[Wonderland] Second Chances

Several people have asked me how my session of Wonderland went on Wednesday.

Unfortunately, there weren't any players. However, on the way out of the store, I ran into a buddy and we started chatting in the parking lot.

The buddy and his girlfriend are just learning about RPGs, and had a lot of questions. While talking, they expressed interest in my little playground, and so we're going to try again next time. Then when I got home, TheBoy told me he really wanted to play, so it looks like I have potential players for next session!

This "second chance" gives me time to flesh out the background packets I'm passing out to the players, as well as work on the map some more. (I need to find a way to share my map with you guys! I think you will like it.)

[Wonderland] Beginnings

Rather than talk and dream and blather about the Wonderland idea, I decided it was time to actually run it.  I'm jumping in.

I'm scheduled to run my first session (intro and character making) tomorrow. I still have some work to do (printouts and maybe clean up the map some more), but I can't back out now...

I'm still not sure if I am crazy or convinced, but I am doing it.

I'll let you know how it goes.

[WOD] Austin by Night: EPIC Vinnie Recap

So, I have not blogged about Vinnie much, if at all. I have very specific thoughts and ideas for him, and I am having a difficult time deciding if I want to blog about them or keep them secret.

Vinnie IS a Vampire, but it's tough to get outside advice if I don't seek input. So, I'll give you the very best of the very best... or something. This is a recap of several sessions, boiled down to the most relevant and understandable details (as far as I can, anyway).

[RPG] Dissonance

I know, without any real preface or explanation, that I don't like OSR and/or old school stuff. It's just not for me. That doesn't bother me. I know what I like... it's pretty simple stuff.

What's simpler than 4 chords and incredible attitude?

Jeff had a really interesting post recently about the apparent lack of a first level as he sees it in the Next iteration of D&D. He went on to talk about what he DOES like in a game, which generated a metric crapton of comments. His follow up post had a real eye opener for me. One of the guys responding made an off the cuff remark about CoC, which struck me in a very particular way.

I don't enjoy a fragile first level character for a D&D game. It makes me all kinds of mental to consider that my D&D dude might die the first session out of the gate. (I don't like a D&D game at all, really; but that is beside the point.) However, I fully enjoy (and expect!) a fragile " first level"character for CoC. I LOOK FORWARD to the inevitable decrepitude, insanity and/or mangling of any character facing the Eldritch horrors, but not for D&D.

The question of the day for me boiled down to: Why?

What makes one character being a meat puppet unconscionable, while the other is gladly given as grist for the mill? I have absolutely no illusions that if I were playing, my CoC character could live long enough to gain a lot of experience or make a prestige class; and I am totally ok with that. Reconciling that against my angst about a D&D character's prospects becomes something I want to do, just to keep my head from spinning.

I have a thought or two, but I'm hesitant to put it out there right yet. I'd love to hear whether any of you have similar dichotomies, and if so, how you reconciled them with each other.

The Games that Shaped Me

A little while ago, Frontline Gamer put out a charge to all of us, to think about the games that have shaped us, and talk about when, where, why and so on.

Well, I can't really let that Brit have all the fun, now can I?

I told him I had a lot, and I felt a post was probably a lot more appropriate than a quick reply over on his blog. So here we are at mine, with my ever so verbose thoughts.

After the jump, of course.

Xenos and 20 sided dice!

Hey folks, SinSynn here.

Lately I've been having deep hobby thoughts, because I'm missing something. I know exactly what it is I'm missing, too.
I'm missing my Xenos.
Y'all know I luvs me some Xenos.
It's more than that, of course. It's everything that accompanies them.  The fantastical sci-fi settings, the crazy-cool tech gizmos and weaponry...the tentacles, and the refreshing screams of humans as they TASTE DISENTEGRATOR!!!!!!
(or somesuch variant thereof)

*Hey, whatever works, amirite?*

Flames of War- B,G & G hurts my feelings :(

'If at first you don't succeed, dust yourself off and try again'
- Aaliyah

Hey folks, SinSynn here.

So, uh....wow.
The new Blood, Guts and Glory book for Flames of War has literally catapulted the American Tank Destroyer Company to the top of the heap, as far as Late War 'killer lists' are concerned. The recent win at the Adepticon Nationals by Task Force A, combined with a dedicated list from the new book has seen a lot of attention of late.
Dunno what the big deal about Task Force A is, since it's an older list from Turning Tide. Also, the guy who won Nationals wins ALL the FoW tournaments, ever, so whatevs (results are here, for those interested). Axis lists took three spots in the top five, and Best General was an Axis player, so I'm OK with that whole thing.
Be advised that 'sportsmanship' and 'fluffiness' comprise a large part of the overall scores at official FoW events, and the Flames tournament system is beyond awful (also be advised: my opinion), so again, whatevs.
To me, 'best general' is the Tournament winner. End of story.

I'm not particularly concerned about American TD companies, since I'm fairly sure Battlefront will be nerfing them.
Why? Using your recce move, followed by a double time to place your security section right in your opponent's face and then springing the TD's is...pretty foul, I gotta say. Not particularly game-breaking, though.
What is game-breaking is that they can still spring the TD's even if you shoot the entire security section DEAD.
That's right- Tanks Destroyers pop outta burning jeeps, can deploy six inches forward from said jeeps (ambush rules apply), and get their full Rate of Fire...with AT 13.
Excuse me while I make this face:
-_-
Please fix this, Battlefront.
Sheesh.

No, my issues with B, G & G start with this guy:

*Say hello to the Easy Eight. Iz magic, apparently*