I'm trying to consolidate my blogging in one location - my HDWT website. I've finally posted a new post there: http://bossythecow.com/hdwt/2009/10/have-dice-will-date/
I'm also on Twitter as HellcowKeith!

Hey all! I'm at GenCon. If you're there and would like to meet up, I'll be having an open Q&A;/chat session in the lobby of the Hyatt hotel today from 4 to around 6ish; drop by any time. For a more detailed list of where to find me, go to www.bossythecow.com/hdwt .

Hey all! I'm in Germany at the moment, working on my novel, but GenCon is just around the corner. I'm focusing my blogging time on my wordpress blog - you can find my GenCon schedule here.
http://bossythecow.com/hdwt/2009/08/planning-for-gencon/

Hey everyone! My whirlwind tour has kept me occupied, but I've finally gotten my official wordpress blog going. I'm still learning everything I can do with it, but you can check it out here:

http://bossythecow.com/hdwt/

As time permits, I hope to work some gaming stuff onto the site as well - but I need to finish my current novel before I can work on that.

Another important announcement: it's taken a year, but GenCon has finally gotten the original Tower of Gygax file posted on its website. You can download it here:

http://67.212.138.102/files/folders/special_events/entry233087.aspx

Thanks again to everyone who worked on the Tower and took part in it!

Hey everyone –

It’s been a hard month. It’s been a good learning experience, and I’ve had many wonderful times and met a great number of fascinating people. But there’s been many challenges, and I’m only just starting to get the situation under control.

Time remains my greatest enemy. I’ve quickly discovered that I’m simply trying to do too much in too little time. I’ve found that I’m just not getting enough time to appreciate the places I’m in – I arrive, run a game, and I’m off again, without having much of a chance to appreciate my surroundings. Travel expenses have been higher than I’ve hoped, and if I’m going to visit a country, I need to be sure that it’s worth the trip. Add to this the challenge of working while traveling – specifically the fact that I have a novel due in the beginning of August – and you begin to get a sense of how crazy things are right now.

As a result, I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to slow down my travels… to stay a little longer in each place, rather than rushing at breakneck speed. It’s not a race; it’s about seeing new places and meeting new people, and I need to stay long enough to actually see that new place.

Unfortunately, I already have a deadline set on my return to the USA. I’m going back in the beginning of August, and I’m only just about to reach the European continent. With only about five weeks to play with and 40 actual invitations on the continent, there’s simply no way that I can visit everyone who’s offered me hospitality – or even every country. I want to get to every country on my list, but I’m simply going to have to make a second trip – and this time, make sure that things are planned out well in advance, as opposed to the seat-of-the-pants driving I’ve done this time. So to everyone who’s offered their hospitality in Europe who I’m missing this time around, thank you again for your kindness and generosity. I don’t know how long it will be, as I will likely do another leg in the USA, and I have stops to make in Asia, South Africa, South America, and Australia… but I will be back, and I hope to meet you then.

In other news, I’m STILL working on getting a proper blog up, and hopefully will get the first post up tonight! In addition, my brilliant artist chum Lee Moyer has produced a brilliant tour shirt for my Northwestern leg and first European tour. These are just waiting for me to find the time (there’s that evil word again) to sort out Café Press. Watch this space!

Hey Everyone!

I've been in Scotland without internet access for a week. I should have net access for the next few days, so expect a longer update soon, along with (hopefully) the kick-off of my actual blog site. I hope you're all doing well!

So, I've got my schedule at A-Kon in Dallas this weekend:

FRIDAY
Gaming: 4E Eberron, 11:00 AM - 5 PM, Exhibit hall
Panel: World-building in Gaming, 5:15pm - 6:15pm, state room 2
Panel: State of the Table Top Gaming Industry, 6:30pm - 7:30pm, State Room 3
Informal: Hang out with Keith! Meet at 7:30 at State Room 3. We'll get something to eat, talk about anything people feel like talking about, and perhaps play a game or two (though something shorter than D&D...;). If we get enough people, I'll do an Eberron Trivia Contest with a Special Prize(tm)!

