Hello. I'm Jon, and I'm an RPG Gamer Geek

Click Here for my post on Wil Wheaton, Slayer of Dragons and the True Dungeon Engagement!

I thought and thought about how to follow up my last blog. My small corner of the web has a regular readership of about 20 people. I see about 25-35 hits a month. In the past two days, thanks to Wil Wheaton's linking of my story of GenCon 2010, A True Dungeon Engagement and his own heroic tale of dragon slaying, my site has been hit over 11,000 times. That's fairly incredible! And so, what do I write? You always hear, “Write what you know, and don't worry about numbers.” And so, whether it ends up being interesting to anyone other than my regular readers, I'm going to tell you about how I became the geek I am today.

My name is Jon, and I am a geek. Originally, a geek was a circus performer who bit the heads off of animals, but I'm not that. Often, a geek is thought to be a socially inward or backward individual, bent on one or more particular pursuits, and somewhat non-productive otherwise, but I'm not that either. What is a geek you ask? It is difficult to nail down a singular definition. I can only tell you the kind that I am, and assure you that there are many more like me, and many that aren't

I can pin down the year that I started down my particular road to geekdom. 1986. I was 9. My life was that of a typical 9 year old. I played army, made swords from the tall ironweed that grew in a field where I lived. I had Matchbox cars, Transformers, G.I. Joe, M.A.S.K., LEGO, and Star Wars toys. What regular boy my age didn't back then? My imagination was alive and well. I had a Tandy 1000 computer and an ATARI 2600 which I enjoyed a great deal. All of this was normal. Typical even. Three things happened within a year that were the catalysts that transformed me from my typical kid archetype into my specialized form. Those three things? Nintendo Entertainment System, The Chronicles of Narnia and Dungeons & Dragons. By 1989 I was, and continue today to be, An RPG Gamer Geek.

It was these three things in which I discovered a great untapped source of entertainment, expression and self-discovery. Also, these things played a large part in my social awareness and interaction, rather contrary to to the popular myth that gaming makes you socially awkward. Am I denying that there are socially awkward geeks and gamers? Not at all, but to say that all gamers and geeks are awkward is like saying that all fish are trout. So let's look at each item on my list.

Nintendo Entertainment System: The Atari was an amazing system for its time. But the system I really grew fond of first was the NES. It was in no small part due to the games available. I still remember a lot of things about that system well and fondly. The Nintendo Fun Club Newsletter. That first Super Mario Brothers issue of Nintendo Power. Final Fantasy. Dragon Warrior. And opening the box for The Legend of Zelda not knowing that the cartridge itself was going to be bright shiny gold! Those were good times. The epic fantasy video game was young, and everything was new! 8-bit was an incredible technology, and I didn't have to input a code to pick up where I left off? Unreal! Those games took hours and hours over weeks and weeks to play. No internet. You had to do it all on your own, or pay an expert on a hotline to give you an answer. They required attention to detail, a long attention span, and excellent recall. At the same time I was enjoying the King's Quest series on computer, and the old classic, 'Rogue'. I was a sucker for a good old dungeon crawl.

The Chronicles of Narnia: One of the great epic tales. Narnia introduced me to the fantasy novel. I loved the breadth of time it covered, the sweeping worlds and battles and the great and small creatures of the realm that chipped in for the good of Narnia. What I recall about it in particular is that these children, who were my age, and much like me, were pulled into this amazing place, and became a part of the tale. After I read 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe', my outside activity shifted from army, and cowboys and indians, to a backpack, an ironweed sword, and some sort of great journey. Rocks could be gems, trees were monsters, and I was the hero! After Narnia, I would discover Fantasia, Middle Earth, and many other places that sprang from the minds of their creators. I still love fantasy fiction and always will. Of the fiction that I read, it comprises a good 90 percent. What I love most is the way a good fantasy author can create and entire world that is as different from, or similar to ours as he or she wants. Many authors write a fascinating hybrid of our world and their imagined one. Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time comes to mind as an example of a world that melds our world with another. To me, there is little in fiction that is more interesting than good world building.

