You are currently browsing the archives for the “DnD” tag.


Change-up: Tabletop Games (Part 3)

September 15th, 2013

Hey, everyone! This is my third post in the new Change-up category. I originally wrote this as one long piece but it was just too massive. So I’ve broken it into three parts. As always, leave comments and let me know what you think!

How do I pick the right tabletop game for me and my friends?

Like anything, I’m going to tell you to do a little bit of research.

Start with something you like. Maybe it’s a theme like fantasy, or more specific like DC superheroes.

Read reviews. Watch reviews. Check out Board Game Geek’s website, they have a ranking of board games. They have their ranking, as well as a theme ranking, and a user review ranking. Associated with the same website, Dice Tower has some great reviews on Youtube.

If you’re really lost, go to Youtube and watch some of Wil Wheaton’s series called Tabletop. It’s not really a review but you actually see a bunch of people playing the game, having fun, and it’s a great gauge for how the game actually plays out.

If you’re feeling social, look for a local game shop. Give them a call and ask if they have demo copies of games, along with a designated game day/night. I like my local game shop a lot and it draws a pretty nice crowd of people.

In the summers, I would frequent Cloak and Dagger here in the Daytona Beach area.

In the summers, I would frequent Cloak and Dagger here in the Daytona Beach area.

And these are all just starting points because it’s really kind of a trial and error thing. That’s why demo copies and game nights are great. Though, I’ve made some great game purchases based off of just watching Tabletop with Wil Wheaton. Since they don’t really do reviews, they seem to play some pretty top notch games. If it looks like they’re have fun, give it a shot.

Conclusions?

So this post went a lot longer than expected and that’s why I needed to break it up. I was away from the blog for a while and I guess I just had to get it out.

My point is really that there are a ton of board games out there. If you think you’re not into tabletop games or board games, I would honestly say that you just haven’t found the right one. The industry is so vast that writing it off completely would be like writing off television, movies, or books. Sure, you might not care for the vast majority. However, there are probably a few out there that would capture your interest entirely.

Ultimately, this is an activity in building, broadening, and enhancing your community. And by community, I really mean your friends. And new people you meet. You get the idea. Old friends and new can enjoy a good game. So get out there and try something new!

Heroclix was my game of choice in 2007. Just remember, you're playing to have fun! Always make that the important thing!

Heroclix was my game of choice in 2007. Just remember, you’re playing to have fun! Always make that the important thing!

This is the end of part three and the end of the week. Please let me know what you think. This topic is so vast, that writing these posts (while enjoyable) was like trying to hold smoke in my hand. Coming up, I’ll be talking about GenCon and other great things. Be sure to stop by and share your thoughts!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted in Change-Up! | Comments Off on Change-up: Tabletop Games (Part 3)

Change-up: Tabletop Games (Part 2)

September 13th, 2013

Hey, everyone! This is my second post in the new Change-up category. I originally wrote this as one long piece but it was just too massive. So I’ve broken it into three parts. As always, leave comments and let me know what you think!

Continuing from where we left off, here is the second section!

Are there a lot of tabletop games? Didn’t we cover the human experience with Monopoly and Risk?

No, we didn’t quite cover everything with those two.

Tons of tabletop games exist. So I’m going to go over a few and share some of my favorites. Some may have been featured in a Fan Friday post and others might be at some point.

Deck Building Games

Deck building games are card games. Everyone starts with the same cards and then each player chooses to acquire cards throughout the game. I’ll give a couple of examples.

Legendary is actually one of my favorites. It’s a Marvel game that utilizes tons of villains and heroes. Once you pick the heroes and villains you want to play with, you shuffle them into respective decks. Villains come onto the board, occupying one area of the city. Your hero cards come into the headquarters. Players then buy heroes (with their starting cards) and work together to fight the villains before they destroy the city. It’s cooperative, it has a ton of variation, and it’s one of my absolute favorite games.

This is the new expansion coming out soon! I was able to get my hands on a copy during GenCon!

This is the new expansion coming out soon! I was able to get my hands on a copy during GenCon!

Ascension is another great one, though it’s not cooperative. This is a fantasy themed game (with amazing art) where items, heroes, and monsters get shuffled into one big deck. Then you acquire heroes and defeat monsters, building your deck as you go along. The objective of the game is to acquire honor, which you do by acquiring heroes and defeating monsters. Once the honor pool (represented by a pile of gems, which are plastic pieces) runs out, the game is over and everyone counts up their total honor. This is another fun game. I love the theme, the art, and the multiple ways you can win. While you’re playing, it’s never quite clear who is in the lead because you can acquire gems to attain honor, but every hero you acquire also has an honor value on the card. So someone with a smaller pile of gems could have more heroes that tip the scale in their favor.

