Of Hobbits and Adventures

This past weekend, Dante & I went to a dinner with some of his coworkers who also relocated to Colorado.  Our post-dinner conversation turned to a very familiar theme, one our good friend Tolkien incorporated into his well-known books:

You Can Never Truly Go Home

This is a theme that is very true to life.  As you grow up and move away from your childhood home, change will set in.  The places may or may not physically change.  But those you left behind will change as they have new experiences.  And you will have new experiences that will change your perception of things.  Things will never be exactly the way you remember; you can never truly go home.

And how this is related to roleplaying...

In my experience as a player, as life in adventures moves on to great things, the hometown seldom changes.  It provides a comfortable place to which adventurers can return when things are tough or just to unwind and refocus energies to their "save the world" quests.

There are occasions when this has not be true.  I played a character once whose mother was murdered by the Big Bads.  I had a difficult time moving my character beyond the destruction of her home environment, and for the rest of the time in that campaign, there was always that unsettling knowledge that she no longer had a home.

And my point to all of this

As a player, I never want to see my character's home environment change throughout the campaign.  But I also know that changes occur while you are out adventuring.  The challenge for the DM is to understand how your players are attached to the home environment and incorporate change according to your players' needs.  If returning to the home town is an integral part of the players routine, introduce small changes that don't disrupt their way of life too much but are significant enough to be noticed.

Surviving the Crazy Times -- The New Home

Dante & I successfully completed our cross country trek and are settling nicely into our new home in Colorado.  Life here is pretty much the same with some very notable exceptions.  One exception, a very happy one, is the fact that we can see the mountains anytime we leave the house.  Another exception, not so happy, is that we haven't played D&D in a Very Long Time.

Around all the unpacking and trips to various stores to buy those things that a) didn't make the trip or b) we didn't need before and now we have to have, we have been trying to keep up with the gaming culture via World of Warcraft.  It's something, but it just doesn't have the same level of interaction and spontaneity that I truly enjoy in a good RPG.

A couple of our readers have mentioned that they live in the area, and I'm hoping after the first of the year, when things should (hopefully) be more settled, we'll be able to get together to meet the local gamers.

In the meantime, with little happening in the way of RPG in our household, Dante & I are a little stretched for RPG-related content.  You may see fewer posts on RPGBloggers.com, but you can still expect to see some random posts, as well as WOW-related content showing up on our site.

So far, we are surviving the crazy times.  I'll keep you posted if that changes. :)

Monstrous Advice

Surprise!! I'm still around, but with the move, I've been a little busy lately.  I hope you all didn't miss me too much! With the holidays, I'm sure things will be a bit chaotic around stupidranger.com, but I'll try to be here more often for you!

I had one of those blog moments... when you read someone else's blog, and it sparks an idea that sinks into your brain and rattles around until you decide to do something about it.  Shelly Mazzanoble posted a funny and insightful look at the fact that geek girls do not often fit the general profile for popular women's magazines, especially the advice columns.  And it got me to wondering what kinds of letters would be submitted to monster women's magazines.  Here's what I think we might see:

Dear Popular Monster's Magazine:

My awesome monster boyfriend has invited me to move in with him.  I'm really excited, because he's so awesome, but his cave is less than fabulous.  He works in a dungeon as an adventurer-control technician, and he is always bringing home bones and armor fragments that he leaves all over.  Worst of all, he brings home every wand he comes across, and they are just sitting a pile in the main room of his cave.  It's a disaster!  I'm afraid that if I try to organize his collection, he'll be mad.  I really want this to work because I think he might be The One. Please, can you tell me what to do about the mess?

Monstress in Love

And for the monsters getting ready for their big wedding day:

Dear Modern Bride-Zilla:

My future monster-in-law is driving me crazy!  She insists that the wedding should be in the old-fashioned swamp instead of the up-scale dungeon my fiance and I both want.  She thinks all the bridesmonsters should carry swamp weed bouquets instead of the stink blossoms I want.  We are not getting along, and my fiance wants to give in to all her demands.  How do I find the right balance without compromising on my dream wedding and not alienating my future monster-in-law?

Worried about the Wedding

Roleplaying with Rock Stars

Dante & I had the great privilege to go to a Death Cab for Cutie concert Sunday night.  And the part of my brain that loves music was suddenly merged with the part of my brain that loves roleplaying, and I had a musically inspired roleplaying epiphany.

In all roleplaying ventures, there are three readily-identifiable personality types: the Star, the Second and the Stage-Hand.

The Star

The Star is the lead, the spotlight character, the one who leads nearly every encounter with little effort.  The Star loves the attention, the grandiose plans and high adventure.  The Star can ascend from any class; since this is mostly personality driven, there is very little dependence on class.  However, the Star may take a step back if it becomes necessary for another character to take the lead, but such role reversal will not last long.

