Maniacal Ramblings

Home...

2010-08-28T00:22:00.000-05:00

...is where the heart is.

Currently, I am in my store (Armored Gopher Games) late on a Friday night watching a bunch of the regulars playing multiplayer silliness...

I have spent Wednesday, Thursday, and early this morning in Madison, Wisconsin for a game distributor trade. While I had a good time, between the driving, the fact I don't sleep well in new places (read: hotels), and the alcohol they (the industry folks) plied us with, I'm more than a bit tired. Actually... I'm pretty freakin' exhausted.

I drove home this morning/afternoon, dropped stuff off at the house, played with the dog a bit, then came to the store where my wife was before we opened. Seeing her was, and is always, a good thing. I missed her...

A friend picked up the kids after they got home from school and then brought them to the store, so I got to see my children after not seeing them for two days. That was good. I missed them...

We had a major release today, then we had Friday Night Magic (with 24 attendees). Business came hard and heavy. It was a good day business-wise, but, again, exhausting.

Which brings us back to the beginning...

Currently, I am in my store (Armored Gopher Games) late on a Friday night watching a bunch of the regulars playing multiplayer silliness... ...and I am as happy as a pig in mud. While I enjoy the occassional trip, it's not the same without the wife and kids... and the Gophers.

It is past Midnight on a late Friday night... and it doesn't look like I'm leaving before 2AM on a night when I have run myself ragged, but I am happy.

I'm with family currently...

When it's done, I'm going home to be with the wife, the daughter, and the dog...

I'm going to sleep in my own bed...

I am home.

peace...

I Weep Inside...

2010-07-08T19:03:00.001-05:00

Okay... WotC/Hasbro releases a revamped for D&D Fourth edition version of the classic adventure "the Tomb of Horrors" on July 20th. As a WotC Premier store, Armored Gopher Games can release it on Friday, July 9th (tomorrow). As such, it came into the store today and I have had a chance to look through it.

My memories have been badly scarred and my soul weeps as a result of what is between the covers of this book/adventure. Forget the hype... disregard all the smoke and mirrors about updating a classic adventure to 4th Edition standards... the ball has been dropped... HARD.

New suggested names for this abomination...

Crypt of Lies
Sarcophagus of Sacrilege
Mausoleum of Untruth
Cairn of Deception
Catacomb of Motardedness

I could go on a HUGE rant on why this book is a travesty, but I don't have that kind of time to write the rant necessary to vent my rage at this product. Keep in mind, I run a game store and this is a product I sell within it, and I realize it is bad business to bash on such an item. I *WANTED* to like this product based on all the pre-release propaganda that WotC put forth prior to its release. I was excited. I was willing and even looking forward to picking up my D&D4E GM screen one more time and running this for a group of players at my store.

I can't... I. Just. Can't.

If any WotC employee reads this, I do apologize for being so negative, but this is just one more example of D&D4E not being the D&D I grew up with in any way shape or form...

...sigh...

peace... RHManiac

Paraphrasing Christopher Titus...

2010-06-14T19:22:00.001-05:00

After some of the headaches I've gone through today, I'm surprised I'm not wandering the countryside killing hookers with a spoon.

The bank I use for the game store got purchased by another bank. The big switchover happened today. That meant I needed to get ahold of all my vendors and update credit card/checking account info so payments would not bounce. As I'm trying to complete step one of the whole process, I hit a snag. The snag necessitates a trip to the bank itself, which is absolutely SWAMPED with less than happy people. The basic conversation to get the first hurdle cleared went something like this...

Bank Employee #1: Welcome to XXXXX, how are you doing today?

Me: Grumpy. This switchover is anything but painless.

BE#1: Welllll... Let's see what we can do about that. XXXXX can in bank services can help you.

Me: Fine. Whatever. Just make things work.

BE#2: What seems to be the problem?

(I toss down the shiny, new business check card they've sent me onto his desk.)

Me: This need to be activated.

BE#2: Well, that is a simple matter. Did you try doing it over the phone?

[A look of "I'm going to leap over your desk and strangle you" crosses my face.]

Me: Yes. Yes I did. It insists on me inputing a piece of information that I have never possessed in the life of my prior card usage.

BE#2: Well, you should have that information...

[Me interrupting... ...with more than slightly perturbed growl creeping into my voice.]

Me: Not if I've never used the card in the manner where that information is necessary. If it's too much trouble for you to do this, then get me your supervisor and you can explain to him why I'm closing my buisness accounts here.

[blink]

BE#2: Let's get this working, shall we.

In short, things get working in about a ten minute period after that exchange.

I get back to the store, get things in order, and then a thunderstorm rolls in. Now, I live in Illinois. Thunderstorms roll in all the time during this part of the year. What actually rolls in is an electrical storm of a magnitude that I haven't seen for about a year... ...the last time the cable modem at the store got fried. See where I'm going with this?

Strangely, while our internet was down, our internet-based phone service doesn't miss a beat. Weird.

So, about three hours after I call, the internet company comes and replaces the deep-fried box with a shiny new one.

My guess is that the new cable box will last about a year... sigh...

peace... RHManiac/GopherDave

Gaming...

2010-06-13T19:26:00.000-05:00

As a game store owner, one might think that I am just swimming in gaming enjoyment.

One would be wrong.

I currently run two HERO System 6th Edition games, and I play in a Deadlands: Hell on Earth (classic) game. Every now and then I play some casual Magic: the Gathering or even Friday Night Magic, but in general, I am frequently too busy actually running the store to really game. As a game store owner, it's a good problem to have. =)

All that being said... I still love games. I mean, I own a game store... I had *BETTER* love games. Loving games means that I still think about games and game design. As such, I am rethinking my own fantasy heartbreaker game setting, Tai'eres. Mentally, it's about time for my brain to latch onto something game design related. I'm not saying anything is going to come of this round of ponderings. Just saying the creative stormfront is on the horizon.

...until then...

peace... RHManiac

It's been a while...

2010-06-13T16:43:00.002-05:00

Okay...

It's been 2+ years since I have posted anything. Honestly, things have been busy and I haven't had much to say that I haven't been saying to friends anyway.

So what's happened over the time? A lot... and not all that much.

Back in September 2008, Heather and I bought Squirl out of his half of the store. He stuck around for a bit helping out (a LOT) until the end of May of 2009. Squirl still comes in and games on a regular basis, but he doesn't really help run the store anymore. In a lot of ways I miss him in that capcity because he's an excellent sounding board and frequently shows wisdom beyond his years. I understand why he left though. His life was getting hectic and our being partners was straining our friendship. In the end, his stepping away from the store was the best choice for all involved.

In Januar of 2009, we moved Amored Gopher Games to a new, larger location. Heather and I were worried about how that was going to go, but it seems our worries were unfounded. Our sales held steady with levels that we had prior to the move, then they slowly increased to about double of what we were making to the move. It's only gone up since then. In the elapsed time, we went after and achieved sanctioning for Friday Night Magic. This event alone has turned Fridays from a $300-$350 day to a $550-$1000 day. Things are looking up, and our family of Gophers (regular customers) continues to grow.

Also, close to a year ago, I quit my day job. Financially, it was the worst thing I could have done, but from a physical standpoint, I had to do it. Working both the store and the Pancake Hut was slowly killing me with exhaustion and stress. Overall, I'm glad I left the Pancake Hut, but I am not proud of HOW I left it. I walked out in mid-shift on a Saturday... yeah, I was that stressed with it all.

Throughout all of it, I've come to realize just how blessed that I am that God above connected me with my wife early on in our lives. Heather has made all of the things going on not only bearable, but enjoyable. She is my inspiration and my godsend, and I don't tell/show her that enough. I adore Heather beyond measure and she is easily the best thing that has entered, or will ever enter, my life. I love you, sweetheart. =)

I'm signing off for now... but there is more to say, and I will say it eventually...

peace... the Red-Haired Maniac a.k.a. GopherDave

David Weber Benefit Sale

2008-03-02T14:21:00.005-06:00

Hey Folks... Armored Gopher Games is having a benefit sale for David Weber, son of C-U area gamer, Phil Weber. Basically, 15% of every sale over $20.00 we make during the month of March will go toward a fund for the Weber family. Details are in the flyer image above.

peace... RHM

Say It With Me Now…

2008-02-29T17:01:00.003-06:00

WAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!

Okay, now that that’s out of the way. Jeez, where has the time gone? It’s been almost five months since my last posting. So what have I been up to? Well, lots actually…

First, I got into an argument with my boss at my day job, and found myself cut back to being a part-time worker. That wasn’t going to cut the mustard, so I picked up another part time job at my local game store of choice, Armored Gopher Games. This happened somewhere around mid-November.

