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dailybestiary · 5 years

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Books of Magic: The Voyage of the “Princess Ark”

(Images by Jim Holloway and Thomas Baxa come from PDF scans of Dragon Magazine, are © Wizards of the Coast or their respective copyright holders, and are used for review purposes.)

Previous installments in my “Books of Magic” series were, weirdly enough, about books.

This time, I want to tell you about a series: Bruce A. Heard’s “The Voyage of the Princess Ark,” which turns 30 years old this very month.

TVotPA ran in the pages of TSR’s Dragon Magazine nearly every month from January 1990 (Dragon #153) through December 1992 (Dragon #188). A serialized travelogue and adventure story told in 35 installments over three years, TVotPA was part Master and Commander, part Star Trek, and part The Adventures of Asterix (the last two of which Heard explicitly cited as inspiration in his letters columns). It follows the saga of Prince Haldemar of Haaken, an Alphatian wizard who recommissions an old skyskip and sets out to explore the lesser known regions of the Dungeons & Dragons game’s Known World, which would soon come to be known as Mystara.

Some background might be necessary for those of you who aren’t familiar with the chaos that was D&D at the time. In the 1980s and 1990s, Dungeons & Dragons and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons were two different games. I’m simplifying the chronology here, but basically in the late ’70s D&D was meant to serve as a simplified gateway to introduce fans to fantasy role-playing before guiding them on to AD&D. But in the 1980s, thanks to the release of the Moldvay/Cook Basic and Expert Sets, and then the five Mentzer box sets (the ones with Larry Elmore dragons on the cover, now referred to as BECMI D&D—for the Basic, Expert, Companion, Master, and Immortals Rules box sets), D&D had become a viable game in its own right, with its own world, referred to only as the Known World.

The Known World—particularly as it was showcased in the Expert Rules—was a mess: more than a dozen nations slammed together in the corner of a continent to illustrate for young DMs the various forms of government you might find in D&D beyond kings and queens. Along the way, these nations also served as analogues for real-world societies ranging from Western European countries to Native American nations to the Mongolian khanate. But it was a glorious mess, thanks to a series of excellent Gazetteer supplements that had rounded out and mapped these nations in great detail, capped off by a box set, Dawn of the Emperors, that described the Known World’s pseudo-Rome, Thyatis, and its rival empire Alphatia, a nation of wizards across the sea.

By the end of 1989, then, D&D was at a crossroads. It was clearly the unloved child, seen as “basic,” best for beginners. Its setting did not have the novel support of Dragonlance or the energy of the surging and more thoughtfully conceived Forgotten Realms, then only two years old. The Gazetteer series had covered nearly all the known nations (two more would come later thanks to popular demand). And even Dragon Magazine rarely carried D&D material—a fact that was excruciating to me when I started picking up issues in late 1988 as a 5th grader.

Into this void stepped Bruce Heard. He’d been the architect of the Gazetteer series, had written some of its best installments, and was the overmind behind the D&D line at the time. If I’m remembering my history correctly, he approached the editor of Dragon, the amazing Roger Moore, about supplying a column that would provide regular D&D content for that starved segment of Dragon’s audience. In his editorials and answers to reader letters, Moore had made several mentions of needing more D&D content for the magazine, so he was a receptive audience. Heard got the green light, and “The Voyage of the Princess Ark” was born.

I still remember where I was when I realized this was happening. I missed the series launch—with my tiny allowance, I could only justify buying Dragon issues that really interested me, and Dragon #153 hadn’t leapt of the shelf at me. (Not having the Masters Rules box at the time, I didn’t realize the illustration of a continental map plastered with “WRONG WRONG WRONG” was referring to the D&D world.) I did have Dragon #155 (still one of my favorite issues of all time), but somehow I skipped past TVotPA Part 3—I wasn’t reading issues cover to cover yet and somehow didn’t grasp what was going on.

Then came issue #158. I was away for a week at Boy Scout summer camp, and I’d brought the June issue of Dragon with me. Having torn through the articles about dragons (June’s theme was always dragons), I turned to an article illustrated with a wizard and an ogre/elf cross riding pelicans. Better yet, they article had stats for playing these ogre-elves as PCs.

D&D stats.

THIS WAS A D&D ARTICLE!

And it was part of a SERIES!!!

With some effort, I tracked down the issues I’d missed—no easy task for a just-finished-6th-grader—and soon was buying Dragon every month. Moore and Heard’s plan had worked. I was hooked on both TVotPA and Dragon from then on. (The next time I missed an issue, I’d be a college freshman and the industry was on the verge of collapse.)

