CAR-PGa NEWSLETTER, Vol. 29, No. 5, May 2020

CAR-PGa Chair

David Millians, Editor

Paideia School, 1509 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA

millians.david@paideiaschool.org

LETTER FROM THE CHAIR

Hello All,

I posted about this update on our social networks but I feel it bears repeating here: one of our founding members, Paul Cardwell, Jr. passed away on Tuesday, March 31. He was 86 years old and was only recently diagnosed with cancer the month before.

Randy Ray shared on RPGGeek that Paul was a RPG advocate and a game designer:

“He published a game called Mythworld which was heavily based on Runequest. Originally, he’d planned a game called Spaceworld, which was meant to be a percentile-based competitor to Traveller. He couldn’t reconcile the laws of physics with interstellar travel, though, so he decided to pitch his own set of rules improvements to Chaosium as Runequest 3. They went another direction with Runequest 3, so he published Mythworld as his alternative to that. He later published a game called Nuclear Winter which was basically the same set of rules ported over to a post-nuclear war setting.”

Paul held several roles throughout the life of the CAR-PGA, from Chair to Board Member to most recently as Archivist. As Archivist, Paul had entire filing cabinets of important correspondence and records about RPG advocacy. Hawke Robinson has graciously offer to digitize his files when travel restrictions loosen across the U.S.

In absence of an obituary, we’re hoping to add Paul’s game to the RPGGeek database as a tribute. CAR-PGa member Jonas is collecting information on the aforementioned RPGGeek thread.

Paul was CAR-PGA’s living history and will be deeply missed. Our condolences to his family.

Sincerely,

Mike

CAR-PGA Chair

A Personal Note from the Editor

By David Millians

I only met Paul Cardwell once in person, but he made quite an impression on me. In 1993, during a summer road trip, I stopped in Fort Worth, Texas, to attend a couple of sunny days of the Origins Game Fair and meet Paul, after corresponding with him as part of my work with GAMA and CAR-PGa. Paul was voluble and fun, full of stories of games and history, and even bought me fish and chips for lunch. He convinced me to join CAR-PGa’s work that day, and we met a friend from Wizards of the Coast and played one of the first public demo decks of Magic: The Gathering. It was a blast!

Paul and I shared work on games, advocacy, and education over almost three decades that followed, and I am much richer for his advice and connections to the wider gaming world. We watched gaming change dramatically over that time and kept an eye on opportunities and communities through it all. Paul was the leader of CAR-PGa for many of those years, whether officially or through his work. He edited this newsletter until just a couple of volumes ago. He was a mentor and a friend. I miss him terribly and intend to carry on the work we began together.

I also want to note, importantly, that Paul for many years maintained a huge database of upcoming game conventions of all sorts and posted it in this newsletter. The remainder of his work is in its usual place in the last section of the newsletter, but after July we run out of this information.

If anyone is interested in working with this part of CAR-PGa’s mission and Paul’s legacy, please let me know. Individuals can always share particular upcoming convention information without worrying that you are committing to this work forever.

Best wishes, Paul. I hope there are many games and gamers in the afterlife.

David

NEW MATERIAL

FROM DAVID MILLIANS

Ballou, Elizabeth (2020 Mar 20) Poor Pay, Abuse, And Harassment: How the World’s Biggest Wizard School Lost Its Magic. https://kotaku.com/poor-pay-abuse-and-harassment-how-the-worlds-biggest-1842415354. The Rise and Fall of the College of Wizardry in Czocha Castle, Poland.

Brown, Lloyd (2020 Apr 16) Game Stores in Crisis. https://www.rpg.net/columns/businessofgamingretail/businessofgamingretail114.phtml. Store closures and uncertainty in the era of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bullock, Kate (2020 Apr 7) Designing Safer Games. http://www.bluestockings.ca/2020/04/the-ttrpg-industry-designing-safer-games.html. Games are not inherently safe, and we need to build safety elements and culture into the game, not add it afterwards.

