Why No GM Screen?

I've backed the crowdfunding campaign for the new edition of the Cypher System, needless to say, and ended up splurging a bit. But as I was looking down the long list of items I'll receive, I was a bit miffed at first that there was no GM screen. And then -- duh! -- I realized why. IYKYK.

Cypher Campaign Underway!

The campaign for the new edition of the Cypher System is now live! Click here to check it out. I got an email saying the game was fully funded before I even learned that it had gone live!

Cypher Preview

The funding campaign for the new edition of Cypher System will begin soon. In the meantime, you can click here for a preview of the updates!

Random Retro-Gaming Thought

We'll never get old-school D&D games on Evercade because of the licensing costs -- but why not games from The Bard's Tale franchise? Make it happen, guys!

Breaking: Cats and Dogs Pull Trigger on Blockbuster Deal

It's the offseason for my historical Strat-O-Matic hockey league, but there's still plenty of action! Almost every team is wheeling and dealing, and the granddaddy of all deals is an absolute blockbuster between the Bearcats and the Bulldogs:

Bulldogs get:

• Hap Holmes (G)
• Joe Hall (D)
• Fred "Steamer" Maxwell (LW)

Bearcats get:

• Bruce Stuart (C)
• Frank Patrick (D)
• Riley Hern (G)

I'd have to say it's the most impactful trade in the history of this league. No other deal -- not even the one that brought Tommy Dunderdale to the Dogs all those years ago -- had such potential to reshape the entire league. How did we get here? 

The short version is that it's a trade of Holmes for Stuart. In Season 11, the Dogs were revitalized by the emergence of rookie center Jack Adams and they wanted to build around him. Goaltending has been a problem for this team, even when Hern came in midway through the season and carried the Dogs to the playoffs. Trading for Holmes gives the Dogs a young goaltender with an incredibly high ceiling, a guy who has already won two Goaltender MVP trophies in just five seasons of play. Even after a down year, Holmes has the second-best save percentage in league history (.922), leaps and bounds better than the other goalies in the Bulldogs organization (Hern with a career .904 and Paddy Moran with a career .902). The Cats, meanwhile, get a true number-one center in Bruce Stuart; BruStu is fifth all-time in goals (90) and fourth all-time in points (223). He will allow the team to maximize the effectiveness of superstar left winger Joe Malone, who has never had such a talented linemate. With Stuart feeding him passes, Malone might well take the next step to become the top forward in the game, and Stuart will rack up so many assists that he might finally win a scoring title. Season 12 can't get here soon enough!

Design Diary

Monte Cook is sharing an ongoing Design Diary as he and his team develop the new edition of the Cypher System. Articles can be found here.

New Edition

Not sure how I feel about this! The Cypher System is getting a new edition in 2026. Just when I was getting into a groove with the current rules...

More MM Thoughts

I'm about two-thirds of the way through the new Monster Manual. The more I read, the less I like! Here are some random observations...

• The organization is weird. All subtypes of mephit are listed under the main entry "Mephit," but most dragons, giants, and other creatures with variants are alphabetized by subtype (e.g., you find black dragons under "B", hill giants under "H", etc.).
• Lots of foes now inflict multiple damage types on a hit, with poison being the most common (huzzah for dwarf characters!). All hobgoblins, for example, now inflict poison damage on their attacks. It's rarely clear why, however, creatures are now inflicting these additional damage types. 
• Lots of creatures and NPCs now have a generic at-will attack (often a multiattack) that's identical for both melee and ranged. This approach is used for spellcasters, too, where it makes these characters seem bland and flavorless. In "classic" 5e, spellcaster stat blocks included complete spell lists, but now the design seems to drive DMs to spam these generic melee/ranged attacks rather make tactical use of the spells listed on the stat block. I guess it's easier for DMs to run encounters this way, but it feels kind of boring. There are still spells identified as once- or twice-per-day options, but no longer are there formal spell lists broken out by level. 

Mighty Crabjoys

Side-note: There's a ton of merch for Superman on the DC website, but why can't I buy a Mighty Crabjoys t-shirt?!

Look Up

So I ended up getting the chance to see Superman after all -- and it was pretty great! I really enjoyed it, but it definitely felt like an MCU movie from ten years ago. I still prefer the Snyderverse in all its epic, imperfect grandeur. 

I'm Prone to Exaggeration

I finally got around to buying the new Monster Manual and it seems...fine, I guess. Why is it, however, that just about every monster imposes the Prone condition when it hits?

Superman

An exciting new era begins today for DC films. Superman is here! Boy Scout stuff will most likely prevent me from seeing it in the theaters, but I'm there in spirit!

Gamebreaker

The Vanguard Saga campaign is moving slowly, but at least it's moving! I'm really satisfied with how the party has turned out. Amy, Matthew, and Nathaniel all ended up creating characters that feel true to this setting and are worthy successors to the original heroes whose epic stories were depicted with 3.75" action figures in my parents' basement when I was in elementary school. 

I'm also pleased with my choice of the Cypher System as the common ruleset for this and any other Front Porch Multiverse campaign. For Tim W's email-based Vanguard Saga adventure, and for any narrative-centric games, the Cypher System is exactly what we need. But...how do the rules stack up against a fourteen-year-old math whiz with a keen understanding of game design? As it turns out, not so well! Sorry, Monte, Nathaniel has broken your combat system. Just as he did with the far-less-sophisticated TinyD6 system, Nathaniel figured out how to create characters that are, for all intents and purposes, invincible against conventional attacks from foes that would be of an appropriate level for the party. The bad guys (and the gamemaster) are now going to need to get a lot more creative...

Grand Champion

Bragging rights! I am the first NBA Hangtime Grand Champion of our household! My Stockton-esque custom character Ace has defeated all 29 teams!

