Wil. I do a lot of creative writing myself, but mainly stick to the scifi short stories. I've always thought about doing a comic style story line, but wouldn't even know how to begin. When you say you're writing page by page, are you simply imagining the panels in your head, and writing the dialog for that panel, along with any narrative we see in the 'yellow box'? Or do you outline like any other novel or short story, then break things down in to panels? Reading this post has inspired me to do some writing tonight I think!

I couldn't think of a better and more deserving guy to do this! I'm excited for you - and excited for all the future scientists out there who'll get to learn about Curiosity by the sound of your voice, Wil! As a Planetary Society Subscriber, I applaud JPL's choice.

Ha!! That's Awesome!

I said it on Twitter but I'll say it here too. Thanks to you and everyone involved in making TableTop for bringing these games in to our lives. Because of the show, I've bought, Tsuro, Settlers of Catan and it's Expansion for 5-6 players, the Traders and Barbarian expansion for Settlers and its 5-6 player expansion, Zombie Dice (which I also have on my iPhone too) and I'm seriously thinking about getting Small World and Ticket to Ride too. You've re-energized our Game Nights now - and as a matter of fact i have 3 buddies from work coming over Saturday night to play Settlers of Catan and we'll subsequently be playing D&D's Wrath of Ashardalon (any plans on having that game on your show?!?) So again.. Thanks not only to you - but the people behind that camera that make the show possible!

Absolutely loved this Wil. I especially loved the little details in the story that make it real... such as: The ambient noises the little girl hears as her 'parents' settle for a night in front of the TV.. And I loved.. LOVED this piece: "Mum squeezed my hand. An audience laughed on the television downstairs. Dad turned the handle on the closet door and opened it. “Now, see? There’s nothing to--” The monster was covered in dark scales, like a lizard." The Audience laughing on the TV just put us in the moment and creates a delicious sense of irony. Great stuff.

Just downloaded the story -- look forward to reading it later today when i'm not working.. and donated as well!! Thanks Wil!

"Live Long and Smurf You; And May the Smurf be with you!"

Ha!! That is AWESOME! i NEVER would have known had you not said anything. And i've seen the movie 3 times!!!! Your buddy Greg Grunberg Twittered that he was 'in' the movie as well, and dared us to find him. It took me 3 times to realize where he was in the movie (which I will not reveal here so that those who are on the same quest to find him will squee as much as I did when I made the revelation). But now knowing that you were involved - i will listen far more closely once I get my DVD.(Which may be Christmas because I was told i'm not allowed to buy myself any DVD's before Christmas) :( That's a long wait. But just an awesome story Wil! Can't wait to watch it again.

Oh YA! Scott really played his hatred for the Amber Shard Dwarves! "My father quit drinking because of the Amber Shard!" Ya...Scott was awesome in that. Was this part of Binwin's history that Chris was privy to? Or was it part of notes that the DM past to Scott? or was it just Scott play the part in an awesome way?

Chris Perkins as Barton @ the Five League House is AWESOME! The role-playing between Chris and Mike in Ep1 is classic! And these words that stuck out for me in Ep2: Jim Darkmagic: Do you know that guy that was on your roof? Barton: Guy??!!! Jim Darkmagic: ON your ROOF! Barton: ROOF?!?! Jim Darkmagic: YAAH!! Barton: *looks up towards his roof* Jim Darkmagc: Ya he's gone... he's gone now... Barton: *Waves* *puts his hands on his hips* Then hearing Scott Kurtz whispering : "What is THAT!?" Classic D&D at its best!

Let me be one more out of over 300 so far to express my heartfelt expressions of sympathy to you and your family. You can at lease take solace in knowing that Ferris lived 8 very happy years with you and the Wheaton clan, and spent every single day finding different way to thank you for rescuing him. I will tip a mug of Guinness in his memory!

Seriously dude... i'm EXCITED for you! It's awesome! I spent all day today reading the 'Massacre at Fort Dolor' - from Dungeon #157. I will be Dm'ing my son and my wife through it - with a few NPC's and I'm jazzed as hell to do it. The picture is WICKED! I wish i was there... *jealous* PRAISE MALORA!!!

I was just going to post about that! I'd love to see a pic of that ROOM! By what you described, it sounded wicked!

I understand, completely, about the organic part of doing up the entire character from scratch. I did my first Warlord completely from scratch and would say that if someone is doing this for the first time - doing up a character sheet from scratch will teach you A TON about the game and helps you develop a great back story for your character. I do, however, enjoy the convenience during the Level Up times. Safe to say, the guys at WotC did a great job with it.

Cripes! That would have helped out A LOT in some of my battles in Scales of War. It IS VERY USEFUL FOR Flanking, I agree!!! Thanks for that, Wil!

