SPOILER ALERT TO MY ADVENTURERS! The following post contains spoilers for the up and coming campaign. You may want to avoid this post and join me in a future one.
There had been plans (well had asked for players interested) for running an Alien RPG one shot (either Hadley’s Last Hope from the core rule book or Chariot of the Gods). But with the loss of Nan I didn’t feel up to running the session so put the plans on hold.
With the imminent arrival of the next D&D source book Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons, and the current Sly Flourish Kickstarter I am starting to feel I could run our campaign.
Our campaign has been on hiatus since the start of the pandemic. So that’s a pretty long break.
I had been sharing those posts previously in the hope that others would find my thought process informative and for myself.
Now they come into their own and should allow me to pick up where I left off on the prep side. Naturally over the months I have given some thought to the next session. Especially what the strong start will be.
However before I continue on the prep of the next session I need to review those previous posts to refresh my memory. Oh and just as importantly get a date for the session.
The last day or two has seen more prominent D&D content creators picking up on a comment from the closing panel of last weekends D&D Celebration 2021, that D&D will get a major update in 2024.
But before I share with the world my thoughts about this, let’s look at a summary of the other snippets mentioned in the Future of D&D panel (YouTube video embedded below).
The D&D Celebration 2021 panel The Future of D&D
First up 2022 will see the arrival of the two remaining classic D&D settings that were mentioned last year. To further add to the mystery they will be published in formats that WotC have never published in before! Plus there will be hints/cameo of another classic setting plus there will be a fourth classic setting out in 2023. Whether that is the same setting that makes the cameo who knows?
There will be more adventure anthologies coming. Think along the lines of Candlekeep Mysteries.
2024 is the 50th Anniversary of D&D. Part of that celebration will see an update to D&D or the next evolution as it’s being currently pushed as. WotC started work earlier in the year on this. Which is why there were a couple of player surveys put out to gather feedback. The key part to pick out is that whatever this new version is called, it will be compatible with current 5e books. But as expected more details about this evolution of the core rules next year. And my guess is it will be about this time next year.
There was also an almost throw away line about new D&D digital stuff being worked on. We will have to be patient to find out what this is.
Arriving January (they did give a specific date, but I’m not holding them to that, after all shipping etc is a mess) is a new gift set of D&D rule books. That will be made up of an updated Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, and a new book Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse.
Monsters of the Multiverse collects over 250creatures from previous D&D books into one place and updated! These updates will be our first clue/look as to how things might be in the 2024 evolved rulebooks. Plus there are over 30 setting agnostic playable races in the book. Go watch the video for some examples from this new tome.
Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse will also be available separately at a later date (I assume to help push sales of the gift set for those that absolutely must have it at the earliest possible opportunity).
We also learnt that currently in development are two brand new D&D settings. Which may or may not see the light of day.
Next month we will see news of a new product for 2022 that apparently we’ve never been to before and is terrifying!
Boo! a sketch of a proposed alt cover for unnamed product
Plus a mystery product that sees the return of Boo. Which I’m assuming means Minsc won’t be too far away from him.
Let’s circle back to the new core rulebooks coming in 2024. There has been some discussion about will people be expected to buy everything again and throw out the old? No. As pointed out above all our 5e books will be compatible with the new edition of rules. So at worst you only need to replace the core rulebooks IF you want to.
There is nothing stopping you from playing what you currently have if that is what you are happy with. People are playing older editions now because that is what they prefer.
So when the new rules come out don’t feel pressured to buy them. You don’t need to buy them if you are happy with the stuff you already have.
I’m pretty sure this will need repeating again nearer the time.
The end of last week saw EN Publishing release the latest major Judge Dredd story arc supplement for the Judge Dredd and the Worlds of 2000 A.D. RPG, The Apocalypse War.
The cover!
So what is contained inside the 114 pages that make up this supplement?
Contents page
“The Apocalypse War supplement includes:
New origins, species, careers and Judge options
Expanded equipment and rules for Sov Block items
Three new scenarios plus guidance campaigns set in the Apocalypse War
A timeline and gazeteer of the Sov Block”
What I like about buying directly from EN Publishing is if you buy the physical copy you get the pdf included. Which is available instantly after you complete the purchase. So you can be reading the supplement while you wait for the physical copy to arrive. I know one or two other publishers also do this. I wish more did.
