Gaming Done Right

If you haven’t seen it yet, head on over to the Guessing Zero network and check out the new podcast, Gaming Done Right.  Dan, Brian and I have put our heads together and come up with a brand new podcast covering all things gaming (well, at least the parts that pop into our head).  For the first episode, you’ll hear us chat a bit about ourselves as gamers, then about Battlestar Galactica’s newest expansion and about some of our favorite Malifaux models.

While you’re there, check out the posts and articles.  I have been posting a lot more over there (which is why you see a downturn in my posts here).  We have a number of people posting gaming material on all different tastes.  There’s also another podcast, A Crit of Gamers, that focuses a lot of gaming mechanics, hosted on the network.  Check them out too.

Guessing Zero

Hey all - a quick plug for a new gaming site and podcast.  Guessing Zero.  It's a little bare at the moment, but it will be picking up more soon.  The first podcast is already up, as are a few articles and blog posts, including one by yours truly.  You may not hear anyone familiar on it yet, but you may hear my voice sooner or later.

The site is not devoted to any particular type of gaming.  Miniatures, cards, video games, roleplaying... it'll all get talked about sooner or later.  Hit up the site, take a look around and subscribe.  I expect great things to come.

Through the Breach Campaign Idea

I was listening to a podcast, thac0, and they were discussing making pitches for the next roleplaying game they wanted to run.  That got me thinking a bit about what I would want to pitch as my next game.  Given all the excitement around the new Malifaux roleplaying game coming out, and given the fact that it’s not coming out until a ways off so pitching a game for it would not serve to derail me from Legend of the Five Rings (I have a bit of gamer ADD when it comes to roleplaying games), I came up with a Through the Breach campaign I would want to run.

Given that the group I would run the game for includes one person who is very familiar with the Malifaux fluff and feel, two who are somewhat exposed to it, and two who would be brand new to it, I would want to run something where not having a lot of knowledge about the world would not be a hindrance.  Added to that, I would not want to feel shackled by what is already in place in the plot and story.  Very quickly, the idea for my campaign came into focus.

The players would be among the first scouting groups sent through the Breach after it reopened, trying to figure out exactly what happened to the first group.  The Neverborn would be all but unknown, and the group would slowly be introduced to them.  At the same time, the group would be dealing with the Guild moving in and establishing their foothold in the city of Malifaux, one district at a time.

Resserectionists and Archanists would not be established groups yet, but the potential would be there for these characters to become among the first in each of those groups, and their actions would dictate how the Guild reacts to them.  I have images of a character learning about and seeking out the necromantic powers all throughout the city, and of another starting to pull together scouting groups to push off the oppressive yoke of the Guild.  Alternatively, the characters could side with the Guild and put down these uprisings of groups that are trying to move away from organized establishment of a workable society within Malifaux.  All the while, the Neverborn would be a constant threat, trying to push back against the encroaching humans.

Whether this campaign ever got off the ground or was just a pipe dream, I don’t really know.  I’m enjoying L5R far too much to consider dropping it anytime in the near future.  But after the day that story winds its course, is Through the Breach next on the plate?

Gamers Lounge Special: Through the Breach Interview

Head on over to The Gamers Lounge and check out an interview with Mack Martin regarding the new Malifaux roleplaying game up on Kickstarter.  Mack goes into some detail about what to expect and what's coming down the line.  Good stuff.

The Beginning of the End

Maybe it's not quite that dramatic, thought Bill may come to call it that before too long.

If you're not the one listener and you enjoy Malifaux, I encourage you to head over to the Gamers Lounge and take a listen to Episode #56.  Two new hosts have joined Bill in his rambling antics.  Alright, I'll spoil the surprise.  It's none other than Second Generation Awesome Dan and myself!  Hope you enjoy...

What's in a Name?

A little background: on the most recent episode of the Gamers’ Lounge, Brian was given a new nickname because he didn’t have one yet. I jokingly suggested “Skill-less Brian” and when he became defensive and then tried to give himself his own nickname – a clear violation of nickname policy – he became Skill-less Brian.

So after the podcast, we came up with a proposal for Brian: if he could defeat the three of us that were there when he was given the nickname (eChris, Bill and me), we would give him a better nickname. Skill-less Brian accepted the challenge and on Tuesday, he launched into two games, one against eChris and one against me.

