How I helped to pull the rope that tolled the bell for OD&D

Everything printed after the original three little booklets having to do with OD&D (the game as it was played before the publishing of AD&D) was about suggestions, not rules. One of the founding tenets of D&D as it was played in its formative years of ’74 to ’77 was about rulings, not rules. Another was that it was expected that Dungeon Masters (DM’s) would mine for ideas wherever we could find them: books, fairy tales, movies, old comics, the pulps--all were fair game for ideas upon which to build an adventure or campaign.

OD&D (what the original, first version has come to be called) was simple, as in rules light, certainly not simple to understand in reading the three. (Often the term “Old School” (OS) and “OD&D” are used more or less interchangeably.) Every DM sculpted his campaign as he (they were all males in the beginning) saw fit. DM’s in those heady, halcyon days when everything was new and wonderful were direct descendants of our Neolithic ancestors who threw sheep shoulder bones into the fire and read the cracks. We “read” something just as exotic—platonic solids made of pretty colored plastic and covered with numbers. (The original d20’s  had no “-teens”, just 0-9 twice. We rolled a d6 alongside to add 10 or not.) There were no Jump Across a Chasm charts; we had Dexterity (Dex) and Strength (Str) we could factor in to determine the chance of a Player Character (PC) making it. Folks with high Dex stood a better chance of jumping the chasm through which a raging torrent flows; they rolled a d20, the DM rolled a d20 and the DM made a ruling. Was it arbitrary? Mostly not. I treated dice like Nordic runestones; rolling high numbers was good; rolling 4 or less often meant it did not work out so well—everything in between was where we read the cracks in the sheep shoulders (and most of the time I paid no attention whatsoever to the die I rolled). Oftentimes, just “rolling under your Dex” was all it took.

We all as DM’s created our own worlds in which things worked in certain ways. Don’t like psionics? Fine, they don’t exist in your world. Think that vampires as presented are too tough or not tough enough? OK, make them fit your world. Think something ought to work a certain way, or not work a certain way? No problem, they worked the way you felt “right” in your world.

When I took the first set of rules to the Southern Illinois University-Carbondale’s Strategic Game Society (The SIUSGS) in the autumn of ’74 shortly after the GenCon I attended that summer, a few of the guys (no lady members, back then as all we played were boardgames and miniatures (minis)) asked to see them, just to look at them. They were flustered and could make little sense of them just casually scanning; it did not seem to bother anyone in the slightest that only I “knew the rules”. We played 6 or 7 times a month for at least six months before any of the dozen or so players felt like buying a set of their own. It was two months before anyone else bought dice. The point? You did not need a bookbag full of books to play Old School. You did not have to familiarize yourself with dozens of charts and tables to be able to play. All you needed was dice, pencil and paper and imagination. We had no minis in the beginning; we used dice to teach ourselves mental spatial reference skills. “Greg, you’re blue; Tom, you’re green and the orcs are red”. To this day I prefer an OS type of melee, where it is flowing and fast and one-on-ones only happen later in subsequent rounds; you might be fighting three goblins but have hit each one only once so far… .

By now most everyone knows that TSR published the G Series of modules to serve as a common framework for convention games and tournaments (which were, in and of themselves, a perversion of the game’s ethos). We had to standardize play and grade behavior against a rubric.

The untold story up to this point is why we published the Supplements. I will give you my perspective:

Greyhawk (GH) was the only “true” supplement in that it contained the Alt Combat system and a few other things that simply could not be squeezed into the three original little brown-boxed booklets referred to often as the 3LBB’s—the three little brown books. It was truly supplementary material to flesh out the game. At first it was thought that miniatures gamers (the original target audience) would be more comfortable with the standard weapon damage. At some point someone had a “What were we thinking?” moment and admitted that minis players were already inveterate tinkerers , and Damage by Weapon Type was born.

As GH was named after Gary’ campaign, it was widely perceived as “Gary’s supplement”. Wishing to be fair, TSR told Dave that he could have a supplement also, and refine and tinker with the overall system should he wish to. This became Blackmoor, the second supplement, so named for his seminal campaign. As he stated frequently before his death, Dave was not very happy about “his supplement”. (The reasons behind that have all been dealt with at length in other venues. I go into a chunk of all that on the thread I have on Dragonsfoot.org.) In it we introduced new ideas and suggestions for building a temple and cult around it and making it a focus in a campaign as an example for others to mimic; remember that “borrowing” was encouraged. We showed players ways to go underwater and adventure. We were literally trying to open minds to possibilities. It was the last true supplement; the following books were horses of different colors.

