In all sincerity I knew what the quote was about, I remember hearing it back then. The link to Wikipedia above explains that the origin of the “thousand points of light” is from the Magician’s Apprentice by CS Lewis. But the D&D points of light campaign is another matter entirely. When I first read of the concept in the run up to D&D 4th edition I was intrigued. But I have a long running campaign and the idea of the points of light style game really did not mesh well with the world I had created over 20+ years.

Every edition change entails some mechanical changes in ongoing campaigns. If you consider my world was first played in D&D Basic, and then went on to be adapted in AD&D 1st and 2nd editions, D&D 3rd edition and 3.5, you’ll see I’m no stranger to change. However I don’t like hand waving stuff that is an integral part of the campaigns consistency. If dwarves could not be magic users before, why can they be now?

So I like to create in game rationales for this type of changes. The change from AD&D 2nd edition to D&D 3rd edition was easy since the games where set in the same world but in distant continents. Still I created in game explanation for many changes. When D&D 4th was coming out I was fully on board and while I was unsure how the whole points of light concept would carry though I was ready for other changes, tieflings were already in my campaign since 2nd edition, they looked different but that was not a problem per se. Dragonborn where another matter, so even before I made the rule change I began to work a rationale of where the race would come from. I was set! All that was left was for D&D 4th ed to come out.

And then I read the books. Don’t get me wrong I liked D&D 4th edition, I still do. It’s a game with a clear purpose, delivers well what it’s intended to be, and it certainly dared to sacrifice some sacred cows I thought they’d never touch. But I could tell this was a different game, that its feel and game play would be different from what I was used to, so I decided NOT to jump in into my campaign right away and instead do a trial run using the points of light idea.

That turned into our 7+ month D&D 4th edition campaign. We played weekly during that time and went all through the heroic tier and into paragon. Those where some turbulent months, with rebellions at the table over the system, some players disliking it so much they quit the game they have been playing with me for decades, exploring the tools the system provided, and telling a pretty entertaining story along the way. Ultimately we decided the system was not for us and moved on to Pathfinder.

With D&D Next coming up I’m suddenly thinking about adaptations all over again, I am not sure I will switch my campaign if I play it. IF I get to participate in the playtest (WotC pick me, pick me! I only bash you semi-regularly!) I will most thatn likely create a mini-campaign just like I did for 4th edition.

This all gets back to MY points of light eventually… My ruminations on the matter made me dig out the little document I created as an introduction to the campaign when we started playing D&D 4th edition. Coming from a game where I handed out a LOT of long documents and complex handouts I tried to keep it short and simple, asked each player for a two sentence description of their character and to bring an image to the game. I then handed each of them a piece of paper with a secret their character knew. Nice and simple…

Here is the text of the handout I gave to the players that fateful night in 2008. I’m not reproducing it exactly as I gave it to them since back the I used some art I found out there in the Internet and I have NO idea who the artists are. But there is a small old-school map I made for the game. Hope you enjoy it and find it useful, or at least fun. Let me know what you think…

The Town of New Crosspointe

The town of New Crosspointe was founded upon the ruins of the old town of Cross Point on the 84th year of the rule of the Osterios Family, settled by missionaries from the Temple of Dawn on a crusade to retake the northern half of the valley from the goblin and orc tribes that controlled it since the Autumn of No Crops. The walled town sits north of the Aumvell Forest; bordered on the north-west by the Istir River, over sixty miles north of the ruined Wall of Forts that once demarcated the northern border of the Duke’s Holdings.

Built upon the ruins of the old settlement, it receives its name from the large bronze plaque set by the cross roads near the old market square, marking the place where two ancient roads of empires long past meet. The remains of these roads still form part of market road and hunter’s way the two main streets in town. The plaque itself is round and some 15 hands across. Carved upon its old faded surface is what seems to be an astrolabe and runes of unknown origin or meaning. Some four paces from the plaque there is a pedestal, overgrown with ivy, weatherworn and cracked, traces of a statue remain, a leg and pieces of a foot, and a lonely single inscription in Draconic. Those that read the language say it simply says “Cross Point”.

New Crosspointe has thrived and over the last 28 years it has grown as many pious pilgrims, those who seek their fortune, and those who want to leave their past behind, move to the frontier of the civilization in the valley. Brisk trade with the elven hunters from the Aumvell and solitary trappers further north has benefited the town. Most goods are traded with the various Halfling families who dare the dangers of the lower Istir River and the occasional merchant caravan from south of the valley.

The recent establishing of the Dougren Forge and Ironworks in town, by descendants of one of the clans that ruled over Griffon’s Cliff before the goblins took control of the fortress city, has been a boon for New Crosspointe. Loggers have recently been attacked and some have disappeared, causing great concern. The lord mayor has sent emissaries escorted by his men and some elven scouts into the deep Aumvell to negotiate with the eladrin of the Fey Pool and has assured the Town Council no further incidents shall be tolerated.

The northwestern part of town sits upon a small cliff overlooking the Istir River and flanked by two ancient towers dating from the original settlement of Cross Point. Upon the cliff as well stands the Temple of the Dawn rebuilt to its original glory. The town slowly slopes down to the south east towards the more populated districts and the Temple of Dusk where the original town cemetery still stands.

The town’s defenses are an amalgam of old and new stone walls connected by wooden walls covering the areas were the old walls crumbled, or where new construction has yet to begin. The southeast wall is itself composed of smaller wooden portions connected with wooden watchtowers, as the broken terrain in this area has made the construction of more permanent battlements difficult. The lord mayor keeps his dwelling, as well as the barracks for most of his men in a fort with its own wooden walls built upon the face of the southwestern wall.

Environs of New Crosspointe

A small branch of the Istir veers off south towards the cliffs of the town and forms a small bog there. Most halfling families traveling the river berth here when trading in town. Beyond the Istir River to the north various farms dot the landscape slowly giving way to the wild. There are some old manors from the time of the original settlement and further upriver a large riverside tower with diverse buildings around it in various stages of decay. According to legend and rumor the tower has been the seat to local lords, home to dark cults and hideaway to bandits at various stages in its history.

To the south, beyond the Hunter’s Gate, hunter’s road becomes the Duke’s Way, bordering the Aumvell Forest and descending into the south of the valley. The road is dangerous and fraught with peril. Many bandits and brigands plague this area. West are the wilds were goblins and other dangers still abound while east the wild gives way to the Ice Peak Mountains that surround the valley and the other myriad dangers that lurk there.

People of New Crosspointe

The population of New Crosspointe is composed mostly of humans; dwarves and halflings are present in considerable numbers, many living permanently in town. Elves from the Aumvell Forest trade often in town and some have settle for some years. While they seldom stay for long, a few of their offspring, half elves, can still be found in town. Two families of tieflings, related by blood to the Airenai, one of the five remaining bloodlines of the Seven Lords who support the Duke, live in town. One family is dedicated to the mystic arts, masters of Cilder Tower, renowned arcanists and seers. The other family is heavily involved in commerce and trade.

No dragonborn lives in town, one renowned member of the Duke’s Cresthelm Guard retired some years ago to a cabin half a day northeast of town. He frequently travels to town to trade on market day. While he always comes alone, rumors abound of others of his kind visiting, or training with this old warrior. Eladrin are seldom seen in town but loggers in the Aumvell Forest have seen them and on some full moons, when it is said that the Fey Pool can be found by all who seek it, some eladrin wanderer have left the Feywild and come to town.

Faith and the Pious

While all benevolent faiths are worshipped in New Crosspointe, only two large temples are present in town. The Temple of Dawn, whose missionaries resettled the town, is located north in the small cliffs. There the faithful of Pelor, Bahamut and Moradin gather to honor their deities. The Temple of Dusk is an older temple, still not completely restored to its former glory, which stands in the same grounds as the old town’s cemetery. Originally dedicated to the Raven Queen, it now has altars to Ioun and Erathis as well. It is not as well manned or attended as the Temple of Dawn, a fact that has not escaped the Lord Mayor who worships here.

A stone shrine, much more ancient than old Cross Point, is southeast of town, beyond the walls and overlooked by Cilder Tower. The shrine is dedicated to Avandara, Corellon and Sehanine, and many who travel into the forest stop here for a prayer. The dragonborn living near town is said to be a devout follower of Kord and willing to share his knowledge with the pious and brave.

The Tenedal Valley

The Tenedal Valley, usually simply called the valley by its inhabitants, has been the ancestral holding of the Osterios family for over two hundred years. Located in the northern regions of the Norath Empire in what used to be considered the frontier. At one time or another, the region was claimed by the empire of Bael Turath, the dragonborn of Arkhosia, and other older empires. The valley is surrounded by the Ice Peak Mountains, with only two viable accesses, Ghost Wail pass to the west and the Raven Hills to the south. While there are other routes these are small, inaccessible, or both. There are tales of tunnels running from Griffon’s Cliff beyond the Ice Peak Mountains, but if they exist, they are in control of the goblins who rule the former dwarven stronghold.

The valley was once covered in wild forests but was slowly cleared by logging and farming in the southern half. The north was less populated and remained inaccessible for many years until the headway made by the establishment of New Crosspointe and others that have followed. In the north reaches of the Ice Peak Mountains an active volcano bellows dark foreboding smoke and has in recent memory trembled twice, the tremors felt as far south as New Crosspointe.

The Sual’Li who live in the desert south of the valley have reestablished trade with the Duke after his father’s actions almost cost the valley their sole remaining ally beyond the mountains. To the west of the valley by the Boiling Lake there are still ruins of a dark ancient empire whose name no one seems willing to acknowledge, except to speak of its follies and the dangers that lurk in the ruins they left behind. Beyond that little is known, some merchants arrive to the Duke’s seat with tales both grandiose and often contradictory, and if rumor is to be believed, as dangerous as the valley may be, beyond the mountains things seem to be much worse.

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The theme this issue is archers and its well served. Let’s see, it opens with the Elven Archer, a race specific class for the Pathfinder RPG. It’s an interesting mix of the ranger and the rogue that fits a traditional fantasy niche. The article has some typos (and you all know I’ve got plenty of those, so I shouldn’t be nitpicking), but I found it interesting and it’s a perfect fit for my long running campaign. The notes on adapting the class for other races, cultures, or even weapons make it useful in other contexts. There is also an article on magic arrows, which again provides what in my mind are some archetypical magic arrows. These two articles seem plucked from my adolescent love for RPGs updated for Pathfinder.

