I won these in some auction... I painted them to add to my existing unit. Though the picture doesn't show it, they are all the same colors.
The banner, tho nice it VERY top-heavy and requires heavy loading the base to keep the model standing. I'm not sure I like the model for that reason.
JP
I seems so long ago now that I painted two of these ladies! And now in a somewhat random ebay lot, I won another Kaya. I posted the Argus and Warpwolf that came with her in a previous post back in April.
One interesting part is that I seem to get my hands on a Kaya every April-ish for the past three years! I posted the first one in April of 2012, then Epic Kaya in April of 2013. And I now post a "new" one that I won in April of 2014, but that I only finished painting in August...
Now for this Kaya, I went with a caucasian skin tone whereas the other ones had a darker tone. The blue on the "armor" I don't really like, but I painted for the Boy and he wanted blue. Still, it works and goes with the other 3 models in this starter set.
I chose to add a tiger-like pattern to the cloak as a cats-and-dogs reference. Kaya is not a cat girl: she's all about the puppies!
JP
Also from the CinciCon Mega-lot comes another warlock for Skorne.
This miniature I really liked for a long time. She looks like a samurai and thus could be used for L5R events or even in Pathfinder. Though I keep hoping against hope that I might get to play a game of Kaidan. (*wink* *wink* to Jon-McA)
JP
I will be a guest at the Imaginarium Con here in Louisville. This convention will run from September 19 through the 21st.
This is the first "writer-specific event" I will be attending, as a guest or a participant. As I look at the program, and connect with some of the author writers, I find myself more and more excited by this event. The Fanboy in me sees a lot of names I would like to meet in person. The writer in me sees a chance to learn and expand my craft.
Just like I credit the vast improvement in my GMing skills to 2e's "Campaign Sourcebook and Catacomb Guide" which included a number of tips and tricks, many of them really entertaining and writing in a way that made sense to me. I spent a lot of time reading that book
As such I will be participating in a number of panels with other veteran GMs and gamers. The first such panel I did at Denver Comic Con in 2013. I really hope attendees will leave having learned something, but also feeling like they've been entertained and that they had a good time. That's really what I personally wish during the panels I will attend myself.
There is a lot of variety in there: from romance to horror, from sci-fi to comic writing and even a few video story boarding. If you are in the Louisville area, I invite you to attend this first-time event.
Friday 6 PM Epic Adventure Awaits Gamers and Game Writers discuss world building and storytelling for players’ ultimate enjoyment of gaming campaigns.
Saturday 3 PM The Art of Improv Your players go left. It says so right here in the supplement. Why didn’t they go left? Why did they torture the NPC, sneak into the castle, and suspect the princess as a double agent? And what are you going to do about it? Come learn tips and tricks from award winning author John Arcadian.
Sunday 10 AM The GM’s Guide to a Perfect Campaign Veteran GMs and gaming professionals come together with their tips and tricks for building an interesting, engaging, and fun campaign for players of any age or experience level.
Sunday 3 PM RPG 101 Hosted by gamers and game masters, take our crash course on running a role-playing game. Whether you’re the GM or just a player.
Comment if you plan to attend or if you have any questions.
JP
This year’s Gencon yielded a number of lessons about the convention and its attendees. These are personal lessons.
Bringing food = good I brought myself enough food (bread, salami & Swiss cheese) to last me, two meals a day from Thursday to Saturday. This allowed me to lower my food costs significantly. I only had to eat at the overpriced burger place once. Good call, JP!
Attendees are mostly noobs By that, I mean new to NeoExodus or Legacies. Next year, I will only offer 2 adventures: one new and perhaps a special. Both should be definitely intro-level games. This has two benefits: first, I don’t have to blast events and rush them to production. I barely finished the special this year. I would rather leave myself more time to finish and play-test my adventures. With Origins just around the corner… 4 adventures during the summer is quite enough. Since people are exploring and discovering new campaign settings and new games, I would rather put forth elements that really rock and that will get them to love what we do.
Joining forces with the PCI organized play Was definitely a good idea. I was able to have a stable location for my banner. People got to see what I was doing. Plus, I wasn’t alone or in direct competition with them. I hope they will have me again next year with my little table in the corner.
