In Which The Warlock Loads the Ballistae...

With my "Tear of Ioun" game about to come to a close and our intrepid heroes closing in on that wonderous goal of becoming 'Epic', I knew that I wanted to end the campaign with a bang.  I wanted something big, something that would pit my GMing craft and creativity against their own.  I wanted a "set-piece" battle.

The idea of a set-piece battle isn't a new one.  It's featured in movie after movie, from "The Burly Brawl" in Matrix: Reloaded, the siege at Helm's Deep in The Two Towers, to the battle at Stirling from Braveheart...the idea of the set-piece battle is firmly entrenched in action narrative.

However, implementing that in a game?  More difficult.  However, I had a plan.

Last session, Martook, Guf, and Clan-Father Russell (isn't it cool to say that?) began surveying the tiefling keep above the delve of Morgordal, seeing what defenses could be salvaged or repaired before Volarn--the Opener of the Way--showed up with his mind-bending aberrent hordes.  Lupin, Shantira, Aster and "Blink"--their shardmind monk devotee--had traveled back to Gloomwrought in the hopes of establishing a trade relationship with some interplanar factions, so that they could work towards hiring mercenary troops.

At this point, I need to take an aside.  Remember my Origins 2010 swag shot?  In it, you may have missed two items that I had picked up:

Yes, indeedy.  I had picked up two sets of these, at the SJGames booth, having found them on the 3/$10 table. 

I stood up, handing Chris I and Chris II the Cardboard Heroes set, and dropped my entire set of Dungeon Tiles on the table before them.   

"These are yours, guys.  You want to know what the defenses are like?  Build them..."

They immediately set to work, punching out cardboard walls and battlements, assembling the Keep at Morgordal, while their allies recruited the Knighthood of Bane and the Salt faction of the Doomguard to aid their defense.  A few hours later, their keep arose from the ashes of history and was prepared to fend off the Far Realm invasion!

Two Fridays hence, the siege begins, Volarn at the head....and then?  He comes...

Enjoy the pics!

The Keep at Morgordal Delve

Martook and Shantira man the battlements...

Volarn and one of his minions approach the keep...

In Which The Warlock Shows Off His Swag!

One of the best things about the Big O has always been the swag that we bring home, time after time. As much as I love my game room...we're already filling it up, and this trip didn't help that situation at all!

The Swag from Origins 2010

A few comments:

Wild Cards and Icons: While I had actually pre-ordered Icons before Origins, my hard copy didn't arrive until just afterwards. But, Karl's birthday present for me--a copy of Wild Cards, which he won while at Origins, really will make it interesting. I was totally unfamiliar with George R.R. Martin's serial-novelization, but the universe of Wild Cards is a really unique one, particularly for low-powered yet four-color action. I'm looking forward to giving this one a run this weekend!

Steve Jackson 3/$10 Table: Cardboard Heroes Castles and Valor & Snarl: Each year, I make a point of hitting the SJGames table, to pick through their overstock. Since I've been investing in Dungeon Tiles, the Cardboard Heroes Castles were a no brainer this time around. I'm just waiting for the right opportunity to throw down a fully 3d siege! As for the dragons...well, I just couldn't beat the price!

Delta Green: Of all of the Call of Cthulhu settings and scenarios, I absolutely love the Cold War-style paranoia of Delta Green. While the sourcebooks have been hard to get a hold of, the Big O always serves as a great place to find them. Eyes Only was on sale this year, and I found the Cthulhu Live version tucked away on a discount bin! Can't beat that one!

WEGS Redux and WEGS: Dice Rule! Ah, yes! The fruits of my labor! You see, after working for El Willy, editing his text since last July, it was absolutely a blast to see these in print. Plus, I was able to grab up #88 of the first print run on each book--the best Good Shot there is! :D

Miniature Swag from Origins

Like I said, the PlatinumChick and I picked up a ton of minis! She has a propensity to pick up half-naked warrior-women, while I skew more towards monsters (since I GM so often) and towards dwarves (because I like dwarves!). I'm particularly proud, though, of the two mages I found on the discount bin, and the Ptolus Pistoleer that I picked up for $1.50.

Another Craig T. Nelson

And, best of all, I found another Craig T. Nelson mini! Actually, truth be told, I found three: two of which I gave to EEE and L-Train to enjoy. Go Flesh Gordon, go!

