1e Monster Cards

I picked up a set of these on eBay on a whim, and they are officially my favorite RPG aid of all time. A picture of the monster on one side, monster stats on the other.  Perfect!  The GM reads the info, and the players get a visualization of what they're fighting.  It would have come in handy in my last game session, when the party was convinced that they were fighting giant crabs instead of Umber Hulks, because they misunderstood my description of the monsters (or I just described them poorly.  It could be either, really).

What makes these shine, though, is that each picture was drawn by one of the greats of early D&D - Jeff Dee, David S. LaForce, Erol Otus, Jim Roslof, Harry Quinn, Darlene Pekuland Bill Willingham each contributed to the collection.  I was excited when I found that there was something similar for Labyrinth Lord, but disappointed with the actual product.  For one thing, they're single sided, which (in my mind) defeats the purpose of the whole thing to begin with.  If I just want stats and a picture, there are other ways to get them.  For another, they're downloads, which makes it even more difficult to turn it into a product that is usable. 

Seriously folks, this is a project that has Kickstarter written all over it - let's get some quality Monster Cards out there, how can there not be a market for this sort of thing?

A Cry For Help and A Request for Advice

Okay, so first, the Cry For Help.  About 10 years ago, I became aware of the existence of a certain thing.  As folks who have been to my house can attest, I am in possession of quite a few gaming related things, and by and large, if something shiny catches my eye, I pursue it with the unwavering focus of a starving bird of prey, until it's meaty bits rest safely within my clutched claws.  This particular thing, however, has eluded me for 10 years.  Literally.  I was okay with that, until Grognardia posted about white whales on Friday, which brought everything bubbling to the surface, and I have spent the weekend consumed with frustration at my inability to possess this thing. 

What is this thing, you might ask.  First, let me give you some background so that you might appreciate the dilligence with which I have pursued this thing.  About eight years ago, I set up a saved search on eBay.  For six years, it sat, silent and uncaring, sending me no notifications.  Two years ago, I was searching the googles when I came across a recently completed sale on eBay.  Why had my trusted hound not sniffed this out?  I had entered my search in quotation marks, and the sale had been listed slightly differently, and the blinders I had placed upon my hound had prevented it from seeing anything but exactly what I had set it to find.  Biting my knuckle in frustration, I set up a second saved search, this time using a different search string.  Just recently, as I'm sure many of you will recall, a number of Gary Gygax's personal items were put up for auction on eBay, and hark!  I received notification that my white whale was one of those items.  Consumed with excitement, I bid.  I literally came within seconds of owning it, but was sniped by someone at 10 seconds, and my phone picked that particular moment to reset it's data connection.  Damn you Verizon!  Damn you to hell!  At this point I began to get desperate.  Searching for completed sales, I found and contacted people who had purchased this thing on eBay in the past, and sent them messages through eBay, asking them if they were still in possession of the thing, and if so, were they interested in selling it.  Each responded, only to tell me in various forms that no, they were not interested in selling the thing.  One recend response, in particular, broke my heart, "I still have it. I love it. It embodies my dreams and delusions of youth. Sorry, but I won't part with it."

Gah!  The pain!

I've recently put up Wanted ad on rpg.net, and have joined the Acaeum, where I will be posting a similar plea.  But in the interest of casting as wide a net as possible, I am posting my entreaty here as well.

So, what is this thing of which I speak?  What item could possibly drive a man to a ten year long quest to possess it?

Only the finest bit of pop-art mastery ever laid to paper.  Only the most incredible, most evocative work of art ever to grace the cover of an RPG.  Only one of the few opportunities that exist to hang a piece of art done by one of the old-school masters on a wall.  Once, you could simply... mail TSR your address and two dollars, and they would send it to you.  Now, you must hunt.  Now, I must hunt.

What is this thing?

A poster, with the art of the legendary Dave Trampier, from the cover of TSR 3002, the Box Set of Gamma World, 1st edition.  Words cannot describe how I covet this item.  And my hope is that someone will read this post, and take pity upon this wretched, crooked soul, and aid me in bringing down my White Whale, that I may mount it upon my wall, a trophy of a hunt which has seemingly lasted a lifetime.

