Ken Newquist 
January’s RPG Blog topic is “Tabletop Gaming on a Budget”, hosted by Renaissance Gamer. A lot of folks equated gaming on a budget with gaming on the cheap, which is a perfectly reasonable (and entertaining) approach. For me, the hardest part of gaming on a budget is actually having a budget. Exactly what a budget … Read more
My broken ankle is a little less broken now. A month after the surgery to put my ankle back together, all of the hardware installed in my ankle is holding true, the bones are slowly healing and I’ve upgraded from a cast to a truly impressive, sci-fi-looking boot. The massive piece of footwear is meant … Read more
My broken ankle has forced to spend far more time on the sofa than I’d like, canceling one real-world game day and threatening others. Instead rolling dice in the real world, I’ve fallen back on my plethora of mobile devices and pen-and-paper games for my gaming fix. With Dragon Quest IX finished, Fire Emblem Fates – Birthright ( Amazon / Website) … Read more
I’m searching for a new messenger bag. My current go-to bag is a red backpack from L.L. Bean, but I need something more professional for the day job. Also, with my broken ankle I find that my backback makes me top-heavy; I need something with better weight distribution while I’m on crutches (which is for about the … Read more
After 170 hours of game play over 8 years … I finally finished Dragon Quest IX’s main story. I started playing the game because I’d been searching for a good portable RPG for my Nintendo DS. My friend Cory recommended it (a big Dragon Quest fan, he’d already played through much of the Japanese version) and I was intrigued … Read more
For years it was matter of pride that I ran three events at every MEPACon, our regional gaming convention. It gave me a chance to represent some of the non-D&D games that I love — Savage Worlds, Star Wars: Saga Edition, Risk 2210, etc. — and my registration fee was waived, which made the weekend a little more affordable. … Read more
I broke my right ankle on Dec. 30, 2017. And in so doing, transformed my 2018. Heading into the new year I’d been mulling other things I wanted to accomplish: running another 5K, getting back into swimming, maybe writing another novel, maybe doing Picture-A-Day again, shaking up our gaming group’s routine with a couple of … Read more
With Nuketown’s re-launch and the return of Radio Active, I’ve been spending time listening to podcasts as a way of getting caught up on the state of the geek community as well as current topics in gaming. As I mentioned previously, my sweet spot for podcasts these days is 15-25 minutes. That corresponds with the length of my commute, … Read more
Inhumans vs. X-Men, the fight brewing since Marvel’s two main timelines collapsed into one during 2015’s Secret Wars, finally happened. The story lacks the high-stakes punch of Avengers vs. X-Men but this gives it the flexibility to tell a better story. The catalyst is a massive cloud of terrigen mists unleashed by Black Bolt, former king of the … Read more
The rocketship-spangled skirt of the Geek Tree is once again covered in geeky Christmas and birthday presents.