Hello, it's been awhile, I know, and I would like to take this moment to apologize for it. Early February had some real life tragedy for my family and it just pushed everything else aside. Well, enough of that, here's a bit about my Sunday game.
So, my group has reached paragon level and will be branching out into the big bad world. There are a fews directions they can go with their exploits, and in anticipation of them I have picked up a copy of Manual of the Planes. They are currently in the capitol city of Galen, where they are trying to located and aid their mentor. This story arc can go one of several ways, from saving the citizenry to "OMG, we gotta get outta here!" I am looking forward to it's resolution, no matter which path they choose.
In other news, I ordered and have recieved the savage worlds action/adventure decks, and I am looking forward to running a game with them. The action deck is a standard sized deck of cards with special artwork for the face cards, aces and jokers. The adventure deck is a great way to bring a bit more player control to the game. They range from combat bonuses, social buffs, and romantic interests for the players. Excellent artwork in both decks and great options for your savage worlds game, a win/win I would say.
That's it for now, take care everyone and good night!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Sci Fi Saturday
So, I have been running my D&D game for some months now, but every so often I get the urge to run something different. Lately, that urge has been a sci fi game, set in a distant future where a portion of humanity is trapped on the other side of the galaxy. No aliens to start with, just humans and strange floral/fauna. The basic idea is a large colonization force has went through a hyper gate to the opposite side of the galaxy to prepare certain planets for occupation. Shortly afterward, the gate is destroyed (or breaks down, don't have it pinned down in my head) effectively trapping the colonists. As usual I would run this with Savage Worlds, though the only sci fi setting of theirs that I own is Slipstream, I really hope they put out a sci fi companion soon.
Despite this I continue running my Sunday game, once I sit down to prepare I get excited about it. It seems I have to take that first step, to say "Well, the game is coming up, better make it a good one." Oh, sometimes I have an amazing (in my opinion) encounter for one of the characters and that pulls me along, just sometimes I need to nudge myself into it.
I would find encouragement if others had this same issue and would let me know, please leave a comment. I have really liked the few comments I have had so far, but I would always like to get more of them. Thanks for taking the time to check this out.
Despite this I continue running my Sunday game, once I sit down to prepare I get excited about it. It seems I have to take that first step, to say "Well, the game is coming up, better make it a good one." Oh, sometimes I have an amazing (in my opinion) encounter for one of the characters and that pulls me along, just sometimes I need to nudge myself into it.
I would find encouragement if others had this same issue and would let me know, please leave a comment. I have really liked the few comments I have had so far, but I would always like to get more of them. Thanks for taking the time to check this out.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Last Sunday's game and looking to the future.
Last Sunday was my bi-weekly D&D 4E game and it went just fine, even though we are currently missing our rogue, one of the guys played him as well as his own (I hope that made sense). The pc's were looking for odd jobs to get in with the local nobles when a tailor asked if they would check out a subterranean room he found under his cellar. It seems that the city of Galen was built over top of some ruins, normally the man would just let the local scholars know about it and they would come and look it over and try to preserve the knowledge. Lately, if someone finds something like this, the royal guard comes and takes it out, usually not caring what gets damaged in the process.
Upon reaching the tailor's, they find he heard a great gurgling and sloshing noise come from the stairs he discovered under his cellar floor. A great red geyser erupted from the hole in the floor, and he quickly run up the stairs a slammed the door. Seeing the pc's hesitation, he offers more gold to the group and they can keep what they find. They accept and head down into the cellar, which is dimly lit so the wizard casts light on a crossbeam in the center of the ceiling. They barely get in when they are attacked by a huge crimson ooze. While fighting they do some checks (nature, arcana) and discover this elemental magical ooze. They are happy when the fight is over because there were some close moments in there.
After a short rest they venture down the stairs and into a good sized room. They see four broken sarcophagi six statues, one in each corner and two flanking a bowl resting on a small dais in the center of the room. The rogue sneaks up and looks in the bowl, finding a glowing object laying within (I needed to change what the magic item was). As he lifts it out of the bowl the corner statues come to life, a fierce red glow in their eyes. A moment later, the two statues at the bowl attack the rogue. This battle was really close at times, which is how I like them to be hehe. After the automatons healed themselves a bit, the guys got serious and knuckled down. Encounters were encountered and dailies dealt, crits were flying also as well some bad luck rolling ones that one of the players finally shook off. When the dust settled they had another mini mystery that they will have to deal with next game as we had ran out of time.
