Dungeonpocolypse - part 2

The action continues into the second period. The Alliance musters the troops and opens the three doors into the next area. The area is a single large room with a single door in the north-east corner of the room. There are four balconies on the north wall covering the entire room on which are perched a mixture of archers and flame skulls. The floor of the room is populated by six assorted golems. There is also a fountain in the room. The cry of "get 'em" was heard and the forces of the alliance poured into the room.

The fight went well at this point the Golems and their covering fire did manage to damage the Alliance forces some but ultimately they overwhelmed the area. A couple of surprises discovered by the players were that Golems were pretty much immune to spells and Flame Skulls were immune to fire and cold. The fountain was a surprise as well in that it provided some needed healing.

The forces were once again mustered and through the single door they marched. One by two, and through and through...into a long narrow hallway running east to west along all three tiles. The single Blood Ghost Berserker was no real match for the tide of adventurers but more clogging and unclogging occurred before the group was able to move to the real meat of the area. A wide corridor running west to east populated by all manor of melee prowess and magic support as well as a Beholder. Many characters were wounded, a few were killed and one now commemorates the hall with an amazing statue in his honor. The support for the Beholder was removed when the party hit two unlucky dice rolls in a row. The first was the DM roll to determine the eye stalk power used by the Beholder. The power was a DC 17 save vs Petrification. The second roll was the attempted save by Casey for his Warrior which he could only fail on a one.  He had rolled stellar all night but not this time. Shortly thereafter his compatriots destroyed the Beholder and healed those that needed it. Here ends part two

Defeated List from Part Two

5 Flame Skulls

6 Hobgoblin Archers

5 Hobgoblin Sargents

1 Demonic Gnoll Archer

1 Clay Golem

2 Stone Golems

2 Berserk Flesh Golems

1 Iron Golem

1 Blood Ghost Berserker

1 Cleric of Lagozed

1 Drow Guard

2 Drider Sorcerers

2 Formorian Giants

4 Feral Minotaurs

1 Beholder

Gone but not Forgotten

Tri Kreen Barbarian

Aspect of Kord

Elven Ranger

Warrior

Wemic Barbarian

Those who were there, did I miss something? Do you wish to add your heroic tale of triumph? Just post them to the comments below. And I need better pictures!

Above: The swarm begins on the Clay and Stone Golems.

Below: View of the death march 

Nerdy YouTube Gems

In the past I've pointed out some cool nerdy movies available on Netflix. This time I am focusing on movies/shows that you can watch on Youtube. Most of these are broken into eight to ten minute episodes but keep you eyes open for the long versions especially the first three. All of these can be found on the Dead Gentlemen Productions channel.

The Gamers - The original spoof on gamers. College guys yuck it up while adventuring to find and defeat the Shadow! All the embarrassing glory of a DnD game without actually being there. Sound and special effects are really poor but the dialog really makes this movie.

The Gamers: Dorkness Rising - The "sequel" to the original but only in spirit. Better overall quality of sound and special effects. Some say its not as funny as the original but I actually enjoy it more.

The Gamers: Hand of Fate - Cass, Brother Silence from Dorkness Rising is smitten with a gamer girl who plays card games. He sets out to learn the game "9 Empires" to win the story tournament at GenCon and win a date with her. The card game did not really exist until after the movie came out. Life imitates art. Many funny scenes as Cass confronts the imposing members of the gaming group "The Legacy" who want the story players to go away so that cash prizes will become the norm.

Journey Quest: Season One - The Wizard Superfluous (or Perf) does not want to be an adventurer. He tries to flee the party at every opportunity. Every time he uses magic something bad happens. What happens when Perf, the least qualified member of the group, acquires the intelligent, talking, animated sword proving he is "the one"? Glorion the Paladin is particularly funny with his world view of death equals mercy.

Journey Quest: Season Two - Perf and the party continue their quest to set the land right. Perf continues to amaze with his ability to pervert any magic he attempts to cast. The sword continually teases Perf and attempts to get him killed so that he can be free. Bonus of big Bob Sapp as the barbarian king!

The Gamers: Natural One - A brother tests his sister's boyfriend to see if he is husband material. The test is a Shadowrun with the best game master in Canada. Mr Johnson gets the same treatment that fantasy rpgs and card games have received is this short series.

