#RPGaDAY2019 Day 28 – Love

D&D, RPG

Let’s jump straight in and see what today’s theme is…

Oh this is a good one, and extremely hard.

Let’s some stuff out of the system first before getting on with the post. Otherwise it’s just going to be hanging there in the background. Over shadowing everything I write, waiting to interrupt and distract from whatever poor point I’m making.

“What’s love got to do, got to do with it

What’s love but a second hand emotion

What’s love got to do, got to do with it

Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken…” (Tina Turner)

and

“I wanna know what love is

I want you to show me

I wanna feel what love is

I know you can show me…” (Foreigner)

Lurve in RPG’s. This is something you don’t often see in an RPG. It’s very player dependent. It can be something that would make the players very uncomfortable. Especially if we take a literal, carnal interpretation of the word. There are systems out there that have that element (Vampire I believe does). But generally it’s third party adventure ideas that explore this.

But love can be included in a campaign that doesn’t involve the players directly. NPC’s can be in love with each other. And what the players see is a love story unfold in front of them, maybe a Romeo and Juliette plot line, with the players helping the main NPC’s meet in secret. Or we see love as a major motivator for an NPC. I’m just spit balling ideas here of how I’d include it in a campaign.

The other interpretation of love for today is, I love RPGs and being a DM/GM. I love the creative process, the generating ideas. The plotting, discovering new things as you do the research. Seeing those ideas come to life at the table, the enjoyment the players get.

Phew I’m glad this ones over.

Valley of the Kings Premium Edition – A first look

first look

“I’m surprised you backed this Kickstarter” was the comment Jonathan left me on a shared Instagram photo to Facebook.

Jonathan then went on to ask what was different about this edition.

The easiest and most obvious answer is that it is all three editions of the game, Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Kings: Afterlife and Valley of the Kings: Last Rites in a single box.

The image below (extracted from the Kickstarter page) shows some of the other differences.

The size of the game has also increased! Before each version of the game in these nice portable, throw in a side pocket of a bag, boxes. Now the game comes in a much larger, regular size game box. The cards in the game have also gone up in size from a magic the gathering sized card to a tarot card size. The pictures below give you a more accurate comparison of the size differences.

There is also this cool pharaoh first player marker. Plus I’m not sure if this will be in the retail edition but in the Kickstarter edition there were enough clear sleeves to sleeve all the cards, and have a few spares left over if needed.

As the photo above there is more than enough space in the box to store all the sleeved cards.

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that the art has been upgraded as well. Well upgraded in my opinion. The style is completely different. And I like it.

Having the player’s and rules guides is a nice touch. The player’s guide focuses on how to mix and match the versions together, with some suggested sets to use. Those suggestions were created by the designer and some bgg folks. It also has the rules for the pharaoh cards (player abilities), solo game play, and a card supplement explaining the cards. And naturally the rule book covers how to play the game.

So why did I back the kickstart of a game I already had? Well I did only have the base game, and wanted the other two versions. So this was a really nice way to get them, along with the little additional extras not in the other versions. Yes it looses that portability aspect that was a big advantage of the game. But that completionist part of me (that seems to be in every gamer) would have wanted those extra bits as well. And they were never going to be available in the original smaller versions.

Now I just need to get this to the table and enjoy this really nice deckbuilder.

#RPGaDAY Day 26 – Idea

D&D, RPG

Having avoided another couple of difficult themes by boring you all with basically diary updates of game sessions, I’m back with the #RPGaDAY2019.

So let’s jump straight in with today’s theme of…

This theme seems on the surface a softball. But that’s misleading. This is the #RPGaDAY2019 theme version of an iceberg.

For me this theme is synonymous with my first and current homebrew campaign.

I think as a DM and creating your own campaign it helps to generate ideas from as many sources as possible.

For instance my In the wake of Pytheas campaign has a big clue in a major influence for ideas I will be using in the campaign. Despite being a D&D Forgotten Realms campaign, I will be using not just ideas from the said Pytheas and his journeys. But also from other Greek mythology such as Jason and the Argonauts, Theseus and the Minotaur, and the epic poem Odyssey. Add in some fantasy inspired films like Clash of the Titans, the 1970’s and 80’s Sinbad movies.

