In Which The Warlock Makes a Major Alteration...

So, let's talk about something that I haven't brought up in quite a while:  Dungeon Slam!

I've occasionally broken out DS! now and again in the last year or so, but I haven't exactly been doing a whole lot of substantial revision on it.  The biggest issue keeping DS! from being a "real game" is the run-time:  I can't seem to get it under two hours without making major changes to the game mechanics and the way that chance is involved with the game itself.

Risk--has anyone finished that game?

That's a major problem, because few games run longer than two hours while maintaining an element of fun.  Ask yourself, when was the last time that you played a game of Risk for more than two hours, before the novelty of Risk wore off and a clear winner was evident, and everyone else worked to stave off that winner for an extra hour or so.  Don't get me wrong:  Risk can be fun, but it often takes so long to play that few manage to ever complete that game.



A session of Dungeon Slam!
from Origins 2008.

Similarly, Dungeon Slam! also suffered from a pretty major issue that many rpgs also suffer from:  Contested Roll Syndrome.  Contested rolls--also called opposed rolls or contests--have a propensity to slow games down immensely, as they make every chanced encounter (which are fairly common, natch!) into a minimum of two dice rolls, rather than one.

Imagine, if you will, a "static" system like Savage Worlds or even d20.  Each dice roll is compared against a number, which varies based on the difficulty of a task.  Modifiers are then made based on the circumstances facing the situation and the person acting within it.  However, in a system based on contested rolls--such as Dungeon Slam! as well as Marvel Heroic Roleplaying and several other games--that static modifier is replaced by another roll, on the act-ee's part.

While you'd figure that this wouldn't slow down the game too much, once you start adding in modifiers, re-rolls, and other chance-altering mechanics common to most games, the game slows down to a crawl, which brings us back to the core problems with Dungeon Slam!.  It simply takes too freaking long.

But, with its numerous problems and several competitors on the market--Super Dungeon Explore, Munchkin Quest, and Dungeon Run come immediately to mind--I've decided to put Dungeon Slam! on the shelf indefinitely.

That said, writing Dungeon Slam! hasn't been a waste in any sense of the word.  In fact, I learned a lot from the act of writing it--particularly in how to structure a game and how to format a prototype for Publisher and Adobe.  And, there's a lot I can take from the best elements of Dungeon Slam!...

• The PvP race structure.
• The item upgrades mechanic.
• The open-board motion.
• The ability to actively screw your neighbor without specifically engaging them.
• The fundamental stats and mechanics (minus the opposed rolls).

And, friends and neighbors, that's just what I've been doing for the past two weeks.  I've been reformatting the best bits and piecees of Dungeon Slam! into a new game with a new genre and idiom...

...but to see the fruits of my labors, you'll have to tune in for the next entry!

In Which The Warlock Prepares an Answer on Preparation...

Just after returning from Origins, DigitalKat posed a question to me.  She's been up to her eyeballs with "real life" obligations recently--a full-time job, an internship on her days off, plus family and friend obligations.  Prepping game for one group, let alone two or more, has been a huge challenge for her.  She's written up some of her trials and tribulations here, where she describes how she manages to fit in her game-prep in the midst of her busy schedule. 

Just don't look up!
Then again, don't look down!

She asked me, "How do you manage to do it?"  Naturally, this is a question that I get asked quite a bit, considering all that I have on my plate.  Between freelance writing, working on my own projects and writings, and the struggles of grading and teaching, it almost appears like I'm working miracles!  Truth be told, I often make the analogy of a juggler:  as long as I don't look up, I can stay in rhythm and keep juggling indefinitely.  But, it's when I sit back and "look up" at the massive amount of projects I have on deck that I get overwhelmed!

While the summer affords me quite a bit of time to get caught up--I average about 4,000-5,000 words a day, if I spend a fully day writing--the school year often "interferes" with my ability to write.  But, during the school year, this time is curtailed significantly, due to my obligations in the classroom!  That said, I do manage to find times during the day where I can actually get some game-based work done!

Journaling and Silent Reading

As part of my daily teaching procedures, I begin almost every day with either a 7 minute journaling time or a 15 minute session of silent reading.  While the benefits of reading and writing each day are well-documented, this has a multi-faceted benefit for the teacher.  First, it establishes a gravitas and attitude in the classroom, allowing students to calm down and focus on something literary or philosophical, rather than their own items.  Secondly, it gives me a time in which I can take attendance and take care of any outstanding issues, like make-up work or conferencing with individual students.  However, while I keep my attendence software on one tab in my browser, I arrange it so that it only takes up half the screen, leaving the other half free for Word, Excel, or Publisher.

Writing during this period--under a massive deadline and in short spurts--usually doesn't net me much at each session, though tallied over a full day of 5 class periods, that's about an hour's worth of writing, usually totalling around 500 words by itself.

Hall Supervision and Prep

What the Warlock's schedule
is usually like...

This past year, I was afforded a boon:  my supervision period (hall duty for half the year and study hall for the second half) and my personal prep period were back to back.  My duties during these times were particularly small:  sign passes, keep track of attendance, and ensure that no one's really messing around. 

Mondays, most days, I spend formalizing and submitting my lesson plans, then sending them on to my department head.  Tuesday through Thursday, under normal circumstances, I spend my time either organizing my thoughts, taking care of e-mail correspondence, or actually writing.  Fridays, though, is where the real "prep" takes place, as that's game night.

This time span affords me almost two full hours--with a glorious little break right in between, wherein I can get coffee--to focus on writing and the like.

Prepping for Game

Oftentimes, the amount of prep that I do directly relates to the type of system that I'm running.  For a game like Savage Worlds or ICONS, I find that my prep is almost negligible.  I'll come up with a few plot elements or ideas that I'd like to introduce, or spend my time focusing on elements actively sought after by my PCs.  Oftentimes, if I have information that's privy to only one or two, I'll drop them a private e-mail during this time, providing them whatever info they've happened to stumble across.  Unless it's something I'm likely to forget or if I'm juggling a whole pile of plot hooks, I often don't even have to write these down.

For a game like 4e D&D, however, I need a little more time and effort put in.  Most times, this occurs through the (offline, of course!) Monster Builder.  I start by filtering monsters by level and type, then see what kind of monsters might fit for the adventure hook I'd been planning.  If there are some pre-built, or at least close in terms of level, I'll simply adjust the monster level, print and go from there.  If not, I often take a pre-existing monster, re-flavor it (by changing names, adding or subtracting an attack or two, and adding in thematic items) and then print away.

Behind the Curtain

Instant Gunslinger!  Just add dice!

One of the biggest secrets I can pass on, though?  Cheat!  Once you have a degree of system mastery in the game you're running, it becomes easy to fudge NPCs for a session or two, then fully flesh them out when you have a little bit of extra time.  Let's say, for example, an bounty hunter is pursuing your PCs in a Deadlands game.  You know he wields a shotgun, and he makes a living pursuing criminals (or, in this case, your players!).  If you know Savage Worlds reasonably well, you could assume that he has a d10 in Shooting, a d10 in Tracking, and probably a reasonably high (d8) Notice.  He'd probably be pretty quick (maybe a d8 or d10 in Agility) and fairly tough (d8 in Vigor).  Anything else?  Call it a d6, unless it really fits into his "bounty hunter" schtick!  Want to give him some more personality?  Give him access to a skill that he wouldn't normally have--maybe this guy has a d10 in Taunt, and he always opens combat by taunting the group.  As for Edges, go thematic--Woodsman would make sense, as would Quick Draw or Marksman. 

