Origins 2009 (Semi-)Live Blog--Friday, Saturday and Sunday!

Wow. The remainder of our 2009 trip to the Big O went by in a whirl, and I'm only now starting to get caught up on all of my correspondence. But, that won't stop me from chronicling all the chaos for you, oh few-and-faithful readers!

Friday
After Thursday's late night, I managed to eke out at least a little sleep on Friday morning, before heading out for a demo session of Chrononauts, a game by Looney Labs. While I had seen Looney Labs (and their HUGE following) at Origins in previous years, I hadn't actually played any of their games. As such, Chrononauts was totally new to me.

I was fairly pleased. The game centered around a static, card-based timeline of historical events, which your time-keeper adjusts, screws-up, and repairs, based on the goals listed in his ID and his mission. Unfortunately, I was so engaged in the game, that I forgot to whip out my camera. No big loss, there, though...almost immediately after, I managed to meet up with Lionel and Ebbs (freshly back from playing a Ghostbusters minis game) and roam around the dealer room before...

Ravenloft. Man, oh, man--this one was a trip. Heading off into the lands of the mists with Karl and Will, we swiftly found out that our game was not, in fact, in the Madison room--rather, we were out in the lobby, on the big screens with the guys from d20Pro.

I had seen d20Pro's product last year at Origins--their dungeon utility software was a novelty, but I really didn't have much interest in it, as I have a gaming group able to play live. However, this was a rare opportunity to play in a setting I love, and I wasn't about to turn it down.

Nor was I disappointed. GM Dan, of the d20Pros, ran us through "The Ghosts of Mistmoor"--an old 2e Ravenloft adventure from Dragon magazine, which he had not only updated to 4e, but also adapted for use on the group's networking software. I took up the mantle of Amelia--a pistol-packing follower of the eponymous Rudolph Van Richten.

This game was intense. Between the natural horror of Ravenloft, and the inter-party conflict (ironically, over attacking/damaging party members), this game was well worth the 8 hour committment. Did I say 8 hour? I meant 10 and a half! After beginning just before 2, we ended at 12:15 on Saturday. After a climactic encounter with the ghosts of the Mistmoor family, and the treacherous Erebus, we triumphed over the curse of the mansion and headed out.

Unfortunately, though, due to a lack of players, we ended up having to cancel the Friday Midnight Madness WEGS session. Disappointing, entirely...I was ready for a new Nordling to take on the 99 Orks! No luck there, though, and we headed back to the Marriott for a few hours of sleep before the weekend started.

Saturday

Saturday made for a unique day as Jules finally got up the courage to cosplay at Origins for the first time, in her classic Black Canary outfit. Surprisingly, there were a lot more cosplayers this year in previous years--mainly as anime charaacters, superheroes and various ren-faire warriors. The costumes were really quite good, and incredibly varied--you'll be able to see some of the better ones in my upcoming photo gallery!

However, the gaming started, with Lionel, Jules, and myself heading to a game of Settlers of Catan, played on the giant Mayfair games board. I must say, I felt kind of bad for the poor guy who ended up with us three around the board. He probably didn't expect such a brutal game! Our first session ended with a triumph for yours truly, while our poor new companion got roaded into the center of the island. The second game was somewhat more fair, as he and I tied by the end of the game.

After a rousing game of getting wood for sheep, the three of us headed off to North Market for a fantastic meal. I know I've spoken highly of North Market before, but I wasn't in the mood for curry this time (gasp!). This time, I was after deli-style, and I wasn't disappointed. Barry's NY Deli, provided me with a fantastic pastrami on rye, with homemade mustard, and a bowl of fantastic motza ball soup. Couldn't beat it with a stick!

That led directly for us to hit the next WEGS Power Hour, where Willy the 2's infamous crystal-blue dice awaited. Surprisingly, we made it out alive, from this lethal demo, though my previous warrior--Ghormash the Goblin Warrior--was out of Phew points. His enchanted daggers wouldn't be much use to him, without the ability to take a single hit!

From our trip to WEGS, we skipped over to dinner at the Convention Center Food Court before trying out something new to Origins: the BattleTech mech-battles simulator. On Tuesday, we got a glimpse of the event-coordinators setting up, and knew we had to jump in on this. We set a reservation for 8 of us, ready to rumble on Saturday evening.

And the results? Well, unfortunately for yours truly, PwnedAndy's Uziel mech didn't fare so well, falling multiple times beneath the missiles of Lioner1 and others. Ebbs, however, took home the gold, pulling in 14 kills while only dying 5 times. Fantastic results for him!

That was something of the beginning of some more misfortune for me, as my D&D game following--The Dragon Helm of Hador--was cancelled 15 minutes before the event began. Grr, indeed. As such, I met up with Lionel and Ebbs again, and threw down some Chrononauts--Lionel ended up picking up the card decks--in their room, before heading off for...

Trailer Park Wars.. As a group, we were pretty familiar with Gut Bustin' Games' "Redneck Life", but this one was even better. Set to build up your own trailer park empire, you build up amenities in your own park, while inflicting horrible tenents and natural disasters on other players' parks. I think we actually astounded the GM with our viciousness, as we hit the end-game with fervor, keeping one after another from winning with horrible glee.

After a late, late dinner on Saturday, we headed back to the hotel where we awaited the last day of our Origins 2009 Adventure.

Sunday

Waking up a little later than hoped, we had to rush to get checked out, then to head off to our first game, an Intro to CthulhuTech. Unfortunately for us, this wasn't...well, a game. Rather, it was a paid-seminar on the intro to the game. Needless to say, I was a little disappointed--I had already bought a used copy of the game on a trip to Bookery and was wanting to know more about how to run encounters in the game, or to experience a play session. Not the case, so much.

However, our later game--CutThroat Caverns proved to put this one to rest. Another Smirk and Dagger game, our adventurers tried to one-up one another for kill after kill through tough monster encounters. After a bit of luck, and some good card-playing, my dwarf (Orn--with umlauts, even!) ended out on top.

After one more go-round in the dealer hall and our last Power Play session, it was time to head on home for another year.

Up next? Pictures from Friday through Sunday, and then my final Origins 2009 wrap-up. Stay tuned!

Origins 2009--Wednesday and Thursday Photo Gallery!

All righty! Here's the first set of incriminating evidence of the WittWeggers' trip to the Big O 2009! Be sure to look for the second set of photos, following our Friday-Saturday-Sunday entry!

Welcome to Origins 2009!

Lionel, Ebbs and Willy, ready to throw down.

Lionel looks over the catalog.

Ebbs and Emily at the Big O!

Outside Yankee Trader.

At the Teppanyaki House.

Stargate Scenes from the Minis Room

Get to the Gate!

More temples to explore in the Minis room.

Incredible detail! You can even see the symbols on the DHD!

Sieging the castle.

Cows with Guns!

An army on the march, in the Minis room.

Faing down the Xenos in Dark Heresy.

Is that Righteous Fury I smell? It sure is!

"I'll give you 10 Gold to seal his pants!"

"Are you serious? Stealing his pants?"

Ebbs enjoys some North Market pizza.

Willy the 2 deals out some pain at the WEGS booth.

The first Power Play session throws down!

The Power Players are ready to rock.

Karl makes his move.

Jules, Ebbs, and Lionel are ready for some Italian food.

Ebbs really is Superman.

The gang at Buca di Beppo's.

SG-1 meets D&D.

Jack O'Neill gets grabbed by a Chuul!

Where's Teal'c when you need him?!

Throwing some dice in SG-1: White Plume Mountain.

