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Jon Pickens
Jon Pickens is an American game designer and editor who has worked on numerous products for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game from TSR and later Wizards of the Coast. Early life and education Jon Pickens was born in Mishawaka, Indiana on August 12, 1954. In 1968, he was introduced to miniatures wargaming, and his parents bought him the '' Blitzkrieg'' wargame for Christmas that year. A couple of months later, Pickens responded to an ad in ''Popular Mechanics'' for a magazine titled '' Strategy & Tactics''. He wrote in for a sample copy, and “spent the rest of the summer mowing lawns to get enough money to buy some wargames advertised in the magazine, and to get all the back issues.” The publishers did not carry back issues, “So I wrote a letter to this collector, whose name was Gary Gygax, and arranged to buy the back issues from him. Gary invited me to attend a gaming convention in Madison. By a coincidence, my father had a speaking engagement in Delav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
:Template:Infobox Writer/doc
Infobox writer may be used to summarize information about a person who is a writer/author (includes screenwriters). If the writer-specific fields here are not needed, consider using the more general ; other infoboxes there can be found in :People and person infobox templates. This template may also be used as a module (or sub-template) of ; see WikiProject Infoboxes/embed for guidance on such usage. Syntax The infobox may be added by pasting the template as shown below into an article. All fields are optional. Any unused parameter names can be left blank or omitted. Parameters Please remove any parameters from an article's infobox that are unlikely to be used. All parameters are optional. Unless otherwise specified, if a parameter has multiple values, they should be comma-separated using the template: : which produces: : , language= If any of the individual values contain commas already, add to use semi-colons as separators: : which produces: : , ps ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Popular Mechanics
''Popular Mechanics'' (sometimes PM or PopMech) is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do-it-yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation and transportation of all types, space, tools and gadgets are commonly featured. It was founded in 1902 by Henry Haven Windsor, who was the editor and—as owner of the Popular Mechanics Company—the publisher. For decades, the tagline of the monthly magazine was "Written so you can understand it." In 1958, PM was purchased by the Hearst Corporation, now Hearst Communications. In 2013, the US edition changed from twelve to ten issues per year, and in 2014 the tagline was changed to "How your world works." The magazine added a podcast in recent years, including regular features ''Most Useful Podcast Ever'' and ''How Your World Works''. History ''Popular Mechanics'' was founded in Chicago by Henry Haven Windsor, with the first issue dated January 11, 1902. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monster Manual
The ''Monster Manual'' (''MM'' is the primary bestiary sourcebook for Monsters in Dungeons & Dragons, monsters in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D'' fantasy role-playing game, first published in 1977 by TSR (company), TSR. The ''Monster Manual'' was the first hardcover D&D book and includes monsters derived from mythology and folklore, as well as creatures created specifically for ''D&D''. Creature descriptions include game-specific statistics (such as the monster's Experience point#Level-based progression, level or number of hit dice), a brief description of its habits and habitats, and typically an image of the creature. Along with the ''Player's Handbook'' and ''Dungeon Master's Guide'', the ''Monster Manual'' is one of the three "core rulebooks" in most editions of the ''D&D'' game. As such, new editions of the ''Monster Manual'' have been released for each edition of ''D&D''. Due to the level of detail and illustration included in the 1977 release, the book was cited as a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Player's Handbook
The ''Player's Handbook'' (spelled ''Players Handbook'' in first edition ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' (''AD&D'')) is a book of rules for the fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). It does not contain the complete set of rules for the game, and only includes rules for use by players of the game. Additional rules, for use by Dungeon Masters (DMs), who referee the game, can be found in the ''Dungeon Master's Guide''. Many optional rules, such as those governing extremely high-level players, and some of the more obscure spells, are found in other sources. Since the first edition, the ''Player's Handbook'' has contained tables and rules for creating characters, lists of the abilities of the different character classes, the properties and costs of equipment, descriptions of spells that magic-using character classes (such as wizards or clerics) can cast, and numerous other rules governing gameplay. Both the ''Dungeon Master's Guide'' and the ''Player's Handboo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arms And Equipment Guide
The ''Arms and Equipment Guide'' is the name of two supplementary rule books for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. Each describes various equipment that can be used in a campaign. 2nd edition Contents The original ''Arms and Equipment Guide'' explored and expanded the second edition ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' ''Player's Handbook'' equipment lists in detail. Publication history The original ''Arms and Equipment Guide'' was designed by Grant Boucher, Troy Christensen, Jon Pickens, John Terra, and Scott Davis. It was intended for the 2nd edition of ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'', and was published in 1991. The book was edited by Anne Brown and Jon Pickens. Interior artists included Daniel Horne, Erik Olson, Keith Parkinson, Michael Weaver, Kelly Freas, Laura Freas, Mark Nelson, Karl Waller, Valerie Valusek, Stephen D. Sullivan, Ken Frank, and Ned Dameron. Reception Rick Swan reviewed ''Arms and Equipment Guide'' for '' Dragon'' magazine #192 (April 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adventure (Dungeons & Dragons)