Most installments of TVotPA followed a simple template: The Princess Ark would fly to some new spot on the map, the crew would get into some trouble (usually brought down on them by the actions of Captain Haldemar himself), and then more or less get out again, either due to a last-minute save by Haldemar or some surprising turn of events. All this played out in the form of log entries—originally by Haldemar, then supplemented by other crewmembers as the cast expanded—that allowed Heard to deliver both in-world descriptions and rollicking action at the same time. The article would then offer back matter containing rules content or setting write-ups, and sometimes conclude with a letters column of readers reacting to the setting or seeking clarification on some arcane point of D&D rules and lore.

While this template was simple, it was never boring. The episodic nature of the series let Heard play in a variety of tones and genres: lost-world pulp, courtly drama, horror, farce, even a Western—heck, he slipped in an homage to the Dark Crystal (which at the time I didn’t get, not having seen it) as early as Part 5 (Dragon #157). As well (without getting into too spoilery territory), various overarching antagonists and plot threads—including a threatening order of knights, a devious dragon, two major status quo changes, and divine machinations—kept things simmering in the background from episode to episode. The characters likewise became more developed as Heard’s writing grew in confidence and ambition, and reader affection grew for side characters like Talasar, Xerdon, Myojo, and the rest. Once the series was up and running at full speed, it was a sure bet that if you didn’t like that month’s story, you’d dig the rules write-up, or vice versa. And when the story, setting, characters, and rules all came together, such as in Dragon #177, an episode would just sing.

Once again, I can’t tell you how thrilling this series was to 6th–9th-grade me. First of all, it came along at the perfect time. Heard’s writing literally matured just as my reading did, so the series and I literally grew up together. 6th grade was also the year I discovered comics, so this was also the era of my life when I was falling in love with serialized storytelling. Similarly, it was my first time really embracing the epistolary form.

Perhaps most significantly for this blog and my freelance career, the column was also an early primer for me on game design. Watching Heard tweak D&D’s simple rules to evoke a more complex world, especially when looked at in concert with D&D’s Gazetteer and Hollow Word supplements, gave me the courage to think about tweaking/inventing lore and systems myself. Heard also made a habit of pilfering monsters from the Creature Catalogue, seeing potential in them no one else had, and then suggesting entire cultures for them. (If that doesn’t sound like someone you know…what blog have you been reading?) He made creating a world seem easy, because he did it month after month after month.

Finally, TVotPA was thrilling because it was clear proof that someone took “basic” BECMI/Rules Cyclopedia-era D&D seriously. And that meant someone took us, the fanbase, seriously too. Back then, I couldn’t afford AD&D. Even if I could, I didn’t want to mess with all the complexity. Plus, I loved the Known World. I loved the Gazetteer books and the Aaron Allston box sets. By writing and publishing TVotPA, Bruce Heard and Roger Moore made me feel like they cared about and for fans like me. I didn’t have Raistlin, I didn’t have Elminster…but I didn’t need them, because I had Prince Haldemar of Haaken and his magical Princess Ark.

In fact, it’s no exaggeration to say that falling under the spell of Dragon and TVotPA were some of the most magical and mind expanding moments of my middle school years.

But what does this mean for you, the current Pathfinder or D&D fan? Should you read “The Voyage of the Princess Ark”?

Obviously I’m going to say yes, for all the reasons I’ve listed above. If you like maritime adventures, steampunk, or pulp adventures, this is obviously the series for you. If you like Pathfinder/D&D where a wizard is as likely to throw a punch as he is to go for his wand, this is the series for you. If you like on-the-fly worldbuilding, this is the series for you. If you like setting, story, and rules expansion all mixed together every month, this is the series for you.

TVotPA has never been collected in its entirely (more on that later), but there are PDF scans of all that era’s Dragon issues online. Start at Dragon #153 and keep reading. I’ll warn you that the first installments are a little slow, but I’d be surprised if you aren’t pulled in by the end of Part 8 (Dragon #161). If you’re the sort of reader who wants to sample a series running on all four cylinders before committing, I recommend Part 18 (Dragon #171), set in the pseudo-Balkan nation of Slagovich, or Part 24 (Dragon #177), when the crew encounters the Celtic-influenced druidic knights of Robrenn, as great places to get a strong first impression.

