Category: Off Topic

This is for non RPG related posts and things that may come up from time to time.

Mace 2018 Was Great!

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Mace 2018 is now behind us, and it was yet again another great convention. For myself, this one was quite different from past years. Over the course of 2018, I have tried my hand as a vendor at each MACE that I have attended. Thankfully, I can say that I have had great success at each of these events. 

I feel I am very certain that it is something that I will continue to do going forward. I enjoy making the items that I sell.  As well the reactions of excitement that I see on so many faces when they purchase something that is in its own way slightly unique. 

This year we offered up a full table of things for sale. In the past events, we have attended we only have brought a few things. overall everything was well received. With each convention, we have learned some things do better than others. I already know that the next event we go to the table will look different yet again. 

  • Mace 2018 minis
    Mace 2018 Vendor Table. 

Sadly I did not play in any games this year. That was due partly to my desire to devote my full attention the vending at this convention. Also, I did not sign up for any games at the event in advance. Now that we both feel confident just one of us can manage the full table we will plan to get in several games each.

Thankfully I still did get the opportunity to talk to many of my friends and gamers. After all half of the reason why I go to Mace is to see and spend time with my convention family. It also helped that my dear friends ran a vendor table next to us. So this made for a very relaxing weekend overall. The whole weekend left me feeling mentally and physically in a much better place then I have been in several weeks if not months. Case in point, I am writing again. 

Mace also served as a good place spread my business cards around and inform people that I now have opened an Etsy store! If you would like to take a look at that here is the link. https://www.etsy.com/shop/RunklePlaysGames I prefer it to the WordPress store as it is just more easy to navigate. 

NOTE: in the near future expect to see the WordPress site store closing down as I will be shifting to embracing the Etsy store fully. 

One of the surprises hits at MACE was the adorable dice holder beholder dice jails that are handmade. If you would like to check them out you can find a crafting blog about that below. Also if you like them you can find them on the Etsy store as well. 
https://runkleplaysgames.com/2018/08/29/crafting-corner-dice-holder-beholder/

Tales from the Loop on Amazon

Tales from the Loop RPG is heading to Amazon TV

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Tales from the Loop is coming to Amazon TV. You heard it right, that is not a mistake.
Amazon has ordered up a direct-to-series Sci-fi drama. Lets just let that sink in for a moment.

 

That’s right Amazon has green light this show for more than just a pilot.  I can only imagine that this is in hopes to be a direct competitor to the Netflix smash hit Stranger Things. It looks to me like Amazon is swinging for the fences on this project from the writer of “Legion” Nathaniel Halpern. Halpern will be the executive producer and showrunner of the series.

 

The world of TFL is built around the stunning and evocative artwork of Simon Stålenhag that blends rural Sweden life in the backdrop of science fiction. Personally one of the reasons why I love his art so much is rural Sweden has a striking resemblance to the 1980s Midwestern America where I grew up.

Albert Cheng, co-head of television at Amazon Studios said

“Simon Stålenhag’s paintings are renowned for their vision of a not-too-distant, futuristic landscape. We are looking forward to bringing that to life and sharing it with our Prime Video audience,”

Amazon feels very confident putting Nathaniel at the helm according to Sharon Tal Ygudado, Head of scripted genre programming with Amazon Studios.

“Nathaniel is a gifted storyteller who shares our passion for creating soulful, human stories that push the boundaries of genre programming and we’re thrilled to be working with him on this series,”

Fox 21 Television Studios will co-produce the show the executive VP Jane Francis commented.

“I was immediately intrigued by the idea of bringing Stålenhag’s incredible paintings to life, but it’s Nathaniel’s deeply inspired vision for this world, and the stories he has created from an incredibly passionate and emotional place, that will drive this series and its storytelling. Together with Mark’s brilliant visual sensibility and unique point of view, it makes this a truly exceptional project and the perfect one to partner with Amazon in our studio’s first direct-to-series order at the streamer,”

Having been utterly blown away by Legion and in a love affair with Tales from the Loop RPG. This for me has all the makings of a smash hit. I imagine many of my fellow fans and gamers that backed the Kickstarter as well are a bit excited to hear the news that the RPG they helped bring to life. That started as a series of paintings is now going to be cast into our homes as a Sci-Fi drama!

Tales from the loop art

It’s a great time to be a gamer!

 

 

 

 

Reflecting on MACE 2017

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Ron and Jeff once again put on a great convention in 2017. With a Con over 20 years old, you often know what to expect from Mace. From time to time they embrace change or revisit old ideas from the past from time to time to keep things at the con interesting but the core of the con always remains the same, Its all about the games!

This year was no different, With tons of games lined up for everyone to play most everyone was happily busy all convention long. If it happened that you were between games there were over 50 free to play games this year as well as a large number of game demos being run at MACE 2017 to take part of will your next session started. Not to mention a fair number of vendors selling many awesome things!

