Dungeons & Dragons 30 Day Challenge: Day 6 – Favorite Deity

Favorite Deity… man, this is a tough one, because I don’t often play a cleric or other divine classes, and most of the time I’m the DM, so I usually end up playing whatever deity is needed for the story. Plus, there were so many pantheons and mythos available in D&D over the years, including all the ones made up for the various settings as well as the real world mythos that were made available in various incarnations of the Deities and Demigods books.

However, in really thinking about it, I think if it came down to it and I had to pick just one deity that I really liked above all the others, it would be the Raven Queen.

I mean, let’s be honest, she’s a total bad-ass. She went from being the girlfriend of the old God of the Dead only to kick his ass and take his place. Then, she went on to demand the portfolio of winter as payment for her participation in a godly war. She’s fair in her judgments of the dead, manages to be one of the few neutral gods that is actual neutral, and her most hated enemy is Orcus. How cool is that?

Plus, I’m kind of a Neil Gaiman fan, and I love the idea of a death goddess that looks like Death from the Sandman graphic novels.

So, there you have it. Short write up today, but I just didn't have much to say about this one.

Until next time, keep remembering the future!

Dungeons & Dragons 30 Day Challenge, Day 5 – Favorite Set of Dice\Individual Die

This day poses an interesting question… favorite set of dice. Or individual die, if you choose. I’m slightly confused by this… is this the favorite dice I own? Or a favorite die that a particular die manufacture makes?

I’m assuming that it’s a set I own. So, going by that, I have a couple of answers.

For individual dice, I’d have to say it’s my Torg d20. For those that don’t remember, Torg was an RPG created by West End Games back in the ‘90’s, in which Earth was invaded by different realities, who brought their realities and universe rules with them, transforming pieces of Earth into their reality. The die came with the boxed set of the game, and is a red and blue swirl pattern that, I believe, is unique to each die. The colors are important in game, because items that have this blue and red swirl pattern are usually special artifacts. It’s a pretty unique die, and with all the people that I have gamed with over the years, I’m the only one I know that has one. And I just love it.

As for a set of dice, I’m not sure if this counts, because they’re all d10’s, but my favorite set is the Vampire The Masquerade set I bought several years ago. They are also a pretty unique looking, with the green textured color that matches the book covers, including a little splotch of red on one point. The numbers are colored gold, and the 1 on the die is actually a rose, matching the cover of the main rule book. They’re completely awesome looking.

As for dice that I don’t own, this one is easy. Hand’s down, it has to be any die made by Artisan Dice. This guy takes all kinds of woods, from pretty common to very rare, and makes dice sets out of them. They are totally awesome looking, and again, are a pretty unique looking set. I’d own a set, but they cost more than I can currently afford for dice. Worth the cost, I just can’t afford it.

So, there you have it, my favorite dice/individual die.

So, until next time, when I discuss my favorite Deity, keep on remembering the future!

A New Edition of an Old Game

So, normally, I use this blog to talk about writing stuff. Which makes sense. I mean, I am a writer, after all. But, today, I want to talk about something else. I believe that I have mentioned before that I am a Dungeons and Dragons geek. I have been playing that game since I was around 8 years old, thanks to my Dad and big brother.

And today, Wizards of the Coast, the current manufacture of Dungeons and Dragons (D&D), announced that they are producing a new editionof the game. If you’re into table top gaming, then let me tell you that this is a really big deal.

You see, a few years ago, Wizard’s released what is called the 4^th Edition of D&D, and it was met with mixed reception, at best. The previous edition (3E, or 3.0, or 3.5 even), was well loved by pretty much everyone that played D&D, and even those that hated it didn’t hate it as much as the 4E detractors hated that version. And 4E was, let’s be honest, an attempt to bring some of the esthetics of an MMO to the tabletop. Now, personally, I don’t have an issue with that. It makes a certain amount of sense. D&D inspired many video games, up to and including World of Warcraft and Skyrim, and so it seemed only natural that the last edition of D&D be inspired by video games.

But, many didn’t agree. They hated the video game like properties of the game.

Myself, I ran a 4E campaign for around a year, and I enjoyed the system. It was streamlined in a lot of ways, and playing went a lot quicker, especially combat.

