The ArmChair General

Superdungeon - Session 29

2012-02-02T08:13:00.000-05:00

The party was ambushed by a cyclops and his retinue of hill giants accompanied by a handful of ogre kin; their lot being affected with various mutations. In among the rocks the party could make out the heads of the various giant kin and something else - an Ogre Mage! The party at first felt it better to not deal with the ogre mage directly but all too soon Meg charged head first into the ogre mage's circle.

Then Vayne taking the shape of a dinosaur rushed at the cyclops. As he bit down he noticed his face change back to that of the dhampyr. The giant was protected from magic and his shifted nature was somehow affected! The battle raged on with Tyne and Quanlian providing support for an enlarged Sigrid while the cleric of the group used her spells to heal the druid after he was smashed by boulders and the mighty weapon of the cyclops.

We ended the game mid battle on a grim note. Will the party be triumphant? Has the Ogre Mage met his match? Will the party be defeated? Stay tuned!

Screwtape Letters

2012-01-23T20:48:00.000-05:00

Been listening to the audio version of the Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. Very good satire written from the perspective of the Undersecretary of the Devil to a Jr. Taunter named Wormwood who is not least of all Screwtape's nephew. Classic stuff! I really like how the man who is to be damned is referred to as 'the patient' throughout the prose. We can learn a lot from reading this story. We can ultimately use the method of the demon tempter and the uncle Screwtape to make our villains more methodical and more devilish. As a Christian I recommend the book. As a game master I recommend the book. Even if you are not a Christian or a believer at all you can get a lot of ideas from reading it. Then use it to taunt your own patients. I daresay it would be devilish fun.I plan on putting some of the ideas together with ideas from Interview with the Vampire to really let the Dragonlance party have a challenge!

SuperDungeon - The Cyclops and the Farmhouse

2012-01-22T17:57:00.000-05:00

Just as they were about to head out of the city the party was approached by members of the guard bearing a letter for them directly from the Shadow Council of Amn. The letter implored the party to take on a mission into the Small Teeth to investigate the suspected attacks of farmers that they believe was caused by a Cyclops in the service of the Ogre Mages of the Wealdealth Forest. The party took on the mission and within a few days in the field came to realize that the predations of the monsters on the farmers was far worse than they were originally informed. As they crossed the river ford they found several dead wild elf bodies among giant-sized footprints.

Unfortunately for the farmers the attacks seemed to be aimed at looting and causing terror more than than to capture slaves. The party was able to save several children from a burning farmhouse but their parents had already been massacred by the monsters. They sent the children back with Amos the Knight in service to Quinlan and two of the bardic followers. Steeling their nerves and running on adrenaline they charged forth into the unknown to mete justice to these fiends.

Photos from the Field - Suncoast Skirmishers Winter Offensive

2012-01-22T17:50:00.000-05:00

Well thank you to everyone who came out and played the WTNW demo! I am happy to say that the convention was a success. The Suncoast Skirmishers crew went above and beyond to facilitate a very good minicon. The venue was very nice and even had coffee - always a plus! I was able to sell a few books and trade for some Wings of War figures which I put to immediate use in the demo on the side of the Germans.

I ran two demos at the same time each on the same 8x4 table. The first game was the Port Cape Scenario in the main book in which the Germans are attempting to overtake the British held town Port Cape and reclaim their ryanium. The second game was a battle in which the Confederate States battled the Union States in an ACW setting as the Confederates moved to try to reinforce Appomattox. We had a total of eight people playing in the games.

The games were evenly matched with each side having a capital unit and several machines and ground units. The Germans were unable to take the British town but put up a very good fight including crippling the Littleton Landship with their bombers (represented by the Wings of War planes and yes I know one is not German). The Union troops while garrisoned in their town were unable to withstand the onslaught of the Confederate forces and even their dictator mortars were unable to stem the tide of the grays.

For this demo we used the cards to represent hidden orders. The cards worked very well although we got some very interesting ideas for other game aids that may work better than the cards. With this in mind we are still pursuing the printing of the GameDecks and are still taking pre-orders . Overall everyone seemed to really enjoy the game which is really what this is all about anyway. Once again thank you to everyone for the great convention! We plan on running these same demos at Recon this year.

It Came From Beyond the Still - The Men in Plaid and Those Other Guys

2012-01-19T16:02:00.000-05:00

We are proud to announce that we are going to be releasing our second supplement for Hillbillies vs Aliens

It Came From Beyond the Still - "The Men in Plaid and Those Other Guys". The newest supplement features two new factions - The Men in Plaid Operators and the Men in Black, two new scenarios as well as ICFBTS- Weapons Closet stats and the gear, tech and craziness that is ICFBTS. You can get all of our products on our site or via Wargamevault.

WTNW - Catastrophic Damage Rule

2012-01-18T17:13:00.002-05:00

Want a more explosive When the Navy Walked game? Next time you are playing WTNW try this optional rule.

Catastrophic Damage: Whenever a unit doubles the original threshold value of a machine, creature, capital unit or behemoth the unit suffers an additional internal hit. The number of additional internal hits is increased each time the unit scores a multiplier of double the target unit’s initial threshold. For instance if a unit scores 12 hits on a Zyklops regardless of the current threshold of the Zyklops, the Zyklops takes two internal hits (one for the initial hull penetration and one for the doubling of the threshold).

DM Advice - Roleplaying Combats

2012-01-18T13:21:00.000-05:00

In this week’s DM Advice column I discuss one of the various ways in which a DM can bring the roleplaying back into gaming. This week I am specifically going to concentrate on how to run quick combats without the use of a battle grid or miniatures. I can hear you already “What, no minis? No grid? Why would I want to do that?” There may be some circumstances where you need to have a combat but feel that the foe is so outnumbered or outgunned by the party that there really is no need to break out everything.

Last night I ran into a perfect example of this. The party in Superdungeon had taken on an assignment to check out a Cyclops working for the Ogre Mage in the Small Teeth. The game is set in Amn in Forgotten Realms with some modifications due to the sundering of the World Stone. The party had just spent the better part of the day saving children from burning farm houses and burying dead wild elves and farmers that the Cyclops and his band had left in their wake. After a long day and sending the kids back with their cohorts the party decided to camp outside one of the farmsteads.

I knew three things could happen so I asked for a party watch order and a survival check. I had each player make a survival check that night. Their survival check determined the food that they were able to gather for the evening meal as well as what might happen that evening on their watch as I knew that the party was being watched by hobgoblins and kobolds from the larger group but did not want to actually pull out the figures and get into the nitty gritty.

The first watch had Vayne as a sabertooth cat and his animal companion, a tiger named Scratch on duty. They were able to bag a deer but they also were ambushed by some stealthy kobolds. Only one kobold got the drop on them and the rest were spotted. Instead of getting into what looked like four rounds of combat to showcase that they were being watched I told Vayne’s player to make six rolls -three for himself and three for his cat – while I made seven rolls, one for each of five spotted kobolds and two for the kobold with surprise.

One kobold hit with his attack as Vayne was flat footed and did a minimal amount of damage while all of Vayne and Scratch’s attacks hit. An additional one attack hit from a kobold. I then declared that they were easily able to overcome the kobolds and they looted the kobolds. During the looting they found master crafted weapons on the kobolds. Not something that one would expect to find. Later, the Bard Quinlan was able to identify them as Zhent weapons. The Ogre Mages were being reinforced!

The second watch had Sigrid the fighter (played by my wife) find a small pool and catch some trout. She easily spotted what she thought was an orc as it tossed a javelin at her with a natural 20. The hit did not confirm the crit and Sigrid returned the favor with a well-aimed shot of her heavy crossbow. Walking up to what turned out to be a hobgoblin wearing a strange tunic she finished with a coupe de grace. She noticed a strange symbol on the hobgoblin’s tunic of an orb which she identified as a beholder that had the hand of the beast-god Malar instead of a central eye. She also noticed Zhent master crafted weapons.

The next watch was Quilan the bard who was attacked by a dart. The dart had death adder poison and could have killed him. He did not see the attacker nor find any food to share with the party as the survival check was not all that great.

Finally, the rogue/mage had a watch and nothing eventful happened as it was nearing dawn. He did find some rabbits to cook though.

All of these encounters took maybe 20 minutes to run though with the players and I feel that because we did not waste a lot of combat time with minimal encounters the party was able to get the gist of what was going on, the Zhents were involved, as well as get the idea that they were being watched. The big thing was that I got into some detail about each skirmish as a whole rather than the blow-by-blow fist-a-cuffs that tend to emerge with combat in DND.

As you can clearly see, all of these challenges were done within the theme of the rules and by doing them this way I was able to cut a lot of time in what would have been kind of boring monotonous combat with only one clear winner. I always prefer simple and fun to long and drawn out. Next week I will discuss another method by which you can speed up the game through roleplaying versus rolling dice for every skill check. I hope you’ll join me.

On the Road to Winter Offensive 2012!

2012-01-13T15:41:00.000-05:00

Unless I am able to update the blog via the interweb over the weekend with pictures from demo games and the convention this will be my last post until next week. We are taking When the Navy Walked on the road to Suncoast Skirmisher's Winter Offensive 2012! This will be our first convention to be followed by MegaCon 2012 in February. If you would like to run demos of WTNW or ICFBTS at your local conventions we would love to support your efforts! Send an email to thearmchairgeneral@whenthenavywalked.com and we will hook you up with SWAG!

Next week there should be photos and AARs of the games ran at Winter Offensive! We will be using some of the new mechanics in the latest supplement Airships and Skypirates. Remember that all of our products are for sale on Wargamevault and many are available through our website. Thanks for supporting the game! As they said in Every Which Way but Loose, On the Road Again!

The ArmChair General Product Lines YTD

2012-01-11T16:47:00.005-05:00

If you are into Victorian Steampunk or Pulp Horror Gaming we have a wide selection of products for your gaming needs! The majority of these products were developed in 2011. As we continue to gain support from our fans of our products we will continue to produce more.

What does 2012 hold? Our first major WTNW release apart from the Game Deck will be Earthin: The Hollow World featuring the story of the Protean Races as well as the development of Earthin. The game will feature detailed stories about the Lost Tribes of Topside and the mechanics for running games using dinosaurs and other prehistoric beasts.

We hope to continue to gain steam into 2012 and are looking to see an increase in sales activity to help us produce more high quality gaming products for your VSF and Pulp gaming needs. Thank you for supporting us. It has been a good start and now we look to the future.
-Rob

Our Wargame Vault site

Products of The ArmChair General

When the Navy Walked Second Edition
When the Navy Walked Second Edition Revised
When the Navy Walked Quickplay
When the Navy Walked Pax Limpopo
When the Navy Walked: Conflict on Mars
When the Navy Walked: Airships and Skypirates
When the Navy Walked: Rorke's Drift
When the Navy Walked: Core Game Deck

It Came from Beyond the Still
It Came from Beyond the Still: Weapons Locker

Products of The ArmChair General and Partners

Miniatures - JTFM Enterprises
Zyklops German Landship
German Regular Infantry 2 poses (+2 coming soon)
German Elite Infantry 2 poses (+2 coming soon)
German Command Pack (Coming Soon)
Littleton British Landship (Coming soon)
British Regular Infantry 2 poses (+2 coming soon)
British Elite Infantry 2 poses (+2 coming soon)
British Command Pack (Coming Soon)
French Regular Infantry 2 poses (+2 coming soon)
French Elite Infantry 2 poses (+2 coming soon)
French Command Pack (Coming Soon)
Cyclosoramia American Landship (Coming Soon)
American Regular Infantry 2 poses (+2 coming soon)
American Elite Infantry 2 poses (+2 coming soon)
American Command Pack (Coming Soon)
Martian Gaal Birdmen Regular Infantry 2 Poses (Coming Soon)
Martian Gaal Birdmen Elite Infantry 2 Poses (Coming Soon)

Miniatures - Rebel Minis Enterprises
Gray Abduction Packs
Gray Telepath Packs
Gray Skvani Warwalker

Know Your Roots

2012-01-11T15:22:00.001-05:00

I have always been very interested in genealogy and heritage. My parents would always tell me stories of my ancestors how we are a mixture of Irish, Scottish, German, English and Native American. It was fun listening to my grandfather on my mother's side talk about his side of the family who immigrated from Ireland as clan McElgun. My father's side the Adams, Dells and MacKinlays are of Scottish, German, and Irish decent.

I started doing a little digging and found out that we have some bonefide heroes in our family tree including people who fought in the American Revolutionary War, War Between the States, Korea and Vietnam as well as a multitude of other skirmishes and explorations into the New World.

Anyone who has tried to track down ancestors pre 1900s will tell you that it is not that easy. Luckily apparently much of the work was done for me because as I continued my search and found that we have many relatives who are into mapping out our history. I encourage you to check it out yourself for your own family if this is something that interests you. The new technology available is amazing and there are a good deal amount of electronic records available online.

I have so far only been able to track down my father's side of the family back to Ireland and England and that is specifically only on his father's side. My father's mother's side of the family remains a mystery although I do have her name and plan on searching for it in Dawes as I am told it is largely Cherokee and Native American heritage.

This has been a really fun project for me and a few family members have already contacted me with information regarding my mother's side of the family. I have not yet started on that side but I am sure we will end up somewhere in Germany from my grandma Ann and in Ireland from my Grandpa Robert.

Although this is not gaming related per-se for me this has been a really fun exercise. So far I have been lucky in that a lot of the work has been done already but I plan on keeping the records straight. So come check out my genealogy at The Adams Tribal Page. The names of living persons are hidden for security purposes.

DM Advice - There's No Rule for That!

2012-01-11T09:47:00.000-05:00

Almost every tenured DM has faced the challenge where a player character wanted to do something that was not covered by the rules. It could be that they want to use illusionary magic to cause an effect not covered by the rules. Alternatively, they could be attempting to do something that is just not entirely described in the rules per se like creating a new magical item using a combination of spells and feats. What should a DM do when they encounter such a situation?

As I have said countless times in this column for me the game is about telling stories and having fun. Sometimes the rules help move the fun along and other times the rules can cause the fun to become stagnate as the DM and possibly others sit around a table looking up esoteric rules for these situations. What then can the DM do to prevent the eventual bog-down of cross-referencing rules to the point of game shutdown? Well two things can help this really resources and politics.

Resources

Here there are many options including online resources, electronic resources, spot rulings and telling the player no. You can start by using online resources such as the d20 Pathfinder SRD and electronic pdfs of the Pathfinder books to make your rules searches more efficient. Sometimes a situation exists where there is no rule that is apparent and you must make an on-the-spot ruling (usually in the favor of the creative player). You could also use a similar rule to apply to this particular circumstance. For instance if you have a character wishing to lower another character from a dangling rope although the rules do not specifically detail this in climb you could either use a climb or a strength check depending on the circumstances. Lastly, and this is my least favorite, you just tell the player that it cannot be done.

Online Resources

There are countless online resources that I use in my games every session including Tavern NameGenerators, NPC Generators, Baby Name Lists, Town Name Generators, Random NameGenerators, Wikis of the Campaign World and the irreplaceable D20PathfinderSRD. The really cool thing about online resources is that you can use these during the game if you have a laptop or a tablet pc very easily. I use a laptop during our games to quickly cross-reference the rules and to look up important information on-the-fly.

Electronic Resources

If you purchase a store copy of the book, oftentimes the game companies run sales that allow you to pick up the pdf for pennies compared to the actual book cost. I find this invaluable as the number of times I have used an electronic copy of a book to quickly lookup a rule has far surpassed the amount of money that I paid for the product in terms of time spent looking up the answer.

Apart from electronic copies of the rules and campaign settings you might also want to check out programs specifically designed to help facilitate the game such as DM Genie or Hero Lab. For those DMs who run games virtually there are also tabletop roleplaying programs complete with virtual tabletops.

