A Load of Minis

Well, I'm a happy gamer. My shipment of Reaper's Bones miniatures from their Kickstarter campaign finally arrived! I have no idea when, or if, I will get around to painting them all (not going to say how many but it's a lot). I'm just glad they finally showed up so I don't have to worry about it any more.

Game On: Precognition or Telekinesis?

In our Pathfinder game a couple days ago, the group went to clear a peluda (a spiny dragon-like creature) out of an abandoned fort. Having encountered one before and just barely managing to live let alone defeat it, we prepared ourselves well. Still the beast managed to surprise us without our main defense up (Communal Stoneskin). Not only that, but it was able to split the party in half: summoner and cleric on one side, the monk and ranger on the other. Sometime during the fight, the cleric started to cast Searing Light (a 4d8 damage spell). While Roy (the cleric's player) was rolling, Nathan (the summoner's player) yelled out "1,1,1,2". Needless to say, what followed will be a running joke of our group for a long time.

Gone Digital: Pulling Back the Curtain

Friday was the first day of early access for Secret World. Needless to say, this weekend was full of exploration and attempting to turn back the tide of evil (pun intended). After having played through the starter area several times, I skipped the cut scenes I had seen before. I was a little miffed that they decided to complete change the model of at least one main NPC and completely remove another along with her related mission. Her removal makes some of the references made by other NPCs about her harder to piece together as being about the same person.

The main issue I (and many other players) have is the several of the missions are bugged. How the hell did these get past the betas let alone the internal testing? I have had to make a (short) list of missions I need to go back and complete when the game is updated later today/tomorrow for  release. Luckily you can invite people on other dimensions (aka servers) to your group and are temporarily moved to their server. This is one way of dealing with the bugged missions. Because, lo and behold...the bugged missions are only bugged on some servers! Seriously? How the hell is that even possible when all of the servers supposedly have the same code base!? WTF!? I did not partake of this method of getting bugged missions done nor did I petition a GM to force complete the bugged step of missions X. Instead I made a list and plan on trying again after each patch until I get them done.

This is definitely the buggiest (?) launch of a MMO that I've experienced with the exception of Anarchy Online. Hey, look! Another Funcom game. Age of Conan (their other MMO) suffered from a buggy release too, but I didn't have the problems I had with AO or SW. Seeing a trend here? Funcom puts out games with good concepts but is seriously lacking in the QA department. I absolutely love Secret World as a whole, but I can't stand shoddy programming/testing.

Gone Digital: The Secret World BW3

This past weekend was the third beta weekend for The Secret World.  The last time they had it, I played a Templar. This time around they had opened up the Illuminati and the Dragon factions. I chose the Dragon since that is what I plan on playing at release. For the most part, the majority of the beta has little real faction difference about it. Nevertheless, it was still fun and interesting. My Templar character went mainly elemental/blades with a little blood thrown in. The Dragon on the other hand started out blood and added blades after ranking blood some. Overall, the solo ability of both seem to be roughly the same.

As far as the playability goes, I did find a few bugs. They were mainly annoyances rather then game breakers. For instance, when I would sell something, the vendor window listing the items would blank out until I scrolled it. To me, for a game this far along and this close to release (July 3), things like that should not be there. Hopefully this weekend's beta will have fixed all of the ones I noticed.

I will have to say that I love the real world integration SW has. For one mission/quest you needing to get into someone's computer. You could get a hint ("music of the seasons") plus a nearby item was a picture of a nighttime scene with fireworks. If you did a web search on the hint (using the in-game or an out-of-game browser), you could discover the password. Another mission had you look up the duration of songs to get maps coordinates. Only once did I have to ask for in-game help, and that was because the item I was looking for was bugged and partially inside a table.

Node-based Design

I've been a programmer since I was about 12 or 13 (thanks C-64 / BASIC) and doing OOP for many, many years. I have also been created other worlds slightly longer than that (thanks Cousin Bob / D&D). Between these two hobbies, I gradually had the two coalesce over the past several years. I'm not sure why I never really wrote anything down (a bad habit of mine when I have interesting thoughts). Those thoughts have become more concrete over the past few years even if still somewhat disjointed. Those pieces all fell into place when I discovered The Alexandrian, a blog by a kindred gaming/writing spirit, last week.

Over the few days, I have perused the blog and found many good posts. Some of those mirror my thoughts above. After reading the posts of Node-based Scenario Design and Advanced Node-based Design, I realized that this was almost exactly what I had been tried to figure out but put down neatly and with great detail. I was overjoyed to see that someone else not only had similar ideas but also had the resolve to write it all down coherently. Another really good series of posts, Jaquaying the Dungeon, talks about making "dungeon" maps feel more dynamic and realistic rather then linear. Without going into detail here, I strongly suggest reading those posts as well as the Node posts. Those articles helped me expand my ideas as well as fill in the gaps I didn't realize I had.

