Epic Fantasy Reborn?

Hey everyone! Mac here from Dark Elf Dice. I hope everyone had a great holiday and had a chance to spend time with family and friends and perhaps do a little gaming. We’re just winding down from our holiday sales rush and are busily working at restocking the shelves with some of your favorites and some new game accessories we hope you’ll like. Stay tuned! We’ll be doing some product reviews on our Game Night blog shortly.

I for one had a very nice time during the holidays, and I was pleasantly surprised when my wife gave me an Xbox 360 game for Christmas. I should mention that when I was younger I played video games a lot (much to the disapproval of Mrs. Mac), but with added work and family responsibilities over the years, video games gradually took a backseat in my life. A few years back though, I bought an Xbox 360 (mostly for the Beatles Rock Band game), and dabbled a little in video games when I found some free time. So instead of receiving slippers or a new sweater for Christmas, I received The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim game and a player’s guide as thick as a Milwaukee phone book. Cool!

Is that a dragon or a seahorse?

Surprisingly, as much as I used to play video games, I didn’t play much in the fantasy genre. In fact, the last fantasy game I used to play with regularity was Atari’s Adventure. Man, back in grade school I would spend hours searching for the enchanted chalice and slaying dragons! Needless to say, my fantasy video game experiences were a tad dated (I showed my teenage daughters a YouTube video of Adventure and they just laughed). In Skyrim I’m still able to search for enchanted chalices and slay dragons, it’s just better. Better graphics, better game play, better sound effects, better everything. But is Skyrim, a game that bills itself “Epic Fantasy Reborn,” better than a good old fashioned table top game like Dungeons and Dragons or Castles and Crusades? Therein lies an interesting question.

Dude! That ain't no seahorse!

As I’m playing through Skyrim, I can’t help asking myself how the game compares to traditional role playing. I can honestly say that I’m thoroughly enjoying this video rpg and the open-ended fantasy world I can explore and adventure in at will. Skyrim really does a fine job capturing certain role playing elements exceedingly well (fascinating quests, unique magic items, powerful spells, engaging level and skill advancement, etc.), but I do find one thing lacking. Namely, playing Skyrim is a lonely adventure, whereas Dungeons and Dragons is not. When I play Skyrim into the small hours of the morning, I really do have a good time, but I can’t help but miss the camaraderie of friends sitting with me at the kitchen table, rolling dice and laughing over pizza and Mountain Dew. For me personally, this is why table top rpg games will always be superior to video games. With table top role playing, I can engage in the adventure with other people — people sitting right next to me that share the same imaginative experience. I’ve concluded that searching for enchanted chalices and slaying dragons is fun, but it’s much more fun to do so with a group of friends you know and love.

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An ENT By Any Other Name

Cheers everyone, Mac here from Dark Elf Dice. The other night I had an opportunity to chit-chat with my sister-in-law from Seattle. JoAnne is a doctor, and she had called long-distance to speak with my wife about gardening. I answered the phone and had a chance to talk with her about the new house she recently purchased.

“So how’s the neighborhood? Are you getting to know the people on your block?” I asked.

“The neighborhood’s great, but I really haven’t had a chance to meet my neighbors. Between work and moving it’s been crazy. The only person I know is an ENT who works with me in the clinic twice a week.”

This is not the ENT you're looking for.

Eee-Enn-Tee… ENT? What the heck was she talking about? I admit that I’m not the sharpest sword in the sheath when it comes to medical jargon, and all I could picture was a giant, talking tree. “So, they have ENTS in Seattle?”

“Of course.”

I scratched my head, more confused than ever. “I suppose the Pacific Northwest weather agrees with them. What with the heavy rain and all. If I were an ENT that’s where I would like to live.”

There was a long pause before JoAnne said anything. “You have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about, do you?”

I admitted my ignorance and JoAnne patiently explained that an ENT was an “ears, nose and throat” doctor. This made sense, but I have to say that I felt I twinge of disappointment that there weren’t any real ENTS in Seattle.