You can do the same thing for nearly any system, once you have a handle on the math.  For 4e D&D, it all starts with the base of 1/2 Level + Ability mod.  If you had to build an archmage on the fly, start with his Intelligence score, perhaps something around a 22.  Ability mod for a 22 is +6, to which you add half of his level.  Is he trained in a given skill?  Probably, if it's academic--give him that +5 bonus pretty indiscriminately.  Now, how about some personality--let's make him a dwarf!  He'll have slightly higher hit points and a slightly lower movement speed, as well as the rest of the dwarven traits--don't worry about those unless they come up.  As for spells, pick a theme!  Maybe this mage is all about manipulating fire or earth.  You could give him a bog-standard "Flaming Sphere" and just reflavor it as a half-sentient earth elemental rampaging through the battlefield.

Obviously, these stats aren't concrete.  They're meant to be "just enough" to get you through a single session or two.  If you need more, that's when you can devote the time to putting forward a full NPC writeup.  If this character is meant to be recurring, it's time to give him the full business.

A Major Mistake

I didn't always take the minimal prep route, truth be told.  In fact, I used to obsess over game prep, particularly when I was in college.  While working in an amusement park gift shop over the summer, I'd craft epic campaigns filling whole notebooks....only to have most of that material go either unused or underused.  Plus, when I'd plot out the entire plot of the adventure, I'd end up denying my players the opportunity to go "off book" and improvise on their own. 

It wasn't until I had almost graduated from Wittenberg did I finally realize this phenomenon.  Actually, it was in one of my infamous "Blackfall" games--the epic Blackfall II, which spanned over 48 hours--that I finally divorced myself from my over-preparatory tendencies.  With over 15 players and a co-GM at my back, we had to be ready to improvise at a moment's notice!  Combat had to be fast and furious, to allow everyone an opportunity to shine--getting bogged down in minutia simply wasn't an option! 

Everyone, however, has their own balance of preparation against improvisation.  For me, I fall much further on the side of improv than I did even a few years ago, and my choices in games indicate that shift in philosophy as well.  It's all a matter of what works best for you or for your table, as always.

In Which The Warlock Wraps Up Origins 2012!

Whew!  I'm really running behind on this one!  The PlatinumChick and I scurried back from Columbus on Sunday evening, and I have yet to say a thing about our Origins weekend.  Man...I'm slacking!

The entrance for Origins 2012!

As I've said many times earlier, our trip to Origins was significantly abbreviated from its prior years.  Under normal circumstances, we'd drive out Tuesday night, get settled in, run games Wednesday through Saturday, then leave Sunday after the dealer hall closes.  This year, as I've been up to my eyeballs with students' finals and closing down my classroom--thanks to the date change, primarily--we were only able to attend half of the time, arriving on Friday afternoon and staying through Sunday.

However, this did afford us one luxury that we hadn't been able to enjoy prior to:  our own hotel room!  Yes, cats and kittens, the PlatinumChick and I actually managed to stay in a place to ourselves this time around.  Mind you, not that we did much sleeping....no, seriously:  we were up each night till around 3:00am or 3:30, either raising a glass with El Willy and the WEGSHogz or grabbing a bite to eat with the Journeyman GM!

The Events!

Friday evening started for me with another session of the D&D Next playtest.  Yes, I know what you're doing to say:  "But Warlock, you hated D&D Next!  You wrote this scathing review of it when you ran it, not three weeks ago!"  And, yes, you'd be right.  But, I figured that I'd give the game another chance, this time as a player--more particularly, as a player of the one character that wasn't represented at our home table, the human "laser" cleric. 

And, truth be told?  I'm still not impressed.  My cleric, with an 18 Wisdom, had all of two spells for the entire day.  Rather than heal, I focused on combat utility, eschewing the mediocre Cure Light Wounds for Spiritual Hammer, which more than doubled my potential damage output.  However, it was to little avail.  Our characters nearly suffered a TPK from a sliding stair trap, and our fighters--while admirable at damage output (but little else)--spent most of their time in single digit hp, falling in and out of unconsciousness constantly.  D&D Next has a long way to go before I'll be putting down money on a new edition.

My Saturday started much better, with a session of El Willy's newest release:  Pittsburgh 68:  a quick and dirty card game (edited by yours truly) emulating the old grindhouse horror classics, particularly Romero's quintessential Night of the Living Dead, which was set--you guessed it!--in Monroeville, PA, right along Pennsylvania Route 68.  I actually ran two sessions of this on Saturday, and a third on Sunday, to help take some of the strain off of El Willy and his crew as they pushed both WEGS and P68. 

Saturday was also seminar day for me, as I sat in on three separate seminars on game design, game development and genre emulation.  While listening to the gaming industry's self-styled "sublebrities" (as in, sub-celebrities) is always enlightening, the actual utility of these seminars has been...well, I'm not exactly sure.  Going to these gives me the chance to hobnob with some of the industry luminaries--I think Kenneth Hite may get sick of seeing me after all of this!--but their advice is only useful if I can actually put it into action!  That comes this summer, as I focus on finishing up oh-so-many projects. 

Unfortunately, I wish I could say that my third seminar, featuring Lou Zocchi, would have been more useful.  Zocchi's "insider" information brought several useful tidbits, but most of these were minutia, not applicable to most current situations.  Further, Zocchi's source information was woefully out of date, attempting to tell the audience about Kickstarter and DriveThruRPG, as if they had just come about and were some experimental force in publication!  I'm not sure whether it's a matter of his tendency to avoid computers or a genuine unknowingness, but Zocchi's information probably wasn't worth my time.

Sunday, the PlatinumChick and I spent most of our time trolling the dealer hall, but also spent a good bit of time with a Myrmidon's "Zombie Containment Rally"--a fun little zombie-killing romp, using heavily modified OGL rules for quick, streamlined mechanics.  Teaming up on the far side of the map, we managed to seal one of the four rifts in the complex and come in, guns a-blazin', to save the rest of our team.  It made for a fun game, in all, and a great way for us to wind down our convention.

The Swag!

The Origins 2012 Swag Shot
Not much this year...maybe next?

Not too much in the way of swag this time around, all told.  I was hoping to pick up a copy of All for One:  Regime Diablolique while there, but no retailer actually had a copy!  I did manage to pick up a copy of Unspeakable Words for $10 as well as winter-themed set of Dungeon Tiles for $6--can't beat those for prices!  The biggest bit of swag, though, is the mace I purchased from Edhellen Armory.  Yes, friends and neighbors, the first piece of my Man-at-Arms cosplay is in place.  I'm hoping to pick up the helmet and the blaster next in July, then the armor (football pads) and Wonderflex in August.  If all goes well, I should be able to have a costume in time for Halloween!

The Observations!

As predicted, this year's Origins was a ghost town in comparison to years prior.  While GAMA has yet to release the official numbers, you only had to walk around for a few minutes to note the sheer lack of attendees.  The convention center food court, which normally would be jam-packed at dinner hour on Saturday, was deserted:  many restaurants had no lines whatsoever, and seats were plentiful.  The Hyatt Grand Ballroom, which was reserved for RPGA games and D&D playtests, was barely one third full during a prime gaming hour:  Friday, at 7pm. 

Speaking to several dealers, sales were down at this year's show as well.  El Willy noted several times that the weekend "felt like a Thursday" from prior years, with a significantly lessened gamer density.  Luckily, Origins will be moving back to June next year--well after the vast majority of schools have let out, allowing educators and families with children to come back.  With any luck, they will. 

You know, it's weird.  While still running demos of P68, I find myself missing the act of running RPG sessions for the convention crowd.  The only issue I'm going to run into next year, though, is what to run?  I could easily continue running the games I love:  Deadlands (especially with Hell on Earth coming out at GenCon!), ICONS, and many others.  I could easily also run sessions of the games I've helped to write or edit for, like The Laundry or WEGS.  But, I'm also trying to keep a weather eye to Cold Steel Wardens...which means running demo sessions and showing off what I have.  And that's to say nothing of my board games!  So many decisions, and only a year to do it in!