You can check out the game against eChris over here.

Having lost his first match, I offered him the chance to face my Resserectionists, since I am considering moving to Neverborn for the upcoming league. We pulled out 30 stone lists. I flipped Supply Wagon and figured I should go with Nicodem, as his slow movement would not be as much a problem. Then Brian flipped Distract and I decided I might need speed after all and flipped over to McMourning.

McMourning, Chihuahua, Bette, Crooked Man x2, Sebastian, Canine Remains x2, 8 Stones
Perdita, Santiago, Nino, Francisco, Papa Loco, 7 Stones

I took Breakthrough and Kill Protégé: Santiago
He took Assassinate and Bodyguard

I may get some of the order wrong, but this is basically how things went.



Turn One – McMourning Initiative
This turn was pretty basic for most of it. There was a large open area in the center of the table and the family ran up to try to get a shooting gallery going while Papa Loco hugged some terrain near the side, trying to make it into melee with my guys. I moved up with my two Crooked Men, trying to have each one support the other in LOS. McMourning killed both his dogs for 7 body parts. Perdita double-moved forward and then Obeyed Nino to shoot one of my Crooked Men, putting a nice 3 wounds into him.

Turn Two – McMourning initiative
I started with the wounded Crooked Man, wanting to get some use out of him before he died. He channeled Cave In at Francisco, but Brian cheated high to make sure it missed (good on his part – I had the Red Joker lined up to kill Francisco if I got the straight damage flip). He activated Santiago and tried to shoot down my unactivated Crooked Man. He ditched the card for Rapid Fire, then found he was about a half an inch out of range. That Crooked Man, now knowing he was out of range, moved up and shot at Francisco again, this time only doing 2 wounds to the man with no blast markers. Nino activated and shot down the already-wounded Crooked Man. That Crooked Man used Slow to Die to send another Cave In at Francisco and hit him for 2 more wounds. I moved my Chihuahua out to keep near the Supply Wagon and Papa Loco rushed next to the ruins McMourning was beside. McMourning, fearing some Obey tricks, summoned a Flesh Construct next to Papa Loco and then booked it out of there. Francisco charged and did a few wounds to my last Crooked Man and Sebastian moved out and missed Francisco. Perdita wasn’t having any of that and charged in, killing off Sebastian. Bette popped up and used Depraved Tactics to paralyze living models. She attacked Perdita, forcing her to discard 2 soulstones or die (Brian was already out of cards), then attacked twice more, paralyzing Perdita for next turn. My Flesh Construct attacked Papa Loco, and then did so again at the end of the turn, dealing 6 wounds to the crazy man.

Turn Three – Perdita Initiative
Francisco killed off the Crooked Man, but Slow to Die failed to hit him back. My Flesh Construct killed Papa Loco, taking 5 wounds himself, and then moved up a little. Nino deliberated a bit, then decided to kill off the Flesh Construct that was approaching him and Santiago. I was running low on models, so I went with my Chihuahua who moved up and kicked another Body to McMourning. That, combined with the body from the Crooked Man, gave McMourning 4 more body parts. Santiago charged in and put Bette down, making sure she wouldn’t be around to annoy him. McMourning moved up and attacked Francisco, killing him, and summoned a new Flesh Construct near the Santiago/Perdita/McMourning/Chihuahua fight. The Flesh Construct attacked Perdita but missed, then did the same at the end of the turn.

Turn Four – Perdita Initiative
Damn – two turns in a row where I really wanted initiative, but no dice. Brian figured his best shot was to kill off McMourning this turn, so that’s what he tried. The last three family members all went for the alpha strike, starting with Perdita and Santiago blowing their wad at McMourning. I spent seven soulstones and managed to keep McMourning alive with three wounds remaining. Nino could not get a shot off at McMourning, so he moved around and shot the Chihuahua, dropping him by two wounds. The Chihuahua activated and channeled Dissection on Perdita, forcing her to use a Soulstone to make the attack miss. Then McMourning stabbed the Chihuahua with a knife, getting a body part for killing him, healing two wounds, and bringing Bette into play. McMourning attacked Perdita twice more, dealing three more damage, healing three wounds, and running her out of stones and leaving her hand low. Bette finished her off, and my Flesh Construct managed to take Santiago down to his Hard to Kill one-wound.

