Rogue Games Tabbloid -- March 31, 2009 Edition

31 March, 2009

Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR [email protected]

ROGUE FEED

awake, which is why some elves, particularly younger ones, quickly grow bored and seek out excitement, even if it is among “ephemerals” like humans. Elven adventurers are thus elves with really short attention spans. We had also previously established that elves have quite the sweet tooth, with sugar acting as a mild narcotic, thus leading to jokes about “Pixie Stix addicts.”

Demihuman Oddities MAR 30, 2009 08:44P.M. One of the things I really love about my Dwimmermount campaign is how readily my five players have all, to varying degrees, contributed to the development of the still-vague game world in which the megadungeon exists. This is particularly in evidence when it comes to the portrayal of the demihuman races.

And these are all details that evolved through play, springing from tiny germs I’d planted early on in the campaign. I absolutely love this kind of stuff and see it as part of why I love this hobby so much.

In our latest session, we discovered a few things about the nature of dwarves, since Vladimir rejoined the party after a long absence. (As an aside, I am gratified that Dwimmermount’s dwarves seem to be vaguely Slavic in conception rather than the Germanic or Scottish stereotypes that typically afflict the race). When asked where Vladimir had been while the party was off in Dwimmermount, his player explained that he’d been “making my baby.” What he meant, of course, was that Vladimir had been using his time and treasure to carve a son for himself.

ROGUE FEED

[Lost Works] History of Empire City, Part 6

As I believe I mentioned once before, my dwarves are free-willed earth elementals who usually don’t venture out from their subterranean strongholds. They’re thus rather alien in nature, at least by human standards. I decided to sidestep the whole question about what dwarf women look like by establishing outright that there are no female dwarves at all. Dwarves reproduce (slowly) through a long and expensive process of crafting their descendants from living rock. Consequently, most dwarves don’t really get the idea of gender or sexual reproduction, leading to all manner of misunderstandings when dealing with nondwarves.

MAR 30, 2009 02:27P.M.

I finished the history portion of Empire City and now the last remaining parts deals with the Guide to the Five Boroughs. I do not know if this was going to be a separate chapter, or if it was going to be part of the history chapter. I am going to treat this as being part of the history chapter. Guide to the Five Boroughs

We also concluded that, because the process of crafting a descendant was so expensive, the newly-born dwarf — who enters the world a fully functional adult — is expected to repay his father and his clan, preferably in raw materials like precious metals and jewels. Most dwarven adventurers are in fact on quests either to repay their fathers for the expense of making them or trying to acquire enough valuables to be able to craft their own child. Thus, dwarves aren’t really greedy so much as needy; they wish to acquire wealth to ensure the perpetuation of their elemental race and the cultural practices that have grown up around it.

With a population of more than eight million, Empire City is the most densely populated city in the United States. Covering an area of 320 square miles, nearly 10,000 people per sq. mile cram the five boroughs. With such a small place, some would think Empire City is nothing but buildings. This is not true, and nearly 53,000 acres of parkland lie within the city. Empire City began from humble beginnings. Originally occupying just the southern tip of Manhattan the Dutch settlement known as New Amsterdam was captured by the English in 1664. By the time of the American Revolution, the city would find itself at the center of the struggle, and would fall under British control until 1783.

As for elves, it was interesting how many later accretions to the OD&D conception of the race we just accepted without any thought. For example, we never once considered that sleep or charm spells might affect Dordagdonar, because we all knew elves were immune to both. They are in AD&D true, but no such immunity is noted in the three little brown books. Accepting this led Dordagdonar’s player to assume that elves are immune to sleep because elves never sleep. They are always

It was during the 19th century that the city’s population swelled with increased immigration. The city grew so much that in 1811 the city street grid saw expansion to encompass the entire island of Manhattan. By

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31 March, 2009

1835, Empire City passed Philadelphia in becoming the largest city in the Unite States.

The tragedy of September 11, 20001, had a huge impact on the area. Gateway Plaza, which is located near World Financial Center, was struck by airplane debris, and the Winter Garden saw sever damage as well. Since the attacks, most of the damage is repaired, but many residents have not returned.

