D&D Test Drive

WotC has created a set of test drive tools for 4E, giving everyone an opportunity to try the new edition for free.  The Test Drive site includes Quick Start Rules, the Keep on the Shadowfell module and the Character Builder.

The Test Drive Basics

If you're new to 4E or to D&D in general, this set of tools was designed for you.  The Quick Start guide is designed to give you the rules you need to play the module, including some pre-gen characters.  Though since the Character Builder is included and will let you create characters level 1 to 3, you don't have to use the pre-gens.

As a player currently in the middle of the Keep, and I can say that the module is pretty entertaining.  Who doesn't love a dungeon that starts with goblins?

The Character Builder is pretty easy to use.  It may take a while to install, but in the end, for those who want to quickly put together a character, it walks you through all the steps.  It includes character options from the PHB, PHB2, Monster Manual, DMG, Forgotten Realms guides, as well as several other sources.  Based on your choices, it will fill out your character sheet and provide you with power cards to print for your character.

The Quick Start Rules documents contains 15 pages of rules and guidelines, followed by 12 pages of pre-generated characters.  The Quick Start rules provide a lot of good basics, including descriptions of what happens in combat.

Even if you have been playing 4E for awhile, I like the Quick Start guide as a small reference guide.  It's got a lot of pages from the PHB that come in handy, like the conditions and combat actions.

Review of 4E Power Cards

For my birthday last month, Vanir and his wonderful wife, efreak, gave me a set of 4E Power Cards for my Wizard.  I had been using a some handmade cards for both my wizard and my bard, but writing out the power descriptions on note cards every level was a bit tedious.

The Cards

The set comes with 100 cards, including all the powers in the PHB plus a handful of blank cards to customize.  They are color-coordinated to match the book: Daily powers have a gray border, At-Wills are green, Encounters are red.  Utilities powers have a blue border with a checkbox indicating if it is a Daily, Encounter or At-Will power.

The flavor text is across the top, the keywords are just blow that, then all the details.  The class is listed on the very bottom of the card and on the back, so if you are running multiple characters, you can easily tell which powers belong to which characters.  The cards are easy to read and include all the details you need without having to flip through the book.  They are coated, so they have a pretty durable feeling to them.

My One Regret

The coating on the cards prevents pencil marks.  To really make these versatile, it helps to have your attack and damage stats already included on the power card so you don't have to figure them out every time.

To combat this deficiency, I grabbed my tape.  By adding a couple of strips of tape to the bottom of the card, I could add my stats in pencil.  I also added notes on bonuses that contributed to my numbers.  I made sure to leave a tab on each strip so I could remove the tape later if necessary. This is what my Flaming Sphere power card looks like:

You can see a close-up of my tape additions here.

Thanks to Martin from Gnome Stew, I have also confirmed that the power cards will fit in Magic-sized sleeves.  This can give an extra level of protection to your power cards, and you could use tape strips on the protector instead of the card itself.

Overall

I have found that I cannot stay sane during combat without my hand-made cards.  These new power cards are really nice and a great time-saver.  At about $10 per class, they are a reasonably-priced addition to your gaming bag for your PHB classes.

New Player's Handbook Heroes Minis

Martial Heroes 1
Originally uploaded by stupidranger

Dante & I received some of the new Player's Handbook Heroes minis this week. There are six total packs, and we got four to enjoy: Martial (1), Arcane (1), Divine & Primal.

What I Like

• Each pack has three minis, and one is a female; it's great to have some feminine representation in the new minis. And they are mostly dressed sensibly, which is a bonus.
  
• The Arcane set has a bard. It's been really hard tracking down a bard mini.
  
• Each mini has a unique power card, giving you a great opportunity to jazz up your character.
  

What I Don't Like

• The minis are obviously mass-produced; not all of the painting is clean and neat.
  
• While I appreciate they are trying for some variety, some of the race/class combinations don't really seem to fit: Dragonborn Rogue wasn't high on my list of character options... I like my rogues a little more unnoticeable.
  
• I realize there aren't a lot of Divine or Primal options, but seems to me like they could have put in a third class instead of have two Clerics or two Barbarians. They could have had an Avenger for the Divine pack and a Shaman or a Warden for the Primal pack, which would have eliminated the duplicates.
  

