Contrarian
@pataverse.com
I have nothing to sell you. I'm just a boy who never stopped loving AD&D.
I'm genuinely surprised no outraged Antepodean ever wrote a "Animals of Australia" article for Dragon Magazine. (Looks like @bruceheard.bsky.social did a few for #BECMI, though, because the Princess Ark went everywhere.)
December 31, 2025 at 9:29 PM
I'm genuinely surprised no outraged Antepodean ever wrote a "Animals of Australia" article for Dragon Magazine. (Looks like @bruceheard.bsky.social did a few for #BECMI, though, because the Princess Ark went everywhere.)
I'm only like half-joking. There's a psionic discipline in the AD&D Players Handbook that goes out of its way to imply #marsupials are harder to control than other mammals, but the game didn't have any marsupials to control.
December 31, 2025 at 9:29 PM
I'm only like half-joking. There's a psionic discipline in the AD&D Players Handbook that goes out of its way to imply #marsupials are harder to control than other mammals, but the game didn't have any marsupials to control.
#ForFucksSake -- @usatoday.com does a human interest story on Black #MTG players, and the Facebook comments go "All Nerds Matter" on the story.
AND USAToday's website is suggesting questions about Somalis and fraud? The #SystemicRacism has infected the #AI!
www.usatoday.com/story/money/...
AND USAToday's website is suggesting questions about Somalis and fraud? The #SystemicRacism has infected the #AI!
www.usatoday.com/story/money/...
December 31, 2025 at 8:03 PM
#ForFucksSake -- @usatoday.com does a human interest story on Black #MTG players, and the Facebook comments go "All Nerds Matter" on the story.
AND USAToday's website is suggesting questions about Somalis and fraud? The #SystemicRacism has infected the #AI!
www.usatoday.com/story/money/...
AND USAToday's website is suggesting questions about Somalis and fraud? The #SystemicRacism has infected the #AI!
www.usatoday.com/story/money/...
Tim Kask was a curmudgeon and a Killer DM, and I'll miss him for both those things. #RIP #TimKask
www.enworld.org/threads/tim-...
www.enworld.org/threads/tim-...
December 31, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Tim Kask was a curmudgeon and a Killer DM, and I'll miss him for both those things. #RIP #TimKask
www.enworld.org/threads/tim-...
www.enworld.org/threads/tim-...
I think most game designers would avoid a revision so diametrically opposite of the original rule, but #Gygax wasn't always that dogmatic. As he often said in his later years, #ADnD is a game not a combat simulator.
www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewt...
www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewt...
December 24, 2025 at 2:37 AM
I think most game designers would avoid a revision so diametrically opposite of the original rule, but #Gygax wasn't always that dogmatic. As he often said in his later years, #ADnD is a game not a combat simulator.
www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewt...
www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewt...
In the Speed Factor rules, *smaller* weapons are "faster," because they're easier to handle than larger weapons. So the rules-as-written generally break ties to the benefit of the combatant with the smallest weapon.
December 24, 2025 at 2:37 AM
In the Speed Factor rules, *smaller* weapons are "faster," because they're easier to handle than larger weapons. So the rules-as-written generally break ties to the benefit of the combatant with the smallest weapon.
Hit up some game stores in Oakland County (Michigan) today for $40 of mismatched vintage #TTRPGs.
If the #DaveArneson autograph on that
#Blackmoor book is legit, it's probably worth more than the two dollars the comic book store charged me for it.
If the #DaveArneson autograph on that
#Blackmoor book is legit, it's probably worth more than the two dollars the comic book store charged me for it.
December 21, 2025 at 3:04 AM
Hit up some game stores in Oakland County (Michigan) today for $40 of mismatched vintage #TTRPGs.
If the #DaveArneson autograph on that
#Blackmoor book is legit, it's probably worth more than the two dollars the comic book store charged me for it.
If the #DaveArneson autograph on that
#Blackmoor book is legit, it's probably worth more than the two dollars the comic book store charged me for it.
I don't know how cheap you have to make a #DnD Hugh Grant action figure before a kid will buy it, and I don't think this store knows, either.
December 9, 2025 at 12:25 AM
I don't know how cheap you have to make a #DnD Hugh Grant action figure before a kid will buy it, and I don't think this store knows, either.
Speed Factor is, as Luke points out, an #ADnD rule that Gary dropped from his own games immediately, so it's not surprising he created a new tie-breaker rule.
In fact, Gygax disliked Speed Factor so much that he was planning to remove it from the game entirely!
www.enworld.org/threads/q-a-...
In fact, Gygax disliked Speed Factor so much that he was planning to remove it from the game entirely!
www.enworld.org/threads/q-a-...
November 30, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Speed Factor is, as Luke points out, an #ADnD rule that Gary dropped from his own games immediately, so it's not surprising he created a new tie-breaker rule.
In fact, Gygax disliked Speed Factor so much that he was planning to remove it from the game entirely!
www.enworld.org/threads/q-a-...
In fact, Gygax disliked Speed Factor so much that he was planning to remove it from the game entirely!
www.enworld.org/threads/q-a-...
This "house rule" is, in effect, a generalization of the initiative rule buried in the #ADnD "charge attack" rules, superseding the Speed Factor-based tie-breaker rule (mentioned and misinterpreted in the previous screenshot). Both rules are on page 66 of the DMG.
