Server Master Rich

So, I wasn't really too interested in Eberron.  Just kind of ignored it all the way until the point where I found myself buying the campaign book.  Shortly thereafter, I've made 5+ (some characters are really only variations on the same character, so can't really count them) characters (as some know, I'm a character creating fanatic, few things help me learn more about the rules than making various characters of various levels), two of which I'm actually playing!  One in a campaign by Ry, one in a campaign by Jenn.

So, what do I think about Eberron?  I think its fantastic!  I'm really looking forward to playing in the official series of modules (Jenn is starting with the adventure from the campaign book, then moving on to the first module in the series of modules for Eberron, should be really exciting).  Ry's campaign is more like a normal campaign so far, its set in Eberron, but we haven't experienced anything “Eberron”-like yet, though to be fair, most of us hadn't even fully read the campaign book when we started it, so I look forward to more “eberron” flavor in the future. 

My character, which I'll probably post around here sometime, as he expands, is a bit more interesting than most characters I play.  I usually take a concept, and push it to its extreme.  Such as the ultimate evil-smiting paladin, or the uber-fireball/lightning bolt war wizard of cormyr.  This character, Jarou, is starting as a druid razorclaw shifter.  Not too intelligent (Int 6) or social (cha 6), Jarou is at home in the forest.  Him and his hyena (Heckle) he picked up near the Demon Wastes, have wandered quite far, for being so low level.  Jarou finds himself equally uncomfortable around most other druids as he does around “cityfolk”, but he also finds himself strangely intrigued by those from the city.  While Jarou barely understands most higher social concepts (such as good and evil), Jarou is very interested in the concept of his Kalashtar's ultimate good.  Jarou can't quite dedicate himself to good with the fervor that his friend has, but the concepts whirling around in his brain have him determined to at least try and be good.  He doesn't always succeed, and wanton destruction of natural things has a tendency to bring out his more savage side, but Jarou is trying.     

Jarou's stats would be equally good for a fighter or ranger, (Str 18, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 6, Wis 14, Cha 6) as he is a druid, maybe even better, and his Eberron druid sect feat gives him +2 deflection bonus to AC, so his starting AC of 19 puts him pretty squarely as a tank (in addition to his limited healing abilites as a druid).  When Jarou “shifts”, his strength goes up to 20 and he sprouts claws, which gives him a good combat bonus for 1 combat a day, given that he doesn't have an ECL and he's a caster.  Around lvl 6, I'm looking for him to take WereTouched Master, and he'll choose to go the path of the weretiger.  It should be awesome.  I think we'll be playing this campaign next week, so once I have experienced it more, I'll post more about it. 

At any rate, if you haven't looked at Eberron yet, or if you're one of those people who doesn't want to look at something because too many people say its good (you know who you are!), give it a try, I think its worth your time.

Color Girl Jenn

I love this comic. =D  I think this comic proves that ry's gotten a lot better at the four panel comics. =D

Jason

A PIRATE!

Ok, well not necessarily a pirate, although they can be cool.  Really anything in the whole “swashbuckling” genre is great.  It's simply isn't cool to just be competent anymore, or even great at what you do.  You need to do it with style!  It's all about the flair and the witty banter, and the risque comments to the bystanding ladies (or guys, if that's your thing), all the while facing deadly odds with a practiced non-chalance.  Of course, that's just the characters.  The world should support these kinds of antics as well.  Hordes of nameless thugs to trounce, eeeevil, moustache-twisting villains to trade barbs with, and plenty of ropes, curtains and chandaliers to swing from.

You know what?  That would be great in games, too.  Some of my favorite games support that style of play.  On the obvious end, there's 7th Sea.  A really cool, alternate reality renaissance Europe with a hint of magic, some exploration, and plenty of sabre-crossing.  There's even a stat called “Panache” used for pulling off those crazy stunts.  I really wish I had gotten a chance to properly get into that game, but I didn't have any players, and then they went and published a supplement that change some of the core mechanics of the game.  Not that that made the game worse.  I'm sure it was better, but now the rules were devided bewteen the original books and some other book that was supposed to be free, but I could never find...  Still, it's a great world to read about...