Dungeons & Dragons: I was introduced to D&D by my step-sister. It was the red box. The one with the huge red dragon on the cover. They had a sculpture of that same cover this year at the top of the escalators at GenCon. You could step up on the stone and pose like the warrior fighting him on the cover. I didn't manage to get the pose, but I did take a picture. Dungeons & Dragons took some serious heat early on from someone who was deeply hurt by the loss of a son who played. The game took the blame for his death, but truly, I feel it was the scapegoat, and not the real reason. A game, any game, can be just as dangerous as anything. How many lives do you suppose too much poker has ruined?
There is a lot of confusion and misinformation surrounding the game itself, but let me at least tell you my experience with it. I was raised in a home with solid values, Biblical truth, and respect. I became a Christian at age 10, but didn't really start to truly see what it all meant until I was 18. I am in fact, an active, all week long Christian (with as much failing and short-coming as anyone) who plays tabletop RPGs like D&D not to mention others. I think there is an ill-conceived idea of the way the game is played that conjures images of children and young adults gathered around a table in the dark wearing robes and memorizing incantations for summoning demons to do their bidding. Not in any game I've ever been involved in. A typical session?

One person has prepared a story or part of a story in advance. They make maps, create non-player characters for the players to interact with using the characters they have made to control in-game. Some DMs will just describe what's going on to the players. A theatrical DM might use voices and mannerisms, like a good story teller or actor, to bring some life into his NPCs, but it is entirely up to the DM and their style. They sometimes prepare props. I'm fond of handing actual notes to my players from the characters in the game, rather than just telling them that they get a note and things like that. The creation of the game is incumbent upon the DM (Dungeon Master) or GM (Game Master) in some systems. The players show up ready to take part in telling a story together. That's the game in a nutshell. The player characters are subjected to a problem or issue and become protagonists. They have to save the town, win a battle, oust an evil overlord or anything that the person running the game can come up with. The players create characters and then make the character do what they think he or she would do. As the characters are played, they gain experience and grow stronger. The game isn't always over in one night. A series of adventures, called a Campaign, can last for years if a group meets to play infrequently. But the main point is that the whole game happens around a table, in the minds of the players. It is a great social exercise that makes friendships that last a long long time. I am still friends with the people I played with in high school, and we still get together from time to time to play. I think most of them read this blog in fact. At any rate, I have never felt pulled to real witchcraft, spells, magic or anything, and I have no problem with reality versus fantasy. If that happens, then I question whether the problem is the game, or if it began somewhere else.

So there you have it. The three main influences that made me the Gamer Geek I am today. Is my story like yours? Can you pin down what made you who you are? Feel free to comment your own gamer/geek story!

Oh and FYI, my first D&D character was named Alexander. He was a fighter. A master of martial weapons. I don't know when I retired him, but in my mind, he looked just like the fighter on the cover of the box. He wasn't me, but he was the me I would be if I were the one in the game. Bound by a personal code of honor, eager to prove himself and willing to help with his talents and abilities. And also, the gigantic horned helm.

GenCon 2010 - The Tale of Wil Wheaton: Dragon Slayer

Hello all!
I just got back from GenCon 2010 and I'm glad to say that it was a great time, and that True Dungeon was a fantastic success this year!

GenCon itself was a great time. It is a lot of fun to hang around with so many people with common interests. This is true for anyone I think. But I want to tell you about our time with True Dungeon this year!

This was the second year that I have had the privilege of attending GenCon in Indianapolis as a True Dungeon volunteer. Michelle and I along with two of our friends made the 4.5 hour drive last Sunday and spent the week helping to oversee the build, run and tear down or the event. We had a great time last year as new volunteers and were extremely excited to be given the task of becoming build leads. After the build, the two ladies became NPCs. (Non-Player Characters for you non-gamer types) They played the same character on different shifts. That of a half crazed protector of an artifact that the players were seeking. My friend Mike and I assumed administrative assistant roles. That might bring to mind typing letters and sending mail and such, but in True Dungeon, it means making certain that all of the rooms are running smoothly, that lights are working, radios are charged, and markers aren't dried out to name a few of the varied tasks that surface. Essentially we were running all over the place putting out fires. We all had a blast, and can't wait to get back next year!