So I beg of you, if you possess this treasure, or if you know someone who does, and you or that person is interested in parting with it, contact me.  I am a VERY motivated buyer, and will make sure that you are paid more than fairly for the pain I am sure you would feel losing it.

Seriously, let me know.

....

Moving on.

The other, significantly less weighty request for this post is one that hopefully will garner some quick results.  I recently contributed to the Kickstarter campaign for Champions of Zed.  For those of you who are not familiar, click on that link.  It looks as though it will be very cool.  I was a big fan of Dragons at Dawn, which was done by the same guy, and the idea of using Arneson's notes to create an alternate timeline D&D is fascinating to me.  Hence my donation.  So the level of my contribution has gotten me the priviledge of selecting the subject of a quarter page piece of art.  I want to make it a good one, so I'm soliciting opinions from my readers.  The artist who will be creating my quarter page masterpiece is named Andres Canals, his picasa page is here - https://picasaweb.google.com/112556034220580566111/FantasyArt?noredirect=1.  That should give you an idea of his style. 

So, faithful readers, what should I have him draw?

Session Report: Spelljammer!

The party completed it's transition from a landfaring, by the book 2e campaign to a full on Spelljammer campaign yesterday, in an epic, 6.5 hour session.  As such, this will be a somewhat long post, so if you're the tl;dr type, move along, move along, nothing to see.  In the event that you do continue, you will find this post conveniently broken up into separate parts, each with it's own Fun Fact!

Part I: Wild, Dark Times Are Rumbling Toward Us

Fun Fact: Heinrich Heine once wrote a poem, Ideen: Das Buch Le Grand which criticized German censors in the following section:

The German Censors  ——  ——  ——  —— 
——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  —— 
——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  

——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  —— 
——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  —— 
——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  —— 
——  ——  ——  ——  ——    idiots    ——  ——
——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——
——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——
——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——  ——
——  ——  ——  ——  ——



I gave the party an hour and a half (real time) before the all life on their planet was extinguished, and ceased to be habitable.  They were flying around on a Galleon, which could comfortably seat 20, but could pack in 40 people in a pinch.  There were already thirteen bodies on the boat - Hemi, Demi, Semi, Quay and Ver - the five Dwarven acolytes that followed Banebeard around, Banebeard's shady relative Scar the thief, Luke Daggerbeard the (alleged) dwarf, Vincent the Militant Wizard, Glacia and her manservant Sir Blaine, Veravum the Githyanki Paladin, and Ber, Glacia's full blooded Yet brother, who had been shaved, trained in eitquette, and now follows the party around in a suit, a bowler hat and a monocle, puffing on a pipe and offering wry criticisms of the poor manners of those around him.  With only 27 spots remaining on the last ship of Earth, the party immediately set off to rescue the clan of Yeti that Glacia had been raised by.  She found 10 of them huddling in the back of a cave, convinced that the earth and fire gods had been angered, and refused to come out of their hole.  Fortunately, due to her runin with the Deck of Many Things, Glacia is exceptionally Charismatic, and was able to convince them to come out of hiding.  They joined the party, and they next set off back to the Human capital to rescuse some of Vincent's fellow mages, now known around the table as the MilWiz Black Ops squad.

Unfortunately, a giant crevasse had opened up between the Yeti lands and had formed a band of frothy, bubbling lava stretching as far as the eye could see.  Navigating it was a bit tricky, and the ship sustained some damage, the bottom catching fire after a particularly active spout of lava licked the underside.  Fortunately Sundallasar was built on the shores of Lake Dallasar, and a quick dunk in the water put out the flames.  Unfortunately, finding the Tower of the Militant Wizards was easier said than done.  The party was not used to looking for things from overhead, and even if they had been, Sundallasar had gone through some pretty extensive geological renovations since they had last been there - buildings were smashed, towers were toppled, etc.  Finally they were able to locate the tower, and found four surviving MilWiz Black Ops, and then there were only 13 seats remaining. 

