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Atlantis Games in Va. Beach, Va.
A few days ago, I decided enough was enough: I’ve got a ton of old RPG books I’m never using, a few multiple copies from my days of working at a game store and forgetting that I already owned a copy of one game when I bought the duplicate, and a few graphic novels I’ll never pick up again (Ann Rice’s Vampire Lestat the comic? No thanks).
I took them down to Atlantis Games and Comics, where they accept used books for in-store credit. They’ve already got a pretty large used section (including the core 2e books, which I’m tempted to buy) and I think I may have doubled it.
I would estimate the books to come out to nearly a thousand dollars, since they gave me roughly 10-25% of each book’s worth. I walked away with around $160 bucks in in-store credit. Not too bad, for some books I’ll never use ever again.
In the end, with said credit, I picked up Monster Manual 2, the Eberron Player’s Guide, Eberron Campaign Guide, and I ordered Divine Power and A Song of Ice and Fire RPG (neither of which they had in stock).
So, though I got nowhere near the amount I paid for them (and how could you expect to), I think I made out pretty well with my purchases. I’ll let you all know how SoIaF is once I get it.
Kobold Quarterly has been around for a while now, having just reached the double digits (congrats, guys!) and their magazine keeps getting better.
They’ve recently expanded the length of the magazine to account for more 4e material, which, as a 4e player, I really appreciate. They make it obvious that they won’t be reducing their 3e material, but expanding on their 4e (and most likely more Pathfinder as well).
Now, just because I’m a 4e player doesn’t mean I don’t care about things like Pathfinder, so I was pleased to see them put a preview of the new game right near the front of the magazine. In the sneak preview, they talk about what’s changed from 3.5 to 3.75, and more importantly, what’s stayed the same. Also, there is a new Prestige Class, the Shadowdancer, a group who strikes from the darkness.
There’s a fantastic article by Michael Brewer, Quinn Murphy and Jonathan Jacobs about Skill Challenges called “Swords Against Darkness”, which includes a few very cool skill challenges that can be dropped into any campaign. What I like about skill challenges is just that: they are small scenes that can be thrown into the middle of any game.
Their interview for this issue is with Jeff Grubb, a pioneer in D&D, who has helped develop Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, and, the greatest campaign setting of all, Spelljammer (you should probably read that last part as sarcasm). In the interview he talks about life at TSR, world building, and mentioned that he’s even playing 4e. I like seeing the old guard picking up the game, when so many aren’t, so that’s cool. The interview is quite extensive, and you should probably check it out.
Another good article is that of “Whispering Enigmas: A Warlock Field Guide”. Though it’s not specifically 4e, the fact that it’s about warlocks and features their various pacts makes it quite obvious. The article has various one-liners that a warlock may say as they cast their spells or use words of power. It’s a great thing for a warlock player to have on hand to aid in their roleplaying. In addition, it talks about warlocks “patrons”, or those who have given the warlocks their powers, and how to develop that.
A new race is presented in the Haffuns, for both 3e and 4e. They’re similar to Halflings, but they have the ability to grant boons to their enemies.
In their book review section, they cover Open Game Table, the anthology of game blogs which consists mainly of blogs from the RPG Bloggers Network. It’s a nice review, and though I still haven’t gotten a chance to pick it up, I intend to as soon as I’m able. I’m even hoping to end up with an article in the next OGT (if there is one).
Of course, those are only the 4e focused articles I’ve referenced. There’s plenty more articles I don’t have time to mention here, but if you go pick up a copy, you will definitely find more.
I give this 5 of 5 Kobolds.
You can go check it out here. And as always, let us know what you think!
It’s been a while since my last “RPITUO” article (catchy, huh?) As such, I’ve decided to make this one a bit more involved.
Bridget, Gabe and I went to see the new Harry Potter film yesterday. One thing I’m glad of: I hadn’t read the book since it came out a few years ago, so I wasn’t disappointed when they left stuff out, or added stuff in, because I couldn’t remember what was put in or taken out. It was a great film, highly entertaining. I would definitely recommend it to absolutely anyone.
So, how would you go about roleplaying in the universe of Harry Potter? Randal at Retro Roleplaying was asking the question a few days back, and got some good response.
You have quite a few options, which is surprising considering that there is no official HP RPG books out there (and don’t go looking for one any time soon. Apparently, J.K. Rowling has no desire to have her books converted into an RPG).