There are two stories that I can tell you from the event this year:

The first concerns a couple who got engaged during their run of True Dungeon. The guy contacted the TD's creator and owner, Jeff Martin and had a special treasure token made which read "Ring of Engagement - Lisa, will you marry me? -Adam" and then arranged for his wife to find it in a treasure box as the party's rogue. The token popped the question for him, and when she turned around, he was on one knee with the actual ring pictured on the token. Here is a photo of the token!

I didn't get to see this happen, but I hear it was a great moment! She did say yes, by the way!

The second amazing story from True Dungeon this year, involves Actor/Author/Blogger and Geek Royalty, Wil Wheaton and some of the cast of the award winning web series, The Guild! (Felicia Day, Sandeep Parikh, Robin Thorsen and Jeff Lewis)

Here's how the story goes: Our finale this year was an encounter with Smoak, the Red Dragon! He was about one story tall, animatronic, and probably the single hardest challenge in TD history. Only a handful of groups managed to beat him, and most of those groups barely survived. Wil, Felicia, Sandeep, Robin and Jeff made their run late on Friday night with one of their event coordinators, and a pair of TD staffers. By all accounts they were good with the puzzles, and an effective, and intense group of players. They made it in good shape to the final room with our enormous fire breathing dragon!

This is where the story becomes legendary! The dragon was about to unleash the spray of fire that would put an end to our intrepid adventurers, when Mr. Wheaton stepped up to the slider board. (I should interject that combat in True Dungeon is carried out with a shuffleboard-like table and plastic sliders in which players' weapon tokens are placed. A silhouette of the enemy is on the far end of the table and where the slider comes to rest determines hit or miss and how much damage is dealt.) Wil made his slide just as the dragon was about to breathe, and his slider landed on the critical hit zone with the damage pointing in such a way as to kill the dragon in a single shot. This, as has already been said far and wide, is a one-in-a-million slide. A feat not accomplished by anyone else at the convention. The slider had to land in that exact spot, and the ring around it had to be facing that exact way. A heroic and legendary tale to be sure. I hear it told that once the party realized what had happened, Wil proclaimed that from now on he was Wil Wheaton, Slayer of Dragons! Here is a photo of the victorious party, celebrating at the feet of Smoak himself!

Today is a good day to slay a dragon! *Image by Fotoz by Fritz*

This story will more than likely be told and retold forever among the ranks of True Dungeon volunteers and Staff. There was no better outcome for this party. They succeeded in their quest, and they did so in a way that was entirely dependent on the skill of the players. (And perhaps a goodly amount of luck as well)

After the epic attack, Wil was given the d20 used to roll for combat initiatives. A gargantuan die, which he has named "The Dragon's Heart". It will no doubt become a legendary artifact itself! Later on at the con, my wife and I met Wil at his table in the autograph section of the exhibit hall and asked him about his experience. I was pleased that he along with the cast of The Guild, had a great time with True Dungeon. And Wil, seemed more excited than anyone. And why not? He has done what many gamers have only dreamed! He has slayed a legendary Red Dragon!

