Circa Games

dispatches from terra incognita

Month: December 2012

Craftee Pirates

By

On December 26, 2012

In Craftees, Pirates/Naval

Matt Jackson, author of the blog Lapsus Calumni, posted recently about a fabulous pirate game he designed and constructed, using components secured from a local craft shop.

I’ve walked those same aisles, cast my glance upon those same little wooden tchotchkes and bits, and NOT conceived of such brilliance… Therein lies the divide between greatness and mediocrity.

Matt finished the chest with appropriate piratical aplomb, fashioned ships from half-eggs and dowels, created coins with Sculpey, wrote a booklet of rules, &c.

All the components fit perfectly into the chest. Absolute perfection. Well done, you!

Prufrock in Peril!

By

On December 2, 2012

In Archives, Colonial

The Colonial Angle is a website devoted to miniature wargames (my new passion). It contains a photographic battle report of The Demise of Professor Prufrock, a tale of supernatural mystery and desert intrigue.

I didn’t realize in 2002 that the creator of the Colonial Angle was Steve Winter, a long time TSR employee. While the Colonial Angle no longer seems to be updated, Steve has added a link to the Alliterates homepage, a writing group of noted souls in the rpg community.

N.B.: The links are now curtesy of the Wayback Machine.

From the Archives (Originally posted on March 7, 2002)

Perry-Castañada Library Map Collection

By

On December 1, 2012

In Archives, Cartography

The Perry-Castañada Library Map Collection is an invaluable resource for cartographers, this online map collection comprises numerous modern and historical maps, most in the public domain, as well as copious links to other cartographic resources. Two examples:

The Distribution of the Principal European Languages in 1914

Notable High Buildings of the World, 1896

From the Archives (Originally Posted on March 5, 2002)

Into the Archives

By

On December 1, 2012

In Archives

As I mentioned previously, I “blogged” (though people didn’t much call it that) from 2001 to 2009 in support of the roleplaying game I wrote, Terra Incognita. Aside from bookkeeping stuff (the game was reviewed here, blah, blah, blah, there’s a new supporting download, blah, blah, blah), the main goal of the blog was to explore the then-newish creation called the Interweb for material that Terra Incognita players might find interesting.

I’ve decided to trek into those days of yore and “rebroadcast” the Dispatches. This is partly an exercise in curiosity about what’s still available (I have no doubt that the Wayback Machine will occasionally be involved), partly a wish to remind myself of eight-odd years of daily research into weird stuff, and and partly a desire to utilize all the modern day tags and categories and such so that readers might actually be able to find what they’re looking for without having to scroll through everything chronologically (which you can still do, if you go in for that sort of thing).

Henceforward you can expect periodic forays into the mists of ætheric terra incognita…

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén