Final Shadowrun Missions Five Take Aways of 2018

Every last Tuesday of the month at my FLGCS there's a Shadowrun Missions organized play event. Looking back, 2018 has been a horrible month for it. In a perfect world, Season 9 (Neo-Tokyo) modules would be starting next year. Instead, two or three mods remain of Season 8 (Chicago). Unfortunately, too many events were cancelled. We already know December won't work out. The last session of the year would have fallen on a holiday, chummer. So tonight was now or never.


We didn't have the full compliment; but we decided to game on once there were four players in attendance, myself included. Alas, the pre-game discussion led to the conclusion that tonight was the final Shadowrun Missions session at my FLGCS for the year. Ergo, this is my final Shadowrun Mission Five Take Aways of 2018 too.


As always, our infrequent Shadowrun gaming meant we were rusty throughout the evening. Hopefully, we can remedy the rules rustiness during 2019.


Reagents + Edge re-rolls Is Powerful Combo when casting some spells
Yeah, I've covered using drams of reagents to augment spells here before. However, I never used to Edge to re-roll failures. Furthermore, I hadn't used them to augment to limit of spells where Force didn't matter mechanically except for drain if the limit had been increased. Tonight, I verified reagent-amplified direct combat spells backed by Edge failure re-rolls fulfills what I have felt combat magic has been missing in fifth edition. Combat magic simply doesn't possess the knockout punch it had in prior editions. This combo solves that.


GM forewarnings and clues improved game quality substantiallyThere are times we can be quite destructive as a group. Due to GM hints we avoided several nasty ramifications throughout the module. Considering Shadowrun Missions hasn't been established despite running several years at my FLGCS, I feel this was a wise course of action. Plus, this was easily the best Shadowrun Missions session of the year; and without these I don't think everyone would have enjoyed it as much.


Loot!
Over in Adventurers League, there's much gnashing of teeth over loot. Shadowrun Missions doesn't really have a hard fast rule over plunder. Was your group lucky enough to acquire some? Do you keep it all? Do you sell it? SRM turns a blind eye; and the campaign is better for it. On the side, we've gotten better regarding to time management fencing it.


Prepped visuals and narrative enhanced and improved game flow
One benefit of the delays is the GM had plenty of time to prepare visuals and decide how narrate some portions of several mass combats. Either that or experience is paying off as Season 8 has required many combat encounters to be narrated in order to speed the game along. I'm a theater-of-the-mind guy but I have to admit miniature use made the session.


Use of the full complexity of first aid/heal spell rules were used
First aid rules have been glossed over quite a bit too the point we often forget tables exist. We also haven't had too many encounters where magical healing was significantly needed afterward. Not so tonight. Really did impact the game.


That's all. My remaining Five Take Aways will be D&D 5E related.


Happy gaming!

Visual aids, Old-School Thief Role-Play, and Other Take-Aways from 11/20/18 D&D AL Session

Gosh, after weeks and sometimes months between Five Take-Away posts, it's incredibly surreal to be blogging another a week after the previous installment. Gaming regularly beats knowing you can game regularly. While late November into December is the time of year where weather and the holidays can put a crimp into gaming, it's nice to game on consecutive evenings. Just finished a Tuesday night Adventurers League (D&D 5E) at my favorite comics and games store. As much as I stated I felt I could keep blogging my five take-aways on regularly basis last week, didn't feel as confident earlier today. As fate would hold it I managed to come up with some.


What the dice gods giveth, the dice gods taketh away
Last week, I remarked how my new halberd-wielding fighter was an engine of death. Hitting and rolling maximum damage consistently. Ability checks, only high DCs were the problem. Tonight, the dice were against me. The die roll would frequently result less than ten. Multiple tries were needed before a single success. Fortunately for my PC, the module wasn't too die roll dependent so he wasn't hurt too much. Except maybe his pride. Maybe serving on Waterdeep's City Watch isn't so bad?


Sometimes dialogue and incremental character development is the best role-play
When you're participating in an Adventurers League session, you're under a time crunch. There isn't always time to engage in deep immersive role-play. Hate to admit but my role-play suffers as a result. However, after a new player (and another new-ish) player, distinguish their PCs by dialogue (both how they said things and what they said) I realize I was mistaken. There's always time for dialogue. After all, characterization occurs more frequently through dialogue.