Wil Wheaton: Dragon Slayer and The Dragon's Heart

2009 - A Year In Review

Hello everyone! I guess it's been awhile hasn't it? Just over 3 months by my calculations. It was a busy, whirlwind holiday season to say the least! I wanted to take a moment, do a post, and look back on 2009. My friend Mike dubbed it the year of the ninja, wherein we would all aspire, by the end of the year, to be one. So are we? Well, not quite. But hey, we made the attempt, and we're closer now than we were. Not quite a bullseye, but closer to the target than we would be had we never aimed for it. (The proverb goes, "Aim for the moon, and even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.) As it stands, I have a lot of goals which I have not completed. There is a perfectly good, and I think a perfectly acceptable reason for this. I am a person of many, many.....MANY interests, and you might say a Jack of all Trades, and Master of None. Here is the vital thing. I have made progress toward many things which I aspire to complete, and even though I did not finish in 2009, I am not finished. The goal setting, more importantly than anything, focused me enough so that I could in fact get somewhere, and keep from going nowhere. I have to update some percentages, but the list is pretty close. One of the best things is that Merrick is approaching halfway on the first draft. This is by far more than I've ever managed with any story which I intended to be longer than a few pages. It was the method I was using, I discovered this year. As an author, I am an outliner, as opposed to a discovery writer. This means that I work from an outline better than off the cuff. I write my concepts and beginnings that way, but once I frame the idea, I need to outline. Because of that, Merrick is going to be finished! I'm very excited about it. In 2009, I also made a few inquiries, and connections as far as the publishing process will go, in the event that Merrick is ever at that level. It just might be someday! The other great thing that came out of 2009, goal-wise, is my study of Japanese. I have had a great time so far learning the language. I have a long way to go before I'm even comfortable with basic conversation, but this time last year, I knew perhaps 100 random words and had no idea how to put them together. Now I would place my vocabulary at 400-500 words, and a good grasp of the basic structure of the language. I've also nearly mastered Hiragana and Katakana. The Kanji are little intimidating, but I'm sure if I take it a little at a time, I'll be fine. Fitness was a big part of 2009, and I know it will be big in 2010 also. Michelle and I have been whipping ourselves into shape after the holidays, and have tossed around another piece of the Appalachian Trail. Perhaps the 20 miles or so that we missed on the trip last summer. A smaller hike, true, but by design, so we don't have to take as many days off from work. Also related to fitness (as well as the year of the ninja) is Kung Fu. I'll be continuing with that in 2010, and my goal is two sashes this year. With a little more practice I'm ready for the first one. In 2009, Michelle and I had opportunities to do so many things we'd never done before. Not only the Appalachian Trail, but Baltimore and GenCon in Indianapolis. It was almost too much! We had an absolutely great time, and it was a great year. One for the history books! In 2010, there are some new things planned. In the spring we'll be heading to Italy to visit Michelle's uncle, who retired there after his time in the service. There may be a quick crash course in Italian thrown into my language studies. We're also planning a return to GenCon to assist with True Dungeon again. Not only did we have the time of our lives, but hey, it's a free vacation! :) In retrospect, I believe that I've grown in 2009. I feel that mentally, physically and spiritually I am in completely new places than I was last year at this time. I'll never be perfect. And in many things, I'll never even be adequate, but I can try to be better than I used to be. That's the important thing. And so, look for more posts soon. Let's kick off 2010 and make it another good one! Thanks so much for reading! I really do appreciate it! -J

GenCon 2009

Hello all, and it's time once again for a new blog entry! Today's topic? GenCon 2009! Many of you may already know that Michelle, Mike and Jenn and I took a little trip up to Indianapolis a few weeks back to attend one of the largest gaming conventions in the country. It is attended by thousands upon thousands of gamers, anime fans, cosplayers and various other social minorities! :) I would be remiss if I did not take a moment to explain how we were able to attend this convention. It would have been quite expensive to pay for the room, the food, the badges and everything else, but we were able to go essentially for free thanks to one of the games that has become a staple of GenCon. We volunteered to help run True Dungeon. True Dungeon, most simply put, is a live action Dungeons and Dragons style game, where the players are put into a full size labyrinthine series of rooms, in which lie dangers untold and hardships unnumbered. We went out to Illinois earlier in the year to actually play the game, volunteered then to help run it at GenCon and were selected, which meant the room was paid for, the convention badge was paid for, and the food was paid for. Add that to the fact that my company graciously allows me some personal mileage on my company car with the gas covered, and how can you NOT go to GenCon? :) So, True Dungeon was all kinds of fun. It is run by a lot of really personable, hard working people who are focused on making sure that their customers are going to have a great time! The four of us spent most of our time as NPCs, or Non-Player Characters, meaning we were costumed and interacting with the players. I was in this costume most of the time: That's not actually me, and the paint is now a little different, but this is a foam suit painted to look like stone. They added some red and UV paint to make it a Fire Elemental costume. The rest of the time, I was under a table waiting to scare people by thrusting my hand up through a glove and out of a bowl of glowing liquid. I remember thinking: "I'm not sure how I ended up crammed in this tiny box with my hand sticking up through a table." Bet you were wondering when I'd work that in there. :) Long story short, fun and more than a little bit stuffy, but a good time! Thanks to the TD crew for allowing us to participate! Alright, so the rest of the time, when we weren't working at True Dungeon, there was a whole big convention for us to enjoy! I've posted a lot of pictures on my gallery for you to see. As we all had the opportunity, we got to roam the exhibition hall, which was absolutely huge, and packed with game vendors for anything you can imagine. RPGs, Board, Card and Video games and their corresponding merchandise like shirts and such. I had never been to a convention or conference in which I was the target demographic, and so it was really hard not to walk around with my mouth open gaping at everything. While there we did a couple of other things related to the convention. We attended the zombie walk, which is pretty much just what it sounds like; A lot of people, who are dressed as zombies, walking. Kind of a zombie parade. You'll see a few pictures of our costumes as well as some of the other stand out zombies as well in the gallery. We also attended a Masquerade. This too was a costumed affair. Michelle and I went for a classic Italian masquerade look, and Mike and Jenn tried their hand at steampunk to great effect. So, I can't truly speak for everyone else, but I had a fantastic time at GenCon. I have never felt out of place where I live, but being in a city full of gamers and geeks like myself for a few days was kind of like a "homecoming" experience. I was pleased to find that the ages varied all over the place, and most everyone was friendly and polite and that this mass collection of gamers in general was a good collection of people who represented the demographic as well as could be. It was also a lot of fun to put on an obscure shirt and have people get it. :) Here's what I mean. Michelle and I were walking the floor in a couple of shirts from Woot.com, and someone from the site saw us. They were walking about taking pictures of people wearing their products and we ended up on the site in a blog post! That's right. Internet Famous. Those of you who read this blog regularly will know that this is not the first time I've been Internet Famous. Thanks again Brandon! Ok, I'm getting to the point where I'm starting to feel like the post is long enough. Maybe too long. Looking forward to GenCon 2010! I think True Dungeon will have us back, so how can we NOT go? :) Talk to you soon! -Jon