In Which The Warlock is Worn Out!

Hey, gang--sorry for the lack of updates this week.  This week was finals week at my school, after which the PlatinumChick and I left immediately for the Origins Game Fair!

I'll fill you in on all the gory details of our slightly-abbreviated Origins experience this Wednesday!

Until then, fellow gamers!

The Warlock's (P)Review: D&D Next Playtest Rules (Actual Play!)

It's been buzzing all over the web that the D&D Next playtest rules--the next incarnation of the most storied RPG in history--are now available online.

The playtest begins...

Truth be told, I haven't been following the updates on 5e as diligently as I had 3e, 3.5e, or 4e, despite the numerous ways to keep updated on the rules.  After running several lengthy 4e campaigns, I was a bit burned out on D&D, frustrated at the release of Essentials, and not really willing to continue chipping in money on a product that wasn't satisfying.  Other games--most notably Savage Worlds and its numerous settings--have been providing more entertainment for my table, with less numerical crunch, more interesting and flexible mechanics, and more unique settings.

However, I still remained on the mailing list for Wizards of the Coast's upcoming playtest and, when it went live, I figured that I had nothing to lose:  just this past Friday, my home group had a sesssion off (as two players were AWOL), so the rest of us threw together a quick session of D&D's newest incarnation, using 3rd level versions of the playtest characters in section K:  "The Caves of Evil Chaos" in the provided adventure.

The result of that session?  A resounding 'meh'.  The current mechanics for D&D Next are a Frankenstein's Monster of grafted together mechanics, combining seemingly random mechanics from prior editions while adding few new or innovative mechanics of its own.  Billed with the expressed intent to unify gamers, these current rules will do little to placate any of the fractious factions in gaming. 

Truth be told, D&D Next most reminded me of Heroes Unlimited from Palladium Games.  Kevin Siembieda's system was a loosely cobbled-together amalgamation of rules from early editions of D&D, GURPS, and a host of other homebrew systems.  While it was fully playable as a system, its flaws were numerous and its mechanics were incredibly fiddly.  While using d20s for its combat mechanics--which were culled right from AD&D, minus the THAC0--Heroes Unlimited used a percentile-based mechanics pulled straight out of Call of Cthulhu's first edition.  This schizophrenic feel carries over directly into D&D Next to great detriment.
We'll start with what hasn't changed with D&D.  The standard races, classes, and six ability scores are all there, with little change between them.  In addition to class and race, each character also gets a Background (a combination of mechanical element from 4e and a pre-determined choice of 3e feats) and a Theme (almost identical to a Kit from 2e).  While these are nice touches, they serve as little more than cursory elements--chosen once, with little variation or customization to come.  While WotC has claimed to be shooting for a "modular" rules-set, there is little evidence of such in play currently. 

But, it's still D&D at its core...just a mish-mashed, unenthused version of D&D, pulling its mechanics from prior editions like Herbert West pulling bodies from a grave.  Elves still get bow proficiency and a dexterity bonus, halflings and dwarves still get a speed penalty, and fighters still suck out loud.

While printing the materials for the playtest, I couldn't help but note that where every other character--two clerics, a wizard, and a rogue--each got a two-page character sheet, the fighter's entire information fit on a single sheet with room to spare.  Hands down, the fighter received less interesting mechanics, less diverse options, and few things to do aside from say, round after round, "I hit it with my axe."  ChaoticFrederick--as open-minded and creative a player as I could imagine--had an incredibly hard time staying interested with his character. 

I'm fully aware of the continual argument over the fighter in terms of D&D--some believe that fighter should be the "simple" class, given to newbies and those players who prefer limited or simplistic options, while others (myself included) relished tactical elements, enemy placement, and holding aggro.  However, the fighter present in the D&D Next playtest was dumbed down to the point of disinterest. 

The frustrating portion of the playtest, for me, was the fact that the PlatinumChick's "guardian" cleric served a better job as a fighter than the actual fighter did!  She had 3 higher AC, dealt almost as much damage with a one-handed weapon and a single buff spell, and still was able to buff the party and provide out-of-combat healing!

Unfortunately, while the PlatinumChick's cleric out-fightered the fighter, it absolutely failed at fulfilling its own archetype of sagacious healer!  The playtest packet contained two clerics--one "tanked" cleric and one "laser" cleric--in order to show off the 'versatility' of the cleric class, though it only went to show that the clerics provided could do precisely one thing well--fight in melee, heal/cast as a spellcaster, etc.  The actual class differences between the two clerics, however, came only in spell choices and in their choice "Channel Divinity"--a holdover from 4e, which relied on the use of Turn Undead attempts.  If real difference and variety is the end goal for clerics, why not replace Turn Undead entirely and give a domain-related ability?

The wizard and rogue, thematically, were closest to their archetypal roots, though they weren't without their own issues.  Both clerics and the wizard were given at-will attack spells (coming straight from 4e), though both relied on Vancian-style 2e spellcasting.  However, either the wizard's spells were incredibly underpowered or the rogue's Backstab ability was massively overpowered.  After achieving stealth (possibly every other round, as the rogue could hide behind his own party members!), the rogue could pull off a ranged backstab dealing 1d8+3d6+ability mod!  Every other round!  The poor wizard, on the other hand, could only manage such damage maybe twice a day, using his Arc Lightning spell.  Our wizard and rogue player--FridayNightWill and Chris I, respectively--probably had the best time of the group, but even they were left dissatisfied.

As a GM, I had similar problems with running the adventure.  A revamp of the old 1e adventure, "The Caves of Chaos", the session brought next to no actual opportunity to role-play, eschewing characterization and interesting NPCs in lieu of dungeon-crawling and combat.  Okay, I can understand that on some degree, as the playtest is meant to exercise the combat rules.  But, the adventure's set up and organization was amazingly miserable.  Monster mini-stat blocks were tossed into the adventure at seemingly random points, and did not include basic, vital information like initiative bonuses or special defenses.  I had to keep referring back to the Bestiary packet, which defeats the entire purpose of having mini-stat blocks in the adventure!

That said, the game wasn't entirely a wash.  Here and there, the game managed to shock me with a novel concept or idea which really made for an elegant change.  The "Advantage/Disadvantage" mechanic provided a quick and easy way to adjucate basic benefits and drawbacks, and my group didn't have the seeming "Advantage-fishing" issue that some other playtest groups seemed to have had.  While the mechanic itself is a little "swing-y" in terms of mathematics, it makes for a spectacular way to toss out bonuses and penalties. 

Similarly, the replacement of Fortitude/Reflex/Will saving throws with saves based directly on the core 6 ability scores made for a novel and intuitive change.  However, I worry about how these will hash out at higher levels, particularly if the dreaded "Christmas Tree" effect of prior editions carries over.  Skills actually work almost identically to Saving Throws, as well, which makes for an awkward sense of understanding.  Coupled with that, there are few ways to customize ones' skills, as they're intrinsically linked to Themes and Backgrounds.  As such...yeah.  Skills are almost negligiable in this edition.

All told, we did not have fun with D&D Next.  The enjoyment we had at the table really came only from our own table-banter and from another's company, which we could do with almost anything.  Not saying that's bad, but the D&D Next playtest failed to engage my group on almost every level.  There's a lot of work to be done on this edition before release...and a lot to be done to win us back over from the numerous other games that we're enjoying.

In Which The Warlock Kicks the Tires!

