First Strike

I picked up two of the new 40k starter sets (First Strike and Know No Fear) today at the Games Workshop store in Reno. (You should've seen the guy's face when I told him I was going to paint the minis with paints from Michaels!) Here are the sprues for First Strike, the smaller of the two sets.

As you can see, the models aren't molded in the usual dark gray plastic; instead, the Primaris Space Marines (think Ultramarines on steroids) are in blue and the Death Guard forces are in green. This way, even for folks who don't want to paint the models, it's easier to tell which side is which. That's handy for me, too, because it may be a while before I get around to painting the minis for either starter set, as we may have some big news to report in the next couple of weeks! (No, Amy isn't pregnant...)

Pathfinder: Kingmaker

Wow, I just found out about Pathfinder: Kingmaker, a single-player computer RPG in the style of Baldur's Gate and its successors. Click here to see the Kickstarter page -- but there's only a few hours left!

Beast Mode

With apologies to Marshawn Lynch, there's a new Beast Mode in town. The boys started up an adventure with new characters in the Shattered Realm setting this past weekend, and Nathaniel's shapeshifting druid has been the bane of low-level villains everywhere. Whether as a tiger, dire wolf, or giant hyena(!), he's running rampant over his foes. Matthew's assassin rogue may be dealing more damage per round, but there's something viscerally satisfying about watching the druid clawing down hapless kobolds and orcs.

Starter Set Madness

Aye caramba! The new edition of 40k has not one, not two, but three starter sets! I swear I'm only going to buy the cheapest one...

Twisty Plots

I love throwing plot twists at the boys in their Shattered Realm campaign, and they love trying to figure out what's going to happen next. Last weekend, they learned that one of their half-dozen closest NPC allies was secretly a traitor -- but they didn't know which one. What followed was a lengthy discussion of NPC actions and motivations, and a review of all the available evidence. It took a few leading questions on my part, but ultimately they realized that the main NPC of the campaign was also the master villain! Long story short, that treacherous NPC suffered a swift and ignominious fall from grace.

Then, last night, the boys were gearing up for peace talks between an embattled border town and the goblinoid army that was about to lay siege to it. (I have enough D&D minis to put over a hundred goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears into the field -- so when I say "army", I really mean it!) A key part of the peace negotiations was an exchange of prisoners. The invaders insisted that the town give up a hobgoblin who had switched sides and joined with the heroes. The town's leadership refused, but the noble hobgoblin agreed to return to his people and face whatever punishment would be meted out to him. The boys were devastated. They're assuming, of course, that their pal will be executed, but would I let a great NPC go to waste? Never! Some time will pass, and then I'll find a way to bring him back into the story.

After all, it would make a great plot twist...

Epic Save

Over the many years and many players of Druid Cycle adventures, it seems to me that Jason was the one guy who always had great rolls in clutch situations. (Apologies to Kevin, whose mantra was "I roll 1s like it's my job.") These days, in the Shattered Realm campaign that I'm running for the boys, it's Nathaniel who scores the big roll when he needs it. And in today's game session, he really needed it. The heroes were beset by a mind-controlling witch who was on the verge of turning Nathaniel's beloved animal companion against the party. (Protip: How do you scare the crap out of a six-year-old gamer? Don't threaten his own character -- threaten his pet!) Nathaniel needed to roll a natural 20 for his animal companion to succeed on the save, and doggone it, he made that save! He and Matthew and I all cried out so loudly that poor Amy -- who's laid up with a fever -- came hobbling out of the bedroom to find out what the heck was going on!

Countdown to 30

The first Front Porch campaign -- the superhero smackdown antics of Earth Commanders -- started just about 29 years ago in the summer of 1988. Next summer, then, will mark 30 years of Front Porch gaming action. For the 25th anniversary I did a series of posts on the subject (see the label "Countdown to 25"), so I might as well do the same for the 30th. 2018 will be doubly significant because it also marks the 25th anniversary of the Druid Cycle campaign setting.

Bears vs. Babies

Our latest Kickstarter purchase has arrived!

Yeah, that's one furry box! From the makers of Exploding Kittens, behold the glory of Bears vs. Babies. The object of the game is to assemble armies of bears and other creatures, like this guy...

