It is Teach Your Kids to Game week over at DriveThruRPG.
I love these sorts of games. Sure I way beyond "learning to game" myself and so are my kids. But back about 10 years ago my son wanted to play with my funny sided dice.
Back then I used D&D 3.0 to teach gaming to my boys and it worked nice. In retrospect I might of done something a little different. Maybe something like Basic D&D (a current fave) or even a streamlined version of AD&D.
So I really love seeing games like these and there are lot to choose from.
Here are a few of my favorites.
Little Wizards
If you have a kid that loves Harry Potter or Kiki's Delivery Service then this is the game to get. Quick, Easy and Fun could be the tag line for this game. The stats are simple really. Three traits, some powers and of course a description of your wand and familiar. I am disappointed I have not used this game more myself. It might be a "kids" game but it packs a lot of punch and frankly is one of the most clever little games I have seen in a long time. The Character sheet is a treat too.
Hero Kids - Fantasy RPG
I have a lot of love for this game. I was supposed to submit an adventure for it, the Cave of the Stinky Goblin, which is the very first adventure I ever ran for my own son. A Goblin is washing his stinky clothes and garbage in the river and smelling up the town of West Haven. This game, like many others here, use a simple d6 based mechanic. This is good since that is what most people have in their homes. My kids were attracted to my multi-sided dice, butI see no reason why you could not just replace all the d6s in HK with d8s for example.
The rules are light and fast. There are plenty of character sheets for all four classes and blanks along with cutout minis. There are a lot of monsters too.
Calling "D&D lite" does not really do the game justice, but it is rather close.
Mermaid Adventures RPG
I don't know much about this one but I have heard nothing but very high praise for it.
Monsters and Other Childish Things: Completely Monstrous Edition
This is a game that works well as a "kids" game, but there is enough here for adults to have fun with it. I have always wanted to use this as a "dark Pokemon" (and that is saying something) or even a very dark version of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.
Kids & Critters RPG Trilogy
An absolute steal at this price.
For under 3 bucks you get 3 complete games for kids.
Tales from the Wood where you play creatures from The Wood. Think Watership Down.
Lashings of Ginger Beer is about playing a kid in Idyllic England, so it might actually work best for adults. Most similar to kids adventure tales.
It's a Dog's LIfe is the best of the three where you play a Prairie Dog out on the American Plains with heavy American Indian/Native American influences.
All three games are simple to learn and easy to play.
These games require a bit more abstraction to play than some other kid games, but nothing a little kid with a great imagination couldn't handle.
Faery's Tale Deluxe
I reviewed this one a while back.
Toy War
Toy War takes very simple rules (and also teaches kids how to use a ruler) to bring their favorite toys to life. Each toy has a purpose and something it does well. In one session we brought in a baby harp seal (was cute), a toy Dalek (can shoot), a space ship and some D&D dragons. We came up with this idea to rescue some fish and we were off. The adventure is fast and fun. In the end we saved the fish, only to have them eaten by the baby seal. The baby seal got away with it because he was cute.
Depending on your kids this could be a game of structured make believe or even an on-going saga. Or it can be a great diversion for a rain or snowy afternoon.
Worth every penny and then some.
DC ADVENTURES Hero's Handbook
For older kids to be sure. I have reviewed this one and it's Mutant & Masterminds parents a number of times here/
Adventures in Oz: Fantasy Roleplaying Beyond the Yellow Brick Road
Reviewed here and here.
Cavemaster RPG
Cavemaster might one of the biggest games here on my list (outside of DCA). This is a "stonepunk" game where you play cavemen. Some kids might love this idea, others might be turned off on it. For me I think it is an excellent concept and would work with a group generally smarter kids. Kids that for example would understand our pre-history origins.
What makes this good for kids is that the system itself is so easy to use. In fact one of the conceits of the game is it is molded after the first RPGs played by cave men. Well...not really...and Game Designer Jeff Dee knows this, but it is still fun.
The game is rich and detailed and really deserves a deeper look on my part.
Witch Girls Adventures: Director's Cut
Reviewed throughout my blog.
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/search/label/wga
I do wish that The Second Edition would come out.
Monster Slayers: The Heroes of Hesiod
This one IS actually D&D lite. I reviewed it here, http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2010/04/d-4-kids-monster-slayers-heroes-of.html
Mutants & Marvels
From the OSR's own Tom Doolan this game is a mix of D&D & Marvel Super Heroes (FASERIP), or rather OSR games and 4C. Streamed down into just under 45 pages it makes it a great 1st supers game for kids or an on going game for the right group of adults.
