Top 5 Ways to Weather the Global Pandemic

I’m sure we’ve all seen the meme by now, the mock headline that says something along the lines of “Nerds Everywhere Awaken to a World where Sports Are Cancelled and Everyone Stays Inside Playing Games” or something to that effect. Har-de-har-har, Alice.

As a guy who owns and operates one of the very places the media is begging you not to visit, I’m of two minds, here. On one hand, stay at home, yes, do that. On the other hand, um…me and the missus and our dog need to eat, okay?

Suffice to say, I need a few distractions, and I suspect you do, as well. For example, I’m working on my Kickstarter campaign project, Monty Haul, and it’s going as well as can be expected. I’m also playing my first D&D game on Roll20 with Shane Ivey, Chris Spivey, and Megan and Aser Tolentino. If you’re interested in hearing it play out, you can check out Session Zero on the ArcDream website here. We’re playing through one of Shane’s Sword and Sorceries adventures, and so far, it’s very cool.

But what if you don’t have a lot of irons in the fire? It’s easy; just build a fire, and stick some irons in. I’m only sort of kidding. Even if you just do some spring cleaning, like culling old games and sorting dice and organizing shelves, you’ll feel better, more productive, and less inclined to climb the walls, wall crawler. Idle hands, and all that jazz.

Here are my top five suggestions for Getting Your Game On and staying safe. I’m not going to mention Roll20 or playing online; you already know that. Rather, this is about refilling your braincase with stuff to use when all of this Fauxpocalypse stuff blows over and we can all greet the daylight again like squinting morlocks.

RPGaDay 2019: 2 Unique

Weird Tales Magazine called itself “The Unique Magazine” and it wasn’t an idle boast, either. Widely considered one of the greatest pulp magazines of all time, it premiered in 1922 as a ghost and supernatural pulp and quickly went into debt, as it was unable to find its audience. When a Shakespearean scholar named Farnsworth Wright took the editorial reins in late 1924 (himself installed by the magazine’s new owners), he heralded the Golden Age of Weird Tales by introducing the small but dedicated readers to some of the most important fantasy writers of the twentieth century.

REH's Conan was one of the most
popular series in the magazine.

Of singular note are the Three Musketeers of Weird Tales: H. P. Lovecraft, Clark Ashton Smith, and Robert E. Howard; Other less distinguished but no less important authors included: C.L. Moore, Ray Bradbury, Robert Bloch, Seabury Quinn, Frank Belknap Long, August Derleth, A. Merritt, Fritz Lieber, Manly Wade Wellman, and so many others, just to name a few.

Why should you care? Well, if you are an Appendix N Junkie (or Appendix E for you fifth edition folks), or maybe you’re merely interested in the history and development of the game, then Weird Tales Magazine is the Dead Sea Scrolls of D&D. You probably already recognized those names above as a significant who’s who for the original Appendix N.

Reading is not only fundamental, it’s required to play Dungeons & Dragons, and the experience of play was always intended to be akin to, if not adjacent to, a literary experience. Modern movies and television and increasingly-sophisticated video games tend to blur and conflate the chain of custody between gaming and literature, to our detriment, I think. Case in point; my current players relate all of their commentary in meta-game to playing Skyrim.

Sahuagin! No, Kuo Toa! Wait a minute...

This has an advantage in that you can play off of those expectations; my thieves’ guild is so much more vast, intricate, and interesting than the little gang of ne’er-do-wells in Skyrim that it blew the players’ minds when they discovered it, and just how vast and sprawling it really was. But that’s not hard to do. I mean, as cool as Skyrim is (I guess), nothing beats me at the table, doing my thing, and creating worlds that these guys live in.

Now, I told you that to tell you this: at least half, if not more, of my long-running campaign world is admiringly appropriated from much better writers than me. That was one of the dirty little secrets of the Old School Renaissance; players and DMs would gleefully steal any idea not nailed down, and even then, some of them brought a crowbar, just in case. I mentioned this previously when talking about the movie Beastmaster.

