[30 Days of DND] Day 9: Favorite Character you haven't played

This one is harder... Character concepts that I like, I usually end up making. I guess a gruff non-dwarf based on Paul Teutel Sr from Orange County Chopper might be the one concept I haven't played. I am worried it might get old fast.

JP

[30 Days of DnD] Day 8: Favorite Character you played

I have had a number of characters I really loved to play: from the womanizing Mousset (see his wanted poster), to the heroic Sir Azrel (see his sponsorship), even my Warhammer FRP character (read his epic finale), or the young scholarly witch, Katja Alterborg (which I played in both the Reign of Winter AP AND in PFS).

All come into consideration... So many choices...

If I had one choice, I would most likely select Werner (von Breslau-Giersbergen), the metro-sexual priest of Sigmar. He had so many awesome quirks and (mis)adventures because of those quirks, that he was a blast to play, regardless of his skill and abilities. He ended up rather formidable in the end, being the sole survivor of a fight with a god-like thing.

Mario's ability to integrate each players' subplot into a greater whole really made this game and the characters within memorable. I have a number of posts on that campaign and the character: See the Warhammer FRP posts.

Shout-out to Mario, Sarah, and Mike-M who made that campaign awesome.

JP

More Art from Irene

Art is rolling in! Here are the sketches for Awelara, Kraan and Korb. I like the sexy-but-not-slutty Awelara, Kraan's scruffy clothing and Korb's staff and look. He looks mad...

JP

Commissions: Three Adventurers

Here are three adventurers I painted I will be giving up for charity auction. All of these came from the Reaper Bones II set. The details are really not as crisp as the metal ones.

The first one is from the Pathfinder set. He is a somewhat generic adventurer.

This second model I converted in a few ways. The original model is one of the bugbears. I did a headswap with a beastman. Then I altered the horns. The result is another anuka warrior. That one will go into my Tyrants of Saggakar minis box.

This third mini is a barbarian. I keep thinking this dude will end up as one of the wizards for Frostgrave.

JP

[30 Days of DnD] Day 7: Favorite Edition

Hummm... I consider 1e and 2e to be the same and stopped playing that for 10+ years because I found them inflexible and limited compared to other games out there.

I have been playing 3e since January of '03. And have been enjoying it very much. Although not as free as other games, it did address a number of issues I had with 1e and 2e.

I disliked 4e almost from day one. Let's leave it at that.

My personal jury is still out on 5e... (I'm not over excited by it.)

So 3e/3.5/Pathfinder is definitely my favorite! With Pathfinder really taking the cake. I'm sure there are people completely floored and surprised.

Finally an easy and obvious question!

JP

[Frostgrave] First forays into the frozen city

For months now, I have been reading about Frostgrave. Battle reports, adventure, warband building, and reviews. All of them were positive OR the few that weren't had issues with thing I didn't really care about (too small, scope too limited).

For those who do not know what Frostgrave is, it is a Mordheim-like fantasy skirmish game where every player takes on the role of a wizard (and there are 8-10 types of wizards) that travels to the ruins of the city of Frostgrave to loot its secrets and treasures. Pretty simple premise, right?

I had the kids play the roles of one wizard each. To keep it simple, we did not use any magic. I wanted to get familiar with the basic rules of the game first. I built two warbands using a little variety based on model. They had thugs, knights, man-at-arms. Kitty's band was mostly composed of girls and ActionMan's band was all boys.

I used some of my terrain - trees and tents. As a base for the whole thing. It was simple, but I did not need anything more. And frankly, it looked pretty good as a battle site: a few narrow funnels created by the tents and the trees.

So we had Kitty the Fire Wizardess vs ActionMan the Primed! Their forces were (I go from memory here):

ActionMan's Warband: Wizard, Apprentice, 2x knights, 1x man-at-arms, 2x thugs 1x warhound

Kitty's Warband: Wizard, Apprentice (with sword), 1x knights, 1x man-at-arms, 1x infantry man, 2x thugs, 1x thief

JP's Warband: I played the GM and the monsters. Next time around I will have a warband of my own.

The Clash: Turn 1

Kitty placed her models in a rather haphazard way, seeking to visit the board while ActionMan bunched his guys with the clear intent of going to take as much treasure as he could.

The Clash: Turn 1

http://chapleau.us/Img/151004.Frostgrave.Turn.2.2.jpg

Both forces move forward. ActionMan grabs two treasures and one of them reveals two skeletons! Kitty's moves are still quite random.

The Clash: Turn 3

Kitty grabs a treasure and then a big melee brawl featuring many knights arise in the center of the board. This fight would last until the end of the game with the flow going from one side to the other.