Overall

The Arcane set is currently high on my list since it has the Female Eladrin Wizard. Now I can use that for Eaerenel instead of the Male Human Wizard mini I've been using. And even though the Bard is a male, I'm probably going to use that Half-Elf mini, which will be significantly better than the Dwarf Fighter I've been using. I'm very happy to have minis that mostly represent my characters.

Adding Some Color to the Tavern

It's a classic staple of D&D adventuring.  The Tavern.  Whether it's just a stopping place for the night or a stepping stone in your quest to save (or destroy) the world, it's one of the first places you look for once you get back to town.  The second, of course, being the merchant, 'cuz saving the world doesn't always pay well unless you sell your fallen opponents' stuff.

The tavern is a great place for the roleplayers to interact with the other people in the environment; there's always someone at the tavern willing to chat with a group of adventurers.  Sometimes, he's very obviously giving you information to begin/continue your quest.  But sometimes, he's just local color.

For those of you looking to interject a little bit of color to your taverns, whether they are home-brew breweries or established drinking establishments, Alric over at The RPG Athenaeum posted a great list of 100 subjects that might be overheard in a tavern.  This is a great list, and it's a handy DM resource to keep the tavern environment light and entertaining, especially for your roleplayers.

If you're looking for a new tavern-based ways to begin your adventure, Nicholas over at DungeonMastering.com shared a few ideas.  After all, the tavern is the best place to start a campaign.  There are some good ideas here that give you an alternative to the general "you're sitting at the bar... introduce yourselves" kind of tavern-based start.

If you're looking for more ideas, there are a couple of fun articles published in the Open Game Table that have some fun ideas to add flair to your tavern.

Google & Campaign Communication

Our current gaming group has been meeting about every other week.  To maintain communication with our group members, we're using a handful of Google products.

Scheduling with a Google Calendar -- We have a calendar for our group on which we mark the next scheduled session.  It's working fairly well for us.

Email Communication with a Google Group -- We created a Google Group and included everyone's email, so with one quick address, everyone is included in the email communications.

Campaign Notes with a Google Site -- Thanks to a post from a fellow blogger a few months back, I discovered how easy and how useful Google Sites can be when keeping track of campaign information.  We have a page with the group calendar, as well as a page set up with a list of PCs and NPCs (perfect for keeping track of that one guy whose name you can't remember).  One of the best features of our site is our Files & Journals page, where we keep in-character journals (many are linked Google Docs), our session notes file that everyone can update, and a party fund file where we keep track of the loot we've accumulated.

With a smallish group (five of us total), it isn't usually too hard to keep everyone informed, but these tools have certainly made it easy.

Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire

Dante & I watched the premier of Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire last Thursday.  I had high hopes for this show based on the commercials and the preview from ComedyCentral.com.  And my expectations were more than met.

ONLY VERY MINOR SPOILERS TO FOLLOW!

The opening is classic: we are introduced to the group in... a tavern!  Kröd needs to get the keys to the dungeon to rescue his mentor, General Arcadius.  And the adventure begins.  The good guys strive to overthrown the bad guys.  The bad guys randomly kill people that get in their way.  And periodically, Kröd's sword is enveloped in flames.

There were moments while watching this that reminded me so vividly of fond memories of old campaigns.  The crazy plots to break someone out of prison.  The random NPCs who help out along the way.  The occasional (usually accidental) shooting of a party member with a light crossbow.  The overwhelming revelation that your party will have to save the world as foretold by the prophecy.

But if I could make one change... I would change the character of Aneka a little bit.  In my opinion, she's a little too much.  I feel that she's a bit too in touch with her sensual side.  I think it's great to have an female character who isn't a damsel in distress, but her habit of having relations every man she encounters is a little too much.  I'm sure there are some out there who will disagree with me, but if you take a look back at what I said, you'll see I started with "in my opinion." :)

So far, it's a very entertaining adventure, and I will be watching again next week.  Because the best part of an adventure is continuing it next week.

New FLGS

A new FLGS opened close by our house a few weeks ago, and I'm very happy to have found another store to browse.

Total Escape Games has a great selection of games. They have board games for family game nights, as well as the rudiments of our hobby, and they have a good selection of RPG books, dice, dice bags and other miscellanea. Plus there are tables in the back for games, and a small private room.

Steven Higgins, the owner, has done a great job of making it a bright, friendly environment. I was instantly comfortable the moment I walked in the store the first time... none of that awkward "girl out of place in a game store" feeling.

So for those of you in the Broomfield area, if you haven't been already, I recommend checking out Total Escape Games.

