The Man in the High Castle

I just finished watching season four of this show, and I thought I’d write a post about it. Overall I give it four stars out of five, and recommend you catch it. Especially if you're a younger viewer without a good working knowledge of World War II. But I’ll try to avoid spoilers. First of …

Dave Arneson, and Internet Feuding

Today, October 1st, is Dave Arneson's birthday. He is credited as the co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons. I wrote a post early in September in which I reacted to the resurrection of a very old argument about who contributed more to the creation of D&D, Arneson or Gary Gygax. I was more than a little …

Yeoman Rand, Female Lead of Star Trek

From what I've read, Grace Lee Whitney was hired to play Yeoman Janice Rand as the "female lead" on Star Trek. The female lead! The original concept, Wagon Train to the Stars, had the cast as analogous to the cast of Gunsmoke, and Rand was supposed to be Miss Kitty. She was supposed to provide …

Combat House Rules, 1st ed AD&D

I started a new 1st ed AD&D campaign a few months ago, and I wanted to return to my roots. For my Tekumel campaigns, I had been using a streamlined set of house rules. But for this campaign, with the players' acquiescence, I wanted a grittier experience. So I dug in to my source material …

Tékumel, and Training, for 1st ed AD&D

Ah, training in 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. I ran it by the book, back in the day. Tons of gold required per week of training, number of weeks dependent on how well you stuck to your alignment. Can’t accumulate additional experience points once you are one point shy of qualifying to train for …

“I’ll Take Game Designers for $500, Alex. Who Were Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson?”

The old argument has re-surfaced online recently. Who deserves more credit for creating Dungeons and Dragons, and thus the modern concept of role-playing games, Gary Gygax or Dave Arneson? Personally, I can’t believe this topic is still floating around today, and I don’t know why anyone cares to argue it. Both men’s names appear on …

Tékumel: On Property, Clans, and Temples

The World of Tékumel is a creation of Professor M.A.R. Barker, and the setting for numerous role-playing games. Tékumel's society can be difficult for beginners to grasp. I wrote this summary as a brief orientation for players in my Tékumel game. Obviously, it reflects my own shadow of Tékumel Prime, but I hope it will …

Regarding Pay-TV, over whatever transport mechanism

A blog I follow posted about the number of subscription choices that would be required to watch SF&F shows that are behind paywalls. I felt compelled to respond, as I disagreed with some of his underlying assumptions. I've written about this more than once. The increase in monetization comes about only because consumers cooperate. If …

Tomorrowland — Fifty Years Ago, Mankind Walked the Moon

Hope Eyrie Fifty years since we landed at Tranquility Base. Fifty years. I grew up during the space race. I was sitting in front of a tiny little black & white television watching Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. I collected big 8 x 10 prints at the supermarket every week, with NASA photos, …

Review: Rome, Ancient — HBO and BRP

I recently watched the two seasons of HBO's Rome series from back in 2005. See how that works? If something interesting comes out, I can wait for the opportunity to see it – in this case, waiting meant I finally got to see it without getting HBO. Delayed gratification doesn't seem to be much of …