Happy Halloween 2021

 

Another Month of Gaming (November '21)

Issue #261 of their Game Trade Magazine is available at FLGS everywhere, and online here.

ViscountEric's Gaming Want List

Nothing, although without the Twilight: 2000 Kickstarter rewards, there might have been something.

ViscountEric's Money-Is-No-Object Want List

Nothing

The Imaginary Store List (The Pegleg Gnome)

9th Level Games

Rebel Scum RPG .............................................................. $14.99

The Excellents RPG: Game Diary .................................... $14.99

Alderac Entertainment Group

Dog Lover ........................................................................ $24.99

Arcane Tinman

Christmas Dragon 2021 Playmat ...................................... $19.49

The Army Painter

Warpaints Air:  Complete Set ........................................... $375.00

Atlas Games

Mouse Cheese Cat Cucumber .......................................... $ 13.00

Catalyst Game Labs

Battletech: Initiative Deck ................................................ $11.99

Shadowrun RPG: Double Clutch ...................................... $44.99

Chessex Manufacturing

Gemini Luminary Dice Blocks

Free League Publishing

Twilight: 2000 Core Box Set .................................................. $59.99

Twilight: 2000 Dice Set .......................................................... $21.99

Twilight: 2000 Referee Screen ................................................ $24.99

Twilight: 2000 Weapon Cards ................................................. $17.99

Funko

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation Game ...................... $ 6.99

Goodman Games

DCC: Horror #7 - It Consumes ................................................ $ 9.99

Mutant Crawl Classics: Mutant Astronaut Edition .................. $60.00

The Shelf File of Holding ........................................................ $20.00

Konami Digital Entertainment

Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG: Kuriboh Kollection - 9 - Pocket Portfolio ..... $ 9.99

Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG: Kuriboh Kollection - Card Case .................... $ 4.99

Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG: Kuriboh Kollection - Sleeves Pack ................ $ 3.99

Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG: Kuriboh Kollection - Game Mat .................... $14.99

Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG: Speed Duel - GX Box .................................... $29.99

Mantic Entertainment

Halfling Howitzer ......................................... $25.00

Halfling Iron Beast ......................................... $40.00

Terraincrate: Battlefield Ruins ....................... $40.00

Terraincrate: Sci-Fi Objectives ...................... $15.00

Terraincrate: Military Compound .................. $150.00

Terraincrate: Battlezone Street Accessories ... $18.00

Terraincrate: Industrial Zone .......................... $80.00

Terraincrate: Landing Zone ............................ $80.00

Modiphius

Dune RPG: Sand and Dust ............................ $39.99

Collector's Edition .... $75.99

Dune RPG: Dice Set - Atreides ...................... $19.99

Dune RPG: Dice Set - Harkonnen ................. $19.99

Monster Fight Club

Cyberpunk Red Minis:  Bozos A .................... $20.00

Cyberpunk Red Minis: Edgerunners G .......... $20.00

Cyberpunk Red Minis: Edgerunners F ........... $20.00

Cyberpunk Red Minis: Trauma Team C ......... $20.00

Paizo Publishing

Pathfinder RPG: AP - Quest for the Frozen Flame 1 - Broken Tusk Moon ............. $24.99

Pathfinder RPG: Flip-Mat - Enormous Forest ................................... $24.99

Starfinder RPG: Flip-Mat - Casino .................................................... $14.99

Petersen Games

Colouring Book of Out of Space .......................... $14.99

Evacuate Deck Building Game ............................. $39.99

Pokemon USA

Pokemon TCG: Sword & Shield - Fusion Strike Boosters

Q-Workshop

Advent Dice Calendar #2 ...................................... $45.00

Reaper Miniatures 

Beastmen (Bones Black) ........................................ $12.99

Blood Demons Boxed Set ...................................... $24.99

Crypt of the Dwarf King Boxed Set ....................... $24.99

Henchman & Hirelings Boxed Set ......................... $29.99

River Horse

Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal The Adventure Game .......... $45.00

Steve Jackson Games

Deluxe Dice Bag: Skeletal Warrior ......................... $12.95

Munchkin: Petting Zoo ............................................ $10.95

Stronghold Games

Terraforming Mars: Big Box ................................... $149.99

Terraforming Mars: Small Box ................................ $119.99

Troll Lord Games

Castles & Crusades: Castle Keepers Guide 3rd Printing ............ $49.99

Castles & Crusades: Players Handbook 8th Edition ................... $39.99

Ultra-Pro

My First Adventure RPG: Finding the Dragon HC 

Wizards of the Coast

Magic the Gathering CCG: Innistrad - Crimson Vow Bundle

Magic the Gathering CCG: Innistrad - Crimson Vow Collector Booster

Magic the Gathering CCG: Innistrad - Crimson Vow Commander Decks

Magic the Gathering CCG: Innistrad - Crimson Vow Theme Booster 

Magic the Gathering CCG: Innistrad - Crimson Vow Draft Booster

Magic the Gathering CCG: Innistrad - Crimson Vow Set Booster

Magic the Gathering CCG: Pioneer Challenger Deck 2021

WizKids

Adult Emerald Dragon Premium Figure ...................... $99.99

Jubilex, Demon Lord of Slime and Ooze ..................... $69.99

Sahaugin Warband ........................................................ $44.99

D&D Nolzur's Marvelous Unpainted Minis: Wave 16

Pathfinder Battles: Premium Painted Figure .

Marvel Heroclix: The Eternals Movie Countertop Display

Marvel Heroclix: Fantastic Four 2021 Storyline Play at Home Kit ........... $ 9.99

The 2021 Shelfie

Around the start of school, my daughter Maja purchased a new bookcase with her own money.  She has been collecting a manga series at a rapid pace, and a new white bookcase with many smaller shelves fit her room's esthetic better.