After turning the phone over to my wife, I reflected on the use of acronyms and abbreviations and how we use these unique terms as a matter of convenience to simplify phrases or names. Take for instance FAQ (frequently asked questions) or DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) — these are common acronyms that we’re all familiar with and that I’m certain we run across from time-to-time. Things get fuzzy though when acronyms or abbreviations are used by different groups of people — terms can take on entirely different meanings. Is a CD a “compact disc” or a “certificate of deposit?” I suppose it depends on whether or not you’re speaking with a Beatle’s Fan Club member (check out the fab bootlegs!) or a bank manager.

Game night just got a lot more interesting.

In the world of RPGs (“role playing games” — not “rocket propelled grenades”), we use a lot of acronyms and abbreviations to help facilitate game play. See if you can decipher the following:

On Saturday, the gang headed over to Gandalf’s house to play D&D 4e. Now don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against this latest edition, but I’m an old school gamer and still pine for the days of AD&D. I didn’t want to start a debate over which game was better (the WotC version or the classic TSR version), so I kept my yap shut.

Once we arrived at Gandalf’s, Frodo volunteered to act as DM. I had to suppress a groan — Frodo was always losing things (even the gold ring his uncle had given him), but no one else stepped forward for the job. I suppose if he didn’t lose his DMG we’d be all right. The rest of us acted as PCs, and I rolled up a dwarf fighter. I wanted to be an elf fighter, but Legolas insisted on being the elf, so I let him (besides, my DEX score was pretty low and I’d make a miserable elf). I briefly toyed with the idea of being a druid, but I didn’t like the idea of starting a first level character with a low HP number (not to mention a low AC as well). So a dwarf it was. My STR was a 17 so I received an awesome BtH modifier.

Our PCs began their adventure in an inn named the Prancing Pony. Almost immediately there was trouble. We ran into a group of nasty trolls looking to bash a few heads. Unfortunately, our party was outnumbered and I was expecting the worst. Luckily for us, a NPC who worked at the inn helped us sneak out a back door through the kitchen. Once we escaped the inn and tasted the cool, night air I thought our troubles were over. On the way out through the kitchen though, my dwarf ate an entire plateful of salmon mousse (unknowingly made with canned salmon) and I had to use a d20 to make a saving throw against poison. Fortunately, my dwarf survived (just barely), but our party gained no XP for our hasty (and inglorious) retreat.

Could you find and decipher all the acronyms and abbreviations? Good for you! Give yourself a pat on the back and a 100 gp bonus. You deserve it. If you want to see more unique gaming acronyms and abbreviations take a look at this cool list. This is a fairly exhaustive list and there’s a lot here I’ve honestly never used or seen before. Also, check out this week’s installment of That’s How We Role. Until next time people!

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The Golden Age of RPG Games

Hi gang, Mac here from Dark Elf Dice. Last Friday I was busy counting inventory for a new shipment of dice we received when Calvin (one of my cheeky employees) referred to me as the “old man.” At first, I didn’t know who he was referring to. I stopped my counting and looked over my shoulder to see if someone else had walked into the room. No one had of course. It was just me, Calvin, shelves loaded full of rpg dice, and a nickname that I didn’t think I’d ever hear in my lifetime…

I hear it all the time, but I'm NOT He-Man!

Now don’t get me wrong — there’s nothing the matter with growing older or being considered old for that matter. It’s just that I’ve only had one other nickname in my life. In grade school I was known as “Lightning” because I could run faster than my classmates and won all sorts of ribbons for track and field (I suppose you could say my agility score was a natural 16 — not bad for a gawky kid who had no greater ambition than to play Atari 2600 after school and watch Thundarr the Barbarian on Saturday mornings). I have to be honest though — it’s a little hard jumping from “Lightning” to “Old Man.” To make matters worse, I read that Mark Hamill just turned sixty years old this week. Somehow, I just can’t wrap my brain around Luke Skywalker being sixty. It’s like an evil Sith Lord mind-trick…

Oh well. As Calvin stocked the shelves, grinning to himself at his perceived cleverness and listening to his iPod, I realized that he was correct in some ways. Even though I’m only in my forties, in his teenager eyes I am the “old man” and always will be. I also realized that I felt a little sorry for Calvin. He may not realize or appreciate it, but he missed out on one of the greatest decades ever — the 1980’s.