What else is there? Read on to find out…

Other Pathfinder articles include a collection of ooze themed spells and familiars, including the ooze magic school. Four new terrifying low to mid-level creatures that range from the creepy to the terrifying, a fifth level adventure, which begins with some railroading, but this a is a short adventure and due to length I’m willing to overlook it, since the rest is really entertaining. An article on older adventurers, including feats, which makes me reconsider the possibilities of my concept for the old hero and another one on Midgard themed fey hunters, with lots of campaign flavor BUT easily adaptable to any campaign.

But my favorite Pathfinder article (even more than the archery themed ones simply because this one is just so much more useful for me as a GM) was the article on four fully fleshed planar allies, with details on what negotiations with them would entail, personalities. Kudos! The weird article award goes to magical fish one for Pathfinder. You eat the fish and get some magical effect, from removing curses to permanent ability boosts, weird, interesting but weird…

For AGE you have 5 new specializations for the game’s classes. I love to see Kobold Quarterly expand the possibilities of this terrific system.  For D&D 4^th edition there is a bard themed article, new utility powers for gomes, tieflings and minotaurs (a race near and dear to my heart), and an article on nature spirits, dual-statted for Pathfinder. The recent announcement of D&D Next/5^th edition has made me take another look at the rule set, wondering what will be part of the new game. Whatever happens I hope in the future Kobold Quarterly gets to support all the games they already do and the new D&D!

There are systemless advice articles, like Monte Cook’s on the role of the GM. It might not be the most original, but there is some solid advice in there and he did bring up some interesting issues to consider. The mechanic for time sensitive adventure, called haste points, seems interesting, but I would have to test it out, I’m not sure how it will play out. The idea is solid and well presented, but they are something else to track in game and I’m not totally convinced I need that. The regular cartoons are here, funny as usual, I love Stan!’s humor, and I particularly liked D20 Monkey’s this issue, juvenile but funny. Read it, you’ll see. And of course, the closing one page article on the City of Zobeck by the one and only Jeff Grub!

The magazine is 84 pages long, full color, with terrific art, great layout and an appropriate ratio of articles to adds. I’ve said it before, it’s reminiscent of the old Dragon Magazine, but this is not a magazine just for the grognards like me, but for all fans of the major fantasy games out there. You can get the PDF of Kobold Quarterly #20 for $5.99 or the PDF+ Print bundle for $8.99, or better yet subscribe, well worth it in my opinion. Thank you for the makers of Kobold Quarterly for providing a review copy!

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See, I’ve had a couple of rough weeks and we had to cancel our weekly game twice (sacrilege I know!), so we planned this as a way to catch up, see each other and spend some quality time together. Needless to say at dinner with gamers I had to bring up the topic everyone’s been talking about in recent days D&D Next/5th edition…

I wanted to get their take on the news of the development of a fresh version of Dungeons & Dragons. Here in the blog we recently posted our thoughts, but we are bloggers, keep abreast of news and interact with a different community of gamers than some of the gamers I was sitting with. The reaction was interesting, mostly predictable if you know the group, but telling considering this quote from Monte Cook:

“I’m the lead designer of a project that will likely evolve into a new iteration of the Dungeons & Dragons ruleset. It’s meant to be a set of rules that unites all the previous editions, and the players of those editions.  It’s a big project, and we plan on involving all comers to playtest and voice their opinions, because really, what’s the point of designing a game no one wants to play? And who knows better what D&D players want than, well, D&D players.”

(Thanks to EN World for collecting this and other quotes and information on the development in their D&D 5^th edition info page!)

What did they say? Read on…

This is a varied group, running the gamut from their mid-twenties to forties, all longtime role-players and as a whole we’ve all played D&D, some of us more than others, but we all cut our teeth on the game. Some of them have played at my table for nineteen years, and for the longest time all I ran was D&D. Many where there when we switched from AD&D 2^nd edition to 3^rd edition, and later when I dragged them (some kicking and screaming) to D&D 4^th edition, some even ran the game, so we’ve all experienced edition change.

In the midst of a conversation about movies, critical hits and the selection in the buffet I dropped the bomb, “So what do you think about the fact they are developing a new edition of D&D?” My favorite response was, “What?” There was actually someone at the table who had no idea. It’s been days since the announcement, this is not a person who lives under a rock, he uses the internet, but obviously despite WotC’s attempts and all the media coverage this was the first he had heard of it.

The general consensus seemed to be disinterest. One of the most vocal haters of D&D 4^th edition in my group actually threatened to hit me with the book if I “wasted” (that’s what he called it) my money on a new edition. More moderate voices insisted they were happy with the fantasy RPG they have, Pathfinder, and that it would have to be a pretty amazing system to get them to go back to D&D.

When someone pointed out that planning for sessions is an intense experience for a Game Master, I made the faux pas of actually defending 4^th edition and singing its praises, such as ease of prep time for Game Masters, and the GMs around the table insisted they have the same ease of prep with Pathfinder. And while I agree Pathfinder made many strides in these regards, and making it easy when creating NPCs, specifically by providing short cuts and samples of them, I believe there are still some issues with high-level play, but nothing that bothers me. I can navigate this hurdles and I think the other GMs at the table have mastered the system and thus feel very comfortable with the game.

I think this may be the biggest obstacle Wizards of the Coast faces when they try to attract lapse players back to the fold, they feel that when WotC published 4^th edition they were left behind (no pun intended!) and that they have moved on, they have found other games that fit their style. Another of my players never played 4^th edition and did not understand the vitriolic reaction against D&D 4^th edition, but also felt Pathfinder fulfilled her needs for fantasy gaming and has no desire to change systems.

The most surprising reaction came from one of my oldest friends, he works at a FLGS and is the only player at my table who still actively plays D&D 4^th edition (albeit not with us). He said he has NO interest in a new game, that he would continue playing D&D 4^th edition and Pathfinder. He distrusts (I don’t recall his word choice exactly, but this was the impression I got) WotC’s corporate policies and had little hope on what they plan to do, he was also underwhelmed by the design team. He admitted he was excited about 4^th edition, not so this time around.

I remain positively optimistic. I want to see where this goes, look forward to the open play test, which I believe is a step in the right direction, and think the stated design goals are laudable. From this conversation I know there is NO interest among my players to playtest the game. Since writing the last post on the subject I’ve decided I DO want to play the game as part of the playtest and know people who are interested, so I hope I can cajole some members of Puerto Rico Role Players to try this out.

All this is anecdotal; still I wonder how much of this type of attitude is out there… Is it too late? Has the ship sailed? I certainly hope not. I want to see what the next version of D&D is all about, I want the granddaddy of games to thrive, whether I end up playing it or not. So I invite you dear reader to keep an open mind, I really think it’s too early to say what the game will be like. Don’t write it off, if it ends up not being what you want to play, other will. Let’s all be more tolerant of what other people want to play, we are all gamers, no matter under which system we roll our dice! It’s those diceless heathens we need to worry about! I’m joking, no hate mail please…

I apologize in advance if I misinterpreted or misquoted anyone on this post, know that these are my interpretations of the opinions I heard. Thanks Enith, José F, Luis A, Fernan, Luis L, Pierre, Sara, José D and Nilda for a wonderful evening!

PS- Yes, we are going back to out regularly scheduled Tuesday game this week, there is nothing to fear!

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These books where provided by the publisher for review and even if I took my sweet time to get to them I am always really flattered that publishers will submit their products for review. Thanks, that doesn’t mean I’ll pull my punches!

So without further ado, the reviews…

What about Kobold Quarterly #19?

Issue 20 of Kobold Quarterly just came out, and I plan to review it much faster than the previous issue, but the issue at hand (pun intended) is 19, the Fall issue. I’ve reviewed previous issues and the wonderful people at Open Design have made me a fan, with a mix of nostalgia for the old Dragon Magazine coupled with great new content for some of the most popular fantasy RPGs in the market right now, D&D, AGE and Pathfinder. So what’s good in this issue? Glad you asked!

Pathfinder goodness: The White Necromancer, a fully fleshed out non-evil necromancer option; Druid archetypes; an article on magic shops, and making them more than simple wholesale magic warehouses, giving them flair and turning them into role-playing opportunities; and death themed archetypes for Druids, Barbarians, Monks and Summoners. There is a preview of the new Paizo’s Dragon Empire and Dragon Empire themed Arch-Devil. Overall, great content for all Pathfinder fans!

Then there are the AGE articles. I love that they are supporting this system and adapting Midgard content for it, in this case ten backgrounds for the game. A system less article on court adventures, including the power players and adventure ideas is a great source of inspiration for role-playing. There is another system less article on traps; the winner of the Relics of Power is published in this issue; a solo adventure; Mont Cook’s balance free bonuses ideas, bonuses that don’t impact game balance, adaptable to any edition, was my favorite article of the issue.

There is just one D&D 4^th edition article, with rules to play werewolf characters. It seems interesting enough, and I’m sure this will be popular. I was surprised that this was the only article written specifically for the system. True there are many excellent articles that can be adapted, but I was surprised. I guess they can only publish the articles submitted and wonder if this is a sign of the popularity of the games. Even if I don’t play the game, I know many D&D 4^th edition fans that love the magazine and hope to see continued support for the game in future issues.

All the usual suspects are here, the cartoons, book reviews and Free City of Zobeck closing article. Overall I loved this issue; it was full of Pathfinder articles which makes me personally happy. But I know fans of other games read the magazine and I hope to see more balanced content in the future. If you love a system, be sure to check out their Writer’s Guidelines and try to get published.

What about Divine Favor the Inquisitor?

Here is the final installment of the Divine Favor series; this time around it’s the Inquisitor’s turn. The cover is a little drab, just an Inquisitor in a battle pose, I am a fan of Christophe Swal’s art and I think using the same Inquisitor from the Advanced Feat cover was the right choice, but the art seems off and the ocher background left much to be desired.

Inside its 17 pages of content, with clear layout, the use of stock art, most of it appropriate, but there are a couple of odd choice, nothing that is terribly distracting. The new abilities and new inquisitions are refreshing and thread some interesting ground, expanding the possibilities of the class. There are some interesting archetypes, feats and spells. They all play well of one another and Stefen Styrsky provides a good closing to the series.

What about the Book of Drakes?

This is my favorite of the three books, and this is my favorite one. Drakes in Midgard are fascinating creatures, the idea of dragon-like creatures that are not as powerful and can appear in the game in very different roles than traditional dragons are an excellent option.

