Archives: Games

Solitaire Gaming

I dabble with solitaire board games from time to time, as I’ve mentioned occasionally here on my own site and at Black Gate. As I’ve said before, I blame the whole thing on John O’Neill, although Eric Knight deserves some blame as well because the two-player The French Foreign Legion was so much fun it converted me into a board game player.

Unfortunately, there’s not much interest in these parts for board games, unless it’s Iron Dragon. I happen to think Iron Dragon is a lot of fun, but I also like tactical and strategic games, which hold no interest for my wife, which is why solitaire games like Empires of America from Victory Point Games or Field Commander: Napoleon from DVG find a way to my table, especially in the winter.

The other day I happened to mention the new Nemo’s War kickstarter to writer friend Ian Tregillis and it launched me on a search for others that I probably shouldn’t buy but want.

Here’s the list. Investigate at your own peril…

Winter Update 2

I turned over my new book to my agent last week. The final third has some spots that are pretty rough yet, and I’ll be sanding those down after the next week. Right now I’m trying to catch up on some long overdue house organization. Thankfully gift shopping is nearly done, barring any sort of shipping shenanigans.

After being pedal to the metal on fiction writing, I hope to pick up some books I’d started and maybe start some new(isn) ones. I’ve also a friend’s manuscript to read. And I hope to do some gaming over the coming weeks. Speaking of which, I’ve picked up some great low-cost role playing books over the last month and I’ve been meaning to talk them up, because if you’re  a gamer, you need to be reading them. I like them so well that I’ll probably take the review over to Black Gate so more people hear about them. For the meanwhile, though, I’ll just say that these two products have really innovative ways to approach old school gaming, and that if you’re a fantasy tabletop gamer you really need to check them out:

Whitehack — the simplest way to run old D&D I’ve seen that also manages to accomplish all the things I was always frustrated that D&D couldn’t do. The one and only book is on sale for less than $ 7.00 through January.

The B/X Rogue — an elegant way to approach any Thief or Rogue or related classes. It’s simple, intuitive, and so clearly explained I’m simply astonished no one has ever done it this way before. Really impressive, and yours for only $1.50!

 

Hex Crawl Chronicles

From time to time I talk about world building on this site. I think any writer has to give an awful lot of thought to world building, i.e. presenting a setting that’s not just consistent and logical but interesting.

One of the reasons role-playing game setting books appeal to me so much is that a good one just drips with ideas, and can be chock full of world building  inspiration both for writers and gamers. I’ve discussed other great settings, but I’m overdue discussing the Hex Crawl Chronicles written by John Stater.

Swords And Wizardry Appreciation Day: Heroic Dueling

To celebrate the official Swords & Wizardry Appreciation Day April 17th I thought I’d share some combat rules I’ve been experimenting with, intended for use with the Swords & Wizardry based game Crypts & Things. If you’re new to the site, welcome. If you’re a regular visitor who’s not a gamer, be warned — your eyes are likely to glaze over if you try to read further.

If you’re a regular visitor who games I hope you’ll follow this link to check out essays about Swords & Wizardry, not to mention some sales and giveaway contests.

Heroic Dueling

These rules are designed for those climatic moments when the hero faces off against the big bad – so long as that villain is more or less human sized and wielding weapons.

Sword & Sorcery Musings

It seems that all I do with my writing anymore these days is revise. Back when I was writing in my teens and twenties I used to just keep picking away at the first three or four chapters of a work and never advance. Recently it seems like I get the first three or four chapters working pretty well but then take too long getting to the good stuff. No more. Just as I prefer streamlined role-playing game systems I’ve decided to strip away any sense of the padding I hate and get to the good bits right up front.

Kane and Trek

The thing I’m MOST looking forward to this evening is a viewing of the new Star Trek: Continues episode titled “Fairest of Them All,” set as a direct sequel to the original Star Trek fan favorite episode, “Mirror, Mirror.” The only reason I’m holding off watching it is because I want to see it with the wife and family. If you don’t have to wait, go check it out now! The last two have been wonderful, as I’ve gushed about elsewhere.

Second, for Father’s Day what I most wanted to do was some gaming with the family, so we kicked back and I ran three solo episodes of monster hunters in the 1600s (sort of like Supernatural, but with characters wearing pilgrim era garb) and then ran an episode that got everyone together.

On Solomon Kane and Savage Worlds

Anyone who’s read The Desert of Souls and knows their way around Robert E. Howard’s stories probably could tell I was a fan of Solomon Kane, owing to the brief appearance of a certain cat-headed staff near the novel’s conclusion

Given that I’m a huge REH fan and a gamer, it seemed only natural that I finally lay hands on the Savage Worlds game line dedicated to Solomon Kane himself.

In my rare moments of down time over the last weeks I’ve been learning the Savage Worlds system in preparation for running some “investigating the unknown in the time of the 1600s” adventures for the family.

The Savage Worlds of Solomon Kane books are gorgeous, well presented with lavish illustrations, and crammed with information about the time period, the setting, and adventures — lots and lots of adventures.

World of Aetaltis

Today I want to point all my regular readers to a nifty new Kickstarter. Here’s the official word from my friend and project runner Marc Tassin:

The project is centered on a Pathfinder Compatible roleplaying game adventure called The Temple of Modren designed to introduce backers to a fantasy setting I created called the World of Aetlatis.  It’s edited by Steven S. Long, has maps from Mike Schley, and includes art from Mitchell Malloy.

The adventure, however, is just the tip of the iceberg. The project also includes some awesome stretch goals, including an anthology of short fiction, more Pathfinder Compatible books, and new cover art by Larry Elmore!

 All the stretch goals are great, but as a writer I’m especially excited about the anthology. Larry Correia, David Farland, Matt Forbeck, Ed Greenwood, Dave Gross, John Helfers, Steven S. Long, Mel Odom, Jean Rabe, Lucy A. Snyder, Michael A. Stackpole,  and Elizabeth Vaughan are all writing short stories set in the world of Aetaltis. John Helfers is editing the book, and if we hit our goals we’ll print a mass market paperback edition of the anthology.

No Distractions!

I sure hope this web site isn’t your only stop for entertainment, because I haven’t been providing much lately. Trust me, I’m getting some great writing done, but with a deadline looming I’ve felt less call to do any writing HERE.

When I’m deep in the final stages of a writing project I’m usually not reading anything but reference books. Heaven forbid I start some great novel or even short story and get sucked in to reading it through to the end. It’s happened once or twice while I was in deadline crunch and I vowed never to make that mistake again.

Link Man’s Further Adventures

I’m still hard at work on my next book, and liable to be pedal to the metal for a while. You see, ’round about the 2/3 to 3/4 mark of the rough draft I started to feel like the ground I was standing on wasn’t very firm, so I decided to go back and revise what I’d written. I discovered that the opening chapters weren’t very entertaining, so I threw them out, started from scratch, and am now nearly up to the good parts. Anyway, it’s time consuming but fun to be getting it right.

But I promised interesting links.