One Day Only!

If you head over to Humble Bundle and sign up for their newsletter, you can get a free copy (via Steam) of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, a third-person shooter that reminds me of Mass Effect. However, this freebie is available for only one more day, so act fast!

Blessings of Nurgle

Nurgle has smiled upon us! The boys came down with bad colds during the first week of the new school year, and now Amy and I are afflicted as well. The Sutton household is now full of poxwalkers.

As such, it was a quiet weekend -- quiet aside from the hacking coughs -- so I had the opportunity to make some good headway on painting 40k models and adapting Fifth Edition rules for the upcoming Shattered Realm sci-fi campaign. (I sincerely hope the boys have not lost interest in that!) Being cooped up in the house also afforded us an opportunity to watch the first half-dozen episodes of Matt Groening's Disenchantment on Netflix. Love it! Highly recommended for Simpsons fans who also enjoy a bit o' fantasy.

Warhammer on Film?

So at some point maybe we'll be getting 40k and/or Age of Sigmar live-action films or TV series? Yes, please!

Birthday

Do you remember what you wanted for your eighth birthday? A video game, maybe, or Lego sets, or a new bike? Nathaniel wants Roboute Guilliman, Primarch of the Ultramarines...

Culmination

Matthew and Nathaniel have been experiencing D&D in some form for the past several years, but they didn't really get into it big-time until May of 2017. That's when we started our first Shattered Realm campaign, "The Lay of the Lost Horn", which was a brief prelude to a much longer narrative, "The Lay of the Emerald Tablet". (Side note: All Shattered Realm campaigns are titled "The Lay of the [Adjective or Participle] [Noun].) That sprawling, year-long storyline reached its culmination over the weekend when the heroes at last succeeded in assembling the six pieces of a cosmic MacGuffin known as the Emerald Tablet. As it turned out, the legends were true -- the tablet had the power to rewrite reality itself. Although warned by the gods and wise NPCs that the tablet was dangerous, the heroes nonetheless used the tablet to start creating magic items for themselves.

It wasn't long, however, before they learned that the Emerald Tablet was more a curse than a blessing. To their horror, the heroes found that the tablet cannot create without destroying. In a cruel, zero-sum fashion, the tablet exacts an ironic price for whatever it creates. Realization came only when the companions decided to conjure magic weapons and armor that they had earlier planned to purchase from their friend and ally, a dwarf smith named Byrnie. When they used to tablet to create those items, however, Byrnie's eyes disintegrated in her head, rendering her unable to create any magic items ever again. No magical healing known to mortals could restore her sight.

Matthew, in particular, was deeply affected by this turn of events. He and Nathaniel both scrambled to find some way of undoing what they had done, but their prayers elicited a stern response from the gods: You made the mess -- you clean it up! The next phase of the campaign, then, will be driven entirely by the heroes. Drawing from their past experiences with NPCs and storylines from this world, they will need to find someone or something that can help them restore Byrnie's eyes.

I dare say this is a game experience they will never forget!

New GW Board Games

Games Workshop just announced a ton of new board games. Check out the full list here. I'm going to tag Blitz Bowl (a streamlined version of Blood Bowl) and Space Marine Adventures (a cooperative 40k board game) to remember to check back for them in a few months!

Pathfinder Playtest

The public playtest for Pathfinder Second Edition launches today. Click here to download the materials for free. (You can also order the playtest materials in hardcover, but according to EN World, there are delays in shipping.) In contrast to my near-maniacal obsession with the D&D Fifth Edition playtest (click the "5e" topic in the list of labels to sample the hundreds of posts indicating exactly how obsessed I was), I don't expect that I'll participate in any sort of formal way. Still, I'm looking forward to reading the new rules to see how Pathfinder continues to evolve from its D&D 3e roots.

When Two Worlds Collide!

