game log.

Mmmm, yummy: A Tasty Game of Carcassonne.

Celebrity D&D. Yes, more of that, please.

So I’m quite happy to hear that my old Ricegame partners-in-crime are putting on an old-style Vampire/Werewolf LARP at Owlcon 2006 this February 10-12. I highly recommend anything that Roy, Zach and Zed put together!

I can also vouch for the Call of Cthulu LARP, though I know no details; I’ve played Michael’s COC games before and had a hysterical time doing so.

And while I’m at it, there are some very good gaming conversations going on in the 20x20 Room.

Will Rice Alumni Beer Bike - even with a bad crash, WRC alumni win again!

It seems I need to periodically learn this lesson over and over again: I can play the excellently done, open source Battle for Wesnoth, or I can be a productive member of society. Not both.

Old school: Empire of the Petal Throne.

I came across this oddly poignant post today by Bruce Perens in the /. discussion on Playing Games While Not Ruining Your Relationship. Perhaps it’s only poignant to me — I spent too much of my college years playing computer games, so it hits home.

I think about all the games I played with other people, and how some really wonderful things came out of them. And then I think about all those computer games, and how I’d spend that time differently now.

BBC NEWS | Magazine | Dungeons and Dragons turns 30.

Searching for Bobby Fischer’s Platonic Form

Slashdot | Paranoia RPG Returns in New Edition:

Allen Varney writes “The classic tabletop roleplaying game PARANOIA, originally published by West End Games in the 1980s, returns in a new edition this August from Mongoose Publishing. PARANOIA, the game of a darkly humorous future, is set in an underground Alpha Complex ruled by an insane Computer. I am writing and (re)designing the main rulebook, under direction from original PARANOIA co-designer Greg Costikyan, with contributions from novelist and game designer Aaron Allston. I’d be happy to answer questions from Slashdot’s gamers.”

Neat:

• BrettspielWelt
• English Town
• Get Client

White Wolf sues Sony over upcoming Underworld:

White Wolf, Inc. and Nancy A. Collins yesterday filed suit in US District court in Atlanta, Georgia against defendants Sony Pictures, Screen Gems and Lakeshore Entertainment, alleging 17 counts of copyright infringement for the film Underworld, set for release on September 19. White Wolf alleges that Underworld characters, theme and setting are based on White Wolf’s award winning games Vampire: The Masquerade(r) and Werewolf: The Apocalypse(tm), both set in White Wolf’s fictional World of Darkness(r). Further, Collins alleges that Underworld’s script is based on her 1994 story Love of Monsters, published by White Wolf and also set in the World of Darkness.

Plaintiffs claim over 60 points of unique similarity between Underworld and their work. “Ours is a huge fictional world, supported by over 200 volumes of fictional material,” asserts Mike Tinney, White Wolf’s President. “It’s infuriating to see Underworld’s script riddled with our property.” Plaintiffs also claim that Underworld’s entire plot is based on Collins’ short story Love of Monsters. “Apparently they are marketing this as a remake of Romeo and Juliet,” comments Collins. “What I think they really mean is that it’s an on-screen adaptation of my story.”

White Wolf and Collins are seeking immediate injunctive relief and damages. “The volume of confusion in our marketplace is amazing,” observes Tinney, “our fans think they’re going to be seeing our film. Of course, if the movie gets released, in a way they will be.”

Played Nexus and Agora (from Cheapass Games) with Merrystar tonight. Nexus was easy to learn but the unrestricted board placement made Agora our favorite for the night. Repeated fires and floods through the marketplace that sent customers screaming for cover didn’t influence our opinion any.

I realized something about Merrystar and my’s new place that really disturbs me.

It’s really hard to defend against zombies.

Merrystar says I have other things to worry about.

She’s probably right.