...and this guy...

...to do battle against hordes of demented babies, like these little buggers...

The player who eats the most babies wins! Three out of four Suttons agree: This game is a winner!

Free RPG Day Today!

Don't forget, it's Free RPG Day today!

Free RPG Day 2017

I've soured a bit on Free RPG Day in recent years, but it looks like there's going to be a lot of cool stuff this time around. Check out your local game store this Saturday!

Shatter Up

It seems as though one or both of the kids has had a cold for the past month, so we've had a lot of quiet, indoor time lately. Aside from all the coughing and sneezing, it's been a nice change of pace after a hectic spring with Matthew's ice hockey and Nathaniel's baseball. The boys and I have been playing a lot of D&D in the Shattered Realm setting, and now Tim W is doing a solo adventure in that world with one of his Druid Cycle characters. It's fun to watch this world really come to life!

"For Russ and the Allfather!"

A massive new campaign just dropped for the mobile Space Wolf game. So much for Injustice 2...

The Lay of the Lost Horn

The boys were knocking around on Saturday with nothing to do, so Amy suggested D&D. I popped open my Shattered Realm file and I started a new campaign for them: "The Lay of the Lost Horn."

After a journey fraught with goblin raids and other dangers, the two young heroes -- Matthew's dragonborn sorcerer and Nathaniel's human ranger -- have reached the besieged village of Palisade. Pics below!

Not Feelin' It

I logged a lot of time playing the original mobile version of Injustice, but for some reason, I'm just not feeling Injustice 2. When I have a few idle minutes for mobile gaming, I'm instead turning to challenge missions in Space Wolf. Maybe I'll let Injustice 2 sit for a while and jump back into it the next time I'm on a business trip...

World Builders

The boys had a hankering to dip into my vast collection of four-inch action figures, so we've spent the better part of the last two evenings transforming our spare bedroom into a sprawling fantasy world. They each built up a "civilization", so I -- never one to miss an opportunity for world building -- asked them to sit down and write up some notes about the domains they created. I've added their notes to my master spreadsheet for the Shattered Realm campaign world, so one day, in a future D&D adventure, they'll be able to explore their creations in an entirely different way!

Injustice 2

Injustice 2 is out for mobile on both iOS and Android platforms. The screens are very "busy" (i.e., cluttered) in the menus as well as during the fights, and I'm still not sure what a lot of the icons and symbols mean, but overall it seems like a lot of fun and a worthy successor to the original game. My immediate source of frustration, though, is that the blocking control is entirely different from the first Injustice, so sometimes my heroes just  have to stand around and take a beating while I'm fumbling to hit the right spot on the screen!

FCBD Today!

Free Comic Book Day is today! Head over to your friendly local comic book store for some free stuff!

An End to My Torment

I finished up Planescape: Torment tonight. In the final encounter, I talked the main villain into submission and then my character was dragged down into some sort of horrible hell-dimension. Somehow, it seemed a fitting end...

FCBD 2017

Quick reminder: Free Comic Book Day 2017 is coming up this Saturday!

Progress!

I finished up the single-player campaign for the 40k mobile game Space Wolf yesterday (casualties were high in a scenario aptly titled "No One Lives Forever") and made some good progress on Planescape: Torment. I estimate that I'm about 80% of the way through Planescape. My goal is to have it finished up before Injustice 2 comes out in a couple of weeks...

Critical Mass

If I play a video game for long enough, I usually reach a "critical mass" point (or, to put it less charitably, the point at which I fall prey to the sunk cost fallacy) and decide that I'll actually finish the game even if I'm not really digging it. I think I've hit that point with Planescape: Torment. I still find it oppressively verbose, but as long as I can skim past the dialogue and focus on the snippets that are included in the main character's journal, it's bearable.

One criticism that is not likely to go away, though, is the setting. I'm about 20 hours into this game and I'm still traipsing around in Sigil. What's the point of using the Planescape setting if so much of the game is rooted in one city? Granted, Sigil is a cool and quirky location, but there's really no reason this game couldn't have been set in Waterdeep or Greyhawk or some other iconic D&D city. Are we actually going to see other planes in Planescape?

