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Saturday, February 21, 2009
Survived the Colombo attacks.... still there!
Rushing down from the ballroom was not going to be easy, considering there were at least 500 people crowding the space. I was seated next to the American Ambassador, Robert Blake, and he moved very quickly as soon as he received a message on his Blackberry. He asked me to follow him through the kitchen - but I was not about to do that and leave my two children behind. I lost him. And started looking around frantically for Aditya and Avantikka. Some of the models were screaming and a few had fainted. People were scrambling to get out, as the terrifying sound of gunfire continued outside. The Taj Samudra is next to the army base, and about a kilometre away from the President's Palace. The air force base ( target) is right next door Initial reports said 4 or 5 Czech made planes flying really low, so as to escape radar detection, had flown in from the sea. Two were shot down - the others were likely to fly back!!
I am still in shock. This is the best I can do right now. Not sure when we can get home. We were to fly out at midnight tonight on an Air Sri Lanka flight. Not the best plan. More when I can...
26 comments:
- Ashutosh said...
Strange, isn't it? No place on this planet seems to be secure anymore...Had I been in ur shoes, I would have been left wondering as to what exactly are we living for...how does our work and profession really matter when we have no idea what we are about to face the very next second...and hold on...its not about luck or destiny...its all man-made disaster...People keep on talking about maha-pralay and stuff...isn't all this equitable with mass disaster anyway?
- February 21, 2009 at 12:12 PM
- Varun said...
Hey, Hope you are all fine there. Take care.
- February 21, 2009 at 1:22 PM
- yellowpencil said...
OMG you must have been frantic till you located your children!!! Please do take care and I do hope all the planes are shot down...grrrrr
- February 21, 2009 at 2:08 PM
- hitch writer said...
geee glad to know your ok...
I almost forgot you were in the emerald island ...
whew... - February 21, 2009 at 2:46 PM
- Arjun said...
wear a helmet (at all times)
i know this ain't the time to be funny - bombs falling around certainly ain't funny!
But avoid high profile tgt areas if you can.... and get back to India.... - February 21, 2009 at 2:50 PM
Make sure people miss you when you die and for that u gotta stop bitching and start writing positively. Sarcasm is the outburst of frustration(n ur write ups are overloaded with it) so stop clearin your closet in your writings
- February 21, 2009 at 4:33 PM
- Unknown said...
Hi Shobhaa,
How terrifying! I know nobody is immune to terror these days, and that too in the midst of a fashion show.
Hope and pray you and family are okay. See you soon back in Aamchi Bombay!
Best wishes and be strong, always,
John - February 21, 2009 at 4:36 PM
Unbelievable. Good to know that you are fine. These days it's like anything can happen to anyone, any moment and any anywhere. The world is totally an unsafe place.
- February 21, 2009 at 5:04 PM
- Another Kiran In NYC said...
Thankgoodness you and yours are ok. Thankgoodness the destruction that could have been, was contained. Still, innocent people lost thier lives.
Stay safe and let us know when you are back.
We worry about you.. the intrepid traveller! - February 21, 2009 at 6:31 PM
- Sidhusaaheb said...
I had a sense of foreboding that something like that was going to happen, when I read your previous post, since the LTTE had been pushed into a corner and was very likely to attack Colombo, but I didn't want to dampen your enthusiasm.
Glad to know you're safe! I'd like to continue to read your columns and blog, you see.
:) - February 21, 2009 at 7:27 PM
- Shreya Natekar said...
Good to know you and your children are safe. It was very sad to know the situation in Sri Lanka. I hope people are safe and sound.
- February 22, 2009 at 3:45 AM
- Shrutzz said...
" There is no place, which is SAFE anymore"; never know what you will end up in NEXT MOMENT! Glad to know u & children r safe. Be sure of whats happening around and oly then travel back. come back safe home....
- February 22, 2009 at 10:19 AM
"Boy soldiers & toy guns" had the last laugh, Shobhaaji! lol!!
You spoke too fast. - February 22, 2009 at 10:39 AM
How exciting!
- February 22, 2009 at 11:41 AM
well, shobhaa, maybe there's too much of 'terror' within you, which is why you attract such situations in your life.
So, I'd say to you (unless of course, you enjoy the 'adventure' and the chance for sensationalism - Enough is Enough. Do some introspection, and find some inner calm and peace. Your external world will start reflecting that calm soon enough. - February 22, 2009 at 12:26 PM
- Maddy said...
Wishing you and your kids a safe return
- February 22, 2009 at 6:00 PM
- Piper .. said...
Stay safe and God Bless!
- February 22, 2009 at 10:58 PM
- Harish said...
anonymous... colombobomb... the turncoat>>
the best thing to do is Ignore... but i have to tell you guys,... we are taking this hate club a little too far... here is a lady who is reeling from terror and irrespective of whether you like her or not kidly abstain from such filthy language at this moment. and anonymous>> whats exciting... is it exciting that so many people died? not so long ago bombay was in the same state... was it exciting then???
i wish not that you go through a situation like this. but will you be excited if terror visits you? and BITCH... a worried mother... YES, every worried mother IS DEFINITELY A BITCH?
yes i am upset... upset terribly... because i was reading live updates from my friends on facebook and twitter... i was aware about the situation there and experieced rthe whole thing through their words and updates.. just as i did during the mumbai terror.
De, glad you are fine... love and hugs to all your family. - February 22, 2009 at 11:05 PM
- Radhika Mohandas said...
Hope the innocent are untouched. What is with the world?
- February 23, 2009 at 1:01 AM
- Dr. Ally Critter said...
Am glad nothing happened to you, Ms De. it must have been a horrible experience.
anonymous... colombobomb... the turncoat, your remarks speak a world about you folk. I would not display such glimpses into your characters in a public forum. - February 23, 2009 at 8:54 AM
- Pulkit said...
haha, the models fainted! haute couture mein phat gayee. he he...sorry but that was hilarious. Glad you guys are safe.
- February 23, 2009 at 9:57 AM
- Inexplicably said...
How shocking and unfortunate. Am really sorry. Hope you and your kids are back home safe as soon as you can.
- February 23, 2009 at 1:04 PM
I did not mean to hurt when I exclaimed how exciting. Anything dangerous thrills(not joyful) us, when we are not the victims. Thats unfortunate voyeurism. Of course, I feel sorry for the victims thinking that anyday the victim may be myself. And my own dear people lost their lives in such attacks. Some of us love to watch movies like Psycho and Extortionist all the while shaking with fear. And we take death rides in Disneyland with eyes closed most of the time.
- February 23, 2009 at 6:02 PM
- the turncoat said...
