You are browsing the blog archive:

Avatar of Tyler

by Tyler

Happy GM’s Day 2012

Posted Sunday, March 4th, 2012 at 10:37am

GM's Day logoHappy GM’s Day, everyone!

March 4th[1] has become an unofficial gaming holiday of sorts since it was first discussed in 2002. Think of it as a time to say thanks to the people in your gaming life who make things possible. That might be your actual GM, the person who expends the effort to build a campaign and herd the cats to get people at the table time after time. It could be the early adopter, the one who’s always buying the latest hotness direct from Essen and printing out sheaves of player aids and cheat sheets to help everyone learn. It could be the boss terrain builder who ensures your figures play on something nicer-looking than a bare tabletop.

March 4th took on a new dimension of significance in 2008, when Gary Gygax passed away on that day. As co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons and figurehead of the hobby for years, Gary left an indelible mark on role-playing and gaming.

Say thanks, get them something nice, do them a gaming-related favor — show ‘em you appreciate the effort and time they put in to making the hobby better for everyone. Some businesses, like DriveThruRPG, use the weekend as a sale opportunity, so there’s all sorts of interesting digital products for sale there.

Thanks to The Escapist for the encapsulation of the day’s history.

[1] As in “March forth!”

Tags: , , , , , , , No Comments »

Avatar of Tyler

by Tyler

Teach Your Kids to Game Week

Posted Tuesday, November 15th, 2011 at 3:46pm

DriveThruRPG is sponsoring Teach Your Kids to Game Week, Gaming parents are encouraged to introduce their children to the hobby, whatever genre of gaming they may pursue. DriveThruRPG’s site includes a list of kid-friendly RPGs that run the gamut in age level from Argyle & Crew to DC Adventures.

Elsewhere, The Escapist has updated the Adventurer’s Atlas of its Young Person’s Adventure League, which is “The Adventurer’s Atlas is your guide to the best role-playing adventure games for young people, a sort of road map to other worlds where you are free to explore as another character, a tour guide of places to go and people to be.”

If you have children, are you doing anything particular to teach them the joys of the tabletop hobby?

Tags: , , , , , No Comments »

Avatar of Tyler

by Tyler

Fall-loha 2011 Comes to Underhill

Posted Tuesday, June 21st, 2011 at 9:00am

Click through to the Fall-loha information page.

As the year rolls on, Green Mountain Gamers returns to the northwest corner of Vermont to hold Fall-loha in Underhill, in sight of the ridge line of Mount Mansfield.

The United Church of Underhill kindly hosts our festivities this time on August 27th, a Saturday hovering on the cusp between the dying days of summer and the encroaching fall.

Check out the Fall-loha forum thread for the latest chatter in the community. The Fall-loha information page will compile updates about the day’s happenings as they coalesce.

Tags: , , , , , , , , No Comments »

Avatar of Tyler

by Tyler

Announcing the Game ‘n Grill Garage Sale

Posted Tuesday, June 7th, 2011 at 1:06pm

Adding to the fun of the Summer Game ‘n Grill, coming up in a two weeks’ time in Norwich, Vermont, Matt G. (@mattgo) has stepped up to coordinate the first ever game garage sale.

If you’ve got some games you’d like to sell off, but don’t want to deal with the hassle of shipping services, this is just the deal for you. Arrange the deal beforehand with another interested party, meet up at the Game ‘n Grill in Norwich and execute the exchange. It’s worked out well the last couple years at the Carnage math trade — which Matt also coordinates. This is a great opportunity to make some space in your game library for new titles — or find some items to fill conspicuous gaps in your shelves.

To list the titles you’re offering for sale and peruse what others have up, visit the Green Mountain Gamers 2011 Game ‘n Grill Garage Sale geeklist over on Boardgamegeek.com. Matt’s posted a helpful guide to participating in the garage sale; give that a good look and commence to posting!

Tags: , , , , , , , 2 Comments »

Avatar of Tyler

by Tyler

OGC and Carnage Updates

Posted Monday, May 16th, 2011 at 10:08pm

We have news on the convention front for two regional events, OGC and Carnage.

OGC — short for Open Gaming Convention — went live with a new site last night for the Year of the Ninja. They’re now accepting preregistration, and event and vendor forms. In Nashua, New Hampshire, August 19th through the 21st, OGC has a strong focus on role-playing games, while also offering the entire panoply of tabletop pursuits.

Meanwhile on the Vermont side of the Upper Valley, Carnage’s field marshals have begun rallying for GM submissions for their November convention. It looks to be a big year at Carnage as they host the North American Diplomacy tournament.

Tags: , , , , , , , , No Comments »

Avatar of Tyler

by Tyler

Summer Game ‘n Grill 2011 in Norwich, Vermont

Posted Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011 at 9:00am

Summer Game 'n Grill 2011 bannerThe year continues to turn as we move on to summer. And with summer comes our second annual game day, the first one in fact. The Summer Game ‘n Grill, the one that started it all. In 2011, we convene in Norwich, Vermont on June 18th, just across the river from Hanover, New Hampshire and up the interstate from White River Junction and West Lebanon, in the local grange hall.

As this is the Summer Game ‘n Grill, there will be a grill on the premises for your meat-related needs. Bring something to throw on the fire — and then eat afterward. Other implements and condiments are recommended as necessary.

Norwich Grange Hall, on the corner of Main Street and Firehouse Lane. Snow probably not included with June weather.

There are always tons of board games to play and a role-playing adventure or two on hand. If you’ve got a desire to play something in particular, bring it up in the official forum thread and let us know you want to run it.

You can help spread the word about the Game ‘n Grill by downloading the flyer. Send it on to your friends, post it in the local game store and library, wherever the nerdly may pass by.