Another role-play consequence of Adventurers League episodic nature is there really isn't much room for character development. Not only is there not enough time but like the good ship Enterprise the PCs find themselves on a new adventure each module. Character development is hard under those circumstances. However, not if it occurs incrementally. PCs don't have a patron diety? Well, in a module where dieties are discussed, you can elect to have your PC declare his/her patron. Tonight, a couple PCs not declared their patrons but made known what they thought of a specific non-patron diety.


New players enhance game play in ways experienced gamers don't
I sat at a table with a player brand new to the game. Several other players probably haven't played table-top RPGs for more than ten sessions. There's a degree of openness to experience and less reliance upon the rules that simply isn't present with experienced players. Rather nice to witness someone going 'I do this' versus 'because of this rule chain my PC is...'. Always great to see new players learn the game, while challenging preconceived notions...


Speaking of which....


The 1st level Rogue was played like an old-school Thief!
The newbie played a rogue. Anyone who's familiar with old-school Thief rules (pre-third edition) could tell you actually succeeding at one's Thief's skills was tricky in itself. You were lucky if your 1st level PC had greater than 50% chance to succeed. Odds are your thief had less than 50% to pass the check! I played a thief PC in AD&D 1E whose top thief skills were around 30% if I recall correctly. With such a low chance of success, you only used your thief skills when you either absolutely had to or felt confident you'd succeed given the circumstances. Otherwise, the thief player role-played themselves out of situations using cunning, wit, and charm. Tonight, the new player of the rogue pretty much did that exactly. Granted, it could've been the module itself. However, quite a bit of humor and ingenuity were deployed tonight. Furthermore, much of the action was propelled by the rogue much like the thief of old would do.


Visual Aids Enhance and Immerse Players During Puzzles.
The module was a puzzle module... They were the kind of puzzles where verbal descriptions would complicate the puzzle more than it really should be. Furthermore, my table included quite a number of players, who like myself, hate puzzles. There's a puzzle? Oh I suck at puzzles! Normally, once a puzzle starts stumping us, I lose interest. Unless the DM forces my involvement, my mind wanders and it's up to everyone else to solve it. Fortunately, the DM had a solution to both. He created a visual representation of the puzzle AND allowed us to take notes. A picture is worth a thousand words. Much of the time, I can't visualize a puzzle and lose interest. The DM's visual representation gave me something to focus on. Plus, since we could take notes, we could decipher where we were wrong. Quite frankly, if you module contains puzzles and time is limited, please incorporate visuals. Enhances the play experience immensely.


Happy Gaming! See you all next Tuesday Night!

Pole-arm Thoughts and Other Take-Aways from D&D 5E Adventurers League Session 11/13/18

Huzzah!!! That O' reader is the exultant shout of an excited gamer who experienced an exhilarating gaming session marking the return to regular gaming. Not only that but it's the excitement that arises from trying a new concepts that I haven't done before playing the fifth (official) edition of the world's most popular table-top role-playing game. A concept I haven't used during my entire time playing Adventurers League. Heck, I've never created a PC based on this particular concept during my entire D&D gaming experience. Entire table-top role-playing experience too. Very exciting installment of my Five Take-Aways!


What is the new concept I've never played before?


A Waterdeep City Guard who wields a pole-arm. A halberd, to be precise.


Yep. I've never played a city guard before in an RPG session. Not to my recollection anyway... When I first spotted the background within Sword Coast Adventurers Guide, my reaction was... meh. The Investigator was kind of nice; but why would you play the regular watchman? Since Season 8's setting is Waterdeep, the city guard background was very appealing from a role-play standpoint. When else would you pick the background while playing in the Adventurers League Organized Play campaign? A background which fits like a glove.


Pole-arms? They've never quite fit what I was playing nor appealed via rule-wise to me. Back during AD&D 2E, the weapon speed was too slow and impaired the high damage die. The way we played never quite supported the benefits. Plus, the pole-arm wielder didn't fit my visage of a D&D adventurer. Third edition: the rules were much better; but D&D has always been too much in-your-face. Most pole-arms would become a liability with my play-style. Although, I did witness some gamers use pole-arms well with their PCs. Fourth: Never played long enough. My experience with B/X was more hodge-podge combo with AD&D. Didn't play a pole-arm wielder in that game. When I played AD&D 1E, neither PC was a fighter-type.


