Lords of Tyr

I stand in awe

ToddSmith — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 23:20:29 -0700

Now for some people, electronic gaming is a great evil. I know many people who don't like any number generation that isn't analog, but it's hard to toss your dice across half a state. Problem solved.

http://gamesbyemail.com/News/DiceOMatic

Scales of War Game Recap VII - Saturday June 13th, 2009

Lólindir Inglorion — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 17:45:28 -0700

Stormlords (Present)

Almirith (Eladrin Warlord) - The Approaching Storm - Robert

Samantha (Halfling Rogue) - Storm Chaser - Todd

Wardren (Half-Elf Paladin) - John

Niles (Drow Bard) - Purple Rain - Brian

Duamerthrax (Dwarf Beastmaster Ranger) w. White Wolf Deifenbacker- The Twin Storms - TJ

Hurricane (Human Wizard) - Starts Out Slow and Ends in Disaster- Tony

Vala (Elf Druid) - Stephanie

Stormlords (Not Present)

Tuldil'el (Genasi Cleric of the Raven Queen) - The Calm Before the Storm - Mike D

Syed (Halfling Pirate) - Mike T

Nebin (Halfling Fighter) - Ashby

The session begins in the Rivenroar's crypt. We uncovered a great deal of treasure in the crypt, which was split up between the party members present. Taking these items we retreated back to camp to await the return of our companions.

Hurricane, Vala, Duamerthrax, and Deifenbacker made their way back to town with Sir Tannan. While in town, Hurricane purchased several rituals and associated components. The group then returned to the campsite and met back up with their boon companions. It was decided that Tuldil'el, Syed, and Nebin would keep an eye on the camp and make sure it was not discovered.

The combined group reentered the dungeon the group retraced their steps to the crypt. While determining which way to go, Duamerthrax's sharp ears detected a woman screaming to the south. Alimirith and Wardren immediately attempted to kick down the heavy oaken door to no avail. However, Sam soon determined that the door was unlocked.

Running into the room, the group was greeted with a horrifying sight. Namely, a woman chained to an altar being menaced by several dire rats. The room also contained 4 statues of displacer beasts with jeweled eyes which glowed with a manevolent light.

Round 1 (Surprise Round)

Wardren performed a valiant strike on the nearest rat, but the foul beast survived. Hurricane conjured a scortching burst to burn several of the rats. The room soon smelled of rat flesh. Almirith teleported between the mass of rats and the woman chained to the altar. He also struck a blow against the nearest rat. Niles gathered his mystical powers and performed a vicious mockery on the nearest rat. He then began a song of courage to bloister his allies spirits. Using her primal powers, Vala transformed into a mountan lion and tore into one of the creatures with her claws. Duamerthrax with White Wolf Deifenbacker entered the fray. They circled one of the rats and struck as one, tearing the beast apart. Sam wended herself through the battlefield to attack a rat with sly flourish.

Round 2

Wardren struck the same rat he had previously, but the vile beast remained alive. A rat attempted to attack Almirith, but missed. However, an arrow from a Gnome hidden in the corner hit Almirith in the back. Hurricane used a scortching blast in the direction the arrow game from. It scortched two gnomes, but they both faded from site. Almirith moved to the side of the rat and struck him with his fullblade. The beast survived. Niles used another vicious mockery spell on a rat, but failed to afffect the beast. Vala used her grasping claws against the rat in front of her while Duamerthrax with White Wolf Deifenbacker cornered the two gnomes. Sam struck one of the rats viciously killing it. One of the rats bit the paladin, infecting him with vile filth fever.

Round 3

Wardren, sickened by the beast in front of him, struck it with a radient smite. Two more gnomes shot Duamerthrax in the back twice, revealing themselves. Hurricane moved forward and struck them with a force orb. Almirith ran to attack the newly revealed gnomes. He struck one with his fullblade, killing it and leaving one scared gnome next to him. Niles ran forward and without missing a beat of his song, used darkfire on the gnome in front of him. Duamerthrax with White Wolf Deifenbacker attacked another gnome, putting an axe in his head. The gnome next to Almirith attempted to shift past him, but could not get all the way around. Samantha threw her magic dagger against the gnome. It was lit up with darkfire and Samantha's dagger struck true. She then moved in to engage the other gnome.

Round 4

Wardren struck the diseased rat in front of him, killing it. The gnome surrounded by the dwarf, halfling, and wolf, strikes at the wolf. Duamerthrax said "you shouldn't have done that". Hurricane ran up to the woman on the altar and administered a healing potion. Almirith beheaded the gnome in front of him as the vilainous gnome attempted to run towards the chained woman to threaten her. Niles used a vicious mockery against the remaining gnome. Duamerthrax with White Wolf Deifenbacker then enclosed their prey. Duamerthrax struck with his magic axe, killing the last gnome.

Out of combat

The young woman (Mirtila) was obviously injured by the rats and traumatized. Hurricane fed her a potion. The group attempted to comfort her. Vala used her womanly touch to get her to talk. She asked about Sir Tannan, who we had just rescued, and Adromsius who we don't know. She thinks Adromsius may be to the right in the first room (we have not been that way). We decide to take her back to the campsite and leave her with the other party members while we seek Adromsius.

