Wandering DMs

Did you know that the Pinkerton National Detective Agency -- famed protector of Abraham Lincoln in the 1800's, and union-busting goon squad in the 1900's -- is still around? And they have time to chase down Magic: the Gathering fans for using prohibited card sets? It's true: Dan & Paul discuss the latest WOTC goony actions, other game-companies that lost their sanity checks, and more.

Pinkerton is a private security guard and detective agency established around 1850 in the United States by Scottish-born American cooper Allan Pinkerton and Chicago attorney Edward Rucker as the North-Western Police Agency, which later became Pinkerton & Co, and finally the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. It is currently a subsidiary of Swedish-based Securitas AB. Pinkerton became famous when he claimed to have foiled the Baltimore Plot to assassinate president-elect Abraham Lincoln in 1861. Lincoln later hired Pinkerton agents to conduct espionage against the Confederacy and act as his personal security during the American Civil War.

The Pinkerton National Detective Agency hired women and minorities from its founding because they were useful as spies, a practice uncommon at the time. At the height of their power, the Pinkerton Detective Agency was the largest private law enforcement organization in the world.

Following the Civil War, the Pinkertons began conducting operations against organized labor. During the labor strikes of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, businesses hired the Pinkerton Agency to infiltrate unions, supply guards, keep strikers and suspected unionists out of factories, and recruit goon squads to intimidate workers. During the Homestead Strike of 1892, Pinkerton agents were called in to reinforce the strikebreaking measures of industrialist Henry Clay Frick, who was acting on behalf of Andrew Carnegie, the head of Carnegie Steel. Tensions between the workers and strikebreakers erupted into violence which led to the deaths of three Pinkerton agents and nine steelworkers. During the late nineteenth century, the Pinkertons were also hired as guards in coal, iron, and lumber disputes in Illinois, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Pinkertons were also involved in other strikes such as the Great Railroad Strike of 1877.

During the 20th century, Pinkerton rebranded itself into a personal security and risk management firm. The company has continued to exist in various forms through to the present day, and is now a division of the Swedish security company Securitas AB, operating as "Pinkerton Consulting & Investigations, Inc. d.b.a. Pinkerton Corporate Risk Management". The former Government Services division, PGS, now operates as "Securitas Critical Infrastructure Services, Inc.".

This description uses material from the Wikipedia article "Pinkerton (detective agency)", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

Paul & Dan get to chat with Matt Finch about his new full-blown edition to the Swords & Wizardry D&D retroclone, now on Kickstarter!

Since 2008, Swords & Wizardry has been the hallmark game for tabletop fantasy roleplaying using the 1978 ruleset, with less focus on rules, more focus on your friends and the epic adventures you're embarking on together!

Swords & Wizardry is the ENNIE award-winning retro-clone of the original 1974-1978 rules for Dungeons & Dragons, an edition usually called Original D&D or "OD&D." (Note that Mythmere Games isn't affiliated with Wizards of the Coast, the publishers and trademark holders of D&D, and that Swords & Wizardry isn't compatible or designed for use with modern D&D -- it replicates a MUCH older version of the D&D game rules).

This is a complete game, with rules for character generation, monsters, magic items, encounter tables -- the whole works.

Wandering DMs Paul Siegel and Dan “Delta” Collins host thoughtful discussions on D&D and other TTRPGs every week. Comparing the pros and cons of every edition from the 1974 Original D&D little brown books to cutting-edge releases for 5E D&D today, we broadcast live on YouTube and Twitch so we can take viewer questions and comments on the topic of the day. Live every Sunday at 1 PM Eastern time.

Dan & Paul recap our annual 25-person indie house convention we hold annually on the sparkling shores of Plymouth, MA. Check our review of hour our classic games went, new games we got to try for the first time, and more surprises. Also: how did the ongoing AD&D Slavers series wrap up In the Dungeon of the Slave Lords?

Wandering DMs Paul Siegel and Dan “Delta” Collins host thoughtful discussions on D&D and other TTRPGs every week. Comparing the pros and cons of every edition from the 1974 Original D&D little brown books to cutting-edge releases for 5E D&D today, we broadcast live on YouTube and Twitch so we can take viewer questions and comments on the topic of the day. Live every Sunday at 1 PM Eastern time.

