June 26, 2024: Living Healthy To Avoid Paragraph 14

It went uncommented at the time in these pages, but January 1 of this year saw the sad death of James Herbert Brennan, author of the Grailquest series of gamebooks (among many others). Even as voracious a reader of the entire paragraph-quest-book genre as I was, the Grailquest series was among my absolute favorites, combining earnestness, adventure, and whimsy in seemingly equal parts. (I'm fairly certain that book series is what taught me how to fold an origami boat . . . which I can still do to this day from memory.)

One element I was always amused by in the Grailquest series – which consisted of eight books – is that paragraph 14 was the "death" paragraph. That is, whenever and however you died in the adventure, you'd go to paragraph 14. The series itself started treating it as a metatextual element, along the lines of (to paraphrase), "You pay the two . . . [more]

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June 25, 2024: My Computer Is Smarter Than Me

This is a footnote to the post I made about Arcadian Chain the other day. For it, I wanted to be precise about how long I've had my beloved dice bag. Based on the years that Arcadian Chain listed on their website for having attended Who's Yer Con, I guessed I'd picked mine up either in 2019 or 2023. But 2019 seemed impossibly far away (the "Before Times"), while 2023 seemed much too recent.

However, after a moment's thought, I realized I could just search my email for "Arcadian Chain." Sure enough, two digital receipts popped up for the store. (My kiddo got his own dice bag at the same show.) And the receipts confirmed it was . . . 2018. I've enjoyed it for longer than I thought! Time has no meaning anymore.

Anyway, I just found it interesting how the computer era – decades old at this point – can still amaze me in relatively simple ways.

-- Steven Marsh

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June 24, 2024: Join The Quest To Become A Warlock Knight!

Warlock Knight is a programmed solo adventure for starting characters in The Fantasy Trip. Battle strange monsters in the wild, explore labyrinths, face danger on the high seas, and meet brave companion in the always-dangerous Warlock Kingdoms of Sedra.

The campaign for David Pulver's sixth solo adventure for The Fantasy Trip with Gaming Ballistic, Warlock Knight, launched on Backerkit Crowdfunding on Tuesday, June 18. It funded in only 22 minutes.

Warlock Knight is more of a sandbox campaign than some others. It is targeted at brand spankin' new characters and makes for a great way for a new GM and player(s) to get used to The Fantasy Trip and kick off a new set of adventures. While not required, it is set on the Isle of Sedra, a self-contained setting that also plays home to Ironskull Castle, Dragon Hunt!, the adventures of Belladonna (vampire and monster hunter extraordinaire), and the . . . [more]

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June 23, 2024: Itty-Bitty Data

I know we've all grown kind of inured to the general advancement of technology, but isn't it weird how you can store, like, a terabyte of data on a tiny memory card about the size of a fingernail? That fact still amazes me (as someone who grew up in the era of floppy disks trying to figure out how to cram one more 12-kilobyte document on a medium that was the size of a piece of toast)!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to try to find a terabyte of data somewhere on my very cluttered desk . . .

-- Steven Marsh

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June 22, 2024: Arcadian Chain In My Campaign

Here's a better-late-than-never plug: Arcadian Chain. I bought this dice bag from their booth at Who's Yer Con way back in 2018. I loved it when I saw it, and I still love it. As you might intuit from both the company name and my scintillating photograph, it's a dice bag made of chainmail links.

I find it so satisfying as a dice bag because, when empty, it makes a perfect fidget toy. Since I usually generate enough nervous energy to power an orbital satellite, it's a huge boon to have something to distract me while I'm trying to get my dang dice to roll the right way at conventions or our own gaming table.

