It is about Character...

On Wednesday I raced home after work, got the lawn mowed, and took a quick shower. Not becuase I had a hot date, but Steve and Paul were coming over to work on their characters.

They arrived about 630ish and stayed for about 2 1/2 hours to roll up Steve's Wizard (Zoltan the Reformed) while Paul re-vamped his Warlord (Still no name).

I know I am pretty new to the gang, don't have the 10 year history of gaming that they have, but some sort of multi-class fetish was kicking in. :) We will see how it plays out in the long term. My copy Keep on the Shadow Fells should be in this weekend, which should give me a chance to start reading the adventure.

On other fronts, I'll be running the DH game on Saturday. My last go as the GM for DH before I turn it over to Rob. I hope to create my Psyker on Saturday while we are playing.

jp
Hi my name is John and I'm a gaming addict...

1500 Point Madness!

I realized the other day that I hadn't posted anything on what my most prolific gaming activity. I am a Press Ganger for Privateer Press and quite the fan boy for WARMACHINE. The fluff behind the Iron Kingdoms is really well done and I've enjoyed both the miniature game system and the RPG books that they have put out.

I had the unusual opportunity to play a 1500 point battle the other night at our weekly WM gathering. Phillip played a Menoth List with eKreoss, eFeorra, and Harbringer. I took a Cryx list with Aspy, Denegra, and the Coven.It was one of those games that every thing swing dramatically. We played on a 4x4 board that made deployment real tight.

First turn had some movement, but no real action. Second turn had me try to stall his front lines with a few throw a ways to allow my guys get in the charge position. His turn two had both eKreoss and Harbringer pop feats. That really made it tough to do much. He sliced through most of my stuff in the front ranks and killed the Death Jack ta' boot. My turn three I had 'Dirty D' move up and pop her Weathering and then Scourge a TFG blocking eKreoss it clipped two Devouts and eKreoss, knocking them all down.

Aspy then moved up and cast a few hell fires at the knocked down eKreoss, using his feat to finish him off. The last of the bane thralls did some damage on things, Tartarus whiffed his only attack. My three Bokurs all kind of botched attacks as well. Grrr. A pair of Pistol Wraiths and Night Wretch took at the Seneschal. We were getting close to closing at that point.

Phillip did a few more moves, but we called it shortly after. A fun game, but not one you want to do too often.

jp
Omaha Pressganger and Nice Thrall

Flames of War & Character Gen

Ok, not really related, but they both happened on Saturday.

I got a chance to play in the Flames of War (FoW) tournament on Saturday. It was a fun time, despite the massive headache I had running form about half way through my second game. Rob ran an interesting format of only 750 points, which in the FoW world is pretty darn small. The Game Shoppe hosted the event and we had about ten folks show. Four rounds ensured plenty of time to get your FoW itch out of the way.

I ran a Brit Infantry Company with a HQ, under strength Inf. Platoon, 3 Churchill III (Cheddary Bastard!), a HMG platoon, and a 20mm AA section. Not a lot of toys on the table. I went D-W-W-D which really surprised me since I haven’t played the game all that much. Took fourth place and got a nice little gift card, which promptly got spent on some D&D minis. Which takes us to the Character Gen…

So with blazing headache, I offered up the opportunity to go and role up some characters! It went pretty well, a bit slower then I would have liked, but not too bad. Bonus: Eric and Paul who missed the tournament were able to come and play too. The only missing in action was Steve, who was paying off his debt to society by helping a buddy that helped him move, move. Steve you are a righteous man!

So here is what we got so far:

• Extell: Human Fighter who is stronger then anyone ought to be. (Mic will be joining us on a part time basis...)
• Eldacar: Halfing Rouge with a pair of Katar Punching Daggers (Rob)
• No Name Joe: Dragonborn Paladin of the Raven Queen (Eric)
• No Name Joe II: Half-Elf Warlord who is a work in progress :-) (Paul)
• Frak: A Dwarf Cleric that wants to be in the front rank (Mark)
• Sliver Elmwalker: Elf Ranger, Master Archer. (Kyle - Winner of coolest name too!)