The Gamers: Humans and Households -The gamers are now the fantasy party. The Wizard plays an Activist, the Cleric plays a Nurse, The Fighter plays an Athlete and the Rogue plays as a Hacker is the twisted version of the Gamers. A nice change of pace and interesting concept. Funny as always.

Well, darn

I should be blogging about Dungeonpocolypse part two, scheduled to happen last night. Instead I am sitting in my recliner where I have been most of the last 24 hours after tweaking my lower back. I wish I could say I hurt my back lifting downed tree limbs or putting my lawn mower away for the season. No, I hurt my back putting bacon I had cooked for my son in the warming drawer for when he woke up. I bent down to place a sandwich plate with two strips of bacon in the drawer and felt a sharp pain. The pain continued to build through most of the day and in the early afternoon I canceled the game. It really sucks getting older.

In any event I should be able to reschedule for a few weeks out and get the game rolling again. The worst part of this "injury" is that I cannot do much of anything like paint miniatures or craft dungeon terrain. Not to mention that it is a beautiful fall day in central Ohio and I have many chores to take care of outside.

I have been debating with myself about which RPG system I will use going forward (after I finish my current campaign). I have been very partial to Pathfinder since WOTC created the atrocity that was 4th edition but the new Dungeons and Dragons Next has really impressed me. The books are beautifully illustrated and well organized. The rules for DnD Next are what 4th should have been; streamlined, familiar and emphasizing role-playing. Spells and spell books are back as are true healing spells (Clerics in 4th allowed the target to spend a Healing surge for when they cast a spell). Next has added a few other innovations including the level scaling of spells like cure, fireball and lightning bolt. The free pdf version covers the rules and 4 basic classes.

Pathfinder, on the other hand, is only very much like its predecessor DnD 3.5. The concepts are adjusted from 3.5 but the basic rules are very much the same. So much so that the entire library of 3.5 and open GL books are very much compatible with the rule set. Where DnD Next has a free basic rules pdf Pathfinder has a free rules website that contains all the classes and many of the monsters. The Pathfinder SRD also contains modified and home brew content.

Both systems are well supported with supplements (Pathfinder has a huge head start) and miniatures. The DnD next miniatures with their flying dragons are really special but are interchangeable between systems. Tough choices....any thoughts? 

More Geek Movies

A word of warning. These are movies I find entertaining for their geeky content. Some may find them cheesy or just plain bad. I am sorry if these recommendations fall into those categories for you. Remember that these movies are off the beaten path for a reason. 

John Dies at the End - A psycho-active substance allows people to see other dimensional beings so they can fight an "infection" from across the rifts of time and space. Lots of cool geeky moments and parts played by "that guy" including Paul Giamatti. Not for kids due to lots of language and nudity.

Odd Thomas - Odd is his name. He can see and sense things which allow him to solve crimes. There is a large spiritual storm brewing and Odd is the only one who can figure it out.

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec. Adele goes to Egypt to bring back the mummy of the surgeon of Ramses to cure her sister. Then the pterodactyl causes issues for her scientific ally and mentor.

Journey to the West - Two demon hunters try to solve murders and destroy and imprison demons in ancient China. The Monkey King turns out to be more than they bargained for.

Solomon Kane - Based on  Robert E. Howard's 2nd most famous character. Solomon roams the land looking for redemption while vanquishing demons.

Man of Tai Chi - The hero is the world's greatest martial artist until an underground fight promoter turns him into a killing machine. The movie steams along until the final battle with Neo...er Keanu Reeves. Yes, really.

Nerd Movies

So, you say you'd like to watch a movie but you are tired of the mainstream fare. Then this is the list for you. All of the movies on this list are currently on Netflix. None of them are mainstream.

Dragonfyre - The Gateways  between the 9 worlds need guardians. The guardian of a major gateway to Earth is known as a great wizard. He's really just armed to the teeth. Elves, Orcs and Dragons meet superior firepower in this low budget Sci Fi/Fantasy mash-up. This movie has its moments of cheesy but it was made on the cheap. I would love to create a movie like this where the actions of the hero were controlled by gamers rather than scripted by film writers. 