About the same time, one of the owners of said game store had life blow up in his face, and had to bow out of running the establishment. This left the store with one owner (Squirl) as he bought his partner out.

Right around Christmastime, Squirl approached me about buying into Armored Gopher Games. I was sort of stunned, and took a bit to talk it over with Heather (my wife). After much debating amongst spouses, we agreed to it in principle. I picked up a couple more days there to help take the load off of Squirl. It was kind of pathetic the way he nodded off at the counter. =P

I suppose I should explain the business model for ‘Gopher. At this point in time, Armored Gopher Games is a game club that aspires to be a full-fledged game store. It is run as a hobby. Both Squirl and I have other jobs, so the store is open some weird hours. Many days, one of us will work our day jobs, then turn around, open up the store, and then run it until close (Midnight, every night). It’s a rough kind of existence, but it’s what we love. Right now, the store pays its own bills, including getting new product once a week. Hopefully, business will grow to the point that at least one of us can be supported by the store. We honestly have a LOT of work to do.

In early February, we took the ‘Gopher to its first gaming convention (Winter War). The store has been around for a year, but many people in town had NO idea that we existed, so this was sort of our coming out party. We did well. Sales were good. We even got invited to another convention (Egyptian Campaign). The big payoff though was the exposure we gained. I can already see a slow increase in our sales as more and more folks walk through our door to see what goodies they can spend their coin on.

And on February 21st of this year, money was exchanged and contracts were signed, and I officially became half-owner of the store. It feels good to finally own something (other than a house or a car).

On the gaming front, I’m still playing a fair amount of Warmachine. I still play in a once-a-month Mutants & Masterminds game, and I’m gearing up to restart my Tai’eres (sorry, no link... yet) game in late March or early April. That is, if life gives me enough time to breathe. =)

peace… RHM

Gaming Reset...

2007-11-15T14:19:00.000-06:00

Take two…

Well, it seems that neither of my proposed articles have been written by magical writing faeries. Nor have they been written by me. This is typical of me. I get ideas and can’t get to them immediately. Then some shiny new idea pops into my brain and I leave older, but still viable, ideas by the wayside. C’est la vie.

On the gaming front, not much is happening, and some of that is by my own design while other chunks are by life’s design. I am currently playing in a monthly RPG, but have not been able to make the last few sessions due to another game commitment that involves my son. My Tai’eres game bit the big one once I did a story reset of sorts. Once it got restarted, life interfered with a number of players and attendance was spotty at best for some. This kind of depressed me and thus I put the game on hiatus for a month. Once a month passed, I tried to contact the players to see if they wanted to continue. Three said yes, one said no, one said sure way later than the “respond” by date I had posted, and two others couldn’t even be bothered to respond at all. Thus, it died an ignoble death.

I would be lying though if I said I haven’t enjoyed not running a regular game. It really is amazing the amount of relaxation and family time I can squeeze in when I do not have to plan for a regular game. It’s been nice.

The only other gaming I have been doing has been twice-a-week games of WarMachine at Armored Gopher Games. One of the days is Tuesdays, where I typically go by myself due to the boy’s basketball obligations. The other day is Saturday which is when every other gaming commitment I have made seems to want to run. Problem is, I am reluctant to go off gaming on my own when it is my son’s only chance during the week to play. Hence, we play WarMachine on Saturdays. The boy and his happiness is important to me, and I will sacrifice much to insure it.

Convention-wise, I have been asked to run something at our local convention (Winter War), as per usual. Lately, my inspiration has been spotty. Last year, I thought my events sucked the high hard one. This year, I’m not sure what is happening on my front. I’m not feeling particularly inspired to run anything RPG-related. I might help the local Press Gangers run some WarMachine events, but they’re not certain if they are doing anything yet. Again, I’m as uninspired as I have ever been in regard to games and gaming with relation to my own creativity.

Perhaps this is due to the shifting of priorities of where I draw my self-worth from. In the past, being a good gamer and GM was really where the bulk of my self-esteem was drawn from. Anymore, I draw more satisfaction from being a good husband and father. I don’t need the games to prop up my admittedly fragile ego anymore. I am now at a place where I could give up games and be pretty content. I never thought I would ever reach that plateau. As such, I now paint my miniatures when the mood strikes me. I think about RPG systems and mechanics like I always have to keep the brain stimulated, but nothing is driving me to create “the next big thing”. I have even spread the mental ruminations to include miniatures games and even the occasional LARP idea.

Games, however, are no longer the end-all, be-all of my existence. Unfortunately for me, the bulk of my friendships have come from gaming, and, as we all grow older, I am finding that gaming is all that I have in common with the people I call friends. This begs the question that if I’m at a place to give up games and gaming then am I also at a place to give up the people who I call my friends? That’s a scary, scary thought, and I’m not certain I like the logical answer to it.

peace… RHM

Gaming Reset

2007-04-02T11:44:00.000-05:00

Okay… I’ve done a LOT of thinking on this. As it stands, some real life things are very likely to crop up in the near future that will probably greatly take away from my copious amounts of spare time. Since I’m using the word “copious” in a sarcastic fashion, some things have to be rethought and kicked to the curb for now.

After a bit of pondering on whether or not to continue it once it reached a critical point, I have decided that Tai’eres, my homebrew fantasy campaign will continue. I like it too much to let it go, plus there is more story to tell.

I recently sat back down at my painting table and began slapping acrylic onto metal once again. I enjoy this activity. It relaxes me. I like having a painted Menoth army for my Tuesday night WarMachine enjoyment. Thus, it’s getting shoved up in priority.

I am playing in two games that meet very infrequently. One game meets once a month, while the other meets once every six to eight weeks. I’m keeping those because I have play something or I become cranky. Very cranky.

I also have another project in the slow works that I am reluctant to give up, as it’s for a friend who I don’t see often enough, and this is my way to correct this. It will be a once a month game that’s a combination of space opera and espionage. I’m currently deciding if I want to create yet another game system or use the core engine from Tai’eres. I like the Tai’eres engine, but quick and dirty it ain’t, and I like my space opera quick and dirty.

As for my other projects, well, quite simply, they’re being shoved aside and/or discarded wholesale. I’m sorry Jeff, by as much as I want to participate in WoAdWriMo, it’s not going to happen. I just don’t have the time I’d like to devote to it.

Paper Warriors and RPG are also being tabled for now. Just no time.

Finally, convention-oriented games… I’m not certain what’s going to happen there. I made a promise of sticking to using homebrew stuff, and I aim to stick to that promise. Since I have tabled RPG (the system I was going to use for these endeavors), I don’t think I can do any event I propose justice. The events I ran this past Winter War, honestly, sucked. At least they did in my eyes. I no longer want to just bring something to the table, like I have the last few years that I have run games. People pay to play in convention events, and I need to feel like I am giving them their money’s worth.

All this introspection hasn’t come without some benefit, though. My thoughts about Tai’eres have given me a couple of subjects that will become blog entries. The first will deal with scalable magic items in a fantasy game. The second will be about the subject of “Fear in RPGs”. The first article should come about within three weeks. The second, I’m not sure yet.

Stay Tuned… RHM

Snow Day

2007-02-13T15:15:00.000-06:00

Today is a snow day of sorts. The Midwest is currently weathering blizzard conditions and said condition left me unable to drive the 20-25 miles to work. Basically after trying to leave town by a couple of different ways, I ended up stuck for thirty minutes in a rural driveway in an attempt to turn around. That sealed my decision not to go to work today.

Thus, with an unexpected day off, I figured I’d blog about my recent gaming thoughts.

The local gaming convention, Winter War, came and went this past weekend, and it was a really good convention this year. Attendance was high and my events, though bog-standard in terms of plot and story, went fairly well. Others that I spoke to seemed to be having a good time as well. Things went so well that I’m truly looking forward to next year’s convention. It’s been a while since I’ve felt that way. Kudos to Don, Susan, and the rest of the convention staff for putting together another great edition of Winter War.

Now that the convention is out of the way I can start working on some of my other gaming projects which include, but are not limited to...

1) Tai’eres – My ongoing fantasy campaign using a system of my own design. I’m finding it very strange that despite how much I feel the fantasy genre is played out, I actually am having a lot of fun running this game.

2) Role-Playing Game – Nothing has been put down on paper for this project yet, but ideas are constantly percolating in my head. This game has sort of become a bit more of a priority after my “System Matters…” post and a conversation I had with Don, the main organizer of Winter War.