And then there's Eberron.  It's a D&D world with a variety of cool races and a great setting.  Eberron also introduces Action Points into D&D, allowing for more "over the top" action, like you'd see in a movie.  Also, Eberron was the winner of that "Official D&D Setting" contest they had a while back.  A very cool book, and a great deal of the art is by Steve Prescott, who's style I like.  I haven't had a chance to play, of course, but it looks really good.  I imagine Rich will probably tell you more about it as he gets a chance to play.

Now, in a similar vein, if not quite the same, is Feng Shui.  Sure, sure, it's more Jet Lee than Erol Flynn, but it's still about highly competent heroes cutting (or shooting, or kicking) their way through crowds of cannon fodder to reach the equally competent bad guy at the end, trade a few clever rejoinders, and finally (and stylishly) beat the tar out of him.  As a matter of fact, since you aren't limited to pirates and ocean voyages, I think it's a great option for a night of kung-fu action.  I was recently reminded of Feng Shui when I saw Charlie's Angels 2.  There is a scene in a motorcross race where the characters are doing backflips while their bikes are in mid-jump, pulling out guns, shooting several times at the people behind them and landing back on the bikes to complete the jumps.  That's just crazy, but it's very Feng Shui.

Now, my focus here has been on action, but I can enjoy drama and role-playing well enough.  As a matter of fact, I just pre-ordered the new World of Darkness and Vampire books.  But while they have their place, my prefered gaming experience is "action movie" style.  Make the interactions memorable, and relatively brief, keep the story moving, and blow things up!

Arrr!

*BOOM!*

Jason

Missing Games!

That's right.  I really miss my games.  Since I moved about a year ago, I haven't gamed in any serious kind of way.  It's depressing.  I've managed to squeeze a few boardgames out of my fiancee's family, and I've run some pretty enjoyable games in the forums, but it's just not the same as sitting at a table with a bag of Doritos and a Mountain Dew, a character sheet and some dice and going at it.  I miss the smell of the books and the rattle of the dice bag.  I miss the joking around.  I miss wasting an hour of game time deciding what to get for dinner.  I miss defeating evil (well, more evil than my fellow adventurers at least).  I miss forcing my gaming group to try the latest new card/board/dice/role-playing game that I got over the weekend.  I miss gaming.

Now, for what it's worth, there are plenty of gamers where I live.  One need only go to the local call center.  You can't swing a chain-mail mesh dice-bag over your head without hitting a gamer in a call center.  And there are plenty of gamers that don't even work there.  The problem is the time involved.  First I have to find a group, then meet with them, then get comfortable with them, then find out that some/most/all of them are horrible mutant freaks.  Now, I love gaming, and gamers are my only friends, but for the love of crap, gamers can be the most psychotic goobers in the world!  I'm lucky enough to have hooked up with the Staff as a gaming group in the past.  They are an intelligent, well-rounded group that I miss a great deal as well.  Now, I know that our readers are the exception, but many of the gamers I've encountered are... quirky.  Like obsessive-compulsively so.  Gamers who can't just let a rule go, or who fly off of the handle because a new edition changed their favorite rule, or even are rule they had no opinion about prior.  Or gamers who uncontrollably house-rule a game to death, just because.  Not because they've played the game for several months and thought about it and decided that it was ruining the game.  No, these are people who hear a generality about a rule before the game is even released, cry out “That's stupid/broken/unrealistic/too realistic/not the way it was/not the way I wanted it to be!” and swear an oath to create house rules to change it before it even hits their gaming tables.

Maybe I'm just insecure.  Maybe I just don't feel right if I feel I can't trust the “physics” of the game world.  After all, while there are exceptions, most players don't want to think that they are at the whim of thier DM's.  We all assume that the DM is following the rules, and even if he's out to get us, he's working within the framework of the game's paradigm.  If the DM just “makes up” rules on the fly, overrides the rules “just because”, or creates poorly thought out house-rules, it breaks the game's consistency.  You can no longer trust the rules to work like you expect them to.  It's like knowing that, at any time, your city's department of transportation might decide that “red lights mean go”.  I don't know about anybody else, but that makes me a bit uncomfortable.  I'm not just seeking rules advantages here, either.  I've had DM's change the rules in my favor, and I didn't like it.  It cheapened the risks my character took.

Then, of course, there are the vast variety of personalities in the gaming world and the world at large.  Some people are just asses, and shouldn't be allowed out of their homes to begin with.

So, what it boils down to is this.  I miss gaming, but right now it's just not enough to get me past my dislike of meeting new people, and especially new gaming groups.

*sigh*