Spot Rulings

These can be tricky so I usually keep them to a minimum if at all possible because players prefer that the DM is using a set of standards that they can relate to. My situation is most likely different from their situation and although my grandfather’s family might own a dairy and I might have grown up with farm animals and know some very relevant details about a horse and exactly what it can do I prefer to allow the rules to speak to the majority of the situations that arise. Regardless of my preference however this article is specifically about what to do when there is no ruling and as such I would say that a DMs best bet for on-the-spot rulings is to be fair, be concise and be realistic as possible.

As an example, the players just had the cavern floor under them disintegrated by a beholder with a special feat that allowed him to do that. One, you do NOT have to tell the players that this is the reason and if they ask you can just smile. Two, I would have the players fall and take damage for falling. Three, hopefully you had already calculated the distance they fall. Perhaps you decide to allow for a Reflex save for all players to leap out of the way at the cost of their next move action? It’s really up to you as the DM but I would personally allow for the elective save of some kind by the players. If a creative player tries to use say his quarterstaff as a stick to help him leap out of the way of the falling floor maybe give him a +2 bonus. Nasty trick? Yep. In general I like to use the +2,-2, +4, -4, +6,-6, +8,-8 modifiers to rolls depending on the difficulty of the situation. Regardless of your spot ruling, stick to it for the situation at hand and try to develop a consistent approach.

Similar Rule

A player wants to do the classic swashbuckler maneuver of sliding down the sails using his knife. In Pathfinder at least I know there are no specific rules that cover this in the main book. A similar rule might be climb or it might be a combination of checks. In this case I might have the player make a climb check followed by an acrobatics check. If both were successful, he was able to perform the maneuver.

Another example would be controlling a summoned creature while inside of an obscuring mist or attempting to locate targets while inside an obscuring mist. In this situation, what I decided to do was to tell the player that he had to summon he creature directly outside of the mists close to his character and that I would then take the summoned creature and attack the nearest enemy of the character until no enemies were within sight. For the spell I told him that he would have to guess the location of the enemies and that, there was a chance that he would miss and not only miss but might end up hitting his friends if they were within close proximity to his targets. This is because obscuring mist blinds anyone inside of the mist and would therefore have detrimental effects on anyone attempting to control within the sphere of the spell. I am not saying that these rulings are cannon but they worked for me and they seemed to be fair to the players. Warning: This should be used sparingly as players will learn quickly that they can overcome the rules by being ‘creative’ and it might create a problem for the other players.

No is a word that DMs use too often that players despise. When I run a game I try to allow players to be creative but within certain limits. Normally everyone knows these limits but sometimes when we have a new player for instance, the limits are pushed. In these situations it is OK for the DM to simply say no. If countered with ‘well this is how the book does it’ you have a choice to make. You could either stick to your original no or you could look up the rule for yourself. If you stick to your original no you could tell the player that you will discuss it with them after the game or look up the rule after the game. If you look up the rule for yourself, you might be in for a bit of a ride.

I hate to say it but in many situations players seem to like to take rules from one area of a specific situation and attempt to apply the same rule to a completely different area or situation. In some cases they also quote material that is not cannon or is from alternate sources. This is where you as a DM have to be careful of engaging in rules disputes with potential rules lawyers. It has been my experience this is a very dangerous zone that can lead to players becoming increasingly frustrated. Again, the bottom line is that it is your call as the DM to make these calls. If it doesn’t make sense to you then tell the player no. If later you learn that this is a rule in the book either make a house ruling that says they cannot use this rule or apologize to the player and allow them to do it in the future.

Politics

A DM has to be many things: the enemies of the players, the voices of the kindly and vengeful NPCs, the eyes, ears and senses of the players, the creator of the world and the arbitrator of rules. This takes a great deal of political acumen to bring everyone together to tell an impromptu story with rules that are never going to cover every possibly situation or avenue. The best and most important tool that a DM can have in his toolkit is patience, understanding and political understanding. Imagination is very important as is the ability to be a ham at times but the biggest threat to games is the inability of a DM to allow the players to play heroes of the campaign world rather than just allowing them to play second fiddle to the major NPCs of the world who do everything and are all powerful. As a DM you have great power and great responsibility. Remember DMs – be humble but use your power if necessary.

Then there were More

2012-01-10T09:09:00.000-05:00

Thrum Mountainaxe, a human with dwarven blood has now joined the Kingmaker game. If you are following along they are in the tavern in Brevoy in called Umberhulk's Wake. They have just met and are about to start on the trek to Olag's Trading Post in the morning. This is a play by post game in which the players will be playing the Kingmaker Pathfinder Adventure Path. You can follow along here and the follow the forum here.

Players
Octavia - Summoner
Scionus Silverhairwhotalkstoomuch - Gnome Illusionist
Paw'le'eir - Polymorphed Elf "Cat" Sorcerer
Drex - Rogue
Grunyar Stonefist - Dwarf Oracle of Stone
Thrum Mountainaxe - Monk

It Came from Beyond the Still - Weapons Closet

2012-01-09T11:44:00.003-05:00

We are putting together rules for customizing your troops for the game. This will include additional scenarios and weapons for use in the It Came From Beyond the Still Game. Fun hillbilly weapons such as the Spud Cannon and Revenuer Weapons like the Mancatcher. Special thanks to Andy (Cultist#3) of Lead Adventurer Forum who has generously helped with this supplement which will be available soon from The ArmChair General.

This is now available as a pdf download from Wargamevault

Using Cards in WTNW

2012-01-09T09:01:00.001-05:00

In order to make game play more fluid we have started using cards to show orders. Although we have created a set of cards specifically for the game, you can use regular playing cards. Divide the cards up by suits giving one red suit and one black suit to each player or group of players. If necessary, use multiple packs of playing cards. It is a good idea for the players to pick up their cards and put them in a stack. This way the opposing player will not be able to count how many reds or blacks you may have remaining.

At the start of each phase, all players place a card face down on the table for each unit. The red cards indicate that the unit is being activated for this phase (ie firing in the shooting phase) and the black indicates a hold order meaning no action was given to this unit this phase.

For sabotage versus espionage, we use red as the activation and black as hold as per the normal but face cards indicate sabotage whereas low cards indicate espionage. During the sabotage phase of the game after all cards are placed the sabotage cards are revealed first by both sides followed by espionage cards.

You can also use a different set of cards to give two sets of 2-12 for internal hits thereby doubling the chances of a critical and use the cards in correspondence with the chart instead of rolling on the chart. You can do the same for sabotage tables. In this way, everyone can ensure fairness during the game and this coupled with the initiative rule allows for tournament play for When the Navy Walked.

When the Navy Walked On Historicon 2012

2012-01-06T11:00:00.000-05:00

I am considering very possibly attending Historicon 2012 this year to showcase the various games. I have never been to Historicon and am excited about the prospect of going to this very large gaming convention. I need some volunteers who know the rules well enough to help me put on several demos of the game. I am thinking games involving ground to air forces, airfleets only and aether forces as well as games set on Mars and in Earthin.

If I can get the approval I would like to get three tables to run games in one area of the convention. I will require one GM for each table and would like to put on about 12 games over the course of the convention. You would be free to design your own games or use any of our published scenarios.You could run as many games as you wish. Anyone that volunteers to run as a demo team will recieve a demo team tee shirt as well as some free product. This is it folks! This is the official launch of what I hope to be a great gaming company. Please let me know if you are interested.

WTNW - Core Game Deck! PDF and Preorders

2012-01-05T10:31:00.003-05:00

I have just finished working on cards for the When the Navy Walked game. These cards are intended to make game play faster and keep record keeping to a minimum. The cards are divided into four sections; Internal Hits, Sabotage, Orders, and Conditions. These cards are for use with WTNW Core Revised. Should this project be successful we will develop other card packs for the supplements.

Internal Hits
The Internal Hits cards can be shuffled together and drawn instead of rolling on the Internal Hits chart. In addition, once a machine or capital unit suffers an Internal Hit the card can be placed up next to the unit thereby keeping a record of the effects of the hit.

Sabotage
The Sabotage cards should be segregated into separate decks, one for machines and capital units and one for ground units. In lieu of rolling on the table the cards can be drawn from the deck and the results applied to the sabotaged unit.

Orders
The Orders cards should be extremely helpful. These cards show the orders given for a unit. Included with these cards is a new order The Hold Order. On each phase all players should place a card face down beside all of their units. In this way orders can be given in secret and neither side knows which enemy unit is actually being activated that phase.

Example: The German player has four units and wishes to shoot two of them. He places two shooting orders for the units that are going to receive the shoot order and two hold orders for the units that are not firing. Before the activation both players simultaneously flip over all of their cards revealing the units firing and those holding.

Important: Players reveal their orders simultaneously with the exception of the Sabotage order. During the sabotage phase it is necessary for a player to show all units that are committing sabotage and declare the target of their sabotage before the remainder of the cards are shown.

Example: The German player is committing sabotage from his Herr Untermarden Gizmos upon the Littleton Landship of the British. The British commander does not commit sabotage this turn. The German player is not using espionage. The British player is using Espionage on his Royce Armored Destroyers. Both players mark all units, the German player giving the Herr Untermarten Gizmos a sabotage order and the remainder of his units a hold order. The British player places an Espionage order on his Royce Armored Destroyers.

Conditions
These cards show the condition of a unit such as Shaken, Routed, and Disordered and should be placed face up beside the unit to indicate its condition.

WTNW Core - Game Deck Available Now!

Preorder the WTNW Core Game Deck! I am taking preorders for the printed version of the Game Deck for $20.00 usd plus shipping. If you are interested in obtaining a preorder for February please email thearmchairgeneral@whenthenavywalked.com with the subject Preorder Game Deck. All pre-orders will receive a free copy of When the Navy Walked Airships and Skypirates in pdf form, our newest supplement! Thank you!

MegaCon 2012 - Short Attention Span Games

2012-01-04T15:29:00.001-05:00

It's official! I will be down in Orlando, Florida for MegaCon 2012 this year working as a vendor with ScryingEye Games. I will have products of When the Navy Walked available for sale. In addition I will be running five short attention span games. Dominic and several others at MegaCon wanted to try out something new this year.

The format for the games are such as to be played quickly. These games are designed to be fast and furious and to be played in around an hour. The games are designed for people new to gaming to be able to experience the fun of roleplaying. I will be running as the official Scrying Eye Games representative and will be using their wonderful topo tiles and other maps for the games. I hope you can come out and support Scrying Eye Games and MegaCon.

I Jedi
Players: Six
System: Star Wars
Running Time: Approximately One hour
GM: Rob Adams
Description: It is the Old Republic. A war has broken out between the Republic and the Sith on a distant planet. The council has ordered an evacuation of the people of Sulan, a remote trading post deep in Sith territory. Your group of Jedi are to hold Sulian Pass at all costs.The sith are coming! This game is sponsored by Scrying Eye Games.

Lycan Rumble
Players: Six
System: Vampire, Old World of Darkness
Running Time: Approximately One hour
GM: Rob Adams
Description: Prince Marcus has instructed your coterie to investigate the suspected appearance of the lycans in the chinatown district. When you find them. Kill them. This game is sponsored by Scrying Eye Games.

A Seeker is Made
Players: Six
System: Pathfinder
Running Time: Approximately One hour
GM: Rob Adams
Description: Your party has recently found the legendary Box of Ordin. With it you will become rich and can overcome the tyrant Darken Rhal once and for all but unfortunately you have to escape the dungeon of Laeak the Ogre Magi and his monstrous horde and save the Princess of Damara. Loosely based on Terry Goodkinds A Wizards First Rule. This game is sponsored by Scrying Eye Games.

The Underworld
Players: Six
System: Pathfinder
Running Time: Approximately One hour
GM: Rob Adams
Description:The Keeper has tricked you into a rift and now you must fight your way out of the hordes of banelings and other creatures of the underworld. Will you find the Legendary Sword of Truth before its too late? Loosely based on Terry Goodkinds A Wizards First Rule. This game is sponsored by Scrying Eye Games.

Mail Run
Players: Six
System: Mongoose Traveler
Running Time: Approximately One hour
GM: Rob Adams
Description:You ship the Invictis just completed a one week jump of six parsecs heading to the Humanati outpost of Loran. A ship appears on the port and it begins to rapidly approach the Invictis blasting a hole in the side of the cargo bay. As it approaches your Eurisko combat program takes over but the blasted ship continues to dodge the shots. As they slam into the side of your ship and engage docking clamps out of the smoke you can see the wolf snouts of Verger pirates. What could possibly be in this mail run? This game is sponsored by Scrying Eye Games.

The Middle Ages - Morris Bishop

2012-01-03T17:42:00.000-05:00

I just finished Morris Bishops book The Middle Ages and was extremely pleased with the author's attention to detail as well as the format of the book and including the general flow and feel. Bishop does a fantastic job guiding the reader from the Romeo-British Carrolingian period through to the Early Middle Ages through the Dark Ages to the spurring of the Renaissance. This book is complete and full of very detailed descriptions of medieval life from the lowly serf to the noble lord. The book adequately covers the differences between feudalism and manorialism and illustrates the art of war, the art of architecture and the life of both the serf and noble. Bishop does an admirable job of defending the enlightened discoveries of the medieval times. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is a scholar of medieval history or who is interested in the period.

Skeletons Invade!

2012-01-03T15:41:00.000-05:00

It was not yet nine in the morning. We had not yet had our morning tea when a commotion abounded and General Merrywinkles came rushing out from the privy shouting obscenities. The host of walking corpses were too much for poor Miss Magpie who immediately feinted from the sight of such unruly behavior. It was up to Chapman, Bugler and myself to defend Her Lady Erime as we stood in the common waiting for the retched tumblers.

Suncoast Skirmishers Winter Offensive 2012!

2012-01-03T12:03:00.000-05:00

I will be at Suncoast Skirmisher's Winter Offensive 2012 on January 14th running demos of the game When the Navy Walked in the second session. We will have copies of all three books for sale! We would love for you to come out and support the game!

WTNW Initiative Errata

2012-01-02T16:00:00.000-05:00

When the Navy Walked Initiative Errata

After determining the number of Command Points per side each player will roll 1d6 until there are no ties. The player with the highest number has the initiative for the turn and may decide if they wish to move first or if they wish their opponent to move first. Movement is still handled in the order of command values and this rule is only used when units of equal command value are moved. For example: Fredric the Great's Steam Spiders are Command Value 12 and Nigel's Royce Armed Destroyers are Command Value 12. At the start of the turn Fredric won initiative and so is able to determine if he wishes to move his Steam Spiders before Nigel can move his Armed Destroyers.

Game Boards - Foam Insulation Experiment Pt I

2011-12-30T10:33:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I started working on a game board using some styrofoam and textured paint. I placed two empty cans together to make a sort of workbench outside and then covered both sections of the foam with the textured paint. I am hoping that the paint gives the board an uneven look so as to be more natural. After I was done coating the boards with the textured paint I left them to dry overnight.

This morning I went back and painted the first layer of the base coat over the top of the boards. You can see some of the white textured paint poking through since the green base is still wet. I am hoping once it is dry this will not be the case. After the paint dries in about four hours I will go back and determine if I need to apply a second base coat or if I am able to start on the layering of various shades of greens and browns to give it an earthly look.

When the coats are dry I will make a determination on the configuration of the boards since I have left them in their original shape. These are boards used to shore up insulation in the walls of houses. I am thinking I will cut them into sections so as to be able to use them in various formats. I was initially going to make a stream or river for my 20mm Vietnam but I have decided that can wait until I am satisfied with the results of the earth sections of the board.

This whole thing is really just an experiment as I have not done what I would normally do which is to glue down the foam to a piece of mdf to give it strength. So far it's all foam. The textured paint has given it some weight and durability however. What do you think?

Edit 4:09pm EST. I just finished the second coat of paint on the boards. I used a darker green. The Apple Barrel dark green that is available from your local Walmart. When this dries I will be adding browns and other greens to give the boards a random appearance.

