2008/Mar - GAMERS Newspaper by Le Nurd Mystique, LLC

FREE Vol 2 Issue 3 * Gaming Articles, Monthly Editorials & Remarkable Stories

Mar 2008

Ernest Gary Gygax, the widely acknowledged "father of the roleplaying game," passed away on March 4th, 2008 at his home in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. It was in Lake Geneva in 1967 in Gygax's basement that a 20person game tournament took place--the first GenCon, and the beginning of an annual tradition that has grown into the largest hobby gaming convention in North America. Gygax was born on July 27th, 1938 and by 1950 he was immersed in the fiction of Robert E. Howard and Ray Bradbury. He began playing wargames in 1953 and was influenced by the Avalon Hill line of sophisticated historical war-themed board games. In 1966 Gygax founded International Federation of Wargamers, and in 1971 Gygax, who was always enthralled by all things medieval, created Chainmail (with Jeff Perren), a medieval-themed miniatures wargame from which Dungeons and Dragons evolved. In 1974 Gygax and Don Kaye founded Tactical Studies Rules (TSR) and published the first edition of Dungeons & Dragons, which combined elements of Chainmail with what some called "acting gaming" (and quickly became known as "roleplaying") to create the roleplaying game.

The RPG has arguably had a huge impact on all forms of gaming, including online and video gaming, thanks to its core elements of "character building," "levels," "spells," "class," and "race," etc. Dungeons & Dragons has also played a major role in the popularization of

fantasy, not just in American pop culture but across the entire world, and its influence can be seen in movies, anime, comics and manga as well as in all forms of gaming. Gygax certainly didn't create every element in the complex world of D&D by himself. He had help from Dave Arneson

(who sued TSR five times before settling out of court in 1981) in the initial creation of the game, and the host of talented game designers who worked at TSR fleshed out the game, adding levels of complexity and new campaign settings and "worlds" to make it quite possibly the most multi-faceted gaming experience ever created. When Don Kaye died in 1976, Gygax gained a controlling interest in TSR and created TSR Hobbies, Inc. But faced with financial difficulties, Gygax quickly ceded control to the Blume brothers, though he continued to work at TSR until 1985. In the mid-1980s Gygax was spending much of his time on the West Coast where he succeeded in getting the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon series on CBS. When he found out that TSR was in financial difficulties, he returned to Lake Geneva and became involved in a management dispute that eventually caused him to sell his remaining shares of the company and leave the company that he had founded. Gygax returned to the world of D&D in 2005 through his work with Troll Lord Games. Although a heart attack forced him into semi-retirement, he continued to be an active member of the gaming community through his online comments at key gaming Websites such as EN World and Dragonsfoot.

Editorial: Editor in Chief: Jack R Stewart - jrstewart@ohiogamers.org Copy Editor: Ben Chronister - chronwriter@gmail.com Photography staff: Mike Henthorn - rutilius83@yahoo.com Marissa Alexander - marissa@ohiogamers.org OGO Publications 35 East Gay Street STE #208 Columbus, Ohio 43215

http://www.ohiogamers.org Contribution Support: The Soldiery â&#x20AC;&#x201C;See Ad in Back www.icv2.com - Industry News! Executive Director: Jack R. Stewart - jrstewart@ohiogamers.org Chief Operations Officer: Matt Ferrell - bigmatt@ohiogamers.org Events Coordinator: Marissa Alexander - events@ohiogamers.org ARCHIVES: http://www.gamersnewsohio.com Submissions: press@ohiogamers.org Advertising Services/Info: press@ohiogamers.org 614-923-8291 Printers: Capitol Square Printing 59 East Gay St Columbus, OH 43215 (614) 221-2850 Legal Department Jason Webb - Advantia Law Group jason@advantialaw.com GAMERS Newspaper is published Monthly, 12 times per year by OGO Publications, 35 E. Gay St. STE 208 Columbus, OH 43215. For More information or Copyright concerns, please contact press@ohiogamers.org.

