CAR-PGa Newsletter December 2020

CAR-PGa NEWSLETTER

Vol. 29, No. 12

An international network of researchers into all aspects of role-playing games

December 2020

David Millians, Editor

Paideia School, 1509 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA

millians.david@paideiaschool.org

LETTER FROM THE CHAIR

Hi All,

November is an opportunity to reflect on our blessings and be thankful for what we have. As the recent passing of a player in my high school gaming group reminded me, good health and a supportive family are definitely blessings. Similarly, having a great gaming group who meets with you consistently is an increasingly rare thing in our busy adult world. I'm blessed to have a virtual group who puts aside a few hours on a Sunday night to join my Fifth Edition Dungeons & Dragons game.

But good health can be fleeting. At the beginning of the pandemic we shared an infographic about how to game safely, and one of the challenges in sharing it was that countries disagreed on how many people you should game with. That seems like forever ago, and now we have more concrete answers. The dreaded winter surge is upon us, when people retreat indoors for the holidays and when tabletop RPGs thrive. In that regard, playing RPGs around a table has much in common with a poker game or board game night: it's clusters of people sitting within six feet of each other talking (and hopefully, laughing). All of this, we now know, makes games a perfect vector to spread the virus.

And that's a problem, because in the U.S. the Center for Disease Control has come to the conclusion that it's not enough to avoid "close contact" (within six feet) with someone for 15 consecutive minutes ... it's a CUMULATIVE 15 consecutive minutes with anyone outside your bubble. As this case in a Vermont prison demonstrates, contact with people who show no symptoms is risky, even if individually that contact was under 15 minutes each. 

What does this mean for gamers? If you're gaming in-person with people who are not part of your bubble, you're at risk, mask or no mask. We all know not to attend mass gatherings, but now the virus has shown up at our tables. Oregon announced a pause in counties with pandemic spikes, limiting gatherings to no more than six people. That's the size of my virtual group.

The good news is there's multiple vaccines on the horizon for 2021. But in the short-term we have to change the behaviors we cherish most, because it's spreading the virus even faster than before. Until we get through the holidays and can receive a vaccine, if you're thinking of playing in-person with people outside your bubble, DON'T. There are plenty of virtual options to keep a game going. While it doesn't beat in-person gaming, it's better than infecting seven people while playing a dice game. 

Please wear a mask, wash your hands, and stay safe.

Sincerely,

Mike Tresca

Committee Chair

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

It’s a short, sparse issue this month, though with some important words from Mike above, as well as some fascinating links in the New Material just below.

This newsletter runs on input, ideas, reviews, and articles (short or long) from readers, so, please, if you have something you’d be willing to share, I would enjoy hearing from you and disseminating your thoughts to a wide audience interested in a wide range of subjects related to game advocacy.

I wish you all well and hope your 2020 closes well. See you in the new year!

David

NEW MATERIAL

FROM DAVID MILLIANS

Carter, Chase (2020 Nov 10) D&D combat wheelchair designer releases free resources for approaching disability in the Witcher TRPG. https://www.dicebreaker.com/games/the-witcher-trpg/news/witcher-trpg-disability-resources. Expanding possibilities.

Chhabra, Sameer (2020 Nov 20) Dungeons and Dragons is tackling its history with racism, but this D&D master says more needs to be sone. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/day6/covid-19-trial-volunteer-jonathan-salk-on-vaccine-patents-toy-story-turns-25-d-d-tackles-racism-and-more-1.5809626/dungeons-and-dragons-is-tackling-its-history-with-racism-but-this-d-d-master-says-more-needs-to-be-done-1.5809. Interview with Shawn Taylor on the legacy of Tolkien and white creators.

Home-Douglas, Pierre (2020 Oct) Engaging Ethics. http://www.asee-prism.org/engaging-ethics. College-level classes using media, science fiction, and simulations to teach complex, human subjects.

Jeeyon, Shim (2020 Nov 11) a potentially nuanced and productive conversation for POC to have with each other. https://twitter.com/jeeyonshim/status/1326630326341263361. Open discussion of white people playing non-white characters, especially streaming, in light of controversy about Matthew Mercer’s character in Chris Spivey’s Haunted West Game.

King, Darryn (2020 Dec) The Role-Playing Game That Predicted the Future. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/12/mike-pondsmith-cyberpunk-2077/616924. Mike Pondsmith’s Cyberpunk.

Mehan, Alex (2020 Nov 26) D&D 5E lead designer says improvements to racial depictions will take “several years” to fully implement. https://www.dicebreaker.com/games/dungeons-and-dragons-5e/news/dnd-improvements-racial-depictions-take-years. Interview with Jeremy Crawford on the impact of Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything and plans for future development.

