David Millians, Editor
Paideia School, 1509 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA
millians.david@paideiaschool.org
LETTER FROM THE CHAIR
Hello Everyone,
Several months ago we launched an infographic that detailed some general advice on role-playing during a pandemic. We received some criticism upon release, not the least of which being that depending on which region you live in, the advice on playing with a certain number of players (in this case, 10) was too large or too small. Interest died down until recently, when I noticed the infographic was being shared again.
There’s a simple explanation: the virus never went away, and much of the advice still stands. While we know now that the virus seems to be spread more through the air than on surfaces, it poses a challenge for tabletop gaming. Indoor group gatherings are particularly problematic, as the Center for Disease Control explains on its web page under “Hosting Gatherings.”
The one thing we didn’t know then when the infographic was first posted in late March that we know now is simply this: it’s critical to wear a mask. As various locations expand and contract, mask-wearing is the common tool in our pandemic avoidance toolkit no matter where you are or what you’re doing. The only exceptions are when gaming with people you’re living with or if you’re playing online.
Before the pandemic, I finally invested in an expensive gaming table that can expand or contract to fill any room. It was the final step to turn my game room into a place to have friends over to play tabletop playing games. But since the pandemic, I use the game room solely for gaming online, which seems like the best compromise we can manage in these difficult times.
One day I’ll invite people over to play face-to-face. But for now, I DM a weekly Roll20 game and that works just fine.
Stay safe everyone!
Mike
Committee Chair
NEW MATERIAL
FROM DAVID MILLIANS
Appelcline, Shannon (2020 Sep 8) An Interview with Erol Otus, Iconic Fantasy Artist. https://www.rpg.net/columns/interviews/interviews94.phtml. Play, art, and early TSR.
Ashcroft, Barry (2020 Sep 19) The Weird, Shared History of Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons. https://www.thegamer.com/history-connection-magic-gathering-dungeons-dragons. The many crossovers.
Borak, Masha (2020 Sep 7) Romance and court intrigue: how female-focused games find success in China despite sexist stereotypes. https://www.scmp.com/abacus/games/article/3099754/romance-and-court-intrigue-how-female-focused-games-find-success-china. Evolving game types and lots of money.
D’Anastasio, Cecilia (2020 Sep 3) Dungeons & Dragons TikTok Is Generation Z at Its Most Wholesome. https://www.wired.com/story/dungeons-and-dragons-tiktok. Playing with play and busting past gatekeeping.
DM David (2020 Sep) 1994: TSR Declares War on the Internet’s D&D Fans. https://dmdavid.com/tag/1994-tsr-declares-war-on-the-internets-dd-fans. History lesson in cease-and-desist letters and attempts to control fan material.
Donahue, Matt (2020 Sep 10) Black in Gaming Award Winners Revealed. https://butwhythopodcast.com/2020/09/10/black-in-gaming-award-winners-revealed. Mike Pondsmith receives Lifetime Achievement Award.
Elderkin, Beth (2020 Sep 16) Creators of Combat Wheelchair Miniatures on the Challenge of Pushing RPGS to a More Inclusive Future. https://io9.gizmodo.com/creators-of-combat-wheelchair-miniatures-on-the-challen-1845051141. Inspiration, confrontation, normalization.
Gopal, Trisha, Michael Fequiere, and Dave Yim (2020 Sep 20) This game of Dungeons & Dragons has been going for 38 years. https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/20/us/dungeons-and-dragons-longest-game-great-big-story-trnd/index.html. Robert Wardhaugh’s epic game.
Heinsoo, Rob (2020 Sep 30) The Zoomswoop Virtual Tabletop. http://robheinsoo.blogspot.com/2020/09/the-zoomswoop-virtual-tabletop.html. Using analog battlemaps to game through just Zoom.
Lusk, Melissa (2020 Sep 19) Dungeon & Dragons: A Great Place to Be Queer. https://www.autostraddle.com/dungeons-dragons-a-great-place-to-be-queer. Self and world, variety and discovery with supportive friends.
Lai, Jonathan & Andrew Chen (2020 Sep 1) The Digital Future of Tabletop Games. https://a16z.com/2020/09/01/tabletop-games-go-digital. Investment agency analysis of trends and technologies.
Maliszewski, James (2020 Sep 21) Words Gary Taught Me. http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2020/09/words-gary-taught-me.html. The style of High Gygaxian English and its effect on vocabulary.
