What is the Geek Tree? It’s a Christmas tree with a speculative fiction theme. And what’s speculative fiction? Speaking broadly, it’s a genre comprised of science fiction, fantasy and horror, though in the case of the Geek Tree, it’s primarily sci-fi. The tree is re-built annually by Ken Newquist, Nuketown’s editor.
As most gaming tables I’ve been at people arrive toting Mountain Dew, chips (usually Doritos) and maybe some kind of tip. The healthiest options I typically see are pretzels or a craft beer of some kind. My own gaming group has swung between extremes; when we’ve been on a collective health kick, veggies, hummus, and … Read more
The Sumo Sultan is an oversized “bean bag” chair and it’s been a fixture of my game room since 2017. It’s the culmination of my multi-year search for a new bean bag chair. To recap: I was looking for an adult-sized bean bag chair sized to my 6’2″ frame. My budget was $200-$300, but I … Read more
As I wrote last week, the Blackrazors and their children will be running through the venerable module B2: The Keep on the Borderlands as part of our D&D Kids campaign. We’re playing D&D 5th Edition, and are running a version of the module updated for that edition. We chose B2 for a couple of reasons: … Read more
The next generation of Blackrazor Guilders have strapped on their fathers’ swords, sat down at the gaming table, and begun slinging dice. We have three kids (two boys, one girl) in the immediate group who want to play, and we have two of my son’s friends (both boys) who are also eager to start casting … Read more
Last year saw an array of family games invade the Geek Tree. This year it’s all about the RPGs.
The first two books to hit the Geek Tree’s space-and-rockets themed tree skirt were Savage Worlds books that I received for my birthday.
The Geek Tree finally has an angel.
For years, the topper of the geek tree — my personal ode to speculative fiction in Christmas tree form — had a Santa Yoda at the tree topper. Yoda was great, and I’m sure he’ll return to his place of honor eventually, but this year I had a true angel … a Weeping Angel from ThinkGeek.
Santa’s come and gone, leaving behind a small armada of games for us to try out: Zombie Dice (and Zombie Dice 2) and the Mars Attacks Dice Game, both by Steve Jackson Games, and Star Fluxx by Loony Labs.
Christmas Vacation is finally here. After long days and longer nights of working to make sure everything got done before I left the office, it’s Christmas Eve, the college is closed, and I think I can relax. I’m off from December 24 through January 4, and we’ve got all manner of family fun planned, including watching Guardians of the Galaxy with my parents (something the kids are eager to do) and some family skiing (which I’m eager to do).
I’m on the quest for a bean bag chair. It a quest driven by equal parts nostalgia and practicality. Nostalgia for the red bean bag chair I had as a kid, practicality because I need a chair that’s comfortable and easily stow-able for the game room. Update 12/17/2017: I found my bean bag chair. It’s a … Read more