Category Archives: RPG

D&D Product Round Up

D&D, news, RPG

Yesterday saw the start a week long “celebration” of all things D&D by WotC with their “Week of Legend Lore”.

I’d like to say yesterday’s announcement of the next campaign book “The Wild Beyond The Witchlight” was a big surprise. But it wasn’t. A couple of days earlier a leak on Amazon happened giving brief details about this book and one other.

The two covers for The Wild Beyond The Witchlight

The Wild Beyond The Witchlight takes players and DM’s to the Feywild for the first time.

WotC are pushing D&D Live 2021 on July 16 and 17 for the reveal of more details including new characters, monsters, mechanics, and story hooks. The book itself is due out on 21st September.

Next up is the other D&D book that was leaked early. On 16th November the third MtG crossover with D&D will drop called “Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos”.

I’m expecting “Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos” to be similar in format to the other two crossover books. So new character options, world info, adventure hooks and a sample adventure, plus new monsters and npc’s.

With its 5 schools of magic, and wizard world theme Strixhaven has been compared to a certain intellectual property featuring wizards. And it is this that WotC are hoping will appeal to young players, and attract them to the game. So there will apparently be advice included on running a campaign that appeals to all age groups included.

We getting our first sneak at this new books contents when some stuff to test drops on Unearthed Arcana later today. But also expect a bit more info to be forth coming at D&D Live 2021.

I’m not sure when this dropped last week, but on the 17th August WotC release a new DM’s Screen called the Dungeon Kit. Similar to the Wilderness one last year, this new kit will be aimed at dungeon delving.

“The Dungeon Master’s screen features a painting of a fantastic vista that plunges into the deep reaches of a mountain. Useful rules references cover the screen’s interior, with an emphasis on dungeon-delving.”

  • “DM screen specially designed for dungeon delving, with tables for encountering monsters and exploring ruins and dungeons
  • Features 36 punch out dungeon geomorph cards with pathway connection points, perfect for planning a dungeon during game preparation or for coming up with a map in the middle of play
  • Customizable double sided dry-erase sheet offers unlimited versatility for tactical game play. Numbered grid for sketching maps on one side, and summary of the main actions a character can take in combat on the other
  • 18 illustrated punch out condition cards, including mold and slime cards for dungeon encounters
  • 9 punch out numbered and illustrated initiative cards to easily track the turn order for players, monsters, and nonplayer characters”

I think I’m most excited about the geomorph cards. I like my Deck of Many Dungeons and Map & Dice Playing Cards for generating random dungeons. Whether it’s in advance acting as inspiration for writing/prepping an adventure or using to create a dungeon on the fly during a session, they are damn useful.

And oh joy my third set of initiative cards! But more condition cards are always welcome. They are very handy.

Hopefully with such a strong start to the week WotC will be able to keep the momentum and interest levels up.

My notes on ideas for a campaign in the Domains of Dread

D&D, RPG, session planning

Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft (VRGR) as I mentioned in the previous post hit FLGS and online retailers last week.

Since then I’ve listened to a couple of podcasts reviewing the tome (The Tome Show and The RPG Academy). The consensus seems to be VRGR is a pretty good book.

Whilst listening to these shows and the odd skimming of pages, ideas started to flow through the ol’ noggin. Hence this post to capture them before I forget them.

The first was I’d love a party of adventurers in a horror/Ravenloft campaign/one shot to have an illrigger amongst them.

An illrigger is a new class created by Matt Colville for one of his players and released to the general public (you can buy the pdf on the MCDM webstore). Illriggers are “elite shock troops, the terror-commandos of Hell,… . Knights of Hell, they are high charisma counter-paladins who master devils and cast their own unique spells.” (https://mcdm.fandom.com/wiki/Illrigger) And yes it’s also crying out for use in an Avernus campaign.