Dororo -  A father trades the body of his son for demonic alliances and power. A Frankenstein like doctor creates a new body for the boy and he grows up to hunt the demons his father made a deal with. Every time he kills a demon he wins back a piece of his body. Bizarre fights using both live action and CGI. 

Bunraku - A comic book style adventure where two very different heroes team up to stop the evil town boss. The evil hench-bosses are numbered for easy score-keeping. All in a world that seems to be made of paper mache. Striking visuals and a cast you won't believe. 

War of the Worlds: Goliath -  Animated movie that is the spiritual sequel to the book War of the Worlds. In 1914 the Martian invasion is a recent memory, Nicola Tesla has broken the code of Martian technology and the earth defense force (ARES) led by Teddy Roosevelt are ready for the rematch. The movie does not wait long for that to come. Loaded with action start to finish this movie is great fun. 

13 Assassins - A brutal lord must be assassinated. An older samurai is chosen to carry out the task and gathers a force of 11 loyal men and a crazy demi-god to carry out the task. The movie is great fun from start to finish. 

The Host - A creature spawns after chemicals are dumped into the local river. One family gets caught up in a battle with creature while authorities have no idea what they are dealing with. There are some great CGI scenes depicting the creature mixed with live action humans. Very well done. 

Chocolate - A young autistic girl name Zen has an awesome talent. If she observes a martial art she is its master. Zen and her cousin embark on a quest to collect the receipts of her sick mother's loan shark book. They show up and at the addresses in the book and demand money and of course the bosses always send a horde of flunkies to dissuade them. Zen is more than happy to show them what she has observed! 

Dungeon-pocolypse

Below is the entrance to the fortress of Menedon. It looks peaceful enough. I scratch built the facade from cardboard, card stock, clay and hot glue.The tiles are actual industrial grade floor tiles that I painted and added walls made from cardboard strips. The walls could be made taller but they do not impede play at all in their current form.

The five groups lead by  (left to right, below) Casey, Don, Greg, Terry and Phil (thanks guys!) are teleported to the fortress to find that there are creatures guarding the entrance. Fiendish TRex, bullettes and Trolls, oh my!

Fast forward a few rounds later and the groups have invaded the next tier of the dungeon (below). You can no longer find different groups, though Casey's group is still mostly together.

Just as the force thought they were done outside a "little" surprise pops up. Below part of Terry's force chips away at the purple worm. The hunter in the fore-ground of the picture was eventually consumed.

So, this is where we called it a night. There are about 1/3 of the way through the dungeon. Only one casualty on the player side so far and only a few of the higher level spells have been used. There are also many wounded characters some more than others. 

Here is the list of what has been killed so far:

2 Fiendish Trex

2 Troll Slashers

2 Bullette

1 Behir

3 Fiendish Girallon

1 Purple Worm

2 Goblin Underboss

Lareth the Beautiful

1 Drow Cleric of Lolth

2 Teifling Blademaster

2 Yuan-Ti Half-blood Sorcerer

Half Orc Executioner

King Obould Many Arrows

Warduke

Bugbear Champion of Erthnel

Trogledyte Barbarian

Dark Moon Monk

We will try to schedule the next installment soon. I think it will go faster from now on because everyone is more familiar with what is going on now with the modified DnD Miniatures rules and I generally have fewer enemies from now on (really, hardly any, like one per room). In any case, there will be more pictures to come. If you participated and have better pictures you can send them to me or post them in the comments.

Been building

I am building a dungeon. Not a real dungeon but a Dungeons and Dragons dungeon.

I wanted to build something huge so this dungeon is 64,000 square feet in scale; in real size it is 36 inches wide by 72 inches long. The base is made of industrial floor tile which I found at a local flooring store for 88 cents a tile. The tile is a composite material that is already gray like stone. My original idea was to attach the 2.5D walls (ala DMScotty) using hot glue but I soon discovered that the hot glue would not stick to the tile. So, good old white glue was employed.

I used a combination of dry brushing, sponge painting and inks to give the dungeon the "lived in" look. During the construction I learned new ways that might have made the whole thing look better but I am going to run the game I had planned for them. I will post some pictures after next weekend's game.