Open Game Table Review

Monday marks the release of the Open Game Table Anthology.  As an assistant editor on this project, I have had the great opportunity to read this collection, and there's a lot of good in here!

Jonathan from The Core Mechanic organized this project.  Here's a brief description of the book that he posted earlier this week:

Open Game Table aims to bridge the gap between the RPG blogging community and the broader table-top gaming fan base by showcasing the best talent in the RPG blogosphere. Within its pages are 47 blog posts from 32 top-quality RPG blogs, plus a Foreword written by RPG luminary Wolfgang Baur. Packed with juicy content and over 60 illustrations, this book is Pure Gold.

He's absolutely right; this book is Pure Gold.  It doesn't matter if you're a player or a GM, there's plenty in here to enjoy.

For the GMs

There's great stuff in here for you GMs out there.  From techniques to maximize your prep time to ideas for encounters or NPCs, there's a little bit of everything.  There are several great articles on managing your game play and timing.  There are a couple of articles with some great ideas on jazzing up your tavern scenes.  There are some great ideas on developing your campaign setting.  And a whole chapter we call the RPG Toolbox, with great ideas and products to improve your gameplay.

For the Players

I found a lot to love as a player in this book.  There are a couple of really good articles on improving your game experience.  There are also some great articles on character development, including some new class options for the 4E players out there.  Plus, there are several articles written for both players and GMs, with advice for both sides of the screen.

As an anthology, I feel that this is a good mix of various elements.  It's a must-have for anyone who loves RPGs... you won't regret adding it to your bookshelf!

The Open Game Table will be available for sale on Monday at Amazon, Indie Press Revolution and the Lulu Marketplace.  You can also check out The Core Mechanic for more information.

Striking a Musical Chord

I took the exclusion of the bard in the PHB as a personal insult, and I've been waiting (somewhat impatiently) for the Players Handbook 2 in order to bring out my lute again.  And while it was a hardship to wait so long, I think the new bard was worth it.

The Combat Stuff

I have loved the bard since my first character back in 3.0.  But one of the difficulties of the 3.0 bard (and 3.5 to a certain extend) was trying to stay alive in combat; bards weren't always ideal for melee and not always effective as ranged.  And while I had many great moments with my various bards, my group members will tell you what they remember: the bard sitting in a corner playing her lute for the Inspire Courage bonuses, because giving others +2 was the best she could do.

The new 4E bard seems to have a lot more opportunities in combat.  Many of their first level spells deal additional weapon damage.  So they are not quite as weak in the combat department.  But bards as also Leaders; they inspire and heal their comrades, and that concept is very obvious as you read their powers.

There are two "virtue" paths for the bard: Cunning and Valorous.  The Cunning bards prefer to use their wits and personality to overcome obstacles; they tend to use ranged attacks, overseeing the battle as opposed to joining it.  The Valorous bards remember the stories of heroes who fought bravely in combat, and those bards relive the old tales by entering into the fray.  I'm currently playing a Valorous, which gives healing benefits to your or an ally.

One of the changes here I really enjoy is just the change in the bard's activities in combat.  I always thought it was kind of silly to pull out a valuable instrument in the middle of combat.  Who really wants to take the risk of it breaking?

So, Why Do You Need an Instrument?

Without the Inspire Courage during battle, why does the 4E bard need an instrument?  Besides the obvious "You can't be a bard without some sort of music," the instrument comes into play for specific performances.  The Song of Rest is a great opportunity to tune your lute for a great, quick performance.  This Bard Class feature helps the group's healing efforts during a short rest.

Rituals also give you opportunties to play a song.  Bard rituals usually involve a material cost and a focus cost, which is generally an instrument of a specified value.  So you play a song to cast a ritual.  One of the cool tricks of rituals for bards is that once a day, you can ignore the material cost of a bard ritual (increases to two per day at 11th and three at 21st).  One of my favorite first-level bard rituals is "Create Campsite," which causes a campsite to be created, then broken down 8 hours later.  Combined with the "ignore materials" option, once per day, a first level bard and just play into being a campsite; how wonderful at the end of a long, grueling day.

I love the new bard, and while my bard, Rynna, is only first level, I'm excited about her potential.  If you've ever been a fan of the bard, you should check out the new PHB2.

