The Dork Anthem
March 4th, 2010 / 2 Comments » / by reveal
“The Dork Anthem” by Dave and Brian
There are no words to describe how awesome this is. 
Mr d20 Guy – A tribute to Gary Gygax (repost)
March 4th, 2010 / No Comments » / by reveal
I posted this one year ago in remembrance of the death of Gary Gygax. I thought it appropriate to re-post it this year.
For my tribute to Gary Gygax on the two year anniversary of his death, I have created a new song sung to the tune of American Pie by Don McLean. For those who don’t know the tune, I’ve included a video at the end of the post. Feel free to sing along. I hope you like it and thank you Mr. Gygax.
A long, long time ago
I can still remember
How the gaming used to make me smile
And I knew if I took a chance
That I could make the players dance
And maybe we’d be happy for a while
But March the fourth made me whimper
When the news it was delivered
Sad news from the Troll Lord
And then on every message board
I can’t remember which of my dice
I chose to roll that very night
For the man who got it right
The day the DM died
So, bye, bye Mr. d20 Guy
Failed the final saving throw and then didn’t survive
And all around the world, the gamers did cry
Sayin’ thank you Mr. d20 Guy
Thank you Mr. d20 Guy
Have you read the PHB
And have you looked through the DMG
And what the heck is a drow (drough)
This is going to be so f’n cool
My dwarf barbarian will make you drool
And I really think you pronounce it drow (cow)
Well I know that things are looking grim
The dragon’s looking right at him
Made a percentile roll
I’m now hiding in shadows
I was a lucky halfling, that’s a fact
Stole lots of things and put ‘em in my pack
But I knew I could never go back
The day the DM died
I started rollin’
Bye, bye Mr. d20 Guy
Failed the final saving throw and then didn’t survive
And all around the world, the gamers did cry
Sayin’ thank you Mr. d20 Guy
Thank you Mr. d20 Guy
Now, for over ten years we’ve been rollin’ well
I even took my paladin to hell
But, boy, the rules have really changed
I was really sad to see half-orcs go
And what the hell is THACO
But, man, I really dig the weapon speed
Oh, and while the king was in L.A.
The jesters took his game away
The boardroom was adjourned
When the DM did return
And with pirates that would block the way
The king was told he couldn’t stay
But all that madness went away
The day the DM died
We were rollin’
Bye, bye Mr. d20 Guy
Failed the final saving throw and then didn’t survive
And all around the world, the gamers did cry
Sayin’ thank you Mr. d20 Guy
Thank you Mr. d20 Guy
Holy moley I’m checkin’ out the ranger
Two-weapon fighting makes him a danger
DM’s think he’s a pain in the ass
Player’s monk ran out of gas
Every flurry just seemed to pass
Leaving the bad guy without a scratch
Now I really like these brand new feats
My half-orc fighter’s really neat
I tried to run a game
Oh, but it just wasn’t the same
‘Cause the players have kids of their own
And no one remembers what to roll
And we were shocked down to our soul
The day the DM died
We started rollin’
Bye, bye Mr. d20 Guy
Failed the final saving throw and then didn’t survive
And all around the world, the gamers did cry
Sayin’ thank you Mr. d20 Guy
Thank you Mr. d20 Guy
Oh, and there we were just running the race
A generation losing pace
With no time left to game again
But come on let’s look through this brand new book
Man these powers really cook
You mean I get to play a dragon
And as I watched the gamers laugh
The memories came flooding back
Time it can go so fast
No living in the past
And as the dice rolled on into the night
I realized it just felt right
And I held back tears with all my might
The day the DM died
He was rollin’
Bye, bye Mr. d20 Guy
Failed the final saving throw and then didn’t survive
And all around the world, the gamers did cry
Sayin’ thank you Mr. d20 Guy
Thank you Mr. d20 Guy
I knew that when I read the news
I had just bid my childhood adieu
And I just sighed and turned away
I went down to the local store
Where I had gamed some years before
But the man there said that gamers couldn’t stay
And on the web the players mourned
About the game that he had born
Not a bad word was posted
The game master was toasted
And many folks admired the guy
Who’s rollin’ dice up in the sky
We told ourselves that we could cry
The day the DM died
And they were rollin’
Bye, bye Mr. d20 Guy
Failed the final saving throw and then didn’t survive
And all around the world, the gamers did cry
Sayin’ thank you Mr. d20 Guy
Thank you Mr. d20 Guy
They were rollin’
Bye, bye Mr. d20 Guy
Failed the final saving throw and then didn’t survive
And all around the world, the gamers did cry
Sayin’ thank you Mr. d20 Guy
Erik Mona on Pen & Paper Gaming in the 21st Century
February 26th, 2010 / No Comments » / by reveal
In his GamesU 2009 Keynote, Mr. Mona provides a broad overview of the history of tabletop or “pen & paper” gaming, with a focus on Role Playing Games (RPGs). With this background established, Mr. Mona then discusses recent changes and, based on his experience and research, what he thinks the future holds for the hobby and the industry that supports it.