Gary had very distinct ideas on how he thought his game should be played. One quirk? He found it intellectually incomprehensible why anyone would wish to play anything but a human Player Character (PC). He found the idea of “half-breeds” to be repugnant, and not just half-orcs, either. He simply could not wrap his head around it at first. However, he knew there were some battles he could win and some not worth fighting, especially if they drove sales. There were other challenges to the game, which brings me to the subject of hubris.

Dictionary.com defines hubris thusly; “…excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance.” We had a little pride, but a lot more arrogance, now that I look back on it. We absolutely felt that we “knew” the way the game “should be played”. We fought off the waves of sexual weirdos on the East Coast with their fascination with Girdles of Sex Changing and more; no Moms were going to let their kids play that stuff. We outlasted the hordes clamoring for Spell Points, the most unbalancing feature at the time that would have had wizards ruling the worlds. (Another of Gary’s quirks was that he really did not like wizards and that human fighters should be the heroes of the campaign.) We persevered against the adherents of critical hits and hit locations; didn’t they realize that fighting a really bad guy with something like a Vorpal Sword was going to cost them limbs causing them to bleed out? We preserved the original abstract concept of hit points. We felt that these challenges to the game, as well as many others too numerous or petty or insignificant now to name, needed to be quashed so that the game remained true to Gary and Dave’s vision.

At one point a bunch of would-be “improvers” flat-out told us we did not know what we were doing and should let the game out into the world, giving up all rights. Now that was arrogance.

We shaped and guided the evolution of the game with the supplements.  When magic began to proliferate, we saw a way to shape it and expand it in an “approved”’ fashion with new spells and artifacts. We also addressed an area of imbalance overlooked for some time; monsters with psionic powers like Mindflayers were too horrible even in a fantasy game as they wielded an unstoppable weapon. So we came out with a psionics system that was grotesquely misunderstood and misused from its very publication. (As the author of a great deal of it I acknowledge that it could have been done better and explained more clearly—hindsight.) This was Eldritch Wizardry. These were always presented as suggestions and ideas, never rules. It said so in every Foreword I wrote, but we also hoped that our “gentle nudging” would steer the game back.

Time passed and the game continued to grow as well as expand in unexpected directions. Level-creep--PC’s at high Levels that were never considered, let alone allowed for, began to proliferate. In the early years PC’s “retired” at Lvl 9 or 10 and a new PC started; this level-creep was eating up the game. We were getting pleas for help from DM’s and players alike.

The tipping point came one day in a letter I had to open  that day that spurred a supplement almost that very  week. (I must have “had the duty” that day; we took turns opening and reading mail to TSR.) In this powerful thought provoker, a bewildered DM wrote the following, more or less (I will paraphrase a bit): 

“Dear TSR, I don’t know where to go with my campaign next. Last session, my players went to Valhalla. They killed Loki, all the Valar, a dozen Valkyries, Thor and Odin and destroyed the Bifrost Bridge. “ 

I read this aloud to Gary and Brian; when we picked ourselves up off the floor or regained our senses, as the case may have been, ( I swear to you that this is true) we knew level-creep had gone too far. That week saw the impetus for one more supplement gather enough steam that I set out to edit the last of the RPG-oriented supplements, Gods, Demi-Gods & Heroes. This was the closest to a rule book that we came; we felt that PC’s should not be powerful enough to knock off gods. So we gave them really high amounts of HP: Odin 300, Thor 275. We charted out character levels undreamed of in the original game.

One other crucial point to consider about the supplements is that they produced money on a regular basis and helped the company grow. They were predictably reliable cash cows.

Earlier I mentioned that we ran a lot of tournaments at game conventions. They were huge moneymakers for us, particularly at GenCon where we got all the admission and event fees. Even with modules, we were still finding it nearly impossible to find a large enough pool of DM’s that thought enough like us to feel completely comfortable. It also came to pass that various lawsuits came to be filed at this time that caused a desire to create a new brand. TSR came to the conclusion that it was time to actually codify D&D; thus was Advanced Dungeons & Dragons born, and the death knell of the loosey-goosey, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants OS style of play. There were so many things we did not see coming, the most reprehensible of which is the rules-lawyer.

I have told the story elsewhere: Gary and I spent a week in his office at the end of which the general outline of Basic D&D and AD&D had been laid down. Basic was toned down for younger players and made simpler to understand for easing them into it. AD&D was a tarted-up, codified version of OD&D that would now compel everyone to play the same. Worse, it was now a whole hell of a lot less engaging to the imagination; everything could be found on a chart or table. OS, or OD&D if you will, is more mentally engaging and more challenging than all the subsequent editions, not less. It is also tons simpler to play.

The sequencing of the releases of those first three hardbounds was a masterpiece of marketing. We knew everyone would have to have the whole set and released them in an order sure to sell them all well, and it did. And it killed the OS style of play for a great portion of then-current players; new players only saw AD&D.