Roleplaying Games

Roleplaying games can be a great bonding experience, combined with escapism, and brought together by story. Depending on the system you want to use, it can have a low or high entry cost. These are games like Dungeons and Dragons, Dark Heresy, Edge of the Empire, Warhammer, and many, many more.

Dungeons and Dragons is the game I have the most experience with. But don’t worry, there are common elements in most roleplaying games that I’ll talk about.

While Miniatures aren't always necessary, they can help create a scene.

While Miniatures aren’t always necessary, they can help create a scene.

First, someone needs to be elected as a game-master, dungeon-master, or whatever you want to call it. Essentially, this is the storyteller. They’re responsible for making the world come to life. And if you think that sounds like work, you’re right. But it can also be a lot of fun.

Second, the other players make characters. Now, lots of games have different rules for making characters. However, here’s the binding part, it’s all about personality. Making that character come to life is what allows them to interact with everyone else. Roleplaying games allow for escapism, adventure, as well as great interaction.

Third, tell a great story. The person running the game creates the world and characters the other players will interact with. Then, the other players create characters. But now you work together to tell a fantastic story. Work together, be crazy, be funny, and have a great time!

There are tons of great games out there. Fantasy Flight Games just released an amazing Star Wars system called Edge of the Empire. It’s fantastic.

While I'm talking about D&D in the post, GenCon had some awesome stuff for Edge of the Empire.

While I’m talking about D&D in the post, GenCon had some awesome stuff for Edge of the Empire.

Why pick a roleplaying game? While you might spend more money on it than other games, you’ll also get a lot of mileage. And roleplaying games are continuous. There’s a story arc (or maybe an episodic adventure arc) that picks up every time you play. This makes it a great and stable pick for weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly game sessions that maintain a continuous theme, tone, and story.

Adventure games

Descent is an adventure game that can best be described as almost a light roleplaying game. The characters are premade, there isn’t much emphasis on roleplaying, but you can have fun adventures in dungeons and whatnot.

Party Games

Apples to Apples can be a fun, family friendly party game. Everyone takes turns being the judge. The judge pulls a green card (an adjective) and reads it to the group. The other players then put down a red card (a noun, usually) that they feel goes with the adjective. The judge then chooses a winner. Super simple, clean, and fun. Usually my friends try to twist it by attempting to pair cards into offensive combos.

Cards Against Humanity is a similar concept. The judge (who changes every turn) reads a black card. This card might be something like, “instead of coal, Santa is giving out _______ to naughty children for Christmas.” And then there are the white cards. And they might include a word, a phrase, or an elaborate scenario. It’s offensive. You don’t need to try and be offensive, the game itself is horrendous. And if you’re into the darker side of humor, you’ll love it. If you’re not, don’t even look into it.

Other

This topic is massive and I could just keep going on and on.

X-Wing Miniatures Game is fantastic for recreating Star Wars space battles.

Mage Wars is a fantastic game about dueling wizards with spellbooks and magic.

Warhammer: Invasion simulates two factions sieging one another’s capital cities.

Boss Monster is a quirky deck builder where you play a villain and set up rooms in your dungeon to trap heroes that come into town.

Game of Thrones has a board game or intrigue that will have you and your friends eyeing one another suspiciously for hours.

There are so many great games out there! Truly, there’s something out there for everyone!

This is the end of part two. Please let me know what you think and I’ll see you on Sunday for part three!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted in Change-Up! | Comments Off on Change-up: Tabletop Games (Part 2)

Change-up: Tabletop Games (Part 1)

September 11th, 2013

Hey, everyone! This is my first post in the new Change-up category and my first big post in a long time. I originally wrote this as one long piece but it was just too massive. So I’ve broken it into three parts. As always, leave comments and let me know what you think!

Originally, I was going to write a post about GenCon. I’m still planning on writing that post. However, while writing about GenCon, I felt the need to write about tabletop games. GenCon is a tabletop gaming convention, so the inclination to write about board games is pretty inherent. But I found myself talking about why tabletop games are awesome. Not any specific game, mind you, but the concepts and benefits of playing these games in general. So that’s what I’m going to do here since that topic isn’t limited to GenCon. And because it’s easier, I chose a Q&A format using some questions I’ve heard before.

What do you mean when you say “tabletop games?”

A lot of times I mean a board game. However, “tabletop” is an umbrella term.

This takes the idea of a miniatures game and makes it more affordable.

This takes the idea of a miniatures game and makes it more affordable.

Board games: Monopoly, Scrabble, and Risk are all pretty classic board games. They’re also fairly simple.

