Roger from Rantings From Under the Wargames Table has slapped me (and other bloggers) across the face with his glove, and while I usually like that sort of thing (especially from Roger), it has served to remind me that I have neglected both Dead Dick’s Tavern and other blogs that I used to patronize frequently. Roger rails against allowing blogging to die quietly in favor of the like/share crowd, that our posts are and should remain more substantive and thoughtful than a 10 second reel or a YouTube thumbnail of a channel host giving the Home Alone face to something we’re supposed to be outraged or excited about. And, as is often the case with Roger, he’s right.
It’s been over four months since my last post, and I wish I could say it’s because I’ve been too busy with my hobby to post about everything I’ve been doing, but that would be a level of bullshit that I am incapable of. The truth is rather that I (along with many of my friends, family and fellow Americans) have been having a rough time of it lately. My British friends would call it the Black Dog, here we just call it what it is: Depression. I’ve never suffered from it before, but I’ve worked in the mental health field for over thirty years, and even without the training that bestows, I recognize the signs and symptoms in me now, chief among them social withdrawal and a lack of interest and motivation in the things that once brought me happiness. Things like painting, gaming and blogging.
Recently, I’ve been reminded that I am called The Angry Piper for a reason, because in the last month I have blown my stack twice, going from calm, collected and–dare I say normal–to explosive rage, all within the span of a few seconds. It’s like I turned into the Hulk. The first time was when I was accosted outside a local market by a person collecting signatures to put an item on the Massachusetts state ballot: a fairly common occurrence. When I asked what the item was, I was informed it was to require voter identification to, and here’s a verbatim quote: “to make sure the people who are voting are the right people.” Just in case you don’t know who he thinks the right people are, you can assume he meant people like him (and me): white, middle-aged guys. It probably came as a shock to him when I told him to go fuck himself, and to tell me he’s a racist piece of shit without telling me he’s a racist piece of shit. He told me to have a nice day and I flipped him the bird as I walked away.
The second time is a bit of a long story, so I’ll be brief. While visiting a store I patronize frequently, I had occasion to help a family who needed help. It cost me very little to do so and I would do it again, not just because ’tis the season and all that shit but because it’s basic human decency to be kind to people as the rule, not the exception. The family was grateful and I l wished them a Merry Christmas and left the store. When I got out to my car, I realized I forgot something and needed to go back inside, and when I did, I found the store employees badgering and berating this same family for reasons I still don’t understand. Cue my second transformation into the Hulk. I asked them (yelled, really) if they would be giving me any shit if it was me instead of these people, and surprise! I got nothing but sullen looks in return. Once they begrudgingly served the family, I told these assholes to fuck off, put the stuff I was going to buy on the counter and told them I would never shop there again. And I haven’t.
It costs nothing to be kind to people, but this is where we are now. After both these instances, I tried to understand what set me off so quickly. How and why did I go from zero to gamma rage in seconds? It’s because I’m just done with it all, and I’m not the only one. (Disclaimer: Dead Dick’s Tavern is rarely a political blog. Just because I chose to share my thoughts on recent events here does not mean I am interested in defending my position or beliefs or arguing with anyone who feels differently. If that’s your intent, fuck off out of here, because I’ve heard enough of your shit to last a lifetime. Have a nice day.)
Not really what I wanted to talk about, or (I’m sure) what Roger had in mind, but there’s my explanation for my absence both here and elsewhere. I just don’t have much energy anymore. I’m still active on Instagram, but like here, I barely post anything because I have nothing to post. I still make a conscious effort to drop words of encouragement and appreciation on others’ posts, because it’s quick and easy, and, as I’ve said, it costs nothing to be kind. Much like the blogs Roger references, the hobby community over there is very supportive and welcoming.
But Roger’s right (that’s twice, for those who are counting). Blogs are where we dive into the nitty-gritty of our shared hobby, and we can’t let them die. So, I’ll do my part and repost the blogs Roger called out by name. Visit them. Read them. Follow them if so inclined. I am humbled and grateful that Dead Dick’s Tavern made the cut, considering my prolonged MIA period.
Even though I haven’t painted much, I have painted SOME stuff, and I will share it in my next post. Back to miniatures and hobby stuff from here on out.
I promised a closer look at some of the miniatures featured in my (mostly unplayed) board games, and here they are.
First, the eight heroes from Touch of Evil. These are some nice miniatures, roughly 28mm scale, suitable for any gaslight setting. The definition is much better than my blurry photography would suggest.
I like these a lot, and it wouldn’t be an overwhelming project to get them painted if I could just park my ass at my painting desk for more than five minutes at a stretch. Up next, the miniatures from Batman: Gotham City Under Siege:
L-R: Catwoman, Batgirl, Robin, Batman, and Commissioner Gordon and Officer Montoya. This game is based on The Animated Series, in case that’s not obvious from the sculpts. Painting these will be fun, and I’m definitely going to do it soon. I really like the Gordon/Montoya miniature. Too bad there’s no Detective Bullock.
Marvel: United! is a game that got a lot of hype when it released, mainly for the cute miniatures:
L-R: Black Widow, Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Storm (with mohawk!)…
L-R: Venom (odd choice), Ant Man and the Villains: Red Skull, Taskmaster and Ultron. This game was a Cool Mini Or Not Kickstarter, and it funded quickly and with a ton of stretch goals, which were additional miniature sets that you could not purchase anywhere else. As a result, there are additional miniatures for this game that sell for ridiculous amounts of money on the secondary market. I picked up this core box at Wal-Mart for $15, IIRC, and that’s about as much as I want to spend on this game. Do I really need a cute Fantastic Four expansion? Not for $140 I don’t.
Wonder Woman: Challenge of the Amazons has some awesome miniatures, well worth the $10 I paid for this game at Ollie’s. Like the Batman game above, this is on my short list of projects to paint (for whatever that’s worth nowadays).
Look at this sculpt of Diana. Freakin’ sweet, right?
Mansions of Madness has some amazing miniatures, all scaled at 32mm. Here’s a shot of some of the investigators and a couple of monsters, but the big Eldritch Horrors contained in this box aren’t featured on the box itself, which is a shame because my box remains sealed at the moment. This would be a big project to paint, and TBH I don’t know if I have it in me. I played the game before and it’s a lot of fun, but I think this may languish forever in the unpainted pile of shame, much like Space Hulk.
And now we reach game expansions for games I do not own (and never will), purchased solely for the miniatures contained inside. These were deeply discounted clearance items at Miniature Market (I paid $6 for the Solomon Kane expansion, a game that I’d actually purchase if the core set wasn’t prohibitively expensive).
First, some expansions for The Others, a game I know nothing about but one that has some cool futuristic/horror/pulp figures, as seen below.
Next: the aforementioned Solomon Kane expansion: Castle of the Devil. I’d say $2 a miniature is about right, especially when one of them is whatever the hell that thing is supposed to be. It almost made it into Monster May(hem) this year.
