Gaming with too much baggage...

Stupid Ranger and I have been emptying out old college boxes, closets, etc to offload excess garbage. Several days into the assess and pitch cycle, I have been made painfully aware that I have a lot of baggage. In this case, by baggage I mean "stuff" not "emotional problems." The latter is a topic for another place and time.

Trapped in the closet

In boxes that have been lodged in my closet for the four years that we have been in our current home I found the likes of gaming magazines, old sourcebooks, promotional HeroClix (which I don't collect), comic books, DC comic cards, Magic: the Gathering... the list goes on. If anyone has any bright ideas how to archive, accurately price, and sell a large set of Magic: the Gathering I would love to hear it, since that is one of my main collections that I would just as soon do without.

While we were preparing for this year's GenCon, we even found a few bags which had some items purchased on the sales floor last year, pristine and unused. About the only thing that I have identified that I can't find and want to are wire blast radii that we purchased from a vendor two or three years ago. With the advent of 4e and its miniature centric battle rules, those would come in handy.

How does everyone else handle the clutter of gaming lives past? Do you give your stuff away, sell it, just keep it on a shelf longingly dreaming of games unfulfilled? Do you go through an internal evaluation process before buying something new to enhance your gaming? Once again, inquiring minds want to know!

My evolving stance on miniatures...

As previously mentioned, I have had some difficulty mixing miniatures into my gaming experience. My arguments were varied, usually focusing on my own nature toward perfectionism but the fact of the matter remains: Fourth Edition is more easily adopted with miniatures in tow.

This has forced me to change my stripes a bit and have another look at minis and their role in our gaming experience.

Best shown by good examples

Thanks to our good buddies over at Critical Hits and one Chatty DM, I had a very positive experience playing D&D with miniatures at GenCon this year. Phil did a great job at weaving them into the campaign setting and made a very good move at pre-selecting miniatures that closely matched the player characters that he rolled up.

Obviously, utilizing the abilities in 4e that dealt with range, spaces, and areas of effect were much more easily executed in this manner versus a descriptive, non-miniature fashion. That's what the new system was designed to do.

Combine that good experience with the fact that the new set, Against the Giants, has some way cool huge miniatures and I was sold. I picked up my first booster and got a Death Titan and a Young Adamantine Dragon, both of which just plain rule. I don't know how often (if at all) I will actually play the minatures game, but I will certainly start to find ways to use them in my campaigns from here on out.

My advice to those against miniatures: find someone that uses them effectively and ask them to run you through a one-off to show you how much faster and more intuitive a game can be with them! If that doesn't turn you on, just have a look at them! What self respecting gamer can go without a small replica of a beholder to put on your desk? I KNOW I CAN'T!

Does anyone know good resources for buying/selling miniatures and the rarities in each of the WotC sets? Inquiring minds want to know!

Review of Blackstaff Tower

At one of Ed Greenwood's author signings this year, Steven Schend was signing and giving away copies of his new novel, Blackstaff Tower (releasing today) from the Ed Greenwood Presents Waterdeep series. I'll confess that I wasn't familiar with Schend's work, but I seldom ever turn down a free book, so I very happily accepted his book and resolved to read it as soon as I had finished the book I was reading at the time.

Now, I am a huge fan of the Forgotten Realms, but Waterdeep is not one of the places I have visited often. Everyone knows of the City of Splendors, but my knowledge of the history and lore of the city are pretty slim. And I only had passing familiarity with Khelban Blackstaff or the Blackstaff Tower.

Schend did a great job of involving me in the story. The first chapter was very disconnected from the prologue, so it took me a little while to be fully introduced to the characters and how they all fit into the story. Very quickly, though, I was immersed. The story was engaging; I became invested in the characters and needed to know what happened next. Before I knew it, I was a third of the way through and in danger of staying up all night to finish the book! (I didn't, but only because I had to work the next morning.)

It's an epic tale of good versus evil with plenty of intrigue and suspense thrown in for good measure. Without ruining the tale (because I highly recommend reading it for yourself), the story follows the adventures of a noble-born, a spellcaster, a thief, a sellsword and the Blackstaff heir in their quest to prevent the evil mage from taking control of Waterdeep.

There were several things I liked about Schend's writing style. First, he was able to draw me into the quest very quickly and with only a little effort. I was concerned for the good guys, I despised the bad guys, and I desperately wanted to see the good guys succeed, especially during those times when I was sure they couldn't possibly overcome of the odds. Second, Schend easily provided me with the information I needed to feel comfortable in Waterdeep; one of the characters was a student of Waterdavian history, who shared information about the city without lecturing so there was never too much unnecessary information to bog down the story.

Best of all, Schend handled the combat sequences beautifully. As I read about the battles, I could imagine sitting around the table, rolling the dice... the successes and near misses were so vivid. I simultaneously felt as if I was watching the battle and participating in the roleplaying.

The one thing I would have changed was the ending. Not to say that the story didn't end well: all the lose ends were wrapped up and there was a sense of closure. However, it seemed a little rushed; I wanted it to be drawn out a bit. I'm sure this is partly because I was having a great time and didn't want to see it end. To me, it felt hurried during a time when I wanted to savor the successful end of the quest.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will definitely read it again. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys stories of the Realms.