Inspired by a post from Chatty DM at Critical Hits, I'm procrastinating on one comics column, one gaming recap and a couple other blog posts (not to mention watching Party Down or playing Red Dead Redemption) to write up my own hazy-memory-fueled tale of how I came to play RPGs on a weekly basis.
The Beginning
I don't remember the magazine, but I must have been about 10 or so when I first encountered Dungeons & Dragons. There was an article about this new game being played, and they had custom dungeon terrain, painted miniatures and colorful dice. I didn't know what D&D was... but I wanted to find out.
Eventually, I must have picked up the red box, the D&D Basic Set, probably the 1981 revision, that tracks pretty well with the timeline. I would eventually, through my own money to some extent but mostly through gifts from family, get the Blue Expert Set, the I-don't-remember-the-color Companion set and the Black Masters set. I never bought Immortals, because by that time I had moved on to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.
I'm fairly sure the first folks I played with were friends whose names I can't really remember. I think one of them was named Walter. I know we traded off being DM, and that I made up dungeons full of traps and monsters on graph paper. I know that our characters were 100th level or so, which was of course not even remotely in the rules. And I'm pretty sure that, given a fondness for ninjas spurred by the kid pop-culture of the day, my guy used "numchuks" and shuriken, despite being a cleric.
I picked up Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (1st Edition) and played it with, again, friends I barely remember.
High School
Shortly before high school, we moved to Denver, Colorado, and I made my first set of friends who would becoming gaming buddies. Guys I knew all the way through college, some of whom I still know on Facebook today, even if I haven't seen them in person for well over a decade.
We played D&D, but high school was also where I started to branch out. A lot. Twilight 2000, the game of near-future war. Top Secret, TSR's spy game. Star Frontiers, TSR's sci-fi game. R. Talsorian's Cyberpunk. Shadowrun. A *lot* of West End's Star Wars. GURPS, including a memorable space game that started after play rehearsal (yep, I was in theater) and included anywhere from 4-10 people, depending on who showed up. I never played Traveller, but that GURPS Space game was oddly close to it. One guy played a rich bastard who owned the ship, and his motley crew included a psionic healer (played by the first girl I'd gamed with, Sabina, who would later be part of my double-date to prom, her dating my friend Doug and me taking my friend Shane after my friend Chris dumped her and my brief girlfriend... uh - I'm gonna say Becky? - dumped me just before prom), a squirrel alien scout (played by my aforementioned friend Doug), a space marine and I don't even remember what else. I do still remember one of my favorite lines from the game, when Doug's alien had been rendered unconscious, nobody from the ship knew this, and Rick (the guy playing the ship captain) was threatening to use the ship's nuclear weapons on the planet if they didn't get what they wanted. That line? "I sure hope I'm not on this planet when it blows up... that'd suck!"
College and Superheroes
I'm sure I played other games in high school, and I know that heading into college, I had begun playing Advanced Dungeons & Dragons second edition, which was published the year I graduated. However, I can't really recall any of the games or characters from AD&D. When I think of gaming in college, I think of Champions. I had never played the venerable superhero game, despite a love of superhero comics that began when I was about 13 years old.
My friend Kurt, together with his roommate and mine, and a few other friends, started playing Champions 3rd Edition, the one with the cool George Perez cover. Our group was named Wildside, and my character, Golden Dragon, a superstrong guy who started out an ex-Yakuza assassin and eventually became a bit of a Superman noble type (with an un-Superman bad temper) remains one of the most memorable characters I played. That campaign ran for about four years, with different players joining in and out, and each of us playing different characters. In that time, I played Golden Dragon, Argent (a British superspy with an energy rifle, nanites in his blood and some weird pouch thing on his costume, an odd combination of influences from Liefeld, the Valiant comic Bloodshot and James Bond), Black Dragon (Golden Dragon without his powers, using a set of power armor built by one of his allies) and Platinum, Golden Dragon's kung-fu, chi-using, Iron Fist ripoff of a son from the year 2020.
Good times.
Post-College
It's not an exaggeration to say that most of my post-college friends come from gaming. The jobs I had before foolishly embarking on a career in comics retail included working at Austin Community College when I was the only guy under 35 in the whole department and working at a New York dot.com where I was the only guy not in his early twenties and unmarried. I didn't really form any lasting friendships there. I have some friendships formed from comics and the Internet (yeah, yeah, NERD! Shut up) and I met my wife through a combination of both on the Strangers in Paradise mailing list, but my friends are mostly gamers. Or became gamers shortly after meeting me.
When I first came to Austin, I did the "Looking for group" posting. That is a rough time in most gamer's lives, meeting people who may share your hobby but may be nothing like you otherwise. There were awkward having to kick somebody out of the group times, awkward trying to put together a group from the players you liked in the group without bringing along folks you didn't, etc.
But for a time, I had a pretty stable group, and we played Champions. I was DMing, having picked up a fair amount of tips and tricks from Kurt, my college DM, and we actually continued in the world that Wildside inhabited. In fact, I kept in touch with Kurt, and characters from his game would occasionally crossover into mine for cameos, and vice versa. Me in Austin, him in Colorado.
There were a lot of different Champions games with different characters and a few varying players. Eventually, when I left for New York, I didn't have anybody to game with, and I didn't have time with a new wife, a new and very busy job and a completely new city. I visited one gaming store once while there, but there was a period of about a year and a half where I didn't game at all, and honestly, I didn't really miss it. I was too busy going out drinking and partying on weekends on the company's dime. Gee, I don't know why we didn't get more funding. ;)
The Return
When I got back to Austin, I hooked up with the old gaming group, which was still mostly together, and played some Champions again. I also started working at the local comics and games store, and there met some new folks, and put together a new group. Which eventually became my regular group, with some changes, and the old group mostly went different ways. I don't see most of those guys that often, although they're mostly Facebook friends now too.
