Well I got into Gen con registration this morning.
I didn't end up getting all the games I wanted, but I did get a lot of good choices.
I wanted to take my kids on a "history tour" of D&D.
So far we are going to be playing 5e/Next, 4e, 3e and Castles & Crusades. I wanted to get in an AD&D1 game and Basic game. No luck though.
I still might run them through a Basic game on my own one of the nights. Of course if I can find a Labyrinth Lord game, I'd love that. C&C is close to 3e and AD&D so this is a good choice. And I wanted to play that one myself.
I am not sure if I'll have time for a Ghosts pickup game, though I love to try it at least one night.
Hope you all got your games!
Showing posts with label Gen Con. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gen Con. Show all posts
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Gen Con Schedule is out
The Gen Con schedule is out now.
I do not have any Ghosts of Albion games running. I wanted to focus on paying games with my boys.
We are going to try to get into the D&D Next games, try to get some AD&D first ed in, and hopefully some D&D Basic (a clone) would be good too. I'll run some D&D 3.x too, so we will get the full D&D experience. I think it will be great.
I happy to see there are plenty of Victoriana games, some Buffy/Unisystem games and some others I am interested in. I'll have to put together a schedule.
I am sorry there won't be any Ghosts of Albion games. But I am not amiss to doing a pick up game one night.
I do not have any Ghosts of Albion games running. I wanted to focus on paying games with my boys.
We are going to try to get into the D&D Next games, try to get some AD&D first ed in, and hopefully some D&D Basic (a clone) would be good too. I'll run some D&D 3.x too, so we will get the full D&D experience. I think it will be great.
I happy to see there are plenty of Victoriana games, some Buffy/Unisystem games and some others I am interested in. I'll have to put together a schedule.
I am sorry there won't be any Ghosts of Albion games. But I am not amiss to doing a pick up game one night.
Monday, February 6, 2012
More updates
Not much going on today for a blog post. Just a bunch of random updates.
Digital Orc is trying to organize an Old-School/Grognard blogger meet-up.
His site has a sign-up sheet.
http://www.digitalorc.blogspot.com/
Tim Knight of "I Rather Be Killing Monsters" has posted about About.Me a social media link tool with free business cards. Here are our links, Tim Knight and mine.
Ever wonder what would happen in an alternate world if Tara and Warren got together and instead of him killing her, they got pregnant and had the Anti-Christ? Of course you have. And the answer lies in Amber Benson and Adam Busch's indie movie, Reverse Parthenogenesis.
http://io9.com/5881586/buffys-tara-and-warren-are-finally-having-an-evil-baby-together
Ok, well not really Tara and Warren. But (then) real life couple Amber and Adam.
This should be pretty funny. A lot of people don't know this but Adam Busch (whom I have never heard anyone say or have a bad word about) is pretty damn funny.
Hopefully a real post soon. Kinda in a haze right now.
Digital Orc is trying to organize an Old-School/Grognard blogger meet-up.
His site has a sign-up sheet.
http://www.digitalorc.blogspot.com/
Tim Knight of "I Rather Be Killing Monsters" has posted about About.Me a social media link tool with free business cards. Here are our links, Tim Knight and mine.
Ever wonder what would happen in an alternate world if Tara and Warren got together and instead of him killing her, they got pregnant and had the Anti-Christ? Of course you have. And the answer lies in Amber Benson and Adam Busch's indie movie, Reverse Parthenogenesis.
http://io9.com/5881586/buffys-tara-and-warren-are-finally-having-an-evil-baby-together
Ok, well not really Tara and Warren. But (then) real life couple Amber and Adam.
This should be pretty funny. A lot of people don't know this but Adam Busch (whom I have never heard anyone say or have a bad word about) is pretty damn funny.
Hopefully a real post soon. Kinda in a haze right now.
Gen Con updates
Gen Con badges bought.
Hotel booked. More expensive than last year, but not undo-able.
The big issue this year is my Ghosts of Albion game.
As in I am not going to be running any.
I might do a pick up game, that I would announce here.
It basically boils down to me not having enough time to work out a new adventure. That and my kids are older and they want to play in more games with their dad.
So this year I am looking forward to playing more and trying out a bunch of new games.
Hotel booked. More expensive than last year, but not undo-able.
The big issue this year is my Ghosts of Albion game.
As in I am not going to be running any.
I might do a pick up game, that I would announce here.
It basically boils down to me not having enough time to work out a new adventure. That and my kids are older and they want to play in more games with their dad.
So this year I am looking forward to playing more and trying out a bunch of new games.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Dinosauria Character Illustrations
My last game at Gen Con was Dinosauria!
This was a new one I had started on a while back designed to be an intro adventure for Ghosts of Albion.
I have mentioned here a few times and even posted the characters. One of my players that night decided to do illustrations (with anime style "chibis") of the new characters. I was floored! I loved them. I asked her permission to post them here and she agreed. So without further ado, here are the stars of Ghosts of Albion: Dinosauria!
Lady Valerie Beaumont
Chief Constable Walter Edwards
Lady Fionna
and Xian “Jane”
and our cowboy, John Mulgrew
I thought these were awesome and I very happy to have them in my Dinosauria! collection.
