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Thinking About a G+ Game

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Apr 292013

Yeah, I know. I usually post earlier in the day but yesterday was more work on the fence and by the time I was done, I could hardly type. So I’m a little late getting things going this week.
Like I said, I’ve really been thinking about running a game on Google+. First, don’t get too excited. I got a couple projects to get done first before some free time opens up. I’m really thinking about some sort Swords & Wizardry or Tunnels & Trolls. I just haven’t decided yet. I’d love to mess around with T&T and I think the basic mechanics would be good for Google+ play but right now I’m waiting on the Deluxe Edition to hit the presses. Which should be in a couple more months.
But Swords & Wizardry has mechanics that much more familiar to many players. So it’s a debate. Maybe do some T&T one shots or something.
Like I said at the beginning of this post, thinking about it and juggling a few projects. So my thoughts are muddled and the brain is a little fuzzy. So just stay tuned and let me wake up before say too much.

Kingmaker: Meet Hanarg Venom Tusk

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Jan 212011

We’re starting Paizo’s Kingmaker adventure path tonight. The GM is going to use Aspects from FATE in the game and I haven’t finished those yet. But then again neither have any of the other players. We should have a pretty interesting group for this game. And keep the blogosphere fairly up to date as things progress.

Hanarg Venom Tusk Half Orc Oracale (Nature) 1/Sorcerer (Serpentine) 0 Alignment: N

Str 14 (+2)
Dex 12 (+1)
Con 15 (+2)
Int 10
Wis 10
Cha 18 (+4)
HP: 11
AC 18 (+3 Std Leather, +1 Natural Armor, +4 Cha)
Saves: Fot +2, Reflex +1, Will +2
Lng: Common, Orc
Racial Abilities: Orc Ferocity, Darkvision 60 FT
Feats: Iron Hide (+1 Nat Armor)
Skills: Intimidate +6, Knowledge (Nature) +4, Spellcraft +4, Survival +4
Class Abilities: Curse: Haunted, Revalation: Echoes of Nature (use Cha for AC)
Traits: Brigand (Campaign), Brute
Spells: 0 Level: Mage Hand, Ghost Sound, Read Magic, Detect Magic, Resistance, Guidance. 1st Level (4/day) Cure Light Wounds, Divine Favor, Shield of Faith

Gear: Studded Leather Armor, Cold Iron Great Axe, Dagger, Light Crossbow, 20 Bolts, Backpack, Bedroll, 4 days Travel Rations, 50 ft Silk Rope, Tanglefoot Bag, Alchemist’s Fire

Ryan Dancey: You made me think scary thoughts

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Jan 202011

Well if you’ve been paying the least bit of attention to the RPG scene, you’ve probably heard that Ryan Dancey has made another gloomy prediction for the RPG industry. Basically, the chances for D&D remaining a table top game are pretty much dead in the water. Despite the chant of “So goes WOTC so goes the hobby” I really don’t think that WOTC is all that important any more. Yes, WOTC is the 800 pound gorilla but Paizo is like a 600 pound gorilla. Pathfinder has pretty much tied or surpassed 4th Edition D&D depending on what stats you happen to believe. I find it really amazing that a company the size of Hasbro could have missed so badly so many times on marketing the world’s most popular role playing game. Remember the brouhaha with GSL and the Edition Wars? The mixed reception of D&D Insider and the virtual tools? And even more recently the whole “Is Essentials 4.5?” debate. What all this says to this little guy is that the people holding the purse strings just didn’t understand their market. I don’t blame the talented crew of designers. I blame the suits and the bean counters at Hasbro who marketed D&D like it was Clue or Risk.
But if WOTC fell flat on its face would it really be that bad? Sure they would probably sit on the license and milk it for all it is worth through electronic games, board games, films and whatever other merchandise they could sell. What would it mean for the RPG hobby? I think there would be some dark and difficult days. But in the end the hobby would endure by going back to its roots. The exact thing that grew the hobby in the first place. Small groups of friends huddled over a table having fun. Remember this hobby actually started pre-Internet. Yes, youngsters there was a time when there was no email, no facebook, no twitter nada. I think the hobby has a much better chance of surviving and thriving now than if TSR had totally crashed and burned and Wizards had not stepped in and taken over.
But this is my blog and its OK for me to dream. What in my crazy dreams would be the prefect outcome for everybody? WOTC/Hasbro wants to make money. I have no problem with that. Let them. They can have the D&D license and make as many board games, video games, comic books, movies and whatever that they want. Let another publisher take of the RPG license. I wouldn’t want it to be Paizo. Yes, I do like Pathfinder but I don’t consider myself a Paizo cultist. Paizo has a solid game and market with Pathfinder. If they got the D&D license too, it would just muddle the waters. At the very best in my dream world, they’d merge the two and take the best things from Pathfinder/3.5 and the best ideas from 4th Edition and merge them. And resurrect the OGL. But that’s just crazy talk isn’t it?
There’s one other path that WOTC still might take. Look at the time between the release of various editions. I’ll dare to say it. It’s about time for the announcement of 5th Edition and a chance to undo many of the crazy things they did with the launch of 4th Edition. Mark my words. Late this year or next year, there will be at the very least a major announcement from WOTC that will change the game in a major way again.

