#RPGaDAY2024 - Day 3

 "Most often played RPG"

For this one I'm going to go with my most played rpg of all time. I'm pretty sure that 3.0/3.5 D&D wins by a long shot. While I don't really care for it (or its successor Pathfinder 1e) now, I spent many hours playing it with friends and have so many fond memories with it. At the time the rules were extra crunchy and to be honest, I liked that about it (compared to previous editions I played). Ironic that as I've gotten older I now prefer those older editions because they aren't as rules heavy. 

#RPGaDay2021 - Day 15

 Day 15 is supplement.

What is your favorite supplement? There have been quite a few supplements I've really enjoyed, but I think my all time favorite is Libris Mortis. If you are unfamiliar with the book, it was the official 3.5 guide to undead things. It gave a great overview of undead, their creation, and motivation. It presented rules to customize and even play as the foul necromantic creatures. Additionally it had all the classic 3.5 things: feats, prestige classes, spells, monsters, and monster templates.

Was this the greatest supplement of all time. Not really. However, I love undead things and the book was entertaining to read. 

Monsters of Mayhem #1 Review

I recently received my pdf for backing +Mark Taormino Monsters of Mayhem #1 Kickstarter.  I backed this project and have proof-reader credits for it.

Check out this cover. It's flippin' sweet (if you're okay with cheesecake art).

This manual of monsters is full of 48 beasties. If you've read or played through any of the Maximum Mayhem Dungeon adventures (and you should btw), then you'll recognize things like blue trolls, casket creep, and little green bastards. There are also several new monsters that are familiar if you're a fan of cinema. Here's a run down of my favourite monsters in the book:

Block of Hungry Flesh - This thing is just so fricken' gross. Ever wonder what happens when you mix the alien from The Thing with a gelatinous cube? Neither did I and now that I've seen it I can't unsee it.
Demonia Gigantica - Giant sexy demon.... though it's a frightening thought I think all of my games need this.
Lagoon Creeper - It's the Creature from the Black Lagoon. This is definitely a necessity in D&D, because that guy gets shafted compared to a lot of Universal Monsters.
Nightmare Warriors - Roving bands of blood thirsty undead warriors.
Plague Bunny - These bastards are deceptive. They look like cute little bunnies and then they explode and cover everyone with diseased viscera. That's metal af!
Tiny Terrors - Remember the windmill scene from Army of Darkness? Oh yeah!

The stats and background for all of these beasts are solid and entertaining. In addition, the artwork is fantastic. Since this is an OSR monster book, it can pretty much be used for any version of D&D with little work. Personally, I think these monsters would be great additions to Crimson Dragon Slayer.

All of Mark's adventures feature quotes from adventurers. This time, the monsters have a few words. I know this is random, but it's a nice touch.

Okay, now that I've praised the book I do have a few things to say. I am disappointed by how long it took Mark to finish with this one. The Kickstarter delivery date was July of last year and we just got the pdfs, this month. Honestly this is a trend I've seen from his past few kickstarters. At this point I pretty much expect things to take an extra six months to a year. Don't get me wrong, Mark is a great guy. His books are all well-written and entertaining. I know he's busy.  I just think he should maybe push his delivery dates back a bit.

Okay all of that aside, you should still go grab this one. You can get the pdf or pre-order the book here.

While you're at it pick up his other adventures:
Hanging Coffins of the Vampire Queen
Secret Machines of the Star Spawn
Villains of the Undercity
Vault of the Dwarven King

February Festivities Bundle by Skirmisher Games

If you have an extra 2.99 you should really check out Skirmisher Games February Festivities Bundle.  It includes 10 pdfs for various versions of D&D (3.5, Pathfinder, and 5E) as well as system neutral material. My favourite among them is Men & Monsters of Ethiopia... a 5E monster supplement that I reviewed here. Printable minis for the book are included in the bundle, as well as several other cool pdfs.

Skirmisher Game is a publisher I don't see many folks talking about, but in my experience they make some great books and the writers are super nice guys.

#RPGADAY2017 - Day 13

Day 13: Describe a game experience that changed how you play.


I can't tell you the exact date (though I could probably look up the year), but a game experience that changed my life was playing Gren Tealeaf-Tosskettle. He was a halfling rogue I made for a 3.5 game ran by my friend James. I don't know why but I just let myself go playing Gren. He was the first character I played that I actually thought about true adventuring motivation. He wanted to be a chef  so he adventured for new recipes and ingredients. He also wanted to hone his skills so that one day he could return home and protect his village as a whisperknife. He also had a goal of collecting the best presents for his extended family. He was the first character I played with an accent or that I really even thought about speech patterns with. He had an Irish brogue (at least as good as I could do). It may have slipped into pirate occasionally, but I had fun with it.

There was just something about playing him that changed how I played (and DM'd characters).

Giant Miniatures and 5E

This past week I was getting minis ready for Storm King's Thunder and I noticed a slight problem with the giants.

All of the standard giants in 5th edition are huge. In 4th edition giants were typically large and titans were huge. In third edition and Pathfinder, most giants are large (with the exception of cloud and storm). Between myself and my friend Stew, we have quite a few giants of nearly all varieties. However, most of our giants aren't the appropriate size. Stew is going to make some cardboard huge bases to put them on, but it's still a nuisance.

