It’s the post you have been waiting for! Or fearing. Or saying “meh” about. Or laughing at in an embarrassed manner. Well, let me tell you something, you who find Dungeons and Dragons hopelessly nerdy. It… is. But lots and lots of other things are as well. Hey, World of Warcraft player who “grinds” for 20 hours a week: do you *really* think your pastime is less nerdy than me hanging out with a bunch of my friends for 6 hours every other week? At least I have 5 guys pretending to slay the dragon with me (no, that last sentence does not help). For that matter, is there *really* a large difference between this and, say, poker night or being a “fan” of a sports franchise that has absolutely nothing in common with you save the fact that they play home games in a city near you and occasionally allow you to buy tickets to see them?

THE ANSWER IS NO. BE QUIET.

Moving on… I assume you have the DM’s guide, the Player’s Handbook, and the Monster Manual, since these are required to play the game. You also need dice, of course, and your mother’s basement. You can rent it out during the week to baseball statheads.

Monster Manual 2. I will give you Reason #1 why you need to buy the Monster Manual 2: the rust monster. Yes, for some reason this beast was left out of #1. It’s at once perhaps the stupidest monster idea and the greatest ever. Basically, when you encounter one, it is the DM telling you that you have too much cool stuff and he needs to balance the game, with feet. Now they have a new iteration of the rust monster called the dweomer stealer, which… steals dweomers. WTF is a dweomer? Anyway, it eats magic items the way the rust monster eats plate mail armor. I always find these things to be f’ing hilarious: they flat out suck but the fighter in your party who will charge at an adult red dragon will run from one of these things like a little beeyotch.

Featured on the cover, the Demogorgon. Yeah, it’s a two-headed baboon orangutan with tentacles for arms. Say that five times and you will become as autistic as Jenny McCarthy’s child.

Not featured, and by “not featured” I mean “they damn well better be in MM3″: blink dogs.

Dungeon Master’s Guide 2. I am really high on this guide, which could have been a really useless piece of crap… or could have been useful by having stuff in it that should have been in the original DMG. Instead, it’s a great supplement. It’s not as heavy on paragon-level attributes as it advertises, but that’s really fine with me – I think the other books that are out there do a good job of that, particularly if you choose to play in one of DnD’s pre-created gameworlds (more on one of them in a bit).

What the DMG II adds more than anything else is a really, really nice blueprint for adding some heavy RPG elements to your game. DnD has long been the last bastion of fantasy tactical wargaming before you dip over the edge and into Warhammer. It’s decidedly to the RP side of that but at the same time it’s built nowhere near, say, a White Wolf game of Fantasy Monster: The Adjective. 4E is deceptive in this regard: mechanically, it’s a lot more complicated for some classes and only a little bit less for others. Also, virtually all the powers, skills, abilities, magic items, and so on are designed to have some sort of direct application in combat.

The deceptive bit is that this “mechanics are everything” dynamic actually makes it *easier* to roleplay a character of your choice. First of all, there are lots and lots of decisions to make at every level for every character. No longer is your character development limited to a feat every other level, a few spells, and maybe a STR gain at 6th and 11th. Now, every time you gain a level, you literally add a new wrinkle to what your character does on the battlefield.

But that’s not all or anywhere near close to all. By moving all those BS skills like Cooking or Singing off the character sheet, you actually free your players to come up with their own backgrounds to a much greater extent. Was the character a master pastry chef (note: ridiculous example used for effect) before embarking on a life as a bard? Well, you just note it in the background and roleplay it. In 3rd, you had to spend skill points on Cooking: Pastry, skill points that would not be spent on things like Spot Hidden or Appraise and which would therefore make your character less aWesome than a guy who concentrated on nothing but combat.

The DMG2 expands on this by giving the intermediate GM a set of questions he can ask of all new characters as they’re being created. This allows the players to create a fairly complicated backstory without having to do a bunch of homework and in turn allows the DM to get something that he and the rest of the party can work with to generate a campaign around. This was, of course, possible before but it’s nice to see a game company codify things. Additionally, it provides a means of literally allowing the entire party to help provide flavor, more input in the world than “I choose to fight the goblins”, and to stay in the game when the plot calls for the party to split up or for some backstory or a major decision to be explored via a dream sequence.

Open Grave. I am not the biggest fan of zombie horror movies, or really horror movies in general. I guess that as far as horror movies go, I like zombie movies more than most other horror sub-genres. That being said, I *love* Shaun of the Dead and the video game Left For Dead and, let’s face it, what would be cooler than moving that meme into a fantasy roleplaying session (note: if you are not a DnD player I forbid you to answer this question)? Again, you could always do it without an official supplement, but Wizards of the Coast make it much, much easier with this bad boy.

Also, there are several mini-adventures in here – always helpful if you, like me, prefer pulling a campaign out of their own rear end rather than meticulously plan out every single dungeon yourself  – and lots and lots of new undead monsters, including several different kinds of brains in assorted jars, disembodied hands if you want to go with an Addams Family theme, and lots more kinds of zombies and ghouls and so on (MM1 and MM2 have plenty of “normal” undead, so the baddies in here tend to be a little creative). On top of that, there are all the elements to play a 28 Days Later style campaign with zombie-ism caused by infection, undead that sprint after you, and so on.

Dungeon Delve. This supplement actually serves several purposes. For me, it is a wonderful piece of insta-encounter that allows me to cover for when the party I am DMing does something that I did not anticipate in a big way. Boom! “You see an abandoned keep”. That buys me 2 or 3 hours, including some extra RPing I like to throw in, and might just allow me to buy enough time to close the session and spend the next week or two figuring out what to do with the PC choices.

It also helps with more or less the exact opposite situation: if you don’t really want to DM but just want to send a party on a quick, level-appropriate one-shot before the regular DM gets back from vacation or perhaps just to test out how some character designs will work in combat, this Delve’s for you. You could theoretically take a party all the way from level 1 to 30 just by playing through this book. You’d have to fudge the XP a little bit and maybe hand out a few more magic items, but it could be done.

The third and perhaps most important thing that Delve does is plot out a whole bunch of sample encounters: 3 per level for a total of 90 in the book. You can read through this and get a great idea as to how to both set up an individual encounter that’s fun and challenging and also put together an entire day’s worth of matches. The dynamics of the encounter have changed a great deal from earlier versions. This book helps you to understand just *how* they’ve changed.

Eberron: The Campaign Guide and The Player’s Guide. Okay, I cheated on the last one because it’s two books. Since you really need both to run this gameworld, I still stand by it.

First, buying a pre-generated gameworld just plain saves time. There’s still a lot to learn about Eberron and you’d (eventually) do well to go out and buy all the 3.5 material that’s available for this world, but reading a couple hundred pages with pretty pictures and fancy graphs takes a whole heck of a lot less time than making everything up on your own. I know, I know, a lot of DMs do what they do precisely because they *get* to make up their own world, but here’s the thing: that’s really not your job as Dungeon Master. Your job as DM is to facilitate a good time through everyone involved. If that means having your party explore a detailed world because they’re all Storytellers, so be it. If that means getting into lots of combat because they’re all Slayers… well, that’s a perfectly legitmate reason to play as well. If you want to bring those Slayers out of their slaying shells and, you know, roleplay more and get into the milieu, the way to do it is not by forcing them to digest lots of world-related crap but to draw them in session by session.