3) Paper Warriors – Same as #2 above. I’m not entirely enamored with the name so it might be changed sometime in the future.

4) Figure Painting – I have over 100 WarMachine figures on my painting table right now, and the number grows as Privateer Press comes out with more models. This is turning into a priority as my table will eventually collapse under the weight of all the metal if I don’t do something about it soon.

5) WoAdWriMo – This is second on my priority list (after Tai’eres), and I need to nail down some details for it very soon. Chief among those details are which rules system will the adventure be written for. At the moment, I am leaning toward Savage Worlds, as it is a fairly easy system to stat things out for, and flexible enough to handle whatever I eventually throw at it.

That’s pretty much it for now. I’d blog more often and longer, but it takes away from me actually getting stuff done. Later all, and, as always…

peace… RHManiac

The Other Shoe Drops...

2007-01-22T13:30:00.000-06:00

The last post, I said that I had another project in mind, but it wasn’t ready for announcing yet. Well… it still isn’t, but I’m going to do so anyway.

The other project explores my not-so-known love of miniatures games. While I enjoy some historical minis games, what I really dig are the games with a more fantastic theme. I seriously love Warhammer 40K’s background and premise, but Games Workshop’s business practices leave me a tad cold. I dig collecting figures, but I am notoriously slow about assembling and painting them. With 40K, by the time a get a good force done, they change the rules on me and now three-quarters of my figures are now illegal/obsolete. In a word, GRRRRRRRRRR!!!!! My current figure love goes out to Privateer Press’ excellent Warmachine. While I prefer sci-fi figs games to fantasy, Warmachine has just enough different about it that I don’t mind, and even welcome, the fantasy setting. Again, however, I am slow about assembling and painting figures, and I’m too cheap to have someone else do it for me.

Thinking about the whole assembling/painting thing got me wondering if there were others who shared my views. Perhaps because of other life commitments, lack of ability, or just plain lack of desire to do that much work just to play a game there lies an untapped market of people who would enjoy strategic/tactical miniatures games if they could avoid most of the pre-game work.

Pre-painted figures are a great idea to circumvent this issue, but the majority of pre-painted figure games emphasize a collectability aspect that makes doing grand battles difficult because one is never certain what figures they are receiving with their current purchase.

What I am about to propose isn’t a revolutionary idea. In fact, I am certain there are at least two other games out there that are basically the same thing as I’m announcing. A “paper-minis” game where those that own the game can just print out as many troops of whatever type as they need as long as they have the paper and ink supply to make it happen. The difference between my game and the others? I’m giving it away.

The game will be called Paper Warriors, and the core rules will be given away free of charge. Much like Role-Playing Game, the rules are meant to be generic, allowing folks to make whatever type of armies they wish. Just print out some representative figures and let the battles begin. Once the rules set is out, I will be following with some pre-made armies and settings. These, I will be charging money for due to other costs involved, chiefly, paying artists.

Just thought I’d clue y’all in before we all forgot about the “other project”.

peace… RHM

P.S. – by the way, the core rules and rules supplements for Role-Playing Game will be given away freely as well. I’m just going to charge money for the setting materials that I produce. =P

Time to poop or get off the pot...

2007-01-18T17:24:00.000-06:00

The logical conclusion of my last post leads me into a corner of sorts. Either I write a game system or I never run another convention event again. Well, those who know me knew where this was headed…

Meet Bob Everyman. The mascot for one of my next writing endeavors simply entitled, Role-Playing Game. From Bob’s look one can surmise that it will be a generic system, but there’s a catch. The core rulebook will only contain the systems to create a base human character and dramatically simulate how he/she/it interacts with the surroundings. Rules for character definition, skill interaction, combat, poisons, and environmental hazards will be included, but there will be no magic system. There will also be no gear list, no talk of money/economics, no other races, and no critters. Will the core system have everything you need to run a game? Nope. That’s where the supplements and settings come in. Supplements will include things like how to build other races or maybe a system of psionics, magic, or super-abilities. Settings will have things like a gear list, perhaps some non-human racial templates, and critters appropriate for the setting.

The layout and art style for the core rules and the supplements are going to be bare bones and very basic. Pictures are pretty, but beauty is only skin deep, and the rule mechanics are the ugly inner core of the beast.

The envisioned layout and art styles for the settings will be MUCH different. These books will be made as beautiful as I can make them. Why? Simple. Settings and world backgrounds are about evoking a mood and a desire to adventure in the environs described and pictured on the pages. That’s how it should be.

Above, I mentioned “endeavors” in a plural sense. I’ve got another iron in the mental fire as well, but it’s not ready for announcing… yet.

peace… RHM

System matter... sometimes.

2007-01-18T16:51:00.000-06:00

Hey there… It’s been a bit so I thought I’d let folks in on what’s been going on in my mind in terms of gaming.

I ran Iron Gauntlets for the CU Run Club, a group of GMs who get together and run games for each other so they can at least play in something. It was a freaking disaster. On first glance, the game looks good. The rules and skill resolution are fairly simple and relatively solid. My problem came when combat was happening and one of the players scored a hit upon the attacking critter. Looking at the stats for said critter I found there was no indication on what the Toughness/Armor rating for the critter was. Perusing the Bestiary section of the rulebook further, I noticed that NONE of the critters had Toughness/Armor ratings listed. I grew frustrated and killed the run. A few days later, after I had calmed down from it all, I looked again thinking I had missed something in frustration. Nope. Thus ends my love affair with Iron Gauntlets, a game I so very much wanted to love.

On a related note, one of events I am running for Winter War was originally slated to use Iron Gauntlets as the system. That’s been changed and said event will now be run in Savage Worlds. Problem solved.

Speaking of Winter War, I’ve made a major decision. For the most part, from this year forth, I will no longer run events in any system that is not of my own devising. There might be an occasional foray into something, like Feng Shui, but nothing on a consistent basis. Why? I’m not entirely sure to be honest. Part of it is that I am growing weary of pimping work other than my own. Most of the companies whose games I’ve run for various conventions usually screw the pooch in reciprocating the favor in regard to prize support for the convention. If the convention isn’t going to get any support for effectively advertising a game, then why bother running games in that particular system? Fun? Well sure, fun is the objective of most games, but (and this will sound VERY arrogant) I could run a fun role-playing game session in practically ANY well-written game (IG does not count). Hell, I could probably pull off a good event using freakin’ Tiddly-Winks as the task resolution mechanic if I truly felt the urge to do so. Hence, in the future beginning with Winter War 2008 and beyond, y’all will be subjected to products of my own imagination. Enjoy.

peace… RHM

Graphic Junkie At It Again...

2006-12-03T08:42:00.000-06:00

I was looking at the logo I did for WoAdWriMo and I felt something was missing, so I played around a bit and... voila.

So whatcha think???

Later... RHM

Open Mouth, Insert Foot... Again.

2006-12-01T14:48:00.000-06:00

Once again my mouth has landed me in trouble. This time it's committed me to participate in Worldwide Adevnture Writing Month. This is kind of like National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo or NaNoMo).

The particulars are still being worked out, the main organizer, Jeff Rients, wanted a little blippie graphic to place in various blogs and stuff. So, Here's my take...

Now to work on a couple of other projects, and wait for more details on WoAdWriMo or WoAdMo or whatever... =P

peace... RHM

Hey, I’m No Longer A Virgin!

2006-11-13T09:03:00.000-06:00

Well… ink virgin, that is. On Friday, November 10th, I went and got my very first tattoo. Was alcohol involved? No. Will there be others? Probably.

I have been considering doing this for roughly the last twenty years or so, but the reasons why it finally happened pretty much involve me shooting off my mouth and placing myself in a “put up or shut up” situation. Not the ideal as it forced me to consider what my first piece of body art would be in fairly short time frame. From the insertion of my foot into my eating/speaking orifice to the moment of truth was only about ten days. Yes, ten days is a fair amount of time for to accomplish a number of things, but this was something I couldn’t take back or redo. I mean, barring expensive laser procedures, a tattoo is a permanent thing. So… the mind went pondering… and this is what I came up with…

This is a design of my own creation, brought to life by Matt Diana at Vision World Tattoo in Urbana, Illinois. I think he did a nice job interpreting the ideas I brought him, and I recommend him highly. Plus if he’s not available, then you could always go with Ray Hughes, the shop owner. He’s good too. =)

For my first ink I wanted something that had some deep meanings for me. The infinity symbol represents a number of things, from my seemingly boundless creativity to the number of roles I’ve held in my life. I’m not talking about game roles here, but life roles. I am a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a friend, a gamer, a headbanger, a prep cook, a writer, and I can be so much more. I and my current desires are my only limits. The somewhat crazed eyes represent my wilder, more maniacal side with the red and blue touching on my bi-polar condition. The smirk is there to let others know and to remind myself when I look at the tattoo that I shouldn’t always take things seriously.