Keep on the Shadowfell is a great starting point for someone getting back into the game. I'm currently DM'ing KotS and it's well laid out, entertaining, and easy enough to get your feet wet. The character sheets in the starter kit are not as elaborate as the Character Sheets that you would generate from scratch (or using WotC's Character Builder) but it's enough to get you started. I'm also taking part in The Scales of War Adventure Path written in the Dungeon Magazine issues you get with a D&D Insider subscription, as a player. It's starts you off as a lvl 1 character and takes you on an epic path to lvl 30. The D&Dinsider subscription is worth the investment if you can afford it. You get TONS of material via Dragon and Dungeon magazines and the Character Builder alone is worth the cash. (and no, I don't work for Wizards .. i'm merely a HUGE fan!) My advice (for what it's worth - which could be squat -but here it is). Try it. But be fore-warned - once you start, it's hard to stop!

Yip I loved the d20 to the Fuck Off Bag thing.. man i openly laughed here in the office. (I see another t-shirt design in this) I love these podcasts, because inevitably we find things we've done incorrectly in our own games (I didn't know you could shift without fear of opportunity attacks -- was I reading something wrong in that - or was that an ability?). I think they're a great learning tools, as well as, amazing entertainment. Should auction off the metallic d20, Wil. People would jump all over it! hahaha.

I'll agree with Will Hindmarch here! I love your innovation, and your ability to size up your readership, and take a leap of faith (and almost fearlessly too). I, happily, gave you my $6 and some cents Canadian to download the PDF version. I also have the audio version of Just a Geek and the printed version of Happiest Days... But the great thing about having the e-version of Sunken Treasures is getting to READ the entries from Just a Geek for the first time (rather than listening to the words). I find myself re-connecting to your stories and funny enough as I read the words, I still hear your voice in my head! A testament to your writing. Congrats on your success (which, btw, isn't always measured in $-signs. Not COMPLETELY, anyway. We DO understand that you have to pay the bills.) So far, I give your e-formatted book: 5 d20's outta 5.

1: Congrats on the shirt! That's wicked \m/ 2: Watchman! fricken COOL! 3: Seeing the new Star Trek sneak preview clips! ::JEALOUS:: 4: I listened to the first ep of the PA-D&D session. Hilarious, and AWESOME! Was glad to see "Jim" was back to his old tricks! And yes, the artwork was funny too! 5: over 105,000 twitter followers? One small step towards you ruling the world with your Geek army! Priceless! Cheers.

conversation with my wife goes like this: Yes well.. I uhm.... what? oh her? no honey no no.. you're far more.. hmm?? Uhmm.. Stop staring at... her?? Oh she's just... *laughs nervously* .. Yer just talkin' crazy! She's not gooooood looking.. she's just .. so so looking.. in.. a .. hot .. sorta geeky.. you know... way! *wipes sweat from brow*. Can I go do the laundry now, dear? @LilDebLynn: When you read this? Consider me buying this for you!

I can't wait!!!!

Well said (written), and I'm still gonna follow ya, Wil! Your tweets are highly entertaining - and actually MADE my superbowl experience super-awesome. But all of your points (ESPECIALLY #4) are common sense, and even though we all know it IS!! I still understand your need to explain things in the interest of 100% disclosure and that's what makes you sofa king cool, man! Don't Change A Thing. @alro613

Cripes!! Now i have to add to my Wil Wheaton t-shirt collection !!! I love it!! I use the "Don't Be A Dick" one at gigs all the time !!

@Anthai: You can get them in most hobby shops, however, Amazon has a good assortment of dice that you can buy: http://www.amazon.com/Dice-Assortment-Perfect-Dungeons-Different/dp/B0012U7LMW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=miscellaneous&qid=1231519069&sr=8-3 is a good bargain. You essentially need: d20, d10, d12, d8, d6, d4 .. ONE OF each. I like have 4d6, 3d10, 2d4 and 3d8's just to have extras .. especialy when using Encounter powers that give you 3[W] martial dmg ... but all of this is because of personal preference.

HA! I was just coming over here to drop the message, as I just read the announcement from WotC! CAN'T WAIT FOR THE PODCAST!!!! On to your sub-note: Over the Holidays, my 8 year old step-son came up to me and asked, "Al, can I be the MASTER in a game. I have this great idea!" I, originally, got him into D&D for a few reasons. 1) For us all, my wife included, to be able to sit at the dining room table and have FUN!! That's the most important one. But also: 2) To improve his math and his reading skills. D&D really gives us the opportunity to teach him fundamental skills without the stigma of "homework". And 3) Because selfishly, I wanted to play D&D again, and I needed players to play with and who better than my wife and step-son (and my brother and his wife when they come over). So when he came to me with this request, my inner-geek soared, and i gave myself a silent high-five. We played for 2 hours (imagine that, an 8 year old engaged for 2 hours without mentioning "Nintendo DS" ONCE!), before he wanted to take a break from being THE MASTER... but he still wanted to play as his Dragonborn Paladin. My wife agreed to take on WotC's Dungeon Issue 156's Scales of War Adventure path "Resue at Rivenroar" as a dungeon master. It would be her first time EVER DM'ing a campaign. 3 hours into Scales of War, we all realized just how AWESOME it is, and i sat back looking at our map-cards and miniatures on the table, next to a bowl of Meatballs and Cornchips, and a bottle of coke .. and I looked at the two most important people in my life absolutely entrenched in a game of D&D and I remember thinking to myself... "This is the best day EVER!"