Preparing to Run D&D for 13 Year Olds

So I am running a game on Thursday for Jack's friends.

1. Get the latest free rule set & print it out. Be sure to get the Printer friendly version.

2. Post on Google+ looking for prebuilt one off adventures. I am thinking that something tied to the upcoming Tiamet stuff would be awesome.

3. Tweet at D&D Guys looking for ideas.

4. Watch Song of Orpheus again looking for ideas.

5. Check if the guys on Facebook have any ideas

Mana Source Free Playmat Contest

So Wedge is having a contest to give away a playmat if you can create the winning design. The catch is that you have to use the Island Draw drawing program to create the mat, & Island Draw is very hard to use.

here is the video the describes the contest & how to submit your creation.

And her is my entry.

Wedge is one of the best parts of the Magic Community & I strongly encourage you to participate in this just for the fun of it.

M15 Planeswalker Ad Cards

So M15 boosters include these cards with some background on the First Five.

Ajani Goldmane

Ajani Goldmane is a Planeswalker who wields whit magic. His specialty is magic that purifies the body and soul: spells that heal and strengthen his allies and evoke their inner spiritual essence.

Jace Beleren

The Planeswalker Jace Beleren wields mental magic aligned with the blue mana: spells of illusion, deception, and mind reading. With nearly unlimited access to knowledge comes the temptation of power, and Jace is tested every waking moment.

Liliana Vess

The Planeswalker Liliana Vess is a necromancer who wields black magic. Her foul spells corrupt the living and reanimate the dead. In her mind, everyone is self-centered and ruthless---she's just better at getting what she wants.

 

Chandra Nalaar
Chandra Nalaar is a Planeswalker alighted with red mana. Her specialty is pyromancy: spells of fire, fire, and more fire. Impulsive, passionate, and short-tempered, Chandra is always ready to unleash her fiery arsenal and reduce any obstacles to ash.

Garruk Wildspeaker

The Planeswalker Garruk Wildspeaker is a predator whose hunting ground is the entire Multiverse. Cursed by the necromancer Liliana Vess and corrupted by black mana, he now seeks out the most dangerous game: other Planeswalkers.

I am actually rather disappointed by this text--particularly Chandra's which seems to simply miss the mark completely with her character. 

Also, I think referring to them by color ["aligned with x mana"], is lazy....Liliana is a necromancer--that has meaning. It is a school of magic not a color of mana & I think Liliana's profile is likely the best.

Garruk's profile moves the story into the next block by focusing on Liliana's curse, but the other cards do not really seen to add anything & feel rushed. Magic could easily do a lot better than this--actually, just about any player I know could craft more interesting & informative Planeswalker profiles in three sentences.

M15 FNM @ Majestix

Jack, Alexander, & I went to Majestix in Costa Mesa for Friday Night Magic M15 Draft.

We started out holding hands with Garruk--this picture does not really capture the passion.

We bought a new mat  for Jack--I got my old mat back, which is considered by many to be the worlds worst mat 

I am still digging my dice

Though they betrayed me on the first game with a three! SHAME!

First I played Joseph.

I got my Jace out early game one & one the match 2-0.

I was playing in the wrong Pod--my first FNM rule violation. Basically, Jack & I got our names mixed up--I drafted in Pod 2 and Played in Pod 3. Jack drafted in Pod 3 and Played in Pod 2. For whatever reason we did not realize this until AFTER the first match--so things were kind of hard to correct. We decided to just play on, but I am curious if there is a formally correct answer to this mistake.

Game two I was crushed in the Mirror by a much better player. He also had a much better deck--I went into Blue after I got Jace--I was trying to draft WR until then.

Alexander and Jack made me a custom Spirit Token which totally rules.

Round three I played Xander--who had this amazing token generating mono white deck. I lost game one which took 20 minutes. Game two took 30 minutes & I won--so we drew game three. Xander got two packs which was awesome.

Also, Alexander got disciplined by the shop owner for asking someone if they wanted to buy his Nissa for $20. You can trade cards, but you cannot offer cash at this store. Not sure if that is a universal rule or not, but clearly something we did not know.

It was officially rule number four.

M15 Draft Preparation.

So my prep work was horrible for M15 Prerelease--lets see if I can do better for Drafting!

1.  Post request for help on Google+ Magic Community.

2. Tweet at Chapin, LSV, & WotC asking for advice.

3. Read Confessions of a Games Master M15 thoughts

4. Watch the Star City Games Review

These are all one hour long--I am going to be busy for a long time...

5. While I am watching that, I started reading the LSV reviews--looks like Red is way better on average.

6. Take some notes. 

7. Watch Wedge on Best commons & uncommons.

7. Simulate some drafts