Finally, a couple of expansions for Yashima, an Asian fantasy-themed game. I like the miniatures, and I have a long -stalled Legend of the Five Rings/Samurai project that I will likely never get to, so I bought these because they’re cool. I think I paid $2 apiece for these expansions during one of Miniature Market’s “up to 90% off” clearance sales.
A couple more games bought solely for the miniatures, although both of these seem very playable: Journey: Wrath of Demons and Age of Thieves.
These are the heroes from Journey. I think this makes the third or fourth Sun WuKong miniature that I own.
These are the bad guys. IIRC, some of the demons are anatomically correct, which may offend some folks who don’t like dicks on their miniatures.
Above are the miniatures from Age of Thieves. You get 24 of the blue guards, which are quite serviceable for town guards (because that’s what they are). The other four are the thief characters you play in the game. Some cool character concepts here.
And that about rounds out my board game pile of shame. Hoping to get back into painting soon, but for whatever reason I’ve lost my mojo again. I seem to be incapable of choosing colors anymore, or for painting more than five minutes at a stretch. It’s not worth the time to set everything up. Any of you ever have this problem?
Continuing on with my massive pile of board gaming shame, here are six from Ravensburger: Alien: Fate of the Nostromo, Wonder Woman: Challenge of the Amazons: Indiana Jones: Sands of Adventure, Horrified, The Shining, and Jaws. You can follow the links above to see the painted miniatures for these games. Wonder Woman also comes with four surprisingly good miniatures, one of Diana herself and her four Amazon friends, that I hope to paint soon. I’ve played Alien: FotN before and very much enjoyed it. Ravensburger does some high-quality games that are well-reviewed. Although I hope to play all these games, the one I’m most looking forward to is Jaws. It has a reversible board: one side is Amity Island and the surrounding waters, the other side is Quint’s boat, the Orca. One player plays the shark, while up to three more players take on the role of Brody, Quint and Hooper. The first part of the game the shark tries to attack swimmers while the other players try to tag it with barrels and pinpoint its location. Then, play moves to the Orca, as the players defend the boat from the shark as it begins to dimantle it piece by piece. Sounds fun, right?
More games I hope to play, since I painted all the miniatures for these games, too: Dungeon Saga: The Dwarf’s King’s Quest, and Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps. Hard to believe Simon, Roger and I painted the Dwarf King’s Quest miniatures as a shared challenge waaaay back in September, 2018. Not so hard to believe that I haven’t ever played it since then. Not once.
More games I hope to play one day, but as yet remain untouched. Marvel: United, Batman: Gotham City Under Siege, and A Touch of Evil. Since I didn’t really look at these beyond checking out the miniatures, I can’t say how they play. I’ve heard good things about all of them, and the miniatures for them all are really great. I’m not a big fan of chibi-style art, but even I have to admit the Marvel miniatures are cute. The is the base set of Marvel: United, which was available at Wal-Mart. There are many expansions to this game that were all part of the original Kickstarter; to my knowledge that was the only way to get some miniatures and they go for insane amounts on the secondary market as a result. I’m fine with the basic box as I doubt I’ll ever play it. A Touch of Evil got pretty good reviews and has some excellent miniatures despite the goofy box art, and Batman is Batman. What’s not to like?
Two I’ve played, five I havent. I have played both the games in the bottom of this picture: House of Danger and Red November. House of Danger is based on the old Choose Your Own Adventure book series. It was fun, but replay value is somewhat limited once you “solve” the story. It’s my understanding new CYOA board games have been released, but this is a purchase I regret. Red November is a small Fantasy Flight game wherein you take on the roles of drunken gnomes aboard a sinking submarine. The pace is hectic as you race to put out fires, pump water, fight off a Kraken and try not to go down with the ship. It’s fun as hell!
I bought Pac-Man because I though it would be an easy game to pass the time during the pandemic. Never played it and got a sideways look for even suggesting it. The Walking Dead was another discounted pandemic purchase. I have no idea why I bought it, because it’s based on the comic, not the TV show, and I’ve never read the comic. I’ve also never played the game.
I picked up NInjato on the discount rack at my FLGS about ten years ago, because you get to play ninjas. I’ve never played it because I can’t understand the rules and haven’t bothered to look up any relevant YouTube videos. Dune: Imperium is a highly rated game that was released around the same time as two other Dune board games, one by Gale Force Nine and one that tied into the recent movies. This game is a deck-building game that combines elements of resource management. You take on the role of one of the Great Houses. Your goal, of course, is to control Arrakis and crush your enemies. Sounds really great, and I’ve never played a deck-building game, so I hope I get to play this one one day. It also has several expansions. Finally, First Martians is a cooperative game of colonization. That’s about all I know about it, other than it has an integrated app, which will most likely disappear after this game is discontinued if it hasn’t already. That makes this a poor choice for purchase and play, but I did it anyway because I didn’t know about the app before I bought the game.
Two I’ve had (but never played) for a long time: They Come Unseen by Osprey and Khronos by Rio Grande Games. They Come Unseen is hide and seek with nuclear submarines, played on two separate boards, one for the surface and one for the depths. I posted about this game on my Instagram account back when I bought it and it caught the attention of the game’s creator, a former Royal Navy sub commander who was quite pleased that I was interested in playing it. Sadly, I still haven’t done so. Khronos seems to be a confusing time-travel game in which things you do in the past affect things that will happen in the future, but the reverse could also be true. Since I picked up this pristine copy at a flea market for 3 dollars, I didn’t really care if I played it or not. I figured I could always sell it for way more than 3 dollars. Maybe I could, but shipping it anywhere would cost a stupid amount of money, so I’m stuck with it.
And finally, the games I simply have no excuse for purchasing, as I will never play them: Conspiracy: The Solomon Gambit, Dojo Kun, The Village Crone, Cutthroat Kingdoms, Five Points: Gangs of New York, and The Rose King.
Conspiracy: TSG is an updated version of the classic game, where you take on the role of a spy trying to get a briefcase back to your own country. The other players are trying to do the same thing with the same briefcase, so it’s not a cooperative game. Cutthroat Kingdoms and Five Points are similar in that they are political resource management games as you vie with the other players for control of the Kingdom or Five Points. New York, respectively. The Rose King is a two-player game that is meant to emulate the War of the Roses, with one player taking the role of York and the other Lancaster. You play cards to acquire and control space on the board. Dojo Kun is a game about kung-fu, which is why I bought it at Ollie’s. It’s a CoolMiniorNot game, which means it was probably abandoned shortly after release, hence me finding it at Ollie’s on deep discount. You train your fighters to take part in tournaments for a season, then actually compete in the tournaments. Like I said, poor purchase choices all around, as I’ll probably never play these and would play something higher up in this post instead if I had the opportunity.