In other news there is a new Kickstarter that went live yesterday from the legendary Sly Flourish for his latest book The Lazy DM’s Companion.
For anyone not aware of my position on the Lazy DM approach and books I’m a big fan. I own both the other books in this series Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master and The Lazy DM’s Workbook, and love them.
“Each page of this 64-page book offers useful guidelines, an adventure or campaign generator, or a versatile map within which to build your own adventures.”
On the Kickstarter page is a 17 page sample from the book that can be downloaded, which you can use straight away. It really does contain some really useful/handy information such as info on improvisation during a session, safety tools, building situations, a core adventure generator, to name some of the pages.
Remember if you decide to back this project that VAT and shipping will be added on after the campaign has finished during the backerkit stage. So there is not a massive surprise Mike aka Sly has included some guide costs for this on the page (near the bottom).
It started out taking yet more clothes to the Salvation Army drop off spot in the Tesco car park. And ended with Jonathan somehow winning our second game of Dune Imperium!
I hadn’t planned on gaming. But after the roads in the area decided to throw spanners in the works for the majority of those planning to go to the Friday gaming session. Tied in with the petrol panic buying taking out others (what is this 2002 again?) I didn’t want Jonathan and Julie to be left high and dry at the last minute.
So I quickly got ready, grabbed a bag that already had games in it, and left for The Luxe.
I set up the new round table, and awaited the arrival of the others. Because I hadn’t made it to the previous Friday gaming session I hadn’t met Julie before. So introductions were made. Then Jonathan arrived and a game was chosen for the evening.
Our game for the evening was Dune Imperium.
Rules lawyering!
Winner, winner, chicken dinner
I thought Dune Imperium played ok with two players. But with three it was great. Taking into account setup, teaching the game to Julie, the whole thing took about two and a half hours to play. Which is pretty good.
If I was asked to choose between Dune Imperium and Lost Ruins of Arnak, which I both really like. Imperium edges it for me.
The unique player abilities (which I believe the Arnak expansion adds), the combat, twice as many rounds, the influence tracks, the worker placement plus the reveal stage, dual use cards, the take that element. Oh and that the scoring is much closer. Just tip it in favour of Imperium.
Boy do I look grumpy, must be my thinking face.
Photos taken by Jonathan
Next time I play Imperium I’m going to use one of the more difficult leaders to play. The fact they rank the leaders in order of difficulty to play is a great little touch.
Whilst playing we were asked a couple of times about the game we were playing. Now get this one of them had met/knew Frank Herbert! How frickin cool is that? Plus what are the odds that whilst we are playing a game based on the Dune books in a small single screen cinema, in a Fenland market town (some would argue with delusions of grandeur, after all it is the Capital of the Fens) we would bump into such a person?
I had a fun time despite everything going on. It was great meeting a new club member.
Whilst everyone else is doing back flips and cartwheels over the latest WotC D&D 5e adventure The Wild Beyond the Witchlight.
The new Dungeon Master’s Screen Dungeon Kit (DMSDK) seems to be flying under everyone’s radar. I’m not seeing any of the “BIG” D&D names talking about it. It’s all about the feywild or the upcoming Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons previews that are dripping out.
Don’t get me wrong I’m pretty excited about what Fizban has to say about dragons. Well as excited as I can muster considering. I have little to no interest in Witchlight. It’s just not for me. Which is fine. Not everything WotC does has to be.
However I do like a good DM screen.
With the arrival of DMSDK I now have four (if you don’t count the thin cardboard one from the Essentials Kit).
When buying a DM screen I tend to avoid adventure specific ones (although if I was running the adventure I might be tempted to get the matching screen) and go for the more useful for me general ones.
Naturally my first DM screen was the official WotC Dungeon Master’s Screen Reincarnated (DMSR) for 5e. Which I really like and is the screen I use the most.
However nearly a year ago WotC released the Dungeon Master’s Screen Wilderness Kit (DMSWK). I did a pretty bad unboxing video for it here. Which focused on running wilderness adventures.