Editor (2020 Apr 10) Toy Association Launches ‘Toy Fair Everywhere’ A Series of Week-Long Virtual Events. https://tabletopwire.com/toy-association-launches-toy-fair-everywhere-a-series-of-week-long-virtual-events/. Simulating walking the show floor starting in July.

Editor (2020 Apr 14) Alliance Game Distributors to Furlough Employees. https://tabletopwire.com/alliance-game-distributors-to-furlough-employees/. Reducing costs in many areas but keeping employees on their health insurance.

Editor (2020 Apr 22) Dungeons & Dragons Records 6th Consecutive Year of Growth. https://tabletopwire.com/dungeons-dragons-records-6th-consecutive-year-of-growth/. Heavy growth in Europe and among people under 25 years of age.

Editor (Apr 30) Hasbro Gaming is Highlight of First Quarter, 40% Growth Over Last Year. https://tabletopwire.com/hasbro-gaming-is-highlight-of-first-quarter-40-growth-over-last-year/. Magic: The Gathering helps defray overall company losses.

Favis, Elise (2020 Apr 15) With coronavirus closing schools, here’s how video games are helping teachers. https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2020/04/15/teachers-video-games-coronavirus-education-remote-learning/. Assassin’s Creed, Roblox, Minecraft, and more support learning.

The Fellowship of the Thing (2020) The Secrets of Blackmoor – The True History of Dungeons and Dragons. https://vimeo.com/ondemand/sobfinal. Exploring the roots of role playing games and not as partisan as it sounds.

Griepp, Milton (2020 Mar 31) Ultra Pro Offers Tablet Sleeve Donations to Hospitals. https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/45527/ultra-pro-offers-tablet-sleeve-donations-hospitals. They protect collectibles, and they can protect health workers amid Covid-19.

Griepp, Milton (2020 Apr 18) Florida Game Store Owner Arrested for Violating Safer-at-Home Orders. https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/45615/florida-game-store-owner-arrested-violating-safer-home-orders. Galen Wood, owner of Kitchen Table Games, arrested for violating quarantine regulations.

Hodes, James Mendez (2020 Apr 28) The Most Important Point I Can Make About Orcs. https://jamesmendezhodes.com/blog/2020/4/28/the-most-important-point-i-can-make-about-orcs. Depiction affects impact in gaming too.

Institut National de l’audiovisuel (2020 Apr 24) Ils pratiquent le jeux de roles dans leur “temple du reve”. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=223209699096822. 1989 video of French gamers playing RuneQuest.

Kane, Jenny (2020 Apr 1) Dungeons & Dragons business arms Reno hospitals with gear to battle coronavirus. https://www.rgj.com/story/news/2020/04/01/dungeons-dragons-business-arms-reno-hospitals-with-gear-to-battle-coronavirus/5101608002/. GriffonCo turns its 3D printers to protective visor creation.

Key, Stephen (2020 Apr 3) How The Coronavirus Is Impacting Open Innovation At Hasbro. https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephenkey/2020/04/03/how-the-coronavirus-is-impacting-open-innovation-at-hasbro/#3ee8f29a4b02. Inspiration, plus Pay-Doh, Nerf, and Peppa Pig.

Morrissey, Russ (2020 Apr 1) TSR’s Brian Blume Has Passed. https://www.enworld.org/threads/tsr%E2%80%99s-brian-blume-has-passed.671267/. Blume’s legacy.

Morrissey, Russ (2020 Apr 3) Walking Around the Building. https://www.enworld.org/threads/at-tsr-walking-around-the-building.670316/. Herding the cats as Director of Creative Services at TSR.

Morrissey, Russ (2020 Apr 13) Fantasy Grounds Stats Show Massive Pandemic Bump. https://www.enworld.org/threads/fantasy-grounds-stats-show-massive-pandemic-bump.671486/. Massive increase month on month, though D&D share drops from same time last year.

