What Is This D&D Thing?
by weem on January 24, 2012
Prior to mid-2011, when it came to my online activities, they were primarily Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) related. A majority of those who are watching me (I hate saying “following”) on Twitter came from this period of time before Epic Inventor (a video game I designed and do art for) existed. With that said, many have begun watching me lately due to my work on Epic Inventor. It is from these people that I have been asked the following question many times now… That question being, “What is this ‘D&D’ thing you have been talking a lot about?”
A Quick Recap (it’s relevant)
Last year was crazy, let’s start there. Right at the beginning of 2011 I played Pathfinder for the first time. A die-hard Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) DM/Player since the age of 12, putting 4th Edition D&D aside for Pathfinder was a little difficult initially, even if Pathfinder IS essentially D&D. The first six months of the year involved a lot of Pathfinder gaming, but also a lot of Terraria playing as we got close to the halfway point.
By the time July (2011) came around, Terraria was hot among my circle of friends. I had convinced most of them to try it earlier and many were still playing at this point. I could not have guessed, even at the beginning of the month, that in a few short weeks I would be designing and doing the art for a new game inspired by Terraria; a game that myself and two friends would work on together called Epic Inventor. By the end of July we were already a week into development with plans for a December(ish) release.
My D&D and Pathfinder playing came to an immediate halt. I was working 40 hours a week at “the day job” and around 40 at home on our new game. As we closed in on December there were weeks that we worked 60 to even 80 hours on the game. My “day job” was starting to feel like a side job – I could barely remember what I had done there by the time Saturday rolled around. On the other hand, I was having regular dreams about Epic Inventor and could tell you everything about any aspect of it, whether it was completed or not. Needless to say, there simply was no more time for D&D.
By mid-December (2011), we had released the beta version of Epic Inventor to the world… or at least to those interested in trying it out (they were indeed from all over the world though!). An article in Rock Paper Shotgun said the game had a “Bright Future”, and the attention spurred a huge wave of downloads on Desura as well as from our website… things got kind of crazy (a good crazy, mind you).
Today
Work on Epic Inventor is still regular, but the hours have toned down a lot. We are re-discovering what it is like to have free time and we’re beginning to relax a little (just a little). My free time has always involved a lot of D&D, so I felt like this was a good time to address the question I mentioned earlier. For many watching me now, D&D is something they are only just hearing of, or they have heard of it but never play it. As such, I will try and quickly explain what my involvement in D&D means.
D&D Is The Best Game Ever Made (IMO)
I’m not joking, I usually lead with that. That was my answer when asked about it last week, and it wasn’t the first time I have so boldly stated my opinion on the subject. The thing is, I truly believe it. You can do anything. Your imagination creates, and the rules help set your creations in motion. No video game has ever come close to being as enjoyable to me as D&D – and I love me some video games.
I rarely have time to explain exactly what D&D is (especially because when I am asked about it, an answer would usually require typing it out) so I generally link to the wikipedia article when I’m rushed, and say “Scroll down to ‘Play Overview’”. Sometimes I link to the Chris Perkins video, it depends. Often times I have found that directing people to the first Robot Chicken video gets them really hooked in (“That looks awesome!”). They get to see D&D in action which can explain a lot in a way that can’t be done well with words. Of course, I usually throw in a “it may not show the RP aspect as well, but you certainly get an idea for it and for combat, etc”. Your examples may vary, but that’s usually how I start.
Weem and D&D
I’ve been a huge fan of D&D for 23 years now. I love DM’ing it (running the game) and I love playing it. I also love talking about it, and as a graphic designer I love to find interesting ways to incorporate it into various visuals – usually stuff at least I will find amusing. Much of this was being done over at the popular D&D/RPG site ENWorld(.org), but I decided that I needed one central place to locate all of my creations for easy finding later (searching for things via EN World was getting harder and harder). That place would be a new website – one I would call weem.com (for my RL nickname of “Weem”), only that was taken… so THEweem.com it was, followed immediately by the Twitter account @theweem.
It is from here that I launched a number of projects – from “The Golden Girl Gamers with Wil Wheaton” (which Wil Wheaton himself enjoyed) to an April Fools prank site dnd5.com. But for all of the parody that happens here, I do get serious about the game and have written a number of articles about D&D as well as created tools and props, the most popular of which are my 4th Edition Condition Cards.
My involvement in D&D in this fashion (as well as playing it) is my hobby – I enjoy it a lot. I have no ads here, and am not paid for the work – it’s all done for fun. Additionally, I consider myself an ambassador for the game (as I feel many others are that I watch/follow) – not from a place of any authority or anything official, but simply as someone who wants to see the table-top gaming industry grow, especially this game. What I say, do and create here and on Twitter (when related to D&D) always has the goal in mind of bringing more people to the game.
The End (finally, am I right?)
I hope that answers the question to those of you who are new to watching me and were not sure what D&D was about, or why I was talking about it a lot. I also hope this wasn’t a TL;DR kind of thing, but I understand if it was – I’m long-winded, so it comes with the territory. If you are still with me, please hit me up on Twitter if you have any questions about anything (D&D or Epic Inventor related – or anything really). I do my best to reply to everyone when it comes to Twitter (I’m pretty good at making it happen).
