Final Comics Haul of 2019

After a month or two, I ended my New Comics Wednesday drought I purchased my weekly comics haul at my favorite local comics shop. When I left, I was struck by the realization I would not set foot in there again until the New Year. Short of any orders arriving from prior online purchases, I won't be buying anymore physical comic books or trades until the New Year. These are my final purchases and Comics Haul of 2019.

Rather sublime in a way...

Here they are:

Conan Serpent War #2 (Robert E Howard characters team up with Moon Knight!), Doctor Who 13th Doctor Holiday Special #2 (I had given up on Doctor Who comics and trades for the most part but am making an exception for this two-part Holiday Special. Closest I will get to a Doctor Who Christmas Special I will get this year, I suppose), Watchmen Companion HC (Normally, I would pass on this book; but it collects the Watchmen material for the old Mayfair DC Heroes RPG! If only DC Heroes or Blood of Heroes were easily acquired. Perhaps DC should release more of the RPG material sitting stagnant in a vault somewhere?)

Guardians of the Galaxy #12 (The final issue of Donny Cates run on GotG and my final GotG issue for awhile. I will NOT be collecting the next volume.), Shazam! #9 (Out finally!), New Mutants #4 (Only two more issues left on my pull. Dropping with issue #7.)

John Constantine Hellblazer #2 (Ultimately, I decided to keep collecting Sandman Universe titles because of Constantine's return to the imprint/universe.), Doomsday Clock #12 (The End has arrived! In hindsight, I should have waited for the super duper trade.), Excalibur #4 (Same situation as with New Mutants.)

He-Man and the Masters of the Multiverse #2, Invaders #12 (Final Issue), Marauders #4 (Only collecting two more.)

Aquaman #55, Lucifer #15 (Still collecting for the time being. Constantine's guest appearance helped the title's cause.), Wonder Woman Giant vol 2 #2 (I collect the Giant 100 pagers from my FLCS and not at Wal-Mart now. Thus, reducing the chances of my purchasing any more comics and trades during the remainder of 2019 substantially.)

X-Force #4 (Only two more to go., The Last God #3, Justice League #38 (I decided I would buy until the conclusion of Snyder's run. It's also a twice-a-month title, which as I stated during my first December 2019 blog entry I was abstaining from.)

My final Comics Haul of 2019./

Three blog posts during December done. Will see how close to twelve total (as in the Twelve Days of Christmas) I get this month.

Next time.

Halloween '19: A Winged Necromancer in Avernus

Thought of this idea on Monday; but life got in the way. Details of which are beyond the scope of this blog. This is a sequel blog entry to my blog post on whether to play an aasimar or tiefling during Season 9 of Adventurers League.

I've come to loggerheads over the aasimar PC largely because I can't quite figure out, which Xanathar's sub-class to select for the PC. Right now, there's about five. The diversity of abilities intrigues me especially because I think I can emulate some feat abilities without needing feats. However, we're talking no ability score increases or feats until after 13th level at the earliest. Not much in power level above third level in any single class too. More of a novelty character.

But I digress...

The winged necromancer whose the subject for today is...

A tiefling.

Not just any tiefling though.

A tiefling based on my very first tiefling PC.

My tiefling PC who ran around Sigil fighting Paladins from the Prime when he wasn't attending to the Mortuary as a member of the Dust Men. He also was Specialist Wizard focusing on the study of Necromancy.

Yes, a tiefling Necromancer from the days of AD&D 2E Planescape!

Since Season 9 of Adventurers League is a tie-in to the Descent into Avernus Hardcover Module during which the PCs travel to the first layer of the Nine Hells, I decided it would be a hoot to recreate the old Planescape PC for a story arc that occurs on another plane and utter obscure, to the other players, Planescape references!

Not to mention playing a winged character to boot.

The aasimar concept was winning out though. I really hadn't brushed up on Planescape Cant though. Playing a mere tiefling character felt too generic; and I wasn't sure I wanted to create a single classed necromancer. We're talking five to six levels before the concept can come to life (ha! life!) here. The novelty aasimar concept depends on playing the character during Season 9 too in order to use Xanathar's. Playing a necromancer - even a winged one - isn't too unusual to win the novelty war.

Planescape tieflings didn't have wings./

However, on Monday, the proximity of Halloween must've served as a stroke of inspiration.

He'd be a descendant of my Planescape Tiefling who grew up on the Prime, i.e. Faerun. He'd hold many of the Dust Men beliefs; yet wouldn't be a Dust Men. Like his ancestor, he'd be an evil Necromancer; but a lawful one. Not saying he wouldn't be a member of a faction. Adventurers League mandates faction membership for evil characters. The Zhentarim is the obvious for such a macabre character.

His name or what he's called is: The Mortician.

Like his Dust Men ancestor, The Mortician takes care of the dead. He also holds many of the same Dust Men beliefs such as the True Death. He's a necromancer because necromancy aids his task since animating dead bodies eliminates the need to hire help to move them. The Mortician is much too weak to move them otherwise. The Faction Agent background will be modified to include to the Medicine skill, as he's familiar with anatomy, and alchemical supplies due to knowledge of embalming and the like.

Once The Mortician is high enough in level, he'll employ an army of the animated dead against the fiends from Avernus. Just imagine a group of skeletons or zombies dogpiling one! So what if it's a local's deceased loved one? The Mortician is taking care of the corpse albeit not how they envisioned. He is Lawful Evil after all - and one step closer to True Death.

