I Want It Now!

Starter Set unboxing video...watch it!

Dwarf Cleric Preview

Click here to see the character sheet for the pre-generated dwarf cleric from the 5e Starter Set.

Ransack...I Mean, "Ranzak"!

We were in Sacramento this weekend, and when I'm there I never miss an opportunity to visit A-1 Comics, my favorite West Coast gaming and comics store. As part of today's Free RPG Day festivities, I picked up the new playable character -- Ranzak, the goblin pirate -- for the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game. Click here for a look at my new favorite card-based hero!

Get Thee to a Game Store!

It's Free RPG Day! Keeping my fingers crossed for the Pathfinder module...and the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game booster pack!

5e Fighter Unveiled!

Click here to see the full character sheet for one of the pre-generated characters from the Starter Set. This one document provides a wealth of information about the new edition (or, at least, the Basic game). I'm a bit bummed, however, about the benefit for the "Noble" background. In the playtest, nobles received three non-combatant retainers, but now the benefit is more about the person's reputation. I liked the earlier one better because I'm keen on game features that provide henchmen of any sort.

Free RPG Day 2014

It's almost here! Free RPG Day is this Saturday, June 21. Click here for details!

Map Time!

Another Starter Set preview has been posted (here). This time it's the area map for the introductory adventure. The style reminds me a lot of the old maps from Basic D&D, and brings back great memories of early campaigns with Kevin and his brother Brian, our unforgiving DM. Hard to believe it was almost thirty years ago that these fine lads introduced me to D&D!

500, Yo!

This is the 500th post for the Front Porch blog. Thanks to everyone for reading and sharing your thoughts and ideas. With 5e D&D coming out in the next few weeks, I'm sure we'll be off and running toward 1000!

Another Writer Commentary

The second issue of the new Pathfinder comic book series is out, and writer Jim Zub has done another commentary. Click here for the play-by-play.

To my fellow Colgate alums...

Happy Colgate Day!

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.

Metro Entertainment

I'm visiting family in the Los Angeles area this week (I know, I know -- it's the worst place in the world to be right now for a New York Rangers fan). Yesterday we spent a pleasant afternoon in Santa Barbara, and Amy spotted a super-cool store just off of State Street. Metro Entertainment (website link is here) is one of the better comic book and gaming stores I've visited lately. I even managed to pick up the latest installment of the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game.

Here's Another One!

Click here for a pic of the first page of the warlock class description from the upcoming 5e PHB.

What a Tease...

Here.

Combat Math

I love studying the underlying math of the various D&D editions. Check out this article (here) on 5e and backward compatibility with earlier editions.

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!

Let's Go, Rangers!!!

Please forgive the occasional non-game-related post...

Basic D&D Is Free!

Also launching in July, alongside the D&D Starter Set, is Basic Dungeons & Dragons...and it's free! Anyone can download this PDF from the Wizards site. Basic includes the rules necessary for play and character creation for the core races and classes. The PDF will be updated and expanded as new settings and adventures are published. We haven't seen anything yet, of course, but this sounds like a game changer to me. Click here for all the details.

Pathfinder Writer Commentary

Jim Zub, the writer of the Pathfinder comic books, provides an interesting page-by-page commentary of the current issue here.

Quintessence War

In 2015, the multiverse goes to war.

What a Rip!

D&D has a new system of organized play -- D&D Adventurers League -- and it appears, at first glance, to be a total rip-off of the Pathfinder Society. See for yourself here. Amazing, isn't it, how quickly Pathfinder has become the brand leader?

City of Secrets #1

What to make of the new Pathfinder series? Much of this first issue is setup for things to come. Unfortunately, it didn't do much to hook new readers; if you aren't familiar with these characters or the world they inhabit, you're likely to be a bit lost -- or, worse yet, you may have little reason to care about the various goings-on in Magnimar. On the plus side, I love the artwork and consider it a substantial improvement over the last series. The RPG material at the end (including a removable map depicting a tavern -- perfect for staging a brawl!) was also very welcome. Check out full reviews here (for a negative review) and here (for a positive review that is, alas, riddled with typos).

Pathfinder Returns!

Dynamite's Pathfinder comic book returns today with the first issue of Pathfinder: City of Secrets. Click here for more info.

Tyranny of Dragons

Here's an update on my post from earlier today: Wizards has a brief article explaining their upcoming Tyranny of Dragons brand-wide storyline, so click here for the details.