Thanks for reading!
Follow Me on Twitter!
Kingdoms of Amalur – Intro and Character Creation
by weem on January 20, 2012
I recorded this video tonight showcasing the beginning of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. It includes a preview of the intro story video and character creation.
D&D Generations
by weem on January 11, 2012
Yesterday on Twitter I suggested that with the goal (as stated by Monte Cook) of being “a set of rules that unites all the previous editions“, that perhaps the new version of D&D could be called “D&D Generations”.
I had been thinking about names that day… words came to mind like “Era”, “Epoch” or “Age”. These words covered spans of time – something that could evoke a feeling and understanding that this game was meant to bring in players of all types… of all editions.
When I thought about D&D Generations as a name, it really made sense (to me at least). The second time I played D&D (I was 12) I played in a game that was DM’d by my friend’s Dad. Now, I have friends with kids old enough to play. Additionally, Generations really relates well, I think, to editions of the game as each edition is essentially a child of the previous.
The exercise of pondering all of this was being done purely for my own entertainment of course. My day job often involves trying to come up with names for various projects, businesses or websites. It also involves a lot of graphic work…
I’m a very visual person, and it was hard for me to imagine “D&D Generations” as the actual name of a D&D version without seeing it… so I decided to create it…
(Click images for a closer view…)
An interesting note here… the font used for the word “Generations” is the same font used in the “Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition” logo.
Anyway, I just thought I would share this. I was not asked to make this, nor do I expect WoTC to use the name or anything like that – they probably have plenty of their own ideas. This was strictly for my own enjoyment!
What do you think? Let me know on Twitter!
Monopoly Guy Driving Amy Okuda
by weem on November 26, 2011
So, another challenge was issued today, this one from Wil Wheaton…
Dear Internet: we need a photoshop of the Monopoly Guy driving @amyokuda around in this car: pic.twitter.com/d8Xo5N51
So, here it is (click it for the full-sized version)…
I had just arrived home from visiting family and had a text from @SmittyHalibut about the challenge. It sounded like something I wouldn’t have time for, but when I quickly looked into the images available, I figured I would give it a whirl. Official time on this from start to finish was 45 minutes.
Some of my books
by weem on November 21, 2011
I recently cleaned up the man-cave I call an office, and thought I would post a picture of some (yes, I have more) of my books.
Click the image for the extreme close-up view!
Occupy Waterdeep!
by weem on October 19, 2011
Well, another challenge was issued today. One I immediately had an idea for, so I decided to jump in and give it a whirl during lunch. It helps that I have not done one of these in a long time and have been missing it.
Anyway, it started with a tweet from Monte Cook today…
Someone with better photoshop skills than me needs to make an Occupy Waterdeep image. #fb
To which KatoKatonian mentioned me…
@theweem Hey Weem, I think @MonteJCook could use your PS skills.
…sometimes, that’s all it takes…
Beards are serious.
by weem on August 31, 2011
My alarm went off at 5:40am this morning, as it is set for most work mornings.
For a brief few seconds the radio blasts a song from the 80′s before being abruptly cutoff by a slam from my palm. Sometimes this song ricochets through my brain throughout the day, and in some cases I will even find myself humming or singing it. It might happen while furiously typing out CSS code at my desk, or while standing at the urinal… well… urinating – you never know.
But no song would distract me this morning – something else was occupying my mind as I sat up in bed. We are often inspired by our dreams, and in my case (and those of a few of my fellow web developers), we often discover the solutions to a work-related problem we had the previous day. We have those “ah-ha!” moments somewhere between deep sleep and just waking up. Sometimes, we pull out something much more random, and in those waking moments/minutes this random thought can appear to be something very deep and important.
Jorba was a circus bear... but huge... his claws could block out the Sun. This picture does not properly portray the magnitude of Jorba's presense...
I recall one morning, while living in Cupertino (across the street from Apple), I sat up at the sound of my alarm as I always had. As I sat up and gazed out the window, a voice echoed in my head… “Behold, the amazing, JORBA!”. It was such a strange thing for me, to hear a voice from my dream while knowing I was awake. It was 4am and raining outside, but the orange glow of the street lights offered me a clear view of the reality that I was indeed awake, but I simultaneously knew (without a doubt) that Jorba was a giant bear, the star of a circus show I had attended (even if only in my dream, as I would soon discover).
I would go on to use “Jorba” as my online handle for a number of years, the incident had clearly meant something to me for whatever reason.
So, back to this morning… queue the music. It was Aerosmith. “Walk this waaay, talk this waaay” was all I heard as I silenced it, and then it hit me. As the room filled once again with the dull hum of my air filter, I heard it… an echo of a voice… it said, “Beards are serious.”
This phrase would follow me to the bathroom. Even as I started the shower, eyes half open, I was pondering the implications… what could it mean? Beards are serious… Okay, but why… I must be missing something.
My beard and I having a drink in 1997. I shared more beer with my beard than I would care to admit...
