Musing and articles from Peter Amthor. Usually of a role playing game influence but I do drift into other directions occasionally. You can also find me on Mastodon at dice.camp/@peteramthor. Comments and constructive criticism welcome. Also this blog is best viewed on a desktop or wide screen tablet.
Sprawlvember was a lot of fun last year and it's making a return this year. So I'll once again be taking part with various blog posts and such. Not sure how many I'll get done this time around as my life is a bit busier than last time. But I'll try to get several finished up.
You can see the main blog post about this over on Neural Archive. I'm sure they will have some interesting stuff as well. I'll also try to link to some other folks throughout the month who are also participating.
Game Wizards
by Jon Peterson
For decades the true story behind the creation, rise and fall of the original Dungeons and Dragons run, and the company TSR, has been second hand stories, random anecdotes and speculation. Lot's of contradictions, tall tales that have been around since the early 90's and just a lot of unsorted information. This is the authors attempt to pull all of that together into a cohesive history. And he succeeds.
Now I will state that this book is for those who want a really deep look into the early years of the roleplaying hobby with a focus being on two people; Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. So if you want a quick easy read without a lot of niche details this isn't the book for you.
But if you like that intricate detail (as I do) then this is the book for you. Complete with a large sources and acknowledgement section and a full index.
This work covers a very specific area of time. From early meeting of the main people in 1973 up until the point where Gary Gygax loses ownership and control of TSR in 1985. Giving each year it's own chapter with a humorous little 'score keeper' at the end of each. Where as 'Slaying the Dragon' (another great book) gives a full history of the game almost to current day this one is hyper focused on this specific early era.
It gives a bit of a peak into things that I never knew about. Like the fight for attendance size and importance between GenCon and Origins. The amount of coverage amateur press, and company trade magazines gave to things going on at the time. With various folks stirring the pot or spilling the tea on things that were happening. Even a treasure trove of information from an in-house newsletter distributed to employees of TSR.
Using all this entertaining information to help smooth out the sheer amount of information on sales, stocks, and all that boring stuff. So you rarely get bogged down and feel like you're trying to soak in a few years worth of corporate spreadsheet data. Along with mentions of other major companies at the time also had their own downfalls during the same period.
So if you like a well researched historical approach to the game that defined our hobby and the company that rose to amazing heights only to fall so far. Then this book is for you. I gave a solid two thumbs up and recommend it highly.
Try to find a copy through your local game shop or independently owned book shop. Ask if they can special order it in for you.
If that's not an option you can find it over on Bookshop dot org or over on Amazon.
I haven't been blogging much. My job has gotten quite a bit busier. I've been working at Aesop's Treasury Books and Games for around four years now. Earlier this year we moved to a new location. We were met by a steep uptick in customers and walk in traffic.
After a couple of months my boss made me an offer to become the store manager. I took him up on the offer and have been going at it ever since. It's the only job I've ever had where I never woke up and didn't want to go to work because of the job. I love it, I really do.
To show you how much of the shop is dedicated to tabletop roleplaying and accessories, just take a look at these pics. I'm still working on my own stuff, it's just at a slower pace now.
Hackers infiltrate adgiant Adform and installed malware designed to steal your cyrptocurrency into the ads they were displaying.
The useless State Department puts up a map of Africa and all the countries names were wrong. Apparently that had AI make the map and didn't bother checking it.
https://boingboing.net/2026/08/06/state-department-africa-map-apology.html
This is my review of Forbidden Lands so far. Currently I've played in one convention game, a session zero for character creation and rules overview and then a full four hour session. This is also from the player point of view as I'm not running this one.
The setting I know so far. Very nice backdrop about a world after what is basically magical post apocalypse. Night travel was impossible due to a red mist that would kill anyone except for very few. So isolation set in on towns and villages. After centuries (?) of this it finally lifted without warning. Now folks are moving out into the world again and seeing what is left.
I really like this. Instead of being front loaded with a huge world of different kingdoms and all sorts races and all the political bullshit you get something basic. The more you explore, the more you find out. Makes getting into the game much easier from a player stand point. As a GM this would give you a lot more freedom to do things as you please.
For the record I'm playing a Half Elf Sorcerer who specializes in Death Magic.
As for the mechanics, it's the Year Zero Engine with a lot of twists. Usually you use D6's for everything (there are times for a couple of others but we haven't ran into that yet), three different colors of D6's. White for attributes, red for skills and black for gear bonus. 6's are successes, you can push rolls like other YZE games, and take conditions or temporary attribute damage. But failing can hurt you in different ways depending on which dice the ones were rolled on.