The team decided to scour the warehouse district to pick up supplies for their space travel.  In their travels to and fro about the city, however, they had attracted quite a bit of attention, and without buildings obscuring their view of the skyline, a large group of people were able to track the boat down.  The party decided to fill out their ranks with randomly abducted people from the crowd below, and Glacia sent her Yeti minions down into the crowd, and four more seats were taken. 

Suddenly, from the roof of a nearby warehouse, a group of armed men shouted at them, claiming that they were commandeering the ship in the name of King Aaloysius.  Banebeard, never one to truck with non-PC controlled NPCs, stone shaped a hole in the roof, sending several of them screaming to the floor beneath.  The remaining let loose with arrows, and the battle was joined.  Engaged in battle as they were, they almost didn't see the grappling hooks attach themselves to the other side of the ship.  Realizing that they probably wouldn't get the supplies they were looking for, they decided that, rather than go down into the crowd again and risk a riot, they would just pull up the six grappling hooks and whoever was on the other end of them would be saved.

And so it was that the party saved King Aaloysius, Queen Amdala and the seven year old Boy Prince Alaric.  Saved them completely unintentionally, but saved them nonetheless.  They, along with three loyal Knights, hopped on board, and the party sped off in search of another place to find food.  Navigating the lava river was even trickier on the way back, and the ship sustained more damage, but they managed to make it back to Meskith, which the original party (much of which had died or ran off since) had visited, way back when.  Luke Daggerbeard, the sole remaining OPM (Original Party Member), remembered that the Meskithites kept a survival shelter by their Town Hall, but upon breaking in, the huddled masses within panicked.  Time was running short, and given the choice of slaughtering the innocents to get tothe food stores or departing, the party left the earth, and watched as it crumpled like a wad of paper, until gravity released it's hold, and the chunks of earth floated slowly away.

Part II: Star Trekkin'

Fun Fact: John O'Connor, who wrote Star Trekkin' while a member of the band The Firm, went on to compose the music for King Of the Hill!

Amidst the debris, though, they spotted another ship headed out.  Following it, they found it was headed towards a blue light, much like the lights the Illithids had used to herald the destruction of their homeworld.  When they tracked it down, they found a midling sized town on an asteroid, with a blue glow  on it's horizon.  They recognized some wooden planks jutting out from the side of the asteroid as some sort of dock area, so the attempted to land.  Not having followed proper docking procedures, they were confronted by a squad of Giff, hired by the Elven Protectorate to ensure law and order was followed on the Rock, as it's known.

After the initial misunderstandings were clarified, the leader of the Giff, Giff-One, invited them to dinner.  The party set about buying repairs and upgrades for the ship, including a prototype weapon designed by the Tinker Gnome dockworkers, who installed it for free (heh heh heh).  Luke Daggerbeard bought himself an arquebus, while Vincent procured a Starwheel (flintlock pistol).  Scar snuck off, finding that the Illithids had also docked, not long before us, and headed across town to stay at an inn which catered their type. 

Dinnertime arrived, and they met with Giff-One for a delightful meal.  He introduced the party to some of the basics of Spelljamming, there were debates on the proper placement of salad forks which turned into Etiquette Battles (which the Yeti ended up winning), and Giff-One inquired about the party's travels.  They revealed that they were only able to escape due to their possession of what they referred to as, "The Beer Stone", which they had recovered from the recently cleared Dungeon.  Turns out it can turn any ship into a spacefaring vessel, and as such is a prized artifact, known all throughout Wildspace and beyond.  The party was advised to be more discreet in the future regarding their possession of the artifact.  The party was asked to investigate the blue light, which Giff-One had sent a squad to look into.  Unfortunately, they did not return.  The party was glad to investigate, especially when Giff-One said that the squad would be indebted to the party, were they able to rescue them.  He did insist, though, that the party bring back the Illithids alive so they could answer the charges of Planetary Genocide that the party was raising.  Reluctantly, the party agreed.

Part III: The Last Argument of Kings

Fun Fact - the phrase, Ultima Ratio Regum (The Last Argument of Kings) was enscribed on every single cannon used by King Louis XIV's armies! 