The Second

Like your back-up singer, the Second is the character that helps bring it all together.  The Second doesn't usually like to draw all the attention and enjoys being in the background, helping the plot move along and keeping the Star from Certain Death.  Of course, a Second may occasionally step up to the mic and lead a Star-quality solo performance but will usually revert to the Second role very quickly.

The Stage-Hand

The NPCs in your adventure are Stage-Hands who perform those little behind-the-scenes tasks that need to happen in order for the adventure to progress.  Whether it's testing the mics or detailing the prophecy that will lead to fame and glory, the Stage-Hand makes sure things run smoothly.

Life in the Band

A good performance requires all three roles to be filled.  Without everyone involved, the set will generally fall apart or, at the very least, will not be very entertaining.  Not every player is suited to every role, just as not every character is suited to every role.  I personally prefer to be a Second, but I enjoy taking the Star role every once in awhile; however, I have played the occasional character who was better suited as a Star than a Second.  Be aware of how your band is composed, treat each other with kindness and respect for your roles, and enjoy the beautiful roleplaying music.

Visiting the Archives: "I'm Missing the Chili Cookoff!"

Today, I wanted to re-visit one of my favorite posts from the past.  Inspired by that all-inspiring show, The Simpsons, here is some wisdom for roleplaying, distributed in the unlikely form of insanity peppers, from my post which originally appeared here April 22, 2008.  Enjoy it again!

Visiting the Archives: "I'm Missing the Chili Cookoff!"

One of my all-time favorite Simpson's episodes, "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Our Homer)", was on recently. Watching Homer crazed out on the Merciless Peppers of Quetzaltenango reminded me of some of those crazy times in a campaign when you're not sure what to do, but you're sure it's not what you actually are doing.

"To Make Yourself Complete, You Must Find Your Soulmate"

Sometimes it feels as if the DM has set a seemingly simple but deceptively difficult quest, like Homer's quest to find his soulmate. And often times, we feel unequipped to complete our quest once we learn the true depth of it.

As we embark on this quest, the DM may provide a spirit guide, like Homer's Space Coyote. It might not be a guide, per se, but some sort of help: a rumor, a prophecy, a random bit of knowledge. So while the quest may seem difficult, at least we have a bread crumb trail to get started.

"This Is Just Your Memory, I Can't Give You Any New Information"

The biggest obstacle to be overcome in these types of quests is the Great Doubt. This is the time when you're sure you've missed something, and you don't know what, but you refuse to move forward until you figure out the "missing piece."

There are two reasons I feel this is the biggest obstacle. First, it is easy to be blinded from that missing piece because you are focused on what you already know. For instance, we recently were quested to save the world, and we had figured out that meant we had to overcome the evil goddess. It wasn't until much later that we realized (via a Bardic Knowledge check) that the goddess could be killed through a specific ritual. All along, we had known that we had to stop her, but we hadn't thought specifically about how that could be accomplished. By sitting down and discussing the goal as a group, you're more likely to figure out that missing bit of information and overcome this obstacle.

The second reason this can be a big obstacle is much more devious; sometimes there isn't a missing piece to be found. This is a difficult situation because of the mental agony associated with it. You don't know what to do, and you don't know how to figure out what to do. You've interviewed everyone you can find, you've researched every old tome in every library you can find, you've even tried consulting with the gods. And now you're stuck... because there's no new information to find... there is no "missing piece." Well, that's the devious part: this piece isn't missing, it's misplaced. The DM is being devious and wanting you to piece together all the obscure bits of information from back to the beginning of the campaign into some coherent, usable body of knowledge. To overcome this particular obstacle, make friends with the historian in the group and review everything that has happened to you since you all met in that tavern.

"The Mind Is Always Chattering Away With A Thousand Thoughts At Once"

To succeed in your quest, you have to overcome the Great Doubt. You have to calm your mind and divorce yourself from the emotional entanglement that comes with your quest. You'll successfully reach the end of your quest if you take a few minutes of quiet reflection on your goal, and lay off the insanity peppers.

Roleplayers Trying to Survive the Office

I came to the realization that my desk has actually been overrun with tiny paper elementals that are constantly in battle for supremacy of my work space.

For those of you who haven't imagined the horror of my desk, it is in fact covered with several piles of paper which are growing at a distressing rate (the aforementioned paper elementals). They have taken over all visible flat surfaces of my desk, four in-boxes, three file cabinet drawers, and they are making serious inroads in their goal to take over the floor space surrounding my chair.

I joined in battle and attempted to eradicate this infestation, and what a spectacular battle it was. I subdued many of paper elementals with the use of my +1 Stapler of Organization, which does not completely eliminate the problem but certainly makes it easier to manage.

The paper elementals fought back valiantly, summoning assistance from the distant lands of the Fax Machine and the Email, and both factions provided reinforcements when the battle looked to be turning to my favor. In the end, I took 1d4 damage to the webbing of my left thumb as one of the tricky little devils bit me.

