Help Save the REH House
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I'm still knee-deep in work on the revision of *Thousand Suns *and a couple
of other writing projects, hence my continued neglect of the blog.
Apologies! ...
1 day ago
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Robot Chicken writers playing D&D
New feature up on the Wizards of the Coast site, showing the writers of Robot Chicken playing D&D...
Saturday, January 30, 2010
DriveThruRPG.com - Dragon Age RPG, Set 1 Reviews
I just posted the following review to DriveThruRPG.com of the Dragon Age boxed set, which I was fortunate enough to playtest. Huzzah! Great stuff, and I hear the box is finally coming out, so get your hands on one.
I was fortunate enough to playtest this game, and I feel it's a solid game that I believe should have some longevity. Licensed products are often catch as catch can, and going in with my prejudices along those lines, I was quite surprised to see how effectively the rules set was defined as its own entity - not just an extension of "here's something you can do in the video game, and here's how it works on pen and paper." While I like playing World of Warcraft occasionally, that's something I saw as an issue with its pen and paper incarnation.
Dragon Age succeeds primarily based upon its core mechanic - the dragon die. I haven't played too many games where the roll of the dice was anticipated quite as heavily as in Dragon Age. Due to the dragon die mechanic, a roll doesn't define just success vs. failure - it also defines side effects based on the value of one of the dice - think of it as critical hits with a higher chance of success but with effects that further the narrative of an encounter.
The setting itself seems to have greater depth to me through the way it's presented in this boxed set, as compared to the video game which I find fun but inconsistent throughout.
The PDF version of this does the game justice, but I look forward to the now-releasing boxed set itself. There's a tremendous nostalgia kick to a box containing adventures within. Even with the more serious subject matter of Dragon Age compared to say the old Red Box, it ignites the kid-sized gamer in me all over again!
Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Dragon Age succeeds primarily based upon its core mechanic - the dragon die. I haven't played too many games where the roll of the dice was anticipated quite as heavily as in Dragon Age. Due to the dragon die mechanic, a roll doesn't define just success vs. failure - it also defines side effects based on the value of one of the dice - think of it as critical hits with a higher chance of success but with effects that further the narrative of an encounter.
The setting itself seems to have greater depth to me through the way it's presented in this boxed set, as compared to the video game which I find fun but inconsistent throughout.
The PDF version of this does the game justice, but I look forward to the now-releasing boxed set itself. There's a tremendous nostalgia kick to a box containing adventures within. Even with the more serious subject matter of Dragon Age compared to say the old Red Box, it ignites the kid-sized gamer in me all over again!
Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]Thursday, January 28, 2010
Did you hear about the fight that the Gamers had with the Crips the other night?
Game over: Inmate can't play Dungeons & Dragons - York Dispatch
Yes, it's true - a Wisconsin court ruled that a prisoner could be banned from playing Dungeons & Dragons behind bars. Apparently - no joke - the concern is that the game could foster a gang mentality amongst party members, much like other serious gangs in jail (Crips, Latin Kings, Aryans, etc...)
The image of a bunch of guys making D20's in the wood shop instead of shivs seems amusing to me for some reason...
Monday, January 25, 2010
Post on EnWorld about Palm app for D&D Compendium
Looks like some neat stuff by UK outfit Ghoti Media to bring the DDI D&D Compendium to the Palm Pre and Pixi.
Anybody used this? Or other apps for reading rules manuals on your smart phone while playing? I experimented with a bunch for my iPhone, and selected Readdle Docs for loading and viewing PDFs. My wife's Droid has a few good PDF readers, and much easier access to copy PDFs to her SD card (rather than the 'create a fake drive on your wireless network' approach I have to take with Readdle Docs on my iPhone...)
Anybody doing anything neat with viewing and loading docs on their netbooks, smart phones, etc.?
-Tyler
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Gamers Help Haiti!
Hey, folks, I just donated via drivethrurpg.com to help support those in need in Haiti. They're matching for the dollar in donations to Doctors without Borders. Please do what you can to help.
-Tyler
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