So why do I continue to play OD&D when I mid-wifed AD&D? Because it is all the things 1^st Edition AD&D (1E) is not. It is not slaved to charts and tables, although it has some. It is not arguable; it works that way on my world because I say so. It is about gathering information, not relying on Skills and Abilities to do the work for you. It is about playing well, having fun and living to fight another day.

I see a dearth of those skills and abilities in newer versions. I think that in some ways OS required a higher caliber player as well as requiring trust at the table; I see the art of running a great table being less respected (and practiced). I actually had a young man in a game at GaryCon tell me I was doing it wrong one time and that I was not being fair; the table stared in open-mouthed amazement all the while. I told him that I was sorry he wasn’t having any fun and that he was free to leave the game; he did not ask for a refund, although I am sure I could have gotten him one.

Old School-style was more difficult and much more nuanced than what later editions engendered. It required more roleplaying, it required asking lots of questions; thus was “the caller” born. The term “the caller” surely had many other synonyms, but it was a vital role in early role-playing. When the entire party started to ask questions for one reason or another, the DM could be overcome by the cacophony. The caller had to be able to sort through his compatriot’s babble and then turn around to the DM with a coherent set of questions, as well as making sure that all his party was heard; sometimes the player that hardly ever opened his mouth had a spectacular insight. Contrary to what you might be thinking, the caller was not always the “dynamic leader-type” that every group seemed to produce that made decisions or swayed the decisions through force of will. But that role was one hell of a character builder. Ofttimes, the caller was the one that led the party in exploring.

Another salient point to keep in mind is that we gamers then (yes, I count myself in that group) were not all possessed of the greatest set of social tools and skills, not all of us, anyway. (I was an exception in that I had been four years in the Navy during Nam, been an NCO, l was married and had a child while going to college; also four years is a lot of time in which to mature.) Lots of players “found their voices” playing RPG’s, gaining self confidence and self assurance. I am not making this up; one of the more common themes I hear at cons is how playing RPG’s (particularly D&D) brought people out of their shell and into a social world.

The caller’s day is done; charts and tables and skills and abilities have all superseded that role; thinking creatively has been stifled; if it isn’t on a chart or table, it can’t be done. In one of my games at GaryCon one time, I had a dwarf PC kill two huge polar bears single-handed. That was not on any chart, but in OS, it could happen. It’s all fantasy, after all.

I guess what I have been leading up to is not another Edition War salvo, but simply this; OS/OD&D involved more roleplaying, not less, and more thought and consideration and just plain thinking. OS may be simpler, but in no way is it easier.

Several trademarks referred to belong to other people and companies.

Twisting in a wind of words

Fact: I don’t rank video games with our game types; I see digital games and I see tangible games. I have not been into video games since my son who is now 36 had an Atari.

I was vaguely aware of this Gamergate shit when I saw some seminars were cancelled at an event in Austin. I thought they were some sort of electronic bullies or vandals; I had no idea of the misogyny involved. I deplore their behavior; they seem to be a bunch of teen-aged cyber-bullies and assholes. I have not read any of their manifestos, so I had no idea that they had made an otherwise ordinary word used in medicine and science to describe one half of our species into a pejorative.

I think more people that are not male (just what term can I use?) would find a lot of enjoyment playing RPG’s. (BTW, an apostrophe to indicate plural acronyms is correct by all the style books I have followed. It might be changing, but it is not there yet; it is not indicative of the possessive case.) As a former teacher (a real teacher, not someone with honorary degrees and being brought up on sexual abuse charges; thanks for that comparison) I was quite good at crafting teaching aids and handouts, as well as having developed a very effective tool that involved role-assumption/playing  in the classroom.

In my opinion, role playing has become too rules-heavy. Most of the excessive rules are about stuff you may never do or encounter as a Player Character, or only do so after a considerable time playing. In that instance, you learn by doing. I do not like Skills and Abilities ratings for that reason; I am firmly entrenched in the ethos of the Old School about learning by doing and never being afraid to try something. So I figured out a method to boil it down to the basics needed to have fun.

I wanted to run games for only not-males; Jim Ward and Merle Rasmussen have done so in the past and related how much fun they were; I briefly sat in on one of Jim’s, observing. I wanted to try it for myself and thought to accomplish two tasks, teach the basics and run a fun adventure.

Through innocent use of otherwise ordinary words I have offended some people, for which I apologize. I did not know that the word “Female” had been used as a pejorative in a war of words of which I was ignorant. I did not know that offering to boil down the mass of rules was going to be seen as some sinister insinuation that not-male gamers are too dumb.

By restricting to only beginners that were not male, I thought to provide a friendly and fun atmosphere. This is based on classroom experiences; nobody wants to sit there thinking they are missing out on something or the only one not getting it. Frankly, I do not wish to introduce RPG’ing to a bunch of younger males (at least not below 12 or 13); that is based on classroom experience. In that regard, and that one only, you can label me sexist.

