Am I a 2nd or 3rd Generation gamer?

I was thinking about generations of gamers today and wondering where it is I fit in.

I am an old school gamer, I started in 1979 with a copy of the Holmes Basic set (Blue Book) and the AD&D Monster Manual.  I kicked my gaming into high gear the next years though with the Moldvay Basic.

I learned from guys that learned from their older brothers.  I played with a guy that had learned how to play from Gary himself using the White Box.

I am certain I am not a 1st Gen.  Those are the luminaries of our hobby.  The 2nd Gen either learned at their feet as Plato did from Socrates.  OR are they all part of the 1st generation?  I guess I must be the 2nd generation removed from the source.

I know plenty of "old school" players that were not even alive when even the first Red Box was out.  I know plenty of just plain "old" players that love the newest games.  So age is not the issue I think.

Where are you?  Can you trace your gaming lineage back to one of the Old Great Masters?  Should that even matter?

ETA: Cyclopeatron has a nice list of the Generation of Gamers.
http://cyclopeatron.blogspot.com/2011/03/defining-six-generations-of-d-players.html

Justice is Blind, Issue 3: M&M3 / DCA

I have mentioned before about how pleased I have been that Mutants and Masterminds 3 and DC Adventures share the same system.  Here is one of those reasons.
My latest super-hero character Justice.

Justice, as she is known is a Paragon, of the likes not seen since Superman left he Earth and Wonder Woman retired.   Many know she is the newest force for Truth, Justice and the American Way, but not many know that she shares more with the those paragons of old than a costume design.
Justice is also Astra Kal-El, daughter of Superman (Kal-El) and Wonder Woman, Diana of Themyscira.

I have detailed Justice in previous posts.  Her introduction and Mutants and Masterminds 2nd Ed stats, and stats for the BASH! RPG.

I like her M&M 3.0 stats as well and think this is the best system for her.  Issue 3 of "Justice is Blind" would deal with her current troubles of establishing herself as her own hero with some flashbacks of her time on Themyscira.

Justice - PL 10
Strength 11, Stamina 10, Agility 4, Dexterity 2, Fighting 5, Intellect 3, Awareness 3, Presence 4


Advantages
All-out Attack, Attractive 2, Benefit, Alternate Identity (Astra Kal-el, Astra Kent), Benefit, Wealth (well-off), Connected (Bruce Wayne), Defensive Attack, Languages 1

Skills
Athletics 1 (+12), Close Combat (Grab) 2 (+7), Deception 2 (+6), Expertise (Law) 4 (+7), Insight 1 (+4), Investigation 4 (+7), Perception 3 (+6), Persuasion 2 (+6), Ranged Combat (Heat Vision: Blast 8) 3 (+5), Stealth 4 (+8)

Powers
Flight: Flight 8 (Speed: 500 miles/hour, 1 mile/round)

Heat Vision: Blast 8 (DC 23; Distracting)

Invulnerability
   Immunity: Immunity 10 (Life Support)
   Impervious Defense: Impervious Toughness 5
Super Senses: Senses 8 (Acute: Vision, Hearing, Distance Sense, Extended: Vision, Hearing 2 (x100), Penetrates Concealment: Vision; Limited (Lead))
Super Speed: Quickness 4 (Perform routine tasks in -4 time ranks)
Super Strength: Enhanced Strength 2 (+2 STR; Limited (Lifting only))

Offense
Initiative +4
Grab, +7 (DC Spec 21)
Heat Vision: Blast 8, +5 (DC 23)
Throw, +2 (DC 26)
Unarmed, +5 (DC 26)

Complications
Power Loss: Exposed to Kryptonite
Secret: Is the daughter of Wonder Woman and Superman. Raised by the Batman.
Secret: Secret ID, Astra Kal-El, aka Astra Kent.
Weakness: Magic

Languages
English, Greek

Defense
Dodge 4, Parry 5, Fortitude 10, Toughness 10, Will 3

Power Points
Abilities 80 + Powers 49 + Advantages 8 + Skills 13 (26 ranks) + Defenses 0 = 150

What I like about Justice is she has power, she has a pedigree even (daughter of Wonder Woman and Superman, trained by the Batman) but she is still young and she does not always know what she is doing or what she needs to do.  She only knows that she sees injustice and suffering in the world and she needs to do something about it. She is not an brooding, agnsty hero, but she is a dedicated one and maybe even a bit of a naïve one. She just knows she has to do something. No existential struggles with her, just action.