But my misspent youth sat in front of a tv watching whatever tv series and movies I was deemed worthy to watch by the three tv channel gatekeepers, and later during the home video explosion. Is now paying off! Just not financially.

Other ideas I want to use inspired by movies I watched growing up that would fit in nicely with this nautical island hoping theme are Warlords of Atlantis (actually saw this at the cinema, and yes I’m that old), The Island at the Top of the World. More modern films such as Jurassic Park has also sparked an idea for an island. Although I spent the last post in this #RPGaDAY2019 criticising Lost, the theme is great for using in this campaign. The semi recent Kong Skull Island is also a great source of ideas. As is Wonder Woman. I like using the premise of Waterworld, if not the idea of having a floating humanoid/magic created floating island.

Krull is a movie from my teenage years which I’m definitely taking the plot from. It’s a variation of the Clash of the Titans plot. Taking the plots of films outside the fantasy genre is also a great idea. The Magnificent Seven, The Dirty Dozen/Inglorious Bastards, Kelly’s Heroes, great movies, great plots that can be transplanted into a campaign. Or keeping with the nautical ship based idea for the campaign The Poseidon Adventure and it’s sequel would make a great adventure.

I enjoy playing Magic the Gathering and I’ve also taken ideas from there. Especially the Ixalan block. Ixalan is an island that has dinosaurs, merfolk, pirates and vampires. And is a great rich source of ideas to also use. In fact I’m using a couple of Planeswalkers from these as antagonists for the campaign on the pirate side.

Treasure Island and Kidnapped are the main sources of ideas for me on the pirate front and the news about modern pirates.

From comics I like the idea of Ka-zar and the Savage Land. Which kind of crosses over with the Jurassic Park and Ixalan stuff. But there is plenty from there plot wise I can borrow.

I could also use other mythology other than Greek. For instance Arthurian Legend and the sword in the stone, Beowulf, Norse mythology, even Roman.

So as you can see by exploiting my wasted misspent youth, I have more than enough ideas to run a very very long campaign. And that’s without even touching any of the many source materials for D&D both official and unofficial.

The ideas and inspiration can come from anywhere. By breaking out of your comfort zone and usual media and genres you can find a rich vein of ideas for campaigns.

Another Awesome Jeff’s Birthday Boardgaming Day

Game day

Each year my friend Jeff holds a boardgaming day to celebrate his birthday. I’ve been to the last two (not including this one). And as you will have guessed I was invited to this years celebration.

These game days are used as an excuse to get one of the “big” games to the table. By that I mean games that take possibly lots of table space, but require a few hours to play, such as Twilight Imperium (we played the third edition last year) or Memoir 44 (not usually a long game) as a multiplayer overlord game (the first time I was invited).

This year there were two or three candidates to play depending on the number of players able to attend. The final decision was made Friday evening by Jeff. We were playing five player Civilisation.

I was real happy with that decision. I hadn’t played Civilisation before, and was a game I had wanted to try. Especially with Tapestry going on pre-order in just under 2 weeks time (4/9/19). So when I bore you all with my thoughts on Tapestry I’ll be able to compare the two games.

As you can tell from the photos below Jeff’s copy of Civilisation is a few years (decades even) old. It’s aesthetics have that retro feel to them. And frankly it added to the games charm.

Early on I struck a deal with Jerry agreeing not to attack each other. We were right next to each other and I didn’t want to waste time and resources fighting on that front, when we both had to contend with the others.

I think the politics is an important part of a game like Civilisation. And despite Jeff’s best efforts to disrupt my agreement with Jerry, it held for the duration of the game. I even had a temporary truce with Gavin for three rounds.

The politics and banter are useful tools to get another player to not target yourself, or just as importantly to target a rival.

Around 1pm we stopped for lunch. We were in for a much anticipated treat.

