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Post by GRWelsh on Jan 23, 2020 14:19:19 GMT -5
Gene, are you going to run BROKEN CASTLE at GaryCon as a game one needs to register for? Or as an informal gathering? In either case, do you have a particular time or times in mind?
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Post by geneweigel on Jan 23, 2020 14:54:01 GMT -5
The last few times with Rob I was nailed down and it was frustrating. I'd rather just run something fast and loose and not participate in anything so I can be more chill. Don't worry we'll pencil something in.
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Post by Scott on Jan 30, 2020 14:43:25 GMT -5
Finally got my copy delivered today, or so the Amazon notification says. Looking forward to checking it out.
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Post by Scott on Jan 30, 2020 18:58:50 GMT -5
Wow, just the amount of material in there is impressive. I’ll be starting the serious read tonight.
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Post by geneweigel on Jan 30, 2020 22:49:35 GMT -5
Thanks, there is a lot of utility in the ordinary areas with prices. My notes on commodities are massive so this was an effort for a homogenous flow of feeling medieval and making it fit any situation. The only thing that I kind of let the DMs assume is specifics of character with just a single statement being a cue. Lets say if the baron was going to be a prick or not, etc. In regards to other details I wanted it to be palpable rather than pretty. So the whole can be customized. The silver standard I wanted to have as an option to flip to gold if campaign gets flowing. All those banners are colored and I've had for a long time except for the wizard ghost's nazi-like sigil which is relatively new. The nearby big town off the map is where Taylor's thief runs his own guild with a lot of weird old town adventures stemmed out of there and I'm not sure what I'm doing with that yet (Blog add ons?). Skulldon is definitely the next project to finish that is in the southeast but I have to make it two parts. I have a lot of samples of deities in here but I have a long book of compiled deities overthe years and also another for underworld demonkind/deviltry. I kind of hint at the big problem being the demon lord ("demon graf") Aentamoeba but that is just one perspective although he gets around despite being dispatched in recent times.
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Post by GRWelsh on Feb 18, 2020 9:13:23 GMT -5
Some players in my gaming group saw BROKEN CASTLE on my coffee table and said, "What is that? Are you going to run that for us?" Now, I'm torn between running it for them and holding out to play in it first with Gene as the DM. I have read through it but not in enough detail to spoil it as a player. Since I found out I'm going to GARYCON I've deliberately avoided reading it in more depth. Another idea I had was if Gene will run it for us using Skype or Roll20. What I really like about BROKEN CASTLE is how much is new -- most of the monsters are original creations, which is a great way of getting that early era D&D experience when you weren't sure what anything was or what it could do.
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Post by geneweigel on Feb 18, 2020 9:42:49 GMT -5
I'm going to run another area at the con that was not included. I mentioned it on the GaryCon Facebook page as a reply. I should have did a fresh post. Its the area that says "ELVES" on the barony map and its running title is "AMONGST THE ELVES". After the con (or during if I can manage it) I'm going to post the entirety on the blog as an expansion.
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Post by geneweigel on Feb 18, 2020 10:14:26 GMT -5
Technically, the roll 20 stuff I have to figure. My computer is at "almost crap" level for a while so I might have to get an upgrade. Then there is the big move. She wants to get more country-ish so it might be the Summer before I get everything configured.
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Post by geneweigel on Mar 10, 2020 8:49:49 GMT -5
The weirdness of the parallels of what is going on in the news and what is in this adventure is something that I awkwardly write off as part of a strange feeling that I get which usually associates itself creatively. Remember that old Time/Life book series commercial? Coincidence? Or something else? Those aren't blocks of hit points! They're lotto numbers!
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Post by Scott on Mar 10, 2020 13:34:40 GMT -5
Ha, I had several of the Time Life book series
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Post by geneweigel on Mar 10, 2020 14:48:23 GMT -5
I tried to look up the exact commercial but all they have on YouTube is extra long promotional 2 minute commercials that feature a similar comment but its not the one that I recall.
