Finding Game Players and Games

This is the hardest thing to do, find players...

To me, this means compatible players willing to play outside their comfort zone or try something they may not be into...

I recently tried a Spelljammer game, one of the old TSR worlds. I never liked premade worlds because they usually had classes and rules specific to that would impact the gameplay

I did like Dragonlance to a point but you really had to play the pre made characters .


As a DM, I look for players that really fit my dynamic.

• Bring something to the table other than rolling dice
• Try something new
• Have fun
• Accept what I say as final
• Do not argue rules, we can discuss them, but if you had 2 attacks and think you can attack a third time in a small room, it won't happen
• Don't be an ass, you can have a big personality without being an ass     
• Don't argue with players over little things
• Founding members of a group (Meaning those with the group from the creation who are running games) have a say, but the final decision is on me 

Some of my favorite people and players took a few weeks to get used to

One was Linda,
who came into our group with a Chris, they already had a dynamic going and they brought their characters from another game where she was dominant over his, Chis was such a fun and easygoing guy. We did not know what to make of this and we were debating on if this was what we wanted, we decided that 2 more game sessions and that would be it... by the time that part of the adventure was completed, they were granted votes on new people in our group, I really enjoyed running game and playing in games with them... We all did things outside of the Game nights also

Then was Chris 2
Chris was loud, boisterous and confident.  He took some getting used to but he was a great guy and really loved playing

Then there are those who just click from the time they sit down at the table

Mark - He was an amazing DM and was willing to play anything. He could made the most mundane adventure into an epic. He definitely made the rest of us up our game. We did alot outside of the game when time permitted. Then, he got transferred back to Texas

Steve - One of the most creative and adaptable people I have ever known, he could run many systems and was not afraid to play a self centered Zulu Warrior... some of the greatest moments in games were Steve cracking everyone up. His command of Toon and many different genres was amazing

Scott - Forever changing and challenging us to learn new games brought a ton of different games and he always ran great games.  He ran a Toon game called the Dark Care-bear Adventure... wow, who knew he was secretly watching the Care-bears and writing this. I had so much fun playing in it.

Greg B2 - he was your typical Frat boy... impulsive and always interesting... He introduced us to Battletech and I roomed with him at more than one Con... I did trust him to a point... then he failed to return several AD&D books to me.



I have realistic expectations and sometimes, players who disrupt more than adding to the game or who get upset if one thing does not go their way, need to be removed from the group

I have sacrificed players who came with other players, Once had to let a husband and wife be removed from a group because while she was Great and we would have kept her, there was no way he could stay with the dynamics of the group.

What I have been doing Lately

I am on Several Meetup pages and RPG pages... I always carry my DM Cards

I also try to attend local gaming conventions and I go to gaming stores. I engage people in conversations and try to connect to as many as possible.

As a Player... 

I may push gently to see if I can get a few perks, such as second edition tweeks that do not upset the balance of the game but are completely reasonable

I always try to bring my A game and keep the game moving. I look at the situation and see what can be done to minimize any potential issues.

Even if I am not that fond of the game, I can bring an angle to play

I am going to Gary Con ! ! !

It is official that I am going to Gary Con VIII in 2016, I am so excited.

This convention is one of the best as far as Old School gaming goes. It honors the Life of Gary Gygax, the creator of all modern Roleplaying

I have done many NJ/ PA cons and have been invited to run games for many people over the years in various places. I have never attended Gen-Con or other huge cons requiring lots of travel.

I made the decision to go after talking to Luke (He is a veteran of all the major cons) and we both bought Gold Tickets and booked a hotel.

What makes this special is it is a Convention dedicated to OLD School gamers, like myself.

This means that I should have plenty of Players... I got the badge I wanted because I want to be able to Sign up for a couple of games run by VIPs

Games I have Submitted to Run at Gary Con



03/03

8:00 AM - Noon

AD&D - Entrance to Classari

This is a showcase piece of my creativity, combining some of the best Rooms, traps Monsters I have created...
You are tasked with going into the lost Gnome kingdom of Classari and retrieving bloodausan uklayas
5th-8th level... bring your own or be issued a generic

6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Toon - Foo-Fuu Toon... Catch that Bird

Capture the exclusive bird to collect the key to the ACME superstore shopathon
Bring your own or use one provided
Levels Silly to utterly rediculous
No one under age 3 and a half permitted due to goofy content, ability to roll 2 6 sided dice and drool occasionally recommended... bring your best gookie!

8:00 PM - 12:00 AM

AD&D - So you think you have an Attitude!