This makes you really way out when to push rolls and when not to. Except that I need Willpower to cast magic, and you get willpower by pushing rolls. So yeah I pushed more often than I should have. Took some temporary attribute damage a few times. But it was fun.
Everything just works smoothly once you get the dice mechanics down.
All in all I'll give it two thumbs up. A lot of fun and we were all ready to play the next session. After we get a few more games in I'll post a follow up review and talk about how it works on a longer term.
At the shop we had another Free RPG Day come and go. This was our first year at the new location and we saw a pretty good increase in traffic. Although our charity auction didn't go off as well as previous years it did good and the food drive also pulled in several boxes for the local food pantry.
As for the actual products offered. I think this is the best year ever in terms of quality material that was more geared to what people want. For example Renegade Games had been doing basically folders with a QR code in them for the last few years. Nobody was really interested. This year they offered up an actual VtM adventure and that got folks attention. There seemed to be more playable material than just fluffed up advertisements. It folks here noticed.
I hope this is a trend that continues.
Myself I got the Vaesen quickstart because it's the game I'm currently running and really enjoying. And the owner gave me one of the Dispel D20s for putting in extra work that day and volunteering to run a game for strangers (something he knows I'm not to fond of anymore).
At the charity auction I bid on a couple of things. Only got one of them. It's a hanging wall display for Mageknight from about twenty years ago. Which is one of those games I really enjoyed for a little bit. So the nostalgia bug bit me on that one.
We have no other events of any magnitude scheduled until Black Friday and Christmas. So at least we have time to plan a bit for those.
One thing that really gets under my skin about the broader online TTRPG community. It's that no matter what, whenever you talk about running a game and what system you will be using there will be a rush of folks coming up to tell you it would be better to run it under system XYZ.
Want to run Cyberpunk? Don't use the actual Cyberpunk rpg use system XYZ instead, just convert everything over. Want to run The One Ring? Use XYZ instead, just convert everything over OR buy a bunch of books to do so. Want to run Dune from Modiphius? Nope don't use their mechanics use XYZ instead, just convert it all over.
My response to this become this. First you buy the physical copy of XYZ for me, and mail it to my address. You convert everything over, print it out, mail that to me as well. Any dice necessary for XYZ you can purchase and toss in the mail as well. Any adventures that I want to run that aren't in XYZ you can convert over for me as well. I mean you want me to try XYZ for a game then put your money where your mouth is.
Then I may give it a chance. But if I don't like it after a couple sessions I'm going to stop. Nope, not mailing anything back to you.
Don't like that? Then stop suggesting XYZ for everything.
One thing I've grown to really dislike is characters that are rolled up completely random. The less choice I have in what makes the character on the sheet then the less likely I am to even try making a character. Now I do understand for some people that's their jam.
Of course I've been told that's how you 'stretch your roleplaying ability'. No it's fucking not. Rolling up something I don't want to play and won't enjoy playing doesn't do shit about my 'roleplaying ability'. Roleplaying for me is about fun, not some amateur off the cuff theatrical training with random crap.
I make it clear that if I'm invited to set at your table for a game and discover that when I arrive that it's all completely random generated characters I will do two things. Smile, thank you for the invite, then get up and leave. Or I will roll up a character, if I don't like it I'll wad up the sheet and ask for another one. Then repeat that process until I get something that I want. Or get bored and get up and leave.
Neither way is wrong, neither way is better than the other. If you think they are well then you're wrong. Get over it.
People have different views of what they find entertaining. What is fun for one person isn't for another. But when the I get told I have to play a rat catcher that is blind in one, deaf and has a peg leg my response will be fuck no. That's not fun to me. At all.
I play to have fun. I don't play for some exercise in frustration that doesn't end. And yes, I absolutely know what is fun for me.
Well another fun weekend at Diecon has come and gone for me. As part of a little group I call the 'Three Amigos' we rode up together, had a lot of fun, and then rode back home together. Here's my report on some of the games I played and folks I talked to.
I haven't played Battletech since the 90's. It's always been one of those games that I wanted to get back into but never seemed to have the time, and when I did have the time I didn't have the money. Well one of my friends now runs it at the local shop I work at (Aesops Treasury) and is an official agent for Catalyst Game Labs. He was at the con so I jumped into one of his sessions.
Overall it was pretty much like I remembered. Bit stompy robots beating the hell out of each other with a very detailed damage system in a battle that usually takes a couple hours at least. While I had a lot of fun it's not a game I'll be diving into again. If I'm free and he needs a guy to help pilot some mechs for a game I'll do it. But as for investing my time and money again, I've moved past that level of obsession.