All in all, I’m pretty happy with it. Plus, my mother will freak when she finally sees it. Always a bonus! =P

peace… RHM

Re-inventing The Wheel...

2006-11-07T19:32:00.000-06:00

About a month ago, I posited a question to my friend, Jeff, about an upcoming game he was putting together. The exchange was good, and Jeff explained his reasons well. If you want to look at the whole story, go here.

The discussion with Jeff prompted me to think about my own games and some of why I do what I do. Pondering such led me to think about a question which has been asked of me more than a few times before; “Why do I feel the need to create my own rules for most of the RPGs I run when there are hundreds of rules out there already?”

Yeah… why reinvent the wheel? Why make a new set of rules when Dungeons and Dragons is already out there? Or Champions/HERO? Or GURPS? Or (insert RPG here)?

I guess it’s for a number of reasons. Chief among them, I love to tinker with game mechanics. Always have and always will. Trouble is that I rarely finish anything in written form. For most of my games, the rules pretty much remain in my head. This is both a blessing and a curse. It’s a curse in that my players have almost no material to refer to when they have what should be an easy question to answer. It’s a blessing because some of my more rules-lawyer oriented players can’t bend words they don’t have access to, and are sort of forced into the wonder of the game.

That leads to another reason why I enjoy using rules of my own design; they fit the game I am trying to run better than anything else out there. See, I tend to run some pretty esoteric games. They may resemble the main genre on the surface, but somewhere along the line, I have really screwed with some genre convention or another that throws things out of whack.

For example, my current game (Tai’eres) looks to be pretty much a stock fantasy thing on the surface, just minus all the non-human races. So why not use D&D/D20? Simple, I have seriously screwed with the way magic is “supposed” to work in a straight genre high-fantasy game. That plus I think that D&D’s magic system sucks. I’m not going to go into why right now. It’s just my personal opinion. Does it work? Yes. Does it do what I need it do? Not in the slightest. See, Tai’eres was pretty much a magic-less world until the “Rain of Shards” occurred. These shards, dropped from the heavens, each contain some form of enchantment that is either mana-oriented, divinely-tuned, or spiritually-receptive. These crystals are rare and the enchantments they hold are pretty much self-contained.

What’s this mean in the game? Simple, since shards are rare, they are more valuable than gold. This scarcity and value makes them incredible adventure hooks and gives a spellcaster a reason to adventure. From a game balance standpoint, it means that my players do not have access to any spell that I don’t wish them to. I control the flow of magic. When my players come up with an idea for a new shard, I consider it. If I like the idea well enough, then I write it up and usually make them work for it by sticking it with some powerful shaman or in the treasure pile of some nasty critter. No, “I go buy a Fireball scroll” or other such non-sense. Maybe this makes me a control freak, but it also helps me keep my sanity in regards to the game.

Just some thoughts… RHM

Wow, It’s Been 10 Months!!!

2006-10-16T09:19:00.000-05:00

So much for blogging more frequently. =P

What has happened in the last 10 months or so? A lot of stuff. I have purchased a LOT of CDs. The “Wall of Sound” approaches 1200 pieces. Winter War (local game con) came and went and I ran nothing. I did play in a couple of cool games though (Jeff Rient’s Encounter Critical and a Call of Cthulu game run by a guy named Mike Ebertz).

Any games that I was running or playing in have died, save WarMachine, the miniatures game I still dig greatly. Right now, I am running a fantasy game using a ruleset and setting that I am creating pretty much as I go, filling in things as needed. Once the rules get a bit of polish, I may post a link to a ZIP/PDF file so others can look at them. Then again, maybe I won’t. Who knows yet.

Back in August, my wife and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary. That was a cool time. We had a bunch of people over (including the esteemed Mr. Rients and his family), fed them, and just reveled in their friendship as we hope they revel in ours.

Recently, I was asked by the Winter War convention coordinator if I was going to run any games this year. I think so, but what I am running exactly is still up in the air. At this point, it’s looking like Feng Shui book might get another workout, along with Politically Incorrect Games’ fine Iron Gauntlets. I have an idea in mind for a third event, a horror game too grisly for Chill and I don’t own CoC, so that one may get its own rules or just not be run.

Whoops. Almost forgot that we acquired a puppy at the end of March. It is a mostly black pound puppy named Cash (we named him). The shelter said he is a sheltie/border collie mix, but his coloration, size, and temperament leads me to believe that he has some German Shepard in him as well. Overall, he is a great dog, and a wonderful addition to our family. Our daughter used to be very frightened by dogs due to some early bad experiences, but now she’s like “Dog? Cool!”. The boy and the dog have become the best of friends, thus perpetuating the whole “boy and his dog” thing.

The last thing I can think of is the fact that I am starting my own freelance business (Maniacal Designs) at the start of the year. I will be doing text and graphic layout using Adobe’s InDesign and Illustrator. I picked up a shiny new copy of Creative Suite 2 a couple months back and have been teaching myself some stuff. I have done some work using a hacked copy of Illustrator 7, but I figured it was time to go legit. I was kind of shocked to realize that I was five versions behind in Illustrator. I have a LOT of catching up to do. =P

That’s it for now. I hope to blog a bit more often than this in the future. I would like to aim for a once-a-week sort of thing, but I make no promises.

Currently Listening to… Opeth - Ghost Reveries, GWAR - Beyond Hell, and Curtis Mayfield - The Best of… you should be too. =P

Peace… RHM

New Year, New Game Store…

2006-01-01T16:20:00.000-06:00

Hey it’s only been two months since my last entry! Well, things have been hectic due to the holidays and the whole family has been a level of busy that I have never encountered before. In a word, phew… I’m glad that (for the most part) it’s over.

I’m going to keep this short. Champaign-Urbana has a new game store in town. It’s called Valhalla Games and is located on Neil Street, just above a couple of barber shops and a glass company. I like this store a lot for a number of reasons. The owners are friendly and knowledgeable, and if they don’t stock something, they’ll gladly get it for you. Mostly though, I now buy my game-related wants from Valhalla exclusively for some things that they don’t do/have that has become core parts of the other local store (which I’ll call “Store B”).

Valhalla doesn’t have cats. I hate the animals and my wife is highly allergic to many breeds of them. Store B has a cat (which my wife is allergic to) in at least three days a week because (and I quote the owner) “she gets lonely at home”.

Valhalla, despite currently going through a remodel, doesn’t feel as cramped and claustrophobic as Store B. Stuff is nicely displayed and nothing feels like it is piled on other stuff.

Valhalla is not cluttered. There are no seemingly random piles of merchandise lying on the floor just waiting to be stepped on. Store B has a plethora of these piles lying about. I can’t count the number of times I have almost fallen in Store B by nearly tripping on a huge penny box of Magic cards or some foam sword lying around.

The owners/staff of Valhalla are never too busy to take my money. A couple of times in Store B I have had to wait for the owner to find a convenient break point in his City of Heroes/World of Warcraft/Toontown/(insert MMORPG name) game so he could free up the register/computer and ring me up.

Before Valhalla Games opened up, I was seriously looking at taking all my game-buying business online because I had grown that disenfranchised with Store B. Now I don’t have to. Plus, I have met some really cool folks while hanging around there, and that’s just icing on the cake for me…

peace…RHManiac

Wow… It’s been five months…

2005-11-17T10:37:00.000-06:00

Whoa. I can’t believe how much time has gone by since my last update. Well, yes I can. I am a big procrastinator of the highest order. A lot has gone on in the intervening time, but let’s see if I can sum up.

School started for the kids in August and my son brought home honor roll grades for the first time in his academic life. This development makes my wife and I very proud and has given the boy a shot of confidence. This combined with the fact that we have begun to let him pretty much wander the town at will has sown a remarkable change in the boy. He is truly maturing into one incredible little guy. =)

As for the girl, well, she can make friends anywhere. It took a bit longer than we thought, but with youth soccer and Girl Scouts she’s doing just fine. Academically, she’s the same as always, which is pretty darn good. (4 A’s & 3 B’s) =)

On the gaming front, the sci-fi game that D-Man and I started went down in a burst of apathy. It was fun at first, but then I realized that it wasn’t what I really wanted to do. That combined with D’s thing of not putting forth his best effort into projects that aren’t completely his led to the game just sort of fizzling out. Shame too. I was just starting to do some development work turning the RPG background into a miniatures game setting.