In the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game, an adventure or module is a guide for managing player knowledge and activities within a specific scenario. Commercially, a published adventure comes as a pre-packaged book or box set that is used exclusively by the Dungeon Master. It typically contains background information for the plot or story, maps, vignettes of interesting locations, site inventories, creature descriptions and statistics, player visual aids, and suggested rules for evaluating events and likely player actions. The term ''adventure'' is currently used by the game's publisher Wizards of the Coast. In early editions of the game these publications were commonly referred to as ''modules'', which stems from the term ''dungeon module'', used to refer to the earliest adventures published by TSR, with other variations on the module name appearing on latter adventures. The term ''module'' continued to be popular among players of the original ''Dungeons & Dragons'' and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alarums And Excursions
''Alarums and Excursions'' (''A&E'') is an amateur press association (APA) started in June 1975 by Lee Gold; publication continues to the present day. It was one of the first publications to focus solely on role-playing games. History In 1964, Bruce Pelz of the Los Angeles Science Fiction Society (LASFS) began a monthly amateur press association known as ''APA-L''. In 1974, with the publication of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' by TSR, Inc., articles and comments about the new roleplaying game began to fill the pages of ''APA-L''. Pelz felt the discussion was taking up too much space, and he asked Lee Gold to start a new APA that would take this material and focus entirely on roleplaying games. The first issue of ''Alarums and Excursions'' appeared in June 1975, the title taken from an Elizabethan drama stage direction that moved soldiers across a stage. In addition to removing roleplaying games discussion out of ''APA-L'', the initial aim of the publication was to prevent roleplaying ga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chainmail (game)
''Chainmail'' is a medieval miniature wargame created by Gary Gygax and Jeff Perren. Gygax developed the core medieval system of the game by expanding on rules authored by his fellow Lake Geneva Tactical Studies Association (LGTSA) member Perren, a hobby-shop owner with whom he had become friendly. Guidon Games released the first edition of ''Chainmail'' in 1971. Early history Origins In 1967, Henry Bodenstedt created the medieval wargame '' Siege of Bodenburg'', which was designed for use with 40mm miniatures. Gary Gygax first encountered ''Siege of Bodenburg'' at Gen Con I (1968), and played the game during that convention. The rules for ''Siege of Bodenburg'' had been published in '' Strategy & Tactics'' magazine, and Jeff Perren developed his own medieval rules based on those and shared them with Gary Gygax. The original set of medieval miniatures rules by Jeff Perren were just four pages. Gygax edited and expanded these rules, which were published as "Geneva Medieval M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bachelor Of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years, depending on the country and institution. * Degree attainment typically takes four years in Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Brazil, Brunei, China, Egypt, Ghana, Greece, Georgia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Mexico, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Serbia, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, the United States and Zambia. * Degree attainment typically takes three years in Albania, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Caribbean, Iceland, India, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Switzerland, the Canadian province of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Valparaiso University
Valparaiso University (Valpo) is a private university in Valparaiso, Indiana. It is a Lutheran university with about 3,000 students from over 50 countries on a campus of . Originally named Valparaiso Male and Female College, Valparaiso University was founded in 1859 as one of the first coeducation colleges in the United States. Valpo has five undergraduate colleges and a graduate school. It is home to the second-largest collegiate chapel in the world, the Chapel of the Resurrection. History Valparaiso Male and Female College In 1859, citizens of Valparaiso were so supportive of the placement of the college that they raised $11,000 to encourage the Methodist Church to locate there. The school opened on September 21, 1859, to 75 students, and was one of the first coeducational colleges in the nation. Students paid tuition expenses of $8 per term (three terms per year), plus nearby room and board costs of approximately $2 per week. Instruction at the college actually began with y ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gen Con
Gen Con is the largest tabletop game convention in North America by both attendance and number of events. It features traditional pen-and-paper, board, and card games, including role-playing games, miniatures wargames, live action role-playing games, collectible card games, and strategy games. Gen Con also features computer games. Attendees engage in a variety of tournament and interactive game sessions. In 2019, Gen Con had nearly 70,000 unique attendees. Established in 1968 as the Lake Geneva Wargames Convention by Gary Gygax, who later co-created ''Dungeons & Dragons'', Gen Con was first held in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. The convention was moved to various locations in Wisconsin from 1972 to 1984 before becoming fixed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1985, where it remained until moving to Indianapolis, Indiana, in 2003. Other Gen Con conventions have been held sporadically in various locations around the United States, as well as internationally. In 1976, Gen Con became the prop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-largest in the U.S. The city forms the core of the Madison Metropolitan Area which includes Dane County and neighboring Iowa, Green, and Columbia counties for a population of 680,796. Madison is named for American Founding Father and President James Madison. The city is located on the traditional land of the Ho-Chunk, and the Madison area is known as ''Dejope'', meaning "four lakes", or ''Taychopera'', meaning "land of the four lakes", in the Ho-Chunk language. Located on an isthmus and lands surrounding four lakes—Lake Mendota, Lake Monona, Lake Kegonsa and Lake Waubesa—the city is home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the Wisconsin State Capitol, the Overture Center for the Arts, and the Henry Vilas Zoo. Madison is ho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