Sometime in the near future, a friend of mine is moving back into my neck of the woods. I am hoping to get him and a few others to try the dawn of worlds I mentioned some time ago, once that is done I want to turn it into a regular Savage Worlds game. I will let you guys know how it all shakes out. Thanks for reading and take care!
Upon reaching the tailor's, they find he heard a great gurgling and sloshing noise come from the stairs he discovered under his cellar floor. A great red geyser erupted from the hole in the floor, and he quickly run up the stairs a slammed the door. Seeing the pc's hesitation, he offers more gold to the group and they can keep what they find. They accept and head down into the cellar, which is dimly lit so the wizard casts light on a crossbeam in the center of the ceiling. They barely get in when they are attacked by a huge crimson ooze. While fighting they do some checks (nature, arcana) and discover this elemental magical ooze. They are happy when the fight is over because there were some close moments in there.
After a short rest they venture down the stairs and into a good sized room. They see four broken sarcophagi six statues, one in each corner and two flanking a bowl resting on a small dais in the center of the room. The rogue sneaks up and looks in the bowl, finding a glowing object laying within (I needed to change what the magic item was). As he lifts it out of the bowl the corner statues come to life, a fierce red glow in their eyes. A moment later, the two statues at the bowl attack the rogue. This battle was really close at times, which is how I like them to be hehe. After the automatons healed themselves a bit, the guys got serious and knuckled down. Encounters were encountered and dailies dealt, crits were flying also as well some bad luck rolling ones that one of the players finally shook off. When the dust settled they had another mini mystery that they will have to deal with next game as we had ran out of time.
Sometime in the near future, a friend of mine is moving back into my neck of the woods. I am hoping to get him and a few others to try the dawn of worlds I mentioned some time ago, once that is done I want to turn it into a regular Savage Worlds game. I will let you guys know how it all shakes out. Thanks for reading and take care!
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Happy New Year!! Oh, and don't blow up the world :P
Welcome back, it's been awhile so this will be a bit lighter than usual. My Sunday D&D game is heading into a new phase, the players almost in paragon tier. They will soon be rubbing elbows with nobility, royalty and leaders of the rabble. I am positioning them to be known in the various nations positioned around Galen, the human one they are currently in. What they have gotten hints about in the past few months is someone is looking for an artifact that may bring about the end of the world. Soon, that will be the least of their worries. I will not give anything away, so if you are in my game, you may continue reading, hehe.
I love fantasy settings that have a bit of a twist to them, examples being Evernight, Legend of the Five Rings(L5R) and Sundered Skies to name a few. Recently World of Warcraft shattered the world of Azeroth, creating a new play experience for veteran players and straightening some convoluted quests. In L5R, the world could have experienced a thousand years of darkness if Fu Leng, the living dark god, had not been defeated by the seven thunders. The story implications from a catastrophe of at least nation wide proportions are exciting, and I hope my group will enjoy what I have up my sleeve.
Once more I am swiping ideas from reliable sources, and reminding everyone reading this that they can, also. If any of you have done anything like this to their group, please share with the rest of us. Once this phase of the game is finished, I will share with you all. Take care!!
I love fantasy settings that have a bit of a twist to them, examples being Evernight, Legend of the Five Rings(L5R) and Sundered Skies to name a few. Recently World of Warcraft shattered the world of Azeroth, creating a new play experience for veteran players and straightening some convoluted quests. In L5R, the world could have experienced a thousand years of darkness if Fu Leng, the living dark god, had not been defeated by the seven thunders. The story implications from a catastrophe of at least nation wide proportions are exciting, and I hope my group will enjoy what I have up my sleeve.
Once more I am swiping ideas from reliable sources, and reminding everyone reading this that they can, also. If any of you have done anything like this to their group, please share with the rest of us. Once this phase of the game is finished, I will share with you all. Take care!!