All was going swimmingly, until King Aaloysius stormed into the dining hall, demanding to know why he was not part of any negotiations, as the highest ranking person there.  The Giffs apologized profusely, thinking they had broken some primitive land-based protocol, and promised to consult only with him in the future.  Slightly mollified, the King retired to the ship, where a confrontation brewed.  The King wanted control over the direction the Ship took, Banebeard refused.  Glacia, overhearing this, took the King's demands to mean that he wanted control over her tribe, and challenged him to combat.  His Knights objected, and lines were drawn.  Vincent, Kaye's character, was drawn into combat on the King's side, along with the 3 Knights and the 4 MilWiz Black Ops, vs. the rest of the PCs, and the squad of enraged Yeti.

I would say that a vast and terrible battle ensued, but... not really.  Glacia attacked the King, all his allies attacked Glacia, and the Scar backstabbed the King for 75 points of damage, ending the reign of King Aaloysius.  Everyone seemed rather relieved, with even his Knights muttering something to the effect of, "Thank God, that guy was kind of an asshole", and then much louder, "LONG LIVE KING ALARIC!" 

The Queen asked that they find a proper kingdom for her and her son, and seemed much less of a jerk than her husband, so she was allowed to continue living on the ship.

Part IV: Before We Were Interrupted

Fun Fact - "Chitin" is pronounced like "Kite-In", not "Chit-In"!

With all that unpleasantness settled, Giff-One approached the party, horribly embarrassed, explaining that they had been protecting what they thought was the rightful ruler from an insurrection, an action fully in line with their role as the Law and Order on the Rock.  Now that King Aaloysius was deposed, and a new King was in place and everyone seemed okay with that, the Giff were hoping that the party would still go look for their missing squad. 

The party agreed, and they set off across the silent, craggy plains of the asteroid.  They almost missed a trap door with a tunnel headed back to town, but decided to leave it unexplored, and headed farther out towards the glow, where they came upon a strange installation, made of metal and with a radar dish attached to it, surrounded by a fence.  Kaye, once more proving that he doesn't truly understand how mages work, decided to touch the fence, which promptly shocked him and knocked him off his feet.  Almost immediately, three Umber Hulks attacked them.  Umber Hulks are friggin tough.  Between their claw claw bite (3d4/3d4/1d10) attacks, and their two pairs of eyes which replicate the effects of a Confusion spell, it was a tough bit of combat for the party, and it was touch and go for a bit, especially when two party members succumbed to the Confusion spell.  They triumphed in the end, though, and HOLY CRAP Umber Hulks are like Money Vending Machines on Legs.  Massive amounts of gold  and several magical items spilled from their split cavities, and that, combined with the damage taken, convinced the party to head back to town. 

After resting up, the party headed back out again, but this time decided to check out that trap door, not eager to face more Umber Hulks.  Following the tunnel below back into town, they found that it ended in another trap door, leading up.  Kaye decided to use a mystery scroll in the event that it would help, but instead found himself polymorphed into a mouse.  Taking it in stride, he offered to use his newfound size to scout the area above.  He found himself in an empty bedroom.  Scurrying around, he found that there were other bedrooms, with sleeping figures in each, but he was unable to determine anything else due to his size.  Coming across a set of stairs headed down, he leapt down into the front room of an inn, where a Bugbear worked behind the bar, and a goblin lounged in front of the fire.  Figuring he'd seen enough, Kaye tried to go back up the stairs, but found he was too small.  The goblin got up from the fire, and started heading upstairs, so Kaye tried to hitch a ride, leaping onto his shoe.  Unfortunately, the polymorph wore off at an inopportune moment, and the goblin found himself being tackled by a naken human male.  Kaye got up and started running, the Goblin and the Bugbear hot on his heels.

There was a tense standoff as Kaye made it back to the party, still huddled below the trap door in the bedroom.  The Goblin cried for Justice, and the party told it to shut up.  The Bugbear was more angry at the Illithids that were staying in the room for creating a tunnel and causing damages, and pretty much forgot about Kaye.  The party investigated the room, and found a scrap of paper in the Illithid language, which they took with them as they left, promising to crack the Illithids' skulls for the Bugbear Barkeep.