The way the mists are described and used within the Domains of Dread had me instantly thinking of the small and big screen adaptations of Stephen Kings story The Mist (sorry not read the words themselves). So this is such an obvious source of inspiration for using the mists within a campaign. I like the idea of a Dark Lord using the mist to terrorise and subjugate the population of their Domain of Dread. But James Herbert’s The Fog could also be another influence here, along with John Carpenter’s The Fog (not the 2005 remake, ok if you are desperate to make it a teen horror story then maybe!)

Mist talismans, which are used to navigate through the mists to the Domain of Dread it is for/from, also present interesting opportunities for the adventurers. I see these allowing influences such as Stargate SG-1, The Fantastic Journey, The Time Tunnel, where the party are traveling from one Domain of Dread to another as part of some larger campaign story line. Whilst in the current location one of the party’s objectives is to find the next mist talisman, and possibly get the Dark Lord to open up the mists. Although I do like the idea of a generic mist talisman that works with any Domain of Dread, but its random which domain it guides them to. Or they can chose the domain but it’s “glitchy” and the majority of the time takes them elsewhere.

It’s hard to list or suggest inspiration for a campaign as it all depends on the horror genre(s) being used.

My teenage years were the Eighties. Which included the whole video nasty thing. I saw most of those movies that the moral minority had banned, and frankly the acting in most of them was awful. Worse than the actual plot of the movie. I particularly enjoyed zombie and slasher movies such as Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween and the Living Dead movies.

So I know that they would influence my suggestions. But that session zero and the results of the content and themes questions (chapter 4 of VRGR) will have a major impact on suggestions for inspiration.

Although I’d love to do something based around Alice Coopers classic album Welcome to My Nightmare. Or even using Coopers The Last Temptation (along with the accompanying Neil Gaiman graphic novel) for the Carnival Domain of Dread.

Talking of graphic novels the classic Hellblazer comic and it’s antihero John Constantine would definitely be an influence. Although the dire Constantine movie and watered down single season tv series are best avoided.

I hope this brain dump given you some ideas for your own campaign in the Domains of Dread.

Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft

D&D, first look, new arrivals, RPG

Yesterday saw the release of the new D&D source book Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft (VRGR).

Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft Alt FLGS Exclusive Cover

VRGR takes players and DMs back to Ravenloft and the Domains of Dread. But this isn’t an adventure like the Curse of Strahd. This is a campaign source book.

A campaign source book that gives players and DMs the tools to run horror themed D&D campaigns.

Contents page (Image taken from EN World)

As the content page (above) shows those tools include new options for players such as lineages, dark gifts, new backgrounds and subclasses.

For the DM there is a chapter on creating your own Domain of Dread that also covers the various types of horror. Followed by coverage of the Domains of Dread that make up the Ravenloft setting. DMs also get a chapter on running horror games that also includes an adventure “The House of Lament”. This adventure is for first level players and takes them up to level 3. From a cursory glance over the adventure it looks like a haunted house type of affair.

This brings me onto a minor criticism, and I know that page space is an issue in these sort of things. But considering the advice earlier in the chapter about session zeroes etc, you would have thought there would be a paragraph or two that a DM could use summarising the themes and content for the adventure. But to be fair I’d like to see this sort of thing in all of the official D&D books.

I’ve not run the Avernus campaign, so was shocked when I saw in a Sly Flourish video that it uses body horror in part of the campaign. There needed to be some sort of paragraph at the start of the book, and also at the start of each chapter similar to what I suggested above. If nothing else it forewarns the DM that there might be problematic content for their gaming group.

The final chapter is the good ol’ bestiary for the Domains of Dread. More monsters is always a good thing.

VRGR is the latest instalment in what seems like a fixation with horror for the WotC D&D crew. Since the release of Avernus, we have had Icewind Dale, Curse of Strahd Revamp and now this. It will be interesting to see if they lighten things up.

I’ve been looking forward to VRGR since it was announced. And apart from the comment above, my initial look through the pages hasn’t disappointed.