Of course, this meant that the old bookcase, one of the heavy fake wood ones from 35 years ago, needed a new home, in the office.  

Now, everything is off the floor, my Hackmaster collection isn't hiding in the corner on another shelf, and hopefully, I can bring in some older books still trapped in boxes in the garage since the mid-Obama administration. 

I've also managed to reorganize the core shelf, with every bound book I'd like to reference in the near future. 

The #Shelfie

Star Wars is a little bit closer to my hand for Monday nights (like I reference the rules often), but I've added four gems.

1. I don't know when I'll use Harlem Unbound, but it's a fantastic book that deserves a prominent spot in my Cthulhu collection.
2. My Cthulhu Invictus trio of books, the main rules, the Invictus Companion, and De Horrore Cosmico.  Once face to face at someone's home is finally a thing, I think breaking Roman Cthulhu will shift the gears necessary to get things back to normal.
3. The Ultimate Micro-RPG Book by James D'Amato, discovered at a Philly-area Barnes & Noble, was a surprise purchase and is chock full of so many fun micro-RPGs, I can't wait to prep a few for our off-sessions... if we have any off sessions in the near future.
4. Mouse Guard - The book and system call to me.  Don't know how, don't know when, but it's worth multiple looks.

(Trogs Redux) #3 - The Tomb of Petrides

5th of HepDec, 1142 - Village of Verge, Kingdom of Marakeikos

Phinious Whistelteets, a half-elf bard of Riffilin blood, trying to live up to his merchant family standards. His charming personality was going to get him a number of enchanted and rare items in a deal with the prominent Nubian merchant in Verge. Of course, his fear of light war horses and his deadly allergy to cheese was proving problematic on this journey.
Arnold, another half-elf bard of far more considerable blandness
Froedrick Cobblepot, a Gnome Cleric of worshiping the halfing goddess Yondalla.
"Keebs," a Gnome Titan BattleMage, and frighteningly the only competent fighter in the group.
Clarkos Metropoulos - Former Baronial Guard of Vadecvinscy who wields a pole arm
Lorigaard Moosaka - Neurotic priestess of Echelon, the god of the ocean, and her pet pigeon.

With the voulge-wielding fighter from Vadevicsny and a strange cleric of Echelon, the party waded through hordes of undead in the lower levels. It had been ascertained that the zombies were all fresh, created from recent kills. Any leaders, or perhaps a necromancer to create the zombies, had escaped by other means. On a corpse that was being prepared to be turned into a zombie, they found a letter to the wizard Ligere warning of some crazed queen planning on attacking Verge....

With that disappointment, the party was surprised, as their recent kills, including an Orkin wardawg descended into the lower levels in undead form..  The party was able to defeat them, but it was assured that any evil doers got away.

Well, shoot, that guy's not in the dungeon....

Next: #4 - Ligere's Castle

Time to Recalibrate the Roll20 Character Sheets

 It's game day for the Monday night Star Wars campaign!   

I greatly enjoy the very bare bones approach were taking to using Roll20's functionality.  It seems like every dozen episodes or two we need to break out some maps, or some hastily drawn and quite horrible sketches of rooms, corridors, and Gungan slums.

One day, I'll have the right tokens to play with, and the right formulas to calculate die rolls.   Until then, I'll just try to keep having fun.  

The Star Wars campaign's actual plays return on Tuesdays after Thanksgiving, with a few short, holiday themed episodes before diverting off to a sub-campaign for seven weeks.   As you can tell from the picture, when the campaign returns in full after that, we'll have a few new names to keep track of.

Gnome Family

Warming the Hearts and Minds of the Hobby

Two weeks in my usual busy season chaos which is October, I finally ventured down into the basement... to prep the furnace for a quick cold snap.

I still don't anticipate painting anything until after Historicon.  

In a similar vein, with my wife gone for a week, I got a whopping two hours late one night to work on my blogging backload.  I'm happy to say Episode 51 (Recording 659 on my iPhone) is finally complete after a few weeks stop-start transcriptions.   Sure, there are a lot of episodes on my to-do list, but my session from Monday night isn't tasked to be completed until January because (a) there's 6-7 other episodes to write up and (b) even if I got those done, episode 60 "Fashion by Crom-Crom" won't officially post until November 1st, 2022.

On top of everything else, our community rec basketball league's registration is wide open, although someone else forget to post anything about it until I took care of it on Tuesday.  

The Return of El Jeffe: Monday is Star Wars night, and not only did I start the session on time while talking on Skype while driving the girls back from practice.  It was also the rather impromptu return of the one of the original members of the online group, Jeff.  He left before the Summer due to work, and announced his triumphant return (at least until the Christmas shopping season.)  The only problem, his character left the group, and no one knew where he was.  Well *spoilers* he's hiding in a Gungan Tailor's shop on Naboo!  It was as an awkward (and awesome) conversation as you would expect.

Project 350:   Even without painting, it's Friday, so a look at my long-term goal of clearing out my scheduled posts and blog drafts behind the scenes.  Today the totals is at 476 (314/162), down from 482 (312/170) at the top of the month.  Lots of Star Wars Actual plays to write-up (and move over to scheduled status for a year),

(Kickstarter) GURPS: Girl Genius by Steve Jackson Games

I didn't expect any GURPS Kickstarters from Steve Jackson Games, and I certainly couldn't guess the Girl Genius Sourcebook and Roleplaying Game, if it weren't for some previous pre-orders awhile back

From the Kickstarter:

Adventure! Romance! Mad Science!

Imagine a version of the Victorian era in which the wildest dreams of early science-fiction writers are a reality. A talent known as the Spark inspires great, if not always sane, minds to reshape the world via technology. Noble houses jockey for influence and power while common folk keep their head down to avoid the crazed inventors and their crazed inventions.

