Kapcon commeth. Am I ready?

Returing to the blog here after a long, relaxing summer makes me feel a little like a deadbeat dad who hasen't spent much time recently with their kid. There is no doubt I have been a little neglectful over summer and the end of 2011, though some of the reasons were outside of my control.

So the best way to get back into the habit of something is to start, so before I write up some retrospective/prospective posts about my gaming, I thought I would mention that it is Kapcon this coming weekend, the big Wellington roleplaying event that I have written about in the past.

While I'm looking forward to Kapcon, I have to admit this year I have really struggled to get excited about it or get motivated to run something. I'm not sure if the gloss of past years has worn off slightly, or if it is just an extended hangover from last year's busy year of work, but my buzz certainly hasn't come as easy as in the past.

In the end I've settled on running 'The Wishing Well', which is a heavily modified Advanced Fighting Fantasy (AFF) 2nd edition adventure. I picked up AFF 2nd ed. in December and have really enjoyed the simple ruleset and flexibility of the system, which sits in contrast to my recent experience of running D&D 4E.

There is also the very obvious nostalgia kick which is part of the game. Many roleplayers like myself first picked up their dice to play fantastic adventures in the world of Allansia. The game retains that old school feel and innocence, along with that slightly odd British sensibility that American fantasy games lack.

The adventure itself is simple but solid, and should provide some good fun in the Sunday morning hangover session. However, in deference to full transparency, it hasn't coalesced into a single organic whole yet, which is a fancy way of saying I haven't finished writing it. However since I am using pre-generated characters and modifying an existing story (albeit modifying it increasingly so the more I think about it), it shouldn't prove a problem.

I have become quietly excited about AFF 2nd ed. and while it is far from a perfect system, I think it has the potential as a 'go to game' for some light fantasy fun. I think it even has enough depth for a short campaign, though my kapcon experience will be enlightening about how much I enjoy running it.

Reading up on AFF 2nd ed. also lead me to Matthew Finch's 'A Quick Primer for Old School Gaming', which was an enjoyable short read on the mindset behing 'old school' gaming. While it's not about to make me run off and start playing original D&D and grow a beard, I did enjoy its thoughts on 'ruling not rules' for example. I would recommend it as a short read.

Stay tuned for more of my 2012 gaming plans and a review of my Kapcon 2012 experience.

Vomkrieg: The price ain't right - International comparative ...

My friend Vomkreig makes some very astute observasions about Games Workshop's business model. I'm totally with him.

Vomkrieg: The price ain't right - International comparative ...: I came to a realization today and have made a decision on something, I'm not going back into my local Games Workshop store. Not unless s...

D&D: The Slaying Stone - Session 2

As the late afternoon light started to fade, the group decided to take advantage of the chaos caused by their attack on the goblin patrol in the forest to sneak into down undetected. Most of the goblin forces were in the north of the town and a column of troops was preparing to head into the forest.

After navigating towards to the south of the city, the group crossed silently into the city and headed towards the remains of the library in search of the slaying stone. Sticking to the shadows and avoid goblin patrols, they happen across a lone kobold near column of troops was preparing to head into the forest.

After navigating towards to the south of the city, the group crossed silently into the city and headed towards the remains of the library in search of the slaying stone. Sticking to the shadows and avoid Goblin patrols, they happen across a lone Kobold near the library collecting junk with his mechanical hounds. Sensing a threat that could not be passed by, they attacked from the shadows quickly. As the party quickly overcame his hounds, the Kobold splashed a toxic oil over some of the party causing a Anhkeg to erupt from beneath the earth and attack. As the giant beetle grabbed Cage with its mandibles, the Kobold hoped to make his escape, but was quickly cut down. With assistance from the others, Cage summoned the full power of the dark demonic forces that torment him and killed the creature.

The party made their escape to an abandoned building to recover from their wounds and to remain hidden. While standing guard Zoltan spied a goblin on patrol being grabbed by an orc and carried away down a dark ally. It seems the Party weren't the only strangers in down.