You can also read Uncle Bear's review of the bard, as well as other class reviews from any of these other sites participating in the Player's Handbook 2 online release event:

Atomic Array, Game Cryer, Gnome Stew, Critical Hits, Campaign Mastery, Critical Ankle Bites, Kobold Quarterly, The Core Mechanic, Flames Rising, and Musings of the Chatty DM.

Be sure to check them out, and stay tuned here for continuing coverage through the official release on Tuesday!

Customizing Your Character with the PHB2

I believe that a character truly lives when she has a history.  And there are some options in the new PHB2 that give you some ideas if you're stuck trying to develop your character's backstory.

Background Options

Chapter Three begins with some option to help you develop a background for your character, including associated skills you might want to consider training (pending DM approval, of course).  There are some basic options, including geography and socio-economic status, to get you started and inspire you to something more.

There are also background examples specifically related to your character's race.  Races from the PHB, Forgotten Realms Players Guide and the PHB2 have two or three background scenarios listed.  But these are not just gimme scenarios; they present questions to help you take that scenario and customize it for your character... perfect for getting you started on your backstory.

Variant Ritual Book

This is one of my favorite inspirations.  Not every character who needs a ritual book wants to lug around a "book" for her rituals.  Sometimes, a variation of the "book" is what works best for your character.  There are some ideas listed under the Variant Ritual Book heading, but you can easily apply your own creative twist.  Your cleric might prefer prayer beads.  Your bard might carry a music score book.  Changing the nature of your "book" is a prefect way to make your character a little more unique.

Dante & I will be posting additional PHB2 articles through the release on Tuesday, so check back for more.  Of course, if you missed them, read more from Atomic Array, Game Cryer, Gnome Stew, Critical Hits, Campaign Mastery, Uncle Bear, Critical Ankle Bites, Kobold Quarterly, The Core Mechanic, Flames Rising, Musings of the Chatty DM, or right here with Dante.

Open Game Table

I had the honor to be an assistant editor for the Open Game Table Anthology, and I'm very excited to say that the book will be available for sale March 23rd.  Check out more information at The Core Mechanic.

Split Personality: The Early Days

In honor of the newly received preview copy of the PHB2, I could not resist the urge to try out one of the new classes.  No, I'm not pre-emptively reviewing one of the classes; today's tale is one of split personalities.

Two Personalities

Dante allowed any of us in the group to roll up a new PHB2-class character to be introduced into our Keep of the Shadowfell game.  My first character is an Eladrin Wizard; she's been fun so far, but I was really interested in trying out one of the new classes. So Saturday night, I'm sitting at the table with one new character and one old character, trying to divorce myself from Eaerenel, my wizard, so I could enjoy Rynna, my new character.  Then Dante gives us the good news: we can run one or both of the characters.  

One Player

So there I was, with two great characters and permission to enjoy them both.  And that's when things got interesting.  How do you manage two characters engaged in the same battle?

One of the easiest ways to keep my characters separate was something I determined during my second character creation.  My wizard is mostly ranged; Rynna is mostly melee.  This helps keep battle strategies for each character separate.

The second step was to move my wizard personality into the background.  I decided to make Rynna my primary personality, and I made it very clear to the rest of the group that my in-character actions would be from Rynna unless I stated otherwise.  This helped avoid a lot of confusion and didn't leave me trying to maintain two prominent personalities.

The third step, which really helped me maintain what sanity I have, was having notecards prepared with each character's powers with descriptions and bonuses already calculated.  The cards had different colored borders, so they were easy to keep separate.  Overall, these cards really helped me keep each character's abilities separate, and I didn't have to flip between books and pages checking on things.

Sanity Maintained

All in all, my first split-personality session went really well.  I'm looking forward to more adventures with my two characters.  I suspect it will be more difficult as they gain levels and additional powers, but I think these initial steps will help keep things from getting too crazy.

Sir Gawain and the Iron Man, Part 2

In Part 1, I described the classic "arming of the hero" scene in the story of "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" and in the Iron Man movie, and I described how this scene could be applied to your own roleplaying as an indication of character development.  I hadn't intended to make a Part 2, but our friend, Todd, posted a couple of interesting follow-up questions:

Todd Bradley said...

How does this "Arming the Hero" scene fit in with the classic "Training Montage" of action movies? And where does sit in Joseph Campbell's monomyth ("the hero's journey")?

Sir Gawain and the... Training Montage?

The classic Training Montage is ever so familiar to movie-goers.  In this filmed sequence, we witness the hero in physical preparation for the upcoming battle.  I think that there are a couple of ways to adapt the arming scene to the montage sequence.

