Ug

I am being, as they say, "beaten like a ginger-haired stepchild" at work. Not literally. And I don't mean any offense to, as I would call them, redheads.

But I will not let _another_ day go by without putting out some incoherent D&D thoughts. So here they are:

I wanted to put something more coherent here, but I simply don't have the time, so let's assume it'll shape up on its own, wiki-like...

Actually, that's point one. Is the blog format the _best_ way to implement a web-based D&D game? I've looked a bit at wikis, openRPG, and the crazily interesting Deme (on groupspace.org), and you should too. Had I been able, I wanted to make a little sample campaign deme site, wiki, and blog, and compare how they felt to use.

Seems to me some of the functionality you want from a D&D campaign website is:

A) effective character viewing/manipulation (probably have to be a dynamic webpage with a database backend)
B) an easy "post action" interface (which blog does well)
C) make it easy to see the current situation so you know what action to post: this ties in with seeing your character, but also might involve graphics: having a powerful way to view a map, maybe even draw on it so you can clearly indicate what you want, where you want, would rock. OpenRPG has this, but that's all XML and seems to be tied to the OpenRPG server, which makes it not as usefully asynchronous as the web (OpenRPG seems to need the players and DM to be online at the same time, interacting through chat.)

A downside to the blog is that it's hard to see what the deal is, _now_. I find myself flipping through the blog all the time, looking to see what got used when, scrolling down to the last map, etc. The nice thing about a wiki is that you can insert your action, the DM can shuffle them around on the same document, and you end up with a nice description of what started out as everyone's separate actions. Similarly, a map graphic (if not an interactive whiteboard) could at least be downloaded, modified, then uploaded by players to show their movement or lightning bolt or whatever.

Lemme know what you think.

Rebecca's awesome

So, a weekend ago I was wurfing at school ("wurfing": sorta work, mostly surfing; worth coming into school to surf sometimes because my screen there is so much bigger.) And before I come home, Rebecca drops me an IM that I should check out one of the charity shops she passed by, because it's got a bunch of D&D mapping stuff.

It was a treasure trove.

Clearly someone was clearing out a lifetime collection, because the "Save the Children" shop was selling books (AD&D Unearthed Arcana, Dungeoneer's Survival Guide, v.1 (second edition, orange spine) Players Handbook, v.1 Monster's Manual II, v.1 Fiend Folio, v.3 Players Handbook), lead figures (I'm guessing at least a hundred, mostly Grenadier AD&D, but some others too; almost all of them are very charmingly stored in old matchboxes), and the aforementioned mapping tools: Games Workshop's Dungeon Floor Plans 1,2, and 4, the last two in their original boxes and provably complete. Also, a Judge's Guild booklet w/maps for a variety of boats. And some transparencies with hexes printed on them -- I dunno if the original intent was to overlay them on maps, or for projecting onto a screen.

I'm going to return most of the books tomorrow, since I've got them already, except for the Dungeoneer's Survival Guide and the v.3 Players Handbook, which I'll keep. The v.3 PH is mostly for reading about the "old" rules so I can carp about how much better the "fixed" 3.5 version is. :) The DSG has the supa-cool perspective mapping advice and templates in the back (remember the crazy castle map in Ravencroft?)

The Dungeon Floor Plans are basically a lot of 1" tiles, intended for you to cut out either singly or in strips or chunks (most of them have been) and laid out as a map. So, for example, you cut two strips of flagstones, and voila! Ten foot wide passage. Put a door at the end of it, with some grass and trees outside, and there's your dungeon entrance. They recommend putting it on a black background, so the untiled space gives the impression of solid wall. Set 2 has room details (statues, tombs, pits, stairs), water, and grass & trees. Set 4 has rough tunnels and mine accessories (carts, rails, wheelbarrows).

The whole collection was 35 pounds. I'm not sure how best to leverage these things, but they're freakin' sweet. And my appreciation for Rebecca, in particular her willingness to aid and abet my dungeonphilia, cannot easily be expressed in words. :)