True Dungeon!

Can't wait for GenCon!  True Dungeon has never dissappointed!  It has been awesome every year!  :)

Retribution of Scryah

The first of Privateer Press' Force of Warmachine Books released at GenCon this year. This is big for two reasons...
#1 - First Book using the MkII rule set.
#2 - First official new faction for Warmachine since the game launched.

And, unsurprisingly, the book is awesome. The fluff/story was very cool, and the Iron Kingdom's elves have one of the coolest and most interesting back-stories of just about any campaign-specific elven race. The models have a very unique look, and their playstyle is really interesting. I won't be buying my eleven models until October, but I can't wait!

Found a few YouTube videos...(very short vids) Is there anything that's not on YouTube these days?

Earthynn Adventure Log

Here is the first adventure log for our Earthynn campaign! This is the story we played at GenCon. I am planning on writing up a log like this for each adventure. Provides a memory refresher for the players, and creates a story we can read later. (though I am not much of a writer)

Earthynn Adventure Log 1
Explorers Needed - Apply Within

Dinner by the Bay
The quaint little town of Seaburgh doesn't get many visitors, most of its population are regulars and residents. The town sits alone on the coast of a large bay full of fish. The people know it is full of fish, because that's pretty much all they do... fish. And all they eat...fish. However; on this very night there were visitors. In fact, there were eight. Some had been around for a bit, others just newly strolled into town. This was an opportune time for visitors, as the mayor of Seaburgh had need of explorers.

The eight visitors gathered about in the tavern, awaiting the arrival of the mayor (whom the townsfolk say is a tough woman to track down). The meeting room of the tavern held a long wooden table about which sat a menagerie of people. Some were big, some were small, and some jolly and brimming with laughter and spiked helms. A human wanderer named Maresk Thorntoungue, who seemed as much at home in the wilds as in the city. A Dragonborn named Tannim who shined like brazen brass inside and out. A stoic and complicated Tiefling who travels anywhere and everywhere and is known as Nowhere. A Dwarf named Dyrge Warsmith with copper eyes and top-knot whose spirit could swell a crowd as intensely as his bagpipes. A rogue-ish halfling who revealed little about himself, not even his name. A Golaith that towers over the others with his tower-sized hammer, revealed little of himself but his name, Rothak Bataar. Thri Flamebeard's dwarven laugh and red beard drew much attention during the dinner, but his good nature soothed all. Liara, the Eladrin mage; however, took great care not to draw attention to herself, but rolled her eyes a lot at the uncivilized nature of the motley dinner party. The eight strangers conversed and enjoyed the taverns hospitality. Outside through the window of the tavern's meeting room, the waves crashed upon the coast and in the distance the ruins of the great port city of Murasha stood like an conglomerate of shadowy sentinels reeking of foreboding doom. They group was eager to explore said city of ruins.. though it would not be their destination this night. A halfling waitress shuttled in large trays of drinks and food, sliding each onto the table with effort, but always cheery, un-phased even by the pats on the butt from the dragonborn. After bringing in the final round of drinks, the waitress removed her apron and hopped up on a chair at the end of the table and introduced herself as Clara Clove, mayor of Seaburgh (and part-time waitress at the Bayside Tavern).

Her dark auburn hair was pulled up revealing her aging features. Her eyes sparkled and her green-gemstone earrings glittered as she recounted a tale of the stagnation of Seaburgh... The town has been stifled in its growth due to lack of outside contact. In order for the town to grow and prosper a reliable and ready trade route needs to be established.. new residents, industry, commerce, and contact from other towns and cities is needed. This is where the explorers come in to her plan. A visitor had shown up in Seaburgh a while back claiming to be from a town north along the river, maybe about 5 days travel. Using the river as a trade route between the two towns would allow increased commerce for both, and allow a ready waypoint for further trade with the great city of Gerhbonne to the north. They devised a plan to send some sailors up river to find this town, sadly, those sailors never returned. The new plan is to have these explorers travel up along the coast of the river by foot and scout out any hazards and dangers, map trouble spots, find the town, and return to Seaburgh with the information. Seeing as there was conveniently eight explorers in attendance, Miss Clove divided them into two groups of four, each taking a different bank of the river.

West Bank Excursion:

A Walk in the Park
The early legs of the journey were pleasant. The spring breeze blew at the backs of the stalwart west-bank exploration party and the gently soothing sound of bagpipes filled their footsteps with glee. A Tiefling, a Dwarf, a shifty Human, and a Dragonborn strolled up the river unaware of the dangers looming ahead...

Parliament of Crooks
It was on the second day that during their travels they encountered the sound of familiar laughter... a loud raucous dwarven laughter coming from the river up ahead. Upon investigation... there appeared to be a dwarven sized lump bobbing in the water just on the edge of the river. Dwarvish laughter mixed with gargling river water is odd enough, but when its supposed to be on the other side of the river it becomes even more alarming. The stalwart Dragonborn Tannim rushed to his aid, but upon closer inspection.. the dwarf was just a log doing a grand job of impersonating a dwarf! Gads! Foul log! But then the scaly, talon-ed feat of the real perpetrator vaulted it atop a log near at the river side. The crow cackled from behind his hooded cloak, revealing his black feathers and long spiked chain. His skills at impersonating dwarves was uncanny and his trap was sprung. Many others of these dark feathered men (later identified as Kenku) sprang from the trees.. some wielding stout clubs, others brandishing pairs of wicked talon-esque daggers. A quick and hard battle ensued as the explorers closed in to meet their avian adversaries. The Kenku's ringleader caw'd orders to his birdly soldiers, directing them during the battle, all the while cawing and cackling at the party. They were; however, no match for the four explorers who combined their skills and brought about the deaths. The Kenku and their chain twirling ringleader were defeated.