True Realm (Spoilers Within)

How about a quick blog about what Michelle, Mike, Jenn and I did this weekend! We took off Thursday night and headed to Marion, IL for an event called "True Realm". We had a fantastic time. Literally. :) True Realm, you see, is a fantasy adventure. It is produced by the people who have been doing "True Dungeon" at Gencon Indianapolis since 2003. It takes table-top fantasy role playing to a new level. Basically, what we did was go to a 40,000 square foot warehouse that had been set up with a full tavern (Totally dry BTW. No alcohol admitted), two full 7 room dungeons, and 2 smaller ones. We did a 4 room and the main 7 room while we were there. The rooms of these dungeons are intricately decorated, full size, and feature combats, puzzles and traps. Each room had a volunteer GM or Game Master, who assisted the 8 member parties in combat and answered questions. There were some truly spectacular animatronic critters, and some excellent live actors. In the first room we were all addressed by a none too polite Drow who essentially gave us our quest. Well, she told us what NOT to do and we did it anyway. :) The puzzles and challenges were both mental and physical, from arranging a series of numbered cards in a proper order based on information printed on plaques all over the room, to arranging a series of pieces into a cube the size of a small car while unable to speak to your teammates. There was also a challenge where you had to shoot a button on the wall across the room with a crossbow. (Which I succeeded in doing thank you very much!) Anyway, I could go on and on about all the things we had to do to make it through our dungeons, but it would be too hard to explain. Let's just say that it was a whole lot of fun. We had four people in our party that we'd never met. Two veterans, and two young newbies. We, ourselves were new, but everyone was very friendly and helpful as far as explaining how things worked and getting us equipped to play. Equipment, by the way is done with tokens. They come with all kinds of equipment printed on them. They represent your weapons, armor, rope, potions, or anything else that may be useful inside. You get 10 with your ticket, but more are available for purchase. There are some people who collect them of course, and they were all about with their suitcases of tokens. I ended up using an "Orcish Flail" token as my weapon, FYI. So that's what we did this past weekend. I would post pictures of the event, but not only was photography inside somewhat discouraged, but the inside was very dark. I could go into the specifics of how combat works, and all of that, but I'll just post a link to the True Dungeon website, and let you peruse there if you like, at your leisure. Perhaps, if you're feeling crazy, you can even drive up to Indy this August, attend Gencon, and run the dungeon yourself! Hopefully they'll have another one next year in Marion as well! Take it from me, this was great time! :) -J