For months like clock work on a Monday evening (after he has consumed it) we get teased with Jeff posting photos of his curry journey. Jeff gets home from work, and cooks a home made curry. And I can tell you now those photos of his food are mouth watering. Trying not to sound crude or imply an innuendo or double entendre, I’ve been wanting to taste Jeff’s curry for a while now. And yes I failed miserably there.

Friday evening we had been teased with “the curry is going to be achari murgh which is a traditional Indian curry rather than a BIR style.” This was Jeff’s own recipe, and for a first effort flippin’ awesome. It was really really tasty, and the spice/heat level was perfect for the hot day of gaming. By that I mean you were left with a nice warm tingle in the mouth after the delicious taste of the curry had left. You don’t want something that is going to leave you sweating and feeling the burn for the rest of the day.

The last few turns conflict was thrown out of the window, and people concentrated on getting cities built for the trade card draw, even if they knew they couldn’t support them, and would lose them.

I really enjoyed playing Civilisation. There is a reason it’s a classic. For me it has one of the important traits of a good big game. That is time just flies by. We may have been playing over 7 hours but it didn’t seem like it. You are engaged through out.

History will show that Jeff once again won on his birthday gaming day. It’s the law that this is the case, and we put up a good showing to make him earn that victory.

I had a most excellent time as Bill and Ted would say.

A big thank you to Jeff for inviting me. Also a big thanks to Gavin for the lift, and I didn’t even have to put out.

Silly Large Atraxa

Commander, magic, MtG

Yesterday was Commander Christmas.

I picked up my new Commander decks from my FLGS and got some games in as well.

The first couple of games were with the Faceless Menace deck, with a handful of cards swapped out. The graveyard hate really does slow down those madness decks.

One player particularly was getting through their deck fast (I hadn’t realised the madness deck was capable of that), hunting for solutions. Which meant they had many more cards in their graveyard than the rest of us. So although it seemed like targeting it wasn’t, just the obvious choice when it came to deciding which graveyard to exile when I was able to exile a graveyard.

It also helps that when playing a morph deck that you draw morph cards. Which I was having a hard time getting. Despite not touching that side!

But still I enjoyed playing the deck. It has potential.

Our third and final game saw me testing my modified Atraxa precon.

I took an early lead that saw me becoming a major threat.

After casting Atraxa using Opal Palace to get a +1/+1 counter on her when she enters the battlefield. Doubling Season and Corpsejack Menace kick in.

You play Vorel of the Hull Clade. Then end turn. Proliferate. Which puts 4 more counters on Atraxa.

Next turn, you activate Vorel. Which after the other triggers becomes an extra +32/+32 counters going on Atraxa.

At this point Atraxa is a 44/44 with flying, vigilance, lifelink, and deathtouch.

If a player who had been shown mercy hadn’t killed Atraxa on their turn (the ungrateful so and so) then Atraxa was going to start getting into silly numbers. It’s a shame I couldn’t protect Atraxa by say making her also indestructible. One shot kills are cool.

But after Atraxa getting killed, a board wipe taking out the rest of those nice cards, I was not able to reestablish a boardstate to get a win.

I didn’t win a single Commander game during the afternoon. But cool stuff happened. It was fun seeing other decks going off. A most enjoyable afternoon.

#RPGaDAY2019 Day 22 – Lost

D&D, RPG

I’ve talked about MtG today so I suppose I should talk about #RPGaDAY2019 and not just bury my head in the sand and avoid today’s theme.

So here is today’s theme…

When I see the word lost I instantly think about the tv show. About how hip and cool it was. How every one was discussing it, looking for clues about the island and it’s secrets. Almost every other person who watched it had their theories.

For at least 3 or 4 of the seasons it was must see tv. But then it started to lose its way. Until in season 6 we end up with probably one of the all time most disappointing ends to a series ever. A Game of Thrones did it’s best to try and match that honour. Both in the last couple of seasons and it’s final episode.

So what has this got to do with D&D and RPGs in general?

I think it serves as a warning. Something that should be studied and learnt from.