I've made great progress on my sci-fi Shattered Realm campaign setting, but I'm not quite ready to launch it yet. In the meantime, the boys are finishing up a big storyline with their fantasy-era Shattered Realm characters, but they wanted to take a few moments over the weekend to create characters for the upcoming sci-fi saga. Not surprisingly, they both insisted on playing the direct descendants of their current fantasy characters. Matthew whipped up an elf rogue who's essentially a carbon copy of his existing character -- just swap out the longbow for a sniper rifle. Nathaniel, however, was determined to play a Strength-based fighter, despite my recommendations that a Dexterity-based fighter would work better in this futuristic environment. I asked him to describe the character concept he had in mind, and it quickly became apparent that what he really wanted was a D&D version of a 40k Space Marine. In fact, he was particularly inspired by one of the Ultramarine Assault Squad models that I had assembled the day before. So...what do you figure the D&D stats would be for a chainsword?

Storm Strike

Nathaniel and I have been having fun this weekend trying out Matt's Necrons. Yesterday we played through four or five battles before it was time to head up to Reno for an Aces game.

On the way, I popped into the Games Workshop store and picked up the Storm Strike starter set for Age of Sigmar. Today I've only had the opportunity to skim through the books and put the models together, but thus far I can honestly say that Storm Strike is the most attractive starter set for any miniatures game or wargame I've ever purchased. The art in the books is beautiful and the models are stunning -- some of GW's finest sculpting.

Why take my word for it? Check out the assembled (although as-yet-unpainted) minis below! First up, the heroic Stormcast Eternals...

And now their hated foes, the ghostly legions of the Nighthaunt...

Sigmar Starters

Huzzah! On Saturday, Games Workshop will release two smaller Age of Sigmar starter sets, Tempest of Souls and Storm Strike. As it happens, I will be passing right by the local GW store on my way to a baseball game, so I will definitely pick up the smaller of the two sets to get a feel for the game.

What a Trip!

We've had quite an eventful few weeks of travel. Starting the last week of June, I embarked on a cross-country business trip in Pennsylvania while Amy and the boys were visiting her parents in SoCal. After a couple of days together at home, the others flew out to Chicago to visit Amy's sister as I put in another week of work, whereupon I joined them in Chicago for a day. And then we all flew together to Buffalo, picked up our rental car, and drove to Toronto to spend a lovely evening with Matt and his wonderful family. After a quick trip to the Hockey Hall of Fame the following morning, we drove down to my parents' house in western New York and have made various day trips around the area -- Buttermilk Falls in Ithaca, the Baseball Hall of Fame, the Corning Museum of Glass (best museum ever!), and some of our old haunts in Rochester. Tomorrow we fly back to Reno and (gulp) I find out how many emails have been amassing in my Inbox at work.

Several gaming-related notes to report. At various game stores along the way, I've managed to pick up more Starfinder Flip-Mats for use in our upcoming futuristic Shattered Realm campaign. I still have a lot of work to do with the setting and game stats, but the whole thing is really starting to take shape nicely. Nathaniel and I have also dipped a toe into the intriguing world of Strat-O-Matic, the most celebrated baseball simulation game of all time. Nathaniel was quite tickled to discover that the Strat-O-Matic set we picked up at the Baseball Hall of Fame includes a code that allows him to get a free Strat-O-Matic player card of himself. (Look out, Aaron Judge, there's a new Yankees legend on the way!) By far the greatest highlight, however, was when Matt bequeathed us a vast Necron army for our growing 40k collection. The monetary value of the models is staggering, of course -- this is Games Workshop, after all -- but what's even more significant is care and skill with which they're painted. Matt is a true artist, and we will treasure this gift forever!

Shattered...Space?

Lately I've been picking up Starfinder Flip-Mats and minis from the old Star Wars Miniatures game in preparation for an upcoming project that the boys and I will embark upon. Inspired by Matt's innovative 5e adaptation and his Gamma World-esque campaign, we're going to create a sci-fi 5e system that will allow us to explore the future of the Shattered Realm campaign setting. I need to get the story squared away before we dive too deeply into the rules, but so far it's been a fun exercise. More to come!