Over the years, I learned Gary Gygax was a huge pole-arm fan. I've also come to appreciate the historical significance of the weapon. Coupled with D&D 5E rules having what appeared to be the most pole-arm friendly D&D rules I've ever seen, I've felt a desire to play a pole-arm wielder. Particularly a halberd wielder.


With Season 8 fresh and the urgent need to create a new PC, it was time.


So without further ado, here's my Five Take-Aways from tonight.


Imps make great impactful and flavorful familiars - Disclaimer: my fighter does not have a familiar. However, I have yet to write a Five Take-Away and not comment about what another player does. Been participating in Adventurers League for several years now. Most of the familiars are... birds. Really haven't seen many imps. Heck, I don't think I'd choose an imp! This session changed my mind. For starters, the DM insisted the imp had its own personality role-played by the DM. Familiars have been more like add-ons so it was nice to have an NPC follower/henchmen/hireling dynamic present. Especially in D&D 5E where the dynamic doesn't exist. Least not in AL. Furthermore, the heavy lifting was performed by the imp familiar. Searching and a pivotal plot involving in action the familiar was untrained. The table waited with baited breath as the player rolled the untrained check... and... succeeded! Don't get more D&D than that!


City guard background enhanced the experience - No die rolls were impacted. Nor were any major scenes affected by the city guard background. However, it lent a RPG hook and influenced role-play where I do not believe I would've role-played my PC within the manner that I did. The guard aspect was played up as well as the PC's connection to Waterdeep. Plus, NPC references to my PC held a minute measure of note. Sorry spoilers....


Pole-arm reach is nice and not a hindrance! - In 3rd edition, an opponent closed with a pole-arm wielder the PC had to 5' step away if possible. Not required within 5E. Never had to sweat when an enemy closed the gap. Furthermore, the ability to attack an enemy more than a square (5') away was an incredible feeling. Positioning my PC more than a sword's distance away was a nice feeling.


Pole-arm Master is Awesome - An opponent moves within 10 feet (2 squares) of my PC? I attack them. I attacked once with the halberd blade and hit? Cool. Time to swing the blunt end of the halberd at the opponent or a different opponent. The halberd wielding pole-arm expert opened a range of tactical options I normally don't play with. I can whack an opponent before it reaches my PC and then on my turn effectively attack twice. Absolutely love the feat!


Rolling max halberd damage, great weapon fighting, and low level led my PC to being an angel of death - I don't often roll maximum damage. Rolling 1s or 2s is more common for me especially when rolling d4s (such as when the blunt end of the halberd is swung). Furthermore, PCs don't remain 1st or 2nd level long in Adventurers League. So I've forgotten what it's like when a PC downs an opponent with one blow. Well, tonight, I believe I rolled maximum halberd damage (d10) multiple times! If the halberd damage didn't drop an NPC than the blunt end would. Felt nice replacing the 1 or 2 rolled on damage with a 3 or a 4, alright. Swathes of NPCs fell from the ends of the halberd. If only damage scaled with level! Regardless, my 1st-level halberd-wielding fighter was an engine of destruction. As opponents' hit points increase, the effectiveness will diminish. Still the feeling of rolling maximum damage along with feeling minimum damage can be rectified was a glorious feeling indeed.


That is my latest installment of my Five Take-Aways.


Until next Tuesday, happy gaming!

Converting Adventurers League PCs From XP to ACP Was A Snap

When I played D&D 5E at my FLGCS Adventurers League night on October 30th, I sort of fudged my PC's qualifications to participate at a Tier 1 table. According to experience points, my PC was still 4th level. However, the PC could've been fifth level and unable to participate in Tier 1 modules. Why? Cause Adventurers League switched from experience points to advancement checkpoints as inspired by Xanathar's Guide To Everything. Originally, Shadowrun Missions was scheduled for that day so I wasn't planning on converting any of Dungeons & Dragons PCs to the new system. Despite knowing plans changed, I didn't convert any of my PCs and guessed...


Beginning this upcoming Tuesday, I'll have the option to game as much as I have the entire 2018 so far to date! Home game, it wouldn't be a problem. However, the majority of the gaming will be via Adventurers League. Can't really not convert any of PCs to the new advancement checkpoint system if I want to game, now can I?


