Ken Newquist The first day of GenCon registration was a frustrating, aggravating experience that took an hour and a half to complete, with most of that time spent trying (and failing) to “check out” and purchase my events. I’d be astounded by just how badly registration behaved … if I hadn’t heard how it took hours to complete registration last year. Instead, I’m just disappointed by a process that clearly needs some quality time with some load-testing specialists.
Discovery Channel has Shark Week. I want Nuketown to have a Monster Week. I thought about doing this last summer, but simply didn’t have the time with Luke having just been born. This time around though, I really want to due it. The idea is that for one week, Nuketown will be all monsters, all … Read more
For the first time in years — actually, probably a decade — I weigh less than 200 lbs. I wish I could say some great feat of willpower brought me to this point, but it was more likely the nasty hacking cough and sinus infection that I’ve been fighting for the last two-to-three weeks that … Read more
Getting ready for a baby is one heck of an adventure. Here are a few of the lessons I learned when preparing for the arrival of my kids. I know I’ve got a few geek dad readers out there; feel free to add your own tips as comments. 1. Figure out your Budget If you … Read more
There comes a point in every expedition to Ravenloft Castle where the stalwart adventurers must seek out a certain Vistani woman for advice … and to have their “Tarokka” (a fantasy version of the Tarot) read. The cards drawn set the objectives of the expedition, and determine where certain random elements — like the fabled sun sword — can be found.
We have reached that point. Tonight we will visit the fortuneteller, get our futures told … and the real adventure will begin.
A few years ago, I decided I wanted to try a different kind of role-playing game campaign: a medieval urban fantasy that combined traditional story telling with the sort of open-ended, sandbox-like openness of games like Grand Theft Auto. The setting would be Obsidian Bay, the homegrown metropolis that my friends and I had spent … Read more
A particularly nasty round of family colds sidelines Radio Active for a month, but the show’s finally back with an update on Baby Nuke’s new love of Cheerios, news of Nuketown’s new Top of the Pile comic book review column, a rundown of my wife Sue’s favorite crafty podcasts, and news of a new D&D … Read more
Board games return to the forefront this week as we prepare to play the game of Risk 2210 that got snowed out in March. Risk 2210 is a supercharged version of regular Risk that adds sea and moon colonies, special commander units that allow people to buy and play diplomacy, naval, space, land and nuke … Read more
Heroes has continued to impress since returning from its December/January hiatus, consistently delivering episodes that have answered important questions while ratcheting up the serialized tension. For any other series, last night would have been a season-ending clifhanger of epic proportions. But in an example of why Heroes is such a damn good show, they don’t … Read more
The book review web site and blog Emerald City is ceasing publication. I’m sad to see it go — the site featured a wide range of speculative fiction web reviews, and its blog was a useful way to stay up on the scifi literary scene.