Long-term campaigns matter.  That may seem like a self-evident truth to those who are playing Pathfinder or have been involved in a Forgotten Realms campaign for any length of time, but from an OSR perspective, it might not be so clear.  One of the problems of today is that there are so many different choices when it… Continue reading Why long-term campaigns matter

Winter Solstice 2011 at Stonehenge Does the calendar in your game year mean anything?  It should.  In pre-industrial societies, the cycle of the seasons and the turn of the year were important in the lives of everyone.  In our “disenchanted” modern world, we pay little attention to the seasons for their own sake, but more as… Continue reading Winter Solstice!

Read more about this on Jon’s blog I want to be clear: this is an amazing book.  In some ways, it’s the book I’ve wanted to write – but Jon does a better job at much of the subject material by having access to a vast wealth of documentation (and I thought I had an extensive… Continue reading With apologies to Jon Peterson

I just read over on a Google+ community about a fellow whose gaming group – like so many – was beginning to scatter. Whether it was due to college graduation or job and career issues doesn’t really matter. My own brother-in-law has been meeting with his college gaming group on Yahoo Chat and infrequent get-togethers… Continue reading Starting a game club: why do it?

…of the Walking Eye podcast conversation between myself and Ron Edwards, with my friend Kevin Weiser acting as moderator, goes up today.  I have to admit, I am interested in hearing how it will sound, given that there’s a lot we talked about – although not as much about the OSR as I might have… Continue reading The Second Half…

Editorial note:  I wrote this blog post some time ago, but aside from a few minor editorial updates, it is still very much how I feel about the current hype around the “evolution” of D&D. Don’t mistake all of this for… One of the comments made sometimes by fans of D&D 4th Edition is, “oh, it’s… Continue reading They just aren’t the same…

Ah, props in gaming.  Done right, they can add a lot to a gaming session.  Over time, I’ve created fake ID cards, accident reports, even a spy’s briefcase right down to the unknown surveillance photos, cigarettes, and money (for the record, 20 Euros and 100 Rand). But I don’t think I’ve gone this far:

I’ve recently joined a bunch of G+ communities and combined with some of the other fun I’ve had over the past while, I now have too many links to follow for gaming goodness.  Here are just a few of the links: Blade & Crown – a new RPG from Rachel Kronick.  Rachel is an old friend… Continue reading Panning for gold

In the beginning: Madison Games Day 2010 Back in September 2009, I moved to Madison, Wisconsin.  I had been hoping for some time to join the fabled Dungeon Masters Association at the University of Wisconsin.  Alas, that was not to be, as the DMA had folded just a few months before I arrived. So I… Continue reading Just over three years and still growing!

Some of you might be familiar with Kevin Weiser’s podcast, The Walking Eye.  Kevin’s an old friend from Iowa State, and some time ago discovered I was involved in the Old School Renaissance.  It also happens that he knows Ron Edwards fairly well, so he thought it might be interesting to do an interview with… Continue reading Ron Edwards, the Walking Eye, and me!