The Clash: Turn 4+

In subsequent turns, a giant rat appeared and got quickly squished by one of ActionMan's thugs.

The Result

My wife called it around the 6th or 7th turn. By then the game had devolved into a number of ineffectual melees. ActionMan took four treasures to Kitty's two. There was only one casualty: Kitty's infantry man died.

ActionMan REALLY loved the game and he asked that we keep the warbands for another game. Kitty seemed to enjoy herself also. Jojo was really annoyed that she had to go to bed before the others... Especially since she refused to play...

What I did wrong

   - Double move After a few turns I remembered the double-move rule. By then I decided to just let the kids play on as we had before.

   - Shooting rolls That one I COMPLETELY bungled. From what I can see, shooting is rather useless in this game. I wonder why one would bother using them. I will have to try it again.

   - Spells Quite simply, we did not use any spells in the game. This will be for next game.

   - Weapon Damage Once the game started, I completely forgot that some weapons had different damage, particularly the thugs with two handed weapons and staffs. Not a biggy as we were trying out the rules. This could be one of the reasons our combats went on and on without any damage.

What I really liked

   - Quick flow The game flows very quickly, having both players constantly engaged in doing something. The phases are clear and flow well. I like the way the phases are separated, encouraging small retinue-style action.

   - Random Encounters This was one of the elements of the game I was most warry of. At some random time, monsters may appear, adding chaos to the game. They do indeed add a layer of surprise. Now you can't be sure that your flank is fully secure when surprise a group of skeletons appear in your rear.

   - Treasures I remembered playing Mordheim and Necromunda. Gathering treasure and loot was secondary to killing the enemy. You got WAY more per kill than for loot. Well Frostgrave is the opposite. You want to move in get some stuff and run out before you get yourself killed. It gave me some opportunities to use some of the misc terrain I had.

   - Use any model This will sound a little petty perhaps, but something I thought was really cool. I used a variety of models: bugbears as thugs. However, I could image a more themed warband with dwarves or elves. Which makes me think of a Saggakar plugin for Frostgrave... Fun...

What I would've like to have

   - I would've loved a cheat-sheet with the basic game math. As it stands a lot of the very important stuff is "stuck" in paragraphs and does not appears as a simple and clear mathematical operations. I'm sure there is such a thing on the internet and I will search for it before our next game. Tonight?

JP

[30 Days of DnD]Day 6: Favorite Deity

This question is one that holds particular interest for me. I am personally interested in religion, but not "just" the theological implications of religion, but also the sociological, philosophical, and political ramifications of it. So when answering this question, I have to ponder such concerns.

From Saggakar, I am extremely partial to the Dark Gods of the First Ones. I love the progression they have and how they mimic life. From youth and rebellion (The Zeal), to middle age and conquest (The Warrior), to older age and dominion (The Law). These "deities", make sense to me as guides and mimicking worshipers' way of life. They provide a path of life, set goals, form political lines and create natural alliances among worshipers. Yet they are not "true" deities, instead being deification of the First Ones themselves.

See... that philosophy reference?

From other pantheon, I will admit to liking the Greco-Roman Hermes/ Mercury. As the god of travel, commerce, and messenger of the gods. I think he has a portfolio that is really cool. Not only that, but through the addition of local attributes, he was associated with a number of gods throughout the ancient world: such as Anubis in Egypt and Lugh in Celtic lands.

Not to mention that, as messenger of the gods, he is associated with Nyarlathotep...

JP

[Cryx Monday] or [Merc Monday] Here are (more) Cephalyx

Here are the rest of the Cephalyx. Featuring the mind slaver and rest of the drudges. I don't have much to say about them really...

JP

[30 Days of DnD] Day 5: Favorite Dice Set/ Individual Die

My favorite dice set is very easy: It's my "Imperial Simpsons" dice set. It is purple and gold with a "DOHP" instead of the '1' on every dice. I make a point of reading the dice every time it comes up.

This set comes with a story... (of course!) Back in 2007, my good friend Homer, his nephew Ryan and I (shout-out to the two of you!) took a trip to attend MountainCon in Salt Lake City. A ten hour drive in the civic. Ah well. Fun times. We bonded a lot during that trip. We played mod after mod of Nyrondese goodness. It was a fun trip overall, now drowned in my half-asleep brain.

The toughest questions is which is my favorite individual die. I do like my Paizo D20 because it is pretty big and I can shout "PAIZO!!!" every time I get a 20 (which is usually on something useless like initiative)...

[30 Days of DnD] Day 4: Favorite Game World

Tyrants of Saggakar (obviously), as it is my own baby: it includes a lot of themes close to my heart in general: the shades of grey, the goal-driven politics, the need-driven policies, and the freedom to rise above the easy and obvious path. The ability to choose is really at the heart of my enthusiasm for it.