Write something for another game As a change of pace, perhaps try to offer something for WitchHunter or another game system (White Star? Serial Pulp? Who knows!)
Keep an open mind not unique to Gencon, but through this, I got to meet and enjoy a game with the lads of the Fellowship of the White Star, just like previous cons had me meet the Rokugan folk. Always good advice. This also includes talking to GMs waiting for people. Without fail this will result in a very excited GM wanting to show you all the goodies.
I am so lucky to know so many great people!One such GM was JM-D (shout-out to Petries’ in Colorado Springs!) with whom I got to spend a too short period of time on Saturday. He was running 13th Age events, effectively next door and we crossed path by chance in the corridor. Always a delight! But also, Gar (from Ireland), Chris (from the Denver Savages), players like Dallas, Kirk and Orion. The PCI folk: James, Eric, and Henry. The Arcaniacs: Lindsay, Josh and Clint, but also those who played with me: Jay, John and all the other brave souls! And how can I forget Chad and Holly who turned me from a disappointed fatty to a jolly fat man on Sunday!
Haters will hate A strange thing happened during Friday. I was getting ready to welcome my players when I saw two ladies looking at the illustration of Widowmaker Scarlet. The disdain on their face was worth a lot. I just had to see what they were thinking. The two of them were bitching (there is no other to use here) about how she was not “anatomically correct” and that there would be no way for her to pee.
…
…
…
Wait, what!?
Yes, they argued that “no real woman would ever wear that and that it was not anatomically correct”. I told them that “it” was not a man nor a woman, but an aberration and something very evil, taking as proof the Klingon-like salad forehead and the metal spike coming out of her shoulders.
But they kept at it. It was at that moment that I preferred to let them to their hate. Neither were playing, and I don’t think either would play. So I bid them a good day and returned into the room to address my eager players. When I next turned around a few minutes later, they were gone.
Haters gonna hate.
The Kids? I really wonder if/when I will be able to bring my kids to the con! Denver was a super environment for families. Gencon is a little too big for that. Still I would hope to see them come sooner rather than later.
JP
Part of the Cryx mega-lot included a few odds and ends, including this Skorne Warlock. He is a really cool figure, one I will definitely use in NeoExodus as a Khaynite warlord.
I am particularly happy with how the face came out. He looks very evil. Love him!
Sunday saw me up & ready on-time. I was excited to get to see my friend Chad and his wife Holly as my players. However, nine am came. Chad was running a little late (remember the lines at Starbucks?)
Then 9:10.
Then 9:20.
At that time, I decided to call it. Instead, we would go shopping. Hitting the dealer’s room and find ourselves some goodies. I remember texting to my wife that any and all time spent in there would count for “shopping time”. Which like many men, I strongly dislike, but my wife loves very much.
So, we hit the dealers. I won’t bore you with all the details, but I will focus on a few points of interest.
Along the way, I did a quick stop at Chaosium’s booth to look at the few monographs I wrote for. It is always a thrill and a feel of self-satisfaction – as well as getting my girlish giggles – to see physical books rather than PDFs.
Anyways, I love Chaosium, don’t you know by now?
We started at the northeast corner, at the Paizo booth. I had nothing I wanted myself (I’m not too keen on the Advanced class guide or its content myself). The blue shirts were all very nice and friendly. A special shout-out to Adam Daigle (who some will remember, I cursed with a chicken on his head back in 2010), who took time to shake my hand and say hello. Love the man.
I saw someone I’ve been meaning to talk to for a very long time, Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan (who I know simply as “Gar”). I first met Gar when I was in Ireland. It was nice to hear his accent again. We talked briefly about the gaming scene in Ireland (same people are still around, just fatter – his words, not mine!) I will be talking to him again in the near future. Stay tuned folks!
Next, as we fluttered from booth to both, I threw money at the Catalyst folks to buy their turn-based Shadowrun game. You heard me right: turn based. BLESSED BE! I could not throw my cash fast enough. Had it been RTS, I would’ve said “neat” and kept on walking. I will be downloading my copy shortly… Can’t wait! And it was pretty cheap: 35$. That’s not bad, not bad at all!
With that in my bag, we roamed further looking at goodies and exploring some more.
