We found a book called "History of the United States" at an antique store a few years ago. It was published in 1916. It was a very interesting read. Seeing the history of the USA from the point of view of a textbook written nearly a century ago was enlightening ( Read more... )

I'm primarily posting these for my own reference, but these articles have some great insight into the state of Dungeons & Dragons and the RPG industry. I'm personally not interested in the edition wars and think it's a shame it's going on (I think anyone should play whatever they enjoy for the reasons they enjoy it), but I am interested in the ( Read more... )

Well, I decided to make a wild surge table. ( If you don't run (or play) table-top RPGs, this will probably be kinda boring - and it's pretty long - so I'm going to hide it under a cut. )

Thought I'd share some interesting stuff I've stumbled on:

• When I am exercising, I generally try not to have anything distracting me. When I'm driving, I often turn off the radio so I can enjoy the peace of nothingness. It's nice, when I can get it. Turns out, our brain really needs breaks like that - and we're not giving ourselves enough breaks.
• I' ( Read more... )

I use a lot of sources of information when coming up with game ideas. Reality generally provides some of the best stuff, to be honest. I found a book on bizarre, real crimes over the ages that was great fodder. Today, I found an interesting article about a fungus that takes over ants. I've used other ideas from real life, such as a giant fungus - ( Read more... )

GenCon had its ups and downs, but overall it was well worth it. I really had a great time this year. I'm just going to go over the highlights - at least from my point of view. There's the usual/obvious ones: enjoying time with friends, laughing about insanely long lines, showing up at the exhibition hall obscenely early (7:15am) because it's ( Read more... )

I've been seeing posts online from folks sharing things they've done in games, and I thought I'd share some things I've done in way of creating gaming props, in case it gives anyone ideas of their own to use in their sessions and to solicit some additional ideas. ( If you don't run (or play) table-top RPGs, this will probably be kinda boring - and it's pretty long - so I'm going to hide it under a cut. )

Today was a great day for learning. I learned that:

• getting up at 5am is (thankfully) earlier than I need in order to ride my bike to catch the bus to work (5:30 should be fine);
• the IndyGo bus system isn't as bad as I'd been led to expect (at least this morning's experience wasn't);
• there are virtually no sidewalks between 86th & College and my ( Read more... )

I've noticed a lot of references to folks playing table-top RPGs around a table. Gamer Chic is an example of a company (doing a great job) taking advantage of that practice. (Yes, that was a plug for a company I really hope stays in business. No, I'm not embarrassed to admit it - it's my power, and I want to use it. Sometimes I'll even use it for ( Read more... )

A friend posted this video. I was highly entertained, and thought a few of you would find it humorous.

It's an advertisement for the Necronomicon and The Esoteric Order of the Old Ones and Cthulhu Cultists. How can it not be awesome?!

Okay, okay - I see your point. Some of you are probably horrified. I get that. Well, I don't get that in the "I' ( Read more... )