I was vilified by someone I do not know in a public forum, instead of being contacted (God knows I am easy enough to get hold of) and informing me of the concerns my listing apparently raised.  Had that happened, I absolutely would have done a quick edit (I sent the same description to GaryCon and have not heard a thing about it except several inquiries about signing up.) Attacking a stranger, in a public forum is a cheap shot, in my opinion. (I do not consider myself some sort of celebrity and am constantly humbled by the people that see me as that); I’m just an old dude that still plays games,  likes to write adventures and was once involved in the beginning of our modern hobby, involved with a minute section of the population.

When attacked, I defend vigorously. I felt I was unjustly attacked and attainted for a word that has more than one meaning and is a pejorative in a tiny percentage of the population. I hope my attacker got a warm rush of satisfaction.

I really am sorry, and a bit befuddled, by all that has transpired over a listing in a convention website. I am not guilty of any of the behaviors that my words have been twisted into, and never have been.

I have been told that the instigator of this likes to stir the pot. I would not know because I cannot recall having met her; I did Friend her on FB when I saw a bunch of mutuals but I probably “know” less than 10% of my “Friends”; there are over 2000 of them. I never even saw her initial post on my Wall.

So what is the “politically correct” term for members of our species possessing ovaries and not testicles? I still intend to call infants baby boys or baby girls; if they change their mind later I will change what I call them.

So, having gotten all of that off my chest, I reiterate that I am sorry some people were offended when they read what I wrote. But this game is still off-limits to males.

Much ado about nothing- PC in RPG's

It seems that I have become the January Whipping-boy for some disgruntled female gamers for a description I submitted for a game I plan to run at TotalCon for ladies only. This is what I submitted

:

For Ladies Only—This adventure is written specifically for the wives, girlfriends and daughters of gamers, as well as those females wishing to delve into the field without a lifelong commitment. It has been boiled down to the basics of role-playing as it used to be: A sheet of paper, some dice, a pencil and some numbers on that paper accompanied by an open mind and a sense of adventure. Ladies, come see what the fuss is about.

Apparently that description makes me something of a misogynist in some eyes. Why?

The adventure I have created sprang from a favor I did for my wife. She came home one night from her Zumba class and asked if I could put together a small adventure for some of the ladies from her class, which I did. The ladies were interested in seeing what all the fuss, or interest, was all about. We had a great time and I think one or two might do it again with others of their acquaintance.

I have been a gamer for close to 53 years. Until the advent of D&D, followed by its many clones, the gaming hobby was at least 97% male. At GenCons in ’74 and ’75, I can recall no more than half a dozen females (not named Gygax) present and a couple of them were clearly either bored girlfriends or an older sister stuck with taking a younger brother for the day. RPG’s came along and the ratio of females began to increase. In all the adventures I have run at all the cons I have attended since 1975, the percentage of females at my table has never, ever, exceeded 30%. (And I am pretty sure I have never gotten a rep for being nasty to ladies, in games or in real life.)

Since 2006, when I got back into the industry, I have been fortunate enough to have been invited to cons all over the US, east of the Rockies. I have had the pleasure of working the GenCon Auction for several years. I bring this up only to point out that I have had a lot of contact with gamers all over at least half of the country—a pretty wide polling sample.

Lots more ladies are now gaming; I think that is wonderful because in RPG play they often bring a different perspective to the table. I base this on my experience running games that had ladies in them. When thinking back about parties that have survived con adventures of mine, I think the preponderance of them contained females. Given that I am noted for lethal games, and given the fact that many con gamers seek a glorious Viking’s death to provide yarns for those left behind, I think the survival of those particular parties is worthy of note.

When I have spoken to many lady gamers I know that do not RPG, but are wicked-good boardgamers and some great minis players, not to mention a couple of chariot racers I have lost to, their most common response to why they don’t RPG is something having to do with being intimidated by “All those rules and rulebooks.” (I paraphrase a little here, but the gist is true.)

When I started my first campaign in 1974, I had the only set of rules for at least eight or nine months, and the only set of “funny” dice for about two months. We had outrageous fun without all the paraphernalia so common today. At my con games, the only things allowed on the table are writing utensil, character sheet, dice and the compendiums of all the OS spells and prayers that I put together. This is what I am rendering it back into-simple fun.

There are any number of other reasons why ladies might be reluctant to “force” their way into what they see as a “guy thing”, or what they have been told is a male thing. Ridicule and snide remarks are the two I heard most often cited; just being made generally uneasy or being made to feel an interloper are others. Some just don’t want to embarrass themselves in a roomful of guys. (Nor would I care to embarrass myself in a room full of ladies.)