This year I found myself with more free time than I usually have at MACE. I think this is due to a few Game Designer friends were not able to make it to the convention this year. Even without their presence MACE 2017 was the host to a TON of new games Many of them having recently run Kickstarters or actively running During the convention. I rounded up the con having the chance to play 2 games that are currently on Kickstarter.
Henchman, Hero’s Crossing & Loot Ninja. Loot Ninja was on, KS but did not make its funding goal.

It was just playing game Demos for me. I ran a game of Tales From The Loop on Friday and I absolutely LOVED IT! This was the first time I have ever run the game at a con or at home and the game went absolutely perfect. The group really got into character and it was one of the highlights of the whole con for me!

The other game that I ran was Star Wars D6 game. I had a great time but where our table was placed and my choice of where to sit at the table put me in the very center of the room. Sadly the volume of all the gamers made it very hard to focus on the game and I had a very hard time hearing two of my quiet players. We were able to power through and at the cost of my voice, the game was excellent as well.

This year saw the return of Pannels at MACE, I for one was very happy to see them come back. This year it was all about crafting with DM Scotty himself attending MACE! I had the pleasure of sitting down with and chatting about his craft and just getting to know him. I hope this kind awesome man will return to MACE in the years to come. he was amazing and the industry needs more people like him!

I did something that I have never done at MACE this year. I tried my hand at being a VENDOR! Many of you know that I have been crafting Crit Candles, D20 Candles with metal D20 dice inside of them. So I grabbed a dozen of them and decided to throw them on a table and see if anyone would be willing to pay me for these things. Expecting nothing and hoping to sell one or two. At the end of the convention, nearly all of them were gone. 8 Crit Candles sold and I traded two with other vendors for products of theirs.

Best of all I got to sit down and spend some time just hanging out with some of the great friends that I only get to see for those 3 days every year. I am glad to be home, and already looking forward to next years MACE.

Monday Muse on #RPGaDay 2017 Did I feel this year was a sucess?

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So as we draw to a close on #RPGaDay2017 I have decided like last year to put my thoughts to a page about the experience. I do this as I find myself a few days behind at this point in the whole thing and there is nothing wrong with that. Honestly, there is no solid time frame out for #RPGaDay just the intent to get gamers talking. Over all now this is the 4th year of RPGaDay, and I have taken part in every one. What are my thoughts on this year compared to previous years questions? As well as Am I still having fun doing them? Will I do

What are my thoughts on this year compared to previous years questions?

Overall, I found myself not as thrilled by the provided questions. I have enjoyed many of the previous year’s questions by comparison. Many of them were this year were intended by request to be a little less deep. I personally think that while a few “softball” questions are fine, this year was too many. Additionally, as my blog turned out to show many of the questions were such softballs that it was hard to bang out more than a few paragraphs worth of blog content for my answers.
I even saw some simply answer inside of the length of a tweet! when you can sum up the reply to several of this year’s questions in 140 characters. Now I know that is a bit lazy and not in the spirit of RPGaDay. But it is worth mentioning that if you can answer a RPGaDay question easily in under 140 characters is it really a good question to ask bloggers and vloggers to talk about for the day?

Am I still having fun doing them?

Yes, I am for the time being. again like years past this one seemed to speed up on me and found me very unprepared. The last two years were much nicer having gotten the questions nearly a week in advance. I think I will set a reminder to be on the lookout for them to get the questions a few days before the start again. It makes things much easier in the long run.

Will I do take part again next year? 

As of this moment, my answer is yes. Might it change? That entirely depends on a few factors. First, next years questions will need a bit more depth to them so that there is something of substance to write about each day. Lastly, if the questions are Meh my current plan will be to answer the ones I like and repost my Fav question of previous years on the other days.

Final Thought

I think my concern with this years #RPGaDay was the lack of interaction. compared to years past my page got far less #RPGaDay traffic and comments than in any year past. I can say that I had some good conversations last year on #RPGaDay but this year I may have only had two commenters on the blog at all. Due in part the questions and a few were talked about on social media and not here.

What it comes down to is can my blogging efforts be better spent on other topics that will bring more views and interest to my page. At the moment I think the answer is firmly in the yes other projects would bring much more traffic to my page as my stats confirm.

If I do these next year I think I will be doing them in a new fassion, vlogging or audio. something other than text. Maybe that will put them into a fromat for me the I will find exciting again.

Until next time.

 

 

 

 

Total Solar Eclipse 2017

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In the past many cultures have had various superstitions about eclipses, including “the End of the World”. Here is a good link to further information.

Excerpt:

Myths and Superstitions Around Solar Eclipses

Solar eclipses have caused fear, inspired curiosity, and have been associated with myths, legends, and superstitions throughout history. Even today, an eclipse of the Sun is considered a bad omen in many cultures.