Carrying on with their plan, they headed towards the library and, with a combination of magical cunning and ruthless steel, gained entry. One of the scrolls provided by Treona suggests that there was some trace of the Slaying Stone here. Further exploration of the library saw the party come across a makeshift alchemist laboratory hiding a group of goblins. The group burst into the room and quickly dispatched the goblin guards thanks to getting the jump of them. The goblin alchemist hardly had enough time to summon a gray ozoo like creature before suffering the same fate as his goblin guards. The ozoo fell quickly after, thanks in part to a well placed beaker from Thangobrind's sling.

Using the scroll to further explore the library, the party made their way to an abandoned wing of the library where they discovered the remains of a wall panel cast aside to reveal a hidden alcove. The panel and the alcove featured large claws marks and large, brassy scales littered the floor. Bookshelves were also pushed aside, consistent with a large beast having moved through the area.

After examining the scales and recalling his study, Gabriel revealed that they most likely belonged to a brass dragon. There creatures make their lairs in warn areas and prefer dry and arid environments, though sometimes make exceptions. They often have a merc the library collecting junk with his mechanical hounds. Sensing a threat that could not be passed by, they attacked from the shadows quickly. As the party quickly overcame his hounds, the Kobold splashed a toxic oil over some of the party causing an Anhkeg to erupt from beneath the earth and attack. As the giant beetle grabbed Cage with its mandibles, the kobold hoped to make his escape, but was quickly cut down. With assistance from the others, Cage summoned the full power of the dark demonic forces that torment him and killed the creature.

The party made their escape to an abandoned building to recover from their wounds and to remain hidden. While standing guard, Zoltan spied a goblin on patrol being grabbed by an orc and carried away down a dark ally. It seems the this group weren't the only strangers in down.

Carrying on with their plan, they headed towards the library and, with a combination of magical cunning and ruthless steel, gained entry. One of the scrolls provided by Treona suggests that there was some trace of the Slaying Stone here. Further exploration of the library saw the party come across a makeshift alchemist laboratory hiding a group of goblins. The group burst into the room and quickly dispatched the goblin guards thanks to getting the jump of them. The goblin alchemist hardly had enough time to summon a gray ozoo like creature before suffering the same fate as his goblin guards. The ozoo fell quickly after, thanks in part to a well placed beaker from Thangobrind's sling.

Using the scroll to further explore the library, the party made their way to an abandoned wing of the library where they discovered the remains of a wall panel cast aside to reveal a hidden alcove. The panel and the alcove featured large claws marks and large, brassy scales littered the floor. Bookshelves were also pushed aside, consistent with a large beast having moved through the area.

After examining the scales and recalling his study, Gabriel revealed that they most likely belonged to a brass dragon. There creatures make their lairs in warn areas and prefer dry and arid environments, though sometimes make exceptions. They often have a mercenary streaks and tend to be talkative, though always thinking about their own self-interest above anything else. He also noted that brass dragons also refuse to converse with anyone who exhibits rudeness or disrespect.

Armed with this new knowledge, the group decided to explore Kiris Dahn further and headed silently through the night to the Houses of Revel, the former city temples. Finding the temples abandoned but desecrated, Gabriel began reconsecrating the temple of Bahamut with help from Genevieve, while Cage, Zoltan, Lexonius and Thangobrind went off in search of the slaying stone and headed into the temple of Sehanine.

However the temple of Sehanine was not abandoned as the adventurers first thought. After their eyes adjusted to the light, they noticed a small figuring trying to hide from them. After reassuring him they meant no harm, he introduced himself as Kiris Hoyt, the rightful heir to the Kiris title whose family had abandoned him when they were fleeing the city. His fine clothes now covered in dirt and filth, he confessed to living alone in the temple keeping out of sight of the goblins. When asked about the dragon, he confirmed that he had seen signs of a brass dragon flying across the city at night and that he had overheard some goblins saying that the dragon had dug lair somewhere in the city.

The conversation then turned to the Slaying Stone. Before Hoyt could finish his story, a cry when up and a raiding party of goblins entered from both the north and south of the temple. Surrounded, the party turned to face their attackers with Zoltan using powerful magic to put a number of goblins to sleep while Cage and Thangobrind lined up ready to strike.

