Gaming and More Gaming!

[Black Jack Rackham]

Had a real fun session this week. I even got my players to start looking for clues all on their lonesome (and as a bonus, purely by chance they went DIRECTLY to the NPC most likely to give them good info. How awesome is that?!?)

They now have a theory as to what's going on in this sleepy little town. Time will tell if they got it right.

Next week should have been Laura's Game but I JUST realized we're leaving that day

Alright so I won't get to play for the next two weeks but we'll be back in time for my youngest's 5th birthday and board games that Sunday.

Then its on to OGC and the Zombie Run

[salamanca]

I think "super naked headless ken" should accompany your wife on the zombie run. Just remember to duck when you suggest it.

[Black Jack Rackham]

Tomorrow is the youngest's birthday (a whopping 5 years old!), then Sunday its BOARDGAMES!
Next week gaming here will be cancelled since I will be up at OGC on Sunday (but, most of my players, it seems, will be following me to play Ep 5 & 6).

[Black Jack Rackham]

Woo long time since I updated this. DEADLANDS is this weekend!!!

[Black Jack Rackham]

So, had a 'meh' session today, and it was obvious everyone's minds were elsewhere. Not the kind of 'elsewhere' that comes with a month (or was it 2) between adventures, but rather the elsewhere that I've come to learn signals a general boredom with the genre and a desire to change games.

So, since we'd generally finished that particular adventure, I offered to let them choose something new. Suggestions I heard were:
Call of Cthulhu (though not for all and not long-term)
Dread (same issue)
Pendragon (put forth by the member of our group least likely to be at lots of games in the near future, given that football season is coming up and he's a die-hard fan)
And a 2nd Ed. AD&D game set in Forgotten Realms (which was, by far, the most popular.)

[ZombieTonyBlair]

Boo! for forgotten realms. Yay! for Ravenloft, DarkSun, and Planscape.

[salamanca]

All 3 of those setting require higher start levels just to survive the environment. Thri-Kreen and Aasimar are broken. Personally, I could live without it being Realms and just being generic 2nd ed. But the realms does have a desert, a huge city(with giant maps) and plenty of creepy spot to do horror so I think you could cover all those bases. Plus all those ridiculous secret societies which could fill your Pendragon niche too.

[Lady Grace]

Finally might be getting involved in a 3.5 D&D game myself. The GM is starting us at level 8, allowing all splatbooks and, when asked what the theme of the campaign is, said "EVERYTHING".

There's only 2 players so far, me and my Mike (rogue & druid respectively). The GM is buttressing things with an elven warpriest NPC. This...should be interesting.

[Black Jack Rackham]

I started a couple of threads (on FB's Old School Gamers page and The Piazza's Forgotten Realms page) asking for some help with premade adventures I could start everyone with, and what I've been getting thus far is a metric shitton of "My half-ork, half-dragon, half-ogre, spellcasting, celestial, barbarian, priest leveled to XXX...blah blah blah" and that reminded me of one of the things I hate, Hate, HATE about AD&D, all the damn munchkining.

So we'll be sticking to the basic races and none of the damn splatbooks. The only irritating thing my players are going to have to deal with is my son wants to play a paladin.

[Eyeheartawk]

So we'll be sticking to the basic races and none of the damn splatbooks. The only irritating thing my players are going to have to deal with is my son wants to play a paladin.

Bu-but critical hit tables for spells!

[salamanca]

Look around online for a used box of the "deck of encounters". I ran a 5 year campaign out of that box just by going through and combining 3-5 cards for a session. Even managed to build a plotline around it. So I am guessing if I promise to show you would still say no to my thri kreen fighting monk?. I do have a halfling thief (well a firbolg that steals halflings) if that works better.

[Black Jack Rackham]

This will be a banner weekend at casa de Edwards! Saturday is the opening weekend for King Richard's Faire (and I'll be taking the kiddos) then Sunday I get to play 7th Sea as we return to our regular schedule and Laura continues her Explorer's Game! (and as a bonus, it's my birthday)

[salamanca]

Ok, here is your checklist:. Wooden swords for the kids, rose for the wife, avoiding the expensive glass and jewelry booths with the wife, avoiding questionable food like turkey legs. And check the blacksmith (every faire should have one) and see if they are selling iron or steel dice. Because giant iron D6s rock.

[Black Jack Rackham]

Ok, here is your checklist:. Wooden swords for the kids, rose for the wife, avoiding the expensive glass and jewelry booths with the wife, avoiding questionable food like turkey legs. And check the blacksmith (every faire should have one) and see if they are selling iron or steel dice. Because giant iron D6s rock.

Last time I got wooden swords for the kids the damage done to one another was significant (and funny, at least to me) so I have been forbidden to buy them any more.

Wife doesn't do flowers (because they just whither and die). She wants experiences.

You know, I have always wondered why the turkey legs are so, red...