Next big stop for me was the Privateer Press booth where I was amazed by the life size Man-o-war. I also completed my collection of Gencon exclusives by adding last year’s Confluence Keg Protector and this year’s Blighted Bather… Both of which will appear later on this blog.
Another great thing about them: I bought two medium-sized minis. I asked the guy for a bag and I was rewarded by a HUGE back pack with Privateer Press’ covers of Hordes and Warmachine. Just awesome! I will be serving as a publicity board for the foreseeable future…
We stopped and chatted with Jeremy Smith, the man behind Dreamscarred Press and Ultimate Psionics. It was great to chat with him about it, and talk face-to-face. Expect more work between FOE and DSP in the future for sure!
A quick stop to say hi to Henry, Eric and the PCI gang (who were right next booth). As always a bunch of great guys! Made even better by Henry’ promise to send me a check! I mean that’s always a good thing, isn’t it?
Then I hit the Palladium booth. I’ve always been a fan, but their system shows that it is 35 years old. I would play in their settings, but would prefer a lighter system such as Savage Worlds or even some type of home brew. I looked at their stuff seriously wanting to buy, but I could not find myself reaching for the wallet. Even the Robotech Miniature game could not get me to fork it. Though cool, it would be another game I’d be the only one playing and… well I don’t want to have to recruit players for ANOTHER game system…
I then re-joined Chad and Holly and Zach from our Monday game and we talked briefly before Zach gave us a demo of his Zpocalypse game. I’m not a board game guy. I will play on occasion, but it’s just not my thing. Zach taught us how to play and how to fight the hordes of the undead. The game is pretty interesting, with just enough plot twists to simulate but not become a wargame. Our brave band of survivors barely managed to fight off a massive horde of zombies. There were many casualties, but we all managed to make it through two days of killing Zs.
With the game over, it was time to head on home.
I drifted through the halls a little to see "the pussy" aka Drizzt, a character I never liked and who actually turned me off D&D literature long long ago. Like a lot of things, I think he's been too exposed, and just had too many implausible adventures for my own tastes. Plus as I tweeted at the time: the man who single handedly made us think drow were cute and fuzzy. Turned them from hot bikini-clad elven chicks to some angst-filled bitches fighting over unimportant things.
Gencon was over and it was time to return to my drab and boring job. The kids were ecstatic as I entered the house.
Definitely a case of “See you next year, Gencon!”
JP
Friday came too quickly. I was up at my usual Seven, showered and headed out to the games room. No coffee (the line was too long).
Today would be different. I would run only the two regular adventures and be free to play an Arcanis premiere in the evening.
The first game had the Barron family as my players. Great people. We had a lot of fun. Again Dousing Fire With Blood in the morning. I certainly hope to see them again, and with any luck run some NeoExodus for them. IIRC they are local to Indianapolis.
Between slots, I spotted Dallas-D and Chris-F from Denver. We talked briefly as both were running between games. Still, it was great to see them and catch up, albeit too quickly.
The next group came to play As if it could get any better were a group of players who had barely played Pathfinder. I spent a lot of time teaching the game and provided them with helpful hints. Though they were sharp and although not versed in Pathfinder, they got the tactics and did very well. Again, more surprises from the players regarding their decisions.
The game ended rather quickly, allowing me the rare privilege of being able to visit the dealer’s hall. I walked through about 1/4th of it before running back towards the game room.
Tonight featured an Arcanis premiere. I have to say was well thought out and expansive. Very political, ideal for my character, the Patrician Kermina val’Borda (who puts the “val” in “Valley Girl”), who had a lovely time ditzing her way through the adventure and arranging marriages and secret love affairs.
Our poor GM Lindsay also began to draw upon the accent before slapping herself back to reality. It was really, really, funny.
Late, late, late, did this great game went. But, as good zombies, we made our way back to the room, to begin again the next morning.
Saturday morning came: coffee at the hotel (which was the same as Starbucks but cheaper and without the line). Then back to the room. I dropped by to say hi to the White Star folk.
Saturday was my playing day. I kept myself open to play all day. I was to do two WitchHunter and another Arcanis premiere.
I was so excited – as usual.