Next up: a coda of sorts to Board Game Blues, in which I look at the miniatures from these games.
This is my gaming table. There are many like it, but this one is mine. I rarely use it for gaming, at least with other humans. I normally use it as a platform upon which my stuff accumulates, until I get yelled at or break down and tidy up. I did the latter recently, and was left with a spotless platform from which to exhibit the ridiculous amount of board games I’ve bought, most within the last 5 years. The dimensions of this table are 6′ by 4′. I say that so you can look at the picture above, and understand that all my board games are not shown in there.
I have a lot of board games, some with miniatures, some not. I acquired most of these during the pandemic, when spending money on stuff made me feel a little better about the world ending while our leaders (well, one anyway) said vaccines are untrustworthy but injecting bleach into yourself is the way to go. Anyway, this post is about those games, why I bought them, whether or not I played them, whether or not I hope to, whether or not I think I ever will, and whether or not I regret the purchase.
Disclaimer: I have been taught (and I agree) that it is gauche to flaunt one’s wealth. That’s not what this post is about. While board games are not cheap, I am most certainly not wealthy. Most of these games were not purchased for full price, but rather at deep discounts and on clearance from Miniature Market and Amazon. While I bought some of these games because I found them affordable at the time, it doesn’t mean I should have.Think of me as the poster boy for poor impulse control and fiscal irresponsibility rather than Richie Rich (who is the single worst cartoon character ever, and that includes Woody Woodpecker, who is an absolute kick in the balls every fucking time).
Let’s start with a game I purchased well before the pandemic, one I’ve actually played a lot and one I enjoy so much I went all in on it. This is Arkham Horror (2nd edition) by Fantasy Flight Games. My understanding is there is a very popular third edition out now, and it plays differently and contains miniatures. Still not enough for me to buy it, as I never even play this edition anymore. It’s a lot of fun, but like many games nowadays it takes forever to set up.
Two more Cthulhu-themed games from Fantasy Flight: Mansions of Madness (lots of awesome miniatures in here) and Elder Sign. Although my copy of Mansions of Madness is still in the shrink-wrap (a pandemic purchase), I have played the game at a friend’s house. I remember it being fun, but we lost. Elder Sign is a game where you roll special dice to get matching results to defeat challenges. It’s ok, but the mobile app game is better and plays faster. I think I played the board game once.
Another one I went all in on, and another one that takes forever to set up: Star Wars: Imperial Assault. The miniatures are great (but expensive) and the “board” is made up of tiles arranged as a map, like Space Hulk. I played it twice, mainly because it takes so long to set up that playing through more than one scenario results in a lot of downtime as the map is broken down and the map for the next scenario is built. It’s fun, but that part is a real bummer. Gameplay is similar to Mansions of Madness, in the sense that you have a clear objective and the enemies are just there to slow you down. I’m steadily working my way through painting the miniatures and expansions for this game, because I need to justify its purchase. I have the core set, Bespin Gambit and Twin Shadows expansions completed along with all the blister releases that coincide with the boxed sets, and I’m presently working on Return to Hoth. The boxed sets on the right above are still in the wrap. These got cheap once Fantasy Flight discontinued Imperial Assault and focused on Legion, so I bought most of the expansion boxes during lockdown. Will I play it again? I hope so. It would be fun to play with painted miniatures.
Speaking of Space Hulk, here’s the 2009 third edition that I purchased in 2009. I love Space Hulk and I love this version, but I haven’t played much of it because I wanted to paint the miniatures first. Sixteen years later, I haven’t painted a single one. The miniatures are exceptional sculpts, but sadly, the Terminators are Blood Angels (my least favorite chapter, as I hate red) and I painted so many Genestealers back in the 90’s that I am unenthused to paint any more. Will I play it? Maybe. It’s fun. But unpainted miniatures irk me.
Last, another pre-pandemic purchase that I’ve played a few times: Marvel Heroes, again by Fantasy Flight. Tough to find now. You take the role of one of the superhero teams (Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men and the Marvel Knights) and also take the role of one of your opposing team’s nemesis. Your objective is to complete missions while your nemesis seeks to mess with you and complete their own schemes. The miniatures are pre-painted and pretty nice, but the rulebook is hard to understand. IIRC, there’s a multi-page FAQ that addresses unclear rules. Of course, this document is no longer available anywhere since Fantasy Flight lost the license to this game years ago and no longer supports it. Will I play it again? Sure, if I get a chance. It was fun and doesn’t take forever to set up.
That about wraps up part one. There are other games I own that I have played, but they’re lumped in pictures with games I haven’t, so I’ll address them individually in a later post.
I took the month of July off unintentionally. Just seemed to fly by. I haven’t painted any miniatures since my last Forgotten Heroes submission. One of my miniatures that I planned for Monster May(hem) is still sitting on my painting table, halfway done. I really should get back to him.
61 and 0. That’s how many days have passed thus far in 2025, and how many miniatures I have painted so far this year. It seems my motivation, for painting at least, has not returned, and judging by how long it took me to respond to comments on my last post, neither has my motivation for blogging. (I actually couldn’t remember my WordPress password for a minute there.) My Instagram accounts have been barren wastelands with no posts since January (although I have been commenting and interacting with others), and if not for the many friends I’ve made on IG, I’d consider ditching the platform altogether. Is this how an old hobbyist goes out, not with a bang, but a whimper? Maybe, but I’m not done yet. There is a hobby ember still smoldering deep within my breast. I hope to back in true form for Monster May(hem) and Forgotten Heroes, two challenges I would not willingly miss.
All is not lost. I have managed to get a few (at least tangentially) hobby-related things done this year. Most recently, I sat down with Bruno Galan again to discuss the Satanic Panic of the 1980’s, along with Tenebrae de Profundis and Grim Jim Desborough. We started talking about the Satanic Panic, veered off course for a while to discuss cancel culture and other bullshit, then brought it back around. This was recorded at 1 am my time, so apologies if I ramble somewhat. You can view and listen to it above, if so inclined. If you watch it, please do Bruno a favor and like the video about halfway through. It helps the video get noticed. If you really like it, you can subscribe to his channel, where you can find previous interviews Bruno did with all three of us.
Next, I’ve returned to roleplaying on a regular schedule, something I haven’t done for years, and I’m recording the sessions for eventual release (hopefully–I need to learn sound editing first). Although I’ve run a few games here and there over the past year, prior to that I took a year-long hiatus from gaming after leaving my longtime gaming group for reasons. (They will always be my friends, I just think it’s better that some of us don’t game together any longer.) Truthfully, I missed playing more than I wanted to admit. Since starting an Instagram account during the pandemic, I’ve met some really awesome people from all over the world that I’ve been able to play with remotely. Although I miss sitting around a table chucking dice, I never would have been able to game with these folks otherwise.