As a DM we want our campaigns to be like those first 3 or 4 seasons. Compelling, must watch, not to be missed. Have our players talking about the campaign and what they have just done in that session. Discussing theories and what they want to do next session. That water cooler moment.

But a campaign like any story has to end. We want our campaign to end more like Battlestar Galactica, M.A.S.H. or Twin Peaks: The Return. We want to try and avoid the last two seasons of Lost or that matter A Game Of Thrones.

In A Game Of Thrones they rushed things, didn’t take the time to set things up for particular plot pay offs. So when certain events happened the fans/audience felt cheated because often they felt they came out of nowhere for no reason. Basically things were truncated when they didn’t have to be.

With Lost they were doing the opposite trying to stretch things out, even when the story should have ended earlier. I read somewhere that you could watch the first couple of seasons and the last and get the whole story. The inbetween was just fluff.

So in our campaigns I think it’s important to avoid fluff. Try and keep things tight. Of the encounter doesn’t advance your story/plot, then cut it. You can always throw in a random encounter to break things up if need be. But we have to be on guard about being too ruthless and not having enough encounters to tell the story we want to tell.

Lost also never really established a main antagonist. It was fluid from season to season who the bad guys were. A good antagonist just makes memorable moments. It’s conflict. It’s good storytelling.

Lost also never ended story arcs. Viewers were just left hanging. Poor storytelling. I think when it comes to running a campaign, of the party get sidetracked from the current story arc or splinter off on another for some reason, it’s important that at a future point the story arc is concluded. So it could be they return to a inn and hear how the events of the abandoned story arc finished. That the bad guy they left massacred a village. You get the idea.

Lost also had lots and lots of unanswered questions. It’s good to have unanswered questions, they are future adventure hooks. But not the share number Lost had.

The hardest one to judge is the satisfying ending. You won’t know that until it happens and how the players react. But I think if you avoid the above the likely hood of the ending being a damp squib is greatly reduced.

The creators and writers of Lost were brave. They obviously knew the rules of storytelling. They had to to break them. Sadly the implementation was poorly executed. Which is lucky for us, as we can learn from what they did and their mistakes.

Hopefully my fading memory of the series, hasn’t faded too much. And I’ve remembered enough detail to make the points above correctly.

I think this might just be a very unique take on the theme for the day. Why do you think?

My planned instant upgrades for Faceless Menace

Commander, Deck tech, magic, MtG, MtG Deck Building

It’s Commander Christmas tomorrow. Yep the Commander 2019 pre-con decks hit your FLGS. We finally get our hands on the decks.

Commander content creators like The Command Zone and MtG Goldfish have already put up posts/videos on budget upgrades that can be done to these decks.

I’ve decided to share my planned upgrades but using cards from the current Standard legal sets. There have been some great cards that I think warrant the label of being a Commander staple. Naturally if you have the likes of Cyclonic Rift, Rhystic Studies, and Sensei’s Divining Top put them in. I will be. But for this post they fall outside the selection criteria for talking about.

Out of the four decks the one so far that I’m most excited to play in it’s straight out of the box form, and also upgrade is Faceless Menace and the morph mechanic.

I will say this does not mean I’m not excited to play the other decks. It’s just Faceless Menace appeals to me the most.

For any post like this bare in mind the cards are subjective, selected based on my local meta (your local meta will most definitively be different), what I have in my collection and can afford (which is also very very subjective).

So let’s look at the cards I plan to upgrade the deck with from the current Standard legal sets.

When this years decks were being spoilt with their graveyard shenanigans such as flashback and that madness mechanic I kept thinking where is the graveyard hate? I like graveyard hate. These three cards do a pretty awesome job of shutting down that shenanigans. Plus the nice thing about Grafdigger’s Cage is that it stops also those decks/cards that allow/treat the library as an extension of the hand, with casting the top card of your library.

Flash is a great mechanic. Being able to flash out those 2/2 morph creatures each player’s turn for free with the Commanders ability is amazing value. The Leyline and Vivien give me that ability. Lotus Field is a nice land.

