Artist Retrospectives II – Alphonse Mucha

The Four Seasons The visual arts are a direct conduit into our brains. Yes, language sets humans apart, but vision is a more visceral experience. If you want to convey something to an audience, show them. Alphonse Mucha was a Bohemian Czech artist who lived during the years 1860-1939. His work became inextricably connected with …

Part Forty-Six: 2011. Bye Bye Space Shuttle. A Historical Overview of Role-playing from the Trenches

Space Shuttle Atlantis takes off in 2011 on the very last shuttle flight. Oh no! This was the year the US put the space shuttle program into moth balls. That meant that we had no vehicle to get our astronauts up there. Personally I'd consider this an example of poor planning. Do you not implement …

Artist Retrospectives I – Sir John Tenniel

Art transports us to other worlds. It stimulates our brains and gives us context that would be difficult to communicate in any other way. I’d like to start a series of posts on art that’s helped to inspire fantasy, science fiction and horror in fiction, media and gaming. To take a look at major, influential …

A Grognard Reflects: Who Knows Where the Money Goes?

As you probably know (since you’re here), I started my gaming hobby back in the 70’s. I was a huge fan of many of the games of the 70s and 80s. And by “fan” I mean its actual meaning: “fanatic.” The gaming industry took a strange turn and instead of writing lots of new, wonderful …