To my eye, “The Voyage of the Princess Ark” consists of four major arcs, plus a smattering of follow-up material that owes a debt to the series. If you do decide to dive in, here’s a quick reading guide:

Arc 1 / Parts 1–10 / Dragon #153–163 / This arc launches the series and introduces us to several major antagonists. The first few installments are slow going, but by Part 6 (Dragon #158) or 7 (Dragon #160) we see signs of the series as it will be in its prime.

(Dragon #158 also looks at D&D’s immortal dragon rulers; some of this info will later get superseded by a more canonical article in Dragon #170 a year later. Don’t sleep on Dragon #159—though it doesn’t have an installment of TVotPA, there is some fun Spelljammer content in that issue. Speaking of Spelljammer, Dragon #160 also has a companion article entitled “Up, Away & Beyond,” that serves up rudimentary rules for space travel in D&D in tandem with the action in that month’s TVotPA.)

As you have probably just gleaned, this arc also takes the Princess Ark briefly into space and introduces D&D’s second, secret setting, the Hollow World, which was being launched at that time .

Arc 2 / Parts 11–15 / Dragon #164–168 / This short arc deals with the ramifications of a major status quo-altering event at the end of the previous arc. As the crew comes to terms with their new circumstances, Haldemar learns more about the ship itself and the magics behind her. The arc ends with yet another status quo shakeup and detailed maps of the Princess Ark.

Arc 3 / Parts 16–28 / Dragon #169–181 / Hex maps! One of the calling cards of the D&D Gazetteer series was its gloriously detailed full-color hex maps, so it was kind of a disappointment when TVotPA served up only rough sketches of coastlines and mountain ranges. Part 16 gave us what we’d wanted all along: glorious hex maps (detailing the India-inspired nation of Sind no less!). They weren’t always perfect—several issues in the #170s had the wrong colors for mountain ranges, or even seemed crudely painted with watercolors—but by Part 24 (Dragon #177) we got the crisp, expertly designed nations we expected in our Known World.

Early in this arc, we also get a passing of the torch between artists. Parts 1–17 were illustrated by Jim Holloway, who I like for his action scenes, his expressive faces, and the classic stern captain’s look (complete with mustache) he gives Haldemar. (Holloway also does the best dwarves, gnomes, and halflings in the fantasy business.) Starting with Part 18 (Dragon #171), we are treated to the more angular, stylized look of Thomas Baxa, with Haldemar losing his mustache and gaining a silver-streaked ponytail. Terry Dykstra takes over in Part 25 (Dragon #178); his style is more cartoony (his Myojo really suffers from this), but he keeps Baxa’s character designs till the end of the series.

Now that I’ve totally buried the lede, let’s unearth it: This arc is, for my money, the series at its absolute prime. Action-packed stories. More characters in the spotlight. Meaty setting descriptions and rules content. New PC races and classes. Even heraldry for each nation! Heard also continued his habit of dredging up D&D creatures from the Creature Catalogue and loosely tying them to real-world cultures for great effect. I suspect many of you will love the French dogfolk of Renardy or the English catfolk of Bellayne, not to mention the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reference he sneaks in there.

(By the way, it should be noted that today in 2020 we’re more hesitant to do such A+B design. But remember, 1) 1990–1992 was a different time—by ’90s standards, Heard is engaged in pretty solid, multiculturalist worldbuilding, and 2) Heard grew up in Europe (France originally, I believe), so while some of the characterizations and comedy is broad, the settings are grounded in both on-the-ground familiarity and good research, and the humor is affectionate and of a piece with works like Asterix that any European reader would be familiar with. In other words, don’t stress it and just enjoy that the dog-dudes are shouting “Sacrebleu!” The one exception might be the depiction of Hule, an evil D&D nation that has always been hung with vaguely Persian or Arabian trappings…but again 1) Heard was working within the established canon, and 2) the Known World setting more than balances that out with the Emirates of Ylaruam, an Arabian/Persian-inspired nation that was depicted with lots of sensitivity and care by Ken Rolston and others, to be followed by the amazing Al-Qadim setting for AD&D. So I don’t think there’s much in here that should raise alarms from a cultural sensitivity perspective, but if something does strike you discordantly, remember we’re talking about works that are 30 years old and make allowances as you feel you can.)

