Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Deities, Divinities and Truly Scary Things Pt. 8

Hey Game Fans, we’re taking a look at some world building ideas and concepts for the home setting i run.  If you’ve checked out my other world building articles, this is the setting that focuses on Lakeport and the larger world around it.  Today i’m going to  take a look at one of the more somber gods for the setting, Grath, The Lord of Battle. Before i get started on Grath himself, let me give you a little background for the gods of this world.  

Monday, February 27, 2017

Just Dumb Things Episode 4


We’re back with another episode of our long running show, Just Dumb Things.  The Premise of our show is that our host will recount gamer horror stories for the amusement and laughter of the people watching at home.  Today’s episode features one of our favorite games in the universe (I realize we use that term a lot, but we had a lot of games that we really enjoyed at various points in our lifetime), Spycraft, from Alderac Entertainment Group.  

Alpha Strike Applications for the Battletech Starter Set


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Hey Game Fans we’re back with another article on one of our favorite games in the universe, Battletech.  Today we’re going to take a look at how you can utilize the Battletech Starter Set in conjunction with the Alpha Strike Rules to get started playing Alpha Strike.  If you’re interested in using it to get started playing Battletech, by all means, you’ve got a complete starter set in front of you and it’s an excellent tool to get you in the game.  For Alpha Strike, you’re going to need some additional resources in getting things started

Friday, February 24, 2017

Battletech Release Timeline

The internet has made communication a lot easier, faster, and in some ways, far more hilarious than we ever intended for it to be.  I recently was able to snag the Catalyst Game Labs’ Battletech twitter account’s attention and asked them a fun question.

Deities, Divinities and Truly Scary Things Pt. 7

Hey Game Fans, we’re taking a look at some world building ideas and concepts for the home setting i run.  If you’ve checked out my other world building articles, this is the setting that focuses on Lakeport and the larger world around it.  Today i’m going to  take a look at one of the more somber gods for the setting, Frand, The Lord of Magic. Before i get started on Frand himself, let me give you a little background for the gods of this world.  

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Characters I Like

I have a minute so i thought i’d put some words on paper about some of the characters that i like from various genres/games/franchises.  Today i’m going to start off with a gamer culture minefield by picking up with Critical Role, and my absolute favorite character on that show, Key’leth, as portrayed by Marisha Ray.  Critical Role is a wonderful show that follows a group of friends who get together and live stream their Dungeons and Dragons game every thursday night on Geek & Sundry’s twitch channel.  (You’re grown ups, you can use google to find the links for all of this stuff).  What sets Critical Role apart from most of these games is that the cast of Critical Role are voice and screen actors that occupy a huge chunk of pop culture real estate.  There are dozens of features on the cast, their accomplishments, and where they fit into the landscape of games and entertainment, and if you’re interested, by all means go, look them up, this article will still be here when you get back.  

Princes of the Apocalypse Review and Prep Advice

So, we’ve been through the entire second season of Adventurer’s League and have seen the power and the capabilities of the Cults of Elemental Evil and the horrors they seek to unleash on the world.  There is a companion hardcover adventure that ties directly into this theme and takes the adventurers on a journey into the heart of Elemental Evil.  That book, Princes of the Apocalypse, is our feature for today.

Just Dumb Things, Episode 3

So this one isn’t quite as much a “just dumb things” as a “things that make you ask more questions than you wanted to” feature.  I was helping a new player build a character for third edition dungeons and dragons game, and she ended up building a ranger, and we got to the question of favored enemies.  She wasn’t so sure that she wanted to pick a sentient race as her favored enemy because she as a player wasn’t sure about the ethics or morality of it.  It’s an interesting question after all.  This spawned a discussion that lasted for almost three hours between the various members of the gaming group and the new girl, about the morality of having favored enemies and what that meant in terms of how her character would interact with those enemies, and the world around her.

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Bounty Hunter Career for Edge of the Empire (Something Something Something Bounty Heads)

Following up from last week, we’re going to take a bit of a deeper dive into the specific careers that you can pick up for Edge of the Empire. In alphabetical order (and owing nothing to the fact that Bounty Hunters are awesome), we’re starting today off with the Bounty Hunter career.  Now the Star Wars Universe is full of really cool Bounty Hunters, and there’s a reason for that.  When the lawful authority is such an evil, invasive force like the Galactic Empire, there are going to be criminals and crimes that slip through the cracks.  

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Just Dumb Things, Episode 2

So we’re back with another one of our gamer horror story moments.  Today’s trainwreck is brought to you by Catalyst Game Labs, and one of  their flagships, Battletech.  I’ve run this game several times for a variety of groups, and the constant players that crop up are delightfully hard to manage.  I’ll give you some brief highlights before digging into this particularly epic storytime.
 