SATURDAY
Gaming: 4E Eberron, 11:00 AM - 5 PM, Exhibit hall

SUNDAY
Misc: Banquet with the Stars, 10:45 AM, Dallas ballrooms A-C. I have no idea what's involved in getting into this.
Gaming: After the banquet but before the panel, I'll likely be at my table in the exhibit hall, running Gloom or playtesting new things.
Panel: Creating Roleplaying Games 4:45pm - 5:45pm, Houston C

The 4E D&D; game is a one-shot of my design using pregenerated characters. They only take 6 people each. It looks like there's no organized system for this, so I'm taking registration on myself until someone tells me I can't. The people who already responded to my last post are in. If you aren't one of these people, email the following information to Keith@bossythecow.com ASAP:
* Your name
* Which slot you want to play in; if you could do either, let me know that.
April, Steven, and Horatio99, consider yourselves in; anyone else, it's going to depend on how many responses I get. If it's 12, we're good. If it's a deluge, I'll likely do a lottery to fill the open slots.

Finally, if you're interested in hanging out on Friday night, please RSVP to Keith@bossythecow.com so I have some idea of how many people to expect. This is going to be a completely informal thing - I just like to have a rough sense of it.

I hope to see you at A-Kon!

So, I'm going to be at A-Kon in Dallas this weekend. I'm scheduled for the following events:

Friday
Panel: World-building in Gaming, 5:15pm - 6:15pm, state room 2
Panel: State of the Table Top Gaming Industry, 6:30pm - 7:30pm, State Room 3

Sunday
Panel: Creating Roleplaying Games 4:45pm - 5:45pm, Houston C

I'll also be at the "Banquet of the Stars" on Sunday morning.

Now, I've tried to find out the gaming schedule, but the best answer I've been able to get is "We're going to have an area where all the creators are running games. Anyone can easily go to the gaming area and sign up for a game session with you." So as far as I can tell, I'm making my own gaming schedule. I'm awaiting confirmation of this, but assuming this is the case, my plan will be to run a 4E D&D; game at around 11 AM on Friday, and another at 11 AM on Saturday.

I'm planning on taking Friday evening to hang out with anyone who'd like to get a chance to talk about Eberron or anything else - getting dinner with anyone who's around after my second panel and then finding a place to hang out. I'll also have Gloom and a new game I'm tinkering with on hand, with I may pull out Friday or later in the weekend.

Again, if they aren't booking me for specific times, and it is just "Show up and sign up for Keith's games", well, I could potentially prebook people myself... write your names on the list when I come in to run something. This may not work because I'm still awaiting absolute confirmation that it's my choice of when to run. Assuming it is, however, if you're going to be there and are interested in the Friday or satuarday 11 AM slots, put your name down here (along with which one you're interested in). I'll fill on a first-post, first serve basis. I'll let you all know the moment I hear confirmation or otherwise from A-Kon.

Hey everyone!

I'm going to be at two conventions over the course of the next two weeks - Kubla Con in the San Francisco bay area from May 22-25th, and A-Kon in Dallas from May 28th-31st. I don't yet know my complete schedule for these events, especially for A-Kon, and I'm curious if any Eberron (or Gloom) fans are planning to attend. If you are, let me know. I'd certainly like to run some games for people (I'm scheduled to do this already at Kubla, but it sounds like I may be on a looser schedule at A-Kon), and assuming that I don't have time to run for everyone who'd like to play, I'd like to find a time and space where I can hang out to meet up with anyone who would like to talk about Eberron or anything else. So if you're going to be at either con, let me know here!

I arrived in Seattle last night, and I'm currently embroiled in a game of Theatrix (a story-focused RPG I've never played before) run by Anthony Gallela. It's zeppelin-smashing goodness.

As has been the case throughout my journey, I'm still learning to manage my time... not to mention starting a few weeks later than I planned. As a result, I'm not going to be able to get out of Seattle this time around (I'm especially sad to miss Ellensburg, since there's a "Bring Keith Baker To Ellensburg" group on Facebook!). I really do hope to make it back up the northwest later in my journey to catch some of the people and places I missed this time.

