Chaos Scar (Mis)Adventures: “Mud in the Water”
I'm going to open with a disclaimer; I, in no way, shape, or form, have any problems or issues with Jeff's Chaos Scar game, or his performance as a DM. I enjoy the game very much, and I, of all people, understand what a thankless job being a DM is.
You Sir, have my respect.
I do, however, have a few problems with how the Chaos Scar Adventure Path is designed. It's brutal, there's no doubt about it. I'm just going to hit some of the high points.
Close Encounters of the Essential Kind! – Week 2
The Essentials Wizzard
Though one encounter per week does little more than whet my appetite for some real gaming, it's fun to get out of the house and hang out with my fellow gamers. I knew Chuck and Rob would be there, even if poor Tim was forced to miss out yet again.
I'm still a bit underwhelmed by the pre-gen Mage; it's not that he's bad, it's just that, as I've said before, I'd have done things a bit differently.
The Encounter started with a horrible Initiative; 5! While I grouse about not being able to go sooner in the round as a Controller, I did luck out in that by the time my turn came up, our enemies were nice and close to the party. I'd been doubly fortunate in that the kobolds decided not to try and get at the squishy Elf in the corner!
Close Encounters of the Essential Kind!
So this week I made my way to Peotone to play an Encounter. Quickly looking over the characters presented to me, I chose a Controller..in this case, Tim's Eladrin Wizard!
I mean, it's only fair, since he couldn't make it this week, right?
I got the feeling that there was important information left off the tiny card that served as the Wizard's character sheet (sadly, the poor fellow doesn't seem to have a name), but it was serviceable for the Encounter. Essentials has added a few fun toys to the class, such as Beguiling Strands.
Big Stick Rogues!
So here's something from the latest issue of Dragon: Staff Rogues?! Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the idea, adding weapons to the Rogue's list is always nice, but..Staff Rogues? I remember a few years back when World of Warcraft added support for Mace Rogues and everyone was like “WTF Mace Rogues?!”*. The iconic Rogue has always been a Light Blade guy. Oh sure, I guess the idea of a thug with a club exists, but the Rogue/Thief in RPG's has always been a sly, agile, Artful Dodger sort of guy, who lives by his wits and uses daggers, short swords, and the like.
Return to the Chaos Scar: Adventure Recap and Lessons Learned
Finally, the second Chaos Scar adventure! Last time, we helped free a ruined temple of Erathis from a small horde of undead, which proved to be a very tough fight for my Avenger, with his only saving grace being his ridiculous AC.
This time, we found ourselves facing a truly bizarre menace; a shadowy cult of an unknown God, in league with creepy crawly arachnids and Ettercaps! Our foes would strike from the shadows, hiding in darkness and firing crossbows at us, only to vanish an instant later.
If you guess that our opponents were Drow...you'd be wrong! In an interesting twist, we were up against the new Duergar, a race of evil Dwarves who had defiled an old temple of Moradin (the major Dwarf deity) and filled it with eight-legged horrors.
D&D 4E: News from the Front! Part 1 – New Games
Image via Wikipedia
Hello, my name is James, and I'm a Gamer. Without any games to play, I finally bit the bullet and jumped into the new edition of D&D. I'm still a bit annoyed at WotC's presumption at presenting us with a whole new game we didn't ask for, but hey, time heals all wounds, and it's been 2 years.
So, first I'm going to talk about games. I'm in two…or three at the moment. I'm not really sure!
After Action Gencon Report
Back from Gen Con and I am ready to drop. It is indeed the best four days of gaming and my 3 ½ time going for multiple days. I will say that of the 2 other times this one was somewhat a disappointment in comparison, but even a bad day at Gencon is still better than a good day in the classroom.
Dave and myself left 5am on Thursday and arrived at 9:30 am in Indy (time change so a 3 hour trip took 4). First up we found a parking space close by with no need to hunt one down. In previous years I spent a solid half hour looking for a space. This time, boom, we found one right off the bat. Awesome, then we get in and receive our swag bag. In years previous the bag had tons of coupons, trading cards, dice, minis, and even full games. This year it came with the 2010 Gencon die, a tiny dice bag, and not much else. Some people did not even get the die in theirs. I made my way around the hall, ran into a few friends, and knocked out most of my purchases.
Unlike previous years video games did not dominate the hall and it contained all manner of companies. You had your old grognards like Flying Buffalo as well as those fly by night companies you hear about, but then fall of the face of the earth, and then those that dominate. The Wyrd booth had a bigger line than Privateer Press. WotC was back in full force with the entire Sagamore filled with D&D. Unlike last years Con Delve that cost 2 bucks for an hour and allowed you to win cool tokens, minis, or a dice bag, the Delve this year allowed you to win stamps on a card and turn it in for absolute crap, oh and they doubled the price. I only did a few this year due to the wait and cost.
I took in a few speed painting events and then sat down to a painting class taught by Vaolla. While she is not up to the standards of some of the other names teaching classes, I will say that in retrospect she had the most professionally run and organized class among those I took. I look forward to her teaching more next year as I will sign up again. I was able to pick up some techniques that I plan to use in the future.