A mortician of fiendish heritage flying with leathery wings commanding a squad of undead when is about as much a Halloween concept as it gets! Commanding them against fiends from and on Avernus itself is the D&D equivalent of Creature Commandos!

Halloween is tomorrow.

Happy Gaming!

Halloween '19: The Haunting of Little Rose Orphanage

The following is a work of fiction. A product of a live-action role-playing group playing a game Minds Eye Theater: Werewolf the Apocalypse. Any references to real world people or places is coincidental.

Tom approaches the Sept Leadership: 

*cough* *cough* Here is my accounting of the most recent venture. I will do my best to tell the story to the best of my abilities. (Tom has a zero rating in Performance)

The intrepid and experienced pack returned to the caern just after my meeting with all of you. I had arrived at this place of utmost import because a ghost and my jaggling fox spirit companion told me I should seek it out. First member of the pack I greeted was a lynx by shaking her paw. We gave informal introductions. One of them says 'Are you related to Huckelberry' 

'nope'.

 Everyone gives formal introductions Joe (sept leader, Japanese kitsune) and master of rite mention Little Rose. We were to investigate and deduce how to cleanse.

Jimmy drives avoiding Stratford toward Little Rose going through Marshfield stopping at Thad Chicken in Arpin. The lynx offers a treat to me. It's cat food. 'Uh, no.' Jimmy reaches over while driving grabbing a handful.  While driving through Marshfield the pack doesn't detect anything out of place...  The day has become night by the time we leave Marshfield. Between during Marshfield and Little Rose, we see  a sole house which has a white picket fence on both sides of the house. In fact, the white picket fence is perpendicular to the street and exists on both sides of the road too. No lights. No one outside. The lynx asks Tom, yes I am speaking of myself in the third person and will continue to do so henceforth,  what he thinks.

'Not as experienced as you all so I leave it you?'

 Jimmy continues driving.

We reach a crossroads in Little Rose.
Abandoned Building lit up with sign ' misspelled Academy Orphanage'. Across street field and forest. Across other street is a gas station. 'Just like Spotted Cow' neon purple inside widow of 2 story building. Across is abandoned lot. *Tom's faces scrunches up in recollection* I had seen three separate groups of ghosts by the abandoned orphanage.

'there is a lot of dead people there'

jimmy ' you see dead people?'

 'Maybe... there's 4 or 5 kids, 4 or 5 teenagers, and an old hag'.

Around this time I recollected who the members of the pack are:
 Brad the  black fury cliath galliard is a loremaster
 Jimmy fostern theurge.
Jenny the lynx is adren.
 Then there is Sean Moore.

Upon learning none of them can see the ghosts themselves, Tom mentions a tincture with which group can see ghosts.

Jimmy and Tom go speak with the ghosts. Kids front yard. Teenagers  2nd floor thru windows. Old hag atop roof glowers at me. Speak to the kids in English. No response until they speak to Tom. He doesn't understand. The appearance of the kids little boy slacks, dress shoes, combed over slick black hair. Formal dress code.

 Jimmy '60s or sooner'.

 2 girls wear long dresses with long straight hair. Black and brown hair.
 Jimmy 'hmm 40s to 60s'.

Old hag chiselled nun face. All their clothes are in tatters. 5 kids are happy. Jimmy recalls there was a fire based on research and dilapidated look. Tom sees flashes how it used to look
 Mouths moving. Can't hear words but laughing. We do charades eventually learning can't enter because of the kids. Can't hear the hag due to kids.

I mention at this point that the Tincture requires consecrated grave dirt. Brad mentions cemetary with abandoned catholic cemetary on hwy 153 between Little Rose and Stratford. We ride there. We maintain there graves. Jimmy the horticulturalist identifies weeds which we rip up and toss onto road. Clean plants off graves. Acquire consecrated grave dirt after hour and a half. Need rosemary and ashen bark (which we get from charring bark from an ash tree).

 Tom performs the special Kitsune rite. Create 6 vials of drinkable tincture.

 Everyone else drinks.

 Jimmy doesn't take 1 point of damage from the toxic properties due to his tendency to drink moonshine, i.e. bone gnawer. Everyone heals the damage. Got extra vial. Jenny hacking as we arrive.

 They see dead people.

 Jenny 'she is as mean looking as you claim'.

 Jimmy, Jenny, and Sean with Airt Perception see a haunted castle on path. Don't see kids nor teenagers. Resemble Wicked Witch of West. Skin rotting away. She is holding a book with a cross on it. All 3 of them notices a cross switches direction. Skin darkens grows purple when spin downward. A lightning storm causes flips. Jimmy relays what they saw within the Umbra.

Sean the Get 'I want to take on the guy with the big knife!' Upon hearing Silent Hill references.

 Jenny 'we need to stop her'. But then realizes the ghost children are the problem.

 Tom guesses words phonetically and enters into Google translate. Italian. Eureka we deduce they are Italian immigrants.

The translation  is 'What a bunch of idiots maybe we should kill them,

Tom 'uh oh,'

Translation 'and consume their souls'

 Tom's face grows pale.

  Jimmy Google 'fire kills ghosts'

We realize we must destroy their  bones!