Then I picked up WarMachine. I can’t say enough good things about it. Suffice to say that it plays quickly once you know the rules, the background is interesting, and the figures are absolutely gorgeous. Part of what makes the figs so nifty is that NONE of them are made of plastic. They are ALL metal. The whole metal/plastic thing has been one of my secret beefs with Games Workshop/Warhammer 40K. I don’t mind plastic figs for basic troops, but if I’m going to pay $35-$45 (US) for a non-vehicle figure, it better have some metal in it. Sadly, I picked up a Space Marine dreadnought for 40K and found it made entirely of plastic. Thrilled, I was not.

Beyond that, the convention (Winter War) is coming up at a new location. New, because the convention home for the past decade or so was condemned and demolished this year. It wasn’t that the building was in bad shape, it was just old and WAY out of code. For example, it would have taken around half a million dollars or so to remove the asbestos that was built into the place.
Anyhoo… Winter War is coming up this year and I don’t feel like running anything at all. In fact, I am playing (not running) in only ONE RPG currently, and I’m fine with that. Weird. Burnout doesn’t even begin to describe my mindstate concerning RPGs currently. Abject apathy might be a better descriptor.

On the music front, My wife and I finally catalogued the CD collection (appropriately dubbed the “Wall of Sound”) and discovered that we are about 20 entries shy of 1000. And I wonder why I have a hard time trying to decide what to listen to… =P

I think that’s it for now. If I come up with anything useful or profound, I try to post it in a more timely fashion.

peace… RHM

BUY THIS!!!

2005-06-20T12:01:00.000-05:00

This is the cover of the new Aveneged Sevenfold cd, City of Evil. It is easily the best CD I have purchased in the last two years. You can find it here at Amazon. You can also get it through the Hopeless Records webstore where I think they have the band's two previous for much cheaper than anywhere else.

I would go into more detail, but I have a great album to listen to over and over and over and over...

peace... RHM

Time Flies (and Sails and Passes and...)

2005-06-07T10:42:00.000-05:00

Wow... I just realized that it has been over a month since I last blogged. Where does the time go?

Well, part of it goes towards work. The end of the school year puts a big strain on us at Ye Olde Pancake Hut. With Mother's Day followed by University of Illinois graduation, the closing of a local favorite breakfast restaurant (30+ years in business), then public schools letting out, we just had five weeks of VERY solid sales coupled with five weeks of solid overtime for me. Right now, I'm one of three people my boss has available to do the job that I do. One of the others can only work weekends, which limits her availability considerably. The other person is pretty much the boss' right hand person. She can do a little bit of everything and she ends up doing a LOT of little things, thus she is kept moving from task to task. All of this adds up for a very tired me. =P

More time is going towards grilling outdoors. With our new back patio slab, I have grilled out more in the passed six weeks than I have in the passed three years. Things are less stressful when you don't have unsupervised neighbor kids walking up every time you fire up the charcoal asking if they can have some of whatever you're cooking. Also, with the increased practice, I am getting quite good at this barbecuing thing. =)

On the gaming front, my Feng Shui game died a horrible, lingering death. In effect, it didn't survive my move here, since I put the game on hiatus for six weeks. Trying to pick it back up again became more difficult than anticipated. Conversely, my friend Joe's Mekton game that ran at the same time also bit the big one due to creator burnout. In effect, Joe had run out of ways to make big metal robots fight each other and still be plausible. So, after a bit of commiserating, it was determined that Dennis (another friend) and I would run a space opera game using Savage Worlds. Not my real choice of rules sets at the moment. I mean I like the game system (a lot), but I have been finding it doesn't quite fit the scope of game I like to run. Characters advance a bit too quickly for my taste, and I have found that I would like a bit more granularity in the wound system. Still, for quick and dirty systems, Savage Worlds is very tough to beat in terms of speed and completeness.

The new game is scheduled to run eight days from now. Dennis and I have a bit of work to do before then, so...

Peace... RHM

Not Much Happens Here...

2005-04-30T17:50:00.000-05:00

Well, the move to Homer has been made. So far, it’s pretty good. I could do without the commute and the trains, but all in all, I could definitely learn to like it here. It’s peaceful and tranquil (save for the trains) and perfect for kids. Not just our kids, but ANY kids. Things look to be good.

As a side effect, moving into and getting the house set up has wound Heather and I up pretty tight. Overall, things are good, but edgy. I have no doubt that we’ll work it out though. We haven’t been married for 13+ years for nothing.

On the gaming front, I got back into my every-other Tuesday game the other night. Not bad, but I was anxious and it showed in how I played. My Feng Shui game is set to run this upcoming Wednesday at the pancake house. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to keep that up before having to move either the meeting place or the day we get together. It takes me about 35 minutes to make the drive at the speed limit, and I find myself not speeding during dark as I have NO idea where the county Mounties like to hide on my route home. During the day, I usually exceed the speed limit by 10 MPH or so since I can frequently spy the hiding spots out as I drive.

Beyond that, not much is going on. Heather and the kids got me the new Mudvayne CD (Lost and Found) for my birthday, and it kicks serious boo-tay!

That’s it for now. Not much to say, but not much happens in a town of 1200 people.

peace… RHManiac

No... No You're Not...

2005-04-12T12:22:00.000-05:00

Wow… I just realized that I haven’t blogged or almost two months. It’s not for lack of anything to talk about, just been busy dealing with the buying of the new house. Speaking of which, we closed on the 8th, so the thing is all ours, which brings me to the main point of this entry.

As a person grows older they reach points in their lives when they feel ready for certain milestones. Things like, “I’m ready to be married”, or “I’m ready to be a parent”, or my most recent discovery, “I’m ready to be a homeowner”. These are great thoughts on life and show an increasing maturity about how things work. These statements are also among the biggest lies you can ever tell yourself.

Let me put this as plainly as I can. A person can feel as ready and as prepared for each of these milestones of life as they like. They can read all the books, solicit all the advice, and ponder all the whys and wherefores that they like. The reality of it is, a person is “ready” for one of these events all the way up until the moment it occurs. Then, things go to Hell…

Just a thought to chew on folks…

peace… RHM

Music... Music... Music...

2005-02-13T20:08:00.000-06:00

What have I been listening to lately? Well, right now, I’ve spent a lot of time digging through some older CDs and listening to things like Gwar, Megadeth, and Monster Magnet. However, I caught part of Headbanger’s Ball last night and ran into a band I had never heard of before. The band is called Seemless, and the video I watched was for a song called Lay My Burden Down. VERY Good stuff. Reminds me of Soundgarden a bit, which is always a good thing. I recommend you follow the link and listen to all three songs, especially Lay My Burden Down.

If you couldn’t tell, I like a lot of metal, but a good deal of the new stuff leaves me cold. All too often, I’ll hear the beginning of a song that I like only to have the “singer” open his cakehole and erupt with a voice of that sounds like he’s been gargling Drano for the last year and a half. Big turn off usually. There are exceptions to this. I like In Flames a lot, and both Shadows Fall and Killswitch Engage have also caught my attention. While all of these bands have their “cookie monster” moments, the music is good enough that I am willing to overlook screamy-vocals, especially if the scream actually adds to the sounds instead of detracting from it.

Just my two cents…

peace… RHM

Gaming Stuff...

2005-02-13T19:52:00.000-06:00

Well, Winter War is over and done with. The con was good. It also seemed really mellow, which is surprising considering we had a turnout of almost 500 people.

The games I ran were well received, though I feel they were a touch below my normal standards. I’m semi-scheduled to run the next installments of HeadHunters and Inbetween Days at the next convention, but I’m not certain I’ll be there. Due to the hotel sales staff being new and moronic, the con lost its usual weekend. That means the convention has been moved up a week to Feb 10th-12th. With the 12th being my wife’s birthday, I’m pretty certain I won’t be there. This isn’t a set-in-stone type of thing, but very much the way that I’m leaning. I’m a firm believer in not crapping where I sleep, so my wife and her happiness take precedence over a game convention, even one that I’ve attended the bulk of my life.

Game-wise, I’ve been in a bit of a swirl. During the convention, different people mentioned different home-brew systems that I’ve run before and how they’d like to see them come back. RPM, Casino, and Dicebag all got votes of support. Combine this with the two or three other sets of game mechanics I have on the hard drive that I feel are just as good as those systems, if not better, and it leaves me with a creative dilemma. After speaking with my chief sounding board (i.e., my wife) I came up with some conclusions about how I view myself creatively.

