Re-Launch of Phantasm Adventures

I am very excited to announce that I have re-launched my role-playing game portal Phantasm Adventures.  In weeks and months to come I will be releasing additional material on the site for players and GameMasters alike.

You can find the website here:   http://phantasmadventures.wordpress.com/

Tabs at the top of the page offer PDFs of various types with information, and will help in the creation of characters, such as in a worksheet, or in buying equipment.  There are also pdfs for skills and spells, which could not be given in the upcoming game books.

A guide to player creation and GameMastering will soon be added.

 

Amish Johnson and the Pegasus Chamber

After seven long years I have finally finished my first novel.  You can take a peek at the book at several sights and by the end of the week iTunes and Barnes & Noble should also have the story available too.

What happens when reality fuses with dreams? A futuristic world turned upside down into a prehistoric land of savagery and adventure.

Amish Johnson and the Pegasus Chamber is the story of a student of the twenty-second century and his exciting journey into a virtual world fraught with danger. By accident, Aaron obtains a secret code to the Pegasus Chamber, a computer simulation so real that participants cannot tell fantasy from reality. What was meant to be a party on a virtual beach in paradise becomes a tooth-and-nail fight for survival. Aaron and his friends find themselves in more danger than any back alley of New Detroit. Forging together the gang of kids head off on the wildest adventure they could ever imagine.

As Aaron “Amish” Johnson tries to discover why the simulation has not ended, he is determined to convince them that the virtual world is just as real as their lives in New Detroit. Along the way, the teens meet a mysterious girl that for all practical purposes should not be there. As the gang comes to grip with their mortality, they experience wild storms, flesh eating dinosaurs, ancient ruins filled with danger, and ultimately the greatest question humanity has ever asked?

This is the first book in the Amish Johnson Trilogy. Coming this fall is the second book, Amish Johnson and the Leprechaun’s Legacy and finally in 2015 Amish Johnson and the Minotaur’s Maze.

 

Today I turn 50

Hey everyone, today, July 16 2014 I turn the big Five-Oh!  Yes, I cannot believe it.  Its pretty incredible to think I have been around for 50 years — that seems such a long time, yet now I realize it is nothing at all.

I have had a lot of adventures in my first fifty years and hope to have just as many the next fifty.

I have journeyed to Japan and England and been to many states.  Travel is beautiful and I hope everyone gets a chance to see this incredible planet and the wide and varied assortment of civilizations.

I now count so many friends from around the world. Because of the web I have friends in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Germany, England, Scotland, South Africa, Brazil, Sweden, France.  The list just goes on and on.

I am also a published author of numerous game books and here this month I will finally publish my debut novel, Amish Johnson and the Pegasus Chamber.  I still have so many stories to tell, even though they may be a bit disjointed and cobbled.  I hope to still be writing 20 years from now, telling everyone adventures.

I have enjoyed my computers over the years, and I can appreciate them coming from an era where there was none.  When I was a kid, there was no Xbox or even computers.  No MMOs, No first person shooters, no turn-based command & conquer games. I lived in a world without email, and cell phones, and if you wanted to watch a show you better be home when it was broadcast.  I remember the introduction of the microwave, or at least when my family got one it was real special.

I was a kid during the greatest time for movies:  Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Star Trek, ET, Jaws, etc…  What a wonderful time to grow up.

Here is looking at the next fifty years.

D&D5: First System Impressions

Gary gives his first impressions on D&D5!

Ardwulf's Lair

As I’ve already mentioned, the new D&D rules have been released into the wilds of the internet, and so they are fair game for commentary above and beyond what I’ve already said based on my play experience at Origins. This isn’t a formal review, but a rundown of what’s in the game and my preliminary opinions about it.

First, though, we’d better cover what the new product is and is not, so far. What we have right now are two items, the D&D Starter Set and the D&D Basic Rules. The former is a boxed set which includes a 32-page rulebook, a 64-page adventure, five pregenerated characters, a blank character sheet and a set of dice. The latter is a PDF currently available for free from the Wizards site. They are the same rules, but the Starter Set is aimed clearly at new players and contains a stripped-down and…

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On the D&D5 Credits Controversy

D&D controversy? The game has never shied away from making a name for itself, but sadly this is not the kind of fights they should be involved with. . .