From the cover by Kieran Yanner, to the layout, to the interior art, this is a beautiful book to look at. And the writing is top notch too! Kudos to the design team… The ecology of the drake that opens the book is reminiscent of the old ecology articles of Dragon Magazine and a great introduction to the creature in Midgard. There are rules for drakes as companions, feats for them, class features, prestige classes, spells, and equipment, mundane and magical. I was NOT a fan of the rules for playing drakes, I think they are better allies or opponents that a playable option. The bestiary is great, providing drakes from CR 1 to CR 14, and rules for creating new drakes.

This is a great book that while officially a Midgard setting book, can be used in any Pathfinder game. The book is available in PDF and a print+PDF. I recommend the latter; this book is just too pretty not to have in print.

There you have it, three great books that have been out for a while now, but you can’t go wrong getting them. I hope you enjoy them!

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No wonder hardcore fan-folk (and I use the term meaning no disrespect) often take this to the next level when it comes to the things they are passionate about. Be it the TV series they were really invested in and the networked axed, or the endless novel series whose author passed away before completing it. There can be righteous indignation in such occasions.

It’s no different with fans of role-playing games when a game they love is cancelled, or an adventure series they enjoy is left unfinished, but we have the very particular characteristic that what we enjoy is not solely dependant on the actions of others. If a TV series gets the axe, or a novel series is never finished, well there is not much we can do about it. We can petition and protest and that sometimes has a result, but that’s usually not the case. Some people write fan-fiction and present to the world how they think the story would have ended. But we never get to know how the original creator (be is a sole writer or a production company) had planned for the story. We just won’t know…

Enter our hobby. True some people only play pre-published adventures, but even those who do end up modifying or changing the story by the mere act of playing it, even if they use pre-gens and the GM sticks pretty close to what’s written. Our hobby is not passive; we are the weavers of the tales we tell.

So it is no surprise that when a campaign is not finished we get the same feeling of being let down. No let’s call it what it is, the sense of FAILURE when a campaign we began with such gusto just peters out and dies. As I mentioned this line of thought on Twitter last weekend (follow me as there as @Sunglar) @NookHarper listed the reasons this happens.  He correctly said some reasons include players leaving, new games starting, starting games full of enthusiasm but with little or no planning, among others.

And I agree those are among the common causes that campaigns die. Some will say that’s why they don’t play campaigns, that they prefer one shots or short adventures, and I say, more power to you, to each and everyone his or her own. Play what makes you happy! Me? Well I just love campaigns, the possibility of telling a long term story, the nuances developed as characters interact with the world, be it for a hundred sessions, or just ten. If you have never played a campaign I recommend it, it’s a different experience and well worth the work and aggravation (and there will be a little bit of both I assure you!).

I have finished various campaigns, some years long. I tend to stick to something until the end. I, like any other human being, am a completist. Logically you might now expect my advice on how to make sure that campaign keeps going, tips on how to reach the finish line. Well no! That’s not what this post is about, on the contrary, I will go ahead and say it. That campaign you are sorry you did not finish, well it might be a good thing it never did.

Before you get offended and think I dismissed your campaign, let me tell you why I say this. Have you always been happy with the way a story ends? Be it novel, television series or movie. I can tell you the finale of LOST was one of the most disappointing TV watching experiences of my life. Oftentimes when we like something a lot, there is no way the end is going to be as good as we thought it would be. True with campaigns the attentive Game Master can tailor and shape the flow of things to meet player lies and expectations and hopefully come to a satisfying conclusion. But I have the nagging feeling that more often than not the ends of campaigns happen after some measure of fatigue has set in and they are either, rushed and feel too premature, or dragged out to long and disappoint. I will admit that, while some campaign closings have been successful, some of my campaigns have suffered from the abovementioned ills.

Maybe the campaign wasn’t that good to begin with. It could have been fun but not as entertaining as the GM thought, we are no perfect after all. But maybe it was really good and it ended for reasons beyond your control. When a campaign is just left unfinished and players keep talking about what could have been, all the possibilities, sometimes its better to leave it like that. Specially if a long time has passed. You will probably never be able to recapture the enthusiasm, the thrill of the original games. Better to live of the memory and what if, than to try to go back and end it…

It’s not easy, but I am trying to come to terms with the idea. I fear George RR Martin will die without finishing A Song of Ice and Fire. I’ve made my peace with it. I’ll read the novels as they come out, I’m along for the ride, if I get to the end that will just be s plus. The same with other media I enjoy.

This line of thought came to me as I ponder the end of the current storyline in my Mutants & Masterminds campaign; which will go into hiatus as its proven popular enough with my players to merit a return to it eventually. We have not played out swashbuckling Pathfinder RPG game since last December and as much fun as we had I know not all the players were equally enthusiastic by the end, and we ended it abruptly because everybody wanted to play supers. For a moment I thought, perhaps its time to let it go…

Well I’ll be a stubborn ass and I think I will disregard my own advice and try to retake it. I have some specific plans to overhaul the game, switch the focus and discuss with players the necessary changes. Well see how that goes… I’ll let you know if I was successful or if it should have remained unfinished business.

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3. Letting go of that NPC

That being said I have enjoyed sitting on the other side of the screen form time to time. Since I usually talk about being a GM I thought it would be nice to turn the table and talk about being a player for a change. This is not a post about an NPC (although you could certainly turn him into one) but an actual character concept I developed for a game.

One caveat, I remember the character concept but the exact moment it materialized is lost in time. I recall the concept, not all the fiddly bits of how it germinated, so I apologize to my friend Luis who was there when the concept emerged if I mix up the memories. This is the story how I remember it.

Back in the days of AD&D, 2^nd edition I believe, we were preparing for a new campaign. We were supposed to roll up wet behind the ears, young, potential heroes living in an out of the way village, whose life would change when adventure came their way, in the end, the typical cliché. As much as I wanted to play this campaign I balked at the idea of another young farmer or blacksmith’s apprentice turned hero. I began to think, what other option do I have? And this is what I came up with.

I decided to play the town’s old drunk! The permanent fixture in the bar night after night, slovenly, perpetually inebriated, telling stories of past glories and conquests no one believes. Little respected, often derided, willing to humiliate himself for a drink. No one takes his stories seriously, but little do they know this old man was once a great hero!

I had not fixed on just what his past glories might have been. Perhaps he was once a powerful adventurer that amassed great wealth, maybe a soldier of renown who lead armies to victory and was hailed as the savior of a city of small kingdom. Knowing specifically WHAT he did was not necessary; it was enough to know he wasted his money and drank himself to poverty and disgrace. Leaving behind the people and places that reminded him of his failures he simply wandered off, forgotten and dispossessed.

Along the way he had lost the skills and vitality that had once made him a great warrior. As the campaign began, when this sleepy little town would face dangers unheard of in a generation (I was not sure what it would be but it only made sense), would this broken old man rise up to the challenge?

My idea was to roll up this character as a 1^st level character, representing not so much his inexperience but more his lack of practice, the ravage of time on his body, the effects of drinking on his health. Since AD&D had rules for older characters I asked if I could modify the character for his age. Of course it would mean a reduction in his physical attributes, but his mental attributes would get a boost.

I wanted to play him as a broken man, with little self control or sense of worth. Faced with hardships and new challenges this would be his chance at redemption. Would he make it? That was part of the challenge. As I envisioned it, as he went up in level, it would represent him regaining his abilities thought practice, honing his skills back to the way they used to be. Finding out if he would make it or would fail along the way would have been half the fun!

You know what the sad thing is? I never got to play this character. I don’t even remember the name I gave him. The GM never ran the game and my character concept was unused. Thinking back now I like the name Adophus de Ruvan, simply known as Old Adoph around town. I need to find a way to play this character…

I would love to make him for the Pathfinder RPG, Savage Worlds or even Warrior, Rogue & Mage… I can see him is three stages, as a beginning character, old broken inexperienced because he has lost all he was. As a mid level character, having recovered some of what he was, not as strong or nimble as he was in his youth but wiser, smarter but still hunted by his vices and doubts; and then as an experienced character, a warrior living his last years with dignity and the skills that once made him great, fighting the good fight, perhaps for the last time…

How would you stat Adoph? I would love to see our readers take on the concept, for any system you’d like to stat him up, any takers? You can either post him in the comments or send it via e-mail at sunglar@hotmail.com

If someone takes me up on the challenge I’ll post your versions in a follow up post! Thanks for reading.

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1. Improve Your Game: Character creation as a team effort
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3. Starblazer Adventures: Our character creation session

Wait, that’s not really true. The Kobolds have created a new series that covers some of the Pathfinder core classes, but they are much more than the Advanced Feats series. I understand why they did it. When the classes from the Advanced Players Guide came out there was a dearth of Feats specifically designed for the classes, a vacuum very aptly filled by the Advanced Feats books. For the core classes however, the situation is very different.  There are lots of Feats for these classes, they needed to up the ante, and they did!

The Divine Favor series covers the divine classes, old and new, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Oracle and eventually the Inquisitor (it’s just not out yet!), providing an overview of the class, optional rules, abilities, feats and spells. These are some great resources that embrace the innovations in the system, such as sub-domains and archetypes, I must say I am really impressed by the four I reviewed.

Want to learn more? Read on…

Divine Favor the Cleric: The cleric was the first class I read when I opened the rulebook for the D&D Basic Set. The cleric is such a mainstay of fantasy role-playing games that I just had to read this first. If we go by first impressions, the cover blew me away. The art by Cristophe Swal, who painted all my favorite Advanced Feats covers by the way, is not the type one associates with the cleric. It looks more like a barbarian, and I like that, it goes against the stereotype, and I like that as the opening salvo to this book.

Its 20 pages long, take away the cover and the OGL license and you have 18 pages of gaming goodies. The layout is clean and functional, using stock art somewhat effectively. I wasn’t thrilled by all of it. Too much in some cases, I must admit to liking the layout of the later books in the Advanced Feats series better. Maybe if a few pieces had been taken out the book might have been shorter but that’s ok. But this really did not detract from my liking of this book.

As with all the other books in this series, it opens with an overview of the class. Short to the point, but it brings up some interesting points that challenge the “stereotypical” view of the walking first aid kit. Sorry I meant cleric. The domains and sub-domains are next. They cover some interesting areas not in the books, like prophecy, apocalypse, alchemy, which ties nicely to the new alchemist class. I love the sub-domains as options, but I like complex deities with different sects and followers, so they arer ideal for me. Depending on your campaign your mileage may vary.