Dragonfire

Wellity, wellity, wellity...

It looks like D&D is finally joining the deckbuilder craze. (Is it still a craze, though? I was actually thinking not long ago that this type of game was playing itself out. Anyway...) With a product that's sure to evoke endless comparisons to Paizo's astoundingly awesome Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, Wizards is partnering with Catalyst Game Labs to release a D&D-themed deckbuilder game called Dragonfire. (Cue the scene from late-'80s Doctor Who when the freezing dude's face melts off.) All snark aside, I will play the hell out of this game!

Voices In My Head

I won't get into the details -- it's a long story -- but Tim W came up with a great use for a non-combat spell. Facing a foe who was unfamiliar with magic, the wizard Cathbad (of Druid Cycle fame) used a Sending spell to put strange voices in the guy's head. I love it!

New 40k Edition

A new edition of Warhammer 40,000 is on the way. It's hard to believe that my Dark Vengeance boxed set is now going to be several editions out of date!

It's Torment Indeed

So I ended up shelling out twenty bucks for the PC version of Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition, and I can't say I'm in love with it. I'll try anything that resembles Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale (this game is built using the same engine as those two classics), but Torment is turning out to be slow and talky. I'm a couple of hours into the game, and I'm now wandering around the slums of Sigil (all the while killing the same bandits that keep respawning in exactly the same places) in search of information. Each new map brings about the same grim exercise in identifying every named NPC, initiating dialogue with them, and scanning through reams of text to figure out if they have anything truly useful to say. Not sure how far I will get with this game, especially with my copy of Tales From the Yawning Portal scheduled to arrive today...

Time to Torment Myself!

The enhanced edition for Planescape: Torment is now available. Can't wait to download it for my tablet!

Moral Panic

I've been playing D&D (or modified versions of RPG games) for decades now, although not as heavily involved as my friends, it has always been an escape that I've enjoyed, allowing me to create a fictional narrative that I have always been unable to do so on my own.

We were probably at the tail end of the first generation of D&D players, or perhaps the very first of the next generation so a lot of the hysteria had subsided by the time we were playing. I recall there was a little bit of reluctance on the part of the schools that we attended to allow us to use "dice" in the classroom and I am sure that is part of the lingering effects of the hysteria. Most of our gaming activity occurred either at home or on the local BBS's.

With that being said, the "moral panic" and hysteria around the first generation of D&D players has always fascinated me. This is a great article about an early Tom Hanks vehicle, Mazes and Monsters.

"...it's a cautionary tale about the supposed impact of RPGs on delicate young minds - and perhaps best remembered as the first feature role for a young Tom Hanks."

I haven't had a chance to watch this crap-tastic sounding made for TV-movie, but the article does give a nice summary of the era and the movie itself.

Battle Scene

Okay, before I put these guys away, here are a few shots of the completed armies, along with the terrain pieces that I painted as part of this project.

For the Emperor!

Here we go...the last three Ultramarines models! First we a veteran Space Marine clad in Terminator armor, toting a storm bolter and power sword.

Next up is a fearsome Dreadnought!

Finally, the most difficult model of all, the Space Marine Captain. This guy gave me a lot of trouble (especially that stupid flag!) and he didn't turn out great, but he's good enough to carve up those pesky Orks!

Today brings my grand adventure with Warhammer 40,000 painting to a close. Well, at least until Shadow War: Armageddon is in stock...

We March for Macgragge...

...and we shall know no fear!

The first batch of Ultramarines is done -- or, at least, as done as they're going to get! I was pretty satisfied until I looked at the close-up photos and saw all sorts of areas for improvement. However, with other gaming stuff coming up soon, I've decided to put these guys aside. We've reached the point of diminishing returns.

Anyway, here they are! The photo below shows a trio of Space Marines armed with bolters.

Next up, a flamer! (Yes, that's really what it's called. Yikes.)

And now we have an Ultramarine toting a missile launcher.

Last but not least, here's the chainsword-wielding sergeant -- the leader of this squad.

In the next post, I'll share photos of the last three Ultramarines models from this starter set.