Bugs from Below
Traveling ensued and after a some distance was covered the land beneath their feet, the weather and the river itself, all took a turn for the worse. The land became as swampy and deeply muddy as they approached the wetland area of the river. The weather also turned soggy, as the sunny breezy hours gave way to gusty rain filled hours, making travel a little less enjoyable and little more slow. But the river made the most direct change, and the once easily sail-able river put forth a rapid-inducing waterfall. Not one of great height, but one that would lead any northern going vessel to take to disembark and travel by land to pass it. This was indeed the case for the Seaburgh excursion as upon closer investigation, a river gong boat was found out of the water and and appeared to have been hastily dropped near some trees and left in a seemingly non-water-worthy state. Peculiar.

It was during the mulling over of said peculiarity that the bug emerged... no ordinary bug, for it was huge.. a large ant-like creature with multiple legs, mandibles, antennae, and a hunger for humanoids. It attacked from some bushes with alarming speed and snatched up Maresk in its acid-dripping mandibles and dragged him away from the party towards the shrubs he emerged from. The startled explorers came to their senses and regrouped to slay this new foe. The Ankheg brought Maresk to the bushes, where there awaited several of the bug beast's larvae, awaiting their dinner with gaping acid soaked mouths. The party rallied together to defeat this foul insect and its kin, surviving the gripping mandibles and sprays of burning acid. A much needed rest was needed, but the inquisitive instincts of the group took hold. A hole was found, a tunnel leading below the ground...

Moldy Food
The short tunnel led into the earth and opened into a long cavern, obviously dug by the Ankheg as a brood nest. The first thing found in the nest was the smell... a sort of rotty, decaying smell. The remains of some giant bug eggs slurped in a pile along one wall, some partially eaten and decayed "food" (the remains of some poor Seaburgh sailors and other poor saps) were piled in the far corner amid various pools of sliminess and mold... and it was this very "sliminess" that attacked the poor dwarf who had crawled in to investigate. Two pools of grey colored ooze sprang into attack, as did a Green slime that was hanging out on the ceiling. During the fevered battle that ensued, some rocks came loose in the wall and a landslide became a slight complication to the battle. The durable explorers bested the grossness and shrugged off the rocks that pelted them.

Investigation of the "bodies" revealed the remains of the seaburgh river expedition and a poor lonely half-orc adventurer (who happened to have been very well equipped before he died.) The devout Dragonborn buried the remains of the fallen folk and the party gathered up their spoils of battle and moved on.

Something Weird this Way Comes
Further into the swamp they ventured.. occasionally spotting tracks of Kenku scrambling about in the mud. Late in that day a clearing was stumbled upon and flocks of crows picked at the ground and hopped about. At the far end of the clearing a group of Kenku gathered, huddled up and discussing their foul works. Dyrge looked off to his side and saw a lone crow hopping and pecking about, it looked up him inquisitively. Dyrge, being the good-natured animal-loving dwarf he is, tossed s bit of food down the the scroungy bird. The bird was delighted, so delighted that he caw'd and caw'd with glee. The Kenku at the far end of the clearing turned around at once and spied the gathered explorers. They assumed an attack formation, their flock instincts serving them well. Strange blurs in the air floated between them as another more sinister Kenku stepped up. He had white feathers mixed in with his black, his robes clung to his avian form and he shook his wicked staff in anger. The blurs in the air solidified some, but not wholly, and they appeared as strange masses of floating tentacles... but they were far from the wost thing that was seen that day. A huge floating, fleshy orb rose among them, it had one great huge eye and a gaping mouth dripping with hate. The tentacles about its head flitted about, each containing it own eye. All its eyes fixed on the exploration party.

A mighty battle ensued. Nowhere matched wits and arcane blasts with the foul Kenku Wingmage who had taken flight into a tree. The rest of the party sprang to action and began to dispatch the foul birds and their tentacled friends. The Foul Taint floating in the air wounded the minds of the party, their foul caresses chilling their souls with dark emotions. These creatures provided nuisances to the party as the Behold floated in and rained eye-rays down upon the party. The Beholder was wise enough to keep the large Dragonborn at bay with immobilizing eye-beams while it directed its more nefarious rays on the others. The battle drug on, but in the end our heroes were once again victorious. They bested the foul aberration and his lowly lackeys.

The Great Goblin Emancipation
The clearing was not made by chance...as it happens there was a collection of simple mud hovels gathered not far. They sat on an island in a ring of mud, a simple reed bridge spanned the mud, but had been trampled down by heavy avian feet. Most of the huts were rooted out, torn up and filled with black feathers, bird dung, and the leaving of flocks of nasty bird men. One hut however, was a goblin prison. A small group of goblins huddled in fear, tied up in the back of one of the huts. Some, lay still on the dirt floor. The explorers freed the wretched creatures, a small mercy to such pitiful creatures. The goblins told their tale of captivity, speaking of the sudden arrival of the Kenku. They spoke of a "bigger bird" who led them, one much scarier than the others. Beyond that they knew little beyond the confines of the prison.

The party traveled on, secure in the fact that their destination was not far, s the goblins had also informed them the town they sought was only a day travel by goblin feet. Though a goblin with said feet also decided to follow the party, and was found out quite quickly. He nervously told the party of the treasure he had buried to hide it from the Kenku, and he gave it to them as reward for freeing his people. The belt he pulled from the mud was indeed a magical treasure... After some more time, the welcome signs of civilization appeared, as did sheep.

Arrival in Sheep-town
The town of Munstown was a small agricultural town. They were known for raising livestock, mainly sheep and some other grazing animals. They were quite excited to see the adventurers and hear the tale of Seaburgh. Trade between the towns would indeed be a boon for the lives of all the citizens, and the head of Munstown, a Mr. Jonn Muston II, was ready to commit to the project. The party rested, but as of yet, the other expedition of explorers from the east side of the river had not arrived...

