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!
Monday, August 10, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
D&D 4e Question?
Asked this question in Twitter and got mixed answers. A question mainly about bonuses to damage when using a power.
Here's the deal... Lets say I am playing a Fighter and I have a Power that says I roll 1[W] + STR for Damage. This Power uses a weapon and has the Weapon Keyword in it. I understand the [W] is the weapon dice... that's not the issue. The issue is the STR. Is the STR added twice to the Damage? Once because its a melee weapon (and melee weapons use STR for hit/dmg) and again because its say to add it in the Power? What other bonues are applied to the roll? Proficiency? Feat bonuses? Untyped? Enhancement Bonuses for the weapon being magical?
Here's the deal... Lets say I am playing a Fighter and I have a Power that says I roll 1[W] + STR for Damage. This Power uses a weapon and has the Weapon Keyword in it. I understand the [W] is the weapon dice... that's not the issue. The issue is the STR. Is the STR added twice to the Damage? Once because its a melee weapon (and melee weapons use STR for hit/dmg) and again because its say to add it in the Power? What other bonues are applied to the roll? Proficiency? Feat bonuses? Untyped? Enhancement Bonuses for the weapon being magical?
Thursday, July 23, 2009
D&D Weekend
Had a splendid weekend this past weekend. Went to State College Friday night to stay with my good friends. Not everyone could make it this time... but we had some great Warmachine battles Friday night, and some awesome role-playing Saturday.
My friend Rob, who is fairly new to D&D, wanted to try his hand at DMing and had prepared a one-shot 4e story for us to play through. There were 4 PC's and 1 NPC, all 12th level (also cool because this gave us a chance to try out higher level 4e play). I played an Eladrin Invoker (I love them Controllers), and had a great time. This was actually my first time actually playing 4e... all the other times I was the DM. (actual pictures from our game, taken with my crappy cell phone camera)
Rob's story was really cool, and we found out after the game, it was actually based on an old Dragonlance short story called "The Best". (Rob is a huge Dragonlance fan, his collection of books is astounding) It involved a group of dragon hunters that were summoned by a local town to deal with their "dragon problem".. they explore the dragon's lair with the town's "sheriff", battle their way inside, only to have the "sheriff" be the dragon in disguise... it was a cool story and had some neat encounters. The dragon encounter was not as difficult as I thought it would be.. our 5 12th level players thouroughly trounced that poor red dragon. I think the dragon could have been a few levels higher than it was, I think Rob said it was level 13. But man... 12th level characters are tough...
We also used an awesome method of creating the battle mat.. it was actually projected onto the surface of the table by way of a uniquely mounted projector connected to a laptop.. We were then able to just project each room onto the table with the grid. Saved a lot of time and looked pretty darn nice.
Anyway.. a good time was had by all. Now, all eyes turn toward GenCon... only about 20 days away.. !! I will be starting our Earthynn campaign at GenCon, even though 2 players will not be there. I still have a lot of work to do on that...
Read an interesting article today concerning Role-Playing and Miniatures. Over at the clawclawpeck blog. Basically, the point is that heavy, miniatures based tactical combat in DnD ruins role-playing in those situations.. I understand the point and can easily see it happening. The blogger's point is well made... I am in agreement. Role-playing is only dead if you let it be. Sometimes all you need is the tactical challenge of the combat to have fun (4e is good at this and encourages great teamwork) but playing a character with ideals, passions, and motives is what sets DnD apart from straight up wargames. Any thoughts on the subject from the peanut gallery?
My friend Rob, who is fairly new to D&D, wanted to try his hand at DMing and had prepared a one-shot 4e story for us to play through. There were 4 PC's and 1 NPC, all 12th level (also cool because this gave us a chance to try out higher level 4e play). I played an Eladrin Invoker (I love them Controllers), and had a great time. This was actually my first time actually playing 4e... all the other times I was the DM. (actual pictures from our game, taken with my crappy cell phone camera)
Rob's story was really cool, and we found out after the game, it was actually based on an old Dragonlance short story called "The Best". (Rob is a huge Dragonlance fan, his collection of books is astounding) It involved a group of dragon hunters that were summoned by a local town to deal with their "dragon problem".. they explore the dragon's lair with the town's "sheriff", battle their way inside, only to have the "sheriff" be the dragon in disguise... it was a cool story and had some neat encounters. The dragon encounter was not as difficult as I thought it would be.. our 5 12th level players thouroughly trounced that poor red dragon. I think the dragon could have been a few levels higher than it was, I think Rob said it was level 13. But man... 12th level characters are tough...
We also used an awesome method of creating the battle mat.. it was actually projected onto the surface of the table by way of a uniquely mounted projector connected to a laptop.. We were then able to just project each room onto the table with the grid. Saved a lot of time and looked pretty darn nice.
Anyway.. a good time was had by all. Now, all eyes turn toward GenCon... only about 20 days away.. !! I will be starting our Earthynn campaign at GenCon, even though 2 players will not be there. I still have a lot of work to do on that...
Read an interesting article today concerning Role-Playing and Miniatures. Over at the clawclawpeck blog. Basically, the point is that heavy, miniatures based tactical combat in DnD ruins role-playing in those situations.. I understand the point and can easily see it happening. The blogger's point is well made... I am in agreement. Role-playing is only dead if you let it be. Sometimes all you need is the tactical challenge of the combat to have fun (4e is good at this and encourages great teamwork) but playing a character with ideals, passions, and motives is what sets DnD apart from straight up wargames. Any thoughts on the subject from the peanut gallery?
Friday, July 17, 2009
RolePlay Rap
You may have seen this over at Topless Robot.. but I feel the need to share it with you yet again...
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
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!
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Earthynn on Obsidian Portal
http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/earthynn/wikis/history
Well, my full write-up is up on Obsidian Portal now. The complete history of Earthynn (still in a very rough form) is there for your perusal. There are some other bits filled out as well; a little bit about the gods. The history might not all line up perfectly... but the general idea is there and I am happy with it. It is quite long, thats why I didn't post it all on here... so grab a drink and some snacks, and enjoy some amateur campaign world ramblings! Question and comments welcome.
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