It is with a heavy heart that I report on my inability to properly defeat this infestation of the paper elementals. It is my hope that when I re-join battle, I will be able to summon the divine power of the Document Retention God, who will grant me the ability to throw away these horrible little monsters.

Pray for me, friends, that I may be victorious.

Connecting a Little Better to my Character

Getting lost in a character is one of the most exciting elements of roleplaying. I love to roleplay characters with whom I feel a deep connection. For that brief time when I am in-character, I want to escape reality, and this becomes much easier and more enjoyable when I am my character instead of myself. Here's are three quick, easy ways to connect:

1. A Little Self-Analysis - Review the information related to your class and race. Preview your career options. If you really were your character, you would know who you are and who you want to be. It's merely a matter of knowing yourself.

2. A Little Geography - Take a look at your campaign setting. I'm not recommending that you memorize the capitals or the location of every river in the continent. But, depending on your character, you would probably have a general idea of your surroundings. The broad strokes of the setting can help make it a little more real, and if your world is more real, your character will feel more real.

3. A Little Creative Writing - I love writing backstories for my characters. The creative process involved helps me connect on a very deep level with the character I've developed. A stray memory from childhood, a rite of passage, any little thing that helps make your character unique will help you connect to your character. On of my favorite techniques is to tell the story of how my character came into her profession; not only do you create an insight into how you came to be who you are (Level 1), you have a great reason to keep doing what you're doing (see #1).

Three little step to help me stay connected to my character, but each leaves a lot of room for personalization and adaptation to any character.

Surviving the Crazy Times -- Packing

As Dante & I prepare for our cross-country move, we are finding ourselves overwhelmed. There's so much to do to prepare for this kind of move. I expect that over the next few weeks, as we're trying to maintain sanity and sell our house and find a new house and try to keep up with the miriad of other details involved in the whole thing, our blogging schedule may be a little off.

Sorting and packing boxes has given me a bit of an appreciation for the sheer footloose-edness of my characters. In our campaigns, we frequently take off into the wide blue yonder with only the contents of our backpacks. If we're really on top of things, we sometimes procure horses and other related traveling paraphenalia, but we're not always that prepared.

I have a hard time imagining myself taking off on a great adventure with only the contents of my backpack. I'm a bit of a pack-rat though, so I'm sure things I would consider necessary might be negiotable. Excluding electronics (assuming no way to recharge them) and cash (move all funds to the First National Bank of Bag of Holding), I would probably pack:

1. Basic toiletry kit - 'nuf said.

2. Towel - Gotta stay safe in case I encounter the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal. Also, when I need to replace #1.

3. Hair pin - If Scooby Doo has taught us anything, it's that a hair pin is singularily the most useful hair accessory one can have. But it's not just for picking locks. Use it in place of a cloak pin when you wrap your towel around you for warmth. Plus, it's an easy accessory to make you look fabulous.

4. Notebook (and pen) - I don't travel far without my notebook, mostly because I have a tendency to forget things if I don't write them down. It would be highly useful for keeping track of landmarks to keep from getting lost. Or if you are lost, to make paper airplanes to request help.

5. Bottle of water - even when it's empty, you can use it as a canteen to transport water.

6. Scroll case with lots of useful scrolls - I'm assuming I'm an arcane spell caster. :)

Riddle Puzzles

Dante shared his recent post on the macro puzzle... that over-arcing sometimes frustrating puzzle that has to be solved to advance to the next step. These are usually highly frustrating for me because if I don't figure it out right away, I feel as if I've missed something very important.

I prefer riddles. To me, riddles are a much more satisfying intellectual challenge. One of the traditions of GenCon is to earn the Riddle Master badge from Cloud Kingdom as soon as possible once entering the sales floor. Because life as a Riddle Master is grand.

For the DMs out there, I'd like to share a riddle experience that I felt went very well from a player's perspective. At GenCon, several years ago, we met up with a bunch of college friends, one of whom was there with his dad, who was an awesome DM and offered to run a short, one-night hang-out-and-have-fun kind of session. We all jumped at the chance.

This was the basic premise: we mighty adventurers encountered a sage of some kind, who provided us with charms to help us in our quest. To earn your charm, you had to answer a riddle, but you could get help from the rest of the party to solve your riddle.

There were two things I really liked about this approach. First, it was a gift - if you couldn't answer the riddle, nothing bad happened. Second, you could get help; instead of stranding you there with everyone staring at you, waiting to see if you were going to make a guess, you got to ask for help from everyone. The bonus was that everyone stayed involved, even if they already had their charm.

Keeping everyone involved, making the goal achievable without making the stakes too high, and making sure everyone has fun keeps the challenge from being overwhelming.

