming. Was it? Well, of course you know that now.

Kenzer is not giving up on Hackmaster. Aces & Eights is their main focus now. It's the one on the shelves, and it's good business to get behind it now. They will support old Hackmaster to some extent, while working on the next edition that should come out in 2009. Kingdom of Kalamar, once made for D&D, will become the Hackmaster setting with the next edition. Plus, there will be a Basic Hackmaster. With A&E out now, The Knights going strong and Hackmaster in the development stages, the future looks bright for the guys at KenzerCo.

Basic Editon Games has been something Gary Gygax has preached about for years. If you follow his threads at enworld or Dragonsfoot, you know that Gary has spoken of the need for it. Well, the Lejend Master himself has been busy at Troll Lord Games. I finally got to meet him on Saturday. I purchased his LA Essentials boxed set and had him sign that and my Basic D&D book. But, this has been covered elsewhere.

The Trolls have done well with Castles & Crusades. Using the D20 Licence, they have attempted to emulate 1st Edition as closely as they legally can. There are those (OSRIC) who emulate it even closer, but they aren't in business. Anybody trying to make money at this is a little wary of OSRIC, because that document hasn't been legally tested. I have more on that subject from the convention, but I'll put it in the post where I discussed it. Part 5 or 6 of this series.

Basically, The Trolls have done a nice job using the D20 to do what they've done. All of their core books were on sale. The cover artist had a booth next to them. There was a C&C Boxed Set based on D&D (1974) with the D20, but I'm looking forward to checking out the Basic C&C Boxed Set, which is coming soon from what I hear. C&C is about the closest thing being marketed to what an old school D&D gamer might be looking for. I my neck of the woods, they still have a hard time getting shelf space in the D&D dominated game stores

And D&D was represented in full force. Wizards had a big booth at the back of the Exhibition Hall where D&D, Magic and other games were demo'ed. 4dventure? What the heck is that. On Thursday, we had no clue. The TV screens at the booth just had the 4dventure picture. That evening, it was announced. 4th Edition is coming in 2008.

To Be Continued...

Next

Roaming The Exhibition Hall Part 2

More From Wizards, Paizo, Goodman Games, Larry Elmore, Used Games, Computer Games, Card Games, The Auction and more...

My Gencon Trip Part 1

The Road To Gencon

Will I go, or won't I? That was the question. I didn't know for sure, but I had an offer very early on to sponsor my plane ticket and give me a place to stay from an old friend. The trip would be a combo of Gencon, visiting my good friend and checking out some racing in the great state of Indiana. For 25 years or so, I was involved in racing here in California. I published a magazine for 18 years, announced, handled race track publicity and started a division with my friend that is still going strong. But, that's for another blog.

Racing slowly put an end to my gaming hobby. When I focus on something as intently as I did racing, other interests just don't get the time. The books were put up, though I added to my collection occasionally when I found something I liked. Computer RPG's such as Neverwinter Nights (AOL), Neverwinter Nights 1, Asheron's Call and Baldur's Gate had to serve as my RPG experience. Even now I have a hard time getting back to the table as my friends have all moved.

I believe I have already posted about working on a game a few years ago and them coming back to start on HotDC, so I'll spare you that. The Gencon possibility was there, but do I get on a plane? I was freaked at the idea. About a week before I made the decision to go, I learned that Dave Arneson would be there and would be doing a Blackmoor seminar. Then, I heard Frank Mentzer would be there. You know, Tom Moldvay passed away this year, so I finally made the decision to go. I wanted to meet these people while they were still here.

In another post that I will call Stupid Things We Did At The Table, I will recall some of the memories of my early days. Basic D&D was a big part of my life throughout the 80's, particularly from 82-85. I still recall the Gencon ad in the back of Moldvay Basic. I wanted to go then, and as I was on the plane. I still couldn't believe I was going. I was really going. What was it going to be like? I had no idea.