Those books were tapping into the D&D wave. I left all of them behind in 1988 when I rapidly moved out from godmother's after she was way too possessive (She wasn't creepy or anything but she needed a handyman/errand boy/chauffeur/nurse's aide and tried to "redirect" my education and social life.). Heh, I lost roughly 25% of everything (Not D&D except large poseable figures and the set) when I decided to just not go back one day. Certain things I had replaced but those books I had never saw again. They had good illos in them.
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Post by GRWelsh on Mar 10, 2020 15:49:57 GMT -5
A friend of mine in high school named Chuck had many of the books in that series. He was one of our on-and-off AD&D players, not as much into it as the rest of us, and more of a science fiction fan. He got bored with these books and wanted to sell them to me, but I didn't have the money, so he sold them to another friend of mine, Eric, whom I believe still has them to this day. I remember the first book in the series was about wizards and had a story titled "Singer at the World's Dawn" featuring Väinämöinen. Being introduced to Väinämöinen and Lemminkäinen always made me think of EGG's character Mordenkainen and wonder just how much he drew inspiration from those tales. The "Enchanted World" series by Time/Life were sort of a light weight hodge-podge, but I liked them for the art and exposure to sources of a lot of fantasy creatures. I was always fascinated by the FAIRIES AND ELVES book because of the Celtic lore and the sharp contrast to Tolkien.
We need more glommer elves!
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foster1941
Warlock
Duke of California, Earl of Los Angeles, Knight Bachelor
Posts: 475
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Post by foster1941 on Mar 10, 2020 16:06:25 GMT -5
As a kid we had a subscription to both the Enchanted World and the Mysteries of the Unknown series, both of which seemed endless. I feel a little bad thinking back on how much my mom and grandparents must have spent on those books for how little actual appreciation I had for them - after about the first 2 or 3 of each set it became kind of a chore when a new one would arrive I’d spend a half hour or so flipping through it looking at the pictures and then it would go onto the shelf and probably never be looked at again. About the time I left for college I instructed my mom to sell them off, for which I’m sure she got almost nothing.
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Post by geneweigel on Mar 10, 2020 16:40:03 GMT -5
Yeah, they were superficial sort of a gateway drug into hardcore folklore. I was already full bore but I enjoyed the feeling of them. I had done a 7th grade term paper on werewolves with tons of references. I'd pay good money to read that term paper today. It disappeared in 1982. Since that time I bought many of the books that I had used for reference though.
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Post by multiarms on May 2, 2020 9:35:54 GMT -5
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Post by geneweigel on May 2, 2020 20:54:29 GMT -5
Wow, I didn't see that. Thanks for the link. I like his comments.
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Post by geneweigel on May 20, 2020 21:54:47 GMT -5
Broken Castle is trending like crazy, sales are up, people are searching for pirated copies and others are complaining about format and price. Its a hit!
I am still unfortunately stuck in add-on hell. Its got a lot of new stuff and I've been ironing it out. Its being shut in with the kids thats the killer. Yesterday, I had a Gygax level day but today blew. I'm trying to translate campaign natural "madness" that comes out of me into a portable format while at the same time validating where did i get it from. Yesterday, I nailed down a big new concept that I've been using but now its officially described.
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Post by geneweigel on May 26, 2020 16:06:15 GMT -5
Yesterday I had an order from France it said. Rob? NAAHH! I was thinking of sending out copies but then it felt weird. Too soon? Maybe end of the year?
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Post by geneweigel on May 31, 2020 22:17:09 GMT -5
Canadians seem to be interested a lot. Who knew? I might have to take a trip to the great white north! I had such a good night last night but today things were rough at home. I'm mentally exhausted. Anyway, time to batten down the hatches and plow forward. Monster stats text is in the can as far as rules being air tight. 18 new monsters. What!?! I had to do a major shift away from the way it was played because it would be a kind of rip off of something that was done fairly recently and I want this to be original. I'll explain later. Hopefully this will be a good week.
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Post by geneweigel on Jun 1, 2020 22:28:04 GMT -5
Another stinker day for creativity but I ironed out the random wilderness encounters. Its looking different and weird.
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