 Jimmy 'should we scout around and see if any graves around?'

Tom digs where lone boy whose acting less than others are. With jenny's aid, dig a foot. The boy retaliates by draining a willpower from Tom. A white energy goes to him and become more solid. Jenny shifts into crinos to defend tom. Jimmy succeeds in using his gift activate major owl spirit. Gracie uses cane to hurl sorcerous fire at the ghost boy, burning the ghost. Sean and brad stand there. Brad tug of wyld to speak with owl spirit. Tom back away from hole while google translate a phrase in Italian. Boy moved toward Tom. The ghost boy repeats his attack on and Tom fails.

Our rage increases.

Jenny 'hey!' Withering Gaze boy. Jimmy commands the owl spirit 'go find the bones for the kid'. Pecks at spot Tom was digging. Moves by boy and owl spirit next to hole. Gracie blasts to the ghost almost to the point of nothingness!

 Sean heads to gas station to get gas... no pumps. Shifts to Crinos. Tears it off. 6' down pool of gas.  Investigates for a siphon and finds a 10' hose and bucket.

 Brad shifts to crinos moves by hole and digs. 3' deep. Tom hops in and haplessly moves dirt.

Our rage increase...

Crinos Brad burn rage to dig faster hits rock. Digs a foot. Jimmy rage digs 6". Jenny hops in digging. Down a foot. Gracie fire blasts and dissipates the ghost. White orb returns to Tom regaining willpower. Jimmy digs and tells owl spirit to keep watch. Removes final 6". Covered in dust. Brad huffs puffs and blows dust away.  Blows dust away but slips and breaks one the bones in his left leg bone! Spurting blood all over. Sean brings gas bucket over to whole. Sighs. Tom sort dust and can't find the bones because of Brad's blood.

Our rage increases...

Jimmy asks Gracie to eat Brad's rage. Jenny searches for bones. Jimmy searches for, finds, and digs out the bone! Gracie eats Brad's rage with Calm the Heart. Consume 2 rage from Brad. Sean grabs bone from Jimmy, sets the bone inside bucket, and sets  ghost's bone ablaze.

Ghost boy doesn't return and those with Airt Perception notices the castle and storm gone. Kids smile and depart. Witch becomes normal. Book becomes bible.

Jimmy offers gnosis chiminage to the owl spirit.

The experienced pack discovers the Orphanage land is for sale. Jenny buys property intent to set up a pet therapy for troubled kids nonprofit.

I hope you find my tale to your liking and serve as a record of the deeds of this esteemed pack. Much thanks for I have much to learn from them.

*End tale and in-character.

I felt my first LARP session in a couple years was perfect Halloween tale even for Werewolf: The Apocalypse as it had all the trappings of an excellent ghost story. This time I decided to strip out the game mechanics although I might include them next time.

Halloween  is four days away!

Happy Gaming and next time!

Halloween 2019: OneBookShelf Jack O'Lanterns Freebies

As I alluded to on Wednesday, it's October.  Halloween blogging season. Unlike years past, no lofty promises this year. If I write a Halloween-themed post, cool. If not, oh well. We'll see how many I churn out. What better way to begin my Halloween blogging than listing my haul from OneBookShelf's (DriveThru RPG, DriveThru Comics, DriveThru Fiction, DM's Guild, Storyteller's Vault) Jack O'Lantern Scavenger Hunt where one on browses thru the site clicking on Halloween themed icons in order to score a freebie?

Note for first time blog visitors: I have taken advantage of OBS's Jack O'Lantern freebies for years now. I've racked up quite the haul, which I rarely if ever read or use. As such, no deep dives. I didn't search through every nook and cranny. Four or five items was my stopping point.  Also, only the icon and the order in which I discovered the freebie will be listed.

On with the listing.

DriveThru RPG -

Witch hat:  Castles & Crusades: Night of Spirits. I got to hand it to Troll Lord Games. When they go in on a promotion, they go all in. This Halloween themed module using the Castles & Crusades rules retails for around $8. Reading the boilerplate makes me want to read and possibly run it.

Jack o'lantern: 5E Halloween Mini Dungeon: Horror of Ochre Grove. A D&D 5E module that's apparently Halloween-themed...

2nd jack o lantern: SEERS & Roebuck Dust Buster of Holding - the fantasy equivalent of the old Sears & Roebuck catalogs, which in this instance features one particular item.

3rd jack o'lantern:  Doomtown Reloaded: Print & Play Demo - The description reads like a card game. I hate when they mix categories...

4th jack o'lantern:  Mothership Players Survival Guide - Did you like the Aliens movies with Xenomorphs and Sigourney Weaver? Well, this rpg emulates it!


DriveThru Comics

Witch hat: Kids on Bikes House On Polar Court

Ghost: Unstoppable Origins #1

Jack o'lantern:  God the Dyslexic Dog v1 (apparently I already own a copy...)

Candy: Death Vigil #1

2nd jack o lantern: vs Stranger Stuff Send in the Clowns Special Edition


DriveThru Fiction

Witch hat: Weird Fiction Megapack 25 Stories From Weird Tales. Can't go wrong with a collection of stories from the old Weird Tales magazine/pulp. The mag that brought us Conan!

Jack o' lantern: Outbreak Undead 2nd edition  Intro Manual. Another cross category offering...

