Is there anything better than a new game? Sure! Lots of new games.
Here is what I picked up over my lunch break. Cause new games are fun.
B/X Companion. The Book We Never Got. You can now take your Basic/Expert characters past 14th level.
Deadlands: Hell on Earth Reloaded. I don't know a lot about this game, but it has a good pedigree, and it is Savage Worlds, so it can't be all bad. ;)
Primeval RPG Core Rulebook. I loved this show when it was on. A bit like Torchwood, a bit of Doctor Who. All British. Well Cubicle 7 has finally got it out to us and it is great. This game uses the same game system as Doctor Who (which is very nice) so you can have all your Time Travel shenanigans in one place. This book will sit nice on the shelf next to my Doctor Who game.
Extreme Edge Volume Two Collection. Ok, so. I like the Hot Chicks RPG. It's silly fun and it doesn't take itself seriously at all. Plus I know Dakkar and he is a good guy.
Supers Unleashed. A simple supers game that has a lot of potential. The layout is beyond simple into the sparse category and the artwork is the cover only. So think of it as a minimalist game. It has a price to match.
More detailed reviews soon.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
B/X Companion in PDF
B/X Companion is one of those products. (You can read all I have said about it in the past.)
Well it is now finally out as a PDF. Please stop by DriveThruRPG or RPGNow to get your copy.
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/103412/B-X-Companion?affiliate_id=10748&
So if you have been waiting for this one, her is your chance.
Monday, July 2, 2012
Gods of the New Game
I still don't have a name yet for my new Realms based 4e game, but things are coming together really nice.
Now back when I said I didn't know anything about the Realms. Well that wasn't true. I don't know much about the lands or the peoples. I have no idea where Elminster is from, but I could pick him out in a police line up. But one thing I do know about is the gods of the Realms.
Back when I was working on my first Witch netbook I picked up what was at that time my only Realms specific book, Faiths & Avatars. I wanted some more info on various gods, various 2nd ed Kits and the human deities. Later I picked up Powers & Pantheons and Demihuman Deities.
So Gods, I know.
I have been playing around with the plots lines of the Spellplague and the events in HPE modules.
And I have decided that I have killed of a number of the Gods.
Here is who is living and who is dead and why.
Bahamut has taken on Tyr's and Torm's portfolios. Torm was killed by Asmodeus. Is now a greater power.
Bane - Dead. Why? can't stand him. Plus I need Asmodeus as a greater threat. He killed Bane and absorbed all his power and portfolio. Part of his Reckoning of Hell. Asmodeus is still keeping Tharizdun chained up deep in Hell.
Kelemvor - Was killed by Orcus in the demon lord's attempt to regain his godhood. In my games Orcus was not a human that rose up through the ranks of demon-hood, but rather he was Death Primordial/Titan that had the powers of a god. He had been denounced and banished to the Abyss. He is searching for an artifact to give him ultimate power.
Mystra is dead, as per the book. But she won't stay that way for long.
The Raven Queen - from the D&D core and not the Realms I know. She is alive, but she has not come into her power at all. In fact she is currently in the guise of a teenage girl ala Death from the Endless. She is the vessel of Kelemvor's power.
Sehanine, Selûne and Shar are much as they are in the books. However in my world there is also a heresy and a cult dedicated to the "Triune Goddess" or the "Triple Moon Goddess" who believe that all three deities are merely part of the same greater goddess. They are respectively the Maiden, Mother and Crone.
The mother, Selûne, is pregnant with the infant Mystra. Since Kelemvor is dead, Shar is pulling double duties till the young Raven Queen is ready.
Others will appear (or die) as needed.
Back when I was working on my first Witch netbook I picked up what was at that time my only Realms specific book, Faiths & Avatars. I wanted some more info on various gods, various 2nd ed Kits and the human deities. Later I picked up Powers & Pantheons and Demihuman Deities.
So Gods, I know.
I have been playing around with the plots lines of the Spellplague and the events in HPE modules.
And I have decided that I have killed of a number of the Gods.
Here is who is living and who is dead and why.
Bahamut has taken on Tyr's and Torm's portfolios. Torm was killed by Asmodeus. Is now a greater power.
Bane - Dead. Why? can't stand him. Plus I need Asmodeus as a greater threat. He killed Bane and absorbed all his power and portfolio. Part of his Reckoning of Hell. Asmodeus is still keeping Tharizdun chained up deep in Hell.
