I've been on a boardgame kick lately.

I've played a good number games of of Descent: Journeys in the Dark. We've started a campaign using the Road to Legend expansion. We've even created some customized heroes using the Build Your Own Hero Rules up on the Fantasy Flight Games support page. I enjoy the game but damn Descent takes for-frakking-EVER to set up and even longer to play. Well, I'm getting better at setting up the game but the dungeoncrawls can be really painful. There is vritually zero Overlord/DM prep-time but heck do you pay for it in administrative stuff to do during the Campaign turns. Perhaps I haven't played enough of it to know all the rules well enough without having to stop every now and then to look up some rule or other.

I also played my first couple of Battlelore games today. Set up can take some time but the games are fun and fast. I can see myself playing a lot of Battlelore. I am also looking forward to the other games in the Command and Colors series, notably C&C: Ancients. Memoir '44 looks interesting but I'm looking to other games to take care of any World War II wargaming itches that I may have.

The Command and Colors series really needs a game with a sci-fi or sci-fantasy themeI would like to see something along the lines of Warhammer 40K which combines elements of Memoir '44 with the lore rules from Battlelore. I'm probably not the first person to come up with this idea. but hey, I'm on a roll here. The Cleric cards can be adapter for a Ecclesiarch, an Inquisitor a Commisar or heck even a Space Marine Chaplain. The Wizard could be converted to a Psyker. Warriors could be represent elite or veteran Guardsmen and the like or an Inquisitor with a more martial bent. And rogues could be your Assassins, scouts from elite recon outfits such as Gaunt's Ghosts. I'm tempted to write this up myself.

One more thought: Battlelore needs a robust campaign system. Yes, I know there is the Call to Arms expansion though a quick readthrough of the rules and the cards didn't leave me impressed at all. I could be wrong, I will give the expansion a good shake and play it. I think I can plunder some campaign rules from 40K, Warhammer and others to put something more to my liking... Great. Another project to put on my long list of Geeky things to do.

I sure like the gaming bling. The components that come with Descent, and its expansions are well-done and for the most part durable to withstand lots of play. The Battlelore components are great as well, if not a notch below that of Descent (and other Fantasy Flight bigbox games).  I also take some perverse pleasure in finding ways to organize the storage, setup and use of the components during play, sorting through pieces and tossing them them in ziploc bags, hunting for the perfect plastic tackle container or cheapo tupperware from the Dollarstore. I'm also a fan of the various reference sheets (which are kissing cousins to GM screens for RP games, I think) and take pleasure in printing them out, modifying existing ones or making up my own.

I also like miniatures. There I've said it. I've also been known to paint up a few.

I wonder what why I've gravitated to these types of games. Heck, perhaps it's saying something that I'm playing a crunchy dungeon crawling game in addition to running a 4th Edition D&D game. I guess I'm moving into more the "game" or boardgame spectrum and away from the "roleplay" side of things. *shrug* Maybe I just need some more structure in my games and let my imagination work it's way in other ways.

You don't have to buy or even own a boardgame to enjoy it. If you're fortunate enough to live near a good gaming store, they often have boardgame nights each month, some even weekly. The good game stores have copies that they offer up for play in the store, so you can try before you buy. There's also VASSAL which allows you play boardgames on your computer locally, real-time online or vie play-by-email. There a lot of Vassal modules made for wargames and boardgames. What? But I don't know the rules you say? Many companies provide free pdfs with the rules for their game. And BoardGameGeek.com has rules pdf for many an out-of-print game.

I haven't given up on roleplaying games. Far from it. My 4E campaign still has lots of room for player interaction, story and character development. I plan to run Day After Ragnarok for Savage Worlds (aka Conan 1948). I am also entertaining some ambition to run a Song of Ice and Fire campaign. Yeah, sure, Savage Worlds may appear to be another another simple or boardgamey system but I like it because it does it's job and gets out of the way, freeing up time, energy and mental space for story and character fun.

Ah heck, why even bother pigeonholing the type of fun I'm having. games They're *just* games and we're all gamers. I'm just following Rule Zero: Have Fun.

This weekend I became a Patron of the next Open Design project: Halls of the Mountain King. The book will be either OGL/3rd Edition or 4th Edition. Naturally, I supported the 4E option. I hope this comes out soon enough so I can use it for my MapTool D&D game.

If I told you about I was a fan of Harry the Wizard some of you might think of the other Harry. You know who I'm talking about. Yeah, that stripling who tromps off to Wizard school (Warthogs, was it?) and goes on zany adventures with his friends. Well, I hate to tell you, I'm not really fan of Harry Potter. I'm a fan of Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden.

Jim Butcher's Dresden Files books are excellent when they are “OK”. That's only because there are a handful of Dresden books that are truly awesome. (Or as the kids say “pure win” . Whatever that means.)

The latest book, Small Favor, left me breathless. Small Favor also featured some of my favourite Dresden-verse villains and Harry was backed up by an all-star cast of his close and not-so-close comrades.

There are very few series that keep my attention for very long and very few series where I would the next book sight unseen.

I'm quite in awe at how the author manages to escalate the conflict from book to book. The stakes keep getting higher and higher: both the personal stakes for Harry and the people he cares about and the supernatural threats to the city (and the rest of the world). The escalation rarely, if ever, feels forced. Kudos to Jim Butcher for managing such an incredible feat of writing. The books come to an end that is logical given the characters, their choices and the events presented in each book. If they don't, Jim Butcher has really pulled the Major Cloak Suspension of Disbelief +5 over my head.