- First up, I’m going to plug the RPG Blogger’s Network here, and in particular, The Nameless Kingdom, a great blog that has recently been putting out, piece by piece, the rules to a Harry Potter RPG. They’ve been pretty good so far, from what I’ve seen. You should definitely check those out.
- Another good option is “Broomstix“, an RPG by Jared A. Sorensen, a very rules-lite HP RPG that has some great rules for backgrounds and even some basic Quidditch rules.
- Witch Girls Adventures is a very good possibility. I downloaded it from RPGNow, and have been steadily going through it. There’s even a section at the beginning saying, “we would prefer if you were to play in the universe of Witch Girls, but if you want to play a game in the universe of that wizard boy, here are some options instead.” It then goes on to list the different Houses at Hogwarts (without saying their names) and tells what rules not to use from the book to make it all fit together. And you don’t have to be a girl to play it, BTW.
- And finally, a plug for my own: A few years back, I began working on my own HP RPG while I was on deployment to the Persian Gulf. In my off time, I typed up and put together my own RPG, originally loosely based on Broomstix, but steadily drifting further away. It’s been sitting on my computer, all alone and forgotten until now. If anyone’s interested, I can email it to them, just let me know in the comments. It’s still missing a few small elements, but if I get any interest, I’ll probably get it finished up and put out there.
And that’s about it! Feel free to leave any comments you have about any of the games, or any that I missed.
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the new campaign (that will feature my Shadar-Kai Avenger) and I’ve decided we’re going to sit down and do some planning as a group.
It all goes back to the “group template”, as discussed in almost every episode of Fear the Boot. One of their Group Template Questionnaires can be found here, and an actual template can be found here. The group template, for those who don’t know, is a simple concept, but one often overlooked by many groups (including my own). It works like this: Before character creation goes down, you all figure out how it is your group knows each other. This eliminates the “you all meet each other in a tavern” scenario that is such a cliche in most RPGs.
Let’s face facts: Almost every game you or I have ever played in began the campaign in a tavern. It’s true. The first Star Wars game I ever ran began in a Cantina. The first D&D game I ever played in began in a tavern. The first Serenity game I played in began in a bar. Even mixing up the cliche by having the game begin “in media res” in a barfight is only slightly bending the cliche. It’s overdone.
Also, how often has a group of PCs fallen apart, due to infighting, arguments between characters, and a general lack of the character’s gelling together?
So the group template is a method to fix that. I’ll show you how it works:
In a Star Wars game I ran a few years back, the players all expressed interest in playing a new game. I suggested a smuggler type game, and told them to come up with members of a crew. Each one found something he liked, and we ran with that. One was a hacker/droid mechanic, another was the guns of the operation, another the captain, and another the pilot. Now, they began planning their relationships. The “Big Guns” owed a life debt to the captain, not unlike Chewbacca, the pilot was the former owner of the ship, before hard times forced him to sell it to the current captain, who hired the former owner on as pilot, and the hacker was a former crewmate of the pilot’s. All of this was planned out in about an hour before character creation began.
And it’s that simple.
For our upcoming game, most players expressed interest in playing Arcane power source classes. So I came up with the idea of an Arcane School they all attend in a town on the outskirts of civilization. Dangers begin threatening the town, forcing the characters to take action. If the players know they’re supposed to be attending this school, they can plan their backgrounds accordingly, including how they know one another.
How about you all? Have any of you ever used a group template? How did it work for you?
This is a single blog about two subjects, so bear with me. I really wanted to talk about both, and I haven’t written in a few days, so I figured I’d get them all out on the table at once.
Descent: Journeys in the Dark
A game of Descent in progress.
A couple of nights ago, Bridget and I sat down to try out Descent. For those of you who don’t know, Descent is an adventure board game, that frankly is just an RPG in board game packaging. It’s made by Fantasy Flight Games, so its quality is very high.
I’ve had the game for more than 3 years now (probably more like 4) and have never actually played it. I would occasionally open it up, look at the pieces, sort some of the tokens, but never did anything with it. There was so much to take in, I just sort of froze up.
So a couple of nights ago, we decided to sit down and figure it out. After Bridget drew two random heroes (Silhouette, a female assassin and Twohorns, the Minotaur fighter) and I set up all the things I needed according to the rules. We began working our way through the game, only to discover…
it’s actually really easy! All our concerns over complexity were alleviated as we realized that all the rules are pretty straightforward.