Fortunately, the conversion is more tedious than complex. Felt more of throwback to doing homework in math class!


Now before the Adventurers League police cuff me for not convert my tortle monk to ACP (advancement checkpoints), I had perused the conversion rules beforehand. The number of advance checkpoints a PC possesses after conversion is a ratio multiplied by the number of checkpoints required to advance in level. Since a player decides whether to round up or round down, I chose round down. Nuno the ninja tortle monk would not be automatically bumped to level 5 upon conversion.


Nuno did level though as he leveled upon the module's completion. Despite rounding down, Nuno had enough ACP to raise a level even if I had chosen slow progression.


Cool,


Now, I had to convert the other characters.


Grogg - another PC I could've converted to a higher level. He would be eighth level (character and class) and eligible for another feat or ability score improvement. Remain undecided on what options I want yet. Round down it is. One more module to decide...


By the time I converted my third PC, Morland Doyle, conversion was a breeze. Won't be able to play Morland any time soon though. Following conventional rounding practices seemed sensible to me. Rounded down.


Tor - really love playing my Tempest Cleric whom I've patterned after Gaiman's Sandman and what I've heard is Apotheosis's interpretation of Thor. I wanted Tor to remain Tier 1 a little while longer so I rounded down. With Slow Progression, two modules should be the minimum for Tor to reach Tier 2. Honestly, don't know how my play-style will fit the upper tiers...


Last but not least was my very first Adventurers League PC, the Dragonborn Paladin Ser Rhogar. Conversion was a snap. Pretty much converted him to one ACP almost exactly. Maybe I'm old school but you don't round to 2 if it's 1.13... Frankly, the hardest part was determining whether it paid to convert Ser Rhogar as I hadn't played him since Season 7 began. The PC died right a month prior so I had to determine if he had enough gold to pay for a Raise Dead spell-casting service. Suppose not playing a Tier 2 PC in over a year influenced my decision to round down as well.


Overall, the hardest part of converting my Adventurers League PCs was repeating the process four additional times. I began playing table-top RPGs back during the days of AD&D 2E. I'm used to character advancement taking a little while longer. Rounding down was an easy decision. After all, I can participate in both Tier 1 and Tier 2 modules longer than otherwise.


Wouldn't hurt to create a new level 1 PC though...


Happy Gaming!


Next time.

A Beginner's View of Fury of Dracula and Secret Hitler Games

Had the opportunity to participate in a board game/party game session with a Halloween flavor today. Only had the chance to play two games, Fury of Dracula and Secret Hitler. Never player either games before but I enjoyed them both. Since there's no time quite like your first, here's what I thought of them.

Fury of Dracula

Board games are hit and miss with me. They tend to have a steep learning curve. Often you're learning on the fly too. Repetition and observation are generally the keys to my grasping an individual board game. I found Fury of Dracula both an example of the prior sentence and relatively easy to grasp. Of the four participants, the two experienced players did the heavy lifting, ie one played two characters while the other took the role of Dracula facing off against the rest of the table. When I began, I had no clue what I was doing. By the end, I had a strong grasp of basic fundamentals and strategy.  After five turns,  I was struck by the unfolding narrative. Couldn't resist taking pictures and knew I just had to blog my experience.

A quick primer: Fury of Dracula involves two - five players where one side is comprised of four characters who opposed Dracula in Dracula (Mina, Van Helsing, Seward, and Lord Farnsworth - hadn't read Dracula in ages so I was confused who this was) face an opposing player who controls Dracula. Gameplay consists of the players accumulating resources and traveling Europe looking for clues towards Dracula's whereabouts so they may destroy him. Each turn has a day/night segment. When a week passes, despair becomes stronger. Furthermore, when Dracula's activities clear off the board or when an agent/he defeats one of the characters his influence total grows. Should Dracula reach 14 influence (think that was the exact number), the game ends. Dracula wins. The other players must destroy Dracula to win the game (or force is life total to 0...?)

 I controlled Dr Seward, which helped me learn the game as not only did he recover from damage easier but he could possess more resources.

The Rule Book





Took this shot when we were about five turns in. Dracula had just taken to sea; and our characters were scattered about Europe.

We had deduced Dracula must've come ashore by this point and was still ashore as he was feeding. The group was checking out nearby seaports to narrow our deduction as towards his whereabouts.