My favorite part of the book was the Archetypes. These variants clerics fill some interesting niches for the cleric role. Their tweaks and variations on the standard cleric’s abilities evoke their different nature without making it a whole new class. Some may be more immediately attractive to players than others, some will make great NPCs, but I never discount a creative player picking them up. The cleric’s Divine Favor book finishes up with variant channeling and spells which complement the domains and sub-domains earlier in the book.

Divine Favor the Druid: Unlike the cleric, I’ve never felt particularly close to the druid. I have never played one, one had one player run one in all the years I’ve GMed and looking back I realize a preponderance of druids in my games have been villains. That must be rectified, but I digress.

The cover of this book is also by Cristophe Swal, and I like it, just not as much as the one for the cleric. The book is 19 pages with the cover and OGL license. It suffers from the over preponderance of stock art just like the last book, but that’s just a minor problem on an awesome book. After the mandatory and insightful overview of the class there are options for the wild shape ability, like turning into a group of creatures, even a swarm, abilities for animal companions and then come the archetypes. Again my favorite section, I particularly enjoyed the elemental themed druid archetypes.

There are new domains and sub-domains, some rather specialized. I can see creating NPCs that use them, but players with very specific visions of their characters might find the bird or insect domain useful. The new animal companions, which can be used by rangers as well, are a mixed bag. Brain ooze, really? The book closes with a few feats which are nice.

While I may seem a little hard on the book it really is because I really enjoyed it. I wished it was longer. All I can say is that the options in this book made me want to play a druid, that’s high praise.

Divine Favor the Paladin: And here we are! My favorite D&D, and now Pathfinder, class. My longest running PCs, the one named after my nick of Sunglar, was a Paladin built using the AD&D 1^st edition Unearthed Arcana rules. This is the Divine Favor book I was looking forward to the most. I was not disappointed, if anything I wanted more, 20 pages was not enough.

While the cover is also by Swal, it was my least favorite of the four. However the stock art I didn’t mind so much, I like the selection better, or maybe it’s simply that there is more art for the martially themed Paladin than for the other divine classes in these four books.

The alternate class abilities are different enough that they give them a new feel, specifically the idea of stigmata as a way for a deity to punish a paladin that has strayed from the true path. In my experience this aspect of a Paladin that some people dislike but I always see it as a great rpg opportunity. The Paladin vows that demand certain behavior but grant some boon to the Paladin were all excellent. The archetypes and feats were also good, but I enjoyed the other elements much more.

Divine Favor the Oracle: This last book I read from the series is the only one that’s not a core class. Introduced in the Advanced Player’s Guide the Oracle is a mysterious divine class with lots of interesting role-playing potential. The class was well examined in the Visions of the Oracle so there is no overview here; they go right into the goods!

 The new curses are very interesting. I particularly liked the Echo curse, under which you can only speak what has been spoken to you. This could be a lot of fun. There are many new mysteries and how can you go wrong when the book has a mystery for wine? A small list of feats closes the book, they work with the rules in the book and all seem very useful. I really liked the cover and layout in this book, my favorite of the four.

These books are all $3.99 in PDF and available at the Kobold Quarterly store. Click on the link for the tile of each book in this post to go to the page for each book. Stefen Styrsky and Wolfgang Baur did a great job in the four initial outings of the Divine Favor series. I’m looking forward to the Inquisitor’s. Also hope to see an arcane themed series, maybe a martial one as well… Oh the possibilities!

Let me close by thanking the people at Open Design for sending us digital copies for review. They make this Pathfinder fan a happy little blogger. Here is wishing you and all much continued success.

Related posts:

1. What about Advanced Feats: The Cavalier’s Creed? A review…
2. Review: Soldiers of Fortune by Matt James
3. Lazy Friday Video Post: Dungeons & Dragons TV series intro

The Off World Designs booth had the official Gen Con t-shirt for sale so I stopped there and got two for friends (including the esteemed creator of this blog to whom I am yet to ship his shirt, shame on me!) and while there I picked up their Boba Fettish t-shirt for a friend. While I love their designs, and just browse their webpage to see some great ideas, in my circles they are probably the best known geek shirts purveyors, so I get to see their shirts on friends… I wanted something different!

That’s when I discovered TSHIRTBORDELLO! I must admit I had never seen their shirts and I loved them immediately. For me it was not a matter of deciding what to get, but sadly realizing I didn’t have money to get one of everything. I found their shirts to be witty, funny, irreverent and terrific! The picture at the beginning of the post is me wearing one of their shirts, Zombie eat flesh. I got two others, their Soylent Green one and their Miskatonic University tee (go pods!) because you can’t go wrong with Cthulhu. The staff at the booth were nice and friendly, gave me some of their terrific posters and as I was paying I saw they had a Bates Motel keychain, snatched myself one of those and its currently holding all my keys together. After having worn them and washing them I can vouch for the quality of the t-shirts.

There was another t-shirt booth I was looking for specifically, one I had visited on my previous visit to Gen Con and I knew they had shirts I wanted. The thing is I did not remember their name. I just knew they had some of my favorite t-shirts of all time, two I still kept around, even if I did no longer wear them out in public. And these are four year old t-shirts, so we are talking excellent quality products. Imagine my excitement when I found them. Now I know they are sighco.com and I can replenish my dark themed t-shirt supplies whenever I want!

What did I get form them, well I got two shirts I had before, their Evil Lager one, and my current favorite t-shirt Sin like you mean it! And in keeping with the alcoholic beverage theme and my love for the undead I also picked up their Zombie Vodka shirt. Their shirts are irreverent, probably offensive to some folk, and I love the look people give me when I wear one of their shirts. They were also incredibly friendly and helpful. Kudos to them and much continued success, they will be getting some more of my money soon!

And what else was there to do at Gen Con? Well I’m glad you asked! The artists’ area was full of talented folk, painters, writers; I just wish I had places to display some of the art I saw there. (I doubt my GF would appreciate me hanging the chainmail bikini clad babe art in the living room). I still got some stuff, like signed copies of Larry Elmore’s art that adorned the D&D Basic, Expert, Companion and Master boxed sets. I also got a DVD copy of the Night of the Living Dead Reanimated with a print by one of the contributors. He also did paintings of you as a zombie, I wanted one, but again I doubt the girl-friend would be ok with putting that on display!

I also met Ed Greenwood! He of the famous beard, creator of the Forgotten Realms, and occasional but of my lame jokes here in the blog… (Just see the image on this post. Lame I know!) I got a signed copy of Elminster Must Die and got my picture taken with the man. He is friendly, affable, much taller than I expected, and a good sport after I told him I occasionally poke fun at him here in the blog.

I also got my picture taken with Sean K. Reynolds, one of my favorite designers for D&D 3^rd edition and currently for Pathfinder. If you’ll allow a digression here for a moment, my geek shyness was not as bad as it was the last time around (as I mentioned on this post) but I was still star struck with many of these folk. I think the term used by my friends was “giddy as a school girl”. Ok back to the post…

On and there in the middle of the con I had a furniture related nerdgasm! Geek Chick makes beautiful and functional furniture for the discriminating geek, and having lots of money helps too. They had some incredible pieces, some with interactive screens, which warmed my greedy little geek heart. Alas I don’t have tens of thousands of dollars for the one I longed for, The Sultan! But I can still dream…

There was fighting with foam weapons, which I knew little about last time I was at Gen Con, but could appreciate better this time around as I now know people who play it. I delivered a gift from a friend here in Puerto Rico to the fine folk at Forged Foam, who had some gorgeous pieces there! I saw armor, clothes for cosplay, props, lots of steampunk themed stuff. And then there were LAPRs…

I participated in True Dungeon the last time I was at Gen Con, but this time I did not get tickets ahead of time and I was not looking forward to running thought it with strangers so I passed. Still I hear it was a lot of fun. Some of my friend (big shout out to Rouka, Jesús, Chino and Cass) participated in Nero LARP Live Adventure Games. I had no previous knowledge of this organization, but it seemed like fun and they certainly seen to have enjoyed it!

There were lots of other things at the con as well… Webcomics (the Looking for Group guys were hilarious and incredibly friendly even if I did not spend a penny at their booth), terrain building materials, maps (the Gale Force Nine had some terrific stuff), new social media sites for gamers, like Infrno (I just activated the account I created in Gen Con while writing this post), I got some gifts at The Warstore (an online store I have purchased form before, and I recommend them) and of course dice! What self respecting gaming geek can resist the lure of dice? I got some dice at Q-Workshop, they have some gorgeous pieces, even if they can often be hard to read. But so pretty to look at!

I was impressed by the amount of children and family friendly activities there. It makes sense; games come in all shapes, sizes, ages and family configurations. When I have children I would LOVE to bring them to Gen Con. Someday…

Oh and before I forget this guy was at Gen Con. Funny… Enjoy

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4I8TRaG1Ss

Related posts:

1. Gen Con 2011, a retrospective… Part 4!
2. Gen Con 2011, a retrospective… Part 1: Role Playing Games
3. Gen Con 2011, a retrospective… Part 2: Other games and minis too!

Vampire Hunter$: Modern OGL Compatible	SAWS+ Character Sheet for Pathfinder	Field Guide to Superheroes Vol. 3 (ICONS)
Plastic Ships and Fuzzy Men	The Genius Guide to Another 110 Spell Variants	Iron Dynasty: Way of the Ronin

The coupon code you need to use at checkout to get the 20% discount is AfterGenConGlow2011.

By the way, if you haven’t checked out Iron Dynasty yet, you definitely should do so. It’s an awesome and very original setting for Savage Worlds that combines elements from feudal Japan with steampunk. You can read my review of this game here.

Related posts:

1. Get 20% off of selected titles at DriveThruRPG until July 10th
2. Get 20% off of selected titles at DriveThruRPG this month
3. Get 20% off of selected titles at DriveThruRPG

First I got home to a work week of unforeseen dimensions, then the con-crud hit! The combination kept me down for two days. Then last night when I finally sat down to write my laptop crashed, and apparently my smart phone followed in a sign of support. I had about half of my pictures and a smattering of videos on the smart phone. I restored the laptop and solved that problem, the smart phone proved another matter. I lost pictures and videos, never to be recovered. So if I took your picture at Gen Con and you never see it, I apologize.

But you didn’t come here for the sob stories; you came here to read about games, specifically role-playing games which are the main topic of this blog. You’ve probably read about some  of the big news which I’ll link to in case you only read this gaming blog (and we can’t fault you for your impeccable taste!). Margaret Weiss Productions announced their deal to produce a Marvel superheroes RPG. Sounds like a well planned project, and while I am not currently on the market for a new supers game (more on this later) I will take a look.