Paul & Dan chat with Scott Legault, chair of the new Rising Phoenix Game Con in Massachusetts this April! What's it like to start a new game con today? And can leveraging the better part of a decade's experience in professional DM'ing help out?

Wandering DMs Paul Siegel and Dan “Delta” Collins host thoughtful discussions on D&D and other TTRPGs every week. Comparing the pros and cons of every edition from the 1974 Original D&D little brown books to cutting-edge releases for 5E D&D today, we broadcast live on YouTube and Twitch so we can take viewer questions and comments on the topic of the day. Live every Sunday at 1 PM Eastern time.

This week, Paul & Dan get to host Luke Gygax and find out about all the happenings at the upcoming GaryCon XV convention!

Luke Gygax is the son of Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax and Founder of Gary Con. He literally grew up at the gaming table with the designers that built the foundation of the RPG industry many of whom come to Gary Con. He played the iconic character Melf, aka Prince Brightflame, whose name has remained on spells from AD&D to today.

Luke has authored several role-playing game accessories over his lifetime including Legion of Gold, The Lost City of Gaxmoor, a Call of Cthulhu module set at Gary Con and recently The Oculus of Senrahbah series in The City of Chentoufi in The Blighted Lands of the World of Okkorim fantasy setting. Luke is working on new 5e scenarios for the World of Okkorim through his new company Gaxx Worx. Look for The Fate of Chentoufi Kickstarter campaign coming soon. Find out more at gaxxworx.com. He is active in the Los Angeles gaming community, participating in streaming D&D games, interviews, and is the producer for The Gaxx Pack, as well as host of Founders & Legends on Gary Con's Twitch (Twitch.tv/GaryConLive). Look for him as a Guest at fine TTRPG Game Conventions as he embraces being a civilian again after 33 years of service in the US Army.

Wandering DMs Paul Siegel and Dan “Delta” Collins host thoughtful discussions on D&D and other TTRPGs every week. Comparing the pros and cons of every edition from the 1974 Original D&D little brown books to cutting-edge releases for 5E D&D today, we broadcast live on YouTube and Twitch so we can take viewer questions and comments on the topic of the day. Live every Sunday at 1 PM Eastern time.

Dan & Paul discuss our personal, customized version of D&D: Original Edition Delta!

Initially, Paul & Dan preferred different editions of Dungeons & Dragon, with some personalized house-rule modifications made for each. Over time, we realized that the house rules we made coincidentally met in the middle, and we were running pretty much the same game, after all. So we joined forces and put our rules out publicly as Original Edition Delta -- the best old-school retroclone set of house rules, in our humble opinion!

In this episode we talk about that history and our experiences developing and running the OED rules set. What's new recently? What upcoming games are we looking forward to running? And hat lessons can you take for your own customized D&D rules?

Wandering DMs Paul Siegel and Dan “Delta” Collins host thoughtful discussions on D&D and other TTRPGs every week. Comparing the pros and cons of every edition from the 1974 Original D&D little brown books to cutting-edge releases for 5E D&D today, we broadcast live on YouTube and Twitch so we can take viewer questions and comments on the topic of the day. Live every Sunday at 1 PM Eastern time.

Image courtesy Midjourney via CC Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International.

Dan interviews Paul on his weekend trip to the first convention of the season, Total Confusion, the largest gaming con in New England. How to prepare in short time if you're busy like we are? What's the best way to boost your save vs. con crud?

Wandering DMs Paul Siegel and Dan “Delta” Collins host thoughtful discussions on D&D and other TTRPGs every week. Comparing the pros and cons of every edition from the 1974 Original D&D little brown books to cutting-edge releases for 5E D&D today, we broadcast live on YouTube and Twitch so we can take viewer questions and comments on the topic of the day. Live every Sunday at 1 PM Eastern time.

Paul & Dan reflect on the legacy of digital tools for D&D from Wizard of the Coast, and what the prospects are for what's next!

Read the analysis by Janelle Jaquays on Facebook

Wandering DMs Paul Siegel and Dan “Delta” Collins host thoughtful discussions on D&D and other TTRPGs every week. Comparing the pros and cons of every edition from the 1974 Original D&D little brown books to cutting-edge releases for 5E D&D today, we broadcast live on YouTube and Twitch so we can take viewer questions and comments on the topic of the day. Live every Sunday at 1 PM Eastern time.

