Age 27, started playing D&D Dec26 1989..though played my first game some 20+ years ago (Not sure how old I was when one of my brothers ran a small dungeon for me and another brother). Anyway, always had a creative mind, and well after months of taking dice from boardgames and drawing grid maps in a spiral notebook (made some scifi/zelda type game with all that), that same brother got me the Red Basic Box Set (13th printing I eventually found out  :)  ).

Guess that was the begining, course now I collect and occasionally play (d20 though *hides*). Eventually though the greatest thing to ever be put on my shelves shall be something I helped write (Necromancer Games - Bards Gate). So I guess you could say I have the 1st edition feel  :D

ShaneG.

Greetings, all!

The name's John, I'm 35, live in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, got into D&D when I was around 10 or 11 initially, and got more seriously into it as I got older.

Played regularly in the same group from about 1988 to 1995/1996.

As a teen, subjected myself to the animated D&D cartoon.  As an adult, subjected myself to the D&D movie (only decent bits were Richard O'Brien and Tom Baker -- pure magic.  Everything else in it = pure cheese/cardboard.)

Been a pretty serious collector over the years (none of the really, really rare stuff, mind you), occasionally turn things out on eBay (seller name = johnshall).

Always been a big scifi/fantasy buff, movies/TV shows, especially Doctor Who.

Have yet to seriously get into 3rd Edition -- too much work to unlearn 20+ years of playing AD&D a certain way!  :mrgreen:

I'd say 2nd Edition is my favorite edition, but I'll never forget the thrill of learning the convoluted 1st Edition rules!

Favorite class has always been magic-user/wizard, although I'm also partial to the witch class (per Dragon #114) -- my DM, who was a practicing Wiccan himself, allowed this as a character class.

Hope to speak to more of you soon!

Cheers,
John aka Wandering Monster

Hi there!  Thanks for the welcome, and yes, I think I will definitely enjoy my time here...  :)

As for the new DOCTOR WHO series, I'm thrilled by it!     Christopher Eccleston is definitely a breath of fresh air and a decided "break" from the previous Doctors' styles of acting, and I'm not nearly as distracted by his "minimalist" outfit as I thought I would be.  It's a shame he's already decided not to do a second series, as I think he would've been brilliant.

Billie Piper's quite good as the new companion Rose, and the stories have had excellent production values and plots -- although I think they've been trying to cram too much into 45 minutes.

Out of curiosity -- and I don't know if this is the best forum category for this question -- are there very many shops in the UK that still deal in AD&D items?  I remember when I used to visit London in my 20's there used to be a Virgin Megastore Gamesstore on Oxford Street, plus a gaming store sort of near Covent Garden called the Orc's Nest, but I don't know if they're in existence anymore?

Cheers,
John aka Wandering Monster

Name is James Mishler, age 36, been playing RPGs since 1980. These days I keep pretty tightly to playing Castles & Crusades, HackMaster, and Lejendary Adventure, in the Wilderlands of High Fantasy, Known World of Mystara, and Lejendary Earth, respectively, though I've often used bits from other worlds like Greyhawk or even as esoteric as the Perilous Lands.

I've worked pretty solidly in the adventure game industry for the last 10 years. I've worked for Wizards of the Coast, Chessex Distribution, West End Games, Kenzer & Company, ACD Distribution, Krause Publications, and WizKids, not counting various freelance gigs here and there. I am currently an editor on Scrye, Comics Buyer's Guide, and Comics & Games Retailer.

Once upon a time my game collection was quite large, and required eight 6' bookcases, four 4' bookcases, and four 3' bookcases, not to mention a closet full of boardgames. Most of it was common stuff, but I had a few "collector" level items, too, mostly early Judges Guild... but it was all stuff I'd play or read regularly, nothing in minty condition. Probably $50k all told, but now it's down to about $10k maybe, as it got whittled down one move or financial travail after another (not to mention a divorce).