Fantasy Flight Games actually announced they have the Star Wars license for board games, card games and role-playing games just before Gen Con. They were running demos of their card game and X-Wing games at Gen Con both seemed interesting and I spent some time looking at people play. However I am mainly a role-player, while I dabble in the occasional board game, I would rather spend my time role playing. Will I buy a new Star Wars game? My knee jerk reaction is no, I have D6, and Saga, but the Warhammer 40K RPGs have tempted me, I’m just not that big of a 40K fan. Star Wars is another matter. I just might…

Wizards of the Coast had their Neverwinter campaign, D&D Encounters and a contest both at Gen Con and for those playing in encounters. The promo video looks really cool, and some of my friend interested in D&D 4^th edition seem stoked about it. Since I don’t play 4^th edition and I never played any of the Neverwinter computer games I was not terribly interested. I feel little bad that I can’t bring you more news about this but there is plenty of reports out there and while I was covering the convention for the blog I did want to focus in things that would be of interest to me. I hope there is some commonality with our reader. So what did I go for?

There were a few things I knew I was getting. Savage Worlds Deluxe was big on my list! I posted about the book and the pre-order, which I took advantage of and picked up at Gen Con, along with the Action and Adventure Decks. I had downloaded the PDF version that came with the bundle and printed it out, so I had “seen” the book before actually getting it, but even that did not take away from the sheer joy of holding the book in my hands. It is a beautiful thing, gorgeous to look at and sturdy. I ended up getting the official bennies as well as I am decided to run this game.

As I try to learn to better run Savage Worlds that was one of the games I wanted to play during Gen Con and thanks to my good friend David I did. I mentioned it on my previous Gen Con post, we played what was supposed to be a short game for over four hours and I got to experience firsthand how the game flows. I have a debt with David for showing me the way, thank you sir!

I got some other Savage Worlds books while in Indianapolis. From what I read of Suzerain it is a supplement to play deity-like characters using the Savage Worlds system. It gave me and Amber (the books, not the game) vibe and I couldn’t resist. Another book I was not looking for but discovered at Gen Con was The Day After Ragnarok. I had read about it but was not interested until someone talked to me about it, I held the book in my hands and I could not put it down. It’s a delicious blend of pulp and post apocalyptic goodness in the middle of the 20^th century that fired my imagination.

I also got another book by Ragnarok’s author Kenneth Hite, Cthulhu 101. While not strictly a role-playing game, who can say no to Cthulhu? Certainly not me! I got both books while on my way to the Green Ronin booth, as it seemed they were sharing the space. I was there to get some Mutants & Mastermind goodness. The system powers my weekly game and I wanted a copy of the 3^rd edition rules of the game, the new DC Adventures Heroes & Villains Vol. 1 book and the GM Kit. Getting to meet Steve Kenson (who I interviewed for the blog when ICONS came out) and having him sign the book was just the cherry on the sundae. I just love this system; it has become my favorite superhero game and the reason why I said earlier I am not really looking for a new game of this genre.

My other must get book was Ultimate Combat by Paizo. It is a terrific book, with a new class that uses the firearms rules in the book, the Samurai and Ninja as well as options for all combat classes, a truckload of feats and even some spells. The book continues the tradition of great books for Pathfinder and it fuels the fire of my desire to go back to playing Pathfinder. Getting the PDF copy of the book for just $5 was just a bonus. I think the PDF copies at $10 are priced just right point and being able to pick it up for half the price was a big win.

Pelgrane Press had Ashen Stars and the Esoterrorists, both using the Gumshoe system. Michael had told me so much about Ashen Star that I snatched it up and have not been disappointed. It is a beautiful book and the system is so elegant. The big surprise was Esoterrorist, I had read about it and was intrigued but I like it so much I have put down Ashen Star and I’m currently devouring this dark modern game, I highly recommend it! To me it’s not so much about the conceit behind Gumshoe and making investigation adventures easy, but simply such an entertaining read.

The Cubicle 7 booth was busy, busy, busy! They had The One Ring, and I got to meet Gareth Michael Skarka there. He is a terrific guy and I’m sorry I did not get to spend more time talking to him. They had a lot of the Adamant books there, I got what I want form them already, the already have my money, and I am glad they do.

I got some other goodies for my games, like the products of Dark Platypus Studios, including their magna maps, effect markers, pillars, clings, initiative tracker… Well let’s just say my biggest purchase at the con was from them! I got another customizable GM screen from another vendor, I already own two, but they had magnetic receptive inserts and I can do so much with them, not necessarily use them in the traditional screen function. The last thing I got was Gaming Paper’s Mega Dungeon and accompanying adventure. Amidst all the post con reading I have NOT gotten to the adventure but the map is MASSIVE and it just tickled my geek fancy!

There were plenty of other things I saw, demoed and almost purchased, but as it was I returned with over 50 pounds (about 23kg to you metric folk) in extra weight in my luggage (which I suspect made the airline very happy) so I could not get everything. So let me tell you about the other games. Amaranthine by Machine Age Productions seemed intriguing, a game of immortals and social interaction, right up my alley. As far as my players go, well not so much… Still the production quality was terrific and it was hard for me to put it down.

The idea of Dungeon Decks, sets of cards to create old school type adventures intrigued me. They are a cool way to generate ideas and get your creative juices flowing. WEGS Old Skool seemed like a tribute to old school gaming but integrating elements like cards into the game to make it more accessible for newer games. It looked simple and fun and I almost got it. This is one I am sorry I did not go back to the booth to get. I may yet order this.

The booth for tiltfactor was play testing a zombies in the office game which seemed promising if a little rough around the edges. Their Pox board game caught my eye specifically because they have lessons plans to use it in the classroom. But these are not strictly role-playing games and I am going off topic here. I hope to tackle other types of games and other goodies I found at Gen con on my next post…

See you then!

Related posts:

1. Gen Con 2011, a retrospective… Part 2: Other games and minis too!
2. Time to Speak Out with my Geek Out… Role-Playing Games in my case!
3. Five Great Blogs About Role-Playing Games @ GeekDad

I also plan to cover Gen Con for the blog. The how is still taking form. I’ll be taking lots of pictures and talking to whoever will indulge me, to know what fun things publishers big and small are planning and unveiling at the con. In this day and age there is so much information and coverage (like the fine folk at This Just in from Gen Con) that I don’t aspire to bring you every bit of news, just what I think will be of interest to our readers. I hope to post in some form from Gen Con, let’s see if the Exhibit Hall and random games don’t kill me…

What’s my plan? Well it’s fluid… At first I began filling up a log schedule and after a while I realized I would be running from one place to the other with little time to just ENJOY being there. So I scrapped it and decided to play it by ear. Here is the (very) rough outline:

• I should be leaving Puerto Rico Wednesday afternoon and arriving at Indianapolis late Wednesday night.
• I’ll be staying at the Crowne Plaza at Union Station where I will most likely crash for the night, unless there are any nearby convenience stores where I can stock up on some snacks (really have no idea how far they may be or the hours they keep)
• Thursday morning I plan to get up REALLY early and get my press badge and then it’s on to the (drum roll please)…
• EXHIBIT HALL! Cave of treasures, den of temptation, and bane of my bank account… I expect to spend the majority of the day there, meeting with some friends, visiting the creators I’ve read about so much and yet have never met. I also hope to meet some of our readers in the floor. (Here is a handy map, thanks Mad Brew Labs for sharing)
• Thursday night I play a game with some friends and hopefully write a post about the day for the blog (unless I just keep playing thought the night!)
• Friday I would like to get a chance to talk to more people, go to some seminars and hopefully play a pickup game here and there.
• Then Friday night I become conflicted! I want to go eat with other Puerto Ricans at the con, but there are the ENnies and Knights of the Dinner Table Live Reading! All on the same night. Decision, decisions… (and of course try to blog, let’s see if I keep this promise)
• Saturday I want to get chance to pick up a couple of gifts, game some more and maybe, just maybe if I manage to pull something together actually run a game. Not sure about this yet.
• Then Sunday its breakfast, a walk around and then off to the airport. I should be back home in the early evening, tired and happy.

There are some things I’m looking forward, like getting my Savage Worlds Deluxe copy, trying to get a copy of Ultimate Combat, getting a copy of e20, even if it’s an electronic one. I am even bringing some gifts a friend sent to some of his friends who will be exhibitors. I also plan to bring some rum and a coffee for a Puerto Rican who misses his Yaucono. I also plan to meet the #RPGchat crew at one of their planned meet ups. Good times ahead…

If you are going to Gen Con I’d love to meet you and chat. You can find me in Twitter as @Sunglar, on Facebook as sunglar@hotmail.com, Google+ as sunglar@gmail.com. Be sure to reach out if you feel like taking for a bit and saying hi! If all goes to according to plan I’ll be there very soon…

The biggest hurdles to my plan so far? Well they start at home! I had a video camera for the convention and found out last night the battery is not working properly so I am scrambling to get a replacement. If I manage to you may see some video, if not, well it’s all going be still pictures. Second, well its nature! A tropical storm, that may or may not become a hurricane, is on its way to Puerto Rico. Who knows what could happen… I just hope it doesn’t play havoc with plane schedules and I manage to arrive in Indianapolis as planned. See you there!

PS – If you see the gamer on the pictures at Gen Con, be sure to throw him a bone!

Related posts:

1. My GenCon plans
2. My Plans for NaGa DeMon
3. Gaming-related plans for 2010

I am NOT their market for adventure paths. I rarely, if ever, play pre-published adventures. I may read the occasional one for an idea, stealing a map here, a trap there, but let’s just say the last adventure I ran ALMOST straight from the book was an AD&D 2^nd edition adventure. Still I find the format Paizo uses intriguing because each adventure installment is accompanied by other gaming material. I have also recently become more interested in Golarion. While I doubt I will ever run a game in that setting, it’s one of those worlds I love reading about for inspiration and just for the sheer fun of it.

One thing I love from all adventure paths is the free Players Guide! Who doesn’t like a freebie! This one is no different. This time around the traits are tied to some key NPCS. The NPCS are very nice and can be used for any campaign. The guide also has rules for caravans. Yes you read that right, caravans… Their statistics, events, job, combat, the idea seemed farfetched at first but for a campaign where the PC will be making the long journey overland to a distant land it seems like a good mechanic to add. I will need to read it better to see how I could put this to use. Interesting!