Someone asked the question of whether or not Justin (the blog's author) had consider using mind maps to supplement his node-based ideas, but I never saw (or just missed) a reply. As I was reading the original node posts, I too immediately thought of mind maps. I have attempted a few times to use mind maps for gaming (both video and tabletop), but unfortunately I did not get very far. I think the problem was with the software (freeware) I was using rather then the concept. Granted after the (failed) attempts, I'm undecided if working up a mind map is really worth the effort. Creating an adventure let alone a world/campaign is time-intensive enough. Although it would be easy (not to mention, cool) to see how everything connections visually rather then just on paper or in your head.

One last thing, I also really liked his concept of the Three Clue Rule.

There and back again

Back from work trip to Saint Louis. Short yet productive. The two best (non-work) things about going there: the food and Fantasy Shop.

Following my usual philosophy of not eating some place we have here while out of town, Nathan (co-worker) and I ended up going to 54th Street (been there a few times before), Bandana's BBQ (1st time), Smokey Bones (lots of times), and Uno's in the Chicago airport (1st) time).

Fantasy Shop we discovered on our first trip up there and loved it. We both pine for something like it down here; but unfortunately, this area is not big enough to support that level of a gaming shop. We have a good place for comics/CCGs (The Deep) and good place for wargaming (The Foundry) but not a single location for both nor a good place for the roleplayer. Both stores have a small rpg section but nothing like what Book Villa used to be. Anyway, this time, we expanded our search for gaming stores (due to extra free time) and visited 2 other Fantasy Shop locations we had not been to before. Again, we were in heaven.

RPGs and Me

This is the second of several posts that are notes I compiled back in Oct 2009 of my thoughts on things that interest me. This was mostly done for my son Riley who had been born pre-mature earlier that year. Somethings might not be accurate anymore, but I'm posting them as they were written.

I still remember sometime around 1979 or so (I was roughly 8 years old), my cousin Bob sitting down with my brother Brian and I to teach us a new game he and his friends played. He explained the rules and the basics of what the game was about. This was not like any other game I had played before. It didn't involve cards, a board, a ball, or even a certain number of people. All you needed was a pencil, some paper, some strange looking dice, and most importantly, your imagination. That game was Dungeons & Dragons.

I remember my first character was a dwarf. Not a dwarf fighter or a dwarf cleric, just a dwarf. That was an actual class back then. Unfortunately, I don't remember what my brother played or anything about the "adventure", but those (game) sessions in general struck a cord deep within me. I loved (and still do) to play various card games abd board games but this roleplaying game thing was really fun and interesting.

My next birthday saw the D&D Basic and Expert Box Sets as 2 of my presents. I'm not sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if those were my two favorite presents that year. I can't even guess how many times I read through those books, how many characters I created, or how many maps I made after getting those sets. Comic books at the time were something I collected and read a lot of, but D&D and its books quickly caught up in interest and eventually surpassed comics.

Over the next several years, I purchased or recieved as gifts more D&D books. I didn't get to play with Bob much since shortly after he taught us, my family moved to Alabama. I didn't play with Brain either since he wasn't really into it. So I ended up just making adventures (stories), maps, and eventually parts of new worlds for myself just to have fun and expand my imagination. We moved to Alabama when I was halfway through third grade, but it wasn't until forth grade that I managed to meet someone else that played D&D as well: John Doston. He and I quickly became best friends. Sometime during that year, I also meet another lifelong friend (another John) who was a year behind me. Mr Jenkins, Mr Dotson, and I would get together and delve into other worlds of fantasy righting wrongs, slaying evil monsters, and generally having a good time.

Over the next next few years, more people joined our little gaming group. We would end up having a great influence over each other; and by the time high school rolled around (no pun intended), we were a really solid group of friends. Also, during this time, we discovered other roleplaying games (rpgs) besides D&D. We played Marvel Super Heroes, Call of Cthulhu, Paranoia, GURPS, Top Secret, Star Wars (WEG), Middle-earth Role Playing, Rolemaster, Champions, Star Trek, Vampire: The Masquerade. Other games we tried but never really played beyond once or twice: The Morrow Project, Elfquest, Pendragon, MechWarrior (several times but never at a strech), Robotech, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Ars Magica, Shadowrun. Although we played or tried numerous different rpgs during high school/early college, we would always eventually come back to D&D.

Our games were usually played at my parents house in the back patio room although sometimes we would play when we spent the night at someone's house. We didn't have a specific person being the DM/GM (Dungeon/Game Master). Instead, someone would usually volunteer to run an adventure or an entire campaign. All of us play the part of the GM several times while the others would be the actual players.