Click to make bigger. Sorry about the quality of the scans, was playing around to see if I could make her light pencil sketches show up a little better.
And thank you Audrey for being in my game and doing these great character portraits!
This was a new one I had started on a while back designed to be an intro adventure for Ghosts of Albion.
I have mentioned here a few times and even posted the characters. One of my players that night decided to do illustrations (with anime style "chibis") of the new characters. I was floored! I loved them. I asked her permission to post them here and she agreed. So without further ado, here are the stars of Ghosts of Albion: Dinosauria!
Lady Valerie Beaumont
Chief Constable Walter Edwards
Lady Fionna
and Xian “Jane”
and our cowboy, John Mulgrew
I thought these were awesome and I very happy to have them in my Dinosauria! collection.
Click to make bigger. Sorry about the quality of the scans, was playing around to see if I could make her light pencil sketches show up a little better.
And thank you Audrey for being in my game and doing these great character portraits!
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Zatannurday: Gen Con Zatanna
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Gen Con 2011 - Recap, D&D games
Every year I look forward to playing D&D at Gen Con. Whether it is with friends, my kids or at the RPGA room. To me it is what Gen Con is about. Of course I got that chance. But...not all D&D is created equal.
Legend of Drizzt - D&D Board Game
Thursday I played the D&D Board Game The Legend of Drizzt. I signed up for this because I wanted to get a better feel for the game and I thought it would be a fun game to get my wife to play with us.
Well our "GM" (and to be fair the game does not need one, but they had people playing that role to show us how to play) was so busy doing other things that she never could really focus her attention on us. We didn't get started till 30 minutes after the start time and the pieces were never really set up for us. Like D&D4 characters get daily, utility and at-will powers. We had played Ravenloft before so we knew to expect that. We got our power cards, but it was never explained what they were or how they should be used, or even that we were not to use all the ones we were given. Later we discovered that many of the powers for our characters were left in the box including a trap disabling power that could have saved two of the characters.
The GM was very unclear on the rules and went back and forth on what constituted a "tile", and was rarely available to answer our questions leaving my wife and I and the other player going through the rules on our own.
All in all, a very disappointing experience. If WotC was trying to sell me a game didn't quite do it. I wanted to pick up Wrath of Ashardalon, but now I want to wait till I play some more Ravenloft first.
D&D 4 - Living Divine
Ok this game ran much better. The DM knew her rules, had a great grasp on the concepts and introduced a new interesting concept.
However. I have some issues with the adventure and the Living Divine play-ability.
First, the concept of Living Divine is pretty cool. I like the idea and I like what they are trying to do. It just was not a good idea for a con game where we can't invest in the character and enjoy in their divine growth.
Secondly, and most importantly, I didn't like the adventure itself. Basically the point of the entire adventure was to kill a bunch of scared villagers so we take a baby from her parents to give to a demon.
I'll give my son credit, he didn't want to do any killing. He was more than happy to attack the demon, but killing people that were basically afraid of us was not something he was cool with it.
My issue with it was simply we had no effect on the outcome or overall plot. We had no real chance of killing the demon or altering the effect of what will happen with the baby. Honestly in that situation my character would have taken the baby to raise, but that wasn't really an option. The DM was passionate about her creation to be sure, but we had only a small part in her world.
For me, I like run games at Cons where the players feel like they are the most important people in the world. They are the ones between the innocent and the darkness AND I want to be sure when we are playing I know my rules upside down, backwards and forwards and if the players have a question then I need to be able to answer it. I am not just representing the game I am running, but myself and the company I am running for. I want people to leave my table saying they will buy that game or tell me they are going to play my games next year.
Sorry WotC, I am a HUGE fan, but I can't say that about these games.
Special Mention. LEGO - Heroica
We also played a demo game of LEGO Heroica. This experience was everything the others were not. The guy demoing the games took the time to explain everything to us including all the rules our goals and how we needed to do everything. He lots of other tables, but he didn't leave till we told him we were good. He also came back many times to check in on us. The game we played was sold out...so we bought 3 others. That's how much fun we had.
Legend of Drizzt - D&D Board Game
Thursday I played the D&D Board Game The Legend of Drizzt. I signed up for this because I wanted to get a better feel for the game and I thought it would be a fun game to get my wife to play with us.
Well our "GM" (and to be fair the game does not need one, but they had people playing that role to show us how to play) was so busy doing other things that she never could really focus her attention on us. We didn't get started till 30 minutes after the start time and the pieces were never really set up for us. Like D&D4 characters get daily, utility and at-will powers. We had played Ravenloft before so we knew to expect that. We got our power cards, but it was never explained what they were or how they should be used, or even that we were not to use all the ones we were given. Later we discovered that many of the powers for our characters were left in the box including a trap disabling power that could have saved two of the characters.
The GM was very unclear on the rules and went back and forth on what constituted a "tile", and was rarely available to answer our questions leaving my wife and I and the other player going through the rules on our own.
All in all, a very disappointing experience. If WotC was trying to sell me a game didn't quite do it. I wanted to pick up Wrath of Ashardalon, but now I want to wait till I play some more Ravenloft first.
D&D 4 - Living Divine
Ok this game ran much better. The DM knew her rules, had a great grasp on the concepts and introduced a new interesting concept.
