A query for my 37 readers!

When I started this blog back in August, I originally intended it to be a general blog on old school fantasy gaming. Well, as time went on, I began to realize that my own personal interests lay elsewhere. While I enjoy the ease and expandability or old school rules and their various retro-clones, the tired and recycled Tolkien/Lewis inspired troupes bore the living hell out of me. As the posts I'm made over the last few months indicate, I crave wilder fantasy settings; from Prof. Barker's Tekumel and the related Humanspace Empires by the Drune, to Al's upcoming Warriors of the Red Planet and Geoffrey McKinney's Carcosa soon to be republished using Jim Raggi's Lamentations of the Flame Princess engine.

What's the point of my trying to maintain the facade that this is a general fantasy gaming blog when so much of my gaming interests lie elsewhere? Therefore, I'm seriously considering re-tooling, re-tasking, and even re-naming No School Like The Old School into a weird fantasy gaming blog.

My question to you is, should I do this or should I keep the site the same?

Build your own customizable GM screen.

A couple of months back, I posted pictures of my own custom Humanspace Empires GM screen. Sniderman at The Savage AfterWorld has posted instructions on making your own customizable GM screen with some looseleaf binders, some plastic document protectors and, of course, duct tape.

The finished product looks good. I'll probably try my hand at one as soon as I can scratch up the cash. (Yes, I'm that broke right now.)

Wait... I've got a Traveller blog, don't I?

Jeebus! Has it really been nearly three years since I've posted anything here?

I've been pretty busy over the last couple of years. Work. School. Back shaving.

However, things are looking up for me and now I can finally pay more attention to this and a few other blogs I run.

So keep watching. I'll post new material very soon.

Still kicking...

Hey Savages:

Yes, I'm still around. I've been dealing with school and lot of real life crap, as well as some new gaming obsessions. But things are going to be quieting down soon and the Savage Blogger will be back and better than ever.

The School Master is on YouTube

I've created a sister YouTube channel to upload related gaming/OSR video content like game sessions, reviews, ruminations on the hobby, orgies at the Temple of Dlamélish and anything else that happens to tickle my fickle fancy. There isn't anything there right now, but that will change as I give the Flip Camera I bought a year ago its long-overdue workout. (Especially at Gary Con III.) So, be sure to subscribe.
 Also, does anyone have any recommendations for a quality web cam? I've got a cheap LogiTech that takes crappy video and I'd like to get my hands on something a little better. Please e-mail or post responses in the comments section.

Be Aggressive

I should have posted this little ditty to the blog some time ago:

"Be aggressive" should be the OSR's official battle cry!

Welcome Adventurer!

Greeting, salutations, and huzzah, role-players! Welcome No School Like The Old School (or, if you are one of those who insist on catchy acronyms, NSLTOS). Here we talk about classic role-playing games, retro-clone games, and the people who play them.

With all the new RPGs on the market with their varied rules, numerous supplements, and high production values, what would possess us to play older, out-of-print games, along with games designed to emulate them? For some of us, it's nostalgia for the glory days of gaming before MMORPGs ruled the gaming scene and the desire to preserve and expand on previous editions. For other's it's a rebellion against the "corporatized" nature of the gaming industry where unsympathetic MBA's who have never picked up a d20 get to write and market the games. (Yes! I'm looking at you Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro and the abomination that is 4^th Edition and the pulling of purchased .PDF versions of your older games!) Then there are those of us who like the simplicity of older games, especially in this day and age of rule books that are larger than New York city phone books.

Speaking for myself, my own odyssey into role-playing began when I was 12-years-old in December of 1986 when I got a $25 Toys R' Us gift certificate from an uncle for Christmas. After my father turned me loose at the Brookfield, Wisconsin store I prowled the aisles looking for something to spend my store credit on. After picking up a gyroscope and a box of pre-made microscope slides, I was passing by the bargain bin when I saw it: a copy of TSR's Star Frontiers science fiction RPG. Hypnotized by Larry Elmore's cover art, and having just enough left, I snatched it up in an instant! Thus, much to my parents chagrin, did I start down the dark path of gaming and, yes, it did forever dominate my destiny.

My parents, who bought into my fundamentalist Christian relatives' hysteria about fantasy RPGs, forbade me from playing D&D. However, there were plenty of science fiction games to enjoy. Each year I would wait for TSR's Mail Order Hobby Shop catalog and plot out what games I would get next with birthday and holiday cash. My folks were too right-wing to give me something as "socialist" as an allowance, so by the time I started earning my own money many of the classic games that I wanted to get and play were sadly out of print.

EBay helped me to fill in the gaps, but the advent of snipers who'd snatch victory from my grasp 10 seconds before an auction ended soured me to that service. Some of the legitimate .PDF vendors were helpful, but their catalogs where far from complete and fickle. (Again, damn you WotC/Hasbro!) I soon discovered the phenomenon of "retro-clone" games where, using the OGL and the fact that while you can copyright specific works you can't do the same for mechanical or mathematical concepts, out-of-print games are resurrected and even improved upon. It was at the time I found out about Gobllinoid Games' Labyrinth Lord and Mutant Future, that I discovered a whole community of "old school" gamers who were keeping the Golden Age of Gaming alive and well. This blog is dedicated to them and their efforts.