2nd Jack o Lantern: Cabaret of the Grotesque

Ghost: Book of Apex vol 1 of Apex Magazine  (already have). I swear this given away every year...

3rd Jack o Lantern Achtung! Cthulhu Fiction The Trellborg Monstrosities. Like H.P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos? Well, here's Cthulhu Mythos stories set across the pond in the UK!


DMs Guild

Ghost: Songs of Aedragad

Jack o'lantern: Curse of the Gumdrop Ooze Revised and Expanded

2nd Ghost: Circle of the Feydark 5e

2nd Jack o Lantern: Dread Domain A Cleric Archetype

Since much of my D&D 5E gaming is Adventurers League, I am unlikely to use any of this. Sigh...


Storyteller's Vault

Bat - Death Vigil #1 (repeat of the DriveThru Comics freebie)

Jack o'lantern -  God Dyslexic Dog volume 1 repeat of the DriveThru Comics Freebie

I really dislike how neither of these pertain to White Wolf Intellectual Property. The DM's Guild freebies seemed to be all D&D-related at least.

Ghost: Bygone Bestiary. Want to use fantastic creatures such as dragons in your World of Darkness game? Well, now you can! I've owned a deadtree version since White Wolf's $6.66 sale. I've been meaning to acquire an ebook copy for years so I could part with my physical copy. Mission accomplished!

Bat - Legacy of Lies a  V20 Dark Ages Jumpstart. Vampire Dark Ages is one of my favorite WOD Vampire settings.

Overall, I'd say I was pleased with this year's offerings.

Next time.

Does the Threat of Imminent TPK Define Cyberpunk Gaming?

This is it. Tonight should conclude the Chicago arc for Shadowrun Missions at my FLGCS.


After playing four seasons of the Chicago arc, roughly five to six modules per, tonight those of us who've been playing the same character for years will play those characters for the final time tonight. Except as Prime Runners in Prime Runner-only mods - ideally... Next month, we create brand new characters for the Neo-Tokyo arc.


Sure, we received forewarnings the final season would be rough and the conclusion BRUTAL. As we began playing season 8, it certainly HAS. While previous seasons contained rough patches, overall there was sense of coasting. Season 8 has been 'will this frag my character?'


The visuals of each encounter have become quite the sight too! Like how some of the photos turned out too. While I was planning on blogging the session events sooner, I will actually blog them chronologically. Will be a fitting memorandum. Telling the adventures of Nox the Combat Mage and Co from their beginnings to their fiery end.


Cause I don't know if, let alone how, our PCs will survive the final module. Heck, the entire module feels like you're in the drek now. May you not get fragged.


If we were playing a level-based game, we'd just run away or avoid until we level up to confront the threat. Or we'd be level appropriate. In a storytelling game, this would be climax. Will our protagonists emerge victorious?


In Shadowrun, or any cyberpunk game, it's pretty much  you're hip-deep in drek. Accomplish your mission chummers and don't get fragged in the process. Oh, by the way, some poor PC will get geeked (i.e. killed). Can't have a dystopic future without PC deaths. Plus, TPK (total party kill) does fit the neo-noir vibe of Shadowrun.


Without the TPK vibe. If the gaming experience was more rose-colored, it wouldn't be cyberpunk.


Honestly, I wouldn't have realized this important revelation about cyberpunk gaming if I didn't feel my Shadowrun Missions Chicago PC along with the other PCs would ride into the sunset after tonight.


Now excuse me. I've got to update my player character.


Happy gaming!


Next time.

12 Blog Posts of December Day 10 WEG Star Wars 30th Unboxing

Not writing a clunky version of the 12 gifts of Christmas this time. Suffice it to say, today is the tenth day and after blogging seven days consecutively, I am not doing a '12 Blog Posts of December' next year if I need to blog nine days straight in order to blog 12 times!


2018 marks a milestone in the table-top role-playing games. It's a milestone in Star Wars circles too. Why? This is year is the 30th Anniversary of West End Games Star Wars the Role-Playing Game. In the process, much of what would become known as the Star Wars Expanded Universe had its genesis with this project. In many ways, the WEG SWRPG was the Star Wars bible as it compiled and defined aspects of Star Wars lore that hadn't been defined before. If I recall correctly, Timothy Zahn was given Star Wars RPG books while researching his now famous Thrawn Trilogy.


I have fond memories sitting in a now-defunct book store flipping through the pages of the orginal, i.e. 1st edition, Star Wars RPG Main Book and Source Book. Since the Star Wars Expanded Universe was in its infancy, Dark Force Rising hadn't yet hit stands, the Star Wars fan was excited to hold these tomes of Star Wars lore. More importantly, I had just started playing Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition regularly. As new gamer, I was excited at the prospect of playing the Star Wars equivalent of Dungeons & Dragons! Just didn't have the money to buy them...


However, as fate would have it, the Second Edition came out as my birthday neared. I was struck by the newness  and glossiness of the book as well as the screenshot of Darth Vader upon the cover. Remember, how I said I was playing AD&D 2E? Well, clearly a second edition is better than a first edition, right? Unlike the defunct book store, this particularly copy I found at my local comic book store. You can kind of guess how this story ends, right?


Still, some part of me always wondered what if I had acquired copies of those two first edition WEG books. Eventually, time eroded my edition snobbery. Playing a revised 2nd ed WEG Star Wars and two or three different versions of Star Wars RPG published by WotC helped too.