Having a pre-genned world actually helps with this in that it allows you to take a step back and work more on the game-facilitation aspects of things. I know first-hand how tempting it is to just make your party play the game your way: after all, you’re the one who spent dozens of hours making that world and designing all those maps and creating all those world leaders, and now a bunch of jackoffs who couldn’t even create their own characters ahead of time want to sidestep your main plotline and just go break into houses??? ARGH. Anyway, the players aren’t hijacking things because they hate you, they’re trying to play the game their way. Using somebody else’s game world helps you to see that.

So… why Eberron and not Forgotten Realms? FR has pretty much become the generic gameworld DnD is based upon. That’s all well and good, and I guess if you are bringing older players back into the game, introducing Baldur’s Gate and Elminster and so on can help get them into it, but Eberron is just plain *different*. It’s a lot more Star Wars than the “points of light” system DnD calls its base. You’ve got individuals rather than races embracing good and evil, far-flung lands to explore, creative applications of magic that look a lot like technology (see: sending stones and the lightning rail), and lots of competing factions that can put together a really The Third Man kind of feel if you allow it to. There’s a good deal of Indiana Jones in this gameworld as well, not to mention The Maltese Falcon if you can think that way about an RPG. In its own way, it takes players just a little bit out of the genre without blowing up the game mechanics. And that, to me, is cool.

Wie versprochen habe ich euch ein paar Fotos von unserer gestrigen Spielsession mitgebracht.

Vor ein paar Tagen sind wir (Moretti/ Catfolk -Klerikerin, Rurik/ Zwergenbarbar, Padmè/ menschliche Rangerin/Beastmaster und Johann/ menschlicher Magier) in ein kleines friedliches Dorf gekommen, doch in der Nacht spürten wir den Lockruf des Sees – wir waren kurz davor ein Menschenopfer des fiesen Dorfkults zu werden. Auf den Spuren der Ursacher betreten wir die geheimen Gemäuer und stoßen auf fischartige Wesen, Kleriker, Hexenmeister und krakenähnlichen Wesen aus der Tiefe. Wir sind sehr mutig, doch leider muß unser wagemutiger Magier mit seinem Leben bezahlen…

Okay, so based on some comments from the GitP forums, I’ve changed the BBEG for my upcoming campaign. Here are the details.

The Sorcerer took over a sizable section of the country and the remaining countries have held and council and decided he must be taken care of. This council starts the Resistance. It’s operated out of a small town not far from the Lich’s HQ. The party is part of the Resistance and can wander around town looking for jobs (read: seeds). Here are a few:

1. One of the Resistance’s Captains needs for some Resistance fighters to infiltrate the Castle and steal the insignia of a powerful lieutenant of the Lich’s army. It’s magical and opens doors in the castle that only it and the Lich can open. Very important for a possible siege/coup/fight.

2. The head of the Resistance has a job to participate in the gladiatorial contests. The prize of the contest is a magical sword that is so powerful that not even all of the Kings’ mages combined could create. It could be used for several missions inside and out of the castle.

3. The head of provisions for the Resistance says that the Resistance is running low on meat. You can either go hunt in the woods or steal from a caravan that supplies the Lich.

4. The local healer is low on some herbs and holy water. She needs for you to collect some herbs and look for people that need healing.

And if the players want it to be an evil campaign, then they’re soldiers in the Lich’s army, quickly rising through the ranks.

1. We need you guys to kill some people migrating to the Resistance camp. If they get there the Resistance will have some sort of new item. Just make sure you don’t kill our spies.

2. Patrol the lich’s border.

3. Invade new land in some sort of skirmish

Etc. The starting level will be level 4, core books only, and no Monster Manual Races. Also, the old DMPC is now a NPC Healer (/spy) for the Resistance (she spies for the Lich though). New thoughts, opinion, things I NEED to change?

Endlich kann ich mal wieder etwas von dem posten, wofür ich den Blog eröffnet habe: Kreativität!

In unserer Rollenspiel Gruppe spielen wir Dungeons & Dragons und nehmen für die Kämpfe zur Veranschaulichung Miniaturen. Und da hat es mich wieder gepackt. Ich habe meinen Spaß am Modellieren wiedergefunden und bereits einige Ergebnisse.

Eigentlich sollte es eine 28mm-Mini werden; ein Eladrin Wizard für Chris, der in den Shops bisher keine Figur gefunden hat, die ihm gefällt, bzw. die überhaupt nach einem männlichen Eladrin (Hochelf) Zauberer aussieht, der kein alter mann mit spitzem Hut und Rauschebart ist (die Auswahl an weiblichen Charakteren scheint ungleich größer zu sein).
Jedenfalls ist mir schon das Gerüst zu groß geworden, was ich jedoch erst später gemerkt habe, als schon einige Arbeit in dem Figürchen steckte. Nun mache ich es in der Größe zuende, um ein bisschen zu üben und zu probieren.

Größe: 45 mm
Zeitaufwand: ca. 4 Stunden

Bei der White Wolf-Presentation plaudert Ryan Dancey, einst Brandmanager bei Dungeons and Dragons, frei von der Leber weg und gibt ein paar interessante Anekdoten und Zahlen preis (insbesondere in den ersten beiden Videos, danach geht es eher um die neúe WW-Strategie).

Wer sich für White Wolf-Systeme interessiert, sollte auch mal n Blick in die anderen Videos der White Wolf-Presentation ansehen (Shane DeFreest, Greg Fountain).

Hello blogger and internet searchers. This is my second post and today I think i will cover the second logical topic to cover after explaining common phrases and that is, races! Yes it is time I finally tell you who and what these different players in this RPG are. Now, there are quite a few of them so I will only cover three and some origin races if I have the time. I do tend to like to ramble on a lot so this may be a long post so bare with me. Now then, lets begin with the…

Humans

The humans are the oldest race in the universe. They are the only origin race to not divide into multiple sub-races. They are the most accomplished, arguably the most evolved, and are the most varied race in the known abyss. They have been known to be the most cruel and the most compassionate, the most violent of warriors and the most peaceful of diplomats. They are the only origin race to die quickly, there lifespans being about 50-80 years.

Dwarves

Dwarves were not exatly enslaved by the human empire more like they were born into it because there ancestors and origin race, the stonekind, were enslaved by rimefire. They are a sub-race of the stonekind and inherited their wisdom and ability to create amazing weapons and armor. They are all ruled over by one King and keep, for the most part, in the mountains of the north and the west. They not only stay in these mountains for the tactical advantage they provide (should they be attacked) but also because they spend much of there early and late life underground digging and searching, hoping to find artifacts or books that will tell them more about the stonekind. They have long lifespans and can live as long as a thousand years (this was found out in an experiment done by RimeFire) but the average lifespan is shorter only around 500-750 years.

Elves

The elves were the second race to be enslaved by Rimefire. They are decendents of an ancient race whos name has been lost to the ages. Slender and tall by comparison to humans. They were enslaved mostly not to work but to as a show of force to others of their home plane. They are the most advance civilization technologicly, save for the ramaining rimefire cities, there cities are small but are more about expansion upward. They are most often seen in the forest as it reminds them of the place they long ago called home. There home plane of existance can be seen in the skies at night and many believe this is why they build their cities upward and keep there oldest at the top. The elves average lifetime is about half that of a dwarf, they can live up to 550-600 years but the average lifespan is around 200-350 years.

well due to time constraints that is all I will be writting today, perhaps soon I will have more time and be able to speak about the stonekind, the shadowkind, the old ones, the goliaths, and the immortalkind.