Rituals in Roleplaying

This weekend, Dante & I helped celebrated our niece's first birthday! Let me tell you, watching a 1-year-old make a huge mess of her little "for me to destroy" birthday cake is pretty darn entertaining.

And as I'm sitting here, grasping for straws for something to write, I am thinking back fondly of the "adult" cake (and how oh-so-tasty it was), and I begin to consider how ritualized the birthday party is. In our family, there's the socializing time, generally including food, followed by presents, then cake. It's a very specific pattern of events that occurs every time, no matter who is celebrating a birthday.

And now to the point... All this reminiscing of birthday party rituals has lead me to consider ritual patterns in roleplaying.

In terms of mechanics, there are patterns of behavior governing actions. For instance, initiative to determine order of combat, actions taken in order. It's the same pattern that is followed every time there is combat.

In-character rituals are a little harder to identify as they are generally subjective. One that comes to mind stems from both parts of our last big campaign. Various characters had their rituals to follow whenever the party arrived in a new town. Nathanial, the goblin-turned-human paladin of Horus-Re, would visit the local temple and clean it. Batloaf, the Rock bard extraordinaire, would scope out the population of available women and select his partner(s) for the evening; I won't share with you the specifics of this ritual so-as to keep this post family friendly.

My character, Ari, didn't really have any specific pattern of behavior to follow when arriving in town. I realize after the fact that this is one of the components of roleplaying that I neglected with this character. I was vaguely uneasy when reaching a new town as it seemed that most other characters had something to do, and Ari didn't really have a ritual to follow. In a fluff-heavy group, not having something fluffy to do made it a little less fun.

It's easy to say that the solution in this case would be to find something to do, but that may be difficult to accomplish, depending on the character's personality. So, unsatisfyingly, I don't really have an answer for this. But I would recommend that if you are involved in a fluffy campaign, take some extra time between sessions to consider your backstory (because it's a fluffy campaign and I know you have a backstory). Is there something there that your character could use to fill those empty hours in town? Maybe you could write letters home or update your adventuring journal: these two options don't require much (if any) in-game time but they can give you a ritual to complete. Plus, it leaves an opening for you to write that letter/journal entry between sessions as a character-building exercise; what would your character have to say about that crazy old oracle you visited?

As a player, if you're having difficulty involving your character, try working with the other players to see if you might find something your characters can do together. Or maybe your DM can offer some insight on what your character could be doing or what areas of town that might be of interest.

Review of Blackstaff Tower

At one of Ed Greenwood's author signings this year, Steven Schend was signing and giving away copies of his new novel, Blackstaff Tower (releasing today) from the Ed Greenwood Presents Waterdeep series. I'll confess that I wasn't familiar with Schend's work, but I seldom ever turn down a free book, so I very happily accepted his book and resolved to read it as soon as I had finished the book I was reading at the time.

Now, I am a huge fan of the Forgotten Realms, but Waterdeep is not one of the places I have visited often. Everyone knows of the City of Splendors, but my knowledge of the history and lore of the city are pretty slim. And I only had passing familiarity with Khelban Blackstaff or the Blackstaff Tower.

Schend did a great job of involving me in the story. The first chapter was very disconnected from the prologue, so it took me a little while to be fully introduced to the characters and how they all fit into the story. Very quickly, though, I was immersed. The story was engaging; I became invested in the characters and needed to know what happened next. Before I knew it, I was a third of the way through and in danger of staying up all night to finish the book! (I didn't, but only because I had to work the next morning.)

It's an epic tale of good versus evil with plenty of intrigue and suspense thrown in for good measure. Without ruining the tale (because I highly recommend reading it for yourself), the story follows the adventures of a noble-born, a spellcaster, a thief, a sellsword and the Blackstaff heir in their quest to prevent the evil mage from taking control of Waterdeep.

There were several things I liked about Schend's writing style. First, he was able to draw me into the quest very quickly and with only a little effort. I was concerned for the good guys, I despised the bad guys, and I desperately wanted to see the good guys succeed, especially during those times when I was sure they couldn't possibly overcome of the odds. Second, Schend easily provided me with the information I needed to feel comfortable in Waterdeep; one of the characters was a student of Waterdavian history, who shared information about the city without lecturing so there was never too much unnecessary information to bog down the story.

Best of all, Schend handled the combat sequences beautifully. As I read about the battles, I could imagine sitting around the table, rolling the dice... the successes and near misses were so vivid. I simultaneously felt as if I was watching the battle and participating in the roleplaying.

The one thing I would have changed was the ending. Not to say that the story didn't end well: all the lose ends were wrapped up and there was a sense of closure. However, it seemed a little rushed; I wanted it to be drawn out a bit. I'm sure this is partly because I was having a great time and didn't want to see it end. To me, it felt hurried during a time when I wanted to savor the successful end of the quest.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will definitely read it again. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys stories of the Realms.

