In Which The Warlock Lays Out Some Wrath! (Of Con, Even!)

Whew!  What a blast! 

WittCon IX has come and gone, amigos, and this year's con really made an impression!  A full day of gaming, costumes, and more, WittCon IX brought out 103 eager gamers to Wittenberg University's Shouvlin Center for some great times, indeed!  This marks the second-most attendees in WittCon history--second only to WittCon II, which had the full support of then-local Springfield area game store, Howling Wolf Studios.

And, naturally, we've been up to our eyeballs in WittCon-related gloriousness.  The PlatinumChick managed to get her newest costume together in time for a preview, as she's planning on making a big debut at C2E2 this year.  Here's her with her two cosplay compatriots, ChaoticLauryn and CosplayKit!

Three superheroic lovelies...

The convention experience, I've got to say, is an exhausting experience.  Managing to arrive at Witt at the ripe hour of 9am, we were pretty wiped from the start.  Luckily for us, the Wittenberg Commons (or, Post 95, for you young whippersnappers!) was well equipped with enough caffeine to keep me going throughout the day!

How the PlatinumWarlock began his
WittCon IX experience...

WittCon IX also saw the debut of a new game from GameWick Games--the beta test of Pittsburgh '68--A Game of Shuffling Horror!  During this year's one-hour one shots, I ran two groups of would-be survivors through the undead apocalypse.  One thing I really love about this game is the speed around the table.  Each round took only about a minute and a half, circling the table again and again in a maelstrom of splattered zombies and bitten survivors.  Fun times, indeed!

Facing down the hordes, in Pittsburgh '68!

One of the biggest highlights, though, was EEE's special-feature for the con:  a live-action version of the quintessential D&D dungeon, Orc and Pie!  With real-life pie as a reward for successful adventurers, it was well worth spending 15 minutes in the dungeon!  Plus, who could resist beating up poor Emily, dressed as the hapless orc!

Speedy stealths away from the mighty Orc!

My full-length game, though, was something of...okay, let's not mince words here:  a total disaster.  While I had high hopes for my Hell on Earth section--a slightly amended version of my Ravenous in Reno scenario--my fellow gamers said otherwise.  While I'll spend a good deal more time expanding on the scenario in an upcoming entry, suffice to say that my players did nothing of what they were supposed to....at all.  When I introduced the scenario, I told the players that the scenario was somewhat based on the timeless western The Magnificent Seven.  However, in actuality?  It turned out more like Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  Luckily, it seemed like everyone had fun, which is what counted.  And, truth be told, the group really did go out with a bang! 

A highly dysfunctional Deadlands: Hell on Earth group!

If that's not enough for you, you can check out my full photo album on Facebook, here:  WittCon IX Photos!

In Which The Warlock Begins the Con Season with a Bang!

Sorry I've been so quiet recently, but I've been prepping for the big event!

This Saturday, at Wittenberg's Shouvlin Center, we'll be holding WittCon IX:  Wrath of Con!

Come on out and play a variety of games, paint a mini at Reaper Miniatures' paint-and-take, beat down your friends in an Amtgard LARP event, make some chainmail with GenesisMaille, and much more more! 

Hope to see you there!

In Which The Warlock Aims for the Infin8...

Whew. 

That's about all I can say.  Whew.

Don't get me wrong--I love having a hand in WittCon.  I love running games, writing scenarios, and all of the chaos that comes with running a convention.  That said, it's exhausting business!

But, you know what?  It's really worth it.

This WittCon was somewhat unique for me, in the fact that I actually had nothing scheduled during the first session.  So, instead of running game like usual, I wandered through the Shouvlin Center, snapping pictures of all of the happy gamers.

What makes me most happy about WittCon is the reconvergence of friends and neighbors from across the Springfield-Dayton community.  Alumni like High Priestess Emily and ChaoticKarl came in.  ChainMailSarah debuted her new business, GenesisMaille, at WittCon.  My fellow teacher and convention junkie Shane came out to provide Reaper Minis Paint-and-Take.  It's just fantastic to see so many of my gamer friends all in one place, enjoying a beloved hobby.

And, on the plus side, we got to try out some of our newest scenarios! 

Lawfully Blonde and Chrysalis both went over really well, with only minor changes to make it ready for the big-time at Origins 2011.  With OldSchoolBrian in my Westbound... game, I knew I was in for some chaos.  I just wasn't anticipating him totally backstabbing the poor Dr. Ignatio Metz!  At least he won't have to worry about the Three Caballeros anymore!  And, while the Pendulum adventure style needs just a touch of tweaking, Splitting Heirs was a blast...

To take a look at all of this year's events, follow this link to my Facebook album!  WittCon VIII--Infin8 Possibilities (Photo Album)

In Which The Warlock Goes Up to 11...

...and we're not just talking about Actorios, who's finally hit Paragon tier and become an Avernian Knight.

Rather, it's my writing.

The Warlock's keyboard, for the past 6 nights...

With WittCon VIII coming up fast on the horizon, I really had to kick it into gear this week, in order to get finished.  While having everything done will make things much easier on me during the actual convention season, it doesn't make life much easier while putting it all together!