I have a couple of swords from my favorite blacksmith there. I have yet to see any dice, but I will be on the lookout this year (cause her majesty won't be with us so we can take a lot more time). Oh and giant iron d10s would be more awesome

[salamanca]

Polyhedrals confuse blacksmiths furiously.

Uncommon Adornments does really nice and not too pricey earrings. also check any metalsmiths doing pewter mugs and goblets for cast roses, it's becoming a trend.

as for the wooden swords, just tell them they are from uncle sal and turn them loose.

also New world mugs should have a booth there even if the owner is in southern ohio opening that show this weekend. He's a good friend so have your pals show him some love.

[spizio]

I don't think I've ever seen a cast rose. Wax and leather roses have been available for some time now.

[CaitlinCallahan]

They had them at a couple places at Bristol this year, but I was unsuccessful in finding any metal dice (I picked up a pewter D20 for Floyd a couple of years ago).

[Black Jack Rackham]

I was very bad this gaming session, just couldn't stay on topic and kept blathering on. Laura should have killed my character...

[Rebecca Iavelli]

No, Laura should have made you loose your axe; thats more evil by your characters thoughts.

[Black Jack Rackham]

No, Laura should have made you loose your axe; thats more evil by your characters thoughts.

That'd have done it!

[spizio]

This will be a banner weekend at casa de Edwards! Saturday is the opening weekend for King Richard's Faire (and I'll be taking the kiddos) then Sunday I get to play 7th Sea as we return to our regular schedule and Laura continues her Explorer's Game! (and as a bonus, it's my birthday)

Looks like the old plot well at the faire has gone dry. There is no villain trying to take over this year. So the good guys who have planned for trouble decide to create one. How do you create a villain? Step one involves convincing good guys to act bad. Step two involves a contest based on The Voice. Then they don't follow through with villainy because people just want to be loved.

Also they make light of the fact that the queen they just crowned last year is missing. Bearing in mind that the faire has not had a queen since the passing of Barbara “Bodge” Burinski. Out of what can be assumed not knowing how the regular patrons and cast would feel about "replacing" Bodge. So 10 years of a bachelor king, 1 year with a queen, next year queen is "off visiting her parents and brigands prevent her from coming home.". No word that I know of to account for her absence.

[salamanca]

So instead of bad guys, you have good guys with nobody to fight and no way to be heroic so they invent some villiany?. That is spot on brilliant. The queen issue sounds like they found a replacement they like and want back but was not available so they are holding a spot for her. Now, in our little world, the plot and story changes every year along with most of the character names and positions. Last year's king became a gypsy this year. (and Aramis showed up as the prince with Roquefort now his pal and bodyguard.). Truth is the regulars understand cast changes and the masses don't attend often enough to remember plots from years back.

[spizio]

I could almost see your point, except they did absolutely no villainy whatsoever. They just sang a song about villainy being foolish and how it is better to just get along. The faire does favor musicals for their main stage shows.

The fair here is a set pieces. By that I mean apart from changes in the cast everyone plays the same parts year in and year out. There is a sense of history, with references to past years.

As for the queen that may be an explanation. The sense that I got last year was a little surprise that they had reactivated the role, it seemed they were destined to be queen less after so long. Despite this people seemed genuinely supportive of the idea and the actress. She did well enough and with a few years to put her stamp on the role could have been better.

They had floated a plot with a replacement queen about 5 years ago. The main plot was the king had to marry or abdicate. Several villainous suitors descended on the kingdom. In somewhat of a bold move they actually did a season to season cliffhanger. With the king not marrying and the next seasons plot reveal was that a loophole was found where he could be a bachelor.

[salamanca]

That is what makes this plot work (at faire or in a roleplaying session). The heroes need a bad guy to make them look good. Without one, they have nothing to prove their worth and as good guys, they just can't figure out how to be villians. So they talk about it, they try to concoct a scheme but it falls apart the second somebody suggests actual wrongdoing. You could play that with patrons for weeks. The kids suggest taking a hostage or stabbing somebody and the hero freaks out about how that would be wrong. It.is comedy gold watching a skilled actor playing a long established Galahad type role trying to invent a list of "bad" things to do. The character is so pure he gets a list of stuff like, "pulling hair, walking on the lawn, leaving the seat up," and things like that. The problem for a roleplay group is they immediately touch base with their old anti hero characters and just go on the killing spree.

[Black Jack Rackham]

This week we're back to boardgames (love this cause it's such a change from our usual gaming and because it's the only time I can connive my wife into playing with us).

Also talked with the players about the upcoming D&D campaign. We've got an interesting group, 2 players want to play Rangers, one vacillates between Ranger and Paladin, one wants a Cleric, one a Rogue, and the last a Sorcerer.

Got a request not to do 2nd Ed (since there is so little variation on making characters). So, since we all have access to 3.0 we decided to do that. I dusted off my link to the d20 system reference document http://www.d20srd.org so I can change monsters to 3.0.

Still gonna use Dave's suggestion of the Deck of Encounters and we should be good to go. First up, character creation