However. I have some issues with the adventure and the Living Divine play-ability.
First, the concept of Living Divine is pretty cool. I like the idea and I like what they are trying to do. It just was not a good idea for a con game where we can't invest in the character and enjoy in their divine growth.
Secondly, and most importantly, I didn't like the adventure itself. Basically the point of the entire adventure was to kill a bunch of scared villagers so we take a baby from her parents to give to a demon.
I'll give my son credit, he didn't want to do any killing. He was more than happy to attack the demon, but killing people that were basically afraid of us was not something he was cool with it.
My issue with it was simply we had no effect on the outcome or overall plot. We had no real chance of killing the demon or altering the effect of what will happen with the baby. Honestly in that situation my character would have taken the baby to raise, but that wasn't really an option. The DM was passionate about her creation to be sure, but we had only a small part in her world.
For me, I like run games at Cons where the players feel like they are the most important people in the world. They are the ones between the innocent and the darkness AND I want to be sure when we are playing I know my rules upside down, backwards and forwards and if the players have a question then I need to be able to answer it. I am not just representing the game I am running, but myself and the company I am running for. I want people to leave my table saying they will buy that game or tell me they are going to play my games next year.
Sorry WotC, I am a HUGE fan, but I can't say that about these games.
Special Mention. LEGO - Heroica
We also played a demo game of LEGO Heroica. This experience was everything the others were not. The guy demoing the games took the time to explain everything to us including all the rules our goals and how we needed to do everything. He lots of other tables, but he didn't leave till we told him we were good. He also came back many times to check in on us. The game we played was sold out...so we bought 3 others. That's how much fun we had.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Gen Con 2011 Haul
I picked up:
OSRIC hardcover from the OSR booth. Figured I should support the cause and I didn't have an OSRIC book anymore.
Call of Cthulhu 30th Anniversary Ed
DC Adventures Heroes and Villains
A bunch of the old Mayfair Role-Aids "Demons" books. Four books and two boxed sets for 15 bucks. All still in their shrink wrap.
It's for 2nd Ed AD&D, but there are a lot of stats on the sheet (including ability scores) that all they are missing are skills and feats for 3.x.
And the Mage Knight Apocalypse Dragon to stand in for Tiamat when the Dragon Slayers battle her in the final battle of their campaign.
I spent more on this than I should have and more than my wife wanted me to, but I figure it is for the kids' last D&D 3 game so it should be worth it.
Shown here with Aspect of Tiamat and Orcus. AoT takes up 3x3 squares, Orcus 4x4. The Apocalypse Dragon, or in our game it will be the full manifestation of Tiamat, takes up 7x7.
It will be brutal.
The swag bag this year had magic cards, some True Dungeon tokens and a coupon for the Gen Con d6. Though out of 4 bags we only got one coupon.
Game reviews later.
OSRIC hardcover from the OSR booth. Figured I should support the cause and I didn't have an OSRIC book anymore.
Call of Cthulhu 30th Anniversary Ed
DC Adventures Heroes and Villains
A bunch of the old Mayfair Role-Aids "Demons" books. Four books and two boxed sets for 15 bucks. All still in their shrink wrap.
It's for 2nd Ed AD&D, but there are a lot of stats on the sheet (including ability scores) that all they are missing are skills and feats for 3.x.
And the Mage Knight Apocalypse Dragon to stand in for Tiamat when the Dragon Slayers battle her in the final battle of their campaign.
I spent more on this than I should have and more than my wife wanted me to, but I figure it is for the kids' last D&D 3 game so it should be worth it.
Shown here with Aspect of Tiamat and Orcus. AoT takes up 3x3 squares, Orcus 4x4. The Apocalypse Dragon, or in our game it will be the full manifestation of Tiamat, takes up 7x7.
It will be brutal.
The swag bag this year had magic cards, some True Dungeon tokens and a coupon for the Gen Con d6. Though out of 4 bags we only got one coupon.
Game reviews later.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Gen Con 2011 Last Day
Well another Gen Con is over.
Got to play some games, buys some games and see some people I have not seen in a year.
I did not get to play any Victoriana, but I did have some Cubicle 7 people in my Ghosts of Albion game so that was good.
Dinosauria went great! Much better than I thought it might. The game came in at just a little over 3 and a quarter hours, so not too bad really.
Obsession went really well with the "revised" version and I had what might be the best Byron player ever.
I have had a request to run Blight again, so I'll see about that.
I have been itching to do something with a train or even the Orient Express itself. Just have to find the right story.
More later. Have not even unpacked yet.
Got to play some games, buys some games and see some people I have not seen in a year.
I did not get to play any Victoriana, but I did have some Cubicle 7 people in my Ghosts of Albion game so that was good.
Dinosauria went great! Much better than I thought it might. The game came in at just a little over 3 and a quarter hours, so not too bad really.
Obsession went really well with the "revised" version and I had what might be the best Byron player ever.
I have had a request to run Blight again, so I'll see about that.
I have been itching to do something with a train or even the Orient Express itself. Just have to find the right story.
More later. Have not even unpacked yet.
Friday, August 5, 2011
Gen Con 2011, Day 1 Over
Day One of Gen Con is done.
Ghosts of Albion: Obsession ran great!