Drukhari Take the Field

They still need a lot of touching up, but at least I have a serviceable paint job on my new Drukhari army.

First up, their leader...the Succubus!

Next we have a squad of Reaver bikes, led by an Arena Champion.

The third unit is a group of ten pain-loving Wyches. I'll show a few individual models and then the group shot.

Last but definitely not least is our big gun, the fast and deadly Venom!

One Thousand!

This, my friends, is the 1000th published post on the Front Porch blog. Thanks for reading!

FRPGD Today!

Rise and shine! It's Free RPG Day, y'all!

Free RPG Day

Free RPG Day is this Saturday. Click here to see a list of the goodies.

Hawkerrific!

Good news in the comics world: My favorite superhero, Hawkman, is back in action with his new series debuting today!

Soul Wars

Head on over to the Warhammer Community for lots of info about Soul Wars, the upcoming Warhammer Age of Sigmar boxed set. Looks awesome...and looks expensive. I hope that (as with the current edition of 40k) they release a couple of smaller starter sets for folks who want to get their feet wet without taking the plunge. 

Strange Bedfellows

So I'm nearing the end of the original single-player Neverwinter Nights campaign and my intrepid heroes are traipsing around a fiery lair of fire-loving fire giants. What else do I find in this dungeon? Trolls. Lots of trolls. Say whaaaat? A fire giant stronghold seems like the last place you'd find hordes of trolls.

That Worked So Well!

Thus far, when I've painted Warhammer 40k miniatures, I've applied the primer coat using a paintbrush. Yesterday I picked up a can of spray primer from our local Games Workshop store and...well...let's just say I'll never hand-primer a miniature again as long as I live! 

New Edition

I'm very late to the party with this post, but in case you haven't heard yet, coming up in June is a new edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar. I feel like there should be a colon in there after "Warhammer", but I guess the only colons you'll find in the Mortal Realms are the guts strewn about the bloody remains of your disemboweled foes...

Warhammer Adventures

Awesome news today out of Games Workshop: They're doing a series of Warhammer novels aimed at kids. The series is called Warhammer Adventures, and Nathaniel is super stoked to get his hands on these books!

Let's Go, Knights!

Yesterday I finally got around to assembling my Drukhari army. (Still need to buy the right paints, though...) I was gluing torsos and limbs together while my family and I were cheering on the Vegas Golden Knights as they clinched a berth in the Stanley Cup Finals in their very first year of existence!

Wargamin'

Sometimes Nathaniel disappears for a while and I'll find him upstairs in our game room, deeply engrossed in wargame strategy. He'll set up a game mat with X-Wing, Tanks, or, most often, Warhammer 40,000, and then play both sides of the battle. He'll test out different tactics, or how certain units play against other units, and he files all that information away in the seemingly limitless databanks of his seven-year-old brain. I need to hurry up and build my Drukhari army for 40k, because there's nothing I can do with the Death Guard that he hasn't already anticipated...

FCBD Today!

Remember, today is Free Comic Book Day at your friendly local comic book store!

Free Comic Book Day

This Saturday is Free Comic Book Day. Enjoy it while I'm yelling at (sorry, "coaching") seven-year-olds playing baseball.

New Campaign!

Matt's new Gamma World-inspired campaign started up over the weekend and we faced off against cuddly, spear-wielding little bears and a skyscraper-sized chicken. Can't wait to see what Matt cooks up next!

Oh, and my character is a surly badger...

Drukhari

I'd better finish painting Nathaniel's Space Marines drop pod soon, because my very own army of Drukhari is on its way! Up to this point I've been playing as the Death Guard because they came with the 8th Edition starter sets and Nathaniel quickly staked his claim to the Ultramarines, but now at last I'll have the army of my choosing! Can't wait to unleash these fiendish psychos on Nathaniel's unsuspecting Smurfs...

Gamma-rific!

Matt has been cooking up a Gamma World-style Fifth Edition variant and it looks amazing! We're now going to put our transcontinental Shattered Realm campaign on hold while we test out his rules and campaign setting.