Better Late Than Never!

It's been years, but Dungeons Pop has finally delivered! This long-awaited Kickstarter arrived today, and I'm stoked to have this incredibly cool pop-up 3D terrain for use in fantasy campaigns. Here are two of the larger maps...

Each lies perfectly flat when folded up, but unfolds when you open it to display a flavorful adventure site. Nathaniel and I are already talking about how we can weave all the sites together into a campaign. 

The set also includes a couple of blank maps to be used with the dozen or so Mini Pops -- smaller pop-up terrain pieces that stay open thanks to clear plastic sleeves attached to the bottom. Below are two Mini Pops on one of the generic maps.

Great stuff! Well, kids, Merry Christmas from 2023!

Free RPG Day!

It's Free RPG Day today!

Jammer Time

I'm delighted how much the boys, especially Nathaniel, enjoy NBA Jam. The cabinet includes the three original games in the series, the last of which, NBA Hangtime, has a feature that allows you to create custom players. Of course, we've already created a bevy of our own ballers: my slick shooting guard Ace, Matthew's sharpshooter Dwayne (an obscure Simpsons reference, not a reference to actual NBA player Dwayne Wade), Nathaniel's elderly (yet somehow still quite spry) super-dunker Grandpa Nuker, and Nathaniel's lanky shot-blocker Cornelius D. Nide (get it?). We also have plans to create the main Globetrotter characters from Futurama: Bubblegum Tate, Sweet Clyde, and Curly Joe. The characters may be wacky, but the game gives me a great opportunity to teach the boys about basketball, which had kind of fallen off my radar in recent years. 

DC Season 5 Championship

Troya Nova Imperials (1st place) vs. Riverton Gauntlets (2nd place)

The two best teams of Season 5 squared off in the Thaler Cup championship game. The only lineup difference for either club was that the Imperials swapped out playoff veteran Julus (2 goals in 5 career playoff games) for rookie sensation Dioscorus, who joined Tiarnan and superstar Agrippa in a formidable front line. These three forwards peppered Giles with shots, but the MVP turned everything aside until midfielder Tiberius blasted one past him. Shortly before the end of the first half, Gauntlets striker Joscelin tallied to make 1-1 heading into the break. In the second half, Dioscorus restored the Imperials' lead and Agrippa made it 3-1 a few moments later. The Gauntlets were unable to put much pressure on Troya Nova's keeper in the waning moments, and the game ended 3-1. The Imperials have won their first Thaler Cup!

DC Season 5 Playoffs

Season 5 is in the books! The biggest shocker, perhaps, was that the defending Thaler Cup champions, the Prifddinas Golden Dragons, failed to make the playoffs for the first time in franchise history after fading down the stretch. The Caer Eurfryn Defenders also regressed, meaning that the Kingdom of Teyrnas had no representation in this year's postseason. The Riverton Racers and Liminia Navigators also missed out on the big dance. As for the teams that did reach the playoffs, here's how the first round turned out...

Semifinal 1: Troya Nova Imperials (1st Place) vs. Troya Nova Paladins (4th Place)
The Imperials wrapped up their second straight first-place finish and faced their intra-city rivals, the Paladins, who had returned to the playoffs after a one-year hiatus. Both teams were strong offensively, with the Imperials scoring a league-best 2.43 goals per game and the Paladins tying for second with 2.36. As it turned out, there was indeed a lot of scoring (well, for soccer, anyway!) in this game. Imperials midfielder Vigilius and Paladins striker Henricus traded first-half goals. In the second, stay-at-home defender Caelus tallied for the Imperials -- his first playoff goal to go along with his one regular-season goal in five seasons of play! -- to give the home team a 2-1 edge. Star striker Tiarnan added to the Imperials' lead, and his insurance goal turned out to be the game-winner when keeper Aleyn misplayed the ball and allowed superstar Belisarius to notch a late goal. It was too little too late for the Pallies, however, and the Imperials punched their ticket to the Thaler Cup championship game with a 3-2 victory.

Semifinal 2: Riverton Gauntlets (2nd Place) vs. Prospect Pioneers (3rd Place)

The Gauntlets reached the playoffs for the first time in franchise history with a strong campaign that saw them in first place until the season's very last day; they ended up finishing second, but their +8 goal differential was the best of any team, and (thanks to League MVP goalkeeper Giles) they allowed just 1.57 goals per game, a half-goal better than the next-best club. Their opponents, the Pioneers, were middle-of-the-road in most statistical categories, but won a lot of games simply by outworking their opponents. The Pios were back in the postseason for the first time since a disastrous trade that sent Vico, a future MVP and Scoring Champion, to the Racers in exchange for a bag of balls. In this semifinal, the Pioneers' Remi scored a goal on the game's very first shot, a stunning turn of events in light of Giles's superlative season. The Gauntlets quickly righted the ship, however, and a late-first-half goal by Rafe and second-half tallies by Zefiro and Reimar helped them secure a 3-1 victory and a date with the Imperials in the championship game.

DC Season 5 Awards

Season 5 was a whirlwind! I played through it pretty quickly, but this campaign certainly didn't lack for dramatic moments or compelling storylines. Before we get to the playoffs, I'll pause to hand out the individual awards. For the first time ever, a goalkeeper has won the League MVP; Giles, top keeper for the upstart Riverton Gauntlets, snagged that trophy by posting a .878 save percentage (second-best was the Defenders' Primus at .845, while no one else broke .820). The Scoring Championship was a tie for the third time in five seasons; this year, the award was shared by Vico of the Riverton Racers and Belisarius of the Troya Nova Paladins, who each scored 11 goals -- one fewer than the single-season record of 12, set by Belisarius in Season 3.