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Tokyopop will release several new manga titles based on videogame properties this fall, a strategy with which the company has had much success, with its Warcraft and Kingdom Hearts franchises. The company continues to build on its success with Warcraft, by launching a four-volume anthology title with three volumes this fall, in August, October, and December. The series will include stories by Richard Knaak and Jae-Hwan Kim, the creators on Tokyopop's original Warcraft series, Mike Wellman, Dan Jolly, Carlos Olivares, Troy Lewter, and Brian Yang. World of Warcraft, the Blizzard online game, continues to amaze with its scale, recently passing the 10 million paying subscribers mark. Tokyopop is also planning a new Knaak Warcraft series, launching in 2009

Tokyopop has also announced that it will release the first two volumes of a three-shot Starcraft anthology series in August and November. Creators will include Josh Elder and Daniel Cross; Richard Knaak and Naohiro Washio; Paul Benjamin, Dave Shramek, and Nam Kim; and Simon Furman and Jesse Elliot. A new Starcraft game is currently in development by Blizzard, which will give this property new life. Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, a two-volume gothic dracula series by Kou Sasakura based on the Konami videogame, will be released in September. The videogame franchise has been around for over 20 years, with games on every platform. A Castlevania movie has been in development for some time and was reportedly close to production last year, but is now delayed as a result of the writers strike.

AniGames 101 Main St. Toledo OH 43606 Front & Main 419-690-0414 ssagan2@mac.com

Anime DVD's T-shirts Board Games Card Games Miniature Games and more

Calendar Of Convention Ashville Viking Fest (Other) - ashvillevikingfestival.org Vulkon - Columbus Sci-Fi Expo (Sci-Fi) - vulkon.com

Columbus - Apr 26 - 27 Columbus - May 2 - 4

Morphicon (Anthropomorphic) - morphicon.org

Columbus - May 16 - 18

Marcon (Sci-Fi & Gaming) - marcon.org

Columbus - May 23 - 25

Colossal Con (Anime) - colossalcon.com ORIGINS 2008 (Gaming) - originsgamefair.com

Beechwood - June 26 - 29 Columbus - June 25 - 29

Matsuricon (Anime) - http://www.matsuricon.org/

Worthington - Aug 22 - 24

Buckeye Game Fest IX (Gaming) - buckeyeboardgamers.org

Columbus - October 2 - 5

Con on the Cob (Gaming/Art) - cononthecob.com

Hudson - October 2 - 5 G.A.M.E.R.S.

White Wolf Plans Diversion Program

ORIGINS 2008

To Convert 'D&D 3.5' Players to 'Exalted'

Urgent Announcements

White Wolf has announced a new program, "Graduate your Game," which will offer 2500 gamers the opportunity to swap their D&D 3.5 rulebooks for free copies of the Exalted 2nd Edition Core Book. The promotion is timed to catch gamers looking for alternatives as D&D makes the switch from 3.5 to 4th Edition. Retailers will be able to order promotional kits to support the program. Each will include six order forms, four quick-start scenarios, and a promotional poster. Consumers participating in the program will receive their free copy of Exalted and a graduation packet with a free poster and a diploma.

So for whatever reason GAMA has gone and done something OGO Publications really weird this year with the 50% discount that we receive each year. So, pay attention true believers and you'll know what to do to save money this year! First off, the 50% discount is ONLY available on pre-registration this year! You MUST Pr-reg! You will not be able to receive your 50% off if you wait to register on-site!