This campaign isn't Gamma World, but whenever I think of that radiation-infused post-apocalyptic setting, I'm reminded of a classic '90s tune from one of my favorite bands, Fountains of Wayne. Here they are with "Radiation Vibe"...

Horsing Around

It's been ages since I last played Neverwinter Nights, but I really don't recall paladins being able to summon a warhorse. Perhaps it's a feature that was added for the new Enhanced Edition? Anyway, I discovered this delightful fact the other day, and now this trusty creature is an integral member of my party. There's something very satisfying about summoning the horse inside of a small room packed with zombies and watching the horse destroy every last one of them with its hooves.

Easter Goodies

The Easter Bunny brought some gaming goodies for the boys this morning. Nathaniel got a couple of booster packs for our seldom-played Star Wars: Destiny card game and a drop pod for his Ultramarines army, but it was the new board game that Matthew got that really blew us away. It's called Downforce, a re-re-release of a race car game that's been around for ages. All four of us loved it -- it's a masterpiece of game design. Highly recommended!

Perfect Timing

Last night I finished up Temple of Elemental Evil. It was kind of a lame finish because Zuggtmoy and her fungal friends spent the entire battle attacking my cleric's spiritual weapon rather than the party, so the characters just stood back and whittled her down with spells and wands. Anyway, it turned out to be perfect timing -- Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition has just been released!

Elemental Mayhem

In my quickie replay of Temple of Elemental Evil, I'm at that stage of the game where I've completed all the quests for the four sub-temple high priests (Earth, Air, Water, and Fire) and now I'm just wiping out their organizations one by one. The party's alignment is Neutral Evil, so that works, right?

Time for Some Jammin'?

I'd be cool with it.

The Horus Heresy: Legions

Sigh! Looks like Nathaniel and I will be playing yet another 40k game on our tablets...

ToEE

Maybe it's because I'm keenly awaiting the release of Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition, I'm playing through Temple of Elemental Evil again. Warts, bugs, and all, it's still a great game and a great D&D experience -- and this guy agrees with me!

Alternity

Don't ask what I think about Bill Slavicsek (seriously, don't ask!), but he helped bring the cool but short-lived Alternity RPG to life in the '90s. I learned today that Alternity is coming back, and you can even download the playtest rules for the new edition!

D&D Director

Pleasepleaseplease let this movie be good!

"I'm 'Bad Ash'..."

The boys have been doing some low-level free-to-play World of Warcraft while I've been sick, and Matthew created a character named Bad Ash. That, my friends, is a parenting win! Anyway, whenever he gets killed and respawns, Matthew ought to say, "I...live...again!" Of course, Bad Ash is not as quotable as Good Ash (i.e., "the guy with the gun"), but he does have a couple of good lines.

Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

I would've expected something a bit more original or creative from the wizard who brought us delightful spells like Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion. This new book seems like been-there-done-that territory.

Warhammer Cafe

Yes, please! But where the Hellblasters is it? Last time I checked, "North America" is a pretty big place...

History (Sort of) Repeats Itself

Although we were unable to connect with Matt and his daughter for our transcontinental Shattered Realm campaign over the weekend, the boys were keen on getting back to their high-level Shattered Realm characters. After managing only one or two game sessions over the four months we've lived in our new house, I was eager to accommodate their interest. We ended up spending most of the day getting into the early stages of a massive dungeon crawl that focuses on stealth and creativity rather than combat. It involves the heroes infiltrating the main stronghold of the dark elves and stealing a magical item from them.

The adventure has some narrative parallels with "The Raid of Naxxia", which surely ranks among the top two or three adventures in the history of the Druid Cycle campaign world. In that storyline from way back in 1995, longtime Porch players Scott and Jason each selected two of their PCs -- as Matthew and Nathaniel have done for this Shattered Realm adventure -- to engage in a clandestine assault on the dark elf city of Naxxia. It's hard to believe that we played through "Raid" over 22 years ago -- I hope this new adventure has as much of an impact on the Shattered Realm world as "Raid" did on the Druid Cycle.

