The MMORPG Show

I've been interested in historical wargaming since the early 1970s (it was the Airfix Commandos that turned me) but later on at school I did become aware of role playing games and specifically Dungeons and Dragons.  I even bought the three core 1st edition AD&D books around 1982 and designed some dungeons.  I still have the books (and the dungeon designs).

My interest in RPGs all lay dormant for a while (and in some cases was actively avoided) until I (re)discovered Call of Cthulhu and Traveller (and a few other things) about 5 years ago.  And so I dusted off my RPG notebook (still plenty of blank pages in it) and it began again.

Part of this journey has been a not entirely failed attempt to get my son interested in RPGs, mainly to wean him off the X-box.  Consequently, when the MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer On-stage Role Playing Game) Show appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe last year, we had to go.

And what fun it was.  Basically the host (Paul Flannery) asked for three audience volunteers to participate in what was an hilariously half-improvised show.  Such inventions as deciding that the bunch of baddies in the tavern they had to relieve of their tickets to the ambassador's ball, were actually stoats disguised as weasels, and that when the host threw a 20 on his massive luminous die (no really) that the audience all had to get up and change seats, made it fun; and my son certainly enjoyed it.

AM I, A PIE?

Anyway, I was delighted to discover that the show is on at the Fringe again this year (3rd to 27th August 2017, except the 14th), at the same venue, and heck it's free.  And so, slotting in between obscure student productions of Pirandello, Ionesco and Arthur Smith, we'll definately be going, possibly twice (like we did last year).

Bullet Bouncing

When I originally set up this blog (in 2011) it was to muse on all of the things that I was interested in that didn't fall under the remit of wargaming.  That covers a lot of ground as there all kinds of things I do, or would like to be doing, or used to do, or should be doing, or have some vague memory of doing, that I could write about.

However, what I have found over the years with blogging is that having a narrow(ish) focus for a blog usually works best (hence my separate wargaming blog), both as the blogger and for readers, who generally come to a blog with certain expectations and don't want to see random posts about electronic music, French nineteenth century poets, guitars, science fiction, travels in Central Asia, Scottish politics or non-historical wargaming (horrors!).

Consequently, I've decided to 'relaunch' this blog (like anyone would notice) but use it to report (slightly) more specifically on my desultory activities with regard to role palying games, board games and computer games.  Mainly, because, apart from historical wargaming (and Scottish politics), they are the other things that are keeping me distracted at work and home as I slide into my twilight years.

Nevertheless!  Onwards and upwards, and for no particular reason at all other than it is slightly amusing (and I like the old fashioned classic DC artwork) here's Wonder Woman to get us going.