This blog started as journal or diary of sorts to chronicle my first foray. After a some time it became evident to me that this material may be decent enough to create a story. So here I am years later and I've published my first e-book! The story is somewhat timely as the plot has the characters from my RPG adventure fighting the clock to find an antidote for a planet wide pandemic.
It was a process to be sure to get this short story published via Amazon. I learned a ton and the next time doing this sort of project won't be so arduous as most of the ground work is now in place.
So please! Check out my book and drop just a couple of dollars on it and let me know in the comments what you think!
"In a race against the clock - Nureet must transport a precious heirloom across a dangerous stretch of arid desert. The prized possession may hold the secret to curing a planet wide pandemic."
I can't wait to play this game again! Super simple yet super engaging. We went through the rules in not time and got down to wondering the streets of what I can only describe as 'Old Hollywood'.
The board game graphics and cards capture the essence of the 1940s era monster movie posters. The extra touch was the meticulous hand painted miniatures my friend did. It was nostalgic and drew me right into the game.
The co-op aspect makes it more fun as your able to help each other gain items and ultimately attempt to slay these classic creatures of the night.
Deceptively difficult. The game mechanics are a cinch
move/acquire/etc based on your character's ability
when completed flip a monster card to invoke a possible attack
roll the dice to determine any possible damage
The difficulty is completing each monster's challenge card then seek it out to remove it from existence. This requires navigating the streets while evading the lurkers, sometimes having to move from one side of the board game to the other. However your team and villagers can only survive so many attacks before you become HORRIFIED! and the game comes to a sudden end. Nooooo!
I found the extra tasks very fascinating. Villagers begin to wonder the town and you must escort them to their destination. Succeed and receive a bonus skill card. Fail and... well I won't describe the grizzly horrors that are inflicted if you do.
This game is rated 10+. It's very cute and a really nice change from some of the darker board games I've played like Dead of Winter. I liked this game so much I hope to have an opportunity for my kids to play it. 5 Stars!
I've been playing a lot of Star Wars Imperial Assault lately with a group of friends every weekend. We usually block a few hours at my buddy's place to play. He has a dedicated games room with a superb boardgame table. Most of the games in his collection take up some real estate with not just the game but all the necessary card decks pieces etc. Imperial Assault has so many things going for it. It's so familiar but different enough to make it unique. Hey - it's STAR WARS after all!
The skill level to play I would personally rate somewhere between novice to medium if you have prior RPG gaming experience. There's some dice mechanics but it's all laid out in your character's card details. You just need to glance at the card once in while to remind yourself of any special abilities that might help you or your companions.
The artwork and game pieces are gorgeous. The owner of this particular set spent the summer individually painting each piece. Talk about leveling up! The characters are an assortment of types just like most other DnD/RPG games where detriments in one particular attribute are made up by others. The Wookie is big and strong, the infantry guy is great in battle, the commander has some extra mental and tactical prowess.
Not all situations encountered are strictly blaster battles. One particular encounter had the team in a canyon and we all had to roll collectively to inflict as much damage to some sort of giant turbo cannon.
The story element reminded me a lot of KOTOR where interactions with non-combatives would yield clues and side missions to gain more XP and gear which is all handled by the 'App'. Our host had it on his iPad mini which was screencasted to a small TV that we could all see. The app controls the game, the turns, the encounters and acts much like a GM. I found this particularly interesting and very inclusive as our host was able to play along side us instead of controlling the game.
The board-game itself is also fascinating. It's actually grid puzzle pieces that are double sided with different environments that fit together in different ways dependent on what part of the adventure you are on.
So there you have it, a great way to spend the winter months with friends in a familiar environment playing out a really cool story that is one part KOTOR and one part SWEOTE played on an ever changing board game map similar to Pathfinder.
This game hits me right in the feels! I love a good nautical adventure. Some of my favorite stories and movies have a core element invovling the high seas.
Like any good choose your own adventure book, this game sets the mechanics in motion based on your intentions as a sea captain. Are you going to give it a go as a honest merchant, shipping your goods from port to port? Are you going to rain havok as a privateer sinking ships to Davey Jones' Locker? Once you initiate your first attack, there's no turning back.
I've been reading "Red Seas Under Red Skies" and I wanted to play out its story in some capacity to this game. Sacking ships was my first order of business. I found out very quickly that it was very profitable - but also very risky. But with the risk came the reward and the excitment.
Within a few turns I had already acquired muliple bounties on my head which made it next to impossible to go back to a life of merchant shipping for my stream of income. All the merchant ships fly country flags and once you attack a ship - you become an enemy of that country. This reduces the ports you can sail to as well as makes you a target of the game's naval ships that can search you out and chase you down.