Take heed 'cause he's a lyrical poet

All right, I fully admit the 80’s weren’t without fault (Vanilla Ice and parachute pants anyone?), but if you were a gamer the decade was righteous. Dungeons and Dragons became a part of our very culture and literally hundreds of companies (both large and small) were creating role playing games and unique gaming accessories. Just flip through a back issue of Dragon magazine from this era and take a look at the obscene amount of companies advertising not only their products, but gaming conventions as well. The 1980’s were in fact the golden age of tabletop role playing games, and I’m afraid we’ll never see the like again.

Which brings me to something that I wanted to mention. Much of the success of role playing games (both from the 1980‘s and today) can be attributed to Gary Gygax, the co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons. It’s safe to say that Dark Elf Dice wouldn’t be in business today if it wasn’t for the creative genius of this one man. It was with pleasure then that I learned that a Gary Gygax memorial is in the works in his hometown of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. The project is moving along and the memorial will be placed in Donian Park. Stefan Pokorny (founder and chief sculptor of Dwarven Forge) has volunteered to sculpt the memorial (apparently the design will include a castle turret with a bust of Gary on top and possibly a dragon wrapped around the turret). You can read more about the project by going to the Gygax memorial website.

Until next time faithful readers! In the meantime check out this week’s installment of That’s How We Role and our blog poll.

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That’s How We Role

Hi everyone, Mac here from Dark Elf Dice. We’ve been missing in action for the past few weeks, but believe me it’s been for a very good cause. Everyone here has been working feverishly to put the finishing touches on the Dark Elf Dice website. Five months ago, we began a complete website redesign with the customer in mind. When we first started the project,  I thought it would take thirty days or so to jazz everything up. Boy, was I wrong! Once we started making improvements we had a hard time stopping. Not only have we made the site easier to navigate to find what you’re searching for, we’ve literally added hundreds of new rpg products. Some of the new products that I’m personally excited about include our even greater selection of rpg dice (including the d3 hybrid dice and metal dice), our expanded dice bag collection, and the addition of more role playing game books and board games (including a game I’m really psyched about called Castles and Crusades — I plan on writing more about this game in a future blog post). If you haven’t had a chance to test drive the new website yet, take a look when you have some free time. We think you’ll like what you see.

Also, during the last few weeks we secured the talents of the up-and-coming cartoonist, Jordan Smith. Jordan has created an exclusive weekly comic strip for our Dark Elf Dice blog entitled That’s How We Role, a comic about the adventures (or should I say misadventures) of Marco the Mysterious, Princess Serenity, and Boris Warmaster. Jordan is an avid gamer himself (no posers here!) and his work has recently been published in the Zenith newspaper (a comic strip called Candance ‘N Company). We’re excited that Jordan has come on over to the “dark side” and joined the Dark Elf Dice team. So with that, I’ll leave you with the first installment of That’s How We Role. Enjoy this week’s installment and keep on gaming!

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Moonstone Dice Contest Winner

Happy Labor Day weekend! I just want to take a moment and thank everyone who entered the Moonstone dice giveaway. We had a lot of fun this week and recorded a total of 97 entries. I wish we had enough Moonstone dice to give to each and everyone of you, but alas, there can only be one contest winner.

And that winner, as decided by random selection at Random.org, is…

Karla Pickford

Congratulations Karla! You now have a brand new set of rpg dice to use on game night. We can’t guarantee that you’ll always make a successful savings throw or perception check with the Moonstone dice, but we do guarantee that they’ll look fantastic as you roll them across the table.

Thanks again everyone! We had so much fun that we’ll do it again next month. If you follow us on Facebook you’ll have an opportunity to pick the dice we giveaway. Stay tuned!

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Indigo -- The Newest Moonstone Color

One last thing: if you think you just can’t live without a set of Moonstone dice we recently added two brand new colors on our website: red and indigo. For the next week you can save 10% off the sale price of these dice by using the coupon code MOONSTONE.