Rabbit Rabbit (2020 Sep 30) A Game Designer’s Analysis of QAnon. https://medium.com/curiouserinstitute/a-game-designers-analysis-of-qanon-580972548be5. Playing with reality.

Roll20 (2020 Oct 29) Black Lives Matter: Our Progress Update. https://blog.roll20.net/post/633333476019634176/black-lives-matter-our-progress-update. Public accountability featuring Black guest blog, content creators, internal culture, fundraising, and more.

Tidball, Jeff (2020 Nov 30) Why Virtual Tabletop Conventions Fail, and How Organizers Can Fix It. http://www.jefftidball.com/posts/why-virtual-conventions-fail. Timing, scheduling, focus, and making connections.

Verso, Francesco (2020 Nov 16) Let’s Welcome the Future… in China. https://www.blackgate.com/2020/11/16/guest-editorial-lets-welcome-the-future-in-china-2. Energy and imagination emerging in the non-English, non-White world.

FROM HAWKE ROBINSON

Robinson, Hawke (2020 Oct 30) Amazing Month of October. https://www.rpgresearch.com/blog/rpg-research-community-blog-1/post/amazing-october-2020-status-update-8. Lots of news and wonderful updates from RPG Research.

© Copyright 2020 by the Committee for the Advancement of Role-Playing Games (CAR-PGa), ISSN 1071 7129. The CAR-PGa Newsletter is a monthly publication. For more information contact David Millians, Editor, Paideia School, 1509 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA, phone (404) 808-1070, fax (404) 377-3491, e-mail millians.david@paideiaschool.org. Back issues are available. Contributions of material from the membership are urged, and the byline is responsible for content. Deadline is the last weekday of the month, email preferred. Permission is granted to copy anything in the Newsletter, provided we get a credit line in the publication copying it, and it doesn't have someone else's copyright on it. Information, including details on joining CAR-PGa, can be obtained on the Internet at car-pga.org.

CAR-PGa Newsletter November 2020

 CAR-PGa NEWSLETTER

Vol. 29, No. 11

An international network of researchers into all aspects of role-playing games

November 2020

David Millians, Editor

Paideia School, 1509 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA

millians.david@paideiaschool.org

LETTER FROM THE CHAIR

It is with a heavy heart that I report two deaths this month, one you probably know, the other you certainly don’t. They are both important to me.

The first is Len Lakofka, an early contributor to Dungeons & Dragons and friend of co-creator Gary Gygax. He was notable for his articles in Dragon Magazine as well as three adventures for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Designers & Dragons does a fine job of summing up what Mr. Lakofka was known for: 

Lakofka wrote quite a bit of material that ended up in the published Players Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide as a result. However, he says that his biggest contribution was convincing Gygax not to include a “system shock” roll on the Hold Person spell, which would have been a saving-throw-vs-death on a second or third level spell. Lakofka's most famous and well-known contribution to the hobby takes the form of material produced for TSR. He was paid $10,000 for a series of three modules based on his home campaign: L1: The Secret of Bone Hill (1981), L2: The Assassins Knot (1983), and L3: Deep Dwarven Delve (1999). The last was famously lost by Wizards of the Coast and recreated by them from memory.

The other person I’d like to mention is Joe. I met Joe in junior high, and he was one of the first and most loyal players in my D&D campaign. When I ended the game with a massive battle in high school, he was the only player who kept a scrap of paper that I had scribbled an in-game prophecy on. That prophecy proved invaluable when I wrote my trilogy of novels inspired by my D&D campaign. In that game, Joe’s character died abruptly (we were playing AD&D, and he failed his saving throw from a finger of death spell with a natural 1). But his character’s actions would reverberate throughout the campaign. A group of druids established a circle in his name and venerated him as a saint. 

I never imagined Joe, who was three years younger than me, would pass before I did. He died of a massive heart attack at 45. 

In these difficult times we often discuss keeping ourselves safe and sane, but it’s easy to overlook the quiet players on our fringes who love the game but aren’t taking good care of themselves. Joe was nothing but kind and friendly, but personal and health struggles both likely contributed to his sudden death. I stopped gaming with my high school friends years ago. Joe was a casualty of that division, and although we were Facebook friends, we never spoke again.

As I write this, Joe’s ashes are being spread into the sea. I added a dedication to Joe in my second novel (where his character is mentioned). In that way I hope to keep his memory alive. I’ve also been playing the superb Thousand Year Old Vampire by Tim Hutchings. It’s a solo journaling game in which you create a vampire that is eventually undone by their many sins. Because the game forces your character to forget things over time, it brings to the forefront difficult topics like aging, senility, and how we tell ourselves stories to remember our past. Your vampire eventually comes to an end and it provides closure in a way real life often doesn’t. It is a beautiful game that arrived at just the right time to help me grieve. 

