Samurai training: L5R @ Ace Comics

On Sunday I finally made it along to Ace Comics for a session of Legend of the Five Rings - actually it's probably the last meeting prior to Gencon Oz so I'll need to commit further if I want to get enough practice before "the big game"... which means Wed nights at Annerley.
For the sake of those who live in Annerley I don't have a problem with the place (the steep hill up from the station is annoying, although this can be avoided by catching a bus) my concern is that I usually have a nap in the early evening so I am refreshed and awake for my 2am nightshift start - this of course clashes with meeting up at night for gaming. To extend the tangent further I lived in a sharehouse on Chester Road in Annerley during the mid-90's which left me with (mostly) positive memories so I don't hate the place, although the closing of Two Faces of Eve cafe has left the area without a soul <- at the risk of sounding DRAMATIC... anyway, back to my story:

Sunday saw me trot out the clumsy Crab deck that has been highly modified since it was a starter pack from Glory of the Empire a few months ago. Against Mike's Scorpion deck they seemed to be able to maintain tempo for the early and mid game but they lost steam and were overwhelmed - covered in poison counters! For the second game of the day we faced the Unicorn and managed to keep up a good pace until two of my Hida Yumiya could hit the table and save the day for the Crab clan. Lastly we had a quick play with the learner decks from Imperial Gift 2.


During the day we spotted quite a few cards in my deck that had become obsolete in Celestial format. Sadly many of my beloved cards were relics from the previous edition and had found their way into my deck via the above mentioned Crab starter or from the generosity of other players. Once I got home I painstakingly went through the deck removing anything not legal for Celestial and to my dismay lost most of my favourite Crab personalities! Whilst disappointed I can understand bouncers like Hida Daizu and Hida Kaoru (Exp) becoming obsolete; they are rather good.

The result of all this? Well... I'd been considering shifting my budding loyalty from Crab to Spider - both of these clans can put out some heavy hitters in military decks. In the Crab clan I was able to find big beefy berserkers, in Spider it's big scary Shadowlands monsters such as Furu no Oni and the gargantuan Akuma no Oni (Exp2)... did I mention I like BIG CARDS?


Coupled with tricksters such as Daigotsu (Exp 3) and Datsue-ba (for when I feel like less of a thug) supported by a horde of undead the Spider look like a very tempting new loyalty for someone who has found their previous clan a little deflated.


Of course Hida Yumiya has the Shadowlands keyword so he'll be in my Spider deck as a nod to my previous clan (although I'll be paying full gold cost for him).

...and now to eBay to look for cheap Spider cards!

Warcraft: Cataclysm

I'm sure that anyone who is interested in WoW has already heard the news, but I'm so enthusiastic that I have to add to the noise regarding the next expansion (apparently it's coming around to that time again).

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm adds two new playable races; Goblins for Horde (yay!) and Worgen for Alliance (/meh). Also a few new race/class combinations are now available as outlined in the table below:

^ Click on image for a larger (readable) version

The Troll Druid is appealing as I haven't played a Druid at high level before... the idea of leveling would usually put me off a bit - but a feature of the Cataclysm is that some old zones have been reworked with rivers of lava, new towns and new quests, so grinding up from 1 will feel less like autopilot :P

As for my inevitable Goblin I'm not sure what class I'll choose - I already have a belly full of Warlock, Hunter, Mage and Shaman (this also excludes the Dwarf Shaman which is very tempting). I find Warriors too fiddly with all the stancedancing which only leaves Rogue and Priest as remaining options for my Goblin. Who knows? ...maybe I'll just roll another huntard.

In other Cataclysm news we'll finally be able to use our flying mounts in Azeroth!!! Old rumour holds that the reason we didn't get this feature with Burning Crusade was because there were graphical errors in Azeroth that could only be seen from high above the ground ~ so we weren't allowed to fly there (because that's easier than fixing them). Perhaps the Cataclysm has smashed up all these erroneous old graphics and replaced them with chasms and pools of lava that will look fine from high above?

Anyway, enough excitement about things to come - time to get back to the game as it is today.

GenCon Oz: What I'm doing

GenCon Oz: 17 September - 20 September 2009
Brisbane's big gamer convention is on again

Some folk have asked what games I'm playing this year so we can all be at the same table. Rather than retyping the answer each time the question is asked I've decided to post here for everyone. When you're searching for an event you can use the ID number provided to make sure you're in the same session as me. Note that these are sessions that I've booked and paid for so compromise will be tricky ~ however there are still many gaps in my schedule.
https://registration.genconoz.com/


02/09/09 Update: Note that I have dropped my seat in Friday's RPG00069 "Miser's Run". I'm not sure that anyone reading this is worried but if you were hoping to share a table with me for "Miser's Run" you should know that I just dropped it for an RPGA session (yes, I'm going to try RPGA again!).