Our dwarves, fresh from Sibilant Whispers

Naturally, I gave out the minis to The Professor, Chaotic Frederick, and Karl that belonged to them, but the PlatinumChick's and mine will look great on our mantle. Here's for hoping that I can get them painted sometime soon!

SunnyVale Acres--Draft I

Oh, and what's this? This would be a prototype for a certain SunnyVale Acres board game, about to hit playtesting. I'll keep you posted on the gory details!

In Which The Warlock Puts the Wraps on Origins 2010...

Man, oh man! I'm almost glad for the fact that things are starting to calm down a little now, with both Origins and the 4th of July weekend behind me. While both were a blast, they aren't exactly "relaxing" endeavors by any stretch!

I had intended on pumping out this entry last week, but didn't get the chance, as I was unpacking all of our swag (to be detailed in tomorrow's entry!) and re-packing for my first trip back to Pennsylvania since Thanksgiving. Plus, I had something else on my mind...more on that in a bit, though!

On our final day at Origins, Karl, the PlatinumChick and I ended up skipping Attack of the Mutant in favor of a little extra sleep, but did manage to wake up in time for a trip through Red Dragon Inn with the amicable Geoff, from Slugfest Games. Little did we know, though, that Geoff is, in fact, their head-gaming-guru. Spiffy, indeed!

I'd heard good things about RDI before, but none of us had any experience with it. Lucky for us, the rules were quick for us to pick up--even with us playing preview classes with the soon-to-be-released second expansion pack! I took up with the Troll Alchemist, while Karl and the PlatinumChick took on the Pixie and the Gnome Artificer, respectively. By the end of the game, Karl was able to snatch away victory from another of the players--another Dayton native, no less!--then rolled a Natural 20 on his swag check, walking away from the table with a brand-new board game!

Even nicer about this, I got to talk to Geoff a little about submissions and the like. While he wasn't that interested in Dungeon Slam!, the idea behind SunnyVale Acres seemed to really intregue him. With any luck, I might just have a buyer for SV Acres, once I get some playtesting in!

From there, we set out for one last go-round in the Dealer Hall, with the PlatinumChick making her yearly mini purchases. Man, if nothing else, we walked away with a ton of minis! That'll all be in the swag rundown pics, coming tomorrow.

After saying our goodbyes to El Willy and his crew, we headed off for a brief lunch at BD's...only to see Willy the 2 and Donnie once more! We palled around for a while over Mongolian Barbeque, then split up, heading back towards Dayton.

On the trip home, though, I got to thinking, as I usually do after our yearly geek-pilgrimage...

• Running Games at Origins is FUN—No, really! I had a blast running players through Survival of the Fittest, and despite my horrid dice luck in WEGS Plume Mountain, the game was a laugh riot. I’m actually contemplating running 6 games, rather than 4, next year.

• Minis are Heavy!—Ugh. This was the one downside about running games that were miniatures-heavy. Between my maps, minis, dungeon tiles, and more…that was a load. I’m really not sure how EEE managed to survive, carting his massive Ninja Nuttiness castle back and forth.

• Anything with Cthulhu in the name sells—This one blew my mind. EEE’s CthulhuTech games all sold out. The PlatinumChick’s CoC games…all sell-outs. As I mentioned to some of my WEGS players, I’m thinking about writing a new scenario: “WEGS + Cthulhu = WEGSthulhu!”. I’m pretty sure that I’ll sell that one out next year!

• There are a TON of games I want to run—This is a big one. I came away from Origins with lots of ideas, ranging from a Wild West-era Cthulhian cattle-drive, to a horrific trip through Castle Glamis (of MacBeth fame), to an Icons version of “The Near Orbit Mass Driver Blues”. As always, once I get them written up, I’ll be test running them at the various conventions around Dayton.

• This year’s WittCon should be a blast—I had a ton of players in my games from the Columbus/Cincinnati/Dayton area, all of whom seemed to show some real interest in a local convention. Plus, I was able to get some information from a Cincinnati-area game store, which sells Ral Partha miniatures, especially the “bulk” minis, sold by the ounce. With a solid core of gamers and a lot of great prospects for support on the horizon, this year’s WittCon may be the biggest one yet!

The Warlock's Origins 2010 "Live" Blog--Saturday

Note: While this entry is going up today, it was written just following the day listed. Stay tuned throughout the week for my day-by-day coverage of Origins 2010!

