An Artisan Game Arrives Along With Some D&D Books

D&D, new arrivals

Yesterday I got mail.

Today I get to share with you what that mail was.

I bet you are dying to know.

First up my friend Byron designed and created a boardgame called Rock Hunters.

Byron very generously sent my a copy of the game to play.

I will be writing about that experience in a future post. But in the meantime look at the amazing job Byron did producing the game.

The other thing to arrive yesterday was the new D&D adventure by WotC Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen.

At the weekend a copy of the Dragonlance Campaign Setting for D&D 3.5 arrived. But I was waiting until now to mention it.

And guess what I’ll be writing about these also in another post!

So what’s the point of this post? Well it’s a “hey look what I got” type post, and a nice change I thought from my occasional “look I’m still alive” type post after I haven’t posted for a day or two.

See you in the next post on here.

D&D Grp 2 Session 11 Planning #7

con DM/GM, D&D, D&D Grp2, DM/GM Tips, flgs DM/GM, one shot, RPG, session planning, taster

SPOILER ALERT TO MY ADVENTURERS! The following post contains spoilers for the up and coming campaign/session. You may want to avoid this post and join me in a future one. REMEMBER you have been warned.

Ok technically this isn’t for session 11, but then again the Bagman stuff isn’t possibly either. But these are notes for me to look back on when planning future sessions in the campaign so I don’t forget.

So there I was watching a YouTube about what other DM’s have in their DM kit and I came across the this one by Wally DM.

In it he mentioned that along with the Monster Manual he also includes a copy of his book Wally DM’s Journal of Puzzle Encounters.

“That sounds interesting”, I thought to myself.

So I googled it.

Which lead me to DriveThruRPG (which did not like me trying to log in using my Facebook details, which is how I normally do it!)

After watching the review embedded on the books page I purchased the pdf of the book (I’ll get a printed copy payday).

What sold me was the very first puzzle mentioned in the review using a stone statue of an owl and gems. It reminded me very much of puzzles from an early fps. I wanted to use this.

The Prismatic Owl puzzle (depicted on the cover) as it’s called in the book is one I will be printing out and adding to my folder for new players! It won’t work with Matt Colville’s The Lost Tomb of the Delian Order. But it could work with Frank Mentzer’s Dungeon, or some other maps I have in my DM folder ready to be called upon (you might like this Sly Flourish article on the subject), even maps generated on the fly using the cards/geomorphs I have would work with it.

It’s also something you could use when running a one shot at a con or FLGS.

I will definitely be using it at the first opportunity with my current campaign.

As I work my way through the book I’m pretty sure there will be more than a few puzzles I’ll want to use in the campaign.

Games Played Last Couple of Days

Fenland Gamers, Game day, game night, Scythe

Friday evening was once again a club night. Attendance was more pre-pandemic numbers than post. Whether that’s due to illness, time of year (it is the busy run up to Christmas) who knows?

Our first game of the evening was the classic, destroyer of relationships, Survive Escape from Atlantis.

This is such a fun game, and a members favourite.

Despite being victimised by the others (it’s so easy to make that claim in this game) I didn’t come last. I only got one survivor to safety but it was enough to put Marcin into last place with his lower scoring two survivors. At the other end of the survivor safety spectrum (more than three getting to safety) Ben managed to pip Colin to the winning line by a single point.

Our second and final game of the evening was Last Will.

Ben was declared the winner of this game. We still had a round to play. However with our hosts wishing to close up we had to finish the game.

The deciding factor in declaring Ben the winner was he needed one more action to trigger the end of the game, whilst the rest of us required more than that.

A fun evening, lots of banter.

Saturday afternoon saw me playing a two player game of Scythe with Charlene.

It was meant to be a three player game but illness meant the third player had to drop out at the last moment.

I was going to use the Automata as a third player. But I need to read the rules on running the Automata first before doing this.

We did use the modular board and that was the best idea of the afternoon.

Additional rules used

After randomly placing the faction markers round the board (all but one go out if using the Fenris factions as well, I removed that remaining faction from those that can be chosen), Charlene and I randomly chose player boards. Despite having the higher board I let Charlene chose first.

This will amaze folks but I did not go with my one of my favourite factions. Instead I gave Vesna a try.

Factions played

After choosing our factions we removed two of the modular boards. That was why using the modular boards was a great decision.

I had previously played Scythe two player with Jeff but that was with the “regular” board. Which isn’t best for a two player game. You can be on opposite sides of the map, never bump into each other.

With the modular board removing two of the boards shrinks the map so you are closer together, and you are more likely going to have to battle it out with the other player for spaces.

The way the map tiles were the Vesna river walk was useless and an early mistake for me. I should have built the tunnel first not the mech. Charlene had an easier time and was able to access more of the map without having to do either!