There is always “that player” in our game. The quiet one who, for a variety of reasons, may look forward to the game most because things aren’t great in their personal lives. I hope Joe’s passing can serve as a reminder to us all to check in on them. 

Thank you for reading. 

Mike

Committee Chair

ARTICLE

Review: Accessible Gaming Quarterly

By David Millians

An ambitious, promising new magazine has hit the virtual gaming stands last month. Accessible Gaming Quarterly aims to explore and support the intersection of tabletop games with accessibility and disability. These are important issues in society and affect gaming and gamers as well. We all need to work for equity and inclusivity, and this magazine deserves a look.

The editor, Jacob Wood, leads off this first issue with a description of his own degenerative blindness, how it brought him to tabletop gaming, and the games and methods he has used over time to play everything from D&D 3.0 to Fudge. Justin Oldham then explores some of the same of the same challenges from a different angle, especially the advances in technology and the shifting attitudes in society.

T Dave Silva follows with an essay on Batgirl/Oracle and the The Thing and the ways in which their physical differences gave them challenges and opportunities, metaphors for all of us, and Thomas Carter shares the background of a blind orc magician about to begin tales of great discoveries and deeds.

Elsa Sjunneson discusses conventions through the lens of adaptation as a disabled value. Where does a wheelchair park? Where can a guide dog lie down? No one should be invisible, and we should all learn to adapt.

Jacob Wood rounds out this first issue with an in-depth review of Power Outage, Bebarce El-Tayib’s rpg for parents and educators of children with disabilities. I think I need to pick up a copy!

Speaking of getting a copy, the second issue of Accessible Games Quarterly was publicly released late last month in PDF and print forms.

NEW MATERIAL

FROM DAVID MILLIANS

Abad, Tobie (2020 Oct 11) Talk on Filipino Tabletop Games. https://tagsessions.blogspot.com/2020/10/talk-on-filipino-tabletop-games.html. Brief description of presentation on games to the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Appelcline, Shannon (2020 Oct 26) Giants of the Industry: Lenard Lakofka. https://www.rpg.net/columns/advanced-designers-and-dragons/advanced-designers-and-dragons39.phtml. Life and legacy of a beloved creator.

The Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design (2020) Origins Award Winners. https://www.originsawards.net/origins-award-winners. Best Games of 2020.

Byrne, Bob (2020 Oct 26) RIP Lenard Lakofka – Lord of the Lendore Isles. https://www.blackgate.com/2020/10/26/modular-rip-lenoard-lakofka-lord-of-the-lendore-isles. Another exploration of Lakofka’s contributions to tabletop gaming.

Hall, Charlie (2020 Oct 19) Dragonlance authors sue Dungeons & Dragons publisher Wizards of the Coast. https://www.polygon.com/2020/10/19/21523673/dragonlance-authors-weis-hickman-sue-wizards-of-the-coast-dungeons-and-dragons. New trilogy of novels in limbo for now.

Klion, David (2020 Oct 23) The Game That Ruins Friendships and Shapes Careers. https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/10/23/the-game-that-ruins-friendships-and-shapes-careers. The insights provided by Diplomacy and analysis of President Trump official and once fellow-player Michael Ellis.

Lone Shark Games (2020 Oct) October Surprise. https://www.october-surprise.com. Many creators and companies declare their support for Biden-Harris.

Maliszewski, James (2020 Oct 27) A TSR Mystery. http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2020/10/a-tsr-mystery.html. Whatever happened to TSR’s Education Department and its planned educational modules?

Moreno, Jim (2020 Oct 26) Call For Writers Launches to Create Kara-Tur – The Island Kingdoms: Bawa for D&D 5^th Edition. https://www.thegamer.com/kara-tur-island-kingdoms-bawa-dnd-5th-edition. Re-envisioning the problematic, orientalizing D&D 3^rd Edition supplement.

Morrissey, Russ (2020 Oct 19) Dragonlance’s Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman Are Suing WotC for Breach of Contract. https://www.enworld.org/threads/dragonlances-margaret-weis-tracy-hickman-are-suing-wotc-for-breach-of-contract.675697. New Dragonlance novels now in Washington state court.

Petersen, Sandy (2020 Oct 16) I Love Games. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KT8c0ExHftk&feature=youtu.be. Sandy discusses the games that have influenced him as a designer.

Pulsipher, Lewis (2020 Oct 9) How RPG Tools Have Changed. https://www.enworld.org/threads/worlds-of-design-how-rpg-tools-have-changed.674603. Dice, boards, and other pieces over time.