Confrontation: The Age of Rag'Narok

So...what the hell is this?

Apparently, it's Confrontation: The Age of Rag'Narok (their spelling, not mine), a decade-old miniatures wargame from a now-defunct French company. I picked it up sight unseen on Miniature Market for twenty bucks as a clearance item (click here to see if it's still on sale!). The box arrived today, and, as you can see, it comes with a lot of cool bits.

Not sure if I'll ever play the actual game, but I'll certainly make good use of the miniatures, the cool terrain piece, and the double-sided battle mat. At this price, maybe I'll pick up a second box!

Planescape: Torment

Yeah, so, I guess I'm going to have to get this...

40k Weekend

It's been a 40k kinda weekend. I've played Space Wolf, I've read a couple of issues of Titan's relatively new Warhammer 40,000 comic book series, and I've worked a bit on my Ultramarines painting. Perhaps by next weekend I'll be finished with the painting and will be able to rope one or both of the boys into playing a bit.

Orkz Iz Dun!

Tonight I finished up the final two Ork units, the Deffkopta and the Warboss. First up, the Deffkopta!

And last but not least, the bad-ass Warboss!

Now I'll turn my attention back to the Ultramarines. I still have a lot of detail work and touching up to do, but I think they're coming along well. Stay tuned for more pictures!

Hawkman Facts

This has nothing to do with gaming, but I just need to give a quick shout-out to my favorite superhero, Hawkman, who's featured on Comic Book Resources today!

Nobz Ahoy!

And here are the beefy Ork Nobz. Next weekend, I'll see if I can finish up the Orks and then get back to work on the Ultramarines...

First Batch

First batch of completed minis...the Ork Boyz!

At some point, I might go back and add more detail to the bodies (such as the brown leather straps that crisscross their clothes), but this is probably good enough for now. The Boyz are ready for a fight!

Less Artsy, More Fartsy

To the surprise of exactly no one, I'm not very artistic. Painting my Warhammer 40k miniatures has been a challenge, but at least I'm making progress. I'm not finished with any of them yet, but I will post photos of all the Orks and Ultramarines when I'm ready to call it quits.

From Gray to Black...

After several years of hemming and hawing, I've finally made the commitment to attempt painting Warhammer 40k miniatures. Over the weekend, I sat down and applied a coat of black primer to all the Ultramarines and Orks from the Battle for Vedros starter set. For good measure, I also primed (primered?) four pieces of Citadel scenery that I've had lying around for the past fifteen years or so. Next up, I'll paint the Ultramarines blue and the Orks green. Then, at the very least, they'll be more visually distinct on the table. I will try for additional detailing (e.g., gray or silver for the guns and swords), but my artistic skills leave a lot to be desired!

Lego D&D?

Remember those D&D-themed Kre-O guys that I was nuts about a few years ago? The mini-figs were pretty awesome, but the bricks didn't hold together very well, making it difficult for the boys and I to stage epic battles without entire towers crumbling at the single jab of an orc's spear. Well, it seems that we may be a step closer to a true D&D-themed Lego experience. Click here for details!

Rock Paper Wizard

My boys are going to love this...

Vedros Action

I've conducted a few small-scale skirmishes to learn the 40k rules, so now I've put all the Battle for Vedros miniatures out there for a larger encounter. Here we are after four turns...

The Orks have lost their mighty Deffkopta (helicopter) and only one unit has managed to close distance with the sharpshooting Ultramarines. The humans' leader, Captain Trajean, now finds himself in a furious melee with a horde of Ork Boyz. Check out the image below -- you can see the captain's flag sticking up from the frenzied press of warriors!

Battle for Vedros

Forces are assembled! The Orks outnumber the Ultramarines by a substantial margin, but I'd never bet against the Space Marines. For the Emperor!

Here We Go Again!

A little gift to myself to celebrate my cool new job.

This time, I'm going to sit down and learn the rules, and I'm going to paint the damn miniatures!

(War)hammer Time

I guess all this time spent playing Blood Bowl and Space Wolf on my tablet has given me a hankering to try 40k again. I've ordered the most recent starter set -- apparently this version, Battle for Vedros, includes simplified rules that I might now have the patience to learn.