First, for the unarmed, the training montage is pretty much the arming scene.  Because there aren't weapons or armor (in most cases), the training is the hero's preparation. You could develop a training montage for your unarmed character as his arming scene; roleplay this by describing what exercises he completes to emphasize what aspects of his training are most important.  You can then describe character development through the introduction of new training exercises.

However, if you still want to implement a classic arming sequence for your unarmed character, or if you want to implement a training montage for your armed character, you can easily include both because they have such a complementary nature.  Describe your character's training regimen, with or without weapons.  Let's face it, those fighters and archers didn't just wake up one morning proficient with their chosen weapon; a training montage can be a great roleplaying technique to describe your character's dedication to perfecting her combat abilities.  Follow-up the training montage with an arming scene: describe what is important for your character to have with her when she enters combat.  Maybe your unarmed character has a charm or a magical ring he carries with him; describing that in specific detail as he prepares for battle would be part of his arming scene.  For your armed character, describe how she prepares her weapon: testing the edge of her blade, or ensuring her bowstring is in good condition.  Character development, such as learning new techniques or acquiring new equipment, can be described in future training exercises and/or arming scenes.

Iron Man-omyth

Joseph Campell, in his introduction for The Hero with a Thousand Faces, summarizes the "hero's journey" monomyth as: 

A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man. [From the Wikipedia entry at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hero_with_a_Thousand_Faces#Summary]

There are several elements throughout that description that we can recognize has part of our roleplaying stories.  Many campaigns begin with the characters being faced with that call to "venture forth."  This is a prime place for a simple arming scene: what does the character feel is important as he prepares to leave on his journey?

I've always felt that the real power of the arming scene comes from multiple iterations used to describe character development.  That simple opening arming scene is more significant if, later in the adventure, there is a second arming scene to show how the character has grown.  For that purpose, I would recommend placing the next arming scene between encounters with "fabulous forces."  The hero (your character) seldom sees only on encounter in his journey; after one or more encounters, he will gain knowledge leading to personal growth.  When you feel that your character has experienced significant growth, you can craft a second arming scene (possibly with a training montage) to illustrate this growth.

The Arming and the Monomyth Example 

Suppose we have a fighter.  She has received good basic training (insert montage here) from the town guard, and her natural ability with a longsword has caught the attention of the elite weapon-masters in the next town over.  She has been summoned to attend their trials.  Our innocent fighter has been presented with the call to venture forth.

Here, we can craft the first arming scene: she dresses with care the morning of her departure.  She checks her blade; it's not new, being a cast-off from the guard, but it is a sound sword and holds a decent edge.  Before she leaves, her mother presents her with a soft blue ribbon.  Our fighter absentmindedly ties back her hair with the new ribbon, not so much out of vanity but as a reminder of her family.  We have described our fighter's personality here: not much attention to her clothes, when compared to her weapon; her weapons are more important than her appearance.  The last detail with the ribbon shows that she is close to her family.

Our fighter ventures out into the great wide world on her way to the trials.  She encounters an outlaw, who engages her in combat.  She receives a few minor injuries, before being disarmed by her opponent.  She manages to regain her weapon, but she receives a nasty cut to her forearm in the process.  In the end, she is victorious against the outlaw, though she is wounded from the encounter.  Here is our first trial: combat outside the careful training activities.  Our fighter has reached a very significant realization that she needs much more training.

She continue on her journey, arriving in good time for the trials.  She succeeds and is invited to join the elites, who present her with a new, better blade.  She has been victorious in her early trials, and she has received a reward.

In her next arming scene, we can focus on describing her new sword: the metallic ring as she pulls it from its scabbard, the way the light reflects off it as she inspects it in the sun.  We might mention less of her appearance and the blue ribbon; right now, those parts of her personality aren't quite as important to her, because she is more concerned with not only the new blade but the new training that comes with it.  For those looking to add a training montage, there is ample opportunity to describe the exercises she practices as she learns the weight and balance of her new blade, and her desire to improve her skills after her near-miss with the outlaw.

As I said last time, the arming scene provides some great roleplaying opportunities, especially to highlight character development.  You can also include the training montage, either in place of or in conjunction with the arming scene.  And both elements work well in Campbell's "hero's journey" monomyth; consider your character's path to determine where he is in the "journey," then plan the appropriate scenes or sequences to showcase your character's development.

