Contact Information:

jay@vanishingtowerpress.com

Sunday, July 13

Gaming after Hiatus

Is it legal, is it fair? I started a Sword and Sorcery game in December when I busted up skiing. With two months on the couch I discovered there was an online game community and plunged right in.

Then I got better, went to work, and found gaming in the afternoon, evening, weekends, etc. was a bit problematic when my time became more, hmmm, required.

While I can fully appreciate getting in touch with adolescent indolence, navel gazing and masturbation, I did decide RPG's was as worth artistic effort as anything Rothko produced.

So I'm going to fight the trade winds, give up on natural sleep and give those who enjoyed gathering around my virtual table another stab at an ongoing campaign in my sword and sorcery campaign I've cobbled from online bits.

Monday, April 21

The Health of Gaming Today

Looks pretty grim. Over the last five or so years it seems eulogies to another giant of the industry who has just past away. Dave Trampier, Aaron Aalston, Tom Moldvay, Gary of course, etc. I didn't think much of it at first. Unfortunately we all must grow old and die. But then I see a picture like this;

and, you know, the fact that these lovely human beings, these creators, our grandfathers so to speak are falling at the young ages of their sixties, their fifties hit me. And it is easy to see why. The overall health of the folks which created our beloved sport are terribly unhealthy. Liquor, cigarettes, lousy diet, zero exercise.

Obviously the game in which we love is sedentary, four to six hours at a time sitting around rolling dice does not break a sweat. And you throw in all the above listed "activities" which one finds lovingly practice along with the role play chatter and you end up with nineteen forties era heart attack rates, diabetes, cancer. Sheeeet.

The turn around is, of course, quite simple; improving diet and making time for exercise. The consequences of not doing so are dire as the parade of creators to an early grave give their mute testimony. The health consequences of just sitting too long are amply illustrated in this Washington Post article dated January of 2014.

  1. For the love of Aiueb Gnshal get a minimum of 2-1/2 hours per week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, or a minimum of 1-1/4 hours per week of vigorous-intensity aerobic activity, or a combination of the two. 
  2. When it comes to diet I've found going vegan doesn't mean losing on flavor and hardiness. Post Punk Kitchen is a great place to start, and I find Isa's cookbooks have delivered awesome dish after awesome dish. Personally I've found the combination of weekly exercise and a plant based diet not only keeps the pounds down, I have more energy, creativity, and a more upbeat attitude in general. All great ingredients helpful to awesome gaming!

Sunday, March 9

2. What was the first character you played in an RPG other than D&D?

...and how was playing it different from playing a D&D character?

Again I have to go with Gamma World here. While the gaming community of northern New Hampshire was dominated with TSR products as best as I can recall, this was the only game I was immediately aware of which got me out of what was becoming a repetitive exercise of dungeon delves with no connected world to belong to.

Being a player, except in a game of D&D, was extremely rare for me as well. If there was a game I wanted to play I was going to have to be the Game Master, or it wasn't going to happen. No, I take that back. My best friend Randy was buying other TSR products; Gangbusters and Top Secret come to mind, but they didn't take off with anyone like D&D and Gamma World.

So I ended up with my first non D&D character being a lithe lad with mental control, and distended jaws like a python from a run down village in my friend Randy's campaign world. A group of Gamma World characters are a wild card bunch of strange powers and disadvantages and for me made me try and think of effective ways to make the character and the group work effectively together. Again, at fifteen years old this was not too sophisticated a program. Mostly it was based on starting with more hit points at first level than any of my long surviving D&D characters ever achieved! Therefore getting into conflict and combat with the unknown was done with complete abandone without much thought to long term planning. But a blast on two liters of Mountain Dew anyways.

Saturday, March 1

1. What was the first role-playing game other than D&D you played? Was it before or after you had played D&D?

Gamma World! The cover of the first edition from TSR just sucked me in. The weird, evocative aftermath setting just set my brain on fire!

Since until then my gaming had been restricted to dungeon delves, the cover was really my first indication role play gaming could involve an "outside" world. What terrible battles could be fought on the bombed out towers thirty floors up?! How do you navigate a landscape engulfed in flames and radiation. Here was a rules set which could let me create the same adventures which thrilled me like the Kamandi comics found at the local barber shop. Charlie the Barber was one smart business man:)