Seeing lots of year end / new year posts this week and that is always fun.
For myself, I'll keep it brief.
Highlights of 2013
- Eldritch Witchery was published in October and the Witch continued to sell very well.
- I got to play a lot of games this year which is always nice. 3.x and AD&D1 with my boys, the occasional Basic game and I even ran AS&SH.
- I also got to play in ongoing Pathfinder game and an occasional D&D4 game this year. I am playing the same character (basically) in both games so it gives me the chance to compare and contrast the systems in a way I like. Which I also find fun.
- Got to play some Settlers of Catan again, which I enjoy.
On the other hand I am not sure if I networked as much I as I would have liked and I was slow getting involved with Google+ for the most part.
I did not get as many reviews in this year as I would have liked. Some at DriveThruRPG, a few at Amazon and one or two at RPG.Net.
Looking Ahead to 2014
- I have a few Victorian age supplements coming out which should be a lot of fun. Not for Ghosts of Albion but for Gaslight.
- I have a big project starting up soon that I'll be talking about a lot here. Nothing I want to say yet.
- White Dwarf Wednesday will draw to a close in 2014. I am not planning on replacing it with anything just yet. The above mentioned project will prevent that.
- Looking forward to Gen Con this year and D&D5. I am not as excited about it as I could be, but I will certainly be buying it.
I might not (still undecided) do the bloghops this year. The April A to Z or the October movie marathon. I do have posts I could do for A to Z, but April is going to be busy for me and I didn't see the increase in traffic or interaction as I had in the past. Plus it is a lot of work. A recharge might be in order.
I will be doing some 80s Sword & Sorcery movie marathons though. Not sure how those will work out, but it could be fun.
Until then, have a safe New Years Eve and here's to a great new 2014!
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Monday, December 30, 2013
Warlocks, part 2
Over the past week I had the chance to run an AS&SH game and loved it. My only request to my players was for someone to play a Warlock character. That was also really fun.
I have never really considered the warlock much. But I have been thinking a lot about the warlock as a class in D&D of late. There is a Warlock in Eldritch Witchery. It is a type of Wizard basically. I liken it to "Wizard Grad School" to be honest. They use the same spells as the witch and gain a few extra powers.
The AS&SH warlock is something more akin to a swordmage. We see something similar in D&D4 Essentials Hexblade. In general I liked the D&D4 Warlock. They were a class that wanted quick access to power and none of the work that Wizards had to do. That was a fine role-playing excuse, but not something that played out in the rules. Warlocks gained powers just like the Wizards did and had no more or no less requirements.
The Warlocks in Fantastic Heroes & Witchery are another sort. It is a chaos aligned wizard and has a lot of the same features really. It uses the same xp per level tables, same HD and same spell progressions. The FHW Warlock does gain some power, similar in many ways to my own witch, but at a cost. On the surface this doesn't make it much different than a wizard, with a different selection of spells. What makes this class, and really this book, different are the selection of spells (the book has 666) and the additional rules for acquiring magic and casting spells. Adding this material makes the Warlock a much more interesting character.
The Pact-Bound in Magical Theorems & Dark Pacts is another warlock-like class. Again the idea here is a class that takes a quick path to power for a price, usually to an other worldly power.
There is a similar one in the pages of the ACKS Player's Companion.
In the 3e era we have a couple of "warlocks". There is a warlock in the Complete Arcane and the witch in Pathfinder, which always felt more like a warlock to me.
Somewhere at the intersection of all these warlocks is the one I want to play.
These are the features I am looking for:
- spontaneous spellcasting
- same spells as the witch or at least some sort of connection
- pacts with other worldly powers that grant the warlock power
- shortcuts to power, so they should get more spells faster, but maybe fewer as time goes on.
- some idea of corruption. Warlocks should be unnatural and not part of this world anymore.
Going to be playing around with this a lot more in the new year.
