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Showing posts from March, 2019

D&D Monster Cards from Gale Force 9: Don't Bother

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low res image used for review purposes under Fair Use doctrine. At Gary Con, I licked up the Monster Cards from Gale Force 9. I usually try to avoid negative reviews of a product, but in this case I'm going to make an exception. This is, hands down, the WORST D&D 5 purchase I've made yet. I legit feel cheated. I bought both the 0-5 and 6-15 challenge sets. I was quite excited at the prospect of not needing to cart my Monster Manual with me when I run games; rather I can just grab the cards I need and have the stat blocks right in front of me. And with these cards, that's true...sometimes. Here's the problem. This is a company that has the license to produce D&D 5 materials. It's NOT unreasonable to expect that the entire Manual would be represented. Not only is the MM not represented, there are some core, basic monsters which are in the SRD, but are not represented in these cards. The vampire, for example. How do you put out a set of D&D monster

Gary Con post-con report

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So last week was Gary Con, and it was, as always, a blast. It's really become in just the two years I've been going, my favorite con of all time. Some highlights of this year: I got my first-printing Deities & Demigods, and my OD&D Gods, Demi-Gods, and Heroes  signed by Jim Ward, who I maintain today is just one of the most wonderful people in gaming. He's a genuinely caring, kind man who I feel honored to interact with on social media and get the chance to briefly talk with every year at GC. I ran a preview of the 5e Role Playing version of  Amazing Adventures, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive, to the tune of, "When can we get this?" and "How can we get on the mailing list for the Kickstarter?" It was very positive feedback. Fun was had by my other two groups as well (a D&D 5e game highlighting our Aihrde campaign setting, and a classic AA game). Sales were great and TLG made some awesome contacts in and around the indust

The Problem of Murder Hobos in Gaming

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I was thinking recently (shocker I know), and something occurred to me. My games tend to be based on the kind of stories I enjoy reading and seeing--that is, they're clearly heroic in nature and they tend to involve epic overarching storylines (to varying degrees), with character pathos and drama liberally sprinkled in. I don't allow evil characters (though I have made rare exceptions for specific players I know can handle it. For the most part, this formula has been widly successful. I've been complimented on my skills as a GM many times over, and rarely have I had complaints about the games I run. There is, however, one trope of these great stories that continually eludes me, and I find it intriguing. That trope is, to my mind, what lies at the core of being a hero and why they act the way they do. Source: https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/selling-with-story-how-to-make-your-customer-the-hero-donald-miller/ Heroes Don't Kill Put simply, heroes don't