Working at a game store, and eventually owning a game store, I meet a lot more gamers. I don't tend to game with customers, if only because I know so many gamers now that I never have room in my games. There are exceptions: One of my best friends is someone who I met when our families shared an apartment on the beach for a weekend trip, but who I really became friends with after inviting her and her husband into a D&D 4th Edition game, and who I would never have really known to invite into that game if she hadn't been a customer at my shop. One of my other circles of friends, the League of Extremely Ordinary Gentlemen, came about because I became friends with another customer, and he's someone I've gamed with occasionally, and who has now become a member of one of my regular groups. And I have four employees, and I game regularly with three of them, and have gamed from time to time with the other one when he's not running his own games. So certainly the store has to take some blame/credit for the amount of/quality of gamers and games I know.
These days, I'm in four regular games. More than I've ever been in my life, even though as a dad and business owner, I'm busier than I think I've ever been, save maybe that year or so in New York.
One of them began life as D&D 3.5 in Eberron, ran until about level 10, took a break and came back at 10th level in 4th Edition. It's the longest-running campaign I've ever run, and I really love it. Another started as 4th Edition D&D, and became a different game (with the same characters) set in Eberron a few months ago, and I get to run in that one. Both of those are in the 13th-14th level area now, and they rotate playing on Fridays. It's not *quite* a weekly game, due to busy schedules, but I game more weeks than I don't.
The other two are new, and have only had two sessions each. One is a game I'm running in the D&D 4th Edition Chaos Scar setting from Dungeon, and it's with three people I've never played with before (one of whom has never played an RPG, and another one of whom hasn't played since 2nd edition) and two friends I don't get to play with enough. It's going to run maybe once a month, and because of that, we're doing a sort of house-rule experience where they gain a level every adventure or two, rather than on the slower scale D&D 4.0 provides.
The other is one I'm playing in, a D&D 4th Edition Forgotten Realms game where I'm playing a Genasi Swordmage. It's funny, because before 4th Edition, I hated Forgotten Realms, Genasi and Swordmages, but I love my new character and I'm kind of digging the Forgotten Realms setting so far. Like my Chaos Scar game, there have only been two sessions, but we're hoping, once schedules calm down a bit, to play that one bi-weekly.
Then there are the one-off games of Savage Worlds (and Deadlands), Fiasco, etc., etc. And I didn't even mention the various smaller games I've played, like Spycraft or Warhammer Fantasy Role-Play or Dark Heresy, or bought and never played, like Dragonstar or Rogue Trader.
I turn 40 in April of next year, and much to the delight of the 20-year-old brain in my aging body, I don't see gaming stopping anytime soon.
(I've turned comments off because I was getting nothing but spam, but if you've got responses, or your own Gaming DNA stories, email 'em to me and I'll link them here or in a new post. Or respond on Facebook if you're one of my Facebook friends, because this should get posted as a "Note" there.)
Showing posts with label gaming. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gaming. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
A Fiasco - Revenge & Murder in Suburbia
I recently had a chance to play the storytelling RPG Fiasco, "a game of powerful ambition and poor impulse control" from Bully Pulpit games. It's heavily inspired by Coen Brothers films, but any out-of-control, often darkly comical ensemble cast story can be seen in the gameplay, and quotes from True Romance, Three Kings and even Office Space show you some of the range the game has.
It comes with four "playsets" that you use to build your story: A Nice Southern Town, The Old West, McMurdo Station Antarctica and the one we used, A Suburban Community. You can get a lot more details about how the game works from these two excellent articles at Gnome Stew reviewing the game and then providing an example of play. The above is all just context for my write-up of the game we played.
Our Characters:
1. Petrov, First Generation Ukranian Immigrant
Who is a cousin of
2. "Tim," a.k.a. Yuri, a Mob Informant in Witness Protection
Who is the bookie for a gambler known as
3. Jackson, Owner of a Failing Car Dealership
Who was a drunk driver that killed Petrov's wife
The characters were quick ideas from each player, and the relationships are part of the setup of the game. The other part of the setup included coming up with these three elements, each tied to a relationship:
1. Jackson's Need to get respect from himself by standing up for himself at last, tied into his relationship with Tim
2. Petrov's Unsavory Object of Night-Vision Goggles and Flexi-Cuffs, tied into his cousin Tim
3. Tim's Location on Red Bud Cort, a van with no tires surrounded by rotting newspapers, that was tied into his relationship with Jackson (possibly an old car he bought off Jackson's lot, although we never quite established this)
With these details in mind, we set out taking turns, creating the six scenes that formed the First Act. Dice are used to determine how each character is doing... sort of, but I'm leaving that part out as I don't recall the exact apportionment of dice, and we also discovered later that we hadn't quite done it right, using the mechanics for Act Two for both acts. It still worked out, though we'll definitely use the right rules next time out.
Scene 1 was a flashback to one year ago, the night Petrov's wife died. Two cars are slammed into each other, a dead woman sits in the passenger seat with a nine-iron (or possibly a seven-iron, there's some debate about that) in her chest, and her husband, Petrov, is kicking the living snot out of Jackson, the thoroughly drunk driver who just crashed into them.
As the two of them battle, Petrov yelling and cursing and Jackson feebly defending himself, insisting that he's not drunk, a cop pulls up, takes one look at the scene and just keeps on driving.
Scene 2 takes place a year later. Because the cop drove away, and because Petrov nearly killed Jackson, the case never went to trial. Jackson plead out, and got off without any jail time. But the local news had a field day, and Petrov has been picketing his car lot, and as a result, Jackson's business is in the toilet, even though he's legally in the clear.