Let's run down a brief list of what I've written since last Saturday:

"Westbound..."

• 6 Character Backgrounds, formatted into table-tents  (1,300 words)
• 7 Statted NPCs (850 words, but very time-consuming)
• Westbound... Adventure Outline (6,500 words)

"Splitting Heirs"

• 8 Character Backgrounds, formatted into table-tents (1,500 words)
• Splitting Heirs Adventure Outline (3,600 words)

"Lawfully Blonde"

• 6 Character Backgrounds, formatted into table-tents (1,000 words)
• Lawfully Blonde Adventure Outline (1,800 words)

"Chrysalis"

• 6 Character Backgrounds, formatted into table-tents (1,600 words)
• 6 PCs statted up (no word count available--done via HeroForge)
• Chrysalis Adventure Outline (4,900 words)

That's...*checks calculator* SWEET ZOMBIE GHANDI!  23,050 WORDS!

Let it be known, I have never, not in my most creative, most productive, and most-sleep deprived days, done this much writing at once.  What's more (and this is me putting aside my usual arrogance), they're good.  Seriously.  Westbound... has a spectacular parallel plotline structure that'll make it a blast to run.  Chrysalis and Splitting Heirs are both Pendulum-style adventures, which adds to the difficulty in writing/running them, but the adventures themselves are creative and inspired.  Lawfully Blonde...well, it'll just be hilarious to play.

Now, two provisions have to be added to this. 

1) I'm not done.  My responsibilities for The Laundry have me pumping out an additional series of documents on the various beasties of the Laundry-verse, which I'm about halfway through, on top of everything I've written for WittCon/FOPCon/DenCon/Origins.  I've written something in the neighborhood of an additional 4,000 words just in rough drafting, with plenty more to go!

50k words?  Feh...

2) There's a little contest that you might have heard of, called NaNoWriMo.  Each November, budding writers from all over the world do their best to assemble a novel in 30 days.  I've never done NaNo, though I've been tempted in the past, and both DigitalKat and PhillyLaura have given it a go.  The goal for NaNoWriMo is 50,000 words--about 175 pages, all told.

I've done over half of that challenge...in 6 days.

Madness!  Insanity!  Obsession-compulsion on the level of Howard Hughes or Rain Man! 

Yeah, probably.  But I'm riding a high right now that's unfathomable.  I'm going to surf this wave till I come into shore, and even then...I'm going to be up on the beach, wondering where the wave went!

As a last bit, there'll be no entry this Saturday.  Why, devoted readers?  Because it's WittCon VIII!  Get your skinny keisters to Springfield, and throw down with us!  See you there!

WittCon VIII!  Be there!

In Which The Warlock Wants Some Feedback...

With preparations for the upcoming convention season already in the works, I've been rattling around an idea that I think could really help the Guild move forward. 

One thing we've never really had is feedback on our games.  While we chat with the people that game with us at our various games, obviously, we've never really tracked any trends in what gamers want, or whether they're actually satisfied when they come away from the table. 

As such, I took advantage of the time I had during semester exams and put together this, a potential half-page feedback sheet for Wittenberg-run convention games.

 Thoughts?  Comments?  Ideally, we'll be able to use this for three purposes:

• Add gamers from the convention circuit to our community mailing list, to keep them updated on WittCon and other Guild events.
• Find out what games that they want us to be running, so that we can provide supply to match the demand.
• Receive commentary on how people feel about our games, as well as whether we're doing a good job as GMs.

So, what do you think?  How about some feedback on our feedback?

In Which The Warlock Decides to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle...

You’d normally figure that, with the holidays coming up and New Years’ on the horizon, I wouldn’t be focused on the upcoming convention season. That, my lovelies, would be folly. Rather, the pseudo-downtime’s been nice to start planning out some of those scenarios to be prepped and ready for WittCon, FOPCon, Origins and all the others.


One thing I have noticed, though, is a tendency that runs amongst the great gaming groups throughout the area—the idea of the “multi-purpose” group.

Check out ABGames' "Blobcast"!

Let me give an example. Every year since its release, Amorphous Blob Games has been running Dark Heresy at Origins. In those games, a set group of PCs is put to the test year-after-year. The PCs are, needless to say, fairly unique—one need only look at the further adventures of Bazziti Comcast, pyromaniacal Imperial Psyker, to see that!—but they’re repeat offenders. Usual suspects, if you will. While the circumstances around them might change with the given scenario, the characters are the same.

Writing scenarios with this in mind has several benefits. As a GM, it certainly reduces the amount of prep-work necessary for any given scenario. Rather than creating new characters for each module, you can simply use the same ones in multiple ways. Having put together six Deadlands characters by hand last night, I can tell you, it makes a big difference. Having done the same thing for Heroes Unlimited last year took me no less than three days of work! Being able to avoid that amount of prep is a massive benefit!