Aha! Dracula has gone back out to sea. Meanwhile, Dr. Seward travels by sea to where we deduced he had made landfall. Fortunately for the good doctor, played by yours truly, he had the resources to easily dispense with the vampire laying in wait.

Five turns afterward including Dr Seward's triumph over the vampire, the rest of the group travels toward Northern Europe as they strongly suspect Dracula may have travelled to England. While Seward begins the trip back to mainland, Lord Farnsworth begins the trip over the English Channel.

Upon reaching London, Lord Farnsworth discovers Dracula in London. Van Helsing joins him and battle commences! While Dr Seward and Mina Harkness guard the nearest ports, Dracula is forced to flee as bat. However, Lord Farnsworth is badly injured in the process...

The fiend escapes out sea again - albeit weakening himself in the process. We start the process of deducing where he fled once more.

We spread our hunt outward. Against Doctor Seward's better judgement, he uses resources from an event card (there are event cards that aid Dracula and those that aid the hunters) to travel to South-western Europe. Van Helsing travels by sea through two different seas (the game subdivides the seas into several) and reaches the mainland. Meanwhile, the badly injured Lord Farnsworth investigates one of places in England where Dracula last was located. He encounters a vampire...

Alas, Lord Farnsworth was dispatched by the vampire! The vampire clears the board. He awakens in a hospital not too far from Dr Seward. Unfortunately, Farnsworth defeat boosts Dracula's influence significantly. Despite our best expenditure of resources, all Dracula needs to win is to hide. He does so.

Game over.

The game ran about two hours. A tense two hours as neither side was close to victory until about the end. However, when the end came, it was quick! Pretty confident a more experience group of gamers could play Fury of Dracula faster. Took us awhile to get a sense of what to do. Plus, those of us who played the hunters used a very conservative strategy.

Secret Hitler

A party game emulating Weimar Republic. The players are assigned roles. Many of them are assigned the role of liberal, while two are fascist - one of which is Hitler. Each turn the players vote to confirm the President's choice of Chancellor. If the vote fails, a different player becomes President. If the vote succeeds, the President takes three policy tokens, liberal or fascist, and selects two. The chancellor then selects the policy. Should there be five liberal policies, liberals win. When three fascist policies be selected, the President can attempt deducing who is Hitler and kill him. Another alternative is if Hitler becomes Chancellor both Hitler and the other fascist wins.

A quick and easy game. Had a lot of fun despite not being very good at it. During the course of two games, I never did figure out who was Hitler nor who was fascist when the end point was triggered.

Overall: both solid games. I'd have to play Fury of Dracula another time or two but right now it's solid 4 out of 5 stars. Could easily see giving it a five out of five. Because Secret Hitler is more of a party game and one I am not very good at, I give it a 3 out of 5 stars. Good for parties.

Happy Gaming!

Next time.



Review: Tobin's Spirit Guide and Halloween 2018 in Review

If you're reading this, it means the powerful spirit and deadly opponent of the Ghostbusters, Samhain, did not prevail and usher us into Eternal Halloween. Indeed, the second day of the Halloween duo/trio, All Saints' Day nears its end. As I've mentioned in years of Halloween blogging past, tomorrow marks the less celebrated All Soul's Day. However, I'm calling it a wrap as of tonight. Not saying there won't be reviews forthcoming. They'll just be scattered throughout the course of the year. No sense engaging in an Eternal Blogging Halloween, right?

You may be wondering how I plan to approach this All Saints' Day blogging? Ready to read the exciting preamble outlining how I will proceed? Er, no. You can read the title...

Fine.

Yep. I'll actually be blogging in the reverse of the title of this post by looking at the month of 2018 blogging and then reviewing Tobin's Spirit Guide.

Scroll down to the review if a rehash isn't your cup of tea.

First, I started the month by highlighting elsewhere in the Blogsphere that another blogger had adapted the Headless Horseman for the setting of Blackmoor (created by D&D co-creator Dave Arneson) using Savage World game rules on Dave Arneson Game Day. At the time, I stated I would endeavor to convert the Horseman of the North to D&D 5E stats. I admit I don't always (often) follow through with my blogging promises. However, this time I did. If you missed the entry cause you were busy celebrating Halloween or couldn't keep up with several days of Halloween blogging you can find the conversion here.

