2017-09-26
Ixalan Prerelease at Alakazam Comics
Jack & I went to the Alakazam Comic prerelease of Ixilan. They had a Two-Headed Giant sealed tournement which seemed perfect for us; since, we did not know any of the cards at all.
We had watched the Wedge Prerelease Guide on Mana Source YouTube channel:
As well as the Magic the Amatuering demo game:
but we were not very well prepared--I was planning to force Merfolk, cause I love Simic, and Jack was going to wait and see what he got...
He ended up getting like all the removal cards--I switched to dinosaur and the plan was for him to keep us alive until the monsters could attack--not the worst plan we have ever had.
Game one was against some very serious Brian's and Tim's--talk of time on the pro tour and winning Two-Headed Giant at GenCon had us shaking--lots of weird rules interpretations on what opponent meant lead to some confusion on everyone's part--but a solid win for us out of the gate.
Game two was against Hot Garbage who had been playing all night at a midnight prerelease. They had good cards and a solid strategy, but we were able to fairly easily outlast them and simply grind them down.
Game three had just about my favorite moment playing Magic with Jack of all time--we were two and oh going into this game and everyone knew what cards we had (Jack and I had been paying basically no attention at all the entire time). So the game started like it had--Jack had some cheap flyers backed with tap tricks and I was dropping monsters--they were struggling with blocks on Jack and did not agree with the decision the made and started fighting amongst themselves--it is never fun to play against Pouty players, particularly when the players likely were better than us, knew the cards better, and were frustrated--but whatever. They had argued if Jack could have a trick--the trick was tap pay one add plus one plus one--the trick was on the table. The decided he did not have a trick, played into a trick that was on the table--I mean literally it was not even a card in hand trick, and then one of the players gut all fussy.
But that was not the best.
After that, Jack looked at the board, and was like "you want to just race them?" I mean he says this out loud to me, in front of them, while they are still reeling from the last round. They knew that our decks were not Agro, but they also had learned that Jack knew what he was doing.
We raced and won.
3-0 is not a bad place to be.
I found this set very playable and a lot of fun. Alakazam is a great place to play Magic. Fun.
2017-09-06
Dragon Talk: Sage Advice - Table Rules, 8/28/17
Cody and I watched this amazing episode on Table Rules.
Jeremy did a great job explaining what Table Rules are, but I would have added a lot more kind of generic "social etiquette" rules--largely because I play a lot of public play & I play with kids. Also, his look to the DMG for House Rules Ideas was excellent.
In any event, here are my House Rules
1. Listen
2. Everyone Gets A Turn
3. Same Team
4. Awesome > Rules
2017-08-03
Storm King's Thunder--D&D Encounters S23 S34
Alakazam Comics D&D Adventure League is going strong--we ran three crowded tables--two Tier One tables with a lot of new players, so returning Grognards, and a DM in Cos Play.
I captured this strange image at some point during the night.
Really not sure what it is at all!
The game picked up where it left off--the Sword Coast Collective raiding Imryth's Desert layer.
The party had flown in Zyphro's Cloud Tower -- he attached the key as protection from the lightning he anticipated coming from the blue dragon
The party let the Giants deal with the dragon and charged the treasure horde where they were attacked by Air Elementals.
Some great die rolling, including this called CRITICAL...on a perception check...
I captured this strange image at some point during the night.
Really not sure what it is at all!
The game picked up where it left off--the Sword Coast Collective raiding Imryth's Desert layer.
The party had flown in Zyphro's Cloud Tower -- he attached the key as protection from the lightning he anticipated coming from the blue dragon
Beneath the amphitheater, there was an ancient sandstone temple buried beneath the sand being used by the dragon as a layer. Within the layer, some Yaun-Ti were performing a dark deranged ritual.
The party let the Giants deal with the dragon and charged the treasure horde where they were attacked by Air Elementals.
Some great die rolling, including this called CRITICAL...on a perception check...
And thus came to a close Storm King Thunder!