Last year (around November 7th or so), I made the decision to focus on something that will make me happy. I decided to kick off a new campaign in 2025 using a classic module for inspiration and setting: the first module I ever owned, played and ran as a DM: Dungeon Module B2, The Keep on the Borderlands. (One of my players suggested I name the campaign “Keith on the Borderlands”, which we all found amusing.) I like actual play podcasts, so I thought I’d give it a try myself by recording these sessions. It’s my hope that I’ll be able to start a podcast of my own, combining actual play with gaming topics. Hardly original, I know, but I’m an old grognard and I have opinions.
I decided to use AD&D 2nd Edition for the rules set, as that is my favorite edition, and I’ve heavily modified the module so there’s more going on than entering caves, killing everything inside and taking their shit (wash, rinse, repeat). So far, we’ve played four sessions and last week we had our first character death. I feel kind of bad, as the player who lost a character has only ever played 5E before, and met the harsh reality of 2E head first. No superhero characters here, no long rests that miraculously restore all your hit points and spells, no three out of five death saves. (Luckily, I prepared my players for the inevitability of character death by having them make several characters.)
I also broke my “read 100 books you own before buying any new books” ban to purchase this book (and read it): CrowNomancer, by some guy named Winstanley. Ever wish you could go back in time and be the coolest kid at school? Ever wish you could use magic? Ever wish you could do all three? Check this out. You can get it on Amazon.
Finally, she-who-is-my-wife occasionally travels to visit friends and family in other parts of the country and the world, while I am left alone and bereft here at my palatial estate. When I know one of these sojourns is coming, I naturally plan all the things I will do in her absence: all the miniatures I will paint, video games I will play, food I will cook, booze I will drink, books I will read, movies I will watch and games I will play, all while temporarily unfettered by the constrictions required to maintain a healthy relationship.
Then, when she’s gone, I do none of those things. I just walk around the house like a guy who got hit in the head with a hammer.
Last month she took one of these trips, and I did something different, something productive. I painted my basement.
My basement is (mostly) my domain, wherein all my stuff sits. All my miniatures, video games, roleplaying games, comic books, my computer (where I write this post) and my painting desk and gaming table (which I never use). It is my version of Mr. Brady’s den, for those familiar with the analogy, so you may be forgiven if you think that my painting of the basement was purely self-serving. It was not. You see, I am a man, and therefore I don’t see things like scuff marks or dust or peeled paint or cobwebs. They don’t exist for me, no matter how many times a certain someone points them out and tells me I really should paint this place, because I’ve owned the house for over a decade and it hasn’t been painted since then, and probably wasn’t painted since the place was built. So my decision to do something productive rather than walk around like a fucking zombie for a week was not made selfishly.
Painting the basement took me most of the week and two gallons of paint (at 50 bucks a gallon–WTF???). I had to do it in stages, as it required me to move all the furniture away from the walls, and there simply wasn’t enough room in the center for everything at once. The worst part was moving the seven Ikea glass display cases full of painted miniatures. I’m happy to say I managed it without catastrophe, and without the need to empty them first. The basement looks much better than it did, as I opted for a brighter white than was on the walls previously. (Naturally, it went unnoticed by anyone but me for weeks, until I had to physically point it out.) Anyway, one of the benefits of moving all the furniture was that I took the opportunity to clean off and organize my painting desk, so when I do go back it will be ready for me.
I know. I already have a post entitled “How Not to Host a Painting Challenge.” Turns out I suck at hosting painting challenges, because I had an entire fucking year to paint a dragon, and I failed. This dead dragon represents my efforts. It’s a resin piece by Dave Stone. I completed it for the Season of Scenery in 2022. (I failed to take part in the Season of Scenery last year, one of the many things at which I failed.)
Now, lest anyone think I didn’t put in ANY effort whatsoever, I planned on painting this classic Sandra Garrity T’Char, Dragon of Flame and Fury. This is how far I got.
I was going to prime him (I’ve decided T’Char identifies as male) white, because I was going to paint him blue. Screw Dragon of Flame and Fury, I have enough red dragons. Now I think I’m going to prime him black after all, because I’ve reconsidered the blue (but he still won’t be red). I filled all the gaps but left the wings off, because while I was fitting them it became obvious that if I glued them to the body prior to painting, I would have problems painting and shading.
Then, I set about finding stuff to add to the base. I added some Nolzur’s treasure piles. but I still have more space to fill. If I was a talented sculptor (like Dave or Roger) I could sculpt some more treasure piles, but I’m not, so I didn’t. Instead, I decided to use the “dungeon dressing” bits from an old Kickstarter I backed, along with an assortment of weapons and stuff to round out the treasure hoard.
That was in late November, when I knew I had to get on the stick and paint this fucking dragon, because I only had a month.
I recently reorganized my “miniatures I will never paint before I die” (aka my miniatures), and one of the boxes I labeled clearly indicated that the dungeon dressing bits were inside. They weren’t. That set me off on a quest to find where I put them. A quest that took me two weeks, because of course it was in the last place I looked, because WHY THE FUCK WOULD I PUT DUNGEON DRESSING BITS IN WITH MY OLD WEST PROJECT (which I also will not complete before I die)?
I blame gin. Or whiskey. Something alcoholic, anyway. Like me.
I’ll get it done eventually, and I’ll post it. Just know the shame is real.
My 2024 painting output has been dismal. 43 miniatures. On the plus side, I managed to paint the miniatures for three board games (one of which I actually managed to play): Indiana Jones: Sands of Adventure, Horrified!, and Alien: Fate of the Nostromo. I painted all the old TSR Adventures of Indiana Jones miniatures, something I’m guessing not many folks have done. I even painted two of Dave Stone’s cowboys, which means I now have painted all of Dave Stone’s cowboys (the ones that are human, anyway). I hosted Monster May(hem) without fucking it up and took part in Forgotten Heroes, which is my favorite painting challenge. (When I stop doing that, you know I’m either done for good or dead.)
On the downside, I painted 43 miniatures, which is disgraceful by almost any standard. (Unless you’re one of those unbelievably talented folks who spends six weeks on a miniature and it looks FUCKING ALIVE when you’re done. I’m not one of those people.) I also pretty much dropped off the blogosphere (although I have been active –somewhat–on Instagram), so I am 100% sure I missed some Year of the Dragon submissions, and failed to give proper recognition. I know Dave did more than one dragon (and I’m guessing he probably made at least one himself), but I haven’t been around to see. If you’re so inclined, drop your submissions in the comments section here. I deeply apologize for missing them.
In my defense, 2024 has been a fucking year here in the States (and everywhere else). It’s been tough to focus on anything that brings me joy. To say I have been unmotivated is an understatement. Every year around this time I make some hobby resolutions. I’m not gonna do that this year, since I’ve pretty much failed at the ones I’ve made for the past five years or so. I’ll paint what I paint, I guess.
