More free stuff from WOTC

WOTC has just posted a link to download the "Elemental Evil Player's Companion" PDF.  I have not had a chance to read it yet but it looks really cool. Did I mention that its free?

http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/elementalevil_playerscompanion

Dungeonpocolypse lessons learned

The forces of good were overwhelming. Each person controlling a party of six miniatures was too much. Even though there were casualties along the way there is still enough power left to make the last two tiles a forgone conclusion.

The old school pace of the dungeon allow the party time to regroup and heal between doors. This kept them marching forward altogether as an unstoppable juggernaut. Next time have the doors to the next area open at the most inopportune time bringing evil in before they are ready.

The last point would be to add more pathways to the adventure. The way I designed this dungeon there was essentially only one way through it made things easy to keep track of for me but predictable for the group.

Take a look at the list below of everything they have 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

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

Aspect of Nerull

Boneclaw Impaler

Death Priest of Orcus

2 Terror Wights

Spectre

Wraith

King Snurre

Fire Giant Raider

3 Orc Maulers

2 Tanarack

Erinyes

Balor

Half-fiend Ogre

Blood Hulk Fighter

Githyanki Fighter

Marilith

3 Ogre Skirmisher

Vrock

Dungeonpocolypse part 3

Last night was part three of the Dungeonpocolyse game. The party started where they left off a few months ago. So, with great enthusiasm they opened the door to the next room and waited to see what was next.

The Undead

The first room of the night contained undead nightmares. The Death Priest of Orcus was an unwelcome surprise but the teams were able to push through.

Old King Coal

King Snurre and  an Erinyes demon awaited them in the next room. The group finally overcame the fire giants and their allies. No one felt her was a jolly old soul.

The Balor

Not much to say about this room. The Balor gave and took a pounding before the group advanced.

The Marilth

There is something about a six armed snake demon that gets the party excited. Multiple disintegrate spells later she was down. The Vrock in this room did not last much longer.

Monsters killed
Aspect of Nerull
Boneclaw Impaler
Death Priest of Orcus
Terror Wight (x2)
Spectre
Wrait
King Snurre
Fire Giant Raider
Orc Mauler (x3)
Tanarack (x2)
Erinyes
Balor
Half-fiend Ogre
Blood Hulk Fighter
Githyanki Fighter
Marilith
Ogre Skirmisher (x3)
Vrock

The bottom line is that the group did not finish. They had only two tiles left to explore but it was getting late. So far the it has taken 15 hours to get through 16 tiles.

The Party prepares to face the undead.

 The Allies muster in front of the doorway.

The battle rages. The Aspect of Nerull holds the forces of good at the door.

 The battle continues....

 King Snurre and his forces.

 The Marilith is already gone. The ogres try to hold the line.

TRPGs

I love Tactical Role Playing Games or TRPGs. I loved the Ultima series, Disgaea Series, Final Fantasy Tactics and currently I am re-playing Dungeons and Dragons Tactics for the Playstation Portable. If I could I would love to create my own.

The reason I would like to create my own is that every TRPG I have ever played has had some things that they just did not get right. Sometimes its a technical limitation like the lack of elevations in Ultima III. Other times its there is no way to ensure the plot advances without the device like the traitor in one of the Krynn games in the AD&D gold boxed games. There is always something.

In the Dungeons and Dragons Tactics game the controls are clumsy and the rules of DnD 3.0 are simplified but it seems true to DnD. That is until I finally encountered two trolls with a 6th level sorcerer. The distance was right so I nailed them both and did 30 hit points each to them. Then on the first troll's turn it moved towards the party and regenerated 5 hit points. I nearly quit right there. I could understand a mistake like this from a non DnD game but this was a licensed game.

I kept playing. I like the game and it gets many things right. That and there are not that many good TRPGs out there and DnD versions are rare. So does anyone else have a favorite TRPG? Any other flaws that drive you crazy?

My subscription is expiring...

A few years ago a new company sprang up under the name of TSR and offered subscriptions to a new magazine called Gygax. There was controversy from the start because Gary Gygax's widow did not want his name used this way. The name endured because Gary's sons Luke and E. Gary Jr. were involved in the production. The list of contributors was impressive so I purchased a subscription.

The format of the magazine was very similar to the old versions of Dragon magazine. The heavy paper cover and high quality pages filled with art, text and comics in the back. The first few issues were good but I felt they were redundant. They seemed to focus more on the history of roleplaying than its present or future. There were good non-nostalgic articles in each of the first four issues so things still looked promising.

Last night when I got home issue 5 was waiting and a pink slip packaged with it that stated "This is your last issue". I still have not read all the articles I intend to but I can already tell this is the best issue so far. There are several features that are beautifully illustrated and grab your attention right away. There is a story about a character type that makes an effort to include every version of Dungeons and Dragons. There are great comics in the back including "Order of the Stick" and "Full Frontal Nerdity". A cool one page dungeon from a contest. Pull out game materials as well as an adventure to go with them. And a Kaiju stat block!

The publishers at TSR are sure making it difficult to walk away from Gygax Magazine. It is definitely a throwback to a bygone age when all your news about role-playing was delivered in the form of a monthly magazine. They have made PDFs of each issue in attempt to modernize the concept but its the magazine that makes it. Its the smell of the ink and the feel of the paper as you sit down and immerse yourself in gaming goodness.

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.