Month: July 2018

Posted on

Lost Mines of Phandelver 1

  1. GM: Law
    1. 5 kids (grades 10, 9, 8, 7, 5), playing (respectively) Bard the Bard, Merlin (Wizard), ?? (Wizard), Mordek (? Rogue), Thorin (Ranger), and Andrew playing Bertie the Big Nose (named on account of his prominently protruding probosis, a Cleric
  2. Side note:
    1. My friend’s kids have been wanting to play D&D since I introduced them to the game about 3 years ago (but they were still fairly young). Since then, they’ve watch the Hobbit movies, and are more familiar with the fantasy genre. I also invited over some co-workers kids, all of whom had heard of D&D, but never had played. I was pretty surprised at the awareness of the game, not really realizing the penetration of it into the cultural awareness. One mom said she’d heard about it “from Sheldon on Big Bang Theory”, and another mom and daughter from Stranger Things. And, as we just started playing, the youngest said he had played this game at a camp and there was a goblin ambush coming up!
    2. Law, who had previously played through the first part of Lost Mines of Phandelver GM’ed the game, and it was a great deal of fun! The kids all had a good time, and didn’t want to stop, even though it was quite past their bedtimes. Over the past few days, they’ve been telling their parents they could get their friends to play, and wanted to game again.
  3. Story:
    1. We were newly hired caravan guards helping to guard provisions to be delivered to the town of Phandelver. Our employers first set out a few days before us. However, as we neared our destination, we came upon the dead horses of both of them, black arrows sticking out of their flank. As we deliberated what to do, a flight of arrows caught us by surprise as a group of goblins ambushed us! With a set of fantastic rolls, we easily overcame them. But our employers were nowhere to be found. There was an empty map case on one horse, and a set of tracks leading away to the north.
    2. The party tied up the horse with the caravan, and went north in search of the missing pair – as we couldn’t get paid without them! The tracks led into the mouth of a cave that had a small stream coming out of it. There, we were once again attacked by goblins – we overcame them, but not before one of them got out a cry for help.
    3. Nevertheless, we proceeded into the dark cave, lit only by the light of a small globe summoned by Bertie. We moved past the sounds of some growling on the right, and as we neared a bend in the stream, just caught sight of a bridge up ahead. There was a passage way to the left which we decided to take, but only Thorin and Merlin were able to get there before a torrent of water suddenly filled the passage and washed the rest of the party back out into the forest. A few bumps, but no major damage.
    4. Making our way back, we found ourselves entering into the heart of the goblin camp – complete with wolves, and a pair of naked bathing goblins! A fight ensued, but we were victorious but exhausted of resources. However, we located ?? Who was tied up in the back. He told us the had taken Rockseeker away.
    5. Retreating to rest and recover, we proceeded back along the stream the next day, and came upon a cavern full of crates of provisions – and were ambushed by more goblins hiding amongst them! Even as combat was entailed, a sudden sound caused Bertie and Bard to realize that an extremely large goblin had snuck up behind us with a pair of large wolves! Several of us were clobbered in the fight, but magical healing kept any of the adventurer’s from perishing before defeating the goblin leader.
    6. Amongst the recovered goods, we found a clue leading us onward.
  4. Rewards:
    1. XP: 350 each

 

Posted on

Dwarven Forge Storage – 6

Really Useful Box(R) Plastic Storage Box, 7 liters – $10-14 each, measures 15.5″ x 13.5″ x 3.25″. Removable top.

  1. Thoughts:
    1. Like the other 3.25″ ones, there’s some play in between the top of the pieces and the lid, but the lid is fairly flat other than a small ridge along the outside.
    2. These stack pretty nicely, with just a little bit of shifting. But with the ridge on the lid, they are unlikely to slide off one another.
    3. They feel quite durable.
    4. A thought I had was the possibility of using these to transport prebuilt set-ups; it occurred to me that I may be able to put the terrain tray with the new magnetic pieces onto the lid, and then cover with the “bottom” portion to make it easy to move the entire tray.
      1. I tested this in the last few pictures. You can see that the train fits pretty nicely EXCEPT for the little fabric that extends beyond a ridge in the lid – that unfortunately pushes the pieces at the edges up just enough that it weakens the magnetic force so the pieces can move around.
      2. I also turned it upside down (the container right-sided up) and shook it a bit to see what would happen, then turned it back. For the most part, the magnets held pretty well! This is a testament to their strength. For most transporting between gaming locations, I wouldn’t expect the whole box to be turned upside down…
      3. Now, the pre-built tray could work very well placed into the container normally – but I found it a little difficult to get my hands into it to lift it out, which is why I tried building it on the lid.
      4. So, does anyone know where we can buy some thin metal sheets cut to exactly 12″ x 12″ that I can put into the lid? I don’t really need to have the fabric covering (as you can see in this sample build, I covered the entire thing; oh, and the new double door is fantastic!)

