5 Things I Learned as a New Hockey Dad

On By Charlie BrooksIn ParentingLeave a comment

Originally published on BabyCenter.com November 5, 2015

Hockey season has begun, and our son has taken to the ice for the first time. By default, he’s already better on skates than I am, since he’s able to move about ten feet before falling down. This season’s all about learning to skate, which means all the hitting and actual competition can wait.

Hockey is a realm where I have very little experience. I’m a big football fan, and I played soccer, basketball, and baseball at an intramural level in school. But hockey is an area where I’m only passingly familiar with the rules and the idea of hitting a puck around the ice is foreign to me.

Since this is such a new experience for me, and since this is only my second time dealing with the sports-dad scene, I’m learning quite a bit. Here are a few of the basic discoveries I’ve come across so far:

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Are Boys and Girls Really That Different at Sports?

On By Charlie BrooksIn ParentingLeave a comment

Originally published on BabyCenter.com September 23, 2015

I seem to have fallen over backwards into helping as a coach with my son’s soccer team. As it turns out, you only have to express an interest (or maybe, as in my case, have a brother-in-law who is also coaching) to do this. It’s quite fun, but really weird when parents say, “Hi, Coach.”

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The Important Thing Comics Taught Me About Kids

On By Charlie BrooksIn Comics, ParentingLeave a comment

Originally published on BabyCenter.com October 8, 2015

Superhero comics are a big part of my life, and it seems I’ve handed that down to my kids as well. Reading a comic book every night as part of the bedtime routine has certainly helped. One problem with mainstream comics, though, is that they’re quite often very sexist.

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Batman versus the Blues Brothers: What Makes a Good Sequel?

On By Charlie BrooksIn Greystone Valley, NovelsLeave a comment

Writing Conquest of Greystone Valley meant asking a bit of an uncomfortable question: how often does a sequel actually live up to the original?

Novels seem to have a higher success rate than films, but both media have challenges when writing a follow-up story. At their hearts, both film and literature are storytelling media that have many similarities. In thinking about what I wanted in Conquest, my mind continually gravitated to the best and worst movie sequels I could think of – specifically, The Dark Knight and Blues Brothers 2000.

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Gaming Stories: Dancing Half-Fiends and the Glory of Infinite Choices

On By Charlie BrooksIn Gaming Stories, Role-Playing GamesLeave a comment

Originally published on Sicdekickcast.com November 17, 2015

Easily my favorite part of tabletop RPGs is the fact that they have so much latitude and room for player agency. No matter how robust a computer game is, there are always a finite number of choices. Because tabletop RPGs rely on human adjudication, the possibilities are limitless…like that time the PCs in one of my games inspired a pair of half-fiends to become vaudeville stars.

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My Son Wore a Superman Suit for a Month: Here’s What I Learned

On By Charlie BrooksIn Comics, ParentingLeave a comment

Originally published on BabyCenter.com September 15, 2014

Last month, my wife bought herself a new t-shirt. It was a Supergirl shirt, and it came with a cape attached via Velcro. Our son got extremely excited about the idea of Mommy being a superhero, and we thought it would be fun to get him a Superman shirt with a cape so the two could be superheroes together.

Weeks later, my son has worn his Superman shirt every single day.

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5 Ways the Tomb of Horrors will Kill Your PC

On By Charlie BrooksIn Role-Playing GamesLeave a comment

Originally published on Sidekickcast.com September 23, 2015

Ah, Tomb of Horrors – one of the few classic D&D adventures that none of my players ever want me to run. Published in 1978 for the first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game, this was a tournament module designed to be played at conventions where they could chew up multiple groups and spit them out.

Somewhere along the way, folks decided to play the Tomb at their home games, where there are only a handful of players…and unless they have a perfect combination of callousness, paranoia, and sheer craziness, they’re all going to die.

So let’s hit the spoiler alerts now: here are just a few of the grisly ways that the Tomb of Horrors will totally kill your PCs.

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3 Great Novels that Helped Shape Conquest of Greystone Valley

On By Charlie BrooksIn Greystone Valley, NovelsLeave a comment

The original Greystone Valley drew inspiration from a wide range of fantasy classics, including The Book of Three, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. As we start to make the transition toward the upcoming sequel, Conquest of Greystone Valley, those influences remain in place. However, there are also a few new additions to the roster of inspirational reading. Here are three books that greatly influenced the direction of the sequel.

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