Origins 2009 Live Blog!--Wednesday and Thursday

I must apologize on the delay, but things have been so hectic out here in the Big O, I haven't had a chance to type up anything yet, aside from captions for my first set of pictures. To be honest, Origins is going by in a massive blur of dice, chaos, and loads of fun...but that won't stop me from covering the action!

With no offense meant, I'm going to leave Tuesday off. We ended up with something of a late start, and arrived just in time to...well, stand in line and wait patiently for our badges. Not a whole lot to do, but contain our nervous excitement and try to get some sleep for...

Wednesday

The majority of us started our Origins experience with something entirely new to us, the Origins Premiere Track. Basic premise is that you come in, a publisher arrives with some product in beta-testing, and you play through it. I can't say too much about what we actually played, aside from that it was by Bucephelus Games (those snarky buggers that keep Lionel entranced with "Oh My God, There's An Axe In My Head") and that it dealt with (of all things) the Bill of Rights. Tons of fun, even if we did break the game somewhat...

But with the Origins Premiere Track, came a visit from an old friend: Emily! We hadn't expected her to swing in, but it was great to throw down with her again, as well as reminisce about "old times".

From there, we slipped off for North Market--one of my favorite places for lunch. The sheer variety of great ethnic food is fantastic, and you know I'll never turn down a curry!

After a hearty lunch, our corps roamed around the still-being-set-up areas, eyeing up the visual feasts to be had. One thing that immediately caught our eye was a new addition--a VR BattleTech simulator. More on that, on Saturday, though!

If it's one thing I can say about Origins--we eat well! A North Market lunch was followed by a dinner at Columbus's famous Japanese Steak House. Reservations definitely pay off in this respect! I love teppanyaki style cooking, and the steak that I got was tender beyond belief. Will's whitefish filet, too, looked amazing. And that's to say nothing of the show!

After the dinner/show, we putzed around the miniatures room--eyeing up some of the set-ups that Will would be playing at for his Stargate SG-1 Miniatures battle game, before we all separated and I headed off for Dark Heresy: The Hunt for Heretics Continues.

Another great thing about Origins is the fact that you see the same people from year to year. And, lo and behold!, our GM and another player were ones that experienced Ebbs' psychic rampage last year. This year's scenario revolved around a shipment of "ale", which just so happened to contain a series of spores that prevented the dreaded Orks from spawning. Eldar were trying to get their mitts on it, and it was up to the Inquisitors' Acolytes to save the day. Wanting a change from the tech-priest I played last year, I took up the mantle of Flair--a heavy-bolter toting Guardsman.

I tell you, there's nothing more satisfying than rolling for Emperor's Fury on a head shot from a heavy-bolter. Eldar brains everywhere!



Thursday

Thursday had me up early to set off for my first D&D game of the con--A Dead Man's Party. Run by a tag-team duo of husband and wife, I was pleased to find out that this (as well as my Dark Heresy game) were being run by Amorphous Blob Games. ABGames are a really quality group of gamers, and I really can't recommend their games enough. That said, I guess I have an ulterior motive for saying so--at the end of each game, the players vote on the best role-play in the session and that person gets free swag. Lucky me, they rather liked Malic the half-elf's exploits (pants-theiving and all!), and I walked away with a copy of 3.5e's "Expedition to Undermountain".

Thursday also brought about our first session of the WEGS Power Play! As we settled around the table, talking trash with El Willy, his wife, and Wt2, the heat got cranked up past 11, as Wt2 tossed down a huge selection of massive baddies. Ebbs' poor sage, nearly doomed from the start, ran off the board in the third inning....only for him to bring in a ranger that flung death and pudding from the rafters! A great session, and we really got the word out for a good group of clustered observers.

Again, we eat well at Origins. After WEGS, we headed off for our reservation at Buca di Beppo's--a family-style Italian joint, where we manged on a filling lot of great, garlicky goodness.

We ended out the night splitting up once more, and I headed off to a game of two great flavors that tasted great together: another ABGames production--Stargate SG-1: White Plume Mountain.

Let me set the record straight. WPM is one of my favorite "old skool" D&D modules. It's such a wacky dungeon, and it has some of the most iconic magic weapons in the game hiding away in it. And Stargate? Don't get me started. One of my college catchphrases was an inside joke with another Gate-junkie that was simply, "So...Teal'c has hair."

This game was a blast, with really great, friendly gamers. We set out after the Wave halberd....with an SG-team that absolutely couln't swim! After Jack O'Neill nearly got crushed by a chuul, saved only by Sam Carter's grenade-throwing, we were about ready to pack it in. However, we held out, and took down "the beast in the boiling bubble" garnering the Wave for ourselves.

Man. That's a lot. I've got more to come today, as I'm about to set out to demo Chrononauts, then to head into Ravenloft for 8 hours. And that's to say nothing of tonight's WEGS Midnight Madness session. It's going to be a mad dash to the end, fellow gamers!

(Please note: Pictures are forthcoming!!! Please be patient, as I try to desperately catch up from behind!)

In Which The Warlock Shoots for a Hat Trick...

With another of my beloved Pittsburgh teams bringing home a championship--the Pens winning the Stanley Cup, over Detroit in Game 7--I guess it's only fitting that we open with a hockey theme.

Origins starts next week, and the Witt-Kids out here are all a-buzz with excitement. Lionel's desperate to get his hands on the long-errant copy of "Oh, My God, There's An Axe In My Head", which he's been waiting for since last year's geek-fest. Ebbs is eager to get his hands on some new minis, to say nothing of info on Rogue Trader, the next Warhammer 40k RPG supplement. And me? I already mentioned my two frenzies in the last post. On top of that, I'll hopefully be able to keep you fully abreast of all things geek, live-blogging each night after the carnage goes down!

But the thing that really has me jazzed is the WEGS Power Play (see, there's a reason I went with a hockey theme!). Now that it's finally been "officially" announced by El Willy, I can talk about our involvement with it.

The WEGS Power Play is a high-stakes demo game that we'll be hosting at El Willy's booth each day at Origins, between 2pm and 4pm. Each time, the Witt-Wegger crew, and whomever shows up, will face off against a new, hard-hitting baddie, ready to bring the pain. Obviously, we won't be alone--El Willy, Willy the 2, and all of his native WEGS-crew will be out in force, ready to pit their dice against ours!

Plus, each person that joins us around the table will get a free deck of Origins 2009 Commemerative playing cards--the perfect things for throwing down a round of Dingbitt's Roundhouse, or WEGS SuperZ Blackjack!

If you're coming to the Origins Game Fair, come see us between 2pm and 4pm, at the Gamewick Games booth--booth 327, on "Diplomacy Avenue", right next to the Paint and Take area.

Keep your stick on the ice, gamers! The Big O is next week, and we're ready to rock!

In Which The Warlock Assembles a Pirate Crew...

I ran into a slight problem early-on, as I started prepping the "Pirates of the Underdark" game, which I'm only starting to figure out how to address.

See, in Pirates of the Caribbean, even though the focus is primarily on the main characters--Elizabeth Swann, Jack Sparrow, and Captain Barbossa--there are a ton of minor characters, without whom the plot wouldn't move at all. I'm talking about Pintel and Ragetti, Mr. Gibbs, the Nine Pirate Lords and the like...all those guys who have positions on the ship, but aren't necessarily the center of attention.

So, with our Friday Night Pirates finally finangling their way into a ship, they've been having a devil of a time mustering up a crew.

My solution to this? Put it back into their hands. Basically, I've asked for all their unused character ideas--all the ones that have been sitting in the back of their heads--so that I can make them into their very own pirate crew.