Quick entry for this weekend, as I'm up to my eyeballs in grading here at the end of the school year.

The Savages over at Pinnacle Entertainment have been busy little bees, teasing about their new, ultra-secret setting which has just gone live on Kickstarter.

Their big reveal?  Deadlands Noir!  A hardboiled take on the classic Weird West setting, taking place in the Big Easy. 

I'll definitely be chipping in on this one, as soon as payday rolls around.  While I'm looking forward to Hell on Earth a little more, Deadlands Noir will bring a ton new backstory to the table and a great new setting to play in!

In Which The Warlock Comes Up With a Backup Plan...

For those of you playing along at home, you may have noted that I haven't been talking much about our romps in Deadlands on Friday night.  Truth be told, it's been quite a while since we've actually had a session of "The Flood"!  Real-life issues took their toll, between our trip to C2E2, some illnesses, and a few alternate obligations, resulting in over a month of missed sessions!

Yeesh!  That's a lot of time.  But, many groups face the same situation--what do you do when you need the whole group present, and it just hasn't happened?

For us, the answer is usually board games.  Arkham Horror is a particular favorite, as two sessions of that can fill an entire game night for us.  Lately, we also broke out Innsmouth Escape and had a blast with Munchkin Axe Cop.  These are usually good for single night sessions where we're just looking to unwind after a long week, but occasionally we just get the itch for some actual dice-rolling RPG that a board game just can't scratch.

The PlatinumChick and I, after years of running games for conventions, have quite the library of one shots.  Under normal circumstances, we tend to use these sorts of nights for playtesting.  Most of my WEGS games and several of our other one-offs get tested with our home group when a few players are missing.  Again, that's good for most circumstances, but when we don't exactly have a lot of one-shots to test this year, due to the Origins date change, that leaves that option out in the cold.

So, the question has been:  "What do we do now?"



Straight from the comics, onto my gaming table! 
Iron Man and the Avengers take on Carnage in Marvel Heroic Roleplaying

The answer, interestingly enough, arose from one of my recent reviews:  Marvel Heroic Roleplaying.  After going to see The Avengers a few weeks ago (and again a week later...), we were all really high on some superhero goodness, and I was eager to give the system a run.

So, with no prep at all, we decided to delve into the book-built scenario, based on Brian Michael Bendis' "Breakout" arc from "New Avengers".  Serendipitously taking on Bendis' Avengers--Iron Man, Captain America, Miss Marvel, and Wolverine--we dialed up the action as the SHIELD/Riker's Island prison known as "The Raft" exploded with an EMP pulse.  With Iron Man in the in the sub-basements upgrading security and the rest up top, examining some new holding cells with Maria Hill, we started with the party already split....and Carnage making a beeline for Iron Man!

The nice thing about all this?  I've already managed to lay down enough plot hooks in one session to provide a ton of possible "episodes" in the future.  Where did Carnage escape to, after attacking Iron Man?  Who was at fault for the explosion?  Who were the infiltrators in the northwest guard tower, and what's their relationship to "Mutants Sans Frontiers"? 

While we're hoping to get back to "The Flood" this week--with the Battle of Shan Fan, no less!--we'll be revisiting MHR off and on, when we have missing members.  And, it's already looking to be spectacular!

In Which The Warlock Muses on Rewards...

In amongst all of the other numerous projects that I've been working on--and, y'know, my actual "real" job of teaching--I've been contemplating what exactly I need to do, when I start the Kickstarter for Cold Steel Wardens.  Obviously, I'll need to officially incorporate as well as establish my copyright and trademark registries, all of which I hope to have finished by August of this year. 

But, rather, I mean the actual Kickstarter itself.  I've been reading numerous blogs dealing with the issue, as KS can be a massive boon when done correctly...and an utter disaster when not.

Analysis shows that Kickstarter projects tend to do significantly better when accompanied with some kind of audio-visual element (not necessarily a video, though video does tend to help) as well as preview material and character sheets to show what the game itself will look like and how it will play.

Rewards, though, are really what drive Kickstarter projects.  After all, as a patron system, it's hard to get people to patronize you without good reason!  One of the neatest things about Kickstarter is the fact that rewards aren't necessarily always tangible.  A high-level patronage might provide some experience or opportunity that not necessarily be "worth" anything, but ramps up the level of awesome instead.

So, in thinking about all this, I've begun brainstorming a reward system with tiers based on the three levels of adversaries in CSW:  Mooks, Made Men, and Masterminds.  Take a look!  And, as always, if you have any feedback, it'd be greatly appreciated!

Mooks ($1-$100)

• $10--A PDF copy of Cold Steel Wardens.
• $30--Both a PDF copy of Cold Steel Wardens and a softcover copy of the same, upon publication.
• $50--A signed softcover copy of Cold Steel Wardens, the PDF copy, and an exclusive adventure set in Greensburg (pdf).
• $75--Two signed softcover copies, the PDF copy, the exclusive adventure, and a pre-order for the next books:  Cold Steel Wardens:  Rogues' Gallery.
• $100--all at $75 level, plus a lifetime 10% discount on any of my products.

Made Men ($100-$500)  (All "Made Men" rewards levels automatically include all rewards given for the $100 "Mook" level)

• $150--An 8 1/2" by 11" art print of a piece of your choosing from the Cold Steel Wardens core rulebook, signed by the artist.
• $200--Either an original 8 1/2" by 11" art print of a character of your choosing from Cold Steel Wardens OR inclusion of a character of your creation in the upcoming book, Cold Steel Wardens: Rogues' Gallery.
• $300--Both rewards from the $200 level!
• $500--Both rewards from the $200 level AND I will run an exclusive, off-the-books Cold Steel Wardens session for you and up to 5 of your friends at either GenCon Indy or the Origins Game Fair, at a day and time of your choosing. 

Masterminds ($1000+) (All "Mastermind" rewards levels automatically include all rewards given for the $100 "Mook" level and the $500 "Made Men" level)

• $1,000--At my expense and on a weekend of our combined choosing, I will travel to your house and prepare a dinner for you and up to 5 of your friends.  I will then run an exclusive, never-before-seen Cold Steel Wardens investigation for you and said friends, using all new characters made specifically for the evening.  All materials, including the adventure and the characters, are exclusively yours following the session.  (Limited to the Continental United States only).
• $2,000--All rewards listed at the $1,000 level, plus a two free copies of every Cold Steel Wardens product produced...ever!
• $5,000--True partnership.  You'll be brought on board as a consultant for further products, design ideas, and more.   Obviously, there'll be negotiation at this level, which will be hashed out upon such a pledge.

So...what do you think?  Viable?  Is this a scale that seems reasonable?  Am I missing an opportunity?  Feedback would be great!

In Which The Warlock Expounds on Scheduling...

With only three weeks till the show itself, GAMA's finally managed to open up event registration for this year's Origins Game Fair.  I've always tried to be supportive of GAMA, as they're propped up significantly by their volunteers, rather than the full time staff that GenCon benefits from.  Even though I've disagreed with them at times--particularly about this year's date change, they've always been really receptive to receptive criticism and feedback.

But, with the open registration, I'm faced with a greater quandary:  what to do?  what to play?! 

Compared to prior years, there are significantly fewer events on the docket, which restricts ones' options significantly.  After doing the math, there's about 300 less events.  Strangely enough, there are actually 30 more RPG events than last year, though!  Go figure, right?  However, it feels like the variety that we'd always been able to enjoy at Origins seems to be in rather short supply.  Less people means less GMs, which means less variety of events. 

