Monday, May 7, 2012
Bashing and Brawling, Animal-Style
The National Geographic YouTube channel has a couple of new videos on Rams and Elk having at each other that any tabltop roleplaying Game Master should watch. Enjoy!
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Super Moon 2012
There's a cool lunar event that happned last night called a Super Moon and it only takes place once a year. It's just the sort of event that can lend itself to immersion in a tabletop roleplaying setting. Here's a video describing the event on NASATelevision's YouTube channel. Enjoy!
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Old School Influences
There has been more and more discussion of what is "Old School" gaming and what materials available from then and now represent that style of gaming. I had an interesting thought on this matter, regarding newer materials being proffered as good examples of Old School style. I have no data to support this supposition but put it out there as a springboard to further conversation.
When I wrote The Whispering Woodwind adventure in early 2001, one reader pointed out to me that it bore some stylistic choices and vocabulary that were similar to that of the late Gary Gygax. At the time, it perplexed me because I certainly wasn't trying to emulate his style but I have no doubt that my own influences, including Papa G among them, would have had a hand in shaping what I felt was that Old School style. I also don't doubt that my own sense of what made for a good adventure would have been wrapped up largely in what made for those great adventures from the Seventies and Eighties when I first began gaming. While I didn't run a lot of those adventures personally (I was more of a homebrew guy), I played through them often and also kept up with the rules supplements of the times religiously.
I have since been back in college to finish an undergraduate degree in English and also a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. I doubt the same influences affect me as strongly as they once did, as finding your own voice is a large part of such programs. But I also feel it helped me to better recognize the tone and cadence of various styles when I see them in modern tabletop roleplaying game works. There has also been a recent study that, in a much broader sense, backs up how contemporaries are more influenced by one another than by authors of past times. While I don't doubt this is true, I also feel it is possible that authors who read mostly works from a particular period are more likely to be influenced by the authors they read from that period than by their contemporaries.
Just some food for thought and you can read more about the recent study here.
When I wrote The Whispering Woodwind adventure in early 2001, one reader pointed out to me that it bore some stylistic choices and vocabulary that were similar to that of the late Gary Gygax. At the time, it perplexed me because I certainly wasn't trying to emulate his style but I have no doubt that my own influences, including Papa G among them, would have had a hand in shaping what I felt was that Old School style. I also don't doubt that my own sense of what made for a good adventure would have been wrapped up largely in what made for those great adventures from the Seventies and Eighties when I first began gaming. While I didn't run a lot of those adventures personally (I was more of a homebrew guy), I played through them often and also kept up with the rules supplements of the times religiously.
I have since been back in college to finish an undergraduate degree in English and also a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing. I doubt the same influences affect me as strongly as they once did, as finding your own voice is a large part of such programs. But I also feel it helped me to better recognize the tone and cadence of various styles when I see them in modern tabletop roleplaying game works. There has also been a recent study that, in a much broader sense, backs up how contemporaries are more influenced by one another than by authors of past times. While I don't doubt this is true, I also feel it is possible that authors who read mostly works from a particular period are more likely to be influenced by the authors they read from that period than by their contemporaries.
Just some food for thought and you can read more about the recent study here.
The Sevy Mercantile in the 1930's. The old school house.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Infographicography for your Games
Ever want to make some great handouts for you tabletop roleplaying game in the form of an Infographic that is really eye-catching? Check out the styles they show on CreativeCan.com and you'll be deluged with ideas. Read more here!
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Largest and Smallest Predators
There's a cool article over on The Register (register.co.uk) that's well worth a read regarding dinosaurs and fleas. It might give tabletop roleplaying game creators a few ideas about the size of things. See more here!
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Fishy Sea Grass
There's a cool article and video over on io9.com of a robust ghost pipefish which eludes prey and lives it's day as fake sea grass. Something like this goes a long way toward helping flesh out a cool underwater tabletop roleplaying setting. Read more here!
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Dinosaur Dental Records
Back in October of 2009, an article ran on the nhm.ac.uk website of the UK's Natural History Museum about the smallest North American dinosaur yet discovered, the Fruitadens haagarorum. One of the things that made this find so astounding was the dental configuration of the creature, in that it had the teeth of both a herbivore and a carnivore. This bizarre combination allowed it to grind plants and chomp down on insects and other small prey like a predator. Read more here!
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