Moonstone RPG Dice Giveaway

Moonstone Dice

All right! Hang onto your pointy wizard hats because it’s time for another Dark Elf Dice giveaway contest. We ran a poll on our Facebook page earlier this week asking our fans to choose between three sets of rpg dice for the prize. The hands down favorite was a set of eerie, translucent Moonstone dice! As always, we have super quick and easy entry rules for this month’s contest and you can earn 2 entry points + 1 super cool bonus point for a maximum total of 3 entry points. The more entry points you have the better your chances of winning this month’s giveaway, so here goes.

Entry Points for Non-Blog Subscribers

Not a Dark Elf Dice Game Night: The Blog subscriber? You can earn up to two entry points by doing the following:

• Leave a comment for us on our Dark Elf Dice blog (Earns 1 Entry Point): You can earn one contest entry point by simply leaving a comment on this blog post. Just go down to the bottom of this post and click on the comments section (located directly below where it says “Rate this”). Your comment can be as zany as you’d like, but it must have the words “Moonstone dice” in it. Some examples: “I’d like to enter the Moonstone dice contest,” “Give me some Moonstone dice,” “My grandparents went to New Jersey and all they got me were Moonstone dice,” etc.
• Subscribe to our Dark Elf Dice blog (Earns 1 Entry Point): You can earn a second contest entry point by becoming a subscriber to our blog. Before you subscribe we encourage you to take a look around. If you like what you see, sign up at the top right hand side of the page where it reads “Email Subscription.” Once you sign up you’ll receive notifications of new blog posts by email (roughly once or twice a week). WE HATE SPAM MORE THAN LIVER AND ONIONS and will ABSOLUTELY NEVER use your email address for spam. Our blog subscribers are our friends, and friends don’t treat friends like garbage.

Entry Points for Current Blog Subscribers

Already a current Game Night: The Blog subscriber? Cool! You can earn two entry points by doing the following:

• Leave a comment for us on our Dark Elf Dice blog (Earns 2 Entry Points): You can earn 2 contest entry points by leaving a comment on this blog post. Your comment can say anything, but you must use the initials “BS” (the “BS” stands for “Blog Subscriber”). Some examples: “I’d like to enter the contest BS,” “Really cool dice BS,” “This contest is total BS,” etc.

Super Cool Bonus Point

This bonus point can be earned by both non-blog subscribers and blog subscribers. All you have to do is:

• Share this contest with others via Facebook, Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon, Press This, Reddit or Google+ (Earns 1 Entry Point): Share this contest through any of the sites listed. Simply click any of the social bookmarking buttons below this post. To get credit for your entry you just need to tell us in your blog comment that you shared the contest.

The Moonstone dice contest runs from August 27 through September 3, 2011. During this time we’ll collect each individual’s entry points (remember, you can earn up to 2 entry points + 1 bonus point) and the winner will be determined by random selection at Random.org. We’ll announce the winner on Sunday, September 4 on our blog . Best of luck everyone!

Favorite Gen Con Memory

Gen Con Indy 2011, the world’s greatest gaming convention was held this week in Indianapolis. If you’re a fan of rpg games you really owe it to yourself to go at least once in your life. It’s like Christmas on steroids. There are hundreds of the industry’s best game designers and manufacturers showcasing their latest wares and demoing new products. There are art exhibits, writing exhibits, and of course games. Lots and lots of role playing and board games hosted and run by fellow gamers from around the world. Gen Con truly is the four best days in gaming.

My favorite memory of Gen Con goes way back to 1987 when I had just graduated from high school. Gen Con was held in Milwaukee at that time, and would be until the convention became a victim of its own overwhelming success and simply grew too large to be hosted in Wisconsin anymore. My best friend Mike and I chugged north along I-94 in my beat-up Ford Pinto (hey, at least it was paid for!) and we arrived early for the festivities.