Along the way, you’ll also get a sneak peek at what would become AD&D’s Red Steel setting and the Savage Baronies box set—including some of the first Spanish and Moorish-inspired nations you’ll find in fantasy RPGs of this era—learn a bit about the Known World’s afterlife and undead, and even get an honest-to-Ixion cowboy shootout, as well as lots of PC options and deck plans for the evil knights’ flying warbirds, which put the Klingons’ warbirds to shame. (Oh, and while you’re reading, don’t skip the two articles about the Known World’s dragons in #170 and #171!)

Arc 4 / Parts 29–35 / Dragon #182–188 / Dragon #158–181 is among the best two-year-runs Dragon Magazine ever had, and TVotPA is a large part of the reason. But a lackluster issue #182 was a first quiet sign of a long slow downturn to come. The fact that that issue’s TVotPA entry was only a letter column portended even more dire things. In fact, three of the seven installments in this arc were purely letters columns, which was a huge disappointment at the time: We’d waited a whole month and got…just letters?!?

By this point, I think we knew the Wrath of the Immortals box set was coming—one of those world-shattering setting updates that was being pitched as a relaunch of the setting, but which could also serve as its climax. My hope at the time was that Wrath of the Immortals would kick things into a new, higher gear for both the Known World (which by then we knew as Mystara) and TVotPA, especially since the D&D Rules Cyclopedia had only come out the year before. But alas, it wasn’t to be.

Thanks to the three letters-only entries, the writing was on the wall. In Part 35 (Dragon #188), TVotPA wound its way to a close that felt appropriate but not properly climactic. God, what I wouldn’t have given to have traded those three letters columns for one last showdown with a certain dragon, those dastardly knights, or any other more suspenseful end! The end we got was nice and tidy enough (and took us to fantasy Louisiana, Australia, and Endor), but it wasn’t the end we wanted…in part because we didn’t want it to end, ever.

Arc 5 / Coda & Part 36 / Select issues of Dragon #189–200, Champions of Mystara, Dragon #237, #247 & #344 / In 1993, TVotPA was replaced with “The Known World Grimoire.” This was a grab bag of announcements, letters columns, nitty-gritty details on running dominions (Companion and Master-level D&D players got to have their own lands, castles, and even kingdoms if they so wished), and other sundries. Most of these are skippable. Four exceptions are four “Grimoire” entries which could practically be TVotPA installments: Dragon #192, which covers the manscorpions of Nimmur, Dragon #196, featuring the orcs of the Dark Jungle, an article on D&D heraldry in Dragon #199 (which is an edge case, but I’m including it here because the rules could be applied to the coats of arms of the various Savage Coast nations), and Dragon #200, which looked at the winged elves and winged minotaurs of the Arm of the Immortals. Coming out as it did in the giant-sized issue #200, this last article felt like what it was—a last goodbye to D&D’s Known World/Mystara as we knew it before Mystara’s relaunch as an AD&D line.

(Dragon #200 also had a nice article on making magic-users in D&D more distinctive. There was also “The Ecology of the Actaeon” in Dragon #190, one of the only D&D ecologies to be published in Dragon’s 2e AD&D era. Somewhere in this time we also got the news that the Known World would be relaunched as AD&D’s Mystara setting, whose products were famous for coming with audio CDs and not much else.)

Around this time TSR also published its TVotPA-inspired—and utterly maddening—Champions of Mystara box set. I say “maddening” because, at least to me, it clearly felt like a “Sure, here fine, have your dang box set” product, a too-pricey production made because fans demanded it, but not out of real love from anyone at TSR but Bruce Heard himself and co-designer Ann Dupuis.

(Let me be clear: This is all speculation; I can’t confirm any of that; I’m just saying what it felt like.)

Among the reasons for my disappointment: There was no new content featuring Haldemar and his crew. One of the booklets reprinted most of TVotPA…but not the first 10 or so entries (so it wasn’t even the complete epic! *headdesk*) and none of the ancillary material, just the story logs. Another booklet was deep in the weeds of skyship construction—hell yeah, you could build your own skyship!—but gave little content to, say, inspire lots of fun skyship-to-skyship adventures in the vein of Spelljammer, such as tons of skyships from other nations. The box did contain eight standalone cards with other ship designs, but most of these were one-off constructions by solitary wizards and rajahs, not enough to really launch a campaign. My favorite booklet was the “Explorer’s Manual,” which gave us some new setting details we hadn’t seen before, including an amazing subterranean nation of elves and gnolls that I still think about to this day…but again, it was all too little, too late—for this fan, at least.

