User blogs

Gamer+ News January 27, 2020

Inspired Unreality tonight! Open game chat in the gamerplus chatrooms at Tenkar's Tavern on Discord. Inspired Unreality starts at 9:00 PM Central every Monday night. Tonight the opening topic is initiative. How do you like to run initiative? How do you like to play initiative? Anyone can change the topic. All gaming is on topic.

Last Monday was the first Related To Geeks Book Club on Inspired Unreality. We discussed "The Tower Of The Elephant", Conan, Barbarians in general, and Dungeons and Dragons. Next month on Monday, February 17 we will discuss "Little Brother" by Corey Doctorow. Click over for the full schedule and download links.

https://gamerplus.org/groups/28

FollowMeAndDie points out that "D&D was published towards the end of January, 1975 making this the 45th anniversary of D&D."

https://gamerplus.org/newsfeed/2035

RobboG released new artwork for his "Universe Unleashed" SF Game.

https://gamerplus.org/newsfeed/2033

FollowMeAndDie just released, Old West Campaign Setting Design Book.

https://gamerplus.org/newsfeed/2036

Feel free to forward Gamer+ News to a friend.

Thanks,
Hairy Larry
https://gamerplus.org/user/hairylarry
hairylarry@deltaboogie.com

Gamer+ News January 20, 2020

Tonight! On Inspired Unreality! It's the Related To Geeks Book Club.

We are reading "The Tower Of The Elephant" by Robert E. Howard. One of the first Conan stories.

http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0600831h.html

There's still time to read it. It's a short story.

Coming up in February and March we will read.

February 17 - Little Brother by Corey Doctorow
https://craphound.com/littlebrother/download/

March 16 - The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Available on Overdrive and at libraries and booksellers everywhere.

If you have ideas about what you want to read after that we have a group for that.

https://gamerplus.org/groups/28

You are invited to join and participate.

Imspired Unreality is held in the gamerplus chatrooms at Tenkar's Tavern on Discord. It's a book club and a podcast so we will be recording.

We posted two podcasts last week recorded on Inspired Unreality.

Related To Geeks - 2019 Geek Agenda
https://anchor.fm/relatedtogeeks/episodes/Related-To-Geeks---Season-2-Episode-5---2019-Geek-Agenda-ea77l4

Ask The Glen anything (about cyberpunk)
https://anchor.fm/dashboard/episode/ea9k16

Back at work organizing If You Play You Win actual play podcasts. Spark wants to run a game. Anyone else?

https://gamerplus.org/groups/26

I now have three Mini Zines up at DriveThruRPG/Fiction. "Just Quest" is a very minimal OSR rule set. "Chaos In The Eye Of God" and "Yon Rogar’s Hat" are super shorts. They're free on DriveThru and on my Mini Zines website.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/15994/MiniZines

https://www.drivethrufiction.com/browse.php?author=Larry%20Heyl

http://minizines.cc

What have you been doing? Let me know. Let us all know. Post your links to Gamer+ and I'll include your project in Gamer+ News.

Thanks,
Hairy Larry
https://gamerplus.org/user/hairylarry
hairylarry@deltaboogie.com

Gamer+ News January 13, 2020

Tonight on Inspired Unreality TheGlen will talk about his new video channel. He says, "Well I just started a video channel regarding the game cyberpunk 2020 2 weeks ago and we've got cyberpunk 2077 coming out in April. This is the year of Mike Pondsmith."

Inspired Unreality is held in the gamerplus chatrooms at Tenkar's Tavern on Discord every Monday at 9:00 PM Central Time. Open Game Chat, all gaming is on topic.

Peter_R has a new game out, "The Things That Grown Ups Cannot See". This game is designed for children. The player characters are children that can see into the fey world as well as having other special abilities. Check it out, it's Pay What You Want on DriveThruRPG.

https://gamerplus.org/newsfeed/2007

Carl Heyl is releasing his Stay At Home DM podcasts on the Related To Geeks Anchor channel. He says, "A project from almost 2 years ago is finally released to the public. I think I can promise it will be in the top 5% of cutest actual play podcasts you have heard." Very entertaining.

https://gamerplus.org/newsfeed/1995

And I have two new minizines up at DriveThru. "Just Quest" is a fantasy roleplaying system in one minizine. "Chaos In The Eye Of God" is a super short science fiction story.

https://gamerplus.org/newsfeed/1991
https://gamerplus.org/newsfeed/2008

All of my minizines are free on DriveThru and on my own site, http://minizines.cc.

Please post your projects on Gamer+ so I can include them in Gamer+ News. Your hype is our content. And spread the word. Let your friends know the joy of joining Gamer+ and getting the weekly news.

