My grandparents were born and raised in Appalachia. If you don't know about Appalachian culture, shame is a primary motivation tool. The most important figure in any Appalachian family, Mamaw, wields shame like a Bravosi sword master. Lightly, deftly, she sticks in the right spot at precisely the right moment. If you scrape something you …
Category: musings
What Does It Mean to Play Dungeons & Dragons “Right”?
One source of disagreements in the hobby of "talking about Dungeons & Dragons" results from varying definitions of what it means to play the game the "right" way or the "wrong" way.
The Grumpy Wizard’s Remembrances of the Curmudgeon in the Cellar
Tim Kask had a reputation for being the grand poohbah of curmudgeonly grognards making me the Slightly Abrasive Junior Sorcerer's Apprentice in comparison. Tim Kask was truly authentic in a culture where "authenticity" is most often a performance.
A Grumpy and Pedantic Musing About Careless Semantics In Role-Playing Game Discourse
I get grumpy about lackadaisical lexicography during discussions of the ludic arts.
Nostalgia for the OSR Blogs of Yore
James at Grognardia and John from The Nine and Thirty Kingdoms wrote some nostalgia posts about the OSR blogging scene circa 2010 and a few years after. I share their wistful thoughts about the early days of the OSR blogging scene. During that time, I read blogs, occasionally commented and would use some of the …
On the 21st Century Opportunities To Make a Living as an Artist
It used to be next to impossible to make a reasonable living as an artist in any medium. It's still not easy. It was never easy. It will never be easy. Today, making a living as an artist or entertainer is hard in ways that are different from the way it was hard in the …
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What is the Essential Experience of Dungeons & Dragons?
I use the word "experience" a lot in my writing. It's one of those words I find useful but troublesome. Like the word "fun", it is vague and full of underlying assumptions. One dictionary definition of experience is "an event or occurrence that leaves an impression on someone." An experience isn't merely an event or …
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Grumpy Wizard 
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