But, beyond the simple prep-work, it also allows the GM to gain a better handle on each character’s abilities, tendencies, and gear. There’s a bit of a learning curve with any character—PC or NPC—that both player and GM need to overcome to play a character ‘effectively’ from both the mechanical and roleplaying standpoint. When the GM is able to eliminate his section of the learning curve, it frees them up to be able to help the players with mechanical questions and table-related issues.

Bazzati's bestest friend!

So, what’s key in all this? First off, the characters must be interesting. If the characters are without some degree of uniqueness, the GM will become bored with them, and they’ll be just as unappealing to the players. Again, AB Games has always had a stranglehold on this quality, with such luminaries as Rubella, the love-stricken tiefling paladin, and the aforementioned Bazzati and his mechanical owl familiar.

Similarly, these characters must each have a unique niche.  Each character should have their own unique abilities, which echo their unique personality.  Bazzati was so unique as a character, because his mechanical abilities--his utter mastery of fire-based powers--reflected his own chaotic stance on life, and his tenuous (at best!) grip on sanity.  Rubella's power choices reflect her nature as a 'nuturing protector', particularly one set for motherhood with a certain noble in the party.  Nearly all of the AB Games characters work this way in some sense, which is a masterful stroke in providing hooks for one-time players on the convention circuit.

So, what do I have in store?  Well, I'm glad you asked (hypothetically speaking)...remember those Deadlands characters I mentioned earlier?  Well, I've finally decided on a full party of members.  Enjoy this brief preview of what's in store!

• Nigel Worthington-Smythe--an India-born British big-game hunter, Nigel's spent his life with a high-calibre rifle in his hands, searching out the most elusive and dangerous prey.  He's taken down elephants near the Bay of Bengali, lions in the Serengetti, and wild boar in the Rhine forests.  However, with tales of Mojave rattlers and California Maze Dragons lurking out in "the Colonies," Nigel packed up his belongings and made for the Weird West!
• Ricky "One Armed Bandit" Parker--A former riverboat gambler, Ricky Parker made one bet too many with a black-hearted desperado aboard a steamboat on the mighty Mississippi.  One thing led to another and Ricky took a slug in his left arm.  The sawbones had to amputate, but that only made Ricky's drive to be the best grow.  Since then, he's learned a few new tricks...
• Benjamin Three-Bass--A Union-educated scion of the Lakota tribes, Benjamin served for a time as an ambassador and delegate before the Dakotas became their own nation.  However, with war on the horizon, Benjamin has left his tribe, seeking to bring peace--one way or another--to the West, atoning for his failures in the Dakota territories.
• Shawna McClintock--If you can ride it, rope it, or drive it, Shawna's already done it.  And damned if she can't do it better and faster than you.  Shawna would still be racing across the Weird West, delivering for the Pony Express, if not for the Texas Rangers that have been pursuing her ever since she made that one delivery...
• Melissa "Miss Meliss" Garrett--It ain't easy being a "soiled dove" out on the plains.  Melissa could sure tell you that.  But, if nothing else, it gives you a chance to get real close to a mark...close enough to relieve him of that fancy gold pocketwatch, pocket a letter from someone 'connected', or even slide a switchblade between some ribs.  Miss Meliss has done it all, and damned if she's not going to be a survivor.




Morgan Arringon looks over his schematics...


• Prof. Morgan Arrington--A Massachusetts-educated professor of...well, some science, Morgan's got a bit of an obsession with ghost rock.  Ever since he built that "mist projector", he just hasn't been the same.  If he can't build it, Morgan can definitely fix it, and has a knack for tools.  Just don't get the idea that his ideas aren't really his...Morgan's just a touch possessive of his work!

So, which would it be, fellow gamers?  Intregued by any of these?  Any that strike your fancy?

In Which the Warlock Raids the Furniture Store for Inspiration...

With the 2011 convention season on the horizon, I’ve been scheming what to run at this year’s cons. My Cthulhian WEGS scenario—WEGS + Cthulhu = WEGSThulhu!—is already locked and loaded, with only minor changes necessary after the playtests I ran at Champion City ComicCon.


I’m tempted to play through one of my already-made “Pendulum” adventures, but I’d rather come up with something new. However, the Pendulum idea hasn’t been at rest. Rather, John—over at World vs. Hero (go check it out!)—got me thinking.

Two of the basic precepts of the Pendulum Method are shifts in time and shifts in place. Certainly, there are other shifts that are available to GMs, but what about shifting the very PCs themselves? What if you could create a game in which the PCs aren’t really fleshed out until the players flesh them out…at the table?

This idea’s still in development, but I think I really could be on to something here. There’d have to be a hard limit as to how many advancements a player could get, as well as a finite system for when characters may advance, but it’d be fantastic to see what the players come up with! It would really provide a unique play experience on both sides of the table, which nothing else really emulates.

What do you think, fellow gamers? Could I be on to something here? Perhaps a playtest at WittCon? Let me know what you think!

What if, rather than before the game, a player-characters were created as the game itself progressed?



The site of the next zombie outbreak?