In Memory of Gary Gygax

Part of me feels a bit inadequate when faced with honoring Gary Gygax today.  How do you find the right words to honor his memory and express your gratitude for all he gave us?  I gave up on crafting the perfect, eloquent narrative, because every attempt came out wrong.  So here are some of my Gygaxian memories.

My first gaming group was just three of us and the DM.  Dante, of course, was there, along with two friends who lived on the same floor of our dorm.  Chuck & Boyle.  In this campaign, I created one of my favorite characters ever, Lillian.  Then I was included in the "big" game, with about seven other players and Chuck as our fearless DM.  Those were grand days of learning and exploring the realm of RPGs.  And I began to really appreciate the larger community beyond our group, that there were people out there who enjoyed the creativity involved in good roleplaying and the escapism inherent in the experience.  That's really when I began to appreciate those who created and shaped the RPG experience, especially Gary Gygax.  Here was one of the guys who understood our need for the game experience and provided to us a framework.

I was thrilled to meet him at Gencon a few years ago.  It's not every day you get to walk up to one of your heroes and shake his hand.  He was kind and funny, and we had a great few minutes talking to him.

I remember sitting in my cubicle a year ago, devestated at the news of his passing.  I had always been a bit of a social outcast in the office; there was only one other person in the office had any exposure to RPGs.  He understood my grief, and it was enough to not feel alone that day. 

At Gencon last year, Dante & I participated in the Grand Gygaxian Dice Collection, both of us donating our first set of dice.  We both thought it was fitting to give back the first set, in memory of all the beginnings.  I remember buying that set of dice (purple & white swirls) from the only game shop in our college town.  Lillian had some great moments and some great failures defined by those dice, and I could think of no better offering.

My life is better for roleplaying, and for that, I thank you, Mr. Gygax.

Sir Gawain and the Iron Man

The "arming of the hero" scene is a classic literary element that allows us as readers (or viewers) to experience those moments when the hero is preparing for battle.  It allows us a brief look into the hero's mind and a glimpse of the hero's character independent of his actions.

"Sir Gawain and the Green Knight"

I was first introduced to the "arming of the hero" scene in college as I was studying "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight."  We see a change in Gawain throughout the story; this is highlighted with the differences between the two arming scenes.  In the first, as Gawain sets out on his quest, the arming scene focuses on his shield, a symbol of his faith and belief in the Code of Chivalry.  In the second, when he is facing certain death, the arming scene changes focus to the green girdle; with it, Gawain hopes to avoid death, and in doing so, he has turned away from his Code.  We see Gawain's focus change from faith to fear as he trying to reconcile his mortality.

Iron Man

A couple of weeks ago, Dante & I were watching Iron Man.  We saw the movie a couple of times in the theatre, but at home, I had that light bulb moment as I watched Tony Stark's two arming scenes.

The first, when Tony is escaping from the cave, the cumbersome nature of the suit means Tony must rely on a computer activation sequence as well as Yinsen's assistance; this arming scene ends with Tony witnessing Yinsen's sacrifice as Tony waits for the suit to reach its full power.  The second, Tony has automated the entire arming scene, replacing Yinsen and the computer loading bar with JARVIS.  The first arming of Iron Man preceeded a selfless sacrifice and a dramatic escape; the second begins without a feeling of humanity as Iron Man strives to free an entire village from tyrants.

Arming Your Hero

The arming of the hero is a classic element, and for the storytellers out there, it can be an interesting element to add to your hero.  Your first arming scene will likely occur in the early days of the campaign; at some point -- during your initial character description or in one of your early encounters -- you will likely describe your weaponry, your armor, your spells, your holy symbol... something specific that helps define your character.  But characters change, whether through organic personal growth or story-driven character development.  If your character has undergone a signficant change, you can help showcase this change through a second arming scene.

For instance, my current character, Eaerenel, is an Eladrin Wizard who loves to use fire spells.  I have described several of her early attacks with firey details.  In the event that something causes her to re-define the nature of her attacks (ie. seeing an entire village and its population destroyed by another wizard's massive fire attacks), Eaerenel might begin to study icy attacks; I could introduce this change by describing specific icy details of her attacks... where once there was fire, there would be ice instead.

As a storytelling element, you can easily craft arming scenes to help detail your character's development.  It's one more creative trick to enhance your roleplaying experience.