Pulsipher, Lewis (2020 Oct 16) The Chain of Imagination. https://www.enworld.org/threads/worlds-of-design-the-chain-of-imagination.675256. A spectrum of imagination demand by varying nedia from movies to novels with hobby games in between.

Roll20 (2020 Oct 15) The Orr Group Industry Report Q3 2020 – Breakout Hits and Steady  Classics. https://blog.roll20.net/post/632076046197489664/the-orr-group-industry-report-q3-2020-breakout. D7D 5E, Call of Cthulhu, and Pathfinder still dominate, while many games, like Tormenta and inSANe and Lancer, show strong growth in play.

Stacey, John (202 Oct 16) GAMA Announces Efforts to Restructure Membership. https://www.gama.org/news/530914/GAMA-ANNOUNCES-EFFORTS-TO-RESTRUCTURE-MEMBERSHIP.htm. Declaration of intent to increase engagement and diversity.

Thrower, Matt (2020 Oct 12) Friendly local game stores’ struggle to survive during coronavirus. https://www.dicebreaker.com/categories/board-game/feature/flgs-pandemic-survival-struggle. Hope, innovation, and a few grants help UK stores keep afloat for now.

Wizards of the Coast (2020 Oct 27) Heroes’ Feast. https://dnd.wizards.com/heroes-feast. Cookbook for Dungeons & Dragons.

Yorke, Chloe (2020 Oct 23) Genshin Impact, Steam, Call of Duty and Jay Chou Lead China Charge. https://radiichina.com/genshin-impact-steam-call-of-duty-and-jay-chou-china. The world’s largest game market continues to grow and affect gameplay everywhere.

© Copyright 2020 by the Committee for the Advancement of Role-Playing Games (CAR-PGa), ISSN 1071 7129. The CAR-PGa Newsletter is a monthly publication. For more information contact David Millians, Editor, Paideia School, 1509 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA, phone (404) 808-1070, fax (404) 377-3491, e-mail millians.david@paideiaschool.org. Back issues are available. Contributions of material from the membership are urged, and the byline is responsible for content. Deadline is the last weekday of the month, email preferred. Permission is granted to copy anything in the Newsletter, provided we get a credit line in the publication copying it, and it doesn't have someone else's copyright on it. Information, including details on joining CAR-PGa, can be obtained on the Internet at car-pga.org.

CAR-PGa Newsletter September 2020

CAR-PGa NEWSLETTER

 

Vol. 29, No. 9

An international network of researchers into all aspects of role-playing games

September 2020

 

David Millians, Editor

Paideia School, 1509 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA

millians.david@paideiaschool.org

 

 

LETTER FROM THE CHAIR

 

Hello All,

 

We've previously discussed how the role-playing industry has diversified its player base but has been slower to diversify its designers. When Russ Morrissey (who I work for at EN World) recently announced an "advanced" version of the 5E Dungeons & Dragons ruleset, he also announced the new design team. Judging by the team's bios, the full breadth and depth of diversity is represented. This is the way it should be.

 

But it will take time. Moments like a new edition, a new game company, or any other major new initiative are opportunities to broaden the field and bring in diverse voices. This doesn't always happen organically, and for those of us who are already gaming (or even making a living at it!), it's on us to consider how we can offer these sorts of opportunities.

 

Wizards of the Coast is trying. The recently announced Tasha's Cauldron of Everything will feature the ability to "customize your character’s origin using straightforward rules for modifying a character’s racial traits." This change was in response to concerns about how D&D's race system reinforces biological determinism.

 

We're trying too. Please consider sending our Join Us link (https://car-pga.org/join-us/) to gamers you know. Only by growing our membership can we continue to support our mission of bringing games to gamers from all walks of life.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Sincerely,

 

Mike

Committee Chair

 

ARTICLES

 

Amazing Lesson by Barry Stevens

Review by David Millians

 

Primary school teacher Barry Stevens has written a wonderful, personalized but broadly applicable introduction to using the Amazing Tales game system. He begins with the important effects that tabletop gaming has in his own live over many decades. As he began deploying games of various kinds in his own classroom, he discovered even more applications and came across Amazing Tales in the process. The game is designed to be led by an adult and played by one or more children, and it is accessible to children as young as four. After all kids are masters of pretend play, something Amazing Tales and teachers like Stevens leverage in their pedagogy.

 

Stevens discusses the engaging qualities of role playing with his students, as well as the adjustments he makes to handle gaming with groups of a couple dozen young people. Decades ago, when I was first discussing games as educational tools, I often acted as a translator of game terms to education and vice versa, but as Stevens points out, the two have converged in many ways, especially from the education side, so the fit is even easier to make.

