Anchor Podcast For Follow Me, And Die!

A few days ago I shared on various social media that I had started a podcast on Anchor. I put up an episode 0 to try things out. I added a link to my Anchor podcast on my Social page.

I’ve made a list of topics for short episodes to record. I haven’t decided if I will do one episode a week, or more frequently.

Anchor has an app that allows others with that app to “phone in” to a podcast, and that call in can be shared in a future episode. If you want to hear me talk about a specific topic, let me know. I can do more detail on a topic already covered, or touch on a topic new to the podcast.

This is just another place holder on the blog for anyone searching for it. I also put a link along the left side under my affiliate links. Give a listen and a comment.

Origins 2018

Origins is one of the oldest gaming conventions. This was the first time I had ever attended. It is very big and a long distance from end to end. I spent a lot of time in open gaming, which was furthest from anything else.

I had toyed with the idea of going the last few years, and this year, I took the plunge last minute and was able to attend Friday and Saturday.

I met up face to face with several people from online. It was good to chat with some, and a quick “Hey!” from others. My last minute plans led to no coordination of meet ups.

I mostly wandered the venue and checked out the vendor hall. I played in two sessions of a Basic D&D game using the module Horror On The Hill. Our DM, Kelly Davis, tweaked it a bit to add some backstory and NPCs. We were too poor back in the day to buy modules, so most of them are new to me. I’m not sure how long they played before I stepped in to play a dwarf. In the two sessions that I played, we did about seven hours. Jason Hobbes kept coming by to harass us. It was fun playing with a lot of OSR grognards. The cool thing about the module is that we didn’t finish, and our DM offered to run it on Roll20, so we are working to coordinate a mutual time. This will be the first time I have played on Roll20 with anyone I have met face to face.

Before the final session I arrived in time to see Jason Hobbes wrap up the DCC game he was playing. I got sidetracked and didn’t make it there in time to join in. It was a lot of fun to watch, and lots of laughs.

The size of the con and the location make a strong argument for getting a hotel room on site, or using a driving service/taxi to get there from a more distant hotel.

I learned something to add to my pre-con checklist. There was a parade on Saturday, and I was forced to enter a parking garage and park other than where I had planned, and had a lot of unexpected walking to do to get to the con. So next time I go to a con, I will research other events on that city’s calendar to verify what might hinder travel to and from the con.

I also suggested to Origins that they let new people know about the parade that happens the same weekend almost every year. I think Google Maps should mention such things. Most cities this size have websites with calendars, and newspapers with events sections.

Origins does have its own app, GAMA, that has partial maps of the venue and the ability to search for the events in the catalog. I found it took a bit of digging to locate the search function. The maps did not clearly list the open gaming area. Overall the app was not as intuitive as I would like. There is a notes feature, but only works for events you attach the notes to, such as those you are interested in or signed up for.

Of the two books they passed out with registration, one mentioned Open Gaming, but the other didn’t. All areas should be mentioned in one book that includes all maps of the venue. Searching for open gaming in the app was no help. Open gaming seemed to be too far out, and the water jugs were dry.

The distance between open gaming and wider food choice was extreme. Snacks and a water bottle are a must.

Overall, I liked the con and will probably attend next year. It’s only a 4 1/2 hour drive from where I live, and is mostly interstate. It’s the first con that I’ve done open gaming that wasn’t the night before the con started.

Stream of Many Eyes – WotC Previews New Story

After last year’s Stream of Annihilation that previewed Tomb of Annihilation, it was clear that WotC has embraced streaming of live play D&D. This weekend, WotC is repeating the streaming idea with many of the same streamers as last year, and many new faces.

Streaming Streams Everywhere

There are far too many streaming games for me to watch. Many are on Pacific time, which is a big difference for Easter time, three hours. They tend to start at 7 PM my time or later, and many run 3 or 4 hour sessions. While I enjoy watching some live play, and seeing how other DMs do things, I can’t watch a lot of streaming shows. There are so many streaming shows that there are more shows than one person could watch. I know a lot of streamers, and have tried to watch all of them, just to see what they’re doing. Personally, I’d much rather play or run a game than watch a game. With “everyone” starting their own stream, since Twitch and other platforms make it so easy, there is a glut of material. Those hoping to make it big need a high quality presentation and present their story and play in a way that stands out.

WotC’s Streaming Method

What I like about WotC’s efforts using the streaming weekends to showcase their forthcoming products is that they show bits and pieces of introductory material, and how different DMs and players jump in. They also talk about related things with partners, or share the news about the upcoming book about some of the iconic art from the earliest days of D&D.

The Announcement

The new product coming in September is Dragon Heist, set in the city of Waterdeep in the Forgotten Realms. A dragon is a type of gold coin. It is a large amount of treasure that the bad guys seeking it will put to furthering their evil machinations, should they get it first.

There are four major NPCs the DM can choose to be the BBEG (Big Bad Evil Guy). Players can acquire a tavern, with downtime to deal with running it, built in to the story. I missed part of the description, but it will have rules for city adventures.

They mentioned that DMs can ignore the story and just use the setting. That’s how we do it old school. Use what you want/need, toss the rest. By toss, it could mean set aside for later use.

It has a modular and flexible design so the DM can move stuff around and replace major NPCs with your own without breaking things. The city is a character. Each DM makes it their own.

OSR Sentiment

There were several times that WotC D&D designers & editors flat out said the rules are optional, and that you only need to use what works for you and your group. This hearkens back to what Gary Gygax was saying before he was focused on running a business that needed to sell rules books. With city rules and an adventure setting that is modular, plus tables to help fill in gaps/get ideas. I am interested to see what this is when it is released, as I collect ideas from many systems to help inform and flesh out what I do in my own campaign.

If you want to run a city based campaign, or like city base campaigns, this might be for you.

NOTE: This is my 700th post! Wow!

UPDATE: I missed the announcement that Dragon Heist is for levels 1-5, and a second book, Dungeon of the Mad Mage, which is a megadungeon taking players to level 20. So far, there isn’t anything about it on the WotC site. Christopher Perkins tweeted about it.