Is it a bit repetitive? Perhaps so, I admit the admit there's a bit of a formula in there. And, as a fan, I willingly embrace the formula but I can't wait to see what new shiny bits the author throw my way. Besides, the books' serial and formulaic nature is not necessarily a bad thing in the right hands. Fans KNOW they will be in for a treat when a new Harry Dresden book rolls off the presses.

The actions and choices of the character's are not without consequence. While there is plenty of action within the covers of each book, there is some change in the characters as one follows them from one book to another.

If I told you it's taken me about two years to go through the 10 books in the series thus far, don't be misled. It's taken me that long only because I go through two or three novels in a short period of time, then I go off to read some other things for a few months only to come back to haul back another couple of novels back from the book store. Then the Harry Mania comes back. In full force. And it doesn't stop until I've turned the last page.

Once I pick up a Dresden Files novel, I'm hooked. I tear through it at great speed (at least for me) - staying up late to read through a good chunk of the book, rub my eyes and look at the clock reminding myself I have to get up early, down the book, turn off the lights, figet in bed for a good ten minutes only to turn the lights back on, pick up the book and read on. Just one more chapter, then I'm off to bed. I promise.

Haiku Monday appears twice a month at Uncle Bear. This week's topic: The Geek Movie That Changed Your Life. Here's my haiku for this week (slightly edited):

Pulp movie homage
I want to be a Jedi
Great special effects.

After fooling around a bit with MapTool, TokenTool  and RPTroll's Savage Worlds MapTool macros and add-ons, I think I may have some of the basics down. Thanks a lot, RPTroll!

Click the Image to Embiggen.

I'm planning to run a Savage Worlds One-Shot game online using MapTool.

I put together a one-pager for prospective players for a Savage Worlds monster-bashing one-shot. A PDF version can be found here

Thirteen Bullets (working title)
A Savage Worlds One-Shot of Supernatural Pulp Action
System: The game will be powered Savage Worlds and our imaginations. Let's keep things Fast, Furious and Fun. You can get by with the Savage Worlds Test Drive v6 (free 16 page rules). The pre-gens will have some additional characteristics/rules but those will be described on each sheet. I'll have some other books on hand for my prep and reference.
When: A Tuesday or Wednesday night (7pm-10pm Pacific Time).
Where: Online using MapTool.
Key Influences: The Dresden Files, Angel & Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Ars Magica, Grand Theft Auto (you heard me) for some grit and The Nocturnals and Hellboy for the pulp, weird fantasy flavour.
Who are the heroes? The characters will be part of a group that protects the mundanes from Wendigo Forensic Investigators, Demonic musicians and other supernatural horrosr. The heroes could be part of a motley monster-hunting group, a cabal of wizards and their confederates or even an off-shoot of a international conspiracy.

The players will begin the game as Seasoned (20 XP) characters.

I've got some ideas for pre-gen PCs or recurring NPCs. You don't have to use these pre-gens but this should give you an idea of the kinds of characters that would be suitable for the setting:
* Troll-blooded Babe, Fae Princess in Exile – a newbie to the mundane world, she has some clout within the Fae Realms.
* The Warlock - Don't call him/her that though. A 'Relationship Manager' that deals with entities from The Beyond.
* The Shanghai Spectre - Ghost Hunter. Crime-Fighter. Pizza delivery person. Inherited the legacy of a pulp hero of the same name.
* The Russian Mobster with a heart of gold. His crime family was wiped out during a hostile takeover by monsters and magic.
* The Estranged Apprentice of an Ancient Atlantean Sorceress/Banking Executive. With great power comes great responsibility, or does it?

Other appropriate archetypes include the Private Investigator/Professional Wizard, Mad Scientist, former Igor, Flesh Golem Bodyguard, ormer Cultist, Were-Rat Thug, Demon-Hunting Priest, Former Servant of the Fae, Avatar of the Warrior god(dess), Knight of the Church, Scooby Gang member.

Where is the game set? The game on-line will be set in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

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I downloaded and tinkered with MapTool and it looks like I've found a winner. I found MapTool rather intuitive and didn't take a lot of headscratching on my part to use it. It even has a Fog-of-War feature. Nifty that. Using TokenTool it was shockingly easy to grab an image and turn it into a token. You can even drag and drop tokens from TokenTool into MapTool.

I have also uploaded a PDF for The Shanghai Spectre which you can find here. The other pre-generated characters are still a WIP (Work In Progress) but I will be posting them over the next few days for your comment and more importantly for your entertainment. :)

"Steel & Spellcraft" is an irregular series of blog posts featuring a heroic fantasy setting on the planet Mars far into the distant future. Today, I present to you:

With all the face-to-face gaming that's going on lately, I've been tempted to run a game myself. It will be a Savage Worlds monster-bashing one-shot run over the Internetz. I've prepared a one-page 'Elevator Pitch' for prospective players. A PDF version of the can be found here - you can also find the one-pager behind the LJ cut below. Think Angel/Buffy/Dresden Files/Grand Theft Auto/Hell Boy mash-up and you'll get the picture

( Warning: Extreme Geekery Ahead )I downloaded and tinkered with MapTool and it looks like I've found a winner. I found MapTool rather intuitive and didn't take a lot of headscratching on my part to use it. It even has a Fog-of-War feature. Nifty that. Using TokenTool it was shockingly easy to grab an image and turn it into a token. You can even drag and drop tokens from TokenTool into MapTool.

I'm also still working on some pre-gens. I'll probably to put them up one at a time as I get them done for your comment and more importantly for your entertainment. :)

The past Geek Week saw me joining another face-to-face 4E D&D game, writing up some GM material for a online, one-shot Savage Worlds game of supernatural pulp action, hacking and slashing my way through minions and boss-monsters on Diablo II and devouring a couple issues of the Dresden Files comics.


I'll be talking about the other items of Geekery in more detail over the next few days.