Kelemvor - Was killed by Orcus in the demon lord's attempt to regain his godhood. In my games Orcus was not a human that rose up through the ranks of demon-hood, but rather he was Death Primordial/Titan that had the powers of a god. He had been denounced and banished to the Abyss. He is searching for an artifact to give him ultimate power.
Mystra is dead, as per the book. But she won't stay that way for long.
The Raven Queen - from the D&D core and not the Realms I know. She is alive, but she has not come into her power at all. In fact she is currently in the guise of a teenage girl ala Death from the Endless. She is the vessel of Kelemvor's power.
Sehanine, Selûne and Shar are much as they are in the books. However in my world there is also a heresy and a cult dedicated to the "Triune Goddess" or the "Triple Moon Goddess" who believe that all three deities are merely part of the same greater goddess. They are respectively the Maiden, Mother and Crone.
The mother, Selûne, is pregnant with the infant Mystra. Since Kelemvor is dead, Shar is pulling double duties till the young Raven Queen is ready.
Others will appear (or die) as needed.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
The Road to Winterhaven
The first session of my kids new D&D4 group happened yesterday and fun was had by all.
The road to Winterhaven has it's issues, but yesterday the band of heroes-to-be gathered together to defeat the kobold ambush. Present were Dracnil, a Dragonborn Paladin/Warlord, Swift aka "The King" a Bard, Hunter a Ranger, Glock the Halfling theirf, Calinndin an Elandrin Swordmage, Drac of the North a Mul Barbarian and Nevar Bloodbrow a Dwarven Cleric.
Some time was spent on getting characters made and the first encounter. There was also an impromptu skill challenge when one of their fellow passengers was missing after the combat. Even the natural 20 from the Ranger could find no trace of her.
So far they have the mystery of the missing girl, a symbol they are sure represents some cult, and three of the seven have been hired to investigate the rest of the kobolds.
I am going to add in some bits of the Winterhaven I was working on back in 2003. It was conceived as a town where witches roamed free. The D&D4/Nentir Vale Winterhaven is different, but it sits on a nexus point of the Material World, the Shadowfell and the Feywild. So there is more here than meets the eye.
I thought the kids did really well yesterday, especially the two that had never played before (though I guess their mom was a big player of Werewolf back in college). In fact I think the extra XP award for best role playing has to go to one of the new kids (who is the youngest) and the next oldest (though he has been playing a lot longer). In fact it was Drac of the North (one of the youngest) that got extra experience points for being the first to notice the missing girl.
Given how yesterday went the combat was long, but not much different than my 3.x game. That will change I know. Also as the kids (and I for that matter) become more accustomed to the rules things will move along better.
Next session is not for another 2 weeks, so progress will be a bit slow, but I think it will be fine.
No name for the group yet, I am going to let the kids choose.
Some time was spent on getting characters made and the first encounter. There was also an impromptu skill challenge when one of their fellow passengers was missing after the combat. Even the natural 20 from the Ranger could find no trace of her.
So far they have the mystery of the missing girl, a symbol they are sure represents some cult, and three of the seven have been hired to investigate the rest of the kobolds.
I am going to add in some bits of the Winterhaven I was working on back in 2003. It was conceived as a town where witches roamed free. The D&D4/Nentir Vale Winterhaven is different, but it sits on a nexus point of the Material World, the Shadowfell and the Feywild. So there is more here than meets the eye.
I thought the kids did really well yesterday, especially the two that had never played before (though I guess their mom was a big player of Werewolf back in college). In fact I think the extra XP award for best role playing has to go to one of the new kids (who is the youngest) and the next oldest (though he has been playing a lot longer). In fact it was Drac of the North (one of the youngest) that got extra experience points for being the first to notice the missing girl.
Given how yesterday went the combat was long, but not much different than my 3.x game. That will change I know. Also as the kids (and I for that matter) become more accustomed to the rules things will move along better.
Next session is not for another 2 weeks, so progress will be a bit slow, but I think it will be fine.
No name for the group yet, I am going to let the kids choose.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Tomorrow it Begins!
Tomorrow I start my* new D&D group.
So far where is what we know.
Two of the kids are mine. Three are the sons of my friend Greg and two are friends of my oldest son. The two new kids have never played anything before.
