Rogue Games Tabbloid -- August 26, 2009 Edition

26 August 2009

Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR [email protected]

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Grognard’s Grimoire: Cattha

What I am working on

AUG 25, 2009 09:45P.M.

AUG 25, 2009 08:09P.M. The entirety of this monster is hereby designated as Open Game Content via the Open Game License.

My title says it all; this is going to be a nice snapshot of my current projects. Playing games is my hobby, but so too is the designing and writing of them. I enjoy sitting with one of my Moleskins and writing and designing games. I love the process – even the editing and revision – no matter how bad my day goes game design makes me happy. The first part of this year saw me overseeing not only the art direction but the project lead of the last two Thousand Suns books. In addition, I was putting the final touches on the Colonial Gothic manuscript, doing the Art Direction for it, and then getting it to the printer and out the door. When all of that was done, GenCon prep hit. Now with GenCon done, I am rested. It is time to get back to the writing. Some of the below I was working on here and there, but now I am up to full speed. So what is on the list? Here you go: • Colonial Gothic Halloween PDF: First draft written; now I just need to type it up and get it ready for the editor. This is on schedule.

Cattha Number Appearing: 2d4 % in Lair: 25% Alignment: Neutral Armor Class: 5 Move: 15 Hit Dice: 7 Attacks: 4 claws (1d6+2), 1 bite (2d6) Save: F4 Morale: 10 Hoard Class: VII XP: 440

• eBook Preview of the first non-fiction book: Editing done, just need to lay it out. • Shadow, Sword & Spell: I love this game. Period. Action chapter done, Magic chapter done. Monster chapter almost done. Equipment chapter almost done. I have a few more odds and ends to finish, and then I will go over James’ stuff. James will do the same with my stuff. • New Colonial Gothic Demo: Will be running this next month again, as well as a few other times. Once I am happy with the results, and have enough notes, this bad boy will be revised, edited and then put up on the site.

The cattha is a ten-legged, carnivorous feline native to the highlands of alien worlds. Like many other alien creatures, the cattha is largely hairless, although its head sports a mane of thick, wiry hairs. This deadly predator is both exceptionally strong and quick, using its natural agility and speed to pounce on its prey before it even realizes it is in danger. Catthas are rarely encountered alone, as they form hunting parties of two or more in order to increase their chances of finding food for their voracious appetites.

• Colonial Gothic Projects: A bunch of PDFs, and possibly a new book that I did not mention last week. This book will be a published adventure. In addition, a lot of research. • Thousand Suns Revised: Bits and pieces. This is James’ baby, and I am helping him when he needs it. This is what he did for me with Colonial Gothic. • Dolphin: This is a new RPG that I tweeted about last Friday. I will

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR [email protected]

26 August 2009

have a post about this in a week or so. For now, this is a RPG that has you play dolphins. It is a different game for me, and currently exists in a Moleskin. My players really enjoy the game, and it is they, who convinced me it is worth working on. In addition, this is one of the few games I have done, that Ariana has expressed interest in not only seeing, but playing. This along is motivation enough for me. The game is powered by 12°, but a much simpler version of the mechanic. When the game is done, I will have a more public playtest for it, and then from there, James and I will decide what is next. Print or PDF I am not sure. I do know this is not going to be a big book; the game should not be any more than 96-pages.

digress — were the large number of solitaire adventures available for the game. Indeed, it seemed to me back then that there were way more solitaire adventures available for T&T than there were “regular” adventures. I took this as evidence that very few people actually played the game. As I reasoned, if lots of people did play T&T, why would there be a need for solitaire adventures? Why not just go and find a group of people to play with like “normal” gamers? You have to remember that, when I felt this way, I was young and it was at the height of roleplaying’s never-to-be-repeated faddish popularity. Back then, it really was easy to find a gaming group for just about any game you wanted to play. Between the pick-up games in game stores, the game days in public libraries, and RPG clubs in schools, it was amazingly easy to find other gamers who shared your particular tastes, whatever they might have been. Goodness knows I was introduced to a lot of games in those days through these avenues, so why couldn’t “those T&T weirdos” find some others to play with?