I like tutors. Scheming Symmetry is a great Commander card especially if you can cast it as if it has flash.

I love Immortal Sun, plus it doesn’t switch off the 2 Planeswalkers I’ve included here. They were included for their ongoing abilities. If I get to use the activated loyalty abilities that’s a bonus. It’s extra card draw, spells get cheaper, and a buff to creatures. Amazing value. Plus with Ugin it means casting a morph card is free.

Well you already know why this Ugin is here. It’s that discount. The other stuff is just gravy. I like Bag of Holding. That maybe an unpopular opinion. But I like that I can dump cards into it to use later in the game.

If you are going to be able to play cards as if they have flash, then you need the mana. I loved playing Wilderness Reclamation in Standard in my Simic deck. And I love it in Commander.

So they are the Standard cards I am going to upgrade the deck with. The bigger question is what goes? I know the alternative commanders are first for the chopping block. But after that I’ll decide once I have the cards in front of me.

What do you think? Did I miss any?

Official MtG Companion App Released

magic, MtG, news

Yesterday WotC released on Android (get real I’m an Apple fanboy, I’m not going to share an Android link) and iOS their official MtG Companion app.

So why should you be bothered about this?

Well over time this I believe is the app that WotC want you to have as your go to app for paper MtG. I’ve seen talk of eventually at store and Magicfests that you will be able to submit match results, see pairings, and standings for tournaments. Which will be pretty cool.

But before we get to that stuff and any other ideas they have planned we get this open beta that is aimed at the kitchen table players at home.

Wisely I think WotC are keeping it simple, by giving players a way to run events/tournaments at home amongst a group of friends.

There are apps and websites already out there, and have been for years that allow you to run tournaments. Such as Tourney on iOS or Challonge that is web based. Naturally being more established applications they offer more functionality, most of which is relevant to MtG players. They also have their advantages and disadvantages.

So at the moment you can create a home tournament for between 2 and 16 players. Which can be constructed, sealed or draft. With rounds that are either best of 1 (yeah WotC still hold out that this will take off, but what you do in the privacy of your own home is up to you, freaks) or best of 3.

Nitpicking but I dislike the splash screen art. The screens have an awful lot of dead space. A great example of this is the leaderboard. It looks like the name and position has had an argument with the win/loss/draw stats.

On the other hand I do like the pairings screen and how easy it is to update results.

But this is cosmetic stuff really. Easily fixed.

Functionality I’d love to see is being able to select between round robin and swiss for generating the pairings. I’d love to have the save functionality expanded from just groups, but the results of the tournaments for that group.

For me this companion app truly warrants the beta tag. Unlike Arena.

As the start of a conversation during the beta phase of this apps development, it’s a pretty good start.

You will need TestFlight installed to get this on iOS during this open beta period.

Oh and here is the original post on the WotC website announcing the app.

#RPGaDAY2019 Day 21 – Vast

D&D, RPG

After yesterday’s brief look at Generation Decks, and skipping another day of #RPGaDAY2019 (it’s just a coincidence that it was a hard theme) we are back on the month long bandwagon.

So let’s see what today’s theme is…

Vast, such a big word! Sorry couldn’t help that.

After that poor attempt at a joke, what does vast mean to me?

I think it describes the Forgotten Realm perfectly. It’s a word that pops to mind when I think about it.

The map below of the Sword Coast is a tiny part of that world.

Despite that, even that seems overwhelming in it’s size.

You can narrow in on any area, and be blown away with the share amount and richness of ideas that will be inspired.

I think of where my homebrew campaign is taking place around the Moonshae Islands and Mintarn and the share volume of adventure ideas that I have for that small part of the Sword Coast.

Adventures based on classical literature such as the Greek stories and legends. Encounters at sea with pirates and monsters, and also on the sea bed. Islands inspired by movies like Jurassic Park or the Island of Dr Moreau. Then you get on the Moonshae Islands themselves and all that they inspire above ground and below in the under dark.

It almost seems overwhelming.

I just love how the Forgotten Realm is such a vast and rich realm to base a campaign.