Then, I discovered Fantasy Flight Games was releasing a slipcase replica of those two original books. I was excited. A must buy! While browsing through my FLGCS and seeing they had a couple copies, the 30th anniversary edition was on my radar. When only one copy remained, I pounced!


It, uh, sat shrink-wrapped until day... The thought struck me, why not do an 'unboxing via pictures' on my blog as part of my 12 Blog Posts of December! After all, this is the season for unwrapping! Today just so happened to be the day







Here it is shrink-wrapped:

Oh look, the outer layer was just packaging or a dust cover!

Front side of slipcase:

Back side of slipcase:

Really like how they reproduced the cover here!



Front covers from both replicas of the core book and the sourcebook.

Back covers. Pretty confident the '40' wasn't located in the upper-right corner...

Okay, the 40 years is a shout out to forty years of Star Wars: A New Hope.

Hmm, Fantasy Flight Games didn't exist back then!

Yep, a cheap plug for the newest iteration of Star Wars Table-Top Role-Playing Games produced by Fantasy Flight Games.

FFG's insert with the main book:

A Dedication along with all the usual business info on the left and a Foreword explain the project on the right.

I will admit I bought this for nostalgia's sake; and the aesthetics of a slipcase sitting in a bookcase. So maybe someday, I will review the first two books of WEGs SWRPG. A review, what, 30 years after the books were published? I mean why not. Even if it is another 30 years...

Got two more days of blogging to go!

Next time.

12 Blog Posts of December Day 7 - Adapting the Elf Class to 5E Is Simple

On the first day of my 12 Blog Posts of December... Egad's it's almost midnight by me! I've got to crank out my Day 7 post if I want to achieve twelve blog posts in December! No time for such a holiday related opening.


So what's my topic for Day 7?


Yesterday, I received a copy of D&D Rules Cyclopedia for Christmas.


Of late, the desire to play an Elf, as in the Elf class from BECMI, has been strong. While I do own a digital version, there's nothing quite like holding a physical book in one's hand. Weirdly enough conversion work is easier the physical work as opposed to reading it from a monitor or tablet. Believe there's been studies highlighting the phenomenon too. I'm not the only one!


By conversion, my intention is to emulate the BECMI Elf class in D&D 5E. Flipping through the pages of the Rules Cyclopedia I finally understand how to do it. Like a light bulb being lit!


First, forget everything you've gleaned from the AD&D 1E > AD&D 2E > D&D 3E > D&D 5E tree. Oh, both elf trees fit.


It's just that the BECMI Elf ISN'T a master of stealth. The Elf class isn't a junior ranger. Not by stats anyway. What the DM allowed the Elf PC to do was simply arbitrary. Note: I haven't read the skills section within the Rules Cyclopedia; however, I am sure the Stealth isn't a skill.


Second, select Fighter as class. The Elf class was primarily a fighting type with spell-casting. Ergo, Eldritch Knight will be the Martial Archetype.


Third, or maybe this should be second, select High Elf as the subrace. None of the other options fit the BECMI Elf more. However, the extra language does emulate three extra languages (other than elf) the Elf class knew. Select either orc, gnoll, or goblin.


Fourth, customize a background to acquire a couple more languages if you really want the three.


Fifth: The find secret doors ability can be reflected by having the Investigation skill. So select or customize a background to have said proficiency.


Voila!


A BECMI Elf emulated in D&D 5E.


Really was much, much simpler than I thought!


Happy Holidays!


Only 5 more blog posts to go.


Next time.

12 Blog Posts of December Day 6: Christmas Day

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Yule! Etc...


I'm going to keep this short and sweet, relatively. No on the first day of my 12 Blog Posts of December spiel today. It's Day 6 of my 12 Blog Posts of December AND it's Christmas Day. However, I am not blogging to proclaim Merry Christmas. That would be too easy...


First, recall yesterday's post on adapting the Life & Adventures of Santa Claus to D&D 5E stats? Yesterday, there was a link to suggestions on how to adapt Santa's foes the Angwas to D&D 5E stats. Well, today on En World (an http not an https site), the same author has posted suggestions for his allies. Here are the Immortals. I am not quite satisfied with recommendations on how to convert the Immortals to PC races. It's basically: take this PC race and perform a minor tweak. Really hope the Patreon goes into more detail than what's provided here for free. As NPCs, they're pretty much top-notch conversions. Suppose the Immortals may be too powerful to be PCs... Well, if the conversion is free anyway... However, the suggestions work in a pinch.


Second, I discovered the old D&D Rules Cyclopedia was available Print on Demand from DriveThru RPG. For those new to the hobby, the Rules Cyclopedia compiled the majority of the rules from the Basic, Expert, Companion, and Masters sets of Dungeons & Dragons. With rules for players and DMs along with maps and brief setting information, it is pretty much the closest to a complete game all-in-one book for Dungeons & Dragons that has ever come out.


I remember checking out this book from the library several times and marveling at the completeness of the book. Until I purchased the ebooks for Original Dungeons & Dragons (0E), it's the closest I had come to the EARLY days. When elf and dwarf were a class. Plus, it was my first exposure to Mystara outside of the Red Steel expansion for AD&D 2E. In addition, there were all sort of nifty rules that were new to me. Alas, there were pages torn out. Eventually, the library's copy disappeared. The book was Out of Print. When I purchased a digital copy, the hardcopy fetched collector prices so it would have to do.


