Happy 40th Dungeons & Dragons!

Happy 40th D&D. We're having a good old fashioned dungeon crawl tonight to celebrate. Game on!

A few salubrious words from Ed Greenwood (novelist, gamer and the original creator of the Forgotten Realms D&D setting):

 

The Miniatures Man + 50k Giveaway

The Miniatures Man blog has reached 50.000 hits, so Joakim Ström is giving away some fantastic miniatures to celebrate!

http://miniatyrmannen.blogspot.se/2014/01/the-miniatures-man-50k-giveaway.html?m=1

You can enter at the link above, or just congratulate him anyway. You have until the 26th of January, 2014.

Well done Joakim!

Tiamat is Back! + D&D NEXT

Over the last week I have been at the beach with my family. It's summer here in New Zealand and the weather is beautiful. It's been a time for fun and laughter with the wife and kids. Also, quiet reflection and meditation. Usually on the early morning beach walks with our dog.

There has also been some reading. As I flex my blogging muscles and grow as a blog writer, my admiration for good bloggers grows also. Often I will find gaming ideas I have had on the workbench for years, fully realised by clever bloggers, often taken in directions I wouldn't have dreamed of.

Every now and then a blog bomb hits that has all the bees buzzing. Today was such a day. This is the first official press story I read, thanks to Tenkar:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/gaming/2014/01/23/dungeons-dragons-anniversary/4713259/

To my mind, this is great news. Having been interviewed yesterday by a local paper about D&D, I recognise that not everyone knows what it is. The 21 year old interviewer had certainly never played it!

Am I more excited about D&D NEXT or Tiamat...? Probably the latter. Will a multi-platform, multi-media, mass marketing campaign help bring new players to the gaming table? No doubt. 2014 is certainly going to be a good year for D&D!

Uther Dwarf Lord + Harboth Orc Archer

Straight from the painting desk, Uther (Dwarf Lord of Legend) face to face with one of Harboth's boys. I don't like the Orc's chances!

Harboth's Orc Archer Vs. Uther, Dwarf Lord of Legend.

Yes, I paint the backs of my shields.

I haven't painted stripey pants in a while!

Another unique painted shield.

I can see your house from here!

I think these both came out very well. A balance was struck between metallic paint, washes and dry brushed detail. Some gravel made a dramatic rocky base for the archer. These are both miniatures from the golden age of gaming, when Citadel was a mighty fortress of imagination and creativity. Painting them certainly took me back to the 80s! Their names will be changed for the next D&D session.

The New Zealand Festival of Mind Sports

I'll be running D&D sessions over the weekend.

February 28th - March 2nd, 2014

"MindSport Festivals and Competitions are mainly held in Europe - and now - Thames on The Coromandel is championing the first of its kind in New Zealand. Along with serious competitors, the event will provide a fun environment for anyone who plays a sport of the mind to compete equally and fairly in the spirit of good will and sportsmanship."

Website: http://mindsportsfestival.co.nz

The festival opens with a free Street Party in the oldest part of Thames - historic Grahamstown - on Friday evening (6-10pm) with live bands, featuring Radiobaby, The Heaters, Boom City, and the Darcy Perry Blues Band.

Apart from helping to open the festival with a bang, I'll also be running D&D sessions over the weekend. Happy Birthday D&D!

Henchmen for Hire + Meatshields! + Ajax

"Men you'd be glad to take underground!"

The classic fantasy hireling and henchman generator. It is what it says it is. Old news to many perhaps but still a useful tool I call on often.

There is enough detail to work with right from the get go. If at a later time I require attributes, I roll them then, during play. More importantly, a wealth of role-play material is provided in the columns for Background, Possessions & Knowledge, and Notable Features. Plenty of humour to be found here!

As a side note, if the henchman is a lawful warrior, I allow him to be from Expeditions Unlimited, one of Ajax's famous "Warriors-for-Hire". His strength will be 15 or better and he will be fully equipped with chainmail, a helmet, shield and sword. Thanks J. Eric Holmes!

Wizardry + Bards Tale

Often I'm reminded just how awesome the 80s were. Especially when it came to gaming. I'm writing this post on a smart phone but computers were way cooler back then. On the Apple II, my friends and I were playing Wizardry! The pioneer of computer role-playing games! Later would come The Bard's Tale, and a host of other classics. Wizardry was the game which inspired all the others.

A dungeon crawl with a party of characters, exploring a (pseudo) 3D maze (which you mapped yourself with pen and paper), with monsters, traps, treasures and puzzles. A quest to slay an evil mage and save the world!

It also was like playing D&D. You could roll up characters for your party from familiar classes; fighter, thief, mage and priest. They could be a human, elf, dwarf, hobbit or gnome. Their attributes were close enough to be familiar too: Strength, I.Q., Piety, Vitality, Agility, Luck. Later you could upgrade characters to one of the elite classes: Lord, Bishop, Ninja, and Samurai!

I also played the next two titles in the Wizardry series. Completing each was difficult but you could import characters. Cool. Then Electronic Arts brought out The Bard's Tale. And you could import your Wizardry characters! More adventures! More mapping!

Which makes me wonder... where did I find the time? School, paper run, brass band, orchestra, swimming, lifesaving, soccer, lawn mowing, wood chopping, scouts, odd jobs, Tae Kwon Do, painting, drawing, writing, running, gaming, break dancing... er, anyway, misspent youth?

Wizardry was worth it.