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Campaign Update: Fun to be had all around
December 17th, 2009 / 1 Comment » / by reveal
Back in October, I posted how I finally determined that I didn’t like Adventure Paths and had decided to run my next Pathfinder campaign using individual pre-written adventures. I am now happy to announce that, after three months of playing, I am having the most fun DMing that I’ve had in a while. My players are also having a lot of fun and are looking forward to what happens next. Being able to pick and choose which adventure to run next makes it so much easier for me to tailor the campaign to fit my players/PCs that I really look forward to trying to find “the perfect fit.”
Levels 1 to 3: Crypt of the Everflame
We started off with Crypt of the Everflame, the very first Pathfinder adventure written using the final rules sold at GenCon. It was a lot of fun and a great method of bringing disparate PCs together in order to move towards a common goal.
Level 3 to 4: Final Resting Place
I wanted to introduce my characters to the Pathfinder Society and make them want to join. I pulled out Dungeon Magazine #122 and used the adventure called “Final Resting Place”. It allowed me to use a character from Crypt of the Everflame, who is a member of the Society, to ask the PCs to rescue the body of a particularly famous Society member. I also thought it was a slick adventure with some interesting problems to solve. The players liked it and came up with interesting solutions to said problems.
Level 4 to 5: Heroes’ End
This is a fun adventure from Goodman Games’ “Dungeon Crawl Classics #48: The Adventure Continues“. Essentially, the PCs are transported to a fairy tale plane where they must defeat Rapunzel and The Old Woman in the Shoe in order to get back to their own world. The players were completely surprised by a) a talking book and b) the fact that the talking book tricked them into moving through a portal into another plane. In the end, they were able to defeat who they needed to defeat and made their way back to their own plane. Because of their actions in the fairy tale plane, I was able to move them towards the next adventure.
Level 5 to 6: Forest of Blood
This adventure, from Dungeon Magazine #103, was written by a friend of mine and it was a lot of fun. It had the PCs traveling to a small town that was having their annual Winter Faire. They completed what they needed to do because of the previous adventure and then decided to partake in the Faire events. Unfortunately, the town was attacked by a group of wolves and the PCs, after defending the villagers in danger, had to find out what was going on. It’s a great adventure and I highly recommend it.
Level 6: The Menagerie
At the moment, the players are standing outside of the store mentioned in this adventure from Dungeon Magazine #126 and are ready to go inside and save the day!
I have more adventures ready to go but may change them depending on what they do during the campaign. I love having the freedom to change the campaign as necessary without worrying that I am going to screw up the entire over-arcing storyline.
Open Game Table Volume 2 – Call for Peer Reviewers and Nominations
December 4th, 2009 / No Comments » / by reveal
I just received an e-mail this morning and recommend that everyone start volunteering/nominating now!
The application period for being a peer reviewers closes December 31st, 2009. These individuals will be responsible for reading the entries (not all of them mind you, I will spread the word count around) and interacting with me during the final decision making process. If chosen, your names will be witheld until publication of the book. If you are interested, please click here for more information and to submit your information: http://rpganthology.wufoo.com/forms/open-game-table-volume-2-peer-review-application/
The submission deadline for nominations of blog posts closes January 15th, 2010. I’ve streamlined the submission process so that all you need to is submit a valid URL. Up to 5 per submission form can be accomodated; but there’s no limit to how many you can send in. The nomination form, and more information, can be found here: http://rpganthology.wufoo.com/forms/open-game-table-vol-2-blog-post-nomination-form/
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