@ @lank1ta
eh, cunt.
speaks more than just the world about me now, doesn it ? - February 23, 2009 at 6:46 PM
- Tom McLellon said...
i specifically did not attend because of night mares before hand. exactly as you describe
- February 24, 2009 at 7:28 PM
- Tom McLellon said...
genocide brings out the worst in people. nest pah?
- February 24, 2009 at 7:43 PM

subset: commoncrawl


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What is a bone marrow transplant?
Bone marrow transplant (BMT) is a special therapy for patients with certain cancers or other diseases. A bone marrow transplant involves taking cells that are normally found in the bone marrow (stem cells), filtering those cells, and giving them back either to the donor (patient) or to another person. The goal of BMT is to transfuse healthy bone marrow cells into a person after his or her own unhealthy bone marrow has been treated to kill the abnormal cells.
Bone marrow transplant has been used successfully to treat diseases such as leukemias, lymphomas, aplastic anemia, immune deficiency disorders, and some solid tumor cancers since 1968.
What is bone marrow?
Bone marrow is the soft, spongy tissue found inside bones. It is where most of the body's blood cells develop and are stored.
The blood cells that make other blood cells are called stem cells. The most primitive of the stem cells is called the pluripotent stem cell. This is different than other blood cells with regard to the following properties:
- Renewal. It is able to reproduce another cell identical to itself.
- Differentiation. It is able to generate one or more subsets of more mature cells.
It is the stem cells that are needed in bone marrow transplant.
Why is a bone marrow transplant needed?
The goal of a bone marrow transplant is to cure many diseases and types of cancer. When the doses of chemotherapy or radiation needed to cure a cancer are so high that a person's bone marrow stem cells will be permanently damaged or destroyed by the treatment, a bone marrow transplant may be needed. Bone marrow transplants may also be needed if the bone marrow has been destroyed by a disease.
A bone marrow transplant can be used to:
- Replace diseased, nonfunctioning bone marrow with healthy functioning bone marrow (for conditions such as leukemia, aplastic anemia, and sickle cell anemia).
- Regenerate a new immune system that will fight existing or residual leukemia or other cancers not killed by the chemotherapy or radiation used in the transplant.
- Replace the bone marrow and restore its normal function after high doses of chemotherapy and/or radiation are given to treat a malignancy. This process is often called rescue.
- Replace bone marrow with genetically healthy functioning bone marrow to prevent more damage from a genetic disease process (such as Hurler's syndrome and adrenoleukodystrophy).
The risks and benefits must be weighed in a thorough discussion with your healthcare provider and specialists in bone marrow transplants before the procedure.
What are some diseases that may benefit from bone marrow transplant?
The following diseases are the ones that most commonly benefit from bone marrow transplant:
- Leukemias
- Severe aplastic anemia
- Lymphomas
- Multiple myeloma
- Immune deficiency disorders
- Some solid-tumor cancers (in rare circumstances)
However, patients experience diseases differently, and bone marrow transplant may not be right for everyone who suffers from these diseases.
What are the different types of bone marrow transplants?
There are different types of bone marrow transplants depending on who the donor is. The different types of BMT include the following:
- Autologous bone marrow transplant. The donor is the patient himself or herself. Stem cells are taken from the patient either by bone marrow harvest or apheresis (a process of collecting peripheral blood stem cells), frozen, and then given back to the patient after intensive treatment. Often the term rescue is used instead of transplant.
- Allogeneic bone marrow transplant. The donor shares the same genetic type as the patient. Stem cells are taken either by bone marrow harvest or apheresis from a genetically matched donor, usually a brother or sister. Other donors for allogeneic bone marrow transplants may include the following:
- A parent. A haploid-identical match is when the donor is a parent and the genetic match is at least half identical to the recipient. These transplants are rare.
- Unrelated bone marrow transplants (UBMT or MUD for matched unrelated donor). The genetically matched marrow or stem cells are from an unrelated donor. Unrelated donors are found through national bone marrow registries.
- Umbilical cord blood transplant. Stem cells are taken from an umbilical cord immediately after delivery of an infant. These stem cells reproduce into mature, functioning blood cells quicker and more effectively than do stem cells taken from the bone marrow of another child or adult. The stem cells are tested, typed, counted, and frozen until they are needed for a transplant.
How are a donor and recipient matched?
Matching involves typing human leukocyte antigen (HLA) tissue. The antigens on the surface of these special white blood cells determine the genetic makeup of a person's immune system. There are at least 100 HLA antigens; however, it is believed that there are a few major antigens that determine whether a donor and recipient match. The others are considered "minor" and their effect on a successful transplant is not as well-defined.
Medical research is still investigating the role all antigens play in the process of a bone marrow transplant. The more antigens that match, the better the engraftment of donated marrow. Engraftment of the stem cells happens when the donated cells make their way to the marrow and begin making new blood cells.
Most of the genes that "code" for the human immune system are on one chromosome. Since we only have two of each chromosome, one we received from each of our parents, a full sibling of a patient in need of a transplant has a 1 in 4 chance of having gotten the same set of chromosomes and being a "full match" for transplantation.
#TomorrowsDiscoveries: Donors for Bone Marrow Transplant | Javier Bolaños-Meade, M.D.
The bone marrow transplant team
The group of specialists involved in the care of patients going through transplant is often referred to as the transplant team. All individuals work together to give the best chance for a successful transplant. The team consists of the following:
- Healthcare providers. Healthcare providers who specialize in oncology, hematology, immunology, and bone marrow transplantation.
- Bone marrow transplant nurse coordinator. A nurse who organizes all aspects of care provided before and after the transplant. The nurse coordinator will provide patient education, and coordinates the diagnostic testing and follow-up care.
- Social workers. Professionals who will help your family deal with many issues that may arise, including lodging and transportation, finances, and legal issues.
- Dietitians. Professionals who will help you meet your nutritional needs before and after the transplant. They will work closely with you and your family.
- Physical therapists. Professionals who will help you become strong and independent with movement and endurance after the transplantation.
- Pastoral care. Chaplains who provide spiritual care and support.
- Other team members. Several other team members will evaluate you before transplantation and will give follow-up care as needed. These include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Pharmacists
- Respiratory therapists
- Lab technicians
- Infectious disease specialists
- Dermatologists
- Gastroenterologists
- Psychologists
An extensive evaluation is completed by the bone marrow transplant team. The decision for you to undergo a bone marrow transplant will be based on many factors, including the following:
- Your age, overall health, and medical history
- Extent of the disease
- Availability of a donor
- Your tolerance for specific medicines, procedures, or therapies
- Expectations for the course of the disease
- Expectations for the course of the transplant
- Your opinion or preference
Preparation for the recipient
For a patient receiving the transplant, the following will occur in advance of the procedure:
- Before the transplant, an extensive evaluation is completed by the bone marrow transplant team. All other treatment choices are discussed and evaluated for risk versus benefit.
