My Manifesto

There was a bit on Saturday Night Live that featured a parody of the Dating Game in which a desperate Ted Kaczynski tried to convince the various bachelorettes to read his manifesto. I'm taking a break from all my posts about my personal RPG history to talk about something equally narcissistic: my purpose for creating and updating this blog. Unlike our friend the Unibomber, I'm not particularly concerned with anyone reading this section. It's here mainly for me, so that I can return to it if I need it a reminder of why I started this and why it should continue. So, if you don't care a whit about why I'm here or what my motives are, move along.

In following various RPG-themed blogs over the past, I've seen a few of them close up shop. Usually, the author makes some grand declaration that they've been soured by the online gaming community and they're taking themselves out of the limelight for good. I don't know the situations that led to these particular decisions and I'm not here to pass judgment on anyone. I'm also not so foolish as to think that, by putting my gaming thoughts and RPG creations in a public forum, I'm not going down a similar path. I might remain in complete obscurity, sending my thoughts out to be heard by no one save myself and a few friends. On the other hand, if people do decide to pay attention to what I'm writing, I'm likely to face some kind of negativity and/or criticism.

Here's the important thing that I must keep in mind, if I'm to maintain perspective on all this. This blog is not for anyone else but me. It's open to the public because I'm trying to do something more than journal just for the sake of it. I want to air my thoughts in a public venue. If someone finds value in it, that will be a bonus side effect. If not, it's enough for me that I find it valuable. This blog, like all blogs really, is a vanity project. I welcome feedback, but I don't require it or even expect it. In the end, I'm writing for my own sanity during a period of separation from family and friends. Anything that distracts me from that goal will be ignored.

Retreat forward!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mutant Crawl Classics inspired patron for DCC: The Star Child

Image
The Mutant Crawl Classics Kickstarter is winding down to its final days. Using the free rules found here , I ran the Free RPG Day Funnel adventure Museum at the End of Time . Inspired by events that are very likely to occur within that adventure (and happened in my home game with the kids), I designed a new patron usable for DCC. Just a little something to tide you all over while you wait for the MCC game to release next year. Feel free to use, share, or whatever. I welcome feedback and would love to know if anyone actually makes use of this thing. PATRON: THE STAR CHILD Somewhere across the infinite realms of time, space, and possibility, there stands the greatest possible achievement of architectural design: a monolithic solid whose perfect and precise dimensions exist in a ratio utterly pleasing to the cosmos itself. Not only are the monolith’s height, width, and depth in perfect harmony with the divine ratio, but so too are its invisible dimensions, on into ...
Read more

Finally, Gen Con Event Luck (Torchbearer RPG)

Image
My oldest son and I are attending Gen Con together this year. It's pretty cool in that it will be the first time I've been in the United States during Gen Con in about 7 years. Without the Army to send me somewhere else during the big convention, I thought it might be neat to take my son. This will be my third Gen Con (I went in 2000 and 2002) and his first. The first year that I went, I barely did anything but wander around the dealer room, bleary-eyed and overwhelmed. My second Gen Con was a little more successful as my friends and I played in the D&D Open Tournament that year. Unfortunately, that event took up most of our available gaming time. This year, my goal was to sign up for a few different events that not only featured my favorite games, but also gave me a chance to game with some of the designers whose work I enjoy. I'm not a fan of gamer celebrities, but I do see the value in having the author of a module running his or her work for you right there at ...
Read more

Wednesday Dwimmermount: A Few Thoughts on Running the Game (Session 1)

A long time ago, I began to cobble together some GM aids that put all of the pertinent rules of ACKS into a 7 or so page document. Don’t get me wrong, ACKS uses OD&D as its base and is hardly a complicated game. The crunchy bits it introduces to that rules set are all things that I enjoy, such as clear mechanics for hiring henchmen and mercenaries. However, the book’s organization is a wee bit scattered, and I found myself flipping around more than I would have liked. Some of that will go away with experience, of course, but I’m now very motivated to finish said GM aid. As a further thought on organization, Dwimmermount has a few warts. Some of the important general information is set aside in its own chapter (doors, wandering monsters, etc.), which is very good for finding what you need during GM prep, but not so good when you’re trying to find something in the heat of the moment. For example, Zazik’s coughing fit was supposed to call for an encounter throw each round that ...
Read more