Thanks,
Hairy Larry
https://gamerplus.org/user/hairylarry
hairylarry@deltaboogie.com

Gamer+ News January 6, 2020

Tonight! On Inspired Unreality we will host the Related To Geeks Podcast discussing just what it was that we did in 2019. Looking back, not forward, we attended conventions, hosted conventions, produced podcasts, wrote minizines, shot vlogs, started Gamer+, yes, 2019 has been a big year for Related To Geeks.

Inspired Unreality is an open game chat held in the gamerplus chatrooms at Tenkars Tavern on Discord. As always, you are invited to participate. You can let us know what geeky stuff you did in 2019.

Our last podcast, Role Playing Memories, is here.

https://anchor.fm/relatedtogeeks/episodes/Related-To-Geeks---Season-2-Episode-4---Role-Playing-Memories-e9v3ao

FollowMeAndDie went copper with his "Random Dungeon, City, & Travel Generation" pdf on DriveThruRPG.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/293659/Random-Dungeon-City--Travel-Generation?affiliate_id=203222

He also released "Arctic & Glacial Terrain & Encounters". I read it and liked it and I wrote a short review about why I like it.

https://gamerplus.org/newsfeed/1971?ft=site

JesseQ and ZDL had a New Year's Eve dice rolling.

https://gamerplus.org/newsfeed/1975?ft=site

All I can say is "ZDL, what are those dice anyway?"

I started a Just Quest Group all about my Just Quest role playing system and our Milyagon adventures. I posted "Yon Rogar's Hat" to DriveThruRPG/Fiction and I'll soon have a link for "Just Quest" too.

https://gamerplus.org/groups/30

Please stop by and join. It's kind of lonely in here now.

As I put our Milyagon Quests up on DriveThru I am taking the opportunity to rework the stats so they fit right with Just Quest. They started as generic OSR but I pulled from several different systems and the results are somewhat confused.

I know that roll low is a thing but I don't like that thing. Gamers want to roll high. A nat 20 or a 6 on a D6 should always be good. Never bad. So I got to fix that.

Got news? Let me know. I cover a lot of my projects here because I know about them. If I knew about your projects I would be glad to write about them. So let me know.

Thanks,
Hairy Larry
https://gamerplus.org/user/hairylarry
hairylarry@deltaboogie.com

Gamer+ News December 30, 2019

Please join us tonight in the Inspired Unreality open game chat. Our initial topic tonight will be "Out with the Old and In with the New" but, as always, all gaming is on topic. Inspired Unreality is held in the gamerplus chatrooms at Tenkar's Tavern on Discord and starts at 9:00 PM Central Time.

We had a good chat last week. We didn't record a podcast but I did post some links.

https://gamerplus.org/blogs/149

Thanks to VB-Wyrde (of Elthos), Datum, Vivian, Megantopia, and Masked and Danger for their input.

FollowMeAndDie released a PDF on Arctic & Glacial Terrain & Encounters and he posted "2019 in Review and 2020 and Beyond" to his Anchor podcast.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/298999/Arctic--Glacial-Terrain--Encounters?affiliate_id=203222

https://anchor.fm/follow-me-and-die/episodes/Episode-170---2019-in-Review-and-2020-and-Beyond-e9sieh

The Related To Geeks Podcast will be back on Inspired Unreality next week and in three weeks we are starting the Related To Geeks Book Club with a Robert E. Howard Conan story, "The Tower Of The Elephant".

https://gamerplus.org/groups/28

Same as it ever was, invite your friends and let me know what you are doing in gaming so we can promote your stuff on Gamer+.

Stay in touch,
https://gamerplus.org/user/hairylarry
hairylarry@gmail.com

The initial topic was games as gifts inspired by a gift we got, a game called Space Team. We drifted into other gaming topics quickly. I'll share a few links.

https://azgaar.github.io/Fantasy-Map-Generator/

https://www.deviantart.com/aaahartvisen/art/Leaves-821839577

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/245017/Mothership-Players-Survival-Guide

http://www.onesevendesign.com/ladyblackbird/

The rest of these videos have something to do with racing games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkgRtV8roBQ

https://youtu.be/H9Ppk66I8J4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atuFSv2bLa8

https://youtu.be/Pa67zm7Q3PA

http://thepoxbox.blogspot.com/2013/09/from-digital-to-dice-neon-burn-playtest.html?m=0

Thanks to VB-Wyrde (of Elthos), Datum, Vivian, Megantopia, and Masked and Danger, for their input.

Gamer+ News December 23, 2019

It's not Christmas Eve but it's close. So for our Inspired Unreality open game chat tonight the initial topic will be games as gifts. Inspired Unreality is held in the gamerplus chatrooms at Tenkar 's Tavern on Discord.