- A complete medical history and physical exam are performed, including multiple tests to evaluate the patient's blood and organ functions (for example, heart, kidney, liver, and lungs).
- A patient will often come into the transplant center up to 10 days before transplant for hydration, evaluation, placement of the central venous line, and other preparations. A catheter, also called a central venous line, is surgically placed in a vein in the chest area. Blood products and medicines will be given through the catheter during treatment.
- For an allogeneic transplant, a suitable (tissue typed and matched) donor must be available. Finding a matching donor can be a challenging and lengthy process, especially if a sibling match is not available. Voluntary marrow donors are registered in several national and international registries. A bone marrow search involves searching these registries for donors whose blood most closely resembles or matches the individual needing the transplant.
Preparation for the donor
- Donor sources available include: self, sibling, parent or relative, nonrelated person, or umbilical cord from a related or nonrelated person. There are national and international registries for nonrelated people and cord blood. Some family members may be typed because of the desire to help. These relatives may or may not elect to have their type registered for use with other recipients.
- If the potential donor is notified that he or she may be a match for a patient needing a transplant, he or she will undergo additional tests. Tests related to his or her health, exposure to viruses, and genetic analysis will be done to determine the extent of the match. The donor will be given instructions on how a bone marrow donation will be made.
- Once a match for a patient needing a bone marrow transplant is found, then stem cells will be collected either by a bone marrow harvest. This is a collection of stem cells with a needle placed into the soft center of the bone marrow. Or by a peripheral blood stem cell collection. This is where stem cells are collected from the circulating cells in the blood. Of the two, peripheral blood stem cell donations are now more common. Cord blood has already been collected at the time of a birth and stored for later use.
How are the stem cells collected?
A bone marrow transplant is done by transferring stem cells from one person to another. Stem cells can either be collected from the circulating cells in the blood (the peripheral system) or from the bone marrow.
- Peripheral blood stem cells. Peripheral blood stem cells (PBSCs) are collected by apheresis. This is a process in which the donor is connected to a special cell separation machine via a needle inserted in arm veins. Blood is taken from one vein and is circulated though the machine which removes the stem cells and returns the remaining blood and plasma back to the donor through another needle inserted into the opposite arm. Several sessions may be needed to collect enough stem cells to ensure a chance of successful engraftment in the recipient.
A medicine may be given to the donor for about one week prior to apheresis that will stimulate the bone marrow to increase production of new stem cells. These new stem cells will be released from the marrow and into the circulating or peripheral blood system; from there they can be collected during apheresis.
- Bone marrow harvest. Bone marrow harvesting involves collecting stem cells with a needle placed into the soft center of the bone, the marrow. Most sites used for bone marrow harvesting are located in the hip bones and the sternum. The procedure takes place in the operating room. The donor will be anesthetized during the harvest and will not feel the needle. In recovery, the donor may experience some pain in the areas where the needle was inserted.
If the donor is the person himself or herself, it is called an autologous bone marrow transplant. If an autologous transplant is planned, previously collected stem cells, from either peripheral (apheresis) or harvest, are counted, screened, and ready to infuse.
The bone marrow transplant procedure
The preparations for a bone marrow transplant vary depending on the type of transplant, the disease needing transplant, and your tolerance for certain medicines. Consider the following:
- Most often, high doses of chemotherapy and/or radiation are included in the preparations. This intense therapy is required to effectively treat the malignancy and make room in the bone marrow for the new cells to grow. This therapy is often called ablative, or myeloablative, because of the effect on the bone marrow. The bone marrow produces most of the blood cells in our body. Ablative therapy prevents this process of cell production and the marrow becomes empty. An empty marrow is needed to make room for the new stem cells to grow and establish a new blood cell production system.
- After the chemotherapy and/or radiation is administered, the marrow transplant is given through the central venous catheter into the bloodstream. It is not a surgical procedure to place the marrow into the bone, but is similar to receiving a blood transfusion. The stem cells find their way into the bone marrow and begin reproducing and growing new, healthy blood cells.
- After the transplant, supportive care is given to prevent and treat infections, side effects of treatments, and complications. This includes frequent blood tests, close monitoring of vital signs, strict measurement of fluid input and output, daily weigh-ins, and providing a protected and clean environment.
The days before transplant are counted as minus days. The day of transplant is considered day zero. Engraftment and recovery following the transplant are counted as plus days. For example, a patient may enter the hospital on day -8 for preparative regimen. The day of transplant is numbered zero. Days +1, +2, etc., will follow. There are specific events, complications, and risks associated with each day before, during, and after transplant. The days are numbered to help the patient and family understand where they are in terms of risks and discharge planning.
During infusion of bone marrow, the patient may experience the following:
- Pain
- Chills
- Fever
- Hives
- Chest pain
After infusion, the patient may:
- Spend several weeks in the hospital
- Be very susceptible to infection
- Experience excessive bleeding
- Need blood transfusions
- Be confined to a clean environment
- Take multiple antibiotics and other medicines
- Be given medicine to prevent graft-versus-host disease—if the transplant was allogeneic. The transplanted new cells (the graft) tend to attack the patient's tissues (the host), even if the donor is a relative.
- Undergo continual laboratory testing
- Experience nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, mouth sores, and extreme weakness
- Experience temporary mental confusion and emotional or psychological distress
After leaving the hospital, the recovery process continues for several months or longer, during which time the patient cannot return to work or many previously enjoyed activities. The patient must also make frequent follow-up visits to the hospital or healthcare provider's office.
When does engraftment happen?
Engraftment of the stem cells happens when the donated cells make their way to the marrow and begin making new blood cells. Depending on the type of transplant and the disease being treated, engraftment usually happens around day +15 or +30. Blood counts will be checked often during the days following transplant to evaluate initiation and progress of engraftment. Platelets are generally the last blood cell to recover.
Engraftment can be delayed because of infection, medicines, low donated stem cell count, or graft failure. Although the new bone marrow may begin making cells in the first 30 days following transplant, it may take months, even years, for the entire immune system to fully recover.
What complications and side effects may happen following BMT?