Holy Crap! Here Comes D&D Next!

All of a sudden, a massive list of upcoming D&D Next products has been released! Check out the Wizards of the Coast product catalog page (here) to see the cover art, price, and tentative release date for the first wave of D&D products. First up is the starter set, which arrives on July 15!

Kids Track

Kids Track (click here for more info) is an interesting "lesson plan" for teaching young children how to play the Pathfinder roleplaying game. I've spent some time teaching Matthew (currently age six) about RPGs, but what I like about the Kids Track is that it's very well organized and presents the core concepts in discrete, manageable chunks. I'll definitely keep this document in mind when it's time to introduce Nathaniel (age three) to these games.

Mech Maker

I've never contributed to a Kickstarter project before, but...design your own mini? 3D printing? It's tempting...click here for details!

Heroes of Magnimar Reminder

It's been a slow couple months for gaming news, huh? I suspect all of that will change once we start getting more information about the release of D&D Next. In the meantime, don't forget about the relaunch of the Pathfinder comic book, and the coinciding in-store game events that will be held all across the country this month. Click here to find a participating game store near you!

FCBD Update

Score! My local comic book store held a drawing for a $50 gift certificate, and I was the lucky winner!

Head Over to Your Friendly Local Comic Book Store!

That's right, it's Free Comic Book Day today!

Free Comic Book Day 2014

Don't forget about Free Comic Book Day! It's coming up this Saturday (May 3) at comic stores all across the country. Click here to learn more!

National Superhero Day(?)

Apparently it's National Superhero Day. Why was I not informed?! Click here for CNN's coverage.

Heroes of Magnimar

Hey everybody! Here's your chance to get one of your characters into the world of Pathfinder! Click here to check out a contest involving the upcoming relaunch of the Pathfinder comic book from Dynamite. The deadline is July 1, so act fast!

Pathfinder Legends

The first installment of Pathfinder Legends arrived today. I look forward to listening to the epic Rise of the Runelords saga on my way to work each morning. My commute to the office is only five minutes, so this should keep me busy for a while!

Tyranny of Dragons

Click here for an article discussing "Tyranny of Dragons," the first storyline for the upcoming D&D Next. Interesting stuff!

Pathfinder Comic Review

Click here for a nice review of the first issue of the relaunched Pathfinder comic book series.

Booty!

Once upon a time, in an alternate universe (or perhaps it was, like, 2004), I was a college literature professor and I was leading my students through Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain. The text was originally written in Latin, but we were reading an English translation. One of the students timidly raised his hand with a very strange question about a seemingly straightforward passage. As it turned out, the translator had used the word "booty," meaning "plunder" or "treasure." My student had thought it was a reference to a completely different kind of booty. True story.

Anyway, that's a long-winded introduction to the real reason for this post, which is to point out the awesome-looking campaign coins available on the Paizo site. Click here to see examples of fake coins that you can use to liven up your gaming experience. I may pick some up for my boys, who love that sort of thing. Who doesn't love booty?

Back on the Path

I took a break from the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game to play through the iPad port of Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition. Now that my sassy archer Zoe has defeated Irenicus, I've gone back to PACG and picked up where I left off, with The Hook Mountain Massacre adventure deck. It's been a couple of months since I last played, but the break has done nothing to diminish my admiration for this game. If you haven't tried it yet, you really ought to give it a shot.

Table Top Day

It's International Table Top Day, so do as Wil Wheaton commands and go play some board games!

Pathfinder: City of Secrets

Awesome! I just saw on the Paizo site that a nearby comic book store is hosting a Pathfinder: City of Secrets game event. Click here to see if there's a participating store near you!

Fighter Details

For anyone who was following the D&D Next playtest, here's a look at how the final draft of the Fighter class is shaping up.

D&D Attack Wing

Click here to check out the upcoming D&D dragon-versus-dragon miniatures game!

Pathfinder Legends

Give Paizo a lot of credit for their outside-the-(game)-box thinking. Now there's a new way to experience their award-winning Rise of the Runelords storyline -- through audio dramas on CD! The new Pathfinder Legends series is produced by Big Finish (creators of the Doctor Who audio adventures). Click here for more details.

Tolkien and Beowulf

This May, J.R.R. Tolkien's translation of Beowulf will be published, some 90 years after he completed it. Click here for the full story.

