Feline Kaiju Combat in 30mm

A day full of kid's basketball games, gymnastics practice, and Mrs Viscount and myself shopping and wrapping gifts was culminated with just enough snow to keep us all inside for the rest of the weekend.

... and laundry kept us occupied the rest of the time.

One silver lining was the procurement of one of ViscountEric's favorite beers:  Troeg's Mad Elf.

Yes, I'm drinking it as I assemble this blog post.  

We're still catching up with our TV (the kids do heartily approve all of the Earth-X shenanigans on the WB), but with a clean house and most Christmas shopping complete, we can go back to playing games upstairs and painting little men downstairs.

(Review) My Little Pony: Tokens of Friendship

Getting in on the ground floor with the My Little Pony: Tails of Equestria Storytelling Game, I'm able to get each item as they come in rather than a backlog.  The good news is the first two products, the hardcover rulebook, and the Curse of the Statuettes boxed set were top notch.

The first stumble for River Horse Games/Ninja Division is their Tokens of Friendship game accessory.

The small box contains 12 purple Tokens of Friendship and a MLP: Tails of Equestria drawstring bag for a player to keep track.

The problem with the product, isn't the concept.  Plenty of pony fans will want everything to do with the game, and the idea of official Tokens will ring true to them.  The true problem is the size of the items for the $6.95 price tag.

The tiny Tokens of Friendship and pouch, with d20 from the boxed set and glass bead for scale. 

For ten clear purple plastic tokens and a small screen printed dice pouch, seven bucks seems a bit high.  Personally, I use glass beads, which you can pick up at any pet or craft store at half the price for at least double the quantity.

Despite loving the game, I have to give the Tokens of Friendship One and a half gnomes out of Five on the Gaming with the Gnomies Rating System.

There's plenty of better (and cheaper) alternatives.  Save your money for new MLP books coming down the pipeline.

A Big Sigh of Relief... Maybe

I write this post directly from my desk at work, blatantly ignoring the small pile of post-busy season work accumulating in my bin.

My three months of hell known as the busy season at work are officially over.  I've got tons of clean-up work to do (and voluntary overtime), but that's just part of my job description.

The kids activities have been overwhelming us (and our cars) this Fall.  It may reach critical mass tomorrow, with three basketball games PLUS gymnastics practice PLUS a trip to Grandma's so good ol' Mom and Dad can desperately get the Christmas shopping and wrapping finished.

Needless to say, our usual "unplanned" pick-up games have not been going off, even like they did this time last year.  If it's not one of the two conventions we attended, my Monday night online 5e group that shows up half the time, or the never completed family decathalon of games, nothing else was getting accomplished.

And we haven't even gotten to the meat of hockey season.

But once we get through all of that, I see hope.

1. I managed to review my backlog of games/ideas from the Fall, and better spread out the ideas I dumped into early 2018.  I also conducted a meeting of the minds with my core players (my girls) and they're content with my current schedule with a new season of the Pulp Game.  I did get an overwhelming vote of support for more Mouslings.  My blog hits and kids can't lie.
2. The kids were very interested in evil wizards taking over Christmas and girls on camels who like to gamble (not sure the girls or camels gambled).  Or a Russian super-star is the only hope for Russian Christmas.  But Russia is too nice, they're up to something...  Time to paint up the shirtless Putin.  
3. The tree is up at home, and the decorations suffered minimal damage, but the restoration projects meant my painting bench is covered in holy and tinsel.  Snow days are coming... as well a good pile of Kickstarter deliveries I'm repurposing as my Christmas gifts.
4. A quick trip to Michael's for some supplies and I think the gnomes and goblins can come out for a Christmas game.
5. I've got a review of Pulp Alley's Lost World of Lemuria in the pipeline, plus a few other "holiday" projects. Project Zero is still in my sights...
6. Hopefully we have two more weeks of our 5e game before Christmas and we can get together for a big completion of the first dungeon in our BECMI D&D game. 

(Kickstarter) War in Christmas Village Sequels

Sometimes the seasonal items that appear on Kickstarter actually get made!

Last year I mentioned the small set for the War in Christmas Village.  The four figure set was funded and was actually successfully delivered.