Our Spelljammer Pathfinder Campaign: When Good Dice Go Bad

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Jan 172011

I decided throw down some notes on our current games. Think of these as sort session summaries but only the good and interesting parts.
This campaign has been going on for a while so I’ll take this little bit to introduce the characters. We have a Kender Bard, a Goblin Druid, a Warforged Crusader, a Halfling Sorcerer/Rogue, a Changeling Fighter/Rouge and a Beholder. Really, we have a Beholder in our party. Needless to say, it is very difficult for our party to be inconspicuous. The group is on a quest to find the legendary Spelljammer. We’re chasing after a group of evil pirates who are following the trail of clues that we are. It’s a race to find a trio of magical beacons which will us to triangulate the location of the Spelljammer.
This week we started the adventure to find the second beacon. We did a little shopping and getting the feel of the town. We had a couple of good fights: a green dragon with some mooks, a group of girallons and a trio of janni rogues.
Now this isn’t about a blow by blow retelling of what happened during the session. This is the good parts version. And the good part is that we survived. Now that really doesn’t like something special. We’re all at 6th level but what really screwed us was an amazing amount of bad dice mojo. No kidding every player rolled at least three natural 1′s during the game. Our dice sucked.
The lesson to bring from the session is the joy of failure. Characters just can’t win all the time. They can survive. But if they hit every time, succeed at every thing they try and just blow throw everything; the game gets boring. The story gets boring. There’s no tension. There’s no sense of accomplishment. So sometime your dice just need to screw you. It’s for your own good.

So Many Games, so little time

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Jul 192010

I don’t know if it’s old age or what. But anymore it just seems like there are just too many good games out there. And of course there just seems never to be enough time to play all the games that I want. But thinking back even in my younger days there were only a few games that I played at a time. I played on Fridays, Saturdays and occasionally Sunday. Pretty much the whole weekend. Now, I’m down to just playing on Fridays in two Pathfinder games. But that doesn’t stop me from wanting more. Here’s what I sitting on my “Oh my god! I HAVE to play this” list.

The Dresden Files RPG: Like I said before I’m a Jim Butcher fan and I love the genre. This will happen some time if I have to pull teeth and sell a kidney to do it.

Pirates of the Spanish Main: This has been just sitting on my shelf way too long. And as everyone knows everything is better with pirates and it’s Savage Worlds.

The Doctor Who RPG: I just have to try the new one. I have the old FASA game but we never played it.

Dungeonslayers: I spent a whole afternoon looking at old school games and retro-clones. I came across this one and was smitten. It must be played.

I’m not one to belly ached without offering some sort plan or at least suggestions. It’s pretty simple. Just make the time. Just reorganize my schedule a little. Coordinate with some friends, run with it and see what happens.

Pulled an all nighter

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Jul 102010

Wow, haven’t done that in a long time. We wrapped up the Council of Thieves campaign last night and it pretty much took all night.
Things got a little bogged down and one of the players was running late due to family commitments. But we survived barely. Things got out of hand a couple times and by the end everybody was punch drunk. I think we’re getting too old to do things like this. This was a pretty good adventure path. We did have a fairly social party and that made some encounters easier.
Next week begins the homebrewed Spalljammer campaign. As I mentioned earlier, we going to have an interesting party. A Kender bard, a beholder, a warforged crusader, a changeling rogue, a goblin druid and I’m not sure of the other player. But that’s the plan. Right now. still operating on only a few hours of sleep and getting the old gaming bag re-equipped for the new campaign. Now time to grab a nap and get all those little project done for next week.
As you can tell by rambling rant, the brain still sleeps.