Complications may vary, depending on the following:
- Type of marrow transplant
- Type of disease requiring transplant
- Preparative regimen
- Age and overall health of the recipient
- Variance of tissue matching between donor and recipient
- Presence of severe complications
The following are complications that may happen with a bone marrow transplant. However, each individual may experience symptoms differently. These complications may also happen alone, or in combination:
- Infections. Infections are likely in the patient with severe bone marrow suppression. Bacterial infections are the most common. Viral and fungal infections can be life-threatening. Any infection can cause an extended hospital stay, prevent or delay engraftment, and/or cause permanent organ damage. Antibiotics, antifungal medicines, and antiviral medicines are often given to try to prevent serious infection in the immunosuppressed patient.
- Low platelets and low red blood cells. Thrombocytopenia (low platelets) and anemia (low red blood cells), as a result of a nonfunctioning bone marrow, can be dangerous and even life-threatening. Low platelets can cause dangerous bleeding in the lungs, gastrointestinal (GI) tract, and brain.
- Pain. Pain related to mouth sores and gastrointestinal (GI) irritation is common. High doses of chemotherapy and radiation can cause severe mucositis (inflammation of the mouth and GI tract).
- Fluid overload. Fluid overload is a complication that can lead to pneumonia, liver damage, and high blood pressure. The main reason for fluid overload is because the kidneys cannot keep up with the large amount of fluid being given in the form of intravenous (IV) medicines, nutrition, and blood products. The kidneys may also be damaged from disease, infection, chemotherapy, radiation, or antibiotics.
- Respiratory distress. Respiratory status is an important function that may be compromised during transplant. Infection, inflammation of the airway, fluid overload, graft-versus-host disease, and bleeding are all potential life-threatening complications that may happen in the lungs and pulmonary system.
- Organ damage. The liver and heart are important organs that may be damaged during the transplantation process. Temporary or permanent damage to the liver and heart may be caused by infection, graft-versus-host disease, high doses of chemotherapy and radiation, or fluid overload.
- Graft failure. Failure of the graft (transplant) taking hold in the marrow is a potential complication. Graft failure may happen as a result of infection, recurrent disease, or if the stem cell count of the donated marrow was insufficient to cause engraftment.
- Graft-versus-host disease. Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) can be a serious and life-threatening complication of a bone marrow transplant. GVHD occurs when the donor's immune system reacts against the recipient's tissue. As opposed to an organ transplant where the patient's immune system will attempt to reject only the transplanted organ, in GVHD the new or transplanted immune system can attack the entire patient and all of his or her organs. This is because the new cells do not recognize the tissues and organs of the recipient's body as self. Over time and with the help of medicines to suppress the new immune system, it will begin to accept its new body and stop attacking it. The most common sites for GVHD are GI tract, liver, skin, and lungs.
Long-term outlook for a bone marrow transplantation
Prognosis greatly depends on the following:
- Type of transplant
- Type and extent of the disease being treated
- Disease response to treatment
- Genetics
- Your age and overall health
- Your tolerance of specific medicines, procedures, or therapies
- Severity of complications
As with any procedure, in bone marrow transplant the prognosis and long-term survival can vary greatly from person to person. The number of transplants being done for an increasing number of diseases, as well as ongoing medical developments, have greatly improved the outcome for bone marrow transplant in children and adults. Continuous follow-up care is essential for the patient following a bone marrow transplant. New methods to improve treatment and to decrease complications and side effects of a bone marrow transplant are continually being discovered.
- Established_In
- Hospital_Grade


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Friday, May 14, 2010
Open Friday: Underappreciated RPGs
93 comments:
I'd vote for one of the Tekumel RPGs, either Empire of the Petal Throne or Swords & Glory. Tekumel is too little recognized for its unusual cultural sources, which included (as M. A. R. Barker notes in the Swords & Glory preface) "Egypt, the Aztecs and Mayans, the Hellenic Age, Mughal India, and mediaeval Europe." Barker succeeded in his desire to create "a mythos which will be interestingly different from the traditional ones." Unfortunately, Tekumel's very originality makes it unapproachable without strong motivation.
ReplyDeleteI would have to say Starfleet Voyages (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starfleet_Voyages), an unlicensed Trek RPG; basically a mix of D&D and Sci-Fi adventure. It adapted D&D type rules to planetary adventuring and starship battles pretty well, compared to systems like Space Opera. It lived in its own randomly generated by the GM Trek-based universe, and had anachronistic D&D-isms woven into its reality. Bar fights with Klingons, buying equipment, and adventuring through space dungeons on missions added to its blissfully RPG-ish charms.
ReplyDeleteI'll second Tekumel (EPT especially), for the same reasons - but that doesn't add anything to the conversation, does it?
So I'll go with DeathMaze or any of it's related single-player dungeoncrawl kin. Once upon a time, it was hard to find other players... and these served that need admirably. However many bad habits and however much antisocial behaviors that can be laid at their feet, many of them were quite good. Especially since you could easily translate these to something to run on the campus' VAXen... ;)Flashing Blades by Mark Pettigrew, published by Fantasy Games Unlimited. A short relatively simple rpg that manages to capture the spirit of its subject matter perfectly. It also allows players a great deal of leeway with rules for playing bankers, merchants, soldiers, rogues and so forth. Supported with some brief well realised adventures. Great stuff.
ReplyDelete- AnonymousMay 14, 2010 at 1:22 AM
My vote is from 1984, but I'm choosing it anyway: Marvel Super Heroes from TSR. Mechanically speaking, it's one of the most influential RPGs ever made, because (to the best of my knowledge) it introduces the 'unified system mechanic' concept: A rule system that uses the same mechanics for everything you need to do in a game, from dusting for fingerprints to throwing a punch!
ReplyDelete I played a ton of Marvel Super Heroes. But I preferred the Advanced Version, due to more character creation options. We ran campaigns that went on for years. But, Ultimate Powers book was not a good add on IMO.
I want to throw my big vote behind Stormbringer. I really loved how it captured that world. I always thought the books were a bit silly in many ways. David, my main friend in gaming, loved those books. So he had the whole system. The game whose magic system was about binding spirits and demons was dark and pulpy. Not to mention pretty darn deadly. I haven't seen seen the game in over two decades but I vividly remember playing it one summer. And I remember how easy it was to put some CoC monsters in the system ... since it shared that Chaosium system between them.
One oddity was Powers and Perils by Avalon Hill. I brought it at some close out store for pennies on the dollar along with a bunch of Victory Games James Bond mini games. The system was one giant math problem. But, it tried real hard to capture a more pulp fantasy vibe. It had some great charts and mechanics ... if you had experience reading wargame manuals and could claw your way through the math. I remember making a Grey Mouser clone in the system and being pleased with the results.Unfortunately for me, ConradKinch got my favorite choice before I saw this entry. Flashing Blades is excellent all the way through. My second choice, Swordbearer is one that James has already reviewed, but should be especially noted for its inventive and interesting magic system. There are a couple of games that have neat ideas but a failure of execution that remove them from consideration (Witch Hunt is notable here - it has its virtues, but it ultimately fails; however, it is probably of interest to those studying the history of the hobby due to its seemingly unusual play style).