Petrov, angry and bitter, is on the phone with his cousin Tim. He suggests that he needs to get revenge. They need to kidnap Jackson's wife for ransom and then kill her (it was at this point that Jackson's player realized he had a wife.) "Do you still have those old nightvision goggles?"
Scene 3 involved Jackson and Tim on the phone, and Jackson trying to get an extension on his loan. He had "a whale" on the line to buy a Cadillac, and once that sale went through, he could pay off all his gambling debts. Tim, hearing Jackson's wife nagging him on the phone, wondered if he had any life insurance, which put a nasty idea into Jackson's head. He suggested that he and Tim meet at a bar later to talk about it.
Scene 4 was a solo scene of Petrov, fumbling around in the dark with the night-vision goggles, and generally proving himself to be a violent amateur. This does not bode well.
Scene 5 involved Tim going out to his van, to find that it was pristine on the inside, covered in plastic wrap and full of sharp knives. Tim was clearly a much more professional killer than his cousin.
Scene 6 involved Jackson talking with his insurance agent, a genial fellow who agreed to let Jackson pay off the higher life insurance premiums after he landed "the whale" even though he'd put the paperwork through now. All Jackson had to agree to was getting a blood sample from his wife (for medical checks) and picking up $10 grand in "hail insurance" for the cars on the lot.
That was act one, and then came The Tilt. The elements added were Mayhem (Cold-Blooded Score Settling), Paranoia (Somebody is watching, waiting for their moment) and Guilt (Visit from perhaps unofficial authorities). The story more or less suggested itself from there.
Scene 1 began with Petrov killing Jackson's wife. He was supposed to kidnap her, but his need for vengeance overtook him, and the result was a bloody massacre at the Jackson house. He ended up with a body in three pieces and blood everywhere. (Mayhem)
Scene 2 saw Petrov rolling up in his car to Tim's van. Tim was livid when he saw that Petrov had brought him a thoroughly trackable dead body rather than a live woman they could ransom, but he had a larger problem. An FBI agent, agent Carver, who had been watching for some time (Paranoia) came up on the two men and wondered "Well, what do we have here?" (Guilt)
Scene 3 began again with Petrov, running across a field, and we didn't know from what, but he was still covered in blood, terrified and carrying Jackson's. Wife's. Head. He reached the highway and thought he was safe, and tried to flag down the oncoming car.
Only problem being, the car was being driven by Jackson, roaring drunk after having missed his meeting with Tim. He crashed right into Petrov, knocking him onto the side of the road, and his wife's head bounced right off the windshield. He was too drunk to be sure what he saw, but he knew one thing: The last time he stopped in a situation like this, he very nearly got killed for it. So he kept on driving.
Scene 4 was Agent Carver walking up to Petrov, broken and bleeding but still alive. "Petrov, it just ain't your day." He took his pistol and shot Petrov in the head.
Scene 5 was a flashback to a few minutes earlier, as Agent Carver explained the deal to Tim and Petrov. He had a tap on Tim's phone and an eye on his van, and now he wanted the life insurance money. Only problem being, when there's a murder, there had to be a murderer. He pointed his gun at Petrov, saying sorry, as Petrov took off running.
Scene 6 found Jackson returning to his home to find it covered in blood. Tim and Agent Carver showed up to explain what had happened, and Jackson managed to stand up for himself and demand half of the insurance money, because without him, there was no deal. They got a blood sample from the copious amount available on the walls, floor and curtains and went about their grisly business.
Aftermath: At the end of the game, we rolled the dice we'd gotten in playing our scenes. Petrov, fittingly, wound up with a result that indicated he had probably died. Tim wound up in the same place he had been, which is to say he wound up moved into witness protection in a different town, still running small-time gambling. And Jackson? He made out the best. He got his half of the insurance money, Petrov's murder helped him win back a little public sympathy and it looked like he might pull his car dealership out of the tailspin. The only hitch was, though the life insurance had gone through, the hail insurance hadn't, and a huge hailstorm had wiped out most of his inventory, so most of his money was going to have to go to fixing up the cars he had.
Next up for us is trying out Lucky Strike, set in a World War II basecamp in France.
It comes with four "playsets" that you use to build your story: A Nice Southern Town, The Old West, McMurdo Station Antarctica and the one we used, A Suburban Community. You can get a lot more details about how the game works from these two excellent articles at Gnome Stew reviewing the game and then providing an example of play. The above is all just context for my write-up of the game we played.
Our Characters:
1. Petrov, First Generation Ukranian Immigrant
Who is a cousin of
2. "Tim," a.k.a. Yuri, a Mob Informant in Witness Protection
Who is the bookie for a gambler known as
3. Jackson, Owner of a Failing Car Dealership
Who was a drunk driver that killed Petrov's wife
The characters were quick ideas from each player, and the relationships are part of the setup of the game. The other part of the setup included coming up with these three elements, each tied to a relationship:
1. Jackson's Need to get respect from himself by standing up for himself at last, tied into his relationship with Tim
2. Petrov's Unsavory Object of Night-Vision Goggles and Flexi-Cuffs, tied into his cousin Tim
3. Tim's Location on Red Bud Cort, a van with no tires surrounded by rotting newspapers, that was tied into his relationship with Jackson (possibly an old car he bought off Jackson's lot, although we never quite established this)
With these details in mind, we set out taking turns, creating the six scenes that formed the First Act. Dice are used to determine how each character is doing... sort of, but I'm leaving that part out as I don't recall the exact apportionment of dice, and we also discovered later that we hadn't quite done it right, using the mechanics for Act Two for both acts. It still worked out, though we'll definitely use the right rules next time out.
Scene 1 was a flashback to one year ago, the night Petrov's wife died. Two cars are slammed into each other, a dead woman sits in the passenger seat with a nine-iron (or possibly a seven-iron, there's some debate about that) in her chest, and her husband, Petrov, is kicking the living snot out of Jackson, the thoroughly drunk driver who just crashed into them.