Only Dwarves need apply... 13th-15th level... bring your own or be issued a generic.... The followers of the God of Attitude and Drink are sent on a quest for the Ultimate Ale.
Beginners welcome.
Age 13+ please.
Pregenerated characters provided.

03/04

8:00 AM - 12:00 PM

TOON - PizzaToon / A Toon Love Story

2 Shorts
Pizzatoon, deliver pizzas to ....
A Toon Love Story, where is the groom ?
Levels Mild Insanity to Outright bambooled

4:00 PM - 8:00 PM
AD&D - AAAAHHHH

Pregen Characters Provided... I promise a truly Epic adventure that will generate stories for you to tell in the tavern
This features some of the greatest concepts and Role Play that I have ever put together. The characters provided are all high level
and saying anything further goes would ruin the integrity of the game.
Age 15+ please.
ONLY Pregenerated characters will be used.

8:00 PM - 12:00 AM
AD&D - By The Light of the Slippery Moon

12th - 16th Level
Adventurers on a Merchant Ship bound for far off Ports....
ONLY Pregenerated characters will be used.

03/05
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
TOON - Daytoona Beach Party Bingo Blast

Beach Olympics... 'Nuff said
Bring your own or use one provided
Levels 1-1220

No one under age 3 and a half permitted due to goofy content, ability to roll 2 6 sided dice and drool occasionally recommended... bring your best gookie!

4:00 PM - 8:00 PM
AD&D - The Quest for the Gate Between Worlds

Levels 6th -10th
Find the Gate to get back home, now if you can only get past the .....
ONLY Pregenerated characters will be used.

03/06

2:00 PM - 6:00 PM
AD&D - AAAAHHHH

Pregen Characters Provided... I promise a truly Epic adventure that will generate stories for you to tell in the tavern
This features some of the greatest concepts and Role Play that I have ever put together. The characters provided are all high level
and saying anything further goes would ruin the integrity of the game.
Age 15+ please.
ONLY Pregenerated characters will be used.

Let's talk modules...

Let's Talk Modules

Running modules:

I am not big on going through modules or on running most modules, they have to be really cool in order to run them. I cannot improvise as much with a module and as a creative person, I always thinking that some portions are added simply as filler because the author did not know what to write or needed more pages.

Music that Inspired me

A recent post online asked what Pieces of music inspire you to break open the books and write so I thought I would revisit this and expand on it

There are several bands that inspire me, and a few pieces of music that really get the creative mood going.

First piece of music to really get my mind going was:

I discovered this at around age 10... one of the benefits of having older brothers

Queen - Queen II -

Black Side (Side Two)    

No.         Title                                                        Length 

1.            "Ogre Battle"                                             4:10

2.            "The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke"            2:40

3.            "Nevermore"                                              1:15

4.            "The March of the Black Queen"               6:33

5.            "Funny How Love Is"                                2:50

6.            "Seven Seas of Rhye"                                2:50

As a whole, this is pure imagery in such a fantasy and whimsical way

Now once upon a time - an old man told me a fable

When the piper is gone - and the soup is cold on your table

And if the black crow flies to find a new destination - that is the sign

Come tonight

Come to the ogre sight

Come to the ogre-battle-fight

The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke is describing this painting , again, the imagery 

Click here to listen

Richard Dadd  "The Fairy Feller's Master Stroke" 

Other Queen Songs:

The Prophet Song

Death on Two Legs

Killer Queen

Keep Yourself Alive



Jethro Tull  - The Broadsword and the Beast

Broadsword

I see a dark sail on the horizon, set under a black cloud that hides the sun. Bring me my broadsword and clear understanding. Bring me my cross of gold as a talisman

Beastie

From early days of infancy, through trembling years

of youth, long murky middle-age and final hours

long in the tooth, he is the hundred names of terror ---

creature you love the least. Picture his name before

you and exorcise the beast.

Other Jethro Tull Songs that have inspired me are numerous, I have listed a few 

The Minstrel in the Gallery

Skating Away (on the thin ice of the new day)

The Entire AQUALUNG album

Songs From the Wood

Other Music:

Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Tarkus album and Pictures At An Exhibition

The Doors - Crystal Ship / Land Ho / Riders on the Storm

Clannad - I will Find you 

Classical Music

Also Sprach Zarathustra

Blue Danube

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

Night On Bald Mountain

The Valkyrie: Ride of the Valkyries
Carmina Burana: O Fortuna  (Used in Excalibur) 

I love music that evokes images Such as Squeeze's Pulling Music from a shell

They do it down on Camber Sands

They do it at Waikiki

Lazing about the beach all day,

At night the crickets creepy

Squinting faces at the sky

A Harold Robbins paperback

Surfers drop their boards and dry

And everybody wants a hat

Updates and thoughts

Some of my new purchases... 