---

East Bank Excursion:

Pleasant Wanderings
The goliath, the halfling, the eladrin, and the dwarf were ferried across the river by Seaburgh's finest. They set out to begin their journey. A rushing river. Rolling hills. Fluffy clouds. These were the sights that were seen by the intrepid east bank expedition on its first couple days out. The spring breeze was warming and the dwarf's tales were invigorating. Thri told tales of his journeys from here to there, from hill to vale, and everywhere in between; he even told them when no one was listening. As a traveling companion, few could be equaled. The party ventured on, some birds circled in the distance, crows flying in to scavenge some food no doubt. Nothing to worry about...

A Murder of Crow-like Beings
During their third day along the river, the land turned much more wooded than earlier, follow the river became a less direct a route. Paths were taken between the trees and underbrush, all the while staying as close to the river as they could. At one point they were forced to travel inward a ways from the bank due to some large hills strewn with rocks. The passage around the hill was difficult, as the ground seemed to reject visitors with roots, rocks and weeds. This hill also proved the perfect place to launch an ambush. The odd black feathered creatures sprung down from tree branches ready to reap the rewards of the stalking, but the brave travelers were not to be caught unawares. They braced to meet the ambush, their keen senses preparing them for such eventualities. The battle ensued... most of the bird creatures were simple ruffians, using crude clubs to bludgeon their foes... but the odd creature that came after them was enough to give pause to the party. A seemingly translucent ball of tentacles hovered in the air and glided down the hill, its foul presence corrupting the very air if wafted in. It writhed as tiny eyes opens in random spots and fired beams of pure emotional anguish upon the party. The mighty Goliath rushed to meet it, but his hammer passed though it s if it wasn't even there... The halfling flitted among the Kenku awaiting the opportune moment to strike a deadly blow, while the stalwart Thri took on all comers. Liara stood back and sent waves of arcane energy into the foes. The distraction worked - with their attention on the foul thing on the hill, no one saw the Kenku stalking from behind. This one brandished a wicked sword and struck out from the shadows, nearly crippling Liara with one blow. Thri rushed to her aid just in time, leveling his axe against the sneaky Kenku's chest. The battle raged on, and the party bested their assailants. They rested afterwords.. and odd realization was discovered. The body of the back-stabbing Kenku was nowhere to be found. Nothing could be done of it; progress must be made. The party set out to continue the exploration.

Signpost to the Past
As night approached, the explorers moved into the trees to secure a campsite for the evening. It was then that Liara noticed the strange bit of terrain. There was a odd stone obelisk in the area they chose to camp at. It stood about 4 feet tall, old, cracked, and covered with moss and age. Thri's eyes lit up when he gazed upon it. he explained that it is a road sign, and ancient road sign pointing the way to one of the Gate Holds guarding the entrance to one of the Vein's of the Earth (dwarven underground "roads") Thri's explanation was that this was an ancient one that had long been closed off.. but the Gate Hold may still be standing. Thri was ready to head off in search of it immediately, but the party talked him out of it and kept him on task.

Ogres in the Mist
The next morning found them back along the river's edge, continuing the trek northward. The rain had began to fall during the night, and the ground remained hilly, wooded and rough. A thick mist drifted in along from the river. The morning walk brought them upon some disturbing tracks in the mud. Tracks that could only belong to a huge humanoid creature, and they were fresh. The dwarf and goliath were on edge immediately, both having knowledge of giants. These were tracks belonging to an Ogre. Just as the team was about to debate their next course of action a huge rock flew from out of the brush and struck Liara in the chest. her limp form tumbled into the trees. Thri instantly sprang to action and despite warnings from his fellows, charged into the bushes. He then immediately flew back out of the bushes as the Ogre's club/tree trunk smacked into him. The Ogre strode out of the bushes laughing.. "HA.. Little Dwarf! Your dwarf castle belongs to us now! *grunt*" A battle ensued and it quickly became apparent it was a losing one. The party tried to regroup and flee, but the Ogre pressed on. Soon it became an all out run. The halfling sought out Liar's form, but she was no more, her body broken. Thri urged the others to flee and took up a position in the rear of the party and at one point turned to slow the Ogre's pursuit... it was the last time the others saw him. The mighty Goliath and the cunning halfling ran for the rest of the day and into the night. The Ogre gave up pursuit after a while, and when the party finally stopped to rest, they found they were deep in the woods, and lost. It took most of the following day to regain their bearings. They searched for a bit to try and locate Thri's body, but were unable to. So they hit the river bank and continued the journey, hoping to find civilization and regain their strength and lick their wounds. Later the following day, they found their way to the river's bend, and crossed over to arrive at Munstown battered, bloody and tired.

---

The Return to Seaburgh
The six explorers gathered together and made the journey back to Seaburgh along the west bank of the river. The return journey was uneventful other than some rainy weather. Upon arriving back in the village the explorers settled in for some rest. It took some time to locate Clara Clove, asking about, looking in the usual places, but word is eventually sent that she would meet up with the party back at the tavern. Dinner and drinks were free that night, as well as lodgings in the Inn for all of the surviving explorers. Clara also provides each member of the party with 5 Gold and 20 Silver. handed over to each in small bag. She also presents each person with a necklace... the necklaces are simple silver rectangles with an odd dark green shard of a gemstone set in the center. they are attached to a leather thong and Clara, standing on a chair for some, hangs it about each person neck. The gemstone shards are really odd, they are an odd dark green and seem to soak in the light. There is very nice etching along the silver taking the form of waves. Clara explains that they were crafted by a local artisan with a knack for jewelry. The gemstones however, have their own little story she explains. The town has taken to calling them Seaburgh Stones, and several have been found over the years since the town's inception. Always found by the town's hunters and usually near the ruins Murasha. They became kind of a peculiarity among the townsfolk, and would get passed and traded all over the town. Some saw them as good luck, other bad. The inquisitiveness of the party always takes over, but after studying various properties of the stones, they are not magical. They seem to contain an almost faint touch of magic, more like a residual faded aura of some long lost enchantment. (They have no magical in-game properties that you can discern, and they do not count as taking up a neck slot item. Everyone should write Seaburgh Stone Amulet on their character sheets) Clara expressed her undying gratitude, and her excitement for Seaburgh's future was palpable.

