Dysartes vs. The Warlock - Round 3

I believe it is high time to delve into the mountain once more - Firetop Mountain, that is. I've been playing my way through the first Fighting Fantasy book, Warlock of Firetop Mountain in stages (Part 1 - Part 2). Having given the dungeon a little time to catch it's breath, I'm now ready to pick up the challenge again.

These books provide a basic roleplaying experience, without the hassle of getting a group together. A book, a piece of paper for notes, and a couple of dice, and away you go...

What would make a Goblin's day?

One of the things I like about Pathfinder is the work they've put into making races and classes distinct and interesting. Even a class as basic as the Fighter has gained abilities so he isn't just a walking stack of feats any more.

One of the big achievements with the Rise of the Runelords adventure path - the first one Paizo produced - was the work they put into making Goblins interesting. Even without the illustrations of Wayne England, the Ten Fun Facts About Goblins piece in the introduction to the first module, along with how Goblins are handled during the encounters in that module really change how you'll approach the standard lesser greenskin.

With that in mind, and following some jokes and discussions with my Saturday group, I thought it'd be interesting to see what a Goblin would look like if it was infected with lycanthropy. This would probably not be from a bite, but if something like a barghest wanted to influence a Goblin tribe, giving their leader the ability to turn into a wolf would go a long way. Goblins admire and trust wolves, and would likely see such an ability as a blessing from whichever dark god they were worshipping.

Finding a Path: Week 2

After the first Pathfinder session I ran seemed to go fairly well, I was fortunate enough to have a week off before the next session, due to one of the players being unavailable - we all agreed that with only three player characters, it would be a bit off for me to run for the other two while one missed out. So with Kenny absent for a CCG tournament, Dave ran LEGION¹ the following Saturday.

I also had some reading to catch up on. When I was in the final stages of preparing for the first session, I'd found that the town I was sending my players to, Falcon's Hollow, already had quite a lot written about it in supplements that Paizo had produced. I'd picked up three smaller supplements before the first session, and picked up a fourth between the two sessions.

Dysartes vs. The Warlock - Round 2

A little while ago, I started playing my way through The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, the first of the Fighting Fantasy books. While it has been on hold for a while, I got the urge recently to start working through it again.

These books are a simple way of playing a game by yourself - a book, some paper, a couple of dice and a pencil and you can play your way through a pre-generated roleplaying game without needing a GM or other people.

Finding a Path: Week 1

I wouldn't describe myself as a natural choice to run a game - I tend not to be quick on my (mental) feet when put on the spot, and I always have issues coming up with character or location names.

So it came as a bit of a surprise when I found myself volunteering to run a Pathfinder game for our small group on a Saturday, so our regular GM - Dave - could have a break.

Pathfinder - or D&D v3.75, as I like to think of it

While I'd initially been talking about putting a dungeon together to run the other two through, the level of interest being shown by them demanded that we do something a bit bigger than that. As I reread the rules, we gained a third player - Kenny - and a plan began to come together.

Jigoku wins? The death of L5R

Somehow, Jigoku cheated.

The Third Day of Thunder came around over nine hundred years early, and mortal man was unprepared. No descendant of Shinsei emerged to guide the Emerald Empire through the troubled times and, as a result, we must now enter the Seven Hundred Days of Darkness¹ before the hope of a new dawn can arise once more...

For those of you wondering if I have lost the plot, I haven't - I'm referring to the announcements on Friday from Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG) and Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) that the latter has acquired the license to Legend of the Five Rings (L5R) from the former.

Dysartes vs. The Warlock - Round 1

Time to do battle with the Warlock

While at UK Games Expo last June, I attended a seminar hosted by Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson (no, not the Munchkin Steve Jackson), where they recalled anecdotes of their time setting up Games Workshop, along with the history of the Fighting Fantasy series of books.

Following the seminar, there was the obligatory book signing, and I was fortunate enough to acquire - and get signed - a copy of the 25th Anniversary printing of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain from Ian's stash.

Having bought it, and had a flick through it, the book as been sat on the table in my living room ever since. Recently, I've been looking into games I can play on my own, as opposed to attending a gaming group or having people over. While I've picked up a couple of games, and will be taking a look at them in later posts, it occurred to me that the Fighting Fantasy books were a good example of that sort of thing. They also have a big advantage over board games in terms of being very compact, and only needing a couple of additional items to be usable - some scrap paper, a pencil and a couple of six-sided dice.

Moments from the gaming table #1

I normally take part in a roleplaying group on a Monday evening, and catch up with a couple of the guys for additional sessions on a Saturday. Recently, we've been playing Dave's home-brew LEGION setting, using the d6 Space engine as a base - think the old West End Games Star Wars system.

Due to our players, as much as our characters, there is normally something which manages to go wrong each week...