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#4325540 - 01/03/17 03:18 PM Even further OT - Great Book for 80's Super Geeks!  
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OvStachel Offline
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Well... it's time I came out of the 'super-geek closet' and just admit that even before I started working on cars, stealing my dad's booze from the basement bar, and discovered girls/dirty mags... I was a geek, and deep inside I still am.

I just finished what I would call the greatest reference to 70's/80's Super Geek nostalgia once could fit inside the cover of book.

Ready Player One.

If you were like me and grew-up with an Intellivsion or Atari 2600/VCS, hung-out at the local Aracade, Pizza joint, or Bowling Alley, loved Rush (still do), played Dungeons & Dragons (7th level Rouge) in your friends basement, and simply reveled in being smarter than the jock crowd... read this book.

I was laughing to myself, and grinning ear-to-ear throughout most of this book. The references to all the geek nostalgia that I either held in my own hands growing up, or was in direct contact with was incredible. For many of you (especially living in the US) that are in your 40's, and early 50's, this will be serious walk down memory lane.

So if you're looking for a change of pace, a decent story-line (if not over-played in 1,000's of other similar Good v Evil stories) pick it up and settle back to those days when it was OK to wear a Space Invaders T-Shirt with pizza grease on it, slap a quarter on the Marquee and brag about how you can flip Pac-Man in one try.

I still say Intellivision was better... but yes admittedly ... Atati had a better game selection.

All the best,

OvS


The Black Baron of Boistrancourt returns!!

I'd rather die fighting, than live for nothing. - Gen. G.S. Patton
#4325579 - 01/03/17 05:49 PM Re: Even further OT - Great Book for 80's Super Geeks! [Re: OvStachel]  
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Originally Posted By: OvStachel
If you were like me and grew-up with an Intellivsion or Atari 2600/VCS, hung-out at the local Aracade, Pizza joint, or Bowling Alley, loved Rush (still do), played Dungeons & Dragons (7th level Rouge) in your friends basement, and simply reveled in being smarter than the jock crowd... read this book.

I still say Intellivision was better... but yes admittedly ... Atati had a better game selection.



+1 to it all. The funny part of it is, I still play D&D. How super geek am I? In fact I've got a new 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons game playing at my house tonight. And while it might sound blasphemous to say it, while I grew up on D&D Basic and 1st Edition AD&D in the 70s and 80s, I think the new 5e is the best version yet by far. Lots of variety for player options but without being complicated or turning into a huge book of rules.

Wish me luck. My girlfriends first game is tonight. She's going to play a Paladin.


Flying Wings Over Flanders Fields: Between Heaven & Hell II
videos at www.youtube.com/hellshade68

#4325672 - 01/03/17 09:10 PM Re: Even further OT - Great Book for 80's Super Geeks! [Re: OvStachel]  
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I DM'd a session last night. Good fun all around and with 5E it seems to really be coming into the main stream.

#4325677 - 01/03/17 09:27 PM Re: Even further OT - Great Book for 80's Super Geeks! [Re: Dark_Canuck]  
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Originally Posted By: Dark_Canuck
I DM'd a session last night. Good fun all around and with 5E it seems to really be coming into the main stream.


It does. The Starter Set was a great idea and I think the ease of the rules are really pulling people in. It's kind of a backlash against the last 10 years of focusing more and more on a little LCD screen instead of playing with people face to face (although with Rolld20.net and other sites, on-line DMing happens too, of course). I guess we are going to be going through the Storm Kings Thunder adventure - which will be perfect for my Barbarian.

http://dnd.wizards.com/products/tabletop-games/rpg-products/storm-kings-thunder

I haven't been a DM in 5e yet but I'm pretty sure I want to learn how. I don't think it will be that hard, it's just that I haven't done it since roughly 1989.


Flying Wings Over Flanders Fields: Between Heaven & Hell II
videos at www.youtube.com/hellshade68

#4325681 - 01/03/17 09:44 PM Re: Even further OT - Great Book for 80's Super Geeks! [Re: OvStachel]  
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I read that book a few months ago.

Hit home.

I played "adventure" and discovered the first video game Easter egg.
I played dungeons of dagorath on my "trash 80" like he talks about in the book.

What a flashback for me.

#4325698 - 01/03/17 10:39 PM Re: Even further OT - Great Book for 80's Super Geeks! [Re: OvStachel]  
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Oh, I've been meaning to read that for at least a year now - I really should get around to it. Couldn't agree more RE: D&D 5th Ed, too. I love it, although I haven't got a game running right now (I'm an 11th level Cavalier in my buddy's Pathfinder game, though!).