Truth be told, scanning through the spreadsheets of events, I wasn't really jazzed on many of the role-playing options in general.  While I'm eager to sit in on an advanced session of El Willy's "Dingbitt's Inferno" scenario, the only game that I actively sought out was an opportunity for the upcoming D&D Next playtest series.  The PlatinumChick was eager to jump into one of the events held by Matinee Adventures, but our scheduling conflicts prevented her from jumping in as one of the "Birds of Prey".  Many of the less-played systems out there are playing only on Wednesday and Thursday, which precludes our enjoying them, as we won't be arriving until Friday evening.

Where I have found a good degree of interest, however, is in the seminars.  Moreso than in any of the other years we've attended, the seminars at Origins have really come up.  Plus, most seminars have no entry fee, which keeps down our attendance cost!  If my schedule runs out as it stands now, I'll be sitting in on at least three seminars on game design, including one with the dice-master himself: Lou Zocchi.  With my editing and drafting cycle of Cold Steel Wardens approaching so rapidly, I think it'll do me some good to hear as much as I can from the "industry insiders" as possible.

I want to make sure that I get a good deal of time in the dealer hall, if for no other reason than to check out the new releases and see what other indie designers are coming out with.  Plus, trolling for deals at the SJGames booth and other places almost always ends out with me walking away satisfied.  Though, this time around, I'm hoping to manage to pick up the first component for my Man-at-Arms cosplay:  his iconic mace! 

Truth be told, I already miss my annual ritual of prepping games for Origins.  While this has afforded me some additional time for other projects--finishing out Tyrian Horror and doing some new freelancing--I love GMing at convention games, and I'm disappointed to be shut out this year.  That said, there's always next year...

The Warlock's Review: "Marvel's The Avengers"

Let me put this out there:  I've been waiting for this movie for almost the entirety of my adult life.  I started reading comics back when I was in 3rd grade, after I'd picked up the late-Silver and early-Bronze Age comics left behind at my grandparents by my Uncle Ron.  I threw myself into them anytime I was there, reading about Spider-Man's adventures in trying to find the true identity of his parents, of T.O. Morrow's victory over the Justice League, and of the Fantastic Four's journey into the Negative Zone to save Sue Storm's life while she was in childbirth.

But out of Uncle Ron's stacks, he only ever had one issue of Marvel's iconic team:  The Avengers.  Reading that book was like reading a tantalizing preview of all the things that could be--the idea of a group of conflicted, bickering heroes coming together for a greater good, to face those foes that no hero could face alone.  It was unfathomable!  It was amazing!  It was...a teaser for all those things that could be out there.  And, truly, there was!  I started watching the "Marvel Action Hour" on CBS, and the spectacular Spider-Man and X-Men series which aired on Fox.

Marvel's greatest gamble:
The Avengers

When Iron Man came out in 2008, the world of geekdom nearly imploded with a few simple words.  An eye-patch clad Samuel L. Jackson ignited our imaginations, telling Tony Stark that he'd "come to talk about the Avengers Initiative."  Since then, Marvel Studios had begun preparing for something totally unprecedented:  a gestalt universe of films which would eventually combine into a crossover that would shake the fundamental concept of what it meant to be a "superhero movie".  It was ambitious, it was foolhardy...and it was unheard of.

Needless to say, I was nervous.  While Jon Favreau's Iron Man films were spectacular and Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger and The Incredible Hulk were all quality films, blending their various idiosyncracies would prove a monumental task, despite the scaffolding made throughout each film.  When geek-icon Joss Whedon was brought aboard as writer-director, I grew apprehensive.  While Whedon was well versed in comics, having spent quite a bit of time on "Astonishing X-Men". 

And that's where we emerged this week.  The build-up for Avengers was one for the ages and, of course, one we couldn't resist, as the JourneymanGM, FridayNightWill, Chris2, GeoMike, the PlatinumChick and I headed off to Fairborn for a 3D showing.

In a word?  Brilliant!  (And, at this point, the spoilers begin--turn away, if you fear!)

The storyline of Avengers is simple enough:  Tom Hiddleston's Loki has emerged from Asgard with the help of some mysterious benefactors (who are spoiled brilliantly in the credits!) in search of the Tesseract--the Cosmic Cube used by the Red Skull during Captain America: The First Avenger.  Loki seeks dominion over the Earth and Nick Fury's SHIELD command stands in his way.

The film opens with a literal bang, as Loki's theft leaves the SHIELD facility crumbling and the action split between Nick Fury's escape and Maria Hill's pursuit of Loki through a series of underground tunnels.  Cobie Smulders (of How I Met Your Mother fame) brings the right attitude to the role of the all-business Maria Hill, but outside of this opening action scene, she doesn't have much to do.  Word is that just under an hour of footage was cut for the final version of The Avengers, so hopefully she'll see more screen time in the DVD/BluRay cut.

From there, the titular Avengers begin assembling.  Black Widow (Scarlett Johanson) heads to India to collect Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), Nick Fury pulls Captain America (Chris Evans) out of proverbial mothballs, and Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) heads to Stark Tower to recruit Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.).  However, the bonds bringing these heroes together begin cracking in the second act, providing internal conflict that must be conquered before the external threat of invasion.

What really struck me was the level of characterization given to each of the Avengers.  Whedon somehow manages to find time for unique pairings and groupings of the heroes to act together, using their natural charisma to fuel the conflict and charm that makes the film work on so many levels.  While I had no doubts about Robert Downey Jr.'s ability to bring Tony Stark's snark and self-obsession to the table, real surprises emerged from Ruffalo and Johanson.  Black Widow really didn't have much to work with in Iron Man 2, so seeing her really come into her own as a deadly martial artist and manipulative spy was really a treat.  Similarly, Mark Ruffalo's treatment of Bruce Banner brought a lot of humor and humanity to a role that typically reeks of melodrama and inhuman rage.  Plus, the script really calls upon Banner's ability as a scientist, which gives him some great scenes with Stark and with Steve Rogers.

Black Widow flees from
the rampaging Hulk!

Whedon strikes a great balance between scenes of characterization and utter action, and isn't afraid to keep his foot on the gas in either case.  A scene between Loki and Black Widow in the second act brings back echoes of Silence of the Lambs, while the Hulk's rampage through the SHIELD Helicarrier brings with it real echoes of fear from Johanson and even Chris Hemworth's Thor. 

It's because of this that my favorite scene in the movie isn't one of the action scenes, or even a conversation.  The second of two post-credits scenes--the first, setting up a cosmic-level sequel!--has our heroes, exhausted and battered, sitting down at a meal together in a shwarma joint, referenced earlier in the movie.  This scene of camaraderie, of togetherness despite differences, despite toil, despite conflict, really shows all the things that makes The Avengers great.  And what's better?  It's wordless.  No dialogue, no witty repartee necessary.  It's just a matter of cinematographic perfection.

The Avengers, assembled!
A payoff for 60 years of comics
and 5 long years of incredible films!

The third act of The Avengers provides a beyond-suitable climax, with action scenes streaming from character to character in a free-flowing melee.  Iron Man bounces repulsors off of Captain America's shield, while Thor calls down streams of lightning and Hawkeye snipes at Chitauri warriors from the rooftops.  Reminiscent of recent issues of Bendis' Mighty Avengers, the film looks like a comic-book brought to life, more than any other film in history.  Depicting the medium as it is, The Avengers scores on all fronts.

Really, I have but few nitpicks about this movie.  Early on, Hawkeye is mind-controlled by Loki, which stunts his depth of character in the second and third acts, in comparison to the depth provided by his foil, Black Widow.  Thor suffers from the same issue, though not to the same degree, as the development built in his own movie provides relationships for Hemworth's ability.  We never really get a good look at the Chitauri, though they're meant to be faceless, alien troops, led only by the charismatic Hiddleston. 