(Kickstarter) Planegea: Prehistoric 5th Edition Campaign Setting by Atlas Games.

I'll say this about the advertising between segments of Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff.  It's catchy, it's repetitive, and I knew Planegea was coming out on Kickstarter.  I think Atlas Games gets their money's worth advertising on the show.

From the Kickstarter:

Planegea is the primordial fantasy campaign setting for 5th Edition, where a dungeon means the curse-painted caves of a cannibal clan. Gone are the safe hearths of taverns and libraries, kingdoms and cathedrals. Planegea is a place of utter wildness, where survival is the only law and it must be carved from the world by force of might and magic.

I get the vibe of the game, a primordial setting that's very pre-pre-Hyperborean Age.

(Trogs Redux) #2 - Two New Adventurers Passing Through

Phinious Whistelteets, a half-elf bard of Riffilin blood, trying to live up to his merchant family standards. His charming personality was going to get him a number of enchanted and rare items in a deal with the prominent Nubian merchant in Verge. Of course, his fear of light war horses and his deadly allergy to cheese was proving problematic on this journey.

Arnold, another half-elf bard of far more considerable blandness

Froedrick Cobblepot, a Gnome Cleric of worshiping the halfing goddess Yondalla, made even more amusing by his ramblings on how the halflings "stole" the one true god from the Gnomish pantheon generations ago.

"Keebs," a Gnome Titan BattleMage, and frighteningly the only competent fighter in the group.

4th of HepDec 1142, Village of Verge, Kingdom of Marakeikos
Returning to Verge with the High Priest, Yuri, the party became minor celebrities. After days of celebration and recovery, Yuri called them to the temple.

"Clearing out the orcs only solves a short-term problem," the cleric explained, "Not only will someone, or something else filled that emptiness, but I know that there are deeper corridors, and if my short adventuring career taught me anything, it's that deepe corridors next further experience for young heroes."

Assuming the worst was further down in that cave, the party agreed to look for "fresh blood" to join the party ranks. Many favorable adventurers had come and gone while they agreed to help save Yuri, Only two new adventurers appeared far-more competent than when"Strom" showed up in town to help.
Clarkos Metropoulos, a retired Baronial Guard from the far northern Barony of Vadevicsny. His family was forced to join the resistance when Baron Gustav died and nefarious pretenders tried to ascend the throne.

Clarkos

During the War with the Master, humanoids armies overwhelmed Vadevicsny and it was the brave exploits of Governor-General Cecelia Darkspruce that finally vanquished the evil Baron Edric. Clarkos volunteered to join the Governor-General's expeditionary force. With the Barony safe, his family could finally return after many years. Clarkos served in the military with distinction, taking part in the invasion of Vlachia during the Black Eagle War, before earning his role in the true Barional Guard.
With his service fulfilled, he retired and decided to take a shot and become an adventurer. He arrived in Verge with a small backpack and the following items:

• His voulge from his early days as a Guardsman
• His ceremonial padded armor (treat as regular padded)
• His chainmail coif 
• A donkey name "Kimona"

A lengthy vetting process in the inn involving a number of rounds of drinks also pulled another tasty morsel: Clarkos was in possession of a document which proved ownership of a few acres of wilderness near the Village of Verge in southern Marakeikos. He wasn't interested in selling it off, rather trying trade for some valuable magic items.

Coming from Danaan, was Lorigaard Mooska, an adherent of Echelon, a Rogue God of the Sea with his philosophy of the Three-Pronged Trident of Life.

Lorigaard

Lorigaard brought little to the operation, besides her clerical healing, a pack goat name "Little Octavius," and Pietro the Pigeon. She also made unsubstantiated claims that she could influence and control most animals. That could be an advantageous thing, but concept of Clarkos' pole arm and her mighty Trident in the lower dungeon seemed most advantageous.

Next: #3 - The Tomb of Petrides

Mandatory AAU Basketball Rant: Fall Season - Part 1

 After a full blown (and very successful) AAU Spring Season, followed by a healthy Summer League for both girls and a triumphant scholastic premiere for Maja, I was hoping for a relatively relaxing Fall.  Maja was taking up middle school volleyball, and after a year and a half of COVID remote instruction, Millie needed to embrace and thrive in face-to-face schooling. 

My wife had other ideas, signing both up for the AAU's Fall season.    Four or five tourneys, with one trip to New Jersey, reduced rates, but no new uniforms.  

Troubles started early. Millie's nationally ranked 4th grade team was now playing 5th, but lost one of the twin point guards with a wrist injury early in September.  One top of that, two players did not return, and the replacement tryouts were eager, but not entirely up to speed anytime soon.  

Adding to this complication was that the now-6th and 7th grade girls teams were also depleted, so underclassman were going to get significant time playing up.   

Maja's 7th grade team got some promised help with two new girls, one was one of her classmates and scholastic teammate, but again, there were rumors the girls would actually spend more time playing up to help the 8th grade team get depth.  The other was a new point guard from a rival team that didn't seem to be gelling completely.  

For the first tournament, Millie's team rolled through Saturday, outscoring their opponents 97-18, but a specter lorded over them: another team did the same feat in pool play, with a score of 94-17, plus half of their 12-player team were a good 4-6 inches taller than our girls.  

Maja's team got two big wins in their Saturday pool play, both wins by at least 30, with different players contributing.  They too had a monkey on their back, their Sunday morning game was against the nationally ranked team they lost to in the Spring.... and the game was scheduled in that team's practice facility, an hour away from the other site (and an hour before Millie's third game).  I took Maja, and the promises of another tight game seemed alright at tip-off, but at 5 minutes in, the new point guard checked into the game, and the opposition ate her alive... and the other players in a 20+ rout.  