This Christmas they're back with  War in Christmas Village Sequels, two separate boxed set.

Oh Christmas Treent, How Deadly Are Thy Branches?

She Ain't Havin' It!

Each set is availabe for $30 + $10 S&H to the US, or $55 +$15 S&H for both. 

Streets of Rome by Sarissa Precision

Sarissa Precision has recently announced Streets of Rome, a new range of laser-cut buildings designed for use with Footsore and War Banner's Gangs of Rome rules, but with plenty of utility in Ancient Rome and beyond.

Pre-orders are currently being taken, with a January delivery date. 

What to Run at Mepacon Spring 2018?

If I feel like Mepacon Fall 2017 was less than a month ago, the truth is, it was!

After twelve hours of running My Little Pony with some acclaim, it's time to mix things up a bit and try to run theme events at Mepacon Spring 2018.

With a theme of "Heroes and Villains," I'm going to let someone else try and run Champions or TSR Marvel.

TWERPS: Superdudes - Society of the Legion of Super-Dudes and Dudettes.  Two hour superheroics in the theme of Giffen and DeMatteis Justice League.  Perhaps I'll try another Jeff Dee creation, Pocket Universe.

Heroclix: Ka-POW.... with Feeling! - Kids game using Heroclix mechanics, but focusing on the narrative, both story and combat. 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/After the Bomb:  It would also work for the post-apoc theme a few cons ago, but this sounds like a nice 4-hour adult RPG session.

My Little Pony: Super-Heroes of Equestria 

It was a big hit last con, why not up the stats and have a whirl at super-heroes?

My Little Pony: Equestrian Adventures - Or I could just run more ponies the traditional way.

Savage Pulp: Pulp is the predecessor of the Comic Book/Super-Hero genre, and to run a few session of our Pulp Egypt game might be fun

Savage Mice:  Mousling running amok in fantasy.  Fun for all ages.

Pulp RPG: Warlord/Blackhawk - Perhaps the least thought through of the ideas, taking the non-spandex comics like Warlord and turning them into a four-color game.  

Ballad of the Pigeon God #35: Gladestrom

27 DuoDec 1071 - Chateau d'Echelon, Barony of Eding, Kingdom of Crosedes
As our heroes were finally together again at the Chateau, and with Lady Iris the Royal Overseer back in Hydincall, which was essentially a nod of approval by the King, it was time to break out the smoked meats, preserves, and cheap liquor.  Some real heroes dashed out to town to snag a few extra bottles of wine from the Blue Wizard Inn, so the mood was appropriately festive.

With Talis and Ariel leading the dancing with their musical selections, Dag's children backed them up adequately on percussion.  There was dancing, there was singing, and attempted canoodling between everyone in the Chateau.

And definite canoodling between Dew Xyclone, voluptuous middle-aged housekeeper, and Norm Dingleberry, everyone's favorite dwarf.

Then the fairies showed up.

Not the fairies of legend, not the cute near-pixie like beings.  These were mischievous imps, with a sparkling gold glow around their bodies.  They caused a general ruckus throughout the Chateau, emptying serving bowls, smashing plates, throwing goblets, and terrorizing one and all.

Without weapons at the ready, chairs, banisters, and frying pans were the weapons to combat the fae creatures and alleviate the damage. Soon, the remaining fairies focused all their attention on the giant painting Ashe had purchased at Hydincall auction the Summer before.

By this time, some people were able to grab formal implements of death and the surviving fairies were driven off, but not before they phased through the walls, found the cart that our heroes had liberated from brigands outside of town, and magically levitated it off the ground and took it with them on their escape.

28 DuoDec 1071  -  Barony of Eding, Kingdom of Crosedes
The group was in no condition to follow them in the foot deep snow into the woods and the gods only knew where.   The following morning, those not suffering from a hangover prepared to track the creatures in daylight.
Baron Echelon - Baron of Eding, Cleric of Tshang Hai Ching, owner of the fairy-attacked Chateau
Ashe - White haired Elven Ranger
Rolf Wolfsblood - bald-head, facially-tattooed barbarian from the steppes of Galmar.
Kane - Monk studying Eastern elemental mysticism of water.
Velandro - Devout Priest of Akana
Dag di Velandro - NPC - Kobold acolyte of Akana
"Baron" Felix - NPC -  Farm foreman on the Chateau.

