A Life Full of Adventure

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!

Bo'az (who goes by Bo for short) is a dwarf who hails from Shadowdale. He is a Rogue Artificer from a proud clan of metalworkers and engineers. He is currently on a personal quest to retrieve lost dwarven engineering secrets from the ruins of Phlan. Until he completes the quest, Bo refuses to use his clan name. So far things have not gone as expected, and his delving has only led to a suit of magical, padded leather armor. He met up with an adventuring party in a most unexpected way: "Bo looked around to make sure he wasn't being watched, although in his current state of exhaustion there could be someone standing directly behind him and he might not know it. The dwarf slid out his picks and made quick work of the lock on the door. He needed a safe place to rest, but no place was safe out here. Unnoticed behind a locked door, he should be able to sleep. His sanity depended on it. "Inside the abandoned outpost, he chewed on some jerky. It had been ages since he ha...

Now that summer break is here and my schedule is less hectic, I'd like to start a new weekly post...a round-up, if you will, of different interesting things I have read through the week. I hope you find these enjoyable...and helpful as well. Events PortCon Maine 2014 (Anime/Gaming Convention) It doesn't look like I'll be running anything (again) this year, unless we grab a table and start a pickup game...which I'm usually up for.   Here's a list of scheduled events . Unfortunately they are not separated into categories, so I'm not sure yet what will be offered for games. Entertainment Little Blue Squares  by James Maliszewski (Article) I don’t recall what my own first dungeon map looked like. I’m pretty sure it was strongly “inspired” (to put it charitably) by the map in my rulebook. Whatever it looked like, it no longer exists, much like most of the many maps I made in those days – and I made a lot of maps. Oftentimes, it seemed as if that...

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.

With the summer off from college, I put out a call for open play-by-post/play-by-email games on Google+. I got offered a spot in a second edition (sorta) game, which is almost exactly what I was looking for. I'm pretty excited. I'm rolling up a Dwarf Thief to join a play-by-email game set around the Moonsea. I'm thinking of modeling him after Bo , maybe an engineer tradesman. Exciting!

Q: Which is More of a Carrot For You as a Player: XP or a Cool Magic Item? - Tenkar's Tavern A: I've gotten to the point, in Warhammer at least, where XP doesn't really matter. Probably because we get more than enough each sitting. Even if we didn't, I can't see myself changing the way I play just to earn more XP. I am lucky that my GM gives me XP for the session write-ups I post here (and would do without the extra experience). In the end, I just want to be able to have the trappings I need to play the character I want to play. Sometimes I'd rather have a horse, or a bodyguard, or a minion more than I want GP or XP. I want an opportunity to ply my trade and to excel at it. In D&D that might mean an opportunity to thieve or cast a spell or banish undead. For Warhammer it's to hunt a vampire, slay a named daemon, or incite the populace to take up arms against a herd of beastmen.

Now that summer break is here and my schedule is less hectic, I'd like to start a new weekly post...a round-up, if you will, of different interesting things I have read through the week. I hope you find these enjoyable and helpful as well. Entertainment Flip the Table, Episode 54: E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial  (Podcast) Welcome! You've reached the home of "Flip the Table," a podcast about The Other Side of Board Games. Most board game shows focus on the latest-and-greatest, or time-tested classics. We have taken it upon ourselves to comb our local charity shops and salvage stores for the other stuff...we're talking licensed cash-grabs, kids games that kids are too smart for, gimmicky games with strange (and only occasionally functional) gadgets, and all the other games that tend to gather dust in the back of closets with the rest of the third-string Nintendo 64 cartridges. Why would we do this? Because we can. And because it's a way to more deeply expl...

Area 4: The Larder A closed wooden door bars entry into area 4. If the Skaven from Area 3 have retreated here to set their ambush, the door is locked. With a successful Pick Lock check, player characters can open it without the key. Note that the door is unlocked if the Skaven from Area 3 do not retreat to this area. Once the PCs gain entry to the room, read the following out loud: This long, narrow room is lined with shelves loaded with foodstuffs and supplies. Heavy burlap sacks are piled atop one another in the corners of the chamber. A few have been torn open, leaving spills of oats and flour along the floor. Several barrels stand in a cluster near the far northern wall. GM Info As in previous rooms, there is no light source present here. The room is 60 feet long by 15 feet wide, with the shelves effectively hedging it down to a width of 10 feet. There are a number of Creatures hiding in the room as well as a single Trap that can be set off only from behind the six bar...

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...

Wild Dwarves rule the sprawling forests of the South Lands. They make their homes in the woods and any caves found therein. Unlike their northern relatives, they do not mine fortresses underground. Wild Dwarves are adept at swinging through trees and hiding in underbrush. They use pits, snares, deadfalls, and other traps to defend their homes.  Wild Dwarves wear carved bone earrings, bracelets, and necklaces for adornment, reserving mined metal only for use in weapons and tool-making or barter. Wild Dwarves eat fruits, berries, roots, leaves, and tree saps, plus all manner of insects, worms, birds, reptiles, and animals. They consider most snakes a delicacy, and make honey meads in earthenware jugs. M 3 WS 41 BS 25 S 3 T 4 W 7 I 28 A 1 Dex 41 Ld 66 Int 29 Cl 66 WP 66 Fel 24 Size: M (4' tall) Physique: Wild dwarves are short, stout, and dark-skinned.They cover their bodies with tattoos and grease, which keeps off the insects and also makes the...

My PC Maximillian Morningglory , Halfling Agitator Magnus  the Pony My companions Udrin Sor-Valdir  - High Elf Wizard Ludovic Hasselhoff  - Human Entertainer From Maximillian's journal: ( Previous update ) We were followed for two days by people in blue robes. It was like Ubersreik all over again, only this time it didn't end with an attack outside the church of Verena.  Instead, they were priest from the Celestial College who eventually insisted we follow them to their college. We were given rooms and fed breakfast in the morning. However, for a magical college, the place looked depressingly...average.  At breakfast we were met by a haughty wizard who introduced himself as Master Ableheart Mullburger. What he was master of I do not know, as he followed orders from another, older wizard. He also did not seem to be master of his own temper. He did not wish to answer a few reasonable questions, and instead directed us immediately to his master. ...