M Maliszewski, James (2020 Sep 29) Are They All Crazy?. http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2020/09/are-they-all-crazy.html. Looking back from 2020 at J. Eric Holmes’ conclusions in Fantasy Role Playing Games (1981).
Morrissey, Russ (2020 Sep 14) How To Promote Your RPG Kickstarter. https://www.enworld.org/threads/how-to-promote-your-rpg-kickstarter.673251. Tips and data analysis.
Morrissey, Russ (2020 Sep ) Dungeons & Dragons Animated Series: Requiem The Final Episode. https://www.enworld.org/threads/dungeons-dragons-animated-series-requiem-the-final-episode.675104. Fans produce final episode for 1980s cartoon.
Morrissey, Russ (2020 Sep 30) RPG For Power Rangers Coming. https://www.enworld.org/threads/rpg-for-power-rangers-coming.675103. Hasbro license Renegade Game Studios to produce game.
Myler, Mike (2020 Sep 21) Mythological Figures: Cathay Williams. https://www.enworld.org/threads/mythological-figures-cathay-williams.674912. Dungeons & Dragons stats for historical personage, who went from enslaved woman to Civil War soldier and beyond.
Peck, Michael (2020 Sep 25) Want to Learn How the Pentagon Works? Then Play This Board Game. https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/09/25/want-to-learn-how-the-pentagon-works-then-play-this-board-game. The game that helped write the US 2018 National Defense Strategy.
Rachel (2020 Sep 24) Introducing: Critical Role Foundation. https://critrole.com/introducing-critical-role-foundation. Fundraising for good, starting with Zuni Youth Enrichment Project and Keres Children’s Learning Center.
Richter, Felix (2020 Sep 22) Gaming: The Most Lucrative Entertainment Industry By Far. https://www.statista.com/chart/22392/global-revenue-of-selected-entertainment-industry-sectors. Global revenues of selected entertainment industry sectors in 2019, primarily electronic but telling.
Rotondo, Giuseppe (2020 Sep 23) 10 Questions To: Pâris Conte. https://axianspice.blogspot.com/2020/09/10-questions-to-paris-conte.html. Conte is Head Dragon Wrangler in Victoria, Australia, for the Gamer department of genU, a community support organization across the country.
Trainer, Genevieve (2020 Sep 13) NCSML’s Mysterious Caravan offers a new way to explore Czech and Slovak history: a tabletop role playing game. https://littlevillagemag.com/ncsmls-mysterious-caravan-offers-a-new-way-to-explore-czech-and-slovak-history-a-tabletop-role-playing-game. National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, begins playtesting D&D 5E history and folklore adventure.
Turner Entertainment Digital (2020 Sep) Tigtone: The Never-Stopping Prophecy. https://www.adultswim.com/misc/tigtonesquest. Satirical cartoon gets its own tabletop game in Turner promotion.
Whitehead, Adam (2020 Sep 12) Hasbro resurrects the classic HERO QUEST board game. https://thewertzone.blogspot.com/2020/09/hasbro-resurrects-classic-hero-quest.html. Popular game to have a new life.
Winkie, Luke (2020 Sep 1) The 84-Year-Old Gamer Has More Than 900,000 ‘Grandkids’. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/01/style/shirley-curry-skyrim-youtube.htm. Shirley Curry shares her love for Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim with about one million social media followers.
FROM MIKE TRESCA
Tresca, Mike (2020 Sep 8) Mark Twain: American Geek. https://www.enworld.org/threads/mark-twain-american-geek.674610. Role playing, gaming, and fantasy author.
© Copyright 2020 by the Committee for the Advancement of Role-Playing Games (CAR-PGa), ISSN 1071 7129. The CAR-PGa Newsletter is a monthly publication. For more information contact David Millians, Editor, Paideia School, 1509 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA, phone (404) 808-1070, fax (404) 377-3491, e-mail millians.david@paideiaschool.org. Back issues are available. Contributions of material from the membership are urged, and the byline is responsible for content. Deadline is the last weekday of the month, email preferred. Permission is granted to copy anything in the Newsletter, provided we get a credit line in the publication copying it, and it doesn’t have someone else’s copyright on it. Information, including details on joining CAR-PGa, can be obtained on the Internet at car-pga.org.