However, this comes with a bit of a twist. You see, I'm assembling the actual character write-ups...with minor changes, of course. And, coupled with the minor changes, I'm intending on making them as "piratical" as possible, which wouldn't be complete without backstabbing and skullduggery.

As such, their ship (which doesn't have a name yet! Oi! They've got to get on that!) will be swiftly stocked with a scurvy crew ready to swashbuckle their way through the Sunless Sea.

As it stands now, our intrepid heroes are about to set sail on their first voyage. They're heading to a deserted island, where the creator of their ship--the now-deceased gnome, Melearas--had agreed to ship a mysterious cargo for a strange benefactor with a mysterious tattoo. One only knows what they might find...

In Which The Warlock Preps for Epic Throwdowns...

Before we start, a brief aside: a few posts ago, I mentioned Nick and his unfortunate motorcycle accident. Well, never fear! Nick is slowly getting back in the swing of things. You can really tell he's getting back to normal, when he's nagging me about not updating on time. Go figure....

At any rate, the big O is just around the corner, and we Witt-Weggers are getting more jazzed by the day. Right now, planning for Origins has been my stress relief (yeah, believe that one!), in the midst of filing paperwork, scheduling inspections, and prepping our mortgage in the hopes of closing on our new house.

However, there are two events that have had me on the edge of my seat for the last few weeks, and just won't let up.

Firstly, there's "The Ghost of Mistmoor"--the massive 8 hour long Ravenloft game, starting at 1:30 and ending...well, probably when all of the PCs fall to some Darklord. As I mentioned when Kat started her game, I could probably count the number of times I've actually played Ravenloft on one hand. This is mainly because I'm usually the one running it, breaking out the Tarokka deck and the big, black GM screen, with all sorts of twisted ideas to inflict on my players. To have the tables turned...oooh, can't beat that with a +3 Mace of Disruption.

The second one, though, is swiftly becoming an Origins tradition--El Willy's epic Midnight Madness WEGS Scenario. Last year's Madness set us against the uber-mummy KlattaBarraBoo, with our only hope (which was quickly lost and forgotten!) being the Holy Hand Grenade. That game ended in a huge stalemate at 3:30 in the morning, with one of my many Nordling incarnations itching for another chance to Skorp his way through the dungeon. This time around...well, I'm not quite sure what El Willy's planning. Over on the TableTop Gamers forum, he's already started a poll...but results are tight, and even my own inclination was for him to just "roll the bones" and let the dice fall where they may.

Odds and gods, baby! Either game, it's all going to come down to a roll of the dice!

In Which The Warlock Posts on Life...

A few posts ago, I made mention that there really weren't a whole lot of summer movies that I was really looking forward to and, because of such, I didn't do my usual "Summer Movie Rundown". Perhaps, in the end, that's for the best.

You see, it appears that I'm going to have more than enough to do as it is!

The PlatinumChick and I, as I've mentioned before, are preparing for our wedding in October, which has taken up a good deal of our time. While much of the "big stuff" has been taken care of--the hall, the catering, the ceremony itself--there are a ton of odds and ends that are still on-deck, which we're wrapping up.

On top of this, I'm still plugging away at Dungeon Slam!, and will hopefully have my elusive 4th draft out sometime this summer. I have a ton of playtesting notes that I have yet to really put into effect, which will hopefully streamline the draft and give it that final push towards submitting it for publication. Here's for hoping, right?!

Oh, and the big news. Just this weekend, the PlatinumChick and I put in an offer on a house in Englewood, just north of Dayton proper. After some negotiation, we settled on a price and are now in the stages of getting the house inspected and getting all of our mortgage paperwork signed. With any luck, we'll be closing on the house before we ship out for Origins!

The whole process right now is massively intimidating--no lie. The sheer massive amounts of money getting bandied about in paperwork scares the poo out of me, but it's been something that we've really been wanting to do for a long while. The apartment we're currently in is affordable, and good for what it is...but it's always been lacking in the things we really wanted: a sizable kitchen, a true office in which we can work, and space to entertain (and game!). Luckily, this house has it all... :D

And so, the madness begins this week. Just as the school year ends, it seems like everything's actually heating up!

In Which The Warlock Makes the Best. Map. Evar.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, our Friday night group had decided to re-boot the "Pirates of the Underdark" idea that we had attempted to play about a year and a half ago, before life decided to interfere.

So, this past weekend, at our session, we continued the introductory storyline: a gnomish arcanist had borrowed a huge amount money from a powerful drow house and Mathir (Jules' drow sorceress) was charged with collecting on the loan...one way or another.

The chase led them to a drow-owned warehouse, being rented by their gnomish loan-jumper, which led to a huge, pitched battle...which utterly confused the players as I began setting up the map.

We've started gaming at Ken (our newest player)'s house, so I roamed about his dining/living room, picking up whatever objects I could find: back massagers, plastic containers, a box from a "Pokemon" booster pack. They laughed, as my map became a maelstrom of found objects....all of which were interactive with them in the warehouse. "Crates" could be moved, gratings pushed away and used as cover. You name it, it was there.

The best part, though, was something I can't take credit for. El Willy created a creature for WEGS, known lovingly as the Column-Golem.

The Column-Golem is a stupid, yet devastating creature. It moves only in straight lines, and aggressively pounds any poor soul that gets in its way. I took the Column-Golem and re-skinned it, making it into a Gnomish Crate-Loader Golem. During the battle, with spells and arrows flying, the Crate-Loader just roamed about, calmly loading boxes....

...that is, until it got a hold of Will's drow rogue, and attempted to box him up. Twice. Will, luckily, didn't fight back--I used the stats for a Iron Gorgon (level 13 Elite!) as a template for the Crate-Loader--but both times he was grabbed, and placed calmly in a crate, packed away for safe-keeping.

The best environments really are the interactive ones. With surroundings like that, you almost don't need enemies!


Nah...you still need enemies. :D

In Which The Warlock Presents His 2009 Origins Schedule!

After all the anticipation (and some near-"no-go" status!), the Witt-Weggers finally got their registration sorted out. As such, here's my schedule for this year's excursion!

One thing to keep in mind: You'll notice that nearly every day (except Friday), I have nothing scheduled from 2pm-4pm. During that time, Lionel, Ebbs, and myself will be over at El Willy's WEGS booth, helping out with the WEGS Power Play Hour! If you're in the area, come by for a quick tutorial on the one-and-only Wickedly Errant Gaming System, and some of the nastiest baddies on the block!

Wednesday:

500--Origins Premiere Track-- Playtest Event--10am-12 noon
6105--The Hunt for Heresy Continues!--Dark Heresy--7pm-11pm

Thursday:
6253--A Dead Man's Party--D&D 4e--9am-1pm
6506--SG-1: White Plume Mountain--Stargate d20--7pm-11pm

Friday:
3758--Chrononauts Demo--Chrononauts--10am-12 noon
6794--The Ghosts of Mistmoor--Ravenloft 4e--1:30pm-9pm (!!!)

Saturday:
4263--Giant Settlers of Catan--Mayfair Games--10am-12 noon
7233--The Dragon Helm of Hador--D&D 4e--6pm-10pm
4664--Trailer Park Wars Demo--10pm-midnight

Sunday:
7461--Intro to CthulhuTech--CthulhuTech--10am-12 noon
4786--CutThroat Caverns--Smirk and Dagger Games-12 noon-2pm.

See you in Columbus, cats and kittens!

The Warlock's Review: "X-Men Origins: Wolverine"

Rare is the movie that I come to with no expectations. As any of the Witt-Folk will tell you, I'm a fiend for movie spoilers. I'm one of those rare jerks that like knowing the ending before anyone else, and will use the utmost of his Google-fu to find out.

