Curse of Strahd--D&D Encounters S22 S1

This week was week two at Kingslayer Comics -- last week we did Character Creation. I had taken last season off of D&D Encounters [mostly because my wife found the material too scary], but also because I needed a bit of a creative break.

I am back behind the screen DM'ing for Curse of Strahd & I am ready to roll!

I loved the original Ravenloft stuff which dropped just at the end of my Bauhaus phase--I remember finding it fun and campy and that it lead nicely to my mockery of Vampire the Masquerade and all the Circles of Black which that brought to the D&D Community.

Kingslayer Comics where I am playing is fantastic--we had 12 players at two tables which was totally perfect. DM Kevin and I had developed a prequel adventure to get the players into the mood & make sure that they were comfortable with their role playing and general D&D mechanics.

It went really well--the players seemed very into it

There was some combat & we did use the Pathfinder iCrit and iFumble apps which are totally fantastic.

I had not planed on using mini's--but the players had come prepared and so we created some impromptu encounters which felt very old school to me--the 3x5 card is a platform, the blue skittles are drow, etc.

Round Table 108 - D&D Movie and Multiclassing Debate

Another great episode. Here is the Blurb:

James Introcaso sits down with Rudy Basso, Rich Howard, and Dan Dillon to discuss the latest D&D movie news. Then Rich and Dan debate the pros and cons of multi-classing and prestige classes. This podcast was recorded on February 24, 2016. 

The stuff on multi-classing is actually very interesting. The stuff on the D&D movie centers in around someone talking smart about Guardians, which is largely a waste of time like most of the D&D movie discussions...we really don't know & likely won't until it is too late...

PODCAST D&D AND THEATER COLLIDE IN "SHE KILLS MONSTERS"

This episode is a completely fantastic return to form!

Here is the official blurb:

The play "She Kills Monsters" by Qui Nguyen is a weird combination of madcap comedy and heartbreaking coming-of-age drama all told inside a D&D module from the 90s. We talk to Lance Gharavi and Antoinette Martin-Hanson, the director and star of a new production at Arizona State University. Listen to the podcast here. Subscribe to the Official D&D Podcast on iTunes to get updates for new episodes. Shelly, Greg and Trevor are always talking to creative Dungeons & Dragons players like comedians and TV writers Mike Drucker (The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon) and Jared Logan (The Late Late Show with James Corden), as well as professional game masters Griffin McElroy (The Adventure Zone) and Matt Mercer (Critical Role) and actors like Rainn Wilson (The Office).

The connection with Drama and D&D  is tight and it is good to see the connection underlined at the end of this.

The last few episodes have also done well dialing into the correct age range--like family friendly, but innuendo is ok--which I think is great--they are moving away from a more stuffy corporate style.

Also, this is another "art" themed cast--I think Mr Tito brings that energy and it is really nice--specifically the Actor and Director bring an amazing openess and energy to this podcast. Also, they mention Bikini Kill which is FANTASTIC.

Death House--Curse of Strahd Intro Adventure

I am Not a Goob

The last D&D Podcast had this random comment from one of the art directors that one of the Ampersand artists was in a relationship with a "D&D Goob".

It was clearly meant to be playful and endearing.

I heard it very differently.

Now, if it had come from Shelly or Greg, I likely would not have even noticed--but the Art Director had previously said several things that made it clear she was not "one of us" and so her comment struck me with the force of a 9th grade hallway slam--if you know what I mean.

Some Art Kid calling anyone a Goob immediately triggers me and I really wish it did not. I get defensive. It makes me mad--I want to strike back and shame them, and taunt them, and explain to them that they do not know what it was like growing up playing D&D...The way in which playful and endearing can switch to mean and exclusionary.

And I have no idea where I am getting this "one of us" feeling--sounds like some Fake Geek Girl conspiracy or Anti-Cosplay idiot response...Right Fun...I mean The Art Director's likely had a lot more crap in their life then I have had in mine & for me to get all prickly over this is just lame...

But it is not going away...

And I *know* I am being hyper over sensitive to this at some level. And I wish I could let this go--but I am literally thinking about it a lot & hoping a blog post may help is likely the worst form of desperation, but but but...

I am tired of being called names.

I have been tired of it since 1982. I am not a nerd, geek, goob, or anything else. When the Deadpool movie comes out I do not need a lot of articles explaining what it means to be nerdy... Articles on how to have a Geek Valentine's Day are not helping...

I am tired of it & I am struggling to come up with a creative response...

PODCAST THE ART OF DUNGEONS & DRAGONS AND CURSE OF STRAHD

D&D Podcasts By Shelly Mazzanoble and Greg Tito

Shelly is again joined by Greg Tito for another fantastic episode! Here is the blurb:

Creative Director Shauna Narciso and Art Director Kate Irwin share insights on the visual look of D&D and the Curse of Strahd adventure, which is available in March. Listen to the new podcast.

They discuss the art of the new season which looks amazing!

They discuss the recent shift from a more "where we come from" art direction, to a "where we are now" which I think is healthy and challenging...I mean I really loved the last Art team [and all the work they did with the community--I feel like in some ways they taught me how to look at D&D Art], but these women seem to bring a more Artistic [rather than Commercial] aesthetic to the D&D projects which I think is healthy.