In the shower, I continued to mull it over. For some reason I imagined the phrase printed on a shirt, and all of a sudden this serious phrase (or at least it felt like something serious and important) became utterly ridiculous, likely marking the point at which I had finally become fully lucid. In fact, the idea of a shirt with this printed on it caused me to laugh – you know, that half laugh you emit when you are barely awake. That laugh that, at least in my case, feels more like a Sheldon laugh than a real laugh. Your body says it’s funny, but your brain is still trying to “get it”.
Dreams can be inspiring and give you ideas. They can help you solve problems, or give you a better understanding of things…
…but sometimes they just give you beards and giant dancing bears. Take what you can of value and run with it.
Logan “The Epic Gamer” talks Epic Inventor…
by weem on August 19, 2011
Logan “The Epic Gamer” shared with his viewers why he is psyched about the upcoming PC game “Epic Inventor”, which if you weren’t aware, is a game I am the designer and artist of. As such, I thought I would drop the video here!
If you have some time (and love games!) check out his YouTube channel!
Epic Inventor, One Month In
by weem on July 25, 2011
Well, today marks one month since we started down the road to creating our new PC game “Epic Inventor”, and we’ve come a long way already.
At this point we have a build that let’s us do the following…
- Move around in the world (including jumping) and can explore the entire map including randomly generated caves
- Gather resources (which go into the inventory and includes a timer window indicating how long the gathering has left)
- Manage inventory (move items around, merge stacks and trash them)
- Equip armor and have it display your total armor value
- There are some crafting aspects in, but we aren’t going to go into details there just yet
Anyway, we’re very excited about it! This weekend I put up some forums so consider checking them out – come learn more about the game!
The Temple of Air (Zeb Cook)
by weem on July 19, 2011
Back in 2001, I ran a Q&A with Zeb Cook [read it here], much like I did with Gary Gygax around the same time (found here Part 1 and Part 2). These interviews were lost to me for many years, until I ran into them last year (2010) and posted them.
The Temple of Air was also lost to me… until yesterday. While browsing some of my old sites via the Wayback Archive, I ran across it – something I had completely forgotten about. This piece was related to the interview, but followed the next day (if I recall correctly). He had mentioned the temple and when pressed for more details, it is the piece below that he shared. He indicated at the time (in 2001) that this piece was never published for Planescape, so I assume it’s probably not published anywhere else, but I could be wrong (he could have put it up somewhere online for all I know).
With that said, I hope this is something new for you to enjoy, but if it has turned up elsewhere and you have read it already, I apologize. Either way, here it is…
The Temple of Air
David “Zeb” Cook
Not all the temples found in Sigil venerate the powers of the Great Ring. There are more than a few beliefs that transcend the simple limits of orthdoxy to embrace the abstract. The Temple of Air is one such place. The Breathers hold that the very air of Sigil is imbued with holiness. Sigil’s air is the breath of centuries, bottled within the Cage. Each breath is the breath of someone who came before. A man breathes the taste of his wife, his uncles, and grandfathers and they have tasted the breath of fathers and lovers before them. The very air is what binds generations together.
So the Breathers, as most cutters know them, hold the very air of Sigil holy. It is the link to one’s ancestors, the receptacle of everything that has ever been. Breathing is more than living, more than art; it is a divine act. As such, it is not enough to inhale; the worshipper must learn to be conscious of every breath and to feel the essence of the past as it passes through his lungs. Breathing without understanding is futility.
The Breathers gather at the temple to learn the fundamentals of breathing. As such the grounds are not at all like a normal temple. There are no impressive displays to some mighty power, not even a modest house of worship. The temple is nothing but a simple compound wall laced with razorvine. Beyond the iron gate is what seems a garden with a circle of pillars. In truth it’s the entire temple – a polished marble slab ringed by pillars of Bytopian ivory, valuable to be sure but too massive to be the swag of any but the most gigantic knight of the post. On most days and in all weather a few worshippers sit on the stones, serenely communing with the air and all the spirits it contains.
The high priest of the temple, Grand-Duke Comolo, uncle to His Majesty Emperor Sindsaris of the House of Clouds on the Plane of Air, lives in a small set of apartments built into the far walls of the temple compound. He is attended by a modest staff of servants: a valet, two gardeners, a housekeeper, two maids, several spit-boys, and thirteen guards, all genasi of the air blood. He is hardly the image of a priest, barely atttentive to his own duties.
The Chant: Word to be had from the Miracle Man is that the duke’s in exile, cast out of the Airy Realm for his part in the Innsurection of the Strati. The guards and the servants are not his and the duke lives a virtual prisoner within the walls. It may be that among the Breathers are agents loyal to the duke, passing messages back to fellow plotters on the Inner Planes.
Marston Mouse-Ears believes there’s a vault beneath the marble slab where temple treasure is hid.
The Dark: The Miracle Man’s information is true; the duke has been banished to Sigil and his guards are his wardens, though not that he complains. He was a reluctant revolutionary. Of late, agents of the Strati have been joining the cult, intent on drawing the man back into their rebellious plans.
Marston is wrong. There is no treasure