If I have to answer a setting created by someone else, I would lean towards Dark Sun or Dragonlance... Hummm not an easy one. I would have to say Dark Sun. Unlike Saggakar, the villains in charge of Dark Sun are CLEARLY overpowered and most do not mingle directly with their population. That they are dragon-kings helps.

Plus, the environment in Dark Sun is merciless, making everything more interesting. Having been to a desert long after I played Dark Sun, I now have a new and better understanding of the harshness of Dark Sun. Scary.

JP

[30 Days of DnD] Day 3: Favorite Playable Class

This is another easy one: cleric. I have always been interested in religion and philosophy. I seriously considered becoming a priest when I was an early-teen. But then I discovered boobs... Oh yeah!

I love clerics because they make everyone else look so much better doing what they do. Plus the idea of being dedicated to philosophy and religion... Its a winner!

As I wrote Tyrants of Saggakar, religions were one of the most fun elements. Not only does religion serve as a representation of an idealized version of society. The underlying common link between man and the gods is one that is very important, even if the gods are somehow gone or distant. I personally prefer to use the gods as distant powers rather than constantly involved in the affairs of man.

Ah... philosophy, theogony, and cosmology... See I told you it was my favorite class.

For similar reason, paladin comes close second.

JP

Edit: Art by Pat Lobyoko and Copyright Paradigm Concept Inc.

[30 Days of DnD] Day 2: Favorite Playable Race

That's a toughies... I am very partial to the races I created for Saggakar: I love their flavor and the fact that they depart from the 'usual' Tolkien tropes.

If I had to give just one, or one of the core races, I would go with human.

Although they are not overly snazzy, they are a good reference point for what other races are good/not good at. I really good average character everywhere.

JP

More art: The Kyneans

I was really happy when I finally got the final version of the Kyneans the one race I hadn't been able to find a good image. I had a good idea of what I wanted them to look like, and I knew I would have to get a commission for them.

Almost on a fluke, I saw that Peter Saga (@PeterSaga1 was offering his services for commissions. I looked at his stuff and liked his clean, classic style. I liked how a number of his illustrations depicted aliens and that fit into what I wanted.

I reached out to him about getting and we agreed he'd do some work for me. I sent him some research into what I wanted. Then I anxiously waited.

After a few weeks, it seemed he did not understand what I needed. A little frustrating I will admit, but we kept the conversation going as I (tried to) explained. We kept Facebook-chatting on a regular basis and as we did so, he got inspired by the idea of the kyneans. He got what I wanted from these guys and more of who they were.

Inspiration is the key word here because the illustrations arrived so fast my head was spinning! I love how they look square, almost statuesque and fit their "unusual body type" attribute.

I wanted them to have a look that was very angular with clothing inspired by ancient Asia, in the style of kung fu classics.. I wanted them to look as though cut out of crystal (the source of the miscommunication). I really like the final result Peter gave them. They have just the look I wanted for them.

JP

[30 Days of DnD] Day 1: How you got started

This is a story that's been told often here. One September afternoon in 1984, my cousin showed up with The Citadel of Chaos at my house. It was love at first sight. Within a few weeks, I was running people through the adventure.

However, my actual introduction to D&D was on the day when my friend Forest came to me with a battered red book of the BECMI edition and said "You speak english, teach me how to play."

My initial english and understanding of the game was terrible at best. However, with time both improved. The game was a revelation for me. From that day on...

JP

Slacker Update: what I have not been doing

It's funny that I feel like I've been slacking these past few days. I haven't been writing as much as I think I should have. I have been spending a fair amount of time editing material and dealing with artists, painting a ton of miniatures, and spending time with the family. Oh! And doing some sleeping.

On the plus side, two of the adventures are playtested and about ready to go.

I've definitely been slacking about ToS1-05 Path to Ambition. This is a much bigger adventure, like a small module... It is great and has a lot of local flavor and even leads up to more writing. It provides so much opportunity for role-playing: investigation and combat. Randy's adventure is one I really want us to "get right".

Speaking of art, I had an issue with one of my artists. I thought I was clear but I was not. So we talked some more and we got on the same page. The results are quite good. I plan on posting the kynean art later this week and will coment on that. The important thing is that their look is unique and different than LPJ's.

While on the topic, I have been looking at doing some sci-fi work. It's been a long time since I did something that wasn't fantasy and the idea really excites me. I'll post most details about this shortly. However, expect some collaborative works I'm really super excited about! Power armors and lasers. Such a nice change of pace.

OH MY GOD! I don't have minis for sci-fi anymore!!! GAH!!!

JP