The Empire City of today traces her beginning to 1898 with the inclusion of the City of Brooklyn. Before 1898, Empire City only consisted of Manhattan and The Bronx, while Brooklyn included Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. With the creation of the city charter in 1898, the five boroughs were set up and the city government became interlinked within herself.

West Street cuts off Battery Park City from downtown Manhattan. The Hudson River cuts it off from the rest of the borough to the east, north and south. Battery Park City consists of five major sections: North Residential Neighborhood, World Financial Center Area, Gateway Plaza, Rector Place Residential Neighborhood, and the Battery Place Residential Neighborhood.

Empire City’s five boroughs are also separate counties of Empire State. Though legally considered counties, none have their own country governments. Each borough elects a Borough President, but under the current city charter, their powers are limited. Each borough does have their own county courts, and some state offices like the district attorney are found there as well.

Carnegie Hall West 57th and 7th Avenue

Manhattan

Since 1891, Carnegie Hall has been the pre-eminent spot musician and entertainers perform their very best work. Designed by William Barnet Tuthill, Andrew Carnegie financed the construction as a gift to the city he loved. On the hall’s opening night composer Tchaikovsky conducted the orchestra, and since then the world’s most famous orchestras and performers have appeared on the stage. The hall underwent extensive restoration in the 1980’s, but the stage and lobby underwent major renovations in 1997 after Officer Prometheus clashed with the villain Torque.

Manhattan is synonymous with Empire City, and the two are interchangeable. The borough is part of Empire City County, which boarders are the same of the borough, includes not only all of Manhattan Island, Roosevelt Island, a few smaller islands, and Marble Hill. 1,537,195 people live within the borough, and it is home to numerous museums, restaurants, theaters, and people. Battery Park City

American Museum of Natural History Battery Park City is a 90-acre planned community located on Manhattan’s southwestern tip. Named for adjacent Battery Park, the community is home to the World Financial Center, but numerous housing, commercial and retail buildings. Owned and managed by the Battery Park City Authority, the city does not fall under the control of Empire City, but is a in fact a public corporation.

Central Park West at 79th Street A staple of Empire City, the hallmark of the museum is the fourth floor housing three halls dealing with dinosaurs (Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs, Hall of Ornithischan Dinosaurs, and Hall of Vertebrate Origins). Another popular attraction is the extensive Rose Center for Earth and Space. This exhibit has various meteorites and moon rocks on display, but objects from the Dark Empire. The most recent exhibit, the Hall of the Hero, traces the history of the metahumans from the Frisco Flyer to the Guard. The centerpiece of the exhibit is the Elektro display, which consists of the mechanical man’s outer shell. Unlike the Koch Museum to the Hero, the Hall of the Hero has an international scope to their coverage and displays.

The origins of the area lie in the 1950s when the once busy Manhattan Port stood nearly vacant. Architect Wallace K. Harrison envisioned a comprehensive community, including not only housing but industry and businesses. The Empire State Legislature voted in 1968 to create the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) that would oversee the project’s development. 1976 saw the port’s exposed piers buried and the massive landfill project finished. Construction started in 1977, but stopped due to the city’s financial crisis. The land’s title was transferred to the BPCA in 1979, which then took charge of the entire project and eventually would oversee daily operations of the community once occupied.

Metropolitan Museum of Art 5th Avenue and 82nd Street The crown jewel of Empire City’s cultural institutions the Met houses over 3 million works of art from around the world. Founded in 1870, the original redbrick Victorian gothic building designed by Calvert Vaux, lies within complex the entire.

Residential building began in 1980; quickly following this was the construction of the World Financial Center in 1981. By 1985 people began moving into newly built apartments and business began renting office spaces available in the World Financial Center. The 1990s saw a ramping up of building, and saw increased demand for many of the newly build places. By y the start of 2000 the entire are was finished off.

