I will game . . .

Gen Con 2011 Sunday Events

2011-07-22T11:45:00.000-07:00

Wrapping up the 2011 Gen Con I signed up for the traditional "will I play it or start home early" game. This year the honor goes to another Ubiquity engine powered game.

Name: Miracle Stone of the Amazon

Synopsis: You have the only map to the lost city of Paititi, rumored to be filled with riches beyond imagination. Travel through the darkest reaches of the Amazon and into the web of an ancient conspiracy of murder, greed, and miraculous revelations. Part of the "Play With the Creators" series.

Why I signed up for it: It was an interesting sounding adventure, one where you get a chance to play with the creators. The time was also one that I will likely be able to get finished before leaving for home.

Now all that is left is to play these fun games and wrap them all up!

Gen Con 2011 Saturday Events

2011-07-22T11:00:00.000-07:00

Saturday continues on Friday's proud tradition of excessive gaming with another early start at 9 am.

Name: Temple of the Beastmen

Synopsis: While guarding a caravan traveling through the Auroch Hills, our heroes find the usual path blocked. Can they find an alternate route to get the caravan through?

Why I signed up for it: I know nothing about this Hellfrost setting, but I do always enjoy a good Savage Worlds game. I kind of reminds me of a simplified version of D&D 4e. This makes for a perfect fit for early morning gaming.

Plowing on right through lunch the gaming continues with the following event starting at 1 pm.

Name: Incident at Owl Lake

Synopsis: You and your friends have anticipated this camping trip for a long time. It is a time to rest, find solace in your companions, and escape the dreaded yet unremembered nightmares. You hope to banish the vague sense of unease, that sense of loss, which has disturbed you for so long. Surely nothing horrific could happen here in the dark forest near the lake beneath the bright night sky. An immersive event with lights + sound.

Why I picked it: More than one chance to play a Fudge / FATE game at Gen Con was too much to pass up. That and the use of lighting and sounds had me interested from a multimedia perspective.

Proving that the one thing I do best is excess I have yet another game on Satuday.

Name: The Witch-King of Kromdar

Synopsis: Across the land, people whisper of Kromdar. Kromdar, the City of Death! Kromdar, home of the blasphemous Witch-King Uluk! Only a madman would willingly venture to Kromdar. A madman or, possibly, a band of swordsmen who have heard rumors of vast treasure hidden beneath the city’s streets. Can you find the treasure, or will you suffer slow, agonizing torture at the hands of the Witch-King?

Why I signed up for it: Another chance to play a QAGS event and I am a sucker for traditional adventure and mentioning that only a mad man would attempt the like is sure to bring me to the door knocking!

Gen Con 2011 Friday Events

2011-07-22T10:00:00.000-07:00

Friday, along with Saturday, is my heavy gaming day. It starts of early and runs strong late into the night. My first event starts off at 8 am.

Name: Save the Family Jewels

Synopsis: England's Crown Jewels Have been stolen!!! ...and you let it happen. Can you and you friends restore England's pride and tradition? Nazis, Dinosaurs and fun included...Roleplaying stressed.

Why I signed up for it: It is a pulp adventure and it is using the Hollow Earth Expedition rules, which I have played with before and found enjoyable. I also noticed the "...Roleplaying stressed." part of the description, so this one should be good.

With a longer than normal break for lunch I am back to gaming at 4 pm.

Name: A nice cup of Egg Frog

Synopsis: December, 1940. Londoners have endured the perils of the Blitz for months, but as Christmastime draws near, hearts once again begin to fill with joy. That is until the children of Puddling Green begin to go missing... A Frog Hall Christmas carol full of holiday fear! Bad accents and hare-brained schemes strongly encouraged.

Why I signed up for it: Even though I sold my copy of Adventure!, and enjoy the system less than Hollow Earth, I signed up for this event as it is run by the same person who ran a VERY enjoyable event last year. I hope I get to reprise my role as "the worlds greatest dentist." Truly a fearsome character to play in pulp era London!

Proving that gaming can be a part time job I went ahead and scheduled yet another event starting at 8 pm.

Name: Requiem for a Descent

Synopsis: An eccentric occult enthusiast is hiring a group of scholars to explore the connections between and ancient ruin in southeast Asia and astronomical phenomenon.

Why I signed up for it: It wouldn't be a real Gen Con without a Cthulhu event. I like to play CoC events at cons because you have a more than average chance of losing by either death or insanity. They all usually have some investigative element, which is something I enjoy as well.

Gen Con 2011 Thursday Events

2011-07-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

Thursday gaming gets off to a later start for me than usual, with my first event beginning at 2pm. With this late start I will have time for some dealer's rooming in the morning and even a chance for a leisurely paced convention lunch at the food court.