Victory Is Not Her Destiny

Turns out that Captain Phasma doesn't have any better luck in games than she does in the films. Nathaniel and I were trying out Star Wars: Destiny this afternoon -- he was Rey and Poe, and I was Kylo and Phasma. Rey and Kylo killed each other pretty quickly, leaving us with a one-on-one between the two supporting characters. I was one turn away from finishing off Poe when Nathaniel played a card that allowed him to reroll my damage dice, turning a certain kill shot into a glancing blow. Then Poe was able to call in a strike team and...well...it was curtains for poor Captain Phasma! At least she went down in a blaze of glory, unlike her rather unceremonious defeats in the two most recent Star Wars films.

Finally!

Working on and off for the last couple of months, I've finally finished painting our starter armies for the Ultramarines and Death Guard. First up, the Ultramarines, consisting primarily of the new Primaris units...

And now the Death Guard, in all their grody glory!

Temple of Mithras

Hey, Druid Cycle players, the next time you're in London, you can check out a real Temple of Mithras...

Happy New Year!

The boys stayed up until midnight for the first time this year. We played a family game of Pandemic and then I painted Nathaniel's new 40k vehicles while Nathaniel worked on Legos and Matthew got back into Knights of the Old Republic. We didn't get around to playing Star Wars: Destiny -- another gift from Santa -- during our holiday vacation, but we'll put it on the to-do list along with painting...lots of painting. Here's to a 2018 filled with gaming fun!

A Warhammer Christmas!

Santa brought Nathaniel some reinforcements for his Ultramarines army...

Bloaty Fun

I'm making slow but steady progress on painting the Primaris Space Marines and Death Guard units from the Know No Fear 40k boxed set. I'm especially fond of the Foetid Bloat Drone...

I've decided that his name will be Bloaty McBloatface. Merry Christmas, everyone!

Mark Your Calendars!

The release date for the official Dungeons & Dragons movie is July 23, 2021. Damn, that's a long wait!

Oh no...

Beamdog, you f#<&!^* bastards! There goes all my free time. Get ready for Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition.

Holiday Hellblasters

Nathaniel is the board game guru of the family, and he delights in games of all types. This year, Santa is bringing him a variety of gaming treats (including Pandemic, which, somehow, we don't already own yet), but he's mainly excited about a couple of vehicles to add to his Ultramarines army. I can't imagine there are too many seven-year-olds who put Warhammer 40k models at the top of their Christmas lists!

A Pox on My Poxwalkers

Nathaniel and I are playing quick 40k games every couple of days. He's laid claim to the Primaris Space Marines, while I'm stuck for all eternity with the Death Guard and their atrocious Poxwalkers. Of the four units included in the First Strike starter set, the Poxwalkers are unequivocally the worst. They're slow, they can't hit the broad side of a Sanctum Imperialis, and they lack ranged weapons -- so, in every battle, the Space Marines easily mow them down with bolt rifles before my wanna-be zombies can get close enough to attack. I think it's time to open up the second starter set, Know No Fear, and see if the Death Guard has any better units in that box. I'm especially intrigued by something called the "Foetid Bloat Drone" -- that sounds promising!

The Greatest Show in the Underdark

Today the boys and I enjoyed another episode of our transcontinental Shattered Realm campaign with Matt and his daughter. The adventure takes place entirely in this world's equivalent of the Underdark, and the heroes' quest is to stop a drow faction from developing a powerful mind-control gas.

To reach an NPC with potentially vital information, the party had to pass through a temple inhabited by members of an evil cult. With some quick thinking and a couple of fortuitous Deception checks, the rogue was able to convince the villains that the party had been sent by a mutual acquaintance -- another cultist who lives in the heroes' hometown -- to provide entertainment for the temple.