With that said, if you're in the Seattle area and would like to meet up, I'm going to be at Blue Highway Games (2203 Queen Anne Ave. N, www.bluehighwaygames.com) tomorrow (Sunday May 10th) from 12:30 until around 3 PM. I'm just planning to hang out - depending who shows up, I'm happy to talk about Eberron, play Gloom, or maybe even demo something new.

If you're in the Portland area, I'm coming back through on Tuesday, May 12th and will be at Guardian Games (303 SE 3rd, www.guardiangamesportland.com) from 12-4 PM. Drop by if you can!

For folks wondering when I'm going to get to Southern California, Delaware, Venezuala, or Fiji, at the moment I've only made plans to September. If you haven't gotten a message conclusively saying that I'm NOT coming your way, odds are good I'm hoping to make it. It's just going to be a while.

I've met a lot of great people so far, and there are many interesting stories to tell - I'll be getting the full blog with pictures and the like going soon.

My journeys have brought me to the home of my friends Lee and Annaliese Moyer in Portland. Lee and I have a number of half-baked (well, five-sixths baked) ideas that we've been waiting to work on for a long time, so we've been at that pretty much non-stop since I arrived. As a result, I've been delayed in getting my blog up with my updates from my last two stops... but it will happen as soon as time allows.

Given this work schedule, it doesn't look like I'll have a chance for a general visit before I head to Seattle. However, I'm going to be coming back into town next week - likely Tuesday the 12th or Wednesday the 13th - and if there's a good place (Game store? Coffee shop?) to spend a few hours and chat with anyone who wants to talk about Eberron, Gloom, or the price of figs in Uganda, I'm all for it. So if you're in Portland and want to get together next week, suggest a place and I'll see what works best for me.

I'm just wrapping up in Boise and getting ready for the trip to Portland, Oregon. I'm beginning to get a feel for this travelin' thing. I'll be setting up a proper blog tomorrow (with the help of my Boise hosts), so you should see pictures and more detailed stories soon. All I'm saying is Beware the Swarm of Sheep!

It took a day longer than planned, but I'm on the road at last. Yesterday I drove for seven hours, then promptly sat down and ran a seven-hour session of D&D.; Today I'm hanging out in Salt Lake City. As I get settled in, I'll try to provide more interesting commentary, but at the moment I'm still a little brain-dead and I have to get back to work on my adventure!

My next stop is in Boise, Idaho. Sadly, I had more invites than I could accept. However, I'm going to be hanging out at the Hastings bookstore at 7500 Fairview Ave at noon on Thursday, April 30th - if you're in the area, please stop by!

It's been a long four months, with a wide variety of trials and challenges. But I am finally getting on the road, starting with Salt Lake City this weekend and heading up to the Northwest. The greatest challenge is time... I have more intriguing invitations than I can get to in the amount of time I have available, so I'm having to roll the dice to figure out where to go. There's an excellent chance I'll end up passing through some areas twice, so if I miss you the first time, hopefully I can catch up with you on the second round.

Most of the trip I'll be dealing with small groups of people, but I am hitting a number of conventions along the way. So, a few places you can catch me:

KublaCon
May 22-25
Burlingame, CA
http://www.kublacon.com/

A-Kon
May 29-31
Dallas, TX
http://a-kon.com/

Games Expo UK
June 5-7
Birmingham, UK
http://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/

Ropecon
July 31st - Aug 2nd
Espoo, Finland
http://www.ropecon.fi/blog/index.php

GenCon Indy
August 13-16
Indianapolis, Indiana
http://www.gencon.com/

Pacificon Game Expo
Sept 4-7
Santa Clara, CA
http://www.conquestsf.com/

GenCon Oz
September 18-20
Brisbane, Australia
http://www.genconoz.com/

Watch this space for more information... I don't know how often I'll be able to post stories, but I hope to keep in touch.

Hey all! It's been a strange two weeks. My wallet and phone were stolen a week ago Tuesday, and I've been distracted by the aftermath of that... beyond which, I have two important writing projects that need to get finished ASAP (and before I can think of leaving). As a result, I still haven't finalized my travel schedule. If you've extended an offer of hospitality, thank you for your patience and understanding - I will get back to you about times, as soon as possible.

