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Hi, everyone! It’s time for your nearly-weekend staple, the Friday Link Day!
Every so often, you end up meeting up with your group, only to have a couple of people unable to show up. What do you do? Easy! You pull out an RPG-related board game or card game, so you can still get your gaming fix, but without playing without your buddies.
Here’s just a few:
Munchkin. This one is a no brainer. Almost any role-player out there has either played, or at least heard of Munchkin. In this card game, you wander around a dungeon, fighting such creatures as the Tequila Mockingbird, and the Wannabe Vampire. Your job is to take the monsters’ treasures, backstab your friends, and steal all their stuff. Pretty self-explanatory, I think.
Just a couple of nights ago, I got the group together for some mid-week gaming, and we pulled this beauty out. I think one of the best combos was the “Enraged Gelatinous Hexahedron from Hell!”
The game nearly ended a good half-dozen times before someone pulled out a card which screwed over the near-winner. In the end, Bryan won through some subtle trickery and guile…
This is the game that just keeps on giving.
The Order of the Stick Adventure Game: The Dungeon of Dorukan. This game looks fantastic and spiffy. I own it. I’ve read the rules. I’ve looked through the cards. I’ve pulled all the pieces out…
And I’ve never played it.
The minimum time required to play is about 3 hours. At the time, I was just looking for a good 1 hour game… This game is definitely one you pull out to replace an entire gaming session for the evening.
If you like Order of the Stick, I think you’ll definitely love this.
Pick it up today!
Berserker Halflings from the Dungeon of Dragons. This is a fun little game. I’ve owned most of the previous iterations of this series by Z-Man Games: Grave Robbers from Outer Space, Kung-Fu Ninjas on Giant Robot Island, Cannibal Pygmies in the Jungles of Doom, Bellbottomed Badasses in the Mean Streets of Funk…
Basically, you’re creating a film; in this case, a fantasy film. You add characters to your film such as “The Guy Who Dies To Remind Everybody That This Isn’t A Picnic”, various sets, props, etc. You send monsters into the other person’s movie to kill off their characters. Monsters such as “The Big Monster Who Just Turns Out To Be Misunderstood”. There’s even funny quotes to go along with it. This, and all the other B-Movie Card Games are a must.
That’s about all for this week. I know there are plenty more RPG-like board and card games out there. Drop a comment, letting me and everyone else know what your favorite is!
Here are a few fun inspirations for Halloween!
Gelatinous Cubes
Directions:
Make the Jell-O according to the package directions reducing the water by 1/2 c. Pour into ice cube trays. Wait 1 1/2 to 2 hours and remove from refrigerator. Add gummy candies by gently pressing them into the cubes. Refrigerate for at least another 2 hours. When you are about to remove them from the mold place the tray VERY BRIEFLY in warm water. Display on a cold tray. Do not leave out until ready to serve.
Terrifying Tiefling Tortilla Chips
Directions:
Cut out shapes from tortillas. Place on a baking sheet and lightly spray with cooking spray. Bake on 350 degrees for approximately 5 minutes. Just until the edges are golden brown and the chips are slightly crispy. For a little extra flavor you can sprinkle them with a little seasoning salt, regular salt, garlic salt or onion salt prior to baking. Enjoy with your favorite dip!
Drizzt’s Delectable Guacamole Dip
Directions:
Slice Avocados around mid-line and pit. Using a spoon scoop out the pulp from the inside and place in a bowl. Mash with a fork making sure to leave small bits of chunk. It is not supposed to be completely smooth. Add the salt, pepper and garlic powder until it tastes right for you. *Note* Once the dip is chilled the salt flavor will become much stronger.
On a lazy lazy lazy Sunday afternoon my husband and I were rolling up a new Star Wars character. Because it was a lazy day we were doing this from our bed. After some terrible rolling on the comforter I decided that the prudent course would be to do it again and this time on a hard surface. The results in that moment were quite astounding. There really was a difference in the overall scores not to mention that I wasn’t dealing with cocked dice.
Here are the different numbers I rolled up:
Comforter ~ 8, 15, 12, 14, 9, 9 and 10
Book ~ 14, 16, 14, 14, 9, 6 and 15
Overall it was much better. This got me wondering… Do surfaces really “control” the outcome of dice rolling or is it really just strictly statistical? Once again I mention how boring and lazy a day it was…
I grabbed a random blue d6 and went crazy. I picked surfaces all over the house, rolled each die 30 times and then did all kinds of math/charts! Woo. Below I will give descriptions and the charts that correspond. Have fun and enjoy!