For the first game of WitchHunter and the first of the second campaign year, the campaign moved from mysterious England to the more urban sites of Paris. Not today’s Paris with its large boulevard, but the Paris of the 17th century, with its narrow streets and back alleys. It really is a place where, in my mind, the setting of WitchHunter can really shine. Though the adventure could’ve used a little more hands-on knowledge of the city by the GM (I won’t fault him for that, I blame my fanboy-ism), the adventure was really good and it was really fun: having John-B’s werewolf and Jay’s lumberjack with the inimitable Sister Marie.
Next table was the finale of the first story arc. The finale was epic and fun, but unfortunately, I was the only one who had played any previous part of it. I still had some fun (the self-flagellating Sister Marie is a blast to play), and I even managed to end the adventure with an 8-foot cross on my back.
The evening is where things went awry. I had been thinking of changing my ticket from Arcanis to participate in the battle interactive for Heroes of Rokugan. However, my previous table ran close to the limit and many excuses later, I was seated to play the Arcanis game that my ticket indicated.
I ordered food at the overpriced restaurant below and got ready to play. This time with some Denverites I had not seen in almost a year now. It would be a great game. Then we’re handed the mod info.
”I’ve already played this!” I could not help but exclaim. Dejected, I left the table – there would be seven players anyway and tables of seven...
Well they suck.
So I decided to head to the Rokugan event. It was halfway across Gencon, a mile or so away. I was nearly there when I remembered the overpriced food. So I turned back (I had only eaten a cheese sandwich all day).
Time for plan C.
I walked to the guys at the Fellowship of the White Star who welcomed me with open arms and a generic! I played “Rusty O’Neill”, a drinking, smoking, Irish stereotype who wants to open a brewery... Long story short, I managed to coup de grace the bad guy. So my honor was saved!
Then back to the room for sleep.
Ahead, all I had was a sold-out table of the special in the morning.
JP
Four AM.
My body refused to acknowledge the buzzing in my ears, but I threw myself out of bed before fumbling with the display. Finally, it stopped. I was no longer asleep. I wasn’t exactly awake either. I packed my meds and stumbled to the garage where I packed the car with the many things I placed there ready for loading.
Food, miniatures, adventures, NeoExodus sign, character sheets, directions and a yawning French Canadian were all loaded into the car.
The day before, my local Venture Captain, Chad-N forgot some minis for one of the PFS special. He asked me to retrieve minis at his house. I was a little wary, as I had never been to his place. But Mapquest and a little help from my phone got me there without issue (I was at the right place, but thought I was not).
Chad’s minis thrown atop the rest in the civic, and I was on my way to GENCON!
I prepared a couple of CDs that would form my travelling playlist. This playlist would play as I travelled to and from Indy.
- Marillion Made Again (live), Disk 1
- Rush Exit, Stage Left
- U2 Best Of, 1977-87
- Yes Classics
I arrived in Indianapolis without issue, though I worried as I hit a heavy patch of traffic for the last 10 miles on the I-65. This delayed me even further, but not really in the end.
Parking my car was an experience but I found a place I could leave the civic: right by the door of the Courtyard (where I slept) with easy access to the JW Marriott (where I gamed).
I then headed to my game room, stopping by the long line of the Starbucks, for my morning brown-juice. At that time, I also handed Chad his minis and he was quite glad to have them. My good deed done, coffee clearing my brain, I was ready to start.
It was 8 o’clock.
I would later realize that my slot was scheduled for a 9am start. I was worried when I got an extra hour. Not sure if I could have translated into an hour of extra sleep, but still. Better to be on time and ready to rock and roll than late.
After Origins, I was quite worried about attendance. Even if the sales system showed a good number of tickets, I was still worried about people showing up. I had less than six tickets for sale Wednesday evening, which I was very encouraged. Still I felt that nervous energy I always feel before cons, which I draw upon to give my players a great time.
I took this opportunity to chat with Bruce and Victor from the Fellowship of the White Star, a 3.5 OGL "modern" organized play campaign. Their campaign is set around 1910, and has been running for many year now. We exchanged ideas and how their campaign operated. I was intrigued and interested for sure. I promised him that should something happened to my schedule that I would try and give it a go. Throughout the con the Fellowship guys were just across the hall from me and I would occasionally drop by and chat.