Meanwhile, we raced back to see Millie's undermanned team face the oversized team from Delaware.  It was an intense all-out brawl that went the distance (Seriously, with five minutes left in the game, not only were the other three on-site championship games completed, but the chairs and equipment were put away, and supplemental lighting turned off!)

After an hour and twenty minutes for a 28-minute game, Millie's team proved battered but victorious 32-14.  The team built a big lead, but couldn't get to a twenty-point lead and initiate mercy rules and running clock, so every jump ball, every out of bounds, every scrum  and foul shot stopped the clock.  Playing a larger, still hungry opponent, the 12-16 point lead they kept never seemed completely safe, and it seemed like her team was always an injury from trouble.  

With our late night and late dinner, we arrive home, got some sleep, and none of Millie's teammates fully recovered until the Wednesday practice.

As an organization, the AAU program did extremely well, fielding 11 teams, getting 7 of them into the finals, and having all 7 win the championship.  

For the second tournament thus far, the team travelled down to Central/South Jersey against new competition from notable programs.  Maja's team was fully armed including a newer, even taller center, but there was no division for 5th grade.  Millie was offered a spot to play on the 6th grade team, and we waited to see what type of opponents would show up and how much playing time she would actually get.

Pool play for 6th grade seemed easy, outscoring their opponents 74-10, including a shutout.  Millie got plenty of playing time.   Of course, the team that did score  against them reach the finals, but they had significant time to retool and plan against the team.  Millie's team ended up winning 23-15, but there was not a happy face on the bench.  To go from mercying a team in pool play, to only leading by 1 at the half was a shocker for most in attendance.  Too many mistakes, too many miscues, too many missed easy shots.  The last week of practice since the tourney hasn't been torture, but the coaches are applying the pressure.  

Maja's 7th graders felt a bit more opposition, but with two Twin Titans dominating the boards, they games eventually got out of hand.  Her team rolled into the finals, outscoring their opponents 156-49.  

One of my pet peeves with AAU is the ever-changing rules from tournament to tournament.  I thought everyone had a good hand on what tie-breaker criteria was for advancement or seeding.  Usually the tourney organizers would look at Point Differential to decide and usually they would cap blowouts at 20 or 25 points.  If that was tied, they would compare Points Scored Against a team, and then the Points Scored by a Team.  

This weekend, the number one tie-breaker appeared out of nowhere:  Head to Head record.  

Maja's team had not play one of the other team's in pool play, and it looked as if they would make it as the second team in the finals.  But despite scoring more points and allowing fewer, they had lost to another team in a nail biter.  That other team managed to qualify for the finals.  

Yes, my head hurts to, and it makes sense to me.

The finals was no contest, 42-17, with Maja getting significant playing time from start to finish. 

Of the 9 teams the program brought to New Jersey, 5 of them one championships, including 6th, 7th, and 8th grade girls teams (and we're pondering if the entire 5th grade team didn't have a shot to be in the 6th grade championship against their teammates).

Fall basketball loses a lot of players from Fall sports, but the program needs to seek out premiere competition.  Some of the boys divisions did get challenged, and sometimes defeated, but the 7th grade girls game against nationally recognized competition was the exception thus far, and it needs to be the norm.  

Of course, I've made the realization that the season ends in four weeks, and these girls will be holy terrors on any team they will play for over the Winter.  Hopefully they can all come back next Spring and wreck havoc wherever they may go.  

And in related news, I have been "volunteered" to record the games for the coaches, players, and ultimately the fans.  It's an idiot-proof, press and a button and follow the action, but these iPads have never met an idiot like me.  To be fair, the one simply died 5 minutes into a game, and another one was handed to me at 22% and ran out of juice with 5 minutes to go in another one.  

I'd much prefer the scoresheet, but it keeps me honest, and quiet... since these end up somewhere on Youtube.

(Review) Dragon Knight Games, Take Three - Kingston, PA

 After a month of traveling to Indiana for work, my wife returned the favor this week (the busiest week for the entire year for my department) and took a trip to Texas to tie up a project.  That left me with both kids and they're crazy basketball schedules.  Waiting downtown for the practices to be over is such a waste of time, but I did manage to try to do a tour of the local gaming shops, specifically the new location for Dragon Knight Games.

I've mentioned Dragon Knight a number of times, most notably their recent remodel of their Pittston store.  No major purposes, but I was able to visit a few times for some painting supplies.  The last time, prior to my trips, they had mentioned moving into a new location in early September, across the river and down the road, in Kingston, Pennsylvania.  The only problem I foresaw was the fact that there already was a game store less than a half-mile down the road.  

The shop had moved from a downtown location to a small strip mall setting, and I had anticipated issues driving past the turn, but much to my surprise, the store had a professional sign installed at the big roadside stand for the entire mall.  Big bonus points in my book.  

Better yet, in the 15 years I've lived in the area, this was the first store since The Unknown in Scranton to have proper front signage.

Inside I found a large storefront stocking their normal lines of all D&D-related products, Games Workshop, and a bevy of CCG supplies.   The open gaming area is no longer relegated to a back room, rather five or so well-constructed tables in the back-center of the store. 

The biggest improvement to the previous store?  The hours.   The store is now open an incredible 12pm - 9pm, seven days a week!

Despite all the improvements to the new locations, I'm going to temporarily downgrade Dragon Knight Games to 3 1/2 Gnomes out of 5 on the Gaming with the Gnomies review scale.  

The extra square footage needs product, and the boutique set-up of the Pittston location was really appealing to me.   After visiting the two game stores in Bloomington, this one still needs a bit more work.  Hopefully a future review will but it back in its proper place. 

