It sucks to be "the guy."

For those that do not know about "the guy," it is a term assigned to any IT worker who is the first, last and only resort for a critical application. "The guy" gets the "server is broken and we are losing money calls" in the middle of the night. No one else has the skills required and he is alone in his duties. Yes, it is bad practice, but it happens in every company.

Yesterday I posted resources for the DM to create mazes. Mazes of such complexity as to vex and confuse players everywhere. I only thought it wise to follow-up with some maze-running strategies to aid players.

 Just to make things simple, my tactics will not rely on magic or exotic equipment.  Most DMs, being the evil bastards that they are, usually block teleport and other "maze breaking" spells anyway. Nor will I discuss trap avoidance. That is an entire post by itself. Today I am only interested in defeating the maze itself. 

DragonCon, as with Origins and Gen Con, failed to provide links to their vendors. Since my previous list for Gen Con was so popular, I decided to put together a list for DragonCon.  Sadly, many of the vendor names are so common I have no idea where to find their site or contact information. If you have contact/link information for any of the entries marked "unknown," please post it in the comments section.

The links will not open a new window, so if you want to stay on the list, right-click and choose "open in new window/tab"

Most gamers have run into a labyrinth at least once in their gaming life. Usually in pursuit (or in flight from) a minotaur.  I am not averse to minotaurs, but I think that the labyrinth itself if more interesting than the monsters that inhabit its confusing walls.

Sadly, creating a complex maze is quite tedious and I think it limits their appearance in most campaigns.  With that in mind,  I put together a few links that will aid you in maze creation. Some are links to existing maze designs, such as the European hedge mazes that were often the focus of 19th century party games.  The remainder link to software or other resources that aid maze creation. 

I just got an email from the convention organizers and it looks like the last major gaming convention in Arizona is no more. I cannot tell you how much this sucks. 

Here is the full text of the email.

No, I am not talking about that mindless piece of tripe starring Jason Statham,  I speak of the original "Death Race 2000 ."

Greetings!

I have a favor to ask. Those of you using RSS readers are probably still using my old RSS feed.  It will work, but I would like to get better statistics about my readership.

Luck was with me today and an upgrade to my blogging software resolved all of my issues! 

 Sorry for all the trouble, I will try to leave the site alone for a while and actually get back to blogging. ;-)

I just received official word that that the new version of D20Pro online game tabletop (version 1.13) will be premiered at Dragoncon. I have previously reviewed  this software, which is my favorite online RPG game table software.

The main improvement in this revision is the ability to create "markers" on the combat map.  These are small, colored circles that can be moved like a miniature. They have customizable descriptions and the same "ownership" features as a regular mini. By ownership I mean that someone else cannot move your marker off of a target or location. Only the owner and the DM have that ability.

After much technical wrangling, I got my RSS feed working with Rpgbloggers.com! I am thrilled to join such an illustrious group and surprised they would take such a miserable wretch like me into their club. Must be pity. ;-)

 I have also added a helpful link on the left side so you can check out all the bloggy goodness from the likes of Critical Hits and The Chatty DM !