 

Stevens brings alive the play and joy his students (and he) have as they learn about a variety of skills and topics. This piece comes across as a conversation with him, as he discussed frameworks like grouping children, each student having a particular role in character creation and play, training some of them to lead their own games, facilitating future lessons. His teacher tech recommendations are also clear and useful. Finally, the effervescent nature of brainstorming with children comes across clearly, something wondrous for teachers willing to experience and work with it. Stevens is bringing wonder into his teaching, education’s most powerful tool

 

Martin Lloyd created Amazing Tales to be a rich, fulfilling role playing game for young people, quick to start and imagine. It now has a number of supplements, both digital and print. Amazing Lessons itself is available for free on DriveThruRPG.

 

NEW MATERIAL

 

FROM DAVID MILLIANS

 

@LorekeeperRPG (2020 Aug 18) The Magic of ‘Harlem Unbound’. https://medium.com/@lorekeeperRPG/the-magic-of-harlem-unbound-6aed13603fda. Review of second edition version and Chris Spivey making new kinds of games and playing them to welcome more people into our hobby.

 

Chen, Qin (2020 Aug 26) Game developer’s sexual comments spark gender debate. https://www.inkstonenews.com/society/game-developers-sexual-comments-spark-gender-debate/article/3098873. Sexism and gatekeeping in video gaming rear their heads in China in 2020.

 

Greenwood, Ed (2020 Aug 18) In Memory Golden. https://www.enworld.org/threads/ed-greenwood-in-memory-golden.674107/. Joy and madness at TSR.

 

Griepp, Milton (2020 Jul 27) Hobby Game Sales Hit $1.675 Billion in 2019. https://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/46196/hobby-game-sales-hit-1-675-billion-2019. RPGs grow 20% year-on-year.

 

Harness, John R (2020 Aug) Knucklebone Magazine. https://knucklebonemag.itch.io/knucklebone-issue-1. New magazine of analog roleplaying culture.

 

Jolin, Dan (2020 Aug 3) The real-life tragedy and sensationalized fantasy behind D&D-inspired movie Mazes and Monsters. https://www.dicebreaker.com/categories/roleplaying-game/feature/mazes-and-monsters-reality-fantasy. The story of James Dallas Egbert III and drama in 1980s USA.

 

Khelil, Khladoun (2020 Jul 28) Racism, Blacklists and Onyx Path Publishing. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qa8rNeqQbGGLpJm7PfMB3z00zcHMVAcobQj_ZRjvNgc/edit. Accusations of racism and lies at the publisher.

 

Kirby, Stacia (2020 Aug 3) Gen Con Online Draws Over 40,000 for Digital-Only Tabletop Convention. https://www.gencon.com/press/gen-con-online-post-show. Adapting and connecting gamers.

 

Kretchmer, Jennifer (2020) Accessibility in Tabletop Resources. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZFSXz-Yva1KZAsP7NblCdkoiQ6RcjxSV2gj98eXusJs/edit. Wide-ranging, helpful links.

 

Lowe, Kenneth (2020 Aug 13) The Cinema of D&D Panic Seems Even Sillier Today. https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/dungeons-and-dragons/cinema-movies-dd/. Movies and the Chick Tract in the rear-view mirror.

 

Machkovech, Sam (2020 Aug 3) A different kind of “gamer” hotline: Free, anonymous emotional support. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/08/a-different-kind-of-gamer-hotline-free-anonymous-emotional-support/. Counseling for people who make and play games.

 

Maliszewski, James (2020 Sep 1) D&D is Everywhere. http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2020/09/d-is-everywhere.html. Joke about rolling for initiative in Nintendo’s update to Animal Crossing.

 

Morrissey, Russ (2020 Aug 2) Congratulations to the 2020 ENnies Winners!. https://www.enworld.org/threads/congratulations-to-the-2020-ennies-winners.673685/. MÖRK BORG wins product of the year.

 

Morrissey, Russ (2020 Aug 5) Roll20 RPG Usage Stats: Growth Everywhere During Pandemic. https://www.enworld.org/threads/roll20-rpg-usage-stats-growth-everywhere-during-pandemic.673773/. Second quarter shows D&D up, Call of Cthulhu down, and huge increase for Cyberpunk Red.

 

Morrissey, Russ (2020 Aug 8) You Have The Power! New Masters of the Universe RPG!. https://www.enworld.org/threads/you-have-the-power-new-masters-of-the-universe-rpg.673871/. Awesome nostalgia gaming.

 

Morrissey, Russ (2020 Aug 18) Owen KC Stephens’ Tabletop RPG Truths #4. https://www.enworld.org/threads/owen-kc-stephens-tabletop-rpg-truths-4.674112/. More insights for the industry and community.