The Hindu deity Rahu.

Hindu deity Rahu is known for causing eclipses.

©bigstockphoto.com/wuttichok

Ancient Explanation for Solar Eclipse

Ancient cultures tried to understand why the Sun temporarily vanished from the sky, so they came up with various reasons for what caused a solar eclipse.

In many cultures, the legends surrounding solar eclipses involve mythical figures eating or stealing the Sun. Others interpreted the event as a sign of angry or quarreling gods.

 

This will be the first total solar eclipse in many peoples memories.

“This is the First Total Solar Eclipse in USA Since 1979. This is the first total eclipse of the Sun visible from the contiguous United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii) since February 26, 1979. The last time a total eclipse was visible from coast to coast was on June 8, 1918.

I live in South Carolina, but there are many other links at the following link.

Here is an excerpt from Eclipse2017.org

SOUTH CAROLINA

All good things must come to an end, and at 2:36:02pm, the shadow of the great 2017 total eclipse first touches the final state in its path. South Carolina also brings us the fifth state capital to be immersed in shadow, and several large cities will be able to play host to eclipse-chasers from all over.

Greenville is a very large city, and it is fully in shadow by 2:38pm. Its sister city of Spartanburg, however, is split by the path – you’ll want to head west, and enjoy Greenville’s 2m14s of totality.

Here is a map of the Greenville-Spartanburg area, to show you what’s going on.

Greenwood (2m28s at 2:39) is next on the list of bigger cities to see totality, and then Columbia is treated about two minutes later. The Capitol Building gets just a hair under 2m30s, and would be a great place for workers to take an afternoon shadow-break!

Sumter lies in the path, as do big, beautiful lakes Marion and Moutrie – right on the centerline!! Get out on the boat and soak it in!

The last large city to see the 2017 eclipse will be Charleston. (Here is our detailed eclipse page for Charleston!) It lies on the southern edge of the path, but because folks in Mt. Pleasant will get almost two minutes of totality, Charlestonians should head northeast!

The centerline then cuts across US17, just south of the last city to see the shadow – McClellanville, SC. From there, the shadow will take its leave of the last piece of American soil at 2:49:07.4pm. Quite appropriately, the spot is a long, isolated beach on a barrier island at the tip of a Wildlife Preserve – Cape Romain, just east of McClellanville.

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Monday Muse; Learn from Failure.

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I can boldly say after 30 plus years of running games that I am pretty good at it. I can even go so far as to say that I have had other players and game masters ask me things like.

I wish I was as good a storyteller as you?

-or-

I don’t try because I could never be as good as you.  

I absolutely hate hearing that from new players. It might seem like a compliment but it is a self-defeating statement. When I see a new young gamer make this assumption I never say thank you. I remind them that we all have to start somewhere, and when I started there were plenty of bad games that I ran. Yet instead of giving up because I was bad I walked away determined to do better next time. And the next time as well as the next time. Each time Learning a little something from my failures until failure became something that happened more and more rarely.

I remind them that we all have to start somewhere, and when I started there were plenty of bad games that I ran. Yet instead of giving up because I was bad I walked away determined to do better next time. And the next time as well as the next time. Each time Learning a little something from my failures until failure became something that happened more and more rarely.

It is only by making mistakes can we learn from them and improve. So if you are too doubtful or scared to take that first step then you will never make a mistake to improve on. With the top two definitions of failure being an example here. You can either chose to try and fail or never try at all. If you never attempt to run a game you will never know if you will or will not be good at it. If you try and fail at least you have laid the groundwork to set the bar for improvement.

1. an act or instance of failing or proving unsuccessful; lack of success:

“His effort ended in failure. The campaign was a failure.”

2. nonperformance of something due, required, or expected:

“A failure to do what one has promised; a failure to appear.”

So the only time as a Game Master you fail is when you do not learn from your failure. TPK your party? Better learn your encounters better. Forgot parts of your story? Better learn better not taking skills and so on.

Here are a few golden tips for a starting GM to remember when he wants to compare himself to another Game Master.

  1. Have fun 
  2. Be Prepared
  3. Mistakes Happen
  4. Learn From Your Mistakes
  5. If you make a Mistake & No One Notices… Don’t Worry About IT! 

In the end, as long as you and your players are having fun, you are winning at being a Dungeon Master. Give it time you will only get better.

Until next time!

Ancient Atlantean

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I found a progenitor to my Atlantean race. They are the Anunnaki from the new Pathfinder Bestiary 5. They will be NPCs because they are Mythic.

Here is a link to the d20pfsrd for them. Some of the abilities that I really like are:

  • bestow knowledge
  • devolution
  • mimetic memory
  • morphic anatomy
  • morphic body
  • psychic warding
  • uplift

These are perfect abilities for the Atlantean biomancers. The Devolution ability makes the degeneration of humans in my campaign possible.

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