I also have the Galeforce 9 DM screen for the Ghosts of Saltmarsh adventure book Of Ships & The Sea. Remember what I said earlier. Yes that breaks that rule. But mainly because this is aimed more at running campaigns that are at sea, so is more generic.
Which brings us to the latest addition to my DM screen collection.
Front cover
Back cover
Inside
As the name suggests the DMSDK is focussed on running adventures/campaigns in the depths of the earth. You know the dungeon part of D&D.
The player facing side of the DM screen has some beautiful art by the artist Greg Rutkowski that just evokes going into a dungeon.
Even if I didn’t need the tables on the DM side I’d quiet happily double up on the DM screens with this on the outside and most likely the DMSR behind it for me to use. I have done that before with the Saltmarsh screen and used the art to help invoke the mood and setting for the session and used the tables from the other screen.
On the DM side we get tables geared towards dungeon delving, along with the usual condition reminders. The tables look useful. But the real test to this is when you have to use them in anger.
Maybe in another post I should compare the information on the official WotC DM screens and see how much over lap there is. Definitely a project for another day.
DM Side of the DM Screen
After the DM screen there is a doubled sided sheet dry erase sheet which has a summary of actions players can take during combat. Then on the other side a blank grid for drawing on.
Front
Reverse side
Dry erase sheet
Unsurprisingly there is only one of these included in this Dungeon Kit. A second would have been nice for those that don’t have the other kit. I think this is a handy DM tool to include.
There are two sheets of condition cards included. Each sheet is nine cards. Giving a total of 18 condition cards. Three of those cards are tailored towards a dungeon adventure (brown and yellow mold plus green slime).
Example reverse side
Condition Cards
These condition cards use the same art as those from previous kits, just scaled and toned differently. Best I can say about this art is it’s functional.
I think these cards are so handy to have to pass to a player when they get that condition. It doesn’t just remind them and you they have that condition. But the reminder text on the reverse about the condition is very useful for the player to refer to.
I’m getting a nice little collection of these cards now.
As I am of the initiative cards that are included. These like their wilderness kit versions use the art from their respective DM screens.
You can use these a couple of ways. The first is as reminders to players and you where they are in the initiative order after everyone has rolled for initiative. Or taking a leaf out of the Year Zero system, shuffle and deal out randomly to determine players initiative order. Either way works.
Front of the Initiative Cards
Deck box
The included deck box also uses the DM screen art. But like all other WotC deck boxes they include in products (especially on the MtG side of things) you have to “assemble” the box. Describing it as flimsy is being generous.
Now onto the real star of this kit for me.
Included with this kit are four sheets of Dungeon Geomorph cards. We all know what a fan of this sort of thing I am. So nine cards per sheet, which gives us 36 Geomorph cards.
With the cross hatching, these cards have a Dyson Logos feel to them. I don’t know who created these. But they are nice.
Front
Reverse
Dungeon Geomorph Cards
These can be used while preparing for a session or on the fly at the table.
I’m a fan of these focused DM screen kits WotC have produced. I really like the little extras they add to them. Personally I think they are great for new and old DM’s.
P.S. for the record I was never a The Jam fan. Luckily one of their more popular hits gave me a song title I could use in the title of this blog post.
Yesterday Jonathan and I met up for a learning game of Dune Imperium at The Luxe. It was also a chance to use the new 4ft diameter round table I got for club use.
I’m not going to write much about this as I’m not really in the mood for obvious reasons.
Ideally Dune Imperium should be played by 3 or 4 players. However it does have a deck of cards to provide an AI for a simulated third player (this is also used in solo play as well). There is also a free app that can be used instead of the cards. The app does the heavy lifting of shuffling the deck and interrupting what each card does. And that is what we used in our play.
Photos taken by Jonathan
All I’m going to say is I liked Dune Imperium, and not just because I won.
At the moment I’m processing a lot of guilt over being away from Nan for a couple of hours gaming. It’s during this time that she passed away in her sleep. I know even if I’d been there I couldn’t have done anything.
My only comfort is that the fur balls were with her. They have been her guardian angels since we got them.
Any way the posts will be infrequent for a while I think.
Yesterday the legendary Matt Colville uploaded another YouTube video. I’d like to say it’s part of his Running the Game series. But in reality it’s not.
