A Life Full of Adventure

I didn't take chapter-specific notes like I often do for adventures. This book is a setting. It explains the conceit, the region, rivers, villages, and towns. The conceit is essentially warpstone (see Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay) that has landed in the area, leaving creatures warped and the atmosphere green. There is an extensive bestiary of queer, unique creatures. There are a few magical items, and there is an adventure in the back. The adventure doesn't seem to fit the setting very well, almost like it was generically written and just plopped into the back of the book. I stopped reading early on in the adventure when it didn't particularly seem to fit the Midderlands. There may be some specifics in the middle or end that shoehorn the setting in. In all, I'd definitely give the setting a try. I wouldn't necessarily want to run it at this point, but I would really be interested in some fiction from this setting. And the game could grow on me, since I have ...

The New Adventures of He-Man (1990) episode 1 was spectacularly horrible. It’s Voltron art plus GI Joe characters (I know, sounds good so far, but...) set in the future with *only* He-Man and none of the other Masters of the Universe. I will not watch any more of these, unless super bored and then only super ironically. He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (2002) episode 1(?) (1 hour) was so much better by comparison. Almost all of the original characters were shown, the story was so much better, and the characters were all uniquely drawn instead of the 1984 carbon copies of each other (though that original series is still #1 in my book). The obvious Japanese animation, including lots of jumping around and everyone expert at martial arts, was slightly much, but I’ll gladly keep watching. Yes, I am often a decade and a half behind the times...why do you ask?

I picked this up last month pretty much so I could get Amazon to ship me a DVD they considered an "add-on." I have heard some pretty good opinions of this product, so let's see! *Spoilers below* Beholders There is more lore here than I have ever read, or imagined, on beholders. (Good choice by the powers-that-be on choosing a copyrighted creature to expand upon.) I can almost see them having the paranoid personality of the most successful Skaven, though a lot more intelligent! The info on lairs is excellent and fuels a lot of ideas, especially for dungeons. Giants There is some information about the specific mindsets of each type of giant. Every little thing to distinguish the big bad guys is nice, but I didn’t find the chapter overly enthralling. Gnolls Well, the background of these creatures has been amped up a bit. Constantly hungry demon spawn, I don’t see myself using these much. A warband every so often as a rarity is definitely more than enough. I do l...

I had this RPG I kickstarted on my mind lately. I read this via PDF.  Here we go!  *Spoilers below* Opposed rolls: Not a fan. Sorry to be such a downer from so early on. Let’s keep reading to see if they play out like I fear. Great art. Tests and opposed rolls almost seem to be Marvel Heroic Roleplay or Firefly RPG-like (I'll just call that Cortex). P27. The rules are very much like my Firefly RPG experience so far. P47. The previous section explains the philosophy behind the game: why it was written as it was, advice from the author on how to play, and examples of play. I find this section helpful, as it explains the mindset behind the game. It explains reactions from years of D&D and how they shape the game. I agree that ideas from this game could easily be applied to other RPGs if players seized the opportunity to do so. Building Campaigns and Adventures Using the building blocks of the character sheet, how to build adventures that tie in all the character...

For some reason I have had a yearning to read this adventure. Here we go! *Spoilers below* Greenest In Flames I don't foresee my group charging into a town being attacked by a dragon. Though the section gives alternatives if the party doesn't go into town, I would wait until my party is already in town before I began the attack. I'm sure a lot of other DMs chose this option as well. Raiders' Camp It might take even more convincing for a party who survived a night of a dragon attack to actually follow the dragon back to its base camp. Of course, the manual doesn't say the dragon leaves together with the raiders, and this section doesn't say the dragon is at the camp. Maybe it would be better if it just flew off on its own. I'd be very interested to see how my players infiltrated the camp. I'm betting they would send the thief. Dragon Hatchery I can see each of these chapters taking a whole 4-6 hour sitting, if elaborated properly. This chapte...

First thought: Was this just written to sell D&D toys? *Spoilers Follow* Mists of the Northern Marsh This section is the wilderness adventure to get you to the mountain. There is a road...which apparently houses all manner of creatures inimical to...life. How do all these creatures get set up right on the road? Why doesn't the road go around them? How come every time you see a bridge, you know trouble isn't far behind? You know what D&D needs? Roadwardens. Perils of the Icewater Falls This section is a series of caves on a mountain, maybe like the Caves of Chaos in Keep on the Borderlands. Each cave holds a number of tough creatures the author wants to show off. In reality, these creatures would not live so close together. Some of the caves lead deeper into the adventure..... Tunnels of Death Now this is more like it! Tunnels, traps, and few monsters each with their own areas that wouldn't interact much with the other monsters. Only a couple DM fiat/screw...