Tolkien, of course, is a figure who looms large over D&D and, indeed, over the entire modern fantasy genre. As a long-time Dungeonmaster and creator of numerous fantasy worlds, however, I've tried strenuously to distance myself from Tolkien. If you've played in any of my campaigns, you've probably noticed that halflings (derived directly from Tolkien's hobbits) do not exist, and unlike certain D&D worlds I could mention, there is never ever a character who resembles Gandalf. (*cough* Elminster *cough*)

Why the deliberate rejection of Tolkien? I'm not entirely sure. Although Lord of the Rings never resonated with me (it's one of the many instances in which this former English professor actually likes the movie better than the book!), I have a deep respect for Tolkien as an intellectual. He was a professor of Old English and wrote an article on Beowulf (titled "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics") that changed the way scholars view this poem. I'm very excited to read his translation of my all-time favorite literary work -- a work that has stimulated by creativity like no other over the past two decades.

Pathfinder Comics Return

Pathfinder comics return in May! The new series is called Pathfinder: City of Secrets (from Dynamite Entertainment), and it debuts on May 14. The comic will include RPG content as well as the awesome removable tactical maps that were discontinued from the previous series. Even better is the news that Paizo is teaming up with comic book stores nationwide to host in-store Pathfinder RPG events to get people interested in the game. Click here for more information.

Will You Miss It?

4e D&D is on its way out. Wizards will continue to sell 4e products until there's no longer any demand, but come summertime and the release of D&D Next, the 4e era will, for all intents and purposes, be over. How do we feel about that?

Personally, I'm not sure what I feel. 4e was a radical departure from the traditional D&D rules and it hasn't even been around for as long as my six-and-a-half-year-old son. Some say it did a lot of damage to the D&D community in that short span of time. That's a fair argument. I've enjoyed the tactical aspects of 4e, but I'm not terribly sad to see it go. I think D&D Next will be a return to what we all believe D&D should be. My only regret from the 4e era is that I never got the chance to play in a long-term campaign. Virtually all of my 4e experience was as a DM, so all those super-awesome optimized characters I cooked up in the Character Builder are now kind of meaningless. And as much as I love the shaman character class (under-powered but plucky!), I never got to play one in a real campaign.

How do you feel? Vote in the poll! (See the very bottom of the page.) And please do vote. This question is actually the prelude to a much more important question I intend to ask before the release of the next edition.

D&D Next News

News about D&D Next is starting to trickle in...click here for a summary of topics covered during a trade show presentation about the new edition. The key takeaway for me? Their guiding principle was "What would Gary and Dave do?" If that's true, it's very encouraging.

D&D Falls

Yikes...D&D has fallen all the way down to #4 on the RPG sales chart. Pathfinder is #1.

What's the Cost?

Click here for an interesting post (and subsequent forum discussion) about the inflation-adjusted cost of every edition of D&D over the years.

Gone!

Those mysterious, tantalizing listings for D&D Next products on BN.com are now gone!

Mark Your Calendars

It appears that the first official D&D Next product, D&D Starter Set, is going to be released on July 15, 2014. Click here for the BN.com listing, and here for the new D&D Player's Handbook, to be released on August 19.

Aaron Allston

Sad news -- sci-fi/fantasy author and roleplaying game designer Aaron Allston has passed away, at the far-too-young age of 53. See this link for a nice summary of Allston's prolific career.

Back in the late '80s and early '90s, I frequented a Texas-based BBS (remember those?) called Red October, a hangout for fans and friends of Hero Games. Allston was also a user of that BBS. It took me a while, but I eventually mustered the courage to email him and express my admiration for his work, and he sent me a very gracious response.

Rock Bottom

I'm in Colorado this week on another business trip. Last night I had a very nice evening with Matt, who lives in Denver. We met for dinner at a restaurant and brewery called Rock Bottom. As soon as I saw the sign, I knew we had to eat there. Why? Long-time Druid Cycle players may recall that Rock Bottom is also the name of the seedy pub in the dwarven stronghold of Steel Mountain.

Kre-O Orcs

As you may have noticed in my last Kre-O post, the human soldiers are rather vanilla. The orcs, however, have a lot of flavor! Check out the tough customers below.

The orcs also have a number of elite or "special" mini-figs, which I've grouped together in the next image.