There were no tracks or dust from the fairies themselves, but stealing the cart proved their downfall. Under normal conditions, the levitated cart would have hovered ten inches or so above the actual ground, but the magicks did not take into consideration the foot of snow laying on top of it.  The fairies escape had created two obvious wheel ruts into the first few inches of snow, providing an easy trail to follow.

The trail led them off the estate, and into the sparse woods, finally ending at a long abandoned house, an empty cart sitting outside.

The fairies did not appear like they wanted to parlay and the party showed them no mercy.  Upon searching the house they found the paintings... and a gruesome sight.

Many men, some still with weapons in hand, had been killed and partially devoured.  They recognized some as the few of the brigand Leonid's band that they had fought off the day before (and obtained the paintings.)  With a little reconnoitering, they found the old path the former inhabitants used to reach the main road, and they dragged cart with the paintings back to the Chateau, reaching home just before nightfall.

After dinner everyone examined the oil paintings sought by fairy, brigand, and adventurer alike.  All of them appeared to have been painted by the same artist, or at least the same style.

• Founding of Crosdes with King Cesmir  Gran Duke Cesmir Repitllius of Ferrand accepts the Crown of Draloite from the Archbiship of Hydincall in the Year 846.  Cesmir's skin is painted with a odd scaly technique.
• The Fall of Haven - A bald headed barbarian in a chaotic overgrown castle stabs a giant ruby with a magical knife.  The red ruby light and shadows makes elaborate patterns over the barbarian's face. 
• Taking the Higher Ground - A lone warrior in a tattered green cloak trudges up a steep embankment with a stream gurgling below him in the valley.  His eyes burn.  

The group was shocked to see the familiarity of the subjects.  King Cesmir was a known historical entity.  A bald barbarian with shadowy facial tattoos and a possible elf with battleworn Elven Cloak looked way too similar to Rolf and Ashe. 

Then little Timmy, all ten years of him, looked up at the huge painting hanging over the mantle in the Chateau and gasped.  What everyone remembered as three generic adventurers pointing at a mountain spewing a cloud of steam appeared to have transformed into something a bit more... realistic. 

The mountain was still spewing steam, but the surrounding mountains were quite distinguishable.  The generic adventurers were quite detailed.  Ashe, Norm, and a trident-holding Echelon were staring at the mountain, and what every though were trees near them now were other adventurers, including a man with an outrageously big hat (Talis actually blushed upon his realization).

This new discovery left many unsettled.  Rolf tried to find a quiet spot amongst the bedrooms to make sense of everything, when a closet door poked open and a brown-skinned man's head emerged.

It was Mohammad, Echelon's mentor, who was magically scarred by channeling divine energy from his god, Tshang Hai Ching.  He spent most of his time mumbling prayers inside cramped, safe spaces, like the few closets in the main Chateau.

"Rolf, what is of the matter?"

"Hey Mo, just more of the usual craziness.  The chateau got invaded by fairies and now all the old paintings have us painted in them."

"Hmmm... take me to the stairs so may peek at them."

The barbarian lifted the legless priest into his arms and allowed him to peer around the corner of the stairs at the painting over the fireplace.

"Oooooooooh, I see.  Take me back to my prayer room."  Rolf obliged.

"Rolf, the fae only show you what you are not willing to see normally.  You must figure out what this all means for you." 

DM Notes:  This week's adventure was Gladestrom from Underworld Publishing.  The details are lost to memory, but it did involve fairies, paintings, and the big reveal as to the importance of the painting Ashe bought in Hydincall and gifted to Echelon.   Like the other Underworld product I used previously, Harbinger of Darkness, no legal pdfs are available and copies on eBay are way too expensive for such a mediocre module for me to plot a more exact recollection.

While the conversation between Mohammad and Rolf may not have happened exactly at this place and time, the wise words of the legless, agoraphobic prophet of the eastern god of the sea and sky will become more important as time goes on...

Next #36 - Prophecy Fills the Air