Timelapse of game of Scythe

I liked the resolution tile Deja Vu. It was fun. And how our end game was triggered. If Charlene hadn’t triggered the end of the game this way I would have triggered it on my next go by placing out my sixth objective star.

After the dust settled and money counted, I won.

If I play Scythe two player again it will only be with the modular board.

We finished off the afternoons gaming with a game of Splendor Duel.

I hadn’t played Splendor Duel before, nor had Charlene.

This is a two player only version of Splendor. Yes Splendor can be played two player. But sometimes like 7 Wonders Duel, the two player version gives you the same experience as the original but just takes it to another level.

I really like this as a two player game. Like it’s bigger brother it appears I’m not very good at it. I haven’t won a game of Splendor in a long time. And this two player experience was no exception and continued my losing streak.

I can see this being added to the collection to play with Nathan. Or on the rare occasion I get to play a two player game with Jonathan.

That was my gaming over the last couple of days.

It’s back to work for me now, and gaming when it can be fitted in.

D&D Grp 2 Session 11 Planning #6

D&D, D&D Grp2, RPG, session planning

SPOILER ALERT TO MY ADVENTURERS! The following post contains spoilers for the up and coming campaign/session. You may want to avoid this post and join me in a future one. REMEMBER you have been warned.

Didn’t think I’d be posting about this so soon. But my friend Colin did a blinder.

I thought I’d get the model of the Bagman at the next Fenland Gamers club night in two weeks time. There was no way I thought I’d gave it last night. The same day I asked if Colin could print it. He DID!

Bagman

Looks like the party will be receiving a bag of holding sooner than later.

I am leaning towards the troll stat block. The art of the two looks so similar.

However I could take that stat block and use the Lazy DM Companion to adjust it to something more “challenging” for the party and fitting the Bagman. Could the Bagman be a dire troll?

Or I could use the Monster Generator from the Uncovered Secrets Volume 2 (aka Lazy DM Companion Volume 2) to generate a quick and dirty stat block.

There is a bit of advice that does need baring in mind when coming up with the stat block from a Dragon+ interview with the creator of the Bagman.

“Stephen felt that bagman should be an entity with high Stealth,
because nothing’s more disturbing in a horror movie than when something horrible is in the background and the main characters don’t see it.”Dragon+ issue 37, https://dnd.dragonmag.com/2021/04/21/in-the-works-van-richtens-guide-to-ravenloft-2/content.html[8/19/2022 7:05:37 AM]

That same interview gave an interesting plot hook to explore as well.

“And like an evil parasite, it was committing atrocities while you and the party were asleep in the towns you were visiting? The party might think they’re following a murderer but in reality they’re bringing this killer with them and they’re the problem!
And what if the party becomes paranoid that it’s one of their number who is doing this? Maybe this sneaky, evil being realizes that one of the party members is figuring it out so it decides to try and take them into the bag one night.” Dragon+ issue 37, https://dnd.dragonmag.com/2021/04/21/in-the-works-van-richtens-guide-to-ravenloft-2/content.html[8/19/2022 7:05:37 AM]

In the meantime I feel inspired to paint a mini!

D&D Grp 2 Session 11 Planning #5

D&D, D&D Grp2, RPG, session planning

SPOILER ALERT TO MY ADVENTURERS! The following post contains spoilers for the up and coming campaign/session. You may want to avoid this post and join me in a future one. REMEMBER you have been warned.

YouTube threw up a video or two of the Dungeon Dad into my feed and I’m glad it did.

Dungeon Dad does this monster of the week thing looking at monsters in previous versions not in 5e. The one that first caught my attention was his video on the mageripper swarm. A swarm of creatures that attack magic users.

Half the group are magic users.

Now the hard part is where do the party encounter this swarm?

Another video he did was on The Bagman from Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft. This really did capture my imagination.

Once or twice the party have mentioned a bag of holding. So having a twist that comes with having one is awesome.

I love the idea of showing the players the sequence of art depicting the Bagman coming out of the bag of holding, along with some suitable creepy description of it emerging from the bag.

This might be something I could use to interrupt that long rest in the future.

There is also a 3D stl file that can be downloaded and printed using a 3D printer. Naturally I have messaged Colin with a link asking if he san print one for me.

I’m not sure if I’ll use the stat block the Dungeon Dad came up with or just run with the stats of a troll (one of the suggestions) possibly adjusted.

But still two cool monsters to add to the menagerie to call upon during a session.

All Good Things and Return of Father Son Gaming…

father son gaming, Game day

Yesterday was my last day visiting Nath.

In reality it’s more like half a day as I leave at midday to avoid traffic (especially the M25 leg), and to get back early enough for Mum who is on dog sitting duties. Apparently the two little horrors play her up rotten during the night!

After getting Nathan to empty and load up his dishwasher we had time for a game before I had to hit the road.

Nathan chose a favourite of ours 7 Wonders Duel.