 

Murray, Sean (2020 Aug 11) Disability Advocate Creates D&D Combat Wheelchair, People Can’t Be Cool About It. https://www.thegamer.com/disability-advocate-dd-combat-wheelchair/. Inclusion encounters some jerks. Now available as various miniatures to benefit charity.

 

Petersen, Sandy (2020 Jul 24) Enemies of fun! (and DOOM). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6kpIIqOM4A. Sandy recalls past criticisms and contemporary responses.

 

Schmitz, Rob (2020 Aug 4) Sales of ‘Settlers Of Catan’ Skyrocket During Coronavirus Crisis. https://www.npr.org/2020/08/04/898853332/sales-of-settlers-of-catan-skyrocket-during-coronavirus-crisis. Renewed popularity of board games.

 

Schmitz, Rob (2020 Aug 7) Families Stuck At Home Turn To Board Game Catan, Sending Sales Skyrocketing. https://www.npr.org/2020/08/07/897271885/families-stuck-at-home-turn-to-board-game-catan-sending-sales-skyrocketing. Development of Teuber’s boardgame masterpiece.

 

Soloski, Alexis (2020 Aug 7) Gods, Monsters and H.P. Lovecraft’s Uncanny Legacy. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/07/arts/television/hp-lovecraft.html. Author’s influence, biases, and contemporary interpretation.

 

Wood, Jacob (2020 Aug 25) Accessible Gaming Quarterly Issue 1 Now Available. http://www.accessiblegames.biz/accessible-gaming-quarterly-issue-1/. Inaugural issue of new accessibility and disability magazine.

 

FROM MIKE TRESCA

 

Tresca, Mike (2020 Aug 4) Why the New D&D Board Game is a Big Deal. https://www.enworld.org/threads/why-the-new-d-d-board-game-is-a-big-deal.673660/. Produced by Hasbro, not Wizards of the Coast.

 

Tresca, Mike (2020 Aug 11) The Triumph and Tragedy of “Free”. https://www.enworld.org/threads/the-triumph-and-tragedy-of-free.673873/. OGLs, free product models, and you get what you pay for.

 

Tresca, Mike (2020 Aug 18) Robots & Cyborgs & Oz, Oh My!. https://www.enworld.org/threads/robots-cyborgs-oz-oh-my.674044/. Books, movies, and books influence one another.

 

Tresca, Mike (2020 Aug 25) Where’s the American Fantasy RPG?. https://www.enworld.org/threads/wheres-the-american-fantasy-rpg.674245/. Is it Gamma World?

 

Tresca, Mike (2020 Sep 1) The Building Blocks of Oz-Inspired American Fantasy RPGs. https://www.enworld.org/threads/the-building-blocks-of-oz-inspired-american-fantasy-rpgs.674376/. Pastorality, archetypical roles, and inhabitants.

 

© Copyright 2020 by the Committee for the Advancement of Role-Playing Games (CAR-PGa), ISSN 1071 7129. The CAR-PGa Newsletter is a monthly publication. For more information contact David Millians, Editor, Paideia School, 1509 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA, phone (404) 808-1070, fax (404) 377-3491, e-mail millians.david@paideiaschool.org. Back issues are available. Contributions of material from the membership are urged, and the byline is responsible for content. Deadline is the last weekday of the month, email preferred. Permission is granted to copy anything in the Newsletter, provided we get a credit line in the publication copying it, and it doesn't have someone else's copyright on it. Information, including details on joining CAR-PGa, can be obtained on the Internet at car-pga.org.

CAR-PGa Newsletter August 2020

CAR-PGa NEWSLETTER

 

Vol. 29, No. 8

An international network of researchers into all aspects of role-playing games

August 2020

 

David Millians, Editor

Paideia School, 1509 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA

millians.david@paideiaschool.org

 

LETTER FROM THE CHAIR

 

 

Hi All,

 

Two years ago I wrote an article questioning if Dungeons & Dragons should continue to use the word "race." Comicbook.com revisited a similar topic, using orcs as an example of how broad tropes associated with race can be problematic in a modern context. The counterpoint was a blog post in Psychology Today that rejected that the concept of race implies any “biological essentialism.” At least in part due to the orc controversy and the Black Lives Matter movement in general, Wizards of the Coast released a diversity statement addressing some of the concerns:

 

We present orcs and drow in a new light in two of our most recent books, Eberron: Rising from the Last War and Explorer's Guide to Wildemount. In those books, orcs and drow are just as morally and culturally complex as other peoples. We will continue that approach in future books, portraying all the peoples of D&D in relatable ways and making it clear that they are as free as humans to decide who they are and what they do.

