Where will it go from here?

Saturday here, and I am getting stuff together for tomorrow's 4E dungeons and dragons game. The group is headed to the goliaths settlement in the middle of the swamp and I can see a few different ways this session can go. The two main directions are that they arrive and help the tribe, then head back to the Lost Village or they help and then enter the Tomb of the World. So I will be assembling the bare essentials that will need for whichever path they choose. Basically enough preparation so that I can wing it if they go in a different direction.

The befriending part of the game is the common denominator here, so a skill challenge should be in order. I am thinking of also adapting something from the DDI article "Surely You Joust!", turning it into a contest of strength and skill. The next step is to do some basic groundwork in the different ways this can go after they have won the respect of the goliaths. Which means what are they going to find if they get into the tomb or what is waiting for them back at the village. Whatever happens I know it will be fun and challenging. I hope to post more after we have played, so I hope to be posting something tomorrow evening. Take care guys!

How to rescue a dwarven woman for comedic effect

So another Sunday night 4E game has came and went, tonight was great because it was a pivotal point in the game. They have returned to the Lost Village, where they began this adventure, I think it was nine to ten months ago? Time has moved on in this small swamp village and I made sure to remind them of that fact. Brock, our dwarven shaman inquires about his sweetheart Sherry only to find she has disappeared in the swamp in search of smugglers. Eberk, part time meat shield and full time minion to Jinx discovers his adopted father has been run out of town.

Which way will the group go hinges on what happens next, and they did not disappoint splitting up into three groups to get information on what has been happening. The Bronzeknuckle brothers have taken over the village, keeping the Grave Dancer's Union (a mercenary adventuring group) out of the area. The Grave Dancer's are moving closer to retrieving a dangerous artifact from the midst of a large tribe of goliaths who reside at the center of the swamp, by tampering with their food and water. Eberk's father got into an argument with the Bronzeknuckles over the dwarven soldiers that were brought in to keep the peace, which led to his exile from the area.

The most immediate problem to be taken care of was the disappearance of Sherry, so they soon came by information where she may be. It looks like she has run afoul of smugglers whom the group has dealt with before. Also, this was the direction they took because Eberk's player was not able to make it, therefore when he returns we shall deal with the absence of his father.

I ran the trip through the swamp like a skill challenge, and when they arrived they used all their skills to slip onto a boat, past a couple of guards and rescue the fair Sherry. Oh man there were some mishaps, bad rolls but they all became part of the fun and in the end they had to run back into the swamp. Not back to the village, no. They are headed for the goliaths, to help them in their time of need.

I am very much looking forward to the next game, in part because of my great group of players as well as how they react to what I throw their way. Take care, everyone!

The Nature of Celebrity?

I am gonna ramble a bit here, please forgive me. I have met celebrities in my time, and what I have discovered is that they are just regular people. My artist friends are "celebrities" in a way, but other than incredible talent, they are just like the rest of us. I know folks who resemble or look far more attractive/sexy than current sex symbol celebrities, the only difference is the "celebrity" has far more exposure.

Some people seem to feed off the attention, for them they put on their public face and perform for the masses. I have at least one friend like this, and when we are at a convention and a fan stops him, he puts on his "face" and usually the fan gives me a look like "Why are you here?". I try to ignore it, but more often than not I will let him do his thing just catch him later.

Everyone has something they can do exceptionally well, they just need to recognize it. Back in school I was friends with a very pretty girl, and we would talk quite a bit. I discovered that while she was very attractive, she did not feel like it and was very insecure. Years later, she still is and I have a hard time being around her for very long because of it.

So, I think we can agree that movie stars are attractive and sexy, artist and musicians are amazing, but what is there if that is taken away? Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, hell just a disfiguring car accident can change that, where will the celebrity be then? I feel this reality show business is out of hand, people need to stop stalking celebrities, but also celebrities need to stop using their status to get away with stuff.

Alright, I will stop there. Take care guys.

Making maps, just like in school!!

So, this past week, I have been drawing maps in notebook of graph paper. Currently I am transferring the map I drew for my Sunday game to a big piece of Gaming Paper. I mark off the "edge" of the map, each square equaling a square on the the final map. Once I finished the "Lost Village" map, I began playing around with designing space station floors. It has been a lot of fun, I should see about putting up a picture of it when I am done.

I like to do a light drawing on the gaming paper in pencil, I double check and fix any problems, then go over it with markers of different colors. I made a swamp map this way and it turned out pretty well, and has been used a few times since that initial game.

Also, if anyone has advice for me, I want to pop these mage knight and horror clix figures off their bases and put them on metal washers, or something like that. The mage knight ones I may repaint first, since the paint job on them looks pretty rough. Any help will be greatly appreciated, take care guys!

It's been a long time (btw, Happy fourth!!)

Sorry folks, been awhile but I am back, also my Sunday night game is still going! some close calls but no fatalities, though they had to leave the human capital of Galen to return to the Lost Village down South. For any newcomers, My Sunday game is a 4E sandbox that has been going for nearly a year I think and I hope to take the players to level thirty.

On free rpg day, I ran the free adventure/introductory kit for All Flesh Must Be Eaten entitled "The Waking Dead". There were three people there to try it out and we had a lot of fun, especially myself when I got to describe some of the zombies, hehe. All Flesh does not use maps and minis (though you could, I suppose), so it was a bit of a change. I would love to run a one off or a small campaign for it in the future, possibly a Halloween game is in order!

Now, with summer comes some free time with the kids, which means trying to play some of these games I have purchased and have not played. First in line was Dungeon Twister (http://www.dungeontwister.com/us/lejeu/index.html) and it was fun. Next was Z-G, which has been out of print for awhile (2001 in fact) here is the link to the board game geek page http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1820/z-g .

Origins happened just last weekend and once again the family and I went with the day pass. My oldest son found and purchased some Z-G figures in the dealers room, so I assume he had fun when we played the week before. I picked up some old Mage Knight stuff (oh man, some of the paint jobs, rough!) also picked up Telestrations, like playing telephone but drawing instead of whispering to the person next to you. It was a great party game, and if you are into those kinds of games I would call it a must have!

I am still wanting to run a sci fi savage worlds game, using Interface Zero as a basis. So many games, so little time!! Alright, I will stop there and hope to be back in a couple of weeks.