Aaand that's about where we left things.  Tune in next time for more adventures of the Post Apocalyptic Refugees!

5e Playtest: The A-Team Strikes! addendum

For those of you who don't read it, Ark at Rather Gamey has posted his thoughts on the game session previously detailed here.  I'm not sure what the Venn Diagram of our two readerships looks like, but in case you're not part of the overlap, follow the link and be rewarded.

Picture of the Aliens Game Setup

In my earlier post I mentioned an Aliens game whose setup seriously impressed me.  The writer of Troll and Flame was also there, and managed to grab a snapshot of it, seen below.  Read his comments on the con here

Prometheus - A Review

I guess technically this sort of falls under the purview of this blog, as there are definitely some post-apocalyptic elements to the film, but mostly I wanted to vent, and my better half was tired of hearing about it.  You might get the idea from this review that I didn't enjoy Prometheus, and that's not true.  I enjoyed it while I watched it - it was technically proficient, in that it did a good job of building tension, had amazing set pieces, and was absolutely gorgeous at times, face-twistingly disgusting at others.

My big problem with it is that it's probably got the most unsatisfying plot that I've encountered in quite some time.  Imagine watching the first Star Wars movie, and they didn't explain what the Force was, and that's about where I was at the end of Prometheus. 

Warning - spoilers ahead.  If you're concerned by such things, turn back now!

You were warned!

By the end of the film, all we know is that some aliens created life on earth for some reason, then decided to kill it for another reason, using a world packed full of biological weapons but died somehow before they could.  At some point, they also taught a bunch of human civilizations how to locate the world full of biological weapons, for some reason.  One alien has been asleep while the rest of his people died, for some reason, and still lives somehow, and wants to go to earth to kill humans when he wakes up, again for some reason.  Oh and their heads explode every once in awhile.  The alien heads, that is.

Are you starting to see the problem?  The first Alien movie got away with not giving too many answers because it didn't pose any questions.  Strange signal pulls the crew off their mission where they encounter a room full of sleeping aliens, one of them gets infected and they have to fight it.  What were the aliens doing there in the first place is never really the point of the film, as the planet gets left behind - the focus is on what happens as they fight it on the ship.  The planet and the weirdness they find on it are merely the delivery system for the plot, a cinematic facehugger, if you will, so the tension, conflict and resolution are completely separate from it, leading you to shrug your shoulders at the weirdness at the beginning and say, "It's SPACE, man, weird shit happens there sometimes, I guess."

In Prometheus, the planet and the weirdness ARE the plot, and the tension, conflict and resolution are supposed to center around the questions posed, and the answers to them as they're discovered, except they never are. 

The fact that this was not a true prequel is a baffling decision.  Only two things prevent this from being a sequel: in Alien, they go to LV 233, whereas in Prometheus they go to LV 426, and the Engineer at the end doesn't crawl back into the chair before the thing bursts out of his chest. Change those two things, and it's an Alien prequel.  Why have Weyland corporation, and the same Jockeys/Engineers in the movie, and not have it be a prequel?  Why have the ship crash back to the planet's surface, ending up in almost the exact same position that the one they found at LV233 was?  Were they afraid that people wouldn't go see an Alien prequel, but also afraid that people wouldn't go to a random Sci-Fi movie directed by Ridley Scott?  It was a very confusing decision.

On top of that were some very questionable decisions made by characters.  At times, characters would just do odd shit, and nobody would question them about it, and no explanation was offered.  Like the geographer who's entire raison d'etre is mapping things, but then gets lost.  Or the biologist who's years of expertise taught him that, when confronted in an alien environment by a snake with a vagina for a face that hisses, the proper thing to do is to coo softly at it, and try and pet it.  Why did the robot put the little egg inside that guys drink?  Was that a science experiment or sadism?  Why, after then going through all the trouble of doping up the woman when he found out she was pregnant with alien seed to try and smuggle her off to earth, was his only reaction to seeing her stagger into the room covered with blood with an abdominal wound and very obviously no longer pregnant to cover her with a lab coat?  Why did nobody ask her why she wasn't pregnant anymore, what happened to the alien fetus, could it possibly be hanging about in a closed room growing to gigantic size?  And why, after being knocked unconscious by a robot with ill intent, did she then agree to go on a mission with him?  I can understand the ending, it's just him and her, etc, but she didn't have to head down there with the robot, and I can't for the life of me understand why she would?  And my personal favorite, after being advised that she had several minutes to get to her super duper escape pod that they made a specific point of stating would allow her to live comfortably for several years, did Charlize Theron instead pull on a jump suit and hop into a flying coffin?