Grab one of these.
Showing posts with label kids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kids. Show all posts
Monday, November 17, 2014
Monday, October 13, 2014
Great Weekend!
What a great weekend that was! I can't even feel bad for it being Monday cause I am still riding the high.
I got to watch some cool horror movies with my family. Got our Halloween decorations up (well, most of them) and We played some more Castle Amber Sunday night.
Had a moment of serious Deja Vu when running it too. In the "White Room" in the East Wing there is a D&D Expert set monster hiding out, a Frost Salamander. Now back in the day (much like today) we mixed and matched our D&D rules as we needed. Well back when I was a player and we went through this room I didn't have my D&D Expert book on me. I had just bought the PHB and we were running it as "pure" AD&D. Well AD&D doesn't have a Frost Salamander. Neither does D&D 5.
So in both cases we substituted a Remorhaz for it.
I know not a big deal. But for a bit I was transported back in time to when I was my son's age and doing what he was doing. It was very cool to me.
If you have not had a chance yet, head on over to Tenkar's Tavern to see exactly how not to act when someone is reviewing your kickstarter:
Very good example of what not to do.
I got to watch some cool horror movies with my family. Got our Halloween decorations up (well, most of them) and We played some more Castle Amber Sunday night.
Had a moment of serious Deja Vu when running it too. In the "White Room" in the East Wing there is a D&D Expert set monster hiding out, a Frost Salamander. Now back in the day (much like today) we mixed and matched our D&D rules as we needed. Well back when I was a player and we went through this room I didn't have my D&D Expert book on me. I had just bought the PHB and we were running it as "pure" AD&D. Well AD&D doesn't have a Frost Salamander. Neither does D&D 5.
So in both cases we substituted a Remorhaz for it.
I know not a big deal. But for a bit I was transported back in time to when I was my son's age and doing what he was doing. It was very cool to me.
If you have not had a chance yet, head on over to Tenkar's Tavern to see exactly how not to act when someone is reviewing your kickstarter:
- http://www.tenkarstavern.com/2014/10/kickstarter-dragonwars-of-trayth.html
- http://www.tenkarstavern.com/2014/10/wayward-kickstarter-dragonwars-of.html
- http://www.tenkarstavern.com/2014/10/tales-from-backwater-tavern.html
Very good example of what not to do.
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Another Great 5e Weekend
It is the the first weekend of Fall (more or less) and that means a lot of yard work for me including cleaning up my wife's garden. I don't mind. I love getting all the fresh veggies.
But this weekend was also a great 5th Edition D&D weekend.
Began our time picking up a couple copies of the newest Monster Manual.
The new Monster Manual is a damn attractive book. Like so much of D&D5 it reads like a "greatest hits" of D&D. Yest there is still plenty of room for more books especially a Fiend Folio.
Tonight the family explored the temple in Castle Amber. They might more of the crazy Ambers and manged to get one character turned to stone. Fortunately for the paladin, the sorcerer still had a wand of negation that could undo one magical effect. So our paladin was back.
But the dice were cold tonight and we stopped after a couple of hours. Still, more fun to be had at Castle Amber.
But this weekend was also a great 5th Edition D&D weekend.
Began our time picking up a couple copies of the newest Monster Manual.
The new Monster Manual is a damn attractive book. Like so much of D&D5 it reads like a "greatest hits" of D&D. Yest there is still plenty of room for more books especially a Fiend Folio.
Tonight the family explored the temple in Castle Amber. They might more of the crazy Ambers and manged to get one character turned to stone. Fortunately for the paladin, the sorcerer still had a wand of negation that could undo one magical effect. So our paladin was back.
But the dice were cold tonight and we stopped after a couple of hours. Still, more fun to be had at Castle Amber.
Monday, September 8, 2014
Castle Amber by Candle Light
Running behind on posting (and reading). We got slammed by a freak storm in Chicago and we were without power from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning.
Friday we went out in the hope that the power would be back soon. No such luck. So we spent the night reading by flashlight and candle light. I grabbed my old 2e Ravenloft Boxed set to flip through.
Saturday was spent grilling everything in the fridge so we would not have to throw it all out.
We then spent the day preparing and playing one of my favorite modules X2 Castle Amber.
And trust me, nothing was quite as fun as playing it all by candle light.
