Okay, okay...

So I guess I don't hate Pathfinder: Kingmaker. I still laugh every time the load screen comes up and it says that first-time loads will take several minutes (spoiler alert: all load times are atrocious) and I still have no idea when said kingmaking will actually occur, but for the time being the game is at least as enjoyable as Sword Coast Legends. Damning with faint praise, perhaps, but Kingmaker is worth a look for anyone who needs a D&D(-esque) fix.

SCL DLC

I had heard that Sword Coast Legends was dead -- or, at least, the studio that created it -- but apparently there's at least one last hurrah. A new module of downloadable content is available; click here for more details.

Legendary!

Tonight I completed Sword Coast Legends, and, all things considered, it was an enjoyable game -- if a bit too much like an MMO in terms of game mechanics. It's not in the same league as the Baldur's Gate family, but it's a solid D&D video game nonetheless. I would definitely recommend it.

For what it's worth, my final foursome consisted of my human paladin PC, the derro rogue Izhkin, the elf cleric Illydia, and the drow wizard Dalanir. This party configuration offered a nice balance of melee and ranged attackers, and all three NPCs had powers that allowed them to summon creatures. The back-to-back boss fights at the end of the game turned out to be kind of a long slog, but we chugged regeneration potions while spamming the bosses with summoned creatures, and I never really felt like the party was in serious jeopardy. There are tougher battles in the game -- including one against a mind flayer, its thralls, and a red dragon that pops in to breathe fire from time to time -- but the final showdown did have a certain cinematic feel to it, and there's a cool bit between the two fights where you have to make a choice that dramatically alters the way the end of the game unfolds. Heh. One NPC was really pissed at me...but when the fate of the Sword Coast is at stake, you've gotta do what you've gotta do!

Treason Season

'Tis the season...for treason! I'm nearing the end of Sword Coast Legends and just discovered that one of the main NPCs -- one I've been leveling up relentlessly and equipping with top-notch gear -- is actually a traitor. D'oh! There goes my ideal party configuration. At least I have another solid NPC who can fill that party role, but still...

Mmmm...Pie...

So there's a baker in the Underdark who sells pies...fungus pies...

SCL Survey

This month's survey on the Wizards site is about Sword Coast Legends. If you've played SCL, you can give your feedback here. I was pleased to see a question that asked about favorite NPCs and which ones we'd like to see in future D&D products. Bring back Hommet!

Cool SCL Plot Twist

Spoiler alert! I don't want to give away anything specific, but I thought it was a cool plot twist in Sword Coast Legends when you're given the opportunity to recruit a character who has been bitterly opposed to the party. I figured this character would be a mid-game boss rather than a potential party member!

False Alarm!

Okay, never mind! I found another way to get where I needed to go, so -- bug or not -- I'm back in business.

Buggery!

Drat! My progress in Sword Coast Legends has come to a halt due to what may be a bug in my copy of the game. If I'm forced to start the whole thing over, I may just drop it entirely, despite the overall experience picking up considerably since I first started.

Rolling Thunder!

Okay, okay, Sword Coast Legends may be winning me over. I love the hilarious NPC wizard Hommet, and he's turning out to be something of a badass with his growing necromantic powers and new quarterstaff that has a flaming skull at the end of it. And he's not the only party member who's acquiring some interesting gear; my main character, a paladin, is now the proud owner and wielder of a rolling pin called Rolling Thunder -- in game terms, a club that inflicts massive lightning damage.

Thoughts on SCL

I'm still not sure what I think of Sword Coast Legends. I suspect I'm still fairly early in the single-player campaign, and I haven't fooled around with the DM tools yet, so there's still a great deal to explore -- and I'm looking forward to it. Still, the game thus far has left me feeling somewhat underwhelmed. I had hoped for the second coming of Baldur's Gate -- an unreasonable expectation, I admit -- but what I'm finding is that SCL is more like a single-player Neverwinter. 

SCL really does feel like an MMO to me. The storyline is linear with bland side-quests ("Find me eight ooze samples!" and such) and the gameplay hardly resembles Fifth Edition (or any edition) tabletop D&D. Instead, characters have powers with cooldown timers as in any MMORPG, they never need to rest (electing where and when to rest is, of course, a major strategic component of "real" D&D), and they never truly die unless there's a TPK.

It's a fun game, though, and I have every intention of playing all the way through the campaign and then building modules with the DM toolkit. Creating my own digital Troya Nova -- or some other location from the Druid Cycle world -- will probably win me over to liking SCL more than I do now.

Random SCL Thought

I'm enjoying Sword Coast Legends. It's a worthy successor to Baldur's Gate and other such classic D&D video games, and despite having very little time to devote to it, I think I'm making pretty good progress. But for whatever reason, whenever I hear the voice of NPC necromancer Hommet Shaw, I picture Ricky Gervais...

SCL Is Here!

Sword Coast Legends is out! (Hat tip to Matt for the news!)

Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide

Following the release of the Sword Coast Legends video game is a promising D&D supplement called Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide -- click here for details.

SCL Campaign Creation

Hell yes! Click here to watch a couple of videos about creating campaigns in Sword Coast Legends.

SCL Release Date

Sword Coast Legends has a release date: September 8! Check it out here.

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!

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?

Sword Coast Legends Demo

Drool! Check it out!

Games, Games, and More Games!

So now that I have a new computer, the floodgates are open. I'm playing Mass Effect (thanks, Matt!), Darkest Dungeon (ditto!), and Neverwinter -- all at the same time! I think I need to focus on one at a time or I'll never get through any of them. But with all this gaming goodness at my fingertips, I'm no longer pining away for Sword Coast Legends. Well, at least for now...