The majestic 5th Avenue entrance leads visitors into the building’s landmark—the Great Hall. From here visitors have access to the European painting galleries housing works by Botticelli, Rembrandt and

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31 March, 2009

Rodin. The American Wing houses an extensive collection of American Art by American masters. Also found are galleries dedicated to art from Greek, Roman, Asian artists. The American Wing, which is located on the northwest side of the complex, houses not only the marble façade of the Wall Street branch of the US Bank, but Tiffany stained glass windows, rooms decorated with period furniture, and galleries devoted to American paintings.

ROGUE FEED

Anniversary MAR 30, 2009 01:33P.M.

Museum of Empire City One year ago, I wrote this entry. 632 entries later — well, 633 now — here we are. Back then, there was no Swords & Wizardry or Mutant Future, no Fight On! or Knockspell, and the number of old school blogs was so few that I could actually keep up with everyone of them. What a year it’s been!

1220 5th Avenue and 103rd Street Originally located in Gracie Mansion, the current home is in a building designed and built in 1932. Dedicated to preserving and maintaining the history of Empire City, the museums exhibits cover many aspects of city history. The Museum of Empire City’s real claim to fame is the its

I began this blog in the weeks following the death of Gary Gygax as a

Broadway Exhibit and its’ display of one of the original study models of the Statue of Library.

place where I could celebrate the hobby that he, Dave Arneson, and innumerable others had created and that had brought me so much joy in my life. I’d begun my return to the old school about a year before that, having become thoroughly disenchanted with the then-current edition of Dungeons & Dragons. At first, I thought I could “fix” my problems with that game, but, as I attempted to do so, I quickly found myself recapitulating the history of the hobby, albeit in reverse. I was treading well-trod ground and decided that, rather than re-invent the wheel and call myself clever, I’d instead embrace the history and traditions of this hobby wholeheartedly.

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum 107 5th Avenue Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the Guggenheim opened in 1954. Since then the Guggenheim has been a leader in collecting and displaying modern art. Among its holdings are works by Vasily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Picasso and Robert Mapplethorpe. Recently the villain Bloody Mary used the circular layout of the Museum to open a gate to Hell. It took the timely intervention Caliburn, along with the Baron’s surprising appearance to put an end to her plans. Though none of the art saw any damage, the museum had to shut down for two weeks for cleaning.

Together, these two events gave birth to Grognardia, a place where I naively thought I could collect my thoughts and share them with a small handful of likeminded people. I’d already been posting on a number of old school forums, most notably Finarvyn’s Original D&D Discussion and had been drinking deeply of its collected wisdom. At the time (December 2007), those forums were already very lively, but the number of posters was, I think, less than 100 — certainly not the 400+ that now can be found there — and, of those, only a handful posted often, myself being one of them. I expected a similar level of readership for this blog, as I knew its subject matter, not to mention my own idiosyncratic style, wouldn’t have a lot of appeal outside a small circle of eccentrics.

The Whitney Museum of American Art 945 Madison Ave After having her donation to the Met turned down, sculptor Gertrude Vanderbuilt Whitney opened her own museum in her studio galley in 1929. The current grey vault like structure standing off Madison Avenue opened in 1966. The eight galleries located on the five-floors houses a great survey of 20th century American art. The museum is more famous for sponsoring the Whitney Biennial.

How wrong I was! Confounding my expectations, Grognardia has somehow managed to acquire more than 137 regular readers, quite a lot more in fact. I’m frankly amazed and humbled by this — and occasionally a little frightened. I still treat the blog as a place where I can “talk out loud.” That means many of my posts, even if written in a pontifical style, don’t necessarily represent my final thoughts on any given subject. I work out my thoughts on things by talking about them with others and that’s what I always intended this blog to be. For the most part, it’s worked brilliantly and I’ve clarified many of my feelings on various matters because of my interactions with commenters. Unfortunately, there are times when an unfinished thought of mine gets interpreted as dogma and it’s led to misunderstandings and, worse, misrepresentations of where my thoughts actually lay. That’s the danger of a public blog, of course, and I’m slowly coming to accept that, but it’s still a mite frustrating nonetheless.