Man, oh man! Origins 2010 hit its WittWEGGin’ climax with a bang, as we headed out for games in the early morning after a late Friday night. Karl was up even earlier than the PlatinumChick and I, as he’s been playing in an ongoing SPARKS Star Wars d6 game. The PlatinumChick and I, though, got to indulge in a rare opportunity.

You see, while we’re both gaming fanatics, we rarely (if ever!) get to play with one another! Usually one of us, if not both of us, are GMing, whether it’s D&D, Call of Cthulhu, or some other system. In fact, it occurred to me as we were scheduling for this year that we’ve never played Call of Cthulhu together before at all!
That’s since changed. Thanks to the noble folks at Rogue Cthulhu, particularly our glorious GM Justine, we joined The Clue of Cthulhu: a scenario based around the board game-turned-movie “Clue”. Deciding to leave my fate up to the dice I rolled randomly…and took on the role of Mrs. Peacock for the duration. The PlatinumChick decided upon Ms. White, who turned out to be a “black widow,” killing her husbands for insurance money. A disgraced possible-Communist opera singer, I started off in the best disguise I could think of: a gruff, Bronx-style street mama that sounded of emphysema. Only when my secret was revealed did I switch a prim, proper, articulate 1920s dame.

The game was an utter blast. Everyone at the table was deep in character, including a fellow named Derek, who I had met twice earlier…both in Stargate Savage Worlds and in Rescue of a Lifetime. Apparently we were on the same wavelength when scheduling!

After a quick lunch, the PlatinumChick and I managed to score probably the biggest win of the whole convention. For the last 4 years, we’ve been trying to finagle a room at the Drury Inn and Suites, which adjoins to the Convention Center food court. While we’ve stayed at the Hyatt most years (and the Mariott down the street last year), we’ve been wanting to find somewhere that we can fit 5-8 people in a room comfortably. Finally, finally, finally…we snagged a suite for next year’s Origins! The WittKids will be living in style!

But, by that point, I was about to head off to my next game, I AM William Wallace: a send-up of “Braveheart”, using the rules from Might, Magic and Lore. I wasn’t familiar with this system, but the staff was really friendly and helpful. Plus, it was nice to be able to talk shop with other designers (including the creator!) as we played the game. Who knows, maybe they’ll be interested in hiring on a certain platinum-coated freelance editor?!

Again, a quick meal (with Minnesota Steve, one of the other WEGSHogz!), our group locked and loaded for our last set of games. This time around, WEGS Plume Mountain was sitting with a full table, including the infamous WEGSHog, Kim the Elf Warrior! While several newbies were in the fray, Kim and Steve were great in helping out with teaching the rules and giving them pointers as they headed into Keraptis’ dungeon.

However, I must say…my dice again betrayed me. The heroes escaped nearly unscathed, with but a single NDE between them! Even worse, the dice were on their side! Ctenmiir took his daily nose-dive into the boiling mud, BiBBle survived a little longer than normal (but still got punked), and the players rolled no less than 3 Wicked Successes (01!) in 4 rolls! Madness!

It was equally great to hear that the other WittKids’ games went off well. The PlatinumChick’s If Train A Leaves at Midnight game sold out, with her hosting the aforementioned Rogue Justine and her father. EEE had a blast with Who Wants to be a Mi-Go? and L-train’s tac-squad took out zombies in Zombie Graveyard. Nearly all of our events went off without a hitch, which was fantastic, and word is slowly spreading about little Wittenberg and its’ mighty gaming community! WEGSVangelize, friends and neighbors!

With one more day in our yearly geek-fest, we’re going out with a bang! Tomorrow brings another chance to play with a creator with Red Dragon Inn and hitting the dealer room one last time before heading back home. Game on, fellow geeks!

The Warlock's Origins 2010 "Live" Blog--Friday!

Note: While this entry is going up today, it was written just following the day listed. Stay tuned throughout the week for my day-by-day coverage of Origins 2010!


Another day of Origins has already passed us by, and it’s been a glorious run so far! Now to head towards finishing the con with a bang!

Today started with some Cosmic Encounters, as hosted by Game Base 7. GB7 is Fantasy Flight Games’ happy demo-team and, while I can’t really complain about the service, the youth and relative inexperience of the team members is a little concerning. While Zoe, our GM, was quality, many of the others were somewhat immature and not very experienced on the games they were running.