Sunday, December 19, 2010
When their reputation is on the line
Back for a quick post before the double whammy of Christmas and New Years here in the US. This past week I picked up some Dragon magazines from a used book store and what one of them contained was pretty interesting. I've told you guys to swipe and adapt from various sources, well this time it's closer to home. I speak of Dragon #294, and two of it's articles on catchphrases and reputation. Funny things is they both are penned by the inimitable Robin Laws.
Let's start with catchphrases, lovely bits of dialogue you can adapt to your character, or in my case NPC's, to give them a certain uniqueness. Robin gives you a few tips on coming up with things for your character to say that fit what he/she is all about. Follow up with examples, sorted by race, class, and social status (five a piece) with a gaggle of theological exclamations and ton of free floating catchphrases. He finishes off with a brief (half a page) lesson in creating your own catchphrases, all in all very enjoyable and adaptable to any game!
Next on the agenda is "Adding Injury to Insults" which involves reputation and the loss/gain of it through verbal sparring. This is a bit more difficult to adapt to some systems more than others, due to the "Feats of Wit" featured at the end of the article. I am thinking they may be used with the appropriate skill from 4E D&D, likewise in Savage Worlds. I am still digesting this article but if anyone can point me towards any other articles (or clever games with that mechanic)on reputation, let me know. My players are almost paragon and I want them to feel like they are affecting the world at times.
This brings me to the last bit, today's game, unfortunately it was a bit of a bust as only two people showed up. Instead canceling I had them just role-play one of the encounters I had planned for the group. It was about an acquaintance of theirs (previously a smuggler they met, whom they spared) that is tried to walk the straight and narrow. He asked if they could help him get a job as a singer at Thistlewood's, and up scale inn/tavern.
The Jynx the bard, assisted him in training and the dwarf shaman Brock, scoped out the tavern to see if the proprietor Mister Thistlewood had any weaknesses to be exploited. It seemed he enjoyed heroic songs and spiced tiefling whiskey, so two quick stops were in order, one to a sage to find some really classic songs of heroisim and an importer selling the special whiskey. The day of the audition went well with everything settled, and they now have a contact in the big city with them. I just ran with the story, allowing them to ask questions, giving them replies based on how and who they asked. It seemed to go well, though I'll be glad when we next play and get to roll some dice :)
So, I believe the next post will not be here before the new year, so enjoy the holidays and take care. As always, feel free to leave me a comment.
Let's start with catchphrases, lovely bits of dialogue you can adapt to your character, or in my case NPC's, to give them a certain uniqueness. Robin gives you a few tips on coming up with things for your character to say that fit what he/she is all about. Follow up with examples, sorted by race, class, and social status (five a piece) with a gaggle of theological exclamations and ton of free floating catchphrases. He finishes off with a brief (half a page) lesson in creating your own catchphrases, all in all very enjoyable and adaptable to any game!
Next on the agenda is "Adding Injury to Insults" which involves reputation and the loss/gain of it through verbal sparring. This is a bit more difficult to adapt to some systems more than others, due to the "Feats of Wit" featured at the end of the article. I am thinking they may be used with the appropriate skill from 4E D&D, likewise in Savage Worlds. I am still digesting this article but if anyone can point me towards any other articles (or clever games with that mechanic)on reputation, let me know. My players are almost paragon and I want them to feel like they are affecting the world at times.
This brings me to the last bit, today's game, unfortunately it was a bit of a bust as only two people showed up. Instead canceling I had them just role-play one of the encounters I had planned for the group. It was about an acquaintance of theirs (previously a smuggler they met, whom they spared) that is tried to walk the straight and narrow. He asked if they could help him get a job as a singer at Thistlewood's, and up scale inn/tavern.
The Jynx the bard, assisted him in training and the dwarf shaman Brock, scoped out the tavern to see if the proprietor Mister Thistlewood had any weaknesses to be exploited. It seemed he enjoyed heroic songs and spiced tiefling whiskey, so two quick stops were in order, one to a sage to find some really classic songs of heroisim and an importer selling the special whiskey. The day of the audition went well with everything settled, and they now have a contact in the big city with them. I just ran with the story, allowing them to ask questions, giving them replies based on how and who they asked. It seemed to go well, though I'll be glad when we next play and get to roll some dice :)
So, I believe the next post will not be here before the new year, so enjoy the holidays and take care. As always, feel free to leave me a comment.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
Reminiscing
In 2003, I had been checking out a online group for rpg artists, aspiring or otherwise and in there I met an artist named Andy Hopp, and things would never be the same. I had learned of the group through another artist, Beth Trott (check her stuff out, it's amazing ). Well, Andy mentioned he was attending Gen Con, in that first year it was at Indianapolis, and if anyone was attending they were welcome to stop by his booth and talk.