(I have also been taken to task for calling them “lady gamers”. A 15 year old girl playing at my table is not a “woman” yet; when she turns 18 she is legally an adult. I would not dream of calling female gamers “girls”, either. I always treat, and refer to, a female as a lady until she proves otherwise.)

So, NO, I do not think all the ladies present at cons are “just girlfriends drug along”, or any other such silly crap attributed to me or my words.

ALL I want to do is offer a safe, fun and easy intro into RPG’s for those of the female sex that might be interested in learning from someone that has been doing it longer than most.

Why do some people see insult and offense when none is meant, or inferred?  The little bit about “lifelong” commitment should have tipped you that I had my tongue at least partially in cheek.

Another question: why do some people take to social media without first talking to the individual involved? How dare they presume what my motives are?

By the way,  I hold a Master's in Education; I am reasonably certain that I know what I am doing.

Gaming in 2015

Gaming, in all its forms, is alive and well going into 2016. The increasing popularity and sales of games of all sorts, but particularly boardgames, is a continuing phenomenon defying traditional models. The last three times boards did really well were during recessions. Hasbro is running ads that entice families to play a game together. This is wonderful; we have known the social value of gaming for decades.

Goodman Games continues to kick butt with their “…Crawl Classic” titles; they have a new Kickstarter kicking off any day now for a post-apocalyptic beauty called Mutant Crawl Classic; I have seen early manuscripts and it is a gem.

Asmodee and Fantasy Flight have combined, which I view to be a good thing as it will strengthen them both. Maybe we will see reprints on what would appear to be orphan titles. ‘15 saw several smaller companies fold their tents and steal away into the night, while other merged, combined or worked out co-op deals to streamline costs.

In 2015 the gaming hobby called out a serial offender on Kickstarter who has now changed his name and is again soliciting money to fulfill things he already got the money for. What a bozo; we’re not that gullible, Ken.

Iron Wind Metals, the spiritual successor of Ral Partha, had a successful KS and revived an entire line once RP’s called Chaos Wars; minis, rules for using them and an RPG adventure I wrote as a stretch goal for them that has bad-guy PC’s.

As 2015 winds down, there are three movies dealing with RPG’s in work, although two are locked in legal wrangling that has been going on seemingly forever. The whole situation stinks; movies do not belong in court suing each other. What bullshit…

Speaking of bullshit, the end of the year saw some very pointed questions being voiced concerning the long-awaited and long overdue Gygax Memorial to which so very many of us contributed. The answers I have seen have been most unsatisfactory; vague, dismissive and illusionary. Questions concerning why the website has been virtually dead since Spring, why there has been no effort to keep the public informed as to any progress or plans—none were fully or openly answered. Other questions have been raised about the legality of actions not taken by the 501-c-3; it would appear that is has been illegally run, not according to the laws and regulations of Wisconsin concerning the transparency of not-for-profits charted in that state.

One reason for the lack of action might be that Gary’s 2^nd wife spent months and 10’s of thousands of dollars to steal Luke’s, Ernie’s and Alex’s surname from them, or at least the free use of their name in anything whatsoever remotely connected to games and gaming; there are dozens of areas; I saw the legal filings. This led to a fracas with Gygax Magazine, where apparently she “graciously allowed” the magazine published by two sons named Gygax. As part of a settlement with the mag and TSR Games, the parent company, she demanded that all parties to the mag and all shareholders in the company sign a thing saying we would never talk nasty about her. As I was the Contributing Editor for the mag, and a tiny stockholder in the company, I was told I had to sign. I essentially told them “that’ll be a cold day in Hell.” My name was removed; Luke and Ernie left the company.

I am baffled at the lack of perspicacity by her, thinking that I would sign away any future journalistic endeavors or rights to speak out whenever I choose about what I choose. But when I think about it a moment, it becomes less of a surprise when I consider that this is the person that pulled every one of Gary’s products off the market upon his death, as well as tried to go around and commandeer anything he had collaborated on with anyone. Speaking impersonally and objectively, anyone with the slightest hint of familiarity with history knows that upon the death of an artist or author the demand for their creations is immediately spiked. For someone seemingly out to milk every nickel out of her dead husband’s name, you’d think she would have milked that cow dry, too. Now she owns the trademark on a brand that has decreasing recognition value with each year. Right now I would speculate that a full 30% of gamers have no recognition of the name; that number increases every year. She killed his final system, the system he was proudest of.  There is a lasting tribute…

2015 Year End Blog

As I have become older I have begun to pay more attention to those end-of-the-year lists of   “…famous or important people that died last year…” that all the magazines and news shows love to compile. I also find myself occasionally looking at the obits in the paper.

