OpenQuest and why I'm using it...

My first gaming years were spent under the magic and poor game mechanics of AD&D.  This led to the rest of the TSR line; Gamma World, Top Secret, Boot Hill, and GangBusters. While the different genres afforded great flights of fancy for my regular teen game group, there was always the nagging disappointment that I was unable to create a player character to my exact tastes.

This led first to Space Opera, Flashing Blades, and Pirates & Plunder. Then GURPS and Champions. The only thing which increased was complexity while game opportunities shrank and shrank. I eventually found my way to Chaosium and Elric! which introduced me to the D100 system for the first time. But by then it was too late. Gaming was now just an interesting shelf on my bookcase. Or instant death to dating if left out!

So this OSR is flaring up everywhere and my discriminating taste has landed on OpenQuest, from D101 Games.

This is the game which gets fantasy role playing right. It has won me over. It has resisted every attempt to tinker with the mechanics. When I mean resisted I mean after some reflection I would abandon the proposed fix which would pop into my opinionated GM head. Studying the rule set (as there is no one yet to play with) I could not help but feel I was being well cared for as a player. Hopefully this means the Game Master load should be very manageable, because I am positive I will have to shoulder this burden as I attempt to uncover RPG players in the rural Rockies.

It is an excellent introduction to role playing games for newcomers as well as the long dormant player. This is because of the simple entrance point provided by the insightful author by "Starting Character Generation with a Character concept. A character concept is a one sentence summing up of what the character is all about."

Anyone can do this!

The only issue I have yet to resolve is Literacy. A required eighty percent or higher is required to be literate in the specific language skill. This means many illiterate magicians with a maximum of 75% in any starting skill.

Otherwise I'm going with no House Rules!

Reason for The Vanishing Tower

The Vanishing Tower is a mad attempt to enjoy face to face RPG's in the rural west far from any concentration of mature gamers.

There is an obvious proliferation of old gamers reminiscing, playing, and exploring the path this great interactive hobby has taken. A reflection on what joy was found burning so many hours  around a table with creative friends.

And the obvious challenge of continuing the narrative art with the real world demands, and the disapproving attitudes civilians direct toward this geek activity.

Those who find themselves in a more urban environment have tremendous opportunity to locate and create numerous gaming opportunities. Those who do not have a steep hill to climb when it comes to creating a fun gaming group. Level of interest, number of available players, and distance all conspire to thwart the success of anyone looking for Face to Face gaming.

My hope is to blog about a creation of such group here in the high Rockies and the adventures it will share.

Initial Post During Design

This is an initial post to take up space while I design the blog for public consumption.

First issue is uploaded image for Header does not appear. Hmmm.....

Got that figured out. Now for "correct" color, and layout.

Happy with the current arrangement. This will be the template for The Vanishing Tower.

And if anyone can tell me how to eliminate the large space between posts please let me know!

Got that figured out as well!