But the real stuff, the books and stories from Weird Tales magazine? Those decorated authors? That’s uncut, high end, mainline good shit, right there. What makes this so ironic is that, over time, Dungeons and Dragons had drifted—some would say by necessity, and others would say by design—away from being derivative of Conan, Elric, Lord of the Rings, etc. and into its own world that is ultimately unique unto itself…but also, and this is strictly my opinion here, very vanilla. D&D has, over forty years, become a kind of default setting catch-all fantasy world that is not bad, not at all, but it’s lacking some of the bumps and scrapes and dents and dings that first edition D&D had. Scars are sexy, and the early D&D was a Frankenstein’s monster that wore all of its influences on its sleeves…and its arms…and its face…and its body…

The most immediate influences upon AD&D were probably de Camp & Pratt, R. E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, H. P. Lovecraft, and A. Merritt; but all of the above authors, as well as many not listed, certainly helped to shape the form of the game. For this reason, and for the hours of  reading enjoyment, I heartily recommend the works of these fine authors to you.
 - E. Gary Gygax, from the AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide

Lankhmar: An Appreciation

I mentioned this before in my litany of stuff I used to play, but I wanted to drill down on this because I'm going to be talking about campaigns and how I run them and why I run them the way I do. It's mostly because of Lankhmar: City of Adventure.

Back in the 1980s I was a good li'l consumer of TSR's stuff. I kept up with new releases, back when you actually HAD - TO -  KEEP - UP with stuff; there was no button to click, no page to "like." You had to remember to call the hobby shop or the bookstore once a month. You had to read magazines and actually look at the ads. You had to look on the backs of modules for lists of other products. You had to talk to human beings in meat-space. You had to beg rides to the mall (or gas money, when you could borrow the car).

There is a reason, terribly misguided, why some older neckbeards feel a predatory sense of ownership and do that Gatekeeper thingie; it's because they are resentful that they had to do everything that I just rattled off and modern day gamers simply watch YouTube and get much better intel on what's new, and what's coming out.

I am not saying I agree with Gatekeeping tactics, because I don't...but looking back over that list, I understand where some of the ire comes from. Still, it was the 1980s. We barely had cable. There was no internet. Our brains could handle the strain of thinking about stuff we liked, I assure you. So their anger isn't really at new fans, or girls. It's at step-father Jeff who used to call them "fairies" for reading J.R.R. Tolkien and for not taking them to the mall when he clearly wasn't doing anything but sitting around eating Fritos and drinking Busch beer all day..."private contractor," my ass...

Appendix N: Happy Birthday, Robert E. Howard!

Hey, look! A book! I wrote this!
If you have a first edition, please
buy this one, too. It's better.

I think we're going to just skip all the usual bloggery about how it's a new year, and with it comes a renewed interest in blogging, and a solemn  promise to post more regularly and yadda yadda yadda* and start with something useful and interesting: today is Robert E. Howard's one hundred and thirteenth birthday.

For those of you who grew up on Appendix N, or maybe you came later to the party, Robert E. Howard (o "REH") is widely credited as the father of Sword and Sorcery (and, I argue, also the Weird Western as it is practiced today), or "heroic fantasy" if you prefer that distinction. I don't think it matters much what you call it, but when you add to that, "You know, Conan?" everyone knows what you mean.

I have been associated with the Texas author professionally since 2001, having penned a number of articles and essays, book introductions and afterwords, comic book stories, role-playing games, old time radio plays, and of course, an award-winning biography of the Texas author and his career, and his influence on popular culture in general.

If you are interested in checking any of that out, go for it. But I thought since it's an auspicious day that I'd drop some recent recommendations for anyone playing catch-up. Howard's stories should be required reading for any serious D&D player or Dungeon Master.

Del Rey's Robert E. Howard trade paperback series
Fourteen volumes, meticulously edited, all of the fragments, thoughtful introductory essays and afterwards, copious illustrations, and authoritative texts that make use of printed stories and rough drafts...what's not to love about these books? You may be glancing over at your shelves right now, eyeing those tattered paperbacks you bought in the 1970s, and thinking, "Pfft. I've got all of those books. I've read Robert E. Howard, Jack." Trust me...you haven't. At least, not like this.

If you've never read REH before, I would start with the two-volume "Best of" books, Crimson Shadows and Grim Lands. They will give you and overview of the depth and breadth of Howard's writing, from bawdy slapstick to terrifying weird horror, and all points in between.  If you liked what you read--Conan, Kull, Bran MaK Morn, the Crusades stories, the horror tales, Desert Adventure, whatever stuck with you--there's a Del Rey edition or two for you, full of all the extant Howard writing on that character or subject. Handy, and oh-so-inspirational.

Black Gate Magazine
Editor Bob Byrne is spearheading a series of articles called "Hither Came Conan" wherein noted authors and experts weigh-in on the various Conan stories to make the case for it being the BEST Conan Story of ALL. It's an interesting idea, and I will certainly be participating later, but for now, there's some good reading to be had on this great site.