Player Perspective on 4E

I realize that a lot of people have posted reviews, etc, about 4E, and that really, it's not new news. But it was only recently that our group has actually had a chance to play a few short sessions in the new system, and I have a few thoughts to share.

A Brief Non-Disclaimer

When I say we've only had a few short sessions, I really mean it. I've played one session with only a small part of our normal group, and I played two session of Drunken D&D. Also, our Out of the Box Roleplaying session, but I was mostly a background player and I did more roleplaying than combat in that session. So, in the three-and-a-half sessions thus far, I've played two classes, and I am by no means an expert.

My Thoughts on Character Creation

I was extremely disappointed with my first character creation session because it just took so long to fill in my character sheet. Part of it was due to the new character sheet organization... trying to find the places to write down what I knew. Part of it was the new stuff. I did find the character creation list on page 14 of the Players Handbook to be very helpful that first time; by following it, I knew I didn't miss anything. Fortunately, the next time I created a character (for the Out of the Box session), I was more familiar with the process, and it went a lot faster.

My Thoughts on Character Classes

I've only played two classes: Ranger and Warlock. I'm sure none of you are surprised by the fact that I played a Ranger first, but I have tried both ranged and melee Rangers. I didn't notice much difference, in terms of combat. It took me awhile to get used to the Hunter's Quarry feature, giving me the ability to mark one of my enemies for extra damage, but it quickly became on of my favorite class features. Plus, as a ranged combatant, if none of my allies were closer to my target, I got a bonus.. yay! I had a great time in my first session as a Ranger, and as I'm more familiar with ranged Rangers, it was a comfortable fit for my first 4E character. I played a melee Ranger in the Out of the Box session, but I saw little combat and haven't really gotten a chance to try it all out yet.

The Warlock was very different for me. She was my Drunken D&D character, so everything was pre-generated and neatly detailed for me (thanks!), which was great because it would have taken me forever to get that character all together! I didn't use all of the abilities available to me for that character, mostly because I didn't know what all of them could do. I used the Eldrich Blast a lot, as it was a pretty easy-to-understand attack. Also, the ability to curse an enemy (similar to Hunter's Quarry) was pretty fun, especially as you get to curse more than one enemy at once, contrary to the Hunter's Quarry, which is only effective against one enemy. I will definitely try a Warlock again because it was a fun class to play.

Both of my class experiences so far have been with classes that can mark an enemy. As a player, because it can be confusing after a few rounds of combat, I recommend having some system prepared for keeping track of who is marked. In my first session with my Ranger, we encountered small groups of enemies, so it was pretty easy to keep track, especially as the Ranger only marks one at a time. For my Warlock, it got to be a little more confusing once I had more than one marked. We placed d6's on the minis for the first session; for the second session, we used the Magnetic Markers from Alea Tools. It doesn't really matter what method you use: write it down in your notes, place Life Savers over the heads of your victims, make fashionable sashes out of pipe cleaners. Anything will do, just be prepared.

Overall, I have a great time with 4E thus far, and I am looking forward to continuing the adventures with my ranged Ranger.

Gencon 2008: StupidRanger's Wrap-up

I've been to several Gencon's over the years, but this one will forever be one of the greatest!

First, as promised, pictures! There are pictures from the RPGBloggers Unite! panel, as well as our Out of the Box Roleplaying session. And especially for Dave the Game, there's a set just for the Drunken D&D game sessions!

Speaking of Drunken D&D, it was great to have a chance to play D&D with some of our friends in the blogging community. Being the shy person that I am, I will confess that I was fairly quiet to start. I had forgotten how hard it can be to play with an entirely new group. But I had a great time!

The sales floor was fabulous fun, and I did my share of spending. Topping my list of cool RPG-related items was my Ring of Invisibility from Intimagik, Elven dice from Unusual Dice and a set of platinum Campaign Coins. I also purchased a few prints from various artists. And Gencon wouldn't be complete for me with lots and lots of books. I got free books from signings -- Blackstaff Tower by Steven Schend and Reader's Guide to the Legend of Drizzt by Philip Athans (with R.A. Salvatore). Plus, I picked up a couple of books from McFarland Press, as well as the Brazen Serpent Chronicles. Lots of good reading... I should be busy for awhile.

One of the best things about the con this year was getting to meet all our friends from the blogging community. Thanks to you all helping to make this the most memorable Gencon ever!

Gencon Friday: Best Day Ever!!

Me & Shelly Mazzanoble
Originally uploaded by stupidranger

OMG!!! I had the best Gencon day ever!!

It started out with the very fun Queen of Geeks pageant. I flubbed up the trivia pretty bad, but I totally nailed my talent, and the audience really enjoyed it. I finished in the top three, not Queen this year, but maybe next year!

