2023 A New Year, New Challenges!

bgstat, game challenges

It’s that time of year where folks make resolutions to improve themselves. I don’t do that. Let’s face it I’m a deeply flawed person who is so long in the tooth now that I’m comfortable with that flawed entity I have become.

But what I have started doing in the last year or so is using the challenge functionality of the bgstat app to set gaming challenges.

Out of the four challenges I had running last year I only completed one of them. That being the Play 40 New-to-me Games challenge.

One of the four challenges carried over into 2023 (see further down) so technically is ongoing.

2022 Challenges (minus the one that carried over)

I don’t see not completing the remaining two a failure. Both had over 50% completion. They encouraged me to get certain games to the table. And that’s the point. The challenges are there to get me to play games that are just sitting there on the shelf.

So to get over half of my big games to the table was a great achievement. As was playing so many of the purchases I made during the pandemic.

Ok with the rolling over 2022 challenge of trying to play as many of my unplayed games I’m only doing one other challenge in 2023.

Hopefully it will allow me to focus on getting those unplayed games played. I still have a lot to get to the table. Plus play those games that have one of my favourite game mechanics.

Well that’s it for my 2023 challenges. See you in my next post.

Happy New Year 2023 Edition!

#dungeon23

I’d just like to wish everyone a Happy New Year.

Obviously over the next week there will be the usual stats posts for the previous month and the seasonal bonus post of yearly stats. Throw in a post about the new years gaming challenges and the year won’t have started off that well for readers of this blog.

Also this starts today…

I’ve already bored you with the prologue posts in the past couple of weeks.

But today we start to take that boredom to new depths.

So along with all the stuff I’ve already threatened you now also have regular posts on here to look forward to about #dungeon23, along with daily Instagram photos (if you follow me there) to suffer.

Have a great day recovering from the nights excesses see you in the next post.

Oops forgot the title!

Fenland Gamers, game night

Last night was the first and only session of the Christmas gaming program for Fenland Gamers that I could attend this year.

Traditionally there are three gaming sessions organised. However work rotas meant I had shifts during two of them. It was just luck that I was on an early yesterday and thus able to attend.

It was really great to be seeing friends again and playing games with them.

After some catching up, Katie, Jeff, and myself played Dune Imperium ALL IN!

By that I mean not only was it the core game and the first expansion Rise of Ix. But also the second and latest expansion Immortality.

Wow is this a table hog now.

For me Dune Imperium is like Istanbul. A great core game, that gets better with the expansions.

Granted when teaching to new players things might look daunting. But after a couple of turns, or just the first round, everything clicks into place.

I love what Immortality brings to the game. More decisions to make, more options.

In our game it was looking like Jeff might trigger the end of the game on the ninth round. I had decided not to go for one of my intrigue cards end game scoring conditions as I just didn’t think I would get a chance to complete it.

I had decided instead to try and get as close as I could to ten points and hope that my end game intrigue cards would be enough to snatch victory away from Jeff.

In the end after some beautiful minding it, I managed to grab three victory points to trigger the end of the game, and get two more from end game intrigue cards.

But that moment was all down to stealing an alliance token from Katie, and grabbing a couple of others by winning the combat, and doing research that enabled me to progress up faction alliance tracks.

It was not an outcome I had planned on that turn. But as I got closer to triggering the end of the game, one false move and we’d have gone to another round. Which would have given Jeff a window of opportunity to grab the victory instead. Everything had to be done in the correct order. Luckily I didn’t slip up.

There is still plenty to explore with the Immortality expansion before I talk more about it. But so far after this initial game I love it.

It was great to be gaming again. Tomorrow I’ve spending New Years Eve with Nathan so there will be a game or two there (even though it’s a whistle stop visit).

Now to start putting dates up for the next regular Friday evening gaming sessions.

My GOTY 2022

bgstat, by the numbers, gaming stats, GoTY, stats, Year In Review

It’s that time of year once again when content creators of all types throw top 10 lists of this and that at you.

I’m not one to avoid jumping on a bandwagon.

This post is all about me choosing my game of the year for 2022 from the 54 new to me games that I played.

Now the caveat is that this is new to me. Which means that the games may or may not have been published in 2022. In fact one of them is approximately 40 years old! But until this year I had not played them.

But first here are some stats from that really great app, bgstats.