10 Monsters I Never Want to See

Several of the DMs out there have posted their top 10 favorite D&D monsters (check out RPGBloggers to read them all).  Here's my list, but slightly twisted.  As a player, here are my top 10 I-Never-Want-to-See Monsters:

1. Doppelgangers - Imagine meeting up with your good friend, whom you haven't seen for a long time.  Then, all of a sudden and with no provocation, your friend tries to kill you.  Yeah, see, that's why no one likes to meet a doppelganger.

2. Owlbears - Not the cute, cuddly creatures their name implies, these vicious killers are annoying.  Mostly, because after the battle, you have to hunt down their nest in order to find any treasure they may have.

3. The Tarrasque - Legendary creatures of all kinds are going to guarantee a moment of panic, but the Tarrasque, well, let's just say if you've never adventured with Batloaf, you can't truly understand the panic I feel meeting this monster.

4. Beholders - I think most players feel the same about this one.  Beholders are just no fun, and it can be summed up with two simple words: eye rays.  Can you think of a more terrifying combination of words in all D&D-dom?

5. Drow - I really, really hate to encounter any Drow.  Ever.  My very first character was an elf, who had the misfortune to encounter Drow.  Let's just say the resulting drama has left me with a crippling fear of dark places and a burning hatred for dark elves.  Also, they worship Lolth.  Ew.

6. Giant Spiders - Webs and Poisons and Lolth (again), oh my.

7. Liches - Creepy guys to begin with, and usually bent not only on ruling the world but also on destroying all adventurers, liches just don't spell "party," no matter where you find them.  They could be wearing silly hats and singing karaoke, and they still wouldn't want to have cake and ice cream with them.  Plus, who really needs a phylactery anyway?

8. Banshees - Anything with a "save vs death" is right out; banshees are just my representative of all things death-ly.

9. Hill Giants - Synonymous with "flying boulders," hill giants encounters are generally painful.  And unless you have a lot of ranged attacks in your group, you're going to be taking a lot of damage before you ever get close enough to inflict some of your own.  Ouch!

10. The Vorpal Rabbit - Perhaps the most terrifying of all woodland creatures, the vorpal bunny, who can take your head right off your shoulders before you can blink, is a blood-thirsty tyrant.  Like its estranged cousin, the Tarrasque, there is, fortunately, only one.  We had the un-pleasure of meeting it along the road once upon a time, and our good friend, Swun, didn't survive the encounter well.  So don't let those floppy ears and innocent eyes fool you... that rabbit is dynamite!

An Announcement for our Friends in the UK

For those of you out there joining us from the UK, I have a short announcement for you.  Our friends over at 6d6 Fireball are having a little get-together.  The UK Bloggers & Readers Meet-Up will be held Feb 28.  Enjoy! :)

Short account of my Genghiscon visit

Friday afternoon, I went to Genghiscon XXX.  It was a good experience, and I plan to go back next year.

My con experience has, admittedly, been very limited... to Gencon.  But from our previous house back in Illinois, Gencon was at least a 4 hour drive; from Colorado, we'll be flying.  Genghiscon was a 30 minute drive (45 going home because of rush-hour traffic on the Interstate).  There's a lot of charm to a convention that doesn't require advance travel preparation.

I arrived at the hotel (which was just off the Interstate -- really easy to find) around 2:00 on Friday afternoon.  The biggest problem I had was that there wasn't much signage to direct me to registration.  I eventually found a very nice guy in a con security shirt, and he told me where to go.  I waited in line at registration for about a half an hour.  I only wanted a Visitor's badge so I could visit the Dealer's Room/sales floor, but all the registration windows handled both badge and event registration, so they were very busy, especially has they had just re-opened registration at 2:00.

This was the only down-side to my trip... the waiting in line at registration.  I realize that a) they had just opened the windows, so there was a backlog of people waiting to register for events, and b) the volunteers were getting used to a new registration system.  The general morale of those in line was positive, and all-in-all, it wasn't too bad.  I got to hear a great story about Leonard Nimoy and his clam-shell cell phone being mistaken for Spock and a communicator.

After getting my little badge, I had to wait just a little bit for the sales floor opened at 3:00.  The friendly security guy, David, showed me around.   There were dedicated rooms for Warhammer, Catan, Puffing Billy, board games, minis painting, as well as RPG and RPGA events.