Injustice 2

Bring...it...on...

Worlds of Warhammer

I've been looking around lately for good mobile games (I ain't got one of them fancy-dancy console game systems) to tide me over until the sequel to Injustice comes out later this year, and I've stumbled upon a couple of Games Workshop gems: Warhammer 40,000: Space Wolf, a turn-based game of Space Marines tactical action, and Blood Bowl: Kerrunch, a game of fantastical football-themed combat and part of GW's long series of Blood Bowl titles. Both are free and highly recommended!

Phun With Phasma

With the rain continuing to fall at an Old Testament pace, the boys and I finished up the Star Wars mini-campaign this afternoon. We ended up fleeing rather ignominiously during the final battle when Captain Phasma (of Force Awakens fame) showed up, but we got away without being captured or killed, so...victory!

Both boys seem to like this system better than I do. Matthew would like to evolve his character into some sort of Force-wielder, as in the Knights of the Old Republic video game that he enjoys. Nathaniel just can't wait for the next chapter of the story. Although the Force Awakens-era game doesn't currently have any other adventure books, at least there's a free downloadable adventure module (A Call for Heroes) that we can check out.

Escape From Jakku

Like much of the country, we're experiencing ridiculously bad weather here in western Nevada, so the whole family has been cooped up at home. However, it's been a great opportunity for the boys and I to crack open Star Wars: The Force Awakens Beginner Game and give it a whirl. Today we ran through about two-thirds of the introductory mini-campaign, and we'll probably finish it up tomorrow. The adventure takes place on Jakku, and thus far we've helped some friendly nomads repel an attack by local gangsters, discovered vital secrets buried in the bowels of a downed Rebel Alliance corvette, and made a harrowing escape from the desert world during a second enemy assault.

What's the verdict? Well, of the three of us, Nathaniel is the only one singing its praises. Of course, he's an easy sell -- he loves learning new game systems and he loves anything related to Star Wars. Matthew and I have a more lukewarm impression. I'm not sure either of us would be keen on picking up another of the Star Wars RPG books any time soon, especially with Tales From the Yawning Portal coming out in a couple of months to get us roaring back into D&D.

There's nothing inherently wrong with the Star Wars RPG system, it's just that it plays kind of slowly. For example, when it's time for an attack or a skill check, you roll a fistful of dice and sort them according to the symbols that come up. (There are no numerals on any of these dice.) At the most basic level, you need to have more Success symbols than Failure symbols (just like the attack rolls in X-Wing). In addition to Success and Failure symbols, you also have Advantage, Threat, Triumph, and Despair. Regardless of whether or not a check succeeds, an abundance of Advantage symbols allows you to "buy" useful side-effects from a list options, whereas Despair symbols allow the Gamemaster to screw you in some way even if your check succeeded. So, for every check, there's a non-trivial follow-up period where everyone is interpreting what just happened. It's fine if you're rolling to fix a broken hyperdrive engine or hack (sorry, "slice") into a computer system, but for combat encounters, the action moves so slowly that players (especially a couple of six- and nine-year-olds I know) tend to wander from the table when it isn't their turn.

If you don't mind the pace, though, the system gives you a fine Star Wars fix. We all cheered heartily when Nathaniel's character clambered into a rusty old turbolaser turret and blasted a landspeeder to smithereens with a single shot. The Force was with us on that one!

Tales From the Yawning Portal

Holy shite!

THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED!

Star Wars RPG

It's a new year, so I thought it would be a good idea to kick things off with a post about a new game. Well, it's not exactly new, but it's new to me!

I recently picked up Star Wars: The Force Awakens Beginner Game, the latest entry in the Star Wars RPG game line. This series is produced by Fantasy Flight Games, the makers of Star Wars: X-Wing, arguably my all-time favorite miniatures game. It's obvious just by looking at the dice that the RPG and X-Wing share some DNA in their core mechanics, but I won't have a good feel for how the game plays until I succeed in getting a few players on board. Amy has zero (or even less than zero!) interest in anything related to Star Wars, and the boys are focused on increasingly complex feats of Lego engineering, so it may be a while before I can give this one a proper assessment. Stay tuned!