The newest edition of this really cool scifi game from Free League Publishing. This game is set in the same setting as the original just over a vastly different corner of space. A good breath of fresh air for that world with some neat 'delving' mechanics and some rather interesting setting elements. I had a good time but I don't see myself running this game. I would absolutely jump into it as a player though.
One of the older games from Free League Publishing that I've seen and heard a lot about, but never played. I really liked the flavor of fantasy 'grimdark' this one has. It's has some good lore about why everything is so messed up. The modifications to the Year Zero Engine are nice. Especially with the different colored D6's meaning something in a roll. Like the black dice representing bonuses from gear that can determine if your gear breaks if a roll is bad enough. It's really slick.
I'm a proven terrible fantasy gamemaster. It's not my wheelhouse of what I'm good at doing. But there is enough horror elements that I could possibly make it work. It's on my 'maybe' list when it comes to buying in. I would love to play in a game though.
Once there was a game called Broken Compass that came out a few years ago from Two Little Mice this has now grown into the game called Outgunned. Outgunned Adventure is the version more set up for Indiana Jones style adventure games. Before playing I was very hesitant about the dice mechanics. It's all built around matching numbers on the dice you rolled. Two of a kind, three of a kind, etc.
After playing all of my hesitation is completely gone. I really enjoyed the way the mechanics flowed. How failure leads to you building up points in other areas to pull of stuff even better. The whole cinematic feel is actually there with adrenaline points, grit and other sorts of things. I'll be picking this book up at some point in the near future with the hope of running it at least for a little bit. Two thumbs up for that.
Dealers Area
Now there aren't as many dealers there as other cons but the ones they have are really great and friendly. The Dicegeeks guy was really cool as were the folks from Twilight Creations. Troll Lord Games really had a Castles and Crusades presence with a table full of product and guy who very friendly talking up the product. Artist Brent Chumley was, as usual, absolutely great to talk with and he got a few of my dollars as he does every year.
In other stuff there were a few things I didn't like but I'm keeping with the positive side of things. So I won't go into what they were. My opinions were given to the staff via their messenger account. What they do with constructive criticism is up to them.
I'm already preregistered for next year to do it all over again.
"You shouldn't make fun of people and the games they enjoy."
Why not, they've been doing that to me for fucking decades.
I'm a long time gamemaster but very new to running Vaesen, the game of Nordic horror roleplaying. But it's become one of my new obsessions. Now I'm going to be offering up a little bit of advice for running the mysteries from the books. At least what I've learned so far.
Before I begin I will say I used the Starter Kit to introduce my group to the game. Letting them get a feel for the game before making their own characters. It worked rather well and they were ready to dive right in after that initial taste.
First. Take notes for yourself. There is actually quite a bit of detail put into their published adventures. So making a few notes and maybe even scribbling out a relationship map can work rather well. It's easy to forget something from one particular location that may be an essential clue for later on.
Second. Practice saying the names a bit. I'm from the middle of nowhere in the United States. So when it comes to Scandinavian names for people and places let's just say it's a bit of a rough go. While reading through the adventure before running it say the names out loud a few times. It's better than stumbling over it for the first time in the middle of the game.
Third. Use the handouts. Most are available on the Free League website to download. These help so much to set the mood and they've put some obvious work into them. Now most of the mysteries also have pictures of the main characters to boot. So if you have the pdf print those off as well if you can. That and props are always advisable at most gaming tables, especially where mysteries are concerned.
Fourth. Let the players figure stuff out first. Don't push them towards the set motion that you think will work the best. Especially if they have the codex from the Starter Kit available. If they start reading through that trying to figure out what they are up against LET THEM. Figuring out what kind of Vaesen they are up against is only half the problem.
That's all I have for now. As I keep running more mysteries out of the books I'll post up any more advice that I may have.
Ten Things To Find In A Rockers Pockets
1 – Bundle of gimmick condoms (glow in the dark, throbbing, ribbed, funny logos, etc).
2 – Bottle of high end prescription level stimulants.
3 – Small black notebook of names. Separated by city, ethnic background and various hearts next to them.
4 – Pocket universal remote for various pieces of band equipment.
5 – Throat lozenges.
6 – A holodisc with built in projector filled with nude shots from fans.
7 – Worn out notepad filled with potential lyrics and musical notations.
8 – Half bottle of neon glow body oil.
9 – Flask full of very high end whiskey.
10 – A chrome guitar pick sealed in a plastic protective case.
One thing I can't stand is when people start talking about the history of the ttrpg hobby who don't actually have a fucking clue about it. I've ran into many folks who only been gaming for ten years or so who show up and act like they are the walking talking expert. Puking forward opinions that seem to be coming from popular streamers or influencers... who have only been gaming for the same amount of time or a few years longer.
