The number of the questions shall be three...

Today we're going to try something new. You've all seen those blog quizzes that ask you a few questions and you can copy and paste your results into your own blog and feel happy about it.

Today, I'm going to ask some questions and everyone is free to either blog your answers and tag someone else on your own blog (a link back would be nice) or you can do it via a comment below.

1. Have you ever selected a character class purely for the fun of it?
2. Have you ever picked a weapon or spell for the fun of it instead of the amount of damage it did?
3. Does your character have any special, non-magical mementos? If so, what are they and how did they get them? If not, why not?

With answers come insight, so feel free to explain your answers as fully as you want. Hopefully as people pile on their answers you might find one or two neat ideas to incorporate into your character or your campaign, depending upon which side of the screen you are on!

A Girl's Best Friend

With a nod to Vanir for his D&D diaper bag, I'm totally stealing his idea to bring you this: the D&D Special Occasion Purse. This isn't just any purse, it's one of those cute, tiny little purses you only use for special occasions. So, for all the ladies out there, and for those guys who always wondered why even bother with such a tiny little purse, here's my take on things, D&D-style.

Since this is a tiny little purse, and there's a lot of stuff to cram in there, it goes without saying that this is actually a bag of holding; it appears pretty small, but there's plenty of room in there for all kinds of things:

• Scroll, Transportation: when that date goes horribly wrong, every girl needs an escape plan.

• Wand, Light: because you never want to be stuck in the dark, digging out your keys from the bottom of your purse.

• Disguise kit: for touching up your disguise, I mean, make-up.

• Goggles of Minute Seeing: because you would never wear your glasses during your date, but you might need them later.

• Scroll, Eagle's Spendor: to improve your appearance to impress your date, or improve your date's appearance if he doesn't quite match up to the profile he gave you.

• Scroll, Silence: if he talks too much, you can easily shut him up with this.

• Scroll, Expeditious Retreat: this one is reserved for those extra special occasions, like weddings, where you didn't really want to be there in the first place so you can get out quickly.

Ten Words can win it all!

Today our good buddy Phil made us aware of his most current contest, which compels the succinct inner-DM in all of us to conjure ten words to create a campaign plot idea.

Ten short words can give you a great impetus to run a game, a great diversion for fifteen minutes of your workday, or even some fabulous cash-like prizes! Check out the link above for further details, and if you really want to stare into the maw of madness check out the comments, where you will find at least two contest entries by yours truly.

Thanks to Phil for alerting us of this excellent contest, everyone should head over there right now and throw down a few entries!

A Rogue's Guide to Alternagaming...

Stupid Ranger's post on the recent gaming drought that is plaguing various corners of the Internet seems to have struck a chord.

Lack of Gaming and your local DM

From a DM perspective, the lack of frequency can almost be a blessing because it earns you some precious time to actually plan upcoming sessions or take stock of the good and bad storytelling aspects that have crept into your world.

Lately, my co-DM Kanati and I have been discussing the abject pain and suffering that has been caused by our unseemly ascent into the Epic Levels, and discussing what we would do different if we could turn back time. This is mostly just lamenting and gnashing of teeth, luckily we are within a few short sessions of Campaign's End which (at least to me) is quite welcome.

Musings to pass the time...

In addition to the standard fare of Rock Band and Guitar Hero, I've found myself starting to think of some other nerdly pursuits to fill in the gaps where gaming used to go. Developing software for fun (yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am a True Nerd), exploring some other gaming systems/extensions (Mage and the Three Dragon Ante spring to mind), and enjoying the glorious first person high definition violence of my Xbox 360 have all been employed to while away our spare Friday and Saturday nights.

Unfortunately, for me the grind of running the campaign can become a chore. It's usually when nearing this "beg for mercy" stage of plot development that I truly take stock to determine when the best time is to finish up, and I am certain that time is near.

I have some topics to round out the week dealing with further alterna-gaming and some ideas for ending a campaign that I hope you'll like. In the meantime, I'd love to hear how some of you while away your non-roleplaying time and how you know when the point to stop running a campaign has drawn near.

The Great Gaming Drought

It's been several weeks since we last played, and I'm suffering through the drought of no-gaming. It's a sad, sad state of affairs.

So with all the time I've had on my hands lately, I've found some other diversions:

• Wizard of Oz - I am a huge fan of the Sci-Fi Channel's "Tin Man" mini-series, and it has rejuvenated my love of the Oz stories. So I have found (thanks to Amazon) the 15-in-one volume of Oz book. They are good books that make it so easy to escape for a while.
• Xanth - I'm also reading through the Xanth novels. A friend of my was telling me that he had recently started reading them, and again, I was reminded of happy days reading those books. So I dug out the few that I had, and starting acquiring more. Oh, so much happiness...
• Rock Band - Because, of course, once you've rocked, there's no life without Rock Band. Life is better with the Band.

And, until the drought of gaming ends, I'll be looking for things to keep me occupied and allow me to escape briefly from the crazy world.

Once the drought ends, of course, I'll have new gaming-stuff to post! ;)