Hey. It's been a busy week, between taxes, trying to finish up my outstanding work assignments, and prepare for my travels. As such, I still haven't fully plotted out my course of travels. I'll be getting back to those of you who have offered hospitality as soon as possible.

With that said, I do have some general ideas. I can't leave Boulder until I've finished my current assignments, which likely means the middle of March. My current plan is to make a circle through the US northwest in the remainder of March. In April, I'll be going to Brazil and possibly Venezuela. In May, I'm looking to go south... though I will be attending Kubla Con on May 22-25 (and A-Kon in Texas the following weekend). I'm starting my European travels in June, appearing at the UK Games Expo in England on the first weekend in June; then I'll be traveling across Europe until I return to the US for Gen Con Indy. I'm still working on later stops (east coast US, South Africa, Japan, Canada...) but I should figure things out soon. Again, it is going to be a year of travel... so some stops won't be for many months to come. Plus, I hear that Canada is bracing in the winter!

This means a few things. First, if you're in Europe, I'm going to be making my way across Europe between early June and mid-August. Second, I'm not going to be able to pull off a convention in April unless it happens to be in Brazil.

Looking to missing stops, I'm still looking for Delaware, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, and Vermont in the US. I'm also very interested in talking to gamers serving overseas in the US military. I've talked to a few isolated gamers in Iraq and elsewhere, and it's been suggested that I coordinate with the MWR to try to run for enlisted gamers. However, if I'm going to propose this, it would be good to know just where there are folks who'd like to play. If there's a single D&D; player in Mosul, it might be hard to justify; if there's a few dozen, it's another story. So if you're in the service and want a guest DM, let me know at onesmallkeith@gmail.com.

Thanks again to everyone who's offered their hospitality, and I'm looking forward to meeting as many of you as possible in the days ahead. By my text post, I should have a solid timetable to work with, at least for the next six months.

Hey all! Planning for my crazy 'round-the-world tour are continuing to come together. If anything, my problem is that I have too MANY interesting invitations... I could spend a month in England alone, but with all of the places I'd like to see, I don't have a month. Depending how this all turns out, I may just have to extend things so I can visit people I miss the first time around on a second leg of my journey. In any case, I'm very grateful to everyone who has offered their hospitality, and I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible.

Now that I have a list of places to work with, I'll be plotting out my course over the next few weeks, and getting in touch with everyone who's offered me a place to stay. It's becoming clear that this really is going to be a year of traveling; it may be many months before I make it to your area, and I'll understand if some people can't plan that far in advance. But I'm confident it will work out.

You can see the list of places I've heard from in the previous post; I'm still updating it. However, there are still places I'd like to hear from, if anyone is interested in being part of my crazy tour. In the US, I'm still missing Alaska, Delaware, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, and Vermont. I have a single invitation from Allahabad in India, and while I'd like to go to India, I probably can't afford to go there for one stop. Likewise, I'd love to get another stop or two in Japan, especially somewhere like Tokyo. Europe has turned out quite well, but France and Greece are still empty... and there's still a fair bit of Eastern Europe open. So if you know anyone in any of these places who might be interested in putting up a wandering DM for a few days, please pass along my information. And if you've sent in an invite but haven't heard back from me, it's probably just because I've been so busy - but there's a chance the message has been lost in email, so feel free to resend (onesmallkeith@gmail.com)!

Hey all! My crazy tour is starting to come together. However, my goal is to stop in every state in the US and as many other countries as I can manage, and I've still got a number of dead spots on my map. So far, I've heard from people in the following places:

US: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Washington DC, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming (Missing: Alaska, Delaware, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont)

Canada: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Ottawa, Quebec

Europe: Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, England, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Macedonia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland

South America: Brazil, Venezuala

Africa: South Africa

Asia: The Philipines, India, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Singapore

Australia: Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney
New Zealand: Auckland, Wellington


Now, I'm always interested in hearing from more people in these areas, but I'm especially keen to hear from people in other states or countries so I can broaden my plans. If you know anyone who might be interested in hosting a wandering game designer, please pass along my info! (Also, if you've responded and don't see your home here, ping me again - I've been dealing with a lot of email!)