Meanwhile, Sam the halfling pried the ruby eyes off of the displacer beasts. A minor ritual gives them a soft glow.

We returned to the central room and followed Mirtila's directions. We travelled down a long hallway. Eventually we traveled up some stairs to a room with glowing ruins. It spells out Von Jallach in the kind of runes wizard would write in. Almirith stepped into the room and was immediately swarmed by needlefang drakes.

Surprise Round

The needlefang drakes failed to knock Almirith over. However, he maintained his footing and continued to fight them off.

Round 1

Swarms of the drakes came from every corner. Hurricane used scortching burst on one of the swarm clusters. Vala transformed into her mountain cat beast form and ran forward. She attacked the drakes with her grasping claws but missed the tiny lizards. Sam ran forward to attack. However as she crossed the glowing runes pain coursed through her. She continued to run through area to get behind the the main mass of the swarm. Severely injured, she took a momment to regain composure and quaff a potion. Wardren used a bullrush to push one a mass of the tiny wizards into the runes. Niles uses a stiring shout to mystically affect the swarm. He then started a song of courage for his companions and used his mystical abilities to misdirect the beasts, causing many of them to wander into the area with the runes. Meanwhile, Sam was pulled down by several of the swarming

creatures, which then began to feast on her flesh. Sam exclaimed out to her gods. Almirith said an inspiring word to his squire. He then teleported across the battlefield and attempted to force more of the beasts into the cursed rune field. However, he was unable to shift the swarming beasts. Duamerthrax with White Wolf Deifenbacker moved in to attack the swarm which had surrounded the squire.

Round 2

Hurricane then shot an orb of magical force at several masses of the drakes, killing a large number of the beasts. A gnome appeared and shot at Sam with an arrow. Vala ran forward to attack the swarm in front of Almirith, viciously attacking. Sam stood up, drank another healing potion, then attacked the swarm next to her. Wardren stood up and dropped his sword. Pulling his bow, he shot the gnome with an arrow. It disapeared. A second gnome appeared and attacked, shooting Almirith. Niles used the arcane power of his majestic Word to heal Almirith. He also used darkfire on the visible gnome. Almirith charged the gnome who attacked him. He then struck twice, bloodying the craven creature. The needlefang drake swarm then attacked Vala, pulling her prone and began to eat her alive. Duamerthrax with White Wolf Deifenbacker attacked the invisible gnome, shouldering him into the runes and causing him damage.

Round 3

Hurricane shot the swarm with a scortching blast. Some of the needlefangs still survived. Vala, still in the form of a beast, stood up and took a breath. Sam was still within the swarm. She attacked them viciously and dispersed the needlefangs near her. Wardren, still armed with a bow, shot an arrow into the gnome in front of Almirith and killed it. Almirith ran down the other gnome, injuring it greviously. As it gasped for mercy, Duamerthrax with White Wolf Deifenbacker took the gnome down.

Out of combat

Opened the door and found a dwarf shackled in a room with a fountain. Duamerthrax administered a healing potion to the dwarf and Sam unshackled him. Adromsius is the city's

Alchemist, and has offered to make us whatever potions he needs to in town. Because he’s a dwarf, Adronsius remembers the way pretty well—for a guy who was blindfolded.

It was “down the stairs, straight across the entry chamber, turning left in the room that smelled of goblin, then left again in the room with the crackling sound,around two right corners, then through a room thatsmelled of the dead, then up the stairs to a room with a sticky floor, right and up another set of stairs, thenthrough a dusty room and left through a door. That good enough directions for ya?”

Almirith expressed concern over the number of gnomes we were encountering in the natural world, and in their general hostility.

Sam, covered in blood, bathed in the fountain. At this point Almirith finally realized that Sam is actually a female halfling, as opposed to a human boy. Sam asked Almirith to keep her secret when in public, which he agreed to.

Game Night Live! 6pm Tonight!

Chadarius — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 15:42:18 -0700

Free Webcam Chat at Ustream

Game Night Live! 8pm tonight

Chadarius — Sat, 23 May 2009 10:03:35 -0700

Live TV by Ustream

Rhiannon's At It Again

DLOB — Sat, 23 May 2009 04:27:21 -0700

I thought it interesting that Paizo is showing casing this book a part of their Planet Stories advertizing campaign.

Our girl is a fallen deity whose sword is capable of sending mortals on journeys through time and space. Though I knew druids had some nifty talents, I had now idea they had that kind of power!

What will she do next?

D&DI Rates to Increase - Includes early access to Player's Handbook 3

Chadarius — Tue, 19 May 2009 13:58:19 -0700

I just got this in my email box.

Dear Insider,

As a valued D&D Insider™ subscriber, we wanted to make sure that you were among the first to know about some changes to D&DI that will be coming this July.

Starting Tuesday, July 7, D&D Insider will debut complete sections of final, playable, Player's Handbook® 3 material each month leading up to the book's release in March 2010. As a D&DI subscriber, you will be the first to receive nine months of content totaling 102 pages available only through your D&DI subscription.

