Well, it’s been quite a while since I’ve added anything to this section of the site, so I guess that now is as good a time as any, yes?
Life has been interesting of late. Mostly for gaming reasons.
A post I made on ENworld was grabbed by Erik Mona and published in the latest issue of Dungeon Magazine (#115). I’m normally pretty optimistic and polite about everything, but this one was a rant about the quality of maps. In particular, the way the grid and the walls wouldn’t line up…
It bothers me. I hate it when the artistry of the map is considered superior to the actual purpose of the map – to provide the DM with an adventure locale. We have to be able to read the maps! So, I ranted, it was picked up, and it got published in Dungeon. Oh, and it’s likely that Erik will pay attention, because he’s a great guy.
Meanwhile, I’ve started running RPGA adventures for my friends. One of my local FLGS is called Card Crazy. The building it’s in used to be a bank – now it’s a collectible store which also sells games. And it has three rooms at the back people can use for gaming. I’ve been playing Magic: the Gathering and other games there for years, and for the past year I’ve been playing the D&D Miniatures game there with my friends.
Now, I’m running RPGA-sanctioned D&D RPG events – Living Greyhawk, mainly. Partly because I want to meet new players, and partly because I want some of the promotional miniatures they give away as a reward for participating…
The RPGA have also added Dungeon Magazine adventures to the list of things they’re sanctioning, so this Sunday I get to play through Torrents of Dread by Greg A. Vaughan with my friends. The party is of slightly higher level than it was designed for, so I’ve been adapting it. I mentioned this on the Dungeon boards, and Greg popped in to give some advice. How cool is that? Very. It looks like it’ll be a fun (if dangerous) adventure.
Frostburn, Monster Manual III and a few other nice RPG products came in this month, but I only had the money to get Frostburn. I’m struggling financially, I regret. I only work part-time, and I don’t really get enough money. I’m not the best at keeping money around, either, which just makes things worse.
Julian G. is back from his trip to the States – I think he was gone about four months. How time flies! So, he’s back playing miniatures with me and will be back in the D&D game this weekend. Heh.
This Saturday, a painful period of Australian life will draw to a close: the federal election will finally occur. The election campaign has been utterly boring – and I’m interested in politics! (My step-mother doesn’t want anyone to win… oh, dear).
Ant Brooks sent me the miniatures I needed to finish my collections of the first three D&D Miniatures sets. I’m extremely grateful to him. I sent him a few interesting minis that I had extras of (including a Gauth), but I don’t know if they’ve arrived yet – I was later sending them than I had hoped, and then there is the Post to contend with. It’s been a little over two weeks since I sent them (by AirMail), so hopefully Ant won’t have to wait that much longer before they arrive.
I’ve been considering a few possible article submissions to Dungeon magazine, but I’m not sure yet. It’s not something I’ve done before. Hopefully I’ll get the courage to write and submit something soon!