Bidi’s World

Last Saturday was another Living Arcanis game with what has become my regular gaming group. The group consists mostly of same players I met back in Nerdcon when I first got back into gaming. The module was the first in a series that takes place in Plexus.

What made Saturday especially special is my son joined the game. Following his father’s great taste he brought an archer to the table. An Elorii Ranger with designs to become an Arcane Archer. That’s my boy!

I was a little concerned that he’d be able to follow what was going on at the table considering his age. He’s only 10. He did me proud though. Not only did he pay attention and follow the plot, but he managed to contribute to the party on a couple occasions. He’s still a little uneasy with role play, but I figure that will come in time.

It hasn’t been until very recently, thanks to the SpyCraft games I’ve been playing, that I’ve started to feel more confident in my own role play abilities. Now I even occasionally find myself talking to the NPCs directly from time to time. He will come around in time I’m sure.

It is my hope that this will be a landmark moment for him, a gateway for decades of role playing enjoyment. He is already excited about coming to the next game which sounds like will happen Saturday. If all goes well, we’ll be getting him his own set of dice too. My boy is growing up.

• GameStorm 10 (0)
• Witch Hunter 101 (0)
• Synaptic System Failure (0)

This weekend I played in my first Witch Hunter game. This was another living campaign setting. It is produced by Paradigm Concepts who also make Living Arcanis.

Witch Hunter is very different from any role playing game I’ve played so far. Not only does it take place in a setting that is based on reality but it is heavy on the role play and uses dice pools instead of the more familiar d20 system.

Witch Hunter takes place in the seventeenth century. America is still young and colonial, the ocean is full of pirates, and it has been recently discovered that the things that go bump in the night are real. The Witch Hunters come from various organizations with a common goal. Their task is to deal with the abominations that threaten civilized society. Think Van Helsing meets Pirates of the Caribbean.

Each Witch Hunter got to where they are through some defining event in their past. It is the one key moment when their path became clear that they become a Witch Hunter. At our table that ranged from spiritual quests to personal tragedies. This aspect of character definition is important in Witch Hunter and even more so in the module we ran.

I was a bit skeptical at first about the dice pool system. I really need more practice role playing though as it isn’t an aspect I’ve delved into much in previous games. At the same time though I wanted to combat to still feel crunchy enough that I could enjoy the dice rolling too. I was surprised to see how well it all fit together. It really exceeded my expectations.

The nature of the dice pool flattened things out a bit so my newcomer to the table didn’t feel as out of place among the more established characters. Even though there were plenty of opportunities to roll dice, I also found it didn’t get in the way of good role playing either. There was even one conflict where role play resolved a combat scene where the players weren’t intended to survive otherwise. It was perhaps my favorite moment of our game session.

I’ve got to say I loved the system. I’m now looking forward to playing more.

• GameStorm 10 (0)
• Demoing Changeling: the Lost (0)
• RPGA Events at GameStorm 10 (0)

I played in my first RPGA event during GameStorm 10. I played a first level druid in the Living GreyHawk campaign. They had a few introductory modules running at the convention so I figured it was the perfect time to try it out.

The introductory modules are designed for first level characters only and I was a bit nervous that there wouldn’t be enough players for get a table started. The RPGA coordinator, Robert, did a great job though mustering the tables and when it was all said and done we had a full table for our first adventure.

The game had a little different feel to it than the Living Arcanis games I’d played. It’s difficult to put into words but I think I’d have to say it had a trace amount more adventure than role play compared to Arcanis modules. This could have been mostly due to the nature of a starting module but I’m not entirely convinced of that.

I did have a gripe though and I hope they address with the upcoming Living Forgotten Realms setting. For a character to advance to level two they need 1000 experience points. The introductory module gave 450 experience points. After discussing it with the other players it turns out that though some of the other modules will allow a level one character the chances of survival are slim. The common practice is to play in more than one introductory module.