Ultimately, though, I think that Tom Moldvay's utterly crazy Lords of Creation should probably get more attention than it does. The system is a little clunky, but the breadth of the idea is breathtaking. Plus, I have to be a booster for a game which includes a setting based on the works of William Blake, and an alternate history setting based on the successes of both Spartacus and Boudicca.- AnonymousMay 14, 2010 at 1:43 AM
Empire of the Petal Throne (published in 1975 by TSR)
I'm repeatedly surprised at how unknown this game is amongst old-schoolers. It seems that most who have even heard of it know next to nothing about it.
In a nutshell, a brilliant philologist in his mid-40s took the D&D game (written by young pups: In 1974 Gary was 36 years old and Dave was 27) to a whole new level. M. A. R. Barker is arguably the finest fantasist of all, plus his logical, beautiful, and tightly-structured rules set was written in 1974 and published in 1975.
This never fails to leave me in awe. Chivalry and Sorcery. Yes, the name is fairly well-known, but the game is lost behind its reputation for being too complicated and ponderous. I think it had an excellent magic system, it fit that magic system to a medieval world so that it felt like it actually belonged there, and it had Simbalist's great essay, "Monsters are people, too."
security word: "Maddist." One who specializes in acting insane.Daredevils. The game and supplements/adventures really had a nice pulp feel and lent itself to several different genres, from pulp hero, to horror, to mystery, to lost world adventure. I've always felt most of FGU's stuff is a bit clunky mechanically, but this was just a really fun game. One summer we ran a Shadow/Doc Savage type pulp campaign using the Daredevils box set and had a lot of fun.
ReplyDeleteAvalon Hill's Magic Realm, published in 1978. Probably the best role-playing board game ever published.
Multi-player. Permits both cooperation and competition between players. No DM. Deterministic and strategic combat system (no dice rolls for detemining hits or wounds) Has a built in race-against time mechanic to propel the game forward. A unique combined wounds / fatigue damage system. Has great re-playability. Mana-based magic system that works. Interesting magic item mechanics.While I agree with a number of these, I'll throw in my vote for Arcanum, Steven Michael Sechi's RPG offering before Talislanta. Arcanum was a heavily modified D&D variant ruleset and setting, incorporating most of the classes and options from his "Compleat" series of chapbooks. We played it a lot on college breaks, and it felt like a more logical and fun way to proceed from D&D basics than AD&D had been. It felt more open and spacious, less cramped and cranky. Oh, and Bill Sienkewicz art.
Most memorable thing: the "Andaman" template-race for animal-headed humanoids (a lion and a man ... a weasel and a man ...) That probably influenced my blase attitude toward the profusion of animal-humanoids in the game.I've really wanted to get into Magic Realm but it is intimidating.
I'd have to vote for DragonQuest 2nd Edition.
First of all, I played in it for 5 years and had a great time. It's not revolutionary by today's standards, but I think it was at the time.
I like the classes that work as skills, and the combat strikes a nice balance between easy and detail. The magic system was nice but a little difficult. The bestiary stayed much closer to myth than D&D did.
It's a little quirky like most games of the second generation, and it's written in a dry, intimidating style. But with some serious revision, I think it could have been fantastic.
As I understand it, a game called Fifth Cycle (1990) heavily borrowed from DQ, adding some bits from BRP. I haven't tracked down a copy yet but plan on doing so eventually.Bending the rules slightly to include 1984 I must say I am very fond of Alexander Scott's Maelstrom, a game of 16th century swashbuckling and skullduggery. It has all the strange richness and diversity of the old school with a number of interesting extras. You can play fruiterers and scriveners as well as thieves and mages. It has the most extensive and fascinating herbalism rules found in any rpg, combat is extremely deadly and it can take months to heal from a minor skirmish and magic is very, very hard to do.
It was the 2nd rpg I ever played after BECMIGangbusters (1982 or so?) was a great game, mechanically and otherwise. Aside from Gamma World, this was the big one my group played besides D&D. It was a revelation in a lot of ways--the players weren't necessarily a party (in fact, they might all be enemies who never speak to each other in-game), the characters had to worry about their incomes and jobs, career advancement was tied to professional success. The thing that amazed me most when I first read it as a kid was an example of play where some of the players are gangsters down on the street, and the others are cops staking them out from a high window. All the players know everything the other players are doing and planning, but the characters don't, and they restrict their character actions (with some help from the GM) to the in-character knowledge. It was a big change from D&D, and a huge amount of fun.
ReplyDeleteAlmost the entire output of Fantasy Games Unlimited, I'm afraid, as this was it's heyday.
Bushido is probably my favourite of these. As well as having a long running campaign, I frequently use a lot of the game mechanisms elsewhere, such as the level of place/people.
Chivalry & Sorcery has always been a favourite, although I do prefer the first and fourth editions to the others.
Psi World is a relatively unknown favourite as well. A very thin set of rules, but an interesting world/idea. I liked the skill system.
Villians & Vigilantes is often forgotten when people mention superhero games because it is random, but I've been in many excellent campaigns that use both 1st and 2nd editions.
Aftermath was a bit too complicated for easy play, but people liked my post-Star Change Cthulhu game. Then again that group was very nuts and bolts.
Flashing Blades (which is really an expansion of En Garde when all is said and done), does stellar service in creating career paths in the military and clergy.
Other Suns is almost forgotten by everyone, although it was always eclipsed by the notoriously incomplete Space Opera (of which the supplements such as ground & Air Equipment are very good source material still).
I've used Privateers & Gentlemen to run vast space opera, where only the names (Portsmouth => Luna Base; England => Earth; France => Alpha Centauri) have been changed to protect the guilty.
I have to mention Lands of Adventure just for the beautiful cover, even though the rules took the idea of mechanical complexity a formula too far and an acronym too many.
Daredevils was fun, but I find the rule system doesn't really matter when playing pulp games.
I could add non-FGU stuff, such as Empire of the Petal Throne, Dragonquest (especially the original edition with the College of Greater Summonings and the extensive lists of demons that they could summon), and the Thieves Guild series (especially the excellent naval rules in Thieves Guild VI), but I have already gone on far too long.@David Hayden: Fifth Cycle doesn't really borrow that much from either BRP or Dragonquest I'm afraid. It's still interesting in it's own right, especially if you also can find the supplement Military Races which covers the anthroporphic slave races raised to fight the wars that led to the Fifth Cycle. I like the spell evolution system.