In a very special review ZDL covers 1PG/Hero Force and then she discusses RobboG's supplement, "Hero Force Giant Size Super Special" including Victory City. So we have a Gamer+ gamer reviewing a supplement written by a Gamer+ gamer.

Here's the review.

https://gamerplus.org/blogs/post/144

And here's a link to GSSS at Drive Thru RPG.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/50380/Hero-Force-Giant-Size-Super-Special

Starting January 20 we will be hosting the Related To Geeks Book Club. Our first book will be "The Tower Of The Elephant" by Robert E. Howard, one of the first Conan adventures.

Here's a link to our schedule for January, February, March, 2020.

https://gamerplus.org/blogs/post/145

So ... Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Thanks,
Hairy Larry
https://gamerplus.org/user/hairylarry
hairylarry@deltaboogie.com

9:00 PM Central Time in the gamerplus chatrooms at Tenkar's Tavern on Discord. Everyone is welcome. Click above for Links below.

January 20 - The Tower Of The Elephant by Robert E. Howard

http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0600831h.html

February 17 - Little Brother by Corey Doctorow

https://craphound.com/littlebrother/download/

March 16 - The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

Available on Overdrive and at libraries and booksellers everywhere.

To make suggestions for April, May, and June join the Related To Geeks Bookclub group.

https://gamerplus.org/groups/28

Unlike my previous, starkly negative review I'm switching back to the generally positive again.  Today's fringe game is actually a game line, one that is proudly hailed as being for "beer & pretzels".  This is by no means the earliest beer & pretzels game in role-playing.  The first of the line's products—a game called Shriek—was published in 2001.  Games like Ninja Burger, Kobolds Ate My Baby, and other such games were released before that in the late '90s.  Indeed I'm pretty sure I'd played loads of small, simple, comedy games before this game line was published.  Hell, Macho Women with Guns, which exists right on the very edge of that beer & pretzels divide, was published in 1988.

But this one is different.

... more

From Inspired Unreality December 16, 2019

Starting topic - Party Games

At the NEA Gamers Guild Christmas Party they played Dirty Santa using a d6 system.

Pass left, pass right, take a gift, exchange with someone, choose two people holding gifts and they exchange, open your gift

If you can't do what you rolled you can choose something else that you can do.

The game ends when the last gift is taken.

Now here's the problem rules. You can't make someone else open a gift. When you get take a gift you can take from the center or from anyone holding a gift.

Those rules are fine if there aren't too many playing.

But at the Christmas Party I think there were about 20 people exchanging gifts.

Since the game was taking too long they encouraged people to take from the center which worked without changing the rules.

But then they had to relax the rule about not being able to make others open a gift to if you rolled a six and you didn't have a gift to open you could make someone else open their gift.

So here are my proposed rule changes for a large party.

When you roll take a gift you have to take from the center until everyone is holding a gift (none left in the center).

There's still plenty of time for gift stealing before all gifts are opened. And the game isn't much fun if you're just sitting there without a gift.

I would also make it a rule that if you roll a 6 and you can't open a gift you can pick someone with a gift and then they open their gift.

We will have a dirty santa game with 17 or 18 players this Christmas. I am going to propose that we use this d6 system with the rule changes and see how it works.

---
Since the last half of the game is played with over half the presents opened (by definition) there are some strategies for getting the present you want. Players should try to get the present they want. That is called winning.

So if you roll make two people exchange gifts you can pick someone next to you and someone with the gift you like and make them exchange, hoping for a pass left or pass right.

Since pass left or pass right happens a lot (one third of the time) you generally want to surround yourself with gifts you like.

The cloud of gifts near you pass in and out of your hands.

Exchanging gifts for gifts you like is an obvious strategy which does the exact same thing, seeds the cloud of gifts around you with gifts you like.

If you get take a gift and you are already holding a gift then you can exchange gifts for one you like or if you are already holding a gift you like you can make one of your neighbors exchange gifts with someone holding a gift you like.

In this game the gifts move around a lot. Pass left, pass right, exchange, make others exchange, that's two thirds of the time gifts are moving.

So the winning strategy is to use your choices to surround yourself with gifts you would love to have at the same time sending away gifts you don't really want.

---

With the new rules you can approximate the game length.

Say there are 18 players.

Since the chances are 1 in 6 that a gift will be opened 3 will be opened per round (on average)

Since there are 18 gifts it will be approximately 6 rounds until the last gift is opened.

So, not too long but long enough. I actually like this better than some open ended Dirty Santa rules that run until the players get tired and decide to choose the last gift.

---
Any more comments about the d6 Dirty Santa?