 

On a similar topic, Oriental Adventures was thrust into the spotlight by the podcast Asians Represent, who took a deep dive into issues raised by the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons supplement involving Orientalism and bias. I explored some of these concerns in 2018.  Wizards of the Coast added a disclaimer to the original Oriental Adventures:

 

We recognize that some of the legacy content available on this website, does not reflect the values of the Dungeon & Dragons franchise today. Some older content may reflect ethnic, racial and gender prejudice that were commonplace in American society at that time. These depictions were wrong then and are wrong today. This content is presented as it was originally created, because to do otherwise would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed. Dungeons & Dragons teaches that diversity is a strength, and we strive to make our D&D products as welcoming and inclusive as possible. This part of our work will never end.

 

It is only natural that as the player base grows, it diversifies. What both of these issues have in common is that D&D is being looked at with fresh eyes and they are taking issue with the game.

As Paizo has already demonstrated by changing "race" to "ancestry” in the second edition of Pathfinder, games change to reflect their players.  If we want tabletop role-playing games to continue to reach new and different players, rather than tell those new players they’re wrong, I hope we welcome the dialogue.

 

Thank you for reading.

 

Sincerely,

 

Mike

Committee Chair

 

ARTICLES

 

DIE by Kieron Gillen et al.

Review by M. Alan Thomas II

 

The popular and critically acclaimed comics writer Kieron Gillen currently has a series running called DIE (punning on both the thing you roll and what happens to all life in the end). The one-sentence plot blurb is a riff on the old "players get sucked into an RPG as their characters" trope, but it's one with entire bibliographies of authoritative sources on the history of RPGs, the Satanic Panic, the video game industry, the Brontë siblings (including Branwell), and presumably more to come, along with essays on worldbuilding, plot structure, influences, &c.

 

The first volume is currently a finalist for the Hugo for Best Graphic Story or Comic (along with the final volume of one of Gillen's other series).

 

The author has also written an actual RPG of the comic which is being playtested by himself and fans and revised as the series progresses. In it, you create the players of the RPG that will suck them into it, step away from the table, and return in character to play those players making their characters in the game-within-a-game. The real meat is then the negotiation of the fictional players' interests in remaining in the game world or not, and how those might be resolved. . . .

 

Anyway, if you're interested in the underlying research, you should definitely get each compilation volume through your local library as they come out and check out the bibliographies and essays.

 

ISBNs for ease of finding:

Vol. 1: 978-1534312708

Vol. 2: 978-1534314979

Vol. 3: 978-1534317161 (currently slated for December)

 

Film Review: Secrets of Blackmoor

By Ted Skirvin

 

I recently watched a documentary called Secrets of Blackmoor: The True History of D&D. Dave Arneson was the focus of the film. The film did go into the war game roots and early proto-RPGs of the late 1960's. It talked about Dave Wesley's Braunstein games and Arneson's involvement in them. The latter part of the film seems to emphasize Arneson as the most important person in regard to development of this type of game. The film makers did interview many of the folks who were around for the beginnings of RPGs. Bob Bledsaw, Jr. also gets a few seconds of screen time. All in all, it was fascinating from a historical perspective. 

 

I rented the film from Amazon Prime for $5. It was 2 hours and 11 minutes long. There was a blurb at the end about a sequel documentary.

 

NEW MATERIAL

 

FROM DAVID MILLIANS

 

Bidaux, Thomas (2020 Jul 7) State o Kickstarter: Mid Year Update & Covid-19 impact. https://medium.com/icopartners/state-of-kickstarter-2020-mid-year-update-2b1677ccc8bb. Fewer game projects but higher money totals than ever.

 

ChaosOS (2020 Jul 7) Older D&D Books on DMs Guild Now Have A Disclaimer. https://www.enworld.org/threads/older-d-d-books-on-dms-guild-now-have-a-disclaimer.673147/. Earlier titles now come with a caution that they may reflect outmoded ways of thinking.

 

Dungeon Masters Guild (2020 Jul 2) Thank you, everyone, for being patient with us the past couple of days. https://twitter.com/dms_guild/status/1278809064756006912. Dungeon Masters Guild addresses criticism of their art policies. See creator Oliver Clegg’s tweet for more details.

 

Dunwoody, Charles (2020 Jul 28) D6 Thins to Do with RPGs Besides Play Them. https://www.enworld.org/threads/d6-things-to-do-with-rpgs-besides-play-them.673145/. From reading to modeling, the many ways we can enjoy games.

 

Editor (2020 Jul 1) Cards Against Humanity Workers Unionize. https://tabletopwire.com/cards-against-humanity-workers-unionize/. The company will recognize the union.

 

Editor (2020 Jul 7) Tabletop Industry Paycheck Protection Plan Data. https://tabletopwire.com/tabletop-industry-paycheck-protection-program-data/. Companies receiving more than $150,000.

