Tabletop Randomness

[Zarathud]

Orders seem to periodically halt at Miniature Market. I’m pretty sure it’s fulfillment taking priority.

[hepcat]

I’m pretty much all gamenerdz.com these days. They’re not overnight or two day like MM used to be, but they’re close. They’re also sometimes cheaper.

[Smoove_B]

Yeah, GameNerdz has never let me down. I also purchase from Stone Valley Games, Troll Hoard Games and Atomic Empire.

[YellowKing]

My only problem with GameNerdz is they're inevitably out of stock of whatever hot new game I'm wanting, but if you can catch an in-stock item they're great.

[baelthazar]

Yeah, GameNerdz has never let me down. I also purchase from Stone Valley Games, Troll Hoard Games and Atomic Empire.

I have switched to these three mostly, as well as Cardhaus (which is fairly local in Southern, IN). But MM had a nice sale, so I got some things. Probably won't do that again.

[Isgrimnur]

USA Today

Arby's has the treats – if you are a Dungeons & Dragons player.

The fast-food chain is bringing back a very popular merchandise item from two years ago: limited-edition Dungeons & Dragons dice. When the restaurant introduced the dice set, used in the classic tabletop game, the first time in August 2021, the item sold out within hours, Game Informer reported at the time.

If you missed out then, you get a second chance Monday when the dice set arrives on ArbysShop.com at 2 p.m. ET for $12, while supplies last. A second supply will hit the site on April 21 (follow Arbys on Instagram to be kept up).

[Skinypupy]

They're attempting to set a world's record for "largest D&D game" this Saturday in Provo (about a half hour south of here).



Little B 14.2 is thinking she may want to go. If she decides to, I'm sure I'll be the transportation down for her and her group and will probably stick around to play.

[hepcat]

You gotta love a game store/game space called Your Parents' Basement.

It's in Butler, PA. So any of you PA residents have to go check it out and let us know what it's like.

You can rent this magnificent RPG room for 50 bucks an hour.

[Blackhawk]

Last weekend my two friends who moved to Texas a couple of years ago were back in town. They had two storerooms in the area, a 30x10 nearby, and a smaller one in Indy. The owner kept cranking up the rent, so they drove up to finally empty them out. Both had to fit into a 26' x8' truck, which meant that everything had to be sorted through and a lot had to go. I think we took 9 or 10 pickup loads to Goodwill, and they took 15 boxes of books to Half Price Books. What was left had to be loaded onto the truck (which included another ~45 boxes of books, some furniture, and more than one hundred large-sized totes... or whatever your regional dialect calls the big plastic boxes with lids.) It took two 10-hour days, but we managed it.

They brought me a gift when they came - a full, still-in-the-KS-shipping-box copy of Frosthaven.

On top of that, they told me to take any of the stuff that they were getting rid of. I didn't take a ton (I still don't have a ton of space, and I'm going to have to clear out a small room just for Frosthaven), but I did get a couple of boxes of mixed books and board games. A full run of the Best of Dragon (these were collections of articles they published every year or two starting in 1980, and it only ran though Volume V.) A few RPG books/boxes that I'm unlikely to play, but enjoy as reference material (Dr. Who, Lone Wolf, Hillfolk, Corvus Belli Infinity, some old Pathfinder setting material.) Also, a full set of signed copies of Designers and Dragons, something I've been wanting to read for a while.

Now I just need to find places for everything.

[Smoove_B]

Also, a full set of signed copies of Designers and Dragons, something I've been wanting to read for a while.

Wow, that's awesome. I read every book in the series - they were really great; so much stuff I had no idea about.

And yeah, good luck on the space. Gotta get creative.

[Blackhawk]

Also, a full set of signed copies of Designers and Dragons, something I've been wanting to read for a while.

Wow, that's awesome. I read every book in the series - they were really great; so much stuff I had no idea about.

And yeah, good luck on the space. Gotta get creative.

Oh, I learned the art of Creative Tetrising years ago. This house made me learn the skill, and fitting food for four people for a week at a time into the fridge made me a grandmaster. And that's the problem - I've tetrised the crap out of this place! At this point, new things in mean old things out.

I hate inventory management.