The video is entitled “Talking About RPGs: Mechanics vs Setting, and Styles of Play”, and it’s embedded below for your viewing pleasure.
I think this video is a first for Matt as it is a response to someone else’s video. However what interested me about this video is it’s focus on other non-D&D RPG systems and in particular what Matt liked about the Warhammer Fantasy 3rd Edition RPG. Which I believe was by FFG and used the dice system that went on to power their Star Wars RPG, Genesys RPG and L5R RPG. Spoiler it’s those dice that Matt really likes.
Although I haven’t gotten them to the table I do have a few none D&D RPGs. So why did I buy them? What is it that attracted me to them? Below I talk briefly about each RPG in my collection trying to answer those questions.
Genesys (Terrinoth, Android, Keyforge) – I can’t remember exactly what attracted me to the FFG Genesys system. I want to say it was the dice system used. But it could also have been it was a generic system. The fact it eventually had an Android setting sourcebook was icing on the cake.
Judge Dredd and Worlds of 2000 A.D (Strontium Dog, Rogue Trooper) – this was initially purely the theme. I’m a Judge Dredd fan. I owned the original 1985 RPG. So for me this was a no brainer. However reading the rules I like the d6 dice pool system it uses.
Paranoia – Fond memories of playing this in the late 80’s whilst a student in Brighton, coupled with knowing James Wallis one of the folks responsible for the new edition saw me backing this on Kickstarter. I love the sci-fi setting, but more importantly the tone. This is a fun, humorous game. It’s not meant to be taken seriously.
The End of The World (Zombie Apocalypse, Alien Invasion) – This was entirely the theme and the fact players played themselves in the game trying to survive in whichever town you all lived in. The d6 system kind of reminds me a little of the narrative dice system used in Genesys. But one aspect I love about this is a players starting equipment is whatever they have in their pockets or the room you are playing in at the time! How cool is that?
Alien – apart from the fact I love the movies, what attracted me to this game was the stress mechanic. Or more exactly the stress dice and the push your luck element they introduced.
Cyberpunk Red – this was 100% bought based on the theme. If you haven’t guessed I love the cyberpunk genre. And this oozes theme.
Star Wars RPG 30th Anniversary edition – this was a nostalgia based purchase. We know I’m a Star Wars fanboy. So this reprint was a no brainer.
Thunderbirds – Although I grew up watching Thunderbirds, and love the show. I never actually went and bought this! This was part of the Kickstarter for the board game by Matt Leacock (creator of Pandemic). I went all in on my pledge, and this was part of that. It might have even been a stretch goal. It does come with some cards that aid in creating emergency/rescue missions for International Rescue to react to. Which is pretty nifty.
Elfquest – I’ve owned this for decades and never got it to the table. I loved the comics, so it was definitely the setting that attracted me to this.
Fate Condensed – another on a whim purchase. But it’s the fact this is a generic system geared towards telling a shared story with the players that attracted me to it. I suppose it’s the complete opposite to D&D and I’m curious about how that’d work.
Zombie World – apart from the theme, I do like zombie movies and have one or two zombie themed boardgames. What attracted me to this RPG was the fact it is a card based RPG. There are no dice what so ever. And that intrigued me.
Alice is Missing – the novelty of this RPG is what attracted me to it. A silent RPG where the players communicate with each other using only their mobile phones. Plus there is no GM! Colour me intrigued.
Jim Henson’s Labyrinth The Adventure Game – It’s pretty obvious the theme initially attracted me to this. But I like how you are jumping around the book from one location to another based on how well you did or on a die roll. So no two plays are the same.
I hope you find the above enlightening, maybe interesting.
In the middle of last night FFG streamed this years In-flight Report from the safety of their headquarters instead of from a hall at GenCon. Which considering the state of things (especially over there) is a wise decision.
Having watched the stream this morning. I have to say I’m pretty glad I didn’t decide to stay up and watch it live.
My overall opinion of the announcements is meh! I was really left feeling underwhelmed.