Quote of the night from Byron "Does it burn like fire or burn like syphilis?"
We played "The Legend of Drizzt" yesterday, but the woman running the game was a bit of a flake so we had to kind of muddle forward on our own. Oh and she didn't get us started till a half hour after we were supposed to.
Today is Dinosauria.
More on that later!
Ghosts of Albion: Obsession ran great!
Quote of the night from Byron "Does it burn like fire or burn like syphilis?"
We played "The Legend of Drizzt" yesterday, but the woman running the game was a bit of a flake so we had to kind of muddle forward on our own. Oh and she didn't get us started till a half hour after we were supposed to.
Today is Dinosauria.
More on that later!
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Gen Con 2011
We are here at Gen Con 2011.
So far there seems to be a LOT more people here this time.
Ready to run some games!
If anyone in OSR land is running an old school game then I'd love to join ya.
I am going to be running my boys through S4.
Best thing I have heard so far: A little girl, not more than 5 was with her family walking to "Will Call" where she proudly exclaimed "I am a real gamer now!"
So far there seems to be a LOT more people here this time.
Ready to run some games!
If anyone in OSR land is running an old school game then I'd love to join ya.
I am going to be running my boys through S4.
Best thing I have heard so far: A little girl, not more than 5 was with her family walking to "Will Call" where she proudly exclaimed "I am a real gamer now!"
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Gen Con Countdown
Going to Gen Con! YEAAHHH!
I so need this vacation.
I'f you want to come by and say hi, here are the games I am running. I like to get to the table early to set up.
RPG1120388 Obsession (Revised) Thu @ 7:00 PM 4 hrs
Location: Crowne Plaza :: Grand Central Blrm D :: 8 Cost: $4
RPG1120389 Dinosauria! Fri @ 1:00 PM 4 hrs
Location: Crowne Plaza :: Grand Central Blrm D :: 6 Cost: $4
RPG1120390 Dinosauria! Fri @ 7:00 PM 4 hrs
Location: Crowne Plaza :: Grand Central Blrm C :: 3 Cost: $4
Dinosauria! is completely new with new characters designed to get people up and going fast. The 1:00 pm will be "kid friendly" and the 7:00pm one will be more older kids and adults.
Obsession is revised version of the adventure I ran last year. If you played last year then this one is not very different except for some details and the starting of the adventure.
I am also running S4 with my boys in our hotel Saturday night.
I so need this vacation.
I'f you want to come by and say hi, here are the games I am running. I like to get to the table early to set up.
RPG1120388 Obsession (Revised) Thu @ 7:00 PM 4 hrs
Location: Crowne Plaza :: Grand Central Blrm D :: 8 Cost: $4
RPG1120389 Dinosauria! Fri @ 1:00 PM 4 hrs
Location: Crowne Plaza :: Grand Central Blrm D :: 6 Cost: $4
RPG1120390 Dinosauria! Fri @ 7:00 PM 4 hrs
Location: Crowne Plaza :: Grand Central Blrm C :: 3 Cost: $4
Dinosauria! is completely new with new characters designed to get people up and going fast. The 1:00 pm will be "kid friendly" and the 7:00pm one will be more older kids and adults.
Obsession is revised version of the adventure I ran last year. If you played last year then this one is not very different except for some details and the starting of the adventure.
I am also running S4 with my boys in our hotel Saturday night.
Monday, July 25, 2011
More Dinosauria Characters
Lady Fionna
Faerie Lady
Drama Points 10
Life Points 38
Attributes
Strength 3
Dexterity 4
Constitution 4
Intelligence 5
Perception 4
Willpower 5
Qualities
Age (+100 years) (2)
Attractiveness +4 (Court Faerie)
Artist (Court Faerie)
Contact (Supernatural—Seelie Court) 2 (Court Faerie)
Court Faerie (Unseelie Court)
Glamour (Court Faerie)
Innate Magic (Court Faerie)
Regeneration (4 Life Points per hour) (Court Faerie)
Resources (Gentry)
Mesmerise (Hear Me) (Court Faerie)
Seeming (Court Faerie)
Drawbacks
Adversary (Seelie Court) 1 (Age)
Archaic (Primitive) (Court Faerie)
Mental Problems (Deranged Faerie Arrogance) (Court Faerie)
Mental Problems (Severe Intolerance) (Court Faerie)
Mental Problem (Severe Obsession—Defend her territory) (2)
Minority (Woman) (2)
Natural Barrier (Cannot enter a church or church yard) (3)
Obligation (Total—Unseelie Court) (Court Faerie)
Vulnerability (Minor—Iron) (Court Faerie)
Skills
Armed Mayhem 6
Art 2 (+1 Artist)
Athletics 3
Crime 0
Driving/Riding 2
Engineering 0
Fisticuffs 3
Influence 3
Knowledge 4
Languages 3 (English, Faerie, Latin)
Marksmanship 3
Notice 1
Occultism 4 (+2 Court Faerie)
Physician 0
Science 0
Wild Card 0
Useful Information
Observation: 1d10 +5
Initiative: +4
Armor: +1 (Glamoured Armor)
Fear: +5
Actions: 2 Mental /1 Physical
Combat
Manoeuvre Bonus Base Damage Notes
Rapier +10 12 Slash/stab (Faerie steel)
Dodge +10 — Defence
Grapple +10 — Resisted by dodge
Deflect +12 — Deflects spells 45º
Lesser Sensing +8 — Active magical perception
