Actual Play Curse of Strahd--D&D Encounters S22 S3

Curse of Strahd--D&D Encounters S22 S3

Melissa brought this amazing Unicorn Dice Bag which came with a noise maker

I brought a bunch of regular skittles.

There is a move for more healthy snacks at the table.

The game was good--mostly new players as we continued the Death House exploration.

There were a lot of crits & fumbles. I am still using the iCrit & iFumble charts.

 

I am using large dice so the table trusts I am not cheating.

I nailed some good rolls!

And one of the players scored critical GOLD with my old stand by dice!

A very fun time was had by all!

Palm Sunday Tea Time--Caramel Apple Black Tea

On Palm Sunday, Cody and I had a tea time. We made Friday Tea's Caramel Apple Black Tea:

The tea was rather old, but seemed to have held up well

The Tea brewed up well.

And poured very cleanly

The tea was very mellow and fruity and a nice refreshing pick me up to a late night D&D Preparation Session.

Cody really enjoyed drinking the tea--he did add a LOT of sugar to his tea.

Lenticular Design

A term from card design in which the cards have two faces. Designing so that novices see the value and experience understands the hidden value.

Shelly Mazzanoble (Gamer to Gamer) | The Tome Show

Shelly sat down with James Introcaso to talk about her career in D&D. She talks about starting her career at Wizards of the Coast on the Magic Team, going to college towns with the 25th Anniversary tour, writing her books, and her current role with Avalon-Hill.

This is a great podcast!

James does a fantastic job interviewing the women who saved 4th edition by returning Magic Missile to Always Hit!

WOLFGANG BAUR ON THE DUNGEON MASTERS GUILD

A fun Gamer to Gamer style interview with long time D&D writer Wolfgang Baur--who started with TSR back in the glory days of 2nd Edition when there was a new setting every month, and Dungeon and Dragon Magazines were both still in print.

Here is the official blurb:

Wolfgang Baur, Kobold-in-Chief of Kobold Press, drops by the podcast to talk about his (long) history with Dungeons & Dragons, the success of the Dungeon Masters Guild and possibly rejecting Chris Perkins' first submission to Dragon Magazine in the 90s.

Wolfgang has a lot of interesting perspective and is fascinating to listen to--a good episode.

JIM ZUB ON D&D COMIC BOOKS By Shelly Mazzanoble and Greg Tito

Another great D&D Podcast, this time Shelly & Greg interview Jim Zub!

Jim has been writing a bunch of great D&D Comics--after a very successful run on Skull Kickers [which is great if you have not checked it out].

Here is the official blurb:

Comic book writer Jim Zub (Marvel, IDW, Image) joins us to talk about his new Dungeons & Dragons comic from IDW taking the characters from Legends of Baldur's Gate into Strahd's realm.
I was very impressed with Jim's ability to talk D&D -- he really played the game back in the day & has a great sense of what D&D is all about. His interactions with Shelly & Greg are fantastic. 
This is the best D&D Podcast in a while--not a lot about the game, just more about the comics and the fun behind the stories. 

Very much worth giving a listen.

Actual Play Curse of Strahd--D&D Encounters S22 S2

Curse of Strahd--D&D Encounters S22 S2

Another great week of D&D Encounters at Kingslayer Comics!

It was the night before St Patrick's Day & Brett brought cookies to share. Totally awesome.

I had seven players at my table--Jack, Brett, Joel, Melissa, Josh, Dante, and new girl--a surprisingly well balanced group with rouge, fighter, paladin, cleric, wizard, sorcerer, and ranger.

Party had a great time with the roll play which was really fun to see.

It was great to have Jack back! He got the only critical hit!

Curse of Strahd Campaign Site

I have started a Campaign Site for my Wednesday Night Curse of Strahd Game.

Mark Barrowcliffe, The Elfish Gene: Dungeons, Dragons And Growing Up Strange

 I think the idea that women might fancy good-looking, well-adjusted men who are nice to them is too much for the average fantasy-head to bear.

Actual Play Curse of Strahd--D&D Encounters S22 S1

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.