We played it under 5th edition rules. Unlike Bone Hill, I did not have 5e stats for all the monsters in this adventure. But fortunately the conversion process was very easy and most I could do one the fly.
Yeah that is my 1st Ed. DMs screen. I had my kids grab everything and they also got that.
So far 5e is still working very nice for us.
Castle Amber is also a great adventure to play and run. The kids are having a blast. They managed to get through the west wing and they even found an intelligent magical sword. I am not sure what do with that one yet. I hand-waved it for now since I have not found any D&D5 rules about intelligent weapons yet.
My family is loving this adventure so far and I have to admit I was rather gleeful inside at scene where they have to run from the "Grey Mists" to get into the castle.
The nice thing is that even though this feels like a "monster of the week" adventure there is a great tie-in to the overall "Cult of Chaos" plot I have been weaving through all the adventures. Yeah, yeah I have seen the posts that D&D isn't supposed to be "cinematic" or "storytelling". Screw that. I do what my family and I enjoy. My youngest spends his time playing looking for any clues that might help him understand more about the mystery and my oldest wants to read Lovecraft now.
So next time they will finish the central forest and hit the East Wing and then beyond.
Friday we went out in the hope that the power would be back soon. No such luck. So we spent the night reading by flashlight and candle light. I grabbed my old 2e Ravenloft Boxed set to flip through.
Saturday was spent grilling everything in the fridge so we would not have to throw it all out.
 |
| Eggs, toast and bacon on the grill. I might never eat inside again. |
We then spent the day preparing and playing one of my favorite modules X2 Castle Amber.
And trust me, nothing was quite as fun as playing it all by candle light.
We played it under 5th edition rules. Unlike Bone Hill, I did not have 5e stats for all the monsters in this adventure. But fortunately the conversion process was very easy and most I could do one the fly.
Yeah that is my 1st Ed. DMs screen. I had my kids grab everything and they also got that.
So far 5e is still working very nice for us.
Castle Amber is also a great adventure to play and run. The kids are having a blast. They managed to get through the west wing and they even found an intelligent magical sword. I am not sure what do with that one yet. I hand-waved it for now since I have not found any D&D5 rules about intelligent weapons yet.
My family is loving this adventure so far and I have to admit I was rather gleeful inside at scene where they have to run from the "Grey Mists" to get into the castle.
The nice thing is that even though this feels like a "monster of the week" adventure there is a great tie-in to the overall "Cult of Chaos" plot I have been weaving through all the adventures. Yeah, yeah I have seen the posts that D&D isn't supposed to be "cinematic" or "storytelling". Screw that. I do what my family and I enjoy. My youngest spends his time playing looking for any clues that might help him understand more about the mystery and my oldest wants to read Lovecraft now.
So next time they will finish the central forest and hit the East Wing and then beyond.
Monday, July 28, 2014
Found my Gen Con Game
Every time I have taken my kids to Gen Con we have started a new adventure.
I like to pull from the classics no matter what it is I am playing. So in the past we have done S4 The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth and B2 Keep on the Borderlands.
This year it is going to be L1 The Secret of Bone Hill!
I am rather fond of this adventure and have figured out some new tweeks to it to make it work great in my kids' AD&D game. Plus I have a bunch of Len Lakofka's material from Dragon that I want to port into this.
Should be a blast!
I like to pull from the classics no matter what it is I am playing. So in the past we have done S4 The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth and B2 Keep on the Borderlands.
This year it is going to be L1 The Secret of Bone Hill!
I am rather fond of this adventure and have figured out some new tweeks to it to make it work great in my kids' AD&D game. Plus I have a bunch of Len Lakofka's material from Dragon that I want to port into this.
Should be a blast!
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Mega-Dungeon!
We are big fans of the board game Dungeon around here.
My kids love to play it and have even gotten their non-gaming cousins into it. I have several copies including two copies of the original 1975 version in slightly different boxes.
So last night we tried something we have been wanting to try for a while: Mega Dungeon.
We decided that there are secret doors between the two dungeons and you can teleport from any chamber to any other chamber. Wizards get twice the amount of spells and magic swords can "stack" so if you have a +1 and a +2 sword then you have +3. We also used minis instead of pawns cause that is more fun.
The monster rolls are on a d12 instead of a 2d6. A roll of "1" means the player gets another attack. We also require twice the amount of gold to win.
So far it has been a lot of fun. We are continuing later today.
My kids love to play it and have even gotten their non-gaming cousins into it. I have several copies including two copies of the original 1975 version in slightly different boxes.