Greg's kids have played a lot of games, mine have played a variety of D&D games, most notably our 3.x Dragon Slayers game.
We are going with the Orcus wants to become the God of Death plot line. The differences will be that it's Kelemvor that has died due to the Spellplauge and the Raven Queen is only a Godling, her power untapped. This makes her a more likely target to Orcus than the mature Raven Queen. I'll admit there are some things from Amber Benson's "Death's Daughter" that I want to try out too. I am still doing many of the ideas from this post back in 2010, except these characters are not the descendants of the 3.x characters and I am going to smash a world into this one.
Honestly I think it is going to be great. 4e has it's detractors, but we still had fun with it. Plus my son plays in a Castles & Crusades game with 3 of the other kids listed above and my two boys are still finishing up their 3.x game where I used all the old 1st Ed modules. We get to do all sorts of schools here.
(*really my son's)
So far where is what we know.
- We are playing D&D 4th Edition with the plan of going from 1st to 30th level
- I will have *7* players aged 8 to 12 1/2
- We are playing in the Forgotten Realms as it is in the 4th Ed books.
- We are going to do the H-P-E Modules starting with "The Keep On the Shadowfell"
Two of the kids are mine. Three are the sons of my friend Greg and two are friends of my oldest son. The two new kids have never played anything before.
Greg's kids have played a lot of games, mine have played a variety of D&D games, most notably our 3.x Dragon Slayers game.
We are going with the Orcus wants to become the God of Death plot line. The differences will be that it's Kelemvor that has died due to the Spellplauge and the Raven Queen is only a Godling, her power untapped. This makes her a more likely target to Orcus than the mature Raven Queen. I'll admit there are some things from Amber Benson's "Death's Daughter" that I want to try out too. I am still doing many of the ideas from this post back in 2010, except these characters are not the descendants of the 3.x characters and I am going to smash a world into this one.
Honestly I think it is going to be great. 4e has it's detractors, but we still had fun with it. Plus my son plays in a Castles & Crusades game with 3 of the other kids listed above and my two boys are still finishing up their 3.x game where I used all the old 1st Ed modules. We get to do all sorts of schools here.
(*really my son's)
LinkWithin
Well I have been trying out LinkWithin on my blog for the 3rd time (or maybe the 4th) and this time it seems to work much better.
In earlier versions of the Other Side layout I had written large parts of my own CSS. The new Blogger layout now gives me the advanced features I wanted without needing to muck around with coding. That is nice since my own coding also has disabled some of the nicer comments features. It also was not very compatible with LinkWithin.
Well now it seems to work better. I am not seeing how the algorithm works; for example how a post on the Zatanna and Hex Girls will also direct you to Dracula, Shakespeare, and D&D Basic. But I guess in my world that makes sense.
The one thing I am noticing that my hits for older pages are way up. That is a good thing. I have over 1200 posts here now, some of that older stuff has to be good too!
Do you like the LinkWithin widget? Are you finding any hidden treasures, not just here, but any blog that uses it?
In earlier versions of the Other Side layout I had written large parts of my own CSS. The new Blogger layout now gives me the advanced features I wanted without needing to muck around with coding. That is nice since my own coding also has disabled some of the nicer comments features. It also was not very compatible with LinkWithin.
Well now it seems to work better. I am not seeing how the algorithm works; for example how a post on the Zatanna and Hex Girls will also direct you to Dracula, Shakespeare, and D&D Basic. But I guess in my world that makes sense.
The one thing I am noticing that my hits for older pages are way up. That is a good thing. I have over 1200 posts here now, some of that older stuff has to be good too!
Do you like the LinkWithin widget? Are you finding any hidden treasures, not just here, but any blog that uses it?
Thursday, June 28, 2012
My Game Room needs a HUGE map
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| Custom Bandit Signs |
Well I have always wanted a large map of Victorian London on my wall so I responded back and we got to chatting.
Today I got the file formats I needed to know about so I am going to give it a try.
This is a very different kind of market for both me and his company. Afterall I rarely if ever need vinyl banners and I am sure they print up much stuff for gamers. So I am quite curious to see how this will all turn out.
I will keep you all posted on how it works out and all that good stuff.
Now I just need to find a good image file (that I own) for this! So far though things have been pretty easy going.
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