 

The build on the terrain tray next to the lid.

Placed onto the lid.

These next picture are close-ups of where the fabric is lifted up a bit by the ridge that runs alongside the edge of the lid – just enough to displace the rounded corners.

Looks like it fits great here, with the “bottom” closing fairly securely!

So, the next question I had was how securely would the magnetic pieces stay on the terrain tray, even when turned “upside-down”?

Looks pretty good! A few pieces came off – mostly where the fabric was pushed up by the ridge, weakening the magnetic field (and the rounded corners at the bottom are from the first Kickstarter, so don’t have magnets in the base).

And I flipped it one more time, and shook it around a bit, and still held up pretty well!

Here it is stacked on top of another 7-litre box, both with the lid down.

Posted on

Dwarven Forge Storage – 5

IRIS Portable Project Case – $5-6 each, measures 12.25″ x 13″ x 3.25″. Hinged top.

  1. Thoughts:
    1. These will suffice for storing, but are probably at the bottom of my list.
    2. They don’t really stack, and probably are best in the drawer organizer (shown below, about $50-60 for the organizer and the 6 cases)
    3. The lids bow up a bit as well, so there’s more room at the top of the pieces than the Sterilite 3.25″ containers.
    4. They are also fairly cheaply made – of the 20 or so I bought, two have broken hinges, and one has a cracked side – all in less than a year.

 

Posted on

Dwarven Forge Storage – 4

Artbin Super Satchel Slim Single Compartment Box 9100AB – $12-17 each (retail $20), measures 15″ x 14″ x 2″. Hinged top.

  1. Thoughts:
    1. I thought this was going to be the perfect solution, but then when I received them, it was quite the disappointment. The height is perfectly 2″ on the outside, which means that it is a tad too small to hold the DF!
    2. In addition, there are ridges that are also just under 2″ apart.
    3. So unfortunately, these are the only ones I bought which are a complete no-go.
    4. They otherwise stack well and seem durable

 

Posted on

Dwarven Forge Storage – 3

STERILITE 19638606 Large Clip Box, Clear – ~$6-7 each, measures 14″ x 11″ x 2.75″. Removable top.

  1. Thoughts:
    1. I would like it if it were closer to 2.25″ tall – as is, it leaves some room for pieces to move around up top, but it seems to fit the larger pieces (like the new DOD arch) quite nicely.
    2. The middle “depression” in the lid is fairly annoying – I could almost lay two of the 4″x6″ DF floors along the top to wedge in all the other pieces, but that depression leads to it tenting up in the middle.
    3. Stacks just ok – there is enough play for one to slide atop another.
    4. Seems pretty durable.
    5. Might try out the smaller one (STERILITE 19618606 Small Clip Box , 11″ x 6.88″ x 2.75 ~$2-3.50 each)

 

Posted on

Dwarven Forge Storage – 2

STERILITE 14028606 Divided Case, Clear Case – ~$4-6 each; 13.38″ x 10.75″ x 2.5. Hinged top.

  1. Thoughts:
    1. These are the perfect height! Smaller size as well means they aren’t quite a unwieldy fully loaded.
    2. The REMOVABLE divider trays are a nice bonus,
    3. HOWEVER, there are grooves on the bottom for those trays to fit in, which hampers their full utility.
    4. Stack very well – no detectable shifting. However, not much of a handle, so can be difficult to lift 3 up at once for example.
    5. Durable.
    6. Looks like these are going out of production, so may be unavailable in a few years.

 

Posted on

Dwarven Forge Storage – 1

Sterilite 1716 6.2 qt Modular Latch Box – Going out of stock (listed at $32.99 for a single one at Amazon, but Walmart.com has 6 for $19.50); stated measurements of 15″ x 11.5″ x 3.25″, but in actuality, almost identical measurement to #3 below of 14″ x 11″ x 2.75″. Basically, I think #3 below (the one with the green latch at the top right of the six pictured above) is the replacement for this one.