So if you like adventure paths and are interested in one out of the adventures of Marco Polo, and you want to visit the distant Asian themed lands of Golarion, this Adventure Path may just be up you alley. Me I’m sitting down to read the Player’s Guide. Enjoy…

PS- As I was re-reading this post for typos I noticed I had originally written Rise of the Rune Lords as RIDE of the Runelords… That adventure path would have been very different if the protagonists were a bunch of Harley ridding guys with big beer bellies. Just saying…

Related posts:

1. Review: End Time
2. It’s a good time to be a supers fan!
3. Hit me Magus one more time! (With apologies to Ms. Spears…)

If some of you are scratching your heads and saying, “Well this isn’t exactly a timely review!” You are right, the gracious folk at Open Design had provided a review copy on PDF of this book some weeks ago and I had been unable to review it. I apologize to them, real life has just not let up, and I hope that this is a better late than never situation and I can do my part to spread the word of this excellent supplement. How awesome is it? Read on to find out…

Let’s dispense with the layout first. It follows the same format as all previous books, two columns simple yet functional layout, a beautiful cover by Christophe Swal, who has become eponymous  with the look of the Advanced Feats series, and decorations through the book that manage to mix the mysterious of the arcane with the a martial theme. The book is sprinkled with useful sidebars, about shields, swords, rule considerations, including advice on running low charisma characters and balancing feats, all useful and enlightening about the creation process of the author.

The overview of the class is what opens the book, and I found it especially useful. New classes are always a tricky thing, especially for me who can often get lost in the role-playing and lose sight of some of the rules long term. And then come the feats; 30 new feats, useful for the Magus, but many are useful for other classes, both magic and combat oriented. The feats have the author’s comments, understanding the rationale behind the rule decisions is almost like having a director’s commentary track on your RPG book.

I love some of the feats because of their flavor, while they are good solid rules, these rules enhance the role-playing possibilities for players and that to me is a win-win. Arcana Thief is a feat that enhances the Magus’ Arcana Pool when the character disrupts a spell or counterspells, filling a particular niche that is often overlooked in my games.  Greatweapon Spell Combat lets the Magus use the Spell Combat feature with a two handed sword, granting greater variety to the class. These are an example of a feat specific to a Magus.

And then there are some gems of a feat, like Hobbyist, an elegant solution to earning decent skill ranks through the use of a feat (I won’t spoil it, let’s just say I really like the idea), Parrying Defense (sacrifice an attack when doing a full attack for some extra defense) and Reckless Attack (get an attack bonus and suffer penalties and attacks of opportunity), all seem interesting and a good option for many other classes. Sure there are a lot of Magus specific feats but I think there is a good overall balance. There is a brief section on the feats from previous books in the Advanced Feats series that would be useful to a Magus rounding out the feats section.

Then there are the builds. The Fae Blade is an elven themed build, the Lady of the Lash is a whip themed Magus and the Rune Fist mixes Monk and Magus. While these are some interesting themes, the builds seem more themed to the character they represent than archetypes of myth or literature. I like that! The NPCs are imaginative and immediately useful for a Game Master at any level. Kudos…

Overall I think this is a GREAT addition to the Advanced Feats series. The book is available as a PDF here for $3.99. I hope to see more books in this series, full of crunchy rules, but with many ideas that enhance the role-playing. What’s up next? I for one can’t wait…

Related posts:

1. Hit me Magus one more time! (With apologies to Ms. Spears…)
2. What about the Magus? A new Pathfinder RPG playtest…
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I review a lot of Open Design books, and I make no qualms about admitting how much I enjoy their products. I am a Pathfinder fan true and true, and well they simply publish so many awesome books for my favorite fantasy RPG I can’t help myself. The 18^th issue of Kobold Quarterly does not disappoint. This issue weights in at 100 pages with content not only for the Pathfinder RPG but to the other two big players in the fantasy RPG field, Dungeons & Dragons 4^th Ed and the newcomer AGE system from Green Ronin. I am a fan of AGE as well and I am happy to see more options for fantasy RPG lovers out there and I applaud Open Design for supporting it. It’s chock full of goodies…

Want to learn more? Read on…

The first thing that jumped at me was the cover. Wow! Dragons fighting mid-flight, one a very traditional looking red dragon and the other an exotic yellow spotted specimen, it just screams action, and I love it. Kieran Yanner provides a great opener for this issue. The art inside does not disappoint, excellent art and layout all around. There is a good mix of articles, mostly are for D&D or Pathfinder, some are for both (Heresy! Just kidding…) but AGE is well represented.

Gift of the Gods, divine talents for AGE, brings divine magic that may be superficially more familiar to fans of other rule sets to this game. An excellent article, which makes me want to play AGE so much more. The Savant is a new class for the Pathfinder RPG, which is intriguing because it lets you do a little bit of everything, and while it may fill the needs of some players it struck me as a little out there. An interesting concept, not one I would play but that’s just me, I can imagine some of my players being really intrigued by it. I liked the Dragon Hunter prestige class much more. There is a Midgard specific article on the ecology of minotaurs. One of my favorite non-traditional fantasy races, it was a great read, even if the rules where D&D specific.

This issue has a lot of adventures. A solo adventure for a halfling thief, which requires no previous knowledge of the rules reminiscent of the “choose your own adventure” books of old, and excellent short adventure ideal to show someone who wants to learn about RPGs what it’s all about. The Exorcist is an intriguing Pathfinder adventure for 1^st level characters and last but not least a short and fun adventure for 4^th level D&D characters, Who Watches the Watch Fires. And how can you just NOT read an adventure with that title.

There is plenty of more Pathfinder goodness like rules for combining spells for extra effect, for Midgard Cavaliers, and Leadership feats that allow you to have beasts as followers. There is a piece on building mystery adventures, geared to D&D 4^th edition but good for any GM. And then there are the columns, advice, rule clarifications (Ask the Kobold), I was particularly impressed by the Heroic Flaw mechanic by Philippe-Antoine Menard (aka Chatty DM) simple concept, easy to use but full of possibilities, very nice…

There is much more this issue has to offer. I just scratched the surface; there are book reviews, a primer on Asian cinema for gamers. I did tell you it’s 100 pages long right? The book is available electronically and in print. It is a steal for all the goodies you get. Congratulations to the kobold on another great issue.

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If you are a Pathfinder RPG fan like me you might already know this, but just in case you missed it, Paizo launched applications based on their Critical Hit Deck and Critical Fumble Decks for your iPad or iPhone. The iCrit and iFumble (I’ve read some criticism of the names, but what the heck it’s an iWorld after all!) are digital versions of the real deal. If you own the decks they may not seem that useful, BUT they keep you from having to take the decks along to the game, and at $1.99 they are cheaper than the real thing.

I already do most of my GMing digitally so these are no brainers for me. I also own this Pathfinder SRD app which lets me plan for the game from my phone. That coupled with PDF readers and dice rolling apps make my life so much easier. With two iPhones and two iPads among me and my players I have a feeling these little apps will see a lot of use when we go back to playing Pathfinder.

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Besides the Magus class, they included the options for the magi using classes, feats, spells and a new magic sub-system based on Words of Power, and so many new monsters… I buy all new major books for Pathfinder, both in print and in PDF. I’m a believer and supporter of Paizo’s pricing structure for new books on PDF (most of the major releases are $9.99) so I make sure I put my money where my mouth is. Still the Reference Document is an invaluable source, I consult it constantly during the game, and since I’m Game Mastering from my laptop it’s the gaming site I probably use the most.

I have said this before, but I think they deserve it, thank you Paizo! Your continued support of the community, through play tests, prompt updates of the Reference Document and the sense of camaraderie they foster on their site and message boards is greatly appreciated. I am a big fan, and In case you are too (and like me you had missed it) enjoy!

PS – Walter (I have not had the pleasure to meet him but thanks!) wrote a Guide to the Magus on the Pathfinder SRD with a nice overview and analysis of the class. I’m also writing a review of Might of the Magus from Open Design that should be ready soon, so I’ll be coming back to this class soon…

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For over a year a group of RPG fans from Puerto Rico has been gathering to share our love of gaming, food and camaraderie in different places across the island. The group was formed over two years ago and after forging an electronic community and doing some demos at local conventions we finally decided to hold a social activity to get to know each other better. We settled on getting together on a park or other public place and someone suggested the idea of calling it a geeknic. He actually got the idea from geeknic.org, everybody loved the idea and we ran with it.

So far we’ve held five successful geeknics and we just keep growing! The geeknics are typically what we call “fiesta del sorullo plus” which roughly translates to a bring what you’ll eat and drink and a little extra to share! This upcoming 6^th geeknic, which in keeping with previous naming conventions we have called the Undiscovered Geeknic, will not be the exception. I’m preparing my famous (and artery clogging) Gordopleta© (my very own version of Tripleta) for participants, but usually it goes pretty fast so if you want a taste you better get there early.

There are games already planned, some Dark Heresy, some Pathfinder, and even a mysterious game the GM is being tight lipped about. Usually someone brings along a board game, Three Dragon Ante and Munchkin have been pretty popular, some people just sit back and share game stories, not that gamers do that. So we’ll have something for everybody.

I realize that probably most of our readers in Puerto Rico are also members of Puerto Rico Role Players, but on the odd chance you are from the island and did not know about us, are visiting this upcoming weekend, or have friends, families or acquaintances in Puerto Rico who may be interested in learning more about RPGs, playing a game or just hanging out with fellow geeks, pass it on. We’ll be meeting at the Luis Muñoz Rivera Park, Sunday July 3^rd from 9 AM to 6 PM. Be there for the greatest geeknic on earth!

I hope if nothing, this inspires to get together with a couple of friends and share your love of gaming with others. Thanks to the folk at geeknic.org for such a wonderful idea. Here is the link for the event in Facebook… Thanks for reading and have a great day!

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They are part of the Midgard Campaign Setting, their campaign world (and current patronage product), and continue to flesh out what has proven to be a fascinating setting, full of interesting ideas, whether you want to run it as is or you want inspiration for your homebrewed campaign. I reviewed PDF copies of both books. Streets of Zobeck is a 94 page (90 pages of actual content) adventure anthology full of locations, NPCs and new rules of the gritty fantasy variety. I was impressed by the layout, art and tone; it all reeks of the seedier elements of fantasy. There are some adult topics here (prostitution for example), but nothing that seems gratuitous or uncalled for, it’s fitting, gritty and dark.

