tabletop gaming
Latest
Blood Bowl dev wants to work on Games Workshop's 'forgotten IPs'
If you're a fan of tabletop war games, you're probably hotly anticipating Cyanide's video game adaptation of Games Workshop's classic fantasy-football mash-up, Blood Bowl. You are also probably pretty old, and have a large, curly beard. Likely a gray or white beard, due to the aforementioned elderliness.We've got great news for these senescent war game enthusiasts -- in a recent interview with Eurogamer, Cyanide's Antoine Villepreux explained the developer would be glad to tend to Games Workshop's "forgotten IPs that we think deserve video game adaptations." If the words Inquisitor and Mighty Empires bring haste to your old, old heart, a table-to-TV adaptation of your favorite Games Workshop franchises might be within the realm of possibilities.
D&D co-creator Dave Arneson dead at 61
After a long battle with cancer, Dungeons and Dragons co-creator Dave Arneson passed away in his sleep late Tuesday night. The sad news came from an e-mail from Arneson's family, which includes details on where to send condolences, as well as the time and location for his visitation. We extend our deepest sympathies to Arneson's family and loved ones as they cope with the loss of this truly remarkable man.Even if you've never hurled icosahedrons with a group of fantasy-obsessed friends, Arneson, along with D&D co-creator Gary Gygax (who sadly passed away last year), is responsible for the evolution of the RPG format as we know it today. Though the influential hobby's creators have passed away, their legacy will live on through the skittering of dice across tables worldwide. Rest in peace, Mr. Arneson.
Wii Warm Up: Card and board games (without the cleanup)
The news that Uno would be gracing WiiWare came as a pleasant surprise to us. We love card games, board games, and anything of the like, but we're just not big fans of cleaning them up. Or, in some cases, setting them up (looking at you, Axis & Allies).What card/board games would you want to see grace WiiWare? Do you think a WiiWare is due for some Texas Hold 'Em or something?
Cryptic Studios delves into the tabletop DNA of Champions Online
The highly pedigreed PC-gaming site Rock, Paper, Shotgun is offering up a week of Champions Online features. They began at the very beginning - the pen and paper game that spawned the online representation. Jack Emmert kicks off the week by noting that moving from tabletop to MMO is a no-brainer move. The Champions license has a 25-year history, allowing for a lot of really compelling content to be 'just lifted' straight from the pages of the RPG sourcebooks. He also notes the relative infancy of the MMO genre, and obviously hopes that future titles like his own will aid in the game type's creative expansion.Following close on Mr. Emmert's heels comes commentary from pen-and-paper designer George MacDonald. Mr. MacDonald had worked on the Champions game for some time, and has a great viewpoint on the point-based system driving the game's undercarriage. The site and the designer go back and forth on the concept of "expressive" game mechanics, and briefly reflect back on MacDonald's work with the SSI gold box D&D games. These are two great pieces about the intersection of MMOs and their originating art form.
Breakfast Topic: Your first step toward Azeroth
Matthew Rossi wrote this weeks RP column as David Bower takes a short break. I'm not an roleplayer myself, but the first paragraph caught my eye. To establish his RP credentials, Matthew linked to the old Erol Otus art of the original Dungeons and Dragons printed rule books.Looking at those reminded me of when I was but a wee lad playing the game with my friends. It was my introduction to the world of tabletop roleplaying games. But even before all that, my first true introduction to fantastic world was (big surprise), a copy of 'The Hobbit' my uncle gave me for my 11th birthday. It opened my eyes to fantasy novels which led to my interest in D&D and eventually computer games and World of Warcraft.What was the first spark in your life that led you to playing WoW today?
Our games are built on paper and dice
As a tip of the hat to the passing of a tabletop gaming icon, I thought it worthwhile to link back to a great article Allen Varney wrote for the Escapist website in 2005. Entitled "Our Games Are Built On Paper", it outlines the incredible impact that people like Gary Gygax and Dave Arenson have had on videogames in general and Massively Multiplayer games in specific. The piece notes the numerous PnP designers that have made the jump to videogame development; a reminder of the numerous people who have worked on City of Heroes and City of Villains that originated in the pen and paper world. It concludes by noting the advances of a more recent generation of tabletop designers, and fittingly begins with words that ring very true today:IN THE BEGINNING - which is to say, 1974 - there were E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, two tabletop miniatures gamers in Wisconsin who begat Dungeons & Dragons. And D&D begat an orc-horde of paper-and-dice imitators and emulators. And it was good.