I wasn't going to rely on the lone employee for rumors and data, but a quick half-mile drive down the road confirmed my suspicions.  The other game store, Tactical Advantage, was no more, an empty storefront in its respective strip mall.  In my crazy month of traveling, the owner of that store announced his deteriorating health prevented him from running the store, and after a short sales, it closed on September 30th.  I didn't particularly like the staff, most of the inventory was predictable, but I've managed to find a few gems over the years. 

The current location of Dragon Knight Games is 738 Wyoming Avenue, Kingston, Pennsylvania

(Kickstarter) Kung-Fu Masters by Atomico

 I recently got a slew of company newsletters in my e-mail.  A few focused on how appealing their current modern lines were, and their upcoming Kickstarter to expand them.  That might be why such a basic Kickstarter such as Kung-Fu Masters by Atomico is right up my alley.

Distinct characters... in metal... scheduled to be fulfilled this year, and everything's in the US?  Don't sign me up quite yet, but you have my attention.

Happy Gnome-versary!

15 years of wedded bliss...

(Kickstarter) Colony 87 Wave Four: 28mm Sci-Fi Civilians by Crooked Dice

 I've had my share of UK Kickstarters for now, but darn it if Crooked Dice's Colony 87 Wave Four: Sci-Fi Civilians isn't tempting.

Are they pricey?  Definitely.  

Am I worried about the egregious UK shipping costs that have slapped me on previous campaigns this year?  Most certainly.

But by golly, the figures look nice, and I may simply want the Alien Pet Trader (and Pets) as Add-Ons!~

(Trogs Redux) #1 The Festival of King Halav

It's the Year 1142, Seventy Years after the Third Ferasean Empire was formed, only to collapse forty years later. Six years after the Burning Trogs brought peace to the continent by uniting the forces of man, elf, dwarf, and gnome against the hordes of The Master.

The PCs
Galdor Melwasul, a male drow with a deranged look in his twitching eye. Years of fighting orcs intruding on the Shadowlands has left a strong racial hatred of the creatures, and a head injury that makes him force people to call him "Strom." In a convoluted last will and testament, he inherited a home somewhere on the outskirts of Verge, in the Kingdom of Marakeikos. With the growing crowd of traveler journeying to attend the Festival of Halav he tagged along with a group of adventurers for added protection:

Phinious Whistelteets, a half-elf bard of Riffilin blood, trying to live up to his merchant family standards. His charming personality was going to get him a number of enchanted and rare items in a deal with the prominent Nubian merchant in Verge. Of course, his fear of light war horses and his deadly allergy to cheese was proving problematic on this journey.

Arnold, another half-elf bard of far more considerable blandness

Froedrick Cobblepot, a Gnome Cleric of worshiping the halfing goddess Yondalla, made even more amusing by his ramblings on how the halflings "stole" the one true god from the Gnomish pantheon generations ago. But be aware, if one would push the theological matter with a duel, he would immediately give in. (Low Pain Threshold, Wuss of Heart, and a psychotic aversion to halflings)

"Keebs," a Gnome Titan BattleMage, and frighteningly the only competent fighter in the group.

1st of HepDec 1142, Village of Verge, Kingdom of Marakeikos.
The group arrived in Verge late at the night before the great festival of Halav, most made small talk with Mayor Tom, the innkeeper at the Burning Ox (except Froedrick... damn halfling bartender). They managed to get sleeping spots in the common room but were they snagged a common room and were startled in the pre-dawn hours by a great commotion. The church of Halav in town was in flames and all the clergy killed or taken by Brigand Orcs... (cue the Drow complaints that orcs were good for nothing but target practice).

The head priest of Verge, Yuri "the Healing Guy" had been taken and two search parties had already left to look for him. The father of one of the slain clergy, an older man named Janner, offered to track the orcs for the party, so long as they brought him swift justice....

After a four hour hike in the woods, the group arrived near a series of well-known orc caves. The drow's battle cries eliminated any element of surprise, and a purely comedic combat against three orcs ensued. After just about every combatant drops their usual weapons, then scrambled to pick up anything, the bards were wielding an orcsish pole arms, the drow was running around with an empty crossbow, complete with sounds effects, and cowering behind a large rock, was a gnome cleric than that soiled himself.

Realizing that speed was the only option, 'Keebs' deducted the location of the Orc Chieftain, the Shaman, and two lieutenants.

sans one Orc Lieutenant

The combat was long and arduous, with Phineas ultimately hiding in the same cell Yuri the high priest was in. Yuri (and Phineas) were retrieved upon the party's victory, and they used the drow's racist ramblings to distract the orcs and allow the rest to get back to Verge.

The party returned to Verge to great great fanfare, and after a quick nap, Yuri could begin the Festival of Halav.

So far the group is hesitant to return back to the cave, without back-up. They have met Mutumbo and Nina, as well as a very aloof Turvel who id'ed they're magic items for a small fee. The drow still hasn't shown up in town....

4th of HepDec, 1142 - Village of Verge
The brave adventurers were wary to return to the orc caves and explore further. The drow had been last seen being chased by six orc brigands and an orkin wardawg, so despite the decrease in 'mud-people' comments. It also meant the group was in desperate need of (non-halfling) fighter types, and was desperately be searching for some replacements/additions.

DM Notes: This is the start of a "lost" Hackmaster game I ran after I moved back into the area, circa 2007-2008. I love Hackmaster to death, but it is not suited for once-a-month gaming sessions. We did get to revisit and expand upon portions of Marakeikos that the Trogs once traipsed across, but at the end of this campaign, I turned to Call of Cthulhu for a much better fit for our limited style of play, and the rest is history.