As the two of them battle, Petrov yelling and cursing and Jackson feebly defending himself, insisting that he's not drunk, a cop pulls up, takes one look at the scene and just keeps on driving.
Scene 2 takes place a year later. Because the cop drove away, and because Petrov nearly killed Jackson, the case never went to trial. Jackson plead out, and got off without any jail time. But the local news had a field day, and Petrov has been picketing his car lot, and as a result, Jackson's business is in the toilet, even though he's legally in the clear.
Petrov, angry and bitter, is on the phone with his cousin Tim. He suggests that he needs to get revenge. They need to kidnap Jackson's wife for ransom and then kill her (it was at this point that Jackson's player realized he had a wife.) "Do you still have those old nightvision goggles?"
Scene 3 involved Jackson and Tim on the phone, and Jackson trying to get an extension on his loan. He had "a whale" on the line to buy a Cadillac, and once that sale went through, he could pay off all his gambling debts. Tim, hearing Jackson's wife nagging him on the phone, wondered if he had any life insurance, which put a nasty idea into Jackson's head. He suggested that he and Tim meet at a bar later to talk about it.
Scene 4 was a solo scene of Petrov, fumbling around in the dark with the night-vision goggles, and generally proving himself to be a violent amateur. This does not bode well.
Scene 5 involved Tim going out to his van, to find that it was pristine on the inside, covered in plastic wrap and full of sharp knives. Tim was clearly a much more professional killer than his cousin.
Scene 6 involved Jackson talking with his insurance agent, a genial fellow who agreed to let Jackson pay off the higher life insurance premiums after he landed "the whale" even though he'd put the paperwork through now. All Jackson had to agree to was getting a blood sample from his wife (for medical checks) and picking up $10 grand in "hail insurance" for the cars on the lot.
That was act one, and then came The Tilt. The elements added were Mayhem (Cold-Blooded Score Settling), Paranoia (Somebody is watching, waiting for their moment) and Guilt (Visit from perhaps unofficial authorities). The story more or less suggested itself from there.
Scene 1 began with Petrov killing Jackson's wife. He was supposed to kidnap her, but his need for vengeance overtook him, and the result was a bloody massacre at the Jackson house. He ended up with a body in three pieces and blood everywhere. (Mayhem)
Scene 2 saw Petrov rolling up in his car to Tim's van. Tim was livid when he saw that Petrov had brought him a thoroughly trackable dead body rather than a live woman they could ransom, but he had a larger problem. An FBI agent, agent Carver, who had been watching for some time (Paranoia) came up on the two men and wondered "Well, what do we have here?" (Guilt)
Scene 3 began again with Petrov, running across a field, and we didn't know from what, but he was still covered in blood, terrified and carrying Jackson's. Wife's. Head. He reached the highway and thought he was safe, and tried to flag down the oncoming car.
Only problem being, the car was being driven by Jackson, roaring drunk after having missed his meeting with Tim. He crashed right into Petrov, knocking him onto the side of the road, and his wife's head bounced right off the windshield. He was too drunk to be sure what he saw, but he knew one thing: The last time he stopped in a situation like this, he very nearly got killed for it. So he kept on driving.
Scene 4 was Agent Carver walking up to Petrov, broken and bleeding but still alive. "Petrov, it just ain't your day." He took his pistol and shot Petrov in the head.
Scene 5 was a flashback to a few minutes earlier, as Agent Carver explained the deal to Tim and Petrov. He had a tap on Tim's phone and an eye on his van, and now he wanted the life insurance money. Only problem being, when there's a murder, there had to be a murderer. He pointed his gun at Petrov, saying sorry, as Petrov took off running.
Scene 6 found Jackson returning to his home to find it covered in blood. Tim and Agent Carver showed up to explain what had happened, and Jackson managed to stand up for himself and demand half of the insurance money, because without him, there was no deal. They got a blood sample from the copious amount available on the walls, floor and curtains and went about their grisly business.
Aftermath: At the end of the game, we rolled the dice we'd gotten in playing our scenes. Petrov, fittingly, wound up with a result that indicated he had probably died. Tim wound up in the same place he had been, which is to say he wound up moved into witness protection in a different town, still running small-time gambling. And Jackson? He made out the best. He got his half of the insurance money, Petrov's murder helped him win back a little public sympathy and it looked like he might pull his car dealership out of the tailspin. The only hitch was, though the life insurance had gone through, the hail insurance hadn't, and a huge hailstorm had wiped out most of his inventory, so most of his money was going to have to go to fixing up the cars he had.
Next up for us is trying out Lucky Strike, set in a World War II basecamp in France.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Blogroll Addition: Robot Viking
So I've added another new feed to the Blogroll: Robot Viking
Why? Well, it's from one of the contributors to io9, which is an awesome sci-fi (or science-fiction, if you're some kind of high-strung wanker who gets bent out of shape by the abbreviation sci-fi) website that not only features the latest home of Graeme McMillan (one of the best writers on the Internet) but some great commentary, snark, funny and quirky weird from a pretty solid staff. The gaming columns were always few and far between, but I always enjoyed them, and now Ed Grabianowski (yeah, I copied and pasted that last name) has set up his own blog devoted entirely to pen-and-paper role-playing, miniatures and other games. Which is not only half my business, it's also a good chunk of how I spend my hobby time.
Also, Robot Viking is an awesome name. Check it out!