However, this entire Summer movie season, I've been ambivalent. Normally, as in years past, I'd be making my "Summer Movie Geekdom Roundup" post, but this year...the whole slate is "blah". Star Trek? The whole reboot looks trite and miserable. I didn't even see the first Transformers movie, so I have no interest in the second, particularly with Shia "The Beef" LeBoeuf at the mainstay. And Harry Potter 6? No, thank you. I refuse to even read the books.

The only real film of any interest to me for this blockbuster season was this weekend's X-Men Origins: Wolverine, to which I entered the theater of this past Sunday....and left with a resounding "Meh."

As you can imagine, the film revolves around the ORIGIN of the iconic X-Man WOLVERINE as he proceeds through the Weapon X storyline, getting a shiny new skeleton and a pile of enemies to boot.

This is now the 4th X-Men film that Hugh Jackman has been a part of, playing (yet again) the titular fuzzy Canucklehead. He comes at the role with non-chalance that says more "been there, done that" than actual interest. The film begins with a montage of himself and Victor Creed (better known as Sabertooth, and played here by Liev Schrieber) fighting their way through the last century and a half, as near-indestructible eternal warriors are wont to do.

The film proper, though, begins with the pair joining up with William Stryker, a conniving little Army major who leads a mutant-based black-ops force into various world "hot spots". Not the least of these places is the Congo, where we find Stryker's team pumping the locals for a rare mineral...adamantium, perhaps?

Ironically enough, the strength of X-Men Origins: Wolverine is not Jackman or Schrieber, though Schrieber does a much fuller job as Sabertooth than his predecessor, Tyler Mane. The supporting cast of the movie shines brighter than its stars, though time and again the scripting and plot hang them out to dry. Ryan Reynolds (of Blade: Trinity noteriety) and Taylor Kitsch (of Friday Night Lights) both deliver as much as they can as fan favorites Deadpool and Gambit, respectively, but they get so little screen time, and are so inconsequential to the plot that they might as well not be in the movie at all. Gambit serves to be little more than a plot device, while Deadpool maybe has 2 lines in the entire movie--so much for "The Merc with the Mouth". Similarly, this movie's 'Agent Zero', serves well as the stoic, gun-for-hire, working for Stryker...but is offed shortly after the Weapon X experiment, leaving the plot without his menace. (And, oh yeah...don't forget your adamantium bullets, Agent Zero--too late, you're dead.) Will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas provides a refreshing character, in the teleporting Wraith, but again...he doesn't last throught the majority of the movie.

Therein lies the problem: the scripting. The dialogue of X-Men Origins: Wolverine is laughably bad. As Jackman and Schrieber trade banter before one of their numerous throw-downs, it becomes hard to take the pair seriously, as one tries to out-macho the other. Similarly, random appearences by Cyclops and Emma Frost seem tacked on so badly that, despite her appearance in trailer after trailer, I'm not sure that the actress who played Emma Frost had a single line. They have no point in being a Wolverine movie aside from one niggling detail: fans like them.

The fundamental problem with X-Men Origins: Wolverine lies with the fans. This movie was written by one, and it shows--scriptwriters David Benioff and Skip Woods crammed so many homages and pastiches to comic book minutia into this movie, that it comes out looking like a piece of bad fan-fiction, with a B-list cast. The special effects look cheesy and stilted, particularly through the final portion of the film, as Wolverine fights off 'Weapon XI' at the top of a nuclear reactor cooling tower. Plot holes big enough to drive a truck through permeate this movie.
For example, Gambit drops Wolverine off at "The Island", leaving him to fight on alone...only to return for no reason, just as all the action is ending. Agent Zero, as mentioned, goes to confront the newly-chromed Wolverine with his normal arsenal...while Stryker sits back at base, loading a gun with adamantine bullets, which Zero doesn't have.

In the world of geekdom, Ben "Yahtzee" Crowshaw (of Zero Punctuation fame) has it right. Fans are "clingy, complaining dipshits" that will never be thankful for what you give them. The X-Men movies had a good run, which ended on a mediocre note with The Last Stand. X-Men Origins: Wolverine is nothing more than a new bullet in a dead dog's corpse--pointless, and full of wasted effort.

In Which The Warlock Spins Some Pirate Yarns...

So, our Friday night gamers (including our new arrival!), have decided to give another crack at the previously failed "Pirates of the Underdark" game, which we had originally tried about a year ago. I've been looking forward to actually pulling off this concept for a while, as it's something of an open world concept, but with heavy story elements...much of which are driven by pirate legends and the like. Think "Pirates of the Caribbean" meets "Snatch" meets "Xena: Warrior Princess".

Weirdness, I know.

At any rate, to give you a feel for what this campaign will be like, here's one of our assorted pirate legends, typically told at the Styx Oarsman tavern, at the subterranean island-port of Freeport.

Baron Samhedi, Carrefour, and the Zombi Serum

In the darkest places of the world, there are roads where no man walks. Roads of the mind, of the spirit—the roads and ways of the loa. You’ll tell me they are legends, but I know better. I’ve heard the stories—not the children’s tales told at bedtime, but the real ones. Ones of the walking dead and the black-clad spirit who rides his hougan servants’ minds like on horseback. Ones of ancient creatures and degenerate islanders, who serve none but the loa and their own cannibalistic urges. Ones of the serum of the zombi.

No, not zombie. Zombi. I don’t mean a simple necromancer’s walking corpse. I mean one of the loa, riding the dead like a bucking mule, thrashing through the deck of your ship like a madman, holding the body together as it buckles and bursts with gore. I mean a thing that was once dead, but will not die again. Something you can’t kill.

Some say that the Baron Samhedi first created them—a powerful Voodoun loa who walks by night through the seas, corrupting islanders and turning them into something not quite man and not quite beast.

Some say that a surface man named Carrefour was the Baron’s first servant. He was a fencer, straight out of the Amnish school, who ventured under to seek his fortune. A fop, he thought only of gaining the best, the fastest, the most powerful. When he heard of the loa from a grimlock shaman early on in his cavernous questing, he immediately went out in search of them.

Carrefour found in an ancient subterranean swamp the flower known as “Midnight Romance”. The flower, crimson red and dripping with a green venom, serves as the primary ingredient in the Zombi serum. Carrefour harvested the flower with impeccable care, slicing it from its thorned stalk with his saber.

Carrefour’s first zombi was one of abject failure, screaming hate and gibberish into the Great Dark night. He persevered, though, and created a massive army of the creatures, berserk and maddening to behold. Soon, hundreds of the creatures roamed, mindless and mad, through the Underdark, and fields of the “Midnight Romance” bloomed amidst the shrieking fungus beneath the world.

What Carrefour didn’t count on was the savagery of his creatures. Wandering amongst the thorny vines of his precious flowers, one of his zombi servitors burst from the baskets where it lay and ripped Carrefour apart, strewing blood and gore across the venomous flowers.

Carrefour’s zombi horde dissipated throughout the Great Dark, and the creature was forgotten. The black secrets of Baron Samhedi faded into the background as time went on, and the patches of Midnight Romance grew wild through the deepest depths. This went on for years in silence, with the loa shifting through the spirit world all the while.

That is, at least, until tales of a foppish fencer, wrapped in green-venomed vines, starting to wander through the vast caverns beneath the stalactite-cities of the duergar. Wanderers and border guards disappear with regularity, and the scent of mysterious flowers sometimes fills the great halls of Gracklestugh, the ancient duergar citadel.