I'm slowly rebuilding, though, and in addition to looking to re-build my reading/playing collection (especially of 2nd Edition AD&D) I'm looking to build a "collectors" collection as well, which is why I'm hanging out at the Acaeum now. You could say I got bit by the collecting bug by my coworkers at CBG, though they are all comic book collecters, of course.

Happy to be here. I've gotten lots of cool information already, looking forward to interesting discussions and discoveries.

jamesmishler wrote:Once upon a time my game collection was quite large, and required eight 6' bookcases, four 4' bookcases, and four 3' bookcases, not to mention a closet full of boardgames. Most of it was common stuff, but I had a few "collector" level items, too, mostly early Judges Guild... but it was all stuff I'd play or read regularly, nothing in minty condition. Probably $50k all told, but now it's down to about $10k maybe, as it got whittled down one move or financial travail after another (not to mention a divorce)..

Understanding this perfectly, James.

Been through a separation myself... and only recently finally managed to get back my old boardgames - between them a SPI's Lord of the Rings and a Swords and Sorcery - that were stored in my ex's basement... and luckily didn't suffer damage apart from a slightly musty smell.

Franz

afoolandhis$ wrote:Welcome, James. How long have you lived in Iola? I grew up not far from there. Nice to have another fellow cheesehead join the group!

-Stephen

I've been here now for just over a year, but I lived here back in 2000 to 2002, when I worked for Scrye magazine the first time.

For all that it is an extremely rural area, I rather like it. Nice and quiet place. Trouble is finding a good game. Nearest game store is in Stevens Point, a half-hour away, and the nearest *good* game store is almost an hour away in Appleton.

Where'd you grow up around here?

jamesmishler wrote:Once upon a time my game collection was quite large, and required eight 6' bookcases, four 4' bookcases, and four 3' bookcases, not to mention a closet full of boardgames. Most of it was common stuff, but I had a few "collector" level items, too, mostly early Judges Guild... but it was all stuff I'd play or read regularly, nothing in minty condition. Probably $50k all told, but now it's down to about $10k maybe, as it got whittled down one move or financial travail after another (not to mention a divorce).
.

All my wife has to do is threaten divorce to keep me in line....she's already said she'd make a BIIIIG ass bonfire out of "her" half of the loot!!!!!  Welcome James!  Your name looks familiar, did you ever hang out or buy stuff over at the old AOL TSR forums or rpg.marketplace?

Mike B.

Badmike wrote:Welcome James! Your name looks familiar, did you ever hang out or buy stuff over at the old AOL TSR forums or rpg.marketplace?
Mike B.

Oy, talk about dredging up old memories! Yes, I hung out in the old AOL forums long, long ago, under the handle Mystaros (which I still use a lot). Other than that, though, in gaming there are a ton of ways you might have heard of me, or we might have even met at a convention...

You may have heard of my name in connection with a long-overdue adaptation of the Known World of Mystara to HackMaster, known as the "HackWurld of Mystaros."

Or, if you have been most unfortunate — or rather, if your character has been most unfortunate — in connection to my earlier Kenzer product, "The Lost Tomb of Kruk-Ma-Kali."

Or maybe you hang out in the Castles & Crusades, Lejendary Adventure, Judges Guild, or Necromancer Games boards?

Or in connection with any one of a dozen jobs I've had in the industry... it all melts together anymore...

Plaag wrote:Ah, thats why your name sounded familiar. The fan boy in me wants to know if that project is still on going. And any plans for a HackWurld Hollow World?

ShaneG.

Still in development through a slow and unsteady process. Gawds willing, and the industry don't implode, something HackWurld will be released. Gazetteer, corebook, souircebook, adventure... still not sure yet which or when.

Hollow World is way down on the list of things to do from the setting. HW has some very fanatical adherents, but not nearly enough to make it profitable from the start. And, like all things with the HackWurld versus the Known World, it won't be quite the same...