Predator - Warengine

2011-12-29T15:24:00.002-05:00

Just got done playing Warengine Predator. We used figures from the Hero Scape line of miniatures for the heroes and from the Horror Clix Predators for the Predator. This is a modification of a scenario my buddy Ray did for convention games. My dad played the good guys lead by Dutch and I played the Predator. Dutch's mission was to find and rescue Anna whom the predator was using as bait to lure out the team.

One by one I eliminated the good guys using my laser until Billy using the Eagle Eye trait spotted the tell-tale sign of my invisible shield as I moved quickly in the trees. Dillion unloaded with his chain gun causing a casualty but I took out two more of the team.

Finally it was down to just Billy, Dutch and one other when I was able to take down Billy with a spear and the other guy but Dutch came in with flying colors. In the final showdown Dutch was seriously wounded by was able to take me down and rescue Ana.

After Dad defeated me as I set off the self destruct laughing at the inevitable demise of everyone in the jungle.
The thing I love about Warengine is that I can get a game in under an hour. Including setup time this game took about an hour and a half to put up and take down. We took turns moving our figures and the play was very smooth.

All-in-all the game was fairly even. I did not give the Predator any hero points. Hero points are used in the game to modify the dice roll by one point for each Hero point spent. I felt that the Predator had three hit points already and had the stealthy edge which made it almost impossible for the team to get off the first shots. Dad learned quickly however to use his reserve actions to place his guys on overwatch and keep an eye out for the big bad. Next time we might do a battle on Endor using Star Wars figures.

WTNW Demo - Battle of three armies

2011-12-28T09:43:00.004-05:00

A big thank you goes out to Bill and Sabrina for allowing me to run a game at their game store Sun Coast Comics. Their store is amazing guys! There is a full retail store chock full of goodies from gundam kits to GW miniatures and all kinds of comics in between. Their gaming space contains areas for card games, rpgs, painting stations, computer stations and six framed gaming tables for miniatures complete with full shelves of terrain ready for gaming. I was impressed! We also made a change to the main rules.

I arrived about an hour or so before Joey did and I setup a table with a small village and scientific station. We had a full table for this game and there were several people who came by to check out the cool steampunk miniatures. This mission was set on Venus and it featured the usual suspects of pieces of the British Northern Army and the German Kliensdeutschland Korps. The Germans also had the Ubertodd commanded directly by a lesser General Todd as Sub CinC and the British had a pair of Ruan Martian Fliers. The Germans also had a captured Skvani Death Walker and this beast dominated the table for most of the game. This was an experimental battle using multiple capital units and machines per side and less infantry. Each side had three battalion of infantry and one battalion of elite infantry. The Germans claimed a minor victory.

The second game featured a Martian guarded cannon. I used the really cool Warmachine cannon and setup a control station. The Martians used the Overlord invasion force and had four tripods and one Death Walker. The British had the Littleton Landship and several machines and the Germans had the Zyklops Landship and several machines. The object was to either capture or destroy the cannon which had a 7 threshold. This game used lots of sabotage and maneuvering. In the end the Overlords were defeated by the combined might of the British and Germans who then later fought a small skirmish over the cannon with their remaining forces.

We ran into a snag which was quickly fixed. Whenever you are playing a tournament game or you need to determine who moves first such as if you are trying to out maneuver your enemy's walkers or ufos.

WTNW Initiative Errata
As an addendum to the main rules After determining Command Points each player will roll 1d6 with ties being rerolled until there are no ties. Whoever rolls the highest has initiative and may either move first or force their opponent to move first. The order of movement is still determined by highest to lowest Command Value but use the initiative roll for determining units that move first which have the same Command Value. This is an additional rule designed to streamline game play. It is not an optional or advanced rule.

KingMaker Play by Post and Holiday Tidings

2011-12-23T11:31:00.001-05:00

I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I hope you have a wonderful holiday filled with lots of gaming presents and joy! Hopefully everyone got to play some this year. I know I had a good year of making new friends and am happy to say thank you to everyone of my readers and friends out there who contribute to making this blog successful and in so doing add a great deal of enjoyment to the hobby for me as a game master and designer.

As a reminder the When the Navy Walked: Airships and Skypirates is available for anyone wanting to give that special someone a steampunk filled Christmas or Hanukkah. The book is available from us directly and will be available in retail stores directly after Christmas break.

We have openings in our Kingmaker Play by Post game. At present we could use a few fighter types. If you are interested they are just about to embark to Olaf's Trading post and the adventure is just starting so hurry up and sign up! You can find information in the Kingmaker page and the use the forum for posting .

We have opened up the armchairgeneral1 forums for Q&A on our WTNW products as well as play by post games. If you are interested in starting your own play by post game we are providing a spot where you can meet and do so. Should you want to start a play by post game email me at cronickain at gmail dot com.

WTNW Airships and Skypirates - Porky's Review

2011-12-22T14:40:00.000-05:00

Porky over at The Expanse has done a marvelous review on the newly released WTNW Airships and Skypirates. As usual, I think Porky covered all the aspects of the game. The review can be found here.

DM Advice / Player Advice - Play to Win?

2011-12-21T09:17:00.004-05:00

Today Porky's blogpost over at The Expanse hit a nerve but in a good way. For me the game is about playing and not so much about winning though it is wonderful fun to win it is also equally as important to be a fair and challenging opponent and to play with good sportsmanship. Back to Porky's post then.

Porky (after recent discussions with Porky I will no longer use the qualifier 'he' or 'she' when referring to the Porky) brought to my attention a book called First and Last Men which as Porky Puts it is "It's a stunning piece of science fiction setting out a future history at massively varied scales." While I have not yet read the book having just learned about it this morning I can say that I was taken aback by the blurb from the book which Porky so kindly posted.

Bringing to mind this quote from the book which was what hit a nerve and in so doing resulted in my posting this morning. "When we play a game, as it should be played, we strain every muscle to win; but all the while we care less for winning than for the game. And we play the better for it. ..."

Over the years I've gamed with many people. Sometimes winning is all they care about even at the expense of other people. Sometimes people even try this with RPGs but it is more common in wargame settings. After all, a DM/GM can always put a kibosh on someone playing 'against the system'.

Everyone plays games for different reasons. Some play for escape. Some play for the challenge. Some play to learn and others play to win. Some care about winning more than others. In sports we are taught to shake the losing players had with grace and if we are the losing team to accept the handshake with dignity.

Sadly, some wargamers and RPG players lose this somewhat between the critical hits and rules discussions.

What do we lose by being kind and taking defeat and winning with grace? What do we lose by playing the game instead of the person? What do we lose by being fair? What do we gain? Perhaps then it is more important in the long run to foster good camaraderie and friendships through losing AND winning with grace and caring more about the game than winning - but with an eye towards the win and we will be all the better for it.

Super Dungeon Session 24 Days 61 & 62

2011-12-20T23:22:00.000-05:00

Caldmoore
The party arrives at Caldmore and stay at the Rogue Nobleman Inn late at night. Immediately they are met by closed doors to the town. A guard shouts down to the party that since they are with Amos he would let them in but the tiger would require a leash. Scratch did not like this. The rest of the party was indifferent to Scratch's pain. The keen eyes of the party picked up that something was amiss and no townsfolk were to be seen. Inquiring they were told of the curfew and that Lt Callam would address them in the morning.

After a nice rest in a good room indoors for a change the party meets downstairs to the stylings of Quinland's bardic followers. In the morning they meet Harry the proprietor and his serving wenches. After a fine and full breakfast and many tales and songs the group decide to head out but not before meeting a Helmite cleric who asks to tag along. They spend a day in the small town of Caldmore and are able to procure some magical trinkets, sell some of their own wares and barter with the locals and merchantfolk.

One bit of excitement was when the party had a brief encounter with someone using invisibility who tried to pick pocket Tyne but was unsuccessful to which Tyne, Vayne and Scratch the tiger chased the invisible person up the side of the inn and onto the roof where they lost his sent.

Surprisingly in another district of town Meg and Vayne were again interrupted by interlopers this time visible ones that appeared to be in their late teens who when faced with the very obvious fury of a tiger decided to take the prudent course and not waylay the band. Thus they were able to keep the ring of sustenance that was purchased from the magical wares shop.

The remainder of the morning was spent gathering supplies, horses, food, a wagon and other traveling necessities including fur to protect from the upcoming winter cold. The armorsmith Griet and the stablemaster were very happy to oblige the companions.

That afternoon their shopping spree came to an end at the aforementioned tavern where they were finally greeted by the Lt Callam who after briefly looking them up and down ended the game with the cliffhanger phrase "I've never seen any of you before. You must be new in town." then saying slowly "You couldn't have committed the murders. I need your help."

Flash Fearsday - Santa Ablaze

2011-12-19T12:51:00.003-05:00

A 140 character or less horror story challenge.

Santa Ablaze

The Chimney was ready

The fire was ablaze

Mommy had enough

Santa would pay

Edit: I was on Jennie's blog and saw the link to the I Write Like and thought I'd give it a go. I tried three different writing samples. One DM Advice Article, One blurb from WTNW and one from the post about Saturday's gaming. The DM Advice article said Arthur Clark, the WTNW Blurb said Mario Puzo and the last one said I write like Corey Doctorow. What I gathered from all of this is my writing style is unique and I adapt it to change the type of writing that I am doing. I suppose this is true for everyone but this was an interesting revelation for me. Thanks Jennie for posting and welcome back!

December Gaming - Heroquest and Modern Microarmor

2011-12-19T11:43:00.004-05:00

I hope you had a great fun weekend! I played two games this weekend (and a game of Princess and the Pea with my daughter). We also got a chance to ride the Big Red Train in St Augustine and check out the Night of Lights and Santa's Workshop with the kiddos. On to the gaming!

As a quick note the pdf version of When the Navy Walked: Airships and Skypirates is available on wargamevault. The books are at the printer and will be sent to our distributors as soon as we receive them. Also, I will be running demos at Winter Offensive in January and demos the week after Christmas at various game stores in and around Jacksonville, FL.

Saturday Morning
Saturday morning I played Microarmor at Chris Stockton's house. We spent most of the morning and early afternoon just talking and messing with his guns. I really enjoyed the time we spent just hanging out. What was really cool though was that the new guy who showed up (it was just Chris, John and me) was John Burford author of LRRP: Team Leader and a veteran and patriot of the Vietnam War.

John was a LRRP team leader in I Corps as the title of his book suggests and he was great fun to hang out with. He was full of stories and I was very happy to meet him. We will be doing some gaming with him at his house in the near future. It was a real treat to meet him. The cool thing about John is that many of the spec ops guys or guys from Nam I've met although willing to talk about their experiences normally do not like to play them out in game. I asked him about how he felt some specific S&D type mechanics could play out in SAR type Nam games and he was more than happy to tell me. He is also more than happy to play Nam so sometime in Feb I am hosting a Vietnam game at my house.

Chris has the pics of the Microarmor game so I will have to post them later.The game was set in France somewhere as a training exercise between US and French AFVs. We had no mortar, arty or air support and no tanks.

The on the US side was John and Chris playing with a company of American AFVs. He had a company of strikers with 50 cals and 3 with 105. On the French side was me playing with a company of French VIBCs with 25mm guns. John attacked from behind the fields. Chris threw in and took a platoon of John's strikers and attacked me from the side over some forested hilly area. I dug in at the town and lighthouse and in the forested hilly area. The 105s had range on me so when they stayed back and pummeled me with their long-range guns I had to make a rush from my dug-in position.

I was able to take out two of their 105s and two of their strikers but they took out the entire platoon that was dug in on the hill because I had to rush out and close the range. When they finally got to my position I was so dug in that they would have taken massive casualties had they attacked. I was in a very advantageous position. They had more firepower with the 105 but could not seem to get past the defenses by rolling enough 1s. In the end the game was a stalemate but we had a lot of fun.

Although he was not there with us physically we did get a call from our friend Mick. As a Christmas gift Mick gave me some orphaned Luch the German AFVfor my German microarmor. It was very nice of him.

Saturday Night
I ran a hero-quest like game of Pathfinder using dungeon delving rules from heroscape and the pathfinder rules for fighting. The game was ran Friday night for Mel, Dan and Jess. They used their Dragonlance characters. The game was a lot of fun. I even remembered some of the flavor text from the game "The foul gargole Vaarag has stolen the gems" and "The weapons on this rack are chipped, rusted and broken - there is nothing here that the heroes would want." From memory! It was great fun to throw out the old adventures and use the old hero quest models. I will post pictures as soon as I can get them off my phone.

WTNW Demos

2011-12-19T11:37:00.000-05:00

I will be off the week after Christmas and am planning on running some demos of our Victorian Science Fiction wargame at the game stores here in Jax, FL and nearby. If you would like a demo and live in Florida we might be able to make an arrangement to meet and play. Let me know!

Proposed Demo Dates
Sun Coast Comics, Jacksonville, FL - Tuesday (time tba)
Borderlands Comics and Games, Jacksonville, FL - Wednesday (time tba)

WTNW - Airships and Skypirates - Available Now!

2011-12-16T15:12:00.001-05:00

WTNW: Airships and Skypirates Available Now!

Take your battles to the skies and beyond!

For years, The Great Powers have ruled the skies above with their airships and battlecasters as unquestioned masters but with the discovery of Earthin the Skypirates have emerged and are terrorizing the citizens and challenging the Great Powers domination of the skies and the Aether.

When the Navy Walked Airships and Skypirates is a miniature rules set that covers an alternate history of Victorian Science Fiction set in the skies above the universe of When the Navy Walked!

When the Navy Walked Airships and Skypirates is not a stand-alone product and a copy of When the Navy Walked is required to play the game.

New Rules for Airship Combat Including:

-History of the Airships and Skypirates
-Description of Airship units in the WTNW world
-Rules for airship combat!
- Fleet rules for 1/1200 sky and in space battles
- Six new scenarios
- New edges and flaws for airship combat including rocket packs and bombs!
- New Aetheric combat chart
- Multiple Army lists for all three theaters of operation!

When the Navy Walked - Quick Naming Contest

2011-12-16T11:45:00.000-05:00

I will give a free pdf of When the Navy Walked Core Revised ANDa pdf copy of When the Navy Walked Conflict on Mars AND a pdf copy of When the Navy Walked Airships and Skypirates when it comes available to the first person who can list the titles and names of all of the products we have available for sale and those that are expected by the end of summer 2012.

Let the games begin!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Winter Offensive - When the Navy Walked

2011-12-15T11:47:00.000-05:00

From now until 12/19/11 we are taking part in the WargameGameVault Winter Offensive Sale. All our products are 20% off!

Super Dungeon Session 23 Day 61

2011-12-14T19:23:00.004-05:00

For those of you keeping up when we last left the heroes they had escaped the vampire lord's mansion with the little girl in tow. The players rescued the girl from the clutches of the Vampire lord and made some powerful friends in the process. The baron himself threw them a huge party and set them up with their own lands just outside of town between the town proper and the blockhouse that is the Spinning Rat Tavern. They have setup a base camp of sorts at the town of Fairhaven and have been given an assignment to deliver a letter to the Duke of Mistledown on behalf of the Baron.

They have been gone many days and have already encountered highway bandits in the form of hill giants which they have evaded, a forest with creatures that seem out of place like axebeaks and giant pike, and a woods where the forces of another world seem to crossover to the world of Faerun.

On the way they have fought draconians and other beasts from Kyrnn and met Brownie Quicklings from Grayhawk. Mostly recently a new traveling companion, a knight calling himself Amos and his retinue a band of bards, have signed on to follow Quinlan.

Yesterday, the party found some ruins that they were told mysterious disappear and reappear like magic. They were able to overhear the conversation of humaniods speaking goblinoid and talking about roasting a few brownies for the pot. They charged in and they and had it out with an small band of bugbears leading orcs and an ogre. The Ogre was defeated by a combination of a shocking grasp spell delivered by Tyne's bat familiar and the heavy crossbow shots from Sigrid's deadly weapon. Of course the ogre did get an attack of opportunity at the familiar as it passed within and did get a nasty smacking by the ogre's greatclub. Quinlin provided much needed support in the form of encouraging song that bolstered his friends and the bard was able to take down one of the beasts with his bow. The majority of the creatures including the bugbear leader Griaem was hidden within the ruins themselves.

