OSR On Sh*tstorm Rants

Here I go wading into fray just as things are winding down, hopefully my Nor'easter gear will keep too much from sticking.

 This particular blow of internet bad weather was of course triggered by innocent post at Tenkar's Tavern trying to point to some cool gaming stuff available for free. RPG pundit in response triggered the sh*tstorm (using the media pundit tactics of bloviating authoritatively) by trying to palm off the origins of the game to some obtuse science fiction game no one plays, and some joke rules obviously not meant to be taken seriously. When that failed RPG pundit responded by producing a paragraph long soporific definition with little basis in precedent, which brought the sh*tstorm to full flow with a volley of angry bloggers providing their own soporific paragraph long responses. For the best historical viewpoint read this post on Bat-in-the-attic (Strangely enough, although the first reference to Old School Renaissance occurs on a Castles and Crusaders (C&C) few bloggers seem to consider C&C an OSR game). My favorite definition of OSR from the current mess comes from Greyhawk Grognard who has provided a handy roll-up table on this link . The OSR being a self organizing collective of bloggers, forum posters, and other miscreants (including know sh*t-stirrers) will never settle on just one definition. One of my fondest memories of the OSR is ordering one of those boxed sets from "that crazy Finnish guy" James Raggi just so he and his wife could actually live in their apartment (he didn't listen to me when I told him go print-on-demand), and suddenly discovering there were over 750 bloggers with similar concerns selling the first print run out very quickly. Unfortunately Jame's commercial success has cut into his blog posting. As for the current sh*tstorm, like the Carcossa sh*tstorn (the nerve of that guy pretending to be the fourth expansion of OD&D :), or the "Porn-Star" (Porn-star OSR, Oh my what will the children think? :) it will blow itself as well.
Until then break out the foul weather gear, batten down the hatches (one of the reasons I moderate comments), and prepare for rough weather.

October kickstarters I've backed

I have fallen behind on my shameless promotion of kickstarters I've backed. All of these are still live but some close on the 14th.

Quests of Doom - Pathfinder and Swords & Wizardry Modules

Made my saving throw on the 5e, but couldn’t  resist the adventures

Five Moons RPG by Sean K Reynolds

Sean Reynolds is awesome. Hopefully his game is too'

Southlands: New Fantasy Options for Pathfinder RPG

Kobold Design , duh! I forgive them the Tyrany of Dragons thing, I blame WoTC for dulling it out.

Slumbering Ursine Dunes

Because Chris Kutalik deserves his chance to go down in kickstarter flames like all those other OSR folk. As least he’s finished a few .pdfs to post on his blog.

Revelry in Torth

I liked the other two modules and the .pdf is pretty cheap

13th Age in Glorantha

Glorantha is my favorite setting. The chance to play it without using those slow ass Runequest rules or that wacked-out Herowars/quest. Awesome!!!!

P.S. I am signed up to play Dwimmermount at Con-on-the-Cob Thursday. We'll see if it was worth the wait

Zak S. rocks; John W. doesn't get it

Read Zak S.' Blog post and watch his video conversation with John W. here:

http://dndwithpornstars.blogspot.com/2014/10/john-wicks-chess-is-not-roleplaying.html?zx=184cc014fcff2d2e

By the way John W. I game master to listen to the players tell me stories, not the other way round as you suggest. One of things I like about old school gaming versus the plot-hammered railroad modules being pushed by commercial gaming companies, is the story can go almost anywhere and is driven by player agency. When I sat down at the table to GM I was never sure what I'd get. However that was a good thing. My best adventures often come from being light on my feet and making things up on the fly.Even worked with 4th edition although I had to print out a few monster stat blocks in advance. Still can't believe that they wouldn't dock the Spell Jammer to the asteroid, just because the human wore a funny hat. They had no problem at all following the funny hatted dwarves in the brass paddle wheeler back to their dock. Perhaps that is a story for another day...

P.S. John W, I still like the Wield book I got from your kickstarter, although I am unlikely to use it exactly as you wrote it. Don't feel bad, I very seldom use the gaming stuff I buy as is.

P.P.S. Although my Dad used say there was no point in playing games with rules more complicated than chess. I think the pawns should be able to run away when that big old rolling tower comes bearing down on them.