The AS&SH warlock is something more akin to a swordmage. We see something similar in D&D4 Essentials Hexblade. In general I liked the D&D4 Warlock. They were a class that wanted quick access to power and none of the work that Wizards had to do. That was a fine role-playing excuse, but not something that played out in the rules. Warlocks gained powers just like the Wizards did and had no more or no less requirements.
The Warlocks in Fantastic Heroes & Witchery are another sort. It is a chaos aligned wizard and has a lot of the same features really. It uses the same xp per level tables, same HD and same spell progressions. The FHW Warlock does gain some power, similar in many ways to my own witch, but at a cost. On the surface this doesn't make it much different than a wizard, with a different selection of spells. What makes this class, and really this book, different are the selection of spells (the book has 666) and the additional rules for acquiring magic and casting spells. Adding this material makes the Warlock a much more interesting character.
The Pact-Bound in Magical Theorems & Dark Pacts is another warlock-like class. Again the idea here is a class that takes a quick path to power for a price, usually to an other worldly power.
There is a similar one in the pages of the ACKS Player's Companion.
In the 3e era we have a couple of "warlocks". There is a warlock in the Complete Arcane and the witch in Pathfinder, which always felt more like a warlock to me.
Somewhere at the intersection of all these warlocks is the one I want to play.
These are the features I am looking for:
- spontaneous spellcasting
- same spells as the witch or at least some sort of connection
- pacts with other worldly powers that grant the warlock power
- shortcuts to power, so they should get more spells faster, but maybe fewer as time goes on.
- some idea of corruption. Warlocks should be unnatural and not part of this world anymore.
Going to be playing around with this a lot more in the new year.
Warlocks
Just a quick one, still out and on the road.
What do you all think about warlock classes?
I know of a number of different ones, AS&SH, D&D4 and others. What are your favorite ones and why?
More on this in a bit.
What do you all think about warlock classes?
I know of a number of different ones, AS&SH, D&D4 and others. What are your favorite ones and why?
More on this in a bit.
Friday, December 27, 2013
2013 Game of the Year
2013 was a great year for gaming personally. I got to try out a lot of old things, which is fun, and had a chance to try out some new games as well. I got to play a lot of Basic and 1st Ed AD&D with my kids, do a little more with 3e, started both a Pathfinder and 4e game. The Pathfinder game kicks up again next year and I just got a notification about my 4e game just two days ago (on Tuesday, so I guess this post was premature).
But of all the games I tried out only one really grabbed me this year.
Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea.
Today we played a very Howard inspired "rescue the princess before the Old God is awakened" sort of deal. It was fun and I borrowed a lot from Spellcraft & Swordplay and Call of Cthulhu for this one.
We had an Atlantean warlock, a Keltic Bard, Kimmerian fighter and a "Norse" Cleric. It was a lot of fun.
For my money it is the best of the "Dark Fantasy" games on the market right now.
I hope I get to play it more in 2014.
If you don't yet have this game then you are really, really missing out on some fun.
But of all the games I tried out only one really grabbed me this year.
Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea.
Today we played a very Howard inspired "rescue the princess before the Old God is awakened" sort of deal. It was fun and I borrowed a lot from Spellcraft & Swordplay and Call of Cthulhu for this one.
We had an Atlantean warlock, a Keltic Bard, Kimmerian fighter and a "Norse" Cleric. It was a lot of fun.
For my money it is the best of the "Dark Fantasy" games on the market right now.
I hope I get to play it more in 2014.
If you don't yet have this game then you are really, really missing out on some fun.
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Classic Christmas
Every year for Christmas I ask Santa for a game item that I am not likely to buy for myself. This year I asked for the limited edition Original D&D reprint boxed set.
Well I must have been a good boy.
The new books came in large wood box with dice and a nice felt bottom. Plenty of room if I wanted to add a copy of Chainmail (curiously absent from this).
The books compare favorably with the originals. Save for the covers they are authentic reproductions of the originals. Though having the "Dungeons & Dragons" logo/titles in different colors would have been a neat touch.
Can't say I like the newer covers better.
Gods, Demi-gods and Heroes has the biggest changes.
Missing are the Conan and Elric mythos; which makes sense really.