Tags: , , , , , , , , No Comments »

Avatar of Tyler

by Tyler

Spring Meltdown is in Sight

Posted Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011 at 1:00pm

Otter Creek Falls in Middlebury, Vermont. Photo by VTDarkStar

As the snow falls on this Groundhog Day — and into tomorrow morning — keep in mind that Spring Meltdown is only a month and a half away. Green Mountain Gamers host their first annual spring game day at Ilsley Library in Middlebury, Vermont on March 19th. That’s twelve whole hours of tabletop game goodness, with members of the Vermont game-playing community coming together to share their favorite and newest games with others.

Games People Play

These game days are free for all affairs, with groups of players converging to play a game, then splitting up to play other gamers, all day long. But if you’ve got a yen to break out something that requires more planning, like a role-playing game, or is time-intensive, like Android or marathon sessions of Battlestar Galactica, say, visit the official Spring Meltdown forum thread to drum up interest, and send us a note so we can list it on the page for all to see.

Your Spring Tournament

Endeavor‘s been bandied about as the game of choice for a spring board game tournament and it’s a strong choice: easy to teach, there are many copies floating around the Vermont board gaming ranks and it’s been out long enough that most people have played it at least once.

Questions or comments on Spring Meltdown? What are you looking forward to playing? Speak out here in the comments or in the forum thread.

Tags: , , , , , , , , No Comments »

Avatar of Tyler

by Tyler

The Countdown to Winter Weirdness is On

Posted Monday, January 3rd, 2011 at 9:03pm

The Church of the Good Shepherd in Barre, Vermont, site of Winter Weirdness 2010.

Today I took a trip down to the counties of Washington and Orange to spread some Winter Weirdness handbills and Green Mountain Gamers cards on any bulletin boards my eyes lighted upon, particularly in Montpelier and Barre. Gamers eat, buy gas and drink coffee, so maybe some folks who haven’t stumbled across the site will learn about the opportunity for twelve hours of tabletop gaming goodness this coming Saturday in Barre.

If there’s a geek hangout in your corner of Vermont that needs to know about the upcoming Winter Weirdness game day, you can download a PDF copy of the flier and print it out yourself. Or save some trees and email it directly to those interested parties.

While ambling around downtown Montpelier, I also picked up the $50 gift certificate so kindly donated by The Book Garden as a first place prize for the Ticket to Ride tournament. The Book Garden has a fine selection of tabletop gaming materials for sale, in addition to their selection of books, so the winner of the tournament shouldn’t have any problem finding something good to take home. Rick mentioned he’s sold out of Ticket to Ride at the moment, so I guess people are boning up for the big one.

See you on Saturday!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , 3 Comments »

Avatar of Tyler

by Tyler

Winter Weirdness 2011 Update

Posted Wednesday, December 8th, 2010 at 1:19pm

We’re just about a month out from Winter Weirdness 2011, taking place January 8th at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Barre, Vermont. The Winter Weirdness page has seen a spurt of activity in the last couple days with new information, so if you haven’t visited lately, now’s the time to check it out.

The core of Green Mountain Game Days is open play, where some people proffer a title and others cluster around what sounds or looks interesting. Some games, however, require a little forewarning before playing, because they’re more complex, run long or require preparation beforehand. So even going into Winter Weirdness, you can be sure of a few options on hand in addition to evergreen staples like Dominion or Settlers of Catan. Here are what some people plan to offer to teach / run on January 8th:

  • Android is set in a Blade Runner-like future, 3-5 players take on the roles of detectives investigating a heinous murder. Each detective must follow up clues in the city of New Angeles and Moon Base Heinlein as they struggle to prove their hunches correct while attempting to maintain control over their personal plotlines. This is a long game with many bits so be prepared to play for most of the day. GMed by Alex Clay (@alexbclay).
  • Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game puts the players in the shoes of the characters of the 2004 revival as they struggle to bring the fleet to Kobol safely. Only there may be one or more Cylons secretly working against the group. This game will include the Pegasus and Exodus expansions, assuming the latter is available in time. GMed by Carlo (@vorpalgens).
  • Fiasco is a collaborative storytelling game about “ordinary people with powerful ambition and poor impulse control.” This is a test of a science fiction-themed playset created by Tyler (@blinovitch).
  • Gamma World is the latest edition of the post-apocalyptic role-playing game. It’s a gonzo romp through the aftermath of the Megawhoops with mutant powers and jury-rigged technology. GMed by Tyler (@blinovitch).
  • Ticket to Ride, tournament-style, in which 12-16 players play off to a final round, with a prize for the winner of the final round.
  • Titan (Valley Games edition) is a reprint of the Avalon Hill monster slug-athon.  Travel around the main board collecting troops, and battle on the terrain boards when rival armies meet. GMed by John (@cudunn).

Don’t see something you’re looking for? Bring it up in the forum thread — or just chat about what you’re looking forward to.

See you next month in Barre!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , No Comments »

Avatar of Tyler

by Tyler

National Gaming Day @ your library 2010

Posted Tuesday, October 19th, 2010 at 7:00am

The official National Gaming Day poster.

National Gaming Day is picking up steam in the Green Mountains. There are now six participating libraries in Vermont, according the website’s Batchgeo map. I want to say that’s a tripling from last year, but I’d be guessing.

The participating Vermont libraries are:

There are a number of libraries just across the state border in New York, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, so check the map for something close to you. Additionally, I happen to know the Fletcher Free Library in Burlington is also participating, even if they’re not on the map.

A thread in the Green Mountain Gamers forum has begun discussing what folks plan to do in their own local libraries for National Gaming Day. The Creasers have Goodrich Memorial in hand, and Brennan, Alex and I are teaming up with the teen literacy coordinator at the Fletcher Free to bring National Gaming Day there for the first time.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: , , , , , No Comments »