Pre-GenCon - the calm before the storm

Well, Tomorrow evening I depart for GenCon, will be staying the night in central PA, and then our group will depart for Indianpolis Wednesday morning. We'll make our annual stop off in Columbus, Ohio to visit with my friend jason's sister (who has lived there many years) and eat Hound Dog's Pizza (Pizza for the People!) Sooo.. for the fourth time since I left Columbus, I will be there and availble for a quick visit if anyone wants to show up...considering no one ever showed up the past three years!... buncha jerks :) Anyway.. we are usually there between 5-7. After the pizza, we head out and usually get to Indianapolis sometime around 10 PM. After that its mainly, check in time and relax a bit.. sometimes we have walked over to the convention center.. opens up Wednesday night sometimes for some early gaming..

This year I am prepared.. I have actually made a little list of stuff I want to investigate/demo/try-out/explore while I am here.... not necessarily purchase... but there are numerous things I'd like to learn about. (of course, I'll buy some things.. it is GenCon after-all.)

Here's my list (in no particular order): (some of these companies/things might not even be at the Con... but if they are gonna be anywhere.. GenCon would be it.)

Dark Platypus Studios - they make tokens and battle-mats, and cheap 3D dungeon walls. I have read some cool things about their stuff... their battle mats are magnetic...

Ninja Magic - They are making (may be finished, don't know) a game called "With Hostile Intent" which is a tabletop war game with space ships. Heard good things... interested to see what the models look like and how it plays.

Wells Expiditions - Arcane Legions. This is a new game hitting the wargaming scene... there is a lot of buzz around it. The preliminary info did not impress me, but gonna check it out in person.

Spartan Games - Uncharted Seas. Fantasy naval war game.. resin and metal models that look cool.. wanna see how it plays..

Rio Grand Games - Dominion. This is a card game (and also a board game I think) Again.. heard good things... supposed to be pretty awesome... and not a money sink-hole like most card games.

Dwarven Forge - oh my... I have drooled over this amazing dungeon terrain every year I have went to the Con... this may be the year that I actually buy some... maybe...

Otherworld Miniatures - They make really cool miniatures based on the classic versions of D&D monsters.. pig-nosed orcs, dog-faced kobolds, and really awesome gelationous cubes!

Campaign Cartographer - Earthynn needs maps... this could be the program I need to make them..

Privateer Press - no brainer, the Retribution of Scryah book comes out... and they are also supposed to be making a big announcement on Friday. The announcement revolves around Warmachine, and they said there are "special guests"... the current rumors are: novels? videogame?

Infnity - Second Edition of the core rulebook is out.. and I want to pick up a few new models.

Other than "the list"... we are playing in a 2-man Warmachine Team Tournament. Heading back into the True Dungeon (cannot wait!)... trying out the Battlestar Galactica Board Game (supposed to be awesome)... going to the movies to see District 9... going to watch the RiffTrax version of Plan 9 From Outer Space... and we are going to start our Earthynn campaign! (finally my little world will come alive!)... oh, and I will probably buy some new dice...

See ya at the Con!

Pathfinder RPG

If I did not like 4e... this would be my system of choice. Hands down the best version of 3.0-3.5-3.75 Dungeons and Dragons there is. This book comes out at GenCon... 576 pages!

adventure writing advice??

(If you are one of my players.. please don't read.. hehe)

So I working on my one-shot Earthynn story that I am running at GenCon. Its going to pre-gen charcters.. probably level 12 (wanted to try some higher level 4e). It involves a wizard's tower, a mysterious city and a gold dragon. I have lots of col ideas for it.. the adventurer are going to start with "amnesia" and there will be a long running skill challenge throughout the story involving them regaining their memories... there are some cool puzzle rooms in the tower... the city itself is full of illusions... there is an Eye Tyrant at work behind the scenes... I have lots of cool ideas.. but when I actually sit down to assemble them into a concrete adventure... I get nowhere...

How do I start, where does it go from there... basically I am just looking for tips on structuring the adventure.. should I start just by writing up encounters? Does it benefit me to draw out maps first? should I detail all the ideas I have as individual encounters then find ways to tie them together? Do I write up an outline and stick to it?

The gaming group I will be running this for (and the one that will eventually be the long-running Earthynn campaign) are a varied lot... some are new to DnD, some are very casual players, and others are very hardcore players... so I am trying to be prepared for all fronts...heh

GenCon

So, I have been thinking about GenCon.. well, lets be honest, I spend a lot of time thinking about GenCon... and I always like to try out something new when I'm there, maybe pick up a new game, or play a new game.. look at some new gaming aids or tools, check out the plethora of gaming companies producing tons of awesome products, even if they are not ones I will eventually buy and/or use. Here are a few of the things I am hoping to demo/check out/purchase at GenCon this year.

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Campaign Cartographer

Seeing as how I am building a campaign world, this seems like a great tool. The software is only $45... and the system requirements are not severe... so I am looking forward to trying it out and maybe picking it up this year.

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Uncharted Seas

This is a miniature game of naval warfare set in a high fantasy setting. Instead of the Spanish armada facing off against the British fleet.. (boring!)... you get the Elven fleet facing off against the Orc Raiders... they have 5 races and two more on the way. And to top it off...they even have Sea Monsters!

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Mouse Guard RPG

I read Gnome Stew's very thorough review of this RPG and it sounds pretty awesome. I have not read the comics, but I think I might like to..

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the view from my desk...

This is what I will be doing from now till GenCon.. well, besides eating, sleeping, going to work, doing a little bit of gaming, and playing my 360.. besides those things.. this is what I will be doing.  Painting small metal men and women in an effort to prepare them for war!