In other words, don’t try to buy the Champions of Mystara box set—at time of writing it’s crazy expensive and not worth it for anyone not actively playing BECMI D&D right this minute. If, after reading the entire series, you’ve fallen in love with TVotPA (which admittedly was my goal in writing this) and absolutely must have Champions for that nation of elves and gnolls, get the PDF on DriveThruRPG.com.

Years later, as Dragon was limping through the late ’90s before its rejuvenation in 2000, Heard provided 2e AD&D rules for Mystara’s lupins and rakastas in Dragon #237 and #247, including writing up tons of subraces inspired by actual pet breeds. If you’ve ever wanted to play an anthropomorphic St. Bernard or Siamese, these are the articles for you.

Finally in 2006, when Paizo had taken over publishing Dragon, they invited Heard to deliver one last TVotPA entry in Dragon #344…giving us, if not a climax, definitely one last burst of palace intrigue and action to bridge the gap between the series proper and the events of Wrath of the Immortals. Over and above all the other coda material I’ve mentioned, this actually fits in the saga—it’s even labeled Part 36. If you want to ship out one last time with Haldemar and his crew, track it down.

Finally x2, there is the world of Calidar. After being thwarted for several years trying to get permission to write new TVotPA content, Bruce Heard has created his own game world filled with skyships and adventures. I own the books (which are rules-light so fans of any system can use them), but haven’t had time to read them yet; hopefully you will be a more determined fan. Keep an eye out for his various Kickstarters and definitely show your support.

Finally x3, if you think I am the only diehard Known World/Mystara fan out there…wow, no, not by a long shot. The Mystara fan community is one of the most dedicated in gaming. In addition to holding a torch for BECMI/Rules Cyclopedia-era D&D, they’ve taken it upon themselves to continue mapping and describing the remainder of Mystara as part of the fan community based out of the Vaults of Pandius website and the stunning fanzine Threshold. I’ve only skimmed Threshold a little, but it is stunning work on par with the Pathfinder fanzine Wayfinder for the amount of effort the fans put in and the quality that comes out. Kudos to everyone involved!

“The Voyage of the Princess Ark” is a testament to the creative heights one writer could achieve in a fantasy world.

“The Voyage of the Princess Ark” deserves to be spoken of in the terms we use for Pathfinder’s Golarion; AD&D’s Dark Sun, Planescape, and Al-Qadim; and Vampire the Masquerade’s World of Darkness. And Bruce Heard deserves pride of place in the company of Greenwood, Grubb, Weis, Hickman, and others of his era.

Heard showed us that simple rules didn’t mean a less complex world. Heard showed us that a few lines of monster description could be blown out to fill entire nations. Heard showed us that the cultural diversity of our own world could inspire our fictional ones. Most importantly, he showed that if you put in the work month after month, you could achieve amazing things. And he did it for a neglected fanbase of underdogs and windmill-tilters. He championed an audience and a world when no one else would.

“The Voyage of the Princess Ark” is also why I spent nearly seven years serving up monster ideas for another underdog fanbase. And the inspiration and work ethic I took from it is a big part of why I’m lucky enough to occasionally be freelancing on a professional basis today.

Three years isn’t a long time in fantasy fandom. If Elminster and Drizzt are Star Trek, perennially chugging along, and Harry Potter is Star Wars, a brilliant core surrounded by progressively less compelling follow-ups, then “The Voyage of the Princess Ark” is Firefly, a ragged crew whose sojourn was cut short, but whose legacy far outstrips its impact at the time.

Or at least, that’s the way its legacy ought to be.

Give “The Voyage of the Princess Ark” a try. Maybe I’m overselling it. Maybe years of nostalgia have painted a picture rosier than the original could ever live up to. Maybe, in an era where outstanding fantasy worlds and strong writing are almost commonplace, current readers can’t perceive the lightning-in-a-bottle magic that was this series.

Maybe. But I think there’s something more there, something perennial, something of value even when placed side by side with the embarrassment of riches that is Pathfinder 1e/2e and D&D 5e.

The only way you’ll know is if you book a berth on the Princess Ark and see for yourself.

Happy flying.

#daily bestiary #the dailybestiary #books of magic #pathfinder #paizo #3.5 #5e #dungeons & dragons #dungeons and dragons #d&d #dnd #BECMI #known world #mystara #the voyage of the princess ark #voyage of the princess ark #bruce heard

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nerdarchy-blog · 5 years

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Hail and well met! I’m Sophie, and I’ve been invited to contribute to this esteemed community. I know– big deal. So, let me tell you my qualifications. Well, to start with, I’ve been playing hobby and tabletop roleplaying games since 1977. I started Dungeons & Dragons with the basic “blue box” edition back in 1978. That means I have dice older than some of you. Probably most. However, it’s not just that I’m older than the Nerdarchy guys, I also spent 13 years working in the gaming community.

