The Edge of 17

17 years and going strong. 

 

I don't know what the next year is going to bring... I never do, but on this blogiversary I feel it more keenly than I usually do. Change is coming, and I'm fearful for what that change will bring. I'm worried, and on a day I should be celebrating, I'm mourning. 

But until it doesn't, life goes on, and I expect so will the blog. So whatever the future brings, I expect to continue this silly little record of my games, my hobbies, and my random thoughts. 

Thanks for joining me on this journey. More to come!

14 Year Old!

It's amazing how time flies. I honestly couldn't have imagined that I'd still be actively blogging after 14 years when I stared this, and yet here I am. 

And because I haven't looked in a while, here's the stats! 

• 2,156,496 views
• 305 Followers
• 2,718 Posts (2719 including this one)
• 2,784 Comments

My top 5 posts of all time are:

• Time Curry Tuesdays - Pennywise 28.3K views
  
• Cupid's Arrow 24.6K views
• On Dragons 18.4k views
• Gaming Music - Queen 17.3k views
  
• Random Magical Book Name Generator 11.9k views

 
Most of my posts average around 120 views, so those are some big numbers. I kinda wish they were more representative, but I've never managed to catch a big audience. 

What does this mean going forward? Anniversaries are a good time to reevaluate what you've done and what's to come, and... I don't see much changing. I'm happy with my little corner of the RPG blogosphere, and those of you who keep reading seem happy enough with it, so on we go!

13 years old!

I haven't marked the day in a couple of years, but yesterday was my 13th blogiversary. 

Go me!

It's interesting that this has kept on, even though at this point too many of my posts are the monthly wrap ups, and not nearly enough of them are session reports or new content. And I have ideas for new content stuff, and things from game that I want to share, but with a toddler in the house, finding the time has been hard. That's part of the reason this is a day late in fact. 

I don't foresee any big changes to things here at the Tower anytime in the near term. Likely you will be seeing more of the same, though I do want to keep posting some of the new characters I've been coming up with. 

 Anyway, happy blogiversary to me! Here's to another productive year!

My Monster List Spreadsheet

Seeing as I've written over a hundred monsters, it's beginning to get difficult to remember what I've actually done. I haven't had the time to put together a proper PDF, especially since I don't own the vast majority of the pictures I use in my posts, and since I don't own the pictures, I'd rather not use them in a PDF. So I either have to just go without, or somehow illustrate them myself. That's pretty easy for things that I've got minis for, but less easy for other things.

So, what to do? Aside from looking at my old posts a little more regularly, which is interesting, I figured it was time to put together a list. So I did, and if you look up at the top of my page, you'll notice a new link: "Monster List"which takes you to a Google spreadsheet with all of my monsters, their HD, their system, and the link to that post.

I think I've got it set up so that anyone can look at it, but no one should be able to make edits.

For future monsters, I should be able to keep the list updated pretty regularly. I hope this is helpful, it took quite a bit of time to put together...

Back from vacation!

I'm back from vacation! Hawaii was awesome, and very inspirational, and you can expect some tropical themed posts in the near future. However I've also got about a thousand blog posts still to read (not an exaggeration), a bunch of e-mail to catch up on, and a bit of jet lag to recover from.

And for those lucky sods off to Gen Con, have fun, and I hope to be there next year!

Vacation

“Computer, activate the Emergency Blogger Hologram.”

“Please state the nature of the blogging emergency.”

“I’m going on vacation, and I need you to make sure that the Tower doesn’t burn down while I’m away.”

“Was a suitable blogger not requested to fill in while you take your leave?”

“Requested, and denied, leaving me with you. Look, I don’t expect you to reply to comments or anything, just make sure the posts go live when they’re supposed to.”

“You are aware that blogger has a scheduling feature, aren’t you?”

“Of course I am. Do you think I’m sitting at my computer almost every day at 6am? Just make sure nothing goes wrong. I’m not totally unreachable, just trying to disconnect for a bit.”

“When will you return?”

“I’ll be back on the 12th.”

“Very well. Have a safe journey.”

FLGS?

Blogger informed me that this is my 600th post! Not a bad way to start February.

