tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68550208206629429872024-10-08T20:52:52.799-05:00Life is full of critical hits, saving throws, and bad luck.Brad Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05801672328620014642noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855020820662942987.post-57414771562497312172013-01-23T12:38:00.000-06:002013-01-23T12:38:15.513-06:00

"Dren... or is it 'Captain Frostreaver', now?" Dren sipped his mug of ale, savoring the flavor. It wasn't often he had the chance to drink, and when he did, he preferred to savor it. The tavern was quiet, far more than it should have been this late in the day. Not a soul dared step into such a place today, for the whole nation was mourning. The Queen of Tasca, beloved by all,

Brad Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05801672328620014642noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855020820662942987.post-87142206682758043102013-01-22T13:12:00.004-06:002013-01-22T14:41:34.070-06:00

Cold. Bitter, freezing cold. Why anyone still lived in this land confused Dren to no end, but he really had no choice; at least, not any more. He pulled his warm fur cloak around him as he watched the soldiers march through the village bellow: kicking down doors, dragging out bodies, looting reserves of gold and frozen liquor. It made him a little uneasy, but he did his best to hide his

Brad Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05801672328620014642noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855020820662942987.post-36475499878018799902012-12-10T15:55:00.005-06:002012-12-10T15:58:14.333-06:00

Quite night split asunder, Quick as light, the hammer blows. Awakened by a roar of thunder, Thunder roars, the hammer blows. The biting cold, driving hunger, Met by force, the hammer blows. Quite night split asunder. Lo, struck the hammer blows. Ice comes with blankets of snow, Cold, fierce, the winter winds blow. With great hunger the winter grows, Hunger driving, the winter wind blows.

Brad Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05801672328620014642noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855020820662942987.post-42403516350230011152012-12-10T14:30:00.000-06:002012-12-10T14:30:59.311-06:00

So I recently decided to try out Star Wars: The Old Republic, since it has gone free to play. I played back in the BETA, and wasn't overly impressed with the game as a whole. It felt a lot like other, more popular MMOs, and overall gave me little reason to play it over the others. However, I had heard they added some new, unique features, and since it was at no cost to me, I figured I would

Brad Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05801672328620014642noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855020820662942987.post-48514769138098773102011-12-24T05:27:00.001-06:002011-12-24T05:29:24.608-06:00

Fools. All of them. They have no idea what I've been planning, and how could they? Every step in my plan, every detail, exercised to its full potential, well before being sprung into action. In some ways, I pity them. In others, they had it coming. How dare they question my right, no, my destiny! They have chosen their own paths, and they shall remember the day they chose to cross

Brad Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05801672328620014642noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855020820662942987.post-41075799715536412602011-04-25T15:14:00.000-05:002011-04-25T15:14:36.564-05:00

Date: Monday, April 18th Time: 7:30 pm Theme: Martial - Characters created with the martial power source gain a bonus. "I love being a pirate fer two very, very big reasons... see that lass o'er there?"             -Captain Goldtooth of the Highrunner The port of Telredar was once a very, very wealthy port city, but new trade routes threatened to

Brad Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05801672328620014642noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855020820662942987.post-69122188504136194782011-04-23T22:56:00.001-05:002011-05-03T13:58:35.824-05:00

Without a doubt, the Hybrid system in 4th Edition is one of the most complicated and confusing parts of the system. It's the one character option that has one of three outcomes: you fulfill one role very well, fill two roles but master neither, or you become completely useless. The creators of the system even state this in the Player's Handbook 3: "Because character classes aren't designed

Brad Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05801672328620014642noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855020820662942987.post-58898597162422141202011-04-18T13:03:00.000-05:002011-04-18T13:03:25.098-05:00

The article this week is going to be a short one. As promised, here are a few example characters I built using the DnD insider character builder. If you're a DnD insider, you should be able to download these and use them in your own games. Taria (Wild Sorcerer) Taria wasn't born on the material plane; she was instead born on the Feywild, a land very few humans ever see. Her mother was

Brad Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05801672328620014642noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855020820662942987.post-26505998668195995382011-04-11T14:38:00.004-05:002011-04-12T12:52:57.020-05:00

As you all remember, last week we talked about melee based sorcerers. This week, we'll take a look at more "traditional" sorcerers: the squishy mages that we all know and love. For ranged mages, there are really two options for your spell source: Wild magic and Storm magic. I have to say that, while I very much favor the melee sorcerer, Wild magic and Storm magic are some of the most fun

Brad Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05801672328620014642noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855020820662942987.post-38129029443381985622011-04-06T19:50:00.006-05:002011-04-07T01:08:13.172-05:00

Date: Monday, April 4th Time: 7:30 pm Theme: None "Think of this as your first test... to see if you have what it takes to be one of the guild."           -Doralen Price, Adventurer Guild Leader The town of Sancrist is an important port city, which allows the dwarven hold of Modan Pak to trade with human kingdoms across the sea. Recently, however, the roads into

Brad Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05801672328620014642noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855020820662942987.post-76718235493745563162011-04-04T13:23:00.001-05:002011-04-04T14:57:23.156-05:00

Welcome back! Last week, I gave a brief overview of what the sorcerer does. This week, I'm going to talk about one of the biggest features of the class: the spell source. I'm going to talk about the melee-focused sources this week, and the ranged sources next week. What is a Spell Source? Flavor-wise, it's where your powers come from. When you pick your Spell Source, it defines the rest of

Brad Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05801672328620014642noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855020820662942987.post-65856753999691298622011-03-29T12:15:00.001-05:002011-03-29T14:32:56.565-05:00