They talk a lot about the Dragon+ Covers which is totally awesome--their passion, involvement, and knowledge really shines through and brings more detail to the work that they have done. Their thoughts on now legendary Zuggtmoy cover are fantastic:

One thing about this issue which I am embarrased to admit bothered me was that one of the art directors describes a D&D Fan as "a big D&D Goob". Now I grew up being called a nerd and I have come to accept that some people call us Geek's and that we have to own our insults and all of that--but for some reason it bugged me--and the fact that it goes by uncommented on was odd--like Greg & Shelly do not say anything--don't even comment--it is like insulting ourselves is now ok everywhere or something. I mean, if I get called a 'goob' I am going to respond & I would expect Shelly and greg to as well--maybe I will follow up with them on twitter...

Extra Life Photos

Tea Time--Vanity Blend

Cody and I went for Friday Tea again this week!

This week we tried Friday's Vanity Blend from her Etsy Shop.

Cody was surprised by the dash of blue.

 The tea brewed quickly & smelled fantastic!

We poured out two cups--the first one was much darker then the second for some reason.

Cody added a lot of sugar.

 And we served it up Brick Style which is a new invention for us.

A relaxing start to the weekend!

Final Session of The Bake--Longest Running 4E Eberron Campaign Ends

Final night at Vandale's Garage playing the Bake!

We started with Pizza

Spent longer then normal getting set up & arguing about tech stuff...We also spent time setting up our Epic Words stuff

The game was a total blast!

I have started using my pocket Moleskine for adventure notes--spreads things out more & I go through more books, but it ensures that I digitize everything eventually.

 The final Boss fight against a Shadow Elemental was awesome.

James made funny summary sheets to end the campaign, here is the one for my Shardmind KUBA

and here is our adversary Mindfeather the Mindflayer

I did roll two crits!

Podcast -- Round Table 91 - Goodbye WotC Forums

Here is the blurb

James Introcaso sits down with Dave Gibson, James Haeck, and Craig Haasis to discuss the closure of the Wizards of the Coast community forums. This podcast was recorded on October 7, 2015.

This is a totally great podcast focused on the loss of something that I once really enjoyed--the WotC Forums...here is the official release:

The Community Forums will be shut down on October 29. Thanks to all who participated over the years!

Choosing to retire a former foundation of our community was not an easy decision, but we feel that we must adjust our communications structure to reflect where conversations about Wizards of the Coast games are taking place.

Social media has changed significantly over the last ten years, and discussions about games aren't exclusive to company-hosted forums. The majority of community conversation takes place on third-party websites (such as Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and many other fantastic community-run websites), and it is up to us to evolve alongside our players.

We encourage past and current users to retrieve any information you want to retain from the Community Forums for both Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering. The shutdown will occur on October 29, 2015, at 10:00 a.m. PT. We want to provide enough time for our forum members to move their content, and we recognize that given our forum's vibrant user base and extensive history, this may take time. Any information still on the forums on the cut-off date will be deleted.

Thank you to all of our past and current forum users. You helped build our community into what it is now, and we look forward to continuing to interact with you on our many active social platforms.

I actually started this blog when the WotC Blog site got migrated & I lost all of my photo's...It makes me really sad to see the Forums close down even though I did not use them anymore--the WotC Novel club had moved to GoodReads a while back & I did not really have any reason to still be on the blogs.

James and crew did dedicate their cast to  Wrecan which was wonderful--I will never forget the first time I made his Post of the Week list, such an influential and inspiring member of the community. 

Podcast-- Game School #6: A Red and Pleasant Land

Game School talks with Zak S about the game A Red and Pleasant Land.

Here is the official blurb:

R&PL is an old school D&D supplement that allows you to play in a world similar to Alice in Wonderland. It is horrific and bizarre in all the right ways. The game book is beautiful and full of everything you’ll need along with some very novel ideas. Zak runs Satine through an encounter on a battlefield that is paralyzed in time and being observed by a vampire and his minions. She will find that they are not friendly and will have to use her wits if she wishes to survive. Will she survive the encounter or will the vampire take her to his dungeon? You’ll have to listen to find out.

Zak is fantastic on this--clear description of the game, his design motivation is wonderful, & the mini adventure he runs is playful and great. Satine does a great job playing along.

As always, Chad is a wonderful interviewer and really presents this material in the best possible way. A great episode...

eSports Arena Hearthstone Tournament

Jack & I went to eSports Arena in Santa Ana for the $500 Hearthstone tournament.

Jack was on fire and excited to play--first round he played one of the better players who crushed in him two games.

The second match was also a stomping by Mike, who was actually super friendly about it, but Jack started off 0-2 which is never fun.

Round three was also a loss, but he did much better.

The eSports Arena is an absolutely amazing venue--clean, state of the art, very fan friendly. The twitch live stream was also fantastic--MC's were funny & the games that were show cased were fantastic.

Jack picked up a Membership for the Month of January so we will likely go back and do this again next week.