I've been obsessing about Warmachines and Hordes to a lesser extent because it's a miniature wargame where robots and monsters and crazy steampunk wizards all throw down. I really intended to get into Warmachines slowly and eventually branch out into Hordes when I was ready to start branching out. That was not the case.
First off, let me say that I live in central Arkansas, which means it's a task to even find a local game shop, much less one that isn't just stocked with only what sells(GW all day). I finally made my way down to Little Rock with visions of poring over all sorts of little plastic robots and picking out one or two very special pieces to try to paint and make look pretty. When I got to the store, I found out that they don't even carry Malifaux, which I was hoping to look at, and they were liquidating all their Warmachine and Hordes stuff. They did just have a tournament last week so I might get to play occasionally... Anyway, I went with a very specific amount of money to spend and I fully intended to purchase at least one plastic robot man. No dice. All they had was a Trollblood and a Circle battle box. The guy offered a 20% discount, though and so it was cheaper than miniature market after shipping and I could have it then and there. I thought Circle would probably be my faction if/when I ever got into Hordes but now I'm into Hordes, I guess.
However, I was going to run Mercenaries in Warmachine because I love a lot of the characters. So, while looking at what I could do with the Circle, I started going over Minions who would work with Kaya. So, keep in mind that this list was put together mostly because I like the characters and I think it will be fun to paint/display and maybe play once every other month.
Here's a total noob list:
System: [b]Hordes[/b]
Faction: [b]Circle Orboros[/b]
Casters: [b]1/1[/b]
Points: [b]15/15[/b]
Kaya the Wildborne [b](*6pts)[/b]
* Argus [b](4pts)[/b]
* Argus [b](4pts)[/b]
* Feral Warpwolf [b](9pts)[/b]
Lanyssa Ryssyll, Nyss Sorceress [b](2pts)[/b]
Saxon Orrik [b](2pts)[/b]
Kaya, the two Argus'(which are two headed dogs named Rex, Fido, Spot and Kujo) and the Warpwolf are all from the battle box. Lanyssa and Saxon are going to be part of a bulk order to Miniature Market and that will be a whole separate report. Based on the sizes, though, I think my crappy old mage knight stuff could serve as decent proxies for pieces I want in the meantime.
On Thursday, I'll talk about how Turning Leaves is going and maybe I'll have that order all set and on it's way to me!
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Thursday, January 31, 2013
I'm a Copycat- BFRPG post
Seeing as I am still working painting up the last few characters in my newest army for my solo wargaming, I decided to look around at my favorite blogs. Right away, Danjou's post over at Tabletop Diversions led me to this. If you're a linkophobe or don't trust me for some reason, that leads to the BFRPG page, which Danjou rightfully described as an "obscene amount of free gaming goodness." (emphasis mine).
This is what I love about living in the digital age (I'm pretty sure that I'm officially an old person because I used that phrase unironically). Amazing things are happening in the RPG community and they are free for the taking. When I first really got into RPGs, it was because a new version of D&D came out and the old books were on sale. So, instead of paying $40 on one book, I was able to buy the player's guide, the monster manual, the DM's guide and a bunch of supplements for about that same price (well, less, actually because I worked at the bookstore and got a discount. God I miss that discount). Here, though, there is nearly everything you can imagine for the game and it is free. I can not over state that!
The problem with RPGs is that it's hard to pick how to jump in. What are you going to devote your time and your money to? Having so much available for free makes the question a little easier to deal with. This is a good way to step into the hobby and see what it's about if you haven't already and it's a good way to show others a basic idea of what they could be getting into if they are curious about role playing games.
I mentioned in my last post I was working on a Turning Leaves campaign, looking over Owl Hoot Trail as a possible game for solo play or, on a very off chance, getting a group formed. However, I am really thinking Basic Fantasy would be the best thing for me to run because I've never GM'ed before and it seems like a good place to start because there's a familiarity to these rules that is very comfortable for me but there's some new twists that will keep the experience interesting.
This is what I love about living in the digital age (I'm pretty sure that I'm officially an old person because I used that phrase unironically). Amazing things are happening in the RPG community and they are free for the taking. When I first really got into RPGs, it was because a new version of D&D came out and the old books were on sale. So, instead of paying $40 on one book, I was able to buy the player's guide, the monster manual, the DM's guide and a bunch of supplements for about that same price (well, less, actually because I worked at the bookstore and got a discount. God I miss that discount). Here, though, there is nearly everything you can imagine for the game and it is free. I can not over state that!