Why? Well, it's from one of the contributors to io9, which is an awesome sci-fi (or science-fiction, if you're some kind of high-strung wanker who gets bent out of shape by the abbreviation sci-fi) website that not only features the latest home of Graeme McMillan (one of the best writers on the Internet) but some great commentary, snark, funny and quirky weird from a pretty solid staff. The gaming columns were always few and far between, but I always enjoyed them, and now Ed Grabianowski (yeah, I copied and pasted that last name) has set up his own blog devoted entirely to pen-and-paper role-playing, miniatures and other games. Which is not only half my business, it's also a good chunk of how I spend my hobby time.
Also, Robot Viking is an awesome name. Check it out!
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Don't Fuck With the Gamers
Michael Goldfarb, one of McCain's staffers/advisers/clueless idiots, made disparaging remarks comparing bloggers to "basement dwellers playing D&D." Now Wizards of the Coast, and more importantly, Hasbro, has responded by sending them a letter and posting about it on the Wizards site. And reminding them that the GIs that tend to vote Republican *also* play D&D.
Really, I'm more annoyed about any number of things McCain's collection of political hacks have said (like the "mental recession" of the "whiners" or the latest "how to fix healthcare, by not mentioning the un-insured" bullshit), but I am amused that these guys managed to tick off the VP of a major corporation for what amounts to no good reason.
Really, I'm more annoyed about any number of things McCain's collection of political hacks have said (like the "mental recession" of the "whiners" or the latest "how to fix healthcare, by not mentioning the un-insured" bullshit), but I am amused that these guys managed to tick off the VP of a major corporation for what amounts to no good reason.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
D&D 4th Edition: Early Thoughts
I know, it's almost a whole week since the game came out (and gave my store the best sales day of its existence, not to mention a hugely successful launch event) and I haven't talked about D&D 4th Edition yet.
Others have, though. Smith Michaels over at Blurred Productions is often sympatico with me on comics and politics, but our thought trains diverge a bit on D&D 4th Ed, which he seems a mite displeased with. You can read his thoughts on the Players Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide. I don't agree with everything, but I don't entirely disagree with his criticisms either. These are well-written think pieces on the game.
Wired has a fascinating article on D&D Insider, the not-yet-launched online component, and correctly nails Wizards on a too-high price tag, although they're softer on the criticism that I think is more important, namely that D&D Insider hasn't launched yet. They've also got a wildly positive review of the system.
I fall somewhere between Smith Michaels and Wired on this one. Overall, I'm very pleased with the new D&D books and system and very excited to start the new campaign on Friday. I love the look of the books, I love the new powers-based system, I love the streamlined feel of the rules, and I cannot stress enough how much I love the new Monster Manual. Easily the best monster book D&D has ever had.
However. Michaels is right that the focus has been put pretty squarely on the combat side of things. The skill system is streamlined, but the cost of that streamlining is to make it more simplistic. Same for spellcasting. Little things make me sad, like anybody can track now instead of just the rangers. Magic items have been depowered so much as to be almost impotent in some respects. No damage reduction means anybody can just hack off a vampire's head, which feels mythologically wrong. While the grab rules are greatly simplified, they also make any kind of wrestling or grabbing more or less pointless unless you've got some kind of specific follow-up power. The relatively small list of classes and powers to start with makes every early character look very similar.
However, those little things are all done for good reasons, namely taking out the frustrating elements of the game (50-50 miss chance, gone. Can't hurt the thing because we don't have magic weapons, gone. Four hours of figuring out the grapple rules, gone.) and reducing the amount of die-rolling to make the whole thing move quicker. As a system, this is a lot more elegant, and while it doesn't encourage role-play as much as a list of skills and a variance in skill levels, or any of the number of other smaller things we've lost, it opens the door for players and DMs who *want* to roleplay to focus on that instead of min/maxing the rules.
I'm quite sure we'll see more races, classes, spells and feats introduced quickly enough. Hell, Warforged have already shown up on the WOTC website, and I'm allowing my players to use them in the first campaign if they want.
Michaels is pretty much dead-on when he talks about the DMG. It's great if you've never run D&D before, it contains a lot of great theory about players, running a game, etc. This is a necessary book... for beginners. But it really should have been combined with an easier-to-read character generation chapter and released as a "Beginner's Guide" or something for $10. The DMG is mostly filler for the experienced DM, and notably thinner than the other books. Though I respect tradition, given how much tradition was thrown out the window in the name of logic and streamlining, it would have seemed better to produce a slightly bigger "Rules Guide" and "Monster Manual" rather than keep the DMG, which reads at this point like something of a vestigial organ. Especially at $34.95 for a much smaller page count than the exact same price for the larger Player's Handbook.
Overall, though, while I have my quibbles, I love the new system. I love that I could pick up on the changes easily, that they fixed any number of minor things (counterspells, identify, grappling, criticals, etc., etc.) and made it much easier and quicker to build a character, plan an adventure and (judging from my quick demos and from reading the books) play the game.
Others have, though. Smith Michaels over at Blurred Productions is often sympatico with me on comics and politics, but our thought trains diverge a bit on D&D 4th Ed, which he seems a mite displeased with. You can read his thoughts on the Players Handbook and Dungeon Masters Guide. I don't agree with everything, but I don't entirely disagree with his criticisms either. These are well-written think pieces on the game.
Wired has a fascinating article on D&D Insider, the not-yet-launched online component, and correctly nails Wizards on a too-high price tag, although they're softer on the criticism that I think is more important, namely that D&D Insider hasn't launched yet. They've also got a wildly positive review of the system.
I fall somewhere between Smith Michaels and Wired on this one. Overall, I'm very pleased with the new D&D books and system and very excited to start the new campaign on Friday. I love the look of the books, I love the new powers-based system, I love the streamlined feel of the rules, and I cannot stress enough how much I love the new Monster Manual. Easily the best monster book D&D has ever had.
