Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is Thanksgiving in the US as I sit here writing this. Lazy morning for the family as we have some excellent friends bringing us turkey and all the fixings this evening. I had several ideas for a Thanksgiving Day post, but the recent week has not cooperated due to family medical issues. Today’s impromptu post will have to suffice.

So let me thank the faithful readers of the blog for taking the time for continuing to read The Iron Tavern and sharing with your friends. All the comments, retweets, circle shares, and such are welcomed as the blog continues to grow.

I am thankful for the RPG hobby as a means to use my mind in creative ways and provide hours and hours of entertainment. It is often both a tool to “escape” some of the realities of the day-to-day while it is also a creative outlet for me. From writing posts on this blog, to writing RPG content, to planning and running games, these are all things that exercise areas of my mind and provide enjoyment.

A thanks also goes to the folks I game with – both my online group and my local group. Thanks for taking the time out of your nights to set aside a few hours to play the RPG games we enjoy. Thanks for being awesome players and GMs providing a great group of people to play with. And thanks for the friendly banter between games.

And finally, thanks to my family for understanding my desire to play these games, write RPG content and supporting my hobby. Though they might not always understand my fascination with RPGs, they do understand that it is a mental release for me.

Happy Thanksgiving from The Iron Tavern!

Friday Catch Up

Today we talk about some of the things going on around The Iron Tavern.

Social Media

First up, The Iron Tavern and social media. Many readers have found us on Twitter and Google+, but I finally started a Facebook page for those that use that as their primary social media outlet.

The Iron Tavern on Facebook: Our newest social media outlet, swing by the Facebook page and give The Iron Tavern a Like if you would.

The Iron Tavern on Google+: The Google+ page is not new, but perhaps under advertised. Pointers to the updates here at The Iron Tavern are regularly posted to the Google+ page.

The Iron Tavern on Twitter: I post updates to The Iron Tavern under my Twitter account, so another excellent way to keep up with what is happening over here. Stop by and say Hi.

Guest Blogging

Recently The Iron Tavern opened up the doors to some guest bloggers. This has worked out really well and has brought a different perspective and more importantly, posts on some different fantasy RPG systems! In case you have missed the guest blog posts, I wanted to take a moment to highlight them here again today.

UbiquitousRat has been covering the new Rolemaster Playtest for us and been doing an excellent job. His series will continue as he provides insights on the playtest and how he adapts the rules to his home setting of Heroic Mykenaea.

Shortymonster wrote an excellent post on OSR as a State of Mind. His premise that any RPG game can be played as an OSR game, it is just a matter of how you approach it.

Kelly Davis posted a great review on Dungeonslayers earlier this week. Dungeonslayers is a free fantasy RPG with a focus on lean, mean mechanics for an old fashioned RPG feel. Kelly covered the game in-depth and is well worth the read if you are considering your options for a free RPG or just need a change of pace.

The Iron Tavern still has room for a couple of more guest bloggers. If you have a series of posts you would like to do or even just a single topic you would like to cover, let me know. I posted information on how to contact me in a recent Guest Bloggers Wanted post.

Who Is IronWolf?

Avatar by Wesley Hall

This blog is approaching its one year anniversary next month. It has been a good time writing the various articles here, exploring different fantasy RPG systems, reviews and other RPG related commentary. The Iron Tavern may just celebrate the upcoming anniversary with some form of contest next month! But that is not today’s topic.

When I started writing here I did so under the pseudonym of IronWolf. I have used that name in most RPG related places I have signed up with if it was not already taken. IronWolf was the name of one of my very first D&D characters. Many will also recognize it as the last name of the infamous Morgan Ironwolf, also from the D&D Basic Sets!

However, as time has gone on and my more frequent usage of Google+ I have become more accustomed to using my real name. The mixing of using my alias from various forum sites as my posting name here has also generated confusion on more than one occasion from someone not making the connection.

With much consideration and thought I think it is now time to bring things together under my real name as opposed to my posting alias. As my online social circles grow, The Iron Tavern grows in active readers and contribution credits increase I believe this consolidation will help keep things together a little better.

My posts here at The Iron Tavern will no longer appear as being authored by IronWolf, but as Jeffrey Tadlock now.

I have updated the About page here at The Iron Tavern to reflect the real name and added a few more things about me there. I have also updated my Twitter profile to display my real name as well, though my Twitter account is still under @ir0nwolf. I have also added more contact information to the About page to make reaching me easier.