To introduce myself

In 1991 I was hired by Chessex Game Distributors, which, at the time was the largest distributor of hobby games in the United States (as well as the best dice for gaming. They still make amazing dice.).

That was a dream job for a time, and is a story for another column. In late April 1992, after a long weekend away I proposed to my girlfriend, who accepted. We returned to my apartment, where I found a letter from TSR Hobbies, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. I’d been hired as a freelance editor.

Back to the beginning: I started playing D&D in 1978. I played through until my junior year of high school when everyone in the group became too busy working and going to school to play. I didn’t play again until my third year of college (my first year of Penn State) when I played until graduation then after with several groups. First edition became second edition. One day, while looking through Dragon Magazine, I saw an ad: TSR was hiring freelance editors!

What was TSR? Tactical Studies Rules, a company started by Gary Gygax and Don Kaye to publish a game Gygax and Dave Arneson created: Dungeons & Dragons. Books have been written about the history of this company, and I won’t summarize it here. By 1992, it was THE power in gaming. This was before the release of Magic: The Gathering by Wizards of the Coast, and gaming was a far different animal back then.

Anyway, I answered the ad (sending something called a “letter” and a resume which I put in an envelope and physically mailed). A couple of weeks later I received a return letter with an editing test and instructions. For someone with editing experience, the format and grammatical errors were easy to spot. As someone who’d been playing AD&D for over a decade, the subtle rules errors were easily spotted as well. Some of the errors would’ve been correct in first edition, but this was now 2E AD&D. I checked it. Rechecked it. Checked it again. Then… sent it back to Lake Geneva. In late April, I was hired.

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My boss was Bruce Heard. As my first assignment I was given half of a basic D&D book: the first Poor Wizard’s Almanac by Aaron Allston. I was splitting it with Newton Ewell. Essentially, it was a fact book about the basic D&D known world, Mystara. TSR sent me source material like the new Rules Cyclopedia and the Hollow World setting to check rules and facts. It was really dry material, essentially, well, an almanac. It took me two weeks of work after work to finish my bit.

The way they did it was they sent me discs for my old Mac classic as well as a printed copy of the rough manuscript. I did the actual editing on paper then did the corrections on the discs. After I made all the corrections I mailed the papers and the discs (plural) to TSR. They sent me a very nice check, a lot of which went to student loans.

I did three other pieces. Next was GA1: Murky Deep written by Norman Ritchie. It was for 2E AD&D and was generic setting. I think he was a southerner by the way he phrased things. The module took a lot of work to make it neutral in tone but it was well written with a wonderful hook.

After that was GA2: Swamplight by Jean Rabe. This was another generic setting novel and I really enjoyed it. Obviously it was a swamp based adventure, but its encounters were incredible, and in a sandbox. The cover was credited to a legend in the gaming community, Jennell Jaquays, creator of the module Dark Tower as well as Central Casting and a ton of other things. We became friends many years later.

My last piece was Black Spine, which was a multi-book campaign module for the Dark Sun setting. My part was book two. The difference here was this module was written on an IBM compatible, and I had a Mac. The translation from format to format destroyed all the, well, formatting. Both ways. I wasn’t happy, and neither was my boss.

In any case, not long after I left Chessex and was hired by Games Workshop US in Maryland. GW had a no competition clause in its rules, so I had to leave TSR.

While working for Chessex I went to conferences in Chicago and… um… I forget where the other one was. Maybe Milwaukee? I met many TSR people at these conferences, and also at the GAMA shows in Vegas and Reno, as well as Gen Con in Milwaukee.

A few years after I left TSR it was bought by Wizards of the Coast. Later, WotC was bought by Hasbro. Some of the old TSR people are now at WotC, but most aren’t. Some, like me, are out of the gaming industry completely. (GW and I parted ways in 2003.)

I didn’t play D&D for over 15 years. My gaming stuff moldered in storage. I sold a lot of the board games I’d collected in my gaming career, and 90% of my GW minis. My life changed radically in 2008, then again in 2013 and 2014.

But that’s a story for a different column.