However. Michaels is right that the focus has been put pretty squarely on the combat side of things. The skill system is streamlined, but the cost of that streamlining is to make it more simplistic. Same for spellcasting. Little things make me sad, like anybody can track now instead of just the rangers. Magic items have been depowered so much as to be almost impotent in some respects. No damage reduction means anybody can just hack off a vampire's head, which feels mythologically wrong. While the grab rules are greatly simplified, they also make any kind of wrestling or grabbing more or less pointless unless you've got some kind of specific follow-up power. The relatively small list of classes and powers to start with makes every early character look very similar.
However, those little things are all done for good reasons, namely taking out the frustrating elements of the game (50-50 miss chance, gone. Can't hurt the thing because we don't have magic weapons, gone. Four hours of figuring out the grapple rules, gone.) and reducing the amount of die-rolling to make the whole thing move quicker. As a system, this is a lot more elegant, and while it doesn't encourage role-play as much as a list of skills and a variance in skill levels, or any of the number of other smaller things we've lost, it opens the door for players and DMs who *want* to roleplay to focus on that instead of min/maxing the rules.
I'm quite sure we'll see more races, classes, spells and feats introduced quickly enough. Hell, Warforged have already shown up on the WOTC website, and I'm allowing my players to use them in the first campaign if they want.
Michaels is pretty much dead-on when he talks about the DMG. It's great if you've never run D&D before, it contains a lot of great theory about players, running a game, etc. This is a necessary book... for beginners. But it really should have been combined with an easier-to-read character generation chapter and released as a "Beginner's Guide" or something for $10. The DMG is mostly filler for the experienced DM, and notably thinner than the other books. Though I respect tradition, given how much tradition was thrown out the window in the name of logic and streamlining, it would have seemed better to produce a slightly bigger "Rules Guide" and "Monster Manual" rather than keep the DMG, which reads at this point like something of a vestigial organ. Especially at $34.95 for a much smaller page count than the exact same price for the larger Player's Handbook.
Overall, though, while I have my quibbles, I love the new system. I love that I could pick up on the changes easily, that they fixed any number of minor things (counterspells, identify, grappling, criticals, etc., etc.) and made it much easier and quicker to build a character, plan an adventure and (judging from my quick demos and from reading the books) play the game.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
A Mid-Level Adventure
If you're:
A) A Gamer
and
B) Have Ever Traveled By Plane
You will think this is awesome. If you're only one of the above, you'll probably still like it.
A) A Gamer
and
B) Have Ever Traveled By Plane
You will think this is awesome. If you're only one of the above, you'll probably still like it.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Not A *Great* Day
Looks like Hilary won Ohio, and won the primaries in Texas too. So once again, my freakin' vote counts for nothing. On the other hand, my vote in the caucus might, because Obama is ahead in the caucus counting, but with only 5% reporting, that could go either way.
Still, he's ahead in the delegate count, and barring a *huge* shift in momentum that allows Clinton to start blowing out the remaining races, mathematically Obama is still going to win the nomination. But my deeply-held hope that: A) Texas would actually go for the candidate I voted for, for once and B) More importantly, losses in Texas and Ohio would force Clinton to concede so the Democratic party could get on to the important task of running against the Republicans have not come to pass. This race is going to come right down to the wire. I still believe Obama will be the candidate, I still believe he'll beat McCain, but I'm honestly tired of the fight.
But for the Hilary supporters amongst my readers (Hello Manton and wartortle), this was a good day. Congratulations to your candidate. I'm still hoping I don't have to vote for her in November, but she had a good day today.
Of course, the other downer today is that Gary Gygax, father of D&D, died today. D&D has changed a lot since he helped create it, and my enjoyment of the game today owes as much to guys like Bill Slavicek, Mike Mearls, David Noonan, Robin Laws and others as it does to anything Gygax has written for years. But without Gygax, the whole role-playing game thing, which has been a huge part of my life since I was 12 years old, probably never would have happened.
There have been a ton of tributes today, and I can't top any of them. So instead I'll link to my favorites, from Alex Robinson, Penny Arcade and my friend in gaming Nate Southard.
Still, he's ahead in the delegate count, and barring a *huge* shift in momentum that allows Clinton to start blowing out the remaining races, mathematically Obama is still going to win the nomination. But my deeply-held hope that: A) Texas would actually go for the candidate I voted for, for once and B) More importantly, losses in Texas and Ohio would force Clinton to concede so the Democratic party could get on to the important task of running against the Republicans have not come to pass. This race is going to come right down to the wire. I still believe Obama will be the candidate, I still believe he'll beat McCain, but I'm honestly tired of the fight.
But for the Hilary supporters amongst my readers (Hello Manton and wartortle), this was a good day. Congratulations to your candidate. I'm still hoping I don't have to vote for her in November, but she had a good day today.
Of course, the other downer today is that Gary Gygax, father of D&D, died today. D&D has changed a lot since he helped create it, and my enjoyment of the game today owes as much to guys like Bill Slavicek, Mike Mearls, David Noonan, Robin Laws and others as it does to anything Gygax has written for years. But without Gygax, the whole role-playing game thing, which has been a huge part of my life since I was 12 years old, probably never would have happened.
There have been a ton of tributes today, and I can't top any of them. So instead I'll link to my favorites, from Alex Robinson, Penny Arcade and my friend in gaming Nate Southard.
Monday, January 28, 2008
An Open Letter to Games Workshop
'Ello There Gents,
I'd like to have a word with you, as a retailer who does fairly well with your miniatures games and very well with the role-playing games that Black Industries has produced for you. Specifically, Warhammer 40K Dark Heresy, which was selling so well on its opening weekend that I ordered about three times more than I initially thought I'd sell over the product's lifetime because the momentum seemed so impressive. Given how well Warhammer Fantasy was supported, how beautiful the production values were on Dark Heresy, I thought it worth taking a several hundred dollar risk on your product.