But, all these are minor quibbles.  The Avengers provides the greatest, most true-to-the-medium comic-book movie experience ever seen in a theater.  After 5 years of build-up and anticipation, Marvel Studios has pulled off the impossible:  a gestalt film linking their films together in a manner never before seen.  See this movie.  See it multiple times, even.  This one changes everything. 

See it, revel in it, and enjoy it!

In Which The Warlock Taps, Swipes, and Pinches...

A few months ago, I mentioned that I'd come into possession of a certain tablet device, as part of a program through my school.  Now that I've finally had some time to play with the darn thing, it's round about time to give some opinion on the various toys that I've been playing with!

GoodReader

PDF viewing and editing comes foremost for me, in terms of utility on the iPad.  With so many books nowadays coming out in digital and dead-tree versions simultaneously, it's often a lot easier for me to just carry a tablet to my various games around the Ohio Valley, rather than lug books around.  While I still love books while at my home table (and to read before bed!), the convenience of a PDF really trumps a book when elsewhere.

GoodReader's tools are intuitive, easy to use, and usable with any number of cloud storage utilities out there.  Pllus, the PDF mark-up tools allow you to annotate, copy, and denote texts easily and quickly.  I actually used a character-sheet from Cold Steel Wardens to demonstrate GoodReader's PDF mark-up tools to my fellow teachers!  It's that quick and easy.

Hands down, GoodReader is worth the $4.99.  It's gotten rave reviews from numerous sources, and the praise is well and truly due.

Gamer Dice

This one, however, I was much less a fan.  One of the biggest draws for me, as a gamer, is the social and visceral feel of sitting around a table, rolling dice.  While Gamer Dice provides a stable replacement for the actual art of rolling dice, it can't replace that tactile feel of letting your d20s tumble between your fingers, clatter across the table, and roll to a stop.

Now, obviously, there are situations in which polyhedrals simply aren't realistic, but Gamer Dice doesn't do much to make me want to use it.  The app's base configuration is a flat, matte gray.  While its interface is functional, it has no visual appeal and no ability to simply input a number--rather, you have to tap the plus or minus button numerous times.  While this isn't a problem with small dice pools, rolling 5d12+22 would take a huge amount of time.  Plus, Gamer Dice doesn't allow for rolling of multiple types of dice simultaneously, which means that games like Marvel Heroic Roleplaying aren't playable with this app.

I'm sure that there's got to be a better dice roller out there than this one--save your time and effort.

Elder Sign:  Omens

Now, here's a real winner!  Fantasy Flight Games--producers of Arkham Horror and numerous other games--decided to take their card-based Cthulhian race-against-the-clock and build a version for the iOS and Android systems.

ES: O, as a product, is really polished and smooth, using art from its various Cthulhu lines and smooth mechanics.  Visuals and sound effects are evocative and immersive, drawing the player in.  While some have criticized the game for being a "trumped up version of Yahtzee", the more recent patches and the addition of two more Ancient Ones--Yig and Cthulhu himself, to go with the default Azathoth--have really expanded gameplay.

I find myself playing this one anytime I have nothing to do and have my iPad close at hand.  It's addictive, has a good deal of depth, and is outright fun to play.  Pick this one up and splurge on the expansion.  It's worth it!

In Which The Warlock Watches the Worrisome...

Unfortunately for me, the PlatinumChick got me sick this past weekend, so I've spent the last two days hacking stuff out of my lungs and trying desperately to clear my sinuses clear.  But, in the meanwhile, there's been a juicy bit of news launching its way through the various rpg news channels.

You see, after about 8 months after coming aboard the "D&D Next" design group, Monte Cook has announced his impending departure.  Mike Mearls' response--ostensibly the Wizards of the Coast 'official' response--came shortly thereafter with a combination of outright shock and distraction technique, as the response contained the official announcement for the public playtest start date: May 24th.

Many have read a good deal into this, particularly given Cook's mention of "not wanting to start drama" and Mearls' seemingly-strange mention that "no one voice can rise above the others, unless it is the voice of D&D fans as a whole".  While Cook mentions in a later entry that he had no personal issues with anyone on the design team, the whole situation smacks of corporate apologism and clashing personalities.

What's worse, this bodes incredibly poorly for the upcoming D&D brand.  I was quick to criticize WotC's choice to bring Cook aboard in the first place, particularly given the apparent lack of knowledge Cook had regarding 4th Edition.   But, as the saying goes, "you don't change horses mid-stream".  With Cook's departure, the current design goals likely to be fragmented and internally opposed, for no other reason than, "that was XXXX's idea--I don't like where he's going with that". 

I'll readily admit--I've signed up for the 5e/Next open playtest and intend to sit in on at least one game during this year's Origins Game Fair.  As much as I hate to say it, people tend to forget that games are a business.  And, at that corporate level, publishing has just as many problems as, say, a corporate takeover. 

Will we see a coherent edition from D&D Next?  Probably.
But, does this sound dark tidings for Wizards of the Coast?  Undoubtedly...

The Warlock's Review: "Lady Blackbird: Tales From the Wild Blue Yonder" (Actual Play)

"What's this?" you say!  Another review, so soon after the Marvel Heroic Roleplaying review?  You bet your sweet bippy, fellow gamers.  It's been a busy time out here, but we've still managed to sling some dice together, even outside of our normal Friday night Deadlands group.

Pages from Lady Blackbird:  Tales From the Wild Blue Yonder

Truth be told, I've been aching to run Lady Blackbird:  Tales From the Wild Blue Yonder for quite a while.  DigitalKat turned me onto this little freebie a few months ago, but while in the midst of our extended foray in The Flood, I hadn't found the right time or situation to throw down Lady Blackbird. 

Did I say "freebie"?  You bet I did.  You see, friends and neighbors, that's the big selling point:  this one is absolutely free.  OneSeven Design, the creators of Lady Blackbird, put this one out completely free, publishing the module under the Creative Commons Licence, along with several other pieces such as The Mustang and Ghost/Echo.  And, before I continue--go download these.  They're all well worth your time, even if you never run them, though I heartily encourage you to do so!

Lady Blackbird falls into that nebulous category of "story games," providing a minimalist approach to mechanics in favor an emphasis on flexibility and creativity for both players and gamemasters.  While the GM never rolls dice--similar to ICONS, rules as written--the players use a simple d6-based dice pool system to determine success or failure.  Start with one die; add another if you have a "trait" that is applicable, then an additional die for each "tag" under that trait that might help you.  If that's not enough dice for you, add from your personal pool.  A die roll of 4-6 succeeds, while 1-3 fails.  Get enough successes and you succeed.  However, failure is enouraged as well, as it returns dice to your personal pool, at the cost of allowing the GM to add in complications for your character. 

The neat thing about Lady Blackbird is that it never plays the same way twice.  When DigitalKat described her run-through, she riffed significantly off of Joss Whedon's Firefly, playing up the two-fisted action.  However, as the descriptions are intentionally left vague, my group took something of a different route.  Beginning in the brig of the Imperial warship "Hand of Sorrow", our group took a "Steampunk Star Wars" vibe from the game, facing off against foes with "phlogiston blades" and "repeating percussion cap" pistols.  Making their way down through the ship's decks, my group evaded and fought their way through waves of Imperial guards, trying to find their way back their ship, "The Owl."

The Owl--our heroes' noble skyship

Natually, in a high adventure vibe, our adventure ended with a confrontation with the Hand of Sorrow's captain and his guardsmen amongst the whistling, open decks of the docking bays of the ship.  Running for their lives, our crew managed to defeat the captain, clamber aboard The Owl, and sail off into the Ether before the Hand of Sorrow could pursue.