#4325703 - 01/03/17 11:10 PM Re: Even further OT - Great Book for 80's Super Geeks! [Re: OvStachel]  
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Wow, $49.95 for an D&D adventure book! Times sure have changed since I last played D&D.

Last edited by Banjoman; 01/03/17 11:11 PM.

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#4325754 - 01/04/17 03:20 AM Re: Even further OT - Great Book for 80's Super Geeks! [Re: Banjoman]  
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Originally Posted By: Banjoman
Wow, $49.95 for an D&D adventure book! Times sure have changed since I last played D&D.


I guess it brings you from level 1 to 15 or so, so it's pretty much an entire campaign. I just played the first part of it tonight and had a great time. Grax, my Half Orc Barbarian, got to literally cleave the heads off a few goblin pillagers in a ransacked city. He almost died once but was able to willpower his way through the damage. Lots of fun. When you figure how many hours of game time you will get to bring a character from 1st to 15th, $50 is probably a pretty reasonable price.


Flying Wings Over Flanders Fields: Between Heaven & Hell II
videos at www.youtube.com/hellshade68

#4325756 - 01/04/17 03:54 AM Re: Even further OT - Great Book for 80's Super Geeks! [Re: OvStachel]  
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I was just thinking about how much the D&D stuff cost when we played back in the late 70's and early 80's.


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#4326424 - 01/06/17 03:00 PM Re: Even further OT - Great Book for 80's Super Geeks! [Re: OvStachel]  
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For whatever its worth, I managed to decap a goblin looter at the start of the adventure with Grax, my Barbarian. Gotta love the rage! My girlfriend actually enjoyed playing her Paladin and is now reading the Players Handbook and asking when the next game will be. So now I have her addicted to D&D and Diablo III. Let the gaming corruption continue! How long can it be before WOFF UE is on the list? wink


Flying Wings Over Flanders Fields: Between Heaven & Hell II
videos at www.youtube.com/hellshade68

#4326602 - 01/07/17 02:50 PM Re: Even further OT - Great Book for 80's Super Geeks! [Re: OvStachel]  
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Good that she liked it. That's definitely a dying hobby, along with model building, drawing, board games and any other use of the human imagination...

I still have 'Ambush' and every now and then I'll break it open and play a game... or I'll run my C64 emulator and play some classic SSI games like Kampfgruppe or Computer Ambush.

Heck... for some real C64 nostalgia... I'll play Telengard. Lol.

Can't beat the old skool stuff. You really had to think and plan. A lot of the hex-board War games on my Nexus are good as well. Just tired of the FPS shooters like Call of Duty and all that... same game over and over...

OvS


The Black Baron of Boistrancourt returns!!

I'd rather die fighting, than live for nothing. - Gen. G.S. Patton
#4326626 - 01/07/17 03:54 PM Re: Even further OT - Great Book for 80's Super Geeks! [Re: OvStachel]  
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OvS I have all the Ambush Series, like you said nice to break out every now and then. Still play my Patton's Best every now and then. I still have all my old boardgames, but just like old times hard to find a another player with time to learn all the rules.

#4326635 - 01/07/17 04:21 PM Re: Even further OT - Great Book for 80's Super Geeks! [Re: OvStachel]  
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Originally Posted By: OvStachel
Good that she liked it. That's definitely a dying hobby, along with model building, drawing, board games and any other use of the human imagination...


It was in a long decline starting at the end of the 80s. After the 5e rules came out in 2014, it has really picked up a lot of new energy again and it's popularity is finally back on the rise. I just started building my 5e collection and I have to say, I'm enjoying it quite a bit.



Flying Wings Over Flanders Fields: Between Heaven & Hell II
videos at www.youtube.com/hellshade68

#4326657 - 01/07/17 05:05 PM Re: Even further OT - Great Book for 80's Super Geeks! [Re: OvStachel]  
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Yea, 5E really saved Dnd from the brutal backlash they were getting with the 4th Edition.
Nice collection there.

I'm pretty excited about Cubicle7's recent release of the 5E Extension books for playing Dnd in the world of Tolkien.

A fan of their own RPG "The One Ring" system but the integration with 5E rules should make it a big hit with their completed release of the DM's "Loremaster Edition" that was just released today:

http://cubicle7.co.uk/adventures-in-middle-earth-loremasters-guide-cover-revealed/

Pretty excited to get these soon.

S!

Last edited by Dantes; 01/07/17 05:06 PM. Reason: (spelling)

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