So I'd like to know why you decided to cut me off at the fucking knees by announcing that you're ending the line come September. I mean, as someone who bought the game for himself and hopes to run it at some point, I'm mildly annoyed from a personal standpoint. But don't get me wrong, you've got plenty of fan ire right now... let's change lanes a bit.
Because as a retailer, a *partner* in selling your games, I'm pretty fucking livid. You had to announce this the very day that I purchased hundreds of dollars in stock from you? You think maybe this might come back to affect my bottom line on your products, and then as a result your bottom line? It's certainly affected the amount of trust I'm willing to extend to you in preorders, which will begin affecting you pretty much immediately.
So thank you for the thoroughly puzzling decision to cancel a game so anticipated and so popular that it sold out at manufacturer *and* distributor level within days of release. And while we're at it, thanks for deciding to cancel Talisman, one of the best-selling fantasy board games of all time, after finally bringing it back.
I honestly have no idea what the fuck kind of business plan you have at Games Workshop, but I can only assume someone there has an almost paranoid fear of stacks of easy money. I guess selling out of a product in six minutes is somehow not an indicator of success in the world of Games Workshop, but a deadweight line of miniatures based on an expensive license (Lord of the Rings) is something to be carried for years, and foisted as an unnecessary expense on your partner stores in order that they might be able to carry your actual products that sell.
P.S. To anyone confused by this post who wants to know what I'm talking about, you'll find the whole thing detailed at the Black Industries site.
I'd like to have a word with you, as a retailer who does fairly well with your miniatures games and very well with the role-playing games that Black Industries has produced for you. Specifically, Warhammer 40K Dark Heresy, which was selling so well on its opening weekend that I ordered about three times more than I initially thought I'd sell over the product's lifetime because the momentum seemed so impressive. Given how well Warhammer Fantasy was supported, how beautiful the production values were on Dark Heresy, I thought it worth taking a several hundred dollar risk on your product.
So I'd like to know why you decided to cut me off at the fucking knees by announcing that you're ending the line come September. I mean, as someone who bought the game for himself and hopes to run it at some point, I'm mildly annoyed from a personal standpoint. But don't get me wrong, you've got plenty of fan ire right now... let's change lanes a bit.
Because as a retailer, a *partner* in selling your games, I'm pretty fucking livid. You had to announce this the very day that I purchased hundreds of dollars in stock from you? You think maybe this might come back to affect my bottom line on your products, and then as a result your bottom line? It's certainly affected the amount of trust I'm willing to extend to you in preorders, which will begin affecting you pretty much immediately.
So thank you for the thoroughly puzzling decision to cancel a game so anticipated and so popular that it sold out at manufacturer *and* distributor level within days of release. And while we're at it, thanks for deciding to cancel Talisman, one of the best-selling fantasy board games of all time, after finally bringing it back.
I honestly have no idea what the fuck kind of business plan you have at Games Workshop, but I can only assume someone there has an almost paranoid fear of stacks of easy money. I guess selling out of a product in six minutes is somehow not an indicator of success in the world of Games Workshop, but a deadweight line of miniatures based on an expensive license (Lord of the Rings) is something to be carried for years, and foisted as an unnecessary expense on your partner stores in order that they might be able to carry your actual products that sell.
P.S. To anyone confused by this post who wants to know what I'm talking about, you'll find the whole thing detailed at the Black Industries site.
Friday, December 28, 2007
Xbox 360
So I got what I really wanted for Christmas. My parents-in-law got me an XBox 360, and my parents got me Rock Band.
Yes, I do have the best parents and in-laws in the world.
So I finally plugged in Rock Band tonight, just to try out the solo guitar action and...
Oh.
My.
God.
This game is so good, I may never play Guitar Hero again. Downloadable songs, the ability to switch and play bass, drums or sing, plus multiplayer and online multiplayer with all of that? Not to mention I love the little tweaks to the Rock Band guitar, like the multi-mode whammy bar and the inset fret buttons, and the super-customizable avatars are awesome as well.
If anybody out there is on XBox Live, please friend me... I've put my gamertag up. I'm a pretty casual gamer, and I can't play first-person, or even a lot of third-person, shooters without getting ill, so I won't do the huge multiplayer HALO or Bioshock or Call of Duty... but I could definitely use some folks to play Rock Band online with, or people who will play with a total novice at Madden '08. I also swung by Gamestop and picked up their "Buy 2, get 1 free" used games to get Tomb Raider Legend, Marvel Ultimate Alliance (I already have it on the PS/2, but this one has Hawkeye and Moon Knight, two of my favorites) and Crackdown.
I can't wait for Burnout Paradise City. I've been digging the demo. And I'm going to buy the full versions of Catan and Carcassone at some point too.
Yes, I do have the best parents and in-laws in the world.
So I finally plugged in Rock Band tonight, just to try out the solo guitar action and...
Oh.
My.
God.
This game is so good, I may never play Guitar Hero again. Downloadable songs, the ability to switch and play bass, drums or sing, plus multiplayer and online multiplayer with all of that? Not to mention I love the little tweaks to the Rock Band guitar, like the multi-mode whammy bar and the inset fret buttons, and the super-customizable avatars are awesome as well.
If anybody out there is on XBox Live, please friend me... I've put my gamertag up. I'm a pretty casual gamer, and I can't play first-person, or even a lot of third-person, shooters without getting ill, so I won't do the huge multiplayer HALO or Bioshock or Call of Duty... but I could definitely use some folks to play Rock Band online with, or people who will play with a total novice at Madden '08. I also swung by Gamestop and picked up their "Buy 2, get 1 free" used games to get Tomb Raider Legend, Marvel Ultimate Alliance (I already have it on the PS/2, but this one has Hawkeye and Moon Knight, two of my favorites) and Crackdown.
