I gave a TedX talk "Why Dungeons & Dragons is Good for You (In Real Life)"

I gave a TedX talk entitled "Why Dungeons & Dragons is Good for You (In Real Life)."

I'm pretty happy with how it came out and I think the positive message about D&D is important to spread. So I'd truly love your help in getting the word out. The more views it gets, and social media likes/retweets/shares it gets, the better chance it has of being featured on the Ted site, which would help prove to the world the game's amazing impact on people's lives. Thanks for watching and helping to spread the word.

Pilgrim for a Day

I'm going to be a Pilgrim for a Day! On Mon June 16, noon-1, join me and deputy director of Plimoth Plantation Richard Pickering, for a Google Hangout live-cast and witness my transformation into 17th-Century Pilgrim, Stephen Deane. Watch me struggle with a period dialect and ill-fitting shoes in preparation for my live role-play experience on site at Plimoth on June 21. It's all for Boston Gloibe story I'm writing.

Settle your colonial-role-playing curiosity and ask us questions in this rare opportunity to look behind the scenes at Plimoth Plantation’s role players!

More info on how to participate here http://www.plimoth.org/pilgrimforaday

geek camp in Boston

A couple years ago I reported on a martial arts studio in suburban Boston called Guard Up. Meghan Gardner, founder of the company, had begun to offer classes in Sport Sword. She and her instructors began playing with padded swords and ''armor" cobbled together from motocross, ice hockey, and lacrosse gear. They studied medieval sword-fighting and adapted the techniques to the nonlethal world of injection-molded plastic, Velcro, and spandex. They created a series of Sport Weapon programs, such as Sport Sword and Sport Armor, as well as kids' classes like Little Knights.  I went there to learn how (and wrote about my meager efforts for the Boston Globe).

Last summer, in 2008, Gardner launched her Wizards and Warriors Camp, a sort of live-action role-playing adventure for kids, which I visited during the research of Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks. This year she offers a day camp and overnight camp versions of the experience, which introduces kids to the concepts of role-playing. In a solid story, the Globe recently reported on this.

What I appreciate about what Gardner is doing is not simply that she's having campers stay in costume for the entire week, solve puzzles, and go on quests. Her camp counselors are teaching values such as camaraderie, honor, compassion and courage. And, in a way, she is indoctrinating a whole new generation of gaming geeks—only these geeks are running around outside, and they are learning how to kick ass with swords.