Science Fantasy

Click here for a really interesting article on the history of science fantasy in D&D. Speaking of which, there's a bit of science fantasy in the Shattered Realm setting, as the players will discover if they decide to play through a second adventure in this campaign world before returning to their regularly-scheduled Druid Cycle heroics.

New (Old) Blog Address

Heads up, yo! The www.virtualfrontporch.us URL that you've been using to access our delightful bloggery is going to change. Please find us again at our original URL, frontporchgg.blogspot.com.

Sword Coast Legends Interview

Click here for an interesting interview about the upcoming Sword Coast Legends computer RPG. Plus, there's a nifty map of the Sword Coast!

Thanks, But No Thanks

In the game design world, the stars don't get much bigger than Monte Cook. The dude is a legend. His latest venture is a Kickstarter for a kid- and family-friendly RPG called No Thank You, Evil! (click here for details). It looks a bit too tame and PC for my household, but for others it may be just what they're looking for to get their kids interested in roleplaying games.

King of...

Nathaniel, still in a huff over not winning the game, declared himself King of Nevada. I'll have to write to Iello Games and suggest it as a sequel to King of New York. And why not? Nevada is full of larger-than-life personalities! I've got dibs on the giant Elvis impersonator...

Drakonis is King!

It took us three days, but we've finished our first game of King of New York, and it was quite an epic conclusion. I (as the giant ape, Kong) was able to occupy Manhattan for the last several turns (racking up benefits along the way), but Matthew (as the cyborg dragon, Drakonis) had a combination of cards that granted him lots of points on his dice rolls. In a last-ditch effort to stop Drakonis, I managed to get the right dice rolls to bring in a massive strike by the US military. (The Statue of Liberty also came to life and joined my side, but that's another story!) All the monsters except for me were badly injured in the military attack, but it wasn't enough to knock out Drakonis. Amy and Nathaniel were likewise unable to bring him down before Matthew's turn came up, so Draknois, from his power base on Staten Island, easily managed to get his last victory point and was thereby crowned King of New York!

For now...

It's Free Comic Book Day!

Free Comic Book Day is today! Get to your local store, pronto!

I'll be coaching little leaguers while my fellow rabid comic fans are lining up at our store in Carson City, but Amy has graciously agreed to brave the nerd hordes (I've actually seen more uniformed military personnel at our store than classic Big Bang Theory-type nerds, but whatever) and pick up my freebies. I made her a list of the ones I wanted, and provided a description of the covers. How cool is it that my wife knows who Darkseid is?!

City-Wide Smackdown

For those who'd like to see an illustration, here's a photo from our first King of New York game. I'm playing Kong -- in the Bronx, natch, for this Yankees fan! -- with Amy as Mantis in Manhattan, Matthew as Drakonis on Staten Island, and Nathaniel as Sheriff the T-Rex in Brooklyn.

King of New York

Giant monsters run amok in New York City, demolishing buildings and battling the military! If that sounds like your idea of a good time (or maybe if you just enjoyed the classic '80s arcade game Rampage), then I'd highly recommend King of New York (click here to see the official website), a fantastic new(ish) board game. Each player controls a monster (my favorite is either the King Kong knockoff or the cyborg dragon) and the object is to defeat all the other monsters or to earn enough victory points to be crowned the king of New York. The rules are pretty easy to learn, but there's a lot of tactical complexity and a lot of different paths to victory. I don't think this game is going to displace X-Wing or the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game as my favorite non-RPG games, but it's unequivocally one of the best board games I've ever played.