Bear with me as I change topics. A few months ago, the PlatinumChick and I were off, roaming around the Ikea in West Chester. Ikea’s a store unto itself—rather than wander up and down aisles, you walk through showrooms based around different rooms in a house, each of which display the various furniture options that Ikea sells. The whole store is rife with “secret passages” leading from one section to another, from “Home Office” to “Kitchen and Dining”.

Then, an idea struck me. The idea of a zombified shopping mall is one of the most classic in all of horror, starting with George Romeo’s classic Dawn of the Dead, and even being spoofed in the Dead Rising series of video games. What if, rather than a shopping mall, the invasion started in an Ikea!? The passages between sections would make for glorious gaming, to say nothing of the improvised weapons one could make from kitchen implements, light-duty furniture, and prop displays!



Maybe he's got the Berserk edge?



That’s where the Pendulum kicks in. Using the Savage Worlds system, all of the characters would start with d6s in each of their 5 stats. Rather than having assigned Skills or Edges, the players would be granted the ability to design their own character, based on their actions in the game. Need to get through a locked door that leads to the employee break room? Come up with a reason in-character to do so, and fill in one of your empty Edge slots with the “Thief” Edge! Want to hot-wire a forklift? Maybe you were a heavy construction worker in the past, giving you “McGuyver”!

This idea’s still in development, but I think I really could be on to something here. There’d have to be a hard limit as to how many advancements a player could get, as well as a finite system for when characters may advance, but it’d be fantastic to see what the players come up with! It would really provide a unique play experience on both sides of the table, which nothing else really emulates.


What do you think, fellow gamers? Could I be on to something here? Perhaps a playtest at WittCon? Let me know what you think!

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!

In Which The Warlock Kicks Off the Con Season Right...

Well, WittCon VII is in the books, and it went down in a blaze of glory.

We pulled in 83 people (the second highest attendance so far!), with tons of games going off. We even had a few complaints about the lack of more games, particularly D&D! That's a good complaint to have, all told. With any luck, we'll be able to break triple digits next year, especially with all of the help we've gotten from the other cons and game stores in the area.

The full album is up on Facebook here: WittCon VII Photo Album

But, here are a few highlights...

Ninja infiltrators in action!

In the weeks leading up to Wittcon, Ebbs spent countless hours laboring over his "Ninja Nuttiness" castle. It truly did not disappoint! I look forward to seeing this at the tables at Origins, as the centerpiece for the WittGuild's first ever sessions at the Big O!

Laying down tricks at the Magic Tourney...

After several unsuccessful times at hosting a Magic: The Gathering tournament, we finally pulled it off. New Witt professor Kyle wrangled the tournament, which held 12 of our participants. With luck, WittCon will continue to ride on this success, and hopefully hit at least 20 at our tournament next year!

Lionel makes his purchases from Diceman Bob

We were privledged enough to have not just one vendor, but two this year! Bob Kindel, of the Light Trading Company, brought out his massive array of dice, as well as newcomer Bryan Bailey. Bryan compiles and composes gaming soundtracks for games of all sorts--everything from pulp or fantasy to horror or cyberpunk. I picked up two of his soundtracks for my upcoming games....and can't wait to break those out! In addition, we also had back Shane, running his yearly Paint-and-Take, which was immensely popular (as usual!).

Costume Contest Winners--Heather, Ebbs, and Jules

As you can see, these are the winners of our yearly costume contest. Jules took the opportunity to debut her Huntress outfit, which she's planning to take to C2E2 in Chicago. Bookery Fantasy donated a huge amount of swag for the contest, which allowed us to raffle it off in addition to giving out prizes!

El Willy and friends playtesting Big Bang Mudang

And, of course, there's our guest of honor! After a full day of running WEGS demos, El Willy opened his evening slot for his newest endeavor, "Big Bang Mudang". BBM is a hugely entertaining, hilarious game of dice-blasting, time-traveling witches. I'm excited to see this one hit print--it's fast around the table and has a great little mechanic behind it. Don't forget your demon dice, children!

Well, with WittCon over, we get a short break. Well...sort of. I'm working through El Willy's final proofs for "WEGS--Dice Rules!" as well as the Redux version of "WEGS 101". Plus, it's only two weeks until we're at the con scene again, driving to Chicago for C2E2. Can't wait for the chaos to roll on!

In Which The Warlock Preps for The Big Event...

Sorry to disappoint, my lovelies, but there's no real entry this week.

Instead, come see us at WittCon VII! This Saturday, starting at Noon in the Shouvlin Center, we'll be holding our yearly game-stravaganza. Come on out and toss some dice!

After all, it's not just a game. It's a way of life!

In Which The Warlock Pays Homage to Rock-Star Facial Hair...

With the spring convention season just about to start, excitement’s already building. WittCon’s less than a week away, and my C2E2 tickets are already on order. FOPCon’s just the week after that, and then…wow.

All of this chaos has been utterly overwhelming, particularly when the Guild has been busy writing new scenarios and revamping old ones as we get ready for these conventions and our first bout of GMing at the Big O. Ebbs, I know, has put in a ton of time building a new Ninja Nuttiness castle, and has commissioned some of the current Guilders for accompanying ninja art.