Holiday Fun

I hope you're all having a great holiday season! Ours has been pretty quiet. Bad weather in the Sierra Nevada mountains whittled down our Los Angeles trip to a mere few days (including driving down there on Christmas Day), but Santa brought us a lot of fun new game stuff, including a Pershing and a Panther IV for our Tanks armies, the fantastic Forbidden Island (the predecessor to Forbidden Desert, a family favorite), and Poop: The Game (it's a real thing).

See you in 2017!

Made It to Willamette Valley!

For the first time ever, we've won a game of Oregon Trail. A measles-ridden Amy was our only survivor, but she made it all the way to Willamette Valley, Oregon. Once again, I died from dysentery -- which has been my fate in every single game we've played!

D&D Is a Hall-of-Famer!

Dungeons & Dragons has been inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in my beloved second home of Rochester, New York. Click here to read all about it!

Revenge!

The boys and I have spent most of this dreary, rainy Sunday building models and playing Tanks battles. The U.S. Sherman tanks (Nathaniel and myself) have largely had the upper hand over their German Panther or Jagdpanther (Matthew) foe. Below is a photo of the final turn of our most recent battle. One of our Shermans was temporarily disabled -- although completely undamaged -- so Matthew drove his Jagdpanther right up and destroyed it at point-blank range with a single shot. Our other Sherman, hiding in the forest, then immediately blew up the German tank with a well-placed side shot. It's been a lot of fun, but we definitely need more tanks!

Tanks

Tanks is a hot new World War II miniatures skirmish game from Gale Force Nine. People usually describe it as Star Wars: X-Wing but with tanks instead of spaceships. Indeed, the mechanics are similar enough that if you know how to play X-Wing, you basically know how to play Tanks.

Here's a look at all the goodies that come in the box...

As you can see, the models come unpainted and unassembled, which is great for artistically-inclined Warhammer 40k fans, but not so great for folks (like yours truly) who prefer their games to be playable right out of the box. In any case, a core set gives you enough bits to build two American tanks (Shermans) and one German tank (Panther). Other tanks (including those from the UK and the USSR) are available in reasonably-priced expansion sets.

And now a closer look at one of the two identical sprues containing the Sherman pieces...

Finally, here's an image of one of the sprues that contains the pieces you can use to build either a standard Panther or a Jagdpanther...

Amy and the boys come back tomorrow after a week-long trip to Los Angeles, and I can't wait to introduce them to Tanks...as well as Oregon Trail! How about that? Two games to help teach the boys about history!

Oregon Trail!

As a Gen-X kinda guy, I have fond memories of playing Oregon Trail on Apple II computers in elementary school. Now, as if in answer to a prayer I didn't know I'd made, there's an Oregon Trail card game!

As you can see, the design adheres to the old-timey graphics of the '80s computer game. I picked up a copy (it's a Target exclusive) on my lunch hour today, and I can't wait to play it with Amy and the boys. Amy, sadly, does not share my enthusiasm. She had never heard of this game. What the hell were they teaching in those snooty California private schools, anyway? Where else were kids going to learn about dying of dysentery?

Basket of Deplorables

Okay, I just had to come out of hibernation today to comment on the latest presidential election meme: basket of deplorables. Sorry, Hillary, but I'm totally going to use the Basket of Deplorables as a magic item in my D&D campaigns -- it will be the cursed version of a Bag of Holding. On a related note, Basket of Deplorables is also the name of my Cradle of Filth tribute band.

Hibernation

According to the almighty Blogger, we have over 870 published posts (hat tip to Chris B. and Tim W. for their contributions). I guess I don't have any point of reference for comparison, but it feels like that's a lot of posts. It's probably enough for now.

This blog has been a great forum for writing about various topics that have come up over the last couple of years -- the Fifth Edition D&D playtest, creating a campaign-spanning Front Porch multiverse, and my family's burgeoning interest in board games, to name a few. However, I think the time has come to put the ol' game blog into hibernation for a while. Perhaps I'll resurrect it again when there's a lot of cool gaming-related news to discuss (like the upcoming D&D feature film).