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A long time time ago I wrote a post about looking for a local comic/game shop. At the time my focus was actually more on the comics than the gaming aspect of things. I wasn’t too worried about the game thing, as there are numerous Games Workshops in the area, and Amazon. I wasn’t thinking, at the time, about playing D&D. Besides, what comic shop doesn’t carry at least a basic selection of games? Or would be willing to special order something?

If you read that previous post, you know that my search was not entirely fruitful. I ended up going about an hour away for my FLCS. As far as games goes, my affair with GW is pretty much at an end. Their ever increasing prices, coupled with the new finecast resin change has soured our relationship. I only wish that some other company would be doing The Hobbit minis... I’d really like to get the 14 companions... oh well.

Now the reason 2 paragraphs of background is important is because I discovered a game store that isn’t too far from my house. I found it when I discovered that Sarah Darkmagic aka Tracy Hurley linked to my post about dungeonmorph dice on the WotC website. While I was there (a rare occurence) I put my location into their store finder, and I found J and M Comics and Games. Now, I thought I knew every comic and game shop in the the greater Baltimore area. I was wrong, and today I’ll be going to check it out... Who knows, I may have just discovered a new (to me) FLGS!

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If you haven't visited my blog lately (aka you read it through a feed), I've gone and changed how things look. Let me know what you think!

Looking Back - The Stats

Today, as 2011 comes to a close, I want to take a moment and see where things stand.

As of now, I have had over 131,000 page views, with December of this year being my best ever with almost 14,000 page views. I have 144 followers and 215 subscribers according to Google reader. I'm sure there is some (a lot of) overlap, but I have no way of determining what it is.

The people that come to my blog do so from a wide variety of places around the world.

• United States 71,311
• United Kingdom 11,051
• Canada 6,917
• Germany 4,047
• Australia 3,187
• Italy 1,629
• France 1,271
• Spain 998
• Brazil 929
• Russia 904

Most of you use Firefox, but a shocking number of you use IE.

• Firefox 51,773 (39%)
• Internet Explorer 34,981 (26%)
• Chrome 23,836 (18%)
• Safari 13,778 (10%)
• Opera 2,282 (1%)
• Mobile Safari 1,651 (1%)
• Mobile 514 (-1%)
• chromeframe 380 (-1%)
• (FlipboardProxy 307 (-1%)
• OneRiot 138 (-1%)

Readers find my blog with the following search terms:

• pennywise 4,245
• dragons 1,176
• end of the world 490
• pennywise the clown 426
• dungeons and dragons 166
• fey corgi 152
• sharkbear 107
• bastard sword 82
• queen 79
• book name generator 65

This flows rather well into my most viewed posts:

• Tim Curry Tuesdays - Pennywise
  Jun 28, 2011 10,129 Pageviews
• This is Dungeons and Dragons!
  May 13, 2010, 1 comment 3,678 Pageviews
• Racial Weapon Styles: Humans, Dwarves, Elves
  Mar 19, 2010, 4 comments 2,071 Pageviews
• WotC-Fail - Girls & D&D
  Jun 17, 2011, 13 comments 1,486 Pageviews
• On Dragons
  Nov 22, 2011, 7 comments 1,329 Pageviews
• Off for the weekend
  Aug 26, 2011, 1 comment 912 Pageviews
• The Best D&D Race is the...
  Feb 26, 2010, 4 comments 736 Pageviews
• Busy week = Lazy Post
  Dec 12, 2011, 1 comment 662 Pageviews
• Racial Weapon Styles: Dragonborn
  Mar 30, 2010, 2 comments 469 Pageviews
• The Book of Vile Darkness: The Movie!!
  Jul 20, 2011, 2 comments 455 Pageviews

Counting this post and the one that will follow, I have posted 328 posts this year. My most commented on post was the Blog Carnival post (19), and then the WotC-Fail - Girls & D&D (13).

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As an aside, I hate how blogger messes up the ampersand

To Do

I know it’s a rule that you should never post what it is you’re going to do. This is a good rule, as it prevents you from promising something you may not be able to deliver.

However, there are a number of things that I’ve started that I’m intending to get back to, and for my own benefit I’m writing a list of them.