And so, instead of a knock-down, drag-out fight, we rolled up an impromptu concert! The rogue and the fighter made Performance checks to play music and dance, the cleric and the warlock used cantrips to create an accompanying light show, and even the party's pet hook horror got into the act by clicking his hooks in time with the beat. Miraculously, the heroes managed to dupe the cultists and even got paid for their efforts! The crowning insult to these poor villains, however, occurred when the rogue quietly relieved the chief cultist of his magical dagger as the party prepared to depart.

Will the cultists learn the truth and seek revenge? They may never get the opportunity: Right before our session ended, the heroes also managed to avoid fighting an undead warrior by convincing him to attack the cultists instead!

Quick Rant

I saw Justice League last night at the earliest-possible showing in my area. I loved it, the audience loved -- and I'm so sick of critics ragging on DC. It's become fashionable among the self-appointed intelligentsia to lambaste everything DC does, especially when it comes to the films. Oh well. Haters gonna hate.

End rant...for now...

First Strike Painting

Recently I had a chance to paint the miniatures from the First Strike 40k starter set. All things considered (primarily my lack of any semblance of artistic talent), they turned out pretty well.

First up, the Primaris Space Marines and the Reivers squadron...

And now the Intercessors squadron...

Their opponents are the Death Guard Space Marines, led by the fearsome Plague Marines...

The fourth squad from First Strike is made up of the zombie-like Poxwalkers...

Finally, a few solo shots of my favorite models from the set...

Xanathar

Ah, Xanathar! We first met when I killed you in the classic D&D video game Eye of the Beholder. Now your lovely visage graces the cover of Xanathar's Guide to Everything, the massive new sourcebook for Fifth Edition. Amy was kind enough to pick me up a copy -- the limited edition hobby store exclusive, no less! -- so now the boys and I will likely spend much of the weekend cooking up new character builds.

Too Many Worlds, Not Enough Time

Our D&D action has slowed down considerably since moving into the new house. I'm not sure why, but perhaps the imminent release of Xanathar's Guide to Everything -- the first major rules expansion for Fifth Edition -- will get the boys enthused again.

Lately, much of our dwindling D&D time has been spent in world building. Both of the boys are keen on designing their own campaign settings, and Matthew has already put together the framework for his world. We gave it a test drive over the weekend, with Nathaniel playing a dwarf cleric (a carbon copy of his character from our transcontinental Shattered Realm game with Matt's family) and yours truly playing a high elf wizard. It's fun to watch Matthew taking strides as a DM and telling stories of his own creation. What are we going to do, though, when Nathaniel is ready to debut his setting? Too many worlds...not enough time!

Match Made in (Gamer) Heaven?

WizKids is partnering with Games Workshop. Does this mean that I'll be able to get pre-painted 40k miniatures?! Pleasepleaseplease...

Book Breakin'

Our copy of the Monster Manual gets a ton of use and is now falling apart at the spine.

Meanwhile, my entire collection of  Fourth Edition D&D books is sitting on the bookshelf in pristine shape...

TfC: ToA

It's as tortuously titled as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and, ultimately, just as frustrating. As with the aforementioned flick, I really wanted to love Tales from Candlekeep: Tomb of Annihilation. After all, I'm a huge fan of turn-based D&D video games. This one, though, is perhaps too faithful in its adaptation of the D&D Adventure System family of board games, where players work cooperatively to complete quests in a randomly-created dungeon. For me, the primary drawback to TfC: ToA and its tabletop cousins is the 'Encounter' -- a game mechanic that causes nasty stuff to happen if (for whatever reason) you don't uncover a new map tile on your turn. The game hits you with so many traps, curses, and other hindrances that exploration quickly becomes tedious. In TfC: ToA, for example, you routinely get pelted by meteors falling from the sky. What more can I say?

D&D&D (The Extra "D" is for "Data")

There's an article about D&D on FiveThirtyEight!

Tales from Candlekeep: Tomb of Annihilation

This one kind of snuck (#pseudohistoricalablaut) up on me, but it seems that a new D&D video game is now available on Steam. Check out Tales from Candlekeep: Tomb of Annihilation (wow, that's a mouthful!) for some turn-based D&D action. Let's just hope it's better than the last D&D video game, Idle Champions...

