Chaosium’s renaissance continues with the pending release of a new edition of RuneQuest. I subscribed to Chaosium’s preview list and have been following the project as it has made its way to market. A PDF of the full rules is … Continue reading New RuneQuest Inbound
Mostly what beginning players need to know in D&D is, “What do I roll and how do I do it?” The D&D character sheet is pretty much a failure in providing this information, with attacks and weapon damage buried in … Continue reading D&D Combat Sheet
Turns out I didn’t go further with RuneQuest than thumbing the rules, but I did get a game of Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition up and running. I wound up with 5e because: The new edition attracted by interest as a gamer and designer D&D is ubiquitous, well-supported, easy to find in stores to browse and buy The game seemed to have the right balance of crunch and ease-of-play, particularly for new players I haven’t paid attention to D&D since my deep dive into 4th edition, when I tried to play it as a sort of wargame — an “Advanced … Continue reading Dungeons & Dragons 5e
Listening to the excellent Grognards Files Podcast reignited my nostalgia for RuneQuest, and inspired me to pull my RQ2 reprint edition down from the shelf. I bought copies of this reprint a couple years ago, both for myself and as a gift for the Ulm. We intended to play — even had a game night scheduled in July of 2016 — but time got away from us and I moved to Canada and etc. and etc. But now I am back and thumbing through the rules again. A nostalgic read, and it inspired me to sketch out at least the … Continue reading RuneQuest
Once more into the breach! Continue reading Dungeon World: The Pitch
Out of nowhere — Tunnels & Trolls1 Continue reading Back Through The Future
Our Pathfinder game is on life support. The next couple weeks will likely tell the tale. It’s the usual story — scheduling conflicts leading to suspended play leading to lost momentum leading to … the usual place. We did actually play a time or two since my previous entry, and I may type up those adventures if this campaign resumes … but it is starting to look as if this particular games has gone the way of all things. We did meet last night to play the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game … … which was OK, but no real substitute … Continue reading 52 Pick-Up
Leaving no XP unearned, we decided to return to last week’s evil temple … just to be sure. This return visit was easier than the first, as we mopped up a few more Sinspawn, splattered some Varghulf, and encountered undead (and a hideously mutated goblin). We scored some treasure — including a +1 Longsword for Roog, which was worth the price of admission — and received further indications that our friends back in Sandpoint are hard against it, caught in the middle of an ages-old Runelord squabble that looks primed to hot up again. Sinspawn! Meanwhile, back at the ranch, … Continue reading Clean-Up Crew
“Fear” is proving to be a pervasive effect in the early stages of our Pathfinder game. Fear first routed nearly all our party while engaging a mummy, and then in this most recent game put flight to all of us at a critical moment of a big dungeon battle. But more of that in a moment … We didn’t get as much done in our last game when compared to previous sessions, probably because we spent too much time farting around with a shopping expedition. With a bit of coin in our pockets it was wise to upgrade our gear, … Continue reading Temple of Fear!
With my Fighter Leveled Up, it was time to turn my attention to my androgynous Wizard, Amrudrel! Here’s how he/she … Leveled Up! Amrudrel nearly died in our last game, going to negative three Hit Points before stabilizing, so more HP are welcome for my Wizard. Anrudreal earns 4 HP from his/her Hit Die, no bonus for CON, +1 for “favored class,” and +1 for his/her Toughness Feat. This take Amrudrel’s HP from 10 to 16, a substantial improvement. Amrudrel’s Base Attack Bonus and Will Save both get a bump, but there are no Wizard Class Features at Level 2. … Continue reading Level Up: Amrudrel!
Goblin Soup 