Name: Pyramids of Atlantis

Synopsis: When unexpected violence shatters the secret peace between the British Empire and the Atlantean Nations, Her Majesty the Queen covertly sees to it that a number of Strange operatives from the Kerberos Club join Her Naval expedition to "investigate." But after two weeks of deep-sea bombardment and demands for surrender, the Atlanteans remain curiously silent. Just what are they up to down there?

Why I signed up for it: I have a great interest in the pulp era, one that seems to lend itself well to the limited time slots of conventions. Also, this one had the benefit of being a FATE system event, another big plus. I was really surprised I way able to make it in for this event. Custom FUDGE dice already packed.

My late game for Thursday is a QAGS (Quick Ass Gaming System) event. I have the reputation with my gaming friends of having system ADD. So had to feed the beast by signing up for a QAGS game. Having never played this system I am looking forward to trying it out.

Name: Curse of the Alchemist

Synopsis: The savage land of Vekros is home to bold men, brazen women, scheming sorcerers, and hideous beasts. Only by blood and by steel shall you live! Some say the tablets of the legendary artificer Kaarn hold the secrets to everlasting life. Are you brave enough to face the curse of the Alchemist?

Why I signed up for it: The chance to learn a new system and the description for the event sold me. Fit nicely into my schedule too.

With a late start to gaming and not too terribly late of a conclusion I should be able to get some sleep and maybe even a quick boardgame or two back at the hotel.

Let's Finally Finish Playing Flight from the Dark

2011-07-21T12:32:00.000-07:00

Upon entering the cave I was immediately ambushed by a nasty Burrowcrawler. Lacking a torch, there was an intense struggle in the dark, one where I finally prevailed over the Burrowcrawler. Stumbling out of the cave the sunlight nearly blinded me, and the extent of the damage done by the Burrowcrawler became evident. In the dark battle I did manage to pull a small pouch out of the Burrowcrawler's mouth. The pouch contained some gold and a small dagger. Pocketing both the journey to warn the king continued onward.

As the forest thinned out I was able to make out a procession of refuges fleeing with their possessions in carts. I approached the procession hoping to learn any news from the tired and hungry looking lot.

Just as I was approaching the refuges there came to cry of "Kraan, Kraan!" I was about to seek shelter back in the forest with the refuges when I noticed a cart filled with children was stuck and unable to reach safety in time. Chaos ensured, refuges running for cover, Kraan butchering people and children calling for help. After a very bloody battle where I took significant damage I managed to best the Kraan that had attempted to attack the children. After the battle I choose to seek shelter in a nearby farmhouse.

Running into the house for shelter I happened to see a Kraan flying overhead with a screaming refuge in its claws, I wasn't able to save everybody after all. The farmhouse offered safety and I was able to pickup a warhammer that had been abandoned there. Further investigation of the farmhouse only yield a single meal, into the pack it went as it was better than nothing.

I emerged from the farmhouse as the surviving refuges made their way out of the forest and began to pickup the remains of their shattered possessions. Sounds of thundering hooves marked the approach of the King's Guard.

Calling to the guard I shared the news of the monastery's destruction, which saddened them greatly. They asked if I would accompany them to Prince Pelathar, the King's son. Seeing the wisdom of safety in numbers I joined and rode off with the Guard. The search for the Prince was short indeed as he was found in a pitched battle with a large grey Gourgaz. In the midst of the battle a black arrow struck the Prince in his side, as he fell the Gourgaz moved in for the kill. I charged in and tried to save the fallen Prince. Picking up the sword the Prince had dropped I managed to defeat the enraged Gourgaz, after being injured gravely. My injuries were nothing compared to the mortal wound the Prince had suffered from the black arrows. His dying words were to "Tell the King he must seek that which is in Durenor or all is lost." Mounting the Prince's horse I left the battle raging on the bridge grimly determined to pass on the dead Prince's message.

After eating a rushed meal on horseback I came to a fork in the road. The sign post had been hacked down and with no sense of tracking I choose the left path, in hopes it would lead me to the King. The path was filled with Giaks mounted on Doomwolves. Throwing caution to the wind I choose to fight versus seeking shelter in the woods, a choice I would barely live though. After killing the lead Giak, and recovering a scroll from his body, I was near death and ran for the safety of the forest before remaining Doomwolves could arrive.

Thanks to the Prince's fine horse I was able to escape the Doomwolves. After pressing on through the forest I came to a shack where a cloaked man offered to row me across the lake for a few gold coins. My Sixth Sense made me question why, with so much fighting in the area, would someone be rowing people across the lake. I choose to press on ahead on my own.