This was a game that went to the wire, unlike our previous game during my last visit.

There was some take that with me stealing one of Nathan’s unbuilt wonders using a deity, Nathan destroying a couple of my cards (very annoying).

I did manage to build all four of my wonders.

However the game did go all three ages and to the final scoring.

I managed to scrape a win by two whole points.

And that was it. Time to pack away the game. Gather my things, and say our farewells.

I hate saying good bye to Nathan. I love our time together so much. I wish we were closer (geographically) so I could see him more often.

For those interested for the last couple of weeks I’ve been listening to Wil Wheaton’s Still Just A Geek (thanks to my friend Duncan for telling me about it). And on the trip down to see Nath this is what I was listening to.

It’s been a very hard listen on a personal level.

There was much that Wil talked about that resonated with me and my life experiences.

The journey back was used to catch up on a podcast or two.

With the imminent release of the next WotC D&D book, Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen I wanted to listen to some of the reviews/first looks to see if I should cancel my pre-order on Amazon.

It was the reviews (podcasts and youtube) that warned me about Spelljammer not being worth the money, falling short on what a DM might need compared to books like Eberron.

Podcasts I listened to on my journey home

I’m not cancelling my order. But I’m glad I bought the campaign source book because it’s not the product I really wanted.

My ideal product would have been a Dragonlance version of the Eberron book. In reality it looks more like we are getting something in line with Avernus.

However it has stuff that will still be useful in running a homebrew campaign in the Dragonlance universe.

D&D Grp 2 Session 11 Planning #4

D&D, D&D Grp2, RPG, session planning

SPOILER ALERT TO MY ADVENTURERS! The following post contains spoilers for the up and coming campaign/session. You may want to avoid this post and join me in a future one. REMEMBER you have been warned.

This whole American import of Black Friday and the much more recent Cyber Monday and the pre-Christmas money grab that it is I do find kinda obscene and morally questionable.

However overcoming my inner conflict about the whole thing, I did take Monty Cook Games up on their Black Friday discount for getting the pdf version of their Ptolus City By The Spire source book for 5e.

The main reason I did this was to get the stat blocks for the npc cards. However this is a massive book, with a lot of digital extras too. I may just might have to pick up the physical copy at some point.

I already knew the art in the book was gorgeous from the npc cards I bought.

The cool thing is that the npc cards also tell you page numbers of where the stat blocks are. Which is very handy and time saving not having to search through the 679 odd pages that make up the book.

The stat blocks are in the margins of the pages, which works! They usually refer you elsewhere to a common stat block which might be in an official WotC source books, or on a given specific page of the book.

Sadly for me Rullus Hobb isn’t an npc but a player handout with no stats! But now with the sourcebook I can use the appropriate stat block from the book itself or from WotC stuff.

Granted I’m going to have to do some work to gather the relevant info into one place like on a blank card template from Arcane Library for easy reference during a session.

Apart from the npcs I’ll be using this city source book for ideas to use in my campaign. I’m pretty sure I’ll get more than a couple of ideas/hooks from here.

Well before I left to visit Nathan the postie arrived and had the Stormwreck Isle 2D miniatures with them plus the Amazon guy had the Deck of Many Things.

So at least I don’t have to worry about these arriving, and they are ready to be thrown into the DM bag and any session.

Return of the Return of Father Son Gaming

father son gaming, Game day, game night

No gaming took place last night. After a pretty cool roast dinner we watched the Wales vs England match, and then John Wick 2 (we had watched John Wick the previous night, and guess what we are watching tonight?)

Why a roast dinner last night?

Nathan gets all the credit for that. I guess he fancied it while I was down visiting, because Sunday he said he had bought the stuff to make one, like a whole chicken, etc. Only problem he had was he’d never cooked a chicken before. So cooking duties fell onto me.

I’m still getting used to his oven, but the Yorkshire puddings came out ok.

I got to go into Basingstoke Centre today, and visit a gaming shop called The Gaming Den. Lots of stock, which is nice to see. I could easily have spent lots of money there but I was super strong.

Ok it helped that a visit to a stationary shop to pick up some index cards turned out to be a tad more expensive than planned.

Once home I quickly wrote out a couple of recipes that he’d asked for on the index cards and put them on Nath’s whiteboard for him.

The afternoon saw me making chicken noodle soup and visiting the Stonemaier web store to order the three new realms that were released today.

But whilst on the virtual store I was pleasantly surprised to see the Tapestry play mat had also been released.

I was aware Jamey had been looking at doing a play mat for Tapestry. But it had escaped me that they were actually in production. So I was definitely not expecting them in the store today.

After having the chicken noodle soup with slices of a fresh baguette to help mop it up, Nathan and I watched a brief Roll for Crit how to play for Marvel Champions.

It refreshed my memory (I don’t play this nearly enough) and gave Nathan an overview of the game.