March 24, 1033

I left the Temple of Boccob shortly after dawn yesterday, with low mist hugging the roads and a red sun rising slowly over the hills.  It was such a pretty spring morning that I was sorry to be leaving.  Xanda got up with me, principally to wave goodbye from the doorway as I traipsed the cold roads in my new blue clothing, my bag of holding slung lightly over my shoulder.  I turned and waived back just before I lost sight of her, and I will always remember the way the Temple looked that morning, all shrouded in mist.  As soon as I got to town my tranquil mornin ceased, of course.  There were at least a dozen people piling their things in wagon after wagon, bustling around the little square.  I felt quite lost before an older human male noticed me and pointed me in the right direction. 

I’m riding with Honey and Handy in their wagon.  They’re as cute as their names sound, an old and wrinkly human couple selling Handy’s prize wood carvings and Honey’s prize weaving.  Most of the group are Humans, and I find them quite energetic.  The obscene amount of energy they have must contribute to their short life spans.  They just can’t keep it up for that long!  I haven’t spent much time with any but Elves in a long time.  I must be quite a sight to see, piled in the wagon like another sack of cloth, bouncing away in uncomfortable misery on the worst roads in the country.  I couldn’t have picked a worse time for travel, with the rains making muddy holes in all the major byways.  We should be reaching Brindol on the 29th, and hopefully the closer to town we get, the better the roads will be.  I’m crossing my fingers.

I volunteered for the first watch tonight with a few others, spaced evenly about the campsite.  It’s been a beautiful night, with clusters of sparkling stars bejeweling the heavens.  It doesn’t look like it will stay that way for long, though.  An ominous cloud has just begun to form on the horizon.  I fear it will be days of rough travel in pouring rain for us from now on.  In some ways I love spring, but in others I wish I could just skip it!

March 28, 1033

It was just as I feared.  Pouring rain with little let up these last three days.  We can see Brindol now, a wide circle of gray stone and painted wood in the valley below.  Little bits of color flutter from the ramparts, the red flags standing out against the cloudy sky.  Tomorrow I’ll be there!

„…A Merítés szertartása során a gyermeket a szertartásmester vezetésével megfürdetik valamilyen állat vérében, melynek során a pap erejének segítségével az állat lelke a gyermek valóságának részévé válik, így meghatározva a későbbi erényeit.

Mivel a sűrűbb, erősebb vérrel rendelkező állatok befogása veszedelmes és az egyszerű emberek számára lehetetlen feladat, a köz általában megelégszik egy kóbor macska vagy egy patkány vérével is, esetleg egy madarat véreztet ki, melyet ezüstökért válthat meg a madárpiacon.

Nekünk, az uthalissi királyi dinasztia fenséges véreinek azonban nem szabad megelégednünk efféle póri állatokkal. Nekünk, az istenkirály rokonainak, lehetőségünk van a legnemesebb vadakat elejteni, hogy gyermekeink állati társává váljanak, egész életükön át szolgálva nekik.

Atyádnak, a harmadik dinasztia hatodik istenkirályának, a fényes tekintetű Astur Uthaliss Erkhalimnak az esetében a vad és szívós wyvern szolgált áldozati ajándékként, míg a te esetedben, ifjú királyi felség, a legfőbb királyi vadászok ezüstszőrű hegyi oroszlánt ejtettek foglyul.

Hogy melyek azok a fenséges fenevadak, amelyeknek szerte a birodalmakban a legsűrűbb a vére, s amellyel az ember a gyermekét kitüntetheti? Nos, ifjú királyi felség, a választ már magad is ismered a világ történetének felületes ismeretével.

Természetesen a sárkányok…”

Udvari tanító szavai a trónörököshöz

—   —

Valahol Uthaliss országvárosának uralkodói palotájában egy magányos márványmedve szájából folyt alá a víz egy kisebb medencében egy márványfényes tér közepén. A víz egy ideig megült a kőtálban, aztán egy kisebb csatornán végigszaladva egy jókora földmélyi medencébe csorgott alá, ahová most is vitt magával híreket is, ahogyan tette engedelmesen minden alkalommal, mikor felelőtlenül beszélgettek a szökőkút mellett.

A víz ugyanis hűségesen viszi a hangot, ha van, aki meghallgatja szavát. A ciszterna keskeny partján egy férfi lépett a peremhez s hajolt egészen közel a víztükörhöz, hogy lelkével is megérinthesse azt. Ő pontosan tudta, miképpen bírhatja szólásra az értékes víz szellemét.

A férfi, akinek állati társa a vipera volt, lehunyva a szemét villás nyelvét öltötte a világra, akár egy kígyó, s fogai között sziszegett hozzá. Pillanatok múlva elhagyta testének börtönét, s a szellemvilágban, amelynek ezerszínű éterében nem volt értelme a térnek és időnek, viperaként sietett a ciszterna fenekére, ahol egy sellő mocorgott láthatatlan láncokra verve. A medence vizének szelleme volt, akit már évszázadokkal azelőtt kötöttek a szökőkút medveszobrához, hogy addig annak vizeként szolgáljon, amíg el nem nyeri szabadságát.

A sellő hamar észrevette az apró, seszínű viperát a szomorú színekkel festett forgatagban, melyet az ő szomorúsága, unalma és lemondása festett meg. Ahogy észrevette, a sellő mindjárt tudta, hogy ismét valami fontos történik vele – amikor egy ember állati társa felkereste, mindig valami fontos történt. A kígyó a közelébe suhant és beszélt. Beszédében körülrajongta, körbebókolta, hízelgett neki, a sellő pedig nem értette, miért csinálja.

Nem értette, de nagyon tetszett neki minden szó, így hamar barátok lettek. A vipera foglalkozott, törődött vele, ahogy addig soha senki. Sokat és sokfélét beszélgettek mindenféléről. Arról, hogy a sellő miket látott, miket hallott az anyagi fókuszán, a szökőkút vizén keresztül, mi történt vele azóta, hogy oda kellett hagynia A Folyót. Aztán a vipera elbúcsúzott, mert a viperának dolga volt másfelé, de megígérte, hogy majd visszajön a sellőhöz és beszélgetnek tovább. Mert nagyon jó barátok lettek.

A férfi, akinek állati társa a vipera volt, mosolyogva tért vissza az anyagi világba, s üzenetet fogalmazott elméjében.

—   —

A trónörököst sárkányvérben fogják fürdetni.

—   —

folytatása következik!

(Lord Rufus)

Újabb esős nap. A változatosság szinte gyönyörködtet. Egyetlen dolog változott: tudtam mi történt tegnap. A képesség olyan szokatlan volt mintha évtizedek óta nem bírtam volna vele.
Emlékeztem.

A nyakamon lévő bilincs megrepedt a legutóbbi csatában. Az ellenünk harcoló elementálok törték szét.
Tanulmányoztam a láncot. Szimbólumok rajta: egy régi írás elfeledett rúnái, melyeket a negyedik korban felejtettek el az akkor élő emberek. Időre van szükségem.
A többieket is fel kell szabadítanom. Csak így juthatok ki.