As such, there’s only one song that fits all this. Thank you, ZZ Top, for expressing in lyrics what I cannot.

“It’s got me under pressure…”

At this point, I literally feel as if there are two meat forks jammed underneath each of my shoulder blades and someone’s just twisting the muscles apart. Pleasant, I know, but I’m the sort of person that doesn’t know the meaning of “de-stress”.

Y’know, you’d think that all of this gaming would be a de-stressor. And really, I do enjoy it to help me relax. But this isn’t gaming. This, my lovely reader, is Event Planning, and it’s another animal all together.

“She’s about all I can handle; it’s too much for my brain…”

Let’s see. Just today, in amongst proctoring the OGT and teaching my freshmen Romeo and Juliet, I:
• E-mailed our good buddy Shane, regarding this year’s Paint-and-Take set-up.
• Contacted El Willy, to make sure all was well for this year’s WEGSing.
• Double checked my monster choices for “Orcs Gone Wild”
• Re-calculated the pricing for customized dice and ribbons for Origins.
• Continued writing the scenario for “Orcs Gone Wild”.
• Got Jules registered as a GM for her Cthulhu scenarios at FOPCon.

And it’s only 10 am (well, when I’m writing this, as I’m staring a sea of blankly-staring sophomores snooze their way through the Science portion)! Holy productivity, Batman!

“She likes cocaine”

Just for the record, WittCon VII is proud to be a substance-free event.

“I’m gonna give her a message. Here’s what I’m gonna say: ‘It’s all over’…”

Lionel may have said it best a few weeks ago. We love when WittCon comes around. The day is a ton of fun—14+ hours of gaming goodness, old friends, and clattering dice. You can’t beat it with a stick. However, the road leading up to it is a mass of blood, sweat, and tears (“Spinning Wheel,” anyone?) that regularly makes life rough. But, when the day is out, and we close the doors of Shouvlin, it’s all worth it. We’re already planning for the next go-round.

In the Play Dirty article that I reviewed last entry, John Wick makes takes an aside, after talking about the downfall of the eponymous Mr. Jefferson Carter:

“Writing those words, those very words reminded me…why I love this industry so much. Why I love role-playing games so much. Because we are the only medium where the Author and the Audience are the same. Where we live the stories we tell as we tell them.
The whole point of mythology is to teach lessons that cannot be communicated any other way. Roleplaying is living myth. We aren’t hearing the heroes’ trials, we are the hero. We aren’t walking in his footsteps, we’re making the footsteps.”

And, y’know what? He’s damned right. We do it for ourselves, because we love it and we want to see more of it. Yeah, she’s got me under pressure. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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!

In Which The Warlock Does Old Skool In a New Way...

For those of you that have been following my blog, you know very well the fondness I have for WEGS--El Willy's "Wickedly Errant Gaming System"--for its old school, 1st edition D&D feel. There's no bones about it: you throw your dice, you roll to hit, you kill the monsters and you take their stuff.

It's simple, it's quick, and it's fun. Easy as that.

So, when I spotted this little gem thanks to a post on RPG.net, I was floored!

Icons by Steve Kenson

I've taken a look at Steve Kenson's work quite a few times, mainly through the products he's done with Green Ronin, and I was legitimately impressed. While I wasn't a fan of the Mutants and Masterminds system (it suffers from the same problems of most d20 products, in terms of rules bloat and excessive technicality), Kenson genuinely shows a great knowledge of the superhero genre.

And, while I love Heroes Unlimited and always will, it's not exactly a game that you can just throw together on a moment's notice. I've been working on characters for the HU game I'm running at WittCon, and it literally took me something in the neighborhood of 8-10 hours to generate the 6 player characters for the scenario. Thank Zombie Jeebus that I have them saved online! I can't imagine having to re-do those, each time I wanted to run the scenario!

But could this be the answer to my hopes, dreams, and desires? A superhero game that's easy to pick up, quick around the table, and still have enough depth to show off complex powers like Iron Man or Green Lantern? Mmmm...*drools*

Unfortunately, I'll have to wait for June on Icons, but it definitely looks like something I'll be picking up.

In Which The Warlock Switches Gears...

With WittCon VII approaching, I had originally been hard at work on a Ravenloft scenario to run during the second session. "In Pursuit of Perfection" was going to be an interesting little romp through Paridon, in which the PCs would uncover some unsavory goings-on in the "Divinity of Mankind"--a pseudo-Freemason group devoted to perfection for all mankind.

Unfortunately, I hadn't exactly anticipated everyone else's offerings this time around. Kat's been high on a new indy game called "Houses of the Blooded", while a group that we met at FOPCon is bringing three sessions of "Fellowship of the White Star"--a game that, thematically, is pretty well identical to Ravenloft. All that on top of Jules' annual Call of Cthulhu game...

...well, I was out luck. I still wanted to run something, but we needed some genre differentiation!