After a celebratory lunch, we headed to the sales floor, where Dante and I wandered around, finally making our way to the Wizards booth. I was talking to one of ladies working at the booth, asking if Shelly Mazzanoble would be signing anywhere (as I had other events during events I knew she was scheduled to attend). The very nice lady pointed out to me that Shelly was standing right next to us!

I introduced myself to Shelly and mentioned that we had emailed a few times in the past and that I was from stupidranger.com, and she knew exactly who I was! It was one of the greatest moments of my life!

Having loaned out my copy of Confessions, I quickly purchased a shiny new copy, and Shelly signed it for me with a very nice note. She then stood there and chatted with Dante and me for about 10 minutes. This will forever be one of the greatest events in my life!!

Shortly after that, Ed Greenwood was signing at the Wizards booth, and I got a chance to meet him as he signed my copy of The Annotated Elminster. Very funny man, and very nice too, he posed with me for a picture. Also, Steven Schend was signing with him for his new book, Blackstaff Tower (which isn't out in stores yet.... we got free copies!!) and signed a copy for me. As promised, Mr Schend, I will read and post a review of your book, but based on the first couple of pages, I'm very excited about this book!!

I can happily say that even if the rest of the convention is a bust, I will always remember it as one of the best, simply based on today. It was this ranger's dream come true!!

Preparing for Gencon: Packing the Bag of Holding

I know many of you are preparing for Gencon, and I also know that some of you are first-time attendees. For all the newbies out there, I'd like to offer some insight into what you might need for your trip.

1. Badge & Tickets - If you have pre-registered and received your badge and tickets in the mail, DON'T FORGET TO TAKE THEM WITH YOU!!!

2. Backpack - You will definitely want to bring a backpack for your days at the convention center. Besides being able to carry your required gaming paraphernalia (books, dice, pencils), your backpack can be useful for carrying snacks, your Gencon event guide, and all your loot.

3. Game equipment - You aren't likely to forget this one, but make sure you take along your game equipment (books, dice, cards, etc). Even if you aren't registered for a gaming event, you'll find pick-up games around the corner without looking too hard.

4. Camera - There will be things you want to capture to savor your Gencon experience throughout the year, to tide you over until next time. Take your camera and plenty of batteries/memory cards/film.

5. Ziploc bag - This is one of my standards in packing my backpack for Gencon. It never fails to rain at least one day. I carry a gallon-sized Ziploc bag to protect those things that can't get wet. This my just be your cell phone, but may also include irreplaceable items of a paper-like nature (cards, books, tickets, badge).

6. Rain coat/umbrella - Along the lines of the Ziploc bag, you might want to bring a rain coat or compact umbrella. Arriving drenched at the convention hall isn't a whole lot of fun, and I speak from experience here. Of course, you could always just bring your towel, you hoopy frood.

7. Comfortable shoes - You will be walking. Alot. Make sure your shoes are comfortable.

8. Cell phone charger - Especially if you plan to keep in touch with friends during the convention, don't forget your cell phone charger. You don't want a dead battery to prevent you from finding out where the coolest loot is on the sales floor.

9. Personal care items - Seems silly to include this, but you'll wish at some point during the convention that someone had left a similar message for about a third of the people there.

10. Geek clothes - You gotta wear the coolest geek threads you've got. And no, that's not an oxymoron. Gencon is one of the fabulous places in the world in which you can wear your most fantastic geek clothes and be totally, awesomely cool.

Now, I know many of you have been to Gencon before. What other advice on packing can you share?

Environmentally Humorous

With Dante out of town this week, it was my job to pick up the slack, and I actually fell asleep on the job this week! But I've been percolating this idea for awhile. So here's my random thought for Friday!

There's been a lot of press lately about use non-plastic alternatives for shopping bags. You can buy cloth bags from just about every store now (at least in our area). My mother-in-law has several of them in her car so they are handy for shopping purposes. I was looking at them the other day and noticed all the corporate logos and whatnot all over them.

And I got to thinking, how much cooler those bags would be if they had roleplaying-related slogans on them. So I've come up with the following:

1. My other bag is full of dice
2. I rolled a 20 on my Knowledge (Nature) roll
3. A dragon ate my refridgerator, so I have to buy more food
4. The DM said to bring snacks or else
5. This is my Bag of Holding
6. If you don't save (plastic), you take full damage

The Longest 30 Days of the Year

By the time I post this, we'll be 29 days to Gencon! I'm very excited about this year, it's going to be a great year full of exciting events. And if you're still looking for something to do this year, feel free to join us at the following events:

Queen of Geeks Pageant - In some crazy fit of insanity, I decided to compete for the title of "Queen of Geeks." So, Friday morning from 10am to 1pm, I would appreciate your support during the competition!