To that end I played my Druid three times during the convention and all three times were introductory modules. I do now have a level two Druid which will help but it didn’t leave me enough time for some of the other things I wanted to do at the convention. In stark comparison a typical starting Living Arcanis module will give you enough experience to move right into level two and the meat of the story line.

GreyHawk was a great setting and I really did enjoy myself. I just wish I could have progressed a little faster so that I could have explored it more.

• GameStorm 10 (0)
• GameStorm 10 - 4th Edition Demos (0)
• Witch Hunter 101 (0)

GameStorm 10 starts tomorow. I’ve been looking forward to it ever since I first heard about it at Nerdcon 2007. I had no idea that there was a decent gaming convention so close to home.

So far I’ve signed up for a D&D 4th edition demo, Shadowrun for beginners, Living GreyHawk for beginners, a beginners Star Wars RPGA game, and of course a Living Arcanis game. I’m also hoping to get in some card games too including a Magic the Gathering and a World of Warcraft TCG tournament.

I know that some of the guys I’ve been playing Living Arcanis with lately are going to be there. My ranger has hit level 4 and is becoming quite deadly with a bow. With some luck we’ll be able to sit down and game a bit. I also hope to make a bunch of new friends as well. This should be a really fun week.

• RPGA Events at GameStorm 10 (0)
• GameStorm 10 - 4th Edition Demos (0)
• Living Arcanis and Nerdcon 2007 (3)

Here are the latest happenings from some of the various microblogs I use across the net.

• [twitter] Monday morning and only three days to get things squared away for the week before I take vacation time for Game Storm. - 8:54 am
• [twitter] Analyzing table statistics to refactor a major database. - 9:58 am
• [news] 60 free photoreal airfields for FSX! (from FlightSimX) - 10:22 am
• [news] HotSeats Flight Simulator Chassis (from FlightSimX) - 10:22 am
• [news] Dreamfleet 2000 Piper Dakota review (from FlightSimX) - 10:22 am
• [news] JoT 1086, Tummy Tabby. (from The Joy of Tech (rss feed)) - 10:22 am
• [news] Little Car Gets A Staggering 8,923 MPG, Doesn’t Have Room To Make Out In The Back (from Geekologie - Gadgets, Gizmos, and Awesome) - 10:22 am
• [news] Pecker (from Derek K. Miller - Penmachine words music comment - Vancouver, Canada) - 10:22 am
• [news] Show off your geekiest photo (from Derek K. Miller - Penmachine words music comment - Vancouver, Canada) - 10:22 am
• [news] Home & Office : Battlestar Galactica Propaganda Posters (from ThinkGeek :: What’s New) - 10:22 am
• [news] quick question (from Urban Word of the Day) - 10:22 am
• [news] Heidi Klum is mesmerizing (from The Blemish) - 2:25 pm
• [news] Human-like Homer Is Scarier Than I Thought (from Geekologie - Gadgets, Gizmos, and Awesome) - 2:25 pm
• [twitter] Wishing there were more hours in a day. Well ok not really. Actually wish there was less to do in a day. - 5:37 pm

3/21/2008

• [twitter] Lots of progress today. Taking off work tomorow to see how much more I can get done before the day is over. - 1:23 am
• [twitter] Guess it’s time to feed the dog, make coffee, and get my day started. I’m always at a loss on how to start a day off. - 11:51 am
• [news] How to Match Any Telephone Number to Its Geographical Location (from Friedbeef’s Tech) - 3:08 pm
• [twitter] At the car wash. Removing the dirt from our christmas trip. - 4:33 pm
• [twitter] Omw to game night. Living arcanis with my newly leveled ranger. Looking forward to it. - 6:46 pm
• [twitter] Just heard a promo for Metamorph City on Escapepod. Sounds wicked cool. Going to add it when i get good. - 7:18 pm

• Bidi’s World Microblog Digest for 4/02/2008 (0)
• Unscheduled hiatus for JD’s Musical Alchemy (0)
• Synaptic System Failure (0)