This first chart lists the different surfaces that I used:
Hard Surface Book: Book of Exalted Deeds, Soft Cover Book: Hackmaster Gamemaster’s Guide, a glass table top, a wood table top, carpet, standard battle mat and a gingerbread man cookie plate. If there is a small ‘c’ next to the number it means that the die was cocked.
These next two little charts show how many times each number was rolled on each of the surfaces.
Then the final one is the big one. It breaks down “number rolled” over the number of times rolled and then gives a percentage of the time a number came up on that particular surface. The graph compares all the surfaces at the same time.
What does all this mean? Well here it is:
1’s were rolled 36/210 times on multiple surfaces equalling 17.5%
2’s were rolled 41/210 times on multiple surfaces equalling 19.5%
3’s were rolled 35/210 times on multiple surfaces equalling 16.6%
4’s were rolled 42/210 times on multiple surfaces equalling 20%
5’s were rolled 36/210 times on multiple surfaces equalling 17%
6’s were rolled 20/210 times on multiple surfaces equalling 9.4%
If all numbers were rolled equally, it should have been 16.6% for each number. As you can clearly see, it was not. Does this just mean I don’t have good experimental controls? Does it mean that it was just a flawed die? Or does it mean that surfaces really do matter? To be honest to figure out the answers to those questions would require a lot more time, energy and math than I feel like doing. But it was an interesting study and I think for fun I’ll roll on the Gingerbread Man Cookie Plate and let people look at me like I’m crazy.
What’s the biggest lesson I learned?
Easy……. I’ve got way too much time on my hands!
Does changing the surface you roll on really “control” the outcomes?
( surveys)
Okay lads and lasses. They call me Patrick, and I have a certain thing that’s been annoying the piss out of me since the first time I rolled up a character in ’98. NO, YOU CAN’T BE DRIZZT. Hopefully, I have your attention now. Almost everyone wants to be the ‘super’ character, unkillable, capable of doing EVERYTHING. Ya know the type, stronger than a bugbear, wiser than a dragon, more magic than any deity, and oh, by the way, most of them want to kill some kind of deity in their story. Listen up;
1.) It’s the number one way of showing everyone around you, you’re the most inexperienced, single-minded gamer. You’re at the top of a very narrow list of people with narrow-minded expectations of a game.
2.) There is no depth to a character that can do everything. Limitless powers, and the ability to suddenly pull things out of your ass in tight situations (and I do mean literally. I mean c’mon, who creates a character and then suddenly forgets the portable battering ram he ‘bought’ or the skill / ability / feat until it becomes an issue). That’s called cheating, my friend.
3.) It’s supposed to be hard; that’s what makes it fun. If you’re a combat nut like I am, the challenge makes the struggle worth the victory.
Now having said that: every now and again, it’s fun to be able to kill everything that comes at you. Make it short, and vicious, thus the challenge is still there.
Alrighty, I’ve slightly calmed down. I am notorious for picking martial characters and creatures. My favorite is the half-orc barbarian. In an attempt to make up for this, I give my character flaws. Sometimes for the better or worse, but always to make the story fun.
The biggest advice I can give to gamers is that they should attempt to break from this vicious cycle or the game itself will grow very stale. Attempt to move out of your archetype. If your character is usually a “tank”, play a mage; you’ll be surprised what you can do with eight hit points instead of thirty six.
I like making campaign settings, but always have trouble actually making the crunch around it. A little while back, I came up with an idea for a sci-fi based game, which was a little bit Jennifer Government, a little bit Star Wars, and a large dose of Iron Man. This was the result:
It is 2308. Mankind has claimed the Helios System for itself. With established colonies on Selene, Ares, Anadyomene and the satellites of Zeus, mankind stretches further. Terraforming once inhospitable worlds, humanity formed the League of Worlds (LoW), a governing body designed to maintain order throughout Helios. They steadily placed more and more pressure on corporations and consortiums until one day, the corporations fought back.
In one rapid strike, the Astral Mining Corp, Hades Manufacturing and the Triad Conglomerate unleashed destruction upon every LoW building in the system. Within days, the Speaker of the League of Worlds was on his knees, begging for mercy.
The League of Worlds was dissolved, and Helios was divided between the three companies. The Triad claimed Anadyomene, Posideon and Cronus, AMC claimed Hermes, Ares, the Hephaestus Band and Zeus, and HM claimed Hades, Eris and Morpheus.
That was 40 years ago. Now, the three corporations are at war. Armed with the latest technology, each corporation employs a team of Technonauts who wear powerful suits of armor and are able to travel in them through the vast reaches of space.
The Technonauts are basically iron man suits worn by the best of the best champions. They’re capable of space travel and travel at thousands of miles per hour.
What do you think? Anyone interested in helping out?