As far as gaming goes, I’ve actually made some progress. I ended my self-imposed isolation from gaming to run a few games last year: some old-school Marvel Super Heroes and Star Frontiers, some OSL Lamentations of the Flame Princess, a session of Slasher Flick, a session of Hard City, and a couple of sessions of my own original 1970’s Street Crime RPG (to be released at some point). All these game sessions were virtual. I wrote several gaming scenarios for various games, including a new one for my game, entitled “Nicky Fucks Up”. I even got to PLAY in a game rather than run it for a change: a session of Dragonbane, which, despite having anthropomorphic ducks in it, I found to be really fun and a great system I would like to run in future. I’m committing to running at least one campaign in 2025. I even have four players already.
I really enjoyed the “Year of Pop Culture” in 2023, and I have a bunch of miniatures to paint that I didn’t get to back then, so why not bring it back for 2025? I’m not promising anything, mind you. Just considering.
I hope to be around a bit more going forward. Happy New Year, everyone.
At least one guy, anyway. I was recently interviewed by The Crimson Hound himself, Bruno Galan, over on The Bruno Galan Talk Show, one of his YouTube Channels. Bruno asked me to be his guest to talk about miniatures, games, and hobby stuff. And we did, for about an hour, starting at 3 AM my time. (Curse him and crush him!)
Bruno is a friend I met on Instagram several years back. He’s the creator of The Crimson Hound, and he came up with an idea that is pure genius. He invited some really talented gamemasters to run games for him, where he would play his character, The Crimson Hound, kind of a cross between Batman and Blade the Vampire Hunter, but more pulpy. It was up to the individual GM which rules system they would use, and what their individual serials would be. He recorded all the sessions and posted them to YouTube on one of his other channels “The Chronicles of The Crimson Hound“. I tease Bruno that he only did that to ensure he got to play games. He doesn’t deny it.
Anyway, Bruno was always a good sport about me screwing with his character, and he once was part of a playtest group for a Call of Cthulhu scenario I was working on a few years ago, so I owe the guy. He’s asked before but I politely declined because I don’t want to be on YouTube. He told me I don’t have to be on camera, but I still declined, wondering who would give a shit about what I had to say. It’s not like I’m famous, after all. But Bruno is a good dude (despite being a damn, dirty Canadian), and a friend, and he asked again. I’d be kind of an asshole to say no at this point, so I didn’t; but I am still unconvinced anyone cares about my opinions on (and history with) miniatures and gaming (other than Bruno; and, I guess, you guys, since you read this blog).
As I said, we talked for about an hour, and if you’re interested, you can see the video here. You’ll get to see Bruno, but you’ll only get to hear me, as I am far too handsome for YouTube and I didn’t want to make poor Bruno look like my consolation-prize wingman. You’ll also get to see three RPGs I really like, and three RPGs I really want to run or play, but haven’t yet, along with commentary, of course.
By the way, one of the first things Bruno asked me about was Forgotten Heroes. I told him it wasn’t my challenge but it’s my favorite challenge, and gave a shout out to the Carrion Crow.
If you like this interview, be sure to like the video by clicking the thumbs-up sign. If you really like it, subscribe to the channel. Bruno talks to other game designers, comic creators, authors and MMA guys (I know, weird spread). He’s trying to get more visibility for his channels and every bit helps. I’m sure that an interview with a hobbyist of my standing–the esteemed Angry Piper– can only result in a deluge of subscribers for him. Happy to do my part.
Thanks in advance. If you have any comments, leave them on Bruno’s video, or leave them here. I’ll see them either way.
Folks haven’t seen hide nor hair of me around here (or anywhere else on the Internet) for almost three months. I’d like to say it’s because I’ve been busy painting miniatures, specifically a dragon or two, but I can’t say that, because I have painted a total of four miniatures this year, and none are dragons. Instead, I have been mostly playing Red Dead Redemption 2 (at last), and writing scenarios for RPGs I will likely never run or play. Case in point: The Adventures of Indiana Jones; published by TSR in 1984, which is when I bought it at the tender age of 11.
The TSR Indiana Jones RPG has a bit of a reputation, and it’s for being a piece of dogshit. I find that assessment a tad harsh, but it is not a good game by any means. It’s got some serious problems, most infamously the lack of a character creation system. Players take on the roles of Indiana Jones and his friends. Since the game was published shortly after the second Indiana Jones film, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Indy’s friends are made up of his companions in the first two movies (sadly, no Henry Jones, Sr.). Marion Ravenwood and Sallah from Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Willie Scott and Short Round from Temple of Doom. I guess TSR thought five characters wasn’t enough, so they also included statistics for Jock Lindsey, the pilot from the beginning of Raiders (“There’s a big snake in the plane, Jock!”) and Wu Han, the waiter from Club Obi-Wan who gets shot amidst a cacophony of champagne corks almost immediately in Temple of Doom. Both these characters have maybe three lines of dialogue and less than two minutes of screen time in their respective films, but either one of them is preferable to playing the insufferable Willie Scott.
Herein lies the problem. The question rapidly presents itself: who wants to play a game about Indiana Jones and not play as Indiana Jones? What person is going to want to devote an evening of roleplaying to playing Willie Scott? Not too many people, judging by the dismal sales of the game at a time when both TSR’s boxed games and the Indiana Jones IP were both extremely popular. There was even a TV commercial about them.
The game had a few published adventures, but two of them were just the first two movies adapted as RPG adventures. (How fun!) The game was designed with miniatures in mind, and both the core box and all the published adventures had cardboard, trifold miniatures of characters, NPCs, and even scenery. There was one box set of metal miniatures released as well, and they’re pretty hard to come by (I have them).
So what are the other problems? Well, in addition to no character creation, there’s no character development, either. Indiana Jones and friends will always have the same statistics and know the same languages and skills no matter how many adventures you play. Skills are pretty basic, yet there are skills in the book that no player character has. There’s no mechanic to learn a new skill or language, or use one you don’t have (unless you roll a Lucky Break, which is a 5% chance of success).
The boxed set contains a rulebook, a character dossier booklet (the cover of which doubles as a battle map for miniatures), and a GM screen. You can get away without using the battle map or the miniatures (we never did), but you need everything else to play the game. Several important tables only appear on the GM screen and are not printed in the core rulebook (who knows why?). This means, of course, that if you’re looking for this game on the secondary market, it will be unplayable unless you have a complete game. No getting away with just the rulebook.
So what’s GOOD about it? Well, not much. I recall running it a few times, but with only one player (who played Indy, of course).The introductory adventure is meh and somewhat problematic (it takes place in Africa and features a villain named Solomon Black who is, of course, Black; as well as some questionable depictions of tribesmen), but it does a good job of teaching the rules. It’s designed for one player and one GM and is presented in chapters throughout the rulebook, each one focusing on the preceding relevant rules section. There’s also a pretty interesting chase mechanic in the game that uses a chase flow chart to simulate random twists, turns, dead-ends and hazards. I don’t think we ever used it, but I’d give it a go now, maybe even for use in another game. That’s about it.