November 30, 2025 at 7:07 PM
This "house rule" is, in effect, a generalization of the initiative rule buried in the #ADnD "charge attack" rules, superseding the Speed Factor-based tie-breaker rule (mentioned and misinterpreted in the previous screenshot). Both rules are on page 66 of the DMG.
Oddly not discussed in this interview is a new #ADnD rule #GaryGygax mentioned a lot in his last years: Breaking initiative ties in favor of the character with the longest weapon.
www.enworld.org/threads/q-a-...
www.enworld.org/threads/q-a-...
November 30, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Oddly not discussed in this interview is a new #ADnD rule #GaryGygax mentioned a lot in his last years: Breaking initiative ties in favor of the character with the longest weapon.
www.enworld.org/threads/q-a-...
www.enworld.org/threads/q-a-...
#GaryGygax himself might have objected to the phrase "house rules." As far as he was concerned, the creator of #ADnD didn't have #houserules. He only had new rules he hadn't told the rest of us about yet.
www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewt...
www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewt...
November 30, 2025 at 7:07 PM
#GaryGygax himself might have objected to the phrase "house rules." As far as he was concerned, the creator of #ADnD didn't have #houserules. He only had new rules he hadn't told the rest of us about yet.
www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewt...
www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewt...
To be honest, I know how online advertising works, because I worked at one of Facebook's advertising competitors. I was professionally certified in this shit!
November 24, 2025 at 4:47 AM
To be honest, I know how online advertising works, because I worked at one of Facebook's advertising competitors. I was professionally certified in this shit!
Today, for the first time in years, Facebook showed me a #dating site ad. It was a badly targeted ad, because I'm not into anime, and I'm happily married. I don't need a Sailor Mistress.
Now I'm going to tell a story about advertising, #DnD, and I why I haven't seen a dating ad in years.
Now I'm going to tell a story about advertising, #DnD, and I why I haven't seen a dating ad in years.
November 24, 2025 at 4:47 AM
Um ... #GenCon already does that? Almost all game events have a minimum price (in addition to badge fees), and gamemasters are allowed to increase prices over minimum. There are $20/person events at Gen Con!
November 22, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Um ... #GenCon already does that? Almost all game events have a minimum price (in addition to badge fees), and gamemasters are allowed to increase prices over minimum. There are $20/person events at Gen Con!
Takes some real nerve to pretend those are the same #dice. No wonder this set ended up at #FiveBelow.
November 16, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Takes some real nerve to pretend those are the same #dice. No wonder this set ended up at #FiveBelow.
My local Ollie's Discount dropped the price on #DnD Hugh Grant action figures 50% since June, and still can't get rid of them. Kids just don't appreciate his British smarm, I guess.
November 16, 2025 at 4:45 PM
My local Ollie's Discount dropped the price on #DnD Hugh Grant action figures 50% since June, and still can't get rid of them. Kids just don't appreciate his British smarm, I guess.
Free Advice: If you're going to run a "no prior experience needed" #HeroesUnlimited game at a #gameconvention, don't abbreviate everything on the character sheet.
November 15, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Free Advice: If you're going to run a "no prior experience needed" #HeroesUnlimited game at a #gameconvention, don't abbreviate everything on the character sheet.
Killing some time before our 2PM game at the U-Con Game #Auction. Lots of plastic tubs of mixed games this year... and my wife just used my bidding paddle to win a $40 fight for some Dune #boardgame stuff while I was typing this.
November 15, 2025 at 6:37 PM
Killing some time before our 2PM game at the U-Con Game #Auction. Lots of plastic tubs of mixed games this year... and my wife just used my bidding paddle to win a $40 fight for some Dune #boardgame stuff while I was typing this.
Made a quick tour of the vendor room at U-Con, and my only purchase is four #dice I'll probably never use, courtesy of @blackoakworkshop.bsky.social .
November 15, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Made a quick tour of the vendor room at U-Con, and my only purchase is four #dice I'll probably never use, courtesy of @blackoakworkshop.bsky.social .
Back for Day 2 of U-Con #gameconvention and I brought @coreyosullivan.com with me.
We're totally failing at taking #selfies with the U-Con quilt!
We're totally failing at taking #selfies with the U-Con quilt!
November 15, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Back for Day 2 of U-Con #gameconvention and I brought @coreyosullivan.com with me.
We're totally failing at taking #selfies with the U-Con quilt!
We're totally failing at taking #selfies with the U-Con quilt!
The convention center added #pizza to the U-Con menu this year. If you liked the pizza your high school cafeteria served, you'll love it.
November 14, 2025 at 11:45 PM
The convention center added #pizza to the U-Con menu this year. If you liked the pizza your high school cafeteria served, you'll love it.
U-Con has hung up a quilt made of old #gameconvention t-shirts in the corner of the convention center lobby. Is this supposed to be a #selfie station? You gotta work on your social media strategy, U-Con!
November 14, 2025 at 3:39 PM
U-Con has hung up a quilt made of old #gameconvention t-shirts in the corner of the convention center lobby. Is this supposed to be a #selfie station? You gotta work on your social media strategy, U-Con!
I worried the long badge line at U-Con would make me late to my first game, but I made it with five minutes to spare. The #gamemaster didn't make it at all. Friday games at this #gameconvention (especially #OSR games) get cancelled more often they get played.
November 14, 2025 at 2:20 PM
I worried the long badge line at U-Con would make me late to my first game, but I made it with five minutes to spare. The #gamemaster didn't make it at all. Friday games at this #gameconvention (especially #OSR games) get cancelled more often they get played.