Until now.


I was quite excited while unwrapping gifts to discover I now held in my hands my very own copy of the D&D Rules Cyclopedia! Holding the book in my hands, flipping through the pages, and skimming portions the book is as an exact match to my recollections. Plus, no missing pages! For instance, there's the charts from the Weapon Mastery table for each given weapon. Had no memory of those pages. Maps all intact. Book is quite readable too.


The PoD copy does seem larger than I remembered. Hardcover trim ends roughly a quarter of an inch over the trim of the interior pages. Cover looks lovely. Book feels nice to the touch. Know how some books you just want to hold in your hands? This printing of the Rules Cyclopedia matches the feeling. My only complaint is the binding may be fragile to heavy use. If I played BECMI regularly and it was traveling book, I would worry about pages falling out. Fortunately, I don't play BECMI regularly if at all. So the book's durability isn't a pressing concern. The binding does seem durable enough for pleasure reading. Besides, I do own a digital copy, which I could use as my traveling copy if need be.


Not quite sure if I'll provide a full review or review the book in stages.


Third, I read some classic newspaper strips of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates posted on a social media group. Must've missed some strips as I used Facebook's Save feature as I encountered gaps. Hans Brinker and the Silver Skates matched my recollection of when I read the colored strips compiled in page form within the pages of a magazine years ago. Only one strip seemed to come out of nowhere. The Joe Kubert art was lovely. As for the Rudolph strip, it seemed like the strip either tried to find new uses for his nose or ways Rudolph could contribute without the use of his nose. There even was a helicopter?! Overall, a pleasant way to spend time on Christmas Day.


Lastly, 2018 marks Mickey Mouse's 90th Anniversary. While I picked up both a DVD celebrating Mickey Mouse and a book from Fantagraphics collecting his early comic strips colorized, I don't know if I'll blog about either them during the remainder of the year. Not to say, I won't spend any homage to Mickey during his 90th on this blog. Why? For the first time in over a decade, I watched Mickey Mouse's Christmas Carol! Fondly recall the rollout to the "movie's" debut all those years ago. There were plushes of the various Disney characters adapted to Dickens's characters available for a limited time. I got the Donald Duck, but I digress. Anyway, when I watched Mickey's Christmas Carol as a kid I absolutely loved it! In fact, it's how I primarily know the Christmas Carol story, which I haven't actually *ahem* read. Like many classic Disney shows featuring their IP, every time Mickey's Christmas Carol aired it was an event. Then I stopped seeing it.


So what better time than during Mickey's 90th then to pick up a copy on Blu ray? Furthermore, what better time than to watch it on Christmas Day? Mickey's Christmas Carol was about as good as when I saw it back as a wee little lad. Plus, after all these years, it felt like watching it for almost the first time! Didn't watch the extras nor the intermission though. Perhaps next Christmas season?


Once again, I hope everyone has a Happy Season!


Only 6 more days of my 12 Blog Posts of December!


Next time.

12 Blog Posts of December: Day 5: Baum's Santa Stories Are Perfect Fodder For RPGs

On the first day of my 12 Blog Posts of December I gave to thee, my take-aways from my very first halberd-wielding D&D PC. On the second day of my 12 Blog Posts of December I gave to thee, my five take-aways from the first Tier 2 Season 8 module. On the third day of my 12 Blog Posts of December I gave to thee, a polymorphed PC fighter smashing things as a triceratops.


Told you, I would begin with a more festive opening!


Tonight's Christmas Eve.  It's also Day 5 of my 12 Blog Posts of December.


Through social media, I've learned a gamer on Patreon is adapting the characters from L. Frank Baum (the creator of the Wizard of Oz and other Oz stories) Santa Claus stories to fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons stats.


Admittedly I've never Baum's Santa stories. I do have fond memories of watching the 1985 Christmas special adaptation of The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus as a kid. Compared to other Christmas specials for kids it was dark and sophisticated. Santa along with his supernatural and mundane (if you count a lioness as mundane) companions contended with goblin-ish and demonic-like creatures in order to spread cheer to the children of the Laughing Valley. They had to use their cunning and their wits against a more formidable foe culminating in an epic battle. Perfect inspiration for Table-top role-playing games!


Found out after years of playing Dungeons & Dragons that the creator of Oz wrote the story that inspired the special that enthralled me as a kid.


It's been a long time since I lost saw it. The copy I enthusiastically watched was on VHS; and I never picked up a DVD replacement. Alas, I've only found a couple clips on YouTube. Here they are:


Opening credits:



Another clip featuring dialogue:

Pretty epic stuff!


There's also a clip featuring the song 'A Child'; but I never cared for the segment and the one lone weakness of the special in my eyes.




Despite not being able to watch the 1985 special, the story is available in the Public Domain. If you're not picky about formatting, you read the story and a sequel short story on Gutenberg for free. Here are links for The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus and A Kidnapped Santa Claus. File choice is left open to you.


Now that I've referenced the source material, time for the links to D&D 5E stats.