Turn Five – Perdita Initiative
Nino took a shot at the melee and managed to hit Santiago, killing him and denying me my Kill Protégé. His second shot hit McMourning, dropping him back down to only a few wounds remaining after a couple of Trigger Happy hits. Both Bette and the Flesh Construct ran to Nino, placing themselves in base-to-base so Nino could not see McMourning behind them without moving. At the end of the turn, the Flesh Construct hit Nino for a few wounds.

Turn Six – McMourning Initiative
Ah, thankfully I won this one. I started with Bette who paralyzed Nino, then moved into his deployment zone for Breakthrough. Nino skipped his activation, and the Flesh Construct killed him off while McMourning ran and using has last Body Part for fast, made it into Brian’s deployment zone.

Final score, 6 (4 for Supply Wagon, 2 for Breakthrough, 0 for Kill Protégé) to 0 (0 for Distract, 0 for Bodyguard, 0 for Assassinate).




So Brian walked out with two losses, hitting none of his three marks to lose his Skill-less moniker. Poor guy. No doubt he’ll come back swinging again next week.

Gamers Lounge Episode 36

Make sure you head over to the Gamers Lounge to see episode 36 where Dan and I talk with Bill a bit about Malifaux and the upcoming GenCon. Also, be sure to tell Bill that you love hearing my voice so he'll invite me back again.

Gamers Lounge Episode 29

I am famous again! Head over to the Gamers Lounge to hear Bill and me chat about the Dreamer for over two hours (did we really talk that long?!). Since we're both Dreamer players, we spend most of the time talking about how we use him, but we do get into some talk about how to fight against him too. Hope you enjoy!

I'm Famous

Over the weekend Bill and Jay asked me to join them on their podcast, the Gamers Lounge for a special Malifaux-centric episode. Head on over and check it out. I'm the smart-sounding one.

Rising Power in Malifaux: Rising Powers?

I was just listening to one of the podcasts I subscribe to, Gamers Lounge, and there was a little bit of discussion around Malifaux's new book, Rising Powers, specifically regarding the power level of that book in comparison to Malifaux's first book. One of the hosts suggested that the new book's power level, particularly with the new masters, was higher than that of the first book with the exception of a few of the masters (Perdita, Lady Justice and Lilith being the three mentioned). I had a differing opinion, so I figured I'd take some time to talk about what my feelings of Rising Power are.

I took some time trying to formulate the reason I disagree with this point. I'm going to start with the easy part: the minions. I know this isn't specifically what was mentioned in the podcast, but it is part of the whole question as to whether the new book is that much greater than the old. My primary experience is with Neverborn, so I'll be concentrating there mostly, but having talked with another of my friends who plays Ressurectionists, he's of the same opinion.

There are plenty of models in the first book that I believe are on a level with or better than those in the second book. Mature Nephilim are still the Neverborn's king of dealing damage. Terror Tots are still among the best point-for-effectiveness models in the game. Their speed, their triggers, and their defense all make them incredibly good at getting to points and holding them, or coming in to finish off an enemy. Their ability to grow into Younger Nephilim and become models that are worth double their points is solid.

The Doppelganger, the Waldgeists, and the Slurids are all very good models, as are Baby Kade and Candy in their specific roles. Teddy is a hard to hurt heavy-hitter, owning one of the most impressive damage lines in the game (3/5/10) when he gets his teeth on you.

Rising Power likewise has a lot of fantastic choices. Lilu and Lilitu fit easily into a lot of the builds for Neverborn. Coppulus is just frightening. On the lower point level, Alps are a great swarm monster, and Insidious Madness gives us some nice support.

I think where I finally came down to in comparing the two books on the minions level is this: there is very little difference between the top of the class in book one and the top of the class in book two. But the bottom of the class of book two is better than the bottom of the class of book one. What I mean by that is there are a few models in book one I just don't like. Bad Juju. Sorrows. The Hooded Rider has yet to show me he's good. I don't feel like there's anything in Rising Powers that's that bad. As such, I can look through Rising Powers and be be wow-ed by everything in it, but can't do the same for book one. To me, that just shows that they've figured out how to not make crap models anymore.