So pop open a can of Mountain Dew, throw a couple of pizzas into the oven, crank up the Rush, and grab your dice, adventurers! This is going to be one hell of a crawl!

A Top Secret Dispatch…

I just got a message from my operative at Gen Con:

THE LIFTWOOD GUNSHIP IS GOING UP.

That is all. More to follow next week.

Savage IRC!

After some discussion on the PEG forums, Tyson Hayes (aka Tweek) has started a Savage Worlds IRC channel! Just set up your IRC client to irc.slashnet.org and sign onto #savageworlds. You can also use an online Chat client at #savageworlds IRC Channel (Mibbit) or if you're running Chatzilla on your Firefox Browser you can log in here.

Good News on the Cheyenne Front!

Great news on Cheyenne Wright's medical status from the Folgio's:

"Cheyenne Wright...is about to be let out of the hospital! Lucky Cheyenne; it appears that what he has is some weird virus that only imitates the symptoms of congestive heart failure. Gah!"

"Gah" indeed!

Again, Cheyenne, being a freelance artist, has no health insurance (thanks Republicans!) and is going to need help taking care of his bills from his incident. The Folgio's are now planning an online eBay auction along with their Wallpaper's proposal to help raise proceeds, and donations are still being accepted at Cheyenne's PayPal address: aracanetimes@gmaill.com.

I implore anyone who can give, please do so.

Be Aggressive...

My Wednesday late-night RPTools/Skype Hellfrost group has more or less adopted the the phrase "Be Aggressive" as its official battlecry...

(Oh, NSFW language, so don't come crying to me if the the boss catches you watching.)

Savage Bloggers UNITE!!!

There is a general call out for those who have weblogs dedicated to the saucy little game to link to one another. Good idea! If you have a Savage Worlds-related blog, drop me a line and I'll post it to my list. Also, please return the courtesy by adding The Savage Blogger to your list.

Thanks!

No, I can't draw.

So, until the Creativity Fairy comes down from on high and grants me the power to be a professional-quality science fiction and fantasy artist, I'm going to use HeroMachine 2.5 for my PC art.

Greetings Savages!

Welcome to The Savage Blogger, a web log dedicated to the Savage Worlds role playing game by Pinnacle Entertainment!

I had been following the development of Savage Worlds since 2003 when I heard that Pinnacle was taken it's "Great Real Wars" wargaming rules and using them as a basis for a role-playing game. Having enjoyed GRW, I was intriqued. I picked up the first Savage Worlds game after it's release, and I've never regretted it. Right now, I'm trying to get my RPG group interested; I've already tried one game of Deadlands: Reloaded and there is talk of giving Slipstream a try. I'm also interested in Shaintar, Ravaged Earth, and--when they come out--Realms of Cthulhu and Mars. I'm also working on some material of my own that I want to try out. (Who knows? I might roll the dice and see if I can get them published.)

Here I intend to post reviews, setting musings, game reports, news tidbits, characters, and anything else that would be of interest to a SW fan. If you have any ideas of your own, don't hesitate to e-mail me at siefertma@wi.rr.com.

In the meantime, hold on Savages, it's going to be quite a ride!

Hello? Hello?

Hey all! I'm still alive, I've just a lot of real life issues get in the way lately. Expect more minature goodness to come in the coming weeks.

Thanks Natalie!

A special thank you to Natalie Jaran, a fellow gamer and skeptic at the JREF IRC channel, for the great banner that now graces this blog. Thanks again Natalie!

Addendum: Feb 23, 08: Doh! I've been calling Ms. Jaran "Nadine" all this time and her real name is "Natalie!" I feel like such a dope. Sorry, Natalie!

My Gaming Space

Well, this is it! My gaming table. Essentially I built a removable cover that goes over our living room pool table. It's large enough for just about any scale of game, 28mm and smaller.

Best of all, when the battle is over, all you need to do is remove the cover and you can shoot some pool!

A Few Updates: 1/11/08

It's been a little while since I posted here, so here are some miniature and gaming related updates: I've ordered my first platoon of Hammer's Slammers combat cars from Old Crow along with a couple of grav tanks for a detachment of Terran Starmarines. I plan to start in on those right away as soon as they come in. I'll do a write-up/review to be put up here as well. I've also just placed an order for a spearmen unit of Legion of Serqu from Eureka's Empire Of The Petal Throne miniatures line. Since I want to use these for both skirmish and rank-and-file gaming, I'm thinking of mounting these on octagonal bases. Again, I'll do a write-up on these as soon as I get them.


Speaking of Tékumel, I'm working on a terrain piece inspired by M. A. R. Barker's Flamesong: A tubeway car station. I've all ready have the "car" itself finished save for some detailing, but the station has been giving some problems. I've decided to put this project on hold for a little while I rethink my design.

Any Publicity Is "Good" Publicity, I Suppose.

Here's a February news story from New Zealand about miniature wargaming. Sadly it's a parade of all the same tired stereotypes: Boring, geeky, weird, guys who play with toy solders. Couldn't they have found something other than "Final Countdown" for the background music?



Hey! Was that really a female wargamer? Cute. Can I have your phone number, luv?

First Post!

I've decided to set up a separate blog dedicated to my interest in miniature wagaming. Herein you'll find battle reports, pictures of freshly painted miniatures, and other gaming-related goodness!