Tabletop Gaming News for Saturday, 20 April, 2013 [Plus: D&D is Evil!]

[h=3]EN World News[/h]

• We have a boardgame review of FFG's Relic, in which the worlds of space marines and Talisman collide -- "...it's the gaming equivalent of a summer blockbuster, all pomp and fireworks, a blast of fun entertainment that's still perhaps a little bit too long but can be forgiven thanks to the bright shinies."

[h=3]Pathfinder RPG News[/h]

• Check out Erik Mona's minis blog for a look at Paizo's new White Dragon Evolution boxed set.

[h=3]David "Zeb" Cook Auctions Personal TSR Items[/h]
The auction will include over 300 lots including numerous products Zeb worked on and designed for TSR. Highlights of the auction will include rare foreign language editions, inscribed and autographed copies, editorial and review copies, author's and comp copies, and personal play copies!

Among the very special items are Zeb’s own rare copies of TSR’s Collector Trading Cards, a run of the nigh impossible to find Random Events, TSR’s employee newsletter, original TSR artwork by DiTerlizzi, Tim Truman, and Jeff Dee, TSR Gen Con signage from 1994, TSR letters, memos, and interoffice documents detailing the goings on at TSR from 1979 through 1987, signed material from Gary Gygax, Brian Blume, Zeb Cook, Jim Ward, Roger Moore, Fred Fields, Anne Gray, Mike Cook, Steve Winter, Jeff Grubb, Slade, and Bruce Heard, a catalog photo mock-up of B6 The Veiled Society, and a number of original and review manuscripts for Crimefighters, Gangbusters, and Star Frontiers!

The auction will begin tomorrow (Sunday 21st April) and last for one week. It is being held by The Collectors Trove on eBay. [full list of what will be available]

[h=3]D&D Is Evil![/h]
Or so says Pat Robertson, a religious American broadcaster. Seems the 80s have returned!

[video=youtube;Ifwc_y_S3BY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ifwc_y_S3BY[/video]​

 

[Lord Rasputin]

Does Marion still have to worry about non-specific drip? That would suck far more than any D&D game could be to him.

 

[Rune]

I've always said Mazes & Monsters was the best thing that happened to D&D - as me and all my friends totally got into it because the controversy drew us towards it.

I enjoy watching that movie every now and then to inspire my game. I've gotten some pretty good mileage out of some of its ideas.

 

[Lord Rasputin]

I've always said Mazes & Monsters was the best thing that happened to D&D - as me and all my friends totally got into it because the controversy drew us towards it.

The two best sales years for D&D are 1983 and 2001. In 2001, folks were upgrading to a mostly well-received new edition after an era when nobody was sure D&D would survive. There were no major changes to the game in 1983, but oodles of controversy.

 

[JamesonCourage]

That video just wows me. Man.

 

[Tranquilis]

The man was asked his opinion and he gave his opinion. Staying away from evil is pretty sound advice. However, I assume the vast majority of people here don't consider D&D evil. Count me among you.

What I find most disgusting about that video is the "right wing watch group" advertised at the end. Give me a break. I'm so tired of everything in the multiverse being left vs. right. The US, where I'm from, is being torn apart by that kind of thinking being forced on to us (you can't escape it, and it is done on purpose). There are more colors in the spectrum besides red and blue.

The game industry should avoid that trap like the plague. I've seen bias towards certain political ideologies posted on company websites by users in the past - outright disrespect and vitriol. It makes no business sense and it's a great way to run off customers.

 

[GameOgre]

People,please have a little more compassion for Pat.

I agree that perhaps he is a little overzealous but you have to put it all into the proper context.

Pat played AD&D in the mid 1980's and had his 12th Thief die along with his entire game group in The Tomb of Horrors. Can you blame him for thinking so ill of the game? He was killed by crawling into a Sphere on Annihilation and non-resurrectable! He didn't even want to go on that dang adventure!

We have all been there! He who is not guilty throw the first stone.

The 700 club didn't get that name my accident! Between The Tomb of Horrors and that little matter in Homlet over 700 levels were lost!

Have some compassion!

 

[Dozen]

"X is evil! Let us steer clear of it so we'll have no clue how to deal with it further down the road!"
This line of logic never ceases to baffle me.

I've read into a Christian's blog recently, who explained in detail why should a Christian take care when or avoid playing D&D; He made a respectable amount of sense. Obviously he looked into the matter before judging it. Unlike Pat up there. People who'd like D&D will see right through him.
So thanks for the publicity, old man! Maybe I can finally get hold of some players for my campaign...

 

[Demomaroo]

75% of our gaming group are Christian, and we've had quite a few people from churches ask to come in and delve with us to see what Dnd is all about. Not a single one of them has had a problem with what we were doing.

 

[Lwaxy]

It's all a marketing ploy, he's paid to say this so the sales will go up!

 

[adembroski]

No, Mr. Robertson, we should not flee from evil. When all we do is flee whenever we perceive evil, we never seek to understand it, and when we do not understand it, we continue to perceive it as evil. The cycle continues.

The sad fact isn't even that role playing games are unfairly trashed by this mentality, but that real evils are ignored because we're too busy running from them or explaining them away.

I'm a Christian, and I caught plenty of hell from my pastor and friends for playing the game when I was young. I remember when my closest friend and man who introduced me to the game destroyed all of his books at our pastor's behest. That same pastor once visited me at my home, and I was showing him that I was learning guitar. Rather than encouraging me to learn a new skill, he simply criticized my choice of song ("Wherever I May Rome" by Metallica) as satanic.

Thankfully we later got a more level headed pastor who was himself a huge Metallica fan, though he still had misgivings about D&D, he didn't outright call it evil. He asked us about it and wanted to know what its appeal was. We'd tried to get him to sit in on a game, but he wasn't ready to go that far. Still, he attempt to understand was enough for me. Thankfully, now days, this is a more common reaction from Christians toward the game.