The problem with RPGs is that it's hard to pick how to jump in. What are you going to devote your time and your money to? Having so much available for free makes the question a little easier to deal with. This is a good way to step into the hobby and see what it's about if you haven't already and it's a good way to show others a basic idea of what they could be getting into if they are curious about role playing games.
I mentioned in my last post I was working on a Turning Leaves campaign, looking over Owl Hoot Trail as a possible game for solo play or, on a very off chance, getting a group formed. However, I am really thinking Basic Fantasy would be the best thing for me to run because I've never GM'ed before and it seems like a good place to start because there's a familiarity to these rules that is very comfortable for me but there's some new twists that will keep the experience interesting.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Turning Leaves campaign
Okay, I think I want to update Tuesday and Thursday with a solo rpg post on Tuesday and a wargame post on Thursday(although based on etymology, maybe Tuesday should be wargames day). I think that the idea sounds nice now but it might be a little too narrow-focus but that will be the loose skeleton for this blog. At the very least, I'm aiming for at least two updates a week.
That being said, I would like to show off what I've been working on in my spare time. However, there's not really much to show off. I'm starting up a game of Turning Leaves but I'm trying to keep it kind of generic so I can actually navigate this fantasy world. So far I have done most of the basic set-up steps. The game starts with you creating a basic map of a swath of land on the coast of an ocean. There's a big mountain and a huge forest as well as a river running through it. There are three "points of interest" initially, too. You move through seasons and years until you decide you're done playing. I found this game around the time I started watching Game of Thrones and I think the two really match up. As you play through the game, characters age, gain and lose things that they love or seek to protect and new characters and places show up, too. Initially, the year is 90 something because 90 years ago, something happened. All of these pieces are put together by you, the player, in what is basically a Lego set for writers.
Here's what I've got:
The map is formed and I will post a picture eventually.
For the cultures-
Hearts(the loosely spread group) Castots. A seafaring group(since most of their territory ended up in the watery part of the world). I'm also adding racial features of the culture but I tried to be a little bit unique here. The Castots have greenish skin but sometimes they have mutant children with gills and/or webbed hands and feet that they consider "blessed". That's as far as they are fleshed out but there's lots of room to expand and the game kind of encourages starting with a rough skeleton of what's going on and moving forward.
Diamonds(The culture that predates everyone else) Donisi. I went in a weird direction with this. The Donisi are an incredibly old race that appear as beautiful creatures to whoever view them. In essence, earthbound angels. So, to avoid causing riots, Donisi travel as covered up as possible, especially their faces. However, they are a proud bunch and their masks are usually garish and strange. I guess it's weird for a group to wear masks so that their beautiful faces don't freak people out and then make the masks really attract attention. I'm thinking they will be a caste system and the higher up the member is, the more outlandish and colorful their mask will be.
Clubs(the culture that has come a long way or individuals have come for their own reasons) The Displaced. This culture also led me to what happened 90 years ago. The displaced are people that traveled through strange portals that started appearing 90 years ago so we are in 90 AP(after portals? Might change that). Anyway, the displaced are actually a broad term for the portal people. Besides the people, I thought portals would also occasionally bring treasure and strange creatures, too. This idea gives me carte blanche to do what I want as far as what I want to show up. Initially, the portals were going to be time travelers but then I thought alternate realities would be better. I think I might need to define this a bit more because right now, it's so open-ended that it feels a little bit like cheating.
Spades(The regimented culture with large civic centers that holds the larger part of the territory) Trius. The names a little generic but they are basically people who hold three in mystic reverence as a representative of mind, body and soul and are led by a triumvirate that represent each of those aspects to the fullest. So the body leader is a big, burly fighter guy, the mind guy is a brilliant wizardy type and the soul guy is a mystical serene monk. They feel like a samurai-type of culture but I was actually thinking of medieval knights. In my notebook, they have the least lines to describe their culture but I feel like they are the most fully-formed in my mind.
That's the basic skeleton and next comes character creation, which is done by drawing cards and seeing what I end up with. I think this next step will give me a better idea of who the Displaced are as well as putting a little more meat on the bones of the other cultures. I meant to just use generic "dwarves, elves, half-orcs and humans" but this game really engenders the creative streak in a role player and encourages world-building.