I'm really digging the Kre-O D&D sets, but they're all a bit too reminiscent of the LEGO Lord of the Rings line. I'd like to see some more iconic D&D characters and monsters in the next wave.

Kre-O Humans

Here's what I have so far for my Kre-O human army. First up are the men-at-arms, who are wielding bows, crossbows, or spears.

Next we have a trio of barbarians. Note the dude in the middle with the totally rad war-hammer.

And here are three knights in plate-mail. Unfortunately, Kre-O has yet to release any horses, so these guys are stuck on foot with the grunts. I look forward to the day when I can set up a good old-fashioned chevauchee.

Are these lads ready to take on the orcs? Tune in next time to see the humans' competition!

Kre-O Drizzt

The new Kre-O D&D sets are not exactly plentiful out here in western Nevada, but I'm slowly building up my forces. So far the coolest mini-fig is the legendary drow ranger Drizzt Do'Urden.

Pretty bad-ass, huh? Over the next couple of posts, I'll add some images of my human and orc troopers.

Kre-O at Toy Fair

Toy Fair is in full swing, and Hasbro is showing off lots of cool upcoming Kre-O products, including D&D sets. Click here for pics!

Kre-O Haul!

At last! D&D Kre-O building toys have arrived on the shelves of my semi-local Toys 'R Us. Check out the haul I picked up this evening!

And, as I explained to Amy afterwards, I exercised considerable restraint. There was so much more I could have bought...

New D&D Minis

Sweet! New D&D minis are on the horizon. Click here for more.

LEGO Movie

While I'm waiting patiently (okay, not so patiently!) for the D&D Kre-O toys to find their way to rural Nevada, I can at least revel in the bricktacular awesomeness of The LEGO Movie. I took Matthew to see it this afternoon and we had a blast. Highly recommended!

Invisibility for All!

I ended up getting through the buggy area in BG2: EE by turning everyone invisible and thereby avoiding the werewolves of instant death. Now that I'm back on track, I'm enjoying my return to Athkatla immensely. Playing BG2 again after all these years reminds me of how amazing this game is, and how little I care about the fancy photo-realistic graphics of today's games. Curmudgeon Card...earned!

Zoe and the Werewolves of Death

Over the weekend, I hustled to finish up the original Baldur's Gate (my third time in the last two years -- I think I'm done with this game for a while!) so that I could jump into the iPad port of Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition. Have I ever mentioned that BG2 is my all-time favorite video game? Needless to say, I was thrilled to revisit this sprawling, epic story. I got started with Zoe, my super-duper-awesome archer ranger.

Only a couple of hours into the game, however, I hit a nasty show-stopper of a bug. In the wacky circus in Athkatla, the werewolves -- who should be illusions, mind you -- now have the ability to kill any character with a single hit. Oy! It's frustrating: A werewolf runs up to one of my party members and that character dies instantly. Dispel Magic can destroy the werewolves, but my spellcasters can't get the spell off before the werewolves obliterate at least one or two party members.

I'm now thinking that Invisibility might be the key. If I have my mage dole out Invisibility spells to the whole party before we enter that room, we may be able to bypass this trouble spot. In any case, I hope they push out a patch soon...who knows what other bugs may be lurking?

Happy Birthday!

Today's the day! Dungeons & Dragons turn 40 years old today!

Hello from Vietnam!

A few pictures from my current travels in Vietnam.

Former US Army / South Vietnamese Chinook helicopter at War Remnants Museum in Saigon. 

Saigon City Hall at night. 

Chinese made military "Jeep". 

And a sneak peak a Ha Long Bay...posts to be coming shortly to my regular blog!

Another Birthday Article

Here's another article on D&D's fortieth...

D&D at 40

With the fortieth birthday of D&D coming up in less than a week, articles are popping up across the web. Click here for one from Salon. If you come across other "D&D Birthday" articles, please let me know and I'll post the links here on the blog!

King Alfred

My all-time favorite historical figure is King Alfred the Great (849 - 899), the renowned scholar-king of the Anglo-Saxons during one of the darkest periods of English history. Today there is fascinating news about the search for Alfred's final resting place. Click here to read about the discovery. The hour-long press conference (embedded in the linked article) is well worth watching, as well!