The Festival of Lucor What a railroad! It is a good set up. The characters get comfortable in town and unwittingly choose sides. So far, all I can think is making it a Warhammer adventure instead of D&D. Beneath The Floors Another strong-arm into adventure, leading to a short dungeon crawl. What they find in the crawl sets up the rest of the adventure. The Investigation Not much of an actual investigation, just the PCs forced to accompany the law to the scene of a crime. Then they can start looking for clues or going their own way if they want. Riot This covers most of the major actions the PCs could take during the day's riots. Will they become revolutionary leaders of the people or watch from the shadows? Employment The adventure is heavy-handed toward splitting the party and having them fight each other here. Most groups I've played with will have come up with alternate plans by now. Further Investigation Most groups I know will have c...

The Manor  is a labor of love OSR 'zine put out by Tim Shorts of  Gothridge Manor . Villains Great! I really like the first one. I have never heard of an elf-troll cross before, but I love it and can't wait to use it. Concoctions These potions are very imaginative. Maybe overpowered,  But they set the mind to thinking... Tavern Names I love this table. I need to keep this handy from now on. Doors This is a great addition to something we do indeed take for granted. Excellent idea. I can already imagine a few add-ons to the doors listed. (The necromantic door really needs an add-on to attract and house incorporeal undead.) Random City Encounters Also good for the imagination. I really like one called Child Killer. It would make a good scenario going on in the background of an adventure. The art is also very good in this issue. I applaud Jay Penn and Jeff Freels.

The Manor is a labor of love OSR 'zine put out by Tim Shorts of Gothridge Manor . Contents: Mine of Rot & Disease - A short undead-centered poisoned water supply adventure. I could see running this at a convention. Simple and a good set up for old friends getting together to game and socialize. Oddly, it gives an introduction to a Townsfolk section, but then never lists the townsfolk. Pog Nog's Cart - An NPC goblin who sells supplies from a cart. I want to start using Pog Nog in my games immediately. Adzeer: God of the Monster Hunt - A specialty ranger/cleric class for Blood & Treasure RPG. I am not familiar with the RPG. However, I think I would design the class a bit differently from what I see. Either way, it could be fun. Now to see if I can submit something to the Rusty Battle Axe Poetry Slam section of the 'zine....

Suburbia was pitched to me as a board game version of SimCity. As such, I was not prepared for the game I ended up playing. I ended up being the most poor, least popular borough of town. Each round you buy a hex to add on to your developing area. They are residential, commercial, industrial, or civic hexes. Each hex costs money, but it may give you reputation or income. Choosing the right hexes to get the optimum results can delay each turn, especially with 3 players who haven't played before. The correlation to SimCity is a loose one. I spend many, many hours of my life playing different versions of that computer game. I can see myself getting interested in this game, knowing what the different upcoming hexes are and how they work together. However, I don't think this board game would ever replace my love for the computer game.

Thurn and Taxis is, of all things, a postal-route building game set in Germany. The goal is to score the most points by making progressively longer postal routes (from 3 cities up to 7 cities). The first person to make a 7 city long postal route triggers the end game. You can also get points by having a post office in every town of a colored section of the board (I believe there are 7 or so). You can get points by having a post office in every color of the board, too. It was a relatively quick game that I found surprisingly fun. There are enough towns available to choose from each turn that it is relatively easy to build your postal route (maybe I got lucky; who knows). Each turn is draw-a-card, play-a-card, with one of four special actions you can do per turn. These switch the game up enough to give you plenty of player agency. Beware, when you think you have one more turn to go around the table before you win, an opponent may use a special action to cut your game short.

From BoardGameGeek: King’s Ransom is a 2-player strategy game pitting royal rivals against each other. Using the basic mechanics of chess, there’s an additional layer of strategy due to each card entering play hidden from the opposing player’s view. If you can set traps and lure your opponent into making mistakes, you might be able to snatch their King and ransom him for control of the kingdom! Turn Order: - Flip a face-down card so it is face up - Move a face-up card - Announce check, if applicable - Place a new card face down - Draw a card from your deck The cards are set up in a 3x6 rectangle. On your turn, you can place your new card face down anywhere on your 3x3 half of the rectangle. This is where I think the game could use a tweak. I'm not sure if the developers tried it with only being allowed to put new cards in your first two rows only , but I think that would help balance the game a bit. As it was, the game I played went pretty quickly because that third ro...

The board game Kingdoms can be played with 2 - 4 players. It's three rounds of strategy in building up points for yourself while trying to minimize the points of your opponent(s). You have your own keeps you can place on the board that multiply the points you earn by 1, 2, 3, or 4. Only the single multipliers return to your hand at the end of each round, so use the 2, 3, and 4s wisely. Other random tiles add, subtract, and multiply your points or block your opponent from points. What I like about the game is that it is a relatively simple strategy game that plays well with two players. However, it can be quite competitive. If your significant other doesn't like you blocking them from points or giving them negative points, you might not have as much fun with this.