I am pretty pleased with this set to be honest. I'd love to run an old-fashioned OD&D game with them someday. I have been dying to do something like a John Carter/Barsoom game using OD&D.
How abut you? Did Santa Orc (or Krampus) bring you anything nice this year?
Well I must have been a good boy.
The new books came in large wood box with dice and a nice felt bottom. Plenty of room if I wanted to add a copy of Chainmail (curiously absent from this).
The books compare favorably with the originals. Save for the covers they are authentic reproductions of the originals. Though having the "Dungeons & Dragons" logo/titles in different colors would have been a neat touch.
Can't say I like the newer covers better.
Gods, Demi-gods and Heroes has the biggest changes.
Missing are the Conan and Elric mythos; which makes sense really.
I am pretty pleased with this set to be honest. I'd love to run an old-fashioned OD&D game with them someday. I have been dying to do something like a John Carter/Barsoom game using OD&D.
How abut you? Did Santa Orc (or Krampus) bring you anything nice this year?
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays from The Other Side
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the Other Side!!
Here are some of my favorite "modern" Christmas songs.
Here are some of my favorite "modern" Christmas songs.
Monday, December 23, 2013
Alas, 4E
2013 will go down, at least for me, as the year Fourth Edition of Dungeons & Dragons died.
It was an ignoble death. When 1st ed gave way for 2nd ed there was a feeling of renewal mixed with an attitude of it was a change for the better. When 2nd ed was replaced by 3e there was a feeling (again in my mind) of a reboot, a new era. 4e always started out on the wrong foot.
Many complained it was too video game like, albeit from many that had never actually played it. Others complained it was too soon (though it was shown that we do get a new edition every 8 years or so).
We are now all gearing up for D&D Next and I hope that they don't end up calling it that. What will 6e be called? D&D The Next one after that?
There is a lot to like about D&D Next and I am looking forward to it. But I can't help but feel a bit of remorse for the loss of my D&D4 game.
I will not lie. I had fun with 4e. I loved the books and the fluff and I *will* be recycling as much as I can for whatever I do next. Whether that is Next or even Pathfinder.
I did pick up 13th Age which was described to me as a "4e Retro-clone" . It's not exactly that, but there are some really nice ideas in this to bring 4e closer to 3e and it addresses some of the complaints I have heard about 4e.
While 4th Ed might be retreating to the back of my gaming list I am not done with it. There are few things I wrote for myself for 4e that are going to see the light of day under different systems. I had created a number of new Warlock pacts that I would love to expand on and even some materials I wrote for a Witch class before WotC published their own.
So it is not good bye really. Besides I can still use all those minis, tiles and monster tokens.
It was an ignoble death. When 1st ed gave way for 2nd ed there was a feeling of renewal mixed with an attitude of it was a change for the better. When 2nd ed was replaced by 3e there was a feeling (again in my mind) of a reboot, a new era. 4e always started out on the wrong foot.
Many complained it was too video game like, albeit from many that had never actually played it. Others complained it was too soon (though it was shown that we do get a new edition every 8 years or so).
We are now all gearing up for D&D Next and I hope that they don't end up calling it that. What will 6e be called? D&D The Next one after that?
There is a lot to like about D&D Next and I am looking forward to it. But I can't help but feel a bit of remorse for the loss of my D&D4 game.
I will not lie. I had fun with 4e. I loved the books and the fluff and I *will* be recycling as much as I can for whatever I do next. Whether that is Next or even Pathfinder.
I did pick up 13th Age which was described to me as a "4e Retro-clone" . It's not exactly that, but there are some really nice ideas in this to bring 4e closer to 3e and it addresses some of the complaints I have heard about 4e.
While 4th Ed might be retreating to the back of my gaming list I am not done with it. There are few things I wrote for myself for 4e that are going to see the light of day under different systems. I had created a number of new Warlock pacts that I would love to expand on and even some materials I wrote for a Witch class before WotC published their own.
So it is not good bye really. Besides I can still use all those minis, tiles and monster tokens.
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