Finally my players showed up and we were off. Dousing Fire With Blood, the adventure I had for the morning slot is really a great intro to the Legacies campaign – more so than to NeoExodus itself. I was extremely worried about this one before it was play-tested. Seriously, it embodies most of what I want people to know and love about the campaign.
The players, most of whom were new to Pathfinder and NeoExodus, gave me a lot of great feedback. I was on the right track. Funny how players are creative in a way I never would suspect at times I’d never assume they would be creative! That’s the fun of a campaign like Legacies where players can come up with creative solutions.
Next game a full group to play As if it could get any better. This adventure is definitely more in-line with some of our current story lines. I was very surprised by the choices of the players in that one. I wonder what players who are not new to the campaign will do when confronted with the situation.
Evening brought the special, Best Served Cold, and more new players. Again thrust into the heart of NeoExodus politics, they navigated through a complex sea of events.
Midnight brought an end to my Thursday, and just like that, my first day of GMing at Gencon had come to a close.
The result was quite positive. All the tables had gone off. A few no-shows (about 1/table). Smiles and players leaving having felt challenged and with an understanding for the campaign.
I tried to talk with Clint and Lindsay, but I was beat. I snored myself to sleep.
That’s it for now!
JP
This year's tale of Gencon started WAY before I ever set foot in Indianapolis. Indeed, this story begins around the start of the year, when the Gencon submissions came about. At that time, it all seemed so far away. It seemed like there were still long moments to work and complete the three adventures I committed to writing.
It was a time of excitement and wonder when I could roam wild and free, wondering about all the cool things I could do, when I put down some outlines with things like “fight with un-mounted Janus Hordesmen”, “creature an NPC that does [this]”, or “add a new creature”.
It was truly a time of innocence and happiness.
Then Origins flew right by me, like storm clouds upon a summer’s day. Suddenly, I could count the time between Gencon and myself not I months, but in weeks, and sooner days! These dark times were compounded by my day job’s schedule that left me emotionally drained when I got home.
Try as I might, all I could do was poke around my drafts, changing bits and bob, but never rarely going anywhere with them. I knew WHAT I wanted to do, the words just didn’t flow. My C-Sharp (that’s a programming language) – infected mind could only figure out data structures, parameter validation, and unit test methods.
Finally, about two weeks from Gencon, I decided I had to finish what I started. So I bucked up, stopped crying over the lost innocence that made the days before Origins seemed like paradise lost.
Yup, I kicked myself in the butt and started writing. Now I’ll admit that I still have far to go: patron notes, a rewrite of a better idea hit me as I was nearly done with one of the adventure, a special that kept growing and growing with all the elements I wanted to add to it, and time growing ever shorter.
With the deadline looming, I stupidly – like most gamers – opted to join a couple of online games to clear my mind before Gencon. Indeed, more gaming! Thus, I played on Saturday, Monday, Tuesday AND Wednesday night before Gencon. Good games, too!
My son, upon seeing my luggage ready to go, burst into tears. Not the crocodile ones, the full-on "Daddy is never coming back" type of tears, the waterworks going on full blast. The girls were more calm about it, telling him "Don't worry, he's only gone for a few days."
My last Arcanis game, I dropped out of at 12:30AM and went to bed. Less than four hours before I had to leave.
To be continued tomorrow!
JP
From the CinciCon Cryx Mega-lot... Banethralls! I tried a few new techniques on them.
JP
From the mega crix lot from Cincycon! This Slayer is a nice-looking model. I tried a number of effects on this guy to make his appear very rusty. The final look is rather drab, perfect to hide and the ambush tactics we hear Cryx army do. The result is pretty cool.
JP
There are many blogs that have posted list such as this and I'm pretty sure a lot of the points herein have appeared elsewhere.
Quite frankly, this blog has made me into a more interesting and varied gamer. I don't mean that I branched out and started playing more and new, different games, or games I dislike. Even though in the five years since this blog was started I have played a variety of new games, which I enjoyed, and enjoyed a lot less. It just made me form my opinions in a clearer way. As a writer, this perspective is awesome.
There is no doubt that getting into a routine helps a prospective writer. A lot. I generally try to work on a number of things at once, moving everything forward piece by piece. This helps me avoid writer's block as I can switch from one project to the next. Sometimes an idea for one project does not pan out and inspiration fails. Always working a little helps you get there.