It was enough so that we could play the following match up.

Nathan played Wolverine, whilst I played Phoenix.

Things seemed to be going well. The threat level of Thanos’s scheme was under control (by Phoenix) whilst he was getting thumped by Wolverine.

Then it went all Pete Tong as they used to say.

Thanos thumped Phoenix for a massive seven damage, followed by his minion Black Dwarf finishing the job off.

This left Wolverine to stand toe to toe with Thanos trading blows.

It was a heroic effort but in the end to no avail as Thanos managed to complete his scheme.

We really enjoyed going up against Thanos. With a better card draw we might have won. I think that is the difference between this game and the one with Diego with Ultron.

In that game our hero selection was totally unsuitable for the villain and his schemes. We got thrashed.

Here the match up seemed more appropriate. Phoenix keeping the threat under control whilst Wolverine did what Wolverine does. It felt like we had a chance.

Nathan really enjoyed our game of this. So it will find a place in the bag on future visits.

Our final game of the evening was a game of Rolling Realms.

Another winner with Nathan, despite me winning. But the scores were pretty close.

Our evening is finishing with the third film in the John Wick series.

Return of Father Son Gaming

father son gaming, Game day, game night

There seems a nice symmetry to this months gaming.

November started with me visiting Nathan and playing games with him, and it ends that way too.

It means so much that I am able to spend time with Nathan. That wasn’t always the case over the last few years. Caring for Nan meant it wasn’t possible to get away for a couple of days to visit him. It was a heavy price to pay. But we did willingly out of love for Nan.

After having toad in the hole with onion gravy for tea Nathan and I played the latest expansion for Wingspan, and also stand alone two player game, Wingspan Asia.

But before we played I had to open up the box it came in (yep I hadn’t even done this since it arrived a couple weeks back), take off the cellophane, punch cardboard, and quickly read up the rule changes for duet mode.

I’m not sure why but playing Wingspan with unsleeved or “naked” cards felt so so wrong. It just didn’t feel right.

Wingspan Asia can be used as a straight up expansion for Wingspan by just shuffling the cards that come into the box with the core games plus any other expansions. Which is how it’ll probably end up for me.

This expansion makes it so Wingspan can also be played by six or seven players in what is called flock mode. Or as I will refer to it as “not for me mode”.

Then we have the final way this expansion can be used, and that is duet mode.

Duet mode is a two player variant of standard Wingspan that adds a duet board, and new end of round objectives based on that board.

You get to place a piece on the duet board when you play a bird or a card ability allows you put a bird on the board. Where the piece goes on the board depends on the habitat the bird was played on, plus either the food type used to pay for it, it’s nest type, wing span, or direction looking.

Some of the spots on the duet board also give you a bonus of some kind when a piece is placed on it, like drawing a bird card, or getting an egg.

If you can’t or don’t want to place a piece on the duet board you can instead place it on the area in the bottom left of the board. Then on a future turn remove the piece from there to reset either the food tray or the bird market place. I like this a lot. Ok I didn’t do it. But just having that there as an option is pretty cool. It also makes that placement of the duet piece a harder decision.

I like what the duet board brings to the table in a two player game. It adds a new tactical element and decisions that need to be made that encourages the playing of birds.

I also like that the first player marker goes to the player that didn’t win the end of round scoring. It almost feels like an attempt at a catch up mechanism!

This may just be how I play Wingspan from now on when visiting Nathan. Which is the only time I play Wingspan two player.

The bgstat history books will record that I beat Nathan with a tucking engine!

Today, as the events already told were yesterday, has seen a relaxed start to the day.

Starting with my regular everyday breakfast of a mug of coffee and two Nevill’s Pains Au Chocolat. What can I say I’m a creature of habit. Except when Tesco don’t have them. Then I have to improvise.

After a relaxing soak in the bath reading a book on data science, it was time to take a trip.

A trip to the local shops sees a charity shop find that no-one boasts about on the Facebook boardgaming groups I belong to. I got a large saucepan and a couple of trays ideal to make Yorkshire puddings in. I need, well Nathan needs that big pot. Tomorrow I’m turning the left over chicken from our roast today into chicken soup for him. He didn’t have a pot large enough for that.

Lunch for us was an impromptu fry up to use up the remaining sausages Nathan had in the fridge, and some mushrooms just on the right side of edible.

I did start to look at the Star Wars card game Sabacc that Nathan bought whilst he was State side the other month. We’ll play that over the next day or two for sure.

Our first game of the day was Tinners Trail.

I’ve only played this once before as a three player game with Jeff and Jonathan.

So playing it as a two player game was interesting.

It wasn’t an unenjoyable experience. I just thought the bidding was a little flat with two players.

History will show that Nathan won by a massive two points.

Right I have a roast dinner to cook before some more games this evening.