I’ve played a little in the past year. I got involved with Nerdarchy early this year in one of Nerdarchist Ted’s campaigns — my first time playing 5E D&D. In August I moved to State College, Pa. to begin work on my PhD in Education. I’ve been gaming remotely with them since then. I’m trying to start a 2E AD&D group up here, but no one is interested — they all want to play 5E D&D.

In any case, here I am. If you have things you want me to write about, please let me know in the comments. Otherwise, I’ll write whatever I want!

“Pleased to meet you! Hope you guessed my name!”

A new writer joins us to share her experiences in the #ttrpg industry that helped pave the way for the community we enjoy today. Hail and well met! I’m Sophie, and I’ve been invited to contribute to this esteemed community. I know-- big deal.

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billyb · 6 years

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Getting on With The Yoga

“Yoga is about “I am willing to change myself.” This is not about wanting to change the world -- you are willing to change. Only when you are willing to change, a change can really happen in this world. But when you say, “I want everybody else to change,” only conflict will occur. Only when you are willing to change, there will be transformation. It is this self-transformation that will lead to true well-being for the individual and the society. This is a true revolution.”

- Sadhguru

So I’ve been practicing yoga roughly 3.5 hours a day over the last week. Practice is split on both sides of the day. When I’m not practicing yoga, I’m meditating which is basically focusing my awareness on the present moment without judgment. That means, eating more slowly than I usually do, and noticing my impulses to pick up the phone or opening up the fridge or a browser for no obvious reason other than habit.

The setup here in Gokalum, the neighborhood I’m staying in in Mysore, makes concentrating on yoga and meditation practice simple and enjoyable. The main road is a five minute walk away, laundry is just one flight of stairs up at the top of the building and the shala I’m studying at is a 10 minute bicycle ride away.

A productive week this has been. I found my guys. A fruit guy, a tailor, coconut seller and a healthy food restaurant that I visit everyday. My body is slowly adapting to the routine of waking up at 5am and biking to the shala around 630am. It’s cool in the mornings (low 70sF) with little traffic on the road, so the ride to class in the mornings is a genuine highlight of the day. Bharaht starts class sharply at 730am, but students usually arrive at least 15 minutes early to do breathing exercises as a warm up. One day this week, I arrived at the front door of the studio at 7:29, but was denied access. The door was locked and I didn’t want to trespass on the sign that says, “Do not knock. Respect the silence.”Bharath starts class when he’s ready to begin and that is that. I rode back home to practice the Preparatory Series on my own. Like most things, yoga is definitely not as intense when done alone.

Usually, by 530pm, after the second session of the day, I’m pretty tired and feel like I’ve done enough for the day, so I head back for a shower then walk over to the main road where I grab a bite at Depth N’ Green. It's my favorite healthy restaurant for a veg thali or smoothie. I retire around 7pm. The schedule may sound boring but I’m not bored. I find learning yoga to be challenging and interesting and the pace of the daily routine provides a nice structure for learning.

There’s no class on Sundays. I was invited to go on a bike ride with a group of riders at Cyclopedia, a local shop that did some work on my bike, but declined as I didn’t want the pressure of having to get up at 5am to start cycling at 6am, with a bunch of young people whose pace would force me to push my own limits on the rest day.

Here are highlights from the week:

I realize that the only force or pressure in this experience is coming from within me. And yet, I notice that the force and pressure I bring to things. It is still difficult to continue something you suck at it. But the point of the practice is to cleanse and harmonize body, mind and breath, so my job is to just breathe and work on the movements and be with the sucking feeling, knowing that over time I will suck less.

Practicing asanas helps me see how rigid my body is. Sitting at a desk 8-12 hours a day since I’m 19 y/o has played a part. A less obvious thing I’ve noticed is that I never really use my trunk or breathe from my belly. The new territory -- I’m discovering through the bends and movements in this practice, all of the muscles of the trunk, are more stiff and rigid than the rest of the system.

I’ve never taken a dance class or ever paid much attention to movement during sports, so following very technical instructions on the mat can be challenging. I notice how foreign this all is to me when given instructions about the sequence of steps I’m to take to complete an asana.

I’m unable to make my legs straight in any position which seems to puzzle Meeta (the Assistant Teacher). She says, “Make this leg straight.” I respond that it’s as straight as it can go. She looks at me like I’m a foreign whale, then very subtly hisses at me without making eye contact, and walks away as if to say that I’m not dedicated enough.