Cosmic Encounters was quality, though I’m not sure it’s something I’ll pick up personally. The premise is simple—your alien race must conquer the planets across the galaxy by wheeling, dealing, and terminating with mass prejudice. Some rules, however, were a little fiddly, and the GM’s race was incredibly overpowered in comparison to some of ours.

Afterwards, it was time to gather our dwarven clan and head off to the RPGA room. This was a real treat, as it was in the brand-new Battelle Hall ballroom. Gorgeous scenery and locale made for a quality setting for what turned out to be a solid game. The group really had fun, and we picked up Chaotic Fred and The Professor just in time for it.

The biggest problem I had with Sibilant Whispers was not the game, the GM, or the RPGA. Rather, it was my dice! Ugh, once again, the Pwn Andy rule was in effect. While the first encounter went well, I spent most of the second encounter dominated and floating through the Elemental Chaos, and most of the third stunned. I hang my head in shame—once again, my dice fail me. Jules, however, won the MVP award and, with it, a free set of GameScience dice courtesy of GAMA. Woot!

After another quality dinner at the Japanese Steak House (man, we eat well in Columbus!), we got ready to set up our games for the evening. Friday brought us another round of Survival of the Fittest. I was a little worried about this game, as I had thought that only 2 people had registered for it. To my excitement, 5 showed up—more than enough to run, and run well. After something of a slow start, the players really started rolling as they explored Xanthippus Ral’s swamp-borne abode. Unfortunately for them, their troubles were only starting!

One of the nice things today was being able to hang out with some of the other WittKids who have come in for the weekend. BLoff, Chaotic Fred, and The Professor are some of the better gamers around, so it’s nice to be able to share in the spectacle with them, as well as with the new blood. Great times, indeed.

But, with two more days of hot gaming action, I’m not done yet!! Game on!!!

The Warlock's Origins 2010 "Live" Blog--Thursday!

Note: While this entry is going up today, it was written just following the day listed. Stay tuned throughout the week for my day-by-day coverage of Origins 2010!

I must say, I’m glad that today was a little slower than yesterday, or else I’d definitely be wiped for this weekend. Luckily for yours truly, fellow gamers, your friendly neighborhood Warlock took a slightly easier schedule for today, which let me relax a little and enjoy the actual convention itself.

The Enigmatic Mr. Ebbs and I started off the day on the right side of the bed, heading off to hunt down some heretics in Rescue of a Lifetime, Part I. There was a short moment of drama as EEE’s badge went missing, but the GAMA staff was quick to give him an assist, getting him a replacement. Lucky for him, he had his tickets still, which served as proof that he had paid for his badge in the first place.
If it’s one great thing that I can depend on, it’s the quality and the hilarity coming from Amorphous Blob Games. GM Rich—who had GMed our previous forays into the Calixis Sector—took us through another hearty adventures, with my Arbitrator Moric drinking everything in sight and EEE’s psychotic Psyker Bazziti laying down flame in the name of the Emperor.

EEE actually ended up being honored with the MVP of the session, gaining a set of custom dice, with yours truly picking up the Origins swag. You see, all of the Origins events this year—in honor of the 35th anniversary of Origins—have full prize support. Later in the day, I swung by the RPG Headquarters and was allowed to roll for my prize: a set of GameScience precision dice. Not bad at all!

As I mentioned in my previous schedule, I dropped my previously-scheduled Giant Settlers of Catan game in favor of some extra time in the dealer hall. This was a pretty prudent decision on my part, as I had quite a bit of shopping to do. After picking up the necessary minis for tomorrow’s Sibilant Whispers RPGA game and a set of minis for Karl’s D&D game, I swung by the WEGS booth to hang with their crew for a tick. Naturally, I also made some time to check out the other vendors, talk to the Con on the Cob people about possibly doing some demos for them, and hit the Steve Jackson Games booth to pick up Delta Green: Eyes Only as well as to raid their 3 for $10 table. Naturally, though, I’ll cover all of the swag in my post-Origins report!

After picking up the PlatinumChick and finding our way for a quick dinner at Buca di Beppo, we headed out for our evening games. On the plus side, EEE, L-Train, and Karl all sold out of their games! On the downside, though, I was left with a mere one player: the old school WEGSHog Minnesota Steve, with whom I chatted for a while, before he joined Karl’s game. While I was left out in the cold, it was exciting to see the rest of the WittCrew fill the seats so early in the con. I snapped some pictures before heading up with the PlatinumChick for a relaxing evening of reading and movies.