The loa? I know they exist. Is Carrefour one? Probably. Does that mean Gracklestugh is overrun? Not as far as I know. I still sell slaves there, and pick up fresh-forged chain to sell to the mind-flayer slavers. Will you believe me after you’ve finished your drink? Well, that’s up to you.

In Which The Warlock Takes a Deep Breath Before the Plunge...

Every year, there's always a lull in the schedule...a calm, once the end of the school year hits and we're gearing up for the Geek Storm itself: Free Comic Book Day, Lionel's Annual End-Of-Year LARP, and Origins.

It's in this lull that I'm usually just gearing up--getting ready for the chaos about to hit the fan. But this time, no...not so much.

Rather, I find myself in the midst of my own planning, trying to get everything together.

Firstly, the minis I ordered for WEGS SuperZ (and some other games) just arrived, which means that I've got to find some way to organize them all. The PlatinumChick is getting a little testy about having 200 odd minis cluttering up the apartment. Q, one of our kitties, keeps stealing them, if we leave them within paw's reach. Sterilite, here I come!

On top of this, I'm in the midst of putting together a full on D&D PvP blast session for some of the guilders. After developing some refresh mechanisms, as well as some random treasure tables for the players, they're getting ready to throw down some nastiness. Here's for hoping that it all goes down well this Sunday!

This is to say nothing of my own baby, "Dungeon Slam!" which is looking at getting a full revision before Origins! With a little luck, we'll throw down some Slam! on one of those late Columbus nights.

On a more serious note, though, I'd like to beg your indulgence for one of our fellow gamers:

Our good friend and fellow Witt-Wegger Nick, known to some of you from "The Life and Times of Nick", was recently involved in a motorcycle accident. It was a low speed crash, and he was lucky to survive. Nick, however, is currently in University of Cincinatti Medical Center, recuperating from significant facial surgery.

If you have a spare moment, give a prayer/thought/meditation/vibe out for Nick, who will hopefully be rolling with us again very quickly. And, if you ride...please, please wear your helmet.

In Which The Warlock Is Unable to Take On His Original Plan...

So, remember my New Year's Resolutions? One of them was to include some images of the minis that the PlatinumChick and I have been painting, all this time.

Unfortunately, that's one resolution that just isn't going to take place. Grrr.

Despite my best efforts, I couldn't get a good picture of my latest attempt--a new figure for one of my favorite characters: Nordling. I finished painting him at our last game night, and really wanted to show off my (really pitiful) painting skills. But, at any rate, I might as well give you the background for him.

Nordling is a perennial character that I play during WEGS games, often frustrating El Willy to no end. Nordling's a "Humz Trickster"--something of a Human Rogue/Thief, if you want to put it in D&D parlance--and always seems to show up in the weirdest of circumstances.

Nordling's biggest quirk is the fact that he's survived every WEGS game I've ever played him in. He lived through his first appearance at "Pigskabb's Skool 4 Wizzards", getting away from Chef ToeGash. He survived the classic "Dwarf Walks Into a Bar", when Ebbs ran for the first time. He escaped from the clutches of the Column-Golem and Cthulhu, in "From Dusk Till Dead". He weaseled his way out of KlattaBarraBoo's tomb (and garnered some multi-classing into Mage, while he was at it!). And, most lately, he managed to sneak away from a wrathful Ring Reaver in "Over the Reaver and Through the Wyrds" at WittCon VI.

It's hard not to celebrate a character's success rate, when it's as high as something like this. In Ebbs' "Pyramid of Shadows" 4e game last year, I couldn't help but laugh when one of our henchmen--yet another human rogue--rolled a stat array that put any of our player characters to shame. That rogue, dubbed "The Goddamned Jim-Bob", became the great-great grandson of Nordling I...who weaseled his way out of Pigskabb's woods all those years ago.

As I've said before...it's no surprise that the cards for Tricksters are in yellow. ;)

At any rate, if I manage to get my camera to cooperate, I'll find a way to put up the pictures of the now-painted Nordling. Till then, some reminiscing will have to suffice...and some plans for the Power Play sessions at Origins. :D

In Which The Warlock Takes a Week Off...

Sorry to get your hopes up, cats and kittens--there's no post this week. It's Spring Break, and I'm relaxing.

I'll be back next week with a look at one of my favorite all-time characters...

Till then, game on!

In Which The Warlock Changes His Persona...Again...

With the demise of "Shadows of the Cold War", Kat has taken up the mantle of GM and is prepping us for our first session of Ravenloft this evening, using an Island of Terror of her own design.

I, for one, am ecstatic. In all my years of GMing--now almost to 15!--no one has ever run Ravenloft for me. I've loved the setting for years, as it was the second D&D setting I'd ever read, but no one would run it. I've run it myself countless times, but few seem to be up to task to put together Gothic Horror with Medieval Fantasy.

That is, until now. So, without further adieu...my Ravenloft character: Nadia Ir'Ralya, burgeoning sorceress!

Name: Nadia Ir’Ralya
Age: 28
Race: Human
Location: Port-a-Lucine, Dementlieu
Parents: Unknown (both). Raised by Varrek Ir’Ralya
Siblings: Unknown
Friends: Camille DelaCroix (deceased), Eriol
Faith: “Gods? Are you kidding me?”
Fav. Food: Blanquette des veau over potatoes, with deep red wine.
Pastimes: Juggling, practical jokes, drinking. When alone, drawing and writing.
Party Role: Stealth and reconnaissance, social skills, raw damage potential.
Strengths: Stealth, high damage capability, high defenses, versatile skill uses.
Weaknesses: Low AC. Low physicality (negative Str).

Background:

Varrek Ir’Ralya was a “second story man” working for the Bleakers—an up-and-coming thieves’ guild in Port-a-Lucine—when he came upon something that he, to this day, has never been able to explain.
Varrek was commissioned by his Guildmaster—the enigmatic Melancholy—to break into a house in the High End. Port-a-Lucine’s High End was the most wealthy and elite district, and this house was no exception. Varrek slipped his way in and began cleaning out the lower floors. When he got to the second floor, though, Varrek had no words to describe the strangeness found there. On the floor, a married couple—still in their bedclothes—lay scorched and bleeding. Scant 5 feet away, though, a young girl of 3 years old—presumably their daughter? –lay sleeping on the floor.
Varrek was immediately faced with a feeling he rarely felt: guilt. Taking the sleeping girl with him, he looted the remainder of the house and made his way back to the Guildhouse. While the Guild Undermaster wasn’t happy with Varrek’s choice, they kept the girl around as something of a mascot at first, but later as a trainee. Nadia, as such, grew up in the absolute roughest of circumstances…and reveled in it. She proved adept at stealth and lockpicking, as well as swindling and baiting hapless men in taverns. Nadia always had an ‘exotic’ loot about her, which attracted many…and often left their purses lighter.
While Nadia enjoyed her work and her training, she had few friends. Among those few were an elf, Eriol, and another orphaned human girl, Camille. Eriol was fun, but had the typical arrogance of the Sithican elves, which made him annoying for long periods of time. Camille, though, was something different. She was wild, like Nadia, and the pair would spar in the training hall with abandon.
However, Nadia was continually haunted by strange dreams—dreams of whirling colors and oozing, amniotic seas, in which…things…swam. In the darkest of these dreams, a hideous figure would float through the sea towards her: a tatterdemalion, but one of royal bearing. A proverbial King in Rags and Tatters. She would often wake up screaming from these dreams, with no one left to comfort her.
The dreams soon became worse, over time. In fact, Nadia began to manifest sorcerer powers as the dreams compounded…which led to tragedy. Nadia, at Camille’s request, tried to keep use of the powers to a minimum—keeping them only for emergencies.
Such an emergency came as the pair, alone with Eriol, attempted to lift a supposed “religious artifact” from the vaults of Councilor Dominic D’honaire, at the request of Guildmaster Melancholy. When the trio was caught by the guards, they attempted to fight their way out, only to be vastly outnumbered. Camille, swiftly surrouned, begged Nadia to use her sorcery. Nadia summoned her mental reserves, blasting out with waves of psychic fire, consuming the guards…and Camille. Nadia shrieked, but the carpets of the vault had begun to catch fire, and Eriol was forced to pull her, still screaming, out of the manor house.
Since that day, Nadia has kept to herself. Guildmaster Melancholy has all but forced her from the ranks of the Bleakers, putting her out on the street as a liability. As such, Nadia has stowed away on the La Perle Volante, believing that a new land might give her a new start. She worries daily about her burgeoning powers and how she possibly learn to control them. She has no friends, only underworld contacts, and feels like this world has abandoned her. If there was only a way to control this raw power, any price may be worth it.

