Real Life Adventures: A Return to Quasqueton
Dec10

Real Life Adventures: A Return to Quasqueton

Our Real Life Adventures series takes a look at unique sights, interesting places, and curious landmarks in that most fabulous of realms . . . the real world! Whether they be tours of spots directly related to gaming’s rich history, or places that are just flat out amazing or weird, our Real Life Adventures can serve as inspiration for your own tabletop gaming — be sure to check out the other articles in this series for...

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Real Life Adventures: Howard Days 2023
Jun02

Real Life Adventures: Howard Days 2023

Our Real Life Adventures series takes a look at unique sights, interesting places, and curious landmarks in that most fabulous of realms . . . the real world! Whether they be tours of spots directly related to gaming’s rich history, or places that are just flat out amazing or weird, our Real Life Adventures can serve as inspiration for your own tabletop gaming — be sure to check out the other articles in this...

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Real Life Adventures: My Visit to Quasqueton, Iowa
Feb19

Real Life Adventures: My Visit to Quasqueton, Iowa

Our Real Life Adventures series takes a look at unique sights, interesting places, and curious landmarks in that most fabulous of realms . . . the real world! Whether they be tours of spots directly related to gaming’s rich history, or places that are just flat out amazing or weird, our Real Life Adventures can serve as inspiration for your own tabletop gaming — be sure to check out the other articles in this series for...

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Real Life Adventures: Dieter Visits the Mayan Ruins
Feb12

Real Life Adventures: Dieter Visits the Mayan Ruins

Real Life Adventures: Lamanai, Belize by Dieter Zimmerman Most of the fantasy novels we are familiar with draw heavily from European mythology, history, and literature, but there is a vast amount of inspiration to be found in other cultures as well. M. A. R. Barker well knew this when he created the Empire of the Petal Throne RPG and the later novels set in Tékumel, a fantasy world that draws heavily from Central America, the Middle...

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Films of High Adventure: Robert E. Howard
Jan24

Films of High Adventure: Robert E. Howard

The Films of High Adventure series examines the impact that the authors of Appendix N have had on the world at large. Be sure to check out the entire series, as we present the following article in celebration of the birthday of Robert E. Howard. Films of High Adventure: Robert E Howard by Bob Brinkman The wonderful thing about Appendix N is that the authors’ work often leapt off the page and into other mediums – such as film...

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Real Life Adventures: America’s Stonehenge
Dec26

Real Life Adventures: America’s Stonehenge

Real Life Adventures: America’s Stonehenge by Michael Curtis There is a hill in Salem, NH which has sparked a great deal of conversation for more than a century. Stone chambers, standing menhirs purportedly aligned with astronomical events, and a table some believe was used in sacrificial rituals are built atop and into the side of this hill. For many years it was called “Mystery Hill,” but in recent decades it is known as “America’s...

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Real Life Adventures: Opus 40
Dec23

Real Life Adventures: Opus 40

Real Life Adventures: Opus 40 by Michael Curtis A menhir of bluestone rises towards the sky. Stone ramps wind their way up to the platform upon which it stands. Pits filled with water lie below it. Winding stairs of fitted stone rise and descend, almost enticingly, as if urging you to follow them to secret places. In the distance beyond all this, the mountains rise, ancient and silent, as if waiting for some event about to unfold…...

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Real Life Adventures: Lovecraft’s Providence
Oct30

Real Life Adventures: Lovecraft’s Providence

Real Life Adventures: Lovecraft’s Providence by Michael Curtis and Brendan LaSalle Halloween is the perfect time to celebrate one Howard Phillips Lovecraft. To that end, we re-present this Real Life Adventure that took two of our own to his birthplace. Goodman Games uses a number of methods to inspire the creativity behind our adventures. What we call “real life adventures” is one such method. This is where we travel to inspirational...

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Michael Curtis Visits Leiber’s Legendary Lankhmar Library in Houston
Sep21

Michael Curtis Visits Leiber’s Legendary Lankhmar Library in Houston

To celebrate the release of DCC Lankhmar: The Greatest Thieves in Lankhmar and the new stories featuring Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser appearing in Tales From the Magician’s Skull #6, we are re-posting this article about Michael Curtis’ trip to research the Fritz Leiber Papers in Houston. Our Appendix N Archeology and Adventures in Fiction series are meant to take a look at the writers and creators behind the genre(s) that...

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Real Life Adventures: Gilmerton Cove
Jul13

Real Life Adventures: Gilmerton Cove

Real Life Adventures: Gilmerton Cove By Daniel J. Bishop The idea of a dungeon hidden beneath a building in town is an old one in gaming. This past August I had the opportunity to visit one that exists in real life. Gilmerton Cove is far from a megadungeon, but it is large and old enough to be interesting—and it certainly has lessons for the prospective Game Master. Gilmerton is a suburb of Edinburgh, Scotland, that used to be a coal...

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Real Life Adventures: The Tolkien Exhibit at the Morgan Museum
Mar04

Real Life Adventures: The Tolkien Exhibit at the Morgan Museum

Real Life Adventures – The Tolkien Exhibit at the Morgan Museum by Michael Curtis A couple of days before Valentine’s Day, as snow and freezing rain spit down upon me, I found myself standing on a railroad station platform awaiting the arrival of the train that would whisk me away into the heart of New York City. Poor weather notwithstanding, I was on a quest, one that would take me more than 100 years into the past by our reckoning...

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Real Life Adventures – The Robert E. Howard House
Jan25

Real Life Adventures – The Robert E. Howard House

113 years ago, Robert E. Howard was born. Best known for his character Conan, Howard also created Solomon Kane, Kull the Conquerer, and the sword and sorcery genre as we know it today. If you play D&D or DCC, you have touched Howard’s work, whether you know it or not. To honor his birth, we present this special installment of Real Life Adventures, where intrepid writer-adventurer Marc Bruner visits Howard’s birthplace in Texas....

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