With a full slate on deck tomorrow—Cosmic Encounters in the morning, Sibilant Whispers in the afternoon, and another venture into Survival of the Fittest tomorrow, I’m sure to be picking up the pace tomorrow. As always, I’ll keep you posted on the geeky goings-on!

The Warlock's Origins 2010 "Live" Blog--Wednesday!

Note: While this entry is going up today, it was written just following the day listed. Stay tuned throughout the week for my day-by-day coverage of Origins 2010!

Whew! Origins has come, my lovelies, and your friendly neighborhood Warlock has been busy already! On the plus side, though, since GAMA has sponsored a free Wi-Fi spot outside of the open gaming hall, I can keep you updated on all the glorious action.

After a bustling trip up, and a quick shot over to the airport to pick up Karl, we were ready to rock and roll on Wednesday.
Karl and I actually started the day together, with a round of The Stars are Right!, a relatively new production from Steve Jackson Games. Fundamental premise: you’re all cultists of the Great Old Ones, rearranging a 5x5 grid of stars and constellations, hoping to be the first to summon forth a sanity-devouring horror.
It’s a neat little game, though the spatial reasoning aspect of it was a little outside of my typical comfort zone. The gameplay, once we got through the ruleset, was really solid.

From there, we hit North Market—my absolutely favorite lunch spot while in Columbus—where I swung by Barry’s NY Deli for a sandwich and some matzo ball soup. No pastrami this time, though—I was too early! Rather, I settled on a (still very tasty!) corned beef on rye, with their glorious deli mustard.

After lunch, I joined the Enigmatic Mr. Ebbs for some Stargate SG-1 action, with the Matinee Adventures group. While I was a little disappointed at the number of people around the table—there were 8 or 9 of us in on one game, the Savage Worlds system was able to handle the number of players, where the d20 rules did not. The GM was particularly solid, as well, as our team attempted to find the long-missing Major Cromwell on a barely-explored world. Our party was more than a little trigger-happy, though, leading to some rough times for yours truly, playing the only diplomat!

Dinner at Barley’s went quickly, before we had to prep for our first events of the year. Mine-—my first session of Survival of the Fittest—-was sold out, with a solid crew of gamers from Columbus and the surrounding area. They eagerly set about the task of hunting down Xanthippus Ral, only to have their party cohesiveness break down as they were surrounded by the Fydae Zombies. However, they jumped full-on into the PvP spirit, and went down in a blaze of glory! I'll admit, I was a little nervous when starting to run this game, being on the "big stage" and all, but it turned out to be a total blast, as the players really grabbed the intent of their characters.

For once, after I managed to pack up my minis and battlemat, I actually managed to head down to the “Big Bar on 2”—-the Hyatt’s own bar—-to hang out with El Willy, his wife, and Kain (of TableTop Gamers) and his wife. It’s been ages since we’ve had a chance to just sit down and shoot the breeze, so this was really a welcome change, and a much needed break to wind down the day with.

Tomorrow? The PlatinumChick finally arrives in town, EEE and I will root out some heretics in Dark Heresy, and I’ll have a glorious time checking out this year’s sold-out dealer hall! Pics are forthcoming, my lovelies! Stay tuned!

In Which The Warlock is Back!

Another Origins has come and gone, my lovelies, and it's been one heck of a ride.

As I'm sitting here, recovering from all of the awesome gaming, I'm going to take tonight catch my breath and relax, and unpack all of our glorious swag.

This week, stay tuned for my "pseudo-live" entries, done after each night of our Origins experience. Then, keep your eyes peeled for my post-con wrap up and swag report. And don't forget the pictures! They're coming, as soon as I can get them uploaded!

Cheers, all!

In Which The Warlock Assesses His Schedule...

With Origins less than a week away, it's now that happy time to show off what I'll be doing during the week!

Last year's Origins, while a ton of fun, had a massive flaw for me. With few exceptions, I ended up playing mainly D&D, WEGS, and Call of Cthulhu. While I love all three--collectively, they make up my three favorite game systems--there is, as they say, "too much of a good thing". I actually ended up envying the PlatinumChick's schedule, which broke up her favorites with other cool games, like a Watchmen-based "Mutants and Masterminds" game.

This time around, though, I vowed to change it up a little! On the whole, I tried to limit myself to one board game and one rpg per day, in addition to the games that I'll be running myself. So, without further adieu....let's take a look!