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 Inadvertently Causes a Mess on Interstate 76...

I am sad. No bones about it; I am disappointed.

My Monday night Heroes Unlimited game--"Shadows of the Cold War"--has gone up in flames. The remains of it are strewn across the north side of Pittsburgh (sorry, Keystone City).

My illustrious players were all set for a pre-planned road trip off to the wild locale of Centralia, Pennsylvania, after being led there by a mysterious message found in the sundry items of their fallen foe, Mr. Kisses. After some horrific happenstances at the Shining Stars Bar, Grille, and Restaurant (run by the always enigmatic Stephen Alzis), they were ready for a new change of scenery.

Unfortunately, they never got that far.

For whatever reason, my players have the horrible tendency to roll miserably when it comes to any Driving test. Regardless of system, every time that they seem to enter a car, their luck seems to fall down an abysmal shaft leading to certain doom. Last night was no different.

In Dark Heresy, a few months ago, my players died in a massive conflagration as they ran their transport into a bar, trying to escape from some gangers on their way to investigate a corrupted morgue. Only one escaped, running panicked through the hive being chased by chain-gun wielding gangers.

This time around, Lockshanks was the one to fall first. Falling asleep at the wheel after a long night of DJing, he skidded CheapShot's van/arsenal into a guardrail, then overcompensated, driving it into a jersey-barrier along I-76, on the northwest side of Keystone City. Two more crashes later, the van's fuel tank blew, with three of the four heroes inside. By that point, the fourth was nothing but a grease smear along the highway.

I must say, I'm really disappointed by all this. While the group has been a little bit off-topic, game was genuinely fun. People were truly into their characters and really heavily role-playing through scenarios. Makes me wish that I didn't "let the dice fall where they may"...

As such, we're switching gears for a tick. For the remainder of the WittKids' semester, we're going to run a few one-shots and give them some shots to GM. It gets them some experience and some more confidence behind the screen.

I'm just going to miss my Monday supers crew. :(

The Warlock's Review: "Watchmen"

Anticipation is a funny thing. While the high expectations it creates often lead to heartache, the lead-up and hype for a movie often lend it even more weight once it hits the box office.

Watchmen has been among my most anticipated movies since it was announced nearly two years ago. When its release was nearly held up by 20th Century Fox, I was aghast. When the first trailer aired, pulsing along to a Smashing Pumpkins anti-ballad, I was in awe. And now, having seen it...

...it's honestly hard to breathe. As a fan, it's utterly mind-blowing.

In all honesty, never before has a "comic-book movie" been as faithful to its source as Watchmen. To be honest, I cannot envision another movie challenging it on this front. Scenes directly from the book are placed on screen one after another. Director Zack Snyder is flawless in this respect--his adoration for the book itself is phenomenal.

Several other critics have criticised this, both on the front that he has "embalmed" the movie (i.e. staying too close to the source material), or that his changes, made for time (the movie is nearly 3 hours, without the cuts!) were not faithful to his overall vision. Considering both arguments, as well as my own opinion, I dare say that he managed to walk a fine line in this respect. While changes to the book are present, they're dealt with smoothly and without hassle. However, scene after scene are pulled directly from the book.

I'm jumping ahead of myself. If you haven't read the book, or have much familiarity with the universe at this point, here's the basic summary. In 1977, the Keene Act is passed, banning acts of "masked vigilantism" following a massive police strike. Vigilantes have been active since WWII, impacting history in various ways, including the accidental creation of the first actual superhero, known as Dr. Manhattan (and played in a perfectly stoic manner by Billy Crudup). It's now 1985, and someone has started killing former vigilantes, starting with the fascistic gun-nut The Comedian (Jeffery Dean Morgan). Rorschach, a sociopathic (and still active) vigilante played by Jackie Earle Haley, begins to investigate.

As I said, the scenes are literally pulled straight from the graphic novel, and thus have a grim, edgy tone suited to this alternate history tale. Haley's gravelly tone narrates us through the world via Rorschach's journal, as he attempts to warn his fellow heroes. At the top of the list is Dan Dreiberg, better known as Nite-Owl (Patrick Wilson), who has fallen into despondancy and impotency.

By and large, the portrayals in this movie are near flawless. Haley's Rorschach oozes with loathing and menace, while Nite-Owl's near-fetishistic obsession with the costumed lifestyle display him as torn between his desire for a normal life and his primal need for the adrenaline rush of adventuring.

Opposite Nite-Owl is Malin Ackerman's Silk Spectre II, forced into the costumed lifestyle by her mother (Carla Gugino), now aging in a rest home. While Ackerman's portrayal is adequate, it does not carry the emotional weight of Haley's narration, Morgan's psychopathic violence, or Wilson's despondancy. The only truly poor performance I would assess for this film is Gugino's, which centers primarily around her age. The elder Silk Spectre simply does not look the part, particularly in the 1985 sections, where she looks just as old as her daughter, instead of 40 years older. Her delivery--too energetic and youthful--only exacerbates this feeling.

One of the few flaws I can find with this movie is with the sheer level of graphic violence in Watchmen. I had gone in knowing much about the violence, having read the book numerous times, but I was not quite prepared for the sheer intensity of the gore in this film. Fight scenes are choreographed with no punches pulled, and no strength unused. During a fight with some street thugs, Nite-Owl breaks a foe's elbow, cracking it in a hideous compound fracture. When invading a mob speakeasy, a gesture from Dr. Manhattan splatters gun-toting mobsters across the room. If you are weak of heart or faint of stomach, even the first scene--wherein the aging Comedian fights for his life and falls to an unseen assailant in his apartment--will sit ill with you.

Snyder pulled no punches with his violence, and I can respect that, but I do question the necessity of it. Whereas the book is just as violent, many of the actions are 'between panels', where it is understood what happens--a typical Shakespearean motion. On screen, the actions overshoot their visceral intent and roam into the unnecessary. The same can be said of the sex scene between Ackerman and Wilson, high above New York aboard the OwlShip. Were the scene half as long, it would have had the same impact--the sheer length and graphicness of it overshoots its intent.

Much has further been made of Watchmen's soundtrack, which brings together an ecletic series of tunes from across the late 20th century. However, I was more impressed by the score itself, penned by Tyler Bates. The background music was more subtle than expected, yet held a great deal of menace, particularly throughout Rorschach's theme, as well as that of Ozymandias, the adventurer-turned-businessman played adequately by Matthew Goode. While I own most of the soundtrack's songs as it is now--yay for being a classic rock junkie--I fully intend to go find the score itself as soon as I'm done here.

