Writing Games and back to action!

After many years I am firing this thing back up!

Recently, I have been thinking about writing games, since I play games with nearly all my free time. I have noticed the that my Indy Game writing hero (looking at you Joseph M. http://therenaissancetroll.blogspot.com/) has a blog, so I better make one too.

For those of you who don't know, I am an anthropologist and I am adjunct professor at a couple local universities in the Rhode Island region. I went to graduate school in Washington State where I gamed with Da Momma's Boyz. I play pretty much any game I can find people to play with including but not limited to: 40k, AOS, 5th edition D&D, Adeptus Titanicus, Rangers of Shadowdeep, Frostgrave, Necromunda, Dragon/Lion Rampant, Magic, Netrunner, and crap ton of board games (most recent acquisitions are Twilight Imperium 4th edition and Gaia Project).

So without further ado, I want to get to the focus of this blog, which is to show you what I have been painting and playing, along with the games I am actually working on.

Last night I played 3 games of Splendor (https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/148228/splendor) with good friends and good bourbon(which is this Kentucky Boy's opinion is the best way to play games). If you haven't played Splendor it is a wonderful, chill, game. First, there are no dice, and the only randomness are the cards and resources that are available. I.e. the randomness in the game almost always affects all the players, and not just one. There is one exception to this, but it is a somewhat rarely used strategy. Its strengths and weaknesses are actually that same, in that you literally only act on your turn and player interaction is limited to taking the cards or resources that other folks want.  This is a strength because you can be drinking, talking, and interacting while still getting the full effect of the game. Its only a slight weakness, in that player interaction is limited. That is not to say that you cannot have a silent, intense game of Splendor. You can, it will be intense, and that will also result in a fun experience. So if you are looking for either one of those game experiences, I'd recommend it highly.

Second up in my gaming for this week was a couple games of commander (Magic) with a great friend. I was soundly beaten both times, but they were both interesting games. If you are unfamiliar with the Commander format (also sometimes still called EDH, standing for Elder Dragon Highlander) check out this link https://magic.wizards.com/en/content/commander-format.

At any rate, my favorite deck, at the moment, is commanded by Raff Capashen (decklist here https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/raff-i-play-on-your-turn/). Basically, its all about casting cards at instant speed and playing on my opponents turn. The goal of this being I gather as much information about what my opponent is up to, and then, typically, use all my mana on your turn to cast spells. It's fun, but I need a stronger win condition. The second deck I used is a simic, Kraken, merfolk, serpent deck seen here (https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/simic-merfolks-octupus-krakens-oh-my/). It should be noted that this link leads to the decklist I want to own, and this is not quite what I played the other evening. It had a great start, in that I had a simic sky swallower down on turn 4. I am still working on this deck for sure, and did get beaten, but I am excited to finish this one and play it in the future.

I also got some Netrunner and Magic in with a friend earlier in the week and was soundly beaten at both. I think I am going to invest in the new Netrunner block found here: https://nisei.net/. More about Netrunner later.

Third up, I have been frantically working on getting my AOS (Age of Sigmar the game Warhammer fantasy became) army painted up for an upcoming tournament at the Bolter Hole, which is one of my favorite FLGS's (friendly local game store) (https://thebolterhole.com/).

The tourney is 1500 points and I recently acquired a Cities of Sigmar list via trade. The army was well base coated, so painting it have proven quick and easy. Is it the best looking army ever? No, not by a long shot. But, I did paint it in around a month, so I have that going for me. Now I just need to figure out how to play it...

Here is the list:

Cities of Sigmar- Hallowheart

Battlemage- General with Veteran of the Blazing Crusade
Spells: Sear Wounds and Warding Brand

Battlemage- Adjutant
Spells: Ignite Weapons and Roaming Wildfire

Freeguild General

Freeguild General

Luminark of Hysh, with battlemage-with artifact that gives 4+ ward save versus mortal wounds
Spells: Sear Wounds and Roaming Wildfire

20 Free guild Spear-full command

20 Free guild sword-full command

10 Free Guild sword-standard and champ

10 Free Guild Greatswords

5 Free Guild Outriders

5 Sisters of the Thorn
Spells: Roaming Wildfire and Elemental Cyclone

Balewind Vortex endless spell

around 1500 points

Army in Progress on cluttered table

I will provide a report on how soundly I got beaten next week.

I also, play in and run D&D campaigns. In one I play as Felech "Gale", Captain of the Sea Weasel and "First Spear of Lizardton". We are playing through the Ghosts of Saltmarsh campaign with only 3 PC's and no healer. Many Hi-jinks ensue. More on that later.

Finally, and most importantly, I have been developing some game content of my own. I have two major projects going. The first is a series of adventures for 5th edition Dungeons and Dragons. The first one is nearly completely written and has been play tested. Here is the gist of it:

As a test before the party is allowed full guild privileges, they are asked to complete a contract with one of the Guild’s more eccentric employers. A Sunken tower lies off the coast and this client has the means to get at its treasures. This adventure is meant for 1^st-3^rd level player characters (henceforth PC’s) and has an appendix which aids the dungeon master is in scaling the difficulty up for larger parties.

To show how serious about this I am, I am working with my friend and artist, Vic. He recently sent me some of the art he is working on for the adventure and I think it looks great. This is the concept art for a NPC in the adventure, named Bertrim Weaver


It goes without saying that this piece of art is original work by Vic so please don't steal it.  I think it's awesome.

Licensed under the creative commons 2020: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/?fbclid=IwAR0YePwx-kcPItmKysQaQpN9lIUl4DRI3bEN-a2ZcYDMymhr-lGeEuaehgI

The second project is a dice-less board game at that is has been in the back of my mind for quite some time. My friends have played it, and it seems to be decently well liked. I hope to do a kickstarter for it this summer, but it needs to be thoroughly play-tested. I will say it has no dice, is small enough to be very portable, and you get to build your own faction's strengths and weaknesses each time you play.

That is all I have for this week folks. See you next week.

Justin