Friends and fellow role-players, inspired by EnWorld.org's shift to "Diaglo's OD&D News," I'm pleased to announce that I'm also going to be making some changes as a Game Master.

Frustrated by the trend toward increasingly streamlined rules, the use of miniatures to help visualize combat, and readily available supplements? For my "Returned Realms" campaign this summer, I'll be mixing the first editions of Dungeons & Dragons, RoleMaster, Champions, Palladium, and MegaTraveller for that good old-fashioned feel, with none of the simplicity. The coin-toss method, combined with cue cards, will replace those tricky polyhedrals.

Tired of endless discussions of what to play, assorted one-shots, and low-powered characters earning their reputations? The "Returned Realms" will feature a series of modular, disconnected adventures designed to force decisions along a clear course to godhood. All characters will be pregenerated and assigned, and all other settings and genres will be folded into this game.

Does heroic storytelling get you down? The "Returned Realms" will emphasize independent action over teamwork, encourage hoarding of information and magic, and constantly change the rules of physics to challenge everyone. Why have one party when you can spend unlimited time on parallel solos?

On a related note, the play by e-mail and teleconferencing teams will revert to play by Postal Service games. I'll also be looking to switch from online gaming to the thrills and chills of going down to the arcade to spend my lunch money. In fact, all gaming should be out in public, where we can gain the acclaim of our peers.

If you're still with me on this, I've got a bridge to sell you, citizen. April Fool's! Seriously, though, I enjoyed last night's D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: Holy Steel" teleconference, and I look forward to tonight's "Broken Chains" game, as well as upcoming City of Heroes virtual sessions, Byron V.O.'s visit in less than two weeks, and Dungeons & Dragons Fourth Edition! -Gene

>>Player Character Roster for D&D "Vanished Lands" Party A, Spring 1983

-"Namir Delmarin" [Gene D.]-male Hifalendorin (proto-Western European) human Fighter; LGn, Level 2 (died once already)

-"Krogath Golirsen" [John F.]-male Hill Dwarf Fighter; NGl, Lvl. 3

-"Bonner of Runneymeade" [Jon B.]-male Hifalendorin Ranger; NGc, Lvl. 4

-"Galen Sontil" [Ray C.]-male Hifalendorin Mage (Wizard); LNg, Lvl. 4

-"Dan Gamgee" [Damon F.P.]-male Harfoot Halfling Thief (Hobbit Rogue); CNg, Lvl. 1

-"Ivan Marblehammer" [Frank P.D.]-male Mountain Dwarf Fighter; LNg, Lvl. 2

-"Lark" [Peter D.]-Grey Elf Mage (Wizard); CGn, Lvl. 4

Friends, I hope you had a good Easter weekend. Janice and I hope to see our families in Pennsylvania and Virginia, respectively, later this spring. The weather is still cold here in New England, but at least the rain has passed for now. Spring was heralded by some wildlife in our neighborhood, including rabbits, a flock of large wild turkeys, a fox, and hawks. I've seen all of these animals in the past few weeks.

My fellow participants in the recent Jeopardy-style trivia tournament at work are pictured above. After CW won several business-journalism awards, we celebrated with ice cream from Lizzy's. Later last week, the copy desk belatedly celebrated Bob R.'s birthday with dessert at Finale in the Natick Collection.

On Friday, 21 March 2008, Janice and I went to Acapulco's in Newton, Massacusetts, for a Mexican dinner. After that, we stopped in at Newbury Comics. I had picked up the CD of Raising Sand, the excellent collaboration between Led Zepplin's Robert Plant and bluegrass musician Alison Kraus.

On Saturday, we went to T.G.I.Friday's in Norwood, Mass. We had not been to that restaurant in a while. Since we've been watching the Food Network's Ultimate Recipe Showdown, I tried the new Boricua steak-and-plantain sandwich, which was tasty. We also enjoyed the chocolate fudge cupcakes.

Janice and I began our spring cleaning with going through our books. We found enough excess mysteries, textbooks, and gaming supplements to fill four large cardboard boxes, which we'll try to donate or sell. More filing, painting, and yard work remain.

In addition to our usual weekend television, we took adavantage of HBO's free preview weekend to catch most of that network's John Adams miniseries, based on David McCullough's book. While the casting of Paul Giamatti as the titular (and oft-overlooked) founding father and David Morse as George Washington was odd, the acting was good, particularly by Laura Linney as patient Abigail Adams and Tom Wilkinson as Ben Franklin. I'm not sure how historically accurate the miniseries is, but the human drama of the American Revolution is still compelling.

I was pleasantly surprised to like the re-remake of Mel Brooks' The Producers, and was righteously indignant after watching Who Killed the Electric Car? I also saw some of Anne Hathaway in the comedy The Devil Wears Prada and the violent assassination flick Smokin' Aces, as well as bits of The "L" Word and The Tudors on Showtime.

