Interestingly enough this is the topic that struggled with the most even though I knew roughly what I wanted to say.
Interesting because it is not "focus", but rather a lack of focus I want to talk about.
The actual view from my chair in my game room
Presently I have about dozen to dozen and a half on going Works In Progress (WIPs).
That's insane.
I really need to focus to get them done. I also have two exams I need to review and edit for a Social Justice in Social Work course I am working on that need to be done for my day job.
We joke and laugh and call it "Gamer ADHD", but there is a serious side effect to this.
One completed project gets more use than 20 incomplete ones.
My hobgoblin, my nemesis, is the constant flow of ideas, some good others not as good (ok bad), that I have to jot down. I have "Children of the Gods" that is now about three weeks behind schedule to get to you all. I am still picking at various game ideas. Oh and there are editors online reading this thinking "yeah that is great and all, but when are YOU getting ME the work you owe me??"
Meanwhile that Midterm and Final are staring at me and I have less than an hour to read them, edit them and have something intelligent to say in a meeting.
I have tried various project management techniques, but I then spend time on the process and not on the project. So that's not ideal either.
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On the flip side. I also see how prepping for three weekly D&D games has improved my oldest son's focus.
He struggled in school but had topics he excelled in. Now since he has been running D&D games and dealing with a wide variety of issues in those games I have noticed a sharp increase in his organizational skills and focus. This has been reflected in his grades where he was asked to join an honor society his Freshman year in college.
Yes. Today I am going to talk about Critical Role.
For the one or two people out there that don't know, Critical Role is a Web-based show that covers a group of professional voice actors and TV actors as they play D&D. The first season they played Pathfinder and now they play D&D 5th edition.
They have a HUGE fan base as evidenced by their ridiculously successful Kickstarter ($11.3 Million), 135k+ unique views on YouTube and Twitch and the winner of two Webby Awards.
Both of my sons watch it and nearly everyone in their various game groups do as well.
I know that many gamers around my age don't like it and have a lot of negative things to say about it. To that I say.
Boo Fucking Hoo.
Obviously, they are not hurting for your lack of interest and understanding. And for all the talk of how "that's not how D&D is supposed to be played" well no one died and made you the fucking Gestapo of D&D. Even back in the day no two groups in my tiny ass, mid-west, deeply Christian town played it the same way and I know players today won't and don't give two shits about what a bunch old fuck Grognards have to say either.
Some people complain about the so-called "Mercer Effect" after Matt Mercer the DM for the group. You know what Mercer Effect I see? People coming to me and saying "Hey my kids listen/watch Critical Role and now they want to play D&D. What do I need to get them?"
That's the Mercer Effect. Sorry, he has done more for the game than any 100 of us old fucks have done. Actually no. I am not sorry. I am glad Matt is out there doing his thing and having a blast.
And obviously laughing all the way to the bank too.
Again I am going with a different version of the word because this made me think of Pink Floyd's "Obscured by Clouds". A very, very underrated album and one semi-central to my D&D playing years.
Obscured by Clouds was released in 1972, a year before their landmark album Dark Side of the Moon. Now I could write a dissertation on Dark Side, and many have. But that is not today's post.
ObC was a softer album, but in it are the seeds of what the "new" Pink Floyd became planted in the very fertile ground of the older psychedelic Pink Floyd.
My first DM, the guy that ran me through so many adventures of D&D Expert combined with AD&D, turned me on to this album. We were both huge Pink Floyd fans and Dark Side was my favorite album. I would go over to his house to play D&D but before we would play, like so many kids in the 80s, we went out on our bikes first.
He lived near the Capitol Records plant so we would rummage around the loading doc and always find a cassette or two that never made it on to the trucks. Mostly things like Kenny Rogers, but every so often a gem like Iron Maiden or Kraftwerk (Capitol was EMI's American counterpart). If we were REALLY lucky we would score a Pink Floyd cassette. Especially since Floyd had left Capitol/EMI for Columbia/CBS Records in the mid 70s.
Obscured by Clouds was a soundtrack of sorts to the film La Vallée (The Valley). But to my young and unsophisticated ears, it was the soundtrack of an older adventurer. Someone that had adventured, loved, lost and now lay dying only with his regrets.
Nothing characterized that better for me than the song Free Four. Sure it is about the recording industry and Roger Waters singing (again) about his dead dad. But in the early 80s it was more than that to me.
Floyd would continue to be an inspiration to me when playing although I can't draw a direct line from them to anything I have created like I can with Stevie Nicks or the Police or Led Zeppelin.
Still. To this day, listening to Floyd makes me think of D&D games gone by.
Again, I think I'll make a hard turn here and talk about Familiars; as in animal familiars, not something that is familiar.
I have talked a lot about familiars here. Books on familiars, spells for familiars, and what familiars could do for witches and wizards.
Sometimes I have pondered doing a book on just familiars. An OSR books for both witches and magic-users/wizards. I'd include animal companions for druids as well.
But there are already good books out there for that and most of what I have wanted to add have been already added to my various witch books. So maybe there is no need.
Still. It could be fun.
What do you all think? Would this be something anyone is interested in? I wouldn't do it if I didn't add a bunch of new material.
I have to admit my first thought when hearing this is not Ancient tomes or civilizations, but the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, also known as The KLF.
This post is not about The KLF per se, but it is about what made them work.
Take their song, Justified and Ancient (Stand By The JAMs). What do we have in this? Electronica of the early 90s. Singing, some rapping, and right in the middle of it all? Tammy Wynette, credited as "The First Lady of County" and not all looking out of place.
What?
Seriously though, have a look.
WHY do I bring this up?
Simple. Sometimes things work that should never work on paper. So combine things in your game that may or may not make any sense. Sure sometimes you get Peanut Butter and Ketchup (or Peanut Butter and Furniture Polish) other times you get Peanut Butter and Chocolate.
And like the KLF slap a thin veneer of "ancient" on it. Like claiming to have been in contact with the ancient Masters of Mu.
Essentially isn't this a plot point in Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum? (something that should be assigned reading for anyone writing a modern horror or conspiracy theory game.)
Don't be afraid to mix it up. Add new stuff. Add old stuff. Add really weird stuff.
Be like the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu.
Space can mean a lot of things. I was originally going to go with Space as in Outer Space. Space the Final Frontier Space. But instead, I would rather talk about my gaming space.
I have shared "shelfies" in the past because they are kind of fun, but I do really love my gaming space.
This didn't happen overnight or even in a few years. It happed with careful collecting and of course getting two Ph.D.s and a job where I can afford a house for this and the custom shelves.
Growing up this was my dream. To have my own library or study where I can sit with my books. I have everything I need to read and research my games here. Comfortable chairs and wicked fast internet speeds. I love a place where I can play and have a dedicated room to do it.
My kids have their friends over all the time and there are anywhere from 3 to 4 games being run in my house every week! It means though they are living the stereotype of gaming in their parent's basement!
Not to bad really. Of course, I work all the time and only get to enjoy it a little myself!
Next project for my game space? I am going to tear out all the old lighting and replace them with LEDs. Also get my HD projector mounted on a swivel arm for either projecting on the walls or on the table for maps.