In game terms we have two Defenders, two Leaders, & two Strikers. Not a bad mix. With Steve still to role up a character, we might get a controller, but if not I think that we should be OK.

We took a quick encounter, level one. Bad guys were similar to what I ran the last test. 1 – 3rd level Goblin Hexer, 3 – 1st level Goblin Warriors, and 6 - 1st level Goblin Cutters (minions). The party burned three of their daily powers on the encounter, and several of the players took some hits. They should have been OK to go to another encounter with out any issues.

With a successful test run, I think this is what may happen in the near future. I’ll finish up the current Dark Heresy adventure and turn over the “Purge the Unclean” to Rob who can take over DH GM duties. I’ll step in to run D&D adventure and pick up a player in the DH campaign. I’m looking at a Psyker! I would like Rob and I to swap adventures. So Rob would run a story line to completion, then I would run a D&D dungeon to an end… flopping back and forth about every three to four weeks. That should give both of us plenty of time to generate new material and a chance to both play and run a game.

For the D&D players, I’m going to force the guys to do a bit of homework. I want them to write up a short character background. Nothing hard core, just a paragraph or so that I can use as adventure threads. Bonus XP to the players that provide me more then two lines of flavor text! :-p

Let me know what the gang thinks, if that is doable.

jp
Gaming Whore

A fun system

Last night I printed up the pre generated characters for the D&D 4e off the Wizards site and made a 'Level 3' encounter for four of the characters to fight. The concept of 'Level' is kind of weird from a build perspective. The DM's guide doesn't just come out and say players level = encounter level, but suggests that the average player level +/- 3 levels and you should be OK. I thought that was odd, so I tried out following:

The good guys, all level one, were:

• A Half Elf Cleric
• A Dragonborn Paladin
• A Dwarf Fighter
• A Human Wizard

The bad guys were:

• 8 Minion Goblins (lvl 1)
• 2 Goblin Sharpshooters (lvl 3)
• 1 Goblin Hex Thrower (lvl 3)

It took me about 90 mins to run this combat. With that said, I was still looking up a ton of rules, mostly conditions. Highlights:

• Paladin got pummelled. I ganged up the sharpshooters and the Hexer's abilities on him early and he did go down at one point. The Cleric used one of his 'hit and heal' type strikes to get him back on his feet. Of all the characters he took the worst beating going to zero, making his death save, and spending over half his healing surges to keep in the fight.
• The Goblin Hexer was nasty. He kept dropping blind and a nifty, "You can't move or you take 3D6" spell. Couldn't find the re-charge rolls, so I faked it.
• Good guys used three of the daily powers and two used action points. This would have made any further encounters of this strength very tough with out an extended rest. As they state, daily powers can only be used once per day.
• Low level wizards can hang with the battle. This guy dropped a sleep spell that took half of the Minions out for a bit, allowing the party to work on the immediate threat.
• Going to be tough to remember the specials. The Hexer had an ability that allowed one goblin a turn that got missed to not only shift but attack out of cycle. Would have been great for a brute vice a minion. :)
• Minions are a great mix I think. They allow more bodies on the table for a cinematic effect, will still do damage, and general be a pain in the arse.
• All characters got beat up to various degrees. The Paladin was the worst of the lot having even dropped in combat, but the wizard & fighter both got bloodied or worse (under half) and the cleric was doing his best to provide support.
• Miniature movement was a lot. In the old systems, if I remember right, you kind of moved your mini up to the bad guys and were kind of static. The push/pull effects in the game allow for a great deal of table movement. Push the bad guy over the waterfall, watch that he doesn't push you over the pit trap. Once again, it felt like it added to the adventure theater of the game.

Overall, I like the mechanics. It feels like a miniature game, heck in a lot of ways it 'feels' a bit like Warmachine with the specials that fly around the table. Does this make it not a role playing game? I don't think so. Role playing is reliant upon the players, not the mechanics of the game so I think it would be fun to continue to explore playing. Fun and interesting combats with a integrated story, throw in a couple of traps and encounter effects, set up a town with a patron and I think you got a start to a good campaign system.

Anyone else take a look at it yet?

jp

DM wannabe

D&D 4e Quick Look.