I still have a pretty large list to accomplish before I am "done" for GenCon.  Like previous years.. I set goals for myself.. and this year.. the goal is pretty high.  I have quite a large number of models to get completed... Lets list them off, shall we?  I have a number of them that are very near completion and mainly just need basing to be done.   The majority of them however.. are only in the "primed" stage... with no paint on them at all.  I have been painting quite a bit this past week...and headway is being made.. albeit slowly...anyways.. here's the list, broken down by army/faction:

Circle Orboros

eKaya the Moonhunter (needs basing)

Laris (needs basing)

Shadowhorn Satyr (needs purchased, heh)

Megalith (same, needs $$)

Tharn Ravager Shaman (needs basing)

Tharn Ravager Whitemane (needs basing)

Woldwatcher in Stone Form version (mostly painted, needs basing)

StoneWard and Woldstalkers (6 models total) (mostly painted, need bases)

Dahlia & Skarrath (need painted, only primed)

Feralgeists (2 models) (need basing)

Evil Female Pirate Army of Doom

(all need basing, most need everything unless noted)

Fiona the Black (painted)

First Mate Hawk 

Eyriss Mage Hunter of Ios

Sea Dogs (10 models)

Sea Dog Riflemen (3 models)

Mistress Walls

Aiyanna and Holt (started painting)

Alexia & Risen (20 models) (started Alexia)

(the Risen will be painted "ghostly" and shouldn't be too bad, need to $$ some still)

Thrall Warriors (2 models)

Nurse Killingsworth

Infernal Bokur

Lil' Lady Rockbottom

Anastasia di Bray

Dirty Meg

Gertrude Di Wulfe, Rogue Alchemist

Nomad Heavy warjack

Buccaneer Light warjack

Talon Light warjack

Mariner Heavy warjack (needs $$)

Vanguard Light warjack (needs $$)

So.. that's alotta models...  Circle is almost done thankfully, not counting the two warbeasts I don't own yet, though I should hopefully be able to snag them later in June.  Two warbeasts can easily be painted over the course of one weeked.  The pirates still need a lot of work... it complicates things that they are all characters... so they are mostly painted one at a time.  The army shall be pretty grand when its finished though... and the wood/plank bases on all of those models are pretty easy to paint. One of the coolest parts of the army.. once its painted.. its done.  This army will be static.. I wanted to make it just to play the theme.. and the one army list (with a couple options) is all it wil contain.  My Khador army still needs quite a bit of painting as well, but they are not on this years painting goal or GenCon.  Hopefully, the majority of my stuff will be complete because September I'll be buying the Retribution.. and will have yet another army to paint.  If I had a better digital camera.. I'd post pictures.. but my phone's camera just doesn't take good pictures of miniatures.

So what does one do whilst painting so many models?.. well... if you're me.. you listen to podcasts.  I listen to numerous podcasts.  The D6 Generation (table top gaming in all its forms), WotC's DnD Podcast (self explanatory), Listen Up (video game debate),  A Life Well Wasted (video game discussion), NPR's Car Talk (hilarious), Mobcast (videogame discussion), 60 Second Science (self explanatory), Iron Agenda (Iron Kingdoms), Guts and Gears (new Iron Kingdoms podcast).  Look them up in your local iTunes store.. and enjoy!  I also listen to audio books, though at the moment.. I don't have anything new to listen to.  Star Wars expanded universe novels are actually pretty fun to listen to in audio form if you can find them unabridged.  But painting and podcasting is one of my favorite past times.. so even though it'll be a lot of work.. I will enjoy it.  Hopefully some of you will be able to check out my fully painted pirates at GenCon this year.  :)

The real kicker... I also have to finish doing some work on my campaign world and write my one-shot adventure for GenCon...  

Gaming tidbits...

Gaming wise... not a whole lot has been going on lately.  

GenCon event registration has come and gone for another year.   This year it went buttery smooth.. they upgrades they made to their servers was a vast improvement over previous years.  And now the anticipation for August can begin full swing.   This year we're playing in a team Warmachine tournament, True Dungeon, BSG Board Game,  Infinity Tourney (some of us), and I am running our first game in the new 4e world I am writing.  We are also going to see Plan Nine From Outer Space with Riff Trax. (Riff Trax = Mystery Science Theater guys).  August!  Why must ye be so far away!

In other news.. the cover artwork for the Retribution of Scryah book (new Warmachine faction) was revealed today.  Giveing our first ever look at the elves from the Iron Kingdoms...

I can't wait to blow some cash on these guys at GenCon.  :)

The Retribution of Scryah

Privateer Press just put this up on their website.. the announcement for the 5th Warmachine faction!  The Retribution of Scryah.  There are no pictures of the models yet, but that should be coming soon.  The best part is that the models release in September.. which means that the models will be available at GenCon in August!  Woohoo!  I was wondering what I was going to be spending my money on this year...  :)  For those not "in the know" the Retribution is an organization from the country of Ios in the Iron Kingdoms, and they are Elves.  These are not fruit fairy wood elves... these are zealot-ical, determined, angry elves with guns and warjacks (though elven warjacks are called Myrmidons), think of them as the "Germans" of Warmachine (sort of).  

The Iosan elves have probably the coolest back story and history of just about any race... their story is one of my favorite parts of the Iron Kingdoms.  They had a pantheon of Gods that, due to a great cataclysm (of their own making), vanished... leaving the elves stranded and lost.. some of their children are being born without souls.. and things are looking grim.  One of their gods mysteriously returned to them, a Goddess called Scryah, but she is dying and wasting away.  The elves believe humans, and others who use arcane magic, whether it be spell casting or mechanika (warjacks, etc) are sapping her life-force.. so now they are finally breaking their isolationist policies to venture out... and kill.

So this will be my 4th Warmachine/Hordes faction.... Khador, Circle Orboros, Mercenaries (Pirates, more of a sub-faction), and the Retribution of Scryah!

Thoughts on some recent gaming headlines...

So the gamer-verse has been busy this past week or so... pretty much three big "things" happened.  The "dust" has settled on these things now.. but let me stir it up and give my thoughts on the matters at hand.