Around 1990 (when I and about half of the group graduated high school), our gaming group started its slow but inevitable break-up due to people going off to college or joining the military. It was shortly before this time that we had moved mostly away from D&D being our staple rpg to Rolemaster, or as we eventually would call it Chartmaster. While we liked D&D since it was our introduction into the world of rpgs, Rolemaster quickly became our favorite game. This was mainly due to its higher degree of character customization, individual weapon charts, and it just seemed like a more "advanced" game. This is not to say that we didn't do one-shots (or two-shots) of other rpgs during those next few years because we did. When we got together to play. Like I said, between the dispersion of the group added to the crazy college schedule of those of us still here, our gaming sesions became less and less frequent.

Sometime around 1992-3, new people were introduced into the group. These newcomers were due to Mr Jenkins working at the Space and Rocket Center. They were basically their own gaming group that met for the most part while at Auburn University. For the next several years, the members of the two groups merged, playing various rpgs but also got together to play card/board games or to just hand out as friends are wont to do. As fate would have it, school and work schedules, family, disagreements, and life in general would cause the gaming group to fluctuate greatly with a small group of people playing whenever they could. Needless to say, I was part of that group. The games we played during this time were Rolemaster, GURPS, Hero System, and Imagine.

I have been fortunate enough to have a job that while not paying as well as the previous one outweighs it in almost every other aspect. I have my own office, not a cubicle or even a half cube (don't ask, Rrr). I am friends with the people with whom I work (although there were some at the pervious job that I liked). While I really do miss the 3D Java project of the old job, I like the web work I'm doing now. My current job is not on the Arsenal or in a secure room (Yes!). But even more fortunate for me is that 1 of my immediate co-workers (Nathan) was a gamer (and I mean that in the general sense but just rpg) before he started work at the company. I eventually found out that another guy here was as well. Nathan and I eventually manged to convert our boss (Roy) into a huge rpg gamer. Our work gaming group numbers 4 (with a very random fifth), we have gone from 4th edition D&D to Shadowrun to our current game of Pathfinder.

Also, over the past 4 or 5 years, the main(?) group was somewhat still around. We played Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Legends of the Five Rings, Star Wars Saga Edition, and GURPS. Our current game is 4th edition Shadowrun and has been going on and off for about a year and a half now. That group is down to 4 people. While I am technically part of that game, I hardly ever play due to lack of time. (Play with 6 month-old son or play rpg, hmm, no contest there.)

Anyway, that is a quick summary of my roleplaying career. Of course, I did leave out the numerous times I (by myself or with friends) would try my hand at creating my own rpg. And even though a complete game system never really evolved from those attempts, I did have fun trying and learned many useful things doing so.

Below are some thoughts on most of the roleplaying games I had played. I tried to keep them in order of "appearance" in my life.

D&D Basic/Expert - Of course, being the first rpg I encountered, these are forever stuck in my head with fond memories. I can't think of how many times my friends and I played through Keep on the Borderlands. Sometimes we played the actual module while others we would change things up a bit to keep things interesting.

Advanced D&D (i.e. 2nd ed) - The next logical game once it came out and again one that was played at every possible convienence. Being the main rpg we played during high school, this more then any other made the fantasy genre my prefered whether for rpgs, books, or movies.

D&D 3, 3.5 - Once again, this rpg proved to be a success with my group. We had a sinlge campagin go for almost 2 years before it stopped. I say stopped rather then ended because that's exactly what happened. We just stopped playing it as opposed to the campaign coming to an end. It kinda sucked because the character I was playing I really enjoyed ans was one of my favorites ever.

D&D 4th edition - This is the current edition of D&D. Honestly, I was not really impressed with it when it first came out. Wizards of the Coast turned what used to be a roleplaying game into a tactical, MMO-like (Massively Muliplayer Online game), CCG-like (Collectible Card Game) combat fest with no crafting or real economy what-so-ever. It is now a more or a roll-playing game then a roleplaying game. The rules are rather vague or poorly worded more often then it should be from such an established gaming company and for a title that has a long history. That is not to say that it is all bad. Characters in 4th edition have much more variation and abilities (for comabt) then those of previous editions. Dispite my early dislike of the system, it has slowly won me over, but I still am not truly fond of it when there are other better systems out there.

Marvel Super Heroes - This game saw a lot of play as well and was probably the second most played during high school. Playing as the super heroes in present day was exciting.

Call of Cthulhu - Interesting game for an interesting setting. I love HP Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos, and this game does it quite well. Being a more investigative and roleplaying game then a combat game, this one didn't see much play during high school. Even after, it would only ever be a 1- or 2-shot game for us.