05/09/09 Update: Added L5R Main Event to Saturday

{Changes in Red}


Thursday (17 Sept):
2pm-11pm RPGA00025 "Stirring the Embers"

Friday (18 Sept):
9am-12.30 RPG00028 "Shield Wall" ~ I'm always up for Feng Shui
12.30-2pm {gap}
2pm-11pm RPGA00028 "The Burning Scent of Perfumed Swords"

Saturday (19 Sept):
10am-6pm CCG00003 Legend of the Five Rings CCG "Main Event" ~ with Swiss Pairing you eventually find players of your skill level :P
6pm+ I'd like to do something here but may have to wait and see how much energy I have left after a day of cardplay; perhaps Space Hulk if I can find Mike and/or Russel.

Sunday (20 Sept):
9am-10am SEM00002 "Publishing your own RPG in Australia"
10am-2pm MIN00029 "Reaper Miniatures Demo"
3pm-5pm CMG00203 "World of Warcraft Minis Promo"

^ I don't think the Sunday demo/promo games will run as long as advertised - it looks more like eager exhibitors grabbing a large block of time... although I could be wrong - it may be a very long pitch!


♦ I wanted to play Chris' "Valley of Diamonds" so I can see how it looks now (having playtested it months ago) but I've managed to block myself from all of his sessions. You kids should play it though - it's 4th ed D&D but don't let that put you off.
♦ I was hoping for Munchkin Quest but this may be something that I'll have to bring myself for friends.
♦ I'd like to have a look at the Classic Battletech tables (for old time's sake) and the 40k Apocalypse tables (to see if anyone brings a Titan) but there should be plenty of free time for that.
♦ Oh, and Steve Dee has promised something to do with the new edition of Warhammer RPG although I suspect this may be left to the last minute :P

Munchkin Quest

We had another go at Munchkin Quest tonight; I spent most of the game as the anathema of powergamers everywhere - a Dwarf Wizard while Emily scored a Half-Human/Half-Halfling Super Warrior (I dub thee Quaterling).

Click on image for a larger version... if you dare!
Emily (green Munchkin) faces the wrath of the Floating Nose.
Meanwhile I prepare to ransack another room (yellow Munchkin).

We almost got to the endgame before Emily gave up for bed. I played an extra turn to see how I'd go against the boss (playing Emily's hand in her absence) and faced the Enraged Armored Big Brother of Mr Bones - the short combat ending with three of my levels drained! Deciding that Emily was right I too retired.

I expect that our next game will be played to completion... given that after packing up I found Emily in the computer room checking eBay instead of sleeping in bed ~ oooh!

Munchkin Quest: First Impressions (Positive)

I convinced a very tired Emily to play a few rounds of Munchkin Quest last night (after having received it in the mail on Friday). It's quite straightforward for seasoned gamers, although we discovered it's a little trickier for those who are newer to dungeon delving. To be fair the rules are very clear and simple enough to digest quickly - although I'm glad I read through them a few times before setting things up.

I was a little unsure about the movement rate and how this could reveal three rooms per player per turn (if they move through open doors, don't stop to search and if they overcome each monster revealed) although after a few rounds it starts to make sense as it allows the players to either steamroll ahead if they are feeling confident or settle into a pattern of searching, moving and searching to minimise the number of monsters they face while gathering loads of gold and the occasional item.

We stumbled a little as we flicked through the rules to decide if we wanted to use our colour base or our opponent's colour base on new monsters who roll a colour that isn't being played but we worked out fairly quickly that the answer was yes as it has the potential to provide more DxM (event) cards.

Emily started as an Elf with a Health Club and I was a Human with a Dirk of Dauntlessness and a Stabbity Spear (held in one hand but benefiting from the two-hand bonus thanks to the Cheat card!). We had the Big Brother of a Frost Giant we worked together to kill on turn one show up on turn two and pace across the middle of the dungeon while we explored elsewhere. Sadly Emily was too tired to continue and we packed everything up (but not before I could become a Wizard).

It's just the sort of game I've been looking for; casual dungeon-tiling that doesn't require a GM and is simple and fun enough that non-roleplayers can enjoy it (while old grognards can giggle at the in-jokes). It is quite humourous and the cartoon illustrations really help maintain the silly tone so nobody feels like things are serious - even when they are adding up their bonuses and concentrating on which potion to use and what their odds are... it's clever game design to trick non-gamers down into the dungeon!

Warhammer RPG: Sergeant

After a long break (caused by a holiday in Melbourne) we had a game yesterday. Attendance and spirits were high - although we have lost a member due to a timetable clash with Uni classes. Sadly she is our healer!

My character had his first chance to use the extra Attack he picked up prior to the break; I forgot how much of a power-up that extra swing is! As he's equipped with spear and shield there are plenty of opportunities for miming "300" hoplite moves (lol). As he will be moving into a "Mercenary Captain" role we have hired a few of the local peasants as axemen/slingers/torchbearers with a view to forming a professional unit of soldiery types - although the lack of Command ability makes things suitably confusing in the heat of battle :)

It's good to see players back at the table with a sparkle in their eye - and everyone describes their character in terms of what careers they want to move into - so hopefully my earlier lamentation regarding a game that has died will not be justified for a long time yet!