Happy GM's Day 2010

You read it right, today is GM's Day. This is the annual celebration of those people who put their creativity on the line to run a game. Often undervalued and overlooked, today is the day when we say Thank You.

"He regularly stabs, mangles, perforates, burns, and otherwise damages your precious character. He delights in torturing your PC's emotions, thwarting their every plan, denying every desire. And you love your GM for just these things and more!" (Source: EnWorld)

As a bit of fun I suggest you check out You Know your GM's Evil When on the excellent blog GeekNative. It compiles nearly 4 years worth of suggestions from the popular poll of the same name from the GameWyrd website (the predecessor to GeekNative). I'm pretty sure you can find something from that list that makes you think of your GM. Bless em.

To celebrate the day, many publishers and online retailers are offering discounts. For details check out the ENWorld news page.

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Mr Evil GM sir, I Salute You.

My frugal year

I'm trying to save a bit of money this year and that means being a bit restrained with my gaming purchases for a while. I'm taking my inspiration from the excellent blog A Year of Frugal Gaming. The problem is the more I try to reduce my list of wants the longer it gets. So I'm going back to basics and trying to adopt a wartime attitude of make-do-and-mend.

1) Paint the models I already have. Like most gamers I have loads of unpainted lead. If I'm honest there's little I really need to buy that I haven't already got. If I do decide to buy something new It must have a specific purpose (rather than "Ooooo Must Have!!!").

2) Sort out my modeling box to see what I have. I thought I'd run out of Superglue the other day and was about to pop out and get some more when I found five (!) unopened tubes in the bottom of my toolbox. This does raise the question - why did I buy them in the first place... what can anyone want with five tubes of superglue at one time? (Please keep your answers clean).

3) Borrow other gamers stuff. Why buy a new game when you can borrow a mates copy, scuff the corners of the box, crease the spine of the rulebook and then give it back? Seriously though, when you are part of a group of gamers it makes sense to buy widely and share rather then purchase multiple copies of games that will get played only once.

4) Dig out some old games. Some of the best nights gaming my group has had in the last 12 months have been when we got an old game out and revisited our roots. As well as being a cheep night in its also a chance to remind yourself why you started gaming in the first place.

5) Buy smart. I always go to conventions and trade shows with a shopping list. The problem is that list often includes items that are purely 'treat items' and will probably never get played with. I'm all in favor of the occasional impulse buy but if your trying to save money you have to reign it in. Make a shopping list before you go to a show but keep focused on what you need, not what you want.

6) Buy Second Hand. You can get some great bargains on bring-and-buy stalls at conventions. The downside is it can be a bit of a scrum trying to get to the front, but now and again you can find some excellent stuff on sale. Obviously your limited to what is on sale and its hard to plan ahead for the B&B but be prepared to pounce on that bargain when you see it. Its also worth revisiting the Bring & Buy several times as stock is constantly replenished at the larger shows.

7) Sell some stuff. Another excellent place to buy second hand stuff is Ebay. So long as you don't let yourself get carried away and get into a bidding war with someone else you can pick stuff up very cheep. However the real beauty of Ebay is the ease with which you can sell old books, games and models. Any money you raise can refill the piggy bank for that special purchase.

8) Shop Around. I'm a big fan of the Friendly Local gaming Store (FLGS) but sometimes you just can't beat the Internet on price. These days there are so many retailers, large and small, out there that your bound to save some money by looking around. The thing to watch is Postage costs, as this is usually the deal breaker if your looking for the best price available.

9) Do commissions. This might not be to everyones taste or ability but if you can, try getting someone to pay you to paint. Try to agree a price before you start so everyone knows what to expect. This might end up being a nice little earner, or it might just be a little sideline that adds a few quid to the pot.

10) Play more. Next time you feel the urge to go online and buy something to cheer yourself up, STOP! Go get a game out and play instead. Make it your mission to get your moneys worth out of every game your own.

I'm sure they are loads more ideas out there for saving money and still enjoying your hobby. Me, I'm saving money for my trip to Tankfest in June and a new camera latter in the year. I can have both if focus my spending instead of frittering away my meagre resources.

RiP S+F+D

Just came across this picture and it made me chuckle. This is one of those images that has a whole backstory built into it. The more detail you see the more story you discover.

I always knew Velma was the tough one.

Lost Symbols

No this isn't a Dan Brown book review, I'm thinking about dungeon mapping symbols. Following on from my post about maps on Saturday I started to think about what a typical dungeon map needs in order to succeed - and by succeed I mean convey its information in a clear and readable way. The answer is an old one, dating to the first ever maps: symbols and a key to understand them.

Map symbols reduce a complex piece of information to a single and instantly understood marker on a sheet of paper or parchment. The classic symbol for a church on most maps is a small circle or square surmounted by a cross. The symbol is universal in its simplicity and economical in its size and is therefore ideal for use on a map that may contain lots of information. This was recognised very early on in D&D and I recently re-discovered an excellent example from the D&D Red Box set (the 1983 edition).

I haven't seen this key to map symbols in years yet amazingly I still use many of the visual short cuts listed here. More interestingly were those that I had forgotten such as the Rotating Door and the One Way Secret Door. For an old D&D player like me seeing this key brought back a lot of good memories of simple maps and great adventures. But it also got me excited about map making again.