For players of The Druid Cycle and other Front Porch campaigns, Alfred's greatness (indeed, he is the only English king to be designated as "the Great") is reflected in the small number of wise and just kings, such as Glyndwr and Seren. (I tend to portray monarchs in far less favorable terms.) A character more directly based on Alfred, however, has yet to fully reveal himself...

Fernweh

Don't forget to follow Timothy's excellent Fernweh Again blog to keep up with his adventures in Hong Kong and Vietnam.

BGII

It's here! Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition is now available for iPad. Click here for the details. My only problem is that I'm now in the midst of playing through the original Baldur's Gate again...I need to finish up with this character before I delve into the sequel!

Scale

With D&D Kre-O now on the scene, you may be wondering (actually, I'd be very surprised if you were wondering, but I'm going to tell you anyway!) what will become of my legions of World of Warcraft Mega Bloks. Because the WoW mini-figs and the Kre-O mini-figs are not in the same scale, I can't use them interchangeably.

I don't want to maintain two separate collections of fantasy building toys, so which line wins? The bricks are all compatible, so there's no issue with the basic pieces. The problem is solely with the mini-figs (and their associated gear). The WoW guys have the benefit of incumbency; I already have a large collection of them, so I'd need a compelling reason to switch. However, the WoW line for Mega Bloks seems to be petering out, whereas the D&D Kre-O line is just ramping up. The Kre-O guys also get bonus points because they're in the same scale as Lego mini-figs.

It's a tough call, but I'm going with the Kre-O guys. Much like that battle-tested +1 longsword that gets cascaded down to an NPC henchman when you find a +2 longsword, the WoW mini-figs will most likely be passed on to my two little boys, who don't (yet!) share their father's idiosyncratic (but, like, entirely justified!) insistence that all toys that get used together be in the same scale. Enjoy all those orcs and elves, boys...my sights are set on warriors of a slightly smaller stature!

D&D Toys Are Back!

Officially licensed mass-market D&D toys are back...for the first time in three decades! Not since the glory days of LJN have kids (and those of us who remain kids at heart) been able to buy actual D&D figures and playsets. D&D toys have returned in the form of Hasbro's Kre-O building sets. I have yet to see these toys in stores, but I managed to snag one set from Amazon.

Who's excited about the return of D&D toys? Just ask the three lads in this photograph!

The set I bought includes an orc crossbowman, a cannon, a human archer, and a segment of a defensive wall. The orc and his cannon are shown below.

When the front wheels turn, the spears slash up and down. The spring-loaded cannon can be raised or lowered for better aim. Against this fearsome war machine, the human archer would do well to hide behind his barricade.

The wall can connect to other sets, allowing you to build larger structures. Also included are rules for a simple game in which players attempt to knock down their opponent's soldiers. Below is a picture of the character cards for the figures included in this set, and game stats at the bottom suggest that a more complex D&D Kre-O game will be included with other (probably larger) products.

Overall, it's a great little set. I can't wait till these Kre-O toys are more widely available. I have armies to build!

Hong Kong: The Return!

Timothy is back for a second go-around in Hong Kong! You can follow his exploits here.

Kre-O and Candy

If you're at all interested in the D&D Kre-O sets, check out this website for some information about the game component of these toys. It's cool to see character cards with game stats (it's not much of a game, but still...), although I'd much rather have cards with D&D Next stats.

As a side note, I'm just now reminded of the D&D candy boxes that included cards with rudimentary game info. I have a particularly vivid memory of buying a few boxes of that candy at the KB Toys store at the Arnot Mall when I was a young lad in the early 1980s.

Seven Minutes in Heaven

Did you ever play that kissy-kissy game in middle school? No? Neither did I. Anyway, my own seven minutes in heaven occurs during my once- or twice-yearly trip to the unparalleled Millennium Games in Rochester, New York. I usually get between five and ten minutes to make a whirlwind circuit around the store before our hectic schedule or cranky kids force me out the door. During that brief window, however, I try to soak up all the awesomeness. During my latest visit over the holidays, I was greeted by a brand-new bit of awesomeness -- Millennium is now a comic book store too! Heaven? I'd say it's pretty close!

Here Comes D&D Kre-O!

The first Dungeons & Dragons Kre-O building set now has a listing on Amazon! (And yes, I just ordered it.) Here's hoping we'll  one day see a Kre-O version of the Fortress of Fangs...