With the outline of Holmgard on the horizon I was faced with one last, albeit difficult, choice. How was I to make my way into the city itself, as it lay under siege by a large army? The choices were; via the highway, the river or through an ancient graveyard. Thinking it to be the lesser of many evils I choose to make my way into the graveyard, a choice which my horse refused to make with me. Was the beast the smarter of the two of us?

Upon making my way into the graveyard I found my horse's hesitation to be warranted as the ground collapsed dropping me into a subterranean tomb of some long forgotten noblemen. Before my curiousness could lead me into opening the sarcophagus my Sixth Sense warned me of an intense evil in the area. Finally finding my way to what I took to be the exit to this tomb I was confronted by a locked door, a very intricate lock indeed. Having no other way to try and open the lock I choose to pull the pin. When the pin was withdrawn a large block collapsed, nearly squashing me flat. I was able to climb up and make my way out of the tomb thanks to the block.

After making my way into the city I was assisted by the town's guard into a meeting with the King. After telling the King about the Prince's fate as well as that of the other Kai Lords I was offered a chance to help the kingdom by going to Durenor and returning with the Sommerswerd, the sword of the sun. Wanting to do all that I can I choose to accept this mission.

Let's Finally Play Flight from the Dark

2011-04-20T10:57:00.000-07:00

With the monastery in ruins and the other Kai brothers slain it was obvious that the King had to be warned of this treacherous attack.

In setting off from the monastery my sixth senses warned of creatures searching for survivors. Using this knowledge I was able to keep to the undergrowth and avoid detection heading off to the northeast. Always being hounded by the same enemies that destroyed the monastery and killed my friends.

Near the ruins an ancient forest temple, I happened upon a scene of a young magician fighting with numerous Giaks. The magician was about to be slain by a hidden Giak. Not wanting to witness any more death at the hands of these monsters today, the choice made itself. Surprising the Giak I was able to overpower and slay it. The remaining monsters then fled off into the forest. I then learned that the magician's name was Banedon, a member of the Brotherhood of the Crystal Star. He had been sent on a mission to warn the Kai of the coming attack. I told him that he was too late and the Kai were no more. He gave me a Crystal Star pendant, with the instruction to wear it and it might bring me some protection and luck in the journey to come. Our discussion was cut short by the return of a larger party of the Giaks, we parted ways, as I sought to escape in the forest.

After some backtracking to avoid some "sleeptooth" weeds I entered into Fogwood, a small cluster of huts that had been used by a family of charcoal burners, who had also fallen to the muderous Giak. My exit from the last hut was under the close observation of a large black raven, what its intentions were, if anything were beyond my ability.

A short while later I found that the raven did indeed have a master. But who was this master? I called to him and found him to be a Vordak, a hideous undead lieutenant of the Darklords. With the murder of my brothers still fresh I fought and gave the true death to the Vordak. As the Vodak fell his fellows erupted out of the undergrowth and begin to attack me with arrows. Greed getting the better of me, I grabbed a large green gem. The gem burned my hand with an unhealthy fire, but it must be worth hundreds of crowns, surely? After a perilous race through the forest the Giak were finally left behind. After wandering lost for many hours I finally happened upon a dark cave, the cave would be a nice short cut through the hill, saving a lot of time, but what horrors were waiting for me inside.

Find out more in Part 2.

Let's Setup Flight from the Dark

2011-04-20T10:13:00.000-07:00

It all started out innocently enough, on the morning of the feast of Fehmarn by being given a simple task of finding firewood for the monastery. Nothing else from that point on would ever be simple again.

From a distant vantage point Silent Wolf was witness to the Darklords attack on the Kai monastery. Hurrying to join the battle Silent Wolf entered an unnatural darkness and was struck a blow to the head and rendered unconscious. When he returned to conscience the Darklord attack was over, the monastery was in flames and all his brothers had been slain. He was Silent Wolf no more.

So begins the tale of Lone Wolf . . .

Flight from the Dark Character generation

2011-04-20T05:16:00.000-07:00

Character generation is a mix of choosing from a list of skills and some random rolls to determine what makes up Silent Wolf. The initial selection of skills makes it possible to really customize your character, looks like fun!