Mastering Your GM-Fu - Saturday morning from 8am to 10am, DNAphil, Chatty DM, Vicki Potter and Zachary Houghton will be sharing with us how to master our GM-Fu with Session Prep. I think this is going to be a great event... these are very informative GMs, and I know they will have some great advice to share.

RPG Bloggers Unite! - Saturday afternoon from 1pm to 2pm, the StupidRanger crew will be joining several other bloggers as we share our blogging experience. Come meet us all, it'll be a blast!

Out of the Box Roleplaying - Sunday morning from 10am to 11am, Dante, Vanir and I will be hosting our own little event. A little D&D with our own crazy brand of insanity. Maybe something useful, we haven't decided on that yet. Either way, you will be entertained!

Online pre-registration has ended, but you may want to check out the events spreadsheet for other gems. Online pre-reg reopens Aug 13, just before the con opens, so you can will-call your tickets... 'cuz you sure don't want to miss these fantatic events!

Playing the Races in 4E

I think there's a lot of good in 4E, but there is no denying there's a lot of change. One of the first areas in the PHB where we can see that change is in the races. There's the introduction of several new classes, as well as changes to the existing, familiar classes.

Dragonborn

Definitely different. The Dragonborn race is one of the new races in 4E, which by now is not news to you. Dante recently likened them to Klingons, which really isn't too far off the mark. One of the things that struck me is that their sense of honor is so strong that they treat their adversaries with courtesy and respect. There's something very poetic about that level of nobility, and that will make a great character trait to highlight as a player.

Dwarf

Familiar but slightly changed. I felt that the description focused a great deal on the Dwarven affinity to stone, more than I remember from the previous edition. But what hasn't changed the Dwarven loyalty; a friend is a friend, and it is an honor to fight beside a friend, no matter how dire the situation. This gives you a great character progression to follow. In the beginning, you're merely acquaintences; as you adventure together, you discover the worth of your comrades and are proud to fight with them.

Eladrin

Because I don't think it was necessary for the Eladrin/Elf split, I've decided that it's just easier to think of the Eladrin as an entirely new race. All that aside, perhaps one of the best descriptors of the Eladrin is "detached." They are very much separate from the rest of the world around them. The "detached" persona is nothing new to me as a player, having recently played Ari along similar lines (because with Batloaf around, it was just easier and gave Ari reasonably deniability when he did crazy things). I would warn that this can be very difficult to overcome as you adventure; if you are playing an Eladrin, I would recommend softening your aloof nature as you spend more time with your comrades.

Elf

Elves in 4E sound a lot like tree-hugging hippies, but I say this as kindly as possible, knowing that I'm planning to play one soon. They are very closely tied to the woodlands and are very passionate in that the emotions they feel, they feel deeply. Try playing your Elf with particular attention to the emotion reactions they might feel; this is a significant part of their personality.

Half-Elf

Not much really changed with the Half-Elves, but I think we see a lonely side to their existance in this edition. Not quite fitting in with the Humans, not quite fitting in with the Elves, Half-Elves enjoy surrounding themselves with friends, possible to alleviate some of the loneliness they feel from not really belonging anywhere. Your Half-Elf will likely be open-minded to newcomers she meets, eager to learn something new from her new-found friend.

We'll take a look at the rest of the races in the next installment!

27 Character Sheets

In a fit of girly-ness this evening, I watched 27 Dresses. I'm guessing that many of you either haven't seen this movie or saw it under duress with your significant other. And I'm also guessing that you're just waiting to see how I'm going to connect this to gaming. And here it is:

About half-way through the movie, Jane comes to realize that she must discard the baggage in her past (in the form of 27 dresses) in order to move on. And I got to thinking that as you move on to a new character, it becomes very important to dump the baggage of your old characters.

You have to let your old characters retire gracefully. If you let the memories of your previous character dictate your new character, you may attempt the Mark 2, a re-creation of the character concept, because you are sure you can do it better this time. Or, in the event things didn't turn out the way you planned, you may create the antithesis, trying to create your new character as different as possible.

I'm not always good about letting past character retire, but I do try to keep my characters separate, at least in my own mind. For me, it helps to have a developed back story; it's easier to keep everyone separate if they all had different stories.

What techniques do you use to move on from your old character(s)?

The Changes With Which I Don't Agree

As I was working on another post outlining some of my thoughts for playing the new races, I rediscovered the one thing that upset me the first time I read through the races section of the PHB.

They changed the Elf gods!!

Corellon Larethian has historically been credited as the "Creator of the Elves." In 4E, he is merely the "patron of the fey." Did he get demoted? Absolutely! Why? I'm not sure, but the part of me that's actually an elf is outraged!

Corellon was not only associated with music, magic and the arts (as he is currently described in 4E), but also with warfare when the need to protect arose. He defeated Gruumsh in battle in the beginning of the world, before he created the elves. This battle was the underlying reason elves hate orcs. Corellon also cast out Lolth after her betrayal during the aforementioned battle. This was the underlying reason Corellon despises Lolth and her followers.