All in all, Watchmen is a difficult movie not to recommend. It is utterly faithful to its source material, and the experience of watching it is much like watching a horrifying accident. The story itself is midnight-black, which makes it hard to watch, when shown in all its glory on the screen. If you can stomach through the intensity of the violence, the movie will leave you stunned, with your jaw on the floor. It is, quite literally, the best (and most likely) fulfillment of the comic book lovers' dream.

In Which The Warlock Succumbs to the Inevitable...

When D&D 4e came out, one of their largest pushes was for the traditionally table-top game to take a step into the digital world, in a large way. Dungeon and Dragon, the flagship magazines of role-playing, were taken out of circulation, only to be replaced with online editions as part of something enigmatic known as "D&D Insider". At the announcement, other nebulous features were shown off...a 'virtual miniature' generator, an online table utility with chat functions, a character generator, and several other features.

And it was met, by and large, with a resounding "WTF?!"

As it seemed, people didn't exactly like Wizards of the Coast futzing around with their beloved magazines. And who would need an online game table, when it's much more fun to sit around a real one? And there were tons of character generators out there--why pay for one?

Nerdrage poured forth like a rushing river, as WotC slowly trickled out updates to their "D&D Insider" and Gleemax--their failed attempt at a social networking site--bit the dust. And all of it was free, so every angry geek with a wi-fi connection could dance on the monolithic industry's corpse...or so it seemed to said weaselous buggers.

I'll admit--I wasn't happy when the two magazines went to online-only format, but I was relatively neutral in the wars between pro- and anti-Insider gamer geeks. That is, until recently.

Both L-train and I finally broke down and purchased 1 year memberships to D&D Insider--at just around $5 per month, it cost me approximately $60 for one year of content, which granted me access to the Character Generator software, issues of both online magazines, several online utilities, and all preview articles (only about half of which are accessible to non-Insider visitors).

I came across this somewhat skeptically, as I wasn't sure exactly what I was...wanting. I used HeroForge, primarily, for character generation, and the magazine articles did not seem to increase in quality compared to the days of Paizo.

I'll admit now, I was utterly wrong.

The official character generator--built from the online compendium (another benefit of Insider membership--is updated monthly, and features a database of selectable WotC products, usable by campaign. The generator is intuitive to use, and is graphically smooth, allowing you even to import your own photos to attach to characters. Even without going through any sort of tutorial or help system, I was able to create a 30th level character, complete with level-appropriate gear, in about 20 minutes.

20 minutes?! Hell's bells--I was ecstatic! This sort of thing would take me hours to do by hand, or even in HeroForge. And, what's more, the Generator tells you whether the character is RPGA legal, auto-calculates all of the math for you (which has led to some player-favoring error-solving in L-train's game), and creates a beautifully laid-out character sheet complete with character cards.

While the character generator does lack a "Create a Character of X Level" option, which would make it perfect, the leveling system is of sufficient speed and quality to make it almost unnecessary. Seriously--it's that good.

That alone would be worth my $60, considering that it updates with all WotC products each month, but the magazine articles have seriously been increasing in quality. One of my favorites has been the "Wish Upon A Star" article, beefing Star Pact Warlocks--Ia!--but there are numerous others that bear mentioning.

In all truth, I'm completely satisfied with my Insider subscription, and have no regrets on it whatsoever. I look forward to what comes next very eagerly...surrounding nerdrage notwithstanding.

In Which The Warlock Uses His Time Productively...

One of the nice things about being an English teacher is the fact that once you set your kids on a research project, your days are pretty much just troubleshooting. There's no real "lesson planning", per se; it's all much more of helping each kid at whatever step that they're at. Because of this, I've had a significantly larger amount of "free-ish time" during my teaching day...which I've put to good use, of course!

Firstly, I managed to get some of my revisions for Dungeon Slam! done. On the 4th draft now, I managed to re-build all of the character cards from scratch. One of the biggest problems with the current incarnation is the amount of tokens necessary for Health and Arcana. Rather than tracking them with tokens, though, I now have a slider at the top and bottom of each character card--one for each stat. So now, players only need one token, which they can slide to their current Health and Arcana, and adjust as necessary.

Also, I've been reformatting many of the skills. Some of them were just outright too damned good. Others, like the Alchemists' Unique Skill--Brewmaster--were utterly weak. I've worked towards balancing these, but the results have yet to show fruit--that's what playtesting is for, children!

That said, the easy part is over with. The (much) harder part is to rebuild the monsters, the items, and the skills. That comes next...proably over spring break!

Speaking of playtesting, though, I also managed to finish my work on something that's currently being referred to as WEGS SuperZ Alpha. While I can't say too much about this one, mainly due to some unsurity on how it exactly fits into El Willy's WEGS-verse and the like, I can say that the first playtest went swimmingly! We had some issues with the Braintrust character, who was way overpowered, using Napalm Blast over and over, as well as with the Health and Spoint regeneration General Skills, but by and large, the Arks were performing exactly as intended!

Finally, I managed to finally put together enough cash for a subscription to Dungeons and Dragons Insider--Wizards of the Coast's online initiative for D&D 4e. My first impressions, thusfar, have been really positive, particularly with the Character Generator, but I haven't had my subscription long enough to provide a full review--expect one next week, cats and kittens.

So, what have we learned? When your kids are pretty much autonomous, you can just let 'em roll and get on with what's important: gaming!

In Which the Warlock Learns from His Pain...

I have learned to dread Christmas. For the last two years, my beloved (and if you can't hear the sarcasm dripping off of that word, you're deaf!) Witt-Weggers have felt it necessary to 'gift' me with movies at each YuleTide. Now, by movies, I don't mean new releases, or the various blockbusters I've blogged about while here. Nor do I mean movie classics like Excalibur or Apocalypse Now.

I mean horrible, decrepit pieces of filth...the likes of which are not fit for human eyes. I mean movies like Blood Gnome, Elektra, and the dreaded Transmorphers.

You'll note that I don't link any of these. This is for your own protection. If you are so foolish as to look up any of these...well, do so at your own risk.

This tradition culminated this week with Wittenberg Role-Playing Guild's first ever "Iron Butt, Iron Gut" Marathon. Three of the worst movies ever made, in order, on Valentines' Day evening. While the task was a difficult one: Transmorphers followed by Mazes and Monsters, then ending with Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight, we survived (relatively) unscathed.

However, my enduring mental anguish has not gone by without some amount of learning. If anything else, each horrible flick has taught me a valuable lesson for GMing, which I share with you now...so that these movies may forever be buried and forgotten.

Zardoz--It doesn't matter how rich a world you create or how vast a world you populate; if no one can understand what the hell you're talking about, it's a lost cause anyway.

Mazes and Monsters--Plot twists are simultaneously overrated and underappreciated. Keep your players on their toes and they won't see the train through the coming headlights.

Idiocracy--Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large numbers.

Dragonlance: DoAT--Lens flares make everything better. That is, I mean...you can have all of the voice talent in the world, but if your NPCs have dialogue that makes them sound like cardboard cutouts, your players will still be miserable.

Death Race 2000--Orwellian corporations controlling Roman-style deathmatches, regardless of arena, is an over-used trope. Just once, throw in a mega-corporation that generally HAS the world's best interest in mine, and see how your players squirm!

Flesh Gordon--Captured PCs are fun PCs because they're out of their element. While it's always a plus to see a group at their strongest, sometimes the best role-playing moments come out of when they have to improvise to survive.

SS DoomTrooper--Killing Nazis is always fun. Doesn't matter what system.

Raptor--Always have your setting details in order. Nothing's more infuriating than not being able to figure out what county your crime scene's actually in...to say nothing of "brushing" for fingerprints...

