On the whole, I really like the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons comic. There are nonetheless a few things about it that I find grating, and almost all of them are on display in “Spell Games.”
Continue reading “Comics & Quests: Spell Games”
Category: Role-Playing Games
The Bride-to-Be
A longer time ago than it seems, I got married. Sometime around the date of my wedding, I created the following template for Pathfinder first edition. I swear the timing is coincidental and in no way reflects upon my own lovely wife Sarah, who was nothing but composed and gracious all through the planning for our wedding, who is the most gorgeous and intelligent woman I know, and who would be even more attractive if she stopped threatening me with a fire axe as I type this.
Continue reading “The Bride-to-Be”
The Infinity Engine and Beyond: A Look Back at Classic D&D cRPGs
The success of Baldur’s Gate 3 has Hasbro seeing potential gold mines in the video game industry. Unfortunately for them (and us), Larian Studios won’t be working on more Baldur’s Gate games. Not to be deterred, Hasbro is investing $1 billion in new D&D computer RPGs, hoping to catch lightning in a bottle several times over. It’s amusing in its own way, because the company had a pipeline of consistent high-quality video games for a solid decade and let that dry up.
While D&D has seen several periods of success in the video game industry, the one that I experienced directly was the string of releases between Baldur’s Gate, which came out in 1998, and Neverwinter Nights 2, which saw its last official expansion in 2009. Developed mostly by Bioware (and the now-defunct Black Isle Studios), these games expanded the genre in sometimes innovative ways and delivered a consistently fun D&D experience on personal computers.
I’m going to touch on each of the games I’ve played, which covers all the D&D cRPG games released from 1998 through 2009 with the exception of Pool of Radiance: The Ruins of Myth Drannor, The Temple of Elemental Evil, and Icewind Dale 2. The latter two games sit in my GOG account waiting to be played in the future. As to Pool of Radiance…well, based on the reviews I’ve read I might just go back in time and play the SSI “Gold Box” games instead.
Continue reading “The Infinity Engine and Beyond: A Look Back at Classic D&D cRPGs”
Comics & Quests: Catspaw
Many a gaming group knows the frustration of not being able to get everyone together on a regular basis. Often, the solution involves splitting the party; some PCs engage in the adventure at hand, while others are missing on other errands. This seems to be a feel that the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons comic was going for. In “The Spirit of Myrrth,” our centaur friend Timoth was notably absent (as was Agrivar). Now, in “Catspaw,” he’s back but the rest of the group, save his buddy Onyx, are out.
Continue reading “Comics & Quests: Catspaw”
Fiction: Matters of Faith
Originally published in Wayfinder #15
Once the pyres start burning, it’s hard to tell the dead from the undead. It doesn’t help that one becomes another so easily.
Continue reading “Fiction: Matters of Faith”
Comics & Quests: The Spirit of Myrrth
The start of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons comic book line presented an epic tale in which a motley crew of do-gooders overcame their differences to stop an evil wizard from overrunning the land. It was a good introduction to the setting and our heroes, but it was the sort of giant epic quest that, quite frankly, does not play to D&D‘s strengths.
That’s not to say that D&D can’t be about epic quests and heroism, but a role-playing game is a unique place where group storytelling, whimsical jokes, and unlucky die rolls meet. That combination creates an off-beat sort of tale that stands apart from other fantasy literature. The second story of the comic book line, “The Spirit of Myrrth,” feels more like something that players would experience at a table. Here we find a portal to the underworld, a giant skeleton, and a group of jesters willing to kill to get the respect they think they deserve.
Continue reading “Comics & Quests: The Spirit of Myrrth”
The SS Stupid Rides Again
The destruction of the SS Stupid brought an end to one of the more bizarre chapters of my GMing experience. But great stories often get sequels, and it wasn’t long before the SS Stupid returned in a new, grander form.
Continue reading “The SS Stupid Rides Again”
Comics & Quests: The Gathering
I have many criticisms about the various editions of Dungeons & Dragons, but one thing has remained consistent for at least 35 years: tehe comics based off the games are tons of fun. Since I love trips down memory lane, I’m going to spend some time waxing nostalgic about some comics which readers of this blog may have forgotten, never heard of, or been born well after. First up: the simply-titled Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.
Back in the late 1980s, DC Comics got a license to produce various D&D comics. The first was based on the Dragonlance series, and I have sadly not read that one. The second was set in the Forgotten Realms and introduced a mishmash of hapless adventurers who struggled through adventures that ranged from epic to ludicrous. The first four issues served as their origin story, in a tale dubbed “The Gathering.”
Continue reading “Comics & Quests: The Gathering”
A History of Superheroes
In creating a setting for a superhero RPG, one of the first steps is to think about how super-powered beings affect the world. Some comic continuities choose to alter history greatly. For example, Watchmen provides a world where Richard Nixon has successfully run for five terms as president after the presence of superheroes allowed America to win the Viet Nam War. Other settings assume that history happened as recorded, but with superheroes somewhere in the background. Most mainstream comics are representative of this philosophy.
Below is a sample history I created for a game of Mutants & Masterminds I ran some years back. This history takes something of a mix of the two philosophies described above. On the one hand, history hasn’t deviated greatly from the real world. On the other hand, many historical events happened because of superheroes – they helped captured Al Capone, inadvertently led to the Kennedy assassination, and so on. This is obviously just one example of a fictional continuity, and can easily be changed to fit many settings. Superheroes and villains are described in the history, but the details on their background and personality are vague, allowing GMs to tweak them to fit their campaign preferences.
Continue reading “A History of Superheroes”
New Publication: Looking for Love
A strange heart-shaped cavern lies in a remote spot by the sea. Music permeates the area, as though coming from the stones themselves. At the center of the grotto stands a trio of statues. Are they the source of the strange music? Many have sought to learn the secrets of the melody, and the adventurers may be the ones to unravel it…for good or ill.
“Looking for Love” is my latest mini-adventure for En5ider, a weekly publication that offers new options and stories for any D&D campaign. This scenario, crafted for 5th-level characters, provides a mystery in a seaside cavern with several possible conclusions.
When you buy into the En5ider Patreon, you get access to this adventure and almost 600 other articles. Check it out here!
Babbling Brooks 