Reminder: Contest Closing Today

Today is the final day to enter to win a copy of the Open Game Table Anthology.  Give me feedback, get entered, easy as that.

Anthology Contest Update

The contest I’m running (in which you could win a copy of the Open Game Table Anthology!  Have I mentioned how awesome this book is yet?  Yes, yes I have.  Okay, then.) has been extended until Wednesday, April 15.  When I made the post, I completely blanked on the Easter holiday — I’m going to be out of town for the weekend.  So I figured I’d throw in a couple of extra days to accomodate anyone else who might be traveling.

If you haven’t yet, please check it out.  I love feedback.

Contest: Win an Open Game Table Anthology

I’m giving away a copy of the Open Game Table Anthology I fanboyed about yesterday.  To enter, all you need to do is comment on this post and reply to the questions below.  Since the book’s point is to collect some of the best blog posts of 2008, it seems like a suitable bribe prize for helping me to improve my blog.  Gotta keep 2009 in mind, after all.  The Anthology will go to the author of the comment I judge best.  The deadline is Saturday, April 11 — one week from today Wednesday, April 15.  So at least something good will come of tax day.  (Edit:  Extended the deadline a little, because I forgot to account for the Easter holiday.  I’m traveling that weekend.)

1. What would you like to see more of?  What’s your favorite type of blog post to read?  What do you find most useful?
2. What can I improve?  What, if anything, would you like to see less of?  What, if anything, would you like to see more of, if only I’d do it the right way (and what am I getting wrong)?
3. Is there anything non-content-related that I should take note of?
4. What’s your favorite game system at the moment, and what do you like best about it?
5. If you play or run 4e, and you had the power to see one supplement or module published for it, what would you want to see, and why?  (If you don’t play or run 4e, just say so.  It won’t hurt your chances.)

That’s it.  If you’ve already got a copy of the Anthology, please, enter anyway; I’m entirely willing to send a copy to someone you designate, as a gift, or to find you an alternative prize if you’d prefer.  Also, yes, I will ship it internationally, although you may be waiting a little while for the delivery…

Review: Open Game Table Anthology, Volume 1

I’ve mentioned Open Game Table: The Anthology of Roleplaying Game Blogs, Volume 1 before, but last week I got my hands on the hard copy and set to reading it.  The long and the short of it:  It met my expectations (and they were high) in every way.

Jonathan Jacobs, of The Core Mechanic, brought the project together quickly and professionally.  He’d probably be the first to tell you he didn’t do it alone, but the time and effort he put into this went way beyond a couple of blog posts — not just collecting the various posts that went into the anthology, but rounding up some artist volunteers, investigating means of distributing the final product, even getting Wolfgang Baur to write a foreword.  That shows in the quality of the finished book.  This is a professional product.  A round of applause here for him.

So, what’s in the book?

Continue reading »

RPG Blog Anthology: Kudos

A long-overdue nod to the Open Game Table RPG Blog Anthology, today.  Jonathan of The Core Mechanic has done yeoman work getting this thing together, and it’s nearly ready for print.  He’s got a cover design now, and it looks… well, it looks damn good.  It looks like a book I wouldn’t be surprised to find on a shelf sitting next to some other roleplaying game books.  Which is, of course, a big part of the point.

Recently Indie Press Revolution picked up the Anthology, meaning that distribution is a possibility.  Which means I might actually see the Anthology sitting on that shelf alongside those other books.

I have three articles in the Anthology (and thank you to my readers for nominating them, and to the judges for finding them worthy), including my version of the Monk for 4e.  Which will have changed at least a little by the time the Anthology goes to print, but it’ll still be gratifying to have it published.

But if you need other reasons to pick it up, I had a chance to preview a draft copy.  I didn’t read the entire thing in depth — I’m saving that pleasure for the physical copy, because there’s just something about a book — but I saw enough to know that the editors have chosen a variety of quality articles on a broad range of topics.  The articles I skimmed are fascinating, useful, or both.  And the artists have done an excellent job of illustrating them in a variety of styles.  It’s an amazing project, and the speed with which it came together, given its scope, deeply impresses me.

The best part?  That “Volume 1″ on the cover.  Given the increase in the RPGBN membership toward the end of last year, and the activity it’s seen this year so far, I can only imagine what a Volume 2 might end up looking like.  I’d love to see it.

The Anthology won’t be available for order for a little while yet, but I encourage all of you to pick up a copy.  To support the project, of course, but also because I firmly believe that the collected posts inside it are easily worth as much as a random rules supplement.  And if you’re like me, it’ll be even better to have it in the form of a physical book, neatly organized for your perusal.

I’ll be posting about it again, once I’ve got my hands on a hard copy.  Until then… thank you, Jonathan, for everything you’ve done to make it a reality.