A shrink might tell me that I am learning to face up to my own mortality; maybe it is just morbid curiosity. It is an undeniable fact that each year I recognize more names and faces on the lists.

In no particular order, this is a compilation of those departed that had an influence of one kind or another on my life:

Spock—No offense intended to the incredible Leonard Nimoy, but does anyone my age see his picture (with or w/o pointy ears) and think anything else? Yes, he became a skilled director and producer; no, he sucked at singing.

Donna Douglas  --Never again will Elly May Clampett take her critters to the “ see-ment pond”.

Maureen O’Hara – Even when her movies were in B&W, you just knew she was a ginger. Bold, brassy and sure of herself, she bested Errol Flynn and John Wayne, not once but several times.

Anita Ekberg—Just when the hormones began to kick in, I saw a semi-nude, B&W photo of her. She was my second really hardcore crush/puppy-lust actress. (My first was Sophia Loren.) Anita inspired thoughts in my fevered young mind that the nuns would have had to beat out of me had they but known.

Yogi—When I was growing up a White Sox and Cubs fan, I hated the Yankees with a deep and visceral loathing. Every damned year the damned Yankees were in the Series, or so it seemed to the rest of the baseball world, but nobody hated Yogi Berra. His “Yogi-isms” are legion, and many attributed to him not his, but he was always smiling. He was a fierce competitor who really turned it up two notches in the Series, but I still loved it when the Pirates beat them in ’60.

Frank Gifford – I remember the first Monday Night Football broadcast. My wife and I were entertaining another couple, playing cards, when it came on; I don’t think the cardgame was ever finished. Counterpoint to the often-bloviating Howard Cosell and the loopy folksiness of Dandy Don Meredith, Gifford told us what was going on in clear and concise words; that he also had the bona fides of a stellar career in the NFL made what he had to say important.

Rowdy Roddy Piper—Piper aspired to be an actor, not in the ring but on the screen. He was a very popular pro wrassler’, mostly a bad guy but sometimes good, headlining some of the biggest pay-per-view cards. He changed the face of pro wrestling when he got into the feud with Hulk Hogan, involved Cyndi Lauper and ushered in the age of Rock’n’Wrestling. He also appeared in a bunch of movies, mostly forgettable, and several TV shows

Omar Sharif—What a consummate actor, and one hell of a bridge player. When he rides up on that camel from the haze of the desert, who can forget Sherif Ali of Lawrence of Arabia? When he marvels at the crystalline sculpture of the ice on the windows in that frigid winter in Dr. Zhivago, who can forget that intensity? The fact that he was once one of the top bridge players in the world and spoke six languages fluently only added to his cosmopolitan appeal.

Geoffrey Lewis— His was a face you kept seeing in films and on TV; he was a masterful character actor, usually playing a bad guy but not always. He seemed to pop up regularly in Westerns and he worked with Clint Eastwood a lot. I admired the way he slipped in and out of the skins of those characters

James Best—It is a crying shame that Best will most likely only be known to later generations as Rosco P. Coltrane of Hazzard. He was a very good character actor in the movies, appeared nearly 300 times on TV and taught in college after he semi-retired, as well as becoming a respectable painter. Once asked on a talkshow I saw but do not remember the name of, why he had “stooped” to The Dukes, he was refreshingly honest; he said the money was too good to pass up.

Percy Sledge  --I just loved this man’s voice—pure liquid gold.

Rod Taylor We traveled through time and fled the Morloks with him, and we ducked indoors to flee The Birds. He made lots of movies, some good, some not. Taylor was interesting, no matter the film; sort of the old “mans man”.

Leslie Gore—She cried at her party because she wanted to. I don’t know why but that song left a deep impression on me.

Grace Lee Whitney—Yeoman Rand- She only played in 8 of the first 13 episodes of Star Trek, but she left a leggy, blonde impression on us all.

Fred D Thompson—This guy led one hell of a life, and I mean that in the best possible way. He was an eyewitness to history as a staffer in the Watergate Hearings who later became a State Senator for Tennessee for two terms, a presidential contender/candidate and later a TV star on Law & Order. That must have been one hell of a ride.

Robert Loggia—Even though he had 231 TV and screen credits, his was another “face” that you recognized from other stuff. He was in TV in the ‘60’s, nominated for an Oscar in the ‘80’s and continued working until his Alzheimer's manifested. He had a very distinctive, gravelly voice.

Louis Jordan—When he started appearing in American films, suddenly smooth and sophisticated became cool. Clever, good-looking types could win the girl easier than the big “beat ‘em up” dudes could. Manners and charm became important

Gary Owens—I laughed (or at least chuckled) every time I heard his voice, a sort of stereotypical “this is important stuff” spoof. He epitomized, as well as satirized the role of the Studio Announcer on Laugh In. A lot of us wanted to sound just like him.