BAM!

The venerable Cyberwars campaign and its many sequels and spin-offs has been a staple of the Front Porch multiverse since 1991. About five years ago, we started up a Cyberwars storyline in a post-apocalyptic setting and used the most recent Gamma World rules for game play. The event that led to the wacky mutations that are characteristic of Gamma World was a reality-rending cataclysm known as the Baryon Asymmetry Modification -- or BAM! The idea for the BAM came from the problem that the Big Bang Theory (the actual theory, not the TV show) predicts far more matter in the universe than we can actually detect. What, then, became of this missing matter? In the campaign, all that matter came back with a vengeance. In real life, it seems, the story of the missing matter is not quite so explosive...

First Gaming Action!

One of the best features of our new house is a big upstairs playroom that's perfect for anything from D&D to wargaming to action figures. Although I was fired up to resume our Shattered Realm campaign, the boys wanted to do some skirmish games, so first we set up an X-Wing scenario that took us all morning to play through. Here's a look at one of the initial engagements...

Note the red TIE Interceptor that came barreling in so fast that he overshot the Rebel fighters! He didn't fare much better in the later stages of the game, when an Imperial traffic jam allowed my Rebels to carry the day...

Next up, we shifted gears for some Tanks action. The battle has yet to be concluded, but this Panther appears to be in trouble...

Getting There!

I wish moving was as simple as lugging my crap from one house to another. Turns out, that was the easy part. Countless other tasks -- minor but often annoying -- have prevented me from getting back into my usual routine. A big part of that routine, of course, is gaming. However, last night, for the first time since we moved into the new house, I did something D&D-related: I cracked open my books and started mapping out the boys' next Shattered Realm adventure. It's a start!

Annnnnd...

...we're in the new house! Now comes the dreaded unpacking phase...

Farewell!

No, the blog isn't going on hiatus again. I'm instead saying farewell to the house where our family has lived for, lo, these past nine years. It wasn't a great house -- it was barely an adequate house -- but it's really the only home my boys have ever known. (Yikes!)

As we prepare to spend the weekend moving into our bigger, better, brand-spankin'-new house, I'm reflecting on all the fun we had in the old place. In addition to the countless board games we played there, it was the house where I introduced my kids to D&D -- and I suppose that fact alone will always make it kind of special.

For the record, the last gaming action to be played in our weird little pink house was a Skype-based, transcontinental Shattered Realm episode with Matt and his daughter. I look forward to seeing what our first adventure in the new house will be!

Idling

The boys looked at Idle Champions for about five seconds before they proclaimed it supremely lame. I'm inclined to agree...

Idle Champions

New official D&D video game, yo! Click here to check out Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms on Steam. Bonus: It's free!

Huzzah for Technology!

Thousands of miles apart? Living in different countries? No sweat! Thanks to the miracle of the interwebs, we have a new Shattered Realm campaign going -- and it's not just me and the boys! Using Skype, Matt and his daughter have joined the fun from their home in Canada!

Monster Blues

The boys' Shattered Realm heroes had been fighting their way through a wight-infested ruin when they came upon a deep well in which a cry for help could be heard. After a few prudent skill checks, however, they began to suspect that the pitiful entreaties were actually a ruse. As we wrapped up the game session, a wraith emerged from the well to attack the party. With Matthew's rogue low on hit points, Nathaniel feared that one solid Life Drain hit would consign the rogue to an eternity of ghostly undeath. He pored over the wraith's stat block and, even after we tucked him in, he lay in bed stewing over the situation. I had to have a long talk with him about probability -- the odds of Matthew's rogue falling victim to the wraith -- before he agreed to go back to bed. Maybe (probably) this goes without saying, but it's not a good idea to let a six-year-old read the Monster Manual at bedtime...

More Minis!

Need more minis for D&D? Of course you do! Click here for a Kickstarter that needs some extra love as its end date is rapidly approaching...

