It never rains, but it pours

Life has been stupid stressful lately. Crazy busy with the day job, tons on my plate for TLG, lots of stress at home and work. None of which you fine folks need to hear about, but it's kept me away from regular blogging. I'm determined, however, not to let this blog go again and I'll get back on track as soon as possible.

I'll be at Gary Con with Troll Lord Games in March, if anyone wants to stop by the booth and say hi, and/or get your Amazing Adventures or any other books I've written signed. Same thing at Origins--I'll be there with Troll Lord Games. I understand that Goodman Games may have an announcement involving some work I did for them at Gary Con; if so I'm happy to discuss it if you stop by the TLG booth.

So what's been going on elsewise in the fantasy front? I picked up all three original D&D movies on DVD/Blu Ray. The first one is just as bad as I remembered, but the other two are still underrated and quite enjoyable. I've also recently picked up the Mythica series on DVD. These are low budget, but still very enjoyable and probably some of the best D&D movies I've seen (and make no mistake, they're D&D movies, right down to immediately-identifiable character classes). If you can deal with the low-budget CGI, the writing and performances are good, and the series is well worth a watch. I kind of wish there was a campaign setting. I'd like to know more about the world in which they're set.

My two gaming groups have been caught up in playtesting the new 5th Edition rules Amazing Adventures RPG, and have put on hold our current Savage Worlds Rifts and Call of Cthulhu games, but I've been really getting the itch to play some good old-fashioned D&D or Castles & Crusades again. Been on a major fantasy kick pretty hardcore lately.



I managed to get a look at the Beyond this Point Be Dragons "Dulluhn" manuscript and I really, really like it. I kind of want to try playing OD&D with that version of the rules. I like the idea of percentile-based combat followed by a 2d6 "instant kill" roll on a success, using the Chainmail Man to Man tables. Yeah, it's primitive and a bit of a mess, but there's a kernel of brilliance there and I'm a fan of "what could've been," as evidenced by my own Spellcraft & Swordplay system. I liked the basic, DIY aspect of the old days that's kind of gotten lost in the elegance, player agency, social contracts, and "innovative story-driving rules systems" of today's gaming culture.

If you haven't heard about the Dulluhn MS, check out D.H. Boggs' "Hidden in Shadows" blog. It's a very interesting side-note in the history of D&D, a set of rules that wasn't directly authored by Dave Arneson, but may have been heavily based on a version of D&D he developed pre-publication. It's probably as close to a true Arnesonian version of D&D as we'll ever see.

I guess that's all for now. Run out of steam. I just wanted to get something up there to announce I'm still alive!

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