Back from NTRPG Con

Got in on the old flying iron bird last night from NTRPG con and after a 12 hour rest I am ready to face the world. Had a lot of fun meeting everyone, talking business, and playing in a few games.

I think the highlight was when I sat down at a table with Frank Mentzer and Greg Gillespie and a gentleman I didn't know. They were talking about publishing and Frank got up for a prior engagement after a few minutes of conversation. The gentleman I didn't know was talking about how he had submitted some art for a project that hasn't seen the light of day and and I politely asked, "Oh, you're an artist?"

He simply showed me his name badge (which was turned around) - Erol Otus.

Yeah, that's how I met Erol Otus. "Oh, you're an artist?"

Ha! :-)

Now, to fulfill some outstanding orders and get back into the flow of day-to-day work. Everything that was ordered while we were gone will go out tomorrow.

We've got a cover for the S1-S4 reprints from WotC

Not too bad, methinks...

WotC Reprinting OD&D

It looks like WotC are reprinting the OD&D white box set. It'll include all 7 booklets (so it has the supplements as well as the original 3 booklets) and each booklet will have new cover art.

I'm very pleased with this. There are a lot of people who've never really had the chance to see these booklets and more that have never had the chance to own them because they're rather expensive.

Good news, all around, methinks.

Holms Edition D&D Box Set Cover Art Found!

Just incredible news...!

The Worldbuilding Monster Statistics

Some people think that there are several statistics in the 1st Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual that are not needed to play the game.

To that, I respond, "Yes, they are not needed to play the game, but they serve the purpose of building the world in which the game is played." These are the Worldbuilding Monster Statistics. Statistics such as Frequency, No. Appearing, % in Lair, Treasure Type, Intelligence, Alignment, and Size have primarily a world-building goal. Sure, there are bits and bobs of these statistics that can be interpreted as "game related," but they're primarily there to inform the GM about the world in which the game is played. Changing these statistics changes the game very little, but can drastically change the game world.

And a very interesting thing about rpgs is that, over time, the world around the game eventually *becomes* the game, because rpgs are about "what if" and how we react to different "what ifs."

Reprinting 1e AD&D Unearthed Arcana

Amazon has a listing for 1st Edition Premium Unearthed Arcana (D&D Accessory) [Hardcover] and I think that means that the re-prints of the first 3 1e AD&D volumes was a success. I'm also assuming that some of the profits from this reprint will be going to the Gygax Memorial Fund. Hopefully, they'll end up reprinting all of what Gygax penned (off the top of my head -MM II, the modules, Greyhawk folio/boxed set) and we'll have new copies of the all.

Nice news to wake up to this morning, methinks! February 19, 2013 will be here shortly...

The James Bond 007 Roleplaying Game

I found a shrink-wrapped box set of the Victory Games 007 game at Half Price Books yesterday. :) I've always been a big fan of the system and the fact that its one of the few games that's designed around a single player and a single GM. It was a sweet moment, ripping off shrink-wrap and diving into the set.

Missing: D&D Playsets

One of the things that I've always thought a terrible mistake, especially since Hasbro purchased WotC, is the lack of D&D playsets for children. Any "generic fantasy" playset released should instead be branded with the D&D name. Playsets are a lot of fun for the very young and they could be a good introduction IMO.

Drow House Name Generation System from Vault of the Drow?

Some quick thoughts on a potential method of the generation of drow house names...

Tormtor = Torm /en/ tor
Everhate = Ever hate
Dispana = Dispa /ir/ na
Noquar = No quar /ter
Aleval = Al /l/ ev /i/ l
Kilsek = Kil /l/ se /ct
Godeep = Go deep
Eilservs = E /v/ il serv /er/ s

I think my two weakest ideas are on dispana and godeep. I think godeep is just a clever little statement about being deep in the earth coupled with a crossbow symbol as a humorous football reference. Dispana I believe to be the one that breaks the general rule of house name creation.

Thoughts? Anyone have real scholorship here *hint Grodog hint*? :)