Harminc hosszú nap telt el. Három küzdelmen vagyunk túl. A hatalmas aréna kőből épült s ugyanannyira átszövi a mágia, mint a régi törpék csarnokait és a repülővárosokat.
Az itt beszélt nyelv ismeretlen számomra.

A szökés sikeres volt, mindannyian kijutottunk. Körülöttünk hatalmas fák és szinte fojtogató fauna. Menekülésünk alatt rengetegszer hallottuk őket, de inkább nem akartunk velük találkozni. Kijutottunk a tengerpartra, ahol megpillantottuk hajóink maradványait, melyek szinte felismerhetetlenségig roncsolódtak a hegyes sziklákon.
Innen csak a szerencse juttathat ki minket, semmi más.

Zebber tanácsára megindultunk a part mellett északnak. Utunk egy elhagyatott templomba vezetett. A templom évezredek óta elhagyatva állhatott, ám a jelek, amelyeket odabent találtunk, ismerősek voltak Lenira számára.

Lenira. Ő volt a mi lelki támaszunk, expedíciónk főpapja. Azt javasolta, hogy maradjunk itt, hiszen ha ennyi ideig nem használták a templomot rejtélyes építői, hát ezután sem fogják. Találtunk több öreg kódexet, melyeket Lenira mindjárt tanulmányozni is kezdett.
Talán két-három hetet tölthettünk itt békében, mely alatt senki nem zaklatott minket.

Azt hittük, hogy minden rendben van. Hát nem volt. Lenira megváltozott. A könyvek megszállottjává vált, naphosszat mással sem törődött, csak olvasott és olvasott.
Egy nap aztán azt mondta, hogy megtalálta a kiutat szorult helyzetünkből, és mi természetesen hittünk neki. Elmondása alapján északabbra volt egy hajó, mellyel elhajózhattunk volna.
Miért ne hittünk volna neki?

Alig hagytuk el a templomot, egyre sűrűsödő támadások ellen kellett védenünk expedíciónkat. Hihetetlen szörnyek bukkantak elő a fák mögül, a sötétből a föld alól, reggel, este, számolatlan. Számtalanszor arattunk győzelmet felettük, de minden harc végén fáradtabbak voltunk.
És egyre kevesebben.

Egyszer felderíteni voltam Zebberel, aki hangot adott aggodalmának. Nem csak Lenira, de még két társunk, Thekett és Zerria is megváltozott, mondta. Mindkettejük szemében a téboly lángjai szikráztak – súgta óvatosan.
Egyet kellett értenem vele.

Három társunk, Lenira, Thekett és Zeirra egyre rosszabbul lett. Egyre kevesebbet aludtak, a sebeikre fittyet sem hánytak harc közben, a védelemmel mit sem törődve küzdöttek, vonulás közben pedig egyre többször és egyre hosszabban suttogtak magukban.
Zebberrel úgy döntöttünk, hátrahagyjuk őket.

Megindultunk északra olyan gyorsan, ahogy a lábunk bírta. Talán egy teljes napot rohanhattunk végig mire megpillantottuk a hajót. A leírt helyen várt ránk.
Feltűnt viszont az is, hogy nem sokkal mögöttünk felbukkantak az eddig is a vidéken kísértő szörnyetegek.
Ha a többiekre várunk, bizonnyal meghalunk mind.

Azonnal felkapaszkodtunk a hajóra. Zebber más síkokról megidézett szolgálói segítettek ki. Amíg a harcban feltartották a rémeket, volt időnk előkészíteni a hajót a kifutásra.
Magunk mögött hagytuk a borzalmak szigetét.

Nem kellett soká várnunk, máris egy sűrű ködfátyolon haladtunk át, mire a sziget teljesen eltűnt. Folyamatosan észak felé hajóztunk. Utunk könnyű volt, hiszen én értettem a hajóhoz, Zebber pedig mágiájával és varázstárgyaival ételt és legénységet teremtett.
Végül megérkeztünk a helyre, miről keserves utunk minden napján hittük, hogy sosem láthatjuk viszont; Horofor szigetének kikötőjét pillantottuk meg egy hajnalon.

A kikötőben katonaság fogadott minket. Ahogy partra szálltunk, döbbenten meredtek ránk, a mi döbbenetünk azonban ennél is nagyobb volt. A mi új hajónk pontos mása állt alig egy dokkal lentebb. Az őrök elmondták, hogy társaink már visszatértek és a királynál vannak. Azonnal a palota felé vettük sietős lépteinket. Útközben kiderült, hogy már 4 éve annak, hogy útnak indultunk és azóta semmit nem hallottak felőlünk ezekben a kikötőkben.
Halottak voltunk a szemükben.

Megérkeztünk a palotába, ahol azonnal biztosították számunkra a kihallgatást. Ahogy a trónterembe léptünk, láttuk a város főpapját, a főparancsnokot és a királyi család miden tagját egy asztalnál ülni odahagyott barátainkkal. Ahogy feléjük indultunk, a főkapitány lépett elénk és boldogan rázta meg kezünket. Mosollyal fogadott és egy pillanatig osztozni készültem az örömében, amikor megláttam Zebber arcán a rémületet.
Az asztalon egy ódon kódex pihent szélesre tárva.

A kapitány értetlenül meredt ránk. Lenira ekkor felkelt ültéből, hozzánk lépett. Bajtársiasan átkarolt, majd annyit mondott, hogy talán el kellene mennünk a templomba imádkozni. A király egyetértett vele.
Kényszerűségből elmentünk a templomba. Nem töltöttünk túl sok időt ott, a kötelező imádságok után azonnal indulni is készültünk, mire a főpap lépett oda hozzánk. Mögötte tíz legkedvesebb katonája.
Tébolyult szikrák táncoltak a szemében.

Mégis hazaértem. A főpap csak kitoloncolni kívánt a templomból. Zebberrel rövid időre elváltunk, de megbeszéltük, hogy órákon belül ismét találkozunk.
Otthon asszonyom és három gyermekem fogadott. Boldogságom nem is lehetett volna nagyobb. Alig ölelhettem őket magamhoz, a térről mindjárt behallatszott egy kikiáltó karcos hangja: jöttünk örömére istentiszteletet tartanak a templomokban egy óra múlva.
Feleségem mindjárt készülődni kezdett, hogy méltón adhasson hálát az égieknek, de én nem hagytam neki. Pakolni kezdtem a dolgainkat az útra és megmondtam nekik, hogy senkit ne engedjenek be.
Csak engem vagy Zebbert.

Futva jártam végig ismerőseimet, hogy hagyják ki a hálaadó istentiszteletet és jöjjenek hozzánk, velünk beszélni. Nagyobb részük beleegyezett. Nem kellett sok hozzá, Zebber is megérkezett barátaival. Elmeséltük nekik mindazt, amit átéltünk.
A későbbiekről írnom is nehéz.

A várost hatalmas földrengés rázta meg. A templomokból hazatérő emberek mind megtébolyodtak, testükre förtelmes szimbólumot véstek és mindenkit megtámadtak, aki nem viselte a jelet. Kis társaságunk együtt menekült, mindenki ott segített a másiknak, ahol tudott.
Mire a kikötőbe értünk, alig maradtunk néhányan.

Csak egy, a legkisebb gyermekem élte túl az utat. Felmásztunk a lélekvesztőre, mellyel a szigetre érkeztünk alig néhány órával ezelőtt. A város egyre zsugorodó foltját döbbenten bámultuk a horizonton.
Óriási szörnyek emelkedtek ki a földből és eltüntették otthonainkat.