Fun With Fireballs

Can you spot the sorcerer, the ranger, and the ranger's animal companion in this throng of skeletons?

When the boys' primary Shattered Realm heroes ran afoul of a vampire, the dastardly villain unleashed his horde of undead minions. The heroes lured the (literally) boneheaded creatures into a crowd around them, and then Matthew's sorcerer dropped a fireball in the middle of everything -- roasting heroes and monsters alike! The fireball did enough damage that it destroyed even the skeletons that made their saving throws, while the heroes had enough hit points to withstand the full force of the blast. It wasn't pretty, but it got the job done: 26 skeletons destroyed with a single spell!

Painting 101

Today I attended a fun painting class at my local Games Workshop store (Warhammer - The Summit in Reno). I got the chance to practice dry brush, wash, and other techniques, but I don't necessarily think the mini turned out any better or worse than the ones I painted a few months ago.

Once our house situation is sorted out, I look forward to painting the models from the First Strike and Know No Fear sets that I picked up a while back.

Game Balance

We were discussing 5e wizard cantrips the other day -- typical dinner conversation in our household -- and then Matthew switched gears to ask which classes get access to the legendary Wish spell. With no PHB handy, I speculated that the sorcerer and wizard could get it.

"As a cantrip?" Nathaniel piped up.

Heh. Wish as a cantrip would present a few game balance issues, don't you think?

Curses!

We wrapped up our brief Eberron adventure this evening, but not before the boys got their first taste of a true D&D classic: cursed magic items. Matthew's fighter put on an enchanted cloak that turned out to be more than he bargained for. Now the objective for our next adventure will be to find someone who can cast Remove Curse. As an alternative, Nathaniel suggested: "Don't worry, my paladin will be able to cast that spell in just five more levels!" Yeah, Matthew wasn't on board with waiting quite that long...

Starfinder Review

Click here for an early review of Paizo's sci-fi version of Pathfinder, Starfinder!

Our Visit to Eberron

Whether as a player or as a DM, I've never participated in an adventure set in Eberron. I must admit a somewhat fraught relationship with that campaign setting. Maybe it's the magic robots, or the fact that the main continent of Khorvaire makes me think of an old-time Chevy, but it's probably the history of the setting itself.

Eberron was created as the result of a contest held back in 2002, when thousands of gamers submitted ideas for the next great D&D campaign setting. Naturally, I jumped on that opportunity as well. The Shattered Realm setting was in its infancy, and the Druid Cycle world seemed too hard to distill into a one-page overview sheet, so I opted to submit the setting now called Torchlight, which in those days was known as Woden's Gallows. For those who haven't seen it, Torchlight is a low-magic, dark fantasy world based on the literature and mythology of Anglo-Saxon England (the focus of my graduate studies). I still can't believe I (and so many others) lost to a setting whose primary "hook" was magic robots, but...whatever.

Anyway, as the boys are crazy for D&D these days, I've cracked open a free Eberron adventure that I picked up years ago. I'm ignoring all the stuff about Dragonmarked houses and whatnot, and pretty much running it as if it's in a generic D&D setting. Even so, the boys want to take a ride on Eberron's infamous magic train, but I told them it doesn't have any stops in the Shadow Marches...

Red Box Redux

The boys have two characters apiece in the Shattered Realm setting, so when they decided they needed still more characters, I figured it was time to break out some published D&D adventures to help pick up the slack. We started with a Fifth Edition mod of the original solo adventure from the 1983 edition of the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set -- the legendary "red box" edition. The boys enjoyed partaking in a bit of D&D history, but they also recognized just how primitive those early adventures could be. "It's just a bunch of rooms filled with random monsters!"

Reiver Madness

Okay, okay, the title for this post is a really lame pun. Moving on! The Reivers are a new type of fear-inspiring, close-quarters combat squad for the Primaris Space Marines. Here they are taking on some bloated, festering Plague Marines.

I love that the First Strike starter set includes a detailed battle map and a simple but effective piece of 3D scenery. Games look great right out of the box, even before the minis are painted.

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...