Guns - Easing Relations Since 1250ish

So, I was out shopping earlier today (surprise), and the parking lot that had been packed when we got there was emptying out by the time we were finished.  As we approached our car, which was parked in a now very vacant and dark area of the parking lot, we were approached by a stranger.

I never like being approached by strangers.  Especially young male strangers.  At nite.  In a fairy vacant parking lot, away from others.  Maybe I watch too much TV, or maybe I've seen too much on my job, but these situations put my warning light on.

"Excuse me, hello?  Can you tell me the location of the nearest Sprint store?"  This was probably the most left field question he could have asked... how the hell would any of us know that?  We're just in the area shopping.

My girlfriend basically told him as much, and he explained that he was searching for a Sprint store that took repairs, and he was sent to a store location that had closed, and had done all this on foot, etc.

Me, my mom and my girl were apologetic that we couldn't help.

His final words as he continued his quest?  "You folks are the nicest I've spoken to all nite looking for this store.  Thank you."

My girl's first words as we got into the car?  "We spoke with him and tried to help him because we knew you were armed.  If you weren't, I would have ignored him and just locked the car.  If everyone was armed we could all be friendly to strangers."  Damn insightful.  Damn scary too.

Of course, it's the opposite in most RPGs.  The PCs are all armed and are suspicious of everyone, from the youngest child to the oldest crone and all in between.

I don't think arming the entire population of Greyhawk of the Forgotten Realms would make interactions any easier.  ;)

Black Adder, Dark Humor

Just as some had predicted, Black Adder renewed my faith in classic British Comedy. It was a polar opposite of the cringinly not funny 1st episode of The Young Ones.

Maybe it's my B.A.in History, with a concentration in Medieval History (what a surprise, right?). Maybe it's my gaming background, and my appreciation all thing Medieval from that end. Or maybe it's just because it's some funny shit.

My kid actually came out of his room to see why I was laughing... (this was during the dinner scene with the king's ghost being totally ignored). Good stuff.

I'd love to see a Black Adder GURPS Sourcebook, much like the Discworld ones they released. Not that I would ever truly expect it to happen, but it would be damn sweet. It would need to cover all the time periods tho. All the PCs would need skill levels in scheming and sniveling ;)


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Musical Mustard Interlude

If you want music mixed in with your RPG Blog, you'll generally be looking at Christian's Destination Unknown.  Some of his pieces are offbeat, but I've made more then one iTunes purchase off of the videos he's linked.

I've linked to this performer before.  He's got more soul then 99% of the performers out there in my honest opinion.  Daniel Mustard, formerly known as Homeless Mustard from the Opie & Anthony Show on Sirius/XM, has just released a 5 song EP via iTunes.  You can check more out at his website.

It's nice to see someone turn their life around.  In my profession, you don't see much of that.  It's a feel good story for the holidays, and it's good music besides all that.

Nope, this has nothing to do with RPGs.  I'll get back to that stuff tomorrow ;)

Digital to Dead Tree

In less then a week I get to be a Guinea Pig for OneBookShelf / RPGNow. They will be selling Print versions of some of PDFs they carry. I get to be one of the first users / buyers / testers of the new program.

Hopefully there is an OSR product in the initial test release ;)

More when I know more.


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Adamant Entertainment PDFs for a Buck Each at RPGNow

Somehow this escaped my attention earlier, but for the next 4 days Adamant Entertainment has their entire PDF product line on sale for a buck each at RPGnow (they are also giving an Amazon Kindle away to a random customer, but that's not the point.)

Here's the point:

Icons for a buck. (here's the rest of the Icons goodies)

The Imperial Age: True20 Edition - a buck

Mars: Savage Worlds Edition - yet another buck

I better not forget Thrilling Tales, which I picked up with their last Dollar Sale

I've got a few bucks to spend, I'm sure I'll find a few others that's I'll enjoy and can steal ideas from.

Reflecting on The Walking Dead

I've been thinking a lot about The Walking Dead recently, and not just because it a damn good TV series. I'm really enjoying the sub-story of the two former law enforcement partners. In many ways, it reminds me of an adventuring party after the party goes their separate ways.

Here's the deal: partners in law enforcement, are for the most part, a forced marriage of sorts. If you are lucky you may choose your partner, but many times it's the luck of the draw as to who you will be working with, day in day out, for months or years. This is the person that you have to rely on to risk their life for you without hesitation, and you for them.

It can be a very intense relationship, coming before family and friends in many cases. You will learn how they think, how they will react. Yet, for the most part, the only common interest shared, the only bond, is The Job.

It's pretty much the same for adventuring parties. Throw a bunch of strangers together into constant danger, where the only way to survive is to trust your fellows to risk their lives for yours... it just more like an arranged family then marriage. The bond is The Party.

I've made three honest to god, true friends in my numerous years in law enforcement... and not one of them was a partner of mine. Heck, the only times I see my old partners these days seems to be at funerals.

All of which is why I am truly enjoying the interaction between the two former partners in The Walking Dead, as it's as real a portrayal of any I've seen in movies and TV shows over the years.

(The Job, a very short lived TV series starring comedian Dennis Leary, is the closest I've seen to an authentic police oriented show. Brooklyn South also came very close - close enough that when I watched it on DVD recently I found myself feeling very sympathetic for the Desk Sgt ;)


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The Latest Brew

When I used to DM in college I had a pretty strict "No Booze" rule at the table.  It's not that I didn't drink, I just found it to be distracting at the gaming table - roleplaying was serious business!