Gah.

Like i said, I enjoyed as I was watching it.  I was trusting that the questions that were being posed would be answered, and the further I got into things, the closer I got to the ending, the more frustrated I became.  I may try and watch it again, at some point, to see if maybe some of these things were answered and I was just not paying attention, but I'm going to need some time for the frustration to subside.

If nothing else, it makes me want to watch the original trilogy again.  So there's that.

Pros and Cons

 I had been planning on attending the NTRPG Con for several months, but life ended up getting in the way, and I had to cancel my plans.  At the last minute, though, it turned out that I had Sunday afternoon free, so I was able to sneak in, just as things were wrapping up, and I'm glad I did.  I walked in and caught up with Ark and the Boy, who were playing a game of... something... with Jeff Dee GMing.  Jeff put the game on hold to show me some of the artwork he was selling, including what he described as the "New Originals" of the artwork from one of my favorite modules, Expedition to the Barrier Peaks.  I gleefully picked up two of them, for the wall space that I will someday devote to RPG Art, and Jeff even threw in a postcard size reproduction of Zeus from Deities & Demigods for free!  Also playing at the table was Zeb Cook, and Ark was kind enough to introduce me to him.  Unfortunately, I was taken off guard, and only managed to stammer something about how much I loved 2e.  Mr. Cook was generous, acknowledging the spirit of my statement if not the actual content.

A quick spin through the Dealers Room rewarded me with a Spelljammer which will no doubt bedevil my group in upcoming sessions as they transition from landlubbers to Salty Dogs of the Spaceways.  A couple of All Flesh Must Be Eaten supplements, some Fading Suns sourcebooks, Runequest's Foes, the Compleat Arduin, a wet/dry/permanent double sided flip-mat, an X-Crawl module, and a Mutazoids sourcebook.

The real prizes, though, were the Deluxe DCC RPG book, the NTGRPG Con exclusive reprint of Palace of the Vampire Queen, the 1e module Dungeonland, a 1st printing of Tomb of Horrors, and a copy of the 1e module Baltron's Beacon, signed by Frank Mentzer himself!

Wandering around, I was seriously impressed by the Aliens game going on, with an incredibly detailed game board, and the actual Aliens soundtrack playing on a small boombox.  Although I didn't get a chance to see it played, I'm interested in Circus Maximus, and I'm still seething that Ark's son got to play with Frank Mentzer, Jim Ward and other assorted luminaries of our industry.

All in all, I had a very successful, if short, swing through the Con.  I'm making it a point, hell or high water, to make it to this thing next year.  Taking time off, renting a room, maybe renting a table to sell off some excess stuff.  The whole nine yards.

5e Playtest: The A-Team Strikes!

As promised, a recounting of the A-Team's descent into the Caves of Chaos.    The team heard of treasure to be found in the Caves outside of town, and so they all charged, en masse to the outskirts to see what could be had.  While given the option to search the area outside of the Caves, the group instead decided to charge right in, the prospect of free money overwhelming their good sense.  Inside we stumbled upon goblins, who had goblin friends lurking about, who had an ogre friend lounging on various skins.

First off let me say holy crap ogres are no joke in 5e.  We sat there banging away at the ogre for the better part of 20 minutes before he went down.