Not to long ago I saw one person saying that there is no reason Traveller should ever be mentioned since it really wasn't the scifi defining ttrpg that people think it was. Really? It was the science fiction game for decades. Sure as shit wasn't Star Frontiers, a game that only lasted about maybe four years.
Because it's not making big splashes like it used to doesn't mean it wasn't ever anything. Besides that game still has a rather huge fanbase which you can see based on how well it sells and is supported. But they just aren't vocal youtubers and wannabe influencers. Hell I don't think I've ever seen a Traveller fan put up a video screaming mad about all the changes coming with the newest edition like DnD 'fans' do.
Another one that really gets me is when people say Vampire the Masquerade didn't have any real effect on the hobby. I was very active in the hobby when that game dropped. Attending conventions, playing different games, really deep diving as best one could back then. The internet wasn't even there yet, CERN hadn't placed the software into public domain yet. Contact through BBS set ups and Usenet was how people kept in contact.
What I saw and witnessed during that time was a massive amount of change. New folks pouring into the hobby, not old folks coming back, but new folks coming in. An entire subculture of club kids, goths and horror buffs. I will also mention that as a hormone fired up youth at the time seeing the amount of women coming into the hobby was a huge surprise (a very welcome surprise).
They tried to base the game more on the story than the system. By todays standards it's not that big of a push. But back then it was huge. There were a few games that tried but none of them made the attempt with as much success. In an era where things were getting more crunchy and more detailed when it comes to game systems they went the other direction. Plus they tried to make some of it more story and socially oriented. Also, bear in mind, the ultra rules light game Over The Edge didn't come out until the year after VtM.
There were months where White Wolf products out sold TSR products. People saw that success as well and took note. It became a reason why many folks started looking at making more games that lean towards story more than system. Paving the way for a lot of new games with a new style. The ripples of effect from that game are one of the big reasons why we have story games in such quantity now.
To say that game had no affect on the hobby is showing your ignorance of the history of the hobby. One day I need to make up a list of 'hobby changing moments'. Things like DnD 3.0 with the release of the SRD under the OGL, the influencergasm that came with DnD 5.0, Magic the Gathering disrupting damn near everything, stuff like that. You can damn well be sure that VtM would be on that list.
This review is for the Vaesen Starter kit from Free League Publishing. Vaesen is a Nordic horror roleplaying game based off of the artwork of Swedish illustrator and author Johan Egerkrans. It uses the Year Zero Engine that powers many of the Free League products.
You can pick up the physical starter kit at your friendly local game shop (like the one I work at) and if they participate in the Bits n Mortar program you get the pdf for free.
If not you can pick up the physical copy over on Amazon while the pdf is available for purchase over on DrivethruRPG in the regular version or optimized for Roll 20 VTT .
This review is based on actual play where I ran the starter set for a game group at my local shop. I was not gifted the kit for review but was actually purchased by myself.
Straight out of the production quality is top of the line. The box is very durable and strong, all the material inside is printed on quality stock. You get a set of ten dice, initiative cards, maps (of the mythic norse, the city and castle) and everything else you really need. Including rules summary hand outs that come in very handy at the table for the players. You get a condensed version of the rules in one booklet that is easy to navigate and the adventure itself in another. To go through this episode you have five pregenerated characters.
The adventure itself is pretty straightforward. You little group of 'Thursdays Children' (those who can see the Vaesen) are approached to investigate a castle formerly occupied by a group called the society. It has since fallen into massive disrepair and other Thursdays Children have been lured there and gone missing. Given the tools you need in the form of a booklet with information on many of the Vaesen types and a map they set off.
I will say the pregenerated characters all seem to fit really well. None of them fall into the fifth wheel problem I've seen with other starter kits. Each one has a purpose and comes in very handy at various times. Now a couple of them reference a few things that aren't discussed in this kit but nothing major that would ruin any sense of the game. Just had us flipping pages for a bit.
With the group I played with they figured out what the encounter was beforehand by using the booklet of Vaesen and grasping a few clues. But they also snagged onto a red herring that could have also been in there. So it's not one of those discover everything at the end kind of stories. The ended is open ended and can lead you straight into regular games using the full corebook.
The mechanics are easy as most Year Zero Engine games are. Roll a number of six sided dice, sixes count as successes. Most checks require only one or two successes. Various rules for pushing the rolls are there to help get you success at a cost. There are no hit points but a more narrative condition system which helps set the tone of the game even more.
Not to mention that the artwork is also immaculate. Every Vaesen product I have looked at has been beautiful and this one is no different.
In the end I give this starter set two thumbs up and highly recommend it to others.