Selection of starting disciplines (you get to choose five):

Camouflage enables a Kai Lord to blend in with his surroundings. He can hide undetected among trees and rocks and pass close to an enemy without being seen.
Hunting ensures that a Kai Lord will never starve in the wild and to be able to move stealthily when stalking his prey.
Sixth Sense may warn a Kai Lord of imminent danger and may also reveal the true purpose of a stranger or strange object.
Tracking enables a Kai Lord to make the correct choice of a path in the wild, to discover the location of a person or object in a town or city and to read the secrets of footprints or tracks.
Healing can be used to restore 1 ENDURANCE point to your total for every numbered section of the book you pass through in which you are not involved in combat.
Weaponskill When you enter combat carrying a weapon you are skilled in, you add 2 points to your COMBAT SKILL.
Mindshield prevents you from losing any ENDURANCE points when subjected to mental attacks.
Mindblast enables a Kai Lord to attack an enemy using the force of his mind and adds a two extra points to your COMBAT SKILL. Not all the creatures encountered will be harmed by Mindblast.
Animal Kinship enables a Kai Lord to communicate with some animals and to be able to guess the intentions of others.
Mind Over Matter enables a Kai Lord to move small objects with his powers of concentration.

My choices were:

Hunting: If you don't have meals to eat you lose 3 endurance and this allows you to sneak too.
Six Sense: Not dieing is important, and spider sense should help.
Healing: I want this project to last as many books as possible, this skill is a must!
Weapon Skill (Warhammer): Silent Wolf is a fighting monk, he would have some kind of weapon skill.
Mindblast: Cheap way to get a +2 advantage in combat over most foes.

Determined by random rolls:

Combat Ability (10+d10): 16
Endurance (20+d10): 25

Equipment by some random rolls:

An Axe
A Meal
Gold Crowns (d10): 3
A map of Sommerlund, pictured at the top of this entry
Another random weapon, this time a Mace

I feel pretty happy with my selection of skills, all thing a trained monk would need to know to survive in the world. My random number generating did let me down a bit leaving me with average combat skill and endurance. I was quite disappointed in ending up skill with the Warhammer only to have an Axe as the default weapon and randomly rolling up a Mace, another weapon I am unskilled with, such is life.

So with these selections made and random numbers generated Silent Wolf is ready to head out to gather some fire wood, surely nothing bad could possibly happen on a simple errand such as that.

Let's Read the Lone Wolf Game Book Series

2011-04-11T13:14:00.000-07:00

The Flight from the Dark by Joe Dever was the beginning of the Lone Wolf series of choose your own adventure gamebooks. In 1984 in the first month of publication it sold over 100,000 copies of the series debut alone.

It was one of the first "advanced" versions of choose your own adventure books I played as a kid. Advanced, in that not only were you making decisions and reading associated passages, but you were also fighting combat with random number generation to determine the combat outcome. It was also possible to customize your version of Lone Wolf picking from an assortment or starting skills.

The books are now all available online at Project Aon where you can read them for free and play along if you'd like.

Since it has been so long since I originally read these books it will be very much like a blind play-though. I will be using the online versions of the books through Project Aon and a standard 10-sided die instead of the random number generator table originally provided in the back of the books. I won't cheat and use spoilers, walk-throughs or re-make any bad decisions.

This means when Lone Wolf dies this project is over. With the series running over 30 books it will be quite a challenge, a Magnakai sized one at that.

How far will I make it . . . Flight From the Dark starting soon.

OTT Con 3 In review

2010-09-30T19:24:00.000-07:00

On September 25, only a mere 20 years after the previous, OTTumwa CONvention 3 was held in downtown Ottumwa Iowa, in the building formerly housing Spud's Emporium of Comics and Games.

OTTCON 1 and 2 were gaming conventions held in the Ottumwa High School Cafeteria and were the introduction to many of the locals to gaming.

The revival was the brainchild of Jeff Lunsford and he did the lion's share of the preparation work and provided the hosting site. Attendance to the convention was happily about thirty people who came and stayed various lengths of time.

Guests of Honor were THE Gary Lange and Lew Stoneking. Both of these gentlemen played large parts in establishing the local Ottumwa gaming community. Both traveled long distances to attend and their returns were warmly received.

Many games were played throughout the day including:

The Adventurers Boardgame
Frank Herbert's Dune
Traditional Snafooey for a buck card game
Talisman: The Magical Quest Game
Kingsburg
Blokus Trigon Game
and the evening concluded with a marathon battle using Pound of Lead miniature rules

I only hope that this event is the start of a regularly gaming get together.

On to OTT CON 4!

D&D group went time and edition traveling

2010-09-11T08:08:00.000-07:00

The Skype Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition game I am playing in did something awesome last session.

We were tasked by a local mage to find a powerful anti-undead gauntlet. This gauntlet was buried in the ruins below the town where the mage lived. The interesting twist was that to get the gauntlet out of the ruins we were going to travel back in time to before the dungeon collapsed.

Our merry band of dwarves gathered around the magic time traveling bowl and completed the ceremony. We were whisked away back hundreds of years into the past. All was good until we started looking at each other and realized the reason we felt so different wasn't just the exertion of time travel but we were different people (thus different characters / classes). Dun dun DUNNNNN!