Jack Stewart

(Just for Note: 50% off this year means a full weekend pass for only $30 , On-site will be $70 this year!) Also, We still have several on-site rooms left, you must log into the site to access the page that will allow you to book your room at the Drury at the rates we have negotiated for you. Keep in mind, YOU MUST BE A LEVEL 2 OR ABOVE member to receive this discount. DO NOT waste time trying to get the 50% discount if you have not upgraded your membership! You do not need to be a Lvl2+ Member to use the hotel link. However you must be logged into the site! Deadlines are as followed: • Level 2 Membership Upgrade to receive 50%: April 30th (you may then pre-reg as of May 1st) • Hotel Rooms Booked under our Link: May 15th (after that I cannot promise there will be any rooms left.) • 50% Pre-registration Deadline: May 25th (There are no 50% registrations On-Site this year!) Registration opening at 7 a.m. on the Wednesday June 25th, 2008 (games starting at 8 a.m.) running 'till 8 p.m. on the 29th. Registration is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday - Saturday (and 'till 4 p.m. on Sunday) and though game-playing is 24 hours a day, games tend to be between 8 a.m. and Midnight. The Exhibit Hall is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday - Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

WARHAMMER 40K ARMY BUILDING - Part 2 of 5 The Meat of Each Army - The Troop Squad

Upcoming Tournaments - Win Cash! All Tournaments $15.00 entry fee per person April 12th @ 2pm - Rainbow Six Vegas 2 April 13th @ 2pm - Gears of War (2 vs 2) April 19th @ 2pm - Super Smash Brothers Brawl (wii) April 26th @ 2pm - Halo 3 (single slayer) April 27th @ 2pm - Halo 3 (2 vs 2 Team) 4

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You are required to have two in each 40K Army, Along with 1 H.Q. Unit. Troop Squad is the standard fighting unit in each army. It may usually number from 5 to 30 figures. Usually it has the option special weapon and a heavy weapon. You maybe able to upgrade the squad leader and spend points on special armor & weapons and special equipment. Some armies let you buy transports for troop units to protect them better and speed on there way closer to fight the enemy or to capture objectives or breakthrough them. The Troop unit is the "Standard Fight'in" unit, the mass & meat of every 40K Warhammer Army. I know that the Gamesworkshop products are some of the more expensive lines of miniatures sold today. But by shopping smart at The Soldiery you can save 20% off on prepaid special orders of new Gamesworkshop products, including "bits" orders as well. Also at The Soldiery there is the USED Gamesworkshop miniatures and bits bin that bargains and gems can be found in.

From the Ohio Gamers Organization Newspaper!

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To Journey to Kythos-Mu By Nate Breidenbaugh There is a place in the old land to which men do not travel, in which men do not live. It has no weather—the air is always stagnant, quiet, and still--and its soil is rocky and nigh untillable. It has no population, save for the horrors with which the legends of men populate it. It is said that here was the site of the tower of the dead, Kythos-Mu. This was a high tower in the middle of the wasteland and looked over it like a great digit pointing to the grey, empty sky. It was purportedly made out of black, glassy volcanic rock, and though it sat on the field it did not cast a shadow, even on a clear day. It was said that here dwelt Veros the Corpse-King, ruler of the twisted kingdom that sprawled over the land. And Rhys desired to travel there. He had been given to such flights of fancy from a very early age, from the first time his mother had told him the tale of the Corpse -King’s horrific duel with the God Soulbutcher, in a bid for godhood. This she had relayed to him in all of its gory detail for the purposes of discipline, but it had instead had the opposite effect: Throughout his childhood the legend became an object of his daydreams and musings, and by his teenage years it had developed into what some would describe as a most unhealthy obsession. When he was taught to read at the age of six he did little else but sit in the li-

brary at the temple of the Sun-God near his home and pore over the ancient scrolls, to the bemusement of the monks and the worry of his aging mother. He absorbed the knowledge slowly, but with an appetite that was never sated--even when his mother would physically drag him screaming back to the small, musty house and sit him down in front of a bowl of hot soup. She would then scold him profusely, being sure to ram home the point that his father was dead and that she had to raise him all by herself, and that it was difficult to do so with him in the library all day. Ultimately Rhys would ignore her, his mind always straying to the scrolls of knowledge that awaited him in a seemingly neverending supply. He had not yet found the knowledge he sought: The location of KythosMu, the legendary tower of the Corpse King. It was in the summer of his sixteenth year that Rhys’ life was altered dramatically. He had been working in the fields for a neighbor since that year’s harvest at the insistance of his mother, in a ploy to keep him out of the library. He had, however, spent so much time at the library since the growing season ended that by that summer the lack of exercise had reduced his body to a thin, weakened state that made him unable to work in the fields at all. This did not stop his relentless pursuit of knowledge, however, and his mother became increasingly fervent in her scoldings.