UPDATE: Here is a Reddit Thread where a person running the starter kit asks a few questions and gets some really answers.
Well I've wrapped up my short four session stint back into my Cyberpunk 2020 campaign. Putting the Church of the Righteous Hand in a position to really alter the future of Night City if they choose to do so. But it will be a while before we get back to that. Most likely it's going to be a campaign I bring back a couple times a year for a few sessions.
So the next game I will be running is going to be Vaesen from Free League Publishing. Ever since I saw it on the shelves at my FLGS it had my interest. But it wasn't until I got to play in a game at DieCon last year that I finally decided to take the plunge and buy the game. But there's a lot to take in and I couldn't quite figure out where to start.
So finally they came out with a Starter Set and I picked that up.
Told my group I will be running the starter using the pregenerated characters. That way they get a feel for the system and setting a little bit before making their own characters. Then after that I'll be running the published adventures straight out of the various campaign books.
I'm excited to run it. My group is excited to play it. So it's going to be fun. If I can just finish wrapping my head around the starter kit by next Sunday.
Well it's been a bit since my last blog post. But there have been some changes in my life that occurred and I've been rather busy with that. So let's get into a few details here.
I work for a FLGS (Friendly Local Game Shop) and have done so for almost four years. The name of the place is Aesop's Treasury Books and Games. It's a job I took because I could no longer do factory work due to how badly Covid affected my lungs. The owner had been my friend long before he owned the store, he even officiated my wedding, so when I needed work he helped me out. In turn I found a job that really worked for me.
Well eventually his store had outgrown the space it was in. So last October he found a new location but it needed a lot of work. I began doing some more hours at the shop so he could be over there getting it done. When I had time I also dropped by the new space and helped move debris, give my opinion on things and help set up fixtures.
January we closed the old shop and moved everything in six days. I never want to do that again. It was a nonstop run to get it all moved over, reset, adjusted and ready to go by opening. Even then we had things that hadn't got done. Also a new part time employee was hired to help out. We opened the doors on January 21st.
We were hopeful for a good boost in business. We exceeded expectations. Our new employee got a trial by fire on a grand opening day that was extremely busy. It's been going very well ever since.
So now we were dealing with ordering and checking in a LOT more product than usual while dealing with a LOT more customers coming through the door. It's been quite a task that's for sure. Which meant extra hours and more mental exhaustion than I had been previously used to.
With GAMA coming up the owner thought about skipping it this year because of how busy we were. I advised him not to as did several others. Every year he finds some great new stuff at the show and brings it into the store. So he went and we all worked a lot extra that week. But he came back with some great stuff, a lot of new things on order and some new, much needed, connections for our supply chain.
So I was offered a promotion. Given the title of 'General Manager' and, unlike most other places I worked for, I got good pay raise with that title. Also I'll be working full time now, have the ability to make orders, and we'll be getting another part time person or two coming in over the next month or so. This job is the first one I ever that I actually, honestly, enjoyed. I'm happy to see it has grown this much and the owner has taken me along with it.
With all this going on I was just pretty mentally and physically taxed. Which is why I stopped blogging for a bit. But now that things are a bit more settled down, or at least I'm more used to the level they are at, I should be doing more once again. Starting with doing some more content for this blog and working on the next release for Truly Rural.
I updated 'Be A Better Player' just a bit. Added in some new pics and improved the layout a little. Put the 100% Human logo on the front as well as the copper medal the book has earned. It's over on DrivethruRPG and if you bought the original you can just download this version for free as I just added it to the original listing.
I should have a few more blog posts starting to roll out in this next week as we're finally done moving the FLGS that I work at. Along with some amazingly busy first days there. The move has been nothing but an improvement for Aesop's Treasury that's for sure.
I'll be slowing down on posts here for a week or two. Mainly due to my job. I work at a very well stocked FLGS that also does used books. I love my job. The owner has decided to pick up and move the store to a much MUCH better location. I'm all on board with this. Now when I say very well stocked, I'm not exaggerating. This has turned out to be a monumental effort and we still have a lot to do by reopening day this coming Wednesday.
Also judging by the number of folks who've been coming up to the door asking if we're open and just to see what was going in... yeah we're going to be really busy the first few weeks.
Most of my posts for the last week I had done already. Now I have several half done ideas and I'm to wore out to finish them. So I won't be getting many up for a bit. The owner has hired another person but they still need to be trained.
Just also really happy to see the store grow and get better. I've been there for three years. I've known the owner for decades. He officiated my wedding. Seeing the business he started eight years ago growing and getting better is awesome.
I'll probably do a post of pics of the shop when it's done and I get the chance as well.