So many options before me, I had some difficulty settling on something. I had thought about doing Clone Wars-era Star Wars game, but was immediately turned off by the d20 character generation, even with the assist from HeroForge. I was thinking about potentially running some Conan or Stargate SG-1, but in both cases...same problem. WEGS? Well, with El Willy planning to make an appearance, that's his domain! Dungeon Slam and SunnyVale Acres still need some work before another big playtest run...

As such, I was at a loss. What to run, what to run?

Ah, yes. My beloved Heroes Unlimited!

With the massive blizzard around us, I've had a few extra days off to work towards putting together a scenario I'm calling "The Near-Orbit Mass Driver Blues".

Five of six characters, complete with backgrounds, are already done with the outline still being put together. I'm excited about how they've all turned out, with some pretty unique power combinations:

Shadowman IX: The perfect corporate spy and master of shadow!

Dead Man Walker: A former Red Cross worker turned undead voodoo horror!

Rebuild: A master of robotics, complete with a bionic arsenal!

High Voltage: An NSA super-soldier and master of close combat!

Rebel Yell: An adorable Southern college student...with the powers of Sonic Manipulation!

and Pinpoint: A peerless archer and weaponsmith, capable of incredible feats of aim!

It'll be interesting to see how our heroes confront the difficulties of saving the former Soviet Republic of Kerplachistan from the horrors of the Ky'yrrr aliens! Can't hardly wait!

In Which The Warlock is "Mal Carne"...

As I've mentioned several times throughout this blog, I'm a self-proclaimed foodie. Our TV is nearly always turned to the Food Network or Travel Channel, and I'm a fiend for the original run of Iron Chef. As such, it's really no surprise that one of my favorites is the culinary outrider Anthony Bourdain: author of Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly and host of Travel Channel's No Reservations. I've read all but one of his books--can't find the last one!--countless times, and I rarely miss an episode.

About 2/3 of the way through Kitchen Confidential, Tony gives us a culinary glossary: all the lingo that you might hear if you wandered into one of his kitchens. Among them are standards that you'd expect--"burnt" for a steak well-done, "a deuce" for a two-person table--as well as assorted Spanish and Portugese profanity, usually used as a term of endearment.

However, only one term fits where I'm at right now: I'm in the weeds.

To paraphrase Bourdain, a chef that's "in the weeds" is the guy getting slammed with orders left and right, his tickets backing up and stacking up, and his mise en place (his prep station) running out of everything. A chef in the weeds is one that's in over his head and sinking quickly, with literally too much on the burner.

I've always said that I often feel like a juggler at certain times of year, tossing up knives, chainsaws, balls, and priceless Ming vases. In terms of my gaming schedule, it's just best that I don't look up, and just keep on slinging.

--My Pirates of the Underdark is headed towards its climactic finale...a little earlier than anticipated. With one of our players bowing out, and a second about to move to northern Ohio, I have exactly three sessions to wrap up our convoluted plot, tie in all of the various sub-plots, and reach a plane-shattering end with the demon lords Dagon and Lascer.

--Simultaneously, I need to wrap up my Tuesday Eberron game before the Wittenberg semester is out. My players just managed to find their way deep into the Xen'drik jungle, in search of a House Cannith archaeological dig. The game's been going well so far, and it's a shame to pull it to an end, but it's been pretty rough on me as I've been running it mid-week in Springfield...and waking up for work at 6:30 the next morning. Much fun, but rough on the sleep schedule.

--After hitting a new set of playtests with Draft 4 of Dungeon Slam!, it's appearing more and more like I need to do a full board revision for the next go-round. Draft 5 will hopefully be tighter and faster, especially considering the time the last playtest took; I thought I had the time-issues under control...apparently not.

--In addition, I'm currently in development of another board game! Yes, you heard it here...I'm already starting my second game, even before DS starts getting submitted.

SunnyVale Acres, my second game, centers on the geekiest, most brutal gated community in the Nine Worlds, with cowboys, pirates, ninjas and more vying for the coveted position of Community Chairperson. I'm hoping to have a draft out in time for either the New Year or for WittCon VII.

--Speaking of our con schedule, we've all got to get locked and loaded for this year. We're averaging about one con per month, starting in March with WittCon VII! Afterwards, we'll hit FopCon II, C2E2 in Chicago, Origins, and possibly even GenCon (as it's a week earlier, and will come before I start up back at school!). Plus, with the WittKids looking to run events at Origins this year, we'll be up to our eyeballs in planning.

That's just a sampling of the balls in the air right now. I'm still waiting on one last chapter of WEGS 101--Dice Rules!, which will rock the WEGS community's socks off, once it's finally out...

Let's just hope I don't drop the ball, here!

The Warlock's Origins 2009 Wrap-Up

Whew.

That about sums it up.

The last week or so, since Origins, has been an absolute whirlwind both around the table and in "real-life".

The PlatinumChick and I finally closed on the house in Englewood that we've been eyeing up for several months now, which means that our gaming sessions finally have some room to spread out! With luck, we'll have a suitable gaming table by the end of the week to go with our fantastic new game room. Pics, undoubtedly, will be forthcoming.