B.B. King—The man could play blues guitar like no other. His influence runs so deep it is nearly impossible to encompass it all; there are damned few guitarists playing today that have not known his influence, whether they knew it or not. He was legendary for giving new talent a chance to shine; he had Joe Bonamassa opening for him before Joe was old enough to drive. I leave it to future generations of musicologists to measure the depth of his influence I just know that it is HUGE.

Christopher Lee---Where do you start to lost his creds? WWII vet, singer, actor, producer and director, Sir Christopher did it all. He was a consummate bad guy in dozens of roles. He was nearly a stock player for Hammer Horror for years. He made two heavy metal albums and was awarded a "Spirit of Metal" award at the 2010 Metal Hammer Golden God awards ceremony.. While never an avid fan of horror movies myself, his work in the Tolkien movies as Saruman was superb.

Well, hell, that was pretty depressing. But I think it is increasingly important to note not just the passing of time but also the passing of those that helped fill that time with sorrow and joy, delight and anguish, amusement and entertainment. My one consolation? I won’t see my name on any lists like this because when it happens, I’ll be dead.

Tales from The Red Road--Gamehole 2015

I did not go to this con last year with the rest of my partners from Eldritch Enterprises; I was not going to spend 8 hours in a vehicle going to Wisconsin in Nov.; it just seemed counter-intuitive, ya’ know? Wisconsin, November, Winter—not necessarily ingredients for a happy recipe. And I have had to face the fact that I am just too damned old to do these trips alone anymore; too much danger of nodding off on the way home and such.

This year, I had my favorite accomplice in mischief and mayhem for my boon travelling companion, The Mad Mage, a.k.a. Jim Wampler. Jim and I have now made several con treks together but have not yet strangled one another, run out of BS stories or otherwise grown to loathe and despise each other. In other words, good travelling companions not married to each other; a rare distinction, in my mind.

In terms of route, this trip was a no-brainer; I-74 W through Indy and on to Bloomington, IL; from there I-39 N to Madison. None of the crap associated with having to go anywhere near Chicago. (Alas, no Chicago dog at Corky’s, either.) With the construction on the bridges on I-65 being the incredibly horrid situation that it is (poor Lafayette is damned near embargoed) we were not going through that again.

Eight lo-o-o-o-ng hours after departure, we arrived in Madison. (I spent the trip in an elastic, wrap-around  back-brace. I’m not too sure but what it would have been less painful without it.) Good old Dennis got us to the Clarion with no trouble (I have the voice of Dennis Hopper downloaded to my GPS). Jim went off to his solo room upon check-in a couple of floors above where I was rooming with Frank Mentzer in a nice little suite with kitchen amenities. So far, so good.

Now comes the only gripe of this tale. It is true that there was a covered passageway from the hotel to the Exhibit Hall. It is also true that it was one damned long walk. When I go back, which I most certainly will probably do if asked, I am going to look into one of the little motorized scooters like Tom Wham and Jim Ward had; we can have races and pari-mutuel betting.

On Thursday night, the Con had organized a bus for a bunch of us Special Guests (their distinction, not mine) to go out to see the warehouses of ACD, one of the larger game distributors. It was a bit overwhelming as the place is huge; wall-to-wall, nearly floor-to-ceiling games and game stuff. And, we got anything we wanted wholesale. I picked up a promising six-player (Provincia Romana) and an odd little card game about who’s the better person based on the gifts you give at Christmas. (There are six of us in my twice-monthly boardgame group; I am always on the scout for good games for 6.)

When we had sated our gaming appetites, it was back on the bus to satisfy another appetite. We were whisked off to a reception at the Free House Pub where we were treated. Thanks, Alex. There was a time when I could have punished you for that, but those days are long past; I no longer drink like a fish, nor eat like once I did. Alas and alack…

The con had a very respectable Dealer Area, and I saw independent designers with a table all over the place, showcasing their games. The hall seemed to do a good business; every time I could get by it held a respectable crowd. I found another 5-player eeuro-game based on trading in the Med that was marked down 75%. At that markdown, if it is a stinker I am not out so much.

My first game was Friday at high noon. Somewhat out of character I had entered this simple minis game into the schedule rather late in the process, so it did not get much face time and had a scanty sign-up. Too bad, because the few that did sign up seemed to have a good time.

A few years back, WizKids came out with their sailing CSG Pirates (of every body of water we can think of)…. The hook to this CSG (Collectible Strategy Game) was/still is the pretty ships, hundreds of them. The rules were awfully simple (some might argue to reverse those two words), about what you would expect from something this entry-level. In Gygax Magazine #3 I published my upgraded rule set called Master Mariner. [1] The rules could be favorably compared to Chainmail in complexity. The game went well; the two sides swanned about a bit trying to get position, closed and ended it in about a four turn bloodbath. Most satisfying. I have plans to run this game at any con I drive to, and already have plans on how to make it bigger and bloodier.