• Sea of O’sr Project - I never finished putting together the Atoll of U’slim, nor did I ever share the second island I was working on.
• Blog PDFs - You said you wanted them, I just haven’t gotten around to it yet.
• Megadungeon - I keep getting sidetracked. It’s becoming a rather big project, and sometimes I fell a little overwhelmed with it, which is why I think I keep working on geomorphs
• 4e game session reports - I left off in the middle of session 3. Now I need to write part 2, and then write up session 4, and maybe do that before we start Thunderspire Labyrinth this weekend...
• Begin editing Flying Swordsmen RPG for Lord Gwydion - I promised him preliminary comments by the end of the week... and it’s already Wednesday!

I think that covers the majority of the big ones. there are a few other things that I’m working on, but none of them are projects, just one-off posts.

Ok, back to re-reading Thunderspire and Flying Swordsmen.

Balticon 45

Balticon is over by only a couple of hours, but I'm dead tired. It was a really good con, even if I didn't get much gaming in. There was a lot of really informative panels, and the masquerade and the short film festival were both solidly entertaining. Unfortunately I couldn't spend all my time at the Con

I didn't take too many pictures, and I already showed you the space monkey man. You've also gotten a preview of the geomorphs I drew. You can expect to be seeing them over the next couple of weeks starting tomorrow. During that time I'll also be putting together PDFs of my posts.

Speaking of, there are only 5 hours to go before the poll closes, and there is currently a tie! Dogs and Magic Items each have 7 votes! Monsters isn't far behind with 5 votes, so there is still time to swing the balance.

Bits and Bobs III

I read the various blogs that I follow via Google Reader. I don’t know how many of you do the same, but there is one minor annoyance I’ve found and it’s blogs where only the first couple lines of each entry are shown. Well, now there is a solution that doesn’t involve skipping past or clicking through.

http://fulltextrssfeed.com/

I’ve been using it for a couple of days now, and it’s great! You just enter the blog into the link above, and then subscribe to the link it gives you. Definitely worth doing!

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Sandbox debate

There’s been some great posts on this subject, and it seems that unlike previous cross-blog debates, this one isn’t spinning itself into one of those dreaded teapot tempests!

I get JB’s line of thought, and the Old Guy’s too, and between them and the other commenters there has been some great and lively discussion. I don’t really have anything to add to it except to say that my games have tended to stand somewhere between both ends of the spectrum.

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I’ve adjusted the design of my blog somewhat. There is now an option to follow the blog via e-mail, should anyone be interested.

There is also a new poll! I’m considering putting together PDFs of my blog posts, as sorted by themes. For instance all my dog related posts, or the various magic keys, or the monsters, etc. They wont be particularly pretty, but I’ll try to do some formatting beyond simple copy/paste, and they will of course be free.

I get  -C’s thoughts on PDF pricing. I really do. I sympathize. For all that I put out, I really get very few hits, and pitifully few comments. I’m ok with that. Sure, I’d love more followers who all leave lots of comments on every post, but I don’t do all that I do here that. I do it because I enjoy it, and you get the benefit! Besides, I'm not sure I'd pay for my own PDFs, such as they are, so why would anyone else?

Oh, and if you haven’t checked out -C’s awesome PDFs, you need to. I haven’t checked out all of them yet, but the Tricks and Traps PDF should be required downloading.

Now.

Go.

And while you’re there, remember to say “thanks!”

Leveling Up to Maven!

I'm not exactly sure when it happened, but as of now I am officially a Maven!

While I have a hard time thinking of myself as a trusted expert, it seems that you think I am. I'm honored. Thank you to all of who read, comment, use, and share the things I come up with.

Bits and Bobs II

I have a number of little things that I want to go over, none of which require a full post individually.

First off, welcome to my new followers. Somewhere along the line I jumped up to a total of 76! I hope you all find something of interest.

B. My cousins are down today, and we should be finishing off KotSF. I know I still owe you all a session report from last months game, and I'm in the middle of writing it, but it's getting rather long. I should probably break it up. Expect the first part next week.

3) My downloads page has been updated with levels 2A & 2B of my megadungeon. Level 2C will probably be posted next week.

IV - Real life just got a little more interesting as I just accepted a new job. I know I said back in January that things might slow down here, and they haven't. Well, they may yet.

Lastly, some sexy elven dudes to go with the hot elf chicks.

Admin Updates

I have disabled anonymous comments. As much as I love getting comments (and I do) I always feel like anonymous comments are cowardly. I never use the anonymous option even when it's given. If I am going to take the time and effort to leave a comment, I'm going to put my name to it, I'm going to own it. I have to insist that while you're here, you do the same.