Well, it's almost time for my new DnD campaign to launch, so I figured I'd kick it off by talking about my favorite class in 4th edition: the Sorcerer. The Sorcerer is a striker, meaning that they focus on dealing damage as a top priority. They also have a few powers that are very good at controlling, but that isn't their main focus. If you just want to blow things up, preferably with fire, then

Brad Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05801672328620014642noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855020820662942987.post-63341987576030742192010-10-15T11:00:00.001-05:002010-10-15T11:00:07.112-05:00

Oh, Warcraft, how I've missed you so. So Tuesday marked the releaseof World of Warcraft's first Cataclysm "pre-patch", 4.0.1. This patch integrates many changes to Azeroth, from the new talent trees to the vast graphical upgrades. The new raid-lockout system will be added, as well as the new Justice Point currency to replace old badges. I think I may come out of retirement, just for the lulz.

Brad Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05801672328620014642noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855020820662942987.post-82016545458241390552010-10-13T11:00:00.001-05:002010-10-13T11:00:00.383-05:00

Hello fellow social outcasts, today, we're going to talk about one of my favorite subjects: zombies, and how you can keep them from munching on your brains as a midnight snack. This is not to be taken as a fully-fledged field manual, and I can't say that following my advice will help you when the outbreak comes, but this will point you in the right direction. With that said, let's get started.

Brad Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05801672328620014642noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855020820662942987.post-81782901458744583732010-09-27T12:02:00.003-05:002010-09-28T00:21:45.242-05:00

Sorry, again, no post to share today. Super busy... so here's a funny thing I found at Hobby Lobby today. Enjoy!

Brad Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05801672328620014642noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855020820662942987.post-66402941064956806272010-09-22T12:19:00.000-05:002010-09-22T12:20:57.326-05:00

I planned on writing a review of Minecraft today, but I recently changed my mind. Why, you ask? Well, because Minecraft is in alpha, and I really haven't gotten far enough in to make a solid judgement on it. I also decided to change because of the HUGE amount of QQing I've heard on the WoW forums as of late, so here we go: If you haven't been following the Cataclysm information, there's been a

Brad Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05801672328620014642noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855020820662942987.post-75967150486117345352010-09-20T12:59:00.000-05:002010-09-20T12:59:27.361-05:00

I had this realization the other day. I'm sure many have noticed how I like to criticize art. Be it music, movies, painting, or even games, I always like to criticize them. Even things I love, like the Star Wars movies, or some good old Rammstein, I have to take a step back and evaluate for their "artistic merit"... but where did this come from? Well, I'll tell you. I am a man of many, many

Brad Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05801672328620014642noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855020820662942987.post-4651856710053541822010-09-19T09:19:00.000-05:002010-09-19T09:19:50.374-05:00

Hey guys, I set up Monday to be a gaming day, but it appears I accidentally deleted the post I had made, so who's up for another Wednesday pickup post? The post I had scheduled for Wednesday will be posted Monday, and is titled Dad, I Want to be an Artist. It's a look into somewhere my mind has been in the past few weeks, and it's something I'm thinking about following through with. The

Brad Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05801672328620014642noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855020820662942987.post-23659917823354078072010-07-30T04:00:00.000-05:002010-07-30T04:00:06.549-05:00

I'm super excited I get to take my place behind the old DM screen again, and I mean the OLD screen.For the first time in over two years, I'm going to start a DnD game that isn't 4th Edition. By the looks of things, I'll be going back to good ol' 3.5, full of it's ugly tables, confusing rules, and overall lack of a grapple mechanic (SHUT UP. IT DOESN'T EXIST).While I never really found much ease

Brad Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05801672328620014642noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855020820662942987.post-5991713604612078112010-07-28T04:00:00.000-05:002010-07-28T04:00:01.325-05:00

Humor is that magical thing that makes anywise unbearable situation that much better. With a little bit of humor, and the right mindset, anything that can be seen as mundane, boring, or even painful can be made all that more tolerable. It's what gets me through those tough days.I'll give an example.One of my good friends and co-workers was having a bad day. He looked like he was about to fall to

Brad Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05801672328620014642noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855020820662942987.post-75182323144050784342010-07-26T02:00:00.000-05:002010-07-27T19:21:28.537-05:00

It's no secret I'm a huge fan of Blizzard Entertainment. Not just because of their games, but because of their design mentality, their close-connection to their fan-base, and a winning business model that attracts employees from around the world, and keeps them coming back for work every day 9 to 5.Blizzard Entertainment, at least in recent times, has failed to put out a bad game. The reason for

Brad Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05801672328620014642noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855020820662942987.post-10311965025301238782010-07-24T00:07:00.001-05:002010-07-24T00:29:39.935-05:00

*WARNING - SOAPBOX*Expect lots of ranting to follow. You have been warned. I can't say my dad and I have ever really gotten along. Every time we seem to get a little closer, he does something really dumb that makes me want to scream. We'll play catch in the park, then he'll get drunk and cry on my shoulder for literally hours. We'll spend a day together, he'll spend the whole time telling me how

Brad Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05801672328620014642noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6855020820662942987.post-6817673033957982262010-07-22T13:22:00.000-05:002010-07-22T13:35:50.374-05:00

Oh look, just what I need: another hobby.Sarcasm aside, I have way too many hobbies. Generally, this would mean that I have plenty of things to do to take up time. I mean, I've dabbled in woodcarving, painting, song writing, short stories, saber-smithing, combat choreography, gaming, Judo, and now blogging.The main problems lies in that I have no idea what hobby I want to do at any particular

Brad Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05801672328620014642noreply@blogger.com2