UPDATE: The Hasbro Kre-O website has been updated with product listings from all the D&D sets. Click here for all the glorious details.

Happy 2014!

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope we all have a great 2014!

Pathfinder Preview

Click here for a nice preview of the upcoming adventure deck (The Hook Mountain Massacre) for the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game.

Stuff I'd Like To Do

I'm always trying to think of new game ideas for the future, even if many (most?) of them never come to pass. If nothing else, it's a fun exercise to keep the creative juices flowing. As we approach 2014, here are a few ideas I've been mulling...

• It's going to be D&D's fortieth birthday in 2014, so why not have a one-shot or mini-campaign that uses the D&D rules as they existed back in 1974? Who wants to be the "Fighting Man"?
• I have a super awesome new NPC -- a cantankerous, foul-mouthed old crone -- who would make a great centerpiece for a low-level campaign, either in the Druid Cycle or Shattered Realm setting. Like the crone herself, the adventures would be loosely derived from a Middle English adventure tale that I enjoyed from my former life in academia.
• I now have a complete Old West campaign setting for the Front Porch multiverse, and it's chock-full of cowboys, bandits, prospectors (grizzled and non-grizzled), card sharks, card sharps, women of various types of repute (including ill!), and two extra-dimensional visitors. I've taken great care to ensure that all NPCs have the most outlandishly, wonderfully ridiculous Old West names you've ever heard. (Consarn it!)

D&D Next...Summer!

D&D Next will be hitting stores next summer. Awesome! Click here for the official announcement.

Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable holiday season. I may add a few posts here and there if any big gaming-related news comes up, but otherwise I'll see you all in 2014!

Happy 13th!

It's Friday the 13th, so happy Colgate Day to Matt, Tim B, Chuck, and any other Colgate alums who may be reading this blog!

No Love for Foxglove

As I mentioned earlier this week, one of my PACG teams picked up an ally named Aldern Foxglove, who plays a pivotal role in the Rise of the Runelords storyline. I didn't have a need for that particular ally card, but I carried it for two scenarios until, sure enough, I hit the plot twist that I had foreseen. Is it a spoiler to say that now the card is really, really useless to me?

Zub Interview

Click here for an interesting interview with Jim Zub, the writer of the Pathfinder comic book series.

Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle

I was pretty annoyed when Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle, the first official D&D Next product, was available only to Gen Con attendees. Now this adventure has been released in digital format for about $18 -- much less than the print version. Click here for details.

This Guy Is Important

I have two minor quibbles with the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game (PACG). One is that too many of the scenarios rely on playing hide-and-seek with the main villain. In the long run, I think this problem will be easy to solve; as this game becomes more mature, the designers will come up with ways to build more innovative and unique scenarios. The other problem isn't a problem so much as...well...unfulfilled potential. I realize that this product was intended to be an RPG-flavored card game and not a truly "gamemasterless" RPG, but even so, it's pretty light on story. The source material for this game -- the Rise of the Runelords adventure path -- is a much-beloved and award-winning RPG campaign. I was expecting a bit more of the narrative to come through, but as it stands, the PACG doesn't really tell the story of Rise of the Runelords in any meaningful way.

However, once in a while the game does surprise me. While adventuring with my second pair of heroes -- the cleric Kyra and the monk Sajan -- I stumbled upon a fellow by the name of Aldern Foxglove. I know enough about the RPG source material to know that this guy is important.

I can't wait to see how this card affects the development of my current adventure deck (The Skinsaw Murders) and how the experience of Kyra and Sajan will be different from that of Valeros and Seoni, who do not have this pivotal NPC in their party. I won't spoil it for those who might play Rise of the Runelords in some capacity (either as RPG or PACG), but I will say that the card game may have one super-cool plot twist in store for me shortly...

Pathfinder Pairs

Now that I've played through the Burnt Offerings adventure deck four times with four solo characters -- Valeros (fighter), Kyra (cleric), Seoni (sorcerer), and Sajan (monk) -- I'm going to try pairing them up for the next adventure, The Skinsaw Murders. Team #1 is Val and Seoni. Here's the setup on my trusty air hockey / gaming table...

I've drawn the starting hands for both heroes, but I have yet to explore any of the four location decks. Running multiple characters looks to be rather more complicated than using just one!