- Dave Arneson passed away this week from cancer.  Dave was one of the two men who created Dungeons and Dragons.  Mr. Arneson is often credited as the one behind the concept  of a campaign setting.. and his original setting, Blackmoor, pretty much became the inspiration for everything that came afterwords.  Gary Gygax (who passed away last year) often gets most of the notoriety, but Dave Arneson had his hand in the pot as well.  (The two were known to have had a very Simon and Garfunkel-esque break up and later reunification).  The two of them should be proud of the legacy they leave behind.. and the untold thousands of people who their game has inspired and entertained over the 30+ years its been around.   Order of the Stick did a nice tribute to him in their latest comic - which you can read here.

Mr. Gygax is responsible for GenCon (the event around which my entire geek year revolves) and since the 3rd GenCon all those years ago, has run a campaign every year at the convention. 2009 will be the first year he misses out.  They truly made quite a difference in many peoples lives.  Mine included.  I didn't get my start in hobby gaming with Dungeons and Dragons, but without D&D there simply would be no hobby gaming industry at all.  When you trim away all the fat from the other games.. they are all D&D at heart... and speaking of D&D...*frustrated sigh*

-Wizards of the Coast has decided to stop with PDF distribution of all of their properties and pulled them from all online retailers.. Paizo Publishing (a large distributor of such PDFs) explained it in their email newsletter:

Wizards of the Coast has notified us that we may no longer sell or distribute their PDF products. Accordingly, after April 6 at 11:59 PM Pacific time, Wizards of the Coast PDFs will no longer be available for purchase on paizo.com; after noon on April 7, you will no longer be able to download Wizards of the Coast PDFs that you have already purchased, so please make sure you have downloaded all purchased PDFs by that time.

Then the very next day, they put all of their other (non-WotC) PDFs on sale online, thus demonstrating the importance of this market that Wizards of the Coast has so dramatically and suddenly pulled out of.

We at Paizo Publishing understand how important PDFs have become to most roleplaying gamers. We know that PDFs allow you to easily carry around a large library of books on your laptop, PDA, or cell phone. We know that PDFs are great for searching for that piece of obscure information. We know that PDFs are a great way to keep out-of-print products available. And we know that PDFs provide a great way to check out new products.

Heres my opinion.  They say it is to protect their properties from piracy.  And that is fine.  I don't steal their books, I buy them, and so do a lot of other people (even though they are over priced - discussion for a later time).  But yes, this is the modern Internet age, the go-go 90's gave way to the Social-Media 2000's, and a lot of people distribute material online illegally.  It is perfectly understandable that WotC would want to protect themselves from losing money over pirated books, PDFs being freely distributed online, etc.;  since they are a company, and the purpose of a company/business is to make money. (very similar to the way music and TV companies try and protect their works from the torrent sites) The problem is that the measures they are taking;  pulling PDFs from retailers and filing lawsuits against a few people they believe are pirating their stuff... is going to do nothing.  OK, I take that back, it will do something... it will piss people off.  The people who purchase their PDFs legally... will now be upset they can no longer do so for no fault of their own.  And, there are quite a number of other companies that do distribute PDFs (Paizo offers PDF versions of ALL their publications) that will see an increase in sales (sales of 3rd party non-WotC PDFs).  There is no way realistic way to prevent piracy... data is too easily distributed.  So what to do?

The answer is to embrace it and give people compelling reasons to buy your online materials.  The D&D Insider is a start.. but is woefully lacking in its "promised" features.. which again.. drives people away to other online gaming sources.  My own gaming group is an example.  We are creating a new 4th Edition D&D  game world in which to play; however, our group is fragmented and scattered all over the sate of PA and we rarely get to gather for gaming sessions.  We have been investigating options for playing via the Internet.  Alas, Wizards of the Coast still has not released their D&D Game Table.  So, if we choose to go this route for some of our gaming sessions, we will be forced to use third party software, with fan-made 4e rule sets.  Missed opportunity Wizards of the Coast.  Missed opportunity.

The PDF fiasco also ties into another issue... one not wholly in the tabletop role-playing world...that being the decline of print media.  The fact that magazines like Electronic Gaming Monthly went under, when it was considered the Bible of videogame publications and was the #1 videogame magazine for 15+ years,  proves that no one is safe...the Internet is pushing many paper publications to, in the very least, offer some sort of online component lest they seem outright archaic.  (Dragon and Dungeon magazines are another prime example, in the genre even) Its a very slippery slope...  I don't have a very business-slanted mind so I am not very good at making the proper arguments... but hopefully you can glean my meaning from that rabble above... in other news...

- The Field Test for Warmachine MkII was released this week.  And holy cow did it cause an uproar!  The important thing to consider... this is a field test for the new rules that does not release until January 2010.   Privateer Press is announcing the rules change in advance of release and letting people download all the new rules, and play them, and give feedback to the company.  In their own words:

The WARMACHINE Mk II field test is a chance for WARMACHINE players and Privateer Press to work together to make WARMACHINE Mk II the best game possible. We have worked on streamlining the rules and abilities to provide the smoothest play possible without sacrificing the essential gameplay and feel of the WARMACHINE we all know. Mk II is also our chance to reexamine models in terms of their game balance, the number of special rules, and their original role on the table. All the changes you will see are the result of countless hours of discussion, playtesting, and more playtesting. The WARMACHINE Mk II you will see in this field test is very close to the finished product. This field test is about tightening the nuts and bolts, oiling the squeaks, and putting the new WARMACHINE through its paces.

Very few companies would do such a thing, and it proves, once again, how much Privateer Press thinks of its customers.  The Privateer Press Forums literally exploded with negative minded assholes who made comments that were completely unfounded and just downright rude. (not surprising considering its the Internet).  Anywho... the new rules have me very excited.  The main purpose of the Mk II rules is to streamline and speed up the game.  Warmachine was getting to the point where some models simply had paragraphs of special rules... some of which rarely came into play on the gaming table.  This made it very difficult to know at any given time what a particular model was able to do, and difficult to learn.  The last expansion, Legends, was a prime example of this with models and units completely bloated with special abilities and rules... Were these rules/abilities well thought out? Yes.  Were they cool and did they provide a great deal of fluff and flavor to the game? Absolutely.  But at some point, something has to give... with the new rules they have gone back and completely re-evaluated all of the old models, every single model in the game (which is a great many), and re-balanced them.  A great deal of these crazy abilities hit the cutting room floor.  Do the models still retain their flavor?  Yes.  But its more subtle at times.  The important thing is the gameplay is much better.  