The fight proceeded around the ruins into the heart of enemy territory then and then the fight was really on! Tyne made a daring attack leading with both rapers and dropping from the height of the ruins onto the back of Griaem the Bugbear leader to take him out. The game was an artistic a combination of graceful maneuvers on behalf of the party and savage tactics meted out by Sigrid and Vayne who is the large lion in the picture (the smaller lion is his familiar Scratch).

Let me take a second to say how great these maps are to be able to use them for above ground and below-ground in the same battle. I differentiated the levels by placing crystals on the bases on whoever was above on the top of the ruins.

The maps are a combination of Scying Eye Games Forest Roads package and the Shines mappack from Piazo. I think they work rather well together myself.

Earthin: The Hollow Earth

2011-12-14T10:39:00.000-05:00

Deep beneath our very feet lies the world of Earthin. A Hollow-Earth that is home to the lands and creatures of the past. Fierce and cunning beasts and lost civilizations bring untold adventure to those brave enough to attempt to tame its wildness.

The Atlantians and Lemurians jealously guard their technology and wage secret wars using the lost people as their armies while the Devlyn wait from their cloud cities sharpening their claws for a final showdown with the Skvani of Mars. Visit the lost kingdoms of Roma Secondus, The Holy Egyptian Empire, The Lost City of the Aztecs, The Thunderbird people and other lost kingdoms - forgotten in the sands of time.

Earthin: The Hollow Earth features armies for the Lost Civilizations, The Atlantians and Lemurians as well as rules for dinosaurs and combat in the wilds of the world beneath. Earthin: The Hollow Earth is not a stand-alone product and a copy of When the Navy Walked Core will be required to play the game.

WTNW Skirmisher Question

2011-12-13T11:39:00.001-05:00

I was just talking with my friend about skirmish games and rank and file games. The WTNW Saving the World Just Before Tea is shaping up to be a game in which one can run units or simply play a few individuals on a table but it is kind of at a crossroad and to continue forth I need some input.

The Pulp Alley game I wrote with David Phipps back three + years ago was more of what people consider 'skirmish games' but what I am wanting to do with this is to write a game that uses 1:1 scale and is playable similarly to 40k or Warmachine. Right now there are three rolls. Roll to hit, roll to save, roll to wound and each step figures modifiers for different elements.

For instance, before rolling to wound a target with armor, an attacker calculates their adjusted weapon strength score based on its armor penetration value compared to the target's armor value and when rolling to save a unit calculates the effects of terrain. This can all become very cumbersome to calculate but each degree of realism adds an extra element to the game.

What are your thoughts on skirmish gaming? What would you like to see in a WTNW skirmisher game? Do you want 1:1 with only a handful of guys forming a league or troop or would you rather have a game that uses 10-12 man units? Your suggestions are welcome and are appreciated.

Mr Heat Miser Prelim

2011-12-12T15:13:00.003-05:00

Stating out Heat Miser

Tonight I will be posting the first of the pair of giants from that well-loved fantasy “A Christmas without a Santa Claus” – The Hot-Head himself, King of Flames, Duke of Summer, Master of Fire, Mr. Heat Miser.

To start off with I want to say that I am doing this purely for fun and only and have no intention of this being ‘the official stats’ for anything. I want to do more than just have a bard Fire Giant though. Here is some of what I am currently tinkering with as far as abilities though this is subject to change as I finalize the brute.

Preliminary Ideas

15^th level Bard advanced Fire Giant with the ability to use level 1-4 fire based spells as a supernatural ability at will and an ability to summon human-sized “fire giants” that look exactly like small versions of Mr. Heat Miser X amount of times per day. He is going to be huge size though I briefly tinkered with gargantuan I think that huge is more fitting as he is very big in the cartoon and movie but is still proportional to a human.

His rock throwing ability will be that much more potent due to his size and strength increases. His base natural armor will increase and he will get a boatload of skills, feats and abilities to which I intend to focus toward the good Mr. Heat Miser’s bardic side. He will be Chaotic Neutral but with a slight nod toward pranks and being naughty. I envision his Challenge Rating being in the mid to high 20s.

He's going to be a singing-dancing hot-head with a bad temper and a tenancy to shoot first and ask questions later. He will have the ability to alter the weather to make it warmer but I am not entirely sure how I am going to go with it as in the show he was able to do that to an entire town. Like he says "I'm too much!"

I leave you with a song and dance.

Edit: Joey, my layout artist has said that I have officially lost my mind. Maybe it's time to start thinking about Mad Scientists and Automatons for WTNW?

WTNW - Discovery of Atlantis

2011-12-12T10:22:00.000-05:00

The underwater colony of Atlantis found by Salvatore de Jesus.

WTNW Airships & Skypirates update - The book art is completed and entering the final stages of layout. I am pushing my guys to get this completed by the end of the week. It should be on sale next week as pdf and will be going to the printers this weekend!

When the Navy Walked - RPG/Skirmisher Question

2011-12-09T17:24:00.000-05:00

I have started writing an RPG using a new system for When the Navy Walked. I am a long time role player as well as miniature gamer and I want to offer something that is fun with a full ready-to-use VSF world that contains all the elements of When the Navy Walked. So far it is turning out to be equally as interesting as the skirmisher I am currently working on. What would you like to see in the rpg or in the skirmisher from the world of When the Navy Walked?

What kind of mechanics would you like to see? I am going to heavily rely on Aether as a 'power' that is usable in the game to give players that want 'magical' types something to do but the majority of the game is going to be based on adventure and have a pulpy gentlemanly feel. Likewise, some races such as the Atlantians and Grays will have access to a limited form of psionics.

What I really want to do is to offer a game that is playable both in the short and in the long term. I want to have a richly detailed world featuring elements that you already have seen and some that you have not for When the Navy Walked universe and combine the mechanics of the games that I have loved in the past with a system that is easy to learn and fun to play. Good thing I am not expecting too much.

What do you like about systems? What do you dislike? It's time to get into the nitty gritty while I am working on fluff and race descriptions before we get into the hard core mechanics of the game. I will say I do have a streamlined version of the rules worked out so far but I want to hear from you. What do you like in a game? What do you dislike?

WTNW Skyship

2011-12-08T19:24:00.000-05:00

A teaser at the art for the up-coming Airship and Skypirates!

Open Call!

2011-12-08T19:22:00.000-05:00

If you are interested we are starting the kingmaker pathfinder modules right now. If you want to play shoot me an email at cronickain @ gmail dot com and we will get you setup in the play by post game! So far we are off to a good start but there's still time to join!

Mr Heat Miser & Mr. Cold Miser

2011-12-08T17:50:00.003-05:00

Stay tuned for stats for both of these giants for Pathfinder. Optionally you could use the Frost Giant and Fire Giant.

DM Advice - Converting Screen to Paper Pt II

2011-12-05T10:03:00.006-05:00

Thanks for all the feedback! WOW! Legend of the Seeker has a great deal of fans. Many have asked me to not butcher the game so I won't but what I will do is give options. If you remember, the purpose of this thread was to discuss different ways one could change a character type they liked from media into a playable type for a Pathfinder game.

There are a few different ways one can approach this. One of them is to do a new class for each type. The new class for the confessor for instance would have limited magical powers of domination that would grow throughout the levels in strength and duration.

Another way to do this is through the use of a specific magical item that follows the character throughout their career. The seeker would have a magical sword which would grow with him in power as he grew in levels.

Remember in the world of the Seeker magic is special. The spells would be different and the items would be different. The magic would not be usable by just anybody except in potion form. In the game there would have to be some kind of magic sense, mundane, and pristine untouched feats that would allow the use or non-use of magic.

Another way I could do it is to use the existing classes as Ladyskunk has suggested and just modify them a little by changing out some talents. In such a situation I might use an aristocrat or perhaps a modified witch type and add the confessor's ability to dominate others and her ability to use two-weapon fighting in an almost rogue-like ability.

The last way to do this is through the use of specific feats and possibly new feats. I could also give both the seeker and confessor the dodge arrows, dodge and mobility feats fairly early as they demonstrated them in the shows multiple times.Since not all wizards can heal in the show I could decide to make a feat that allowed Wizards of the First Order to take the ability to do healing magics once they reached this peak of power.

The key with any of this is since Pathfinder is a level-based game you want to allow them to grow in power. You do not want to start off all-powerful. It is possible to give the confessor the ability to dominate others so many times per day from the get-go and perhaps give the seeker some magical attacking abilities but do not go right from the bat and give the Confessor the Blood Trance or the Seeker the Power of Oden.

Here is one take on a Confessor type using a rogue as a base

Abilities of a Confessor

Feats: unarmed attack, two weapon fighting, dodge, mobility, dodge arrows, spring attack

Talents: Sneak Attack (as per rogue)

Spell-Like Abilities: Dominate Person (touch) Duration: Indefinite (1^st), Command (Confessed) (1st), Detect Thoughts (2nd), Suggestion (ranged) (3rd), True Seeing (6^th), Dominate Person (range) (8th), Dominate Person (mass range) - Blood Trance Duration: Indefinite (10^th)

As you can see my purpose was not to butcher or change your idea of what this story is or should be about but rather point to ways to be playable. If you would like I can expand on this and actually do more work into the specifics - perhaps work up an actual Seeker Class, Confessor Class, Mort Sith and Wizard class using the show as a guide? That is entirely up to you as I am going to base my decision to continue this thread with the responses I receive. If I do not receive many I will keep what I have designed to myself as I do not wish to offend anyone with my ideas of the Seeker campaign which may be different from your own.

Happy Gaming!

WTNW Army Builder

2011-12-04T18:54:00.001-05:00

We are currently working on developing an army builder for When the Navy Walked. The material from the WTNW Core, WTNW Pax Limpopo, WTNW Conflict on Mars and WTNW Airships and Skypirates will be part of the program. Later updates will include the Earthin & Atlantis as well as the Venus and Mercury book and the various books for the Great Powers.

DM Advice - Telling Stories

2011-12-02T17:03:00.002-05:00

As Peter puts it on his blog CanadianRPGGuy in his post on Cheating Players "DMs should remember they are not gods but very powerful bards." As I was reading his post on cheating players I laughed at a few of his examples. For instance, he describes one player new to his group that tried to bring in a 5th level Paladin with a +5 Holy Avenger! Obviously that's a cheating player! Then he ended with the part about DMs being bards and how he fudges like most DMs I know in favor of the players. This got me to thinking about some gamers I've played with over the years that are confrontational and what I did to attempt to curve the issues.

I think Peter puts it very well in his blog in giving some examples of what a DM can do to try to prevent these issues from occurring such as describing how a hit misses instead of just saying that the players misses and to monitor dice rolls to some degree. All of this can be very good tools for DMs who want to try to encourage players to not cheat but I think the key point he hit in his article was that of the fact that gamers like description.

To expand on this idea let's consider for a moment the fact that almost all gamers play the games they do because of some hero (or villain) they saw in a movie or read in a book. In many cases this is amplified multiple times and even exponentially when one considers the multiple sources in fantasy and science fiction literature and media available. So then what is our jobs as DMs? Is it police? Is it storyteller? Is it rules laywer? It is judge? In a word. Yes. It is all of these things.

I believe a good game is centered around three principles.

1) There is a defined story arc or campaign in which the players are involved and are corporately working together to complete. I say corporate and not cooperation because it is not always a cooperate game and the characters may be willing to work towards a goal but not always in the same manner.
2) The rules (for how characters are able to interact) are clearly defined and the players and DM understand that the rules are mutable for other situations (such as monsters, encounters, environmental effects) and the like.
3) There is a level of trust between the players and the DM

For me the first and third principle are probably the most significant with number two following a close third. What really makes it for me is that there is a trust between the players and the DM that allows the players to be less concerned with the arbitration of the rules and the results of their rolls and more concerned with the telling of their story. Again, Peter hit the nail on the head - we are bards.

It is our job to tell the story. We are the eyes, ears and other senses of the players. We describe what they see and they describe how they react. Together the storytelling can form intricate cycles where the DM describes and the players react that involve other external circumstances and individuals.

So what's a good story all about then?

A good adventure story has three elements within its plot.
1) Antagonist(s) - The bad guy(s)
2) Protagonist(s) - The people who help (not always good guy(s))
3) Reason - This is the reason for the story/motivation of the bad guy or environmental condition that persists that has brought about the consequences of what is about to occur

I realize this is a super-simplified version of the storytelling process and there are red herrings, plot twists, danger, investigation, discovery, betrayal, love, death and conquest among other elements within most stories but the point is that you have to have the three basic principles before you can really have a story. You have to have bad guys - after all what's Zeus without Hades and what's Simon without Goliath? You have to have helpful guys - where would Hercules be without Mentor? Finally, you have to have a story - "And they all got into the boat because they felt they really should" is not as compelling as they were seeking the golden fleece to save the kingdom.

A good story can be long or short, come quickly or slowly. Sometimes good stories are made on the fly while others take time to craft. Sometimes a good story takes root right from the beginning of what you had originally thought would be a throw-away adventure whereby your players were to take out the local kobold leader. Sometimes a good story can take time to develop through random clues throughout adventures. This is a good way to have a larger campaign working behind the scenes while your heroes work on seemingly unrelated issues. The key to a good story though is one that is believable and that has all of the elements that allow the players to become significant characters in the town, in the city, in the country or in the world.

This is a game about heroes and heroes have stories - lots of em. If you take a look at any classical Greek Mythology you see a myriad of stories around the heroes. Look at the Iliad. Did the heroes only have one story? Only one adventure?

So get out there and tell some stories and let the dice roll where they may!

WTNW Airships and Skypirates - What You Get

2011-12-02T13:27:00.003-05:00

ACG003 is over 100 pages as the book is chock full of information, battles, maps, artwork and almost 20 army lists! The rules include an all new game for fleet-only battles in the skies and in space using 1/1200 scale miniatures. This cost for the print version is $30.00 and the PDF will be comparable to the other WTNW titles already available.

What you get:

History of the Airships and Skypirates
Description of Airship units in the WTNW world
All new rules for 3d combat!
Dogfighting rules for small flying unit battles including

Areal maneuvers
Stalling
Tactics

All new rules for battles using 1/1200 scale fleets in the sky and in space including

Fleet formations
Flagship operations
Fleet orders

Six new scenarios (two air-ground, two air-air, two aethership combat)
New edges and flaws for airship combat including rocket packs and bombs
New Aetheric combat chart
Multiple Army lists for all three theaters of operation!

DM Advice - Running Evil Campaigns - Part I

2011-12-01T10:46:00.000-05:00

Whether cheesy villains out to get the hero at any cost, reformed criminals, thugs and cutpurses or antiheroes eventually as a DM your group is going to ask you if you will run an ‘evil’ game. Wait! Have not I been saying that gaming is a good thing about heroes versus evil? Yes. Well then how could I possibly write an article about the benefits of an evil campaign? Good question, glad I asked it.

To start with, after you are done coughing down your pizza or spilling your drink, you will want to ask the first obvious question to your players. “Why do you want to play an evil game?” The answers may shock you.”I want to play a cool class I saw in the book.” “I have always wanted to see how the other side lives.” “Cthulhu made me do it” “I had a bad day at work.” The answers can be as varied as the people are in your group. The reason you want to know the why is so that you can work on the how.

If they want to play an evil game just so they can bash the garbage out of common townsfolk then you might want to consider letting them blow off some steam with a dungeon crawl in the game you are in. Honestly, those types of evil games while fun at first get boring rather quickly for the DM and eventually for the players as well. Though if this is your cup of tea (evil tea that it is) you should ignore my advice and play slaughter the common folk with your group. You will not hear me complaining.