Wednesday, June 23

The Stars are Right--#4984--9:00am-11:00am
I figured that if I'm going to start Origins right, it's got to be with some tentacled-goodness! Plus, TSaR is an Origins-award nominated game, from the eponymous Steve Jackson Games. I was really pleased with Cthulhu Dice (and have similar hopes for Zombie Dice), so this one should be a winner.

Matter of Time--#6794--1:00pm-5:00pm
The first convention game that I ever played in was a Stargate d20 game, at our first Origins. That game was utterly miserable. However, I have high hopes for this one. Will (the ManMan!) spent quite a bit of time converting SG-1 over to the Savage Worlds system, and it looks like he wasn't the only one with that idea. This one definitely has me excited.

Survival of the Fittest--#7085--7:00pm-11:00pm
An old favorite from WittCon VI, I'm excited to be running this one. Plus, even more exciting, it's sold out!

Thursday, June 24

Rescue of a Lifetime--#6895--9:00am-1:00am
As if I'm not going to get enough heretic-smashing fun, I joined a Dark Heresy game joined by the good folks at Amorphous Blob Games. This one's unique, though: you see, it's a two-table affair! This one should be interesting, no doubt.

Giant Settlers of Catan--#3977--2:00pm-4:00pm
Don't get your panties in a twist, fellow gamers. I'm not actually going to play this one. I joined this as I had thought that our WittKids would be joining it en masse, but such wasn't the case. Besides, I have some shopping to do in the Dealer Hall during this time!

WEGS Plume Mountain--#7197--7:00pm-11:00pm
After throwing down this module at both FOPCon and AnCon, it's ready for its Origins debut! Hopefully my dice will cooperate this time, Ctenmiir will stay out of the mud pit, and BiBBle won't go down like a punk! I still have slots for this one--come on out and Spante up!

Friday, June 25

Cosmic Encounters--#3523--10:00am-12:00 noon
I honestly have little to no information on this one. I know it's a board game, I know it's relatively new(-ish), and that it's based on an older board game which has since been revamped. Aside from that, I have no foreknowledge whatsoever. Surprise!

Sibilant Whispers--#6469--1:00pm-5:00pm
I've already noted my excitement for this 4e scenario in my last entry. Our dwarven clan is almost ready, complete with Hamish (my avenging paladin!), a mighty Invoker, the PlatinumChick's war-skald (a Bard, wielding a two-handed hammer!), and Karl's star-pact Warlock. Very exciting indeed!

Survival of the Fittest--#7084--7:00pm-11:00pm
See above, only this one still has slots! Come purge the unclean with us!

Saturday, June 26

The Clue of Cthulhu--#7111--9:00am-1:00pm
Earlier, I mentioned the difficulty of the PlatinumChick and I actually gaming together. Well, we decided to end that right quick. This game--run by our good friends at Rogue Cthulhu--will be our first one together!

I AM William Wallace--#6803--2:00pm-6:00pm
I know very little about the Might, Magic, and Lore system, but I couldn't pass up a chance to "kill the English" here. Bonus points, if I can get a hold of the actual Hamish, Wallace's hairy friend from the movie (and many of my D&D characters' namesake!).

WEGS Plume Mountain--#7196--7:00pm-11:00pm
See above, and Spante up some more! Slots still remain for this one, too!

Sunday, June 27

Attack of the Mutant--#4924--10:00am-12:00 noon
We decided to end out this year's Origins on a laid-back note, with a little bit of board-gaming. This one, a riff on the old '50s monster movies, should be a lot of fun...

Red Dragon Inn (Play with a Creator!)--#4571--1:00-3:00pm
Okay, so I had an ulterior motive on this one. I'd heard good things out of Slugfest Games' brainchild, so I've been wanting to give this a roll for a while, but being able to play with a creator is a unique experience. Plus, if this helps get me an in for "Dungeon Slam!"...all the better!


Well, cats and kittens, that's it! Come on out and see us in Columbus, starting next week!

In Which The Warlock Delves Deep...

I've come to the realization that, somewhat unduly, I tend to rag on the RPGA more than I really should. While the RPGA doesn't typically interest me, it does get a lot of gamers together, and supports the hobby in a way that no other organization really does. Plus, the support it's given by WotC really aids in conventions, both large and small.

For once, though, the RPGA has piqued my interest--this year's Origins Game Fair.