Mind you, this all occurred not two days after getting back from the Big O, which was a blast in and of itself. It's kind of funny--every year, after getting back, all of the Witt-Weggers lament the fact that it's going to be another year, before we hit up the gaming-nirvana of Origins again.

However, we do have a few massive priorities for next year!

Run Some Games! I know I said this after last year's Origins, but this time everyone's on board. I experienced a little hesitance when I mentioned GMing some events at Origins last time, but the interest is definitely there this time around, particularly for some of the more "esoteric" offerings.

Provide Some Variety! Part of the biggest issue with running some games, is the fact that many of our favorites haven't been offered in any major capacity. The number of Call of Cthulhu games dropped significantly since Rogue Cthulhu didn't show up, and only one Dark Heresy game was offered at all. This is to say nothing of some other Guild favorites like WEGS, Heroes Unlimited, and Ork! Being able to share some of our ready-built offerings could be a ton of fun.

Get the Word Out on WittCon! One of the advantages of having Origins so close-by, is the fact that many gamers commute, using the one-day pass option. That means that they might be fairly responsive to driving out to Springfield, for another day of gaming! Here's for hoping, on this front, but the results have yet to be seen.

Continue to Feast Like Gamer-Kings! If nothing else, the food at Origins has been mind blowing. Tons of great places abound in the Short North, and adding more to our repertoire has got to be a priority for next year. Schmidts', India Oven, and so many other places have yet to be tried, and that's not counting our favorites like the Japanese Steak House! Om nom nom, fellow gamers.

In Which The Warlock Runs Himself Ragged...

I swear, WittCon has the tendency to come around at the absolute worst times of the year.

You see, March is not only right in the middle of spring IEP/MFE renewals for my work, but is also the month in which all my weasels at school take their OGT exam. Needless to say, the stress level is a little high, particularly as WittCon nears, and I prep myself to run games like a madman.

Is it any surprise that I typically try to take the day before the Con off of work, as a personal day? Further, is it any real surprise that I didn't get to do so this year?

But, WittCon VI has come and gone, with a mass of great gaming memories for all. I must say, though, the dice were running more chaotic than usual as the weekend went on!

We began the weekend hitting up Rudy's Barbeque in Springfield with El Willy, before shuffling on over to Shouvlin to throw down my latest completed project: WEGS SuperZ. I was honestly pleased to see how well the thing came out--no doubt, running a reskin of an indie game for its creator is a little unnerving, but a great time was had by all. The party crawled sloughed their way through my intro adventure: "The Terrible Island of Doctor Crab-Clops!", slinging Plasma Blasts and Mental Bursts all the way. While I still have quite a few revisions to make--not the least of which being the 5 SuperZ races!--the game was strong and ran quickly around the table.

The day of WittCon, I started off by running the day's D&D Game Day adventure:
A Dark Night in Weeeping Briar for some of the Guild regulars. This was made even more interesting by the appearance of a Witt Torch reporter, requesting to play with us! She may have gotten more than she bargained for with our group, but it seemed like she had a great time, as the players bounced between encounters, generally breaking the game.

The second encounter of the game took place in a mill. Fire damage, naturally, caused bad things to happen. Naturally, with my luck? Natural 1 on the enemies' first attack roll...with a fire attack. The mill explodes in a fireball. I hang my head.
The third encounter involves several tough demons, led by a Mezzodemon. The party, thinking quickly, layers him down with status effects--dazed, blinded, and then Dominated. Naturally, this led to one drowned demon.

Hanging my head and carting off my minis-swag, I headed to my next game, my much anticipated (and filled!) Dark Heresy game: Survival of the Fittest.

I originally envisioned this game as something of a cross between honest-to-God-Emperor Dark Heresy and Paranoia, as the various Acolytes plotted against one another on the war-world Thanatos IV. Nick's Imperial Psyker, though, had other ideas.

Not once, but twice, he caused warp energy to burst out, incinerating himself and the party. The game was over in a matter of an hour, as the party descended into bloodied in-fighting. I laughed, but simultaneously hung my head. All those hours spent building characters and backgrounds...poof. Alack, alack.

By the time the third session came around, I was ready to kick back. And there's no better way for this gamer to relax than with some WEGS. In a matter of minutes, Nordling VI was well on his way to Arkeation.

Some explanation, I suppose, is in order. Ever since my first game of WEGS, I've nearly always run the same character--a Humz Lucky Trickster named Nordling. Nordling's had an unprecedented survival rate. Despite the lethality of WEGS, he's never died...not once! Even facing down the vicious mummy KlattaBarraBoo, he escaped. This time, he managed to weasel his way away from a RingReaver in El Willy's classic "Over the Reaver and Through the Wyrds".

By Sunday, we were all exhausted and ready to relax. Hitting up Jeet India and Bookery with Karl, Lionel, and El Willy was a welcome relaxation. Kudos to El Willy for getting Bookery aboard the WEGS train!

Oi. Stress and all, this whole con experience just makes me want Origins to come all the more! It's looking like another massive experience this year, cats and kittens!

In Which The Warlock's Dice Fall on Natural 20!