Mending +12 — Healing or repair
Mesmerise (Hear Me) +8 — Resisted by Willpower (doubled)
Xian “Jane”
House Girl / Tong Assassin
Drama Points 20
Life Points 36
Attributes
Strength 2
Dexterity 3
Constitution 3
Intelligence 3
Perception 4
Willpower 3
Qualities
Athlete
Attractiveness +2
Charisma 1
Contact (Supernatural) 2
Hard to Kill 2
Nerves of Steel
Drawbacks
Honourable (Serious) (2)
Minority (Chinese Woman) (2)
Secret (Former Tong Assassin) (3)
Skills
Armed Mayhem 5
Art 1
Athletics 4 (+2 Athlete)
Crime 1
Driving/Riding 0
Engineering 0
Fisticuffs 5
Influence 0
Knowledge 2
Languages 2 (Chinese, English)
Marksmanship 0
Notice 3
Occultism 2
Physician 1
Science 0
Wild Card (Housekeeping) 1
Useful Information
Observation: 1d10 +7
Initiative: +4
Armor: +1 (leather waistcoat worn under clothes)
Fear:
Actions: 1 Mental /1 Physical
Combat
Manoeuvre Bonus Base Damage Notes
Sword +8 6 Slash/Stab
Dodge +8 — Defence
Grapple +6 — Resisted by dodge
Punch (kung-fu) +4 4 Bash
Kick +6 6
- Flying Spin +5 8
- Roundhouse +6 6
If there is an odder pair found on the streets of Victorian London, then this chronicler does not know about them. Lady Fiona Seelis comes from old, old money though most do not know how old. Her guise is that of a wealthy widow whose family owns many lands in Wales and north of London. She has a bit of an accent that she claims she got due living in France for a number of years after her husband’s death. No one seems to recall ever meeting her husband, but after a few moments with the lovely Lady they know they must have met the poor devil before his untimely death. Accident it was, at least that is what you heard someone say.
Lady Fiona though has never been married, indeed she is no human either. She is in fact a lesser noble of the Unseelie Court. Her Mistress, Queen Mab herself, has sent Fiona into exile to study the humans. She is supposed to report back on them in a number of years.
The girl known only as “Jane” (Xian in her own country) is a young girl from China. At first she was like any number of the thousands of immigrants to England’s shores till the night she tried to kill Lady Fiona. To be fair Lady Fiona had been stalking the streets of London looking trouble of her own. Her Faerie nature driving her to defend her territory from intruding monsters, not out of altruism or care for the humans, but because this territory was hers.
Jane had secrets of her own. She was a young Tong assassin in training. Her job was supposed to be a simple one of killing a rival. But the rival gang learned of this and kill all in Jane’s group. All, including Jane were suspected dead. Her Tong never search for her since she was only a girl. Fiona saved her that night and the two now hunt the streets of London together.
Neither woman is what you call “good”, they are very apt at playing the roles they have created for themselves. Fiona will appear as the rich widow with more money than sense and Jane will play the role of the quiet maid servant of the east. Fiona, due to her wealth, beauty and more than a little faerie magic is given unprecedented access to places where no other woman is allowed. Jane is constantly near her and Fiona will claim that Jane must always be there to attend to her. In reality Jane is on constant vigil for Lady Fiona’s enemies and she carries her mistress and her own swords.
Fiona has been invited to the New Year’s Eve party in thanks for her generous financial contributions over the years.
Faerie Lady
Drama Points 10
Life Points 38
Attributes
Strength 3
Dexterity 4
Constitution 4
Intelligence 5
Perception 4
Willpower 5
Qualities
Age (+100 years) (2)
Attractiveness +4 (Court Faerie)
Artist (Court Faerie)
Contact (Supernatural—Seelie Court) 2 (Court Faerie)
Court Faerie (Unseelie Court)
Glamour (Court Faerie)
Innate Magic (Court Faerie)
Regeneration (4 Life Points per hour) (Court Faerie)
Resources (Gentry)
Mesmerise (Hear Me) (Court Faerie)
Seeming (Court Faerie)
Drawbacks
Adversary (Seelie Court) 1 (Age)
Archaic (Primitive) (Court Faerie)
Mental Problems (Deranged Faerie Arrogance) (Court Faerie)
Mental Problems (Severe Intolerance) (Court Faerie)
Mental Problem (Severe Obsession—Defend her territory) (2)
Minority (Woman) (2)
Natural Barrier (Cannot enter a church or church yard) (3)
Obligation (Total—Unseelie Court) (Court Faerie)
Vulnerability (Minor—Iron) (Court Faerie)
Skills
Armed Mayhem 6
Art 2 (+1 Artist)
Athletics 3
Crime 0
Driving/Riding 2
Engineering 0
Fisticuffs 3
Influence 3
Knowledge 4
Languages 3 (English, Faerie, Latin)
Marksmanship 3
Notice 1
Occultism 4 (+2 Court Faerie)
Physician 0
Science 0
Wild Card 0
Useful Information
Observation: 1d10 +5
Initiative: +4
Armor: +1 (Glamoured Armor)
Fear: +5
Actions: 2 Mental /1 Physical
Combat
Manoeuvre Bonus Base Damage Notes
Rapier +10 12 Slash/stab (Faerie steel)
Dodge +10 — Defence
Grapple +10 — Resisted by dodge
Deflect +12 — Deflects spells 45º
Lesser Sensing +8 — Active magical perception