Thumbnail image courtesy of Wizards of the Coast.

Dan & Paul hash over the benefits & flaws of working with other people in your TTRPG design, DM'ing, nd play!

Collaboration (from Latin com- "with" + laborare "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most collaboration requires leadership,[vague] although the form of leadership can be social within a decentralized and egalitarian group. Teams that work collaboratively often access greater resources, recognition and rewards when facing competition for finite resources.

Structured methods of collaboration encourage introspection of behavior and communication. Such methods aim to increase the success of teams as they engage in collaborative problem-solving. Collaboration is present in opposing goals exhibiting the notion of adversarial collaboration, though this is not a common use of the term. In its applied sense, "(a) collaboration is a purposeful relationship in which all parties strategically choose to cooperate in order to accomplish a shared outcome."

Wandering DMs Paul Siegel and Dan “Delta” Collins host thoughtful discussions on D&D and other TTRPGs every week. Comparing the pros and cons of every edition from the 1974 Original D&D little brown books to cutting-edge releases for 5E D&D today, we broadcast live on YouTube and Twitch so we can take viewer questions and comments on the topic of the day. Live every Sunday at 1 PM Eastern time.

This description uses material from the Wikipedia article "Collaboration", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

Thumbnail image courtesy of Craiyon.

Dan & Paul sit down with Linda Codega, the exceptional journalist at io9/Gizmodo who broke the story of WOTC planning to de-authorize the Open Game License that's been used for D&D-compatible and other games for over 20 years -- and subsequently forced a total surrender by WOTC on their sinister plans! How did Linda catch and produce this game-changing story? How does one balance journalism and activism? Will the D&D and indie gaming industry ever be the same?

Linda Codega, for Io9 in January 2023, reported on the details from a leaked full copy of the OGL 1.1 including updated terms such as no longer authorizing use of the OGL1.0. Codega explained that while the original OGL granted a "perpetual, worldwide, non-exclusive license" it also included language around authorized versions of the license – "according to attorneys consulted for this article, the new language may indicate that Wizards of the Coast is rendering any future use of the original OGL void, and asserting that if anyone wants to continue to use Open Game Content of any kind, they will need to abide by the terms of the updated OGL, which is a far more restrictive agreement than the original OGL". The document also states that the intention of the OGL was not "to fund major competitors and it wasn't intended to allow people to make D&D apps, videos, or anything other than printed (or printable) materials for use while gaming". In a statement to EN World, Dancey – former VP of Wizards of the Coast and the architect of OGL1.0 – said, "my public opinion is that Hasbro does not have the power to deauthorize a version of the OGL. If that had been a power that we wanted to reserve for Hasbro, we would have enumerated it in the license. I am on record numerous places in email and blogs and interviews saying that the license could never be revoked".

Following an apology issued by Wizards of the Coast, the company released a new draft (titled OGL 1.2) for public comment on January 19. It would put some of the Dungeon & Dragons mechanics under a Creative Commons license, while other material would be covered by OGL 1.2. Unlike the leaked OGL 1.1, the proposed OGL 1.2 contains "no royalty payment, no financial reporting, no license-back, no registration, no distinction between commercial and non-commercial". The proposed OGL 1.2 does de-authorize the OGL1.0a; it would also be "irrevocable, although there's still a severability clause should a part of the license is held to be unenforceable or invalid". Along with the proposed OGL 1.2, Wizards released a separate virtual tabletop (VTT) policy.

On January 27, 2023, Wizards of the Coast announced that following feedback during the open comment for OGL1.2 they had decided to release the System Reference Document 5.1 (SRD 5.1) under an irrevocable creative commons license (CC-BY-4.0) effect immediately and would no longer pursue deauthorizing the OGL1.0a.

Wandering DMs Paul Siegel and Dan “Delta” Collins host thoughtful discussions on D&D and other TTRPGs every week. Comparing the pros and cons of every edition from the 1974 Original D&D little brown books to cutting-edge releases for 5E D&D today, we broadcast live on YouTube and Twitch so we can take viewer questions and comments on the topic of the day. Live every Sunday at 1 PM Eastern time.

This description uses material from the Wikipedia article "Open Game License", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

Thumbnail image courtesy of Craiyon.