What really impressed me most from Lady Blackbird was the transparency of the system.  My players regularly took choices that were "non-optimized", simply because they were available as options and were fitting with their interpretations of the characters.  And, because the dice mechanic was so simplistic, the players focused more on describing their actions and building the over-the-top mayhem.

Really, I can't recommend Lady Blackbird highly enough.  If you want a great introduction to story-based or rules-light gaming, give it a run.  Even if you don't, check out OneSeven Design's numerous other modules.  You'll absolutely find some inspiration there!

The Warlock's Review: Marvel Heroic Roleplaying (First Impressions)

As I mentioned in my C2E2 recap, I was lucky enough to pick up a copy of a game that I've been eyeing up for quite a while:  Marvel Heroic Roleplaying, from Margaret Weis Productions.  While we haven't had a game night to give the game a whirl, I couldn't help but put down my first impressions of the product. 

Marvel Heroic Roleplaying
from Margaret Weis Productions

First off, this book is gorgeous.  Obviously, one of the biggest advantages of any comics-licenced property is the massive stable of art that the layout gang is able to pull from, but the choices here are really inspired.  Pulling from some of the best of Marvel's bullpen over the last decade or so, MWP really raises the bar for the feel of a full-power comic book.  The book itself emphasizes this feel, coming in a graphic-novel sized full color paperback that almost feels like you're reading an Avengers trade paperback.

Marvel Heroic Roleplaying is nominally based on the Cortex+ system, used by MWP in the Leverage and Smallville rpgs, though takes a few different spins with it.  A pseudo-dice pool system, MHR rates a hero's powers, skills, and natural distinctions on a scale of d4 up to d12+, which are rolled together.  The two highest dice results are added together to get a result, which is opposed by the target's roll, while a third die type represents the effect of the attempt.  The higher the die type, the more effective the attack is.  Any die showing "1" is called an "opportunity", which allows the opposing faction a chance to act in opposition.

Coupled with this, the hero can conditionally add in more dice to their pool by creating assets and power stunts, through various "SFX" unique to the Hero's power set, using Power Points, and through the hero's affiliation.  Is your hero on a solo mission?  Toss in your solo die.  Are you paired-up with a single other hero, Heroes for Hire style?  Add in the buddy die.  While I like the concept of affiliation--particularly for emulating various types of combat and encouraging players to "split the party" and achieve multiple objectives simultaneously--it's easily the most discardable mechanic.  A multitude of system hacks already exist to refit affiliations into other cases.

Also of note is the "Doom Pool"--a set of dice representing the tension and conflict built into the given scenario.  As players roll opportunities, the Doom Pool begins swelling, allowing the GM--called The Watcher--to trigger villains' abilities and add dice to their attacks.  From a wicked GMing stand point, I love this mechanic.  While it took me a touch to understand all of the uses of the Doom Pool, it really makes for a neat way to make things hard on the PCs.  Plus, use of the Doom Pool typically refreshes heroes' Power Points, which gives the players an incentive to take risks and try stunts, even if they don't pay off.

Hawkeye and Thor! 
We want stats!

The rules for MHR only take up about 120 pages, while the remainder of the book consists of a mini-campaign arc based on Brian Michael Bendis' "Breakout" arc from Avengers and a series of datafiles on popular Marvel heroes.  While I was fairly pleased with the sample adventure, I did have some questions in my mind about the heroes contained within the datafiles.  While the typical Marvel mainstays are there--Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man and Captain America--there are several notable absences!  No Hulk?  No Thor?  No Hawkeye?  No Wasp or Giant Man?  Is X-Men D-lister Armor really that important as to include them over some of the original Avengers?  Same thing with Sentry, particularly considering he's considered to be an NPC during "Breakout".  While supplemental "event books" are already in the works, based on "Civil War", "Annihilation", and "Shadowland", it would have been nice to see some of the classic Marvel stable, as opposed to more obscure characters.

I also worry somewhat about the ability for Marvel Heroic Roleplaying to portray a darker, more visceral game.  While the game is perfect for encouraging over-the-top action of the current era in comics, I can't see myself running a Watchmen-esque game using this system.  I guess that's good for me!

The PlatinumWarlock's first cosplay?
Time will tell!

However, I also thought of another style of game that might just be great for this:  a Masters of the Universe game.  The over-the-top stunting and team-based mechanics really would make for a great representation of He-Man, working with the various Masters against Skeletor's forces.  I've been meaning to do one of these for a while, and this system just might be the ticket.

Plus, it'd give me a chance to show off my latest--yes, another one--project!  For a few years now, the PlatinumChick has been slowly nudging me towards doing cosplay with her.  And, after seeing some of the great costumes at C2E2, I think I finally know what I might do.  I'm going to start working this month on a Man-at-Arms costume, complete with armor, mace and big-ass blaster!    I'll be sure to keep you guys updated on my progress, of course.  Pics or it didn't happen, right?

Anyway, as for Marvel Heroic Roleplaying?  It's a fantastic little system, with the flexibility of an ICONS coupled with the storytelling capacity of Marvel comics.  While it has a few flaws--set to be remedied in upcoming supplementals no doubt--I'm definitely looking forward to giving this one a whirl!

In Which The Warlock Brings the Wind Back!

Whew!  What a whirlwind weekend in the Windy City, fellow gamers!  C2E2 was an utter blast, with a ton of things to do, people to see, and swag to pick up.  L-Train, the PlatinumChick, CosplayKit managed to drive up on Thursday evening, with Kit's husband David joining us on Saturday after flying in.  And, man-oh-man...what a time!

This was only our second time out at C2E2 out of the three years it's been held, as WittCon conflicted with the date last year.  However, even after only three years C2E2 has really swelled, born upwards on great support by Marvel and TopCow, among others.  The McCormick Place is a really great venue, even if the price for parking and the like is a bit of a shocker.  There's tons of space and lots of brilliant views out over the Great Lakes for photography and more.

I spent most of my Friday hopping between panels.  There were several that I had designs on visiting, but the most useful for me was undoubtedly The Legal Aspects of Becoming Famous--How to Protect Yourself and Your Creations, hosted by Michael Lee--a noted intellectual property attorney.  Lee did a great job of running through a solid introduction to copyright and trademark law, as well as what the up-and-coming creative mind might have to do to protect himself!  This one really gave me a lot of faith about what I need to be doing in terms of Cold Steel Wardens.  Definitely, within the span of this year, keep your eyes peeled for some news on that front!

Black Canary meets the woman
who redefined her!

The PlatinumChick, however, spent the days hunting down her favorite artists and writers around the main show hall.  She was squeeing with delight after meeting up with Phil Hester and Adam Hughes, but the real treat for her came on Saturday, when she got to meet up with her comics idol:  Gail Simone!  Also, she broke out not one, but two of her costumes, going as Black Canary on Saturday and Speedy (Mia Dearden) on Friday.

I was honestly somewhat astounded, though, at the crowd.  While Friday and Sunday were about what I expected, Saturday was utterly jammed!  I had intended on sitting in on the Marvel Television panel, as I'm a huge fan of the new Marvel animated series, Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes.  However, when I arrived at the room--20 minutes early, mind you--the line for the panel stretched all the way down the hall, into a nearby atrium, around the walls of that atrium and down another hall!  I was flabbergasted and, unfortunately, walked away.  Guess I'll just have to wait for the new episodes like everyone else!

A new venue for some
upcoming freelancing?

If there's one complaint that I had about C2E2, it's the lack of a real gaming presence on the show floor.  While Wizards of the Coast had a fairly large presence two years ago, there were no games going on and only one publisher--Margaret Weis Productions, the producers of the Marvel roleplaying game--in attendance.  I wasn't about to let that opportunity slip, though, as I picked up their corebook and managed to even chat up Cam Banks--the lead designer on Marvel Heroic Roleplaying.  I'd absolutely love to take a crack at putting out Rise of the Midnight Sons as an 'occult' themed Marvel event for them...maybe it's time to make some submissions?