Moving on to the masters, which is where the crux of the conversation was, I'm still not convinced that they are more powerful than the original models. These models are not more powerful, they're simply working differently than any other master has before. In Neverborn, we had a caster who was fast and attacked in melee (Lilith), a master who attacked willpower (Pandora) and another who makes your enemy's models attack each other (Zoraida). But in all of these, there were other masters in other factions who did similar things. Lady Justice attacked melee. Ressurectionists could create builds that would attack willpower (with terror and willpower-reducing effects).

In Rising Powers, each of the masters is drastically different than other things that have been presented. The soulstone manipulation of Collette is unseen before. The burying/unburying effects of the Dreamer are all new. Hamelin's crew utilizes dying and reviving rats, Kirai uses an entire army of Spirits with lots of movement, healing and summoning, and Hoffman can push his minions differently than we've ever seen before.

But I don't believe they're more powerful. I just believe they're different.

Any time you face a player who is using a master they understand decently well and that you've never seen before, they're going to pull tricks on you that will make you cry foul. I've done it myself. First time I faced Nicodem, he blased a melee I was in with a spell that hurt all my people and healed all his. WTF?! I faced Seamus with his Copycat Killer and saw the massive damage their guns could do. Other people who haven't seen Obey before will face Zoraida and scream broken when their own model smashes their master for half his life on turn one.

But the more people play against these masters, the more people realize how to stop them. If you don't want to be Obeyed, deploy differently. If you don't want a massive gun to the face, kill the Copycat fast even though he's only two points. Stop the Vultures and limit Nicodem's spell casting. All of these lessons come from playing games, and there are lessons for dealing with the new masters too. They just come in time. I'd expect that in several months, these new masters will be right along with the old, once everyone learns their tricks.

Fantasy Writing

I like to listen to podcasts on the way to and from work. It's a nice way to hear about different things rather than listening to music, and unlike listening to the radio talk shows, with podcasts, I'm pretty much sure I'll be interested in the topic. Most of the podcasts I listen to are gaming related, but there are a few other ones that slip in. A podcast about LOST, one about fantasy football, one about logic puzzles, etc.

I recently heard about three podcasts about short stories, each with a different genre. There's EscapePod for Science Fiction, PseudoPod for Horror, and PodCastle for Fantasy. I started with EscapePod. I've heard three stories off it now and while I liked the first one, the second two were a bit lacking in my opinion. I decided to download the current story for the other two and see what they were like. On the way in to work today, I was listening to "Another End of the Empire" on PodCastle.

I'm not sure if it's representative of the rest of the stories on PodCastle, or if I just happened to be lucky, but this story is fantastic! I haven't finished it yet (I'll finish it up on the way home from work today), but so far I'm enthralled.

It starts with the idea that many fantasy stories currently have three cliches:

1. The farmboy in the village grows up to destroy the evil overlord.
2. Said evil overlord is pretty shortsighted and lacking politically.
3. There is a prophecy that says farmboy will trump evil overlord.

So let's see how the story opens:

Sure enough, the evil overlord who has conquered most of the known world hears a prophecy about how a child in a village will grow up and overthrow the evil overlord. When he asks how long he has, the witch tells him it won't happen for a while. That's good. The witch's prophecy for his father had a little more immediacy: "You have a malignant tumor."

The witch expects the warlord to send his armies to the village and destroy it, but he knows better. It may be what his father would have done, but as he says, he's more "modern." The kid would escape somehow, find that the evil overlord killed his family and friends, and swear vengeance, coming back in years to kill the warlord.

Instead, he sends his people to the village and they rip the central town hall to the ground. The villagers, all keenly aware that they're likely to end up slaves, are surprised to find the overlords architects rebuild a larger, more modern and energy-efficient town hall, complete with a dome and tinted glass. The overlord comes in and renames the village "Progress Village" and sets about building schools and instituting a large quantity of positive social changes.

I won't tell you any more of the story than that, but it's a very funny one. I'd recommend you head over to PodCastle and see if you can download the story (it's episode number 88).