Newer board games: Then take a game like Descent, it’s a dungeon delve. 2-4 players are adventurers while one player is the dungeon overlord. Some people have said it’s like D&D but a little lighter and there’s no true storyteller.

Roleplaying Games: This is where D&D falls, along with Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Edge of the Empire, and many other roleplaying games. Players create characters. The game master runs the show, creates the story, and make sure the players are challenged but not crushed.

Card Games: Sometimes games are a mix of card/board games, where both elements are used. Essentially, if the board is nice but unessential, I would call it a card game. Notable card games right now are deck builders like Legendary, Ascension, and the classic Dominion.

A cool game made possible by Kickstarter! No board, just cards. Cards represent dungeon rooms and you build rooms to trap incoming adventurers!

A cool game made possible by Kickstarter! No board, just cards. Cards represent dungeon rooms and you build rooms to trap incoming adventurers!

Miniature Games: I’m currently into the X-Wing miniature game because I like Star Wars, I like Fantasy Flight, and the system is really cool. Miniature game may have a board, they may have cards, but the focus will be on strategic placement and the minis themselves. These are usually combat-centric games.

Miscellaneous: I probably missed something. Maybe a hybrid of what’s here or something else.

So, for those of you unfamiliar with the term, that’s what I mean when I say “tabletop game.”

Why are tabletop games awesome?

They are. They just are. Are we done? No? It’s a common question and I’ve heard it a lot. And before I found my own selection of great games, I would ask this same question.

Okay, let me break this into two sections. But first, I’ll go ahead and say a little something. A big part of the enjoyment (for me) comes from the human element. Playing with other people, being engaged with them, and sharing in an experience. I love video games, movies, and watching television. However, few of those experiences have compared to the interaction involved with a tabletop game.

Existing relationships.

I don’t know how common this is, but I’ve had the same group of friends since high school. So I’ve known my core group of friends for a little over ten years (when we started) and a few even longer than that. We’ve added people and dropped a couple, but for the most part our group has maintained a stable base that occasionally annexes and exiles people as necessary. It’s really not as extreme as it sounds. Nor is it really as organized. Anyway, we had the college split and all ended up back in (relatively) the same area.

My point is that I’ve known these people for a long time. A seriously long time. And some hangouts are better than others. Sometimes you can just drink and chat and have a fantastic time. Other times, you find yourself staring at your friend and saying, “so, you want to watch something, or do something, or maybe just keep staring at each other?”

Enter tabletop games.

Whether the game is cooperative or competitive, the people in the room are now engaged in a group activity. You can still joke and talk about common interests (like normal), but now there’s something engaging keeping the night moving along. You’re experiencing something new (whether the game itself is new or not) and creating another memory or shared experience. It adds fun and a common goal to a night that might have just ended with subpar television and long strings of silence.

New frienships.

While I was at GenCon, I had the privilege of attending the evening author events. And I thought this was a really awesome thing. And it was. But you know what? Sometimes it’s hard to connect with new people. It can be difficult to find a topic that actually goes somewhere. Let’s say that on your right side, you have an author you really admire. Then, on the left side, you have an author you don’t really know. How do you strike up a conversation? Games are great for this. GenCon had an author game night and it was a blast. And during the author bar night, people started pulling out tabletop games again. It a natural ice breaker for people who don’t know one another.

A common interest can easily spark new friendships.

A common interest can easily spark new friendships.

Have you ever played an ice breaker game? Maybe during your first day of school, in a class, or at work? I usually find them to be terribly uncomfortable.

A board game can be an ice breaker. Everyone at the table now has a common goal. They have something to talk about, laugh about, and ask questions about. Once there’s some comfort, people are willing to tell jokes, stories, and generally open up in a way that they wouldn’t after a cold introduction. You get to know each person, not just their profession, who they are and what they like.

And if the game has a theme like Firefly, Battlestar Galactica, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, or something else, you can open another big door into shared interests.

This is the end of part one. Please let me know what you think and I’ll see you on Friday for part two!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted in Change-Up! | Comments Off on Change-up: Tabletop Games (Part 1)

Writing Wednesday: Using RPG Books

March 13th, 2013

Hey! It’s Writing Wednesday again and today I’m going to talk about RPG books. Books for Roleplaying Games like D&D, which I’ve talked about on the blog before. These books can be amazing tools for writer, especially fantasy writers. While you might be skeptical at first, trust me, these books can be a great source of information and inspiration.

A couple of weeks ago I took part in a Google Hangout with R² Writes. I’ve mentioned her on the blog before. If you haven’t checked out her blog, stop by and take a look at it, she’s really great. Anyway, in the background, I noticed what looked like a Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual on her bookshelf. When I brought it up, she revealed that she owned a few of these books for the purpose of looking through monsters for her own writing. They can be an amazing starting point for inspiration in a person’s writing. I’ve always advocated the use of these books to other writers and when I saw it on her bookshelf, I thought it might be worth doing a blog post on the subject.

