Ground Hog Gaming Retreat 2016

     So yesterday I went up to Hudson, Ohio to attend GHD and run a game at four o'clock. Well, the game did not get going but there was plenty of board gaming. This was the first year they did role playing, so next year I will be back and I will at least have recruited some folks to play.My friends Super Dave and Tabitha Radzik were there, with a pile of Mayfair games ready to play with all interested parties.

Here we have the two of them showing me how to play Pompeii, which is a lot of fun. Especially the little volcano in the lower left corner of the picture. You start off populating the city with your people, and then when the volcano becomes active you try to escape. You get to toss the pieces that don't make it into Vesuvius.

Here is Super Dave, our friend Robert Kelly and myself playing Flip City. You start with a deck of ten cards and work on building your city by buying cards and flipping them for improvements. The publishers for this are Tasty Minstrel Games, whose site can be found here. We also played Star Trek Five Year Mission, a card and dice game. You flip cards and "solve" them by rolling dice of different colors and trying to match them to the corresponding dice pictured on the card. You take on the roles of Original Series or Next Gen Trek, each having a different game affecting ability. This was another Mayfair game. Finally, there was Wonky. A block stacking game that uses cards to determine what block you place, which direction play moves, and whether you can skip placing a piece altogether. I'm not a fan of these manual dexterity games, so I didn't care for it. Just not my thing.

They had a vendor there selling dice, and I decided to pick up a new 30 sider and a pig d6. The d30 is smaller then my other two, and the d6 goes with my other animal dice.

     All in all, despite not running my game, I had a fun night. As I said before, I'll be back next year, hopefully with a player or two in tow. So if you are in the North East Ohio area, and you like games, you should plan to come out and have some fun! Hopefully I will see some of you next year.

Ground Hog Day Gaming and Doctor Who

     So here we are, the day before the event and I am getting my stuff together for it, as well as maintaining my fastidious lifestyle. Ha, that last bit was a joke, because things have been a bit messy around here, I have had to play catch up. Enough of that, you are reading this because you are either bored or curious. Well if you can make it to the Ground Hog Day Gaming Retreat tomorrow, at 4'o clock I will be running Naukograd for whomever wants to play. The pre gens will most likely be from new who, there isn't a set of old Who character pdf's (there should be) and I wont have time to type them all up. If I am feeling froggy, maybe the fourth Doctor and Sara Jane, we'll see. Here is the link to the GHD Facebook page and the main registration page, though registration is over at this time there will be passes available there. I can't wait to see you all there.

Mall Maul Yesterday...

     Got down to Cincinnati on time, started setting up. Felt a bit nervous, just performance anxiety, new venue, new crowd. There were at least one, maybe two of my friends who would be attending (they both made it) Otherwise it was people I may have spoken briefly to or complete strangers. Once we got rolling, there were seven people in attendance. 

As I have noted previously, I am not good at getting pictures taken. This was snapped as people were getting their stuff together to head out the door. All of the players were fantastic, and really got into the setting. Here is all who showed up; Andy Fix, Chris Schieffer, James Smith, Rick Hull, Jim Wampler, Beth and her son Luke.

     They made their way to the mall and 28 entered, eventually they came out with only a handful (five, maybe) of casualties and Jim Wampler's dwarf shepherd had a stylish sheep. It wore a pink scarf/bandanna and pink tutu. I'll have to work harder next time.

     Of course, I had to do a little exploring while I was down there. Apparently there is this amazing store (Jungle Jim's) with a fantastic international foods section (I will be taste testing the different bags of jelly babies I got there) and a monster beer section.

This was one of the beers I picked up last night, and I drank it while typing this up, yay. Here are a few pictures of some of the animatronics they had around the store. They were set to start up every five minutes or so.

Robin Hood here was above the British food section, cute. Catch you all later, and remember I am running a Doctor Who game next Friday at Ground Hog Day gaming retreat. Still need to get the pre gens together. Take care!