The purpose of the game is to have fun right? Right. With that in mind what is more fun than a game of antiheros? We recently played a game with antiheroes in which the players were bad guys working for other bad guys but who were equal opportunity bad guys. By that I mean that the organization of which they belonged pretty much was out for themselves and although they were ‘lawful’ by name they were more chaotic in the actual operation. This type of game can be a lot of fun. You could develop a very good storyline where the players are building their base of operations and have a take-no-prisoners approach.

In our Against the Heroes game the players actually played against their other characters. This campaign was an alternating Tuesday game that was ran to show the continuing story-arc of the Nightlord Saga that the players were involved. We all had a good time playing the game to the climax where the players delivered the sword of Kings and helped save the world from a worse evil.

The backdrop for such a game is just as important as the story that you are telling. An evil game set in the middle of the Harper’s lands might be much more challenging than an evil game set in Zhentil Keep depending on how it is ran. The key to location is to make sure there is lots going on to keep the players entertained. I remember some of Bob Salvatore’s books such as the Halfling’s Gem set in the politically intriguing Calimshan. I have been lucky enough to have players that are flexible to want to play both good and evil games but are good hearted enough to not want to go slaughter everyone just to slaughter them. In a place like Calimshan this is very important because the evil boss is not such a nice guy and players can find themselves taken out by their patron just as quickly as they can find themselves taken out by their enemies.

As you can see, evil games can be more than just kill the peasant and burinate the village. They can be about redemption and about survival but most of all they should be about adventure! In part II I will discuss some possible archtypes that work in an evil game and some that do not and why as well as give some ideas for story arch that might be just what your black hearted gamers want.

Have you ever been in an ‘evil’ game? How did you like it? What was your favorite part about it? Do you agree that location is important?

Mark Twain's Birthday

2011-11-30T16:49:00.001-05:00

Today is Mark Twain's birthday. He was one of my favorite writers. Here's a few of my favorite quotes.

"There is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress."
MARK TWAIN, Following the Equator

"It is a subject that is bound to stir the pulses of any man one talks seriously to about, for in this age of inventive wonders all men have come to believe that in some genius' brain sleeps the solution of the grand problem of aerial navigation--and along with that belief is the hope that that genius will reveal his miracle before they die, and likewise a dread that he will poke off somewhere and die himself before he finds out that he has such a wonder lying dormant in his brain."
- Letter from Mark Twain, San Francisco Alta California, August 1, 1869

Behold the fool saith, "Put not all thine eggs in the one basket"--which is but a manner of saying, "Scatter your money and your attention;" but the wise man saith, "Put all your eggs in the one basket and--WATCH THAT BASKET."
- Pudd'nHead Wilson

GM Advice - Converting from the Screen to Paper- Part One

2011-11-29T12:19:00.000-05:00

How many times have you seen a cool new show or read a great book and have wanted to play out the characters? How difficult would it be to move that character class or type to a class in Pathfinder or DnD? Have you ever tried to convert a concept in a movie or a book to a game only to end up in total failure when the concept was either way too overpowered or grossly under-powered? How can one convert an idea from a movie or a book that they've seen to a playable class?

I have been watching the Legend of the Seeker on Netflix. The Legend of the Seeker is based around the Sword of Truth novels by Terry Goodkind. In the show as in the books the Seeker is a hero who has been called to fight an awesome darkness. The Seeker is an almost mystical figure of myth and legend who is born whenever there is a great evil to overcome.

Like all good heroes the Seeker is not alone in his quest. In the show the Seeker has a female compaion who can turn the minds and souls of others called a Confessor and a very powerful wizard of the First Order. The Confessor is the judge of the lands of the world and no one can lie to a Confessor. The Wizard of the First Order is a powerful mage who is able to use both arcane magic and arcane healing.

In this series I will be taking a look at the Pathfinder game and considering the ways in which I could use existing classes to create alternate class features for the Seeker, The Confessor and the Wizard of the First Order. I am considering using the Witch, the Wizard and the Fighter base classes and I plan on modifying them to fit within the abilities of the above character types.

A First Look

First we have to look at what they can do,what gives them their power and how they function in the world.

Seeker - Power granted by the magic in the Sword of Truth and a magical sense that he seems to possess. A Seeker is able to fight many enemies at once and uses the Sword of Truth to block even magical attacks. The Seeker seems to have an almost supernatural ability to dodge blows. A Seeker is born but does not become a Seeker until he is named.

Confessor - Power granted from the order of the Confessor. A Confessor is born with her power but she must go to the order to be trained. A Confessor is almost rogue-like in her ability to use stealth and has the ability to touch a person and "Confess" them to do her bidding. Once a confessor is able to confess someone they remain her slave until she dies.

Wizard of the First Order - Power granted by birth. A Wizard is trained by a master in the arcane arts. A wizard of the first order calls upon inner power to channel their magics. Wizard fire is known only to the wizards of the first order. In the show the wizard displayed a mastery of multiple forms of magical schools including divination, illusion, transmutation, conjuring and evocation.

Now that we have a base understanding of these archtypes we will spend some time over the next few columns discussing how to make them effective Pathfinder classes.

The Legend of the Seeker, The Swords of Truth Novels and all other concepts are copyright Terry Goodkind and ABC Studios.

Join the AirCorps or AetherCorps today!

2011-11-28T12:36:00.001-05:00

Playing with your food

2011-11-27T16:23:00.000-05:00

My wife and kids and me just got back from a walk and we started our routine after walk snack. For the kids this was cheetohs puffs and for Mel and me it was carrot sticks. Well I've heard of playing with your food but this gives the term finger snacks a new meaning. Look at how eerily close this carrot looks like a finger.

How could this be used in a game? Red herring or perhaps something more sinister?

Finger carrots

Digit or carrot?

Can you tell the difference?

Christmas at the Adams

2011-11-27T13:55:00.004-05:00

Traditionally on Black Friday we decorate the house. Every year I put up the Christmas Town and throw in a few geek articles to really get the spirit of Christmas for a gamer. I want to say that as a Christian this time of year is very important to us. As a person who has many friends that are pagan, Jewish or that practice other forms of religion this is not meant as a jab at your beliefs but for us as a family we really try to think about the reason for the season and celebrate the risen king! That being said, I am still a scifi,fandom,game designer, IT geek so all of that has to come out or I am just not feeling that I am putting my whole self into Christmas.

What says Merry Christmas I'm a Gamer more than a pulp scene with Dick Tracy, Indiana Jones, The Shadow, Elliot Ness, Sky Captain and a bunch of cops chasing down an alien invasion lead by Dr Katana and Darth Vader?

This year we did two Christmas Towns. Here are some photos of our families Christmas decorations.

First Adams Family Fun Night

2011-11-27T13:45:00.001-05:00

I used to wonder if my kids would be into the same things I am into. After last night now I know my kids are gamers! Madison played her fairy Friday night in our Dragonlance game. We started the Godsmouth Heresy which I have modified for use in Dragonlance. I put the ossuary under Palanthas and changed the deity to Habbakuk. Madison my eldest daughter had a great time taking on spiders and flying around and talking about her fairy kingdom.

Racers take your marks!

My wife had a great idea for the family. She decided that we would have a evening of games with the kids. I was asked to create a game for the kids. When I asked them what they wanted they all said Cars and Strawberry. Mel asked me to create a game using the cars for the kids so I created a simple rules set that they could play cars using their Disney Cars toys. I then used Scrying Eye Games roads and made up a track for the kiddos.

McQueen and Doc

We had a blast! My son came in first in the first game, I came in second and my wife came in third. My daughter played a good game and tried to win but spun out at the last minute which allowed my wife to take the final checkered flag! They had so much fun that Faelan my son was tuckered out on the couch during the last two rounds of the game. I was amazed this morning with my kids asking me to run it again.
So if you are a father and want to find a way to connect with your kids let your inner game designer or inner geek take over and make up something to do together! I think as we go along we are going to be adding rules and modifying things etc. I will make the rules available for the race car game or as my son calls it "KARZ" online. If you get the chance to play with your kids. Do it. You will have a blast and you will be spreading the hobby as well!

WTNW RPG/Skirmisher

2011-11-25T08:00:00.001-05:00

I love words or in other words I personally have a strong ardor for written lexicon and verbal dialogue. This is especially true when I am able to utilize profound phrasing such as languid ambivalence or differed apotheosis. Not that word play is the end-all be-all of a game but I do find it very poignant to use the appropriate words when describing a game mechanic. Thusly and I am not entirely sure how I am going to accomplish this but I plan on using words such as apotheosis (the glorification of a subject to divine level), acquiescence (reluctant agreement) and concurrence (occurring together) in the game.

As a special sneak peek to those of you who are interested in the development of the When the Navy Walked RPG and the WTNW Skirmisher I am sharing with you the base core characteristics that we will be using to represent the characters in the game. These characteristics make up the raw talent of the character. In addition to the core characteristics there are also figured characteristics which we are not showing and skills which are based on the core characteristics and level of the character. As this game is going to be a skill based game the level is going to be less about gaining more power and more about gaining better competency in what you already possess as well as opening up new pathways to gaining new competencies in other areas or specializations similar to prestige classes.

(WTNW Skirmish/RPG Sneak Peek) - Base Characteristics and Core Competencies

So far we have three main stats that are purchased by die type using a specific number of points at character creation from D6 to D30. The three stats each have one or more core competencies that derive from the base die in the base characteristic that start one die lower than the base characteristic and continue until D6s. The lowest a characteristic or competency is able to be is a D6. For example if you choose a D10 Brawn you can have a D8 Muscle, D6 Quickness and D6 Vigor. Following is a listing of each base characteristic and their core competency.

Characteristic	*Competency*
Brawn	Muscle, Quickness, Vigor
Brains	Wits, Learning
Command	Presence, Allure

Also, don't forget that WTNW Airships and Skypirates is set to be released this December! We hope to have the pdf out by Christmas and the book on the shelves by January! Here are some samples of the diagrams in the books. These diagrams are of the Airship Dreadnaught (left) and the Airship Cruiser (right) both are copyright The ArmChair General.

Flash Fearsday - Turkey Dreams

2011-11-24T08:00:00.003-05:00

Flash Fearsday is a microfiction challenge: write a horror story in 140 characters or less. If you feel that is too limiting, you can try for 140 words. Flash Fearsday was started at Porky's Expanse! but has moved to Lunching on Lamias. What will you create for the challenge?

The forest floor is peace.
To forage moving in grace and beauty.
Danger!
Interrupt crackling rifle shot.
All is calm.
The heat rises and I sweat.
I am ready to be consumed.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's a bit o'Thanksgiving theme for your game:

Turkey Zombie Variant:

Use the quick zombie variant in the Pathfinder Bestiary with the addition of the dread gobble (SU). As a standard action the turkey zombie can gobble a deathly blood filled curdle which causes a Will save DC 15 for all that can hear the call. Failure of the roll results in the target Cowering for one turn and then Shaken for 1d4 turns. A successful save means that character does not have to save against the same turkey zombie for 24 hours. Items, spells or abilities that dampen or cancel sound based attacks including the Bardic Performance ability will cancel this affect for the character.

20,000 Leagues

2011-11-23T11:33:00.001-05:00

Following a post by Paul at the Man Cave posted in regards to the walk-through version of 20,000 Leagues at Euro Disney on Yours in a White Wine Sauce I recall vivid childhood memories of riding in the submarine boat at Disney.

I remember a time before Splash Mountain at The Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fl when I as a kid enjoyed spending time running around Tom Sawyer's Island, watching the creepy ghouls and ghosts of the Haunted Mansion, enjoying the thrill of Mr Toad's Wild Ride and taking deep undersea adventures aboard the Nautilus piloted by Captain Nemo himself!

Luckily, I am not the only one who has fond memories of this attraction and the guys over at 20k ride have put together a very nice biography of the ride and the spin off rides at the other parks. Included at the site are interviews with former cast members, a tour of the lagoon and photos of the various areas around the ride. They have paid homage to a great VSF icon and put together and a fond farewell to one of the greatest rides of all time.

I do admit that as I grew older in my jaded years as a teenager I felt that the ride could have been better but you know what - I was wrong. The ride even with its anamatronics of the day and the plastic sea serpents of Atlantis held by mermaids in a lagoon really were magical. I did get to ride it a few times before they decommissioned it.

Now it's Aeral's Grotto. Now we get to listen to people sing about life under the sea instead of experiencing the wonder for ourselves. Back when it opened it was an E Ticket ride but sadly it is now returned to the pages of myth and legend.

I love 20k so much it was one of my inspirations for writing When the Navy Walked as I clearly state in the opening pages of the book. Over the years people have been inspired to delve the secrets of the deep and we have learned so much about our watery planet including the different types of ecosystems that were thought to be mere fantasy such as hot vents and underwater lakes. Thank you Jules Verne for such a wonderful tale that inspired hundreds to take their own voyages to the depths of the ocean.

DM Advice - Crystal Slotted Weapons

2011-11-22T13:33:00.004-05:00

The Friday night Dragonlance game came upon a treasure trove of items near an ancient monastery that was held by ogres and a race of grey skinned humans (not drow). The gray-skinned humans were the descendants of the empire of Ishtar and the monastery was dedicated to the Kingpriest. After a battle with the guardians in which the heroes learn that they have been tricked and the ogre and the descendants are scapegoats for a necromancer who lives in a nearby tower. It is the necromancer who is using magic to make his undead henchmen appear like the descendants of Ishtar to defile and murder the farmers on the lands.

The necromancer is named H’annath and he is a member of the Black Robe wizard guild. His accomplice is an Inquisitor of Nutari who delights in torturing his victims. The heroes found the place where the necromancer would call upon the undead in a nearby tomb and after a long battle with the undead it came time for treasure.

As I had not expected the players to get so far into the campaign I decided to reward them highly with specialized items. Within an ancient alcove hidden to all but the elves they found a weapons locker. Inside they each found one item of the type of weapon that they currently possessed. An inscription of the weapons and their uses decorated the inside of the chamber. The weapons were carved with intricate runes and had gilded hilts with crystalline threads. Each hilt also contained a number of small holes when examined and compared to the writings on the wall were found to be slots that would hold crystals containing magical properties.

In addition to being able to confer a magical bonus from a gem within the hilt of the weapon each character is also able to learn the true name of the weapon and weave threads to the weapon granting it a permanent bonus when in the hands of the character that weaved the thread. This is a bit of an Earthdawn characteristic I added to give the items some truly legendary properties. In this way the party is able to have weapons that will probably stay with them throughout their adventuring career while being able to change them even on the fly and still limit the power based on the level of the character as is necessary in a level-based game. I randomly rolled to determine the number of slots each weapon possessed for each player with a minimum of two slots.

Here are the rules I came up with for the crystal slotted weapons.

Item True Name: _____________________________________________________

Item Type: __________________________________________________________

Current Configuration
Slot	Total Item Bonus	Crystal Magic Properties		Threads
1
2
3
4
Rules			Reserve Crystals
Attuning a crystal costs the same as it would to purchase the magical effect normally for the weapon type as per weapon bonus +1/+2 etc. plus 100 times the total number of crystals the character owns. Changing an attuned crystal is a standard action that provokes an attack of opportunity. Reserve crystals – a character may have a maximum of five crystals in reserve at any time.




			Threads – a character may spend an action point per item enhancement bonus and a full day threading to the weapon. Each thread weaved grants the item a permanent effect equal to the type of crystal spend. This effect only works in the hands of the character. Any crystal that is used in threading is automatically destroyed. The first thread is learning the true name of the item and the second thread is granting it a +1 enhancement bonus.

