The Fellowship of the Broken Bonds Session 6

After a 2 month hiatus, the Fellowship campaign has finally continued.  Unfortunately, this time of the year always seems to be a busy one for myself and several players.  With Geek.kon in the fall and a number of other convention/holiday commitments during these months, we tend to find ourselves lacking in the gaming department.  But now, with Geek.kon done, hopefully the Fellowship campaign can begin to take off. 

Unfortunately, with these delays, I feel the campaign is still in that infant stage when things still have yet to click and the players take the driver’s seat.  Coupled with us learning 4e at the same time and it really feels like it’s dragging.  However, despite school and work commitments, I feel like I should be able to finish out the year as a GM before having to test the waters come the new spring school semester.  If we’re lucky, things should start to click and move on their own before then.

But anyway, on to the session.

The Great 4e Netbook

Back in the days of AD&D, I found myself browsing the internet in search of any information I could find to enhance my gaming experience.  One of the most common things I came by was what were refered to as Netbooks; collections of information made by fans for fans.  Everything ranging from new monsters, rules for the more mature players, and even a great netbook of equipment (My personal favorite) could be found.

But, as 3e began to loom over the horizon, I’d noticed Netbooks beginning to trail off hand in hand with 2e.  Perhaps I was just not as observant and missed a pluthera of 3e netbooks.  Perhaps netbooks went into hiding for a while.  Either way, they’re beginning to emerge once more with the emergence of 4th edition.  And what better way to celebrate their return than with a monster of a netbook!

While going about my daily browsing of the RPG Network, I came by Greywulf’s blog and an entry titled Is this the ultimate 4e D&D Netbook? I think so.  Curiosity beat me over the head and dragged me over to see just what this ultimate netbook was.  Now, as I type, I’ve not actually cracked the file open (Which can be found here for those interested).  But based on Greywulf’s description of it’s contents, it’s sounds like his title is true to form.

So go check out Greywulf’s blog entry and give the netbook a go.  Perhaps this is the dawn of the netbook’s return.

Or just a one off.  Either way, good work guys!

Also, a big thanks to Olik for all those years of hosting some of the greatest netbooks in 2e history.  Still use the Great Netbook of Equipment to this day.

The Fellowship of Fallcrest – Session 2

Like my game I ran the following day, this session was unfortunately short.  However, this was primarily due to the three new people making characters.  Needing a way to introduce these newcomers, I explained that they were part of a merchant caravan travelling from Winterhaven to Fallcrest.  Though the merchants have heard the bandit threat had ended, there were those who did not want to take any chances and hired on mercenaries.  Unfortunately, the merchant’s fears were confirmed as the caravan was ambushed and everyone was either captured or killed.

The Fellowship of the Broken Bonds Session 5

So, as the summer winds down and year end activities begin to creep up on us, our sessions will, unfortunately, become shorter and shorter.  This was one such session.

The last week ended with the rescue of an old dwarf spirit from his earthly vow to guard an old clan tomb.  Varrack, originally clanless, was made a member of the Ironcracker clan before the spirit left for Dwarfhome.  With the tomb resealed and everyone refreshed from a decent night’s rest, they resumed their trek down the tunnels in search of a way out.  Or at least a few answers to the body snatching.

Review: Dragon Magazine Annual

There are very few magazines out there I’d ever had, or wanted to have, a subscription to.  Dragon and Dungeon were two of them.  There was something enjoyable about grabbing your new copy, plopping down into a comfy chair, and pouring over what new articles, rules, humor, and other magical tidbits were inside.  And then WotC went digital.  Not my favorite of decisions made by them as that little piece of enjoyment was suddenly snatched away and replaced with pixels and light.

But, since I found myself a fan of the newest edition and wanted to keep up on the issues, I grabbed myself a DDI subscription and continued reading.  Some might wonder why, with a subscription to the digi copies, I would grab a copy of an article compilation I already had the articles for.   In some small way, I’d hoped to find that little happy place I would find myself going to with the old dead tree magazines.

Third D&D Movie: The Film of Seven Parts?

While browsing the RPG Blogger Network today, I came across a post by The Escapist informing us of a possible new D&D movie in the works.  While the first movie was a horrible mess, I enjoyed their second attempt, Wrath of the Dragon God.  It felt like the people who made WotDG knew a bit more about D&D than those who just wanted to make a movie with the D&D name on it.  In fact, if you watch the extras on the DVD, you see scenes with the actors reading the 3.5 PHB.  Of course, this could have just been staged for the extras, but it’s a nice thought.

The Fellowship of the Broken Bonds Session 4

Boy, I seem to have alot of Fellowships don’t I?

Last we left our heroes, they had chosen to brave the dark curtain beyond the door in the cellar and found themselves in a fairly barren room, save two statues along one side of an old, faded circle they thought must have once magical.  As predicted, the two statues had come to life when Liarra got close to the circle and they launched an attack against those in the room.  Hearing the sounds of battle, Grengal and Legazi decided to brave the fire trap on the other side of the dark curtain to aid their friends.  Thanks to a big of teamwork, the group made short work of the statues and proceeded to give the room a good once over, curious why an empty room would have guards, but nothing else.  Unfortunately, they discovered nothing to indicate why this room even exists.  They decided to instead investigate the trapdoor and ladder they blocked off earlier.

The Fellowship of Fallcrest – Session 1

A while ago, my Friday evenings were filled with the sounds of clattering dice and friendly conversation and gaming.  However, a need to focus on my return to school forced me to put gaming on hiatus which meant my Friday gaming nights, a tradition for me for 10+ years, came to an unfortunate end.  However, after school ended for the semester, I found myself wanting for gaming once more. 

After several weeks, a discussion came up with some friends regarding the newest Battlelords book.  This led to several of those same folks stating they’d love to try an RPG, having never really gamed before.  The initial plan was to try one shot adventures with several different games and see what appeals to them.  We started out on Battlelords (A poor choice IMO for newbies, but I was eager to try and run it again) which has worked alright so far.  But this past week, several players were at different conventions, so the remainder of us, along with another newcomer, pulled out 4e to introduce those new folks to the world of Dungeons and Dragons (sans the magical roller coaster ride).

Ameryka: A Start

As I mentioned in a previous post today, 4e’s release has given me inspiration to design my own custom setting to play in.  Another great source of inspiration came from my love of the Forgotten Realms and how it came to be.  So, I’ve decided to open up suggestions to my players; find out what they would like to see in a setting and see if it fits within the basic structure I’m working on.

 

Extra! Extra! WoTC Announces New Setting!

In case you’re not a reader of RPG Bloggers or have stopped here first on your way there, WoTC has announced their new setting for 2010.  Welcome back Dark Sun.

You can read the interview with James Wyatt here.
You can also find a large number of other WoTC spoilers and pics here.
WoTC’s Official page is here.

Looks like it’s going to be an interesting 4e year