I had previously watched but forgot to review the interesting adaptation of Neil Gaiman's surrealist fantasy Mirrormask. As friends with TiVo or NetFlix subscriptions have noted, picking which movies and TV shows to keep up with can be a challenge.

I'm sad to report that science fiction author and "godfather of the telecommunications satellite" Arthur C. Clarke has died in Sri Lanka at the age of 90. I've enjoyed his novels, many of which speculated on humanity's potential evolution and exploration of the cosmos. As a visionary and an idealistic humanitarian, Clarke will be missed.

Friends, thank you for the anniversary wishes — Janice and I have been married for 13 years and together for 18! We went out to the Fuji Japanese steakhouse in Needham, Massachusetts, to celebrate. Also, Happy Birthday to Bob R., Connor R., and Steve M.R., and Happy Anniversary to Damon F.P. & Nicole P. and to Corbin A.Y. & Andria K.Y.! Amid all the news of a worsening U.S. economy, continuing environmental degradation and wars, and adulterous politicians, it's good to focus on some good news for a change.

While Janice was visiting her mother, who is recovering from knee-replacement surgery, in Upstate New York last week, I ate some seafood; caught up on reading, filing, and sleep; and kept busy with the usual routine of work and gaming.

On Saturday, 15 March 2008, I drove to Thomas K.Y.'s condominium in Lexington, Massachusetts, to meet mutual friend David I.S., who had come from Rochester, N.Y., for the wedding of Nate P. We then went to New Jang Su, a Korean barbeque restaurant in Burlington, Mass.

We chatted about our respective jobs, the online dating scene, and genre entertainment during lunch and at a nearby Borders Books. After returning to Thomas' place, we briefly met his parents, who were visiting for the week, before Dave left for Nate's nuptials. Thomas and I then joined his friend Matt at Bugaboo Creek. We waited for a while for a table, but the food was good.

The next morning, I met Dave and Thomas at Wilson's Diner in Waltham, Mass. As I've mentioned before, Janice and I have been watching Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on the Food Network, so the authentic casual eating experience was worth the late brunch. Sure, such cuisine isn't particularly healthy, but comfort food is a treat once in a while. Dave and I agreed that hamburgers surprisingly settle our stomachs while traveling when other food won't!

Janice returned that afternoon, and we had pizza at our "old reliable," Bertucci's. However, with Gabriella's Bistro replacing Euro Taste and Wild Willie's burgers soon to replace Bai Thong in that shopping plaza, and with Mexican restaurant Tu y Yo replacing pan-Asian Pho Pasteur in downtown Needham, we won't run out of new local eateries to try anytime soon!

I've blogged in the past weeks about recent television shows. I'm pleased to report that I'm still enjoying science fiction Torchwood and modern fantasies Reaper and New Amsterdam, and the early buzz for next season's Pushing Daisies is promising. I have yet to watch the direct-to-video Stargate SG1: The Ark of Truth, which wraps up some of that long-running space opera's storylines.

Co-worker Ken G. offered a humorous follow-up to Angela G.'s and my observations about Terminator becoming reality, as well as a link to fan-made episodes of Buffy: the Vampire Slayer, much like the controversial Star Trek: New Voyages or Batman fan flicks such as Dead End.

I've blogged before about the recent trend of continuing popular television series into comic books, most notably Star Trek: Year Four, Highlander, Buffy: Season 8, and Angel: After the Fall. Speaking of franchises, I agree with IGN.com's mixed review of the latest season of Stargate: Atlantis, even as the SciFi Channel's Friday night lineup is about to be reinvigorated.

Co-worker Brian F. has had less patience for the kid-friendly animation of the just-canceled Superman and the Legion of Superheroes and the new Spectacular Spider-Man than I have, but we agreed that the writing has been pretty good on the latter show so far.

While the increasing dominance of Fox over Kids' WB is one of several changes coming in Saturday morning cartoons, there are still shows to look forward to, including a new Iron Man and Wolverine and the X-Men on Nickelodeon and, of course, the animated Star Wars: Clone Wars! In addition, several movie adaptations of comic book superheroes are in the works, such as Watchmen.

This coming weekend is Anime Boston and Easter, but I now have an embarrassment of riches for the weekend of April 18 to 21, between Janice visiting her family in Pennsylvania, Ron J.K. visiting his brother in Massachusetts for Passover, and Brian F. and maybe Stuart C.G. going to the New York Comic-Con. As always, so much to do, so little time…

While various games continue to occupy a fair amount of my time and attention, changes are afoot. The D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: the Broken Chains" Arabian fantasy group, which meets on Tuesday nights, is gradually winding down and looking ahead to Dungeons & Dragons Fourth Edition. Fellow Game Master Tim M.B. in Virginia (we played GURPS together in the 1990s) provided some insight into the revised role-playing game from the D&D Experience demonstrations.