I am a storyteller. I like to tinker with game mechanics, but I truly enjoy creating settings more. I like constructing big sandboxes and then letting other people play in them. Up until now, I’ve never really done that. Perhaps this is the direction I should go. Build a framework for a sandbox and invite y’all to play around in it. If I want to do this right, I should explore the whole open license/GNU thing. No, not D20. Although I’ve softened my stance on D20 being the evil of game systems (D20 Modern and Mutants & Masterminds are responsible for that), I feel that D20 really isn’t my type of game. No, I’m talking about building a set of mechanics based on a set of principles, writing up a no-nonsense version and letting it loose for people to play around with. Everyone can add a brick or two to the foundation. Eventually, we’ll have a house. A bizarre, weirdly-shaped house, but a house nonetheless.

Any comments?

peace… RHM

Huh...

2005-01-31T19:50:00.000-06:00

So, what happens when your second game company dies in the formative stages? You do what all sane and rational people do. You buy a house. =P

Seriously, Heather (my wife) and I have been looking for a bit, and we found a house in Homer, Illinois that pretty much fit our needs. We made an offer. The sellers made a counter-offer. We accepted. I swear, buying our last car took more time and haggling than this.

It’s going to be a bit of a culture shock for me. The two places I’ve lived at for extensive amounts of time were at least 45,000 people if you include the student population from the local university. Homer is pretty much the size of the subdivision I currently live in. About 1200 people live in Homer. The school district is one of those consolidated organizations, comprising of kids from Homer, Allerton, Broadlands, and Longview, Illinois. Of those towns, Homer is the “Metropolis”. Champaign is only about twenty-five miles away, but it’s still gonna be different not being able to get something whenever I want. Homer pretty much rolls up its sidewalks at 8PM or so. Still, I look forward to it. It’ll be nice to own something for our money instead of dumping cash down the rent hole.

It’ll also be nice to let my kids play outside without being hassled by some juvenile delinquent whose parents are too busy to curb the behavior of their spawn. I have grown tired of being the only parent in the neighborhood who will actually stand up to people who mess with my family. In this day and age, too many people are too passive when dealing with any situation that could be considered adversarial. As a result, people whose family members are being little terrorists are not put in check and made to realize that their kids are out of control. This is a big disservice to both society and the people with the problems. By yelling at others, who then shrink away from them, the parents of dysfunctional children get to take the lazy way out of dealing with the situation. Other people go away, but they have to live with their kids. Heaven forbid they actually do the work of raising their children to be decent, moral people. Before this digresses any further and people get the wrong idea, I am not trying to be a racist, or even a classist. I have no problem with people be they black, white, Asian, rich, or poor. I have a big problem with lazy parents and the children their laziness produces.

Okay, enough with the ranting…

Wow… We bought a house.

peace… RHM

OK... Now What?

2005-01-12T13:17:00.000-06:00

Well, due to the collective indifference of many members (myself occasionally included), the e-Publishing venture known as Shared Lobotomy is no more. Does this come as a surprise to me? No, not really. Am I disappointed? Yeah, kind of. I dug the vibe that five of us had started to generate and was hoping that we could push each other to the point where this would be a good thing for us all. Ah well, no real amount of money was invested, so nothing is truly lost except time.

So what does this mean for me? I’m not sure really. I would like to persevere and hopefully get published by somebody. Eventually, I would like to own a company and publish my own game system(s) and adventures. Will I do the partnership/collective thing again? No. As far as I’m concerned, it all comes down to me at this point. It’s my dream so I should be the only one to chase it. Let others chase their own dreams and live their own lives. It’s all good to me.

For the immediate future, I have three events for Winter War to put together and just over two weeks to do it in. Can I do it? No sweat. I have done much more in much less time. Beyond the convention, I now have a regular Feng Shui game to plan for on a bi-weekly basis. If I can spend one or two evenings every two weeks planning that, then all should be well with it.

As far as long-term goals go, it’s probably best to take it as it comes to me. What that means is I’ll have around a half-dozen projects in various stages of completion at any given time. My bi-polar nature sort of leads to my having a “look at the kitty” attention span, so starting a new project isn’t the issue for me. The key is coming back to unfinished projects and inching them toward completion. If I can get just ONE thing done in this regard, it SHOULD make finishing others easier. At least that’s the way it’s supposed to work, isn’t it?

peace… RHM

I Am An A**hole...

2005-01-11T11:13:00.000-06:00

It’s taken me a long time to realize the above statement, but if you stare at something long enough, the truth will reveal itself. I make this blanket statement not because of any isolated or recent incident, but after making some very sobering realizations about myself based on how the people in my life act around me.

First, I’d like to say that I am very envious of my wife, Heather. She has a clarity of vision about people that I do not possess. For the first five years of his life, I had no real connection to our son, Marc. It took her repeatedly telling me that underneath his fussy, hard-to-figure exterior there was a really special little boy for me to actually get it. Now, as my son is getting ready to turn eleven, I am amazed on a daily basis in regards to his wit, his joy, and his thoughtfulness. Marc is a blessing that I am proud to call my son. My wife and daughter are also great blessings. I see what special people they are and how important they are in my life and I wonder what the hell they, or anyone else, see in me.

I am surly. I am un-medicated bi-polar. I talk a lot of shit and do nothing. I have friends, but it isn’t like they call me all the time wanting to hang out. I’ll admit as we get older, each of has other obligations that take higher priority. That’s just life. Lately though, it seems as if it’s always me doing the calling, asking what they’re up to and if they want to do something. Basically, about the only time any of my current friends call me is to see what the current gaming situation is. Is one happening? When? Where? Etc., Etc..

I look past to friends from high school and college and I have contact with none of them. I recently reestablished contact with my best friend from grade school and junior high. As friends, we were tight. Then, due to things going on in our various lives, we drifted apart. As I got back in touch with him, I got the impression that he was glad to hear from me, but that he really didn’t want to try to regain what we had. That got me to thinking about all the other friends I’ve had over the years that I have drifted away from and I came to a realization. No one wonders about me enough to call. It’s as if I am poison that people run away from, or at least keep at arms distance.

As I reread what I have written, it comes off as one big puddle of self-pity. Perhaps it is, but does it really make what I am feeling right now any less valid? I have no idea…

peace… RHM

The World Is Full Of Senseless People…

2004-12-10T10:13:00.000-06:00

As I write this, I am home from work, quite sick and doped up on cold medicine. Even with these factors, the idiocy of one isolated event shines through to me.

On Wednesday, December 8th, ex-Pantera/Damageplan guitarist “Dimebag” Darrel Abbott was killed as Damageplan began the first song of their set during a gig in Ohio. The gunman walked onstage, grabbed Dimebag in a headlock and shot him four to six times in the head at point-blank range. The gunman then started firing into the crowd, killing three more before a police officer shot him in the face (poetic justice).

Now, I was never a huge fan of Pantera or Damageplan. Pantera was good, and I at one time owned a couple of CDs, but those were sold off to help pay my car insurance at one time, but the band was not always my taste. Granted they were a HIGHLY influential band, just not my thing a lot of times. What I had heard from Damageplan didn’t get me going. Throughout all those recordings, however, one thing stood out. Dimebag could flat out play guitar. He was frequently among the top three guitarists ever in countless fan and magazine polls, and with good reason. Listen to the riffs in “Cowboys From Hell” or the lead in “Cemetery Gates” and try to deny that the man had talent. It can’t be done.

In this modern era, it seems like our musical icons are falling at an ever-increasing rate. Three-quarters of the original Ramones are gone, Johnny Cash has left the planet (granted he was old), and now this. Dimebag’s death is the most senseless of all due to the fact that it was plain, calculated, cold-blooded murder. Even more ominous, December 8th is the same date that John Lennon was killed. I no longer believe in coincidence and that everything happens as part of God’s plan, but this was one fragment of the plan that the world could do without.

R.I.P. – Darrel Lance Abbott a.k.a. “Dimebag Darrel”

peace... RHM

I Hate The Holidays...

2004-11-28T23:45:00.000-06:00

My chief reason for this statement comes not from dealing with all the family and friends that one happens to be around during those times. That actually can be pretty good. No, I despise the holidays because it is a disruption to my and my family’s routines. I like routines. I am very much a creature of habit. So when things enter the picture to alter my usual schedule, I tend to get cranky and thrown off of my rhythm for a bit.