ReplyDeleteUnder-appreciated even on a thread about under-appreciated RPGs: Starships and Spacemen. Basically Star Trek with the serial numbers not so much filed off as covered in masking tape. Published by FGU in 1978, it had everything you needed for a Star Trek-style space exploration game: chargen with races and branches/sub-branches of the service (classes), attributes that doubled as skills, experience, equipment, combat, space travel, time travel, diseases, alien creatures, starships and ship-to-ship combat and pursuit, space hazards, even sample adventures, all in 78 pages. It was a heck of a lot of fun for such a simple game.
ReplyDeleteNobody mentioned "Dardevils"?
I love (and played a lot) that old FGU game (1982).
The game mechanics were awkward (to say the least) and very "unrealistic" despite their complexity, but still, the "careers" your adventurer had to choose during the creation process were just great.
It added a wonderful background to any character, providing him a solid history, numerous useful talents and a many related objects.
Still Old School enough to me, anyway...- AnonymousMay 14, 2010 at 8:05 AM
I have to go with "Fighting Fantasy", published in 1984 by Steve Jackson & Ian Livingstone (of Games Workshop). Based on the solo gamebook series of the same name, "Fighting Fantasy" took the rules a step further, allowing for a GM-controlled tabletop RPG. With only 2d6 needed for play, & complete rules for combat, magic, monsters, & otherwise, "Fighting Fantasy" definitely falls into the "less is more" category of RPG's.
Granted, "Out of the Pit" (the complete MM of the Fighting Fantasy RPG), "The Riddling Reaver" (a pre-published module), & "Titan" (a sourcebook for the Fighting Fantasy gameworld [also named Titan]) were released a year or so later, I still consider the "Fighting Fantasy" tabletop RPG as a fun, easy to play, & unfortunately forgotten game of a bygone age. As someone who actually owns and has played En Guard! I can vouch that it is fun game with a lot of potential. Like OD&D, it needs a lot of massaging, but as someone who loves random tables, I must admit that I pull it out on a regular basis and play a solo game every now and then.
However, my vote is for V&V. I played this game a lot. And even when we "moved on" to Champions, we still used the V&V creation system in order to come up with character concepts. Random character generation has never been so fun.This doesn't meet James criteria of pre 1984, so if that bothers you read no further.
I say 3rd Edition D&D and the OGL. The old school renaissance owes its origin to the OGL and 3E. Without it none of this would have happened.
No edition of the game has brought more revenue, more employment, or more creative minds to the genre.
Each of it's successive versions has been a graceful refinement of the core mechanic and all the versions retain strong links to their 1E grandfather.
The corporate owner of 3E tried to destroy it and it not only survived but essentially spawned an entire company in Paizo to continue the legacy with new products and full compatibility with existing libraries of products. No edition of the game has done this.
Since 2000 right up until this very day 3E proves to be the most successfull and influential version of D&D and probably in RPGs in general.
All hail Paizo. This is all. Return to Gronardering.
Where is the new logo you promised James?Land of the Rising Sun, by Lee Gold. Apparently it was based on Chivalry and Sorcery rules variants, but I didn't know that at the time. All I knew was that it was the most detailed description of feudal Japan and Shinto mythology that I had ever seen. It made me want to play in that world.
I've still not found a better source, including non-fiction works.I'll toss out Cyberpunk 2013. I haven't looked at the new version, Cyberpunk 2020, but the I remember a lot of fun and not too much swearing at the system.
Another one would be Torg. We had a lot of fun mixing and matching from the various realms and settings and the mechanics were pretty smooth.Wow. Not one mention of Star Frontiers? Maybe I was the only one who played the heck out of this. This was the first game I ever really ran a 'real' campaign with ('real' meaning with more than 1 player). In all honesty, what I wanted was a Star Wars game (which wouldn't come out until 1987)—but in the meanwhile, this was a very good substitute.
Star Frontiers was a simple game to play, even though it used a skill system (something a lot of old school gamers don't seem to like). It was this sudden shift in thinking that first caught my eye. Until that point, I had always thought of games as having classes and levels and that was just the way it was. Not so. And good.
Many of the supporting materials for the Star Frontiers were great as well. From the 'wargamey' ship combat system to the adventure modules, Star Frontiers really formed the foundation of my sci-fi gaming experience—something I built off of once Star Wars finally did come out.
Oh, and the art? Superb.
Anyone interested in the game can find almost all of its stuff on the following site: http://www.f4fbbs.com/StarFrontiers/As a player, I'd vote for Space Opera. Spent hours playing that back in the 80s. I loved designing starships and then getting involved in goofy adventures loosely based on Star Wars and whatever other crap we could stuff into the game.
As a GM, I'd vote for Dragonquest, primarly for the modules. I've had lots of fun adapting and running everything from House of Kurin, Palace of Ontocle, Treasure of Socantri all the way to two runs through The Enchanted Wood. Good stuff.Boot Hill is the Velvet Underground of RPGs; very few people seemed to actually play it, but a big chunk of those that did ended up creating a western to fill the void.
Poster motortree mentioned Gangbusters; I second that one. The first edition was pretty much a rehash of Boot Hill's mechanics, but it was superb fun.T&T and EPT are excellent choices and many other good games have been mentioned here. But the obscurity if Tom Moldvay's Lords of Creation is an ongoing Crime Against Awesome only rivaled by the lack of a legal Thundarr the Barbarian DVD set or the existence of the the Star Wars prequels. (Yes, I went there.)
ReplyDeleteTo this day Star Frontiers still has my favorite alien race ever, the Dralasites, with the Sathar being a close second. Heck, I like all of the SF aliens except for those stupid flying monkeys. If this game was released in a new edition (or even the same edition with improved layout) I would buy everything for it.
ReplyDeleteIt's a tough call for me between The Morrow Project and Ysgarth.
Ysgarth had a lot of interesting features. It had a simple method of multi classing - each class had an experience rating of 1 or more; add together the ratings of all the classes you want to pursue and consult the experience chart that matches your total experience rating.
It had many interesting spell casting classes, including demon-summoner, that added a sinister feel to magic; it also assigned a percentage of total hit points to each body part, this made it possible for even high level characters to be killed by low-level creatures if they were hit in the eye (which would never have more than one or two hit points). The game is overly complicated for my tastes now, but I had a great time playing it in the early '80's.I'm going to third Star Frontiers. There's still a bit of the rpg'er snobbishness around SF, and it has a relationship to Traveler similar to BD&D's relationship to AD&D... a la, "Grown ups play Traveler."