However, after playing for a year, I discovered the things about the edition I didn’t like. The first is that the game is really focused on mechanics. REALLY focused. I mean, sure, mechanics are important to every tabletop RPG. But, in 4E, the mechanics started becoming the REASON for the game, and not the way to play it. Story got lost in mechanics.

And note that I am saying mechanics here, not rules. There’s a difference.

For example, in my campaign, I got caught up in making sure that each adventure I wrote had the correct number of encounters in it, and that each encounter was perfectly balanced to my party. I made sure that there was enough treasure to keep the party balanced. Balance was super important. But, at one point, I noticed that keeping the balance, sticking to the mechanics of the game, became more important than the story I wanted to tell. I was adding encounters and treasure that didn’t make sense story-wise. And my players noticed and were starting to complain.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that 4E sucks and you should never play it. I have learned from this what rules to ignore in order to play the kind of adventures I want to play. It’s been the same in every edition of D&D I’ve played. Some rules you learn to ignore or ditch altogether. Some rules you replace with house rules. 4E wasn’t any different.

In this case, I learned that to make my games work, I needed to ignore the mechanics of adventure construction, and just write the stories I wanted to tell. The rules would remain the same, but the mechanics would be different.

But, as I stated, 4E divided the D&D community, in a way that previous editions had never done before.

And so instead of finding a D&D game to join, or getting some players from the local game store, finding a game became a matter of “what edition are you playing?”

And if it wasn’t the “right” edition, it could lead to blows.

Geeks takes this shit seriously.

So, when I heard this morning that Wizard’s was announcing that they were going to work on a new edition of D&D, I sighed in relief. Because as much as I enjoyed 4E, and still love 3.5, a fix for both the community and Wizard’s plummeting PR was needed.

And they have done two things with this new edition that will help with these problems.

The first is that they’ve re-hired Monty Cook, who helped craft 3E when it first came out. He’s a wildly popular game designer, and there’s a reason for that. He’s good at what he does. So, having him on the new edition team bodes well for it.

The second thing, and probably the more important of the two, is that they are crowdsourcing the new edition.

According to the official announcement, they want player participation. They plan on sending out emails to volunteers to playtest rules and provide feedback. Kind of like an alpha version, later to a beta version. Or perhaps this is the open beta. I’m not sure.

At any rate, I’ve signed up for this. Because I’m a big D&D fan, and I want to have some kind of say in the development of a game that has meant so much to me for so long. I want to have a game I can enjoy playing, and one that I can introduce to my own son.

So, personally, I’m excited for 5E D&D. I can’t wait to see not only what Wizard’s comes up with, but what all my fellow gamers come up with.

More gaming geekiness

So, this blog post is late, and the reason for that is because I just couldn’t come up with something to talk about.

Here’s what’s happening with me. I’ve been kind of distracted from writing since this weekend. Hyphen-Con, the gaming event I went to, has, as it does every year, re-kindled my love of gaming. Role-playing games, card games, board games, video games. I just love games. Hell, even in the Renaissance Guild I belong to, my job is to teach people about period games.

So, right now, I’m pretty geeked out about games, and especially about some new ones I’ve discovered at Con, such as In A Wicked Age and Fiasco (thought I never played Fiasco). These games are a big departure from the standard type of game I played in the past, but they all look like great fun. And I just want to play.

I would love to have a regular game, maybe once a month. I’m just not sure I could put much effort into it. In the past, I was always the game master. I think if I got into a game, it would have to be one where I didn’t have to do a lot of prep work, or one where I was a gamer.

But, right now, it just seems like a lot of work. So, I’m not sure. But whatever, I would sure love to play again.

And, of course, I still need to and want to write. It’s like an imperative. I can’t skip writing for more than a few days before I start to wig out. And so, I will continue to write.

But, that’s pretty much where my mind is at right now. Just thought I would share.

Of Geeks and Car Troubles

Phew! What a week!

First, let me update you all on the writing angle. No submissions this week, but, I am working on three projects right now. Two short stories are in the work and a flash fiction piece for a podcast is also up and running. I’m working on draft two for the flash piece (the one I posted on Friday, in fact), and I am working on draft one for the other two stories, which will be submitted to magazines, one that pays and one that doesn’t. I know, submitting to a mag that doesn’t pay? But, it’s a new mag, and a publishing credit if they take me. So, while I continue to research them, I’ll work on a story assuming I want to submit to them. If I decide not to submit, I still have a story I can submit to other places. And if I do, and they take me, then like I said, publishing credit.