I am definitely sticking with this but...I did just get a hold of the playtest documents for Owl Hoot Trail and I've got the Mythic GM emulator so I might have some solo rpg stuff going on with that, too. I want to find a group nearby or find something to recruit people with but I am just really bad with people in general and most people have weird schedules anyway so it's hard to get more than one or two people to commit. I guess we'll see what happens but I think one of my goals of this year is probably going to be to find a few people and establish a gaming group...easier said than done, though. Ah, well.
Happy gaming til next time.
That being said, I would like to show off what I've been working on in my spare time. However, there's not really much to show off. I'm starting up a game of Turning Leaves but I'm trying to keep it kind of generic so I can actually navigate this fantasy world. So far I have done most of the basic set-up steps. The game starts with you creating a basic map of a swath of land on the coast of an ocean. There's a big mountain and a huge forest as well as a river running through it. There are three "points of interest" initially, too. You move through seasons and years until you decide you're done playing. I found this game around the time I started watching Game of Thrones and I think the two really match up. As you play through the game, characters age, gain and lose things that they love or seek to protect and new characters and places show up, too. Initially, the year is 90 something because 90 years ago, something happened. All of these pieces are put together by you, the player, in what is basically a Lego set for writers.
Here's what I've got:
The map is formed and I will post a picture eventually.
For the cultures-
Hearts(the loosely spread group) Castots. A seafaring group(since most of their territory ended up in the watery part of the world). I'm also adding racial features of the culture but I tried to be a little bit unique here. The Castots have greenish skin but sometimes they have mutant children with gills and/or webbed hands and feet that they consider "blessed". That's as far as they are fleshed out but there's lots of room to expand and the game kind of encourages starting with a rough skeleton of what's going on and moving forward.
Diamonds(The culture that predates everyone else) Donisi. I went in a weird direction with this. The Donisi are an incredibly old race that appear as beautiful creatures to whoever view them. In essence, earthbound angels. So, to avoid causing riots, Donisi travel as covered up as possible, especially their faces. However, they are a proud bunch and their masks are usually garish and strange. I guess it's weird for a group to wear masks so that their beautiful faces don't freak people out and then make the masks really attract attention. I'm thinking they will be a caste system and the higher up the member is, the more outlandish and colorful their mask will be.
Clubs(the culture that has come a long way or individuals have come for their own reasons) The Displaced. This culture also led me to what happened 90 years ago. The displaced are people that traveled through strange portals that started appearing 90 years ago so we are in 90 AP(after portals? Might change that). Anyway, the displaced are actually a broad term for the portal people. Besides the people, I thought portals would also occasionally bring treasure and strange creatures, too. This idea gives me carte blanche to do what I want as far as what I want to show up. Initially, the portals were going to be time travelers but then I thought alternate realities would be better. I think I might need to define this a bit more because right now, it's so open-ended that it feels a little bit like cheating.
Spades(The regimented culture with large civic centers that holds the larger part of the territory) Trius. The names a little generic but they are basically people who hold three in mystic reverence as a representative of mind, body and soul and are led by a triumvirate that represent each of those aspects to the fullest. So the body leader is a big, burly fighter guy, the mind guy is a brilliant wizardy type and the soul guy is a mystical serene monk. They feel like a samurai-type of culture but I was actually thinking of medieval knights. In my notebook, they have the least lines to describe their culture but I feel like they are the most fully-formed in my mind.
That's the basic skeleton and next comes character creation, which is done by drawing cards and seeing what I end up with. I think this next step will give me a better idea of who the Displaced are as well as putting a little more meat on the bones of the other cultures. I meant to just use generic "dwarves, elves, half-orcs and humans" but this game really engenders the creative streak in a role player and encourages world-building.
I am definitely sticking with this but...I did just get a hold of the playtest documents for Owl Hoot Trail and I've got the Mythic GM emulator so I might have some solo rpg stuff going on with that, too. I want to find a group nearby or find something to recruit people with but I am just really bad with people in general and most people have weird schedules anyway so it's hard to get more than one or two people to commit. I guess we'll see what happens but I think one of my goals of this year is probably going to be to find a few people and establish a gaming group...easier said than done, though. Ah, well.
Happy gaming til next time.
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