Many people from previous centuries left copious correspondence and exchange, so we can get their thoughts on things. This blog, in many ways is a similar exchange I have with you. A blog post or a gaming product need some "meat", something to ponder, to make it special. This self-imposed constraint means I must have something to say and elaborate.
So, I provide posts that are relevant, interesting, and thought-provoking. As I write a post I challenge myself first, then my readers to ponder or think about something. This force-you-to-think approach has transpired into other aspects of my life as well. Seriously. I tend to be a lot more introspective at work.
No, the Sunday Funnies are not thought-provoking posts. They are Funnies.
Continuing the previous point. It's not just to think, but to try and see the other side of things as a way to prove or disprove my point. More than one post did not see the light of day simply because I could not find any alternate perspective. I was effectively working from the conclusion and proving my own points without any serious or valid counter-argument. In so many words, my natural tendency to play devil's advocate has only been acerbated. Now I formulate, in full sentences, how things are not to my liking.
Without counter-point, then you are just loving the smell of your own navel. It accomplished nothing.
Every good writer and blogger will tell you that they read more and more. That is so true. I have been looking into a number of other blogs for things as varied as terrain-building to stat-block formatting to GMing advice to product reviews.
Blogging, like writing requires a lot of input for a limited output. Nothing new is ever created, old ideas are just re-hashed... So very true. And coming up with NEW ideas is very hard. However, using a blended approach - something LPJ is very good at - can lead to interesting things. "What if I mix a turtle with a dragon?" or "What if I mixed a shark and a tornado?"
You get the idea. Reading and finding ways NOT to do something is also valid. "I would like to have a Game of Thrones, but without any humans replacing them with Dwarves." or "What if the Greyhawk City of my world was populated by evil humanoids?" To be able to do that, you need to read and know about similar things to take them down another path.
Like every muscle, writing all the time, in different formats has helped me become a better writer. My style evolves and changes, and the more I work at it, the easier it becomes.
This blog allows me to write in a different style, one that is more editorial than the style I use when writing adventures or game products.
JP
In a previous post (read my rant-astic prose), I ranted about my dislike for the carpet-sweeping crap-tacular rewards offered for an 8-hour game: 100xp and some minor stuff (a one-time boon to save your butt and lots of money, which serves little purpose in that campaign).
Well, I was not the only one who complained.
Many of us complained, spinning a massive thread on the PCI forums. The situation spiraled, but managed to remain civil and with an overall aim towards constructive results.
To their credit, the PCI campaign staff responded quickly, first on the forums to say they would "do something about it" and then through concrete actions. The other day, I received a new reward cert: the XP was upped to 500, and the rest of the rewards staying as is.
In as few words as possible: Well done and thank you, PCI. That was a nice move!
In addition to giving reward more in-line with what we the players expected, they provided a rationale for why they want to lower the XP given by adventures. Their explanation, one I do not agree with completely but can understand, actually drew in players.
Masterful stroke indeed! You got us to agree to sign up for less rewards in the future.
JP
You all knew it was coming... You waited for! With this week's release of the already cult-classic Sharknado 2 by the Syfy Channel.
I have been chuckling all week at the sheer ridiculousness of the idea. But from chuckling to laughing, sprung a strange idea... Why not have the sharknado as a mob? The mob did everything the sharknado did. All I needed was to add a fly speed to it. And voila!
Here is your sharknado...
Sharknado CR 6
N Gargantuan animal (aquatic, mob)
Init +5; Senses blindsense 30 ft., keen scent; Perception +8
Defense
AC 11, touch 7, flat-footed 10 (+1 Dex, +4 natural, –4 size)
hp 110 (4d8+4); Damage cap 11
Fort +7, Ref +5, Will +2
Defensive abilities mob traits
Offense
Speed Speed swim 60 ft.; fly 40ft.
Melee swarm (2d6)
Space 20 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Statistics
Str 17, Dex 12, Con 13, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 2
Base Atk +3; CMB +13; CMD 24
Feats Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative
Skills Perception +8, Swim +11
Special Abilities
Keen Scent (Ex) A shark can notice creatures by scent in a 180-foot radius underwater and can detect blood in the water at ranges of up to a mile.