  1. Thoughts:
    1. I would like it if it were closer to 2.25″ tall – this leaves some room for pieces to move around up top, but it seems to fit the larger pieces (like the new DOD arch) quite nicely.
    2. There are two raised areas in the lid which help with the stacking, but still a little slack so one can slide atop another.

 

Posted on

Dwarven Forge Storage – Introduction

I’ve been looking into more storage options for my growing DF collection (esp with these yearly kickstarters now!), and after reading through a lot of the options people use, as well as buying more containers, here are my reviews of them.

My main goal is storage with ease of access, but secondarily, the ability to use them to transport to off-site games.

  1. The best for storage with ease of access so far is the flat-file drawers – those are fantastic, and I make good use of the ones I have. No more detail on that. Link here.
  1. I also like these Sterilite 7-drawer storage cart – they are a good size, and have individual hinged snap-lids for each drawer. Plus, they were only like $35 for the entire unit; unfortunately, I haven’t found any more to buy since about 2010. (Link to a previous post with more pictures of them.)

So the ideal criteria I was looking for when looking to dive into these containers are:

  • Sized 12″ x 12″ x 2″ on the INTERIOR (this comes into play with one of these)
  • Easily, and securely stackable
  • Durable

Here are pictures of 6 other models of various containers I have gotten to test in the past few weeks. I will be going through these from the top left and going clockwise in the following posts.

 

Here’s a quick setup I did as well to test #6. It is mostly the lastest Dungeon of Doom (Kickstarter #5), with a few other elements (will point those out).

 

   

The rounded corner piece here is from the original Dwarven Forge Kickstarter #1 – the paint job matches very well with the newest KS.

Overhead shot

Posted on

Dark*Matter #23: Greed Island 1

      1. Game date: 2018 Jul 04
        1. GM: Law
        2. PCs: David (Ari), Malakai (AJ), Percival (Andrew)
      2. 2012 Summer, hot & humid
      3. At Hoffman Institute
        1. David Irving
          1. 32 yo 6′ tall, white, well-groomed, fairly well-built, with glasses
          2. Greatest desire: To do good, and want to not be tempted to do evil anymore
        2. Malakai
          1. Looks like Forrest Griffin
          2. History: Story of triumph/victory – graduated trade school, carpentry. Did that because didn’t want to go to college.
            1. Wanted to do amateur MMA as a kid.
        3. Director Johnson calls them into office
          1. Team from Detroit has checked in, but Pulson hasn’t.  Rest of team busy on another mission
          2. Need them to look for Pulson. Give address of apartment on Long Island
      4. Long Island
        1. Visit run down apt complex. Apt door is slightly ajar, but inside is nicely furnished
        2. Ambushed by a pair of thieves, but they easily defeat them
        3. The two find a Playstation 1 memory stick
          1. Plug it in. All 15 spots taken up by one saved memory stick. Title of game is Greed Island.
      5. Repair store
        1. Got into computer, and saw Pulson had been looking at Greed Island on the internet.
        2. He was communicating with Lido of Lido’s Game Store.
      6. Starbucks
        1. Met Brandon
          1. Rarest of rare games – less than 100 copies made.
          2. $5.6M PER game
          3. Unknown who made it.
            1. Rumor has it a guy named Jin made it.
            2. No one knows who he is.
            3. For sale about a month after PS1 made. 1996-1997
          4. A few copies coming up for auction
            1. Barrett Young – billionaire philanthropist, including money to Church.
              1. Plethora of organizations – YMCA, Boys and Girls club
              2. Rumor is he’s putting in bids. Trying to get all 5 copies.
            2. Old man. Previously married.
            3. His company is Barrett Core. Corp offices at Barrett Tower
              1. Investment company. Buys companies and resells.
              2. One of the taller towers in Manhattan
          5. Auction in 2 weeks.
      7. Barrett Tower
        1. Met with Barrett Young and his bodyguard.
          1. Percival spoke with security and reception to get his way into Young’s office.
          2. Entered just as hearing Young say something about “18-20 players”
      8. Back at Hoffman Institute
        1. Fill in Johnson
          1. He says to see what happens at auction in 2 weeks.
          2. Who else bids, and amount
      9. Auction hall
        1. Grab catalogue
        2. Copy of Greed Island sold by the estate of a Gary, in a will.
          1. He was an avid player, and his will said if he was gone for 5 years, it was to be auctioned.
        3. PS turned off, and save copy showed a Gary
          1. Auction said that the game protects itself as well as powers itself.
          2. 4 guard shoot the PS with handguns, but no damage comes to itself!
        4. First copy bought by Young for $20M
        5. 2nd copy:
          1. Someone bidding up Young, a younger fat Asian man. Young still won by $25M
          2. Bodyguard leaves, Malachi follows him out
            1. He went in elevator to another floor, and in following him, a car on fire and a couple of bodies bleeding out.
            2. As they confront each other, a car peels out and almost rams into them, but the bodyguard pulls Malachi out of the way
        6. Other copies won by Barrett Young for $28M, $32M, $35M.
          1. He makes it a show of winning
        7. Barrett afterwards comes up and says that it is time for us to learn the truth. Gives us an address in the Hamptons to meet the next night.
      10. Hamptons
        1. Very nice house. Dinner party going on. About 30-40 people
        2. Barrett says he will say that he tell people about the game, but we can first all audition
          1. Bodyguard is tough, but we passed after 3 tests
            1. Ask why we are interested in Greed Island
            2. Power test
            3. Spirit test
        3. Greed Island
          1. Some are just curious. Some think it is a gate to hell
          2. Created by a powerful person named Jin. Motivation unknown.
          3. Players don’t disappear. They are transported to another world.
          4. Barrett would like to recruit us in beating the game. Reward of $10M awaits them. All rights and properties and other items solely belong to Greed Island. If agree, then he will let us play. If agree, sign the contract.
            1. Skim them – long winded, but fairly straightforward
        4. The bodyguard is a player, but has been gone for the past 3 weeks! He goes and comes back!
          1. “The strong can” come back he says.
          2. Leads us to the cellar. 15-16 PSs.
          3. Some consoles have connectors that allow up to 8 players to play. One entrant at a time.
            1. How to enter? “Hold hands over consoles, and channel spirit into the game.”
              1. A 13 y/o kid enters easily, disappearing into the console, others take a few more minutes.
              2. Malachi disappears
              3. Pervical disappears
              4. Then Irving enters
      11. Greed Island
        1. We each individually appear in an empty hut, wearing just knit shorts and woolen shirts.
        2. Go down stairs and meet a floating lady who tells us that to  stop an evil mage, need to collect 6 sacred stones.
          1. She also says that death in the game is death in real life.
          2. Won’t tell us how to get out of the game.
        3. Went down another set of stairs, which leads to a plain where we see the other two.
        4. To the left is a volcano, and on the right is a city
      12. Epilogue:
        1. XP: 4 each