I’d like to run a campaign in the Domains of Dread. But luckily the way my current campaign is structured I can introduce horror elements to it using VRGR and Tasha’s as well. Naturally before doing so there would need to be a conversation with the players. (Is there a name for a mid game session zero? ) And although this book is specifically for D&D some of the information like horror genres, or running that session zero are applicable to other systems. Horror Cyberpunk Red anyone?

Alien RPG Starter Set – First Look

#AlienDay, Alien, first look, new arrivals, RPG

Happy Alien Day!

Yep it’s a thing. I only found out about it a couple of weeks ago while researching stuff for a future post. Fox started it about 4 years ago apparently. So later today when the States wake up we should see some cool Alien franchise product announcements being made.

In the meantime there are some Alien themed photos I’ve pushed out on social media to amuse you, plus this post.

Just over a month ago I finally caved and got my hands on the Alien RPG Start Set.

Inside the Starter Set is basically everything a group of friends need to play the Alien RPG cinematic scenario inside the box, plus the sold separately Destroyer of Worlds cinematic scenario. And yes some of the contents can be used when using the core rulebook and your own scenarios or campaign.

Contents of the Starter Kit

So what do you get inside the box?

  • A 104 page rulebook
  • The Chariot of the Gods cinematic scenario
  • 5 pre-generated characters
  • A double sided map
  • 84 game markers
  • 56 cards
  • 10 base dice
  • 10 stress dice

It should be pointed out that since the release of this Starter Kit, the only place you can get the game markers, Chariot of the Gods scenario, map and cards for the scenario is in this kit. They used to be sold separately.

But taking all this into account the Starter Kit does provide good value. The two sets of dice alone account for a large chunk of the kits cost. Before the kits release the individual parts came to more than the cost of this kit.

Naturally the rule book at 104 pages is a tad shorter than the 392 page core rulebook. Which is understandable this is geared at getting players playing a cinematic game of the Alien RPG as quick as possible. It doesn’t need the campaign or character creation rules.

For those wondering what a cinematic scenario is, this is basically what the Alien RPG calls a one-shot. It’s a single stand alone scenario that can be played in typically one to three sessions. In the Alien RPG these cinematic scenarios mirror the sort of story arcs that you get in the Alien movies. The game play is usually high stakes, fast and brutal (read high body count).

Naturally this cut down rule book doesn’t need the short introductory cinematic adventure from the core rulebook, or the creature stats (these are provided in the scenario).

I know some have criticised the lack of character creation within these slimmed down rules. But the D&D starter kit also didn’t allow you to create characters either. This is about playing a game of Alien RPG as fast and easy as possible. I don’t see it as an issue not being able to create characters. However I do agree with the comments I’ve seen about including a couple more cinematic scenarios. They could be short one act missions similar to the one in the core rulebook.

The cards provided include 10 initiative cards (although playing cards could be used for this), 12 equipment cards, 10 character/npc cards, and 24 agenda cards. Obviously the initiative and equipment cards can be used in other scenarios. But these are a handy inclusion.

I’d have liked to have seen the pre-generated characters printed on card stock to make them a bit more durable to wear and tear.

Overall if you want to play the Alien RPG this Starter Kit is a good place to start.

Green level pledge arrived

Paranoia, RPG

Just under a week ago the Project Infinite Hole Kickstarter for the Paranoia RPG dropped through my letterbox.

It was a very pleasant surprise as I was not expecting it so soon after fulfillment had started. It was the very next day. At I best I thought it’d be about a week before I’d receive it. But that quick! Mind blown.

However after opening up the package and checking the contents, I spotted one issue. I had two Thriftylist decks and was missing the Disaster deck. A quick email exchange with Mongoose Publishing and a “replacement” Disaster deck was going to be put in the post (it turned up this morning).

Contents of the Green level pledge

Basically this Paranoia Kickstarter goes into depth on the R&D department. Introducing new equipment, NPC’s, locations and ways to combine items.