After making sure none of us had been changed into elves, thereby being forced to commit suicide, we began familiarizing ourselves with our new OD&D selves. We then spent the next several hours ten foot pole tapping our way around the first level of an old school D&D dungeon. I had a great time and very much look forward to further exploration of the second level.

It speaks as to how much 4th edition experience I have had that I felt more at home with my OD&D self. Now if we can only set our time bowl to a when in the late 1980's . . .

. . . who knows what will happen.

Gen Con 2010 Sunday Overview

2010-08-10T12:36:00.000-07:00

I was amazed I made it up in time to not only get packed, take a SHOWER and still make it to my 800 am game of Serenity. Ended up being a little on the low energy side as it was early for all those involved. I have never played the Serenity version of the Savage Worlds system so this was new ground for me here.

I guess I must have been under another impression that you could spend plot points to make things happen as I was shut down more than once trying to advance the plot. So we meandered around for three and a half hours before we got anywhere close to the end of the adventure. Then the most awesome part of the whole game took place. We had no time for a long and drawn out assault on the bad guys fortified hideout, so the GM called for a combined roll. He assigned difficulty numbers for the different outcomes. We were able to achieve the most beneficial outcome due to not being allowed to spend our plot points.

This got me thinking we need some kind of fast forward button we can hit like the easy button when games bog down. This wouldn't be so much of an issue but with con games limited 4 hour slots you can feel like you are wasting your time quite a bit.

If I ended up getting into any future Serenity games I will go back and do a little research as I felt like it had been a VERY long time since I had watched the show and was a little like a fish out of water. Still overall a fun-ish experience.

Gen Con 2010 Saturday Overview

2010-08-10T07:07:00.000-07:00

I was beginning to feel the lack of sleep catch up with me and I was playing 12 hours more of scheduled games so Saturday was brought to you by the letter 5 Hour Energy.

The first game I played in Saturday was Cave of Wanders: Wanton Destruction a Donjon game. Donjon is a Clinton R. Nixon game, one that I have long been interested in. Donjon is all about player control exclusively so it is something that I have never seen in the con events listings, until this year. We ended up making our characters up on the spot, which took about 30 to 45 minutes, which wasn't too bad as we had great fun making what had to be the craziest group of adventurers. A beholder holding a double docotorate, a thief who would play dead at the first sight of anything, an elf with an amazing fear of getting hit in the face and a smelly ogre named Violet.

We had a good time goofing off and ended the adventure in time for me to make a mad dash across Indy for my next event, so that was a plus. I can cross "Play Donjon" off of my bucket list now, but I will never play it again, lesson learned.

The game I was dashing from Donjon to play was The Babalon Working a Call of Cthulhu Gumshoe game. I like Cthulhu games, a lot. You usually go mad and / or die so there is a real sense of danger that you don't always have in most con games. This was also an opportunity for me to learn the Gumshoe system.

The pre-generated characters were all science fiction writers and associated. I was greatly pleased to be able to play Phillip K Dick, the craziest man who ever lived! The GM had obviously run this adventure many times and he did a great job with chits representing who all was where making investigation easier. The other players were great. Especially the Robert Heinlein player, he had an amazing amount of actual historical knowledge of the character.

After unsuccessfully trying to reach the local police and the highway patrol, I got to have my break the con moment . . . "My name is Phillip K Dick, and I will be taking you hostage!" table rolled with laughter.

Overall I was surprised how simple this system was. This might have been how the GM was playing it as I had nothing else to compare it too but it still seemed to be barely any mechanics at all. I would give it another play through to see if it was a little more crunchy. If not, I couldn't see myself playing it instead of traditional Cthulhu events.

Every train must, eventually, have its wreck. This was mine for the con. I should have know I was in for something special when the same caffeinated and COCAINE fortified girl from my Raiders of Meadbrook Mine was sitting and waiting for me at the table for my Terror on Emerald Fields Game. Why didn't I run? Because I'm a glutton for punishment, and punishment we all got in spades, four hours worth.

The GM was somehow affiliated with the company that produced Legendary Realms so he was knowledgeable about the setting and the mechanics. We started out by creating our characters which consisted of everybody getting a book and flipping through it at our own pace. In a convention setting this is unacceptable. Pregenerated characters are a must, at least they should be there to use as an example if not actually played. So, we soldiered on and created our characters. We then spent the next four hours being "entertained" by the same girl from the Meadbrook mine game.

When the event was mercifully over I gave the GM feedback that pregen characters would've made this process run smoother and some small layout modifications to the character sheets and the rule book. By this time the girl in question had left after her father made her apologize to the other people for "using the f-word." Since we were all 30-40 year old guys we assured her we all understood.