My favorite Ral Partha minis painted 1987

In 1987 I didn’t actually play in any of the hosted games. I did however contribute an original Dungeons and Dragons adventure co-written with Mike and hosted by a mutual friend titled “The Tesseract and the Abyss” — a far out adventure whose main focus was to challenge a player’s sense of reality while being trapped inside a vast, four-dimensional hypercube (oh, to be young and creative again!). Instead of playing at Gen Con, I spent a lot of time exploring and shopping. In those days I collected Ral Partha lead miniatures and I spent a lot of time at the company’s huge display looking for new figures. I was like Sinbad stumbling upon a huge treasure — online shopping didn’t exist back then and my local hobby store only carried a fraction of the minis on display at Gen Con. So it was with pleasure that I blew two week’s pay and filled a shopping bag with blister packs of elves and dwarves and still had enough dough left over to score a prerelease of West End Games’ Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game.

The game that launched an entire industry.

My friend Mike was more careful with his money. Instead of shopping at the vendor exhibits he saved his cash for the live auctions held on the second floor of the convention center. Even then he only bought one thing, but man it was cool! I can’t remember what he paid, but Mike won at auction a 1974 first edition of the Dungeons and Dragons game in unbelievable condition. The game’s first printing was simply an unassuming white box holding three softcover booklets. The game looked completely alien compared to the hardcover TSR books I was used to.

By the time the auctions were over it was getting late. Before leaving Gen Con though we decided to take one more run through the exhibits. As it turns out our decision to hang around a little longer was brilliant, because Mike and I had the pleasure of meeting the one and only Gary Gygax at one of the publisher booths. By this time Gary had achieved worldwide fame with Dungeons and Dragons and had left TSR to promote his new company, New Infinities Productions. We chatted for a good 20 minutes about the history of role playing games, D&D, and his new creation Cyborg Commando. During our conversation I was truly impressed at how genuinely nice Gary Gygax was. Here was the co-creator of the greatest and most commercially successful rpg franchise in history taking the time to talk with two gawky (and admittedly starstruck) teenage boys. Gary was as intelligent as he was soft spoken and in my mind he was the Gandalf of the role playing universe. Before we left he signed my convention program and Mike’s first edition D&D booklets. More importantly though, looking back these twenty-four years, Gary gave me my best memory of Gen Con that quite honestly will never be topped.

Did you attend this year’s Gen Con or do you have any favorite Gen Con memories? Post a comment in the reply section below and share your thoughts with your fellow gamers.

Oblivion Dice Contest Winner

To the victor belong the spoils.

I want to thank everyone who participated in July’s Dark Elf Dice giveaway contest. We had a total of 33 entries. And the winner (as decided by random selection at Random.org) is… Justin Leroy Bell. Congratulations Justin! You just won a set of Oblivion orange rpg dice. Now go out and slay some dragons with your new lucky dice. Happy gaming!

4 Great Sources for RPG Character Names

What’s in a name? – William Shakespeare

Whenever we start a new role playing game the thing I look forward to most is rolling up a brand new character. A new beginning is always exciting, not to mention the element of chance that exists when you roll a handful of rpg dice across the table and hope for high attribute numbers (life is  good when you roll 18!). I enjoy all the creative aspects of crafting a new character — everything from selecting armor and weapons to writing a character’s backstory. One thing that proves difficult for me though is coming up with a character’s name. Sure, I got me a brand new Barbarian complete with leather armor and battle axe, but what do I call this sucker? When it comes to naming characters I need a little help. Here then are four great sources I use when picking a character’s name:

You take the high road & I'll take the low road.

Atlas. When I first started playing Dungeons and Dragons years ago the atlas was my best friend. This was way back before you could Google information on the internet, but even today I keep my trusty atlas on the bookshelf next to my role playing books. An atlas is not only a collection of maps, but is a great source of names. Just pick a country and browse through the names of cities, towns, lakes, etc. For my barbarian I studied a map of Scotland and found two towns with names that I liked: Brechin and Stonehaven. Put ‘em together and you get Brechin Stonehaven — a mighty fine name for a rpg character. If you don’t have an atlas, you can find a good collection of world maps at siteatlas.com.