I have never sponsored anyone on Patreon before. However, reading an example of Armies of the Christmas War, which adapts the Immortals (Santa's allies) and Awgwas (the bad guys) to 5E stats both as monsters and PC races attracts my interest. For instance here is the Nymph. Baum's nymph differs from the Greek mythology and D&D nymph as you can see. Based on my memory, the adaptation seems to fit the material. The stat block appears complete enough. The PC race looks cool although based on what's been provided for free more fleshing out is needed. For nostalgia's sake, I am definitely interested in this. Cause as an Adventurers League player, I am unlikely to ever use the PDF collecting everything...


If on the other hand, you only want to use the Awgwas as traditional D&D foes and you're not quite willing to shell out the money for the Patreon material, there is another way. The very same author has provided re-skins (adapting existing D&D 5E monster stats) simulating them. Just hop on over to EN World. As aside, I am an old, old, old member of the forum dating back to Eric Noah's D&D 3E spoiler page! I haven't frequented the page in a very, very long time partially because I forgot my password and stubbornly refused to re-set it. The site went through a complete overhaul. Note: it's not an https site if you're concerned about security...


Here is the Santa War: Army of the Awgwas.


Overall, I am quite pleased with the re-skins. Never read the story? Never watched the special? No worries. Each foe is described. Following the recommendations, the PCs can match sword and spells against the Awgwas!


Should I become a Patreon supporter and thus download the PDF, I will provide a review.


Therein ends Day 5. Only seven consecutive days more of blogging to go.


Merry Christmas Eve!

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.



Blog Spotlight: Never Say You Can't Combine Halloween with Dave Arneson Game Day

October 1st marks two special occasion to this gamer and blogger. One, Halloween is roughly thirty-one days away. Long-time blog readers will note Halloween receives a great deal of notice here. I've also played Dungeons & Dragons for ages. As such, I thank the creators of D&D, and by extension the inspiration for the hobby of table-top role-playing games, for hours of enjoyment. However, the early days of RPGs was very rough-and-tumble and one of the co-creators, Dave Arneson, didn't garner the attention and praise as much as he should. To rectify that, fans such as those at The Comeback Inn have declared October 1st, Dave Arneson's birthday as Dave Arneson Game Day. They have an event page too!


Who is Dave Arneson? Writer James Maliszewski  (his blog Grognardia is linked too within the blog roll to your left) wrote a quick primer on Arneson for Goodman Games (publishers of Dungeon Crawl Classics among other game lines). The Comeback Inn forums reproduces said piece here. Among Arneson's creations was the setting of Blackmoor. That's important for later...


I really wanted start October with a Halloween-related blog entry, while also blogging about Dave Arneson Game Day. A couple problems. First, Dave Arneson Game Day doesn't naturally lend itself to Halloween. Plus, I didn't really do much for it once again other than check out a couple links.


However, among those links was a blog entry from the blog, The Gnomish Embassy, which did in fact combine Halloween and Arneson's setting of Blackmoor. As such, it's time for another installment of Blog Spotlight where a hype another blogger's stuff!


The combination in question is the Horseman of the North! Remember the story Sleepy Hollow and legend of Headless Horseman? Well, the Horseman of the North is that very concept imported into the setting of Blackmoor! Only downside for this D&D player is that the stats are for the game Savage Worlds. While I am familiar with Savage Worlds rules, I am not fluent in them. So I can't speak so much for the stats. However, I do love the story of the Horseman of the North so once I acquaint myself more with Savage Worlds a 5E conversion could be in order. Well, unless the creator converts Horseman of the North first...


Heck, I should probably check out The Gnomish Embassy blog more thoroughly too!


Happy Dave Arneson Game Day!


Halloween is in 31 Days!


Happy Gaming!


Next time.

My 2018 Christmas in July Palladium Surprise Package Arrived!

Last Christmas I hyped the Palladium X-Mas Surprise Package heavily. If you recall, I lamented how I hadn't ordered one in years. I also, ahem, missed out and didn't order a Surprise Package for another Christmas once again...

Every now and then, Palladium will do a Christmas in July Surprise Package. Sporadically. Not an annual event by any means. When I ordered Surprise Packages regularly, they didn't offer autographs for the July special. Autographs are the primary reason I order them.

Well, this year, they offered the Christmas in July Surprise Package - and there were autographs. Honestly, I wasn't going to order. Took advantage of the Drive Thru RPG deal (topic of a later blog - maybe?); but it wasn't until literally the midnight hour I made my decision.

Ordered my first Surprise Package in YEARS.

A handful of days later, I arrive home and there it is. Waiting for me.

Took pictures of course. Including the autographed page. They're a little blurry
...

Palladium Fantasy is my favorite setting. Wouldn't normally order the mouse pad. Hey, look at that! The Old Ones cover mouse pad. Will have to try my new mouse pad out some time!

 The latest book for the setting. Love the 'Ice and Fury' sig!

Plus, I received the longest-held contender for newest Palladium Fantasy title. Didn't get it the last time I ordered. Years ago.

Second most recent issue of the Rifter. Been years since my last Rifter. Don't recall the issue.

A grab bag wouldn't be complete without a couple Rifts books. One detailing the Coaltion States defending Rifts Earth against hordes of the Minion War (Think demons and devils) and a book containing a script for a Rifts movie (and stats).

Not bad for roughly $100 worth of product plus autographs for half the price!

This was blogged via smartphone.

Happy Gaming!

Next time.