Want to learn more? Read on…

When I read the preface to Street of Zobeck I was a little worried. I have never thought of myself as a grim and gritty fantasy fan. I read some Lieber and Thieves’ World but they were never my favorite. Some of the other inspirations mentioned, the Black Company, Mieville, I have never read. I think of myself as more of an epic fantasy guy… But my players may disagree. Some have called my campaigns dark, gloomy and not at all black and white but all shades of gray. So how I perceive myself may be totally different from the reality. This may call for some introspection, but you are not here for that, you are here for the review. Let’s get back to that.

Streets of Zobeck is a supplement for another book, Zobeck Gazeteer. I do not own that book, so I imagine there is some details I am not getting, but from what I see here, I really want that first book. There is even a city map… I see the Kobold’s devious plan; they give me a taste to reel me in! I am on to them.

I REALLY like the art in this book. It is very fitting for the book, even the maps which look hand drawn, maintain the gritty feeling. Yeah I know I said this before but it’s worth reiterating. Which takes me to the firs t part of the book, Faces of Zobeck, an excellent set of NPCs, some are what you expect for adventures set in the underworld, others truly surprising. Some get illustrations, but with such a beautifully illustrated book, I would have loved to see images for each of these characters.

Places of Zobeck is my favorite chapter of the book. It’s all about locations, with maps, scenario ideas, personalities, even a new rogue archetype, The Fixer. I rarely run pre-published adventures, so this is the chapter I can probably use whole cloth with little modification. And then it’s on to the adventures, seven in total. I really enjoyed reading them and there are lots of little details I’m sure to lift for my games. The adventure spread is pretty good, from level 1 to 11, which I think it’s about as high a level as this type of gritty adventure works. There are combat, investigation and role playing opportunities a plenty in these adventures. The highest level adventure, Flesh Fails was my favorite of the lot. Put together they can be the base of a great campaign. The last chapter, Traces of Zobeck, has feats, traits, spells, and new magic items.

Alleys of Zobeck is a supplement for Streets of Zobeck. It’s a 17 page book that opens with a brief adventure that introduces the city to new players and has additional goodies for the first book. It has rules bits, locations, NPCs, all good, but you really need Streets of Zobeck to make the most of this book. I get a feeling this is a collection of all the stuff that had to be cut from the first book. Don’t get me wrong, its good content but it really does not stand on its own. It’s a mere $2.95, so I cannot begrudge them for the price. Street of Zobeck is available as a PDF for $9.95 and as a Print+PDF combo for $19.95.

This is true fantasy noir. I was pleasantly surprised by the content of these books. This is usually not my fare and it was a pleasant surprise. Kudos to Ben McFarland the lead designer and his team, this is dark fantasy at its finest!

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The Alchemist, The Cavalier, The Inquisitor, The Oracle, The Summoner, The Witch

The larger part of the book are obviously the feats. They are all here, in one unified list, which is a big plus. Like I said before, while many of these feats will enhance the classes they were written for, they will be useful for other classes. There are some corrections done, and all the things I liked, such as commentary on the reasoning behind the feat’s design, and sidebars appropriate to the feats. I am not a fan of feat books for feats sakes, but this does not feel like a random list of ideas, there is a theme and focus here unlike other feat books I have read. This may be my favorite book of this sort in print.

And of course the other big part of the books is here, the builds. This is where the author shows you how all this get’s put together and how the feats make these types of characters unique. I must commend the author for showing so clearly his vision on what feats should be, not by telling us but by doing it. The build each feature archetypes of the classes and yet makes them different.

So what about the art? I must say I love all of it! There wasn’t a single one I did not like, a mix of color and black and white art with very fitting decoration on the page. Some are a little tongue in cheek, like the one accompanying the Lighten Weapon feat (which allows the character to use oversized weapons) with the little war Chihuahua pulling the cart where his mistress carried her giant hammer (the art is FAR cooler than I am able to describe it) and the pet lover in me just loved the cat sleeping on top the giant from on page 16. Many pieces were reused from the previous books, but put to good use. The few new pieces illustrate some element of the feats on the page. The art is sparse but appropriate, the layout clear and very elegant.

So indulge me here for a moment as I type out a few partying words. Thanks to Mr. Trent for writing an excellent series, to Shelly Baur for giving me the opportunity to review it, and to the whole Open Design team for the high quality products you keep churning out! I don’t know what you are feeding that kobold, but you keep doing it. Here is looking forward to Mr. Trent working his magic on the other classes in the Pathfinder RPG game, specially the Magus. I would love to see what he does with it…

Related posts:

1. What about Advanced Feats: The Cavalier’s Creed? A review…
2. What about Advanced Feats: The Witch’s Brew? A review…
3. What about Advanced Feats: The Summoner’s Circle? A review…

I’ve had the book for a while now (and apologize for taking so long to review it) but every time I sat down to review it I was at a loss for words. Mind you, it’s not because the book is bad, on the contrary, I loved it. It presents a detailed and very original NPC, very fitting with the dreamland setting but usable in many campaigns. And here lies the rub…

This is such an interesting concept for an NPC that talking too much about it might just ruin the surprise. I really thought about how I could review this without giving it away and I realized I can’t. So I will resort to the tried and true method of game manuals of old. From this point on this post in meant for Game Masters and possible purchasers of the book, all others turn away! (And we all know how well that worked on the books…)

Gozutozawa is a will-o’-wisp Summoner (the class from the Pathfinder Advanced Player’s Guide) who gave up its evil ways and plays musing in the dreamland market though its eidolon, a humanoid bard it summons with its powers. The concept is so simple and at the same time so original. The book includes an introduction to Gozutozawa, ideas on how to use the NPC and statistics for it at Challenge Ratings 21, 14 and 8. It details the will-o’-wisp at different moments in its history, along with the Eidolon.

I did not comb over the details of the stat block, but they seem solid after cursory look. The book also has new rules for monstrous Summoners, magic items, templates. In 16 short pages the book certainly covers a lot of ground. After reading it I thought this was a much longer book, and I mean that as a compliment, it just manages to accomplish so much. The layout is simple yet functional, the art sparse but it covers the most salient aspects, specifically Laughing Lucky the eidolon.

One of the things I liked the most about this product is that it doesn’t present a combat heavy NPC. In fact Gozutozawa is more a dreamer (well more accurately a music lover) than a fighter. The will-o’-wisp is an enigma for the players to puzzle over, a source of mystery and information, a great role-playing opportunity. Which is also what I liked least of all, let me explain.

Though my years as a Game Master I have learned that I do not need to write up the statistics of every single NPC, or even every opponent, re-skinning and repurposing stats is one of the best tools a GM can have. A creature such as Gozutozawa for me works better as a series of notes of what it could do with no hard and fast stats. I understand the benefits of having full stats, Pathfinder is after all a crunch heavy game and I know some players would mind the GM making things up as he went, so this is an invaluable resource to have fully stated NPCs.

Matt Banach and Justin Sluder create an interesting NPC, made me look at wil-o’-wisps in a whole new light. The writing is solid, informative and entertaining. I must say despite what I said above I really enjoyed this book. If this is a sample of the quality of the series, then I look forward to reading more of it. Faces of the Tarnished Souk: The Ghost Light That Dreamed, Gozutozawa is available at $1.99 on PDF. Let yourself be lulled by the sweet music of this intriguing NPC.

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See, I love the mysteries of Asian folklore, its history, but as someone brought up in the “west” (I do hate those arbitrary terms but let’s use them for ease of reference) I still feel there is much I still have to learn about the culture and more about the history of Asia. As far as RPGs go I have purchased some Asian themed games like the Original Oriental Adventures, the Kara-Tur boxed set for the Forgotten Realms and even the D&D3^rd edition version of Oriental Adventures which was set in the world of Rokugan, also the setting for Legend of the Five Rings. That last game despite its popularity and having MANY friends who play it, I have never tried. In fact I have never played or run an entire Asian themed campaign.

That does not mean I don’t have Asian inspired lands and themes in my games, as a matter of fact my homebrewed campaign has region analogous to the Asian nations of the Pacific Rim. I have just never set adventures there. Elements from these faraway lands appear every now and then and remain mysterious and exotic. I even have a small islands settled by the people of these lands in the middle on an archipelago dear the more European like areas of the world, so imagine my excitement when I discovered this adventure was set in strange Asian like islands.

Let’s get the “physical” aspects of the book out of the way first (remember I am reviewing a PDF copy, a print copy will soon be available and I’m pretty sure it’s will be every bit as pretty as the digital one). The layout is a simple two column style with an easy to read font. The bamboo frames on the page seem evocative and the art of the book is top notch. There is no single piece of art I did not like and some that are simply gorgeous (like the full page illustration of the same art in the cover reprinted in page 6).

It also has nice maps for the encounters and the locations in the story. I often complain about art or layout, but I have no complain whatsoever from this book, Rite Publishing has hit all the right notes. This is 57 pages of content, part adventure, part introduction to the land of Kaidan, it includes magic items, new monsters, and little side bars of important details, special rules for Kaidan even a glossary.

What about the curse in the title of the adventure? Well I don’t want to spoil much, it has to do with the souls of the dead trapped in Kaidan and reincarnation, but done in a fresh, interesting and what I find to be appropriately creepy and imaginative way. Kudos!

I love the assumption that the players will be outsiders coming to Kaidan for the first time, the adventure seems simple enough, but it hits all the right notes, provides ideas and motivations for the players to be there and flows very naturally. The notes for the encounters are very well written; the development and tactic notes are very useful. The adventure is full of details and flavor that reminded me of the very first time I watched the Shogun TV miniseries (think what you may of it, as a kid I was entranced by it), despite what I know about Japanese culture and history, for the players this will be like visiting a familiar, yet exotic and unknown land for the very first time.

A minor quibble, there are a couple of grammatical mistakes (like I’m one to speak, have you read my posts?), but it’s  missing letters or something minor like that, nothing that will keep you from enjoying the adventure.

Jonathan McAnulty, co author of Coliseum Morpheuon (which I reviewed here), has put together an excellent adventure. Even if you do not play the adventure itself, the setting, rules and inspiration, are well worth the entrance price. Congratulations to the Rite Publishing staff for putting together such an excellent product.  The PDF is available for $9.99, but you can pre-order a print copy bundled with the PDF copy for $17.99 which would be my choice. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did…

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I am well aware that role-playing is an international affair. While I knew this to be a fact, writing in the blog has confirmed it as I have met people from all over the world. I also know that games have been created, written and played in many countries, but (to the best of my knowledge) they first appeared in the United States of America and have spread to the world.