Thanks again to everyone who's offered their hospitality - I really appreciate it, and I look forward to meeting you in my travels!

Hey all. First, I'd like to thank everyone who responded to my last post with an offer of hospitality. It's definitely shaping up to be an exciting year. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, read my previous post for more details - but the short form is that I'm planning to travel around the world this year and looking for gamers willing to trade couch space for my services as guest DM. I'm still looking for more stops; I'm interested in visiting every state in the US and as many other countries as I can manage, and there's lots of blank spots on the map still. Please feel free to forward this link to anyone you know who might be interested! However, I thought I'd throw out some additional questions and requests to help me with the process.

1. If you're interested, drop me an email at onesmallkeith@gmail.com . Odds are good I'll be doing some mass mailings as I get my plans together, and it's easier for me to contact people through email than to be tracking down LJ usernames.

2. I plan to be writing about this experience, whether blogging or something else. Are you (and your gaming group) OK with being mentioned in my story? I can certainly change names to protect the guilty, but if you want to be off the radar entirely, let me know.

3. As I mentioned before, I'm planning two sorts of stops: the one-night layover, and the three-night get-to-know-you-and-your-town visit (mind you, it could be three nights on three different sofas, if your gaming group wants to take turns hosting). Which can you support?

4. Tell me something about yourself. What do you do? When did you get into gaming? What are some of your favorite activities? What's the most unusual thing about you (that you're willing to share with a stranger)? The trick here is that while I want to see as many places and people as possible, in a case where I've got multiple invitations in a single region, I'm going to have to make a choice; I don't want to spend a full month just bouncing around one city. As noted in question 2, I'm planning to write about this in some form... and I'm curious as to what sort of character you'll make in my cast. I'm sure that all of you are fascinating people, because in my experience, everyone is fascinating in their own way. But hey, if there's something ESPECIALLY unusual about you, let me know!

Thanks again to all of you who have already offered your hospitality, and I hope to see as many of you as possible in the coming year!

I was going to wait and post this later, but since I've started talking about it, I wanted to have a central place to discuss it. Starting in a few months, I'm going to hit the road. The short form is that I'm planning to travel around the world and run games in exchange for hospitality - so, if you've got a couch and would like me to run Eberron or Over The Edge for you, hey, that just might be possible.

Going into more detail, I've got two goals here. First, I want to meet gamers from as wide a range of backgrounds and geographic locations as possible. Second, I want to see interesting places. As such, there's two levels of visit I've got in mind.

If you're an ideal subject, then I'd like to have some time to get to know you and your home. As such, what I'd like is hospitality (be it couch or floor space) for three nights. One of those nights, I will entertain you and your friends - running Eberron or OTE, playing Gloom, whatever you want. Another night, I'd like YOU to entertain ME. What is it that you feel I should see in your home? Not necessarily the biggest tourist attraction - but the thing YOU thing is most interesting. Is there a game YOU want me to play that I'm not going to find anywhere else? Something that inspired you as a gamer? Or just the Biggest Ball of Twine in Oslo? The third day, I'll rest and mind my own business... look at things that have caught my eye. In the meantime, I'm always will to talk about gaming, Eberron, or what have you. Needless to say, you're welcome to spread these three days out over your gaming group; I'm happy to spend a night on three different sofas, as long as my goal is met.

Of course, I'm simply not going to have time to spend three days with every interesting person (and I'm sure there will be many people who just don't fit on my travel map). So I'll also be looking for flyby visits - crashing just one night while I'm en route, either running a game for you or just hanging out and talking.

And hey, as option number three, if you've got a convention going on and you're looking for a guess, well, most conventions are three days... I'd certainly be happy to run games and meet people.

If this sounds appealing to you, let me know, either on this thread or by contacting me directly at onesmallkeith@gmail.com . Feel free to pass this along to anyone else you know who might be interested. As I said, I'm sure I won't be visiting everyone on my list; right now I'm putting the list together, and then I'll start mapping out a course and seeing where the lines fall. I'd like to know where you are, who you are, and why you think I should stop in your town... what makes either it or you especially intriguing?

So, it's going to be a strange year - help me to make it a little stranger!