TSR lost the license to this game fairly quickly and the game didn’t last long. Nothing was released after 1985, and I don’t think it was ever supported in Dragon magazine. No (legal) PDF exists, and the game isn’t available for download at any of the usual sites. It’s a dead game–until now. Last week I dug out my boxed set and had a look through it. I even found one of the old adventures I wrote as a teenager (Indy goes looking for an old Spanish galleon). Then I got inspired, and for the past week and a half, I’ve been writing a NEW Indiana Jones adventure for use with this game.
To be clear: no one I know (besides me) still owns this game. No one I know (besides me) is producing any content for it. No one I know (besides me) likes anything about it, if they know anything about it at all. And finally, no one I know (besides me) actually wants to play it ever again. No one is asking for this. And yet I’m still working on it, and loving every minute of it.
It’s that time again, when we look back on the past year and look forward towards the next one. Traditionally, it’s the time to review what I’ve accomplished here, and what I plan to do next year.
So, what have I accomplished in 2023? Not much. I’ve painted fewer miniatures this past year than in any year in recent memory. I haven’t played a RPG since March, and have no plans to do so again. My Discord server is a barren, empty wasteland, and don’t get me started on my personal life.
I did write a RPG, run it twice and have two other groups playtest it without my involvement. It seems to be generally well-received, so I should get around to publishing it at some point. That means I need to commission more artwork and learn how to do layout.
So, no big resolutions for 2024, unlike in years past. Rather, I’m going to limit myself a bit. I’m taking inspiration from the many “paint what you’ve got” challenges out there, and I’m planning on doing that all of next year. So, in 2024, I resolve to:
Paint what I’ve got: If I painted one miniature a day for the rest of my life, I would never come close to painting all the unpainted miniatures I have; and as this year’s output can attest, I don’t work anywhere near that fast. So, no new miniature purchases in 2024. Whatever I paint is coming from the pile of shame, and I will not add to it next year.
Read what I’ve got: Although I am an avid (and fast) reader, I have several hundred books I have yet to read, many thousands on my shelves, and I keep buying books as if I’m preparing for a lengthy prison term. In 2024, I’m not buying any new (or used) books. I need to pare down my TBR pile and get rid of the stuff I will never read again. That’s the hardest part. I have a collector’s mentality when it comes to things I love, whether it’s comics, books, miniatures or games (both video and rpgs), and parting is sweet sorrow.(Caveat: I have been on the lookout for certain volumes that regularly sell for stupid prices. If I find one of those at reasonable cost, I’m buying it.)
No new painting challenges: Between Monster May(hem), Forgotten Heroes and the Season of Scenery, I get stretched pretty thin. This past year I also did the “Ogre” challenge in September, where we all painted the same miniature sculpted by friend of the blog Dave Stone; tried (and mostly failed) to paint some Grenadier orcs for Orctober; and hosted Dwarvember last month. I think I’ll limit myself to MM, FH and SoS in 2024, with one exception:
The Year of the Dragon: According to the Chinese zodiac, 2024 is the Year of the Dragon, so what better time to paint a dragon miniature? I have several awaiting paint (some for much longer than others). I propose a year-long challenge: paint at least one dragon sometime in 2024, and hey–if you do it in May, you meet the criteria for Year of the Dragon AND Monster May(hem)! Since it’s a 12-month challenge, there’s little in the way of time crunch to consider. I’ll post more about this soon.
Post more often: They say blogging is dead, and I can see why; but I like having a blog, and I like reading the blogs of others. This past year, I posted once in January, twice in March, four times in April, four times in May, four times in June, once in July and August, twice in September, twice in October, three times in November, and (counting this) three times in December. That’s a total of 27 posts, most of them related to painting challenges. That’s really not a lot when you think about it. I enjoyed my deep-dive into Star Frontiers, and my list of my Top-10 RPGs of All Time, and my Crimson Hound parody AARs. I’d like to do more of that kind of thing, considering I’m not painting as often as I used to.
That’s it. A mellow end to 2023. Time to see what I can finish up out of the side pile before the clock strikes midnight on the 1st.
I just listened to the latest episode of The MIskatonic University Podcast, wherein the hosts rank their top 10 RPGs. It’s due to be a two-part episode, and they are including games they may or may not have actually played. I thought I’d do my own RPG GOAT lists, also in two parts…but this first post will be solely games I’ve played, while the next one will be for games I have yet to play, or haven’t played enough. If RPGs aren’t your thing, feel free to come back and look at the pretty miniatures, which will return soon.
I own many roleplaying games and game supplements for dozens of systems. The above picture represents about half of my overall collection, and it was taken back in 2021. (This is the chain I have forged in life, and like Jacob Marley, I have labored on it since.) But which ones are my favorites? Without further preamble, I give you The Angry Piper’s Top 10 RPGs of All Time, ranked in descending order.
10. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness (Palladium, 1985) My freshman year in high school, I met two brothers who are still two of my best friends to this day. One of them introduced me to the TMNT comic. I collected Marvel and DC comics and had no idea about independent publishers like Mirage. I immediately was hooked on the black & white, irregularly-published TMNT comic. These turtles were still a long way from the pizza-loving pop culture juggernauts they would become. These turtles were badass.
It was TMNT and Other Strangeness that introduced us to the Palladium system. I have many fond memories of the games we played, most of which degenerated into complete silliness. The character creation system is point-buy: each animal type (and there are many included) has a certain amount of Bio(logical) -E(nergy) points to spend. These points determine things like overall size, stance (biped/qudruped), hand type (partial, like paws, or full), speech and special “Powers” based on the animal type (like the Turtles’ shell). It was a very well-constructed character generation system and we never tired of making up new mutated animal characters.
The system…well, let’s just say I’m not a fan of Palladium’s system for many reasons. We played RIFTS and Heroes Unlimited a few times, but our interest waned pretty quickly and we were on to other games within a couple of years. Still, this quirky game provided us with a lot of fun times, and for that alone, it makes it into the top 10.
9. Star Frontiers: Alpha Dawn (TSR, 1983) I have spoken of my love for the classic Star Frontiers RPG in a series of recent posts. As I stated previously, for me, the real draw of this game is the setting. I cover that, as well as several “problems” with the game extensively here.
We played a lot of Star Frontiers in the 80’s and I’ve revisited the game a couple of times since then. One of my friends even converted it to GURPS, which made the game more complicated and challenging (in a good way). Sadly, I’m the only one among my friends who seems to miss this game nowadays, so if I ever get to play it again I will likely have to run it online.
