RPGaDAY2016: Day 11

Which gamer that you have played with has most affected the way that you play?

Hmm.  I know it sounds cheesy but I am going to have to say my kids.
They have changed how I prepare adventures and structure games.  I have played some really long games/campaigns in the past, but what I have had to do to keep them involved and away from the siren song of video games and the Internet has really challenged me.

Yes. I let them play video games and get on the net.  But what I do has to be just as entertaining to them, or more so, to keep them wanting to do this.

http://www.brigadecon.org/rpgaday2016/

RPGaDAY2016: Day 10

What was the largest in-game surprise you have experienced?

Wow. I need to think about this one.

I think it would have been how well the flashback episodes worked with my kids.
I had done flashbacks during the run of the Dragon and the Phoenix campaign for Buffy, but it never felt like it did with my sons playing Come Endless Darkness for D&D 5.

I mean I knew it was going to work and work well, but I had no idea that the kids were going to enjoy it as much as they did.   It was so satisfying that I want to figure out ways to do it in other campaigns.

Anytime my players can surprise me with their cleverness is also a great time.

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RPGaDAY2016: Day 9

What things are a part of your ideal session, other than the actual game?

I prefer to sit at a table with a good chair, but one that will also let me stand up a lot; so one that won't knock over or not slide easily.   I like to have a lot of really sharp pencils, plenty of paper to write notes and of course something to drink.  Not alcohol, I learned a long time ago that drinking and D&D don't mix with me, but something to keep my throat from getting dry.  It used to be Mt. Dew, but these days it is more likely to be water or tea.  And plenty of light.

One of the things I am happiest about is to be at a point in my life to be able to afford the game room of my dreams.  I have shelves where all my books are easy to get to, I have a nice table and cool art on the walls.  Plus my kids my love it and I often find my son down there just working on characters or adventures.

I also love having people are that there to play.  I don't mind table talk or the inevitable Monty Python quote storm; that's all part of the game really.


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Monstrous Mondays: Dirds and Meowls

I did not forget Monster Monday!  I have just been really busy at work today and I just got around to it now.

So spend and any time on the Internet and you will soon realize that people are ... well ... really fucking crazy.  I say this in all sincerity.  Go pack and look at the original Monster Manual and you will see such monsters as the iconic Owlbear (based on a plastic figure) and the Peryton (based on a mythological creature).

Well not to be outdone the Internet gives us Dirds and Meowls.

Dirds and Meowls
No. Enc.: 1 (3)
Alignment: Nuetral
Movement: 90' (30') / Fly 180' (60')
Armor Class: 5
Hit Dice: 1
Attacks: 3 (claw/claw/bite)
Damage: 1d2/1d2/1d4
Special: Very rare
Save: Monster 1
Morale: 10
Hoard Class: NA
XP: 100

Meowls and Dirds are a magical crossbreed. Often thought to be the same sort of deranged arcane experiments that gave us the Owlbear, the results of this experiment are less malign.
Dirds are a cross between birds and dogs, while meowls are a crossbreed of cats and owls.

Dirds typically have animal intelligence with the senses of both dogs and birds.
Meowls typically have slightly higher intelligence.

Both creatures make for good animal companions and even better familiars.   Any wizard or witch can gain a meowl or dird on a result of "Special" on their Find Familiar rolls.  Where an Imp or Quasit would be chosen for an evil spellcaster a Neutral one can choose a Dird or Meowl.

Don't forget to include the hashtag #MonsterMonday on Twitter or #MonsterMonday on Google+ when you post your own monsters!

Gen Con 2016 in Review

I am back from Gen Con.  As always we had a great time. I am on my lunch so I thought I would fire off an update.

Every night was devoted to the Against the Giants adventure. We didn't get as far as we wanted, we only got through G1 The Hill Giants and +Thork Hammer aka R.C. Pinnel's G4 The Stone Giants.

They encountered their first drow of House Eilservs from Erelhei-Cinlu.
Since I am running this all under D&D 5e I am making the Drow of House Eilservs all partially Warlocks of Tharizdun, whom they know as the Elder Elemental God.  The G4 module played into this rather nicely.

I bought some things of course.  Mostly stuck to Castles & Crusades books.

Can't wait to dip into Victorious!

Went to the ENnies.  I didn't win, which I will admit was disapointing.
I'll post more later on this.

I did get a chance to meet +Zak Sabbath, Stoya and Charlotte Stokely at the ENnies and that at least was cool.  Zak took home 3 of the 5 ENnies he was nominated for, that was also cool.  My son loved his speech thanking Satan.  My son threw up some horns for that.  I also got my copy of Maze of the Blue Medusa signed by Zak and Stokely.

Opted to play a lot of different types of games this year.  Played a great game of Castles & Crusades.
Played some Exploding Kittens (really fun) some Munchkin (also fun), got into a board game at the Mayfair group, but didn't really care for it.  Tried to find a board game we all liked, but no success there.

I got some more art for my game room from Wayne Reynolds.  I think I want to get one of those frames that holds three pictures at once.

Wonder how much he would charge to do some art of Larina....

I picked up a copy of Gettysburg for a friend.  Picked up some more dice. Signed up for the Star Trek playtest.  Was going to pick up Pathfinder Horror Adventures, but there wasn't really anything new in it for me.   I might grab it later at my FLGS.

Loved all the Cosplay.  My son went as Jacob from Assassin's Creed and found a like-minded friend.

There were tons of "Harley Quinn"s but also a lot of "Rey"s from Star Wars. I thought that was cool.

While the con is still dominated by middle-aged, bearded white guys I am seeing a lot more families and kids.  This is a great thing.

Ate and spent WAY too much.

Not sure if I can make it next year.  It is later in August and my kids' school starts before Gen Con.

All in all a great time.

Just a test

This is just another little test.

RPGaDAY2016: Day 8

Do you prefer hardcover, softcover, or electronic books? What are the benefits of your preference?

In truth it sorta depends on the game.  I love my softcover old-school books, my hardcover books and my PDFs.  In general, I do like physical books, but I also love the convenience of PDFs.

I have put my PDFs on various cloud systems I have access too so being able to get to my collection at anytime is great.

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