Crystal Slotted Item Characteristics

Level of PC Required	Total Item Bonus Permitted	Max bonus of one crystal	Max Threads	Max Thread Type
2-3	+1	+1	2	True Name, +1 Bonus
4-5	+2	+1	3	+1 Bonus
6-7	+3	+2	4	+2 Bonus
8-9	+4	+3	5	+2 Bonus
10-12	+5	+4	6	+3 Bonus
12+	+6	+4	7	+3 Bonus

DM Advice - Creating Ecologies not Static Environments pt 4

2011-11-22T09:22:00.001-05:00

Tonight the party returns home from the triumphant success from Arasmis’ Mansion. In so doing, they are returning the Baron’s niece and are returning as heroes. Naturally, they will expect a hero’s welcome which they will get.

A while back, I did a series on creating ecologies not static environments and I want to take it a step further today and talk about some specifics for the Superdungeon campaign.

The party is currently in Forgotten Realms in the central portion of the country of Amn. Now to me Amn is basically a Virgina/North Carolina in terms of terrain features and climate. It is a temperate area of rolling hills and scattered woods. The woods consist of both deciduous trees and of conifers. The hills are either gently rolling or rough and rocky.

It will take several days for the party to return to the town of Fairhaven with the girl in tow after which they are going to get a severe case of rumors of nearby treasure that is going to lead them to the next adventure called Murder of Seven Points.

I intend to take that time to let them journey through the environment of Amn which got me to thinking what they could encounter in such an ecology. I thought it would be fun to write up a few random tables containing what I come up with as the inhabitants and encounters possible for such an area. I am including both the animals that would be in our world and the animals and monsters that might be in the fantasy world. I have decided that there will be at least 1d4 encounters on the trip.

The Return Home (roll 1d6)

1. Sparse Woods bordering the road with an occasional clearing that provides a nice place for a campsite or ambush spot. The woods provide both concealment 25% and cover +4 to anyone inside. The woods could contain a variety of woodland creatures ranging from squirrels and small deer and raccoon to larger and more aggressive predators such as bears and mountain lions. On the fantasy side, the area could be home to one or more owlbears and a pack of worgs. The area would be teeming with wildlife.

2. Heavy undergrowth with a scattering of trees in various patches at varying distances from the road. The undergrowth provides concealment 50% to small and 25% to medium creatures. The undergrowth might provide a nice place for a family of brownies to live and the predatory stirges might take up residence in the trees.

3. Variable sized stream ford or bridge that contains moderately moving currents. This could be a shallow stream or a significant obstacle for the party to overcome. If it is a shallow stream, a muckdweller might be a nice encounter and for larger streams, a giant freshwater pike could prove interesting. A nice clue to the party could be that they see very little sign of anything bigger than minnows in the shallows. For a particularly nasty encounter the GM could even add a group of hungry giant frogs.

4. Rough rocky terrain boarders the road as it winds through a rocky hill-scape. There could be ogres here or bandits as there is now a power-vacuum left from the removal of Kol. Areas such as these also serve as burial grounds for native tribes, which could result in a fight with undead if the tombs are disturbed. The wildlife includes mountain lions, large snakes such as pythons, sheep or elk and vultures.

5. An area of rolling grassy hills with little to no undergrowth and a scattering of trees could provide a nice area for grazing animals to feed such as small deer, antelope or other herbivores. Small predators such as bobcats and foxes may burrow in the hills. A band of kobolds might make their home here under the guidance of a small group of hill giants.

6. A large pond or marshy area may be home to a few bullywugs. The pond may teem with fish and other life such as alligators or giant turtles. The water itself could be crystal clear or murky depending on how close to the hills and mountain streams the pond sits.

DM Advice - Dungeons and Dinner

2011-11-21T16:13:00.001-05:00

We all love to nosh, chow, munch, gobble, drink, slurp and chug during our session of gaming. Some groups bring snacks to share while others share lunch or dinner and then game and still others do bring your own snacks. My groups tend to bounce between doing dinner and just bringing snacks to share.

Somtimes its fun to blend the two.

I remember a time early on in our Chronicles of the Six campaign where we had a late lunch followed by our session. It was a great time to catch up and eat while everyone got in the mood for the campaign. Sometimes we even used the food in the game as a means of theme. As a for instance, I remember having a large dinner with our group while they were guests of the Queen of Harts in the Dungeonland module. I think we did one for the Mad Hatter as well.

I can recall another game where the GM served us spaghetti while we attempted to roleplay through a dinner in which the objective was to solve the murder of one of the goobas on our side. That particular game used storyteller system and it turned out that the goomba was killed by the don at the head of the table and he was just trying to figure out the loyalties of everyone there. Turned out to be a smashing great game!

So what about you? What are your favorite eats at the table? What gets your group going?

Flash Fearsday - The Challenger and the Serpent

2011-11-17T14:30:00.000-05:00

Bravely the warrior climbs the rocky surface toward the serpent. The cunning vile serpent impatiently waits for the challenger. Brilliant silver shine as sword clashes with talons. Heedless of the winner – the scald waits with quill and parchment. One will taste victory while the other is defeated. The next moments determine the fate of many. Which shall victory taste? Shall it be the warrior or the dragon?

Flash Fearsday is a microfiction challenge held by Lunching on Lamias.

Looking for a new direction

2011-11-17T11:16:00.000-05:00

For our Dragonlance game I am looking for a linear campaign module that will take players from 2nd level to the mid level range. I would like something that is urban based. Anyone have any ideas? I am considering starting up the podcasts again as well and want something that would lend itself well to that.

DM Advice - Worlds Come and Worlds Go

2011-11-16T16:29:00.003-05:00

A long time ago the Mormons wanted a territory that comprised most of the four states of the south-west of North America. They called their proposed state Deseret and had high hopes that the powers that be would grant them their territory. We all know today though that they were given Utah. This makes me think about the grand expanses of tracts of land that we carve when we are creating worlds and exactly what it is that makes us decide to reduce/reuse and recycle them.

It also brings me to several variations of home-brew campaign worlds that I have ran in the past including Shylitheria and Astra Zolar. What happened to these worlds? Why did they not take off? Some may say that it is silly to put together your own world when there are so many great commercially available ones out there. It takes time, patience and lots of creative work for little payoff.

So why do it?

It may be directly linked to a previous post in which I suggest that gamers have to create something. For game designers it is not about making something that they would envision others would want it is about creating something they want to create.

A good friend of mine once told me "The purpose of the author is not to write to his audience but to write what he is inspired to write".

Those words ring true with me anytime I write anything for gaming. I have to admit that it is true that I would LIKE for more people to be into When the Navy Walked and It Came From Beyond the Still or to give my fantasy campaign worlds a try but the reason that I write them has nothing to do with profits, bottom lines or margins. I write them because I love to write them and I feel an overwhelming urge to create.

I needed to do something.

I suspect it was the same for the Mormons and Deseret.

DM Advice - More Powerful Encounters

2011-11-15T15:27:00.002-05:00

For those of us who have ever DMed a game of 3.0 0r 3.5 at a gaming table we have all heard “well that’s not within my level!” when a player complained about the fact that you were putting a monster up against them that they felt was too mean, nasty and would eat their lunch. While we can somewhat respect the player’s feelings we should always remember that it was the player who decided to go up against whatever it is to begin with. If they feel, it is really to powerful they can run. In addition, while it is true that you as the DM are responsible for setting up a fair game it is not true that every foe has to be a pushover.

My players know me as a DM who likes to pile on lots of little monsters or who likes to toss in some very hard challenges from time to time with little regard for CRs. So long as the official CR of the monster or beastie I am using or making is somewhere close to the party within a few levels I usually run with it. Hence, at level one, you CAN find yourself face to face with a CR3 ogre and I will not bat an eye. Why? Because I have seen players take them out without any problems and I have seen them all but decimate a party.

I can demonstrate repeatedly when I have used monsters that are higher than the party’s level and the party triumphed over their foes. I believe this is largely because my parties tend to run higher than four people but equally important are the types of encounters that they face and how they are structured. See. While it is true that I have put party members up against an ogre at level one, the party was six strong and contained several mage type and gunslingers as well as healers. They also knew what they were getting themselves into when they heard the ogre and were given the opportunity to run before the fight began as the ogre did not notice them right away.

The fact that one swipe of the ogre’s maul could put a player into permanent retirement was not lost on me and I put provisions in place to ensure that they would not ‘die’ from one hit as the ogre was handicapped in his ability to maneuver around the sewers. At first, the party did complain and call me mean names they did overcome the ogre and it brought them great satisfaction to bring the guildhouse an ogre head in addition to the multitude of goblin and other beasts.

For me in the end I guess it is about telling stories that are truly epic and while goblin bashing can be fun it is much more fun to say “at first level I slew an ogre” even if it means that the party has to use some serious resources to do so.

What about you? Have you ever challenged the PCs with something ‘above their ability’? What happened? I’ll bet that they all remember the story!

Airship Down

2011-11-14T17:38:00.001-05:00

Though the darkness the skies alight
Terror-filled panic-cries as people fled

Majestic gas-filled death in flight

Raining down a hail of lead

A champion arose on gallant steel

The trumpet on archer’s breath

A fearful echo of risen zeal

The sky-born titan in flaming death

When the Navy Walked - Skirmish

2011-11-14T15:35:00.001-05:00

I need some playtesters for WTNW Skirmish. It would require the signature of an NDA. Any takers?

The Hause - The Daywalker!

2011-11-12T10:57:00.000-05:00

My buddy Dan just joined us last week with his Dhampire from Chult. The story goes that both he and Octavia are kept in the house by the vampire Arasmis. The players have learned that they must now find and destroy each of their runes hidden somewhere in the house if ever they want to escape...

A Poem for Veterans Everywhere

2011-11-11T16:33:00.002-05:00

The soldier stood and faced God,

Which must always come to pass.

He hoped his shoes were shining,

Just as brightly as his brass.

'Step forward now, you soldier,

How shall I deal with you ?

Have you always turned the other cheek ?

To My Church have you been true ?'

The soldier squared his shoulders and said,

'No, Lord, I guess I ain't.

Because those of us who carry guns,

Can't always be a saint.

I've had to work most Sundays,

And at times my talk was tough.

And sometimes I've been violent,

Because the world is awfully rough.

But, I never took a penny,

That wasn't mine to keep...

Though I worked a lot of overtime,

When the bills got just too steep.

And I never passed a cry for help,

Though at times I shook with fear.

And sometimes, God, forgive me,

I've wept unmanly tears.

I know I don't deserve a place,

Among the people here.

They never wanted me around,

Except to calm their fears.

If you've a place for me here, Lord,

It needn't be so grand.

I never expected or had too much,

But if you don't, I'll understand.

There was a silence all around the throne,

Where the saints had often trod.

As the soldier waited quietly,

For the judgement of his God.

'Step forward now, you soldier,

You've borne your burdens well.

Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,

You've done your time in Hell.'

Author Unknown~

Happy Veterans Day!

2011-11-11T08:53:00.002-05:00

Other Famous People

2011-11-10T16:45:00.000-05:00

Today, on the eve of Veterans Day before the remembrance of Armistice we pause as we thank the people in our history for the great accomplishments of their day. Without further adieu I give you Those Other Famous People.

Here's to the famous people of the world! Fibonacci who was famous for lying. Botticelli who sold many bottles of ale. Rachmaninoff - Who invented Rach and roll. Edison who invented ice cream. Lincoln who was the first one to build a log cabin. Washington who owned multiple car detailing shops. Finally here's to Admiral Benbow without whom we would never have figured out how to fire projectile missiles.

Thanksgiving to RPGs

2011-11-10T11:58:00.001-05:00

For funsies I’ve decided that it would b cool to do my own blog challenge and since it is the month of compassion and month of thanksgiving I have decided it would be fun to list those things in gaming which I am thankful for. As I am already ten days into the month, I will list the first ten things that I am thankful for as a gamer.

1. Combat System in RPGS - I am thankful for the fact that the combat system is more robust than it used to be in days past. This is especially true with Pathfinder versus the old AD&D 2^nd Edition. While I did enjoy 2^nd Edition it was not that easy to explain to players how some mechanics worked and I am thankful for the fact that in the new games players only have to add up instead of add up and subtract down (or in situations like the Hero System – know quantum mechanics). For the record, I really like Hero but it can be hard getting people to play it who aren’t mathematically inclined.

2. Rules for Roleplaying – I am thankful for the fact that games have starting including rules for how to play a character that is a living breathing member of a world. It is so much better that new players to the game can come in and immediately experience the fact that they can actually portray a character instead of just a guy who hacks and slashes his way to the gold.

3. Alternate Experience Awards – I am thankful for the hero point system. It allows me to give benes without giving experience and it allows players to have a bit of luck to boot!

4. Prepainted Miniatures – Who isn’t thankful for the prepainted plastic goodness that was DND minis? We used to use dice and pens and paper or whatever other stationary we could get. I would also pull from my warhammer fantasy collection from time to time. I still laugh when I think of the troll eraser.

5. Adventure Modules – The fact that they are there makes it much easier to grab a group and start rolling dice without having to get into a long campaign or having to do much planning. I am also thankful because recently I have been considering writing adventure modules and putting them out on Wargamevault for sale. Any takers?

6. Dice – Without dice we’d have no hobby or we’d be playing Amber and let’s face it Amber is a game that you can only play whenever you really trust your GM and besides DICE beats TACTICS!

7. Maps – Thank you to Scrying Eye Games, Paizo, Galeforce 9 and WOTC (TSR) for the battle maps, maps of the world, maps of the area, maps of the maps and in general thank you to map makers and cartographers everywhere for your map making goodness! It’s good to know where you are and where you are going but it is also good to be able to use tactical maps during a combat encounter.

8. JRR Tolkien and Greek Mythology – Without the inspiration of Tolkien and the Greeks we would be playing Dungeons and Phoenicians and while miniature gaming and historical miniature gaming is very fun it is also fun to have a little fantasy from time to time.

9. Dragons - I am thankful for the fact that dinosaurs were once misunderstood dragons or was it that dragons were misunderstood dinosaurs? Either way I am thankful for them.

10. Epic Storytelling – I am thankful for good versus evil epic storytelling in which a peasant can become a knight. The fact that you can play an RPG and start from nothing and literally become the country’s ruler or a hero of the nation is what makes it so much fun for me. It’s a story of adventure and one of heroism when faced with overwhelming odds.

As the month moves on and we get closer to thanksgiving think about what you are thankful for that is in your life and in your hobbies. What is it about gaming that you appreciate?

Airship Pirate - Abney Park Lyrics

2011-11-09T16:24:00.001-05:00

Our fires high and the airbags tight
Food's low but the skies are bright
Props spinning all through the night
We're low on cash but seen another target

Goggles down and the cannons up
My blood starts pumping as I drain my cup
I give the wheel a spin and I turn this girl around
We're way above ground but we're closed in on our target

Flying Jib is filled with air
East India ships filled with despair
We even up, her broadsides bare
Our cannons flair but it’s just a show of muscle

Steady on, she doesn’t need to burn
She tries to flee and she tries to turn
Grappling fire, we latch her hull
She’s starting to roll, but we’ve got her on a leash

With a crew of drunken pilots
We’re the only airship pirates
We’re full of hot air and we’re starting to rise
We’re the terror of the skies, but a danger to ourselves now

Expendable crew starts to reel her in
Our swords are sharpened and we're ready to sin
I’m three miles up, we're about to swing aboard
My tether's made of leather so I’m not about to fall here

A swish of air and my boots hit deck
No cash, no fuel, no not a speck
Our grape shots made this bird a wreck
And a glance below deck shows a crew of nuns and orphans

With a crew of drunken pilots
We’re the only airship pirates
We’re full of hot air and we’re starting to rise
We’re the terror of the skies, but a danger to ourselves
(repeats)

DM Advice - New PCs

2011-11-09T13:11:00.000-05:00

Over the years I have been lucky enough to have multiple players in my games and have learned a little bit about what to do when adding new players to a game. Here's a quick breakdown of what I normally do.

1. Call or email that you are interested in having them meet. While talking it might be good to get some general characteristics and gaming styles from your prospective player. At this point you might decide to cut the deal right there but if the player seems to be a fit for your group move to step 2.