Galdor the drow was the last time I've ever seen my old high school friend "Crazy Darryl." Definitely all D&D nerd stereotypes cranked up to 11. One-hundred percent certified crazy. I still apologize to my friend Brian for driving him up to my house to game, it was strange. So, with that being said, it's understandable that he wanted to play a drow who acted like Strom Thurmond in his Dixiecrat days.

Last known communication with Darryl, he was traveling in Albania.

Next: #2 - Old Problems, New Help.

Gnomish Sage or Librarian?

 

The Internet Wishes You a Happy Leif Ericsson Day

 

(Kickstarter) Rock Band: A Solo RPG Story Generator by Past Adventures

 In a world where I'm still waiting on some stragglers from last February's #Zinequest, it's nice to see some similar projects pop up over the year without the promotion (or over-saturation).

Speaking of promotion and over-saturation, Rock Band is a solo-RPG recounting the glory days of garage bands.  

From the Kickstarter:
Rock Band: A Solo RPG Story Generator is intended to be “played” as a multi-sitting solo story-generating experience using the conventions of tabletop role-playing games. It uses die-rolling, event tables, “experience points,” and discrete band levels—all elements familiar to any tabletop role-player— to create a story centered around imaginary characters that begin as a garage band. However, unlike traditional role-playing games, which are social group activities, this is intended as a solo storytelling experience. Nonetheless, it could easily be adapted for a traditional role-playing group in a cyberpunk “Rocker” or similar campaign.

Rock Band: A Solo RPG Story Generator is a 64-page 6” x 9” ‘zine produced as either a PDF ebook or print-on-demand (POD) color booklet. Final distribution of digital and physical rewards will be delivered via DriveThruRPG.com. Note that the POD physical reward level does not include the cost of printing and shipping, which you pay directly to DriveThruRPG (approximately $11-12 for printing and slowest shipping to US).

I think I've done enough Kickstarters-on-a-whim over the last twelve months, but the $5 pdf is the perfect price point for me.  In addition, I somehow missed Past Adventures first Kickstarter, a straight Pulp adventure The Abyssinia Affair, currently available on DriveThruRPG. 

From the Vaults: What's Hiding in My DriveThruRPG Library?

One of the podcasts that has vaulted into a top position on my listening rotation is The Lair of Secrets.  Sure their episodes are posting many months after recording, but it's been a good mixture of personal discussion, gaming ideas, and a healthy dose of geek cred.  

Recently, episode #13 brought up a fun topic: Items that were in the hosts' DriveThruRPG libraries, but they have never downloaded.  It's a good topic, so I logged onto DriveThru and figured out the seven "best" items that have been sitting my account's library... and whether they have a chance of ever leaving.  This took a bit to accomplish, because I have 23 pages of files, and down to 9 pages of non-downloaded stuff to peruse..  Sure, you might say, that's small pickings, but since I purchase files sporadically and downloaded mostly free stuff, I was not surprised by the eclectic collection of pdfs waiting for me. 

The first thing I noticed was that I most certainly have downloaded some of these items years ago.  I have hardcopies printed off of some of these pdfs, which I definitely got through the website, but it could have been prior to the great DriveThru/RPGNow merger and the data didn't translate.  

The second thing is the vast amount of random Fantasy RPG crap I've picked up for free or pay-as-you-want.   Without a way to organize them, it's just an info dump that I don't have the time or patience to go through, especially with the treasure trove of all the old printed bound matter I have on shelves and drawers in the office. 

GASLIGHT Quick Start Rules by Buck Surdu Productions - GASLIGHT is a fan-favorite of the Harford Area Weekly Kriegspielers (H.A.W.K.S.) which in turn is a fan-favorite club of HMGS cons like Historicon.  It certainly makes sense, as these rules were written by H.A.W.K.S member Buck Surdu.  As it fits the one-size-fits all mentality of Victorian Sci-Fi games that I enjoy, I'm surprised I never opened these up, but I'm also still shocked that I don't one any printing of the ruleset.

Fistful of Lead: The Great Beer Riot of 1888 by Wiley Games - This was a random free scenario for a system I don't own, but it's screaming Gnome Wars for me even now.  Given my recent Thirty Beers War scenario, this own deserves a download just to keep the dust off of the gnomes.

Root: TTRPG Quickstart Rules by Magpie Games - I have a decent collection of various anthropomorphic animal RPGs, and I'm surprised this one never got reviewed.  Based off of a boardgame, this seems a bit simpler in approach than other games, thus easier to introduce to my target audience.

100 Roaring Twenties Bystanders 3 by Fishwife Games  I know for certain that I didn't spend the current $1 price tag for a single page of 20's character with name, sex, occupation, but I would get much more out of this for a Cthulhu game than some sourcebooks.

Gamma Zine #1 (and #2) by ThrowiGames I've purchased/Kickstarted/downloaded a bunch of ThrowiGames products, particularly issues #3 and #4 of Gamma Zine, the Post-Apocalyptic setting 'zine, but I've never gotten around to reading #1 and #2.  The idea of a Gamma World game with the kids after this Fall's chaos is still a possibility, and if it happens, I need to trawl through these before purchasing/downloading other material.

Amazing Tales One-Sheet Adventures - I sorta missed the boat on using Amazing Tales with the kids, as they were content with more complicated systems earlier than I expected.  But they have a huge collection of one-page adventures in tons of genres.  I've downloaded a bunch, but there's still a half-dozen more that I've never read.  The format screams AAU tournament car rides, especially the long stretches on the turnpike.

(Adventures) The Cooperative Dungeon Collection (01-04) by Creative Mountain Games - After ranting about the glut of FRPG product in my library that I've never read, I mention this collection of 3.5 D&D books because, according to my account information, it's the second order I ever placed (6-10-2004) and even as of this post getting published on my blog, I still haven't downloaded it.  It looks like everything that was great with the OSR, but also everything that was bad with it.  