Ahogy haladtunk, egyszerre hajók tűntek elő a semmiből. Száz meg száz hatalmas vitorlás, melyek egyenes úton száguldottak a habokon a város irányába.
A csatahajók legénysége csupa rémálomba illő szörnyeteg.

Könnyes szemmel bámultuk, ahogy ostrom alá veszik a kikötőt, majd megszállják a lángoló várost.

Néhány óra gyász után egy lakatlan sziget felé vettük az irányt, melyről a közelben tudtunk, hogy megalapíthassuk az új várost.
Az új várost, amely…

(Kerivel)

Es kann sein, dass man gerade unterwegs ist und bereits mehrere Tage gewandert ist. Das Schwert drückt schwer auf den Rücken und die Schuhe haben schon mal bessere Tage gesehen (vorrausgetzt man geht nicht Barfuss und die Schuhe hätten Augen), aber auch nicht irgend ein Gegner ist in sich, welchen man kanibalisch auseinander reißen könnte und ihn wenigstens Roh kauen könnte.

Nein. Nichts dergleichen. Also was tun? Nun man könnte sich überlegen, ob man nicht einige Würmer aus einem Baum puhlt und sie langsam über Feuer gart (vorrausgetzt man ist Magier und kann das) Ansonsten bleibt nur die Möglichkeit ins Gras zu beißen, was, zugegeben, nicht sehr gut schmeckt, aber den kleinen Hunger zwischendurch stillen kann.

Eine andere Möglichkeit bestände darin Pfeile einfach wild in die Luft zu schießen und hoffen, dass man irgendwas irgendwann man trifft, bevor die Pfeile alle sind. Zur Not kann man aber einen Baum fällen und daraus Pfeile erstellen, welche allerdings das seltsame Freundschafts – Verhältnis von Zwerg und Elfen vorrausetzt.

Der Waldläufer könnte natürlich erstmal  drei Tage im Wald verschwinden und am Ende mit einem kleinen Karnickel wieder rauskommen und es einem Geier vorlegen und diesen dann angreifen…

… anderen Falls würde es auch gehen, wenn der SL einfach sagt, dass ihr irgendwas gefunden habt und irgendwas gegessen habt….

….oder ihr fang an jedes Vieh zu filitieren und das Zeug mit rumschleppen, was am Ende dazu führen kann, dass ihr nen Malus auf das gewicht des Rucksack bekommt (jaaa…. auch bei DnD 4.0!)

So here’s my idea for a Big Bad Evil Guy (BBEG) in my first campaign that I’ll be DMing. Basically, a High Elven Sorcerer Lich 26. His familiar is a monkey, who also is his phylactery, and has been “Polymorph any Object”-ed into a human, permanently. The party starts out with the party awakening in the Lich’s castle, where hundred of adventurers have been gathered to fight in a tournament. The winners go free. If they entertain the Lich, even better. The Lich has, at his disposal, a small collection of evil clerics, along with a smattering of the highest-level of each class in this world to enforce and spice up the tourney. The PC’s will start at level 1 and work their way up to ten before they leave the arena. Then, they will swear to destroy the Lich, join a campaign against evil, level up, and finally battle the Lich. I have the beginning and end sort of planned out, and have more than enough seeds to fill in the middle. I’m just editing for flavor, and soon I’ll start the campaign (hopefully). Some points:

-I’ll be using Sagotsky’s idea in the tourney to limit the spell components/reagents, but will have to change the spells so that all x-hundred of them only use up about 20-25 reagents, which I will expect the party to keep up with. I’ll try to help by giving them as many chances to buy them as possible, and make them cost-efficient, but otherwise, I’ll try to limit their game-changing spells.

-The familiar will join the party at the beginning, when they all awaken, and continue to stay with them until the final battle, when she’ll have to choose between them and the Lich. She ends up sacrificing herself (because she’s the phylactery) after throwing some Meteor Swarms/Wishes at the Lich (she’s a level 25 sorcerer). So yeah.

-One of the homebrews is the Lich’s spell to make his phylactery (a teddy bear style monkey) into a real animal (I don’t know if this is already a spell… if so, awesome!) and then that into his familiar at level 25.

-A houserule is that all phylacteries, if sentient, gain the spellcasting abilities of the lich at the time of the creation (but they don’t know it [usable only in self-defense?] until after they use it a few times and harness it)

Thoughts/opinions/great edits I should make?

Lubha talagang kaduda-duda ang paglalagay kay Berting Gonzales – ang matapat at maamong tauhan ni Aling Gloring – sa tuktok ng Department of National Defense na binakante ni Berto Teodoro, na kandidato ng Palasyo sa halalang 2010.

Maraming galit sa kanya – kay Berting, hindi kay Berto – lalo na yung mga kongresista at senador na madalas niyang isnabin sa mga pagdinig. Hindi ba’t bigla na lang “sumakit” ang dibdib niya noong minsang humarap sa isang pagdinig sa Senado? Kung hindi ako nagkakamali, tungkol iyon sa pag-upa niya ng mga tao sa Estados Unidos para mag-lobby at humingi ng suporta sa Charter change dito sa Pinas.

May dahilang matakot ang mga tao sa kanya, dahil sa mga ideya niyang kakatwa kung hindi man katawa-tawa. Nung huling ibinuka niya ang bibig, sinasabi niyang kailangan ng bayan ang isang “transition government” dahil wala na umanong pag-asa ang kasalukuyang pulitika sa bansa. Sirang-sira na ang kredibilidad umano ng Comelec at wala nang respeto ang tao sa Kongreso. Hindi niya sinabing pamumunuan ng amo niya sa Palasyo ang iminungkahi niyang transisyon pero batay sa disenyo, si Aling Gloring pa rin ang naroon at magpapatuloy siya sa pamumuno kahit lagpas na ang 2010.

Noon pa man, lagpas na sa eleksyon ang plano ni Berting. Magtataka pa ba tayo kung may mag-isip na “No-El” o no election ang maaaring tumbukin ng pagpapaupo kay Gonzales sa DND? Sabi nga ng ilang kongresista, hindi aksidente ang pagpwesto niya sa mahalagang ahensya ng gobyerno. Sigurado anilang merong nilulutong hindi masarap ang administrasyon, kasama ang pandaraya umano sa halalan.

Anila pa, magdudulot lamang ng lalong pag-aalburoto ng mga pulis at sundalo ang pagmumukha ni Berting sa DND.

Matatandaang pinagbintangan si Berting ng ilang rebeldeng sundalo na nasa likod umano siya ng mga pagpapasabog para bigyang katwiran ang deklarasyon ng emergency ni Aling Gloring.

“To give everybody a brief background of Norberto Gonzales, he is one of the masterminds of the Light-a-Fire Movement in the 70’s, the anti-Marcos group responsible for several bombings in Metro Manila, which resulted in the deaths of dozens of Filipinos. This information is readily available in the Internet and was even documented in the memoirs of Ed Olaguer, one of the leaders of the Light-a-Fire Movement. In short, this man is very much capable of wreaking havoc to our society. He is the true terrorist,” sinabi minsan ni Sen. Tonying Trillanes.

Ingles ’yun pero hindi na kailangang isalin pa dahil baka lalo lamang tayong matakot sa mama.