Thanks for reading, and keep those dice rolling!

Git Yer Game!

Head over to your local game story today for Free RPG Day. I think the event has kind of gone downhill in recent years, but I'll never pass up free RPG stuff!

Free RPG Day!

This year's Free RPG Day is this Saturday, June 18. Look, here comes yet another goblin-centric Pathfinder adventure...

Local History

Our Druid Cycle storylines these days tend to have a strong historical component -- connections to the actual adventures played out over the 23 years that this game world has existed, as well as connections to the world's fictional history that stretches back for centuries more. In fact, when I design new D&D adventures, I'm always looking for ways to tie them into both "real" and "fictional" campaign history. (The same goes for other Front Porch multiverse campaign settings, such as Torchlight and Shattered Realm.)

There's already a lot of material from which to draw, but that hasn't stopped me from trying to generate even more. My new policy for world-building is that each community on the map needs to have at least one historical figure (in the form of a named NPC) associated with it -- the founder of the town, a legendary hero or villain from the past, or whatever. I'm not quite there yet with a historical connection for every community in every campaign setting, but I'm well on my way, and I'm seeing a lot of cool opportunities for future adventures. So the next time your characters are passing through Such-and-Such town, be sure to stop and study that crumbling old statue of Sir So-and-So!

Slippery Victory

Zombicide ended with a rather anticlimactic victory last night. Matthew's characters were up first, and he has one hero (Josh, the young street punk -- see the bright orange miniature in the photo from my last post) who has an ability called Slippery. This ability allows the character to move out of spaces that contain zombies (normally, it's very difficult for a hero to leave a zombie's space on the game board). So, Josh simply waltzed into the building and picked up the final objective token. Game over!

Undead Showdown

Every night this week, the boys and I have been plugging away on our big Zombicide scenario. Miraculously (or perhaps due to the ridiculous amount of firepower that we're toting), all six characters are still alive. Tonight we recovered the fourth supply depot and then hustled up the main north-south street toward the building that contains our fifth and final objective. Unfortunately, there's a horde massing around us...

Three characters are in the thick of it, with another (Wanda, who has found a chainsaw to go along with her submachine gun!) right behind them. Not pictured are two other heroes who are guarding the rear and picking off zombies that are coming up behind us. If we can carve our way through this group during our next turn, we stand a pretty good chance of getting that last objective token and winning the scenario.

Zombie Stomp

Well, I've come to the end of a long vacation, and tomorrow I'll be heading back to work to face whatever horrors have been festering in my absence. What better way to prepare for my return to the office than to jump into a massive Zombicide scenario?

The boys and I have chosen an adventure in which the survivors need to recover supplies from various buildings across the city. The supplies are represented on the map by red "X" tokens. We've claimed two of them thus far, and, as you can see from the map below, we have three more to go.

Thanks to some lucky draws on equipment cards, we're armed to the teeth. Wanda the waitress (Nathaniel) is packing a submachine gun, survivalist Ned (Matthew) has assembled a sniper rifle to go along with his katana, and high-strung desk jockey Doug (yours truly...and does that character choice say anything about me?) is wielding a pair of machetes and a pair of sawed-off shotguns. The other three characters have pretty solid gear as well. The gang is currently holed up in an abandoned diner, as you can see below.

Our biggest challenge is that the three remaining objectives are spread out all over the map, and there is a large horde of zombies -- including the nigh-unkillable Abomination -- milling around an intersection between us and the furthest of the objectives.

The horde will move as we start to make noise, but we're going to be in big trouble if these guys corner us somewhere. In any case, it's shaping up to be a really fun adventure!

Princesses for the Emperor

Totally awesome. But no Elsa?!

X's and O's

After finishing up our hockey action on Monday, we've spent the rest of the week with my in-laws in the Los Angeles area. My nephew Daniel is also here with us, so that makes four guys -- just enough for some two-hand-touch football! Each night after dinner we've tossed the ball around, with Matthew and Daniel taking on Nathaniel and myself. And, because my boys are gamers, they also spend a lot of time coming up with exotic new plays to run in the next game. Check out Nathaniel's latest effort below.