They also changed some of the core rules of the game. (something that , despite a lot of the negativity) has been very well received.  They redid the Command/Fleeing rules, the Unit Formation rules, they cleaned up the Line of Sight rules, they did a massive change/overhaul of the army point - army building rules, and they changed some core rules dealing with warjacks (arguably the focus of the entire game line) and made them far more compelling to use on the battlefield. (thus fixing some of the old infantry-machine arguments, aka, people complaining there was no reason to use warjacks because troopers were so much better)  All of the new rule changes are positive and for the better.  So where does the negativity stem from?

All the whining, bitching, trolling and complaining stems from people who feel their faction has been "nerfed".   "Wahhh!  Model A used to due XYZ and now it sux!"  At times I feel actually a bit embarrassed to say these are my fellow gamers.  People cry over the loss of power, over the loss of all of the cool things their models used to be able to do... without looking at the game as a whole.   All of the models were rebalanced.  Everyone lost abilities, everyone had some models get less powerful while others got more powerful.  Its called balance.  There were plenty of models that never got played by anyone.. because they simply were not quite as good as others.. why take Unit A when Unit B is so much more effective?  In Mk II they gave compelling reasons to play all the units/models... Its not quite perfect.. but that's why they are doing this Field Test.  They are letting their players help them figure it out and discover any huge imbalances and rules problems.  People are going on and on about how they purchased all these models and now Privateer Press rendered them useless.  Saying that Privateer Press "ripped them off"  It is completely ridiculous.  This company has done nothing but listen to its fan base since day one.  I will say it again.. the fact that they are even doing this Field Test alone demonstrates their commitment to their fans and customers.  They very easily could have simply released the new rules without going through all of this.  They are committed to making this the best game they possibly can, and I believe they are very closer to achieving their goal. (this coming from someone who loved their games already)  Jason Soles, the lead game designer at Privateer Press even came into the forums to try and talk some sense into people.. (the PP guys very often post in their forums, from everything to tactics, painting and fluff questions: another awesome example of how they are engaged with their customers) he came in with this post..

"There seems to be a lot of people solidifying their positions on changes to the rules with half conceived notions of the way this game plays. Before settling into your position and espousing what passes for "conventional wisdom", I urge you to read carefully, play, and think. A lot of stuff changed and some stuff may yet change again. If you want to have any impact on those changes, you need to appear calm, collected, and informed...

...The same can be applied to "loss of flavor" discussions. If you have something to say, use your words and construct informed feedback. Try and articulate your position. Let us know that you think X model lost something vital in the transition to Mk II that was important to you. Let us know you feel it could be returned with a minimum effect on the complexity of the game while substantially increasing your enjoyment of a model. I will not promise that the change will be made, but we will take you seriously and consider your point."

Update: Less then a week after the Field Test documents released, they have already provided an updated file.. making changes that were caught/suggested/discussed by the players.  Proof that this Test is doing what its supposed to and that they are listening to what people are saying.

The arguments I'm seeing in the forums are extremely reminiscent of the arguments that sprang up when Dungeons and Dragons went from 3.5 to 4e.  Eerily similar... people complaining that the game is being "dumbed down" and made "boring" simply because it is simpler... well, Warmachine MkII certainly is not what I would call a "simple" game.. nor would I call D&D 4e simple... the point is, you spend less time looking up rules and more time playing the game and having fun.   I loved that many of the Warmachine models had lots of interesting rules...(and they still have interesting rules); however, the supreme glut of powers/abilities was getting to be too much and the power creep needed to be reset.  The game now starts from a clean slate.   There will never be a better time to start playing Warmachine than MkII in 2010... and those of us that have been playing since 2001 have seen the game evolve in extraordinary ways from a company that really cares about their products and their customers.

GEN CON 2008

Well, GenCon 2008 has come and gone. A good time was had by all. Went there with our usual group plus 2 guests. Dave (Dork), Jason (Jerk), Mike (Moron), Rob (Reject), Karl (Karl), and Andres and Josh (two friends of Jason's, Andres is from Chile):)
Here's my day by day wrap-up...

__Wednesday__
Wednesday was travel day... we left central Pennsylvania late morning, and drove allll day. Made a stop in Columbus Ohio (my old stomping ground) for some yummy Hound Dogs Pizza (Pizza for the People!)... we also stopped there to visit our friend Jason's sister.. but you know.. the pizza is good. Then we set back off to Indy! Got there around 11:30PM.. walked around a bit after checking into the hotel, and hit the sack.

__Thursday__
Day one of the Con! We got up and headed over to the convention center and got in line for the exhibit hall to open. then, as is normal for us, we went right to the Privateer Press booth and got in line for the release of Warmachine:Legends! The line was... well... long. Don't believe me? Check out this from Table Top Gaming News:
(You can even see ME standing there in line, just as the camera begins to spin around. Stop it at 0:06)



Its a great expansion to the game.. and their booth was packed to capacity all weekend. Its great to see the company getting so much success since I got in on the ground floor. I had ordered the Khador started pack online before they even released their first book. It was a great game then, and is a fantastic game now. The usual GenCon cosplay was in effect, and these two lovely ladies made for quite the sight, dressed as two members of the Witch Coven of Garlghast (Cryx warcasters)
They also were running demos of their new CMG (collectible miniatures game) Monsterpocalypse. I'm not really into CMG's... but it looked cool. And they were running their painting competition as normal, and had on display an amazing diorama.. again, thanks to Table Top Gaming News for the footage:



After that we had a game scheduled. It was clled Conquest of the Star Lords.. a strategic board game. I have wanted to find a good space battle board game for awhile now, but haven't really found one I liked. This one was OK, but not great. It was still fun to play though. After that we had some dinner, and then headed over to the mini's hall for some Warmachine/Hordes of our own. I had a really epic battle against Dave's Trollblood army using my Morvahna the Autumnblade led Circle Orboros army in which I barely irked out a victory. (a complex web of spells and one lone Tharn Wolf Rider managed to get me the win...) We played until the un-told hour of 4 AM... and then arose for Day 2...