Official 5E Rulings By Tweet 2nd installment: Five-in-One

Recently, I started my new blogging "column" Official 5E Rulings by Tweet with three such compiled on a site called Sage Advice. If I included only three such rulings, I'd have to do this twice a week to catch up! With that in mind, here's five different rulings courtesy of Jeremy Crawford's Twitter.


So how do I calculate Way of the Open Hand DCs? - As I've only created a Way of the Shadow monk, it hasn't really dawned on me that the Way of the Open Hand doesn't include a spell DC calculation. I'm so used to the class description including them that the notion the magic section contains the rules doesn't ring any bells. No spellcasting modifier? Oofta! Not sure I would want to play an Open Hand monk in Adventurers League in light of that...


Do you pick before or after regarding Chaos Bolt? - Considering prior editions required the player to pick the die before rolling, the question needs asking. We've always played assuming the pick occurs after in 5E. Good to know, we're on the same wavelength here.


You can ignore a Ready actions trigger - Okay, now this is a big deal. We've argued over whether or not this was the case and it's always caused consternation. In many ways, Readied action triggers had to be crafted like Wishes to avoid unforeseen nasty complications. Whether you lose the action is another matter though...


RAW No leading with a shield bash - Not a fan of this ruling. Can't initiate a combat by bashing with a shield first after engaging the enemy? Kind of takes away from the flavor of the combat. So Shield Master feat users in AL must ask a DM if it's okay to do so. Sigh...


Not all magical darkness is equal - Just because a spell creates darkness does not necessarily render darkvision useless. So read the spell description carefully such as regarding the example of the Shadows of Moil spell.


That's all for this installment.


Happy Gaming!


Next time.

Official D&D 5E Rulings By Tweet: The Inaugural Three

Years ago, one of my fondest message board threads was one in which D&D co-creator Gary Gygax would explains the origin and meaning of various rules of D&D. Flash-forward to today and social media such as Twitter enables the creators of D&D to answer gamers questions like never before. When it comes to general rules questions for the current iteration of the game (5th), Jeremy Crawford is the go to for official rulings. I don't follow his twitter but I do follow a page on Facebook called Sage Advice that collects Tweets involving D&D creators.


Which brings us to the topic of today's entry and the hopeful start of a semi-regular 'column' on this blog "Official D&D 5E Rulings By Tweet". In which I will provide a link to a given official ruling while providing my own two cents. This inaugural edition will only three such.


Can a centaur become a werewolf? - Short answer for those whom don't want to read the 'tweet thread' for is yes for PCs, no for NPCs. DMs will probably enjoy describing the new werewolf?
Players are like "What do you mean the vertically standing wolf-like creature has four legs?!" Can easily predict players confusing their fellow PC as a demon if meta-gaming is curtailed.


It's all in the language... - Don't believe I've ever sat at a table with another PC with the Shield Mastery feat. As such, I've never had cause to consider when during action order a shield bash occurs. On the other hand, two-weapon fighting is quite common! Reading this ruling, it's good to know proper order matters regarding shield bash but not two-weapon fighting.


Read the chart... - While some rulings are needed as the rules are nuanced, others can be surmised as 'read the book' as the answer to this particular question as whether hand axes and spears can be used in a rogue's sneak attack. Suppose Crawford could have provided a yes or no answer but still sometimes you just have to read the book! Hmm, so can they used? *Cough* *cough* Should take Crawford's advice... Answer: No and no as neither counts as either ranged or finesse.


There you have it. My first installment of Official D&D 5E Rulings by Tweet!


Happy Gaming!


Next time.

Robotech RPG Tactics Unboxing Part Two: Unboxing Snapshots

Friday, I blogged about receiving my copy of the now-defunct Robotech RPG Tactics from Palladium Books and my liberation of the box from the parcel from which it arrived in. At the time, I wasn't sure when I'd blog the snapshots of the unboxing.

For posterity sake and so folks could see what the inside of pristine box looks like.

Saturday night I could resist no longer.

The inner box has artwork!

The rulebook both front and back including a base for something I have no clue yet.

What the box looked like when I opened the box. They weren't kidding about assembly needed!

The RDF 

Zentraedi

Other odds and ends.

Must confess I have no clue when I will assemble the figures. Ever.

My hobby as a modeler ended once I moved from snap on models to those requiring glue. Any models I helped create either required assistance or looked off.

However, never say never. Perhaps one day they'll be assembled! Probably not this year though...

Does this rule out my playing a game of Robotech RPG Tactics (RRT)? Not quite. I can use the bases provided as stand ins like when uses dice and other objects instead of minis while playing a table-top role-playing game. Furthermore, I am unlikely to acquire any of Wave One not included within the set nor the never released Wave Two. Yet I can play with those factions.

How so? Well, Palladium released the stats for the Wave Two mecha along paper minis for free. Before Palladium pulled them from Drive Thru RPG, I "ordered" the freebies. While I haven't downloaded any of the faction cards and paper minis from Drive Thru yet, past experience with expired license products is that purchases remain available to you. Fingers crossed, that'll hold true as well once I check...

So yes, one day, I will play a game of RRT whether it be with paper minis or with imagined mecha. You can understand why  if the latter why no pics will be provided in any future blog entries...

Thus ends my unboxing (via snapshots) of Robotech RPG Tactics!

Happy Gaming!

Next time.