Sana nga ay pansamantala lamang siya sa posisyon. Dapat siyang palitan agad para lamang bigyan tayo ng kasiguruhan na matutuloy ang eleksyon sa Mayo 10, 2010.

The appointment of Norberto Gonzales as Defense Secretary is not an assuring development in the defense sector. Rather, it is a backward step from all the gains brought about by previous leaderships in the department, from Sec. Avelino “Nonong” Cruz to Sec. Gilbert Teodoro.

The National Security Advsier has exhibited partisanship, actively espousing his own political ideology even among the ranks of the AFP, which is mandated by the constitution to be non-partisan, non-political. A few years ago, he conducted seminars among soldiers encouraging them to initiate political change contrary to the policies of the AFP and DND which prescribe soldiers to be insulated from politics. In those seminars, he advocated his personal political ideology and in a not-so-subtle approach, try to convince the soldiers that the current political system needs to be replaced and the ones to take the initiative should be the armed forces. On pressure from this representation, he was forced to stop the seminars which was deemed by the DND as unauthorized.

It is also troubling to note that Norberto Gonzales also recently proposed an extra constitutional transition government, which intended to prevent the conduct of the 2010 elections. With the national and local elections coming, there is great danger that Norberto Gonzales may use it as an opportunity to further his political agenda with the Department of Defense and the Armed Forces as his tools.

These are enough for us to see the appointment of Norberto Gonzales as risky not just to the professionalism and neutrality of the AFP, but also to the constitutional processes.

To top it off, he has exhibited a hostile attitude to the constitutionally mandated oversight institutions. He purposely avoided attending budget hearings of his agency, not giving respect to the House and Senate. As

A more acceptable person should be named as permanent replacement as soon as possible. Otherwise, the AFP will suffer in morale and may affect the professionalism of our soldiers.

Well, I feel like a horrible person now.

No, it’s not because I just got my hair lopped off, or the fact that I re-watched all of Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged in one night (oh god, my brain is gone!), or even the fact that I’m wearing a flipping modified Dungeons and Dragons shirt. Oh, no. It’s far more than that.

I have become a crazy fangirl. And I feel dirty.

Yeah. I just google-stalked a bunch of voice actors who are way older than me and will never know I exist (in all likelihood, though perhaps someday. . . [EWW!! Banish evil girly thought! Bad DTA! Bad!]). And that means I’ve officially become that which I despise more than crappy english dubs that don’t sync properly: a net-stalker.

What’s more, I couldn’t find any information on one of my targets, so it was a complete waste of time. And I’m not even going to tell you who it is. That would be too easy.

Ok, I was lying. I will tell you, out of my desire to track down more than a filmography (I just wanna know basic facts, I swear! I’m not a pervert! I’m not a freaky fish guy!). His name is Braden Hunt.

For those who bother to actually read my blog, you’ll recognize him as the guy who played the non-girly version of Cho Hakkai, my favorite Saiyuki character. He’s pretty much awesomeness in a can, but without the can. And he kinda looks like David Krumholtz. Kinda. The only picture I could find was hella grainy (Yeah, I just used “hella” in a sentence. I’ve really sunken that low. And my grammar is loose and sloppy. I despise myself right now.).

Anyways, I suppose the reason why I can’t find anything on him is that he’s a very private person who doesn’t really wanna be a celebrity (not that I blame him, knowing most fangirls and their hair-stealing, glomp-tackling ways). Or he’s some sort of superhero who’s alter ego isn’t all that fleshed out. Or maybe, he’s actually some sort of government agent from the future who was sent back in time to assassinate some baby who is a future evil overlord, and accidentally got cast in a bunch of anime before he realized what was going on.

That last one’s gotta be it! And now the world is in grave peril because his identity has been revealed via that grainy photograph, and the baby overlord — who is actually Hugh Grant’s clone and thus the only legitimate heir to the throne of the Empire of Tacky Romantic Leads — is preparing a counterstrike at this very mo. . . oh, hell and damnation! He already made the first move by destroying ADV Films, leaving the agent codenamed Braden Hunt with no cover!

It must all be an elaborate scheme to destroy the anime industry in America, replacing all the English voice actors with Brits! Then the British characters might actually sound straight, which would destroy all potential for yaoi pairings! This cannot be! Baby Hugh Grant must be stopped!

Don’t worry, brave warrior Braden Hunt. I’ll support you in your fight against the tea-swigging anti-Texans! No matter what, you have to win, and I’ll do my best to assist you.

Just as long as you tell me your blood type.

I’m kidding. Really.

-DTA

Oh, and I’m not on drugs. I promise. No matter how much it seems like it.

50 penemuan terbaik 2009.

25 of Your Favorite Video Games Recreated as Dioramas.

Howl’s Moving Castle. Dari lego.

Seni Barcode Jepang.

Toilet roll pixel art. So simple. So cute (kamar tidurnya kelihatannya nyaman juga).

10 Geeky Laws That Should Exist, But Don’t:

1. Munroe’s Law: A person in a geeky argument who can quote xkcd to support his position automatically wins the argument.

Dell Inspiron Zino HD Desktop. Mini.

Resume/portfolio bergaya D & D. Sneakers bergaya D & D.

Foto komposit galaksi Bimasakti. 648 megapixel.

Ini mungkin satu Facebook Group yang saya mau gabung dengan sukarela: Mengumpulkan 1 juta pendukung agar… pasangannya mengizinkan rumahnya dijadikan kapal bajak laut. I wish I was kidding.

LOLCUTE:

Forced-perspective photography.

15 hal yang layak diketahui tentang kopi. Hooray Coffee poster.

Wikipedia merangkum rentang tahun 2000-2009.

Gerade zurück von einer DnD-Session, schon wieder gibt es was zu schreiben – diesmal sogar so wichtig das ich gar nicht erst lange rumüberrlege, was ich schreiben muss.

Nachdem wir 4, ja diesmal wirklich 4, uns getroffen haben und 2 Teile des 3 teiligen, neu gekauften, Tapiziertisch als Spieltisch umfunktioniert haben, gingen wir sofort los – natürlich nicht mit einer neuen Runde DnD. Die Belangslosigkeit und der Inhalt des üblichen Vorspiels war wie immer zu ignorieren. Die Themen drehten sich um Cthulhu und dem damit verbundenen Einsteigerregeln als eine Art Demo zu dem Spiel. Siehe dazu: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cthulhu-Mythos bzw http://www.pegasus.de/cthulhu.html Bei dem zweiten Link  gibt es auch irgendow ein Link zu einer pdf Datei mit den Einsteigerregeln. Oder man gehe zum Fachhändler, dort liegen auch andere rum, wie Shadowrun. Nachdem man mehrere neue Projekte vorstellt, sich gegenseNeugigkeiten erzählt und mindestens 2 Stunden nach dem Treffen mal auf die Idee kommt, zu spielen, so kann das höchstens mit dem Einwand “Heute sind zwar aber eine halbe Stunde früher dran” verlängert werden.

Die zu spielende Geschichte war recht simpel: Gruppe von 4 Leuten, unterschiedlicher Klassen, macht sich mit einem Pferd auf dem weg irgendwas zu transportieren – so einfach so simpel. Zwischendurch wird auf Gegner gekloppt, die irgendwas mit Level 1 zu tun haben – hier wurde dabei die neuste DnD Init Software genutzt und darüber philospohiert, wie man die besser machen könne. Spätestens konnte jeder hören, dass der SL die Stimme verliert. Ob es am Kampfstil lag – man weiß es nicht.

