ThingMaker on EN World

I'm not the only one who thinks that the upcoming ThingMaker 3D printer is going to be a boon for gamers everywhere. Click here!

Our Five Minutes in Nerdvana

Well, Nerdvana didn't quite live up to its name. The selection was mediocre, with a lot used books and games that looked like they had been sitting in someone's garage since the 1980s. Plus, the location -- right next to a sex toy store -- made it kind of difficult to keep two little boys from seeing stuff that would raise a whole lot of questions...

Tarokka

Sorry, Gale Force Nine. As much as I would like to buy the Tarokka Deck for the upcoming Ravenloft D&D adventure module, there's no way I'm paying nine bucks in shipping for a pack of 54 playing cards. What the funk, yo? Are they importing those cards directly from Barovia?

Nerdvana

So I learned from my friendly local comic book store guys that there's a gaming store in Carson City. Who knew? Nerdvana is kind of a hike from where I live, but I think the boys and I will need to check it out this weekend!

Movie Update

Click here for a minor (but interesting) update on the upcoming D&D movie!

Roadhouse Reached

We got back to our family Tyranny of Dragons campaign today for the first time in several months. At last the heroes have reached Carnath Roadhouse ("Roadhouse!"), and now they're hot on the trail of the lizardmen who will lead them to the headquarters of the Cult of the Dragon. It's awesome to get back into this campaign, and I hope after this one we can give the new Ravenloft module (Curse of Strahd) a try.

Ravenloft Preview Adventure

Free D&D! Click here to download the official Ravenloft preview adventure.

Cycle Time

Last spring, we put the Druid Cycle campaign on hold while I converted that massive world to Fifth Edition. In the meantime, the Druid Cycle guys have been playing in a mini-campaign in the revamped Shattered Realm setting. Today that mini-campaign came to an end, so very soon we'll return to Druid Cycle action. This ten-month hiatus between Druid Cycle adventures represents the longest gap in play since that world debuted way back in 1993.

ThingMaker

Okay...okay, dude...take it easy...

I'm having a hard time not freaking out about the upcoming ThingMaker 3D printer from Mattel. Wow...I foresee creating a lot of minis for D&D, board games, etc.

Zombie Fever

We've been sick all week, and no one more so than poor little Nathaniel. When he woke up this morning, still feverish and coughing, all he wanted was to play Zombicide. I was disappointed to have to make him wait -- Zombicide isn't exactly a "before work" type of activity -- but as soon as I got home, we grabbed Matthew and played through a scenario. He's not fully recovered yet, but board gaming is definitely a step in the right direction!

DCCSC Fencing

Hooray for Peyton! Anway...our fencing club now has a Facebook page! Douglas County Community & Senior Center (yikes, that's a mouthful!) Fencing, or DCCSC Fencing, can be found here.

Back on the Strip!

We had fencing last night for the first time in over three months because the leader of the program had been recovering from an injury. During that hiatus, I submitted the necessary paperwork to become an instructor at the local community center that hosts our fencing group. I think (I hope!) that process is nearing completion, so now our fledgling club will have two instructors for classical foil fencing, and I'll be able to step in whenever the leader of the program is unable to teach. I haven't taught fencing classes since Colgate, so I'm looking forward to it!

Snowy Sunday

It's a lazy, snowy Sunday here in western Nevada, so while we're waiting for the Pro Bowl (yes, some people still do watch the Pro Bowl!), we're playing King of New York and Star Wars: X-Wing. Just wish I had more takers for Zombicide and Ghostbusters.

Want!

Check out these awesome custom game tables that transform into regular tables! Or, are they regular tables that transform into game tables?

What's New?

Not much gaming news to report these days. The guys in the online group (Kevin, Scott, and Tim W) are coming to the end of their Shattered Realm mini-campaign and will be returning to Druid Cycle action thereafter. Otherwise, it's been pretty quiet. I've used the extra time to start reading up on the instruction of fencing, as I hope to get into coaching again at some point.

Dark Tower

Dark Tower was a D&D-like board game from the '80s and it totally needs to make a comeback. Don't take my word for it, though -- ask Orson Welles himself!

Heroes Have Landed!

The Amazing Heroes have landed!

Shown above are the figures in the standard packaging. The plastic is easily removed without damaging the card backs. I also received special "Artist Edition" card backs showing these classic heroes drawn by top-notch contemporary artists like Mike Allred, Sonny Liew, and Tim Seeley.

And here are the figures removed from the packaging. Back row, from left to right: Silver Streak, Captain Action, Champion of Mars, and Blank Slate. Front row, from left to right: Golden Age Daredevil (unrelated to the later Marvel character), Black Terror, Green Turtle, and Stardust. I've only included one Blank Slate figure in the images above, but I actually purchased a lot of those guys to use as villains and -- if I'm feeling brave -- to paint my own custom heroes.

Heroes Are on Their Way!

"We've been waiting for, like, a year!" Matthew tells me. It's actually been a lot longer than that, but the Amazing Heroes action figures from two successful Kickstarter campaigns are now on their way to our house. The boys -- myself included, of course! -- are excited for the action figures, but I'm also eager to introduce them to a related RPG mini-campaign (recycling the title Tales of the Ternion) that I've cooked up using these and other public domain Golden Age superheroes. The idea is to give the boys some more experience with roleplaying and cooperative storytelling outside the usual venue of D&D. I'm not sure how it will go, but it should be an interesting experiment.

Curse of Strahd

Ravenloft is back! The fan-favorite D&D setting comes to Fifth Edition in a new adventure called Curse of Strahd. Click here for details.

End of an Era

Today I cancelled my D&D Insider subscription, meaning that I'll no longer have access to the Character Builder software for Fourth Edition characters. There's no going back! In the past year I've converted the Druid Cycle campaign world to Fifth Edition -- all but the player characters, that is -- so it feels as though the brief, troubled 4e era is now over.