I was searching for new dice and was asked to evaluate a set of gold dice, they were nice and he wanted to sell them, I consulted with one of my players (Luke) who owns metal dice that were similar... They seemed to be in the 30 dollar range but I needed to look further into it. They were 16mm as opposed to the standard 20mm.  I ended up not buying them 

I did find a brand new pair for a reasonable price, with no shipping charge

Absolutely stunning 

Gold Dice... 

Flip Battle Map and Plastic Travel Tube for protection

RPG, love this system

Freebie

The Elves of Sannatogga

This is my current campaign that I am running. What happens when you take a group of elves and displace them where there are no Elves....

Started out on a ship as galley slaves, then the ship is under attack, taken over and the Elves are set free in another part of the world unknown to them.  with nothing but a few crappy swords and some gold from the slavers spoils 

First they encounter a race that has the ability to make people forget that they ever met them.. 

Then, they find that there are no Elves in this area of the world and they have not seen any other races

Then make their way to a Town and Small Kingdom and have to win over people and prove they are friendly, then they are asked to clear out a nearby cave system of the current foul creatures that have taken it over. 

Philly GamersCon....

The pathfinder table

SO I went to the Philly Gamescon on April 17th and 18th. I had a pretty good good time all in all. 

Friday, I played in my first Pathfinder game. What I did not realize was that I signed up for a Pathfinder Society game and needed to register. So I was given a folder with the information for Pathfinder Society and how to register

So now, My Dwarven Cleric, Gundababba, is now registered

All in all , it was a good quick adventure for the 3 players and we all got a book for playing from the Pathfinder Society.

I have to say that on Friday it was mostly Greybeards like myself in attendance, That was kinda depressing because it would mean that when we go, RPG's will be gone...

Gregory the Grey Beard

SATURDAY


Arrived at just a bit before I running my fisrt game only to find that someone took over my table... normally not a big deal but I was assigned the table next to the wall and did not want to be in the middle of the room... I am very animated sometimes when I run games and I like to walk to about...

Con Staff was very good about it, even if the card players did not like it (I was running 2 Games at the same table and both games were supposed to be filled.)

Game 1 - So You Think You Have an Attitude

My Drunken Dwarves game had only three players but they made the most of it. It is a fun game to run and always gets loud. 2 of the 3 were in my second game

Game 2  - AAHH

This is my masterpiece, this game was full. I handed out the Pre-generated Characters and set the game... Everything worked rather well... even if they did over pay the price to get to the town.

I was very happy to see a good balance of younger players and Greybeards at the con on Saturday. I do not take pictures of people so I have none of the game tables.  Next time I will ask permission and take some.



Kudos to the Staff, my experience was Great and I am very experienced with Cons, I felt taken care of.

The only slight complaint I had was the dealers room.. The guys in there did not have a great selection and I was going to buy on Saturday but when I got to try, it was closed. Next time can you announce in the Game room that the dealers room is closing so people have a chance to buy.

These are a few of my favorite Games....

Having been around Role Playing Games for most of my life, I have a few favorites that I would like to expand on:

First, Dungeons and Dragons, the grandfather of all modern role playing.



It was a game without a winner, where you tried to become someone else... and our gaming group was pretty tight through HS

The game is Trait based -  Strength, intelligence, wisdom constitution, dexterity and and charisma are the basics. Then there are charts for battles and armor class ratings... lots of percentiles to do accomplishments such as thieve's skills...


I mastered the game and then went on to have several gaming groups and did many conventions in NJ

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Vampire, the Masquerade

I had several friends that played Vampire, I had resisted playing for a while because it really was not something I was into..... well, after the first few sessions, I was hooked..  The D10 system was straightforward, it was skill based and not based on traits,,,,

I found that I enjoyed it because it was (at least the games I was playing) set in the current modern era

Soon, I had a weekly group that played and I kept finding stranger and darker story lines for them.

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Toon, The Role playing Game

Some of the best games I have run and played in were Toon games... it takes a lot to be in the right frame of mind for Toon. You have to be fully prepared and on your toes at all times.

You have to act before you think, this means keeping a few running gags in pocket at all times so you can do them at the most (in)appropriate times..

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Dangerous Journeys

This is my favorite Role Playing System because it is completely built on Skills, making a character takes forever, but once completed, the game is so rich and diverse

This is a game for people interested in ROLE playing and being able to do things not normally found in games.


Battletech

More of Strategy than Role Playing, I do enjoy a good game.



Dream Park

Built on the Cyberpunk 2. 0 system, this is fast flexible and fun... does a great job of combining many genres even it is does not do one batter than others...