First my top 9 new to me games based on the number of game plays.

My 2022 top 9 new to me games based on number times played

Next up the bgstats insights for those 54 new to me games.

The 54 new to me games I played in 2022

Roll & Writes

I’ve played a few roll and writes this year. That side of the collection has grown considerably also. So I think it’s safe to say it’s a genre I enjoy playing.

There is one shown above, it’s not only my least favourite roll and write, but probably my turkey of the year also. That game is Super-skill Pinball: 4 Cade. The least said about this game the better.

Out of the remaining 8 roll and writes if I had to choose one to be the roll and write for 2022 it’d have to be…

the combotastic Three Sisters.

I really like all the others. They are great, fun roll and writes. But wow Three Sisters just blows the mind, especially when the combos kick off. The use of the rondel and die selection introduce a bit of decision making whether to take a die to deny an opponent that die and action, or go for one you really need.

A great roll and write that really does stand out.

Expansion of 2022

My expansion of the year is the Rise of Fenris expansion for Scythe.

I had a blast playing the 8 game campaign. Which can be reset and played again. However you can also add it as modules to the main game. Adding more options, variability, replay ability to the game.

But that first play through. The twists and turns. The big reveals. Epic.

Also this was the last game I played with my friend Ben before he left us. Ben will be missed. But it’s the fond gaming memories that remain behind. Rise of Fenris will be one of those memories.

Honourable mentions: Dune Imperium: Rise of Ix (I won’t play without this expansion), Tapestry: Arts and Architecture

Ok onto the main event.

54 games to choose from.

Some incredible games played.

A very very hard choice. However I did come to a decision.

My GOTY 2022 is…

Drawn to the game by comparisons to Scythe, but apart from a mechanic or two it’s not really like Scythe.

I loved this game. From the variable board setup, to the era cards, power ups via paintings, variable leader powers and player boards, being able to tailor the maps to encourage or discourage combat.

It’s a really great game.

Honourable Mentions: Survive Escape from Atlantis, Libertalia Winds of Galecrest, Portal: the uncooperative cake acquisition game, The Thing boardgame.

Obviously I’ll be returning at the start of 2023 with the monthly round up plus the stats for for 2022.

Life, the universe, and not a dungeon23 post!

life, the universe, and everything, new arrivals, still alive

It’s been a day or two since I last posted. Several days since I posted something not #dungeon23 related.

Believe it or not I have other stuff going on in my life.

Sadly that seems to be work.

This year I’m not able to make the majority of the Fenland Gamers holiday gaming sessions.

Currently the only one I can make is the night before I do a whistle stop trip to see Nathan.

The lack of getting round a table with friends and playing games is a drawback of the new job role I took on in the later part of this year.

Don’t get me wrong I love what I’m doing. I’m working with some great people.

But there is a price all this comes at.

I do have some new arrivals though.

New arrivals

First up is the second expansion for Dune Imperium, Immortality.

I don’t think anyone will be surprised at this one considering I love playing Dune Imperium (especially with the first expansion Rise of Ix).

Just like Istanbul, Dune Imperium just gets better with each expansion added in. So I’m pretty excited to get this back to the table

The next two arrivals just show you how much I liked these games after playing them recently.

First up is Splendor Duel. Yeah I know two player games hardly get to the table, and attempts to get a two player game evening arranged have fallen flat. Add in the fact I’ve not won a game of Splendor in a long time. But despite this I still enjoyed the game and wanted it in the collection. Splendor Duel will be making the journey with me for that whistle stop trip to see Nathan.

Next up is Trekking Through History. I played this recently with Ben and Diego and had a good time playing it. I loved the stories of your time travels you could make up with the card titles. I also think this might play well as a two player game with Nathan.

Finally the latest Vampire the Masquerade Rivals expansion The Dragon and The Rogue arrived.

It’s been out for a while in the US, and only now starting to get in the hands on UK and maybe EU folks.

I love the game. But like many before (Ashes, Star Wars Destiny, Dice Masters etc) supply issues are just killing the game for me.

Well that’s it for now. I’ve a busy few days ahead of me. As they say no rest for the wicked and those that work in retail.

#dungeon23 prologue part 5!

#dungeon23, D&D, megadungeon, RPG

With little gaming going on at the moment. It’s the nature of this time of year and working in retail. All I seem to be writing about is this impending #dungeon23 thing.