The events of the game are fascinating. I found the 'rumor' cards to be most interesting. These are side missions that can pay big dividends. Hurricanes and storms also took you off your course. Does your captain have a enough seamanship experience that you can roll your way out of a gale force wind? What two warring empires are at it now? Don't look now but there's also other pirates searching the seas for the gold stored in your hauls.
I can't say enough good things about this boardgame. It really does a good job of combining elements of other games I've played such as Cataan, DnD, Risk, Eldritch Horrors, Arabian Nights etc. all with a really great Pirates of the Carribean theme!
What
better place to play an intense and scary board game then miles away
from civilization? I helped my good friend KJ close up camp. Once the
work was done and we were full from Maltese burgers on the BBQ we hunkered down for an epic game of ELDRITCH HORRORS! MUHAAAHAAHAAA!
When I say Epic - I mean EPIC. Setup for this beast is a 7/10 on the difficulty scale - at least for me. Not for the faint of heart and if you're trying to jam this game into a specific time schedule. You need to set aside an evening for this whopper. But it is absolutely worth the wait.
HP Lovecraft inspired, Eldritch Horrors is similar to Elder Signs - however this takes place on a global scale. The actual board game is stunning and puts you into an Indiana Jones sort of feel with the time period it represents and the look of the map itself.
There's a lot going on and it took me a few turns to get into the flow of it. This is a team game. You and your mates versus the horrors unleashed. Glowing Turtle does an excellent walk through of this intricate game.
The objective is clear - defeat King Boss before to many portals open up and unleash unspeakable monsters and the DOOM CLOCK runs out.
The time flies playing this game - so be sure to block a good chunk of it. Our adventure lasted over 2 hours.
I found the BEST board game for children! I happen to be passing through a quaint little tourist town on the north shore of Lake Superior - Grand Marais. There's a great outdoors/hiking/camping store there called the Trading Post which stocks all manner of cottage clothing, fishing, hunting, books, maps and games!
I asked the owner about this game "Dragonwood" that I spotted in the games section. He had heard some pretty amazing reviews from his customers who had purchased it. Taking him at his word I purchased it for my kids.
We were on a camping trip weeks later and broke out the game (still in the shrink wrap). My kids along with some of their cousins took to it like moths to a flame. It was the best $20.00 I spent towards children's entertainment and the kids as well as myself spent hours playing this gem of a game.
Simply put - it's a form of UNO (finding cards of the same colour or a run of numbers or three of kind) and using that determine how many dice you roll to try and capture a creature from "Dragonwood". Each card captured has an assigned point(s) to it. The smaller point cards are easier to capture like the 'fire ants' or 'giggling goblins'. The more difficult cards like the 'pack of wolves' or 'angry bear' require a more die to conquer.
The two ultimate beasts - the Dragons - are the most difficult to capture. Once the two dragons are caught the game is over and players then count their points (based on the creatures captured).
Hours and hours of fun were had with this game. It is great if you aspire to have your kids get into more difficult games as it provides the foundation of dice mechanics. 10 out 10!
What does one do to combat the winter blues? Embrace it of course! What better way than to hunker down at a freind's camp, stoke the flames in the fireplace and burn through hours of adventure in the blink of an eye around a table playing DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS!
Days previous I got to build out a character and have it prepared for the adventure. I went with a Half-Elf Druid and leveled up on medicinal forest skills. My colleague went with a Ranger class Human and also leveled up in nature based skills. Lucky for us our quest took us on a wooded terrain path into the mountains. Our insight was favorable indeed!
This was our GM's first crack at being a GM. I wouldn't have guessed it was his first attempt. For this round he used his newly aquired D&D 5th Edition. Adapting to this version based on my previous EotE adventures was almost seemless. Apparently the new 5th edition is less on dice-math and lends itself more to the game play.
He guided our characters SavaVor and Warmspring to a haunted canyon by way of a quirky village. We heard some tales of orcs and treasure from the locals before heading on our way.
Our original journey was to take us to the lands far beyond for some contract work with some Dwarves. However that would have to wait as we were diverted by strange and unusual forces to visit the canyon on the outskirts of the town.
A thick fog hid the bottom of the crevase. The only sign of activty was a rope tied off to a post that ran down the rock wall into the abyss. Being experienced woodsmen, we tied off secondary climbing gear for safety and scaled down the escarment which ended at the top of a platform. Stairs carved into the rocks led further down still.
Warmsrping and I discover the top of an ancient castle sticking out of the canyon floor. It appears to have been burried then swallowed up by the earth. There's activty a foot as latterns are lit and a path in out of the top of the building has been worn. Could this be where the treasures are coming from?