 

Posted on

Dark*Matter: Manuel “Percival” Archuleta

Law offered to run a game in our Dark*Matter Campaign, so I got to create a PC to play! As the other PCs are currently about ~70 XP, my PC started with 40 XP (8 advances). So here is Manuel “Percival” Archuleta

Manuel is an American-born fillipino. Because of all his troubles in school and with the law (having been arrested a few times), his family sent him to the Phillipines to live with his extended family. There, he didn’t fare much better, and got involved with the various street gangs that plagued Manilo. He was a father by age 18, and that stabilized his life a little. Nevertheless, it was not enough that he could be a good father regardless of how much he loved his daughter and found he was becoming a grandfather before his 35th birthday.

Going to visit his daughter and her mother one evening, he arrived at a scene of horror – their gruesomely mutilated corpses amongst a dozen others, and a pack of demonic beasts ravaging the village. He managed to survive fighting off the beasts with the aid of a priest who had been hunting the creatures, which was led by an Aswang. The priest, it turned out, was a member of the Templarios – a sect within the Church that rooted out and destroyed such beasts of hell.

It was a turning point for Archuleta, and he dedicated himself to the fighter against such evil, and was christened by Father Ricardo as Percival.

  1. Human
  2. Stats
    1. Str d4
    2. Agi d10
      1. Fighting d10 (4)
      2. Shooting d6 (2)
      3. Driving d4 (1)
    3. Vigor d4
    4. Smarts d6
      1. Streetwise d6 (2)
      2. Notice d6 (2)
    5. Spirit: d10
      1. Faith d10 (4)
  3. Hindrances: 1 Major or 2 minor
    1. Code of Honor: Catholic
    2. Minor Vow: Chastity
    3. Bad Eyes: -2 beyond 10 yards
  4. Advances
    1. Two-Fisted
    2. Arcane Background (Miracles)
      1. Deflection
      2. Smite
    3. Str d6
    4. Vig d6
    5. Martial Artist
    6. Adept
    7. New Power: Healing
    8. New Power: Puppet