From a coversation with The Dead Lord

Interesting you asked this question. I've been waiting until I'm able to post pics directly onto the forum which should be any day now. So I'll wet the whistle about what you're soon to see. We've taken about 15 nice digital photos of our current art room that we are at present displaying all the collecting goodies and our game room where we have all our painted miniatures, castles, and terrain. As soon as Josh the newest member of our crew posts them to his URL you'll be able to take a peek into Invincible's Lair.

Getting back to your question, I feel atmosphere is most important aspect other than a good DM. Think about it, ever played a game where the players are sprawled out all over the living room? As compared to a nice round table where the players are in tight facing each other? In the first the players tend to drift, some may even fall asleep, and the game seems to loose focus. However in the case of the round table the game tends to be much more intense. Ideas, actions, and role-play seem to be a higher level no pun intended.

Now add in some of the background music you asked about, light some candles, dim the lights --- And Whamo! Some of my earliest and favorite gaming experiences were played this way. So it always sort of stuck in my mind that one day I could build a game room where the DM could completely control the atmosphere therefore heightening the game to the next level.

Well here it is twenty-five years after my first experiences with gaming and I've with the help of many friends with technical knowledge built the proto-type. I've wired the game room with 5.1 surround sound linked to a laptop computer facing the DM. I've also linked a second flat panel monitor facing the players for showing the them maps, pics of NPC's , terrain photos etc. I have an external sound manager linked into the laptop that I can simultaneously run up to 20 sound files and manipulate them in real-time. Background breeze to howlling storm with every degree in-between, Tavern music and laughter to the dripping of cave water, we've cataloged almost 2000 sound files. The DM simply before the game selects what he'll need for that game and uploads them onto a window on the computer. What's nice is you can also edit these files together and make something really cool like waves at sea, creaking boards, and gusting wind and wow you feel like you're in the hold of an old ship. Save it and it's ready to go for your game. The program is amazing it loupes the files and I've gotten very good at a seamless edit.

To heighten the experience even more the DM also has 28 lights at his control. He has everything from four main lights to Red, Blue, and Green ground and ceiling lights all on dimmers. There are also specialty lights and colors to work with, and the craziest thing we've come up with is a fake fire place that works off colored lights, a fan, and piece of silk. It doesn't sound like much, but when it's on inside the plaster and cardboard stone façade it looks very real. Put that baby on at about half speed with the other two torch lights that work in the same way with some background tavern sounds and role-playing goes off the chart.

I've done extensive play testing in the room and all who have played from old-school to young kids say they had one of the best gamming experiences. Funny note one of the first games play tested in the room we had 2 smoke machines hooked up as well, so in the climax of the game where the players entered the red dragon's lair I filled the room with smoke and nearly killed everyone with smoke inhalation. So that idea quickly what out the window. Play testing has been a big part of getting it to run seamlessly.

Future updates include replacing the flat panel facing the players with a Plasma Projector projecting onto a 6' wide screen and running edited video clips from movies, documentaries, etc. Also one of the guys in our crew works at the DJ store and there's a new piece of equipment that has a 50,000 word vocabulary for running an audio interface with your computer. So the DM in the future will simply say Run Desert program 1 and it will take you to a calm desert, or Run Desert program 10 will take you to a sandstorm.

This all may seem crazy I know. But it puts a whole new twist on RPG's not to mention the power back in the hands of the DM. The visual and the audio is the one thing computer RPG's have over the DM, but not anymore. And believe me the heightened audio and visual elevates the game especially the role-playing aspect. So with enough said I'll shut up and post the pics ASAP.

Invincibleoverlord;

I really like what you guys have done to the place....

In the upper portions of your first picture (the art room) The wallpaper looks suspiciously like some rare items that I am searching for.
Must be the ambient lighting....

So, is the sign something someone just made, or is it really a sign made for/by TSR?

Nice place and congratulations on a very nice achievement.

I wish that building was in Northeast Texas. If it was, then I would most certainly stop by to visit.... quite often....  I would probably wear out my welcome in no time.

Aneoth,

The sign directed you up the drive to the old TSR head quarters in Lake Geneva. It was one of two signs that were liberated when WOTC bought TSR. The other sign apparently broke when it was taken down and was discarded. I've often wondered how many of the old TSR employees we mythologize about probably hate this thing, it meant you'd arrived at work and Egg was inside cracking the whip. But I'm sure there are some found memories as well. All those seasons it diligently pointed the way the work place of the dreamers.

I don't know what happened to the pics, the hosting site must be on the fritz!

I give up, anyone know a hosting site I can post a few pics?

Thanks,
Mike

I'm hosting the pictures until invincible found some other place to publish them.

- art room
- books in closet
- DM station
- fire place
- game room
- knight and castle
- main lights
- post-nuke game
- road warrior battle
- scottish castle
- ship docked
- store room closet
- street war
- torch

... and yeah, I really like the desktop background picture!  

lol dude keep your rares that are worth $500+ in a fireproof box, safe, or at the bank....  lol picture this your house burns down, try explaining it to your insurance company that your D@D collection was worth $100,000.  what are they gonna say?  Sir well to you your collection was worth that much but to us, well hows $100 bucks?

grodog wrote:Invincible, what's the book to the right of Tsojcanth---a Warriors of Mars on its side???  

Are most of the terrain from HO/whatever scale train shops?

The poster in the torch1 picture is of CSIO blown up really big, right?  (I'm no JG expert....).

Looks like CS to me.  Should be Thunderhold?

invincibleoverlord wrote:A peek into Invincible's Lair

I'm completely aggravated----I can't find a free web site to host more than a few pics without trying to charge me, and Josh is out of town until after Thanksgiving. So here's just a few till after turkey-day.

Have you looked at Photobucket?

invincibleoverlord wrote:

It's not about the money it's about us. I never refer to the collection as mine. I refer to it as "The Collection" because it in a sense is all of ours. It's our history, and these items bond us together because of smile they bring to us. That common bond of say Keep on the Borderlands has for us all.

hehe sence its "the collection" or rather "our collection" mind if I hang that Tsojcanth over my fireplace for abit?  lol I'll give it back when I am done admiring it

A few more: