Paper & Pencil Games

Paper & Pencil games are not dependent upon anything but what you write and say. Charades is the first imagination based game that comes to mind. To play the game each team writes down words that the other team guesses at clue acted out by one of their team. Simple and loads of fun. There is also Reverse Charades, Pictionary and Win, Lose or Draw. The commercially boxed games have added the "Board Game" element, but it doesn't change the basics of the game.

The elements of Paper & Pencil games was truly altered with the origination of Dungeon and Dragons by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson back in 1974. It was published by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc and was derived from miniature war games and Chainmail. It was the birth of the Role Playing Game, which has seen thousands of spin-off games, genres and rules. The premise is that you portray a character in a story directed and influenced by a Game Master in a setting depicting a chosen environment. The creation and portrayal of this character is left to the player much like an actor on a stage, except instead of using rehearsed lines, the action the player takes are purely spontaneous and ad lib. The Game Master's role is to play all the people, places and things the character will come across in their daily life.

Specifically, in Dungeon & Dragons you will play a hero in the making either wielding a fighter's strength, a thieves' cunning, the cleric's unearthly gifts of the pantheon or the wizard's mystic powers of the cosmos. You intention is to do heroic deeds and grow in stature and fame. Unless of course by choice you need to keep a low profile to accomplish your tasks. Generally the tasks are simple, rescue a child lost in a cave to more complicated guide a dignitary through an infested forest to even more epic struggles of protecting your city during times of war. The stories and plot lines can go on forever. The political intrigue can become very intense as well as the realistic plots such as developing friends and family, building your wealth and acquiring items that will aid you in your heroism.

Since then the character have expanded just like the settings. There have been numerous new rule systems to make the game more fast paced or more realistic. There are rules that take it from a tabletop to a stage, in Live Action Role Play. The rules have developed past mere hitting the opponent and collecting treasure. Rules have made it easier to test your skills at bartering, and influencing and even performing.

Role Playing Games have grown faster in popularity yet have not taken the main stream of gaming away from the more traditional game genres of Playing Card Games or Board Games. RPGs have had a great deal of help from the electronic gaming world. World of Warcraft, Neverwinter Nights and Sacred are all online RPGs. Tabletop RPG players have taken a bit of heat from many groups, strangely enough some of those types of people will go home and pick up there electronic gaming controller and start playing an RPG without even realizing they are among the ranks they admonish. People are peculiar.

We will be featuring online tabletop rpging with a software program called Fantasy Grounds which allows a DM to manage a game over the internet in the original style of the game. Our first game day, October 9th,will be a trail run for character and story creation. Although one player felt that there were some limitations on component sizes and that the interface was quirky, others felt there were no problems at all. The gameplay was successful.

Game two of Fantasy Grounds Online D&D was another success. There was plenty of real roleplay, conflicts to brainstorm through and some combat with wereapes. The party of four players are doing quite well. Join us.

Games three and four went smoothly again. This interface does allow for great game play across the internet. The players are investigating a temple with some questionable interests. They believe the inhabitants of the temple have something to do with an upcoming prophecy of a release of power. It is up to the party to capture and interrogate these acolytes to discover the true story of "Dreo" some relic from the past. Combat is well organized through a combat tracker and the images and maps you can pass out across the virtual tabletop are without any connection difficulties. Other than the chat based texting, it is as if everyone is right there.

If you are interested in joining a live cross country tabletop D&D campaign please send me an email at

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The game continues...

The six players have grown from 7th level to 20th level in this epic style game. They find themselves realizing their pasts and forseeing great futures once this storyline is complete. We start with a young man who is son to an accomplished warrior priest and a brother who does everything just like dear old dad. Hard to fit in until he turns out to be the only one capable of finding dad and brother when they both mysteriously turn up missing. We also have a young necromancer, turned to her ways as a captive in an orc camp and "befriended" by an orc shaman. She has recently learned that she is the missing granddaughter of the late king of Hiltorne and could be the heir to a throne. Next an elf from the heavens, raised by halflings to entertain and get things off the top shelf, puts together some pieces of the monster that has been searching for him. Desperately he tries to finish the puzzle of his history to help defeat the menace this monster now brings forth to destroy the world. We also have a quiet, keep to himself, try to stay hidden rogue that reveals little of his abyssal past. Little does he know that it is his final decision that will hold the lands in peril. Our last two add ons from the original group are a dwarven smashing machine and a halfling monk. The dwarf has a death wish, he must because he always seems to make himself the target for every assault. He wants to general an army someday and believes that being a bullseye gives him great insight to battle. If it doesn't kill him first and with the way things are going, it looks like that army of his is right around the corner. Our last hero is less about heroism and more about peace and balance. Seems fitting that he be the enigma of the group. He has done everything in his power to keep the party safe and laughing. Trying not to sweat the little stuff may prove to be his undoing when he faces off with the biggest surprise this tale will tell.

Please use the Contact Form above if you want to join this game in any fashion or if you and some friends would like a story and game designed for your party of adventurers.