The Monster Manual books are great, from any edition, and have some fantastic artwork inside of them. They can also be used for an interesting look at lore, though your mileage will vary with different books and different description. While those books are great, they’re not so different from finding collections of bestiaries and flipping through those. So, while those are useful RPG books, there are some with even more uses.

About twenty years ago a company named White Wolf acquired the rights to the world of Ravenloft created for Dungeons and Dragons. White Wolf proceeded to make quite a few products about Ravenloft, my favorites being the gazetteers. They numbered five in total and each book covered only a couple of regions that make up Ravenloft. For each region they would discuss how much education the average person had, and how much a wealthy person had. They addressed the number of wealthy to the number of poor, the fashion, the languages, and the cultural traditions of the region.

The information you acquired about a town, a region, would most likely be more than you could ever make use of in your Dungeons and Dragons campaign. However, it was there, the information was present. The DM could use or disregard any of it. For writers, this is what we need to achieve with our own novels and our own world building. These book can be wonderful sources because we can look at great world building and see what it involves. We can look at different regions and question ourselves about the different regions in our story. Then, just like with a Dungeons and Dragon campaign, some of the information will be brought into the story, some won’t, but it will all be there if the storyteller needs it. They can be wonderful for inspiration but they can also be a guide for you to look to when you feel your own world is underdeveloped. They can be a blueprint of the things you should know about your own story.

Now it’s your turn! What helps you with inspiration for world building and monsters? What sources do you look at when you feel your own world is underdeveloped?

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted in Writing Wednesday | Comments Off on Writing Wednesday: Using RPG Books

Fan Friday: Dungeons and Dragons!

March 1st, 2013

Hey, everyone! It’s Fan Friday again! I have to say, every Friday is a reminder of just how much nerdy stuff I like. Today is just going to be about D&D, or DnD, or Dungeons and Dragons, whatever you want to call it. I like other systems but I’ll always be a fan of D&D because it’s where I started.

If you’re not familiar with it, D&D is a form of collective storytelling in a fantasy setting. There’s usually a DM (Dungeon Master) or GM (Game Master) and the rest of the people are players controlling a single character each. The DM guides the story, monsters, traps, castles, and all that good stuff, while the player’s characters explore the world.

My group of friends started playing in high school, maybe around 2004 or 2005. The books were present for a couple of years before we sat down to play a game. Most recently, I’ve been the main DM and that’s fine for now. I really prefer to DM sessions that emphasize the idea of collective storytelling, which can only come from players with strong characters. Essentially, a DM can be firm or soft in their manipulation of the story.

A DM with a firm hand can put the player “on rails.” I’ve done that before and it rarely works for me. It gets boring for me when I know what will happen every single second. So I started experimenting with sitting back and letting players choose more of their own direction. I throw a few ideas out there and see what sticks. In a way, this requires more preparation. I need to be ready for them to pick a fight, sit around and talk, look for work, or do something truly unexpected. To me, this is fun. It’s fun for the players, too. They’re shaping the story, their story, a personal and unique story.

Which edition? I don’t know, they all have their good qualities. In recent years, my friends and I have mostly been playing 4th edition. Here’s the thing about 4e, it can get really gamey really fast. Honestly, I’ve seen game in 3.5 get the same way, though. It’s up with the DM and the players to ensure that this doesn’t happen. Burden of responsibility usually fall to the DM when it comes to generating ideas for fixing the problem, but it’s a group effort. That’s where collective storytelling shines.

I’m also a big fan of RP sessions, or at least that’s what we call them. These are sessions with roleplaying and no dice. It helps the players connect, or reconnect, with their characters. They can’t sit back and say “I attack!” and throw some dice. They need to speak, interact, and think their way out of situations. It’s great but your players need to be into it, they need to be willing to invest time in thinking of a character, much like a writer might.

As far as settings go, I love Ravenloft. I’m running a Ravenloft campaign right now and if it’s the last campaign I DM, it’s fine with me. I’ve always like it and I actually waited to start something in Ravenloft until I felt confident in my abilities as a DM. In the future, I’ll probably do Fan Friday posts about specific settings in D&D. I have a few that I really like, though some can be more challenging than others when it comes to running a session.

Now it’s your turn! Have you experienced D&D? If so, what edition or play style do you prefer? What settings do you really love? Or, if you’re not all that into D&D, what other systems do you enjoy?

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Posted in Fan Friday | Comments Off on Fan Friday: Dungeons and Dragons!