Additionally, like everyone said when we begged the question: “What do you do when your players don’t show up?” we could definitely see playing this on days when everyone’s not there. Also, with Fantasy Flight’s rules for making your own hero, everyone could design their heroes from D&D in Descent, and play them in that game as well!
In the end, we only made it through the first room of the first scenario before deciding that we should pack it up for the night. Now that we know how it’s played, it should move much faster.
I would definitely go and pick this thing up if you can.
Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance
A screenshot from Dark Alliance
I had picked this game up a little while ago, used, for my PS2. I thought it might be a good game for me and Bridget to play some evenings, working together through the game.
So we sat down and played it last night. I began playing as a Human Archer before switching over to Dwarf Fighter once I realized I was using my Archer to charge head-first into battle. Bridget played the Elven Sorceress. It was a blast!
We used the tactic of standing outside the door, opening it and both of us running in, where I would start hacking things to bits while she mowed them down with burning hands. I think it worked out pretty well. We took down a ton of giant rats, some Kobolds, some goblins, and the biggest of baddies so far: A couple of Bugbears (not bad for two 2nd level heroes).
Bridget and I both like that fairly well invokes some d20 elements in there, making it accessible and understandable (when I couldn’t figure out why she was getting charged less by the merchant for equipment, she suggested it was because she had higher Charisma. Sure enough, it was true!).
If you’re looking at picking up a good hack-and-slash game that is easily recognizable and familiar, Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance is the way to go.
A Shadar-Kai Warrior
The question arose over the last few days: What should I play? The options were: A Half-Elf Warlord, an Eladrin Swordmage, or a Shadar-Kai Avenger. After much debate, I have decided to go with the Shadar-Kai.
Now, I own the figure I’m planning on using. All I have to do now is replace the hammer with a piece of chain and paint the figure.
For those of you who don’t know what a Shadar-Kai is (I know there’s a lot of people out there who aren’t 4e fluent), I’ll explain.
The Shadar-Kai are humans who inhabit the Shadowfell, servants of the Raven Queen, the goddess of death. Their skin is grey, their eyes large black orbs. The shadows around them deepen as they move. They have the ability, once per encounter, to teleport 3 squares, then remain insubstantial until the start of their next turn.
I’ve selected an Avenger, because I like the idea of a holy warrior who is full of the vengance of his god. This Shadar-Kai would have no mercy on those who have angered the goddess, especially the undead and those who give them sanctuary. The Shadar-Kai are very alien in nature, being from a different plane of existence, while still maintaining the feeling of something recognizable.
This is his story:
Shadow always knew he had a higher calling. Not content to become just another grey face amongst his Shadar-Kai brethren under the pale, grey sky of the Shadowfell, he brought himself up in the ranks of Shadar-Kai warriors, training in the use of the spiked chain, learning the ways of the Raven Queen.
He adored the Raven Queen. It was her who brought souls to their destination, the gloomy world of darkness, shadow and nothingness: The Shadowfell.
Always the strictures of the Dark Lady were taught: Hold no pity for those who suffer and die, for death is the natural end of life; bring down those who would attempt to cast off the chains of fate. It was those he hated worst: Mortals who sought to prolong life, to maintain their place in the Mortal World. The Undead, Vampires and Liches. These were his enemy.
So it was on that dim day, when Shadow was given his most vital task: The Barrow King had acquired the Eye of Vecna, stealing it from the Shadar-Kai warriors who held it safeguarded in the Shadowfell. Already his power grew, but now he held one of the most vital arcane items of the Raven Queen’s most hated foe. This could not be allowed to be. He had fled to the Mortal Realm with the eye, and it was up to the young Shadowborn to hunt him down and reclaim it, bringing it back to the Raven Queen herself…
That’s the basis for the character of Shadow. Hope you all like it. I hope we get to play this game soon, or I’ll be sitting on him for a while until I do.
The Eladrin Swordmage
The Shadar-Kai Avenger
Okay, so after hearing everyone’s votes for which PC I should play next, I’ve got it narrowed down to two choices: The Eladrin Swordmage and the Shadar-Kai Avenger (sorry, Danny, but I like the Avenger’s teleportation and striker abilities). Here are the two minis I have to choose between the two figures. Your vote will help the decision.
