Neitherworld Stories

June 9, 2008

Stuff

Last night marked the end of our occasional-Sunday Mage game. I don’t have a whole lot to say about it. Somehow we managed to save the world (twice) without feeling like we accomplished much. That’s been a common theme for this game, and it was somewhat frustrating at times. This coming weekend is Duckon. The website still has little information...

June 9, 2008

4e: some neat things

Encounter design: I’ve been really skeptical of 4e’s encounter design in which each combat encounter has, by default, one creature (or trap) per party member. Here’s the thing, though, encounters are defined in such a way as being separated by a short (about 5 minute) rest. So, if you are in a dungeon and hit two rooms with monsters in...

June 6, 2008

4e: Dungeon, Dragon

On the plus side, the magazines are looking decent. OK, one of the big Dragon articles focuses on Yeenoghu, of whom I’m not a fan. I don’t really like D&D’s tendency to focus on fiends in general, and I prefer my gnolls more morally ambiguous than demon-worshipers. Still, that’s a personal preference. The article seemed like is pretty good, quality-wise.

June 6, 2008

4e: very, very quick impressions

Angela and I showed up at the Armored Gopher at midnight to pick up my books. Yeah, our FLGS has gamer-friendly, if odd, hours. I immediately handed Angela the Monster Manual while I cracked open the PHB. First impressions: The Player’s Handbook layout is odd. Not necessarily bad, but odd. I’m used to the races/classes/spells organizational structure. Now spells (and...

June 5, 2008

Faith in Fantasy

What is a religion like when faith is a non-issue? In many fantasy worlds, there is direct intervention by gods. You don’t need to convince people to believe that your god exists. It isn’t an issue. How would that change what religious institutions are like? To a point, we can look to real-world cultures in which the existence of a...

June 4, 2008

The Curious Case of the Cleric

What the hell is a cleric? Originally, I pictured them as holy warriors – knights dedicated to a god. They wore heavy armor and they were pretty good at fighting. Then the paladin came along. It pretty much eclipsed the role I’d imagined for the cleric. Clerics then got shoved into the role of religious leaders/priests. Of course, priests usually...

May 29, 2008

4e: last minute thoughts

I have the core books on pre-order through the Armored Gopher… so, hopefully, I will get them on release day. The more I hear from people who have the books or have seen them, the less optimistic I am as to whether the game will be one I’ll want to actually play. I’m pretty sure the system will be fun...

May 28, 2008

Retro-Pretension

So, the other day, Jeff Rients called ‘bullshit’ on the foreward to the 1e Dungeon Master’s Guide. This got me thinking. On the Internet, the retro-nostalgia gaming movement has been gaining a lot of currency lately. I think it has clearly gained momentum from an anti-4e backlash (and, sadly, the death of Gary Gygax), but it was also fairly clearly...

May 21, 2008

Pretty gaming books

Yesterday, I got my copy of Dreams of the First Age. For those who don’t know, this is an Exalted box set that was just released. You know how lots of fantasy settings have the ancient empire or whatever in which magic was free, ridiculously powerful artifacts were created, and all that? Exalted has one of those, too: The First...

May 19, 2008

4e: The anti-minion?

Earlier today, I wrote about minions in 4e. Since then, I’ve been wondering… about the flip side of a minion. A minion is an otherwise normally powered opponent who can be taken down with a single hit. What about an otherwise normally powered opponent who simply can’t be taken down? I’d call this a “mastermind” but that name appears to...