So last night we tried something we have been wanting to try for a while: Mega Dungeon.
We decided that there are secret doors between the two dungeons and you can teleport from any chamber to any other chamber. Wizards get twice the amount of spells and magic swords can "stack" so if you have a +1 and a +2 sword then you have +3. We also used minis instead of pawns cause that is more fun.
The monster rolls are on a d12 instead of a 2d6. A roll of "1" means the player gets another attack. We also require twice the amount of gold to win.
So far it has been a lot of fun. We are continuing later today.
Friday, November 29, 2013
Return to the Keep, part 2
Brief one this late post Thanksgiving night.
The 1st Edition group was back at to the Keep on the Borderlands for supplies and reinforcements. Spent a while haggling with merchants and buying more equipment. Never quite got back to the caves yet, but it was more than I expected we would do.
The 1st Edition group was back at to the Keep on the Borderlands for supplies and reinforcements. Spent a while haggling with merchants and buying more equipment. Never quite got back to the caves yet, but it was more than I expected we would do.
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Tomb of Horrors
Today the Dragonslayers ventured into the most fabled of all dungeons, the infamous Tomb of Acereak himself. The Tomb of Horrors!
I am running the 3e version of this module with ideas stolen from the 4e version and the 2nd ed Return to the Tomb of Horrors. Additionally we are using this map set to help us along the way.
So far so good. My youngest loves the traps and he very meticulous on checking each one. It was even his idea to use a 10' pole on the Green Devil Face to check for traps and he found the Sphere of Annihilation. He loves the puzzles and really has a brain for them. My oldest prefers good old fashioned combat. They both were able to guess the correct sequence of the Yellow/Blue/Orange gems right away. Sure a couple of characters have been hit with some poison, but the brought plenty vials of healing, curing and cure poison. Though they have taken quite a bit of hitpoint damage.
So far it has been a great followup to S4/WG4.
The Dragonslayers have now finished S4, S2 and now working on S1. I wasn't going to do S3 (Expedition to the Barrier Peaks) but now I think I might. It would be a lot of fun.
We played for 6 hours (or more) today and I think we can knock this one out fairly quickly.
I am running the 3e version of this module with ideas stolen from the 4e version and the 2nd ed Return to the Tomb of Horrors. Additionally we are using this map set to help us along the way.
So far so good. My youngest loves the traps and he very meticulous on checking each one. It was even his idea to use a 10' pole on the Green Devil Face to check for traps and he found the Sphere of Annihilation. He loves the puzzles and really has a brain for them. My oldest prefers good old fashioned combat. They both were able to guess the correct sequence of the Yellow/Blue/Orange gems right away. Sure a couple of characters have been hit with some poison, but the brought plenty vials of healing, curing and cure poison. Though they have taken quite a bit of hitpoint damage.
So far it has been a great followup to S4/WG4.
The Dragonslayers have now finished S4, S2 and now working on S1. I wasn't going to do S3 (Expedition to the Barrier Peaks) but now I think I might. It would be a lot of fun.
We played for 6 hours (or more) today and I think we can knock this one out fairly quickly.
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Spamming Hyperborea
So I was going back over some AS&SH posts in prep for today's game and I saw this as a comment:
You can read the original here: http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2013/11/my-weekend-in-hyperborea.html
I think Dr. Logan Zabaza needs to become my next evil NPC. Obviously some sort of evil wizard. Given that "Alan" is from Finland maybe some LotFP influences should be added!
I am Alan from Finland and I have always look forward for this day to tell the world about the the great powers of Dr.Zabaza. This great man called Dr.Zabaza was able to bring back my lover who left me, And within the space of 48 hours Dr.Zabaza brought my lover back and since then my love life have been more lovely and peaceful than i ever had. You can also strengthen your relationship or get your lover back by contacting Dr.Zabaza on zabaza.logan@XXXX.com or call him on +XXXXXXXXXXXXX and i assure you that you will get a better relationship after the help of Dr.Zabaza
You can read the original here: http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2013/11/my-weekend-in-hyperborea.html
I think Dr. Logan Zabaza needs to become my next evil NPC. Obviously some sort of evil wizard. Given that "Alan" is from Finland maybe some LotFP influences should be added!
Friday, August 9, 2013
Tomb of Horrors
I finally got a copy of Return to the The Tomb of Horrors for 2nd ed, so now I have a copy for every editions of D&D including 3rd and 4th.