The first mistake I made was not signing up ahead of time. They offer preregistration for a reason. Take advantage of it. My excuse was the plane, but not next time. Flying was actually fun, and it didn't take that long. I figured on beating the lines by registering on Wednesday. I did, but I missed out on getting into the games I wanted to play because of waiting that long. I've been itching to get back at the table again, so this was a bit disappointing.

What I was hoping for was a Beginner's D&D game or two. I'm not too familiar with 3.5 rules and didn't want to slow things down. I was also looking at Tunnels & Trolls for a session or two, but I missed the boat on that. There was a Dungeon Board Game happening on Wednesday, but I opted not to do that as I was with my friend and didn't feel right about doing it then. He's not a gamer, he's racer. So, gaming wasn't looking like a possibility.

I did pop into the RPGA room on Saturday to see about getting in a Beginner game. I had a few Generic Tickets I thought I could use. I thought it would require two of them, but I heard $30 from one of the organizers. Now, I wanna game, but $30 is a bit steep for a 2 hour session. Probably should have checked out the open table area, but Seminars and wandering the Exhibit Hall were my main plans for the event. Next time, it will be Game Time!

Gencon is about gaming, and if you want in the game, register early and reserve your seats at the table online. And, let me tell you, there are a lot of games to choose from. If you want card games, RPG's, war miniatures or whatever, it's happening at Gencon. New games and out of print games are happening. I would love to see about getting into an old Basic D&D game next time or perhaps starting one. I'm learning how this all works, so maybe next time.

So, I didn't get into the game. What was I doing then? Walking through the Exhibition Hall and attending several seminars. Some of the seminars were for fun, like Dragon Lance, Forgotten Realms and Knights of the Dinner Table related events. Others were for learning, such as Michael Stackpole's excellent writing seminars and Col. Zocchi's seminar on getting a game published. I learned quite a bit, and I had a few laughs as well.

Then, there was the Exhibition Hall. I had a plan laid out for buying some of the stuff I was interested in on Thursday and being a "fan boy" for certain autographs. I would do this throughout the weekend. What will follow is more about my experience as well as my observations and opinions on some of the things I saw. I offer only a tiny glimpse of what I saw. There is so much I didn't see that I will be looking for next time. I did take pictures with my cheap digital. Some are posted and some will be.

To be continued...

Next

Meeting The Fathers Of The RPG As We Know It

What's The Holdup With HotDC?

Actually, it was sitting on Lulu at 32 pages and ready to go. I could have put the Quick Start Charts book out there and got to work on the Dwarven Dungeon. I need to get a few more ideas and a second level map drawn up for that, and then it's ready for the typing stage. But, back to the charts...

After Gencon, I got to thinking. Is there something missing that would make it better? Understand, it was never my desire to make this project the full book with all the bells and whistles. It was basically a reference for me to go over my notes easier. However, it took on a life of it's own, got bigger and bigger and became what it is.

But could I add something more to it? The Creature and Incantation lists are very basic. You get what you need to make it work. The Treasure Charts with respect to magic are basic as well. They will be fleshed out further in the main rulebook. Combat went from a basic chart to bigger explanation in this book because it was needed.

As I prepared for Gencon, I felt certain this was ready to go. It was uploaded. The covers were uploaded. The pdf was set for free, while the book has a slight fee. But I wanted to take a final look at things in Indy before going ahead with it. Alas, I never had enough computer time to do much. I could have released it, but I chose not to.

On the plane flight home, I thought about it and decided I could do one more thing. The intro in the book has been expanded, and so has the section for Character Creation. I felt it was needed to make it easier to start playing. I have even redone the covers. Unfortunately, I have no artist, so I'm doing what I can with what I have. Still looks pretty nice. I also have a name for my gaming effort and basic logo, which will be announced soon.

If all goes well, I would like to redo the book and possibly put it on Lulu within a week. It needs to be done right, so I'm not setting a firm date. What I want is for somebody to look at this book and be able to start a game within minutes. Stay tuned for more information.