Mall Maul, This Saturday!! Gateway Games and More!!

     Here we are, counting down the last few days until the big game. Looking forward to running this down in Cincinnati, hopefully it will be a hit and I will do it more often. Got my kit almost set up, here is a peek at my set up, so to speak.

     I have forty 0 level pre gens, so if someone burns through their initial three or four they can find a new one. Now zero level funnels typically don't need all the fancy dice, maybe a d3, but like having all of them there. I printed off eight 0 level enthusiast sheets from Purple Sorcerer's website which also is where the pre gens came from. So everyone who rolls a crit/fumble can know whether to cheer or groan. I'll bring all of my Crawling Under a Broken Moon zines, the most important being #3 where the adventure is.

     I am very excited, so if you are able you should come on over to Gateway Games this Saturday the 23rd at noon and join us. I have plenty of characters to go around and there will be some Road Crew swag available from this past year. Take care and I hope to see you all there!

Origins 2016!

     So here we are, 2016 and nothing happening(for me) during Origins weekend. So I will be able to attend Origins in my capacity as blogger. Is there something going on that you would like to hear more about, anyone you would me to interview? Let me know and I will see what I can do. I may be talked into running a game or two there, as well.

     Which brings me to next weekend and Reid San Filippo's Mall Maul DCC funnel that I will be running at noon, Saturday the 23rd of January. The amazing Gateway Games & more is the place to be for this great experience, pregens will be available (courtesy of the Purple Sorcerer) so come on over to 960 Kennedys Lndg, Cincinnati, Ohio 45245. I'll be waiting for ya. Take care, and I can't wait to see you there!

PS. There will be some freebies available, just letting you guys know.

Ahn'Zhyyr slowly takes form

     And by slowly, I mean I have some notes and sparks of ideas that I hope to breathe into new life. The BX Campaign Challenge has begun and we are moving right along. I feel a bit sheepish, since I have not shared much of what I have, since what that amounts to is a few notes.Others in the group have been sharing all kinds of bits and pieces, and I salute them, but for me I need to build up a bit more before hoping to show any of this.

     What began as a straight up setting book, mimicking the old gazeteers and such, has twisted into something a bit different. I had started my project looking for rpg supplements for info on playing/running a game in the jungle and found nothing substantial. I then hit the library and got some books out, starting with the Amazon rain forest and I hope to find something about the Congo next. There will still be the remains of a troll civilization, gladiatorial combat, and some dark magic. Just with some randomness thrown in there. I hope this will be for those folks who do not want everything explained, something that they can mold into something special for their players. Well, wish me luck!

Addendum: It's funny that while I am writing about steamy jungles, we have finally gotten our first snow here. Ha!

Happy New Year, 2016!

      Welcome to 2016, and post number 300! This is the first day of the BX Campaign Challenge that is going on right now on Google+. I have three reference books I am reading to get myself acquainted with the part of the world I am fleshing out, ie. what a jungle is really like. Then I feel I can play with the reality of jungle life and maybe turn it on it's head a bit. Hopefully.

     Set up my work space, with a Crosley portable turntable to my left. This and Lego Dimensions Doctor Who pack were a Christmas gift, despite not having the actual game that it is a part of. The Lego figs are cool because I can have Capaldi riding K-9 like he was a motorcycle and the TARDIS can spin around on whatever record I am playing at the moment.

     My reference reading begins with Ed Stafford's Walking the Amazon: 860 days. One step at a time. So far it is interesting, though they have crossed the Andes (Peru) and are descending into the Amazon basin. Get to the jungle! I'm chomping at the bit for some action! Getting the basic ideas I have down, then once I have read through some of these I will add to it and twist some things around.

     Also, Have to sign up and register my game(s) for Ground Hog Day gaming. Feeling especially motivated since I just picked up the new core rule book. Even if I don't stay up there, I will at least go up to run my game.

     Enough of this, back to work! Take care everyone and Happy New Year!!