You see, in our group, we rarely (if ever) get to actually play together. Sure, we play RPGs, but one of us (usually myself, Fred, or the PlatinumChick) act as the GM. That means that someone inevitably gets left out of the game in at least one aspect.

But, at Origins, if we have someone else run game...we can actually play together!

So, we signed up for a paragon-tier RPGA game--"Sibilant Whispers", which has something to do with a "mad warlock's prophecy in the East Rift". Thanks to the RPGA's guidelines for character generation, we're able to bring our own characters to the table, fresh from the DDI Character Builder.

The question was, though, what should we run? Then, as we e-mailed back and forth, it struck me:

an all-dwarf party! A clan!

I've never done something like this before. I've seen the possibilities for it on RPG.net and a few other message boards, but I'd never even seen the results of running a one-race party, all of whom are related.

As such, I've been busy (in amongst packing, getting scenarios finalized, and prepping the house for our yearly sojourn) putting together our characters. I've put the finishing touches on my own: Hamish, son of Harrigan--a Dwarf Paladin of Amaunator. With waraxe in hand, he's ready to lay down some holy justice!

In Which The Warlock Gives His Props...

So, I know that I promised a review of Icons in my last entry. I'm holding off on running a session of it for a week, as Ebbs is heading to North Carolina for the long holiday weekend.
And, for that matter, I have a whole series of observations on AnCon that I need to toss in, once I get the pictures off of my new camera. However, this entry is about neither of them.

The WittKids and I have been attending Origins for the last 4 years. Each year has a been a blast, and we're excited to be finally running events at the Big O for the first time. However, Origins isn't without its foibles.

The most trying, most frustrating of these difficulties tends to come from event registration. Origins has had a hell of a time getting it sorted out over the last few years and, in comparison to its bigger cousin GenCon, it seems disorganized, slow, and inefficient.

Many, many gamers get frustrated at Origins for this aspect. GenCon has its events list up earlier, they cry. GenCon has online registration earlier, they wail. Some even put up the infantile argument of "This is stupid--I'm never going to Origins again!"

To them, I say "Good. More games for me, then. We didn't want you anyway."

People seem to forget that Origins is run by GAMA, a non-profit organization of game manufacturers, while GenCon is run by GenCon LLC--a corporation. GenCon has more funds and more ability at its disposal than GAMA does in putting on a con. For that matter, most of Origins' staff are volunteers--usually unpaid volunteers, who are reimbursed through other manners (free badges, free hotel rooms, free travel, etc.). The actual staff of GAMA works diligently with an ever-changing crew of people to provide one of the premier game shows in the country.

To them, I say "Thank you!" Thanks for putting up with all of the bull pucky that people throw down in their ignorance. Thanks for putting in long hours, fixing server crashes, addressing customer service e-mails, and aiding all of us in setting up a really great time.

So, thank you, GAMA. I'll see you in Columbus!

In Which The Warlock's Plans are Put in Motion...

My lovely friends and neighbors...I'm out of ideas. I really don't know what to blog about this week.

Literally, it's been all quiet, here on the front lines of Dayton-area geekdom. I feel like we're just under the surface of a wonderous stew of glorious geeky goulash, ready to hit a rolling boil. With all of the planning for WittCon, FOPCon, and the rest of our annual circuit, preparation's been the name of the game.

As part of this, I decided to take on another game for WittCon. We had something of a D&D void in our schedule, so I decided to pick up my d20 and give it a go. As such, I have slot 1 set aside for "Orcs Gone Wild!"--a wonderous romp through Hamletshire, with the players as orcs, goblins, and kobolds rather than the usual elves and dwarves.

But, even bigger than that...it's official: the WittKids are running events at Origins this year! We just finished up our schedule, sending it off to the GAMA organizers. On this year's docket?

Myself--"Survival of the Fittest" (Dark Heresy) and "WEGS Plume Mountain" (WEGS)
Lionel--"Zombie Park" and "Zombie Graveyard (d20 Modern)
Ebbs--"Ninja Nuttiness: Attack on the Shogun Castle" and "The Plague of Man/Song of Silence" (CthulhuTech)
Karl--"The Relics of Dark Lord Driscar" (Star Wars d20) and "Croaking Dragon, Hidden Tiger" (D&D 4e)
Jules--"Welcome to Zendik Farms" and "If Train A Leaves at Midnight" (Call of Cthulhu d20)

Keep your eyes peeled for the Origins Master Schedule, coming out this May, and come join us at 7 pm each night at Origins!