Transmorphers--In all games, the special effects are key. Magic, psionics, super-powers, Cthulhian spells, what have you...if they sound fake in your descriptions, they look fake in the minds' eye of your players. Describe!
Oh, and make sure your sounds syncs up...

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

In Which The Warlock Fails His Saving Throw vs. Poison...

Apologies on the delay, faithful readers. I realize that when I post late, I usually open with an apology but this time...I have a legitimate excuse: food poisoning.

You see, your friendly-neighborhood Warlock has given up pop--carbonated beverages have been kept at a minimum since October, and I've kept to that pretty well by sticking to Kool-Aid and juice. Unfortunately, it was the latter that caught up with me. By the time that I was 3/4 of the way through the juice bottle...Jules had noted that it was over 3 months expired.

I, consequently, spent the last three days unable to eat anything, and have been pretty much latched to the toilet.

On the plus side, I am much on the mend and am looking forward to a full weekend of geekdom to come. On the downside, though, I missed out on much of last weekend's festivities...which included a portion of a visit from my former roommate, Karl!

However, we did have some time to wedge in a WEGS scenario--based on the D&D Tiny Adventures creation "The Haunted Streets of Agamentar--with some sweet LEGO props! I joined him behind the screen at first, but when a player had to leave early...it was up to Nordling the XIV to take to the fore!

Unfortunately for Nordling and his krew...the odds and gods were not on their sides. In the crypt of a dread lich, they fell quickly and mercilessly beneath no less than 5 consecutive Good Shots by Karl's dice...

Never fear, though! This Saturday brings some more "Dungeon Slam!" and hopefully some karmatic vengeance!

The Warlock's Review: "Manual of the Planes"

I took a little bit of heat from gaming-buddy Nick, when I didn't update this Sunday, but I wanted to make sure that I had all of my ducks in a row before putting forward this post. Believe it or not, I actually had to do some research for this one.

One of my favorite things regarding the entirety of D&D, since I began playing, has been the cosmological aspect of it. The Great Wheel, in particular, was one of my favorite concepts--the simple idea that there was a verisimilitude within the cosmos, between the various Heavens and Hells out there. Fittingly, one of my favorite campaign settings has been Planescape, with its wacky, Victorian philosophical factions, its plane-hopping nature, and the omnipresent city of Sigil looming overhead.

When 4e came out, I was slightly perturbed that The Great Wheel, a D&D institution since First Edition, went the way of the dodo. In fact, I asked Mike Mearls about this change, last year at Origins, just after 4e's release. While he was not able to give me a whole lot of solace in this regard, I kept an optimistic outlook regarding the new cosmology, and was looking forward to this release greatly.

One of the reasons for my optimism was newness. The Feywild, The Shadowfell, the Elemental Chaos...all of these seemed to reek of the old Modernist adage, "Make it new!" Unfortunately, upon my reading, this seems not to be the case.

Manual of the Planes, in format, is a typical 160 page, full-color, hardcover release from Wizards of the Coast, with all the high quality that comes with it. WotC is the gold standard for book design in the RPG world, and has been since 3e, and nothing has changed here. I could even overlook the reused 3eartwork, if not for a few major sections...

My geek senses kicked off in this regard as I read (ironically enough) the section on Sigil. As I read, I could have sworn that I had read the section before, despite the fact that this was the first read through of 4e's Manual of the Planes that I had done. Then I realized it!

the text for Sigil, as well as the City of Brass and several other locations, was taken nearly word for word from 3e's Manual of the Planes and the Planar Handbook

To say the least, I was chagrined. I was promised newness, and this was borderline plagarism. Entire sections of text were copy-pasted, with changes only made to eliminate 3e mechanics. For example, text was copy-pasted on the City of Brass's architecture, but the 4e version is shorter only due to the Planar Handbook's mention of "Continual flame spells"--something that no longer exists in 4e.

Lazy writing aside, I was further surprised by the utterly laziness in design decisions on the creators' choices. The Elemental Chaos was promised to be a "more accessible" elemental plane system, but the only three locations presented therein are ZerthAd'Lun (a githyanki city), the aforementioned City of Brass, and a few Abyssal layers--all of which had seen extensive treatment in prior books, both 3e and 4e. Nothing new.

While I was pleased with the creativity showing in the Feywild section--based around pseudo-Celtic fey courts and the 4 seasons--this pleasure swiftly dimmed in my reading of the following section on the Shadowfell. If you know me at all, you know my games tend towards darker themes (Ravenloft, anyone?), so the idea of the Shadowfell had peaked my interest. However, despite the fact that its chapter is a full page longer than that of the Feywild (16 pages, compared to 15), it includes only 1 locale, and few other stats. Oh, and the Dread Emperor gets a full page...that wonderful throwback to the decidedly mediocre Book of Vile Darkness. Yeech.

There were bright spots in this book, primarily in the new material. The "domain of night", Tytherion, was an intreguing addition, and the inclusion of various fey demesenes were a plus. By and large, though, these areas were hit or miss. Shom, a blinding desert wasteland, is included, but few details are given save that it was once the home of the illumian empire. Were illumians really so popular that they needed a one-page entry? Somehow I doubt it. It would have been nice to see that page, and other wasted space, go towards giving Far Realm (a fan, and personal, favorite) a better treatment--it currently gets 3/4 of a page, with a sidebar on Mak Thuum Ngatha--or, for that matter, a section on Dreamspace or more information on spelljammers, which only get touched on.

Players get a wee bit of material at the end of the book, with a handful of paragon paths based on the planes. However, this chapter feels tacked on, and really brings little to the party in terms of creativity. It feels as if the designers each picked a core class and a plane, then cobbled together a paragon path to combine them. And the Doomguard reference in the fighter entry? It might have been nice had factions actually been discussed in any length in this book, but such was not the case.

All in all, Manual of the Planes is a decidedly mediocre book, made worse by recycled material, a lack of focus, and a dearth of usable campaign hooks and the like. While the Feywild section was strong, it's the lone real jewel in a sea of muddy water. I still love the mechanics of 4e, but right now, the 'fluff' of the system has yet to sell me.

In Which The Warlock Realizes Some Irony...

...immediately after commending myself about my ability to update on time, this update is, of course, late. Oi. *hangs head* It's life.

But, on a more positive spin, things are finally rolling in our Friday night game. Unsere, my tiefling artificer/swordmage, is utterly fed up with getting followed around by everyone in sight, but at least she's finding her way out of Thromstorm! However, I can't help but feel just a touch of frustration, as what I had originally intended to be a more "supporting" character seems to be turning into the plot's lead. *shrug* That's the way of things, some days. Nothing like a 'reluctant hero' archetype!

Further positive, I've set myself on using Heroes Unlimited 2e Revised for my Watchmen/Call of Cthulhu game. Looking onto the rules, they're not quite so clunky as to shy the newbies to Palladium away, and it's definitely the best fit for the setting's feel.

That said, I'm definitely going to pare out some of the "bigger" powers, to fit with the feel of the world. I just can't imagine Nite-Owl or Silk Spectre roaming around with someone with "Alter Physical Structure: Plasma", who can melt through steel walls with his bare hands. I mean, the whole point of Dr. Manhattan was the fact that he was one-of-a-kind. Doesn't make much sense to populate the whole world with Captain Atom!

One of my bigger difficulties comes from the grafting of the Sanity system onto the Palladium stats. While "Mental Endurance" seems to be a great place to start, the character classes that rely on it most heavily--Mystics and Psionics--should be the first ones to go crazy, not the last! I think I may end up using an average of all mental stats, to form the Sanity base, but I'm still undecided.
We shall see, I suppose!

Next post? My 4e Manual of the Planes review!