I then tried to make the GM feel a little better by saying that I had felt the same pain as I had played another game with this girl too. That was when he dropped the bombshell to end all bombshells . . . THAT WAS THE THIRD GAME HE HAD PLAYED WITH HER! I shook my head and ran for it screaming.

What I learned was that I will not be playing anymore Legendary Realms games, and if I see this girl again at a game I will get a couple of pitchers of beer, the table will need them, badly.

Gen Con 2010 Friday Overview

2010-08-10T06:12:00.000-07:00

After having a pretty shaky experience in Meadbrook mine I was really looking forward to Pulp Friday. I really enjoy the setting personally and I think it lends itself very well to con play as characters tend to be awesome doing amazing things!

First off was Men without Minds a Spirit of the Century / FATE game I was surprised I was able to get into at all. Two of the people playing in this Spirit game were the same people I had played Inspectres with last year so I knew I was in for a fun game. The GM has pre-generated almost all of our character's back-story leaving only the last novel for us to do so we could tie our characters together and see how the novel system of back-story development worked. This was a great idea as it took a little time and gave us a taste as to what the system was like. I highly recommended anyone else running this in a con setting to do the same thing.

The plot was pretty standard pulp but we all had a fun time tracking down the big bad guy to his lair. This was the first time I had played Spirit so I was a little disappointed as to how it handed combat with multiple lesser opponents. I like FATE / FUDGE but I was a little let down, probably due to my to extremely high expectations. Overall, it was a good game and I learned a lot as well. I would definitely play in another Spirit game con registration system willing.

Pulp Friday continued with Frogs in the Machine an Adventure! game. I have owned this book for quite awhile and it has been gathering dust on the shelf so I was looking forward to cracking it out.

The characters for this game were great. One was a sentient gorilla scientist, to help set the stage. I got to play what I would later refer to as "the worst monster a child could ever imagine" trust me the monster under the bed had nothing on this guy. We were playing in pre-WWII England and I was a German character who was a dentist. Not just any dentist, but, "THE GREATEST DENTIST IN THE WORLD" it said so, right on the character sheet. So we were already off to a cracking start. The GM for the game had an amazing array of different British accents and he was always consistent with the accents as he changed NPCs.

The other players were all very interesting and we had a great time getting to the bottom of the mystery. I would definitely like to play more games with the same group of guys. Upon reflection I doubt that I will be playing in any more Adventure! games in the future. I like the game just not as much as I like Hollow Earth Expeditions so sorry Adventure! off to Half-Priced books you go!

Gen Con 2010 Thursday Overview

2010-08-10T05:42:00.000-07:00

One of the games I was most looking forward to play was my first game of the con, Trouble in Hochen a Burning Wheel game. I arrived in the room a little early so I was killing time looking at the events in the book. As game time approached I began to worry that I was at the wrong place at the wrong time, so I double checked the event time with the con program . . . and was surprised to see that Luke Crane himself was listed as running the game, the creator of Burning Wheel himself. As it turned out the person running the game showed up shortly in the person of Thor Olavsrud an editor / developer of the game.

The four slot game had immediately sold out as do all Burning Wheel events but somehow we had only three of the four slots filled, without anyone with generics tickets waiting in the wings. We bravely soldiered on and ended up becoming the heroes of Hochen. I had a great time playing in Trouble as I have been wanting to see what the Burning Wheel system looked like in action. Action was what we had in this adventure, we had a Duel of Wits as well as a three on one sided combat that was both very satisfying and informative.

Everyone who participated in this event seemed to have a good time and I got many of my questions answered so I considered this event a great start to the con. If things keep getting better from here by Sunday I will be rolling nothing but crits and shooting laser beams from my eyes . . . unfortunately I was wrong.

My other game on Thursday was The Raiders of Meadbrook Mine and could well be descibed as my inspiration to follow up on my events in the blog. Adventures in Fantasy 2nd edition is a homebrewed system lovingly crafted with obviously a lot of work put into it. Unfortunately, lots of work and loving crafting in this case still didn't add up to a system that was better than Savage Worlds, which from here on out will be considered my Mendoza line when it comes to this style of gaming. The actual adventure itself was standard dungeon crawling which was fine as most of the players were very nice funny people, excepting a 13ish year old girl who had been drinking caffeinated beverages and eating COCAINE all day. To the GM's and other player's credit we kept her mosly in check, mostly, so playing was still enjoyable. I will not be playing in any more Adventures in Fantasy games not because they are bad people, or have a bad system, just after two playings I feel I have gotten all that I can out of the system.

Final Fantasy II

2010-07-04T19:25:00.000-07:00

Due to the Let's Play videos I have been watching on YouTube I was motivated to go back to the Super Nintendo and work on my gaming resume. By beginning working my way through the JRPG Final Fantasy series, one that I have little to no experience with. So I started with Final Fantasy II (aka IV in Japan).