Cam Banks wasn't the only game designer there, however.  L-Train and I sat in on another panel, The State of Play in Tabletop Roleplaying Gaming, hosted by Kenneth Hite (of Trail of Cthulhu and Fiasco fame, among numerous other games) and Will Hindmarch (one of the lead designers on Green Ronin's Dragon Age tabletop game).  While a little more casual and q-and-a than the prior panel, the two really put down some great ideas and reflections on what they called a "mini Golden Age" for RPGs, here in the era of Kickstarter, PDFs, and print-on-demand.

After three full days of walking, buying, and eating our way around Chi-town, I think we were all well and truly ready to get home.  While I'm a little worried about next year's dates for C2E2--April 26-28th, dates usually common to FOPCon--I'm looking forward to another go-round!

For some visuals of all the mayhem--and a ton of pics of the great cosplayers out there!--take a look at my Facebook album here:  C2E2 Album!

In Which The Warlock is Too Busy to Post!

Sorry, gang, but I've been up to my eyeballs recently.  The PlatinumChick and I are about to head out for C2E2 in Chicago, so I've been trying to wrap up all my grading and lesson plans prior to, and she's been finalizing her costumes!

No worries, though--once we get back, you'll have all the pictures you could want!  Until then, cheers!

Chicago or bust!  :D

In Which The Warlock Rides for Ruin!

So, remember this?  "In Which The Warlock Loads the Ballistae..."

The siege on Morgordal Keep...or is it Helm's Deep?

I've been thinking a lot about this session recently, in the context of one of my favorite battles of all time:  the siege at Helm's Deep, from Tolkein's The Two Towers.  My favorite character from LotR is Theoden of Rohan and his character arc takes a definitive turn as he and Aragorn must the Rohirrim for what they believe to be one final charge against Saruman's treachery.

Of course, I can't let a classic moment like that pass on without WEGSifying it!  And, with FOPCon 4 around the corner, I have the perfect opportunty to give this one a run!

Take a look at my write-up below, and get those 10s and 6s ready, children!  Those orcs aren't gonna wait forever!

Name:  A Whole Stinkin' Heap of Orcs!
System:  WEGS Old Skool Redux (GameWick Games)
Type:  RPG/Miniatures Game
Ages:  Any (rules taught)
Time:  4.0 hours
Sessions Run:  6:30-10:30
Description:  Y'know that one battle from "The Two Towers"?  The one with all the orcs besieging the big ol' dwarven fortress?  Yeah, it's just like that...only with the Wicked twists of WEGS and all the spoint-flinging, dice-chucking mayhem that comes with it!  Can your intrepid heroes hold out against the horde and break the siege?  There ain't no White Wizard to bail you out of this one--ride for wrath, ride for ruin, and the world's ending!

In Which The Warlock Compares Two Posses...

As a wonderful reprieve, here at the end of my spring break, the PlatinumChick and I headed on up to Akron to spend some time with our good friends ChaoticLauryn and CincinNick, who live up yonder.  Previously, I'd offered to run a one-shot for them while up there, because they don't exactly get to game as much as we do down here.  I let them choose from my fairly-sizable game library and--surprise, surprise!--they picked Deadlands.

Not wanting to do too much prep for the one-off, I decided to download one of Pinnacle Entertainment's official adventures:  Night Train 2:  For Whom The Whistle Blows.  It's received fairly good reviews since its release, and it's the sequel to a Deadlands classic adventure, known for its lethality and creeping horror.

With that in mind, let's flash briefly back to WittCon IX.  As I'd mentioned in my WittCon wrap-up, my Hell on Earth game didn't exactly go as planned.  In light of this, I'm going to play a little game that I like to call Bad Posse, Good Posse!

Teamwork kills zombies!
That, and chainsaws!  And shotguns!

A Bad Posse struggles with basic foes, because they don't use teamwork.  The first combat encounter that my Hell on Earth posse faced was against ten basic Walking Dead, as well as one Living Faminite.  Three of the group didn't even get out of their armored car, leaving only three of the group to face off against the hordes.  Those three took significant wounds, which cost them heavily in Fate Chips.  Had the other three joined the melee, the undead would have split their targets more widely, resulting in less wounds overall (due to no gang-up bonuses) and a quicker elimination of targets.

A Good Posse prioritizes targets and takes out those priority targets in haste.  When ambushed by some nosferatu at the Pickman telegraph station, our Huckster realized almost instantaneously that one of their attackers was a different type of undead--recognizing him as a Harrowed (and a Voodoo shaman, at that!), he quickly sent a charged "Aces High" hex at his head.  Realizing that his undead allies were outmatched, the Harrowed beat a hasty retreat and the posse claimed a quick victory.

A Bad Posse ostracises NPCs and don't follow up on available leads from them.  When our post-apocalyptic posse rolled into Reno, the Reno locals had just been raided by the dreaded Rojo Bastardes gang, and many of their supplies had been stolen.  So, when a heavily armed group of adventurers rolled into their town, they reacted with a fair degree of hostility.  But, rather than try to prove their good intentions, the posse decided to intimidate Abe Ellison--the nominal Reno mayor.  Once cowed, he came clean about the Rojo Bastardes attack, but the posse left almost as soon as they could get directions to the Rojo Bastardes camp.  Had they stayed in town to gather information--or to help the poor Reno scavs--they would have gained valuable information about the coming Faminite horde!

to kill "nose-ferrets" for Union Blue!

A Good Posse gets every inch they can out of their NPC contacts.  As my group this weekend worked their way through Pickman, I was somewhat astounded at their tactics.  Basically, any NPC that they managed to save, they pressed into service against the nosferatu.  By the end of the adventure, the posse was leading nearly 10 heavily armed NPCs--townsfolk, mostly, but a few with reasonable stats!--against the undead horde!  As a semi-organized fighting force, they managed to wipe out the undead scourge pretty easily!

A Bad Posse is content to let the dice fall where they may.  Each of the Hell on Earth posse members has at least one relative weakness.   For Edward Castellan, the New Templar, that weakness is his Quickness.  And, as it turned out, the dice were not in the player's favor when rolling Initiative.  Despite having a sizable stack of Fate Chips, the player was unwilling to reroll or add to failed Initiative rolls.  As it happened, that player went for the ENTIRE NIGHT without getting a single turn in combat, despite three combat encounters and five separate Initiative deals.  He was content to let the dice speak for him, rather than work for a success.  Fortune favors the bold, not the complacent!

A Good Posse fights on their own terms.  When it became apparent that the train itself was a priority target for the nosferatu, the posse literally took it away from them!  Stealthing up to the train itself, the group decoupled the train and drove it nearly 20 miles out of town, then used it to rest until sunrise!  Flabbergasted--and denied one of their major goals--the Harrowed retreated out of town and the nosferatu hunkered down for the day, as the heavily armored survivors holed up in the church.  By denying resources to the adversary and establishing a base of operations, our posse really threw the bad guys for a loop!

Don't you forget it!

I'm not trying to say that either group is made of bad or good players.  Hell, some of them played in both games!  But, the fact remains that the tactics being used were paramount to the posses' success or failure.  While the Hell on Earth group fell beneath the Faminite horde, that's not representative of the players' skill or even the characters' effectiveness--just a matter of how the dice fell and how the players responded.  And, while the Deadlands group managed to totally annihilate the undead scourge, things could have easily turned against them in a single roll.  Some days, you just can't win...