5e Prestige Classes

The latest Unearthed Arcana article focuses on the Fifth Edition version of prestige classes -- my most un-favorite part of Third Edition. There were some seriously broken options out there, and I rarely allowed them in campaigns of that era. Has the concept of the prestige class improved in the new edition? Click here and judge for yourself.

Last Level!

I've made it to the last level of the iPad Injustice game! Now it's time to beef up my team -- Lex Luthor, Catwoman, and Hawkgirl -- for the final push to victory!

Playmobil...Hockey?!

When I was working in Germany for a couple of weeks last year, I enjoyed wandering around the local Kaufhof -- a truly epic department store -- and perusing its massive toy section. I picked up a few pirate- and medieval-themed Playmobil figures for the boys as souvenirs, and every once in a while we set up all our Playmobil stuff for some genre-bending battles. 

Well, those pesky Germans have done it again. There's now a line of officially licensed NHL hockey Playmobil sets. Mein Gott, they're cool! There are skating players, goalies, referees, and even a Zamboni, but the centerpiece of this line is an arena playset. Kids -- and, let's face it, grown-ups like me -- can control the goalie with one hand and a skating player with the other. The skating players can actually shoot the puck (mit echter Schussfunktion!), so two players can go head-to-head and compete for the little plastic Stanley Cup. Team selection is limited to the NHL's Original Six, so I foresee Matthew as the Canadiens (his favorite team since he was a wee lad), Nathaniel as the Rangers (his favorite team as well as mine), and myself as the Maple Leafs. At least this way we can be sure that Boston will never ever win the Cup...

Epic Auto-Correct

The Druid Cycle guys have been doing a Shattered Realm mini-campaign lately, and like many of our games, it's conducted via email. With participants scattered across three different time zones, it's handy for players to be able to respond asynchronously using their computer, tablet, smart phone, etc. Smart phones, though, have that pesky auto-correct feature. In the current encounter, the heroes' wagon has been ambushed by bandits, and here's what I got from Kevin for his character's action on the first round of combat:

Hiring will use his Xbox trying to use the wagon as cover.

Ticket Record

Huge win for Amy today in Ticket to Ride. She set a family high score with 120 points. It was the first time we've had anyone break 100 points in a single game.

Escape!

After our weekly D&D session in the Tyranny of Dragons campaign -- Nathaniel's rogue purchased a wagon and learned some information about his missing father, and Matthew's warlock purchased a magical rod thanks to a loan (at an outrageous interest rate!) from Amy's paladin -- we decided to give Forbidden Desert another try, but this time as a two-player experience. While the boys busied themselves elsewhere, Amy and I entered the desert once again, and this time we were victorious! Here's a pic of the final game map...

Amy, as usual, was the water carrier (blue) and I was the navigator (yellow). We managed to locate all the components of the steampunk airship and get to the launch pad before we ran out of water. It was our first-ever victory at this game!

Two More

Just two more levels of iPad Injustice...the grim march to victory continues!

Progress!

Strong showing last night against the local instructor in my first-ever bout against him. My comeback is going in the right direction!

Dylan's Dad

We continued our Fifth Edition Tyranny of Dragons campaign today, and the player characters met with representatives of some of the key heroic factions in the Forgotten Realms world -- the Order of the Gauntlet, the Lords' Alliance, and the Harpers. As they discussed the growing problem of the Cult of the Dragon, the assassin Dylan (played by Nathaniel) spoke up and asked that these powerful organizations help him find his missing father. It was an unexpected request in a scene that was largely about setting up the plot for the next stage of the campaign. It was also rather poignant. Nathaniel wasn't trying to "act", as an adult gamer might; he was just saying what his character would say, and from the beginning Dylan's quest has been to find his long-lost father. I love how he works that background -- simple enough for a youngster to grasp, but still emotionally powerful -- into the adventures. I plan on rewarding him with a nice resolution that inserts Dylan's father directly into the Tyranny storyline. Dear old dad, I fear, has run afoul of the cultists...

Week Two

Week two of my return to fencing went well. Most of the folks who showed up for the "free play" night were historical fencers (lots of walking around in circles -- I don't quite get it), so they did their own thing while I worked one-on-one with a young classical fencer. It was a combination of drills and sparring, as much for my benefit as hers. I still have a long way to go before I get my precision and endurance back, but it was a good step forward. Give me a few more months and I'll be ready to take on Aldo Nadi himself -- of course, it helps that he's been dead for fifty years!