2017-07-29
D&D in the Park with DM Cody
Cody DM'd his first game of Dungeons & Dragons in the park on Sunday. There were three 9 year old players and two adults. It was a simple caravan guard combat session with the party being attacked by modrons intent on stealing our Ballista.
The interesting thing is that Cody invented a FANTASTIC mechanic. When draing the Caravan wagons on the battlemat he had the other players draw the wagons--they are in Red and Black below:
This really drew the players in & got the kids interested.
I mean honestly it was amazing, I play a lot of D&D With kids and this was the first time I have seen kids this engaged.
The game was wonderful--we had some very fun role play and some good critical hits
2017-07-25
2017-07-13
2017-07-06
D&D Novel's
Dungeons and Dragons is likely healthier now then it has ever been--the current edition is great, the content coming out from Wizards of the Coast is great, the Adventures League is Popular, the shops are full...
Everything is going wonderful, except the Novel line & I really do not know why.
A lot of the stuff that was released during the 4th Edition period was really good--but currently they are releasing nothing--only stuff from older, established authers that was likely already on the print schedule
I would love to see WotC do something with D&D Fiction like what Magic is doing with the weekly short stories by different authers--a way to keep fiction moving + develop new talent.
Everything is going wonderful, except the Novel line & I really do not know why.
A lot of the stuff that was released during the 4th Edition period was really good--but currently they are releasing nothing--only stuff from older, established authers that was likely already on the print schedule
I would love to see WotC do something with D&D Fiction like what Magic is doing with the weekly short stories by different authers--a way to keep fiction moving + develop new talent.
Storm King's Thunder--D&D Encounters S23 S31
2017-06-25
Actual Play Storm King's Thunder--D&D Encounters S23 S27
The battle at the Ice Giant Fortress rages on as the Jarl returns from his fishing trip!
The giant count is at 29.
More Info?
Facebook: http://bit.ly/2cTWGGc
Campaign: http://bit.ly/2eIgxWy
Warhorn: http://bit.ly/2eG9aQk
Actual Play Storm King's Thunder--D&D Encounters S23 S29
After battling crabs in the Storm King's Under Water Castle, the Sword Coast Collective returns to Waterdeep for some investigation into the curious coin found near the Storm King's dead wive's body. Determining the coin is from Yantar, our heros head to a Harper stronghold in the city.
The giant count is at 38.
More Info?
Campaign
Warhorn
Actual Play Storm King's Thunder--D&D Encounters S23 S30
The Sword Coast Collective board the Grand Dame and investigate the Captain connection to the death of the Queen of the Storm Giants. They Learn of the capture of King Hekaton & return to Ten Towns to collect their air ship to pursue him.
The giant count is at 38.
More Info?
Facebook: http://bit.ly/2cTWGGc
Campaign: http://bit.ly/2eIgxWy
Warhorn: http://bit.ly/2eG9aQk
2017-04-22
Reviwing the Three Pillars
The Three Pillars are
There are three agenda's for gamers:
- Socialization
- Exploration
- Combat
There are three agenda's for gamers:
- gamist
- narrativist
- simulationist
A player pinged me this week with questions about why Adventure League is so Combat focused--why the Socialization and Exploration traits are not used more. I need to focus more on exploration. There needs to be more of a pay back. There must be more value coming out of the experience so that everyone can enjoy it. I am not sure how to do that. I need to really start focusing more on Socialization--that is what the Cloud Giants are all about. And next week we need to reward Exploration more. What are the traits that lead to good exploration--there must be clues. The clues must be understandable--this is where I generally fall apart. And the clues must pay off in rewards that the characters [and the players] care about. The players want magic. The characters want levels. I have not killed a character in a long time.
I need to figure out how to make the stakes in Exploration higher--there is a clock. There is a timeline. When they return to go shopping at their church. When they return to Triboar it has been destroyed by Fire Giants. The Frost Giant, Harshnag, who they worked with was killed by a Blue Dragon--what is the consequence of the blue dragon killing Harshnag.
Explore the history of harshnag--why does that matter--because it can get them into the Jarl's layer with less risk. Maybe that is worth doing. I wlll look at doing that.
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