I suppose thinking about it I should be doing my usual spoiler alert for my adventurers because for sure ideas from this prep and what I produce will most likely surface in the campaign. But I’m not.

This morning I got to a version of the dungeon hook and the d6 table I’m happy with and commit to ink on paper.

The final adventure hook I came up with for a DM to use is a straight rip off from the Bioshock video games. I like the idea of giving the DM a hook that allows them to explore or play with the same issues, plot hooks raised by the phrase in Bioshock.

You can read more about the use of the “would you kindly” phrase here. It’s in that linked article that I came across the following little factoid:

“Before the phrase “Would You Kindly” was chosen, the developers also considered the word “Excelsior”, a Latin phrase for “Over God”, [3] and the Latin phrase “Cedo Maiori” (I yield to a greater person).”

I like these Latin phrases a lot. I think these can be worked into the megadungeon somehow. They will add to the story and history of the place.

You also might find me breaching song copyright on some of the entries. Specifically on the first few with Guns ‘n Roses Welcome to the Jungle. Although you may spot the odd Status Quo or AC/DC lyric as well down the line.

Before I’ve even really started there is a bit of imposter syndrome kicking in, along side an inferiority complex about my poor artistic skills.

While I’m fighting those feelings I think I’m there ready to jump in creating my magnum opus megadungeon for #dungeon23.

#dungeon23 prologue part 4!

#dungeon23, D&D, megadungeon, RPG

This prologue thing is becoming more of a diary thing. But it’s doing it’s thing showing my prep progress, and capturing ideas.

Ideas such as I want a bag of holding as an item that any party in the dungeon can get. But it wouldn’t be me if there wasn’t a twist. This time the twist would be the same one as I wrote about in my campaign prep. Yep this bag of holding would be a gateway for the Bagman.

Another item I’m going to add for the party to stumble upon is a deck of many things.

I also want to use the idea of dreadful incursions as thought up by and used by Mike Shea (aka Sly Flourish). I’ll most likely use a dreadful incursion as one of the options in an encounter table for the level. I have his Uncovered Secrets Volume 2 that has a page of tables that can be used to create them.

I own the Galeforce Nine Tarokka cards. I’d like to use these somehow in this hashtag but I’m not sure how at the moment. I need to sleep on this one.

As the embedded Instagram image shows a new deck of cards arrived that can be used for this hashtag project and also during a regular session.

I’m pretty sure I ordered the fumbled searches deck too. But I’m not entirely sure about that as I can’t find an email confirming I did.

I have been working on the hook for the megadungeon plus a d6 table that can be used to give adventurers a reason to visit the megadungeon.

I’ll be ready to share this bit of work tomorrow.

#dungeon23 prologue part 3!

#dungeon23, D&D, megadungeon, RPG

As the embedded Instagram post below shows I’ve started to make some markings in the notebook I’m going to be using for this year long challenge.

The stuff so far is prep work, like abbreviations I’m going to use to show where the monster stat blocks can be found. Or a kind of index/contents for the levels. The third and final bit of useful stuff I’ve added for now is a checklist for the random generation method and which level it was used on.

I want a dragon in this megadungeon after all it’s called dungeons and dragons. So one of the later levels will be a dragon liar. But how did it get there? I’m thinking a massive deep hole/cave going from the service straight to the level the dragon is on. It will be too steep and deep for a party to descend.

I want multiple entrances to the levels, especially level 1. So I’ve come up with a way to help me make sure that I can align them between levels.

I forget who shared the following link on Twitter but I’m glad they did. It’s a great tutorial on drawing dungeon maps. Couple this with the Dyson Logos tutorials and any aspiring #dungeon23 participant with a modicum of artistic ability has all they need to draw attractive dungeon maps. Just a pity I don’t have any artistic ability.

I have this memory of reading a Mickey Mouse comic strip in the seventies in which there were giant ants.

It was this memory that came to mind when I saw the acid ant in the Kobold Press Creature Codex.

Now I’m wanting to do one of the levels where giant ants are involved. Maybe an ants nest that connects two differing dungeons into one megadungeon.

I’m also warming to the idea that I need caverns of fungi as well.

All these ideas are popping up.

I’m so glad I’m writing these posts to keep track of my completely random thoughts!

Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen A First Impressions

D&D, Dragonlance, first look, RPG

There is the proverb “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.”

Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen very much reminds me of this. Not in a good way.

Fans had been calling on WotC to release a Dragonlance book for 5e for years.

And yes technically that is what WotC have delivered.

But is it the book that fans were asking for?

In my opinion it is not.

With Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen, WotC have decided to give the D&D fans a fish instead of teaching them to fish.

Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen is an adventure set in the Dragonlance world. More on that later.

If we are to compare it with previous WotC publications Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen sits on the shelf along side previous WotC adventures such as The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, Ghosts of Saltmarsh, etc.

The majority of Dragonlance fans were hoping that WotC would give the setting the same sort of love that Eberron got with the Eberron Rising from the Last War. Whilst avoiding the poorly thought out, content light Spelljammer effort.

Why did I get Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen?

For me Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen will provide me with fifth edition bits such as kender species details for players, classes, monster stats, magic items, etc. that I can then use with another recent arrival.

That recent arrival being the D&D 3.5 Dragonlance Campaign Setting book.

A combination of the two should allow me to run a homebrew Dragonlance campaign with a reduced work load running it in 5e.

Before ordering this edition of Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen I did watch and listen to some previews by those content creators deemed safe hands by WotC.

Yes I’d prefer the Lord Soth store exclusive cover. But not enough to warrant driving to my FLGS and the addition cost to get it.

But the major decision was between the adventure itself or all that comes in the (not cheap) deluxe edition.

Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen can be played in conjunction with the Dragonlance boardgame WotC have released at the same time. In the deluxe edition you get both the adventure (this has a third cover) and the boardgame, plus a DM screen exclusive to the deluxe edition.

At certain points in Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen you have the option to switch to the boardgame to play out the battle instead of taking part in a local level “skirmish” of the bigger battle.

Obviously the opinions about the boardgame were from those more into ttrpgs. However the overall consensus that I saw/listened to was that the boardgame didn’t add much, took too much time, and that the “skirmishes” were lots of fun.

The DM screen didn’t sweeten the deal, or seem attractive enough to tempt me. Hopefully WotC will see sense and release this separately in the future.

The adventure itself (see told you I’d do more later) is set at the start of the War of the Lance, in Solamnia. It will take a party of four to six adventurers from first level to eleventh as they get involved in trying to defeating the invading Dragon Armies of Takhisis the Dragon Queen.

The story/adventure is told over six chapters. Although if you want to get technical it’s really five chapters.

The first chapter is actually a pick and match from three encounters that are designed to introduce characters to the world of Krynn. Which ones you run really depends on the make up of your party playing the game.

I’m not going to describe the plot, I’ll let you discover that if you get the book. However I will tell you about the bits I plan to use in my homebrew stuff, and bits I like the look of.

In the first real chapter of the adventure is a fishing contest. It’s not complicated and something I think I can reuse not only as a competition but also as rules for fishing if a party want to fish for their dinner.

I like the look of the battlefield encounters (also introduced in the same chapter as the fishing contest). I like how the actual battle is abstracted out and the party are thrust into a potentially tide-turning encounter. The edge of the encounter map is called the fray and what happens if a character enters this zone changes depending on the encounter. Entering the fray is not good.

What would be great for this adventure is a map pack of the battle encounters that could be used with the players. The maps in the book are so small.

The regular dungeon maps are fine, and there are a few I can reuse in my own stuff for sure.

I like the hex crawl that’s introduced. It wouldn’t be too much effort to reuse this for my own purposes. Once again though, the map for this could be larger. Even the player friendly one is too small. I think this is going to be a general comment on the included maps. Especially the ones that show a lot of area. I find it hard this wasn’t picked up or commented on by an editor/reviewer.

There are the usual appendices, items, monsters, magic items, and now sidekicks. Plus a page or two of some concept art. Plus a couple of maps, and a pull out map.

Reading the adventure it feels epic in scope. I want to say Rogue One like. Hats off to WotC on trying something different by tying the adventure to the boardgame for that battlefield armies clashing experience. Although I’m disappointed they didn’t do something along the lines of MCDM’s Kingdoms and Warefare rules. Although the battlefield encounters are a nice compromise that give that cinematic feel to the battle where we are focusing on what our heroes are doing.

I hope this first look/initial impressions has helped anyone stumbling upon this post.