I can't wait for Burnout Paradise City. I've been digging the demo. And I'm going to buy the full versions of Catan and Carcassone at some point too.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Cool Gaming Stuff in April
It occurred to me that, though I run a comics and game shop, I really only talk about comics for the most part here. Which might give the impression to the casual onlooker that I don't have much interest in games.
In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. I've been a gamer as long as I've been a comics fan, and while my game collection isn't as extensive as my graphic novel collection, that mostly owes to having gotten rid of large chunks of it every time I've moved. I still have a few gems in my collection, from the beautifully designed Metabarons RPG to the White Wolf Adventure! book (with original fiction from Warren Ellis), and I've got a pretty healthy stock of stuff I still use, like D&D 3.5 and Eberron, HERO System 5th Edition material and a smattering of Feng Shui, Spycraft and Mutants & Masterminds. My board and card game collection is even smaller, but I do have Iron Dragon (a fun fantasy rail game), Lunch Money and way too many D&D Miniatures.
I play in two regular game groups (each one meeting somewhere between every week and every month, closer to the latter of late) and am currently running (with time off between sessions for other campaigns) two campaigns, a Champions game set in Austin and a D&D campaign set in Eberron.
So I thought, why not try a monthly write-up on the cool gaming stuff I saw this month and either purchased for myself or featured at the shop? Thus, this write-up.
For my part, I was prepping for my next D&D adventure in Eberron, so I bought a few more things this month than usual. I finally picked up the Monster Manual II and Monster Manual III to throw some variety at my players, and picked up a decent chunk of the new D&D minis set, Unhallowed, along with buying a few individual key minis off Ebay from various sets in preparation for the next adventure. I picked up two of the Gamemastery Map Tiles sets from Paizo (Dungeon and Haunted Mansion) and the other new Paizo release, the Critical Hit deck. Paizo makes a ton of cool game-related stuff, like their magnetic Combat Pad for keeping track of initiative, and the Crit deck is another new, cool thing. Basically, it's a 52 card deck, and when you confirm a critical hit, you pull a card from the deck. Each card has a listing of critical damage, with four different types (piercing, bludgeoning, slashing and magic). It's a fun little bit of spice for those bored with the "double damage" crits, and gives a bit of flavor to show just what you did that was such critical damage.
As for stuff that came out but I didn't pick up personally: Scion is a new self-contained (three books and out) RPG from White Wolf about the sons and daughters of Gods fighting the Titans and their spawn in modern-day, based on the Exalted rule mechanics. I've always found the World of Darkness a bit goth for my tastes, and Scion and Exalted are closer to my type of gaming. Wizards of the Coast released another map pack, City of Peril (I love that D&D minis has increased the number of full-color maps available for GMs), as well as a new Eberron super-adventure. It's below my current players' level, but I may pick it up at some point to run as a standalone. There was also Munchkin Cthulhu (the latest iteration of Steve Jackson's goofy but addictive spoof card game), new releases for the pre-painted sci-fi AT-43 game and a lot of other stuff. With unlimited time and money, I'm sure I would happily play all of these and more.
In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. I've been a gamer as long as I've been a comics fan, and while my game collection isn't as extensive as my graphic novel collection, that mostly owes to having gotten rid of large chunks of it every time I've moved. I still have a few gems in my collection, from the beautifully designed Metabarons RPG to the White Wolf Adventure! book (with original fiction from Warren Ellis), and I've got a pretty healthy stock of stuff I still use, like D&D 3.5 and Eberron, HERO System 5th Edition material and a smattering of Feng Shui, Spycraft and Mutants & Masterminds. My board and card game collection is even smaller, but I do have Iron Dragon (a fun fantasy rail game), Lunch Money and way too many D&D Miniatures.
I play in two regular game groups (each one meeting somewhere between every week and every month, closer to the latter of late) and am currently running (with time off between sessions for other campaigns) two campaigns, a Champions game set in Austin and a D&D campaign set in Eberron.
So I thought, why not try a monthly write-up on the cool gaming stuff I saw this month and either purchased for myself or featured at the shop? Thus, this write-up.
For my part, I was prepping for my next D&D adventure in Eberron, so I bought a few more things this month than usual. I finally picked up the Monster Manual II and Monster Manual III to throw some variety at my players, and picked up a decent chunk of the new D&D minis set, Unhallowed, along with buying a few individual key minis off Ebay from various sets in preparation for the next adventure. I picked up two of the Gamemastery Map Tiles sets from Paizo (Dungeon and Haunted Mansion) and the other new Paizo release, the Critical Hit deck. Paizo makes a ton of cool game-related stuff, like their magnetic Combat Pad for keeping track of initiative, and the Crit deck is another new, cool thing. Basically, it's a 52 card deck, and when you confirm a critical hit, you pull a card from the deck. Each card has a listing of critical damage, with four different types (piercing, bludgeoning, slashing and magic). It's a fun little bit of spice for those bored with the "double damage" crits, and gives a bit of flavor to show just what you did that was such critical damage.
As for stuff that came out but I didn't pick up personally: Scion is a new self-contained (three books and out) RPG from White Wolf about the sons and daughters of Gods fighting the Titans and their spawn in modern-day, based on the Exalted rule mechanics. I've always found the World of Darkness a bit goth for my tastes, and Scion and Exalted are closer to my type of gaming. Wizards of the Coast released another map pack, City of Peril (I love that D&D minis has increased the number of full-color maps available for GMs), as well as a new Eberron super-adventure. It's below my current players' level, but I may pick it up at some point to run as a standalone. There was also Munchkin Cthulhu (the latest iteration of Steve Jackson's goofy but addictive spoof card game), new releases for the pre-painted sci-fi AT-43 game and a lot of other stuff. With unlimited time and money, I'm sure I would happily play all of these and more.
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