The first RPG games I read where all in English and it was years before I actually saw games in my native Spanish. I became aware they existed, but did not see one for years. I live in Puerto Rico and our socio-political situation means we are very close to the US so it is not surprising that RPG games would become available in English here. When I finally found RPGs in Spanish it was actually cheaper for me to buy them in English. That did not stop me and I have a few Spanish RPG books in my collection, the gem being a Traveller boxed set and the main rule book and some supplements for Aqularre, an excellent RPG from Spain.

Despite this, the majority (99%) of my RPG collection is in English. Shaun asked (and I paraphrase here so forgive me in advance for any mistake) whether we played in Spanish and only used English for certain terms, thus the title of the post: “Spanish, Spanish, saving throw, Spanish, Spanish”. Michael chimed in and confirmed that was the case when he games. Of course in his case its, “German, German, attack of opportunity, German German”. Like I told Shaun, that was not the case for me…

When I game I speak a strange pidgin of English, Spanish and gaming terms. But that’s not exclusive to games; Spanglish is common to certain groups in the island. To put this in some context, in Puerto Rico both Spanish and English are official languages and we are taught English form grade school, but Spanish is our principal language. I became proficient in English from a young age so when I got to read game books they were no challenge for me (well some archaic verbiage usage by Gygax did throw me for a loop), I cannot say the same for all my players, there where different language skills in the group, so I would normally game in Spanish with a smattering of English, including game terms.

As time passed and we got to High School I began to game in English more and more. Games were a way for many of my friends to develop language skills so we began to game in English frequently. It eventually got to a point that we currently switch from one language to another without realizing. If you asked me to tell you which language I used the most over the last couple of sessions I’d be hard pressed to put a percentage on each.

When I think about it I realize I often narrate in Spanish and speak as NPCs in English. Of course knowing more than one language can be put to good use around the table. In my currently on hiatus Pathfinder RPG Swashbuckling campaign I will speak Spanish, with a terrible fake accent attempting to imitate a Spaniard, when and NPC is speaking a certain language, and English for another language, a trade tongue analogous to the Common of D&D fame. In fact players have taken up the cues and do this, often poking good natured fun when someone around the table fails to use the correct real world language for the fantasy language. I know a smattering of Italian and French so I often use some words to represent other languages.

That’s just one example when real world languages can impact your game. I have also used the Google Translate app on my iPhone to translate phases so my players know what they are hearing in another language. I don’t make them figure out what they hear, I tell them, I just use the app so they know what it sounds like. It adds verisimilitude for me, but that’s a very personal taste, I realize not everybody needs those details in their game.

So, I ask you dear reader, which language do you game on? If English is not your first language and you play games written in English, do you speak your native tongue and only used game terms in English, do you speak English, a combination like me? If you speak more than one language does it impact the game in similar ways to what I described or in other ways? I look forward to hear for you all. Thanks for reading!

PS – I tweet (irregularly) as @Sunglar, feel free to follow me, I’ll be sure to follow you back.

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I figured I had a pretty diverse set of miniatures from these two games. True the Battle Masters minis had unit bases with various miniatures grouped together, but I solved this by getting some foam board, cutting out bases and inserting the miniature on the base. I packed them on some craft supplies boxes and I was set. I told myself I needed no more minis.

See, I had friends who owned a LOT of minis. I had played some Battletech and Epic but always with their miniatures, and I had seen the obsession with these little then lead, and later pewter, figurines. I had flirted with the idea of painting them, actually ordering a set of dwarves and skavens and trying my hand at painting them… Let’s just say the results were less than flattering. Unpainted miniatures looked so, unattractive that I was uninterested in them, so I figured that with no natural talent I was immune to the lure of miniatures.

So for the first couple of months I was happy with my box of HeroQuest minis and the game proceeded along nicely. It took me a while to get used to the miniatures at the table but I came to embrace them. Then WizKids started making the pre-painted Mage Knight miniatures and I told myself “I can get a couple of those sets and supplement my minis collection”. And so I started down a slippery slope…

Then Wizards of the Coast put out the D&D miniatures, little plastic pre-painted representations of the heroes and monsters of my favorite game. I tried to be casual about it, told myself “I am only getting a box to see them and that’s that”. Back home I stared at them in awe, they had removed my main obstacle for collecting miniatures, I did not have to paint them. I could take them out of the box and use them. I was hooked.

For some timer I would buy cases of every set they put out, and get all the special miniatures they put out, and then came the Star Wars minis game, and the Star Wars Starship Battles.  You get the idea, I was addicted. I had been bitten by the Plastic Crack bug. My friend José was the first one who told me about the term and it was true. I craved these plastic miniatures; I had to have them all!

Eventually I realized I had enough, and not enough place to store them, so I became more selective, getting only the occasional booster and some individual minis in the secondary market. I still got the dragons, the AT-AT, the recent Beholders set and of course, Orcus! But slowly, little by little, I got away from my addiction and for a very long time I kept away from plastic crack.

And then I recently fell off the wagon. José, the very same friend who introduced me to the plastic crack term, got back into Warhammer 40K and started telling me about some great deals on Rackham miniatures on eBay. I had always like the miniatures, and they had made some nice plastic pre-painted one, I just had to look. Soon after I was buying a set and watching a couple more, I was off the wagon and craving my plastic miniatures!

So imagine my rejoicing when I heard about the upcoming Pathfinder miniatures by WizKids. I’m really looking forward to this set. It feels like I’m coming full circle. I want to get me some of those miniatures, and there is a couple of other Rackham sets I’m keeping my eyes on.

What’s your experience with minis? Do you use them? Do you paint them?

PS – And just in case you don’t get the reference in the title, here is the video where it comes from:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytJpZguSy2U

PS2 – (Shameless plug) If you live in Puerto Rico, or will be here soon, on June 4^th the Puerto Rico Role Players group will be hosting a miniature painting day where we will share tips and ideas on how to get the most of your minis. We’d love to see you there!

Related posts:

1. Free Stuff Friday: One Monk Miniatures
2. D&D 4th Edition without miniatures
3. My Orcus & Me!

Wait! What did I say? I should not say “just”, man there is an online CHARACTER GENERATOR for Pathfinder in the webpage. Great!

I’ve become a great fan of online tools that can speed up my game in any way, from the SRD to spell cards and generators! I own Hero Lab and love it but realize not everybody wants to (or can) invest in software for their games. The Venture Captain Standard Character Generator includes all the basic races and classes from the core rulebook, it’s easy and intuitive to use and you can save the result to a PDF. This is obviously a labor of love and the creator is still working on it (here is his stated roadmap for the development) but so far so good.

I love the generator and look forward to the any features added in the future. So be sure to drop by, give it a whirl and thank the creator for this awesome tool! Enjoy…

Related posts:

1. The Pathfinder Role Playing Game Reference Document UPDATE!
2. Pathfinder RPG Spellcards, for free!
3. Oldies but goodies! Some great digital game supplements for the New Year…

We have cons, but they are a different affair. For the longest time they would be dealers of collectibles gathered in one location, it would be purely commercial. Then they became affairs where they would bring some famous (or semi famous guests) to draw people in and there would be a dealer room. Things have evolved and currently we have at last three established cons, two are really centered round cosplay, anime and manga. Including dance routines, skits and competitions, with various other hobbies represented in the mix, from CCGs, to model builders, Star Wars and historical re-enactors, and now role-playing enthusiasts. There is another convention more centered on comics and media (movies and TV) but I have never participated as a presenter.

This past weekend the latest Kaisen convention, Kaisen: Infinity, was held, the eighth the organizers have put together. I have gone to five of those, and on the last two the Puerto Rico Role Players Facebook group has participated.  I have written about the group before, and specifically about one of the games we played this week. One of the things we do is spread the word about just what RPGs are and encourage people to game. This weekend was no exception, we ran two demos games, Sailor Moon (yes we did, I guess it was the right venue for it) and a Weird West game. I had also planned a Resolute, Adventurer & Genius game I did not get to run due to time constrains.

We showed newbies what an RPG is; some have joined the group afterwards. We also told people what RPGs are even if they did not sit down and play. It was refreshing to talk with parents of kids there to play CCGs who had never heard of role-playing, and to meet people who had not played since high school. It felt like time well spent.

And it’s not easy on your weekend taking a day to man a booth, talk to people and run games. Mind you I was not alone! I had some of the Puerto Rico Role Players crew with me, kudos to them. Despite the hard work I would do it again in a heartbeat. So, after this entire ramble, on to the title of this post, what are the pros of conventions?

You get to meet new people. No matter how big or small your gaming community you can’t know everybody. A booth or table at a con, specially a con NOT geared exclusively to games lets you educate people about RPGs. There is always the concern of running into people, who disapprove of games, but the crowd at these cons is pretty accepting and I am yet to run into any negative reaction.

But handing out information is not enough, you need to show just what an RPG is and there is no better way than actually sitting down and playing. We have tried running Pathfinder, D&D 4^th edition, with some success, but these games a little more complex. I really think simple, pickup games lend themselves better to learn what the game is and picking it up quickly. MicroLite, Weird West, Warrior, Rogue & Mage have been excellent games to play at cons. Sailor Moon were a great choice for the crowd. I may not know what Sailor Moon was about never having seen it, but people playing it certainly knew all the details and nuances and they had great fun.

And the best part of cons? Well it’s the gaming of course! Once upon a time I dreaded the prospect of playing with strangers, not anymore! There are people I only game with at conventions (or the Geeknics we put together), friends who don’t sit regularly at my table who I get to play with. And then there are new gamers. I just love the look on a newbies eyes when they “get it”.

So I would publicly like to thank the organizers of Kaisen for giving us a place to game, looking forward to the next Kaisen, and come June we will also be participating at the Central Fan Fest. So if you live in Puerto Rico, are planning to come down this way, join us and let’s roll some dice.

I tweeted something like this the other day, if every role-player shows at least one person how to game, we would double the fan base. Simple mathematics! It’s a little tongue in cheek but I mean it… So in closing and I have made this point before, spread the word. Share your love for RPGs with whoever will listen. A convention is a great opportunity, but it could be a local library, hosting a game in your FLGS. Go other there and game!

Related posts:

1. Post Christmas Gaming Loot!
2. Breaking the d20 Paradigm
3. Come one, come all, to the greatest geeknic on earth!