I'm not really sure what's going on here, but I suspect the taller guy is me and the shorter guy is Nathaniel. Aside from that...well...I guess we'll have to wait for tomorrow night's game!

Storm King's Thunder

Breaking news! The next Fifth Edition campaign is Storm King's Thunder. I'll post again when I see more details.

Poll Closed!

The Druid Cycle poll has closed...and look who emerged victorious! It's Team Iskander by a landslide!

It Might Be Giants

The next Fifth Edition campaign is going to be announced in a couple of days, and it sounds like the theme might be giants. I'd love to see Against the Giants revamped for the current rules, but whatever they do, they'll have a hard time topping Curse of Strahd, the new incarnation of Ravenloft.

Behold...the Inland Empire!

To this native New Yorker, the term "Inland Empire" conjures up images of a distant, fabled land -- like something out of the Forgotten Realms or another D&D campaign setting. As it turns out, the real-life Inland Empire is a smog-choked urban sprawl to the east of Lost Angeles. We've come down for Matthew's ice hockey tournament -- let's go, Grizzlies! -- but the prospect of spending four days here got me thinking about writing a new D&D adventure: Escape from the Inland Empire.

Rebirth

Today, DC comics reboots its line with an event called Rebirth. Here's hoping that this latest continuity revamp fixes all (heck, I'd settle for some) of the problems introduced in the "New 52" reboot that debuted in 2011. Kind of like how Fifth Edition D&D has restored our faith in the brand after the brief but troublesome Fourth Edition era.

I can dream, right?

Settlers

Check out this brief CNN video about the creator of Settlers of Catan.

Poll Closing

Just about a week to go in our Druid Cycle poll. Be sure to vote before it's too late!

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.

Tourney

This post is kind of off-topic, but damn it -- I'm going to share it anyway!

The local fencing group that I'm part of, DCCSC Fencing, held its first-ever tournament on Saturday. Our students are teenagers who are relatively new to the sport (some have been fencing for as little as two months, with no one having more than about a year's worth of experience), but they did very well against fencers from other clubs who were often older and almost invariably had more experience. I'm really proud of these kids!

Druid Cycle Poll

Only three votes so far in the Druid Cycle poll. No love yet for Team Cathbad?

Druid Cycle: Civil War

From both Marvel and DC, we've been treated to a couple of recent cinematic showdowns between heroes. As a fan, I rather enjoy these narratives because I think they carry a lot more dramatic weight than the usual superhero fare in which the obviously good heroes beat up on the obviously evil villains. (For the record, my favorite tale of internecine superhero strife is DC's Identity Crisis.)

We have a similar situation brewing in the Druid Cycle campaign world. In what has been the "B" plot in our 2016 adventures thus far -- but will almost certainly explode in the coming weeks -- we have two iconic heroes who have put forward very different and very incompatible philosophies about justice and morality. Cathbad wants a world in which the champions of the realm are held accountable to international laws, while Iskander opposes such restraints.

Which position do you agree with? Be sure to vote in the poll on the right-hand side of the page!

Comics Haul

Thanks to some creative scheduling, I was able to make it to Free Comic Book Day after all. It was a pretty good haul this year, so I'll have plenty of reading material for Matthew's next ice hockey road trip!

Free Comic Book Day!

Today is Free Comic Book Day! Go get yourself some free comics, yo!

5e Adventure Poll

Got a favorite Fifth Edition adventure thus far? Vote here in the EN World poll! I think my favorite is Curse of Strahd (the new version of Ravenloft), and as of this writing it has a big lead on the other storylines.

FCBD 2016

Here's your annual PSA: Free Comic Book Day is this Saturday, May 7!

A double dose of kid sporting events (hockey for Matthew and baseball for Nathaniel) will prevent me to partaking in this year's festivities, but perhaps I'll be able to catch some of the offerings in digital form.

New D&D Comic

There's a new D&D comic book from IDW. Minsc of Baldur's Gate meets Strahd von Zarovich of Ravenloft! Horrific hilarity ensues!

Eh...

I bought the first issue, but I'm not especially hopeful it will improve upon the last several iterations of D&D comics. Bring back Fell's Five, I say!