Each month, the PH3 content will be made available to you through the Character Builder and Compendium accompanied by a comprehensive article. You can read more detail about the debut content in Bill Slavicsek's upcoming Ampersand column.

Beginning July 2, introductory pricing for D&D Insider will expire and subscription prices will change to reflect the increasing value and new content. Starting today, you have 44 days to take advantage of the introductory pricing before it is no longer available. As a current subscriber, you can extend or upgrade your current subscription to get the most value possible. To ensure that you're getting the most value for your money, be sure to visit our FAQ to determine whether a subscription upgrade or extension is right for you.

The deadline for taking advantage of introductory pricing is July 1 at 12 midnight EDT.*

New pricing for D&D Insider beginning July 2:

$9.95 for 1 month
$23.85 for 3 months (save 20%)
$71.40 for an annual subscription (save 40%)

If you have any questions about either of the changes listed above, or about your subscription, you can visit the FAQ or contact the Wizards of the Coast Customer Service team by visiting http://wizards.custhelp.com.

* expiration of your subscription and subsequent renewal or renewal after July 1 will be at the increased rate.

My recollection was that a full year was $60 previously. So this is a hike of about $11 per year. However, as a perk you also get the Player's Handbook 3 early. I'll renew before the July 2nd deadline so I can get 1 more year cheaper. I'll be interested to know what else they add in the next year to warrant the price jump. Getting access to early content is nice but I want gaming functionality not early content. Besides I already have the Monk playtest, which is what I was really looking forward to in PH3 anyways.

So I guess its a wash for me. There had better be some useful tools coming out soon or the price change might be too steep for me after another year.

Captain Kirk's Father is the New Thor (maybe)!

Chadarius — Sun, 17 May 2009 13:03:53 -0700

Check out this article from Nikki Finke. While it seems like this may be unconfirmed, it doesn't really bother me that much. I was hoping that Alexander Skarsgard might get the role, but after seeing the most recent Star Trek, I think Chris Hemsworth (Captain Kirk's Father) did an amazing acting job with the short screen time that he had. He really commanded the screen. I know I got a pit in my stomach when I realized the sacrifice he was going to make. If Kenneth Brannaugh thinks he's right then I think he's going to be great. Kenneth Brannaugh knows his Shakespearean Battle flicks and as far as I can figure, that is what Thor should be in many ways too. By Odin let it be so!

D&D Insider Compendium Finally Plays Positive Roll in Game Session!

Chadarius — Sun, 17 May 2009 12:02:01 -0700

Our last D&D session, which was my Scales of War: Rescue and Rivenroar game, was a blast as usual. We have a fun character mix. Everyone seems to have a good time with the role-playing/fighting mix. One of the nice things that happened the last game session was that the D&D Insider Compendium finally came in handy.

Credit goes to Rob who commented during our game's first rules question about how the Compendium finally has a glossary section. This was updated on April 26th.

"Glossary: added a new Glossary tab to the Compendium. The Glossary provides summary information on combat rules, conditions, weapons properties and type, Monsters and powers keywords, and much more. "

Glossary doesn't really seem to describe it though. It is more of a rules compendium. If you type in "climb" and click on the glossary section, it has all the rules that mention climb in them. Its very handy for those quick ruling decisions where you need to make sure you do things consistently and "by the book".

I think we used it 4 or 5 times in this way. Finally the Compendium comes in handy during game play! I was very pleased that my subscription is paying off even more now. Good job Wizards! (Never say that I don't have anything good to say about Wizards now. OK?)

Monk Playtest is Released!

Chadarius — Thu, 14 May 2009 08:46:03 -0700

Wizards has released the Monk playtest in the latest Dragon magazine.

I am way to excited to think logically about it yet. I'll need some time for it to sink in. I also have to figure out how to get someone else in our group to DM something in 4E so I can try it out!

This is not some level 1-3 prerelease either. This is a full level 1-30 playtest. From what I can tell Dex is your key damage modifier with some Wisdom modifiers thrown in for good measure.

Flurrying, Stances, Leaping, Kicking, Psionics! Monks rule!

Dragon and Dungeon Online Magazines to Get Content Makeover

Chadarius — Thu, 14 May 2009 08:09:45 -0700

Wizards has announced that at some unspecified time in the future they will be changing up the content with their two online magazines a bit.

"But now, we have a year of 4th Edition under our belts, and we've taken a good, hard look at the magazines and the content we release. In a few months (we're not ready to talk about specific dates yet), we're going to refocus the content of Dragon and Dungeon with the goal of giving players and DMs exciting and useful 4th Edition material in a clear-cut, intuitive way. In the new world order, Dragon will become the hub for all of your player needs, and Dungeon will become the hub for all of your DM needs."

I guess the new split of a player and a DM magazine focus makes sense. Honestly though why have it at all? Now that they are digital, why split them in any way? Its not like there are printing concerns anymore. Why not just have a Dungeons and Dragons magazine? I guess in the end it really doesn't matter since its all digital.

If there was any change to make this was probably the most obvious one. They did make sure that the 4E books were really separated well, and that players would only have to have the Player's Handbook and not need to reference the DM book at all. I guess doing the same for the magazines makes sense.