Tenkar's Tavern: How the Hell Did I Miss Shane Runkle's Blog Interview of Ken Whitman? (there are some classic statements)

Thursday, July 16, 2015

How the Hell Did I Miss Shane Runkle's Blog Interview of Ken Whitman? (there are some classic statements)

Sometimes you wonder what someone is thinking. I've often wondered that about Ken Whitman and his serial Kickstarters.

Well, wonder now more!

Back in June, Shane Runkle did an interview of Ken Whitman on Shane's blog. I'm just going to post one small piece. Give Shane the traffic and read the rest on his blog.

10 comments:

Holly OatsJuly 16, 2015 at 1:07 PM
Wow, only $1,200/month? Dude's practically a monk
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CaoimheJuly 16, 2015 at 1:47 PM
I feel sorry for the people who backed pencils whose money is going to pay for the movies. And of course for the people who backed the movies.
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Christopher StogdillJuly 16, 2015 at 1:48 PM
The KoDT:LAS folks noticed this........the topic came up frequently at Origins.
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Nick LinerJuly 16, 2015 at 1:48 PM
$14K a year is well below the poverty line. Only sounds like the appropriate emphasis.
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Christopher StogdillJuly 16, 2015 at 1:49 PM
The going opinion was that a) Ken figured it was free money and he didn't actually have to produce and b) the majority, if not all, of the 1st Kickstarter's money was spent within the 1st month, and not on the KoDT: LAS
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Doctor FuturityJuly 16, 2015 at 2:50 PM
"Monthly expenses" is very vague. If he means he's expensing $1200 a month that may or may not be reasonable....I probably expense that month every month at work but I travel a lot and purchase supplies for an office of 12, so I am downright frugal at times. If he claims he's only paying himself a salary of $1200 that sounds unlikely....most places these days that barely makes rent. So I don't really know what he's spending that money on.
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Venger SatanisJuly 17, 2015 at 8:39 AM
Oh oh, I backed the Cthulhu Dice Tower! It's supposed to ship out in July, so we'll see if this kickstarter is on time.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1068858922/cthulhu-dice-tower-by-fred-fields

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Why "Swords & Wizardry?"

Believe me when I say I have them all in dead tree format. I have OSRIC in full size, trade paperback and the Player's Guide. I have LL and the AEC (and somewhere OEC, but I can't find it at the moment). Obviously I have Basic Fantasy RPG. Actually, I have the whole available line in print. Way too much Castles & Crusades. We all know my love for the DCC RPG. I even have Dark Dungeons in print, the Delving Deeper boxed set, Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea. BOTH editions of LotFP's Weird Fantasy and some dead tree copies of the Greyhawk Grognards Adventures Dark & Deep

I am so deep in the OSR when I come up for breath it's for the OSR's cousin, Tunnels & Trolls

So, out of all that, why Swords & Wizardry? Why, when I have been running a AD&D 1e / OSRIC campaign in Rappan Athuk am I using Swords & Wizardry and it's variant, Crypts & Things, for the second campaign? (Actually, now running a S&W Complete campaign, soon to be with multiple groups)

Because the shit works.

It's easy for lapsed gamers to pick up and feel like they haven't lost a step. I can house rule it and it doesn't break. It plays so close to the AD&D of my youth and college years (S&W Complete especially) that it continually surprises me. Just much less rules hopping than I remember. (my God but I can run it nearly without the book)

I grab and pick and steal from just about all OSR and Original resources. They seem to fit into S&W with little fuss. It may be the same with LL and the rest, but for me the ease of use fit's my expectations with S&W.

Even the single saving throw. That took me longer to adjust to, but even that seems like a natural to me now. Don't ask me why, it just does. Maybe it's the simplicity of it. At 45 52, simplicity and flexibility while remaining true to the feel of the original is an OSR hat trick for me ;)

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Thursday, July 16, 2015

How the Hell Did I Miss Shane Runkle's Blog Interview of Ken Whitman? (there are some classic statements)

10 comments:

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