Gnomish Heavy Bombers Heading South

 

(Star Wars d6) #22 - Alcazaar 5 - Assault on the Strell Compound

Our "Heroes"

Ne'vets Aharo - an exotic animal broker, both legal and otherwise.  Teaming up with ally and friendly rival Abel Norrum for some exploration of the planet Alacazaar.

Evus - Twi'lek former mercenary, Ne'vets' armed muscle with a keen eye and a tendency to shoot first.
Tarrie - Human pilot "under contract" for the upcoming mission, whatever that is.  Brother of potential terrorist, rebel  Latorna Savvn.
Frokazza - Wookie co-pilot, mechanic, and unarmed muscle. Very distrustful.

Eviction!

After touring the planet Alacazzar, 

Our heroes engage with unwanted elements 

of the Strell Corporation, and 

Assemble a plan to forcibly remove them from the planet

With the Yazirian pilot, Yast, and Tarrie Pollack 

Already engaging the plan in The Big Game,

the ground forces are impeded by an ambush

of a mysterious group of Ringu-Ga!

As The Big Game successfully strafed the Strell Corporation Compound, drawing the the two planetary fighters off base, the two explorer ATVs should have been in position to take out the guard towers, and cause significant damage to to remove this squatter corporation from the planet.  

Unfortunately, both ATVs were now suspended by vines ten feet off the ground, and surrounded by hundreds of humanoid creatures that Ne'vets gleefully described at Ringu-Ga!

"I wonder how many of these I can sell?  Maybe I can teach them to drive."

Despite his plans, Ne'vets told the rest of the group to surrender, ATV doors open and hands up.  

The Ringu-Ga looked cautious at the heroes as they descended from their elevated vehicles, but with a combination of short phrases and sign language, any hostility was abated.

The Ring-Ga called themselves the Lokukku, a stealthy terrestrial race that lived in barricaded hollowed-out trunks of the giant trees.  The humans construction had brought destruction to their lands and death to members of the tribe.  They were surprisingly willing to assist with the assault, so long as some of their brethren inside the complex were freed, and the heroes' masters left the Lokukku alone.  

Once they moved near their attack position, the Lokukku pulled Evus and Ne'vets from the ATVs, with the express concern that they infiltrate through a secret tunnel the Lokukku knew about.

Meanwhile, the intentionally slow-speed chase between The Big Game and the planetary fighters expanded from its originally intended range.  The planetary fighter could not penetrate the The Big Game's armor, much less the applied shields.  Tarrie was plagued by the high maneuverability of the fighters evading all of his shot, save one.

As the Lokkuka charged the fence, both ATVs opened fire on the southeast turret.  Despite the fortified concrete, the blaster fire was beginning to compromise the defenses.  

Frokazza could feel the excess heat from the multiple power cells in the turret.  

The guard towers returned fire, hitting Abel's ATV2, damaging the front wheels.

The Lokkuku stormed the fence and knocked down a portion of the fence, although the electrification did cause some casualties. 

Evus, Ne'vets, and the Lokkuku scouts finally pop out from their secret mission, infiltrating the compound through a drainage tunnel.  They popped off the surface grate and found themselves up against the main building. 

Caught the attention of the other guards-  Ne'vets pushes Evus out of the way from rain of gunfire from the other guard towers.  

Frokazza turned his attention to the fence, and "deactivated" the electricfrication, allowing the Lokkuka to finally pour over and assault the guard towers.   The return fire from the tower was fierce but simply ricocheted off the armor of the vehicles. 

Just then, The Big Game returned, the planetary fighters out of the pictures.  It strafed the two near towers, sending smoke and debris everywhere, until it flew over to the landing pad near the hanger.

Ne'vets, Evus, and Lokkuku scouted the outbuildings, Evus shooting off the head of the initial lone guard with the misfortune of meeting them.  Working towards the entrance of the main building, they realized they had picked up a following of the guards, armor barely strapped on, pitted helmets balancing precariously on their heads.  The scouts had barely enough time to growl, when the guards were all shot in the back, by one Abel Norrum.  

"Sorry Mates, the ATVs have things well in hand.  I figured it better if I followed you blokes."

"You're welcome."

The ATVs did have the initial assault well in hand.  The Lokkuku stormed the one tower and once those guns were silenced, Frokazza finally knocked out the other one, and egged Sarge to move onto the premises

As The Big Game completed its landing, Tarrie poured on the firepower against the main building of base.

As the scouting party entered the main building, chaos reigned supreme.  The Strell Guards were in complete disarry, most simple trying to run away before getting gunned down by the heroes or run down by the angry Ringu-Ga

Finding a set of double blast doors, Ne'vets spent considerable time working on opening them.  Abel walked over and asked, "Have you tried the code?" 

"Do you have the code?" Ne'vets inquired.

"Count to three... and run," and with that a thermal detonator was affixed to the door.  Many ran for cover. 

*KA-BOOM*

When the smoke cleared, the extra generators and consoles were turned into wreckage.  

The door to door sweep was enough to send many of the Strell troopers to early retirement.

Some Strell were captured, some killed, many others willingly surrendered, and some simply ran away.  It made sense that some would not surrender, they had set up the policies regarding the enslavement and mistreatment of the Lokukku in setting up/working mines.  When the Lokukku finally found their capture brethren, their care-free attitude changed to dark and woe be to any Strell employees who hadn't escaped or were already in the custody of the crews. 

With the matter well in hand, the crews caught up with one another, a small victory celebration with the Lokukku, then the ATVs were better loaded onto the ship, and The Big Game flew out of the atmosphere to transmit news back to the Lisani Corporation. Within a week, Lisani's private security forces would land upon Alcazaar, mop up any survivors, and assume mining operations.  