So, with a few exceptions, everything's been coming up Aces out here in Witt-Wegger land, which leaves me barely able to catch my breath, with all the madness that's ensuing. While work's been a bear recently, with multiple in-services and a massive state-qualifying debate tournament to judge, there's been a lot to celebrate out here!

First off, WittCon VI: "Have you Hugged an Orc Today?" is officially a WorldWide D&D Game Day premier site! We've already received the downloadable registration pack, complete with the scenario, characters, and even a trivia pack. While I haven't read the info thoroughly, I'm looking forward to busting out this scenario on some hapless adventurers on March 21st!

Further, I've finally decided what I actually want to run at this year's WittCon. While I've been tempted to run another session of Dungeon Slam!, I've been doing a lot of playtesting on the weekly game nights, which makes it a little less...well, novel. I had kicked around doing straight up 4e, perhaps with a Ravenloft or Planescape twist, but with the WorldWide D&D Game Day info coming through, that option's already covered. I had kicked around doing Stargate or Conan d20, but...eh. Nothing was coming to mind. And with Jules already planning a trip to Zendik Farms for her Call of Cthluhu game, what was left?

Oh yes...Dark Heresy! Indeed, we return to the depths of the Warp with a wicked little scenario I'm calling "Survival of the Fittest". Players will be in the role of Acolytes, searching for missing Inquisitor Xanthippus, who disappeared on the war-ravaged world of Thanatos during an Orkish invasion. But, as always, things are not as they seem...

On the plus side, my Monday Heroes Unlimited game has been utterly rolling. Our first session was spent getting the group together, as they investigated a mysterious warehouse housing a crime scene, which seems to be off of both the mob's and the polices' books. Kat's psychic, based on Scheherezade of the "1001 Arabian Nights", is slowly losing her grip on Sanity, as she delves into Object Reading and the like, while Will's Austrian strongman Manifesto utterly devastated some nosy dockworkers...

And oh, I can't wait for the arrival of my villain....they call him Mr. Kisses... :D

The only real down-side to recent events is that last year's WittCon vendor, Bob "Don't Call Him the Diceman" Kindle, was unable to make it down for this year's event. Hopefully, as the dread date nears, we'll have someone out for all your gaming supply needs!

In Which The Warlock is Astounded by Circumstance...

So, planning is well-underway on WittCon VI: "Have You Hugged An Orc Today?" The schedule for events is taking shape, and the designs for this year's T-shirt are slowly being formulated. Yet again, we'll be looking forward to a visit from the one and only El Willy and his WEGSing krew, as well as from our friendly neighborhood Reaper Minis rep, Shane.

Ironically, though, this year's WittCon falls on the same day as many auspicious events! Our theme this year, "Have you Hugged An Orc Today?", comes directly from the UN's International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, though that's not all...
March 21st is also UNESCO World Poetry Day, Ba'hai and Iranian New Year's Day, the Vernal Equinox, and Namibian Independence Day.

All of that...feh. No big whoop. But..for a gaming convention...only one major concurrent holiday might matter: Worldwide D&D Game Day!

Yes, devoted readers, we're currently in the works to hold honest-to-God, RPGA-official, 4e D&D, fresh from Wizards of the Coast at your favorite neighborhood college con. Will we succeed? I sure hope so!

In Which The Warlock Looks Forward to the Coming Months...

Finally, back on time! Naturally, I'm procastinating from my usual work, but that's life...I'm used to it.

I must say, though, I am utterly excited. This part of the year always stands as the beginning of great things across the board, but particularly in gaming terms.

First off, there's the upcoming gaming. With "Shadows of the Cold War" about to start, and Fred's 4e game in full swing, I'm up to my eyeballs in great gaming. Twice a week, at least? Can't beat it with a stick.

Further, I managed to sneak in a little playtesting of Dungeon Slam! this weekend, as well. While many of the issues that came up have been ones I'm much aware of--relative weakness of spellcasters, need for more Health and Arcana, overall game speed--this game was an utter success, as the players really went for the throat on the PvP. Between the Malevelolent Teleporter uses (which are just a touch overpowered), the Astral Thievery, and the utter wrath with which players went after one another...the game was fantastically played! I was utterly amazed at the virulence with which they went at it! When the Martial Artist got marooned in Skull Sanctum after having used Resist Arcana on several other players, I was laughing my head off! Karma works, children!

What amazed me most about all this was the fact that, with one exception, all of these players were brand new! Within the span of one evening, they caught onto the game faster than even some of the veterans I've had play. With no lies, I've never seen the Swashbuckler played as well as the way he was this past time. The player said it seemed somewhat broken, but I had to break it to him--the way he was rolling was exactly the way I'd intended it! He just stumbled onto some great combinations!

This gives me some real promise for the upcoming revision of DS. I really want to pump out a new revision before WittCon VI, which is coming up in March. Can't wait for that!

Further, the great Con season begins again! February begins with UD Con, over at University of Dayton, followed by WittCon VI in March, and then GloryCon after that...

...can't beat the gaming, particularly at Origins after that! :D