Skip ahead 20 years and I find myself home brewing (beer, not adventures), using Sodastream for my sodas and now I am a proud owner of a Tassimo Coffee / Tea brewer.  Yeah, my gadget geekiness has extended to my beverages in my middle age.  The thing is, I don't drink coffee - it's tea for me.  My teenage son drinks his milk with coffee and my lady likes lattes.  I could have 3 machines or 1, and at least this way I can offer guests a selection of hot beverages.  So, I'm counting this as my Christmas gift to myself.  My first brew was an Earl Grey (just like Piccard) and now I'm sipping an herbal.

The kid's already in bed, so unless I find a pair of headphones I won't be watching any Black Adder tonight... I'll have to watch TWO episodes tomorrow ;)

You Know You've Made It...

When you get hit with UBER blog spam. Talk about a fishing expedition!

I'm sorry, but if you want to guest post on my blog, have some vague idea of the topics I post on, because apparently Elizabeth is fairly clueless.

Still, maybe they'll get a few curious hits from this... I checked out the dog last nite... it wasn't my cup of tea. Besides, the only beer drinker in the bunch drinks Stella... ewwww ;)


Dear Tenkar,

My name is Elizabeth, the assistant editor at My Dog Ate My Blog, http://www.mydogatemyblog.com. We have been blogging about politics, education, and technology for a few months now and we think it is about time to start reaching out to other passionate people.

I would love to have one of our bloggers write a guest post for tenkarstavern.com. If you have any topic or style guidelines for guest posts, please send them my way.

I am looking forward to talking with you more.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Greene
Assistant to the Editor - My Dog Ate My Blog
elizabeth@mydogatemyblog.com
Follow us @DogAteBlog



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The Dead Keep Walking

Maybe its just me, but The Walking Dead TV Series is playing out like a damn good post holocaust style RPG.  You can identify the PCs and the NPCs, the importance of weapons, a GM giving some great setting details and atmosphere - well, maybe comparing to a RPG is an oversimplification.

Still, there are some things that roleplayers can relate to - such as: "do we kill the guy that's infected and going to go bad now... or wait until he actually goes bad?"  I  can see my old group having that discussion, and having the infected player basically sacrifice himself?  Priceless.  Heck, the final scene of this episode could be seen as writing that player's new PC into the game.

It takes a lot to get me invested into a TV series these days.  The Walking Dead has done it for me.  Of course, I can never seem to stay awake to 11 on a work nite, but thanks to iTunes I can grab the episode in HD the very next day.

Lulu - 25% Off - Today Only

Lulu.com is offering a 25% discount on your entire order for 11/29 only. Use coupon code CYBER305.

It's a good time to grab Oubliette, Fight On!, Knockspell or any of the other print on demand / PDF RPG goodness you've been waiting on.


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We May Not Be the Young Ones Anymore

The Young Ones, a BBC comedy that I used to watch on PBS back in my college days, hasn't held up to the test of time, at least for me. I bought the series a few weeks back on Amazon, and finally put the first DVD in to watch last night. I was disappointed. The show seemed flat and forced at the same time. There were moments that were just painful to watch, and that was just the first episode.

I guess my taste in comedy has changed over the years, just like my taste in RPGs has changed. I used to really enjoy AD&D 2e, Complete Handbooks and all, but I'd never consider running it these days. My tastes have changed. I want something a bit more streamlined in my current day RPG choices.

I hope Black Adder holds up better. I'm going to pop that into the DVD player tonight and see if I have any taste left for classic British Comedy.




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I Survived Thanksgiving Weekend Shopping...

and all I have for myself are a handful of 2 dollar DVD's from Walmart.  Hmmm... they are a good batch tho:

All 3 Lord of the Rings Movies (widescreen) - yes, I already own the collector's editions, but for 2 bucks a pop I'll grab the originals

A crapload of DC Universe Animated Movies:
-Batman - Gotham Knight
-Batman - Under the Red Hood
-Superman / Batman - Public Enemies
-Superman - Doomsday
-Green Lantern - First Flight

Halo Legends - Animated

Alright, I didn't do bad for myself, and I think I've convinced the lady that I NEED the Alienware x-11 Netbook for Christmas, which is good - I convinced myself that my son needed it too ;)

Game Day Quandary

Yep, there's a bit of a Game Day Quandary at the moment.  In the once a month Castles & Crusades game I play in via Fantasy Grounds, our GM is in Europe (I believe the rest of us are all her in the states).  So our  Saturday nite games are like 2 in the morning starts for him, or something close to it.

He's floating the idea of moving the game to Sunday afternoons (my time), which puts me in a bit of a spot.  I'd like to make the time more convenient for him, but Sundays are for the kid... and if they aren't solely for the kid, its because we spend the weekend in the mountains and are returning Sunday afternoon.  It doesn't help that the decision to leave for the weekend doesn't usually happen until late Thursday nite... yes, at times, I can be fairly spur-of-the-moment ;)

Maybe I'll see how the rest of the group is leaning.  It's rough changing a game time that's been in effect for 2 years, as the rest of your life seems to sprout up around it...