Although I think the current Boston-area role-players get along better than their predecessors — in the "Liberators," "Dragonslayers," and "Seekers of Lore," among other parties — the old hurdle of "name level" (Experience Level 10) is still an issue. The Player Characters' increasing power and complexity, plus divergent goals, are hampering their ability to choose or prioritize quests in the Halmed Desert. I tend to run a free-form homebrewed campaign rather than the more linear style of adventure modules.

The first local face-to-face D&D4e party — assuming that Beruk A., Greg D.C., Brian W., John C.M., and Sara F. & Josh C., plus returning college students Paul J. & Bri and Alex J. & Serena C., can agree on what race (subspecies)/occupational class/role combinations to play — will begin in the barbaric Gusorin Confederation after a series of one-shot scenarios in other games during May.

In the meantime, the D&D3.5 "Vanished Lands: Holy Steel" teleconferencing team of Byron V.O. in St. Louis and Dexter V.H. in Brooklyn is moving its virtual sessions from Thursday nights to Mondays. Their higher-level heroes have been engaging in side missions while on their way to the distant empire of Khemet (New Kingdom Egypt). Byron plans to visit the Boston area in mid-April, and other alumni are always welcome, with some advance notice.

We've also had online cameos by Paul and Greg, and I want to keep the goodwill of our spouses, Janice, Cindy, and Linda, respectively. The role-play by e-mail group of Paul, Byron, Greg, and Gabe C. still hopes to raid the Temple of Elemental Evil, but that's only one of several possible one-shots, including a D20 Mutants & Masterminds 2nd Ed.: "Drake's Port" superhero game, Dex's D20 Star Wars: Saga Edition space opera scenario, and Brian and Josh's ideas.

In addition, the City of Heroes supergroup, which includes David I.S., Kim A.G., Steve M.R., Thomas K.Y., and Shari S., has been logging in on Thursday nights and Sunday mornings, with some members playing more often. This group has players in Massachusetts, Upstate New York, and Northern Virginia, and I've been friends with most of them since my college years. I've been participating on Sundays, but I may move to Fridays if Dave becomes more available then. As with the D&D3.5/D&D4e update, we've started considering other computer games.

Of course, we also have work, family obligations, reading, and genre television shows to juggle, hence the ongoing struggle! With the weather getting nicer, we'll have evening walks, yard work, and other outdoor activities as well. As I've said before, it's probably a good thing that I don't have a console video-game system, or I'd never get any sleep!

Friends, I hope you had a good weekend. On Friday, 7 March 2008, I caught the latest episodes and season finale of Stargate: Atlantis, which was O.K. I like the space opera's characters (especially the returning cameos) on the Stargate SG1 spin-off, but the plot was predictable. I am looking forward to catching the SG1 direct-to-video Ark of Truth.

Although I missed the latest Legion of Superheroes, I did watch the series premiere of Spectacular Spider-Man. The animation was a bit simplistic and kid-friendly (like that of the recent Teen Titans), but the writing was close to that of the original comic book during the Lee/Ditko era, in which adolescent Peter Parker struggled to juggle being a broke nerd in high school with being a new superhero. The angst of Spidey's later misadventures is mercifully missing or yet to come.

I also enjoyed the series finale of the WB's The Batman, in which the nascent Justice League regrouped to fight an alien menace. Again, a standard plot, but it was nice to see that version of DC Comics' superteam get together, just as the proto-League has helped Smallville. I look forward to the upcoming Batman: Gotham Knight and Brave and Bold.

Since it rained hard early in the weekend, I continued catching up on reading comic books, watched a few episodes of Attack of the Show and The Women of Ninja Warrior on G4, plus some episodes of Food Network Challenge and Ultimate Recipe Showdown. Speaking of food, Janice and I tried out "Gabriella's Bistro," a new restaurant in Needham, Massachusetts, for a decent brunch on Sunday.

Like Stargate: Atlantis, the latest episode of Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood dealt with the lack of finality of death typical in horror and science fiction, but it did so in an internally consistent fashion. Speaking of immortal protagonists, I finally watched the first few episodes of New Amsterdam, which I liked.

Comparisons to the swashbuckling Highlander: the Series are inevitable, but I found the Dutch (actually Danish) detective and his relationships to be compelling in much the same way as romantic fantasies such as Cupid, Journeyman, and Pushing Daisies. Plus, it was nice seeing New York City in New Amsterdam, not to mention the shout-outs to alma maters SUNY-Binghamton and Queens College. In the absence of Heroes or Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles on Monday nights, this will be a good genre television fix.

Fellow blogger Ken G. discussed upcoming movies of note (including The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, pictured above). We're both looking forward to Iron Man, and I'd add Hellboy 2: The Golden Army to his list. Depending on the timing of co-workers' vacations and St. Louis-based gamer Byron V.O.'s visit next month, I may try to get to the New York Comic-Con.

Janice is visiting her parents in Upstate New York this week to help her mother after her knee-replacement surgery. This coming weekend, Thomas K.Y. and I will be getting together with David I.S., who'll be in the Boston area for the wedding of Nate P. Let's hope the weather cooperates!