I had a chance to try out Epic Death recently. The game essentially has two parts, the first part of the game where you try to kill monsters and gain loot, and the second part of the game where you try to get your characters killed. Points earned for killed monsters and loot in the first part don't count unless you are able to kill your characters in the second part. There was a bit of a learning curve with the game. You can use cards to help or hinder your opponents in their fights. Usually you want to help them lose if they are trying to win and help they win if they are trying to lose. You help by adding or subtracting dice from their dice pool. You can also mark their characters for death when they are trying to win or mark them for a return to life if they are already dead. Wanting your characters dead at the end flips things around. The negatives and double negatives can really stack up and confuse a tired mind. Play with plenty of rest/caffeine!

I was able to play Dungeon Dice for the first time the other weekend. In short, I'd consider it a dice-based version of Munchkin. You pull dice out of a bag to get your starting equipment. Each turn, you pull and opponent out of a bag full of dice. You might get treasure, but you are more likely to pull a monster. You can decide to fight it alone, fight it with help, or run away. You decide who else at the table gets to help you, what weapons you are going to use against the monster, and how to divide the treasure. The other players decide whether to help or hinder you. That does sound a lot like Munchkin. In all, I wouldn't call it a quick palate-cleansing dice game, like Zombie Dice. It can be quite interesting, though, for imaginative folk who want to play a one-shot RPG but don't have enough time/materials for a pen-and-paper game.

Frontier Skies is a 2-4 player game in which the players bid on upgrades to their airships. The game consists of 4 seasons, and there are three bids during each season. At the end of each season there are bonus points for the person with the fastest ship and the most weaponry. There is also a cargo hold level that increases as you upgrade your ship. The more cargo you can hold, the more crew and other useful items you can have on your ship. With 3 players, the bidding mechanic didn't get in the way, which was good because at least 2/3 of us playing didn't like bidding games. Each of us when first in a seasonal bid, looking to upgrade our ship. At the end of the game, there are more points awarded for the value of your ship, the most weaponry, the fastest ship, the ship build with only parts from the first and second season, and the ship build with all the same generation (color) parts. It was a relatively fun play. My strategy would definitely change a second time thro...

I read the first issue of The Manor on Saturday while at the beach. The great thing about this little 'zine is that it can be used to grab-n-go for the times your adventuring party is between quests, or if they are on the way from one location to another and aren't under a time crunch. It is perfect for the game nights when you haven't had time to come up with anything for your game this week. Grab The Manor, Issue #1 , give the party an encounter while traveling through the woods (there are 20 to choose/roll from) then run them through the short adventure at the beginning of the book (The Salt Pit). It is a great way to support an independent producer of gaming content!

The Last Candle is an OSR-compatible introductory module for low level characters. Much like the Keep on the Borderlands, this module provides an urban setting set around a priory (The Last Candle) and a nearby dungeon setting (The Eagle's Eyrie). This module is a step up from the classic Keep, however, because it offers numerous adventure opportunities in the surrounding lands. There are five plot hooks set in the priory allowing for multiple different adventures. There are 20 wilderness encounters detailed for the surrounding areas. There are 11 areas of interest, further detailing the surrounding areas. Finally, the Eagle's Eyrie dungeon has 64 keyed rooms. The combinations of encounters, areas, and adventure opportunities should be more than enough for any group to adventure even past the 1-3 character levels listed on the front cover. Your group should get a lot of miles out of this product for only $4. A bit more from the product description: The Prieuré de Chauril...

I saw a link to this comic on Google+ the other day and figured I'd pop down to the local comic book shop to check it out. The cover was extremely evocative, and the art inside was pretty good, so I decided to grab it. $2.99 isn't overly much for a comic and there were other things I also wanted while I was at the store. For $2.99 it wasn't too shabby. The interior art was well done. Teela definitely gets the "T&A treatment", to quote a concern from Google+. She is walking around in her underwear at one point in the comic. One of my original concerns during the comic shop flip-through was that there wasn't enough text, so I assumed that would mean dragging out multiple issues to get a basic premise for the first story arc. That's not the case. The story is set up well. The story references some events that I'm not familiar with but the writers seem to expect the audience knows. I would have liked to see more of the other characters bes...

Botanica Blues by Tristan Tarwater is a short story in a deep setting. There's subculture, detective work, military history, flashbacks, otherworldly/Elder figures, religion, family, and complete and utter hopelessness.  This story appealed to me, as one who has written a couple of short stories about struggle and hopelessness.