I’m noticing a subtle shift in my relationship to food. I want to eat less, and then I actually eat less because of the edge it provides me in moving through the sequence of asanas in the afternoon. I’ve read about the benefits of restricting calories in many places, but never experienced the benefits so directly. Practicing yoga helps me stop eating when I feel 70% full at lunch.

Pairing the rigid structure of Bharath’s yoga where every movement in the series is intimately tied with a breathing movement and nothing is left to chance, with my emergent approach to what’s next for me with work feels complementary and solid.

In the morning I notice the new day with greater clarity, even if it feels familiar. Birds chirp. Rickshaws beep. I turn a rickety fan on and the whirling provides the soundscape for a new day to begin.

Yesterday morning (Day 6) was the first time I went into class without a bundle of nerves. I've gone through the routine enough times where I now have a basic sense of how things work. I still use my manual to proceed through the sequences, but I’m less anxious about receiving stern adjustments that Meeta makes on my form during class (The master, Bharaht's adjustments are more gentle and encouraging).

I found a quote I want to return to until it becomes part of who I am, so I’m sharing with you to remind myself to keep committing to the words.

“When one experiences truth, the madness of finding fault with others disappears.” -S.N.Goenka.

Meditating deeply about the inevitable demise of mind and body. Inching closer and closer to the sad fact that we all end up as bones, teeth and hair one day helps me wake up to everything that is perfectly right with this moment.

Remembering and getting more clear about a healthy, practical and efficient way to think about agency in the world. My focus is on tending to and creating the conditions for my life to continue blooming (The inputs -- my intentions and what I do moment-to-moment and day-to-day, versus focusing on a fantasy set of outcomes that I can't control).

People. There’s an unspoken rule in the yoga scene here, very similar to mindfulness culture that suggests that this is not a whee! kind of community. When you arrive at the shala, proceed in silence and develop concentration with your practice. Unlike at a mindfulness/meditation retreat, you are allowed to look at other people in the eyes, but the unspoken expectation is that you acknowledge others with a smile and nod and then get to work.

I’ve met some nice people:

A late 20-something from Syria. He is in a Phd program at the University of Mysore studying India’s debt crisis. I was unlocking my bike in front of the Deep N’ Green restaurant and we struck up a conversation and ended up talking for two hours about his Phd program, Sam Harris, Jordan Peterson and a bunch of other related things.

A guy from Australia who is not what you might think. Thin with big red beard and balding. I heard he spent a few weeks in Dharamashala recently, meditating with monks. He has been practicing yoga for 8 years and told me that Bharaht is the first teacher that really resonates with him. He says that I’m lucky to have found someone like Bharath at my first attempt to really learn yoga. We speak for a little while when passing at Depth N’ Green. When he’s surrounded by a small entourage of yoga people who seem to know each other from class or otherwise, I don’t stop to talk, I just smile at him.

I really like a guy named Pushpir, a Delhi native in Mysuru by way of Boston and New York. His cafe, Depth N’ Green is the spot on the main drag for healthy food and is welcoming to locals and yogis in training alike. He lived in Hicksville, NY for sometime. He calls Long Island “Wrong Island” which I thought was very clever, and new for me. He is a big man with great energy. He pulled out his driver’s license to prove that he lived there. He’s a sikh and complains that he doesn’t have any time for yoga because he’s always working or taking care of the kids. I suggested that he might take the 530am class with Bharath. He coolly pulled at the perimeter of his beard and pointed to his headwrap. He said, “I’m a sikh, dude. It takes nearly an hour to put this thing together in the morning. I wouldn’t make it to the restaurant in time if I went to the 530am class!” I told him I never knew and dropped the subject.

I appreciate that the people closest to me who are giving me the space I need to be present here for a month without nagging or complaining. Even when Thanksgiving happened this week and I didn’t call.

The quality of the time so far feels like the second phase of rehabilitation after my ACL knee surgery last November. Meeta and Bharaht have been very communicative with me to ensure I don't push my knee beyond what it can do.

I’m thrilled to be experiencing Mysore in the off-season and/or before it becomes too popular. The vibe of the place is relaxed and very normal/local and not manufactured. Even if there are a number of different yoga shalas around the neighborhood, the scene here feels like an Indian city that also has a number of yoga studios. It is primarily buzzing with locals doing there thing, with a sprinkling of a diverse group of international travelers here for the yoga.

The yoga regiment here reminds me that I thrive on regular and uncompromising routines. Class six days a week at 7am and 4pm works for me, even if I’m tired and dread going sometimes. After 15 minutes in class, I’m good to go.

#mysore yoga journal retreat

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