__Friday__
Day 2 was our busy day...we played a new minis game called AE-WWII. Its basically a alternate reality World War 2 game.. where occult ideas are taken to the extreme.. there were psychic troopers, monkey men, and robots fighting alongside or against some American GI's and para-troopers.... it had some cool minis.. and some interesting mechanics.. but overall it didn't excite me too much. I'm not much of a historical mini's guy.. even if it is alt-history...I played on the Allied side, and we managed to win the primary objective, but failed our secondary one. Was a good time none the less. A solid game, just not my cup of tea.

Later we played another new miniatures game called Pulp City.. a game of super heroes.. this one also had a cool game mechanic and nice miniatures, but the demo we played in had way too many people (16) who were all crowded around a small gaming table. The game, and several of the characters were pretty cool, but the demo soured my opinion of it. I played a superhero called Androida, who was a cyborg with super speed. Some of the miniatures were neat, others were just OK. The coolest thing about it was the rules allowed you to do just about anything.. throw cars, scale tall buildings.. that sort of thing. The super heroes they had for the game didn't impress me, its too bad the game doesn't have a create-your-own-hero feature...but I supposed that's not possible to do with a miniatures game (they would then need a sculpt your own miniature feature I guess)...


After that we rushed over to the movie theater to watch Star Wars:The Clone Wars! I had pre-bought our tickets on-line, but it wasn't very crowded. And I have to say, I really enjoyed it! It was action packed from start to finish, it had some cool characters (including Assaj Ventress (one of my favorite Star Wars characters) and some parts that were very funny. :) A very good film if you just want to go and have fun. And a great addition to the Star Wars mythos if you are a Star Wars fan like myself. And I loved the animation... a really cool style, and great execution... It really has me looking forward to the animated series starting this October...

After the movie it was getting late.. but this is GenCon! So we went back to the mini's hall and played some more Warmachine/Hordes until 3 Am...

__Saturday__
Saturday we had no games planned, so this was our day to scour the exhibit hall and spend some money. This was also the day the wore our t-shirt as is our GenCon tradition. s (Dork, Jerk, Moron, Reject, Karl) We received lots of great compliments on the shirts, and even had several people ask to take our picture. I had already spent a chink of money getting my Privateer Press stuff, the new Legends book, and some new models that just came out or were on pre-release. So there wasn't alot of stuff I was looking for.. however; as always, I grabbed a few things...

Went to Paizo's booth and grabbed our copy of the sequel to The Gamers, called The Gamers:Dorkness Rising. We had all been waiting for the sequel to come out for years.. and its quite funny, and has much higher production values than the first, lol. :) Here is the trailer... I also picked up a sweet t-shirt at some other random booth (it makes me smile even thinking about it..)

And then, un-planned, I bought into a brand new miniatures game. I wasn't intending to start this game at GenCon, but Jason had been talking to me about it for a while.. its called Infinity (their site is cool, check it out). Its a sci-fi game.. best described as the creators describe it...

Infinity is a game with 28mm high metal miniatures that simulates combat and special operations in a science fiction environment with Manga aesthetics. Infinity miniatures are characterized by the high quality and detail of their modeling, the dynamism of their postures, and their futuristic aesthetic.

The miniatures are really nice looking, and the gameplay is fast and intricate.. and the model count for each army is quite low (10 for a large army) so the cost is kept down.. I choose the Yu Jing army (see the minis here), the "asian" faction... I am planning on painting them in a cool anime-style, bright colors, pink hair, etc.. I am looking forward to the painting and the playing, since it will give me a very different style to paint (apart from steam-punk fantasy style I paint for Warmachine/Hordes). I have been wanting a real "hardcore" sci-fi miniatures game for some time now, and I have found it. :)

One of the more exiciting moments of this day was meeting Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew)! He was ther signing autographs all throughout the convention. A really nice guy, and he's HUGE, in the picture he is sitting down and he is almost as tall as me :)

And of course, Saturday evening we squeezed in some more Warmachine/Hordes playing... though we went back to the hotel earlier than before... Dave, Mike and I didn't want to go to bed, since going to sleep would bring the end of GenCon 2008 that much sooner... so we just went down to the hotel lobby to hang out and talk. Thats the best part of GenCon: spending time with my friends.

__Sunday__
Day 4 dawned.. and we had our only role-playing game of the Con to go to. It was a sesssion of Mutants and Masterminds. This is a super hero rpg using a modified D20 system. Its really a stand out porduct all around, if you want a sgood super heor game, this is it. Our game went OK, it was fun. the DM that ran it was not the best, the story wasn't superb, but we still had fun playing. I was playing a charatcer with Time Control abilites, whilst others had such powers similar to Sabertooth, some shadow walking abilites, a very Captain American type characters, ad some others... the heroes in general were not well put togetehr, I'd rather just make my own.. but it was nice to try out the system.

Then we headied back into the exhibit hall to pick up a few more things, take in some more of the atmosphere... and then we packed up and headed home. We stopped in Central, PA for the night (where Rob and Dave live) and Dave and I decided to stay up and watch the Gamers DVD. I didn't get all the way through it, got too tired.. and a loose bat flying around Dave's house got kind of distracting, and we had to cower in fear as it flew past us.. eventually we got the door open and it mae its way outside.. those a freaky little animals... but the next morning I we resumed out trek and got home around Noon monday....

All in all... a very good vacation, a very good Con, a very good time with my friends, and I look forward to it next year. :)