Remembering MUDs

I recently poked my head into a G+ conversation between two random commenters on a random thread that had nothing to do with RPGs... but it sparked some really strong recollections in the dark corners of my brain.

One of them noted the the "/me" emote was from World of Warcraft. Of course, being an old, pedantic fart, I had to add my 2 cents by explaining how they were mistaken.

The /me emote actually pre-dates modern MMO's by a few decades. Back in the days of 300 and 1200 baud modems (yeah, one could actually type faster than they could display text), people with access to university computer systems (or a spare IBM XT) would set up what were called "MUDs" or Multi-User Dungeons. They were text-based like the old Zork games, but you could "see" and interact with other users through text chat and emotes.

So, the screen might read:

> You walk to the entrance of the Hedge Maze. Passageways in the hedge head off the the North and West. Steve_the_Barbarian and Sorcerer_Tonya are here.
$ /me wave
> Marty waves.
$ /say "Hey, what's up? Are you heading into the hedge dungeon?"
> Marty says "Hey, what's up? Are you heading into the hedge dungeon?"
$
> Sorcerer_Tonya waves.
> Sorcerer_Tonya says, "yup we're heading in"
$
> Sorcerer_Tonya invites you into the group.
$ /follow Sorcerer_Tonya

It was a lot of typing just to do pretty rudimentary stuff (and it was real time combat, so you had to type fast or have macros ready!)... but these were literally the first seeds of the modern MMO.

I'm not sure what the whole point of this post was except to think... Jeebus, we've come a long way and damn... I am old.

D&D: Running Storm King's Thunder - Part 3

Source: Tumblr of Gabriel Cassata, freelance artist 
(used with permission)

This series of articles started out as "Running Nightstone" but is expanding as I delve deeper into the book and learn lessons from running my group through it. This first post is mostly generalized tips I’ve learned over the years and are applicable to almost any adventure you may be prepping.

First off, I have to say if you are DMing Storm King and not already watching Tom Lommel's (aka Dungeon Bastard) Disorganized Play on YouTube or Twitch, you need to start right now. There are about 50 hours of content, which is a lot to take in, but there is a plethora of fantastic ideas in there if you can spend the time listening to it in the background like a podcast.

Some spoilers ahead so be warned.

D&D 5e: Hex Crawling through Storm King’s Thunder

In a Twitter conversation, +Mike Shea (slyflourish.com - who you should definitely be following, btw), noted that he thought Chapter 3 in Storm King’s Thunder has an excess of information about the Sword Coast and the North. From the conversation, it can be inferred that the page count could have been better spent on detailing 10 to 20 specific locations with maps, encounter locations, deeper hooks, etc. rather than spend 60 pages on 164 distinct locations, many of which only get a very small paragraph or two. He further states that the kind of information in Chapter 3 is better in a book like Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide rather than an adventure like Storm King’s Thunder.

He is not entirely wrong… but he’s not quite right either.

It’s true, that with 60 or so pages, one could detail 10 or 15 really kick ass locations. If you are given 3 to 6 pages for each location, rather than just a few paragraphs, you can really do a lot with that page count -- several side quests, maps, hooks, etc.  However, I disagree with his with the premise that Chapter 3 is less useful than 10 or so more detailed encounter locations. It's more a matter of preference.

A few very mild spoilers ahead, so be warned.

D&D 5e: Scads of People Really Really Want Legal PDFs

On Saturday, April 1st, I shared a little fake news story about Wizards of the Coast finally selling PDFs for the D&D 5th Edition core rulebooks.

And it got a lot of attention. A CRAP LOAD, one might even say.

Let me give some perspective. I am a nobody in the RPG blogging world. I mean, I have a small amount of recognition on Google+ and the regulars on the D&D Facebook communities may vaguely recall the name of my blog... maybe. But really, I don't get a lot of traffic compared to some more "famous" bloggers. Last year, a really active month was 15,000 to 20,000 page views for the whole month. Lately, a good month is in the mid to upper 20's.

In one day the PDF "press release" article got about 13,000 page views in ONE DAY. That's more than half of my monthly traffic from all of February, and about 45% of the March total.

So, clearly, it got a lot more attention in the community than a typical post. So what does that tell me?

People really want those f@&%ing PDFs to be a reality.

Wizards of the Coast announces D&D 5th Edition PDF core books

Note: This article was originally publish April 1, 2017.

In an effort to enable more D&D players use their books on any platform, Wizards of the Coast announced that D&D 5th Edition core rulebooks, Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, and Monster Manual, will be available in PDF format.

In a statement Wizard of the Coast President Chris Cocks reports, “We’re bringing D&D to the 20th Century… and besides, there are already so many bootleg scans on the Internet, we finally just figured ‘What the f@ck.’”.

As an added bonus, Cocks also announced that owners of the existing hardback books will receive $5 off the PDF price, as long as they present proof of ownership at their offices in Renton, WA.

“We believe $44.95 PDF price is an amazing discount for current D&D hardback owners. I don’t think you’d see a discount like this anywhere else in the RPG industry... and all you have to do is show up at our doorstep with your books in hand.”

Yeah... I guess you already knew this was an April Fools joke from the headline. Too "on-the-nose"?

Wizards of the Coast announces new D&D VR video game

Wizards of the Coast announces the first virtual reality video game out of their newly formed game studio!

In a collaboration with Sir Tech, Wizards of the Coast is bringing Wizardry into virtual reality with its new title: Dungeons & Dragons Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Sword Coast Lords

"You will be amazed at the 3D virtual reality dungeons we have created, complete with 5-foot square movement, a hallmark of the D&D tabletop experience," comments Chris Cocks, President of Wizards of the Coast.

"Once inside the Proving Grounds of the Mad Sword Coast Lords, you will experience a rainbow of 16 color virtual reality. We are pushing VR to limits not yet seen from Wizards of the Coast. Not since Nintendo Virtual Boy has anyone experienced VR like this!”

"With this title, alongside Battle Chess Dungeon Chess, we are are bringing VR to the 20th century!"



(p.s. - Dungeon Chess is an actual thing...)