One day, as he sat in the cold stone library with a pile of old, dusty scrolls in front of him, as he had countless times before, his eye was caught by a rather old looking scroll with a great red wax seal. He pulled it out of the pile and examined it, as he always did before he read it. This one was quite different form the plain-looking rolls of parchment that he had spent a year poring over. The dim light from the candle clearly showed that this scroll was lined with and decorated in gold. This galvanized Rhys, as he regarded the ancient wax seal, a great oily crust with some sort of royal sigil pressed into it. He attempted in vain to identify the marking, but it had worn away through years of simple existance. In through the small slit window came a rush of wind; This was not the comforting wind of a summer’s afternoon, nor even the whipping blasts of a raging thunderstorm; this air was stale, and ancient, as if it had blown from a longforgotten grave. It moaned eerily as it rushed through the small window. Rhys felt an odd sort of presence in the cold chamber. For all the swirling power of the gale around him, he was frightened most by the pulsating power that throbbed through his arms and behind his eyes as he broke the seal on the gold-lined scroll. He opened it slowly with trembling hands and began to read. Rhys felt a surge of excitement as (Continued on page 7)

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Galthar (cont) the castle. Exhausted, he would approach the altar of the Corpse-King and decipher the ancient language that unlocked its secrets he read the title: “To Journey to Kythosfor all the world. All the while, the great Mu” This was it! He had found the way to wind whipped around him, fanning the flames discover the tower of Veros, the CorpseKing of legend! With shaking hands he read of his darkest childhood fantasies. It seemed his imagination was runon, and his excitement grew with each word. ning wild. Rhys’ daydreams had begun to Over the plains of Caenoth, to the Drassil frighten him. He did see the altar statue, a plateau, then South to Hyglia, the twisted plain where none dared ride. Well, no chal- many-tentacled, demoniac horror in granite, but it was dripping in slime and pulsating with lenge was too great for Rhys the explorer! energy. Terror struck him like lightning as He was sure that his name would be hailed the great eyes on the altar-statue begun to by the bards for all time for discovering the lost plain where dreaded Kythos-Mu cast not glow blue. He wanted to scream, but ina shadow! His imagination conjured up vivid stead he imagined himself walking unafraid toward the great altar. He felt the pelting of images of what the great obsidian tower rain on his body and the peal of thunder looked like inside. hammer at his chest as he grasped the evil Suddenly a great thunderstorm altar-statue--and felt it turn to slippery, scaly arose outside the room. Rhys was only vaguely aware of this, as he continued to ex- flesh in his hands. plore the tower with his imagination. He pictured himself charging up the fabled flight The old priest hobbled in to tell Rhys it was time to go home, as it was getting late and of stairs which curved around the length of (Continued from page 6)

they were going to close the temple for the night. When he arrived, he saw not Rhys, asleep with his head on the desk amidst a pile of old scrolls, as he was accustomed to after years of daily visits. No, the boy was gone, replaced by a disjointed heap of parchment and a puddle of rainwater. The old man begun to rush out and find the lad whose daily visits had thus far met with no mishap, but the glint of gold caught his eye. He bent down, and with trembling hands picked up the gold-lined scroll, which was soaked through with rainwater-no, it was a putrid slime. The priest gasped with fear as he looked at the scroll. It was blank, stunk like an open grave, and was crumbling to dust in his hands as though it had never been wet!

The Soldiery, Inc. “Your full-service gaming source for 17 years” Collectable Card Games, Roleplaying Games, Historical Miniatures, Games Workshop, Wizkids, Paints/Brushes, Gaming Supplies. Extensive inventory of new/used items, including singles: Weekly events - 11 Gaming Tables

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