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Dec 032012

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What’s Up With The Magic Pig
- Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day!
  Erik Tenkar of Tenkar’s Tavern is spearheading an awesome idea. A Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day! It’s scheduled for April 17th and well over 100 blogs have signed up including yours truly. You can catch my little rants over at They Might Be Gazebos. This game is really worth the attention. If you don’t know […]
- Play Testing, Feedback, Editing & Layout
  Well, that’s where we are with Skarynth. Most of the art has been acquired and the final tweaks are underway. It’s a fun trip and soon it should be all done and we get to move on to our next gaming project. More about that later. We’re also at the same stage with Crunchy Bits. […]
They Might Be Gazebos! My OSR Blog
- The Quadquatch for Swords & Wizardry
  What’s 7 feet tall, covered in fur, can easily hide in the forest, and rip you apart with its four claws? The Quadquatch Hit Dice: 3 Armor Class: 6[13] Attacks: 4 Claws (1d6), Bite (1d8) Saving Throw: 14 Special: Stealthy Move: 12 Alignment: Neutral Challenge Level/XP: 4/120 This large four-armed humanoid lives primarily in wooded […]
- Killing them is easy…
  That’s right it’s easy. One the things some folks rant about OSR games is the mortality rate of player characters. As GM and a player, it’s just part of the game. But as a GM, I look at it a little differently. It’s like this. No matter the game, it’s easy to kill player characters. […]

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Learning from my mistakes.

Foodie, Geek Life, Writing No Responses »

May 232013

So you don’t have to.
Here’s this week’s update with what’s going on with all those projects that I’ve been working.
Most notably is, of course, Crunchy Bits the cookbook. Like I mentioned last week, it’s almost done and we’re in the home stretch. As this is the first attempt at something like this, there’s a learning curve. This week’s lesson is to decided on damned layout and stick to it. Here’s the deal. We had one layout. OK, I admit that it wasn’t that good. We messed around and came up with a new idea. After three days, that new idea was not working so well and just eating up a butt load of time. So changed to third layout. Last night, I managed to undo then redo what took me three days to do. So that’s your lesson, kids. Remember the 6 P’s. Piss Poor Planning Prevents Poor Performance. With a three day weekend coming up, I should get a huge chunk if not all that done and then it’s the final editorial pass.
The annoying thing about day jobs is that just eat so much time when you could be doing cool stuff. But that’s what lunch breaks are for. And that’s why I have an inch thick stack of notes for Swords of a Forgotten Age: The World of Skarynth, the Swords & Wizardry Sci-Fi hack and that Super Secret Project that just keeps bouncing around inside my head. With a bit of luck, I’ll be hitting those and another project like a ton bricks next month.
So plan ahead. It’ll save you time and headaches.

Table Top Drop

RPG No Responses »

May 222013

I just stumbled upon this today on Google+. I think it’s pretty damned good idea. It’s sort of like the Humble Bundle for RPG’s.
It’s pay what want and it goes to charity. That’s a pretty cool idea.
So just go on over and check out Table Top Drop. Good games. Good prices. Good karma. As a side note, yes, I do own Spears of Dawn. I backed it on Kickstarter. And I can say that’s a pretty cool game and if you haven’t checked it out then now’s your chance.

Web Clip Wednesday: The Most Complicated Board Game Ever

Humor, RPG, Web Clips No Responses »

May 222013

You see and this why I don’t that many board games. Too many damned strange rules and DNA samples. Plus it takes so long to play. But seriously, I have friends who love board games. I got nothing against them so don’t go sending me a bunch of hate mail. It’s a joke get over it. No enjoy and have a good week.

What’s Cool and Not For TV

Fanboy, TV & Movies No Responses »

May 212013

Looks like another Geek Filled TV season coming up. But let’s face it some of this stuff doesn’t looks so hot.

Agents of SHIELD: Unless you’ve been under rock, you’ve probably heard. Let’s hope the network gives Joss Wheadon the freedom to make this cool.

Almost Human: A little Blade Runner and Robocop vibe going here and JJ Anbrams. This looks like it could be awesome too. That one is going on the list.

Dracula: I had a hard time staying awake during the trailer. But another retelling of the classic Vampire tale stretched out into a TV series. Yipee. More vampires. I doubt they’ll do anything really thrilling with this. Yawn.

Under the Dome: Hey, we’re back on the let’s make another Lost. I predict train wreckage, again.

Blacklist: Hey, let’s make a Silence of the Lambs clone. Ugh again.

Trying to like Defiance

Fanboy, TV & Movies No Responses »

May 202013

At least I had the time to watch a couple more episodes of Defiance this week. Still not loving it.
I was so excited when this series was announced. It had some real potential based on the creative team and the concept but it just keeps falling flat. I don’t give damn about any of the characters. The dialog is just bland. And I can’t help but feel like I’ve seen this all before but done better. I can’t even think of one quotable moment or scene when I thought, “Man, this is cool.”
This morning the idea hit me. The show feels like it’s being written by the Marketing Department. So what’ hot now? Angsty teen romance! Let’s throw that in. Hey,those Firefly fans are really loyal. Let’s make it Sci-Fi Western. We need a prostitute with a heart of gold. Check. Let’s throw in a little political maneuvering. People like that stuff. We need a conspiracy/mystery that we can drag out over a season or more. Oh yeah and give us some shit that we can throw into a first person shooter.
Dammit, they have all the pieces to make a rocking show but it’s like they’re tied to tropes and don’t want for a moment to throw in something really interesting. I’ll give it a few more episodes, heck, maybe I’ll even finish out the first season. They need to really liven things up if they want to hold any interest.

Another Weekly Update

Geek Life No Responses »

May 162013

Damn, last week was busy that barely posted anything. Heck, I didn’t even do most of my normal posting. Of course, this is actually no indication that anything has slowed down a bit.
It’s been all Crunchy Bits (the cookbook) all the time. That last bit of editing is dang near done but have a long session of layout to do. I’m talking about a little that’s going to be going on almost every page. And no. There isn’t a way that I can I do it quickly and simply. The lesson here is prior planning people. Those last minute ideas really push back project completion.
This also means I haven’t had a lick of time to work on any of the RPG projects or do any writing. Every evening is something. Hell, that’s what life is all about. One damned thing after another.
My perfect plan is to have some good news by the end of the month. But, hell, I’ve said that before. So sit back and laugh at me while I try grind my threw this stuff. Like Warren Zevon said, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”