Calling Grognardia, Are you There?

 That's odd, I thought. No posts from Grognardia. No posts in a while. Five weeks now.
Ok That's not right. Yeah so many bloggers don't post very often, myself included. But however its weird for James Malizewiski not post. That guy is a machine, a blogging machine.
In 2009 he posted 675 times
In 2010 he posted 759 times
In 2011 he posted 629 times
He slowed down in 2012 only posting 345 times.
But lately He only posted once in December and it is been 5 weeks since that.
So why do I care? Well he was the primary inspiration for this blog.
And I value his opinions about gaming and I always look forward to reading his blog.
On a more personal level he is kind of a mentor in absentia.
The massive number of entries he maintains is something to aspire to.
And he is part of this community of gamers.
So I am worried a bit. I hope he's alright and its nothing.
So if you are reading this and you are a friend of his,
 (meaning its OK for you to contact him) give him a call or e-mail or whatever.
See if he is alright and let him know that I was thinking of him.
And looking forward to his next post.
 

Supporting A Meme

 First off , I know two months without a post. That is the longest I think I have ever gone without posting. I don't plan to do it again. So don't worry, I haven't quit this blog.

And to support another meme going around the blogophere. The RPG bookshelf pics. They showed me theirs. Now I show mine. As the gaming room is mostly finished and organized. I can show off what I got. This represents about 25 years of collecting.

My Traveller and D&D collections.

My Sci-fi section (not Traveller).

My reference material historical. 

My reference material fantastic .

Some of my war games collection.

Some more of my war games.

This doesn't include my board games or miniatures. That would take several more pictures.

The Land Of Pluses

 Another thing that bothers me about the D&D rules is the proliferation of bonuses. Many little plus ones that make each less meaningful but yet have players scrambling to get as many as they can. Strength bonus, level bonus, magic weapons, magic spells and weapon vs armour bonuses. Stacking as many as they can players seem only to live or die for them. And yet I have seen a player toss away a magic sword because it was "only +1 and not worth the encumbrance" as he said. And how many times have you seen a Fighter with only average Strength? Or a Magic-user with average Intelligence? Or a average Wisdom Cleric? This is not the way I want to play.
 I have a plan to make each +1 more important.  I am going take them away. Well not all of them, but most of them. Only the level bonus and and magic will be used. And magic weapons will be limited +1. Maybe now players will not toss a magic weapon away because its only +1.

Of Heroism and Hit Points part 2

 There are a few things about the D&D rules that bother me. Like the more levels you have the more damage you can take but the tougher you are to heal. Or no matter how good at hitting things you are you never get better at defending yourself. There are more but I don't need to go on. My purpose has been to take another look at the rules with a mind to change my perceptions about them. My goal is to play the game as written with minimal house-ruling. Here is how I intend to do that. By treating Hit Points as morale and defense ability.

 When you wear armor your opponent can't just swing wildly at you. They have to aim for weak spots. Hence your AC is their target number. If they are on target (a successful roll) they roll for "damage". The damage they cause is you dodging, ducking, or blocking with a weapon or shield. Because no one is perfect this number is subtracted from your hit point total. This represents a general wearing down of your skill and luck. When you reach zero or go beyond, you have made a critical mistake and your enemy kills you. There I think I just explained how D&D combat works as written without changing anything. Except for magic, traps,  falling and poison.

 The following only applies to my game and does not apply to D&D in general.  Because armour doesn't protect from those things there are no rules for them. I will house rule that they do wounds directly to the character. Wounds would be based on the Constitution stat and damage taken off of it until death at zero. Magic, falling and poison will do stated damage to Con. Weapon damage rolls will 1, 2 or 3 D6 based on type. Healing spells will restore Con damage as will rest as stated in the rules. Hit points can be recovered fully after one nights rest as they do not represent actual damage at all.

There are most likely things I have missed but there it is. Keep this model of combat in mind and the rules make more sense. They are far from perfect but workable.

Lifestyles of the Parental and Gameless

 I haven't posted much lately. I can't seem to get past the lazies. Maybe its because I am not playing or running anything right now. My new-found parental responsibilities got in the way of my previous gaming. I have also missed out on OSR Con. The second one ran last weekend in nearby Toronto. I missed last year too because of financial difficulties. This year it was the time I could not spare. Ah well hopefully I will make it next year.
 I feel guilty for  just writing about role playing and not actually doing it. I should start a game of something. I know enough people who would play. And its possible to work it into my schedule. My biggest problem is so far making decisions about the game I will run. I can't seem to make up my mind. And not just rules but setting and background. To help with this I bought a new note book to write stuff down. Its a composition book with pages that are hard to tear out. I am optimistic that a bunch of random scribbling and no page tearing-out will eventually work. Oh and I will write in pen. Something I almost never do. Maybe this will get me out of my rut caused by too much responsibility. So if you know me, and play RPGs I just might ask you to join my game.

Wil Wheaton Thinks I'm Cool

Wil Wheaton thinks I'm cool. OK, He thought something I said was cool. Let me explain. Every year for the past 17 years I have attended and worked at the Polaris convention in Toronto. Originally called Toronto Trek its a fan run sci-fi and and fantasy con that attracts guests and attendees from all over. I work in the auditorium where the guests appear on stage to talk to the audience. I was working backstage when I met him. I thanked him for his Tabletop web show. On stage his enthusiasm for gaming was infectious and I felt part of an exclusive club. His talk reestablished my enthusiasm for gaming. I knew I had to say something to him for that. But it had to be a quick comment as he was sure to be pressed for time and I didn't want to hold him up. After a few moments of thought I had it. As he was leaving I turned to him and said "you give me pride in my passions".  He made the oh that's cool face and said "You have to pay that forward and pass it to the next generation to carry the flag of gaming." "Will do I said". My gaming urge has been restored.

And We're Back

 And we are back. Sorry for the long delay. At first it was a bad case of the doldrums. Then last month I came down with severe stomach pain. It lasted for days and days so I went the the hospital. After several trips over the course of two weeks (including one trip by ambulance) the doctors said I had a stomach Hernia and needed surgery right away. I was in and out of the operation without any trouble and so far no complications. I am in my second week of recovery and doing fine. I also lost ten pounds for my trouble. I'm glad to be feeling well enough to be back but I,m not liking the new blogger interface much.