Samuel R. Delany and William Gibson have both been interviewed by The Paris Review in the relatively recent past. Both authors have produced works that have influenced me quite a bit. So I thought I’d link to them in case anyone else was interested.
Category Archives: General Geekness
Recovering From A Hack
No, this isn’t about healing in RPGs. This is about the fact that Strange Stones got hacked a while back and I think I’ve just finished fixing everything. You probably hadn’t noticed, because it was a hack that was designed not to be noticed. But everything should be back to the way I want it to be. I’m actually only mentioning this so that if something seems amiss (like links that aren’t working, etc.) you’ll know what’s up.
So, if you do happen to see something that’s not behaving properly, let me know and I’ll get it fixed. In the meantime, please continue to enjoy whatever it is you happen to enjoy about my humble little blog. Cheers!
2012 Gaming Plans Update
Aside
Well bugger. I just found out that one of the guys I game with is running Castle Amber (or at least a variation thereof) for a group I’ve been taking a break from. So that pretty much takes good ol’ X2 off the table for me in 2012. Alas and alack. But that’s ok – it just helps me focus a bit. Against The Giants, here I come
(My Dreams Of) Gaming Plans For 2012 (Because You Care)
So the Thanksgiving game happened. It was a WWII commando raid using a Mini Six/D6 Adventure mashup and it was a blast. But I’m not here to talk about it. Not right now, anyway. I’m gunning to do that a little later on, when I’m ready to post the materials I put together for the game. Nope, instead I’m here to talk about what I’m hoping to run next.
First up, sometime during the Winter Solstice Holidays break, I’m hoping to pull off a BASH game for a friend, his 13 year old son, and maybe a few other folks. I’m currently thinking Golden Age/WWII supers kicking fascist ass in Europe. But the ideas are swirling and unformed at this point, so who knows what (if anything) will ultimately come to pass?
After that, I’m pondering a few possibilities:
- Some kind of hard(-ish) SciFi using good ol’ Classic Traveller and some Stars Without Number action
- Labyrinth Lord/AEC romps through either the Against The Giants series or maybe Castle Amber, The Lost City, or some other classic modules
- A BRP- (or possibly BoL-) based, Mythic Russia-fueled, Russian fantasy game
- A Mini Six (with add-ons from Open D6) or Mercenaries, Spies, And Private Eyes 80s-style espionage game
- A Call of Cthulhu Dreamlands miniseries (probably not until the CoC game I’m playing in wraps up, though)
- A BRP/Renaissance (or maybe Tunnels & Trolls or Honor + Intrigue) black powder fantasy adventure
- Droids. Seriously. Either with the original rules (unlikely) or with something else (D6, maybe?)
just to name a few (in no particular order). All of this is subject to change (i.e., my whims and interests) and player buy-in, of course.
That’s Great And All, But What About Giving Us Some Sweet Gaming Content, Pao?
Yeah, I know. My content output has absolutely tanked of late (and, honestly, not-so-late). I’m struggling with that, really. Part of me wants to be cranking out stuff like I had been, but another part just isn’t inclined to spend the time on it. So it’s not quite burnout, per se. It’s more a case of conflicting interests and such. So to answer the question that I asked on no one in particular’s behalf, “Reply hazy. Try again later.”
Testing the new toy…
Happy Stand-Alone-Aversary To Me!
I keep hoping I’ll be able to get back into a serious swing, but for the moment, all I have to offer is my charming demeanor and the occasional tidbit for whatever game catches my fancy at the moment. With any luck, the impending arrival of a shiny new (and deeply discounted) HP TouchBook will somehow make my life easier and I’ll be able to bang out even more fun stuff for your twisted little eyes to feast upon.
Meanwhile, why not spin your way through some of the Strange Stones back catalog, like the Demons of Adad Untash (demony goodness for Labyrinth Lord), the Labyrinth Lord Rogues Gallery, Tlactoztlan (a Meso American setting for Barbarians of Lemuria), my series of 5 Room Dungeons for Mini Six/Open D6, or the Downloads page (where, amongst the other artifacts, you can find regular reader G-Man’s outstanding BoL adventures)?
I won’t even attempt to predict the future of what you might find here at Strange Stones, but if the stars are really right and the Big C himself doesn’t come eat my soul, there might just be some more Nogoloth, November Company, and Narakam action headed your way. Or maybe just some stuff that doesn’t start with the letter N.
Cheers, amigos!
Swords & Sorcery Pinball
Remember pinball? The folks at Pinballz Arcade in Austin sure do. They’ve got some great older games, including a Star Trek: The Motion Picture-themed machine and one for the Six Million Dollar Man. But the coolest stuff had to be these crazy late 70s/early 80s fantasy-flavored games.
Lost World and Paragon appeared to be part of a series featuring the same horned-helmet wearing barbarian who just happened to be gifted with leathery, green bat wings. I wanna play that guy. Actually, there might just be an entire setting that could be built from the names and situations show on these pinball machines. I’ll have to go back to Pinballz with more of an eye towards making notes sometime.
Sadly, the Gorgar machine was out of order today. But it’s bound to be aces, too.
Happy Birthday, Neptune!
As of today, Neptune – my second favorite planet (of the ones upon which I do not live) – marks the completion of its first full orbit around the sun since our earthly eyes discovered its existence. It’s a cool “Hooray science & mathematics!” type of story, if you don’t know it.
I hope El Santo Negro and some other brave luchas will save us from the Neptunian MonsterMen if they ever show up!
You Do Know Bat, Don’t You?
Link
Wine of the Moon, from Bat.