Paranoia - This game is just insane, literally. Another game the was unique in it concept. Everyone is a clone, everyone secretly has a mutant power, and everyone is secretly part of a secret society. Too bad being a mutant and being a member of a secret society are both highly illegal and punishable with instant death. It may sound like a gruesome game but it is actually quite humerous. Another one that was usually a 1-shot at random times or maybe a few consecutive games but never a long campaign.

GURPS - 2nd edtion we played during high school. It was ok but never really got into it. Later, when the 4th edition came out, I gave it another chance and ended up liking it better. Even though it can be used for any genre, we still used it for a fantasy setting (Banestorm).

Top Secret - Another one we didn't play that long, but was cool while we did. Our first rpg to let us play as spies.

Star Wars (WEG) - Ah. The d6 version of Star Wars. Lots of good memories (like shooting Darth Vader with a shuttle laser). One of the many games we were really into when we played even if not for very long.

Middle-earth Role Playing (MERP) - Short lived game (for us). Let us play in Tolkien's world and was our first introduction to critical charts.

Rolemaster - Speaking of critical charts, ICE (Iron Crown Enterprise) came up with this game after making MERP and expanded on what they had done with that system. This game eventually came to replace D&D for our group. I LOVE this system. We played this rpg through 2 editions.

Champions - Another super hero rpg. This one didn't see anywhere near as much play time as Marval Super Heroes but allowed for way more customizable characters.

Star Trek - This rpg falls into the short-lived category as most others here. It was a good game that saw quite a bit of play but mostly only managed to get 2 short campaigns out of us. Being a huge Star Trek fan at the time, I bought most of the books for this game even ones that we never really used.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Interesting setting if not a great system. Again, as with Star Trek, I bought more books for this game then we actually used. But I mostly did it for the fluff (background story). Although technically separate games, I include here Werewolf, Mummy, and Mage.

The Morrow Project - It was an interesting system from what I remember which is not much. It was a post-appocalyptic setting. Not sure it we ever really played ir or just made characters.

Elfquest, Robotech, Ars Magica, and Pendragon - Yes, these are 4 very different games but I grouped them together here because I know we only ever made characters for these rpgs and never actually played them.

MechWarrior - Granted this is more of a war game then a roleplaying game but a roleplaying element was eventually added by the creators (although we pretty much stuck with the war game side of it). Was one of those "every so often" games.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay - I picked up the original edition on a whim because I thought it looked interesting. I managed to convince the others to try it out. I think we only played a single adventure of it. It was not due to it being a bad game because we did like it, but as usual D&D sucked us back in. The second edition, years later, caught our attention again, and we actually played it for several months. Another game where I really like the system.

Shadowrun - 2nd (during high school) was one we played once or twice and that was it. I'm not sure why it didn't see more play then it did. I liked the setting, but I think the others didn't really. By the time 4th edition came out, I was working at BRC (my current job), and this version is much improved and has seen over a year's worth of play from my group. I love the wireless update that 4th has seen compared to 3rd. Before 4th, all Matrix (read internet) connections were wired but 4th saw wireless as the main connection type. Being a computer nerd, this aspect quickly grabbed my attention. Also, technomancers (next evolution of 2nd/3rd's otaku) are freaking cool in my opinion.

Pathfinder - Based off of the OGL (Open Gaming License) version of D&D 3.5, this system is the newest one I have played. So far I have only played a single gaming session. After playing 4th edition for about a year and not having played 3.5 for almost 2 years before that, I am trying to remember the nuances of 3.5 without 4th vaguary getting in my way.

Dark Heresy - I have not played this game yet but would like to sometime. It is the same basic system as Warhammer Fantasy 2nd edition but set in the Warhammer 40k universe. I am currently reading through the core book and have the Inquisitor's Handbook to go read next. Chances are all I will ever do is read the books; but like most rpgs, even if I never play, I still reading the rules and fluff.

Diablo 3

It finally arrives. After having given countless hours to the previous incarnations, I foresee even more time spent trying to figure out the secret of the fallen star. My first real foray into the that new world was during the weekend beta where I played each of the classes all the way through the available levels. It is hard to say which one I enjoyed the most. So when it came time to start the adventure for good, Vasuro stepped forward to take up the challenge.

Vasuro is a tiefling monk from Dtang Ma that worships Nalinivati, the goddess of fertility, nagaji, snakes, and sorcery. And also happens to be my current character running through the Kingmaker Adventure Path. Thanks to Vasuro's selfless offer, she is now running around New Tristram kicking bad guy butt. Although what she didn't know when she chose to go on this new adventure was that a sex change would occur. (Mainly because I liked that male monk look better then the female one.)

After many hours of playing, Blizzard decided to bring down the servers. After waiting for about 30 minutes, I eventually gave up and went to bed. Although Vasuro didn't get to confront the Skeleton King, he did manage to make it to his house. The way to the fallen star continues tonight.