Deities, Divinities and Truly Scary Things Pt. 6

Hey Game Fans, we’re taking a look at some world building ideas and concepts for the home setting i run.  If you’ve checked out my other world building articles, this is the setting that focuses on Lakeport and the larger world around it.  Today i’m going to  take a look at one of the more somber gods for the setting, Adelia, The Ladies of Nature. Before i get started on Adelia herself, let me give you a little background for the gods of this world.  

Paladin Discussion


Good Morning Game Fans, we’re back to continue our deeper investigation into the mysteries of Dungeons and Dragons, and how it shaped the larger roleplaying game community.  We’ve put a temporary hold on our discussion about races in fantasy roleplaying (We’ll pick back up with the races from Volo’s Guide to Monsters and the Elemental Evil Player’s Companion after this interlude).  We’re going to discuss the role of Classes in fantasy roleplaying games, and then we’ll take a look in turn at each of the character classes in the Player’s Handbook for Dungeons and Dragons, 5th Edition.

Monday, February 20, 2017

Unearthed Arcana: Warlock and Wizard

Hey Game Fans, we’re playing a little catch up on our Unearthed Arcana articles.  Wizards of the Coast has been doing great stuff on releasing new ideas and concepts for expanding the base classes through additional archetype options.  Today we’re going to take a look at the new Warlock and Wizard options, which are apparently bananas.  The UA train is still on full steam ahead, so i imagine we’re going to get a look at the Mystic class that Mike Mearls has been teasing us for weeks about, and maybe some other new options and ideas.  Let’s get down to brass tacks and take a look at the new options for Warlock and Wizards.  

Friday, February 17, 2017

Alpha Strike Battle Report #3 (with pictures and rosters!)

Hey Game Fans, we’re back with another Alpha Strike battle report from our correspondent, Drewbacca.  This one is another introductory game, this time between the Enraged Wookie and his brother Lumpy (it’s a wookie reference, look it up, fuzzball). Let’s break down the game, and take a look at how two siblings play this variation on Battletech.  

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Deities, Divinities and Truly Scary Things Pt. 5

Hey Game Fans, we’re taking a look at some world building ideas and concepts for the home setting i run.  If you’ve checked out my other world building articles, this is the setting that focuses on Lakeport and the larger world around it.  Today i’m going to  take a look at one of the more somber gods for the setting, Oskar, The Lord of Death.  before i get started on Oskar himself, let me give you a little background for the gods of this world.  

Adventurer's League, Season 2 Upper Track (Part 3)

All right Game Fans, we’re continuing with our look at the 2nd season of the Adventurer’s League for Dungeons and Dragons, 5th edition.  Unlike last season, we’re not going to take these adventures in numeric order, but we’ve split them up into two different tracks based off of their suggested character level.  Today we’re looking at the next two adventures for the upper level track, DDEX 2-14 The Sword of Selfaril and DDEX 2-15 Black Heart of Vengeance.  Let’s dive in, and take a closer look at the next part of Season 2

Just Dumb Things, Episode 1?

So this is a quick hit/gamer story about the time we lost an entire party of adventurers because our Dungeon Master didn’t think things through very well.

Unearthed Arcana: Sorcerer

Hey Game Fans, we’re playing a little catch up on our Unearthed Arcana articles.  Wizards of the Coast has been doing great stuff on releasing new ideas and concepts for expanding the base classes through additional archetype options.  Today we’re going to take a look at the Sorcerer, and we’ll have another article just like this on the new Warlock and Wizard options, which are apparently bananas.  The UA train is still on full steam ahead, so i imagine we’re going to get a look at the Mystic class that Mike Mearls has been teasing us for weeks about, and maybe some other new options and ideas.  Let’s get down to brass tacks and take a look at the new Sorcerous Origins for the Sorcerer.  

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up? (Careers in Edge of the Empire)

Hey Game Fans, today we’re back with another one of our articles on Edge of the Empire, the wonderful Star Wars roleplaying game from those fine people at Fantasy Flight Games.  Last week we talked about the many different types of interesting species you could choose to build your character from, and this week we’re going to follow that thought down a different line.  Today we’re going to take a look at the various careers that you can select and what the basic ideas behind a career are.  

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

BattleMech Manual Book Review

Hey Game Fans, we’re back with a look at a new idea for a game that’s near and dear to our hearts. The wonderful folks at Catalyst Game Labs (producers of a host of interesting and exciting games including Shadowrun, Valiant Universe Roleplaying, and Battletech to name a few) have taken an extremely hard look at Battletech and put together a new book for that game.  Let’s take a closer look at the ideation and the implementation of the BattleMech Manual, and see what treasures we can find in its pages.  