So.

I’m a crack head.

What can I say?

I’ve picked up the three core books for the new edition of Dungeons and Dragons. So this is my quick look review in 80 words or less…

I like the promise. I’ve been more of a miniatures game player then RPG’er over the past 10 year and this game has a feel that it is a connection of miniature battles, tied together with a little story, but with you and your buddies each only playing one guy versus a hoard. The combinations are going to be interesting as new stuff comes out. It reminds me of WARMACHINE in many aspects because of the combos.

I’ve pitched the idea of trying a session with the gang. Some are OK, some (one) were vocal against the idea of a long term campaign, but was willing to try a night of it.

Sometime after finishing the current Dark Heresy game, I’m going to flex my powers of persuasion and have the guys roll up characters and do a battle or two in one night of play. Just to try out the rules and see how it plays. I’ll let you know!

jp

Dungeon Master Wanna-Be

Rejoice for you are Role Playing!

Greetings,

So the next session leads the party into the Purge the Unclean triple scenario threat. I am/was a bit nervous about running this published adventure, mainly because the lead in adventure, “Rejoice For You Are True” is an investigation piece with minimal combat. My gang comes from a strong miniatures background. Scratch that, they come from a VERY STRONG miniatures background and I wasn’t sure how they would take to more role playing intensive adventure.

All in all, they did try and the adventure moved forward, which is all I could hope for. My only real compliant was a bit too much side chatter, but that is bound to happen from time to time.

We had one regular missing. Eric took the family to Colorado (like that was important! :-) ), so Dar was recovering from grievous injuries from the Orks. We also had a guest player, Mick using a Sister of Battle, named Lady V. Also, Mark opted out of the scum and rolled up a Cleric, who’s name escapes me at the moment… Have to go look that up!

So on to the action… so to speak…

=][= =][= SPOILER ALERT =][= =][=

If you plan on being a player in Purge the Unclean, you might want to wait a bit...

Arriving at Scintilla, the team debarks the Pax Calixis, with Captain Ramirez providing parting gifts. A small sum of cash, armor that was used in the battle with the Orks, and a data slate with his personnel encrypt code. He lets them know they have made a friend, and if the need is high, he will show.

Team Adventure is swept away to meet up with the boss, Inquisitor Vaarak. They are strangely silent about the fat jokes that Ramirez was cracking, but maybe it is because this guy could still take them out. They share the information from the departure of Artimus and the demon and the last remaining Tarot card. He thanks them and sends them on their way for a bit of R&R, which the players spend the time advancing forward a level more or less.

After a bit of shopping and leveling, they are called back to Vaarak and are briefed on an odd situation. The Xenos circuits in the tarot card are the same as the ones in a mystery meter item taken from some happy-happy emperor cult on the capital. Seems one of Vaarak’s old chum’s lost a niece and this is what he found. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find out where these meters have come from and what they do. Vaarak’s old buddy Laurent Strophes, a retired Navy man, will act as their cover. “and oh”, Vaarak adds, “Don’t drop the =][= bomb either!”

So the party takes off and lands in the upper tier of Scintilla and is greeted by a noble lady who id’s herself as their ‘cousin’, Julia Strophes. Seems their cover is to have part of the party act as nobles and the others as retainers. Since Thaddeus is already a noble he is an easy fit and Talon reluctantly saddles up as the second. Raltus and Klightus acted as body guards one per noble, Mark’s Cleric was the ‘official taster’ as he has some cooking background, and Lady V’s singing came in handy as an entertainer.

Big moving parts:
- Lessons for the nobles on how to act
- Meet Bounty Hunter at Barking Saint. Find out he has an encrypted data slate that he took off the guy that had the funky meter. He wants a hefty sum, but they feel it is worth it. Plans a meeting later on.
- Find out more about the Joyous Choir, who Strophes’ niece was tied in with and who had the meter.
- Find out about a new drug that is a rave of the young nobles.
- Arrange to meet the Bounty Hunter in a market. He is capped with a single shot to the head and the case he was carrying is taken by a guy with robot legs that can run backwards and shoot at the same time. Ick. Team decides a chase isn’t going to work, so they blend back into the crowd after looting the poor Bounty Hunter's body.
- Attend Lady Borella’s party. Have a good time, pocket some samples of the drugs. Speak with the folks, learn a few secrets, get invited to the Joyous Choir’s inner sanctum for a real secret party.