Mending +12 — Healing or repair
Mesmerise (Hear Me) +8 — Resisted by Willpower (doubled)
Xian “Jane”
House Girl / Tong Assassin
Drama Points 20
Life Points 36
Attributes
Strength 2
Dexterity 3
Constitution 3
Intelligence 3
Perception 4
Willpower 3
Qualities
Athlete
Attractiveness +2
Charisma 1
Contact (Supernatural) 2
Hard to Kill 2
Nerves of Steel
Drawbacks
Honourable (Serious) (2)
Minority (Chinese Woman) (2)
Secret (Former Tong Assassin) (3)
Skills
Armed Mayhem 5
Art 1
Athletics 4 (+2 Athlete)
Crime 1
Driving/Riding 0
Engineering 0
Fisticuffs 5
Influence 0
Knowledge 2
Languages 2 (Chinese, English)
Marksmanship 0
Notice 3
Occultism 2
Physician 1
Science 0
Wild Card (Housekeeping) 1
Useful Information
Observation: 1d10 +7
Initiative: +4
Armor: +1 (leather waistcoat worn under clothes)
Fear:
Actions: 1 Mental /1 Physical
Combat
Manoeuvre Bonus Base Damage Notes
Sword +8 6 Slash/Stab
Dodge +8 — Defence
Grapple +6 — Resisted by dodge
Punch (kung-fu) +4 4 Bash
Kick +6 6
- Flying Spin +5 8
- Roundhouse +6 6
If there is an odder pair found on the streets of Victorian London, then this chronicler does not know about them. Lady Fiona Seelis comes from old, old money though most do not know how old. Her guise is that of a wealthy widow whose family owns many lands in Wales and north of London. She has a bit of an accent that she claims she got due living in France for a number of years after her husband’s death. No one seems to recall ever meeting her husband, but after a few moments with the lovely Lady they know they must have met the poor devil before his untimely death. Accident it was, at least that is what you heard someone say.
Lady Fiona though has never been married, indeed she is no human either. She is in fact a lesser noble of the Unseelie Court. Her Mistress, Queen Mab herself, has sent Fiona into exile to study the humans. She is supposed to report back on them in a number of years.
The girl known only as “Jane” (Xian in her own country) is a young girl from China. At first she was like any number of the thousands of immigrants to England’s shores till the night she tried to kill Lady Fiona. To be fair Lady Fiona had been stalking the streets of London looking trouble of her own. Her Faerie nature driving her to defend her territory from intruding monsters, not out of altruism or care for the humans, but because this territory was hers.
Jane had secrets of her own. She was a young Tong assassin in training. Her job was supposed to be a simple one of killing a rival. But the rival gang learned of this and kill all in Jane’s group. All, including Jane were suspected dead. Her Tong never search for her since she was only a girl. Fiona saved her that night and the two now hunt the streets of London together.
Neither woman is what you call “good”, they are very apt at playing the roles they have created for themselves. Fiona will appear as the rich widow with more money than sense and Jane will play the role of the quiet maid servant of the east. Fiona, due to her wealth, beauty and more than a little faerie magic is given unprecedented access to places where no other woman is allowed. Jane is constantly near her and Fiona will claim that Jane must always be there to attend to her. In reality Jane is on constant vigil for Lady Fiona’s enemies and she carries her mistress and her own swords.
Fiona has been invited to the New Year’s Eve party in thanks for her generous financial contributions over the years.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Conventions and other maddness
Been a slow blogging week here at the Other Side.
I am really busy at work and I have been re-working both Ghosts of Albion adventures I'll be running.
Speaking of which, I will be at a local Convention, Cyphan, at the end of July.
http://www.cyphan.com/cyphan/CYPHAN_HOME.html
I will be running both of the same adventures I'll be running at Gen Con, "Obsession" and "Dinosauria!" on Friday and Saturday respectively.
You can see the schedule here: http://www.cyphan.com/cyphan/GAMING.html
Cyphan has a more Steampunk feel to it than Gen Con, so maybe I'll make a mad-scientist like character to fit into that mix. He/She would be perfect for "Dinosauria!" really.
I have also been active in paying some more attention to my other (co-owned) blogs, Red Sonja: She Devil with a Sword and Amazon Princess.
I am really busy at work and I have been re-working both Ghosts of Albion adventures I'll be running.
Speaking of which, I will be at a local Convention, Cyphan, at the end of July.
http://www.cyphan.com/cyphan/CYPHAN_HOME.html
I will be running both of the same adventures I'll be running at Gen Con, "Obsession" and "Dinosauria!" on Friday and Saturday respectively.
You can see the schedule here: http://www.cyphan.com/cyphan/GAMING.html
Cyphan has a more Steampunk feel to it than Gen Con, so maybe I'll make a mad-scientist like character to fit into that mix. He/She would be perfect for "Dinosauria!" really.