Skull & Shackles

Coming next August is Skull & Shackles, the second base set for the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game. Like the current Rise of the Runelords set, it's based on a Pathfinder RPG adventure path (i.e., campaign). Looking forward to it!

Happy Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday.

And Sajan, my new monk character in the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, now has a pet saber-toothed tiger. Awesome.

Sajan

While I was in Longmont last week, I picked up the Character Add-On Deck for the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game. This set includes four new characters (barbarian, druid, monk, and paladin) as well as enough generic cards to expand your party to as many as six players. After poring over the new characters, I came to the conclusion that three of them were demonstrably weaker than comparable characters in the basic set. The barbarian was inferior to the fighter, the paladin was inferior to the cleric (alas!), and the druid was inferior to...basically...everyone. Only the monk, a stern-looking human named Sajan, seemed like a viable choice.

I've been playing Sajan as a solo character for the past few days and he's as frustrating as he is interesting. Like the monks of D&D-based RPGs, he's at his best when he's not using weapons. He also wears no armor and does not use spells. Sajan's character deck, therefore, consists only of allies, items, and blessings...lots of blessings. In a starting Sajan deck, a whopping 8 of the 15 cards are blessings, giving him plenty of opportunity to enhance combat and non-combat checks alike. Better yet, Sajan recharges (rather than discards) blessings used for combat checks, and he's the only character in the game who can apply multiple blessings to a single combat check. So is Sajan an unstoppable beast in combat? Well...not exactly. Fickle fortune plays too much of a role for my liking. Sajan begins play with no static bonuses, so on a typical combat check he's rolling 2D10 (1D10 for Dexterity, and then another 1D10 for the blessing that you'd invariable play on the check unless you had no blessings in your hand at the time). 2D10 or even 3D10 (if you play a second blessing on the check) is, if you'll forgive the pun, extremely "dicey" -- that is, the results are all over the map. With the fighter Valeros, I have enough static bonuses that my minimum roll is nearly enough to defeat some of the weaker monsters; in contrast, Sajan can easily fail (and has!) to get, say, a total of 14, even on a 3D10 check. Such "swingy" results make Sajan unpredictable in combat, leaving him open to crippling wipe-outs against even mediocre foes. I can beef him up with static bonuses as he levels up, but for the time being, every combat encounter is quite a wild ride!

Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition

Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition is now available for PC and Mac. When will we see the iOS version?!

D&D Next Generation

I gave Matthew a very brief introduction to RPGs about a year ago when I showed him the Pathfinder Beginner Box. At the time, he wasn't quite ready for it. Lately, however, he's been begging me to teach him how to play D&D, so over the weekend we sat down for an official adventure, this time using an extremely abridged version of the D&D Next rules. Here's the character sheet (consisting only of attack bonus, Armor Class, and hit points) for Matthew's fighter, Egerren -- named after his beloved World of Warcraft character.

Matthew requested an adventure with an arctic theme, so I picked out some appropriate maps, grabbed a few minis, and got him started in a place that Druid Cycle aficionados should recognize -- the frozen island of Dinas Cefni. He was practically giddy with excitement.

Egerren and his NPC companion, the paladin Mairin, set out to track down the goblins that were harassing some local miners. Here they are battling the first few goblin scouts.

Later, the intrepid heroes stumbled upon a small keep from which hordes of enemies began to emerge.

They managed to defeat the goblins and bugbears, but what will they find within the keep? Judging from Matthew's enthusiastic response to the adventure, it won't be long before we find out.

Happy 50th!

Happy 50th birthday to Doctor Who, the television program(me) that has done more to stimulate my imagination than any show I've ever seen.

Longmont

Longmont is a nice little town and I'm enjoying my stay here, especially because I was able to get together for an evening with Matt, who made the drive up from Denver. It was great catching up with him. We spent a couple of hours discussing family, jobs, comics, movies, games...just like old times back in Rochester. I also managed to stop by Atomic Goblin Games. The owner and some of his customers are big fans of the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game and are playing through the Rise of the Runelords adventure path. I picked up the character expansion pack while I was there, and the owner highly recommended the monk class. I haven't had a chance to delve into the cards yet, but it sounds like the monk has some interesting mechanics that differ from Valeros and the other characters I've tried.

Spot It!

We had a lovely if all-too-brief visit from Timothy this weekend. We caught up with some of his Front Porch characters, and he introduced us to a simple but ingenious little game called Spot It. Matthew is already addicted to it!