 

Editor (2020 Jul 30) ‘Black Excellence in Gaming’ Wins 2020 Diana Jones Award. https://tabletopwire.com/black-excellence-in-gaming-wins-2020-diana-jones-award/. Over twenty black creators honored specifically as part of broad call to “mend the rifts that pull us apart in our industry and the world at large.”.

 

Editor (2020 Jul 30) Games Workshop Records Another Record Year Despite Pandemic Closures. https://tabletopwire.com/games-workshop-records-another-record-year-despite-pandemic-closures/. Best year in company’s history, but no new retail stores until at least 2021.

 

Editor

 

Garcia, Janet (2018 Sep 24) Woman Who’s Just ‘One of the Guys’ in D&D Group Roleplaying as Someone Who Doesn’t Find Them Sexist. https://thehardtimes.net/harddrive/woman-whos-just-one-of-the-guys-in-dnd-group/. Clever satire of women’s experience at the table.

 

Lasanta, Eloy (2020 Jul 6) Gaming While Black: RPG Community, Industry, and Winning at the ENnies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P5Ods-e3No&feature=emb_logo. Seeing ourselves in games, the hobby, and the community.

 

Modak, Sebastian (2020 Jul 24) Amid a pandemic and a racial reckoning, ‘D&D’ finds itself at an inflection point. https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2020/07/24/amid-pandemic-racial-reckoning-dd-finds-itself-an-inflection-point/. Controversy and community in the spring of 2020.

 

Mōdipiüs Entertainment (2020 Jul 27) A Statement About Adam Koebel. https://www.modiphius.net/blogs/news/a-statement-about-adam-koebel. Publisher and author part ways over his behavior on Far Verona livestream game.

 

Morrissey, Russ (2020 Jul 2) WotC’s Jeremy Crawford Talks D&D Alignment Changes. https://www.enworld.org/threads/wotcs-jeremy-crawford-talks-d-d-alignment-changes.673029/. Alignment as a suggested inclination, open to GM determination.

 

Morrissey, Russ (2020 Jul 4) Owen Stephens Continues ‘Real Game Industry’ Posts. https://www.enworld.org/threads/owen-stephens-continues-real-game-industry-posts.673069/. Trying to make a living under criticism.

 

Pulsipher, Lewis (2020 ) Worlds of Design: Is Combat Now Passe?. https://www.enworld.org/threads/worlds-of-design-is-combat-now-passe.673144/. The many options of contemporary RPG.

 

Redmond, J. (2020 Jul 4) Orion Black No Longer a D&D Designer. https://www.enworld.org/threads/orion-black-no-longer-a-d-d-designer.673067/. Strong and troubling criticism and examples from a WotC “diversity hire” on his resignation.

 

Vincentelli, Elisabeth (2020 Jul 2) Queer kids, Nerds, and Sword Fights: It’s the Hot School Play. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/02/theater/she-kills-monsters-qui-nguyen.html. The growing popularity and variety of Qui Nguyen’s play “She Kills Monsters”.

 

FROM MIKE TRESCA

 

Tresca, Mike (2020 Jul 7) D&D, Conan, and He-Man: Toys That Never Were. https://www.enworld.org/threads/d-d-conan-and-he-man-toys-that-never-were.672956/. D&D’s influence on action toys.

 

Tresca, Mike (2020 Jul 19) Retiring as a Game Designer. https://www.enworld.org/threads/retiring-as-a-game-designer.673371/. The challenges of retiring or never retiring.

 

Tresca, Mike (2020 Jul 27) secrets of RPG Success: Interview with Phil Reed. https://www.enworld.org/threads/secrets-of-rpg-success-interview-with-phil-reed.673505/. Making a living as a game creator.

 

FROM TED SKIRVIN

 

Blum, Jeremy (2020 Jul 11) ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Book ‘Oriental Adventures’ Receives a Sensitivity Disclaimer. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/dungeons-and-dragons-oriental-adventures-disclaimer-214922516.html. More on the critique of older D&D titles and the harassment of Daniel Kwan.

 

© Copyright 2020 by the Committee for the Advancement of Role-Playing Games (CAR-PGa), ISSN 1071 7129. The CAR-PGa Newsletter is a monthly publication. For more information contact David Millians, Editor, Paideia School, 1509 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA, phone (404) 808-1070, fax (404) 377-3491, e-mail millians.david@paideiaschool.org. Back issues are available. Contributions of material from the membership are urged, and the byline is responsible for content. Deadline is the last weekday of the month, email preferred. Permission is granted to copy anything in the Newsletter, provided we get a credit line in the publication copying it, and it doesn't have someone else's copyright on it. Information, including details on joining CAR-PGa, can be obtained on the Internet at car-pga.org.