Obviously there are new missions, with four iirc making up a campaign! Yep a Paranoia campaign. Apparently this is a first.

As we ease into meeting up in real life I’m hoping I can get enough interest to run one or two Paranoia sessions once they can be safely done. I’m also hoping I can get one or two of the other RPGs to the table too.

Unnamed blog post

Last Days, miniatures, miniatures painting, new arrivals, painting, RPG

And we’re back. This post is going to be all over the place (when aren’t they?) But we are starting off with a look at the progress I’m making with the Alien miniatures to use with Last Days (and the RPG).

I have 13 aliens assembled which includes the Queen. Which means I have 12 more left to do. However I decided to paint the assembled ones before putting the remaining ones together.

That meant I needed to decide how I was going to paint them. So it was off to the internet to look for some painting tutorials. Luckily with the older now out of print AvP game and the new Alien game there are one or two posts and videos about painting the aliens. And you guessed it they all had different colour schemes! Which means choose the finished look you like the most and follow that. And that’s what I did.

Here is the tutorial I decided to follow.

So far I have primed the figures with a black primer. Then dry brushed the models with Runefang Steel (which I just realised is the wrong paint! It should have been Leadbelcher! But I actually like the way it’s turned out.) Finally after the dry brushing I applied a wash of Nuln Oil. Now I just have to wait for that all to dry now before proceeding with more dry brushing. But that’s tomorrow’s job.

Painting progress of the Alien miniatures

You’ll also see above that I have some more supplies in to start painting the Big Bang Theory figures with. The important one was the orange brown for Raj. The others were just getting more in off paints I already had.

Not board game related but I do talk video games from time to time on here. And let’s face it I have been playing them since the dawn of the entertainment media that it is.

A couple of years back the Royal Mail issued commemorative stamps celebrating the rich history and achievements of the British video game industry.

Back then I didn’t have the resources to get a set of the stamps. But I did now. So when I saw that I could still buy them whilst pre-ordering the upcoming commemorative stamps celebrating British sci-fi. Well I snapped them up.

Royal Mail commemorative stamps celebrating the British video game industry.

I’m not a stamp collector. But these like the Asterix stamps that I have are just pretty cool to own.

The stamps bring back some find memories of simpler, more care free times. There was a sense of pioneering, pushing boundaries with the games back then.

The only drawback I see with these stamps is that Llamasoft and Jeff Minter are not represented. I love Llamasoft games. They have a unique feel, almost purity to them. Minter has been a gaming hero of mine since the early 80’s. He’s a coding god in my eyes.

Alice is Missing arrives

Finally I’ve been able to get a physical copy of the silent RPG Alice is Missing (I have a digital copy).

I just now need to organise a game or two using the discord server I have access to. Oh and learn how to assign roles, etc in discord. But that’s an apathy thing to overcome.

Twilight Imperium the RPG

genesys, news, RPG

[said in the voice of The Rock] Finally! Genesys gets a new source book!

Announced yesterday by FFG and Edge Studios on pages 4 and 5 of the Twilight Codex issue 2 that they released was the news that the next source book for the Genesys RPG system will be a TI4 setting.

Pages 4 and 5 from Twilight Codex issue 2

The Twilight Codex is a web-based publication (basically a pdf you can download) that highlights rules updates and showcases new content for Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition and its Prophecy of Kings expansion.

So it’s the natural place for FFG and Edge Studios (who are now the guardians of the RPGs that belonged to FFG) to announce a sourcebook set in the Twilight Imperium Universe.

We can get a hint of things to come by looking at Chapter 6: Space Opera of the core rulebook. This chapter looks at the setting Space Opera and uses Twilight Imperium as its example. I am looking for psionics to be expanded much in the same way netrunning rules were in Shadow of the Beanstalk.

Hopefully we will also get adversary cards to go along with source book.