Now, with the Shadar-Kai, I’ll be removing the hammer, I think, and replacing it with either a sickle (to make him more like a grim reaper) or a spiked chain (since it is the Shadar-Kai’s preferred weapon).
For the Eladrin, His blades will glow, probably one blue and one red. I haven’t done much glowing paint effects, but I’ll study up on some tutorials on how to do so.
The Shadar-Kai’s idea would be that he was sent into the mortal realm from the Shadowfell to pursue a particular lich or vampire, and will get drawn into the adventuring party.
The Eladrin’s story would be that he is part of the rest of the group (who are all planning on playing Arcane classes) in being a student at the arcane school in the village. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi’s! You all are my only hope!
Help me make the decision!
This figure would be the Swordmage.
I’d like everyone to read this and give me their opinion.
We’ve been plotting out ideas for a new 4e campaign, set in a world of our own devising. I’ll be DMing, but we plan on switching DMs around so anyone who wants to gets a chance. This means I’ll be needing a character of my own, which is thrilling. The only problem? I don’t know what to choose.
Here’s what I’m torn between:
A Shadar-Kai Avenger of the Raven Queen
A Half-Elf Warlord (the Diplomat and leader of the group)
An Eladrin Swordmage (Teleporting around the battlefield)
I also plan on painting the miniatures for everyone, something I haven’t done in a long, long time, and I’ve got perfect figures for any of these three PCs. So, what do I choose? I’ll be taking your votes. I encourage everyone to let me know their opinion.
Two nights ago I was the Dungeonatrix of my first D&D game ever. It was incredible. Overall, I feel it went very smoothly. There were some small hiccups but nothing that completely stalled the flow of the game. I had the table set and ready to go before any of my players arrived. I even made sure they each had a complete set of dice to play with 
We began with Encounter 1 which was supposed to be a skill challenge… though I chose to adapt it to being more of a traditional Role Playing information gathering session. Two of my three players had never played an RPG. Therefore, I didn’t feel that in addition to explaining the basic rules it would be conducive to also include a skill challenge fresh out of the gate.
They did well. By Encounter 2: Cavern Entrance, they were ready to fight. They skillfully battled two Orc Wardens and two Cultist Eyeblades. They even retrieved the Tongueworm and it was claimed by my husband who was playing 3 of the 5 pregenerated characters.
Encounter 3 was a bit of a lull but they were keen enough to ask questions about the Hall of Living Words and successfully uncovered its secrets. The trap in Encounter 4 was semi-successful though it did pose a bit of a hassle. One of the characters did turn on his group and that created some interesting effects. Though they did disarm the glyph using a small skill challenge.
Encounter 5: The Baleful Eye was very smooth too. My only complaint with these was the actual set-up in the module. There are several places in this encounter and the one following that refer to “any PC who speaks Deep Speech can understand…” yet none of the pregenerated character sheets included PCs who could. Therefore, I just changed some things around to make it so that at least one could. I think this encounter felt a bit epic. As the PCs rounded the corner they came face to face with 8 Cult Fantatics, a Dolgaunt Acolyte and an Orc Warden. Not to mention the Baleful Eye itself who they disarmed quite expertly!
We stopped once we finished Encounter 6: The Blood of Khyber. At this point they had battled 4 Dolgrim Warriors and decided to take a rest next to the pool before carrying on. And since we had been playing for approximately 4 hours it also seemed a good time to quit for the night.
Once I got into it the flow seemed to be there. Besides the few times stopping to reference or explain rules it went without much of a hitch!
My husband, who has been a GM since he was 16, gave me an overall grade of B+. To be honest I was very pleased with that. The two new players who were with us were excited to come back and finish the last four encounters in the game. They also said nice things about how it had gone when they were all at work the next day. My husband sent me the following e-mail to give me some feedback:
I’ve been getting an assessment from the guys about how the game went last night. Here’s what they thought.
Forster liked it, but said that once he realized how the game ran, he was disappointed at how simple his character was. He wants a more complicated character to play. In the next session, I may even give him another one of the characters I was playing. He’s very interested in playing again.
Croft really enjoyed it. So much so that he wants Stephanie to play. He told her “it’s pretty much like a board game”. He thinks she’d enjoy it if she gave it a try. He is also looking forward to the next game.
Thought you should know!
This makes me feel good and I am more than excited to finish our adventure this Thursday! Yay!
