Rambling For My 56th

Effin' WIZARDS, Man.

So today I've officially survived 56 orbits of our local star, which means I've been playing RPGs for over 44 years now.

Why?

Because they're fun. Because I can become someone I'm not and walk a while in their shoes. Because I enjoy building worlds and societies and finding the edges of what I know about how everything works. Because controlling fictional powers beyond the ken of mortals gives me hope.

Why did I choose choose the image of a patch for the 56th Operations Support Squad? Because Wizards. It spoke to me. And I'm sticking with it.

Today I write to find out.

Yes, I've watched the clip from this bsky post and read through the blog post talking with Paul Czege about The Ink That Bleeds. And I'm writing. So let's suspend our rationality and see where this goes.

Two Decades??

De-Gunking My Head Again.

I saw someone post that they've been blogging for years, so I thought I'd check the history here at the Gaming Den of Iniquity. And I took a step back.

Twenty Years? And almost a month.

But TWENTY Years?

Twenty Years Ago

On 29 July 2005, a Friday, I had a 2-month-old at home. I was self-employed, looking for contract gigs to pay the mortgage. My steady, 10-year-old D&D 3.5E game was going on permanent hiatus, because most of the group had newborns at home and thus higher priorities than gaming. I needed a game-oriented outlet.

So I started a blog. This one, right here. Go check the first two posts. I'll wait.

The Alchemy of Original Thought

Can we create new ideas from whole cloth any more? We've had 50+ years of TTRPGs, and the market has mostly settled into recognizable genres and flavors, such as generic fantasy, heroic, alternate history, horror, modern, cozy, espionage, near-future (and now alternate present like Cyberpunk), gritty, interstellar, war, and far future. Is there room to fit a new genre in that spectrum? Sure. But it'll definitely show its roots. Same with systems. Are there still innovations to be made that aren't roll+modifiers beating a target, dice pools, or roll+spend? Sure. Are they really bringing new technology to the table? Possibly, but I'll need convincing.

By the same token, can we find a fresh game hidden in something archaic? Is unearthing a tired system that nobody plays anymore valuable? The OSR certainly thinks so, even though a large part of the movement focuses on making new games to fix whatever the designer doesn't like in the older game. Then again, would I play PsiWorld again, even though the system has holes and needs an edit? Absolutely.

"And the world, the world turns around.
And the world and the world, the world drags me down."
  - The Cult "She Sells Sanctuary"

Jammin' and Publishin'

Hey there, Yawning Chasm That Is The Intarwebz. How y'all been? It's been a hot minute since I just talked to you, so I thought I'd do something like that now.

I basically gave this blog over to my current campaign setting Fellport over the past 2.5 years, posting nothing but NPCs, locations, items, groups, and related snippets to use in your game if you want. I shifted focus from my thoughts to stuff I made, thinking nobody would care about this aging white guy's opinions. Maybe that's true. Maybe the void will eat my thoughts and never give anything back. But does that negate the effort or the accomplishment of having strung together words in hopes of clarifying my thoughts and working through what I might think? I don't think so. I'm writing here mainly for me, but if these words reach anyone with similar beliefs and biases, great! So let's get to it.

Just to let you know, things have shifted for me since April, and things have shifted more in the past 6-7 weeks. Lemme 'splain.

(WARNING: Brain Dump Below The Cut! Double-check your safety gear now!)

Bolthaven Folio #1: Coming Soon

Draft of Bolthaven Folio #1

I've been fighting with myself for a long time. I'm just an editor (even though it's never "just" editing). I'm not a game designer (even though I've been doing it since I started playing, and I even have a card). I'm not good enough (even though friends keep asking for me to run more games for them).

It took time and effort, but I can finally talk over my Brain Weasels.

I have ideas. Given the 240ish posts here about Fellport over the past 2 years, apparently I have plenty of ideas. That's never been the issue. Developing the idea and sticking with it until there's something solid that can stand on its own has been my stumbling block. Now, I think I have something worthwhile. I thought I'd start a series of zines to start getting these ideas out into the world, called Bolthaven Folios.