Novels are a great source for names.

Novels. It goes without saying that novels are a great source for names. If you love reading I’m sure you have copies of your favorite books near at hand or stored on your Nook or Kindle. I’ve always enjoyed the Shannara novels by Terry Brooks. When it came time to name our first child, my wife and I chose “Brin” for my daughter’s middle name (named after the  main character of The Wishsong of Shannara). I don’t necessarily advocate naming your children after characters in fantasy novels (Smeagol anyone?), but Brin worked for us and would easily do double-duty as a rpg character name.

Baby Name Books.  If you can get your hands on a baby name book I dare you to place it on the table the next time you host a party (put the book right next to the chips and dip). I guarantee your guests will pass the book around and have a blast reading through the lists of different names and their meanings. Why? Because people love names (especially their own names and those of their friends). Not only are baby name books entertaining, they’re a great resource for finding names for rpg characters. Take a look at babynames.com for inspiration.

Name Lists and Generators. The internet abounds with good websites that help gamers discover character names. If you’re looking for a list of unusual names check out the huge collection of fantasy name links at Fantasy Land. The site has tons of links to character name lists — everything from elves, to monsters, to Sesame Street characters (Elmo the Barbarian???).  If you’d prefer not to browse through lists of names for inspiration, you can randomly generate character names by using an online generator. My favorite is the Fantasy Name Generator. Simply select what type of name you’re looking for (short names, long names, consonant heavy names, mushy names, etc.) and click the button. The site is fun to play around with. Sometimes the results are zany, but you may just find the perfect name you were looking for.

Do you have any good sources for RPG character names? Post a comment and share your ideas with your fellow gamers!

Oblivion RPG Dice Giveaway Contest

Tiger, tiger burning bright.

All right! Time for another Dark Elf Dice giveaway contest. We ran a poll on our Facebook page earlier this week asking our fans to choose between three sets of rpg dice for the prize. The overwhelming favorite was a set of orange Oblivion dice. These are gorgeous halloween-colored rpg dice that look like tiger stripes. We have super quick and easy entry rules for this month’s contest and you can earn a maximum of three entry points. The more points you have, the better so here goes:

1. Subscribe to our Dark Elf Dice blog (Earns 1 Entry Point): You can earn one contest entry point by becoming a subscriber to the Dark Elf Dice blog (Game Night: The Blog). To subscribe, simply visit our blog’s main page by clicking the link here. Take a look around. If you like what you see sign up at the top right hand side of the page where it reads “Email Subscription.” Once you sign up you’ll receive notifications of new blog posts by email. NOTE:  we will ABSOLUTELY NEVER use your email address for spam. Our blog subscribers are our friends, and friends don’t treat friends like garbage.
2. Leave a comment for us on our Dark Elf Dice blog (Earns 1 Entry Point for current blog subscribers): Why should new blog subscribers have all the fun? If you’re a current blog subscriber we don’t want to exclude you from earning an entry point. If you’ve already subscribed to the blog (prior to 7/20/11) simply leave a comment on this giveaway blog post indicating that you want to enter the contest.
3. Leave a comment for us on Facebook (Earns 1 Entry Point): Please visit our Facebook page and leave a comment indicating that you want to enter the contest. It really doesn’t matter what you say in your comment as long as we know that you want to enter the contest. Some examples: “I wanna win some Oblivion dice!”, “Please enter me in your contest!”, “I’d rather win a new car, but Oblivion dice are still nice!” etc.
4. Share this contest with others via Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon, Press This, Reddit or Google+ (Earns 1 Entry Point): Share this contest through any of the sites listed. Simply click any of the social bookmarking buttons below and then leave a comment saying that you did so in the giveaway post.

The contest runs from Wednesday July 20 through Wednesday July 27, 2011, so spread the word and tell all your rpg friends about it. During this time we’ll collect each individual’s entry points (remember, you can earn a maximum of three) and the winner will be determined by random selection at Random.org. We’ll announce the winner on Thursday, July 28. Many will enter and one will win. Good luck everybody!