2. Meet in person. I suggest a neutral friendly place like a game store or eating establishment. I have found that a quick meetup in person can actually make all the difference. I mean who really wants to have people they have never seen before show up at their house to play a game?

While you are meeting in person you might want to go over some specifics such as play style, what they have experienced in the past in games that they liked and what they have experienced in the past in games that they did not like. It is best at this point to really get into what makes them gamers and why they like to play the game. If you have a roleplaying group and all the new player wants to do is hack and slash for instance you might have a problem. Pay attention to signs that your gaming styles are different. If you do not mind rules lawyers (and I generally do not) then be sure that you have some kind of middle ground as to where and when it might be appropriate in a game to discuss rules.

3. Talk it over with your group. If you have a democratic group (and most of us do) you may want to make sure that you discuss the idea of adding a new player to the group. Even as the GM you still want to make sure you do not derail the game. Also, talk with the players to see what kinds of classes or abilities might suit the game or be lacking. As the GM you should already know this but get some feedback from your players because involving them is part of the process for most of us.

4. Invite the new person to a game with the caveat that you are trying each other out. Have them make up a character if they want and throw them in or allow them to use your npcs either way the main point here is to get a game going to see how well the new person fits with the group and with your GMing style.

At the end of the game discuss with the prospective new player what they thought about the session and make sure to give them your feedback as well. Also talk with your players separately on how they felt about the prospective new player. Gather your notes and compare. At this point you should be fairly close to making a decision.

5. Decision time! Weigh the pros and the cons of having the prospective player in your group. Think about how well the person interacted with the group. Did they try to run roughshod over the players or did they fit in seemingly perfectly? Odds are it will be a combination of factors that you ultimately will want to weigh to consider if the new player will work or not.

I have tried this several times over the years with varying degrees of success. We have added people who have came and stayed for awhile and we've had people who just came and stayed for the day. It is not always going to be possible to please everyone and obviously sometimes the group as a whole plays a very important decision in the process. You might really like someone for instance and think that they do OK with your style but the group might not like how they continually outshine everyone. In the end it's nothing personal and it's just something that your group will have to figure out on their own.

Happy gaming!

WTNW Airships and Skypirates - The Usual Suspects

2011-11-07T16:13:00.000-05:00

We're done with the majority of the work for Airships and Skypirates and it is currently undergoing layout and art production. To give you a little taste of what to expect from the newest book in our lineup I'm going to tell you the names of a few edges that are going to come with the new supplement: Aethership, Rocketpacks, Full Broadsides. Also there are quite a few rules covering air to ground and air to air combat as well as fleet scale action using 1/1200 scale ships (aeronefs if you prefer) under the World, above the World and out of this World!

As a special treat for those of you following the unfolding history of When the Navy Walked here's a special sneak-peek at the timeline in this book.

1671 Five ships of Henry Morgan’s pirate fleet are lost at sea, presumably in a storm. In reality, they have been pulled into Earthin by mysterious energies accidentally released.

1891 American geologist and eccentric inventor Professor Michael T. Hoper tunnels into the Earth’s crust, discovering Earthin.

1893 The Skywolf attacks Mombasa. The resulting “Rape of Mombasa” marks the start of the First Raids era.

1897 Skypirate captain Oskar Mando, better known as Mando the Swift declares himself King of the Ivory Coast.

1899 The Battle of Feather Glen. “King” Mando the Swift is presumed dead when his flagship, the Satisfaction, is brought down by fire from HMS Valiant and Gloire. The British and French still argue over which ship fired the fatal shot.

1901 Oliver the Red declares himself Pirate King of Madagascar, and large scale attacks against European colonies in Africa and Asia resume.

1902 The Alliance Against Pirates is created by the Great Powers to unite against the Pirate King.

1903 Oliver the Red’s pirate kingdom is brought down. The Alliance collapses with the absence of a major threat.

WTNW Polls

2011-11-03T21:44:00.002-04:00

I just looked at the polls and noticed not very many people have voted. Come on guys! If you ever wanted a say in the development of a game now's the time to speak up! I am at a place right now where I could go skirmish or rpg or do a skirmisher rpg lite but I really need some feedback from those of you who play the game. As we are putting the final touches on Skypirates I am looking to the future of WTNW.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T18:46:00.000-04:00

Have a safe and Happy Halloween whatever you are!

Count Duckla - Level 12 Vampire with the flaw (Must eat Vegetables). He has the ability to give negative levels to plant creatures and occasionally when he is really mad he can summon his nanny who is a duck golem CR 10 follower that is immune to the evil ways of ducks. Count Duckla is able to shift form as per the normal vampire and has a hypnotic gaze that he uses to produce spin offs. His pal DangerMouse is also available to be called in should trouble raise its ugly head in the land of Transylvania.

SuperDungeon and Dragonlance Campaign - It Continues

2011-10-28T14:46:00.000-04:00

Tonight as we approach the third session for this game, I wanted to reflect on what has occurred in my past games.

SuperDungeon is down to four players once again. It appears that my style was not the type of style that the person playing the ½ giant sword-wielding warblade wanted and both he and the guy playing the cleric have left the game. This Tuesday we had an excellent session even without them and we will be continuing to delve into the mansion of the vampire Lord Arasmis. One thing did come out of that though and we’ve changed this game to Pathfinder as well. Don also brought in a new player character named Octavia who is a young girl that is being kept by the vampire. I feel it is a better system than 3.5.

In the Dragonlance game, the party completed exploring the sewers and defeated an ogre and some more goblins last week. They then took another job for a creature calling itself an ‘oni’ – don’t worry I am not putting them against an actual ogre mage- from the Adventurer’s Guild and took off into the Verstang Mountains to confront the ogre and his accomplices.

On the way, they crossed a light rail and made comments about how neat it would be to go on a train ride. That will undoubtedly be the next mission for them. In the foothills of the mountains, they came across a smallish house the occupants of which were hanging having been left for dead on a series of painful looking torture devices. The party decided to bury the dead and spent the evening praying over the fallen. Now with renewed vigor and an appetite for revenge they embark on the hunt for the one calling itself oni.

WTNW Airships and Skypirates

2011-10-28T14:36:00.002-04:00

I will be hosting a playtest/demo of the WTNW Airship and Skypirates Fleet rules at my house this Sunday from 3:00pm until about 6:00pm. Specifically we will try to play a short scenario involving airships and a short scenario involving aetherships.

My Wife Says the Best Things!

2011-10-27T09:05:00.001-04:00

I had been after my wife to try gaming for about five years into our relationship before she finally did and as it turns out she loves it! She particularly enjoyed playing her gold elf Kreek Eveningstar and has an entire book of the games we've played where she journaled her activities. Over the past two years she's actually started using gaming terms to describe things in real life. For instance when someone does something silly she'll say he failed his Will save or if someone does something successfully she'll say he got a crit. It's great!

How did I get her to finally game? She read that book Confessions of a Part-Time Sorcerer and that book got her coming to me with ideas. At first I was skeptical but she wrote up her name and background and got her stats done by herself. Finally, I was convinced she actually wanted to play dnd with me. I was ecstatic.Her first game was with her above mentioned character Kreek but now she has retired that character at 17th level and has started playing other games.

She goes to conventions with me too and has fully embraced the fact that I already knew when I met, fell in love with and married her - she's a geek just like me. She also supports the game When the Navy Walked and really loved Aliens vs Hillbillies. She's been a sounding board at ACG for the year or so that we've been in official business and she's been instrumental in helping remember past games, organizing events and making sure everyone knows when they are supposed to be gaming.

Thank you Mel. I couldn't have asked for a better, geekier and more fun wife!

If you think your wife might be interested in gaming here are some signs.

She likes romance novels
She likes ANY monty python movie or skit
She can quote the Lord of the Rings or the Princess Bride
She has an imaginary dragon friend
She likes to beat up the bad guys
She has a good imagination
She is a romantic

If your wife has any of these qualities then she could very well be a gamer in disguise. Good luck!

WTNW Figures in Europe!

2011-10-26T15:23:00.000-04:00

I am proud to announce that Nick of Northstar Miniatures has our line for our European customers!

WTNW RPG

2011-10-25T15:56:00.000-04:00

So considering the large amount of time and effort that will have to be put into a steampunk rpg not to mention a magical system that actually makes sense and isn't actually magic is going to be an interesting feat who out there really wants to see a WTNW RPG? I am only asking because I've had three responses to the skills versus levels poll that I posted and I really am not going to go through such a big undertaking if there is no one interested in the project. Next year I will be finishing the line of WTNW supplements and will also be concentrating on the Black Flags and Merchantmen skirmish game I have in development. Likewise next year I am considering releasing a colonial rank and file miniatures game for historical colonial rules using the WTNW engine. So, do you want to see a WTNW RPG or no?

Airship Fleets in WTNW

2011-10-23T11:22:00.001-04:00

We are deep in the final stretches of the development for the Airships and Skypirates book. For veterans of our When the Navy Walked line you will see that we have segregated the army lists at the back of the book as usual but you will also see that each section of lists are for different themes. This book features three different types of armies/navies.

The first type of lists are those that are classic When the Navy Walked lists and feature both air and ground units with the new rules for airship combat and sailing ships. The rules feature dog-fighting between planes including deft aeral manuvers and air to ground combat and bombing runs.

The second type of lists is the air fleet lists. These lists are made primarily up of capital units and are intended to represent great battles in the sky of airship fleets and their escorts. These fleets include aeroships and planes as well as the new telsa broadcast carriers and other ships. The skypirate fleets utilize the sailing ship rules and make up some of the skypirate fleets that terrorized the Great Powers during the time of Skypirates.

The third and final type of lists in the book are the Aetherfleets. As anyone who has read the main book knows the world of WTNW is not limited to Earth (or even below it) and the Great Powers, Skypirates and other groups have aetherships capapable of Aetherflight. These fleets are intended to be played in the Aether and there are a specific set of rules for governing Aether-movement and combat as well as special conditions and hazards such as giant Aeher Squid and asteroids!

There are multiple scenarios planned for these three locations and the fleets and army lists provided are intended to be used within the scenarios.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. WTNW: Airships and Skypirates is shaping up to be our best supplement yet!

SuperDungeon - Before the Hause

2011-10-15T20:07:00.003-04:00

This was written by one of my players. Don does a good job describing the manor house outside of town where the group has tracked down what they believe out of character is a vampire. It is here that the gang known as The Murder Boys have taken the niece of the Baron and await their 4,000gp ransom. This one's going to be quite a challenge for our 5th level party.

-------------------------------

From the journal of Elation.

"Having managed to stumble their way through the thick undergrowth of nettles and other thorny plants that dragged and tore at their clothing, the overgrown trees were claustrophobic, it wasn't long before even the most urbane of the companions to notice the lack of any animal life, no buzzing of insects, chirping of birds or the chittering of an angry squirrel upset of the intrusion into its territory. The lack of sound was better described as an expectant hush almost bordering on deathly silence.

With a final push the companions found the remains of a flagstone road, not thirty feet ahead of them, a pair of huge wrought iron gates were the last protection for the unkempt grounds of the manor house they had been seeking. The left gate tilted precariously on one hinge, as if in a desperate attempt to hold on, while the right gate had long since fallen, while sickly looking weeds of mottled greys and greens grew through its bars.

Despite having finally escaped the claustrophobic atmosphere of the dense forest, there seemed to be little respite from the oppressive atmosphere, as there was little hint of fresh air. The malodorous scent of rotting vegetation permeated everywhere, with underlying hints of decomposing flesh. As well, even though the false dawn had just faded and true dawn brightened the sky, the area still held onto its gloomy overcast like a shawl. With shadows playing about the various stone shapes that protruded from untended shrubs and other ill looking plants. Even though morning was finally breaking, a thick mist pooled about ground, perhaps at ankle deep, however, it was perfect for hiding roots and other protrusions ready to trip the unwary, or worse, hide an unwanted pit or unturned grave.

Upon reflection, the grounds, despite the overgrown and unkempt appearance, were benign compared to the manor house itself. In its prime, the five stories would have displayed opulence and wealth. Dark wood, bright slate shingles, and windows of ground crystal, would have been a spectacle for any visitor and perhaps a pride of the Lord of this Land.

Now the ancient edifice stood in defiance of its decrepit appearance and managed to portray a wounded animal cornered more than the possible refuge from the surrounding vegetation. The once polished wood was grayed and weather beaten, the slate shingles were dull and sections of roof had collapsed allowing the weather to penetrate the upper floors of the house. The windows, of those few that still held glass, were grime covered and the interiors hidden by thick curtains. The holes that were once full windows, now held the remains of glass, allowing the weather to penetrate the darkend rooms within, the holes appearing more like maws with glass fangs. Connected to the building was a very large tower, perhaps a bell tower or an observation tower for the Lord of the Manor to stargaze or perform arcane rituals. Unlike the manor house, it appeared to be in rather good shape.

The group of companions now stood at either their success or untimely death. Having managed to find their quarry, or was it more they were led here by purposeful clues left by the vampire. The group readied themselves for what was to come as the only door to the manor house hung torn on its hinges, the darkness within beckoned."

Edit 10/19/11 Scenario 18 photos - They made it into the house and through a few spooky rooms.

When the Navy Walked - RPG Game

2011-10-14T13:09:00.000-04:00

I have put up a poll and would like to know from my fans what you would prefer in an RPG. There will probably be many of these polls over the next year asking for your advice on the RPG as I want to make a really good one and want you to be involved in it as well!

The first poll question is the most basic of all and it is simply this, which type of system would you prefer for When the Navy Walked RPG? Would you prefer a level-based system or a skill-based system? Examples of the two are DnD/Pathfinder for level-based and White Wolf's Storyteller System for skill based. Further examples include Seventh Sea for skill based and Earthdawn for level-based.

Anyway feel free to chime in and give your opinion. This project has just started gaining steam and it is going to need to undergo some serious development and playtesting before we're ready to put it out there.

DM Advice - The Death of a PC

2011-10-14T09:02:00.001-04:00

Jangle the thief looked up at the Icon of Certain Death and paused as he steadied himself for what he must do next. Already the fair-haired elven maid was losing herself to the evil artifact. If Jangle could just reach the damned thing he might just be able to save the lives of the captives – and those of his friends.

Sadly his glance wandered to the cages where his friends hung suspended over the Pit of Neverending Doom – his gruff companion Klunk the Dwarf Barbarian from the Frozen Northlands , Eveready the wizened old cleric of the great deity of the plains peoples Goody-Little-Two-Shoes, the Halfling Illusionist waif and pragmatic thinker Glum and finally the Paladin of Cheesy-Goodness Fairlight.

He watched as their cage swung over the pit and waited as The Evil Overlord continued his unending diatribe of how great he was because he captured the heroes of neverdale and how sucky they were because they allowed themselves to be captured. All except one, Jangle thought, all except one.

Quickly jumping down thinking only of his friends and the captives Jangle swung from one of the chains overhanging the Pit of Neverending Doom and smashed into the magical glass casing around the Icon of Certain Death lifting it higher into the air much to the chagrin of The Evil Overlord who ordered his minions to attack the thief. They came like a tide of minion death searching for the interloper.

It was too late. The damage had been done as the artifact slammed into the ceiling of the Lair of Dark Darkness, the evil light coming from the broken artifact slammed into the bodies of The Evil Overlord, and his minions for the magic would not be so trapped by mortals such as those as the Icon stole its last lives.

Jangle’s body crashed into the floor below. At the verge of death, the hero looked up at his companions and gave a beautiful speech.

“I have always loved you elven maid.” he said and added “You are true friends.” before his final gasp “Did we get him?” His friends nodded and said “You saved the captives and you saved us.” Jangle’s eyes twinkled as he looked up at his friends with tear-streaked faces and he said his last “I guess there really is honor among thieves.” and he breathed his last.