I am hopping to take my kids through the same week everyone else is at Gen Con. They are somewhat higher level than the module recommends, but I don't think that will be an issue since there are not a lot of monsters in this anyway, but a lot of traps. I will be running this under D&D 3.x.
Sure. It's not the "Classic" version, but that is fine for me really. Plus I can't help but want to add some monsters from the 3.x/Pathfinder Tome of Horrors too.
I picked up this printout of the maps for minis, so running it unnder 3.x would be nice.
Past conversations on this:
- Tomb of Horrors for 4e. Is it REALLY that offensive?
- Itching for the Tomb of Horrors
- Return to the Tomb! Part 2
- Winners, Losers and the Tomb
- Running the Classics
WotC's 3rd Edition conversion
WotC's humorous walkthrough map
So how about you? Have any stories about the infamous Tomb?
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Birthday/Gameday/Father's Day Weekend!
Wow! What freaking great weekend this has been.
We started it off by going to see Man of Steel (most of the "Smallville" were shot in Yorkvillle, IL near where my wife grew up) and it was a lot of fun. Not sure if it replaces the Richard Donner films in my heart, but it was still good.
Saturday was Free RPG Day.
We piked up some cool books and bought some more.
We were going to play some Tomb of Horrors under 3.x but my youngest one wanted to play some of the free things we bought. So we settled on continuing our 1st Ed game where the characters are still around 2nd level and continued on in the Caves of Chaos.
I thought I'd pull in some material from the free stuff to help flesh out the cave some more.
Yes. There is a good chance that my young sons will play "Better Than Any Man".
Might get some more gaming done later tonight. They cleared out the Goblin Cave ("D") and started on the Hobgoblin Cave ("E").
Great weekend! I even got in a 3 mile run today.
We started it off by going to see Man of Steel (most of the "Smallville" were shot in Yorkvillle, IL near where my wife grew up) and it was a lot of fun. Not sure if it replaces the Richard Donner films in my heart, but it was still good.
Saturday was Free RPG Day.
We piked up some cool books and bought some more.
We were going to play some Tomb of Horrors under 3.x but my youngest one wanted to play some of the free things we bought. So we settled on continuing our 1st Ed game where the characters are still around 2nd level and continued on in the Caves of Chaos.
I thought I'd pull in some material from the free stuff to help flesh out the cave some more.
Yes. There is a good chance that my young sons will play "Better Than Any Man".
Might get some more gaming done later tonight. They cleared out the Goblin Cave ("D") and started on the Hobgoblin Cave ("E").
Great weekend! I even got in a 3 mile run today.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Palace of the Vampire Queen
Ran Palace of the Vampire Queen yesterday.
It went great I felt. The kids had been playing D&D Basic all day, so I didn't have to explain the rules to them at all which was cool.
We might be doing this all again in August around Gen Con time. I'd like to run some other games too. Maybe that Chill game set in 1976 I have been dying to run.
It went great I felt. The kids had been playing D&D Basic all day, so I didn't have to explain the rules to them at all which was cool.
We might be doing this all again in August around Gen Con time. I'd like to run some other games too. Maybe that Chill game set in 1976 I have been dying to run.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Getting Basic
Getting ready for Palace of the Vampire Queen this weekend.
Got my books, the adventure and five (soon seven just in case) B/X characters around 5th-7th level.
I still want to stat up a witch character just in case. Just need to throw some dice into that pile and I am ready to go. I might make the vampire queen a witch with the Gypsy tradition. Mostly because I have had "Sign of the Gypsy Queen" by April Wine going through my head ever since I have started working on this.
Two copies of the adventure, Palace of the Vampire Queen. Since it is 5 levels and I only have 4 hours the kids will get some rough maps. From the previous survivors, besides the Queen doesn't mind unannounced guests...for dinner! (sorry. couldn't help it.)
Good, old fashioned dungeon crawl with empty rooms, treasure just laying around random monsters and the big bad at the end. Gonna party like it's 1981!
I still want to stat up a witch character just in case. Just need to throw some dice into that pile and I am ready to go. I might make the vampire queen a witch with the Gypsy tradition. Mostly because I have had "Sign of the Gypsy Queen" by April Wine going through my head ever since I have started working on this.
Two copies of the adventure, Palace of the Vampire Queen. Since it is 5 levels and I only have 4 hours the kids will get some rough maps. From the previous survivors, besides the Queen doesn't mind unannounced guests...for dinner! (sorry. couldn't help it.)