Highlighting the important advancements in American art, the even is known to make many artists famous. The last Biennial held in 2002 is famous for Green Ronin’s attempt to steal the holographic art Rose in the Screen, by renowned artist Ariana Fisch. Slipstream, who was attending the event, managed to stop Green Ronin in the act. Planning is already underway to ensure the 2004 Biennial is more secure. Posted in Games Tagged: Empire City, Games, Lost Works, thoughts

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Today’s Tabbloid PERSONAL NEWS FOR [email protected]

31 March, 2009

usurped from his father when he was a baby. But it’s the dangers Jason and his Argonauts face that make me think most of D&D. There’s Talos (“called a triple iron golem” in the Dungeon Masters Guide and illustrated by Dave Sutherland in the Monster Manual), the hydra, the harpies, and of course the “children of the teeth,” skeleton warriors used by King Aeëtes of Colchis to try and stop Jason from escape with the Golden Fleece. Those skeletons made a huge impression on me as a kid, as I suspect they did on Gary Gygax. If you check out the nifty skeletons available from Otherworld Miniatures, you’ll see that some of them bear shields that are identical to those from Jason and the Argonauts.

My frustrations, though, are comparatively few. How can I be unhappy when the past year has brought me in contact with so many others who share my love for the Old Ways? Likewise, I’ve been inspired to create, just for the fun of it, more than I have in years. From articles in fanzines to Urheim to the Cursed Chateau, I feel reinvigorated about my hobby, which is a remarkable reversal of where I was two years ago, when I started to wonder if maybe I’d “outgrown” gaming entirely. Obviously, I hadn’t, but I think it’s fair to say I’d outgrown a certain phase in my interest in the hobby. I won’t call it “adolescence,” but it was characterized with an obsession with the new and the “innovative” at the expense of the things that drew me into the hobby in the first place.

Ray Harryhausen was my patron saint as a boy. I ate up all the movies on which he worked, like this one and the various Sinbad films, all of which I saw in theaters during the 70s. Remember that this was in an era before VCRs where readily available and well before there was a huge library of old films available for viewing by later generations. I don’t know if my experience in seeing these movies as they were meant to be seen was

By the time I’d begun the blog, I had understood this for nearly a year and was ready to begin the next step in my journey of re-discovery. I’d like to extend my most heartfelt thanks to everyone who’s joined me on this journey. The last year has been a blast, in no small part due to the people who’ve bothered to read what I’ve written and grapple with it the same as I have. Here’s to many more years of the same.

unique, but I consider myself lucky for having had that opportunity, because my imagination was informed not just by the works of my own time but by those of the generations before me. Maybe that’s why, even though I’m younger than the earliest generation of gamers, I still feel like I have a kinship with them. D&D never felt “old fashioned” to me, but perfectly in line with the conception of fantasy I’ve held since a very young age — and still do.

ROGUE FEED I bought a copy of Jason and the Argonauts on DVD this weekend and watched it with my nine year-old daughter. She’s got a love for mythologies of all sorts and plays in my weekly Dwimmermount campaign. She’s still a little young to quite get into the game on the same level as my friends, but she’s a quick learner and I feel a certain obligation to accommodate young people who take an interest in what might otherwise seem a very esoteric hobby. My daughter was a bit frightened of the harpies at first, but she otherwise enjoyed the movie a lot, particularly the hydra. She also took special interest in all the scenes on Mount Olympus, but then, when Honor Blackman is playing Hera, I can’t say I blame her. I’ll probably try and acquire copies of the Sinbad movies too and watch them with her in the coming weeks. I see no reason why my children should be deprived of the “classical education” I received when I was their age.

Jason and the Argonauts MAR 30, 2009 12:01P.M.

One of the things I liked about growing up in Baltimore in the 1970s was that many of the local movie theaters regularly showed older classic films in addition to first-run features. Consequently, I had the benefit of seeing lots of great motion pictures on the big screen that had been released years before I was born. One of the ones I most vividly recall was 1963’s Jason and the Argonauts, a movie that I now connect not just with my childhood but also with Dungeons & Dragons. There are a lot of reasons why this is so, starting with the basic premise of the film (and the Greek myth on which it’s based): an adventurer gathers together a band of other adventurers to set off to an unknown land in search of a treasure with which he hopes to reclaim the kingdom

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