8. Shadowrun (FASA, 1989) Where man meets Magic and Machine. In 2050, the world is a Gibson-esque cyberpunk dystopia ruled by mega-corporations, connected in virtual reality through a worldwide computer network called the Matrix. In the midst of this futuristic, capitalist nightmare, magic returns to the world and metahumans and creatures from myth and folklore once again walk among us. You play a shadowrunner–someone with a unique set of skills (magic, thievery, computer hacking, combat) who lives on the fringes of regular society. Oh, and there are dragons, too; and one of them becomes President.
Shadowrun, like so many other games that came out last century, has gone through several revisions and updates. I’m only familiar with 1st and 2nd Edition. 2E was better, and we played it most. The game has a timeline and metaplot that has kept continuity throughout all its editions. When the game debuted in 1989, the year in-game was 2050. Now, the current 6th edition of the game is set in the 2080s.
Shadowrun is one of those RPGs that’s immensely fun to play, but just as much fun to read. The sourcebooks are annotated as if they were documents posted to online hacker forums, so there is tons of commentary from the shadow community regarding the veracity of some of the information presented in the supplement. I haven’t played Shadowrun since pre-2000, but I still sometimes break out my old Shadowrun supplements just to read them.
7. Star Trek Adventures (Modiphius, 2017) No big surprise to anyone who visits this blog: I’m a huge Star Trek fan, and I went all in on the Modiphius 2d20 system. It’s a bit more complicated than I like in a system nowadays, but once you get the hang of it it’s pretty awesome. There’s a lot you can do and a lot of different ways to do it. It really captures the feel of the Star Trek Universe better than any previous Star Trek RPG, and it covers all eras of Trek from Enterprise through Discovery.
I first ran this game by converting an old FASA Star Trek module, The Vanished, to this version of the rules. Rather than make their own characters, my friends played Kirk, Spock and the bridge crew of the Enterprise. You can read about it here. Since then I’ve run several one-shots and even a brief campaign set in the Next Generation/DS9/Voyager era. You can find the first post of that campaign here. I’ve had a lot of fun every time, and I definitely will be running more Star Trek adventures in the future.
6. Star Wars (West End Games, 1987) With the ubiquity of everything Star Wars nowadays, it’s tough to remember that after Return of the Jedi was released in 1983, we didn’t have another Star Wars movie (for better or worse) until The Phantom Menace in 1999. Sure, there were novels and comics in between, but when Lucasfilm licensed Star Wars to West End Games to develop a roleplaying game, it was a license to print money, even if the game was shit, which this most definitely was not.
Arguably, the Star Wars RPG did more to keep Star Wars alive than anything else; but more than that, it built upon Lucas’s creation and added so much more to the lore and setting than anything we could ever see on film. Lucas approved all of it, and much of it became and remains canon. The system is D6-based and it works well. There aren’t too many rules to slog through and the action moves quickly. The D6 system is now open license for anyone to use.
I played a lot of this in the 80’s and a fair bit in the 90’s. About 10 years ago, I wrote a quick, one-shot with some pregenerated characters and ran a game for my friends. It was like riding a bike.
There have been 3 companies to publish Star Wars rpgs: West End Games, Wizards of the Coast and Fantasy Flight Games. The current FFG line is expansive (and expensive) and pulls from all eras of Star Wars, something the original WEG version couldn’t do, because none of it was written yet. It’s supposedly quite good; however it’s a testament to the popularity of the original game that Fantasy Flight Games published a 30th anniversary edition of the WEG Star Wars RPG in 2018. (No one talks about the WotC game nowadays.)
5. Vampire: The Masquerade (White Wolf, 1991) Ah, the angst-ridden, tragically hip 90’s, when you couldn’t swing a dead bat and not hit a Siouxsie Sioux, Peter Murphy or Robert Smith lookalike on any college campus in the country. Good times. I played a lot of the first and second editions of this game (as well as Werewolf: The Apocalypse and a little Mage: The Ascension) , and it’s one of the best, most memorable RPG campaigns I’ve ever been involved in. My interest in vampires has pretty much dwindled to nothing at this point in my life; but Vampire: The Masquerade is the game where I created one of my favorite RPG characters of all time: Lucas, a Nosferatu: a beast trying desperately to hold onto his humanity in the brutal and unforgiving Gothic-Punk Chicago of the 1990’s.
The World of Darkness Storyteller system is what really drives this game (aside from, you know, vampires), focusing primarily on roleplaying the trials and tribulations (or perhaps exultations) of being a monster. It’s billed as “a Storytelling game of personal horror,” and although pathos more than orror was the theme of the game in which I played, it is seen as a horror game. VtM has gone through several editions and publishers since the last time I played it, circa 1998 or so; and from what I can determine, it’s quite different nowadays. I’m not particularly interested in playing it again; but it’s definitely a game I played a lot of during my college years, and one I recall fondly.
4. GURPS (Steve Jackson Games, 1986) My regular high school gaming group split up after graduation as we all went to different schools. I was invited to a game in college, and that game turned out to be run by a guy I still game with today. That game was GURPS (3rd edition) Fantasy.
The Generic Universal Roleplaying System is exactly that. Although it’s great for Fantasy gaming, I’ve played and run horror, sci-fi, superhero, kung-fu, espionage and pulp cliffhangers games using GURPS. One of my favorites is GURPS Old West, which is my favorite Western RPG. GURPS has licensed such RPG properties as Traveller, Vampire: the Masquerade, Deadlands and Discworld; and, over the years, has released some of the best, most informative supplements for roleplaying games ever written. The GURPS Vikings, Martial Arts, Japan and WWII supplements really stand out, but there are so many more. My friend converted Star Frontiers to GURPS, and I even once attempted to run a Chronicles of Amber game using GURPS (but that didn’t work).
There’s a reason it’s been around for so long. There are rules for everything, but you’re free to use whatever you want and make it as simple or complex as you desire. It’s still my go-to generic system for most things.
3. Marvel Super Heroes (TSR, 1984) One of my all-time favorite roleplaying games is free for all at Classic Marvel Forever. I’ve always loved this game. It’s simple and captures the feel of a comic book perfectly. We played a lot of MSH back in high school. It still has a devoted fanbase today, and the innovative FASERIP system has been updated and streamlined by various publishers. (My favorite is Astonishing Super Heroes, by Let’s Start Over, Shall We?-a MSH actual play podcast). I brought this game out of retirement a couple of years ago to run a one-shot for my friends. The first of that four-post writeup is here. Although most of us had fun, a couple of my friends think games of the past should stay there. Undeterred, I ran it again on Discord as recently as March for a group of Instagram friends, and everyone seemed to really like it.
The published adventures are particularly bad; but the rules are simple and easy to learn. This is the only game that I can think of where I never want to make my own character. Although there are detailed character creation rules, I’ve always preferred running games for established heroes like Spider-Man and The X-Men rather than having the players create their own characters, and likewise, I prefer playing as established heroes as well. Sadly, no one I know seems keen on running this game but me. I haven’t been a player in a game of MSH since the mid-90’s, but I remain hopeful.