Good, old fashioned dungeon crawl with empty rooms, treasure just laying around random monsters and the big bad at the end. Gonna party like it's 1981!
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Palace of the Vampire Queen
Greg wanted to give his players, the Gen Con experience since none of us are going Gen Con or even Gary Con this year.
I had a bunch of ideas, but I wanted to play to my strengths. At first I wanted to do Ravenloft, but that would take to long. So instead I am going to run Palace of the Vampire Queen using Basic/Expert D&D and my Witch book.
I have been dying to run this since I first scored a copy about three years ago.
This is a classic adventure and has been talked about on various blog before. Here is Grognardia's take and a bit from Jeff's Game Blog. To be able to run this in a Con like setting is going to be a real treat.
Since that 2010 post I have picked up another copy from Pacesetter (not sure if it is the same Pacesetter that did 1st Ed Chill).
The module is thin. Not just in size but in terms of plot too.
I'll give the kids some background and I might develop the character of the vampire queen more using my Basic Vampire supplement (which is free by the way). She is a self-styled vampire Queen in my mind. So not Akasha or even Marceline.
But in truth it is going to be a simple dungeon crawl with lots of undead and a big bad at the end.
Just like like to old days!
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Family Game Night
Not playing a game tonight, fighting off a migraine at the moment.
But I was curious about how many of you out there on this cold Sunday (in Chicago at least) are spending your time. Or more to point, how many of you all have a family game night?
If you do what do you play?
Around here the old Dungeon! board game is a fave. But we also play a lot of Scrabble and Monopoly.
I have gotten my wife into a few games of D&D before, but it's really not her thing.
I never gotten her to play Ghosts of Albion despite all the time I spent on it. ;)
Speaking of family games. Just decided that we are not going to Gen Con this year. Might go to Gary Con, but don't really know yet. I am hoping some con opens up locally that I can take my boys to.
But I was curious about how many of you out there on this cold Sunday (in Chicago at least) are spending your time. Or more to point, how many of you all have a family game night?
If you do what do you play?
Around here the old Dungeon! board game is a fave. But we also play a lot of Scrabble and Monopoly.
I have gotten my wife into a few games of D&D before, but it's really not her thing.
I never gotten her to play Ghosts of Albion despite all the time I spent on it. ;)
Speaking of family games. Just decided that we are not going to Gen Con this year. Might go to Gary Con, but don't really know yet. I am hoping some con opens up locally that I can take my boys to.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Return of the Dragon Slayers!
I got a chance to play with the boys again today. We continued the DragonSlayers game from a while back. To recap they had just entered the Temple of Tharizdun and had held off the advancing hordes with a Wall of Flame spell.
I upped the stats of all the goblins, trolls and norkers in the place to make them partially demonic. Centuries of interbreeding has made them them evil, but dumb. The boys cleared out one side of the temple and found the access to the Black Cyst.
They recovered the Lament of Tharizdun, but the mostly Neutral Good party wants nothing to do with it. They have no issue with the legendary 333 gems of Tharizdun.
I am setting Tharizdun up as the next big bad. But not till the next generation. That is the 1st Ed AD&D game I started with the children of these characters.
I printed out the newer symbol of Tharizdun and had it ready. One of the demonic trolls had it on his armor, so I showed it to the boys. After some Knowledge Arcana, History and Religion rolls I announced that they didn't know what it was. My youngest, playing a half-elf Sorcerer/Ranger/Arcane Archer stated "I know exactly what it is. It's a target!!" and he fired two flaming arrows into the troll.
I have to admit, I was pretty amused by that!
They finished the adventure and high tailed it back to Glantri City. They are planning on taking a couple of months break before the next leg of their adventures, but I doubt it will be that long. There is some trouble brewing in Two Lake Vale and strange cloud over the land.
Monday, December 3, 2012
Teach Your Kids to Game Week
DriveThruRPG is running a special all this week.
Teach Your Kids to Game Week.
Lots of kid and family friendly games that are easy to learn and fun to play.
While my boys are beyond this stage now (thy jump back and forth between 3e, 4e and AD&D1) there are a lot of great games here.
My favorites on the list include:
Be sure to check these out.
Teach Your Kids to Game Week.
Lots of kid and family friendly games that are easy to learn and fun to play.
While my boys are beyond this stage now (thy jump back and forth between 3e, 4e and AD&D1) there are a lot of great games here.
My favorites on the list include:
Be sure to check these out.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Return to the Dungeon!