Now here is to seeing if my regular GM will let me use her in one of his adventures one day.

ETA: I updated her based on some conversations

Review: White Plume Mountain Dungeon Tiles

White Plume Mountain 3D Dungeon Tiles

I love the old-school modules, I love the new school systems. The trouble is that one of the things I enjoy about the newer systems is the use of minis. I love mins, my kids love minis. But I don't have enough dungeon tiles to always run these classic adventures or the time to make my own. That is where Red Pub Games comes in. I was searching for some material on White Plume Mountain, which I plan on running soon, and to my pleasure I found this product.

At 37 pages and 50 cents this will save me hours of either looking for the right dungeon tile or trying to make my own. I just print them out. IF I need to write on them, no problem, I can print out a new one later.
I am quite pleased with this product and want more.

Epic Dragonslayers

A couple of the Dragonslayer characters hit 19th level over the weekend.

I let my boys play two characters each, but sometimes the characters can vary.  My oldest has a cast of 6-7 that he uses two at a time.  Well both boys now have a character each that are 19th level.  The lowest ones are still 15.

I am planning to let them take ALL their characters for the final battle with Tiamat.  Yeah, yeah I know, not really a good role-playing experience for them and more of a roll-playing one, but it is the final battle and the last time they will be able to use any of these characters.

Plus I have a couple more adventures I want them to do before that big battle.

So I am considering using the Epic Level rules.

Anyone have any insights, tips, suggestions?

The Message

That is the name of this story my oldest son has been writing.  His teacher is very proud of him and so are his mom and dad!  But beyond how cool that is, today during our Dragonslayer session he ran "The Message" for the very, very first time as a game.  This was his very first time running a D&D game and frankly I thought he did really well.

We took the Dragonslayers, including his own character as a quasi DM-PC (I'll help run him) and I got a chance to play my witch again.  The one I rolled up back when D&D 3.0 was new and my witch book was in playtest.

The adventure was simple enough.  We (the characters) had to cross Druid Woods and deliver a message (thus the name) to a Baron on the other side of the forest.   Simple right? What could go wrong?  Well we were attacked many times in the woods by kobolds, hobgoblins and (much to my joy) a rogue druther and an evil treant. Of course the Baron had been kidnapped and we needed to save him from being the main event in a sacrifice to Tiamat.  We saved the Baron (who turned out to be a Neutral Blue Dragon in human form) and we were attacked by a huge adult red Dragon (in my boy's world Reds and Blues hate each other so much that they will work with anyone to defeat the other).

Baron saved, returned home and the message delivered.  It really was great fun.  Liam (my oldest) said he toned down the Red.  We got the initiative on him and dealt what I felt was a respectable 64 hp damage to it.  Then he turned around and did a 48 to all of us on his first attack (and that was with the elemental protection my witch set up).  He toned the dragon down a touch and we all came out of it more or less intact.

It was really, really fun.  Liam did a great job and it was nice to not only see him running a game and doing a good job, but also running an adventure he wrote all on his own.

Connor (my youngest) also got in some good playing too.  We found a gold necklace and I said his character could have it for his girl-friend, to which he replied "What girlfriend?  I am too busy adventuring to have time for one of those!"  And when we fought a fire elemental he told us that "I hate these guys, when I was younger they attacked my village and killed my mother."  No idea where that came from.

Maybe next time we will hit the mountains.

Next up: At the White Plume Mountains of Madness

The next adventure for the Dragonslayers (my kids' group) is to go to the White Plume Mountain.  They know they need to recover another relic of the Cult of Tiamat, this time the tooth of the largest red dragon that ever lived.  They have heard rumors that what they seek is in a volcano.

The idea of this adventure was to go to a mountain in snowy area.  So I using the 3.x conversion of S2 White Plume Mountain (and the original) and I am going to set it in a near Arctic area.  I am also going to fill it full of Lovecraftian Horrors since my boys both know who Cthulhu is.  Meld the two together a bit for some good old fashioned dungeon crawl of horror fun.

The adventure is actually very short; shorter than I remembered it.  Plus my youngest has been asking about the most powerful swords in D&D so I think it is time he sees Blackrazor.

Zatannurday: What is Zatanna Reading?

What does Zatanna read before going to bed after a long night of performances? We go to "Catwoman #57" for that answer.

Looks like Aleister Crowley's The Book of the Law on her bed and the Necronomicon on her nightstand.

Gotta love the poster of her Dad over her bed.