I have also been active in paying some more attention to my other (co-owned) blogs, Red Sonja: She Devil with a Sword and Amazon Princess.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Gen Con Registration is live
And has been for a about 100 minutes now.
I was here, of course and still did not get into three of the games I really wanted.
My Gen Con tradition is to play Victoriana, but that game was sold out, and I tried to get into the Dresden Files game, but they were all booked too.
I did not see anything that looked "OSR Sponsored" (whatever that means) so if you are running an old-school game then let everyone know.
Here are my games, they are selling pretty fast.
RPG1120388 Obsession (Revised) Thu @ 7:00 PM 4 hrs
Location: Crowne Plaza :: Grand Central Blrm D :: 8 Cost: $4
RPG1120389 Dinosauria! Fri @ 1:00 PM 4 hrs
Location: Crowne Plaza :: Grand Central Blrm D :: 6 Cost: $4
RPG1120390 Dinosauria! Fri @ 7:00 PM 4 hrs
Location: Crowne Plaza :: Grand Central Blrm C :: 3 Cost: $4
Dinosauria! is completely new with new characters designed to get people up and going fast. The 1:00 pm will be "kid friendly" and the 7:00pm one will be more older kids and adults.
Obsession is revised version of the adventure I ran last year. If you played last year then this one is not very different except for some details and the starting of the adventure.
Hope to see you all there!!
I was here, of course and still did not get into three of the games I really wanted.
My Gen Con tradition is to play Victoriana, but that game was sold out, and I tried to get into the Dresden Files game, but they were all booked too.
I did not see anything that looked "OSR Sponsored" (whatever that means) so if you are running an old-school game then let everyone know.
Here are my games, they are selling pretty fast.
RPG1120388 Obsession (Revised) Thu @ 7:00 PM 4 hrs
Location: Crowne Plaza :: Grand Central Blrm D :: 8 Cost: $4
RPG1120389 Dinosauria! Fri @ 1:00 PM 4 hrs
Location: Crowne Plaza :: Grand Central Blrm D :: 6 Cost: $4
RPG1120390 Dinosauria! Fri @ 7:00 PM 4 hrs
Location: Crowne Plaza :: Grand Central Blrm C :: 3 Cost: $4
Dinosauria! is completely new with new characters designed to get people up and going fast. The 1:00 pm will be "kid friendly" and the 7:00pm one will be more older kids and adults.
Obsession is revised version of the adventure I ran last year. If you played last year then this one is not very different except for some details and the starting of the adventure.
Hope to see you all there!!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Ghosts of Albion at Gen Con
On tap is "Obsession (Revised)" if you played Obsession in the past then this is the same game, but I am changing the beginning slightly. The change is subtle, but I think it will change how the rest of the adventure plays out.
I am also going to run two games of "Dinosauria!". The one during the day will be welcome for younger players (cause everyone loves dinosaurs) and the evening one will be geared more to the older crowd (tad more violent, but also things adults are more likely to get like an argument between Karl Marx and Charles Darwin. Yes they are NPCs).
Here are the locations and times.
RPG1120388 Obsession (Revised) Thu @ 7:00 PM 4 hrs
Location: Crowne Plaza :: Grand Central Blrm D :: 8 Cost: $4
RPG1120389 Dinosauria! Fri @ 1:00 PM 4 hrs
Location: Crowne Plaza :: Grand Central Blrm D :: 6 Cost: $4
RPG1120390 Dinosauria! Fri @ 7:00 PM 4 hrs
Location: Crowne Plaza :: Grand Central Blrm C :: 3 Cost: $4
I am leaving Thursday and Saturday during the day to play some old-school D&D and 4e D&D with my boys.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Playing D&D with Kids, Part 3 New Old or Old New?
But I wanted to catch the opinion/pulse of all of you.
What "D&D" should I play?
I kinda want to run old Moldvay/Cook Basic/Expert to be honest. I'd make the characters, and do a old timey dungeon crawl. But truthfully other than my want there is no reason why is has to be B/X.
Should I run it as a newer Retro-Clone (something the kids can go buy)? As D&D 4 (something they could buy and I know is fun for kids)? Or keep it as B/X?
Basic Fantasy is my current favorite retro-clone, but Labyrinth Lord runs a very close second.
Spellcraft and Swordplay is also a huge fave of mine for Original D&D feel, but I think for this I want to go with something in the Basic realm (which is why I am also not opting for OSRIC).
Thoughts?
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Playing D&D with Kids
There have been a lot of posts in the blogs and on the net about playing D&D with younger kids.
From WotC: http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4tut/kids2#73004
and this classic article, http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4news/april2010
Of course there is my kids' group, The DragonSlayers.
Well I am thinking about running some games at Gen Con for kids this year.
I am also thinking of using the Moldvay/Cook versions of Basic and Expert for it as well. Nothing is set in stone yet, I am going to chat about it over the weekend with my regular group. But this might be a chance a debut my long delayed "Return to the Cavern of the Vampire Queen" old school dungeon crawl.
At the moment to make it really old school I need to include more treasure. There is not really enough of that.
From WotC: http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4tut/kids2#73004
and this classic article, http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4news/april2010
Of course there is my kids' group, The DragonSlayers.