Lisani Corporate Security Forces Land on Alcazaar

Next:  There are certainly more adventures of Ne'vets and his motley crew, but for now we're taking a sidetrek back to Fantasy RPGs for a few weeks to cover a Hackmaster campaign circa 2007-ish, The Burning Trog Redux.  We'll return to the regular campaign storyline sometime after the holidays.

(Gnome Wars) Run While the Inn is Closed

Let's kick off my personal year of gaming with some quick, much needed Gnome Wars!  

During the Thirty Beers War, especially the late era of the Meatball Intervention, the numerous armies were weakened from years of brutal fighting.  At its worst, only small warbands roved the countryside, in search of food, bier, and for many, just trouble.  

In certain regions, the Germanian Guard would round up any suspicious gnome who looked like they were not from the region.  They were usually right, as small guerilla bands were infiltrating the countryside.  These bands' only salvation was the Imperial Edict that Inns and Taverns were safe havens for all, doubly so after dark, so long as the entrances were secured.

With Germanian pursuers in all directions, this ragtag band of Free Bier Leaguers had just crossed the river and were near a local pub. 

The Roadside Inn is within distance.  The front building is ruled to have an entrance on each of its four sides.

Unfortunately, a squad of Germanian Regulars were also heading into town, so time was of the essence to rush to the inn, get inside (by force is necessary), and re-secure the door to shelter as many of their comrades as.  

Germanian Regulars

The Free Bier Leaguers

Turn One:  The the lightly armed Free Leaguers, time was critical, so most ran to the Inn.  The few riflemen's shots missed wildly.  

Most of the Germanians stayed off the road, letting a handful of their crack marksmen to fire at the Free Bier League, killing two of their rifles.  

There is certainly a problem.

To make matter much, worse, three of Major Pfiffle's Germanian Lancers had heard the disturbance and had come to investigate.

The Free Leaguers clamored toward the far (and safe) side of inn, readying their picks and axes to knock down the door by any means necessary. 

The Germanian Rifles managed to take out two Leaguers trying desperately to reach the front door. 

As Piers the miner beat in the side door with his axe, a flagon of bier stuck him in the head, and Catharina the barmaid blocked the doorway with menace in her eyes. 

"Zee Inn iz Clozed!"

The last remaining Free League rifleman took down one of the rabbit cavalry, only to be taken out my a Germanian rifle before he reached the door.  

With Catharina blockng the door, only two of the Free Leaguers managed to squeeze past her while she was distracted by another gnome.  

As the Germanians rounded the back, the far side door was bolstered and fortified, with two new overnight tenants.  Two survivors was not much, but far better than other groups that had been eluding the Guard.

This was a quick scenario using Alternative Armies' scenario "Run While the Pub is Closed."  I thoroughly enjoyed the concept (including the random appearance of the cavalry, and the Biermaid Guard, both of whom occurred at the worst popular times possible.

...and any excuse to break out my personal gnomish history justify a  scenario is a hoot!

Benefits Annual Enrollment Is Here For Many... Make Sure to Read, and Understand, the Fine Print

 

(Kickstarter) Dwarves - A Class of Their Own By Midlam Miniatures

Everytime I look at the calendar and see what day of the week it is, it very well could be time for another Kickstarter from Midlam Miniatures.  This month is a fantastic collection of our bearded fantasy friends Dwarves - A Class of Their Own.

When You Need a Background For Your Anthropomorphic Animal RPG

My Gaming Plans for 2021-2022

As I tried to assemble my thoughts on what my goals should be for the next twelve months, I looked at at the last three or four years' worth of these posts.  I'm pretty consistent, with two or three raging successes, a few lukewarm accomplishments, and most of my disappointment with pet projects or outright pipe dreams.  And if I temper my goals with my most successful posts from last year, I think I have a good mixture of practical and pie-in-the-sky with the One Big Goal.

This year's theme will be a Return to the....

The blog will always be named Gaming with the Gnomies, so I need to continue to focus on gnomes, then everything else that tickles my fancy. 

1. Gnomish Space Marines: The Adventure Continues:  Here's hoping year two of the GSM goes as well as year one, if not better.  Actually using the figures in a game is my secondary goal.
2. Gnome Wars: If I can paint the GSM, my Gnome Wars figures should be a piece of cake.  I'm shooting for completing the Gnomans and one more unit. Regular small-scale skirmish/role-playing-esque games (a la Flintoque inspired scenarios) would be great as well.
3. Star Wars d6: Let's keep the ongoing campaign the blazing success that it has been, even if I'm looking for solid evolution to a new general storyline.  Of course, the recent introduction of a new player, and a properly eccentric character, may throw all that off the rails.
4. Pulp Alley - Tomb of the Serpent: My pulp games have some of highest traffic of all my posts, and moving from Savage Showdown to Pulp Alley and their Tomb of the Serpent campaign should bring up the page views and still be fun.  There's a lot of prep work involved, and the campaign is LONG, so wish me luck!
5. Face to Face... with Cthulhu: Barring a disaster, we so need to return to regular face to face gaming, and Cthulhu Invictus might be enough of a change to ignite that.
6. Looking For a Friend, at the End of the World:  Another option is running Twilight:2000 needs to be face to face, needs tangible handouts.
7. Gaming with the Kids: Gotta try something different to keep things interesting, as we still reach back and occasionally grab a game from the library.   Still thinking Gamma World might fill that need... or moving directly into Pulp Alley.
8. Top Secret: Spice Girls:  No, my Spice Girls project doesn't involve a security clearance.  I am going to have a little "fun" and try to stat out the Spice Girls.  I won't label this one a disappointment if it gets shelved, but I'd like it done faster than some of the Buckaroo Banzai idea I've had spinning around for years.