So last month I picked up the newest version of the classic Dungeon! broad game. Now like many of the gamers my age I also had one of the earlier versions of Dungeon. The one I had is not depicted below.
How does the new one measure up?
Well quite well to be honest. The older character "classes" of Elf, Hero, Super Hero and Wizard are now gone. Replaced with Rogue, Cleric, Fighter and Wizard.
The rules really have not changed. So any house rules or mods you did back then will still work today.
The board really has changed much. It is smaller than the "1st Edition" or "3rd Edition" versions depicted above. This puts it closer to the overall feel of the "2nd Edition" version (that I originally owned, but don't have anymore) with the "RIP" cards.
So in this version you don't lay the cards on the map, you instead keep them in a stack and when a room is empty you put a little RIP marker on it.
In the older versions you could use your D&D minis on them. The newer board is slightly smaller so it makes using the D&D minis harder. There are no plastic pawns or small monochrome plastic minis, this version has heavy card stock.
It's not any closer to D&D than it ever was. The board is the same. The rules are the same and we still had a blast.
If you never played Dungeon! then you can still play it now. If you have a younger child in your family or extended family then this is a great game. And maybe just maybe it is also a good introduction to D&D.
How does the new one measure up?
Well quite well to be honest. The older character "classes" of Elf, Hero, Super Hero and Wizard are now gone. Replaced with Rogue, Cleric, Fighter and Wizard.
The rules really have not changed. So any house rules or mods you did back then will still work today.
The board really has changed much. It is smaller than the "1st Edition" or "3rd Edition" versions depicted above. This puts it closer to the overall feel of the "2nd Edition" version (that I originally owned, but don't have anymore) with the "RIP" cards.
So in this version you don't lay the cards on the map, you instead keep them in a stack and when a room is empty you put a little RIP marker on it.
In the older versions you could use your D&D minis on them. The newer board is slightly smaller so it makes using the D&D minis harder. There are no plastic pawns or small monochrome plastic minis, this version has heavy card stock.
It's not any closer to D&D than it ever was. The board is the same. The rules are the same and we still had a blast.
If you never played Dungeon! then you can still play it now. If you have a younger child in your family or extended family then this is a great game. And maybe just maybe it is also a good introduction to D&D.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
October Challenge: Girl vs. Monster (2012)
Girl vs. Monster (2012)
So I was not originally going to count this one till my wife pointed out that it is actually better and scarier than some of the other movies I have forced her to watch with me. This one was obviously my kids' choice but it turns out it is kinda fun. There are homages to Buffy, Ghostbusters (lots), and Beetlejuice in this.
Skylar, a fearless teen discovers near her 16th birthday that she is a 5th generation monster hunter. Not a bad premise really. Her mom and dad have a Steampunk-looking Ghostsbusters like lab. Where they keep all the ghosts, vapors and spooks they catch.
The special effects are not bad. Not great mind you, but not bad. The message is not a bad one either; you are going to have fears, but they don't have to control you.
From my point of view it would make a cool game for kids. I can certainly see Disney doing a sequel to this one.
I'll count this one as a horror movie, but I am going to have watch something scarier soon.
Tally: Watched 23, New 18
What are you watching?
Skylar, a fearless teen discovers near her 16th birthday that she is a 5th generation monster hunter. Not a bad premise really. Her mom and dad have a Steampunk-looking Ghostsbusters like lab. Where they keep all the ghosts, vapors and spooks they catch.
The special effects are not bad. Not great mind you, but not bad. The message is not a bad one either; you are going to have fears, but they don't have to control you.
From my point of view it would make a cool game for kids. I can certainly see Disney doing a sequel to this one.
I'll count this one as a horror movie, but I am going to have watch something scarier soon.
Tally: Watched 23, New 18
What are you watching?
Monday, October 15, 2012
How I learned to stop worrying...
and like the Realms.
(I don't quite love them yet)
I have always been a Greyhawk fan. Some of my very first games were looking for ancient Suel mysteries or exploring the dirty streets of the Free City of Greyhawk. While I ran my adventures in the Known World of Mystara, I played in Oerth and Greyhawk.
For years I even combined the two into one world, and that worked out pretty well.
I remember reading about the Realms in Dragon Mag and I was never impressed. The increased fetishization of the Drow and Drizzt worship turned me off as well. I can't tell you how much I despised "Lloth", it's LOLTH goddamn it. Any way. I saw the Realms as an upstart to Greyhawk and not even a good one to be honest. This oddly enough was right around the same time I played my first game of OD&D set in Greyhawk. To me Realms fans were snotty little kids with delusions of adequacy.