My play through was done without using save states or cheats. So I was getting the original FF2 experience circa 1991. I was surprised at the quality of the writing and the depth of the story. Not only was the story deep for a game written for a "younger" audience I was surprised how self sacrificing the characters were, the level of betrayals and redemption and how much violence was done to children, including having a couple of turned to stone.

By "the original experience" I mean I had several near controller throwing moments with the sheer number of random battles. Random battles on the world map and random random battles in the dungeon areas all without the benefits of any warning at all. I think this game would have been much better if the random battles were fewer and with some warning. Even with all the random battles the amount of grinding required to finish the game was surprisingly low. I was able to finish up the final boss battle on my first try.

My enjoyment of this game will definitely lead me into playing more classic games and more in the Final Fantasy series, I and urge you all to do the same as well.

Gen Con 2010 Sunday Event

2010-06-15T09:08:00.000-07:00

This is the only event I am planning to play on Sunday. With my late night of gaming from Saturday and the very real possibility that my ride might want to head west this event might not happen for me. . .

Event Name: Pinkerton's Legacy Bounties in the Black
System: Serenity

Synopsis: Out on the Fringe, good folk mostly have to do for themselves. There is plenty of room for villains to run & hide. Out in the Black, it'd take heroes to stand up for what's right, men and women like the crew of Pinkerton's Legacy, aiming to make life safer on the frontier, living off the bounties of criminals that they capture or kill, and the occasional reward from the grateful

Why I selected this event: I like to sneak a last game in on Sunday morning. This is using the Serenity (aka Savage Wolrds) ruleset which I try to play at least one game of a year. This year I went down to the Gen Con buzzer to get my Savage World fix in.

Gen Con 2010 Saturday Events

2010-06-15T08:58:00.000-07:00

These are the Gen Con 2010 events that I am playing on Saturday. This is by far my busiest day so far at this Con, at least a part time job kind of hours. I will be likely eating trail mix out of a backpack and washing it down with Red Bull by the end of this day of gaming.

Event Name: Cave of Wanders: Wanton Destruction
System: Donjon

Synopsis: We'll be bathing in ale and women tonight! We've all heard our fathers and their fathers before them drone on and on about the 'horrors' in that cave, but we've also seen the fat loot that they've brought back. Treasure, cool scars, and more treasure. Grab your sword and some torches. Our quest begins tonight!

Why I selected this event: I read the rules for Donjon and was immediately impressed with the openness. I always wanted to play this system over almost everything else but was far too intimidated to even think about running anything with it. I always swore if an even was ever listed at Gen Con it would be the first thing I signed up for, this was that year.

Event Name: The Babalon Working
System: Trail of Cthulhu

Synopsis: Lovecraft meets ripped-from-history film noir as you play science fiction writers in 1950s California drawn into a charlatan's web of deceit and mendacity following the 'accidental' death of an occult-loving rocket scientist.

Why I selected this event: I always have to play a Cthulhu themed even each year. I like trying out new systems, this time it is the Gumshoe system and MORE PULP to boot.

Event Name: Terror on Emerald Fields
System: Legendary Realms
Synopsis: A strange melancholic song calls out to nearby travelers who are never seen again. You can hear it calling for you on the breeze.

Why I selected this event: Wanted to finish up the day learning something new and sometimes Gen Con events are about what sounds good in the time slots you have available.

Gen Con 2010 Friday Events

2010-06-15T08:43:00.000-07:00

These are the Gen Con 2010 events that I am playing on Friday. This is a pulp setting heavy day for me. I was really happy and surprised to be able to get into the Spirit of the Century game. They are very rare and sell out quickly. Thank goodness for my quick registration and repeated clicking!

Event Name: The Men Without Minds!
System: Spirit of the Century

Synopsis: Prominent citizens have been implicated in assaults, robberies and other crimes all over the city, but when apprehended, they have no memory of their deeds. You, the members of the Century Club, are the only ones with the skills and the stomach to solve this scintillating situation!

Why I selected this event: FATE rules + Pulp setting = me playing this event

Event Name: Frogs in the Machine
System: Adventure!

Synopsis: England,1939. It seems like another war in Europe is just around the corner, but for now life still goes on. A young man has died at a mysterious new factory in Sheffield, and the Frog Hall Gang is asked to investigate. Outrageous accents and hair-brained schemes encouraged.

Why I selected this event: Adventure rules + Pulp setting = me playing this event

Gen Con 2010 Thursday Events

2010-06-15T08:34:00.000-07:00

These are the Gen Con 2010 events that I am playing on Thursday.