I then went temporarily insane because I decided, with only a week or two before the con, to go there on a Saturday and hang out with him. Skipping all of the headaches with registration, long waits in line, and not knowing what to expect (first Gen Con) I finally arrived with an hour to hobnob. Looking through the artshow, I discovered he was in the dealer's room sharing a table with the legendary (at least to me) Larry Elmore! Upon finding the table I discover not only Andy and Larry, but the equally amazing Jeff Easley and Stephanie Pui-Mun Law. The dealer's room was closing soon, so Andy and I arranged to meet somewhere for dinner.
During Dinner I showed Andy and another artist, Chris Seaman, some art that I had thrown together in a rush. They had some helpful criticism for me but also an idea came to them. If they set up a weekend where they would have various basic art classes, would I go for that. I was floored, they lived only a couple of hours away from me and I felt their work was fabulous so I agreed.
Fast forward to a month later and I was at Andy's house with a dozen or so artists, learning about still lives, perspectives, oil painting, just a lot of basic and some not so basic stuff. We spent the days (Friday through Sunday) learning and practicing our craft and the nights we spent playing games and partying. This became an annual event, eventually culminating in Andy turning it into a small convention known as Con on the Cobb.
I am glad I took that crazy chance all those years ago because since then I have met and befriended many artists and had some wonderful times. I love to create as much as I love to play games, so to have friends who are equally passionate is a blessing. I hope you all have friends whom you can relate to in some deep and meaningful way. Take care, and feel free to comment on anything you have read here!
By the way, here are links for the people mentioned; Andy Hopp http://andyhopp.com/ Beth Trott http://www.bethtrott.com/ Jeff Easley http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Easley (couldn't find his official site :( ) Stephanie Law http://www.shadowscapes.com/profile.php Chris Seaman http://www.chrisseamanart.com/about.html Larry Elmore http://larryelmore.com/
I then went temporarily insane because I decided, with only a week or two before the con, to go there on a Saturday and hang out with him. Skipping all of the headaches with registration, long waits in line, and not knowing what to expect (first Gen Con) I finally arrived with an hour to hobnob. Looking through the artshow, I discovered he was in the dealer's room sharing a table with the legendary (at least to me) Larry Elmore! Upon finding the table I discover not only Andy and Larry, but the equally amazing Jeff Easley and Stephanie Pui-Mun Law. The dealer's room was closing soon, so Andy and I arranged to meet somewhere for dinner.
During Dinner I showed Andy and another artist, Chris Seaman, some art that I had thrown together in a rush. They had some helpful criticism for me but also an idea came to them. If they set up a weekend where they would have various basic art classes, would I go for that. I was floored, they lived only a couple of hours away from me and I felt their work was fabulous so I agreed.
Fast forward to a month later and I was at Andy's house with a dozen or so artists, learning about still lives, perspectives, oil painting, just a lot of basic and some not so basic stuff. We spent the days (Friday through Sunday) learning and practicing our craft and the nights we spent playing games and partying. This became an annual event, eventually culminating in Andy turning it into a small convention known as Con on the Cobb.
I am glad I took that crazy chance all those years ago because since then I have met and befriended many artists and had some wonderful times. I love to create as much as I love to play games, so to have friends who are equally passionate is a blessing. I hope you all have friends whom you can relate to in some deep and meaningful way. Take care, and feel free to comment on anything you have read here!
By the way, here are links for the people mentioned; Andy Hopp http://andyhopp.com/ Beth Trott http://www.bethtrott.com/ Jeff Easley http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Easley (couldn't find his official site :( ) Stephanie Law http://www.shadowscapes.com/profile.php Chris Seaman http://www.chrisseamanart.com/about.html Larry Elmore http://larryelmore.com/
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