2. Call of Cthulhu (Chaosium, 1981) I discovered H.P. Lovecraft in 1987 when I was 15 years old, and although I had previously seen ads for the Call of Cthulhu RPG in the pages of Dragon Magazine, I never made the connection until later. Once I did, I knew it was a game I needed to play. A horror roleplaying game? How cool!
My first edition of the game was the 4th Edition, published in 1989. I still remember the first adventure I ran for my friends. It was one of my own scenarios involving a vampire who made his lair in an abandoned watermill. Being a vampire, he had no need to breathe and so he hid from the sun and rested underwater during the day. The group of investigators finally tracked the vampire to the mill, but of course, by then it was night and it was dark. They entered the watermill and found the floor had collapsed, so they waded through the waist-deep water, shining their flashlights around. One of the investigators suddenly realized the vampire could be under the water, and so I called for a Sanity check. He failed. I can still see the look on my friend’s face when I told him he dropped his flashlight into the water.
Call of Cthulhu is now in its 7th and, in my opinion, best edition of the game. I’ve played and enjoyed other horror games (like GURPS), but this is the best fit, both for Lovecraftian horror and horror storytelling that has nothing to do with the Cthulhu Mythos. I love to play this game and I especially love to run it. I always have more ideas for Call of Cthulhu scenarios running around in my head than any other game.
And finally, at #1: Dungeons & Dragons (TSR, 1974) Of course D&D will be my number one. Like so many people, it’s the first RPG I ever played, way back in 1983. It was the Tom Moldvay Red Box B/X system with the great Erol Otus cover art shown above. My aunt, who is only 9 years older than me, gifted me the game on my 10th birthday, pre-Satanic panic. I say this because she has since become an ultra-right wing conservative and staunch religious fanatic (yeah, we have lots in common nowadays), so I guess timing is everything. Anyway, thanks, Auntie Marie.
I’ve played almost every edition of D&D starting with the Moldvay B/X set. in high school, I played lots of AD&D before moving to AD&D 2E, which came out in 1989. I think I probably played 2E the most, though, being involved in several campaigns both as player and DM throughout the 90’s. I took a little break for a while, but came back to D&D with the 3rd edition. I ran a 3.5 campaign from 2011-2014 or so before it eventually broke down. You can read about that here. I skipped 4th Ed. entirely, which is by all reports what I should have done. No regrets.
Which brings us to 5th Edition, which is by far the biggest and most popular edition of the game to date, responsible for millions of dollars in sales and a huge influx of new blood to the roleplaying hobby. Thanks to Critical Role and Stranger Things, D&D is now super-cool; something I and most of my geek generation find amusing, as it certainly was not always so. I am all in favor of bringing new folks into the hobby, although I personally hate 5th edition because it is fundamentally different than the experience I know and love. I do not think the differences are beneficial to the game, but that is my opinion. I could write a whole blog post about why I hate it, but what’s the point? (I might do it anyway.) It’s not my game, but I certainly don’t begrudge others who love it (and they are many).
Dungeons & Dragons stirred my creativity, increased my vocabulary, raised my reading comprehension and fired my imagination. It made me a better speaker, a better writer and a voracious reader. It set me on the road to being the wise and erudite Renaissance man that I am today. It also taught me to be humble and not use words like erudite. But more than that, it gave me strong friendships that endure to this day.
I may play a thousand different games in my life, but I will always return to Dungeons & Dragons…just not any edition after 3.5.
Honorable Mentions
Picking a Top 10 was pretty hard, considering how many games I’ve played in my life. The following to games deserve special notice.
Middle-Earth Roleplaying (Iron Crown Enterprises, 1984) MERP has a special place in my heart, and always will. We played a fair amount of MERP in high school and college, and although I couldn’t tell you anything about the adventures and scenarios we played, I do know we had a lot of fun.
MERP is based on the Rolemaster system, which is not particularly suited for the setting, especially where magic is concerned. The spells and spell lists don’t really align with Tolkien’s portrayal of magic and wizards, for one thing; and the combat system is kind of clunky. MERP is justly famous, however, for the critical hit and critical fumble tables, which are absolutely hilarious and can instantly kill or maim anything, including the acting player character. It was worth it for that alone.
The supplements for MERP are exceptionally well-done, and like the WEG Star Wars RPG, much of the lore was created by the RPG company, not the original source. For example, prior to the release of the RPG, most of the Nazgul did not have names. In fact, Tolkien only named one of the Nazgul, Khamul the Easterling. Iron Crown named all Nine, and gave them backstories, too. They expanded and expounded upon Tolkien’s history and lore of Middle-Earth, and they did it with respect.
Bottom line: great setting and supplemental material. Not-so-great system for the game. Rolemaster may work well for fantasy RPGs, but it’s not a good fit for Middle Earth. Still, this was one we played often. Most MERP books fetch a hefty price on the secondary market nowadays, with good reason.
Lamentations of the Flame Princess (Lamentations of the Flame Princess, 2009) Lamentations of the Flame Princess is basically an OSR clone of Moldvay B/X D&D, although with a lot of updates (ascending Armor Class! Yaaay!) and changes that make the game much, much darker in tone. Whereas D&D is Tolkien-inspired high fantasy, LotFP is more grimdark and low-magic. It’s billed as Weird Fantasy, and it lives up to the name. There are no Fireballs or Lightning Bolts here; but Summoning is only a 1st-level spell, meaning it’s available to Magic-Users from the jump. Just because you can summon something, though, doesn’t mean you’ll summon what you want to, or that you can control it when it arrives, so beware.
Although LotFP has rules for demi-humans like Elves, Dwarves and Halflings (and, like B/X D&D, these races double as classes), much of the published material is designed without these fantasy races in mind, more of a late 16th/17th century European setting. In the words of James Edward Raggi IV, the game’s creator, this period of human civilization was hands-down the most miserable time to be alive in history. As a result, character survivability is low in LotFP. The published content is, without question, adult in nature; and has been the target of pearl-clutchers everywhere since the beginning. This only increased over the years when the cancel culture mob got the company in its sights. Sadly, that hasn’t gone away; but Raggi is well and truly done apologizing for anything at this point, and I, for one, am glad of that. Fuck that noise. Censorship is bullshit.
In March, I wrapped up a year-long Witch Hunter (i.e. Solomon Kane) campaign I ran for some folks on my Discord server. It was dark and grim and demonic, as it should be. We all had a great time, and I will likely use LotFP for my fantasy rules of choice going forward, unless of course I’m looking for something more forgiving and high fantasy.
That about does it for this post. Coming soon: my top 10 RPGS that I have yet to play (enough).