I would say this announcement has been long over due by Edge Studios. Whose silence over upcoming Genesys related stuff has been infuriating and given the impression that the system may be deceased.

The new Genesys setting was not the only announcement within the pages of the Codex. There were also details of two novels set in the Twilight Imperium universe.

Twilight Codex page with book details.

It would appear that FFG are giving Twilight Imperium the Android treatment. It’s a shame Android isn’t getting some more love. But I’ll take the Twilight Imperium stuff gladly.

Quick and Easy Dire Creatures

D&D, DM/GM Tips, RPG

I think it’s no secret to those that read this blog that I like the advice that Sly Flourish gives, and the whole Lazy DM approach to preparing for a D&D session.

A while back I was watching his YouTube video (embedded below) for the preparation he does for the weekly D&D session he runs.

These are great to watch because you get to see the Lazy DM approach in action, and pick up snippets of great advice about running D&D at the same time.

The video I was watching had a doozy at the beginning. As usual the start of the video Sly retells the events of the previous session. However during that retelling we get a great bit of advice about creating dire versions of creatures on the fly.

I liked that advice so much I thought I needed to write this down somewhere. Which brings us to the whole point of this post.

Before I note the simple steps used to create a dire creature, what is a dire creature? Up to this point like many the only other time I can remember hearing of one is from A Game of Thrones with the dire wolves. So a dire creature is a larger, tougher, meaner version of the creature (there is a brief interesting discussion about it here).

I think these following notes will be simpler to follow with an example. So I’m going to create a dire ankheg!

The first thing Sly does for a new dire creature is double the hit points of the base creature. So this dire ankheg would have 78 hit points.

Give it an extra attack action or double the amount of attacks it does. So the Ankheg can now do two bite attacks a turn.

Basically bump numerical things up a couple of points.

Give it a couple of points on the Attack & Damage, so the Bite is now +7 to hit and does 11 points of damage.

Or you could do as Sly so succinctly summarises in this tweet I stumbled upon yesterday.

I have plans for using this a lot, it’s a dire world we live in out there!

Dwarven Gate Progress

D&D, miniatures, RPG

I thought I’d just share the progress on printing the dwarven gate(s) that Duncan is doing for me.

The first gate has finished printing. Duncan sent me some photos of it assembled, that I’m sharing below with you.

Ok it is being held together by blutac. So once I glue/fix them into position it will fit more cleanly. This was only done to give me an idea of how they will look, and progress.

I have to say it looks pretty amazing. I really think when these get out on the table they have a wow factor.

Duncan has nearly finished the second gate. With all the hiccups worked out in printing them he’s raced through the separate parts that make up the gate.

Can’t wait to to get my grubby mitts on them, and more importantly use them in a game of D&D.

Return to Ravenloft this May

D&D, news, RPG

Tuesday WotC announced their next book release for D&D 5e, “Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft”.

This new tome is a campaign source book that will allow DM’s to craft horror themed campaigns for D&D in the expanded Domains of Dread (the first time in 5e).

Naturally there will be new stuff for players such as backgrounds, character lineages, and subclasses, themed for a horror setting. Plus dark gifts, trinkets, creatures and a brand new adventure.

I have to say that my initial impressions of the cover art were not favourable. It didn’t excite or grab me at all. Maybe the FLGS exclusive alt art cover (below right) will look better in the flesh.

With this release the recent on going theme for D&D of producing horror themed titles continues. It started with Rime of the Frostmaiden, and was followed up with the Curse of Strahd Revamped release. Ok Candlekeep Mysteries (out next on 16th March) does break from that, but hey who knows there might be a horror one shot in its pages!

I’m excited for this release (although I’d have been more excited about it being Dragonlance). Horror in D&D interests me. And I’m interested in what advice the folks at WotC will be sharing within the pages on running and creating horror campaigns.

“Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft” drops into your FLGS on 18th May.

You can read the full product description on the WotC D&D website HERE.