Es folgt eine Pause – im Spiel sowie ausserhalb. Es wurde philosphiert, wie man einen doppelten Fallschaden erhalten könne, wenn man doch nicht heruntergafallen ist und der Baum mindest 10 Meter groß ist. Der SL trinkt absofort nur noch kaltes Wasser – mhm… Schon da befürchtete ich, dass könnte nicht soo gut sein.

Nachdem nun festgestellt wurde, dass es weiter gehen muss. Habe ich mich nach vorne gestürmt und diplomatisch sinnvoll mit dem Sohn des Dorfältesten geredet. (“Kommt dein Vater wieder oder ist er zum sterben in den Wald gegangen?” “Prinzessin? Müssen wir unbedingt los?” “Muss das Pferd mit?” “Okay, du kannst dich erinnern das es die Prinzessin ist.”) Schon jetzt war die Prinzessin, gespielt vom SL, eher stumm bzw im Stimmbruch (“auf dem Weg endlich ein Mann zu werden”)

Nach 2 gespielten und 5 Simulierten Drachentötungen und das durchwuseln durch einen kaum durchkehrbaren Wald (falscher Zweig = wieder am Start) waren wir alle ein Level Up und rüstet uns aus – das war es auch schon. Den Vater fanden wir (noch) nicht, aber wir sind schoneinmal durch. Beenden mussten wir wegen zweierlei Sachen: 1) Es ist schon spät (war aber schon mal deutlich später) 2)der SL hatte keine Stimme mehr, was durch das erzählen von Witzen nicht zwingend besser wurde…. und wird.

Warum ausgerechnet so plötzlich die Stimme versagte, weiß der Geier. Vielleicht Überreizung des Lachmuskels

March 19, 1033

Xanda and I took the day off together and went down town… much to the dismay of Madam Samanda, who doesn’t approve of canceling classes.  We had a lovely bright and sunny day for our trip.  The spring is upon us with a vengeance these days, the hillsides sprouting green shoots like mad.  On days like this I’m sorry I won’t get to see the wildflowers of summer dusting the roadsides, crowding out everything else with their little blue faces.  The earth was still damp from the rains yesterday, and my slippers got quite saturated with mud and road grime.  I don’t think they’ll ever be the same, but Xanda swears she has a secret spell to take out any mud stain in existence.  She’s calling it Earth to Water.  I hope it works. 

In any case, I purchased a lovely explorer’s outfit.  A tight pair of brown cotton pants, a nice, loose blue silk shirt with many hidden pockets, and a beautifully well made doublet of cotton brocade and leather with more pockets.  I got a plain brown pair of boots too, with extra thick soles for many years of wear, and a brown leather belt to hook all my necessaries to.  I went a little overboard and got myself a new pouch for all my spell components, too.  It’s plain now, but I intend to embroider it with flames per my newest spell: Fireball.  I don’t know that I ever would have gone with something quite so skin tight had Xanda not been along, but we had so much fun trying everything in the store, and the blue brocade was so perfect that I really felt I needed it.  Some days I wish I could take that elf girl with me.  She says she wouldn’t leave the temple for all the world, though; content to sit in the barren hills and teach little ones for the rest of her life. 

While in town, I asked about transport to Brindol.  There’s a group of folks all leaving for the Brindol Craft Fair on the 23, and they will give me a lift on one of their wagons so long as I provide my own food and drink, and don’t mind sitting in the back with the cargo.  I think I’ll mind a little bit, being tossed about with the cargo around me, but to get where I’m going I’m willing to be quite uncomfortable at times.  It’s strange to think that I only have 4 days left in this place.  I’ll miss the quiet life of the temple, I think, but I’ll be trading it for a much more exciting existence.

I’m quite curious about this Annandale, too.  I wonder what sort of person he is, and if we’ll get along.  I don’t know what I’ll do if we don’t see eye to eye, for it will be quite impossible for me to return to the Temple of Boccob permanently, if only for pride’s sake.  I’m leaving a friendly place behind me, and sometimes I think that friendly should have been enough for me, that I’m crazy to seek more than I have right now.  But then I feel the powerful glee that surges up inside me when I channel the elements within my soul, and I know I’m right to crave a better understanding of my power.

March 22, 1033

They had a lovely little ceremony for me at dinner tonight.  My class presented me with a beautiful brass holy symbol of Boccob to take to my new place, and Madam Samanda made a nice speech about wishing me well in my endeavors.  I cried like a baby, but I’m feeling rather excited for tomorrow in spite of my tears.  Is this the last night I shall ever sleep under this roof?  And where shall I be sleeping in the future?

So, I figured I would write this in the hopes that I could help the next generation of wargamers with getting into the hobby. Whether your interested in Warmachine, Hordes, Warhammer, LOTR Mini’s, DND Mini’s, Malifaux or any of the other of the crazy varieties, I figured that the experiences that I went through and the things I have learned could be of some help.

Lets start at the top. My journey into the hobby started fairly recently, just in July/August of this year, 2009. I had always been interested in the hobby and had tried several times previously to get into the games without much success. I tried 40k and Warhammer Fantasy and just couldn’t ever motivate myself. A few years ago I found Warmachine and was curious, and even registered on their forums but never actually bought in.

So fast forward to last year. I had money, I was interested again, and I had the actual want to play. So, I tried Warhammer Fantasy again, and made my first mistake. I realized I had no one to play with! No one I knew played Fantasy, and in fact I had wasted my money buying the new box. I also realized that I had chosen a Horde army (so called because of the amount of troops you would need) and quickly found myself put off with the amount of units I would need.

I waited a few months, and then came the urge again. This time, I said, I would do some research, and determine exactly what I wanted to do. I checked into 40k again (Space Marines) and also Warmachine. I never looked at Hordes (boy do I wish I had now!) and one night after getting paid decided that I would dive into one of the games. I went to my local Hobby Shop that I had found, and found that alot of people were playing both games. I ended up going with Warmachine, mainly because after talking to one of the store employees (who turned out to be our local Press Ganger!) I would find Warmachine more my fit, as I wanted to play smaller point games.

Thus I purchased Cygnar, having them as a second choice (I had wanted Khador). And the rest as they say is history. I discovered I didn’t like Cygnar, and fell in love with my Trolls.

So, what did I learn and how can you all avoid it? Well, lets make a list out of it!

1. Research. I cannot stress this enough. Before spending ANY of your money you need to sit down and decide if you can devote the time and resources to this hobby. You also need to decide WHAT game and faction you want to start with. You can find all sorts of resources on the web to discuss this. Ask veteran players of the games that interest you, and make an informed choice.

2. Prepare. You are going to need more then just the starter kits to get going. You are gonna need glue, clippers, hobby knives, files, and paint supplies. My advice? Go to a craft store. You can get a good selection of all of the above for about $20. This cost is something you may not expect just starting out.

3. Community Check. Make sure you have a place to play that is welcoming. If the local community for your game stinks, or the game store you want to frequent is very insular you may run into issues and thus not want to play.