This In-flight report was all about expansions and repackaging stuff. Apart from Unfathomable, which they are hoping will be out by the end of September (but we all know what a mess shipping is, so that may slide) we are looking at all this stuff coming out sometime in 2022. I know they said Q1 or first half. But let’s be realistic here. Even with such general indications of when stuff will be coming out. I can’t see the shipping problems being resolved that soon, and expect most of 2022 to be much like it is now. Full of good intentions, but lots of delays.
Arkham Horror lcg, Marvel Champions, and Descent Legend of the Dark got the expansion love. There was a brief recap of the Keyforge hiatus announcement from the other day.
The LoTR lcg core set is getting a revision to make it easier for new players to get into this 10 year old game. Which will also see select story arcs from over that period get reprinted using the new expansion format introduced for the Arkham Horror lcg. They are also making the campaign cards in this revised edition available as a print on demand for existing long term players. Plus two scenarios from a limited edition of the game are getting a reprint.
FFG announced that Twilight Imperium celebrates 25 years next year. Which is pretty cool. How are they celebrating this awesome achievement? They have teamed up with CMoN to produce some graphic novels. There will also be some graphic novels set in the Android universe. And these will be coming to Kickstarter at some point. Which going by the latest CMoN Kickstarter means those of us in Europe are screwed.
The other “big” thing FFG announced is their partnership with a company to run web stores selling official FFG swag based on their IP. With the first web stores being for Legend of the Five Rings. Followed by Arkham Horror, then sometime after that Twilight Imperium.
The whole thing was wrapped up with a teaser for a much requested expansion. A fact the teaser played into.
I did like how the teaser was presented. But still it’s another expansion. And we will have wait for further details. Maybe there will be a bit more at Origins in a couple of weeks. One thing we can be sure of this will be a 2022 release.
know they spent 10 minutes talking about their R&D. But I’d prefer if they had spend that time announcing new games or just done a blog post. This was just filler.
This was FFG just treading water. A holding pattern. Resting on their laurels. It felt like FFG are stagnating. A pity they used to be an exciting company.
Tuesday morning was this weeks Vampire Wednesday morning!
It threw out my usual weekly routine of doing the weekly shop on a Tuesday morning. But sacrifices have to be made for the greater good. And that greater good was I needed a break. Especially after having to miss the club night last Friday.
This weeks Rivals game would be a three player game.
Our third player was a friend of Diego’s Peet. He had never played the game before. But had done his homework and watched some of the how to play videos on YouTube.
This is how the clans broke down for the game:
Brujah – Peet (rival me)
Ventrue – me (rival Diego)
Malkavian – Diego (rival Peet)
As you can see from the fact I played Ventrue, that I continued to work my way through the core set clans. I just need to try Malkavian (so Diego won’t be playing them again next session). After that I’d like to try some deck construction using the core set, before trying the two clans in the Blood & Alchemy expansion.
Diego wanted to try the Malkavians in multiplayer to see if they worked better than in a two player game. And Peet got Brujah because they are a easier deck to pilot for a first game.
The Victor
I think one of the hurdles for new players to a card game like Rivals, and this is so true in something like Android Netrunner is learning the terminology.
In Rivals it’s things like Haven, Torpor and Coterie. Netrunner it was such terms as clicks, runs, and ice.
Unlike Diego who has played in the World of Darkness in years gone past. Rivals is my first time experiencing this world. I have no allegiance to a particular clan. At the moment my decision process is based on do they look cool, and mechanically/tactically do they fit with play styles I like?
At the start of our game Peet warned us that he’s a competitive player. Sadly he didn’t play the Brujah deck aggressively enough. Which allowed Diego and myself to get our slower decks going.
Agenda wise I was in the lead. I had two titles attached to two vampires. Boosted my havens secrecy to 2. Had a vagrant attached to my leader. I was ready for the appearance of an S.A.D. Agents in the street.
Peet finally started to attack my leader. Which I was more than able to handle. However he left one of his vampires open to attack from Diego. Which was enough of an opening for Diego to drain Peet’s remaining prestige whilst attacking that vulnerable vampire. And that gave Diego the win.
It was a fun game. I need to look at the Ventrue deck and see what cards are there, and the synergies. I would like to have hit more titles and have more ways to gain extra prestige. Which it might have and I just didn’t draw into them.
