Simplify, Simplify

Thoreau advises us to simplify our lives (as I learned from a Calvin & Hobbes strip -- I've never actually read Thoreau), and I'm taking that advice to heart. First up, I'm going to put my plans for the massive Quintessence War storyline on hold. I still intend to run this adventure someday, but I'd like to wait until there's an opportunity for more people to participate. Likewise, it's time to hit the ol' Pause button on The Druid Cycle and take a break from that campaign for a while. Those battle-tested heroes have earned a rest, and I need to invest some time in converting that world to Fifth Edition. Blog posts, which have been pretty sporadic lately, will continue to be sporadic, although I'll still pop in here and there to share game news and whatnot.

In the meantime, I'm going to start up a short-term Fifth Edition adventure with some of the regular Front Porch players. It's going to take place in the Shattered Realm setting and will serve as an introduction to 5e. I also plan to play a lot more Star Wars: X-Wing and 5e D&D with my boys, chip away at Neverwinter, finish up Mass Effect, and of course jump into Sword Coast Legends the nanosecond it gets released. Wait, wasn't this post supposed to be about simplification?

Mass Combat!

More free D&D! Click here to download the new rules for mass combat. Great timing, too -- as the title implies, mass combat will figure prominently in the upcoming Quintessence War storyline.

Fun With Tocharian

While working on plans for the multiverse-spanning Quintessence War storyline, I found myself needing a set of names for a group of ascetic individuals who live in a remote, rugged environment. I usually use real-world languages -- everything from ancient Egyptian to medieval Welsh -- as the basis for campaign cultures, so I considered a number of possible linguistic candidates. I settled on Tocharian (a bastardized version of Proto-Tocharian, to be exact) as the source of names for this group, and even just a quick perusal of the Tocharian lexicon has given me lots of ideas for cool characters. Spoiler alert! Quintessence War players are going to meet a dude named Daksinake, and he's going to be pretty important...

First Teaser

I sent the first teaser for the upcoming multiverse-spanning Quintessence War storyline today to the epic-tier Druid Cycle players. Waiting is going to be the hardest part -- I'm excited to get this story off the ground!

Coming Soon, To a Campaign Near You...

As 2014 draws to a close, I thought I'd preview some of the big events on tap for next year...

• The epic-tier Druid Cycle heroes hope to conclude their war against the Movement and its allies in the great cities of Troya Nova and Prifddinas.
• As these adventures begin to wrap up, we'll see indications of a much broader conflict that is brewing across the multiverse...the Quintessence War.
• Along the way, expect to see more multiverse madness with characters crossing campaigns in unexpected ways. 
• And maybe, just maybe, we'll have a real, honest-to-goodness superhero campaign. There's a ton of great public domain material from the Golden Age and...wait, Captain Battle, look out behind you!

Icewind Dale Party

I'm nearing the end of Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition with my super-fun all-evil party, so next up is Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition. I considered resurrecting my first-ever Icewind Dale party from so many years ago, but instead I decided to enlist some new heroes led by good old Mandeville -- or, rather, young Mandeville. Most players know him as the Earth-born knight who has become one of the elder statesmen of the heroes of the Druid Cycle campaign world, but I've also added him to the Shattered Realm setting as a much younger man who is still at an early point in his lifelong journey across the multiverse. We haven't seen much of Mandeville lately in the epic-tier Druid Cycle adventures, but he's going to be a key figure in upcoming events, starting in early 2015. Until then, however, you can find him in Kuldahar...

All Quiet...For Now...

It's been kind of a quiet week on the gaming front, but the players in the epic-tier Druid Cycle campaign have seen some hints about important characters and themes for Quintessence War, the big multiverse-spanning event I've planned for 2015. Those high-level characters are going to be involved by default, but this event is going to involve lots of other heroes, as well. Anyone interested in joining a short-term campaign (using Fifth Edition rules!) should let me know, and we can start working on character ideas.

Quintessence War...in 3D!

Here's another tidbit about next year's multiverse-spanning Quintessence War event: I'm pulling out all the stops and using my vast array of 3D terrain and miniatures to bring this story to life. Of course, due to the vast distances between myself and the rest of you guys, I'm going to photograph all the setups and send frequent updates so that everyone can see the action as it unfolds.

Multiverse Madness

If you caught my recent post titled "Quintessence War," you may have some idea of the big Front Porch event that I'm planning for 2015. (The post itself is just one line, but check out the many, many labels underneath.) I'll reveal a few tidbits here and there, starting with this quick overview: Quintessence War is going to be a mini-campaign with a storyline that crosses multiple game worlds. Players will create brand-new characters (using the 5e D&D rules) for this event, but the plot will feature plenty of multiverse-spanning NPCs, some of whom have already started marking appearances in current Front Porch adventures. Stay tuned for more details!

Quintessence War

In 2015, the multiverse goes to war.