T$R Coda: Gonna put you down for awhile Get it? Gary Gygax had founded TSR (Tactical Studies Rules) in 1973 with his good friend Don Kaye. Twenty-four years later, D&D was the biggest RPG ever but after a history of back-stabbing and power-grabs, the company had been driven into the ground by monumental stupidity and … Continue reading Part Thirty-One: 1997, If It Makes You Happy. A Historical Overview of Role-playing from the Trenches
Part Thirty: 1996, Give Me One Reason. A Historical Overview of Role-playing from the Trenches
Beat the Drum Slowly A selection of games from GDW Game Designers Workshop (GDW) was a game publishing company that had been founded in 1973. Perhaps best known for the science fiction role-playing game Traveller, they had also been bold enough to publish Gary Gygax’ RPG line Dangerous Journeys since he’d been forced out of … Continue reading Part Thirty: 1996, Give Me One Reason. A Historical Overview of Role-playing from the Trenches
Part Twenty-Nine: 1995, I’m the Only One. A Historical Overview of Role-playing from the Trenches
RPGs are in the back seat. Get it? This wasn’t such a great year for role-players. Magic: The Gathering and a pack of similar CCGs were selling like hotcakes, keeping RPGs in the back seat. (Wow, three metaphors in one sentence!) But let’s make an attempt to document what we can. Maybe not... T$R Lorraine … Continue reading Part Twenty-Nine: 1995, I’m the Only One. A Historical Overview of Role-playing from the Trenches
Part Twenty-Eight: 1994, All I Wanna Do Is Have Some Fun – A Historical Overview of Role-playing from the Trenches
What was it like for a gamer rolling into the twenty-first year after the debut of D&D? Role-playing had had a full twenty years to develop. With the year 2000 looming ahead not far over the horizon, what was the gamers’ world like? Magic: The Ubiquitous Odds are, you had some D&D books. And you … Continue reading Part Twenty-Eight: 1994, All I Wanna Do Is Have Some Fun – A Historical Overview of Role-playing from the Trenches
Film Festival: Tom Cruise, A Review & Retrospective
It dawns on me that recently I’ve watched or re-watched a bunch of Tom Cruise movies, and I’m struck by his acting skill. Especially when I compare his performances with those of other actors, other male actors, and other “older” male actors. (He’s 59 as I write this.) He has a wide range of expressive … Continue reading Film Festival: Tom Cruise, A Review & Retrospective
Review: Magic City, from Starz
I came across this two-season series from 2012 while looking up period shows. This one’s set in Miami in 1959. The central character is Ike Evans, who owns a big resort hotel on the beach. Steven as Stevie What I didn’t initially realize is that this is another “mob” story like The Godfather, only using … Continue reading Review: Magic City, from Starz
Part Twenty-Seven: 1984-1993, A Look Back at The Second Decade of Gaming – A Historical Overview of Role-playing from the Trenches
We’ve arrived at the overview of gaming’s second decade. But before we go on, here's a direct link to the overview of gaming's first decade: https://themichlinguide.wordpress.com/2021/05/14/part-sixteen-the-first-ten-years-a-historical-overview-of-role-playing-from-the-trenches/ (I confess that I added a few new entries to the first decade's timeline, if you'd like to go back and re-visit it.) Pop Culture is Embarrassing Anyway, back … Continue reading Part Twenty-Seven: 1984-1993, A Look Back at The Second Decade of Gaming – A Historical Overview of Role-playing from the Trenches
Part Twenty-Six: 1993, Ch-Ch-Changes – A Historical Overview of Role-playing from the Trenches
Edition War! Good god y’all What is it good for? Absolutely nothing Say it again! (with apologies to Edwin Starr) As far as tabletop role-playing games were concerned, 1993 bit the big one. The fifth edition re-write, re-titled and without even a credit on the cover for St Andre. Stormbringer, We Hardly Knew Ye Not … Continue reading Part Twenty-Six: 1993, Ch-Ch-Changes – A Historical Overview of Role-playing from the Trenches
Review: The Americans, from FX
As has become my habit recently, I just finished watching yet another series I’d missed during its initial run. This time around it’s The Americans, an FX show that ran from 2013-2018. I will clearly mark the section of my review that contains spoilers, so you may safely read the first half of this article … Continue reading Review: The Americans, from FX
Part Twenty-Five: 1992, Try to Love You Baby But You Push Me Away – A Historical Overview of Role-playing from the Trenches
Dangerous Journeys Dangerous Journeys from GDW I have no other table-top RPGs to talk about for the year 1992, because this is the year that Gary Gygax’ Dangerous Journeys was published by GDW, the Traveller company. They were immediately sued by T$R and kept in court for years. By 1996 GDW was in serious financial … Continue reading Part Twenty-Five: 1992, Try to Love You Baby But You Push Me Away – A Historical Overview of Role-playing from the Trenches