Sehanine Moonbow is one of the lesser-known Elf gods, but she suddenly appears in the regular pantheon, but not as we all knew her. Before, she was a goddess of death and dreams, now she's the goddess of trickery and illusions. In Races of the Wild, Sehanine is described as sending a "dying elf a vision of the next world to give him hope and strength during his passage." The 4E PHB describes her as sending "shadows to cloak lovers' trysts." She just sounds so tawdry, so much less noble.

Races of the Wild also states that Sehanine was Corellon's consort. 4E says she has "close ties" with him. I can overlook this little change, but it sure sounds like they are "just friends" now. Maybe she didn't want to be in a relationship with someone who got demoted from "Creator of the Elves." Or maybe he didn't agree with her new career choice. Either way, they must have had one heck of a falling out to go on as "just friends."

Now, I'm pretty forgiving in the changes they made if 4E. But to change the defined roles of the gods in the pantheon? To take away their mythology, their history? That's just change for the sake of change without any real growth or development.

Abstract Thoughts

The recent trend on our site for the less than serious content will continue yet again. As we're between campaigns right now, none of us are particularly inspired to post game-related content. So, here's my contribution to the frivolity.

It's that time of year when Gen Con seems so close and yet still so far away! I'm very excited this year to meet our friends from the blog-o-sphere. It'll be an entertaining year, I'm sure.

Just a reminder, pre-registration ends this weekend!

I've been bitten lately by more than just mosquitoes... the writing bug has been after me lately too. Unfortunately, I haven't quite managed to get the inspiration and motivation coordinated, but I'm sure I'll get there. Until then, I have been enjoying Capturing Fantasy.

In other abstract thoughts, I've taken a break from Oz books and starting reading the Chronicles of Narnia. It's all good times.

That's about all for me right now. Stay tuned for more insanity!

If Andrew Lloyd Webber Was a DM

Over the weekend, to assuage my need for a movie late at night, I popped in the Phantom of the Opera DVD. As has happened in the past, I began to identify the story elements as roleplaying elements. And I realized that Phantom of the Opera movie is obviously a 3.5 D&D campaign with Andrew Lloyd Webber as DM.

Here's the Story, D&D Style

The Phantom is a bard. He uses some mad Disguise skills to hide his horrible scars, and he obviously took the Skill Focus: Cape Flourish feat. He uses his Bardic Music to Fascinate and Suggest to Christine, that he is a angel and she should love him. She fails her Will Save and totally believes him.

Then, Raoul comes along. He's a rival bard, who uses his Bardic Music to Fascinate and Suggest to Christine that the "angel" is not to be trusted and she should love him instead. She fails her Will Save and totally believes him instead.

There's some crazy "who's better than whom" battling, with music and rapiers and such. After leveling up, the Phantom rolls very, very well on his Craft: Opera roll, and Christine is cast as the lead. On opening night, the Phantom pulls out his Disguise Kit and joins her on stage after he kills the other guy, then kidnaps her via the conveniently placed trap door and whisks her away to his lair. Raoul tries to follow, but he fails his Reflex save when he triggers a trap door. He falls into a pit of water, but he makes his Swim check and manages to escape. He eventually finds the Phantom's lair.

There's more singing, and each of the bards tries to cancel out the other's Bardic Music. Christine finally makes a few Will Saves and realizes that the Phantom really isn't the catch he wanted her to believe he was. Raoul and Christine escape to live happily ever after, while the Phantom disappears into oblivion.

Then, Andrew Lloyd Webber takes down his DM screen and says, "Well, that's that. Good job, everyone! Next time, we're playing 4E, which means you can't be bards, so email me your new character concepts."

4E Link-stravaganza

I've been occupied as of late reading through the new 4E PHB, so I realize that I haven't been posting much, but it's for a good reason!

While I'm still in the process of reading, check out these other fine 4E posts:

DungeonMastering's 4E Celebration in Haiku

Chatty's Initial Thoughts & Game Day Recap

Gnome Stew's Martin Ralya's First Impressions

D&D Nerd's List of Reviews

I'm sure there are more, but I haven't spent a lot of time reading the blogs lately, as that would have detracted from my reading of the PHB. So if I missed your post, please feel free to add a comment and include a link.

I'll be happy to share my thoughts from a player perspective soon!

The Monster Mash

Yax's Sunday morning quiz was a fabulous query involving monsters! I'm proud to say that I managed to pass this one with an 84% (I usually fail spectatuarly!), mostly by guessing on the Devil/Demon portion.

I love the Sunday morning quizzes, even when I fail spectactulary, because they are fun and there's a lot of good Red Dragon in there. This one was especially fun as there's a little aside to one of our favorite creatures. I won't tell you which one, that would give it away!

Take a peak at the