It's a nice, simple, concise game, that delivers on the type of game it's designed to give you, mainly "Old West" in space. Its scope, in its core rules form, is more limited in what it does than a lot of Sci-Fi games, but what it covers, it covers very well.
I'll also agree with those saying Tunnels & Trolls. T&T has had a bit of a renaissance among rpg cognoscenti over the last half-decade or so, but to my mind, among fans it still doesn't hold it's proper place with D&D, Traveler, CoC, and Runequest as one of the pillars this rpg hobby was built upon.
And finally, I really haven't read enough of the rules or played with it at all, but Lords of Creation just reeks of coolness. Thumbing through the monster book alone is inspirational, or the appendix of example universes. If you want to see what Tom Moldvay could do when he had no limits placed on him whatsoever, you must pick it up.@ Pat Armstrong: Jesus, Pat, that's genius! I wish I'd thought of it!
Boot Hill is the most under-appreciated game around. No one uses it to its true potential: a true, Western role-playing game that models only the rules needed to resolve Western conflict (i.e. gunfights) in a realistically deadly manner.
I love it.
[I'm not sure I'd call Star Frontiers nor Tekumel as underappreciated on the web]- AnonymousMay 14, 2010 at 1:52 PM
I will second FGUs Other Suns. Does anyone still remember it? I loved the 'futuristic' flared trousers and lunatic alien races - big teddy bears that did NOT look like Wookies. I seem to remember the system being remarkably, and thankfully unlike most other FGU games. I still yearn for it's space-age brown-ness.
ReplyDelete En Garde spawned a large PBM community in the UK, where there was some real role-playing going on. In one 100-issue plus game I played in, about a year's play was devoted to a massive civil war (the good guys won, but my character died defending the Bastille...). I think a similar one called The Paris Tribune may still be going - iirc, Bothwells has been blown up several times in that one.
I'd also agree with Boot Hill. We played that regularly, but I can't so much remember the plots as the characters, like "One Shot" Eddie Martindale, who had this habit of rolling critical hits as soon as he pulled out a gun. Splendid stuff.Well, even though James talked about this not long ago, I still think this games deserves more recognition: Victory Games James Bond 007 RPG. That was the first RP game I played and still think it is a great game to this day.
My second choice would go with the Fighting Fantasy series of game books, which has been mentioned already in this list of comments.
There was another series of game books I was fond of called The Way Of The Tiger, where you took on the role of a Cain from Kung Fu type of dude who was a ninja, who went by the name Avenger. cool series, done by Mark Smith and Jamie Thomson.The Fantasy Trip by Steve Jackson (the GURPS one not the UK one) from 1980.
It was a fleshed out war game and really well designed. I like the fact the Into the Labyrinth (the RPG expansion) included everything you needed for all sorts of adventures, merchants, thieves, whatever -- everybody got a little support.
It would later mutate into GURPS but TFT was more playable in an old school way
It kind of survives as two retro-clones one of the 1st actually called Legends of the Ancient World which is pretty well supported here http://www.darkcitygames.com
Warrior and Wizard
However other than an article on Beyond the Black Gate it gets very little loveRecon really deserves more respect and recognition. Originally released in 1982, so it passes the criteria for this discussion, though I think the 1986 Palladium edition is the definitive version.
It's subject matter earned a lot of unfair knee-jerk outrage when it first came out. What gamers are still aware of it dismiss it as a punchline, "that Vietnam rpg." Even Palladium fans don't like it much, since it doesn't use the standardized Megaversal system.
But its actually a pretty good game, with a much the same good qualities of Basic D&D.
* Very simple rules, everything's a simple d100 roll.
* Quick and easy char-gen, pop out a new mercenary in under ten minutes.
* Clear guidelines as to setting, adventure structure and goals.
* Extensive sandbox-play support. Maps, npc's, randomn encounter tables, hundreds of seeds.
By OSR standards, its excellent, pretty much the wilderness adventure aspect of OD&D expanded and refined for a contemporary setting.Something of a cheat (it was published in 1984) but I have a soft spot in my heart for one of Hero Games' redheaded step-children, Justice Inc. The game was designed to emulate the pulp fiction of the 20s and 30s and had an awesome campaign book that outlined all the sub-genres of the pulp fiction of the time and how one could play it. Only played it for a summer, but it was great fun.
ReplyDelete- AnonymousMay 14, 2010 at 3:56 PM
1979's Heroes by Dave Millward.
A precursor to the grimy trinity of Maelstrom, Dragon Warriors and WFRP, it's the dirty, dangerous Dark Ages rpg that twists like a knife in the guts of UK rpg design. The two that I would have mentioned were JUSTICE INC. (which managed to capture the spirit and versitility of ALL pulp fiction while showing people that one didn't have to mini-max to enjoy the Hero System), and THE FANTASY TRIP (which has already had it's many strengths listed above).
I would alo add the Steve Jackson Games / Hero Games collaboration AUTODUEL CHAMPIONS - which not only added vehicle rules to the Hero System, but made CAR WARS a playable RPG.FGU's Land of the Rising Sun, if only because it gets overshadowed by it's younger brother Bushido. Compared to Chivalry & Sorcery, with which I recall it being largely compatible, it's layout was much easier to digest and I spent many hours rolling up random characters and then taking them on journeys using the extensive wilderness encounter tables.
@Sean Wills. Thanks for mentioning this one. I'd never heard of Heroes, but I'm liking what I can glean. John Blanche art? Barbarians in a civilised land?Yes, please. And I like your description of the games that follow as the grimy trilogy.Noone seems to have mentioned SPI's Universe, which I always thought was terrific. I liked the character gen - particularly the environment matrix which let you determine how a character from one environment adapts to other, more alien environments.
And Dragonquest!
And Fantasy Trip!!
And Death Maze!!! (and it's sequel Citadel of Blood)verniveTo chime in again. I loved Villains and Vigilantes and played the heck of it. Oddly looking back we were only successful in maintaining long campaigns in super hero genre. Makes sense we all had comics and our AD&D characters usually bit the dust in one fashion or another in a level or two.
I have to agree with the fact that Stars Frontier isn't so forgotten compared to many on this list.
Sadly I know most of these games only as ads from Dragon.Both the ones I'd have called out were called out: The Fantasy Trip and Universe.
The latter was interesting, not only for the reasons that groakes stated, but the beautiful star map that came with the game (covered everything within 30 LY with the 3D coordinates given) and the space combat system that had to be bought separately, Delta Vee, which was a pretty playable abstraction that actually took into account something called "physics"Roger the GS nabbed my choice. The Atlantean Trilogy (the Arcanum, the Bestiary, and the Lexicon) really flavored my games since I ordered a copy from Bard Games. Tons of different character classes, Armor stops damage, skills were percentile, oodles and oodles of different magic types such as Astrology and Low (Spirit) Magic, and combat was not tied to a table, but instead was based on a target number and skill. It was very much someone's house rules for D&D, though, and we house-ruled *it* to be closer to BECMI and played like that for years.