• Megadungeon.net: Hold on to you socks, I am writing an entire level. This is being done for two reasons: One, I want too. Two, I really want to make sure this project restarts. James needs help, and this is what we do, help each other. • Rogue Games Book Publishing: Doing a lot of research and work in getting the original fiction and non-fiction we want to do, finished and published. I mentioned this last week as well, but this is a major goal for us, and I want to do this. There are two nonfiction books lined up, which will see release sometime next year. So there you go the list. It looks like a lot, but it isn’t. As I said, I love writing and designing, and all of this is fun for me. Posted in Games, Life, thoughts Tagged: colonial gothic, game design, projects, Rogue Games, SS&S, thoughts, thousand suns, writing

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Solitaire Adventures

As I discovered, Tunnels & Trolls wasn’t the only game to have solitaire adventures. RuneQuest had them too and I had seen RQ players with my own eyes, so I knew they existed in large enough numbers to support campaigns, whereas I never met a T&T player in the flesh until years later. Granted, I thought RQ players were weirdos too — like I said, I was young — but RuneQuest always struck me as having a fairly large following. So, what was the appeal of all these solitaire adventures?

AUG 25, 2009 12:33P.M.

You have to remember that, although I did read them, I was never a huge fan of Choose Your Own Adventure-style books. I owned a few of the Fighting Fantasy books, of course, but they always seemed somehow “deficient” to me — a poor substitute for actually sitting around a table with my friends and roleplaying “properly.” On some level, I still feel that way, which is why I’ve similarly been unenthused about computer roleplaying games, even when they’re really well done, like Planescape: Torment or Knights of the Old Republic. Obviously, not everyone feels this way — nor did they back in the day — but I have to admit to continued bafflement at the appeal of it all. I’ve mentioned before that I used to have an unthinking prejudice against Tunnels & Trolls (I’m over it — more on that later). One of the reasons I did so, aside from the spells names, which still bug me — but I

I do own several T&T solitaires, which I recently bought as part of my researches into that venerable game. I plan on playing them soon, since I’ve been meaning to do so for some time. Once I have, I’ll be sure to

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR [email protected]

26 August 2009

make a post or two about the experience, since this is largely terra incognita for me and some may find my thoughts as I explore this area of gaming interesting (or at least amusing).

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LLWS AUG 25, 2009 08:11A.M. For those not in the know LLWS stands for the Little League World Series. The LLWS happens this time every year and like every year ESPN/ABC/Disney gin up the drama and televise this “oh so important game.” Mind you this is the same brain trust who televise the twitchy freak kids at the National Spelling Bee.

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Question for the masses AUG 25, 2009 11:08A.M.

As you no doubt can tell I hate this. Every year I ask myself the same question:

I use a iPhone. A lot. I can easily make the Rogue Games website, mobile enabled.

Who gives a fuck?

My question for those who care:

Unless you know one of the kids or they are related to you, why would you watch this? I get tired of hearing how awesome the LLWS is and how it reaffirms the love of the game.

• Would you like a automatic redirect to the mobile version if you are surfing on a iPhone and the like.

Bullshit. • Or, would you rather have the option to go to the mobile version? It reaffirms entitlement and is yet another way for parents to love through their children. The same network whose talking heads ponder such issues as why athletes have such sense of entitlement fail to realize that by televising the LLWS, high school football, high school basketball, and the fucking NCAA Football Signing Day they themselves are creating the very beast their Talking Heads demonize.

Share your opinions, I am interested in making our sites easier to use if you surf on a mobile device.

ROGUE FEED The LLWS is not good baseball nor is it good TV. There is nothing pure about this. It is exploitation.

Frank Mentzer Video Interview AUG 25, 2009 11:02A.M.

Posted in entertainment, Life, sports, thoughts Tagged: hate, Random, Here’s a recent interview with Frank Mentzer, where he reveals some details about the publishing venture he, Jim Ward, and Tim Kask are planning. It’s fascinating, to say the least.

thoughts, wtf

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A great thing about the new site AUG 25, 2009 08:01A.M. Since switching over to the new site, one of the great things about this is the access. With the new blog, I and James, have the ability to post via email. What does this mean? You are not safe from random thoughts. :) Richard

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