RPG’ers continue to surprise me in the ingenious ways they can come up with that get them wiped out. I ran three RPG’s: two TPK’s and one survived through my magnanimity. In one of them which I had run at least eight or nine times they found a whole new, never-before-tried way to get slaughtered. Seeing this, all new waus to die, is part of what keeps me coming back to the table, as well as writing.

The con seemed to me to very well run; the organizers seemed to have a really good handle on things. They had a special little refuge for us Guests that was quite nice and very welcome. I saw lots of minis games of various stripes, lots of boardgames, a plethora of RPG’s (some a bit too many too tightly crammed into too small an area), Chris Clark had his Starship Bridge thingy that seemed to be quite popular, there was a special painting area and Dan “the Bard” Marcotte had a Bard Camp set up. (For those that don’t know any better, he’s not some dude wandering around trying to look like a Ren Faire luterist. He writes hilarious songs about RPG’ing that only a player could pen. Check him out online.) The Fight in the Skies Society was very visible (they have a killer banner) and many, many biplanes were riddled with bullets. There was a huge DCC tournament that featured much bloodshed and was enjoyed by all the combatants; one-on=one mayhem reigned.

There were a bunch of seminars and panels going on that had quite a few interesting topics and many, many game authors were present answering questions about their games and talking about new stuff coming.

The consortium that puts together Gamehole Con should all spend a small amount of time patting themselves and each other on the back for a job well done. OK, that’s enough. It was hard to credit that this was only their third convention, so smooth was the operation I saw. I had a hell of a good time, saw old friends and made new ones; can anyone reasonably ask for more from a con?

---

[1] Several years ago I had submitted them to Wizards, where they supposedly sat un-looked-at in two different persons’ file cabinets. When I finally tracked them down, through three different employees (two had left), I was told WotC was not interested. Oddly enough, their last releases and expansions were about 80% of what I had submitted. As far as I am concerned they were lifted from my submission and the Hasborg can try and sue me over them. 

What we really meant—Pt. 1--AC

In recent weeks I have found myself, as part of an exciting new project I have embarked upon, doing a lot of synopsizing what some have come to see as complex or confusing concepts. One example that springs to mind is the old stat known as Armor or Armor Class (AC). In OD&D it was a really simple system that ranked plain old street clothes as AC9, while at the other end of the non-magical spectrum was plate mail and a shield at AC2

If Hit Points (HP) are considered to be your ability to avoid/evade a mortal blow (which they were in OD&D), then AC was how hard you were “to hit” (in this case threaten your well-being to some degree).

“To Hit” is another term that does not exactly mean what it seems to mean based on just the words. Confused yet? Consider “the Mountain” from Game of Thrones on HBO. This is one HUGE dude encased in metal. If three or four puny (normal-sized) guys attack him, chances are that their weapons will actually make physical contact with The Mountain lots of times; this is not what is referenced in “To Hit”. Of those several physical contacts, only a small proportion of them will actually strike with a potential to do actual damage; i.e. pierce the armor at a weak point or joint, or slice or pierce some flesh. Those are what are winnowed out of the combat to be represented by the To Hit number.

Back t0 AC; something as small and ephemeral as a pixie or sprite, or small and quick like a stirge would be somewhat difficult to simply swat out of the air like an over-sized wasp. To simulate that facet of their being I make them hard “to hit” by giving them a very good AC.

(OD&D had a descending AC system starting at 9 and going down; other systems use an ascending system, where 1 is street togs and 7 or 8 is really buff. Readjust this in your head to match your system; the concepts remain constant. Something slow and ponderous, such as a pachyderm, would be easier to strike, but the thickness of the skin somewhat mitigates this as well as the high number of HP an elephant or mammoth might have.)

AC does not always indicate what is being worn. AC is a combination of several concepts, not only the weight of the metal being worn.

To maintain perspective remember this: we were trying to bring miniatures to the table top. Several of the seemingly complex considerations and calculations were second nature to miniatures gamers. We tried to abstract a lot of what was second nature in minis to a whole new milieu—Table-top Role-playing (and this before it was even called role-playing).

Once this concept is grasped in the abstract, it then becomes more clear why extraordinary attributes can affect AC, or otherwise make the PC harder “To Hit”. These same attributes also can grant the PC more HP, all in recognition of how that last, fatal blow is just that, fatal. I have never counted anything more than “dead”; hit 0 HP and you died. Whether or not your PC can be Raised or Resurrected is another matter entirely. We had PC’s brought back from dead several times, although not always with absolute best results.

But anyway, that’s what we meant.