Morrissey, Russ (2020 Apr 24) Dave Arneson’s Origin’s 1977 Tournament. https://www.enworld.org/threads/dave-arnesons-origins-1977-tournament.671676/. Characters and a link for more information.

Morrissey, Russ (2020 Apr 24) Comparing EN World’s Demographics to The D&D Community’s. https://www.enworld.org/threads/comparing-en-worlds-demographics-to-the-d-d-communitys.671691/. Demographic data on gaming participantion.

Plot Points (2020 Apr 16) What if Kids had D&D Class in School?. https://plotpoints.libsyn.com/what-if-kids-had-dd-class-in-school-ep-187. Interview and discussion with Zachary Reznichek about his Teacher-Gamer Handbook project on Indiegogo.

Rundle, James (2020 Apr 20) Dungeons & Dragons Players Also Battle Cyber Foes Online. https://www.wsj.com/articles/dungeons-dragons-players-also-battle-cyber-foes-online-11587402346. Covid-19 Pandemic expands user base and perils from hacking.

Schiesel, Seth (2020 Apr 1) For the Uninitiated and Bored, an Introduction to the World of Gaming. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/01/arts/gaming-introduction-basics-quarantine-coronavirus.html. Online and other digital platform games, including several that overlap with tabletop games.

Sheehan, Gavin (2020 Apr 24) Wizards Of The Coast Gives Free Kits For Librarians & Educators. https://bleedingcool.com/games/wizards-of-the-coast-gives-free-kits-for-librarians-educators/. Distributing digital kits as resources during pandemic and beyond.

Wizards of the Coast (2020 Apr) Free Material. https://dnd.wizards.com/remote/freematerial. Like many publishers, WotC makes some of its digital products free during the Covid-19 pandemic with Stay at Home – Play at Home, as well as resources and advice on play.

Zambrano, J.R. (2020 Apr 3) Far Verona Canceled, Dungeon World Creator Faces Backlash. https://www.belloflostsouls.net/2020/04/rpg-far-verona-canceled-dungeon-world-creator-faces-backlash.html. In-game sexual assault leads cast to quit popular live-streaming show.

FROM MIKE TRESCA

Tresca, Mike (2020 Apr 7) VTTs Feel the Strain. https://www.enworld.org/threads/vtts-feel-the-strain.671166/. Virtual tabletops expand capacity to fit demand during Covid-19 lockdowns and beyond.

Tresca, Mike (2020 Apr 13) How to Play VTT Like a Boss. https://www.enworld.org/threads/how-to-play-vtt-like-a-boss.671151/. Flexibility, Simplicity, Technology, Numbers, Introverts, and Socializing.

CALENDAR

New listings every month for many years were provided by Paul Cardwell, and this section contains his compilation work through July of this year. Convention schedules have changed, and many organizers have canceled their events, but online conventions are also happening. This humble editor does not know the state of conventions listed in this schedule, so please check their web sites. Updates appreciate as well!

If you participate in a convention, be sure to send any information you can gather for upcoming conventions. CAR-PGa is international, so this includes anywhere in the world.

“[LARP]” means only LARP events as many RPG cons include at least some LARP, as likewise applies to the mention of specific game systems. The same bracketed information applies as well to game systems when the con will have only those games present.

A review of any attended convention afterwards for the Newsletter would be appreciated too. These reviews should include demographic data such as attendance, percentage male/female, white/ethnic minorities (or what- ever is the majority/white/others), games in addition to tabletop RPG, and more subjective matters such as unusual events, quality of games and dealers’ room, encouragement of new gamers, and whatever seems worth reporting. We need to work to restore CAR-PGa’s reputation as the media’s go-to on gamer demographics, especially since the media are still citing a study that cut off all those over 35 – at a time when that was the median age of gamers – it is closer to 40 now – which indicates we also need to work on recruiting younger players, although some increase in college age players at conventions has been noted.

May 2020

June 2020

July 2020

© 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.