Rogue Blades Entertainment
This plucky indy publisher  spearheaded by Jason M. Waltz was a vanguard of the new pulp movement, and now Jason is bringing it back with renewed focus and more cool stuff in the sword and sorcery vein. I know, it's not strictly speaking Robert E. Howard, but Jason now lives in Texas and came to the Robert E. Howard house for the first time last year...and now we're getting new books...coincidence? I think not!

Robert E. Howard: A Literary Biography by David C. Smith
This is the newest biographical work about Our Favorite Author to appear and it's written by David Smith, who co-wrote the Red Sonja book series with Richard Tierney, and has made several pilgrimages to the Howard House (see below). In fact, he's the Guest of Honor this year! Read his book and bring it with you to get signed (you can do that). It's a fantastic read with lots to unpack.

Marvel's Conan the Barbarian
The company that helped make Conan a household name has re-acquired the rights to the eponymous barbarian, and their launch of the new series written by Jason Aaron has been pretty impressive. Remember, this is pop-culture Conan, not REH Conan, but it's still quite entertaining.

If you're fortunate enough to have a good comic shop in your area, head that way and buy a copy of the first issue. If you do not have a good comic shop in your area, well, Marvel has an app for digital comics. And if you're one of those greate grey-neckbeard grognards who only reads on paper, and hates anything made after 1979, but can't quite remember where all of your back issues of the Savage Sword of Conan are stashed, Marvel is diligently reprinting their classic Conan comics and magazines, too.

Conan Role-Playing Games
For those of you who like it a little more 21st century, Modiphius' Conan RPG launch continues apace with a brand-new book, Conan the Brigand. I am proud to have worked on this line, along with fellow Conanists Jeff Shanks and Patrice Louinet.  The system is quick and easy, and creates really detailed characters with intricate back stories before you ever start your first session.

For all of you first edition D&D and other OSR-type folks, I would recommend Jason Vey's website, which has a lot of OSR Conan and Hyborian Age gaming. It's the bee's knees.


The Robert E. Howard House and Museum

Maybe you have all of that stuff above, and other stuff, too. Maybe you've got a whole shelf full of Robert E. Howard books and boxes of comics, stacked up and sitting pretty. You're that guy, amongst all of your friends. Well, have you been to the Howard House?

If you have not, then you have missed out on a singular fan experience. Every year in June, the town of Cross Plains hosts REH fans from literally around the world for Robert E. Howard Days, a two-day celebration of Howard's life and enduring legacy. There will be panel discussions, lots of activities, tours of the house and Cross Plains, and lots of rare and unique artifacts on display. The house made national news a couple of years ago with an archaeological dig that uncovered the root cellar, seen here.

It's a pilgrimage, and one you won't forget. I go every year, because I can, but you can certainly make the trip once. You won't regret it.


There's more stuff coming this year. I've got a couple of secret projects in the hopper, as well. But this will do as a kick-off for now. Happy Birthday, Bob! I'll bet you had no idea this stuff would all be around over eighty years after your death, did you?

______
Notes:
* I have been indolent lately, and there are real-life reasons why this is so. If you're interested, you can pop over to the personal blog and read for yourself. Or don't.

Playing Games Part 2: Tabletop Gaming Saved My Life

Okay, that’s a great and terrible exaggeration, but it also kinda isn’t. It’s certainly fair to say that had I not found D&D I would not be the person I am today. Certainly not creatively or professionally. I wouldn't have discovered the Three Musketeers of Weird Tales at the time that I did, for instance. I may not have found my way to Lieber and Moorcock. I had these ideas about wanting to be creative, but I didn't have a focus or a direction. D&D gave me a structure to explore everything: improvisation, mimicry, writing, reading an audience, thinking logically and even critically, and so much more. Role-playing really unlocked my creative potential.

Here’s my Top 5 things that role-playing games did for me, in order:

Classic Mark Finn: Roll to Hit, D&D turns Forty!

Note: this is a reprint of an old Finn's Wake article. Please don't tell me this happened four years ago. I was there. I remember.

 Dungeons & Dragons is celebrating its 40^th year of existence. Wow.

To commemorate the occasion, I had hoped to do an influence chart similar to the one I created for Raidersof the Lost Ark, but there is no time. And besides, it’s less interesting than just posting the list from Appendix N in the back of the Dungeon Master’s Guide.