After my brief tour, I entered the sales floor.  It was a lot of fun; there's nothing quite like roaming around a sales floor, even if you don't buy anything.  Not that I left empty-handed, because I, of course, have no will power.  I did only make two purchases... none of them from Chessex, and I count my ability to resist that urge to buy dice among my greatest achievements.  I'm sure that's used up my "not buying dice" ability for this year, though, so I hold no expectations of similar achievements in August.

My first purchase was from Gifts & Blessings, who had many great dragon- & fairy-related items for sale.  They were all very friendly gamers.  One of the girls there, Mindy, recognized my A is for Atlas woot shirt, and we chatted for several minutes.  My second purchase was from a small jewelry booth that had some really lovely hand-made items.

All in all, it was a good time.  Next year, Dante & I plan to preregister so we can get in some of the game sessions.

Surviving the Crazy Times: Exploring Gaming in Denver

This past weekend was a great weekend for Dante & I, as we finally got back into playing a game that doesn't involve computers and actually involved roleplaying.

Friday night saw us huddled around someone else's dinner table, rolling up new characters and getting our feet wet in a new campaign. Dante & I have had very minimal exposure to 4E, and our two new gamers (one of Dante's co-workers and his wife) had not played the new edition but both had lots of RPG experience. It took awhile to get through the character creation, and our combat took awhile as everyone got used to their new characters and their abilities. But we didn't let the delays hamper our good time. It was so much fun; there is nothing quite like sitting around, rolling some dice and discussing how best to get rid of those pesky kobolds.

On Saturday, still floating on our gaming high from Friday night, Dante & I made the 45 minute trip to Englewood to visit a gaming shop. I had heard good things about Bonnie Brae Hobby Shop through the Gamer Girls surveys, and needing a FLGS, I decided I would at least decide if it was worth the long-ish drive.

It's a great store. We came in the back door (there being no open parking spots out front, we opted for the spacious parking lot in the back) and were immediately welcomed by the sounds of a couple of guys playing a CCG (not sure which one, but that doesn't matter). I told Dante that at that moment, it felt like coming home.

They had a lot of new stuff and a lot of good, used stuff. I was very excited just to see one entire wall of bookshelves full of games, including many, many classics. In addition to all the other RPG-related items, they had hobby supplies (model kits, etc). It was a wonderful experience, and while I might not make the trip every week, it will definitely be on my list of places to revisit.

This weekend (Thurs through Sun) is GenghisCon XXX here in Denver. Given that it's also Valentine's Day this weekend, we're not planning on spending the weekend at the convention, but I'm going to drive down on Friday and see what's what.

If any of our readers out there have a FLGS on the northern/northwestern side of Denver, we are still looking for someplace closer that doesn't involve fighting our way through the traffic (ie. people) at the FlatIron mall.

Guide to Decorating Your New Dungeon

Congratulations on your recent acquisition!  You have a wonderful new dungeon, ready to fill with all your nefarious traps and your troves of treasure, or to keep as place to escape the pressures of the world and all those pesky adventurers.

Before opening (or locking) the doors of your dungeon, we recommend that you finish the interior design.  The stone walls, floors and ceilings original to your dungeon will do a lot to create that cozy atmosphere, but you may want to also consider these accessories:

1. Portcullises -- There will be rooms that not everyone needs to be in, but it would be nice for them to see the architecture.  A portcullis is an attractive alternative to a wooden door.

2. Sculptures & Tapestries -- Add some art to keep your dungeon from feeling uncultured.  Sculptures are a great way to add a touch of class.  But why pay a lot of money for some measy art?  Shop the factory seconds.  They may have some dings, scratches, cracks or missing appendages, but those imperfections can adda lot of character!  Of course, you should probably have a little variety, and some threadbare tapestries can be a great complement to your sculpture seconds.  Don't go overboard, though, because you don't want to hide all those great stone walls behind cloth.

3. Dead Ends -- A must-have to help deter those annoying adventurers, dead ends will create a level of confusion and frustration that will demoralize most of your uninvited guests.  Plus, they create great places to put some of those sculptures!

4. Ever-lit, smokeless torches -- You will want your visitors - welcomed or otherwise - to be able to appreciate the architecture of your dungeon and all your great design choices; it's the new standard for dungeons to be lit, but regular torches won't do for illuminating your dungeon.  You don't want to constantly be relighting torches, and you don't need smoke getting in your eyes if you need to defend your treasure from adventurers.  Spring for ever-lit, smokeless torches; you won't regret it.

Your new dungeon will provide you with many, many years of dungeon-y happiness, especially if you take a little time to add a few personal touches.