And that is were we wrapped it up. I think the second half will go a bit better. A little more investigate, a little more action.

So that is it for this episode… Thoughts from the gang? Anything you want to add?

jp

v/r

=][=
Inquisitor Varrak's representative in Omaha

Pax Calixis, or how I stopped worrying and learned to kill a green skin…

Hello Gang,

Last Saturday we got together as a group with all in attendance and continued our little Dark Hersey one shot adventure… Which seems to have grown into a campaign. Which is cool, because everyone seems to be having a good time.

When we last left our humble group of acolytes they had just vanquished the demon from the cathedral thanks to some quick thinking by Dar, the guardsman. Now on to the real fun stuff. Clean up duty!

With the camp in shambles, they party decided to split up and do the work. Klightus, Dar, and Raltus returned to Port Suffering to get help with the most sever of the wounded. Talon, Frak, and Thadius stayed to help the wounded, take names, and do a bit of searching.

Team Suffering made it to town, only loosing a few of the injured, dropped the rest off at the Alms and headed to wake up the local astropath to get a message out. Well, the local arbiter had some words and Klightus was forced to drop his =][= credentials on the table. That got things moving. Klightus got the following on the psychic radio:

“Inquisitor Varrack,
Temple at Stern Hope compromised by warp incursion. Artimus compromised and KIA. Situation contained at present. Local arbiters ordered by Inquisitional authority to assist with quarantine of temple. Request Instructions."

With the way psychic radio works, who knows how it went out.

Anyways, Team Suffering heads out with 4/5 of the arbiter contingent on the planet (that would be four of the five stationed here), their chimera and a few other odds and ends to get back to Stern Hope.

In the mean time, Team Hope does some searching and finds the Abbott’s diary, Artimus’ Rosetta, and some cash. Frak takes the opportunity to run a scam on the locals and gains a little extra change too.

Both teams unite and clean up for the report and head back to town. Wait a few weeks and get a response from Inquisitor Varrack.

“Collect data/artifacts. Transport via Pax Sector (?). Return to Scintillia. Pay codes authorized. Varrak Sends”

Two weeks later and Pax Calixis enters orbit. Transport has arrived. The acolytes are treated warmly even have dinner with the Captain Ramirez who tells them stories of the time he and Varrak use to run together. Nice thing on Pax is it is a factory ship as well as a charterist. A few mono weapons are purchased as well as some other upgrades.

Some odds and ins...

• Thadius trys to read the abbott's diary and near the end takes a bit of corruption.
• Raltus pulls an R2-D2 and tries to log onto the ships data net and gets a rude shock
• Dar finally gets his mono edge axe

A few weeks into the trip and ‘BANG’ the Geller Field drops them out of the warp. Half hour later the players are called to the bridge. Ork assault boats are in route and the team is needed to help supplement the ships security. Oh, and have some armor and a few grenades.

Big fight one:

The Boyz are dropping through the hull and the team is frantic to take them out. Frak gets grenade happy and does some great damage but also hits Dar and throws him out of the combat… Which worked out well cause he was getting pretty beat up. When the ‘Ard Boyz drop in with the Big Shootas the bullets start to fly in earnest, because they sure were not hitting anything! Team takes some good damage, fight it hard to the end before dropping the last of the Boyz. Then a comm link comes in. [Bridge under attack, please hurry]. The players race to the bridge doors in time to see the other ork crew kill off the last security teams holding the door.

Big fight two:

More bloody action. Dar takes a nasty critical and looses all the fingers on one of his hands. Everyone else gets pretty bloody. Thadius sucks with his new stun saber… Just plain sucks… Kid has got to get more skills! :-)

It hits 1215ish, fight is over, and I’m late getting home. So we wrap it up with the follow on to come on Saturday.

v/r

=][=
Inquisitor Varrak's representative in Omaha

p.s. I hope to have Pax Calxis posted over to the Dark Reign site soon.