Event Name: Trouble in Hochen
System: Burning Wheel

Synopsis: A demon rampages through the beleaguered village of Hochen. Can you stop it and save the village? Part one of a series of three adventures.

Why I selected this event: I have always wanted to play in a Burning Wheel game as the system has seemed interesting and I don't have this chance here locally. Also, a multi-scenario even sounded fun. Too bad I wasn't able to get all the others in this series.

Event Name: The Raiders of Meadbrook Mine
System: Adventures in Fantasy

Synopsis: Meadbrook Mine is in trouble. Something sinister has entered within the mine killing the workers. Your band of adventurers was assembled to clear the menace and return peace and operations to the miners.

Why I selected this event: I like to try out a new system or two each year and this scenario sounded interesting.

Next, on to Friday . . .

Puzzle Kingdoms for the Nintendo Wii

2010-02-04T04:38:00.000-08:00

Puzzle Quest was a major hit around the house. So it was with baited breath that we looked forward toward Puzzle Quest Galactrix. We were a little disappointed at the game play in Galactrix, as we were really hoping for more of the same as the original and the innovation just didn't strike the same chord with us.

So, eventually Galactix fell back to back of the game pile and never did end up being finished, while playing the original and the expansion turned into at least part time jobs.

On a perfectly innocent day browsing our local Gamestop I noticed Puzzle Kingdoms. I was amazed that I hadn't heard anything about this game given my moderate PQ addiction. Given the lack of buzz, onto the Gamefly queue it went.

And a good Gamefly game it was. They Wii-mote control was horrible and felt 100% tacked on at all times playing the game. Many a time I would say, "I wish they had just used a normal control scheme," or "This would've been better on the 360." The game itself wasn't bad, somewhere between the original PQ and Galactrix.

If you are a oldschool PQ fan I recommend at least a rental of Puzzle Kingdoms but be ready to curse the "innovative" use of the Wii-mote as you accidently select the wrong symbols over and over again.

The Poodle RPG system

2010-01-30T21:22:00.000-08:00

This extra light roleplaying system was something I came up with by combining the Pool by James West and its offspring the Puddle. Hence the Poodle name.

The Poodle is a story telling system where the players only have one common Pool of dice that represent not only their life but their control over the game itself. Gaining new traits is something that is done spontaneously in the game based on number of successes rolled in conflict resolution. Experience is also tracked as dice from the players Pool can be used to increase trait bonuses.

I did like the idea of combing the two systems together. I was planning on using Fudge dice as trait dice when resolving conflicts to easily distinguish them from the dice from the player's Pool.

It is something I will most likely not get a chance to bring to the table locally as it is a d20 / 4ed intensive area and rules systems lighter than Savage Worlds are pretty much completely out of the question. But it was still a fun way to pass an evening, enjoy.

Dungeon Magazine Index

2010-01-26T23:21:00.000-08:00

Dungeon Magazine Index is a handy resource for searching Dungeon Magazines adventures all the way from issue 1 to 139. You can filter the index by Level, Setting, Edition or by entering your own search term. This is very handy for quickly finding adventures in the correct level range for your needs.

Now if the actual adventures were as readily available this would be amazing. Paizo Publishing does have a few hard copies and PDFs available at their website, but their stock doesn't go all the way back to the first issues.

"Tomb it may Concern"

2010-01-26T19:37:00.000-08:00

This adventure comes from Dungeon Magazine #22 and is one of my favorites of all time. It features a paladin suffering from amnesia and their attempt to defeat an ancient evil buried in the forest while struggling to remember who, and what they really are.

The good

Solo quest (you only need two people!)
Little prep time for both DM and PC
Short enough to be played in one setting
Nice mechanic of re-introducing powers and memories to the PC as the adventure goes on
Element of mystery throughout
Good adventure for trying out different systems

The bad

Difficult/impossible to find
Clichéd amnesia usage
Combat heavy
It ended, this left me hunting for more solo adventures

The take away

This is a great adventure for introducing new player to role playing games. It is also something I would like to use in the future to try out new systems. It is formatted for 2nd Edition D&D as written, but I am planning on stating it up for use with both the Pinnacle's Savage Worlds and Green Ronin's Dragon Age Origins RPG systems.

Widowed by Mass Effect 2 or How this blog got started

2010-01-26T17:59:00.000-08:00

On a cold Tuesday in January Bioware released Mass Effect 2. I was motivated to get started blogging as my wife instructed me to leave her alone with the xbox for "a couple of weeks."

I am going to make use of this time to do mini-reviews of various role playing game adventures. With the hope that this will motivate me to run more games.

I will try to take at least a few interesting items away from each adventure so there should always be at least a good seed or two to be had.

So here we go . . .