My second Halloween blog entry was my compilation of past Halloween blogging. Here is the compilation for your convenience. It was my second annual compilation. Like to think tonight is my getting ahead of next year's...

Then, there was OneBookShelf's Halloween Treat Scavenger Hunt. Unexpectedly, blogged twice about it. Here is the first and second posts. With a whopping fifteen treats from five sites, I really do hope to review them before next Halloween. That is if I am not like Charlie Brown kicking the football that is...

Fourth, it wouldn't be Halloween unless I provided a bunch of spooky links. This time I brushed off my neglected Official D&D 5E Rulings By Tweet blog "column" to provide some with a more Halloween flavor. Here it is.

My fifth was a textual capstone of the Halloween Sunday Comic Strips that graced newspapers and online the Sunday before Halloween. Just realized, I never did the same on Halloween...

Yeah, I am lumping together similar entries and treating them as one... No point treating posts with the same concept separately.

Sixth post is more of a stretch as far as Halloween blogging goes. I just felt the session ended with a very Halloween-like flavor.

Last, my Halloween post where I basically write about how the cartoon the Real Ghostbusters exposed me to the Celtic/Gaelic holiday of Samhain and is the inspiration of much of my Halloween blogging the last several years.

Also, I did mention I finished reading a book too. Meaning it is time for....

My Review of....

Tobin's Spirit Guide!



Front cover



Back Cover:

The book is written by Erik Burnham (a writer for IDW Ghostbusters comics) in the guise of Dr Egon Spengler and Dr Ray Stanz.

Illustrations were drawn by another IDW Ghostbusters comic alum: Kyle Hotz.

Here's a sample illustration of the villain Samhain. Really, the central character to yesterday's Halloween post. Honestly, He looks better here than in the show. More menacing.



Anyway, the book is written as abridged version of the actual Tobin's Spirit Guide, which includes anecdotes of the Ghostbusters experiences as well as a Rogues Gallery of the baddest of the bad.

Tobin's Spirit Guide collects many of the ghosts and incredibly nasty beings the Ghostbusters have fought in the movies, comic books, video games, and animated series. A tall order considering the comics occur in a separate continuity from the Real Ghostbusters. Furthermore, each media has its own unique tone.

Burnham and Hotz tackle the differences by creating a unifying continuity that modifies some entries and encounters from how they were originally presented.

For instance, Slimer was a companion of the Ghostbusters in the Real Ghostbusters. Heck, ABC practically made Slimer the main character when they relaunced the series as Slimer and the Real Ghostbusters from the third (really, the second but the true second season was syndicated) season. There were Slimer shorts focusing exclusively on Slimer!

Not so here. Slimer is trapped within his own containment unit.

Samhain? There is no reference towards his aversion to light. Spoilers basically how Samhain was defeated in When Halloween Was Forever involved light. Lots of light. In Tobin's Spirit Guide, nope. Attrition weakens him.

Another change I noticed was in regards to Stay Puft Marshmellow Man. Fondly recall watching as a child on the Real Ghostbusters Stay Puft's face turn as he became a good guy who would occasionally help out. Stay Puft always ended each story back inside the containment unit. But he's Gozer... Kid me never made that connection. Suffice it say the book nixes this. Stay Puft isn't a good guy. Not a one shot either.

Quite certain they made other changes; but I haven't watched the Real Ghostbusters in decade or two. So I couldn't point them out. Nor have I read every comic (IDW and otherwise) nor played the video games. Any changes to those ghosts and big bad supernatural entities I couldn't tell you.

However, the listing is pretty extensive. The nostalgia factor is high. Marked about big time seeing the ghosts from the movies and reading about each ghost was expanded beyond their 30-second appearance.

 Like me, if you are closer to your forties than childhood, it's great reading narrative vignettes aimed at a more mature reader. Would love to see this creative team tackle some of these ghosts and major supernatural baddies within the comic. In other words, I would buy the comic more if the older rogues gallery made appearances.

The art is excellent too.

Overall: If you're a fan of Ghostbusters in all the different forms, if you've ever wanted to read the Tobin's Spirit Guide, if you want a good Ghostbusters read involving the old crew, I highly recommend tracking down this book. Rating: 5 out of 5 stars.

See you both next time as well as next Halloween season.