In every group, there tends to be certain roles handed out: Map keeper, note-taker, etc. How do you choose who takes what role, and how?
In every group I’ve been in, I’ve almost always been the GM. As such, the players tend to turn to me to decide when and where we’re playing. I coordinate everyone’s schedules so we can play each week.
There’s almost always the leader of the group; the player who stands out the most and usually leads the party in decisions. They often choose roles inside the game that facilitate leadership. In my first RPG, Star Wars, there was one player who was the smart tank, a soldier. He rallied the people, and handled the party’s inventory.
I like to assign the role of map-maker in some games. They take any map I draw up on the battlemat, and translate it to grid paper for the heroes to look over later.
My wife is currently the funny note-taker. She writes down any witty dialogue said during the game.
We have the XP Calculator. I spout off how much experience each monster they fought gave and then he divides up the XP for everyone. He often also keeps track of the group’s inventory.
What roles do you have in your group?
On behalf of Sunday I decided to post a nice family dinner from the Forgotten Realms 
Minotaur BBQ Brisket
- 4 lb unseasoned beef brisket
- 1 bottle kraft zesty italian dressing
- 1 bottle kraft original BBQ sauce
- 1/2 c brown sugar
Directions:
place the brisket fat side up in an oven roasting bag. Pour in italian dressing, bbq sauce and sprinkle on the brown sugar. Tie the bag shut and make four slits for venting. Bake on 325 degrees for 4 to 5 hours. Let rest on the counter for 10 minutes before serving. Cut on the bias and drizzle with sauce before serving.
Cook’s Notes:
”Best served with Elminster’s Cheesy Potatoes”
”Best served with Elminster’s Cheesy Potatoes”
Elminster’s Cheesy Potatoes
- 1 large bag of frozen cubed potatoes
- 16 oz. grated cheddar cheese
- 8 oz. sour cream
- 16 oz. cream of chicken soup
- 1 T. Parsley
- Salt & Pepper to Taste
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Fold out evenly onto a baking sheet with sides that has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray (such as Pam). Bake at 325 degrees for 2 hours and until browned.
I have recently decided that a new section would benefit this blog. To be honest I was inspired by Shelly Mezzanoble. In her book, Confessions of a Part Time Sorceress, she introduces the idea of having some recipes to serve at games, that incorporate a name based on D&D; such as, Magic Missle Meatballs. Well, now it’s my turn. Each Sunday I am going to post up one of my own recipes but with a new D&D name. Then we will be adding a new page to the site where all of the recipes can be seen!
Here is the first one. Hope you enjoy!
Honey Mustard Thunderfury Boar-Chops
4-6 thin sliced boar-chops (can substitute pork-chops)
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 regular sized bottle of honey mustard dressing
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in one stove top pan. Cook on medium high heat until meat is cooked through and dressing has reduced to create a heavy glaze. Serve with preferred sides.
They are manly too.
So, we all had a fantastic evening of game play. We had people rejoin our group who are able to make the time commitment now and the evening sure had a lot of interesting spots. We thought that a nice Saturday post would be to share with all of you some of the best quotes that came from the evening.
Enjoy!
“That is God’s way of telling me I suck.”
“You can’t be awesome all the time. Sometimes there are fire bats.”
“Straws are manly too.”
“Suck it Trebek.”
“He is spewing sparks…. if you know what I mean.”
“She is breeding.”
“Once you go minotaur you go cripple.”
“Gay…”
“I don’t know what this drawing is, but it reminds me of the Death Star.”
“That’s great! I just beat up a defenseless door.”
“Gosh, I wish I brought my portable battering ram.”
“18 vs. ‘Refrex’ (No, that’s not a typo)”
“This is DEFINITELY not where I parked my car.”
There you have it. Hope it was as good for you as it was for us
The heroes face off against a band of hobgoblins in the Temple of Torog.
Spoilers!
We had another great game. I discovered that the random encounters in the Labyrinth take too long, and are kind of pointless. I only like encounters that truly advance the story.
They ended up meeting up with a Minotaur (a PC who had been out of the game since the first session). He promised to lead the heroes through the labyrinth to the Chamber of Eyes.
After a battle with five Fire Bats (random encounter), they ended up at the entrance to the Chamber of eyes. They quickly dispatched the goblins guarding the entry, before heading into the Temple of Torog. There, they encountered a direwolf and a few hobgoblins. Note, in the picture above, the black 2×2 square is representing the direwolf, and the orange die is representing the Eladrin Wizard’s Flaming Sphere.
The table at night's end.
At the end of the night, the table looked was trashed, but it was a successful night, full of vodka and inside jokes. I’m sure Bridget will post up all the random comments tomorrow.
Night!