My impression was that the system seems pretty organic at this stage.  I'm sure that's because we're only getting a half finished product, but honestly, I think they have enough rules for a serviceable game with what they've released.  Toss in character creations and a few other odds and ends, and BAM you've got a game.  I especially liked the little bit on the character sheet that said, "For a more old-school feel...".  You've got something on your nose, WOTC, but I like it.  I played a thief, and spent the entire game in hiding, mostly running around looting the joint while the party slaughtered goblins.  By the end of the session, I was literally carrying around thousands of coins, cleverly hidden in... ahem... different places.  I like the way you can skate around combat, if you so desire, and I'm looking forward to the opportunity to utilize my Commerce skill or something similarly non-combat oriented next time out.

Kaye, er, B.A. Barracus was a bit discouraged playing the Elven Wizard.  He doesn't like Elves anyways, or rather he Pities the Fools, and Mages are a bit suspect, after his recent experiences with Torvalds.  Unsurprisingly, the Elven Mage didn't last long, falling before the onslaught of the goblin/ogre teamup.  He survived the melee, but decided this whole adventuring thing wasn't for him after all, and headed back to town.  Fortunately, a Dwarven Cleric wandered by at that exact moment, and all was well and balanced once more.  The Knightly Cleric was a good fit for him, and he seemed satisfied.

The Boy, aka Howlin' Mad Murdock, seemed in his element.  He played the Cleric of Pelor, or as he was known about the table, the "Laser Priest", due to an at will power wich allowed him to shoot a beam of light at various miscreants and ne'er-do-wells.  Laser beams have a way of brightening any boy's spirits, so I'm not sure how much of his glee was due to the system, and how much was due to burning perfectly shaped holes in the skulls of goblins.  In the end, though, I guess it doesn't matter - he enjoyed himself.

The real surprise of the evening was the Woman.  My fiancee has never played an RPG in her life, and while she was willing to participate in the name of Science! she was not terribly enthusiastic going into it.  It didn't take long, however, before Persephone the Dwarven Warrior Lass was going buck wild with her Battle Axe, kicking the everloving snot out of Goblin and Ogre alike.  The ogre almost took her down, but not quite, and the "Even if you miss you hit" rule that applies to this character kept her engaged.  After the game, she confessed, almost guiltily, that she enjoyed herself.  In fact, I'd say the highlight of the night was when she slew a goblin, "Like Brienne of Tarth did in to that Stark soldier in the finale of Game of Thrones."  Except she did it with a battleaxe.  Think about that for a minute.  Or better yet, don't.

I'll leave George Peppard's thoughts to him, he seemed to be having a good time as well, but who knows what lurks behind the beady little eyes of a GM?

I have to say, though, all in all, it seemed to be a success.  Nobody "broke" the game, and everyone picked it up pretty quickly - there was enough familiar stuff there that I think anyone could pick this game up and play without having to devote too much time to learning the rules.  Does it pass the "Old School" litmus test?  I have no idea.  It was fun for everyone involved, though, and in the end, isn't that what really matters?

Catching Up, and an Announcement!

So my posting has fallen off as of late, you see I work.  Alot.  And sometimes, my work takes over my life.  And recently I've been involved in the launch of a new department and you know what?  This is a blog about games, so I'm not going to talk about work.  Suffice it to say that I've been busy.  Really frakkin' busy.  But I'm on the other side of that now, or at least about to see the top of the it, so things should be getting back on track soon.  Maybe even get back to daily posts, instead of weekly-ish.

There will (shock!) probably be a second post today, as I still have to report on our 5e A-Team session from Wednesday, it was a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to sharing it with my faithful readership.

But anyways, the big announcement.  Seeing as how I have been having trouble keeping up with one blog, it only makes sense that I would decide to start a second one, right?  Right!  Even better, it has absolutely, positively, NOTHING to do with RPGs, which I'm sure will thrill you all!  What could be better than that, you say?  Let me tell you!  It's going to be where I go to write about the things that piss me off about humanity as a species, Sort of like a misanthropic Andy Rooney!  It's vaguely connected to this, in that the main theme of the blog will be how we, as a species, are racing towards our own demise, and more importantly, that we secretly kind of want it, and think that we probably deserve it.  Yeah, I can see this blog taking off.  Anyways, if that's what floats your boat, you weirdo, get thee to Into the Ashes, the companion blog to this one.