4. Decide your level of play. Tournaments? Casual play? What level do you want to go after? You want to include this really into research as some armies/factions for games are generally under the power curve compared to others. My faction for example, Trollbloods, is not considered a “Top Tier” faction and I am aware of that. I still like the army.

In the end be prepared. I cannot stress this enough. You are going to want to be careful with what you do. I would not jump into the game. In fact, playing a few demo games may be a good idea as well, as you can learn the mechanics of the game and quickly learn if you are even wanting to spend time playing it. I learned from my mistakes. I should have done a WHOLE LOT MORE Research, which was really my major mistake. I had thankfully done the other 3 things on my list, and came out ahead. My FLGS is great, and they welcomed me with open arms.

Whatever you decide, whatever game you play, just remember this one major caveat: Play to have Fun first, and you will always be happy.

I think it is high time that I present a monk feat. The monk is one of my most favorite classes and I simply haven’t given it the feat-discussion justice that the class deserves

Aspect of the Rock [General]
Prerequisites: Improved Unarmed Strike, Stunning Fist, Power Attack
Benefit: When using the power attack feat the DC of your successful Stunning Fist attacks increases by the penalty you take due to the power attack feat.

Note this is designed with the Pathfinder version of the Power Attack feat in mind, other editions should tailor the progression of the feat presented above in a similar way.

Here are the promised other pictures from our regular Monday club night (November 2nd).

Here we have some of the RPG players. The don’t bite – honest!

I think they are playing D&D - yes the original one

Next up a bit of 40k . . .

Tau vs Ultramarines

Tau vs Ultramarines (again)

There was also a competition game going on. Lizards vs Orcs & Goblins.

Dave's Orcs give Daiv's Engine of the Gods a wide berth.

And finally a game of Agricola. A family of 5 and a big stone house FTW!

Lots of serious pondering going on

Eigentlich wollte ich diesen Beitrag nie schreiben-  denn er berichtet von einer einigermassen Katastrophalen DnD-Sitzung. Dazu war ich auch noch der SL.

Nun, es begann ganz normal: Wir 4 trafen uns – mit den üblichen Problemen. Aber immerhin. Nun kam noch ein Charakter dazu- macht nichts. Ist ja nur ein Bombenleger, der alles in die Luft jagen kann. Warum auch nicht? Er sollte eh sterben.

Während der eine nun dabei war seine Wohnung in die Luft zu jagen, bekam der Erfinder die Intention der Zufallsformel – heißt also: Er konnte den Zufall berechnen, was aber wurscht war, da sich die Story eh wieder in eine andere (völlig unzusammenhängende Richtung) entwickelte.  Der Tod sollte eigentlich Entführt werden und die Gruppe sollte ihn eigentlich wiederfinden, während sie gleichzeitig den Geheimnissen Englands auf die Spur kam.

Aus der Geschichte von Königen, Dämonen, Schwerter, Drachen und Mythen wurde nichts… Unter anderem deshalb  weil man sich darauf konzentrierte eine Bank zu Überfallen, Kampfroboter zu bauen und als Drache versuche das Rätsel zu lösen. (Hierbei danke an Sebbe, der wenigstens versucht hatte die geschichte voran zu treiben.)

Was war der Fehler? Man darf den Spielern nicht zu viel durchgehen lassen! Sonst endet das in einer Roboterverseuchten Welt, mit underten Toten ohne einen Kampf. Ach ne…. 1 Kampf gab es… gegen den Putzroboter.

We’ll be hosting Weekend in the Realms this… well, weekend! Every year, Wizards of the Coast allows tournament organizers in good standing to host four one-time-only custom-written Dungeons & Dragons adventures, and this is one of them! More details below the cut.

This particular adventure is part of the RPGA (Roleplaying Gamers Association)’s Living Forgotten Realms campaign, which is a worldwide persistent campaign – a lot like a pen and paper version of a multiplayer online game. In LFR, you can create a character that you can take to any of the tables in the WORLD that play LFR – and there’s literally thousands of players and thousands of games a year, including local regular gamedays on Saturdays and Mondays.

New to RPGs, or not familiar with 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons? No problem. We have pre-printed character sheets for 1st level that are designed to be ready for the dangers of The Icy Queen’s Crossing (as well as swanky full-color glossy maps!) All the abilities are printed on the sheet, and we have plenty of helpful local players attending the event who will be happy to guide you through the playing process.

Right now, we have tables scheduled for Saturday at 3 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m., but we can expand an add to those times if we know when to expect people. To ensure a seat at the tables – and they’re filling up fast – sign up on Warhorn here. It’s just a couple of minutes to sign up, they don’t send you spam, and you’ll be guaranteed a seat at the table if you’re signed up for a spot with a DM. Even if the tables are already full, don’t worry! I’ve arranged for more tables to be run if necessary through our helpful local DM community. But it’s very helpful to them to be able to know exactly who and what characters to expect.

March 10, 1033

Well, it’s starting to be spring again.  We’ve had unceasing rains lately instead of unceasing snows, but the hillsides are beginning to look dusted with green.

No word yet.  I suppose I’m being too impatient, expecting a reply to my inquiries so soon.  I can’t help but be anxious, though. 

 March 15, 1033

I recieved a letter today! It’s from a Madam Damynda at the University in Brindol, just a short trip over the hills from here!  The situation seems ideal.  I’ll surely be able to find an experienced Wizard to study from at a university.  Madam Damynda writes that a professor of theirs, Annandale, is seeking an assistant to field student questions and grade papers while he continues with some important research.  I’ll be given room and board in exchange for my services, and be able to take a few classes free of charge in my off time!  Madam Samanda knows Professor Annandale slightly.  He stayed here on his way to Brindol several years ago, and if he knows Boccob, he must know about magical study.  I can hardly wait to be off!  Though, of course I’ll have to be delayed several weeks to put my things in order and make travel plans.  With the university so close, it will hardly be a permanent separation.  I won’t feel so bad about leaving here when I know a visit is possible, even if I never have the chance to make one.  Xanda will have to give my students their final exams in April, for I will be gone to Brindol.  They have a theater there, and a seashore!  I can hardly wait.

March 16, 1033

I spent all day packing.  Luckily I don’t have many possessions and Fon was kind enough to give me a bag of holding as a going away present.  He teared up a bit when he gave it to me.  Said it had been in his family for three generations.  They were a great set of adventurers, Fon’s decendants, and he was just glad to be able to pass it on since he has no relations of his own to use it.  You would think I was going straight to a Dragon’s lair the way Fon talked of my leaving the temple and the dangerous times that will ensue, but I’ll miss the old curmudgeon.  It was sweet of him to give me the bag, and I will think of him every time I use it.  I intend to take my quilt, and both sets of robes, as well as my spell book (of course), and my diary (ditto).  I’ll probably see if I can buy a set of adventuring clothes before I set off, much more comfortable and cool than all the drapey fabric of my Wizard wear will be on the road.  A good pair of sturdy shoes would be nice too, instead of the thin slippers I wear around here.  I must see if I can get someone to take me to the shops.

Madam Samanda announced my leaving at dinner today, and my entire class burst into tears, bedewing their soups with saltiness.  They’ll soon forget me for their new teacher, and realize how short a time a year really is.  As of yet, they’re only about sixty years old, hardly old enough for anything to grab a hold of them permanently.  I feel a slight twinge of guilt in leaving them half way through their year, but there’s really no help for it.  The letter from the university said to make haste, as their term had already started.