To the surprise of all concerned, Hoyt was struck by a crossbow bolt and began to transform into a fearsome half man, half rat creature who attacked those nearest to him in an uncontrollable rage. While Lexonius ran down the temple to take care of the goblins closing in from the south, Cage and Thangobrind traded blows back and forth with the wererat. Zoltan used his magic to keep the rest of the goblins at way. Gabriel and Genevieve ran to their friend's defence to join the fray and helped tipped the balance in favour of the party. After a brief but violent struggle, the battered body of Kiris Hoyt, human once more, and a dozen goblins lay dead around them.

Commonplace fears

Wired magazine have published a copy of Lovecraft's Commonplace Book. A commonplace book is a list of ideas and thoughts, and Lovecraft's provides some great insights into his thinking and writing process.

You can even see clear progression from concept to story, with entry forty two (Fear of mirrors—memory of dream in which scene is altered and climax is hideous surprise at seeing oneself in the water or a mirror. (Identity?) [Outsider?])being clear precursor to Lovecraft’s The Outsider.

From a gaming point of view it is simply an amazing resource full on scenario and scene ideas. I find simply casting my eye down the list the list sparks off story ideas with almost every entry.

The Nentir Vale reimaged

A little while ago I was casting around for a system to run a fantasy game and received some great suggestions. I checked a few out, but that itch to run a fantasy game never really got scratched, so I decided to throw caution to the wind and pick up some D&D 4E.


I have mentioned before playing D&D was a bit of geek blind spot for me, so I was a little unsure of what to expect. After getting familiar with the material and thinking about it some more, I came to conclusion that I could do what I wanted to do with the game, that being to run a character driven game with a strong story, that also had the essential flavour of D&D. The secret, I came to realise, would be a strong group of players.

Masks of Nyarlathotep: A Player's Perspective

If you pop over my friend Dale's blog, you will see he has written up his account of our recently finished Call of Cthulhu campaign 'Masks of Nyarlathotep' (Pulp Edition). Dale ran a great campaign and I had a heap of fun. The characters were fleshed out and interesting; the story equal parts hilarious and horrific. It is something I will remember fondly for a long time.

Seeing as Dale has provided the GM point of view, I thought I might give some thoughts from a player's perspective. Masks has a reputation as being one of the most popular Cthulhu campaigns, but also for being a bit of a 'meat grinder' in terms of characters. As a result, I was a little cautious going in as I didn't like the idea of blowing through a bunch of characters that were only tenuously connected.

However looking back, Dale's introduction of fate and fortune points was a great idea. It meant - in my case at least - that the tension was maintained through the points slowly building up and quickly dwindling down, while allowing for meaningful character development to occur (I think I burned through six of them in the end). I really enjoyed playing Armand Fazeal's descent from an eccentric orientalist to a mythos fighting, zealous Islamist. The major wound table also helped to add to the tension as it provided another decision about to use a fate point or not.

In terms of chapters, my favourite was Cairo. It combined the right amount of sandbox style choices and plot 'reveal', while having a really detailed and described setting. I think it also helped that there was a lot of investigative action, which was a niche Fazeal helped fill. In contrast I was less enamored by Kenya, mostly due to the linear plotting of the story, but as Dale explained it is important story wise, and really it was still really fun.

All in all it was a huge amount of fun and a big thanks goes out to Dale. It has certainly given me a whole bunch of idea for me to steal and use one day when I run it.

What's this? An update?

Yes it's true. No lie. It is indeed an update.

Sadly my grand intention to keep this blog updated regularly hasn't really come to much. True there has been some pretty big events in the past few months (wedding, honeymoon, huge work project) to keep me occupied, but I have also been lucky enough to have some gaming on the side as well.

Call of Cthulhu with Dale continues with the exciting 'Masks of Nyarlathotep: Pulp Edition', in which I play the Oriental occultist Armand Fazeal. It's a really fun game and Dale continues to impress me with his organisational ability to run the game week in - week out.

I have also got an In Nomine game run by my old mate Jarrod starting up in the near future, which will mark the belated kick back into Monday night roleplaying. I'm looking forward to starting back up with this group and have grand plans to run something Cthulhu related with them later in the year.

I have also got some other half formed plans for other games I would like to run, as well as some thoughts on Mansions of Madness, but that will have to wait until next time.