Monk Class Discussion

Good Morning Game Fans, we’re back to continue our deeper investigation into the mysteries of Dungeons and Dragons, and how it shaped the larger roleplaying game community.  We’ve put a temporary hold on our discussion about races in fantasy roleplaying (We’ll pick back up with the races from Volo’s Guide to Monsters and the Elemental Evil Player’s Companion after this interlude).  We’re going to discuss the role of Classes in fantasy roleplaying games, and then we’ll take a look in turn at each of the character classes in the Player’s Handbook for Dungeons and Dragons, 5th Edition.

Monday, February 13, 2017

Alpha Strike Battle Report #2 (Now with Pictures)

Alpha Strike Battle Report

Hey Game Fans, we’re back with another Alpha Strike battle report from our correspondent, Drewbacca.  This one is another introductory game, this time between the Enraged Wookie and Papa Wookie.  (Fun Fact, Papa Wookie is a Bloodnamed Battletech player from the heyday of Battletech tournaments at Gencon).   Let’s break down the game, and take a look at how two generations of Battletech players took a shot at something new.

Sunday, February 12, 2017

Deities, Divinities and Truly Scary Things Pt. 4

Hey Game Fans, we’re taking a look at some world building ideas and concepts for the home setting i run.  If you’ve checked out my other world building articles, this is the setting that focuses on Lakeport and the larger world around it.  Today i’m going to  take a look at one of the more colorful gods for the setting, Silverhoof, The Lord of Horses.  before i get started on Silverhoof himself, let me give you a little background for the gods of this world.  

Friday, February 3, 2017

Alignment and its Role in Gaming

Hey Game Fans, we’re back with another one of our articles on gaming concepts and ideas.  Today we’re going to take a look at Alignment and the role it plays in both in game interactions and between player dynamics.  Alignment can be a touchy subject and not every game uses it, but we’re going to try and cover it in as broad a method possible.  Remember, these are my broad opinions on what Alignment is and how it works.  Others may have differing opinions, and that’s perfectly ok.  We can still talk about things we have different opinions on.  Let’s take a look at the Alignment system for Dungeons and Dragons.

Offices Closed

Due to a Death in the Family, we will be closed Friday the 3rd through likely Wednesday the 8th.  Hopefully we will be able to resume normal operations at that time, thank you for your condolences and well wishes, and we will see you all again after this time of grieving.


Zardoz

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Adventurer's League Season 2 (Upper Track part 2)

All right Game Fans, we’re continuing with our look at the 2nd season of the Adventurer’s League for Dungeons and Dragons, 5th edition.  Unlike last season, we’re not going to take these adventures in numeric order, but we’ve split them up into two different tracks based off of their suggested character level.  Today we’re looking at the next two adventures for the upper level track, DDEX 2-9 Eye of the Tempest and DDEX 2-13 The Howling Void.  Let’s dive in, and take a closer look at the next part of Season 2

Deities, Divinities and Truly Scary Things Pt. 3

Hey Game Fans, we’re taking a look at some world building ideas and concepts for the home setting i run.  If you’ve checked out my other world building articles, this is the setting that focuses on Lakeport and the larger world around it.  Today i’m going to  take a look at one of the more colorful gods for the setting, Pureheart, The Lady of Power.  before i get started on Pureheart herself, let me give you a little background for the gods of this world.  

Alpha Strike Battle Report

Hey Game Fans, we were able to wrangle some work out of our long time associate/gamer Drewbacca, and he put together this rough cut battle report for the two games of Alpha Strike he played with his brother.  I’m going to edit it a little bit for clarity, and the chastisement for a lack of photos or video evidence has been given.  That said, let’s see what Team Wookie has for us on this week’s Battle Report.

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Just what Planet are you from? (A Species Discussion for Star Wars: Edge of the Empire)

Hey Game Fans, we’re back for another Wednesday write up regarding one of our favorite things, Star Wars.  We’re going to further refine that discussion with a chat about Edge of the Empire, Fantasy Flight Games’s entry into the Star Wars Role-playing Game.  One of the most important aspects of the Star Wars Universe to us has always been the dizzying array of potential species and cultures represented in the setting.  From the first time we got a look at the Mos Eisley cantina and the swath of alien species operating inside of it, it was clear to me that the Star Wars universe took a wide view at a lot of different cultures and ideas about what sentient creatures were, and how they could interact with each other.