Networking? Me?

Yes, it's true, and I am just about as surprised about this as some of you other folks who know me.

I have in the past tried to steer clear of social networking web sites, finding them to be rather like the schoolyard of my childhood...big, noisy, somewhat disenfranchising, and sometimes even a bit hostile. And much like the schoolyard, being "somebody" on those networks had much more to do with how flashy your profile was and how large your friends list had become.

But last week I decided to give social networking a second chance..and am glad I did. There are two new communities on FaceBook that those of you who are traditional style gamers might be interested in.

One is the official TARGA group, which is less than two weeks old but already almost 80 members strong.

The other is Attack of the Retro Clones, a less formal group that is also all about promoting any and all retro-clone D&D RPG publications and the playing of said games. It is a brand-new community and so far has less than 10 members.

Being that roleplaying itself is a niche hobby, making retro roleplaying a niche within a niche; I believe that these and other social networks can be valuable tools in making others aware that such games are still out there and perhaps even help bring players of a particular locality together face-to-face. The idea of a TARGA or ARC member-meetup in the Atlanta area is an exciting possibility, and I for one will do my best to support such networking.

So..take a moment and have a look at both groups. Join up if you wish, and help spread the word about traditional style gaming.

International Traditional Adventure Roleplaying Week

For those of you who've not yet noticed the link down at the bottom of this page, I an now supporting TARGA, the Traditional Adventure Roleplay Gaming Association, a not-for-profit corporation made up of gamers who want to preserve and promote the "old-school" or classic style of roleplaying we love. Last week I joined the TARGAtalk Yahoo group...just in time for International Traditional Adventure Roleplaying Week. Here is a quote from the main web site.

And what can we get done? TARGA’s first initiative is International Traditional Adventure Roleplaying Week, January 10th through 17th, 2009. We are challenging you, ourselves, and old school referees everywhere to find a game store, contact the owner or manager, and arrange a demo of your favorite old school game or retro-clone. Or invite some friends (gamers and/or newbies) to your home for a one-shot adventure. We need to get people playing!

Our group is doing its part. We have been meeting at least once a week for a few months now, and our original three players has grown to five, and a sixth potential player has been asking about what we do. Here are some pics and highlights from last week's game.

That is Garish the GM (also known as my husband). He is taking us through The Endless Tunnels Of Enlandin, an AD&D dungeon-crawl adventure by Stephan Poag published by Dragonsfoot. For those of you who might want to follow in the footsteps of our party, I won't spoil any surprises for you..but be warned, Stephan Poag's dungeons are quite imaginative, especially where traps and tricks are concerned. You better bring more than a ten-foot pole. Garish is seen here with dungeon map and a truckload of dice ready to unload on his players.

If you look carefully in the reflection on the glass cabinet door behind him, you can see your intrepid photographer and resident half-orc.

That's Chris, a.k.a. Gavin the Archer. Here lately when we call off marching order, he ends up taking the rear guard position. But he's not chickening out. As a matter of fact whenever a fight breaks out, he's back there shouting "Can I get to 'em?" or "Can I shoot 'em from here?".

He has an amazing Dexterity score. Just look at how well he stacks those dice.

He is also a real TARGA success story. We have saved him from the sinister clutches of console video MMORPGing and he has come to know the joy of traditional adventuring.

Then there's Shane...a.k.a. Gorn the Crusher. He is our local thick-headed barbarian type who just so happens to prefer playing thick-headed barbarian character types when we game. His favourite phrase in-game is "I kick the door down!"

This picture was made moments after he was shot in the back by a particularly imaginative trap which he sprung. He was not amused when the half-orc removed the arrow, then suggested he go back and see if he could get another one the same wey.

Shane has been playing historical wargames with us for years now, and seems to enjoy the simplicity of this style of roleplaying. Having a character sheet that does not look like a 1040 tax form is a good thing.

So... we hacked and slayed, found numerous creatures, living, dead, undead and otherwise. I am not entirely sure which category gelatinous cubes fall under. Anyway, fate brought us to a hidden room filled with a helpless halfling, a box of treasure, and two carrion crawlers. The fight was ON!

There you can see our happy band of brothes (and sister) nearly getting killed by denizens of a self-cleaning dungeon. Several of us spent the last few rounds of combat paralyzed from their attacks, but ultimately the good-guys won...and now we have a halfling along for the fun. Tune in next week to see if the cute li'l fella is actually Orcus in disguise.

As for Traditional Roleplay week, Garish and I contiune our crusade tomorrow at Hobbytown USA in Kennesaw. We have a HirstArts dungeon full of Reaper monsters and a few lovely polyhedron "treasures" to give away to any brave adventurers who dare enter The Dungeon of the Dreaded Snake-Eyes... MWA-HAA-HAAAA!