Friday had me taking part in the Anima Tactics National Tournament which I won, but due to miscommunication with my opponent it was a Pyrrhic Victory as he made some mistakes that cost him the game. I did however win a mini that will not be sold for another 6 months and he won 50 bucks for best sportsmanship. I still tired to buy him a mini to make up for it. Played a few more Delves and went home to sleep.
A note about the delves, they used the new Essentials characters. Having seen them in action they are simple to use, and awesome. While the fighter no longer marks he does hit for +9 vs. AC at first level for 1d10+10, that we call Striker damage! The wizard was pretty fun if you do not mind rolling dice.
Saturday had me playing Malifaux….all day. I took 3rd place and best painted. Score for me! It was run by the newest employee of Wyrd Drew Little, who ran numerous events at Games Plus and he is a consummate professional and runs an awesome event. Thanks Drew should you ever read this.
Saw numerous costumes. The con babes were out in force this year and looking great doing it. Picked up a few games and another painting video. Oh I got to see the cast of the Guild and Felcia day is that hot in person!
Sunday, was a sad day, the last day. I took two painting classes taught by two of the bigger names in the industry. For all their accolades, I found their classes to be a complete disappointment. I did not get much info out of them and very little hands on help (which is funny because the largest class had 5 people!). I was not able to find any deals and they did give away the remaining grab bags…all missing dice. Drove home and now I write this report. I plan to add more details and describe the offerings the the booth but for now I am exhausted. Until then…I’ll be in my bunk.
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- Reporting In from GenCon 2010! (Part 1) from NEUROGLYPH Games (neuroglyphgames.com)
- Day 2 GenCon: Stretching My Gaming Muscles (dicemonkey.net)
- The run-up to GenCon from RPG Diehard (rpgdiehard.blogspot.com)
D&D Essentials? What’s New? Formatting and Marketing
Bill Slavicsek posted today a new glimpse of the D&D Essentials product line and clarified to everyone confused about the what
" essentials" is. Basically D&D Essentials is the same as any other D&D 4E books, just a new format and marketed to new players. The Rules Compendium compiles all the rules in one place with all the updates already in place and the new "classes" are just new builds that open up new play mechanics.
I think this is a great idea, especially with the ongoing D&D Encounters bringing in more and more new players. This is a product line that will allow newbies a fresh starting point to jump in, instead of having to sort through the back library of books released. And for all of us existing players, new builds for our favorite classes, similar to the source books.
My only advice to Wizards is to get this product line into more general stores, such as Wal-Mart and Target, etc. in addition to the bookstores and LGS.
The second part of the article introduced the Mage build for wizards. Mages are the traditional scholarly wizards who can learn from different schools of magic, such as Enchantment School, Evocation School, and Illusion School.
One thing that I noticed that was a little more clear was that is sounds like your class feature levels up with you. So for example a mage graduates from Apprentice Mage to Expert Mage at level 5, gaining new benefit. This is a great idea and I am excited to see more about it.
Are D&D Essential Classes Really Simpler?
Today we got our first look at the Cleric from the upcoming D&D Essentials product line. The build presented is a Warpriest, a divine leader that gets up close and personal with the enemies.
The impression I got from the new D&D Essentials line of products is that they will be simple and back to the basics. I read through the article, but it doesn't really look simpler to me, in fact maybe even more complicated as they are adding a "domain" system. Clerics choose from the "storm domain" or the "sun domain" and depending on their choice, get different class features and powers. It is very interesting and I would still like to see more of the powers associated with the domains, otherwise is seems just like a new class "build"
Check out the article over here and let me know what you think. Are they simpler, more complicated, or pretty much the same?
D&D meets Choose Your Own Adventure
Wizards of the Coast is releasing a new product line called Dungeons & Dragons Essentials. These products go back to the basics and are a a great way to introduce new or younger players to the game we all love.
It has a unique method of putting you into the action and is even designed for solo play. Below is an except:
It plays out like a Choose Your Own Adventure type book, which I think is a great way for younger kids to get into fantasy roleplaying games.
I hope that they are able to get these products out to the general public in better places than game shops. Hopefully they can get them into bookstores and maybe even Wal-Mart would be great exposure.
What do you think:
Will this product be good for D&D?
Will it help bring new players?
Are you interested in it as an existing player?
It's time to leap into action, but that can mean different things for different kinds of fantasy heroes. How do you imagine the hero in your mind reacting to this situation?
- Do you imagine pulling a weapon from the back of the wagon and leaping down to fight the goblins? Go to 2.
- Do you imagine casting a magic spell to blast the goblins? Go to 3.
- Do you imagine drawing a dagger, using the wagon for cover, and sneaking around to pick off the goblins without putting yourself in too much danger? Go to 4.
- Do you imagine tending to the merchant's wound, perhaps uttering a divine prayer to restore his health? Go to 5.
- Or do you prefer hiding in the back of the wagon until the fight is over? Go to 6.
- Do you have a different idea about what to do? Go to 42.
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