Well I am thinking about running some games at Gen Con for kids this year.
I am also thinking of using the Moldvay/Cook versions of Basic and Expert for it as well. Nothing is set in stone yet, I am going to chat about it over the weekend with my regular group. But this might be a chance a debut my long delayed "Return to the Cavern of the Vampire Queen" old school dungeon crawl.
At the moment to make it really old school I need to include more treasure. There is not really enough of that.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Updates
Various updates to some hanging threads.
New Game Group
The Northlands Game group met over pizza. We are going to be playing Pathfinder as I expected, which is good. We are using variations of of our former Pathfinder characters (so yes, starting at 1st level AGAIN). I am going to be playing OisÃn, a Cavalier (not a Paladin). All the characters are half-brothers; Dad got around a lot. I need to read up on the Cavalier some more and decide what cause he takes up as his own.
Gen Con Updates
I will be going to Gen Con this year. So far I think I am only going to run three games. Dinosauria! (one for adults and one for younger people) and a revised Obsession. Obsession was a HUGE success in my mind, but every group wanted to kill the wrong guy from the start, which is fine, but not at all what I wanted to see happen, so the adventure is the same, the first Act will be slightly changed. So if you played Obsession before, this will not be different enough to play again. I do want to run a kids game, there are more families coming to Gen Con than ever before and I want to support that.
Sci-Fi game
I think the issue with me not finding a good sci-fi game is I tend to link Sci-Fi more to properties (Star Wars, Star Trek) more than I do Horror or Fantasy. The closest thing I ever got was Star Frontiers. I think, given what I am mostly likely to do with a Sci-Fi game, is stick with d20 3.x. There are plenty of good sci-fi games that use d20, including some of my faves Star Wars and Star Frontiers (sort of d20-there are SF elements in d20 future). I am going to have to give it a try sometime to see how it all works out.
New Game Group
The Northlands Game group met over pizza. We are going to be playing Pathfinder as I expected, which is good. We are using variations of of our former Pathfinder characters (so yes, starting at 1st level AGAIN). I am going to be playing OisÃn, a Cavalier (not a Paladin). All the characters are half-brothers; Dad got around a lot. I need to read up on the Cavalier some more and decide what cause he takes up as his own.
Gen Con Updates
I will be going to Gen Con this year. So far I think I am only going to run three games. Dinosauria! (one for adults and one for younger people) and a revised Obsession. Obsession was a HUGE success in my mind, but every group wanted to kill the wrong guy from the start, which is fine, but not at all what I wanted to see happen, so the adventure is the same, the first Act will be slightly changed. So if you played Obsession before, this will not be different enough to play again. I do want to run a kids game, there are more families coming to Gen Con than ever before and I want to support that.
Sci-Fi game
I think the issue with me not finding a good sci-fi game is I tend to link Sci-Fi more to properties (Star Wars, Star Trek) more than I do Horror or Fantasy. The closest thing I ever got was Star Frontiers. I think, given what I am mostly likely to do with a Sci-Fi game, is stick with d20 3.x. There are plenty of good sci-fi games that use d20, including some of my faves Star Wars and Star Frontiers (sort of d20-there are SF elements in d20 future). I am going to have to give it a try sometime to see how it all works out.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Gen Con 2011 - Ghosts of Albion
So Gen Con 2011 is only like 194 days away! Where did the time go!!
I am going. I am going to run some games.
Here is my issue though.
Should I run Ghosts of Albion?
Every year I go I run Ghosts of Albion, I provide everything people need to play including sheets, a printed rule book and dice. AND I let people keep the cheat sheets, character sheets and dice. I do this on my own dime because I care for this game a lot.
But it seems I am the only one.
Look I don't want to get snarky here, but I run this game all the time I promote it, I make sure that people leave the game feeling like they had a great time. Not to brag, but I get people telling me it was the best game of the whole Con for them. I work hard on it.
Is it too much to ask then that the publisher actually you know, have books to sell?
I am not asking for free books. I just want the book that has been done for YEARS (that I still have not been paid for) to be out.
This year it is weighing on me.
I want to run Ghosts, but the joy is getting sucked out of me every time I have to say "no, you can't buy it yet. No I don't know when." It is very discouraging.
So. Anyone out there want to play Ghosts of Albion at Gen Con this year?
Should I run something new?
I am going. I am going to run some games.
Here is my issue though.
Should I run Ghosts of Albion?
Every year I go I run Ghosts of Albion, I provide everything people need to play including sheets, a printed rule book and dice. AND I let people keep the cheat sheets, character sheets and dice. I do this on my own dime because I care for this game a lot.
But it seems I am the only one.
Look I don't want to get snarky here, but I run this game all the time I promote it, I make sure that people leave the game feeling like they had a great time. Not to brag, but I get people telling me it was the best game of the whole Con for them. I work hard on it.
Is it too much to ask then that the publisher actually you know, have books to sell?
I am not asking for free books. I just want the book that has been done for YEARS (that I still have not been paid for) to be out.
This year it is weighing on me.
I want to run Ghosts, but the joy is getting sucked out of me every time I have to say "no, you can't buy it yet. No I don't know when." It is very discouraging.
So. Anyone out there want to play Ghosts of Albion at Gen Con this year?
Should I run something new?
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