As a result, some work I wanted to have finished by this past Saturday remains incomplete. Granted, I can make a up a big chunk of it tomorrow on my day off, but I wanted this particular bit of work done so I could go on to some other work. The bulk of this work has to do with the whole Shared Lobotomy thing, but a few items deal with more personal and family issues (mostly house related). Oh well, the current chunk of work is 65 percent done, and I’m fairly certain I can get the remainder done tomorrow. Once that is done, I can spend an evening typing it all in and then I get the enjoyable task of playing with contracts and contract language. Yea me! Go Me!

Overall, this past holiday wasn’t TOO bad. I’ll also admit that my work schedule had a touch to do with how AI handled some of it (i.e., my day job made me cranky). Together, with a little help from each other, my wife and I made it through. The kids seemed to have a good time, and that’s more important to me than my own enjoyment, so… (shrug)…

peace… RHM

So It Begins...

2004-11-21T23:33:00.000-06:00

I got together with most of the folks in the Shared Lobotomy endeavor, tonight. Dennis was unable to attend due to family stuff. We talked a bit about company set-up and then laid into our schedule of products.

We pretty much decided to put together six products or so before we even release the first one, just to give ourselves some lag time to work on other stuff.

Jeff is handling the bulk of the writing for our first offering, Foe File1: Cheap Thugs, while Sean and I will crunch the numbers for the characters. Once the text is done, either Sean or I (probably both) will proofread and edit Jeff's text. Dennis will (hopefully) provide the interior line art. Finally, Pat will distill all the elements into a usuable PDF document.

Our second offering is looking to be as yet unthought of adventure for D20 Modern. From the sounds of it, I will handle the overall design and writing of that one, with others to edit and check my mechanics.

Third, we at Shared Lobotomy are looking at producing an original card game. We have three ideas on the table, the first one created and through playtest gets the green light.

That's about it from me for now. I have things to print out, characters to create, and contracts to write.

peace... RHM

Hot LAN Action...

2004-11-15T13:11:00.000-06:00

Last Night, I gathered a bunch of people over at the Pancake House (thanks, Eric) to do some Halo 2 action. We brought a bunch of stuff and ended up with four Xbox-es, four TVs, and four copies of Halo 2 all linked up and going. It quickly turned into "Bust-A-Cap In Your Friend Night"! It was an absolute buzz, and all involved seemed to have a good time. Kudos to Cookie on being the most improved of the bunch. Special mention goes to my 10-year old son, Marc, who basically busted out a can of whoop-ass on almost all of us. He has become so good it's scary. You rock on toast, Son! =)

Other than that, not much is happening. I'm still researching all the hoops we have to jump through to start Shared Lobotomy, and trying to coordinate with Jeff the skeletons of our first offerings. Work proceeds slowly, but it proceeds.

Take care all and, as always...

peace... RHM

Well, it's formed...

2004-11-07T20:01:00.000-06:00

…sort of. I went over to Jeff’s house today and discussed some things with he and Pat. Things like company name, product focus and some of what we have to do to get this puppy moving. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but we all seem to be agreed that this is what we want to do.

For anyone who’s interested, the group has decided to call itself “Shared Lobotomy”, mostly because one has to be crazy to think they can actually make money in the game industry. Somehow, we think we can at least make a small share of coin out of this, so we’re going to give it a shot.

Much research remains to be done in terms of company formation, securing a lawyer, securing an accountant, registering a web domain and building a web site. Overall, though, those are some of the last steps to be taken. Our first priority is to get some products together. To be honest, we should probably have around six to twelve items ready to issue by the time we are official. Not so we can blitz the marketplace, but so we have some cushion time to keep a steady stream of releases going while we work on new things.

Oh well, that’s it. I’ve blogged a lot this week. Now I need to go write some letters to a few industry folks. Take care y’all, and…
peace… RHM

Is this what I really want…

2004-11-06T18:48:00.000-06:00

Do I want to be a game writer/designer? After much thought about the subject, the answer is yes. Yes I do. I tried this once before, and failed due to a number of reasons, but it all boiled down to me. Now, I have the potential for another chance at it and I am not letting this slip by again.

I must like my current job. I’ve been there for over four years and while it’s mundane, it has its advantages. I work for the best boss I’ve ever had. Overall, he’s patient and generous, and it’s not always with money. He lets one of my gaming groups use his restaurant after hours to game in once a week, and in about two week, he’s letting us use it to host a Halo 2 LAN-type get together. All he asks for in return is a bit of money to cover our soda consumption and that we leave the place relative clean for business in the morning. Another plus is my schedule. Yeah, I have to go in at O-dark-early in the morning, but I’m off in time to pick the kids up from school, which allows me to spend some time with them. That is something that no other job has afforded me before.

So why am I thinking of venturing off from an employment situation that sweet? Well, I’m not, at least not initially. A game company is something that can be started on a part-time basis and the overall fact of the matter is that I want something of my own. If it’s not exclusively mine, than at least something that can be called “ours” and have me included in the equation. I want to venture out on a path of my own choosing, not idle in what life has dealt me thus far. I’m not starving, but I am hungry, and it’s time to hunt.

peace... RHM

Once more into the breach...

2004-11-04T20:26:00.000-06:00

Well, I did it. I asked someone to form a game publishing enterprise with me. Tentatively, they said yes. I know I’ve done this once before, with disastrous results due to a number of factors. So what’s different this time around?

First, I’m in a better space mentally and with life in general. Before, I tried to do this at a time when my marriage and (eventually) my mental health were tenuous at best. It’s been a while, and I’ve finally sorted out my priorities; husband, father, friend, prep cook, game designer in that rough order. In fact, most of those involved this time around have other things in their lives that take precedence over our endeavor. This, in my opinion, is a good thing.

Second, the mix of people is little different than before. None of the folks involved are thinking that running a game company will make us rich. It won’t. To be honest, the best it’ll do for the first five years or so is net us a bit of pocket money with which to buy more games. Seems fair to me. Use my hobby to fund my hobby. =)

Third, I no longer have the urge to reinvent the wheel. With my previous endeavor, I was all fired up into creating the “next big thing” system-wise. I need to face facts. The wheel has been done to death. The best I can hope for is maybe to present a shiny new set of rims for the game world to ride on, but why bother? There are many open and cheap to license systems out there just waiting to be used. I should take advantage of that instead of snubbing my nose at them.

Forth, this time we’re going a different route. Before, everything was geared to have a product to be printed; to have a physical thing that a gamer could hold in their hands. Admirable, but costly, and requires a fair number of hoops to jump through. Now, like many others before us, this new and as-yet-unnamed collective is traipsing down the path of electronic publishing. PDFs are cheaper to produce, with almost zero printing hassles on the creative end of things. Neat!

Lastly, as a group, our focus is different. With my first foray, I wanted to give a gamer a huge tome with which he/she could do anything. Now, we’re aiming a touch smaller than that. Small little adventures, collections of foes and traps, perhaps some treatments of generic locations (banks, taverns, warehouses, etc.), and other little projects like that are our aim. Quick bang for not a lot of dough.

Overall, I’m pleased with myself. I have a good feeling that this can work. I hope that the others involved do to.

Peace... RHM

It's That Time...

2004-11-02T11:37:00.000-06:00

Time once again for everyone who is registered to vote to do so. I'm not going to go on a schpiel on who to vote for or any of that. Basically, all I'm saying is do it. Because if you don't, then you have no real reason to complain about how this country is run. Sorry, personal opinion.

Admittedly, I didn't vote in the 2000 election, and I'm kicking myself for it. As it stood, it came down to a lesser of two evils (Gore and G.W.), and I couldn't decide either way. On one shoulder I had GW, who really struck me as sort of a poster child for ADD. Not really stupid, but seemingly easily led. On the other shoulder, we had Gore, who had rankled my nerves with the whole PMRC deal back in the late 80s. Basically, ol' Al pulled strings to get his wife and her cronies a congressional hearing on a moment's notice for what should have been a non-issue. Being a music fanatic, the whole deal struck me with a hint of persecution. As a citizen, I was outraged as many other more meaningful issues got bumped back in the schedule of hearings because Tipper got her panties in a bunch.

I guess what I'm trying to say is go vote. Make your voice heard. Never stay silent when you have the chance to speak for what you believe in.

peace... RHM

Sigh...

2004-11-01T09:55:00.000-06:00

I didn't blog yesterday like I wanted to. In fact, I didn't do much of anything I wanted to yesterday. The day was filled with a serious negative vibe for me and my family and was not good. I started to blog, but realized the only things in the forefront of my mind to write about was the current family strife. I decided not to air my family's dirty laundry. Yea me. =/

On the music front, I picked up the new GWAR CD, War Party, and it is good if you like GWAR. It continues in the metal seriousness that was re-started by their last effort, Violence Has Arrived (HIGHLY recommended), but with a decidedly political tone. Highlights of the new disc include Bring Back The Bomb. Krosstika, War Party, and the Reaganator. Overall good stuff.