Hello, Colorado!

I'll be in Longmont, Colorado, next week for a business trip. While I'm there, I'll have the great pleasure of getting together with Matt. It's been a long time indeed since we saw each another face-to-face! I'll also be paying a visit to Atomic Goblin Games. I love checking out game stores wherever I go, and this one looks very promising!

Old School D20

Check it out! Click here to see a D20 from ancient Egypt!

OyD&D

I stopped by my "local" game store (an hour away -- yes, I live out in the sticks!) the other day to pick up The Skinsaw Murders adventure for the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game and I spotted the Original Dungeons & Dragon RPG boxed set ("Original Edition Premium Reprint"!) for the mind-boggling price of $150. When I asked to see -- okay, hold -- it, the gal at the game store actively dissuaded me from buying it. She saw the longing in my eyes and talked me back from the edge of the cliff. Amazon is selling it for the still-far-too-high price of $101 as of this writing. I'll buy it if it gets down to the ~$50 range.

Pathfinder Online

Check out this video clip for the upcoming Pathfinder Online MMO...


Pathfinder Online Q3 2013 Update from Ryan Dancey on Vimeo.

20 and Beyond

I think it goes without saying (but I'll say it anyway) that twenty years is a long time for a campaign world to last. And because I have two little boys who are increasingly interested in "Daddy's games," I don't foresee an end to The Druid Cycle. Maybe it will end when I croak, but I hope some as-yet-unborn descendant will take over and keep it going.

But that's really long-term. What about, like, next year? After our big anniversary year, what happens next? My goal for the remainder of 2013 is to drive the current storylines toward a cliffhanger, to be delivered to the players sometime around December 15. We'll then put the games on hiatus for the holiday season and pick things up again sometime in January. When that happens, I want the world to feel different. To keep the stories fresh and interesting, I want to shake things up a bit. I won't say exactly how, but by the time the aforementioned cliffhanger arrives, the players will have a pretty good idea of what's in store for 2014.

As the players know by now, their slain foe Ekhis has an extensive network of followers who continue to work toward achieving his goals. Certain players are aware of certain components of the plan, but no one has all the pieces of the puzzle. When the cliffhanger hits, all will be revealed and the scope of the enemies' plan will become frighteningly clear.

Home Stretch

It's the first of November, so we're heading into the home stretch of our twenty-fifth year of the Front Porch and twentieth of the Druid Cycle campaign world. Time for a quick recap of the year so far.

Our first big event was "When Last We Left Our Intrepid Heroes," a short story that spawned the Front Porch "multiverse" -- a formalized structure linking virtually all of our previous campaigns into a single but multi-layered narrative environment. With input from a dozen players on the characters and campaigns (including those run by Scott, Timothy, Matt, and Chris) of a quarter-century of tabletop and online gaming (special shout-out to Timothy for the treasure trove of early documents he sent me), this multiverse is not just a pleasant stroll down memory lane, but a springboard for future storytelling. As a direct result of "When Last We Left," I now have fully fleshed-out settings for mid-twentieth century Earth, twenty-first century Earth (with or without superheroes), and post-apocalyptic Earth (with or without crazy powered-up mutants), along with all-new settings like the Old West and the far future. Add these to fantasy settings like The Druid Cycle, Torchlight, and Shattered Realm, and we've got a lot of toys to play with.

Much of the rest of the year has focused on The Druid Cycle and the war against the immortal trickster Ekhis. Several epic-tier characters, heroes and villains alike, perished in the climactic battle (thanks to Jason for agreeing to sacrifice Sir Roberts!), and the fallout from the heroes' Pyrrhic victory (a term derived from the name "Pyrrhus," but not the same Pyrrhus as the namesake of our own beloved rogue who died in this battle. But I digress...), has perhaps been even more interesting than the battle itself. That wasn't the only highlight. We also resurrected (literally) some long-lost characters from an earlier Druid Cycle storyline (featuring Tim B, Chris, Kevin, and Tim W) and integrated their new adventures into the Ekhis plot. Scott (Hachulors) and Timothy (Scyld) brought back characters from the '90s, and Kevin earned a well deserved promotion for his hero Senchan, who may be the most highly respected man on the continent of First Home.

Where is this all headed? In the next post, I'll give you a glimpse of some plans for the rest of our dual-anniversary year.