My opinions have softened since then.
This weekend before last I was at the Games Plus game auction. I was able to pick up the Forgotten Realms books for 1st and 2nd Ed. AD&D. I picked up the 3rd ed stuff a while back and had the 4e stuff from Half-Price books. All in all I was able to get all these books for under 50 bucks total.
The 1st Ed box is in fantastic shape, minus some shelf wear. The 3 and 4e books are in mint condition.
I have been using the Realms for the 4e game I am running and I have been enjoying it.
Sure, I am still using elements from the Points of Light campaign that 4e is built around, but all of it is in the new version of the Realms. There are lot of things that came together nicely for this for me really. In the 4e game I am running the kids are going to go after Orcus. Much the same way as the old H1-4 Bloodstone series a while back. That was set in the Realms, so it is kind of fitting really. Plus it would help me flesh out some of the 4e Orcus arc (HPE series). Not sure how I'll fit Hell into it all, but I might not have to worry about it.
I love the gonzo feeling of two worlds mystically crashing into each other. I like that the place has some history to it. Plus I really liked the 3e Realms book. This might irritate some long time Realms fans, but I think the Realms fits better with 3e and 4e. Greyhawk is better for 1st ed and the like. At least in my mind.
So maybe it's my age or something, but I feel I can finally sit back and appreciate what the Realms really are and not what I think or thought they were. I have the main books/sets (for the most part) for all four editions of the game. Honestly I think that is enough. People have done far more with less.
Here are my other thoughts in my introduction and use of the Realms.
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2010/12/could-my-answer-be-in-realms.html
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2010/03/drow-should-be-lawful-evil-among-other.html
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2012/06/new-game-new-world.html
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2012/07/gods-of-new-game.html
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2010/01/church-of-lolth-ascendant.html
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2012/07/nothing-like-sun.html
(I don't quite love them yet)
I have always been a Greyhawk fan. Some of my very first games were looking for ancient Suel mysteries or exploring the dirty streets of the Free City of Greyhawk. While I ran my adventures in the Known World of Mystara, I played in Oerth and Greyhawk.
For years I even combined the two into one world, and that worked out pretty well.
I remember reading about the Realms in Dragon Mag and I was never impressed. The increased fetishization of the Drow and Drizzt worship turned me off as well. I can't tell you how much I despised "Lloth", it's LOLTH goddamn it. Any way. I saw the Realms as an upstart to Greyhawk and not even a good one to be honest. This oddly enough was right around the same time I played my first game of OD&D set in Greyhawk. To me Realms fans were snotty little kids with delusions of adequacy.
My opinions have softened since then.
This weekend before last I was at the Games Plus game auction. I was able to pick up the Forgotten Realms books for 1st and 2nd Ed. AD&D. I picked up the 3rd ed stuff a while back and had the 4e stuff from Half-Price books. All in all I was able to get all these books for under 50 bucks total.
The 1st Ed box is in fantastic shape, minus some shelf wear. The 3 and 4e books are in mint condition.
I have been using the Realms for the 4e game I am running and I have been enjoying it.
Sure, I am still using elements from the Points of Light campaign that 4e is built around, but all of it is in the new version of the Realms. There are lot of things that came together nicely for this for me really. In the 4e game I am running the kids are going to go after Orcus. Much the same way as the old H1-4 Bloodstone series a while back. That was set in the Realms, so it is kind of fitting really. Plus it would help me flesh out some of the 4e Orcus arc (HPE series). Not sure how I'll fit Hell into it all, but I might not have to worry about it.
I love the gonzo feeling of two worlds mystically crashing into each other. I like that the place has some history to it. Plus I really liked the 3e Realms book. This might irritate some long time Realms fans, but I think the Realms fits better with 3e and 4e. Greyhawk is better for 1st ed and the like. At least in my mind.
So maybe it's my age or something, but I feel I can finally sit back and appreciate what the Realms really are and not what I think or thought they were. I have the main books/sets (for the most part) for all four editions of the game. Honestly I think that is enough. People have done far more with less.
Here are my other thoughts in my introduction and use of the Realms.
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2010/12/could-my-answer-be-in-realms.html
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2010/03/drow-should-be-lawful-evil-among-other.html
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2012/06/new-game-new-world.html
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2012/07/gods-of-new-game.html
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2010/01/church-of-lolth-ascendant.html
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2012/07/nothing-like-sun.html
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