Speaking of politics, the October 25th edition of the comic strip Get Fuzzy really summed up my feelings on our current political system. Yeah, almost anyone can run for President, but if you vote for a candidate that's not Democratic or Republican, then your vote is pretty much wasted, and that's a sad thing.

peace... RHM

Games, games, games, and games...

2004-10-24T13:45:00.000-05:00

Earlier this week I sent in my event submissions for WInter War, like I've been saying I will. they are not up at the conevntion site yet, but you can check out my gaming page to get a glimpse of what I have in store for those that attend.

peace... RHM

Music...

2004-10-24T13:30:00.000-05:00

Ya know,

One of things I'd siad I would talk about is music. I have a huge love of music as attested to by my current collection of CDs (800+ and growing). Lately, I have been big into metal, industrial, and harder genres, but I will give a listen to just about anything.

Lately, things that have been pumping out of my various sound systems are Hell's Pit from ICP, Monolithic Baby! from Monster Magnet, and Comalies from Lacuna Coil. I also picked up the new album from Cake called Pressure Chief. It's okay if you like Cake, but otherwise, no great shakes. Something I'm looking forward to is War Party from GWAR which is due out the 26th of this month. GWAR is also coming to town (well, Urbana) on the 12th of November at the Canopy Club. I've seen them twice and am looking forward to another go-round.

Just a few thoughts I'd share with you on the music front. Until later,

peace... RHM

Birthdays...

2004-10-17T18:19:00.000-05:00

Now, as I get older, I am beginning to dread birthdays. Not mine, mind you. I'm getting old and don't really give a rat's behind about that. No, now I'm beginning to hate my children's birthdays.

My daughter turned eight yesterday. I really don't mind the costs involved or the swarm of kids at the parties, the the latter tries my patience at times. I am just saddened by the thought of my kids growing up. It means that they're getting bigger, and more independant. It means that they need me that much less. Overall, I believe myself to be a good father, and I know that this is the cycle of things. Kids are born, they grow, then they move on. Doesn't mean I have to like it, though. Sigh... ...just another thing in this life that I can't control. =/

peace... RHM

Games, games, games...

2004-10-17T18:10:00.000-05:00

Today I went over to my friend Jeff's House and played some board games with him, his sister, Jen, and our friend, Pat. We managed to get three games in, those being Carcasonne (sp?), Illuminati, and Kill Doctor Lucky.

It was my first try at Carcasonne and this beginner managed a second place finish behind Pat. Illuminati was up next and Pat managed to win that as well. Lastly, Jeff managed to off the old geezer in Kill Doctor Lucky.

All in all, it was good fun, and something I look forward to doing again sometime in the future.

As for the Winter War games, I almost have them nailed down. I just have to make a final decision on how many games I am running. I have plans for up to six events, but I am not certain I wish to run that many, so...

peace... RHM

New Stuff...

2004-10-10T20:30:00.000-05:00

Hey All...

We all like new stuff, right? Of course we do. Well, It's not set up yet, but I just brought home a shiny new computer. One that actually burn CDs. I don't want to say that my current machine is old, but it's running a 450MHz K6-2 processor and has a total of 13 GB of storage space split over THREE hard drives. It was time for a new toy. Happy me!

Once that is up, I should have my Winter War events figured out and I will make links available here.

peace... RHM

Convention Game Ponderings...

2004-10-03T23:29:00.000-05:00

Heya,

Each year about this time I begin pondering what events I am running for the local gaming convention (Winter War) that happens in February. Doing one event doesn't usually take me this long of a time period, but I frequently run four or more games so...

Anyway, most of my events are pretty much plotted out but the one event that always gives me fits is the yearly Feng Shui game I run entitled Friday Night Action Theater. It's relatively easy to come up with an action movie-type of plot, but devising an original one is always the trick. This year I think I am on the right track. I have a few elements I want to incorporate that I think will help make it a winner. First, it will have the word "origami" somewhere in the title. Second, it will be geared to be more of a pugalistic ballet than a gun fight. Lastly, I want space and zero-gravity to be involved. Beyond that, I'm still working on it.

peace... RHM

P.S. -- the name of the new hamster is Twitch.

There Are Times...

2004-10-03T17:39:00.000-05:00

When I want to choke Blogger. It has eaten a couple of entires and then published one entry I thought it had eaten with no indication that it had done so. I discovered the publishing after I had re-written the entry. Now, deleting it and republishing the blog seem to be too difficult a task for it.

grrrrrr... RHM

A New Addition...

2004-10-03T17:11:00.000-05:00

Our old hamster, Rex, passed on about six months ago. Rex was very much loved my children and my wife, and he was a stubborn little guy. He lived around three years with us, and was full-grown when we aquired him (with the biggest set of gonads I had ever seen on a rodent). It was sad to see his health deteriorate, but Rex fought his decline with the feistiness that he had shown in life. Rex is missed.

Today, I took the family to Petsmart to get a new hamster. What we chose as a family is probably the most adorable rodent I have ever laid eyes on. It is a male dwarf hamster that is gray in color. He is tiny and has an abundance of energy. We still haven't decided on a name yet, but frontrunners are Shadow, Twitch, and Spazz.

It amazes me what getting a new pet has done to the family. We all seem a bit happier and a warm, fuzzy air of love is present in the home. Times like these are what makes being a father worth it.

peace... RHM

The Smell of Charred Blubber...

2004-09-29T13:34:00.000-05:00

Last night was another episode of "Far-Out Scape", a Savage Worlds game run by my very good friend, D-Man. All in all, things went pretty well. The only scary point is when my character, Willie-Rob Bodine, the obese, redneck hillbilly professional alien abductee got barbequed by a gun implacement for a seven-wound hit that he could not manage to soak enough of. Things were tense as I made some obscene Vigor checks to stay alive long enough for action-star Marcus Tempesta to try (and succeed) an unskilled Healing check and save ol' Willie-Rob's bacon. Even if the fat man had bought the farm, I wouldn't have minded. He got shot while providing cover for another character who wouldn't have survived. Even though he's six kinds of mixed nuts, there's a dash of chivalry in the hillbilly.

Beyond that, not much to report. I'm waiting for the Necessary Evil and Savage Worlds Revised PDFs to be posted, and I'm starting to plot out the work I need to do for this year's Winter War.

peace... RHM

Tacooooooss...

2004-09-24T21:45:00.000-05:00

One of the things I like to do every now and then is cook. Usually for a whole bunch of folks at once. Whenever I do, I break out my taco recipe and go to town. Now I will warn y'all that this recipe is NOT for the casual taco consumer. It can be considered hot though not so hot as to be inedible by most humans. Also, the recipe makes a LOT of food. Thus you have been warned...

Tacos ala the Red-Haired Maniac

INGREDIENTS

5 pounds of ground beef
20 ounces of medium salsa (I use Tostitos Thick 'n' Chunky)
16 ounce jar of jalapeno slices in water/sauce
1 package of taco seasoning (mild intensity)

Step 1 -- Place the ground beef into a pan large enough to hold the contents. Drain the oil from the jar of jalapenos into the pan. Brown the ground beef (with the jalapeno oil) over medium heat. Once all of the meat is a nice brown color, reduce the heat and drain off the grease and oil using a large strainer. Once drained, place the cooked meat back into the pan.

Step 2 -- Place the jalapeno slices into a food processor or blender and fire it up to puree. Once you have a green paste, stop the machine and scrape the spicy baby food into the pan with the meat.

Step 3 -- Add the salsa and taco seasoning to the meat-paste and mix well. Cover and simmer all of this on low heat for about ten minutes or so.

Once this is done, heat up some tortillas (I use flour tortillas), gather some toppings (cheese, lettuce, olives, sour cream, and such) and chow down.

I have found that this recipe creates tacos that are flavorful and possess a slow-burn to them that lingers for a bit.

Try it out and then drop me a comment to let me know what you think.

peace... RHM

Small Steps Into The Unknown...

2004-09-24T21:16:00.000-05:00

Hey There!

Welcome to my blog. Here I hope to comment on myself and my interests, and possibly elicit some feedback from the rest of the internet community about the subjects.

First off, I'm new at this. Second, I hope to post something at least once a week. Topics will vary wildly at times, but will mostly center on music and gaming (D&D and the like). Beyond that, who the neck knows.

peace... RHM