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.