So, that’s the writing front. In other areas of my life, things are very interesting. My wife and I just dropped a huge chunk of change to get some needed maintenance on our car. You know, stuff like oil filter changed, new oil, new tires, alignment, tune up, that kind of stuff. Then, this very morning, on the way to work/school with our boy, the car breaks down. Turns out the plug for the oil filter fell off, and there was river of oil on the side of the road. So, back to the dealership for the fix and a rental car. The good news is that the engine itself was not damaged, they’re going to do the fix, and also replace our wearing breaks (not really in need, but it would be soon, so hey, cool) and a detail, all for free to make up for it being their fault in the first place.

So, rough day today. But this weekend?

Man, it was awesome! A group of friends of mine do this thing every year, a weekly gaming get together we call Hyphen-Con. It’s a two day affair where a bunch of RPG geeks get together and play RPG’s on one day, and board/card games on the second. And I had a blast! I ran a game of Danger Patrol (retro-future pulp sci-fi narrative game, it’s fun, you should Google it) and played in a fantasy game that used the mechanics from the Smallville RPG, which was also fun. I’m not sure I’d be really interested in a Smallvilleesque campaign, but the one-off was pretty cool.

And board game day was filled with awesomeness. Settlers of Catan, Dominion, Puerto Rico, Zombies, Kung-Fu Fighting, and those are just the games I played in. There were a ton of others.

So, great weekend, filled with geeky goodness, and while I am exhausted now, it was well worth it. I’ll probably take a night off of writing today, for recovery as well as other prior engagements, but I’m ready to jump back into the pool tomorrow. So, until then, remember:

No matter where you go, there you are!

Flash Fiction Friday: The Games

Bryn rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck in preparation. The boy across the room, for boy he was despite his massive frame, at not more than sixteen summers, scowled at him and raised his blade. It was wicked, curved and serrated, but the boy held it in an unsure grip that said to Bryn he had little, if any, experience with it. And more importantly, he had seen a glint of fear in the boy’s eyes. Bryn smiled. This fight was already won.

He tossed the ball in his left hand up once and caught it, never taking his eyes off the boy. Try as he might, Bryn’s opponent could not take stop from flicking his eyes towards the movement. That was all Bryn needed. He threw the ball across the room, and the boy raised his arm up to deflect it automatically. Bryn scowled as he crossed the room in three long strides. This boy was not only young, but stupid as well. That was a rookie mistake, the kind that got men killed in the games. That ball was made of stiffened pigs batter, like the kind used in children’s game. It wouldn’t hurt someone in armor, like the two of them were. It almost disgusted him how easy a kill this kid would be. Almost.

He had his own sword, a stout broad sword held in both hands now that they were both free, swung down, but the boy surprised Bryn, being quicker than his muscular arms would suggest. His curved blade was up instantly, blocking Bryn’s blow. The two stood there for a moment, pushing their blades against each other, and Bryn could see himself in the shine of the other blade, his scarred bald head and broken nose above a sneer that would cause the most hardened veteran of war to question attacking him.

Then the boy surprised Bryn again. He stepped back a pace, dropping his blade as he did so, causing Bryn to step forward off balance. Before the boy’s blade could complete a swing, however, Bryn continued to fall forward, rolling on the floor several steps away from the other man. He stopped considering him a boy. He may be inexperienced, but this man knew how to fight. Bryn smiled again. This might be a challenge.

He stood in time to block a charge from the other man, swinging his left arm around and punching him in his unprotected left side. The other man steped back a step, but kept his guard up. Not well enough, though. Bryn slammed his massive blade into the curved one, again and again, pushing the other man back until, at last, he slumped against the wall, and Bryn got a good slash against the man’s sword arm. He dropped his blade, and a look of surprise and fear crossed his face before steeling in determination to see his fate through.

Bryn smiled again. This time, it was in satisfaction. He dropped his own blade and grabbed up the other man in a rough bear hug that caused the younger man to exhale in surprise.

“Well don, son!” Bryn said. “Well done. We’ll have you trained up for the games within the month, you’ll see.”

“Thank you father,” The young man said, and he smiled at Bryn. It was almost as terrifying as Bryn’s was, including a few missing teeth from brawls he had been in. Almost. Once combat training was done, Bryn thought, he would have to teach the boy about intimidation.