Thanks

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Monthly Audience Participation voting update!
With 1 day to go, Megadungeon Topics is in the lead, but just a couple of votes could dislodge it from the top spot. Corgis remains in last place with a single vote. I have not told my dogs this.

If you haven't voted already there is still time! 

What a month!

I managed to post a record (for me) 32 entries in January!  I'm not exactly sure how I managed that, but I don't think I'm going to match it in February.  For one thing, there are fewer days.  For another Grad School is back, and I really need to devote my attention to it. So expect a bit of a slow down. I just wanted to give you a heads up.

Oh, and don't forget to vote in the poll on the right!

Bits and Bobs

My most recent poll has closed, and the vast majority of you did indeed download Starter Traveller, and those who didn't already owned it!  I hope you are enjoying my read through of it.

At the start of the month I was worried that I wouldn't get more than 10 posts written, but I'm already well past that mark.  This is all thanks to Traveller, however for the next couple of days I'll be sharing some seasonal themed magic items. This will give me a chance to finish writing up the subsector (which I should really give a name to).

Lastly a shout out to my newest followers: Porky and Higgipedia.  Please don't be shy, let me know what you like, and what you don't!  This goes for all my readers too!

Meta-Post - This one is about you!

Due to blogger making stats more easily viewable, I have a few things to share.

First a thank you to Lamentations of the Flame Princess, RPG Bloggers, Roles Rules and Rolls, Fist Full of Coppers and the Underdark Gazette for being the top referring sites to my blog.

Second, it seems that my most popular posts are:
Racial Weapon Styles: Humans, Dwarves, Elves
The Best D&D Race is the...
Free Paper Minis
Racial Weapon Styles: Dragonborn
Bearshark & Sharkbear
What is Dungeons and Dragons?
Random Magical Book Name Generator
Megadungeon Level 1 Complete!
Your favorite edition - AD&D!
Imagining Dungeons and Dragons
I get that Bearshark and Sharkbear are in the top, but I'm surprised at how popular the racial weapon style posts were!

Thirdly, the vast majority of you are from the US, but there is a fairly interesting mix of visitors to my blog. 
United States 10,876
United Kingdom 1,028
Canada 894
Germany 391
Australia 328
South Korea 185
Russia 136
Italy 118
Finland 114
France 105

I'm glad I that I've kept you all entertained, and I hope that you continue to enjoy my posts!

A time of growing darkness

November has arrived, and for my Monthly Audience Participation Flynn asked “What are your three most favorite game mechanic innovations from 4E, and why? Also, what are your three least favorite game mechanic innovations from 4E, and why?”

As this was the only suggestion, I’ll happily answer it with a post (just not today)! 

Tomorrow is Election Day, and I’m serving as an election judge.  This is a nice long 15+ hour day, so don’t expect much from me for the next couple of days as I recover from that and from Halloween. There are some fun things to look forward to however!  

Coming soon:

Steampunk minimonsters and magic items

Thing in a well

A Spider

Altered Realities
Gryphons

I hope everyone had a frightful Halloween!

Not a ghost!

I'm not dead, or even undead, but I am (and have been) on vacation.  I have had both limited access to the internet, and even more limited time, which is why I haven't posted lately.  Don't worry, I've been recharging my inspirational batteries, and I'll be coming back from vacation rearing to go! 

I can't wait to see what you all have been up to while I've been away.  See you soon!

Happy (late) Anniversary to me!!

Apparently I've been blogging here for a year (plus) now!  Go me! 

I received not a single suggestion for the Monthly Audience Participation, in spite of my 49 followers and 80-odd subscribers through google reader.  I guess it'll be a random topic this month!  I'm planning on doing Halloween focus posts this month, so prepare for spooky, creepy, and even silly posts that all relate to the ultimate day of October. 

Ok, so rolling on Rusty's charts... on a d6 I rolled a... 6!  Chart #3.

Rolling a d10 I got a 2!  Roll once on sub-charts 2 and 4. 

Sub-chart 2, rolled a d12 and got a 4.  "Two"

Sub-chart 4, rolled a 52 "Issues"

So expect a post about Two Issues!

Happy October everyone!