Each booster of the new set of D&D minis comes a giant. Every giant in the set is appropriately sized. Something that does bother me slightly is that frost and stone giants have already been released in the 5th edition line of minis. The minis themselves are appropriately sized, but the bases are one size too small. I searched the net to find a few pictures to show what I'm talking about.

Large Frost Giant (5e) next to a Huge Ice Titan (4E)

Large Stone Giant (5e) next to a Huge Death Titan (4E)

None of this is the end of the world and I've already figured out a way to fix the problem, but it's still odd and a bit frustrating.

#RPGaDay 2016 - Day 3

Day 3 - Character moment you are proudest of?

I have years and years of proud character moments, but the first that comes to mind is this:

vs.

The halfling pictured above is Gren Tealeaf-Tosskettle. At the time he was a 1st level fighter/3rd level rogue. During their journeys he and his companions (dwarf cleric, dragon-blooded sorcerer, hound archon pup) found themselves facing a rather angry minotaur. The sorcerer and cleric spells were depleted. The party fought bravely and eventually the the minotaur realized to stay would be his demise and he ran.

I was down to less than 20 hit points. A full round of attacks from the minotaur would likely kill me. Still, Gren knew that if the beast got away, he'd cause destruction on the nearby town. He chased the creature down. Using his quick tongue he was able to lull the brute into a false sense of security. I rolled my feint check and scored a critical hit with my sneak attack, taking the minotaur down in one go.

It was a risky move, but it payed off. It's a story that still makes me smile.

I Play D&D

This is not a post to say that Dungeons and Dragons is the best game ever. I'm also not saying that I only play Dungeons and Dragons, because D&D's not my favorite tabletop. This is just about an observation I made.

I have two biweekly games. One of them is a Freeport game using Pathfinder rules and the other is a D&D 5E game. However, if I'm talking about them, I talk about the D&D games I run. Recently I've been seeing people getting a bit worked up about D&D memes using Pathfinder artwork. I just kind of chuckle at that. Not to take away anything from them, but they're all just different versions of D&D. Unless I'm "talking shop" with another gamer, I'm just going to refer to it as playing D&D with my friends.

Did this need a whole blog post, probably not, just something I was thinking about today.

Some Updates and Such

Here are just a few gaming updates:

• My birthday D&D play through of the +Mark Taormino's Hanging Coffins of the Vampire Queen was a success. We only made it about a third of the way through the module and hope to do a monthly get together to finish it up. Expect a more thorough summary coming soon. 
• My 5E game is back on track. First campaign arc is finished and they've been tasked by the cleric trapped in the Chained Coffin to head to the Shudder Mountains.
• My Peril on the Purple Planet boxed set came in. It's a full, wonderful, and glorious boxed set of Appendix N sorcery meets scifi/dying Earth goodness. I have so many DCC adventures... I really need to find a group to play. Expanded post coming later.
• Half Price Books had a big sale this week. I picked up Goodman Games' Saga of the Dragon Cult for 7 dollars and a classic 2E Ravenloft adventure I always wanted, The Created, for 6 dollars. Saga of the Dragon Cult is pretty cool. GG took four of their original DCC adventures, updated them to 3.5 and created a book that ties them together in a level 1-10 AP. Those five books are in a nice, retro-looking boxed set. You can't know the price either. The original retail price is a mere 20 dollars. The created is a different beast entirely. It involves a low level party taking on a twisted Pinochio-esque friend and his killer toys. Expect expanded posts about them to come soon.
• According to the last update I received, Freeport should have shipped this past week.Going to run it for a homebound friend back home every other Friday.
• I'm participating the the Blogging for A-Z April challenge. Like most others I'll reveal my theme Monday (if I can decide it by then).
• Work is busy, so I've missed some of my regular posts. I've not given them up, just learning to balance desired life and responsible life.

Wicked Fantasy Factory

Wicked Fantasy Factory was Goodman Games attempt to crank your D&D game up to 11. These were the selling points:

• E-Z stat blocks, formatted to put the important combat statistics at your fingertips
• Finishing moves, with rules to make characters more heroic
• Mooks and big bosses, with rules to make combat more dramatic
• Over-the-top action, for adventures that don't slow down!

0-3 were written for 3.5. They have an over-the-top action aesthetic that is fantastic. Temple of Blood was a teaser that takes place in the sewers. Rumble in the Wizard's Tower sees the adventurers attack a fortress in the middle of the city to prevent a war. It also features a time being and the D&D equivalent of bullet time. In Against the Iron Giant they must race towards a colossal moving fortress and stop the mad cleric of a forgotten mechanical god. Throwdown with the Arm-Ripper, well the name kind of says it all. All of the adventures are formulaic. The mook monster stats are basically the equivalent of 4E minions, and I enjoyed using them when I ran the Temple of Blood. 

As you can see from the cover art, A Fistful of Zinjas is a different beast entirely. Unlike the others, it's statted out for 4E. The book and adventure has an extremely anime-esque style. If that's what you're looking for in your game, I recommend it, but personally I preferred the style of 0-3.

I'm currently running a modified version of Arm-Ripper for my 5E group. It's been really easy to convert. I think adventures 0-3 would be a great way to kick off a campaign. These adventures are relatively inexpensive and if you're looking for something a little different, give them a shot.