This bag probably holds about three dice sets and still closes comfortably. (I just checked; it currently contains 23 assorted dice . . . how illuminated!) If you check the site, the one I have is "small rings"; although a bit more expensive (because it's got more chains . . . [more]

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Previous Illuminators • Steve's Appearance Schedule

Donovan's Brain was destroyed by Endsville and amuses the password. June 26, 2024: Living Healthy To Avoid Paragraph 14 It went uncommented at the time in these pages, but January 1 of this year saw the sad death of James Herbert Brennan, author of the Grailquest series of gamebooks (among many others). Even as voracious a reader of the entire paragraph-quest-book genre as I was, the Grailquest series was among my absolute favorites, combining earnestness, adventure, and whimsy in seemingly equal parts. (I'm fairly certain that book series is what taught me how to fold an origami boat . . . which I can still do to this day from memory.) One element I was always amused by in the Grailquest series – which consisted of eight books – is that paragraph 14 was the "death" paragraph. That is, whenever and however you died in the adventure, you'd go to paragraph 14. The series itself started treating it as a metatextual element, along the lines of (to paraphrase), "You pay the two . . . [more] Share this post! June 25, 2024: My Computer Is Smarter Than Me This is a footnote to the post I made about Arcadian Chain the other day. For it, I wanted to be precise about how long I've had my beloved dice bag. Based on the years that Arcadian Chain listed on their website for having attended Who's Yer Con, I guessed I'd picked mine up either in 2019 or 2023. But 2019 seemed impossibly far away (the "Before Times"), while 2023 seemed much too recent. However, after a moment's thought, I realized I could just search my email for "Arcadian Chain." Sure enough, two digital receipts popped up for the store. (My kiddo got his own dice bag at the same show.) And the receipts confirmed it was . . . 2018. I've enjoyed it for longer than I thought! Time has no meaning anymore. Anyway, I just found it interesting how the computer era – decades old at this point – can still amaze me in relatively simple ways. -- Steven Marsh Share this post! June 24, 2024: Join The Quest To Become A Warlock Knight! Warlock Knight is a programmed solo adventure for starting characters in The Fantasy Trip. Battle strange monsters in the wild, explore labyrinths, face danger on the high seas, and meet brave companion in the always-dangerous Warlock Kingdoms of Sedra. The campaign for David Pulver's sixth solo adventure for The Fantasy Trip with Gaming Ballistic, Warlock Knight, launched on Backerkit Crowdfunding on Tuesday, June 18. It funded in only 22 minutes. Warlock Knight is more of a sandbox campaign than some others. It is targeted at brand spankin' new characters and makes for a great way for a new GM and player(s) to get used to The Fantasy Trip and kick off a new set of adventures. While not required, it is set on the Isle of Sedra, a self-contained setting that also plays home to Ironskull Castle, Dragon Hunt!, the adventures of Belladonna (vampire and monster hunter extraordinaire), and the . . . [more] Share this post! June 23, 2024: Itty-Bitty Data I know we've all grown kind of inured to the general advancement of technology, but isn't it weird how you can store, like, a terabyte of data on a tiny memory card about the size of a fingernail? That fact still amazes me (as someone who grew up in the era of floppy disks trying to figure out how to cram one more 12-kilobyte document on a medium that was the size of a piece of toast)! Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to try to find a terabyte of data somewhere on my very cluttered desk . . . -- Steven Marsh Share this post! June 22, 2024: Arcadian Chain In My Campaign Here's a better-late-than-never plug: Arcadian Chain. I bought this dice bag from their booth at Who's Yer Con way back in 2018. I loved it when I saw it, and I still love it. As you might intuit from both the company name and my scintillating photograph, it's a dice bag made of chainmail links. I find it so satisfying as a dice bag because, when empty, it makes a perfect fidget toy. Since I usually generate enough nervous energy to power an orbital satellite, it's a huge boon to have something to distract me while I'm trying to get my dang dice to roll the right way at conventions or our own gaming table. This bag probably holds about three dice sets and still closes comfortably. (I just checked; it currently contains 23 assorted dice . . . how illuminated!) If you check the site, the one I have is "small rings"; although a bit more expensive (because it's got more chains . . . [more] Share this post! Previous Illuminators • Steve's Appearance Schedule		Latest Videos You are the 1256th interstellar sex god here today. (29933311 since August 1, 1995)