-------------

The above story is one that sadly some adventurers know all too well. It is the story of heroic courage and beating the odds regardless of the risk of personal danger or the degree of success involved. Should a DM allow a player’s character to die? I say yes.

Yes? Really? In a word. Yes.

Now those of you who know me will know that I do not like ‘arbitrarily killing player characters’ – normally – but there is a time and a place for the death of a pc and sometimes it can become a very heroic and inspired event in which the party grows closer together as characters and as friends. You see this trope played out in movies too. One of the good guys will mess up the plans of the bad guys by saving his friends but in order to do so the good guy must sacrifice himself.

I know some of you are probably thinking ‘well in dnd I can just get my character resurrected’. Yes while that may be true you may not believe the number of players I have had in my games over the years that have actually chose to have their characters die a good death instead of being resurrected.

This is where some truly remarkable stories can come from. So how do you do this as a DM without pissing off your players? In a word – carefully.

You want to be very careful that your players understand that whatever is through door number two might be more than they can handle. Then let them make the decision. If they charge head long into the fray you might have an epic night on your hands. If they decide to be sissies and cower behind the door waiting for reinforcements you still might have an epic night but may have to get some popcorn for the wait.

The key to any player death is tact. It is your job as the DM/GM/Storyteller/Judge/(Dealer –yuck)/Keeper (heck yeah!)/Bartender/Johnson/SpyMaster etc to keep the story moving and to keep your players challenged. Let’s face it, no one likes to always be able to walk over all the baddies all the time with no chance of failure.

Not only does that fly against the face of realism in that everyone in the world would be an adventurer because there’d be no risks involved it also gets boring really quickly. You don’t believe me? Try it. Put them against whatever your DM Books says is a fair fight. They will get over it every time and usually without much in the way of scars or anything to remember.

Now if you toss them into a graveyard filled with ghouls and ghasts and a vampire tossing fireballs you’ll get emails. Be prepared for the possibility that someone might not make it out however and be prepared to deal with the questions that will inevitably follow. Bottom line? Keep it interesting. Try not to always let them walk all over the monsters, give them a hard one every now and then and see what happens to your campaign. In the end allow characters to die if they decide to toss themselves into the fray but be prepared to help them play up the scene so it’s something memorable and fun for everyone – even the dead guy.

Flash Fearsday - The Chicken Sups Instead

2011-10-13T20:05:00.000-04:00

This is my submission for Flashfearsday.

"A chicken roosts and clucks and is good at suppertime but be warned of the mutant chicken least you be supped instead."

Check out It Came From Beyond the Still and see what all the clucking is about!

Images Copyright The ArmChair General 2011 from It Came From Beyond the Still. Artist: Scrying Eye Games.

WTNW Demo - 10/12/11

2011-10-12T13:00:00.001-04:00

I will be at Borderlands Comics and Games in Jacksonville Florida today at 7pm until about 9pm running demos of When the Navy Walked and When the Navy Walked: Conflict on Mars! I will have plenty of miniatures, books, dice etc so just come out and enjoy a great time of steampunk/VSF gaming!

SuperDungeon Session - Bela Legosi

2011-10-11T17:14:00.000-04:00

We've been playing with the sandbox adventure method and I think tonight I am going to give them a direct adventure involving a kidnapping, some powerful undead and nefarious plots to poison the water supply of the town. This will be a one-shot game that will have absolutely no connection to the rest of the game. Should be fun!

When the Navy Walked - Earthin and Atlantis

2011-10-11T16:43:00.002-04:00

When the Navy Walked: Earthin and Atlantis

Immerse yourself in the center of the Earth or deep beneath the waves in this supplement that features the magical Earthin and mysterious Atlantians. Follow the stories of The Lost as they fall deep beneath the Earth's crust and must struggle to rebuild their civilizations and learn the true origin of the Skypirates. Complete the journey with an epic battle between the benevolent Atlantians and their dark enemy from beneath the waves! WTNW: Earthin and Atlantis is not a stand-alone book and you will require a copy of When the Navy Walked to play the game.

Coming - Spring 2012

Mansions of Madness - Fall of House Lynch II

2011-10-08T00:56:00.001-04:00

We played another game of Mansions of Madness Arkham Horror and I was once again the keeper. This time my friends Dan and Jessica were over. They are the new couple to our gaming group and we've really been enjoying playing games with them so far. So to setup we had dinner and then watched Female's Armor Sucks and the Gamers . Both of them are hilarious and if you haven't seen them go check them out.

On to the game then. This time around I selected the same objectives but changed them all up to Bs instead of mixing them. The Investigators were once again hired to find out what happened to Mr Lynch and in the process try to not go mad or be chopped to death by maniacs or have their faces eaten off by zombies.

All-in-all I think everyone had a good time. I am learning rather quickly that it is very difficult for the keeper to keep the objective from the players once the event cards start getting toward the bottom of the deck. Even still though they allow for other means for the keeper to win. We actually called it early because I did some counting and figured out that the players were about to win because there was no way I was going to get the last sample on the alter and summon the shaggoth in time to get out of the front door. Unfortunately I did not realize that the players had not found clue 1b which they needed in this particular instance. At any rate not to spoil to much but this time there was no shaggoth on the roof.

Some highlights of the game were my wife kicking butt with the puzzles and both my wife and Jess kicking the butts of the monsters. Of course I really liked playing the insanity (trama) cards on Jess and had a great time playing mythos cards to keep the players off their feet. The doors slamming shut, lights going out and things looking at you from the darkness are all staples of horror and well built into this game.

Thank you to Dan and Jess for coming out and sharing our company!

Airships and Skypirates (And Aetherships!)

2011-10-07T13:21:00.000-04:00

I just got the update back from J on the Airships and Skypirates book that both he and I have put a lot of time and energy into. I am super excited about what we have here for our fans and you should be too! We're talking airship combat elevations, different levels of combat, maneuvers for small units, formations, new edges and flaws and a history of the airships and skypirates to boot! We also are including rules for 1/1200 scale combat for full fleets of airships or aetherships and battles in the skies as well as in space! This is turning out to be the best supplement yet!

Excited yet? No? You should be!

DM Advice - Toning It Down

2011-10-06T12:06:00.001-04:00

DM Advice – Toning Down

One of my players wanted to play a centaur in my Dragonlance Pathfinder game. Rather than either allowing it as is in the Pathfinder book or telling him no I decided to allow him but to make some modifications to the race so that he could play it and still be in line with the party. I did this by telling him upfront that he would still be large and still be able to move 50 feet but that some of the other powerful attributes would be cut back to fit in with the game and so that he would not overpower the other characters. We discussed it for a bit and he said he was good with anything I came up with.

Trusting your DM is paramount for any successful game because once the rules start to become the alpha and the omega the game can quickly deteriorate into a game of one-upmanship and that is no fun for anyone. You all know I do like to play by the rules for the most part but I have always liked the adage never let a bad rule get in the way of a good story. I also like my own saying: never let a bad rule get in the way of realistic story.

So back to the centaur then. What I did next was compare the stats of the races in the Pathfinder book with the Centaur and noted that they aligned fairly well with the exception of a huge bump in strength and some other characteristics. All Pathfinder races in the main book are based on +2, +2 -2 that is two plusses to an ability and one minus to an ability all at an increment of two and several +2 bumps in skills.

I liked this formula and decided to apply it to his character. This formula worked well and so I decided to give the centaur player a +2 str, +2 dex and -2 cha (he’s a horse!) and if I can recall correctly he also got a +2 bump to perception (keen senses), survival (woodsman) and know: nature (he’s a horse!). He also wanted to have centaur blood and be able to use anything that centaurs could use. The problem here is that in the current book there is nothing. So what I told him is to go ahead and develop your own item and wala the centaur scimitar was born from the template of an elven sword prototype.

So far we’ve only played one session but I like the fact that although he’s quicker than the rest of the party he is not going to take a loss in experience due to a CR difference and he will not overpower the party in terms of his abilities.

Next up was the Irda. This is my friend Liesl’s character and she is like I am and more for a story than anything else. This was an easy change. I downloaded the lancefinder supplement someone came up with and used it as a base but restricted her alter form to medium size only (no smaller and no larger) and gave her a +2, +2 -2 and some +2 skill bumps similar to the way I did the centaur.

Overall so far it’s worked. We’ve had the one session and everyone seems to really like their characters. The remainder of the party is playing Silvenesti elves, Humans, Kender and the like so they were straightforward.

Another method I’ve used and am currently using is the Savage Species level progession. I like this because it allows players to gradually level in their race without overpowering the group. What I do not like is the restriction that you MUST take the full savage species racial levels before taking a class level so I booted that out the door. Now in the Superdungeon game we have a level 4 succubus/1 cleric of Elistree that is powerful but not so overpowered that it ruins the party. The ½ giant Warblade is a very powerful character and there I allowed for some rules that I might not have normally but so far it’s worked out well enough. Time will tell on that one but I suspect as the party increases in power the power level will level off overall. Besides he's a great roleplayer!

So as you can see if your players trust you and you them you can allow for some pretty neat character races. The key is to make sure that you have a balanced group or that at least you can compensate for the players with the slightly more powerful characters.

Never be afraid to tone them down. With a good group, anything is possible!

-----------

I am currently running two games that are both full with six players each. My wife plays in both. I am a lucky man. I also have three great children. The two eldest have expressed interest in my hobbies. I hope to introduce them to the world of gaming sooner rather than later. My daughter is six and has started sitting at the table occasionally. I figure she will want to play a fairy. I look forward to that.

Demo of WTNW

2011-10-06T11:37:00.000-04:00

I will be running a demo game of When the Navy Walked at Borderlands Comics and Games in Jacksonville, FL next week on Wednesday from 7pm until about 9pm. Feel free to come and participate!

For Sale Update

2011-10-05T14:22:00.003-04:00

Just so everyone knows. I am willing to negotiate but some of those guys are propainted and I did pay 200+ just for the infantry in the moderns. Let me know. We can make a deal. Especially if you buy several lots.

Edit:

Moderns and Green Sci Fi army have sold.

Price reduction - 15mm sci fi white army 150 + S&H, Vietnam 250 & S&H

SuperDungeon Session 12

2011-10-03T20:03:00.000-04:00

Session Twelve - Played 8/30/11

Party meets cloud giant where they are planning on ambushing Kol and his retinue. A new person comes into town named Boravir Dunewalker. He is from far away lands and seems to have giant's blood and a strange method of fighting with the sword. The party go by the tower of Tyne's character's master and encounter a band of Zhents trying to break into the tower. The Zhents run but are given chase and a skirmish ensues with the Zhents forming a phalax shield wall and Dunewalker and Sigrid attacking them from all sides while Tyne takes on the mages and the bard Quanlin provides the much needed range support. In the end the fight is won and the party is able to setup for the ambush on Kol. The ambush is successful but a parlay takes place where Kol agrees to wait and not sacrifice the unicorn and if they are able to free his wife he will turn himself into the Baron. They agree. Session twelve ends with Quanlian talking to the egg.

Session 12 XP

Zhents CR2 = 600
Rogue lvl 3 = 800
Wizard lvl 2x2 = 1200
Total XP = 3800/4=950
Roleplaying Award = 1300
Total = 1300 per peson

Play by Post- Kingmaker Reboot

2011-10-03T19:42:00.002-04:00

I am restarting the Kingmaker play by post game on my forum. If you are interested in joining up drop us a line. We need four more people or so but can accommodate more.

Dragonlance Campaign - So it begins

2011-10-03T17:36:00.002-04:00

The Dragonlance campaign started this Friday with a bang! As we had three new people join our normal Saturday group we spent a lot of the evening getting acquainted with one another as much as getting acquainted with the world that I've decided will host the new game. The CoTS game is no more and so this group will need a new name. I will let time decide what that will be.

So the game starts with everyone in the old city of Palanthas. Everyone came in at different times and I kind of just let it flow and work its own magic. Throughout the course of the game they all eventually met either outside in the open air market or inside the Black Hammer Tavern (thank you tavern name maker) though the locals call it The Old House. At any rate they all eventually met. It was a lot of fun roleplaying with Randy's Kender who just about got himself arrested the very first day. What do you expect from a Kender? Dan's Centaur was a great lot of fun and so were the Irda Cleric of Mishakal played by Liesl and the Silvenesti Witch played by Jess. The defensive tactics of the Spellslinger human played by Keith and the human archer played by my wife Mel were brilliant!

So they were thrust into a setting where the old world meets the steampunk world of Krynn and although some things were familiar, others were not. One big thing they noticed were smallish airships, more like balloons offering travelers rides around town although no one was brave/or foolish enough to try one of the rides. They also saw the trains and the other steam tech that was semi common throughout the area. This is still very much Dragonlance however and the laws of Palanthas were very much in effect even though it was ran by the Grey cloaks (Lawful Neutral Solomnac Knights).

Eventually they checked the board and saw a good many missions. They found out that they had to go to a guild hall. I like the pathfinder guild so I used a Seeker guild here in my Dragonlance campaign. It is not a blatant ripoff but it is an adventurers group as it were. So their first mission after they went to one of the many guildhalls and took on the mission (and with it the ability to carry weapons that are not peace bound while on the mission). The mission, as it turned out, was to hunt the goblins in the sewers and prevent them from coming into the city.
There were many other missions including caravan missions, ship cargo guard missions, sailor's needed missions, a mission to escort a noble lady across town. I think this format will work nicely for this game and Palanthas can become sort of a HQ for the group.

So begins the group on Gileadai, Eighth day of Chislmont. (If we used English dates it would be Sunday, Eighth of April.) The moons Lunitari and Nuitari are in High Sanction (full), and Solinari is waning.

Nam For Sale

2011-10-01T10:30:00.001-04:00

I am selling my 15mm Peter Pig vietnam set. This set includes everything you need to play FOF:Ambush Valley or FNG2.

31 packs of unopened Peter pig miniatures including characters, porters, special forces, NVA/VC, etc.
1 command pack of 6 command (unpainted)
1 US pack of 30 (unpainted)
4x Diecast Helos (2 hogs, 2 slicks)
3x Metal M60s
2x Diecast M60s (Corgi Models)
1 M113 ACAV
2x Recoil Rifle Jeeps
2x LVTP5
3x PBRs
2x Diecast Duce 1/2
1 M41 Walker Bulldog (plastic model)
1 M551 Sheridan (plastic model)
2x 16 NVA/VC
5x 20 troops US
3x 8 troops recon

That's over 400 troops!

I was originally asking 400 for the nam but since I found these unopened packs I am asking 500 + S&H.

I will even toss in some hootches at no extra charge! Folks you can't get knives on telemarket tv programs at these prices!

SciFi for sale

2011-10-01T10:01:00.003-04:00

I am selling my 15mm scifi.

White Sci Fi force

38 propainted in 7 teams of 5 with a command of 3
2 grav tanks (not propainted)
3 walkers propainted
2 drop pods (not propainted)

Asking 300 + S&H

Green Sci Fi Force

42 propainted in 8 teams of 5 with a command of 2
2 propainted heavy tanks
2 propainted walkers
4 propainted spider drones/bots

Asking 300 + S&H

US For Sale

2011-10-01T09:49:00.001-04:00

I am selling out of my 15mm scale moderns. This is what I have. About 95% of this army is propainted and looks fantastic!

Soviets/Insurgents

75 Propainted Soviet/Insurgents in 7 teams of 10 and one of five
5 Mortar teams (three men each)
3 BTR 90s

US/Allied

Propainted platoon of 18 men in three teams of 6
Painted team of 8 men
Propainted team of 12 men in two teams of 6
2 propainted seal team boats
1 M1A1 Abrams (metal)
2 M2A2 Abrams (diecast)
4 propainted HMMWVs
2 black primered HMMWVs
1 black primered pickup
1 black primered news team
1 Diecast Scorpion
2 M2 Bradleys (metal)
1 Diecast LVTP7
1 Diecast Apache (in box)

Asking 500 + S&H