As some of you know, the previous year was not exactly one for the record books for me. During the past eight months, I’ve undertaken the considerable project of turning myself around and returning to some semblance of the person that many of you have known for a great number of years. While the journey has not always been easy, I can say that this year has been of such a greater magnitude than any other I’ve lived in the past decade. I’m thinking clearer, I’m looking at things on a longer-term basis, and I’ve begun to recover a lot of what I’ve lost. One of those things has been my creativity, as well as a returned enjoyment for doing things that once meant a lot to me.
Of the many things that I’ve learned over the past eight months, one of the most important has been that when you’re trying to change your life, it’s not just a matter of subtracting the parts that were causing you such turmoil. Nature abhors a vacuum, and unless you fill the spaces with other, more positive activities and goals, it’s easy to return to the bad habits that you were trying to exorcize in the first place.
In my case, I filled some of those negative spaces by returning to the hobby that I’ve enjoyed for 25+ years: pencil and paper role-playing games. As time passed and I began seeing things clearer, this hobby has provided me with an outlet for my returned creativity, a place to socialize with new friends, and to get re-acquainted with old ones. Playing in a thrice-monthly game has been a much-anticipated part of my week and I’m very grateful for not only the opportunity to return to gaming, but for the camaraderie I find there also.
Despite these sessions, I’ve found that the urge to create as well as participate has been waxing within me. Having no outlet in the form of a regular gaming session with myself at the reins, I’ve been planning, drawing, stocking, detailing, and reveling in the joy of creating my very own old-school AD&D megadungeon. It’s been my port in the storm on nights where I most needed a place of safe refuge.
Coincidently, this has all occurred during a time when the role-playing hobby has undergone a massive sea change. With the release of the 4th edition of
Dungeons & Dragons and the associated demise of
Dragon Magazine as a printed monthly, there’s been a revival of sorts occurring on the Web. Many old-school gamers have started up blogs, websites and forums pertaining to the hobby as they first experienced it. The Grognards have awoken and are dedicated to maintaining the history of this hobby. A hobby which was originally seen as merely a passing fad. The past year has seen the dimming of some of the hobby’s foremost lights as well, which has added to this resurgence of old-school gaming interest and nostalgia.
Since I was doing the work anyway, it only seemed to make sense that I add my own contributions, albeit small as they are, to this wave of old-school resurgence. Thus the
Society of Torch, Pole and Rope was born.
The Society of Torch, Pole and Rope (or STPR or TPR as the hep-cats call it) is my place on the web where I document the process of building my AD&D megadungeon, as well as philosophize, muse, ramble, educate, confuse, bemoan and otherwise engage in the expression of ideas both well-thought out and half-baked. Technically, it’s been up and running since August 21st, but I wanted some time to allow content to build before I made the announcement here. I’ve established a publication schedule of posting on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays around 12 pm EST. Usually there will be one post at a time, but depending on what’s on my mind, there may be multiple posts on those days. Also, unscheduled posts may appear depending on what might catch my interest or news that need to be announced.
So what does this mean for the Crow’s Nest? Absolutely nothing. The Nest will remain as usual, with its same spotty post record. The only change will be that anything D&D related will appear on the
Society of Torch, Pole and Rope, while the regular life-updates, web strangeness, idle thoughts, etc. will be contained here. If you have no interest in role-playing games, you may continue to visit here without issue. If the idea of rolling strange dice and acting out outlandishly appeals to you, then by all means stop by the
Society of Torch, Pole and Rope.
But that’s just me.
AM
