Who?

My name is Rob. I am a geek living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  I’ve been playing roleplaying games for just over a decade. I started out playing Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition, and stuck with D&D into 3.0, 3.5 and 4e, with a few of White Wolf’s World of Darkness games sprinkled in.  I’ve since moved on to everything from Savage Worlds, ICONS, and Jaws of the Six Serpents to Fiasco and Starblazer Adventures. My current gaming obsessions are Marvel Heroic Roleplaying and Dungeon World.

Along the way I’ve played some card games (mostly Magic the Gathering), War Games (mostly Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000; the current obsession is Fantasy Flight’s X-Wing Miniatures Game), Video Games (wasn’t Mass Effect great?) and Board Games (go play Lords of Waterdeep, Settlers of Catan or Arkham Horror, they are a blast!).

If you really drill down to my roots though, it all started with Steve Jackson’s and Ian Livingstone’s Fighting Fantasy books.

Why?

I’ve had a long fascination with how things work, and why things work; when it comes to gaming, I’ve always fallen on the “System Matters” side of the debate (not more than setting and players and all those sorts of things, but it is an important variable.). I’ve enjoyed reading other’s thoughts on the topic and think there will be some value, if only therapeutic, to throw my voice into the mix.

Additionally, a lot of the games I have been running have a strong culture of fan-made adventures and content, and I plan to post some of the stuff I’ve created for others to make use of as they see fit.

Wait… Thac0s at Midnight? Huh?

mmm. thac0s…

Welcome to Thac0s at Midnight, my roleplaying-and-other-nerdity blog.

Who?

My name is Rachelle. I’m a nerd living in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I’ve been roleplaying since only about 2009. This means that I’ve somehow dodged the full impact of the nostalgia waves driving parts of the RPG industry, although I’m enjoying the benefits of the current state of the industry.

My experience in the gaming industry is much longer. I worked in Fantasy Sports for five years. I’ve since left the industry but industry hasn’t left me. Your debates about jocks vs geeks mean nothing to me.

My tastes in gaming are all over the place. My household’s gaming collection has everything from D&D to Dogs in the Vineyard. My true gaming love is unquestionably West End Games Star Wars. The engine shows its age, but I adore the fluff written for it. With games I’ll try almost anything once. My breaking points are more along the lines of terribad GMs.

Why?

I talk about gaming a lot. It’s a hobby, but it’s fun to rip apart game systems, see how they work, and figure out what they can do. Several of my friends have suggested writing a gaming blog discussing my opinions on games, especially given that some of these opinions are related to smaller systems or systems that have very little coverage online.

Consider this less “Let me tell you about my characters” and more “Here’s some ideas on how to get more out of your gaming experience”.

I have no dreams of discussing the flaws of games on the market and how my world’s greatest game will fix them. I’ve done my time in the gaming field already.

Wait… Thac0s at Midnight? Huh?

Tacos at Midnight was the name of a Doritos flavour. It was a lovely name, but the chips were horrible.

I also have a soft spot for the idea that late night TV being the realm of the nerdy and quirky before informerials and the internet.