Bring on the Fun (and Pulled Muscles)!

My new fencing gear arrived today! Check it out...

I picked up an epee (the one with the thicker blade and the larger guard) as well as a foil because I think I'd gravitate toward epee if I ever got back into competitive fencing. Foil has all those wacky right-of-way rules, but epee is as simple as it gets -- whoever hits first gets the point, and the entire body is a valid target. Now I just need to convince someone at our local club to give epee a try...

The Cloud Dungeon

I just backed a cheap but cool-sounding Kickstarter game called The Cloud Dungeon. It seems like a great family game experience.

Chicago to...Chicago

It took us three sessions and nearly a week, but we finally completed our first game of Ticket to Ride. Amy (green) and I (black) pulled away from the boys in the latter stages of the game, but I ended up winning because of the bonus points for having the longest route -- a massive loop that started in Chicago, went all the way to LA, and ended up back in Chicago.

Etes-vous prets? Allez!

Well, I'm officially back into fencing now. This is a blog about gaming, of course, and fencing isn't exactly a core topic here -- but then again, neither is Hawkman. So, etes-vous prets? Ready or not, here comes a post about fencing!

Though I haven't been involved with the sport for as long as I've been involved with D&D (the latter has about a five-year head start), it's been a part of my life since childhood. I fenced for fun, I fenced competitively, and I even did a bit of instruction when I got to college and there wasn't an existing fencing program. After college, though, came graduate school and various part-time jobs, and research, and teaching...fencing just kind of fell by the wayside. For a long while, for many years, I didn't miss it. 

Then I did. 

Earlier this summer, I got back in touch with my old fencing coaches, a couple of guys I hadn't seen or spoken to in about fifteen years. During our family's recent visit to New York, Matthew and I dropped by one of their practices. It was great to reconnect with those guys, and by the end of the session I knew that my interest in the sport had been rekindled. I found a couple of fencing clubs in Reno -- an hour's drive from my house -- but then a nascent group emerged at the local community center, no more than five minutes from home. Last night I joined them for a bit of sparring, and although I've got fifteen years' worth of rust to shake off, and I'm fifteen years older now, and I had nowhere near the endurance or the precision of motion that I had in my prime -- I did okay. More importantly, it was fun. Next Thursday can't come fast enough!

Mace to the Face!

Ah, for Hawkman and Hawkgirl fans, there's nothing like a good-old mace-to-the-face to put a bad guy down for the count. That's Hawkgirl's "finishing" move in the iPad Injustice game, and there aren't many guys who can get up after taking a hit like that. Indeed, the Hawks' over-sized medieval weaponry is as much a staple of their characterization as their wings or their Nth metal belts. So why is the CW's bad-ass new Hawkman wielding such a dinky little mace?

See for yourself here.

I'm getting a live-action Hawkman and Hawkgirl on TV, so I realize that I have no right to complain, but...seriously, bro? Go back to the museum and get yourself a better mace. Otherwise, the costumes are pretty cool. It's not the classic yellow and green from the comics, but the style fits well with the costume design in the Arrow/Flash TV universe. Hawkgirl's helmet, in particular, is spot on. Can't wait to see these heroes in action!

Shaman-y Ranger

Wow, in today's Unearthed Arcana article (download it here), they're previewing a ranger build that kind of draws from the shaman of 4e in that it has a spirit companion. It's an interesting build, but they haven't revealed the higher-level features yet, so I'll reserve judgment for now.

Soo!

If nothing else, Ticket to Ride is going to teach my boys a much-needed lesson in the geography of North America. Everyone should be able to point out Sault Ste. Marie! (Full disclosure: I was only aware of the Canadian city of Sault Ste. Marie until I saw the Ticket game map -- I didn't realize there was a corresponding US city in Michigan!)

Ticket to Ride

Amy's parents got her Ticket to Ride for her birthday -- can't wait to give it a try!

Legos vs. Minis

Tim W., this one's for you!

Kids and Board Games

Parents, there are tons of great board games out there to play with your kids...and 538 has the data!