I'm not sure why it never caught on. But I know that it continues to flavor my gaming even today. It's a goldmine of ideas waiting to be tapped, and I've found rich veins in those books again and again.I thought you were abstaining from the internets on fridays now... couldn't stay away huh?
As I explained last week, when this same question came up, I was asked by several commenters to create an open post on Fridays, so that discussion could continue in my absence, which is what I've done. I was offline yesterday and am just now beginning to weed through the absurd number of emails I received while I was.From the pre-1984 games, I think that the Great Unappreciated was TSR's own Escape From New York. It was an excellent little compact board game based on the movie I wished it were made into a full scale role playing game it had everything: a unique setting, NPCs, equipment, gear, encounters and a combat mechanic with weapons, plus an awesome gameboard and a terrain geography typology I still make use of in my games and in the real world!
Other contenders would be the Espionage! which was to TSR's Top Secret like Runequest is to D&D, and another game I wish I had a copy of from the early days of the hobby, called Assassin! (live RPG) where you try to bump off your friends before they hit you."Ultimately, though, I think that Tom Moldvay's utterly crazy Lords of Creation should probably get more attention than it does. The system is a little clunky, but the breadth of the idea is breathtaking. Plus, I have to be a booster for a game which includes a setting based on the works of William Blake, and an alternate history setting based on the successes of both Spartacus and Boudicca. "
Yeah, I'm going to have to agree with you and the other posters who noted this one. I had some real fun playing it and recently got my complete set (and "Omegakron"!) back. Totally excited.
And Bad Mike, you tell 'em, man.
Also, to the poster who mentioned Fantasy Wargaming: are you serious? Because I recently picked this up and had decided it might very well be the worst RPG ever (keeping in mind that I don't think of 3e or later as RPGs . . .). I read the first 80 pages, didn't encounter a rule, was amazed at all the shittily ill-informed attempts at history, noted that both Judaism and homosexuality count as diseases or curses or some such and finally just bailed and wrote an AD&D encounter to make myself feel better. I just don't see this one.Michael (in NYC): Though I largely disagree with your analysis of FW, I only want to single out one bit. Judaism and homosexuality are not listed as "diseases or curses". They are results on the so-called "Bogey Table", a table which "[d]espite its name… has as many good as bad factors within it". Note also that homophobia is in the same column of "bad factors" as homosexuality, and that Judaism is a requirement for one of the magic-using classes. There are problems with that, yes, but it is reasonably true to the source material.
FW has its virtues, though its faults (such as a system that slows down play unnecessarily - one needs to roll separately for both luck and success for every action!) kept me from mentioning it myself.faoladh: Thanks for the insight. I did not, I admit, delve deeply enough to see precisely what was going on with Judaism and homosexuality when they were mentioned because by that time I was halfway out the door (again, 80 pages, no actual rules yet). I did notice a weird dig at Clark Ashton-Smith and something along the lines of "part of the problem with all other role-playing games is fighting crazy made-up monsters!" Bur? Yes. That *does* suck.
I guess that gets at one of the main problems I had in my abbreviated reading: the sense through the whole thing that the way they're doing it, which to me seems to palpably wrong and troubling and unfun and annoying in so many ways (and hey, I dig fiddly--I'm an AD&D player) was, as far as the writer was concerned, a *corrective* to the way all other games had got it all wrong. Like using monsters. And not using angels, I suppose.
It's also what I tend to hate most about a lot of current fantasy (I'm looking at you, G. R. R. Martin). I already know about the real world (better than the writer of FW, that's for sure!). I don't need a game that takes place in fantasy Europe and has a fantasy Christianity and over there is fantasy Asia, where all of the people are going to fantasy hell. I mean . . . what's the point?
I guess what I'm saying is color-code my dragons and let my people go.
;)- AnonymousMay 27, 2010 at 5:50 PM
Golden Heroes from GW. Very cool frame-based combat system. And random powers which you had to justify with your own origin story. One of the characters in our campaign had the Leaping power, he was the fearsome Jumping Justice (TM)...


text:
"The chemise dress is a wonderful starting point for your sewing career. There is no waistline seam . . . you just cinch it in with a belt."--VoNBBS
Ha! I just can't get over the fact that the editors of VoNBBS considered this a project for an absolute beginner. Sure, there's no waistline seam, but there's also a mandarin collar, a faced slit opening in the front, a thread chain button loop at the neckline, and bias-cut cuffs. I mean, really. If this was the first dress I ever tried to make, I think it would have ended up being my last.
In any modern sewing book, I think we all know what the first project for a beginner will be: a wrap skirt. It's just inevitable. I can't recall the last time I've seen anyone wearing a wrap skirt, but sewing books seem to think they're an integral part of any wardrobe.
But I digress. This post is supposed to be about the making of the chemise dress. I was apprehensive about this project, to say the least. Sure, it looks great on the model with the 22" waist, but what other woman really wants all that extra fabric bunched up around her waist? No, thank you.
I realized that fabric choice would be even more crucial than usual with this project. I wanted something that would drape, rather than bunch up, around the waist. But it needed to have enough body to make the tailored cuff and collar. You might be able to guess where I went: the 4 ply silk.
I did stray from the original dress pattern and book instructions quite often (guess I was feeling rebellious). I shortened the pattern by 4 inches. I made use of some of my modern luxuries, like serging rather than hand-overcasting the raw edges. I also added interfacing to the collar, neckline facing, and cuffs. Other projects in VoNBBS (the tailored ones, like the suit and coat) make use of sew-in interfacing, but the dresses and skirts do not, oddly enough. I used a purchased belt from Anthropologie.
The most interesting thing about this dress is that, to me, it looks almost contemporary. This shape certainly isn't what we associate with the early 50's, anyway.
I'm just happy to be moving on from this project. Hemming it really got me down, as you might have heard. I think this was partially because the hemline looks different depending on whether you're wearing a belt or not. VoNBBS instructed to wear a belt while marking the hem placement, but in retrospect, I think it would have made more sense not to wear a belt, and made sure the hem was straight as it hung down naturally. It still looks rumply to me from all the fussing, but ah well. But no sense dwelling on that now.
Next up from VoNBBS is the full, gathered skirt in gingham. But I'm going to take a little break for other projects, I think. I don't want to risk VoNBBS fatigue!