[Isgrimnur]

[Smoove_B]

Modiphius acquires Five Parsecs from Home and Five Leagues from the Borderlands:

Ivan Sorensen will be retained as lead writer, and Modiphius will be supporting extensive new product development for the lines, including Five Parsecs: Tactics and Five Parsecs: Planetfall (working title), two new standalone games in the same universe which let you take your Five Parsecs From Home crew on even bigger adventures!

...

“First, we have Five Parsecs: Tactics. This will let you take your game one step above and command squads of troops, grav tanks, and much more on the battlefields of Unified Space and beyond. Fully compatible with your Five Parsecs From Home characters, Tactics features everything you want: scenario creation, points values, solo mechanics so you can play on your own, campaign rules that let you play both map-oriented and narrative campaigns (and both at the same time if you prefer), and much more. The book is also jam-packed with advice and tools to create your own battle scenarios.

“Next will be Five Parsecs: Planetfall. This game will see you setting out to colonise a new world and exploring it to discover its secrets. Along the way, you will have to fight off hostile intruders, deal with dangerous wildlife, send out scouts and scientists, develop new technologies, and build your home base. As always, this will all be compatible with your existing characters and will be the next step in an expansive universe spanning multiple game systems.”

More expansions for Five Parsecs From Home are on the way, including Expansion 3 and Bughunt, as well as a retail print anthology of the four expansions. Additionally, Ivan and Modiphius are planning further expansions for Five Leagues From the Borderlands, which has been a huge hit in retail stores.

[Holman]

You gotta love a game store/game space called Your Parents' Basement.

It's in Butler, PA. So any of you PA residents have to go check it out and let us know what it's like.

You can rent this magnificent RPG room for 50 bucks an hour.

That is pretty cool! Is the table map projected from above?

50 bucks an hour sounds like a lot until you divide it by six or eight players.

[Punisher]

My #1 most hated rule in RPGs (which shows up in skirmish games, too) :

If you shoot into a melee, randomly determine who is hit.

The presence of an ally doesn't negate the ability to aim! It's easier to accidentally hit your friend, but equally likely? Pfft.

I realize that this is an old post but just came across this.
Zombicide went a step further with this. IIRC, if you shoot into a section that has teammates they automatically get shot first. It was a 100% chance that if you hit anything your teammates take the wounds first. It made it seem like you were purposely aiming for your friends first. We had a house rule ignoring it.
I "think" the 2nd edition changed it to a chance of hitting your friends but can't recall or confirm for sure.

[Smoove_B]

Additionally, Paizo is still pushing forward with the ORC:

“We welcome today’s news from Wizards of the Coast regarding their intention not to de-authorize OGL 1.0a,” Paizo said. “We still believe there is a powerful need for an irrevocable, perpetual independent system-neutral open license that will serve the tabletop community via nonprofit stewardship. Work on the ORC license will continue, with an expected first draft to release for comment to participating publishers in February.”

The ORC license was apparently released today and Professor Dungeon Master released a short video detailing what it means:

[YellowKing]

I "think" the 2nd edition changed it to a chance of hitting your friends but can't recall or confirm for sure.

2nd Edition changed it so that only misses hit your friends when firing into a zone with an ally.

[Punisher]

I "think" the 2nd edition changed it to a chance of hitting your friends but can't recall or confirm for sure.

2nd Edition changed it so that only misses hit your friends when firing into a zone with an ally.

Cool. Haven't gotten it to the table yet but I can get behind that instead of "if firing into a group always aim for your friends first"

[Smoove_B]

You know you want the Star Trek Adventures Captain's Log solo RPG. There are 4 variant covers, depending on your particular Star Trek mood.

What's also cool is that long before the physical book ships in August, you'll be given immediate access to the PDF when you preorder. They seem to be doing this for their other books, which is pretty damn cool.

The Captain’s Log Solo Roleplaying Game is a 326-page, full-color standalone digest-sized rulebook that provides a complete, streamlined version of the award-winning 2d20 System used for the Star Trek Adventures roleplaying game, which you can use to create your own Star Trek stories with a dynamic character formed from your own imagination.

Whether you are venturing into the cosmos alone, conducting Galaxy-spanning missions cooperatively with friends, or exploring the unknown with a gamemaster facilitating your adventures, use the guidance and random tables contained in Captain’s Log to generate countless hours of memorable adventures in the Star Trek universe.

Create an original character and then use the tools in this book, combined with your fertile imagination, to fashion your own fascinating Star Trek-style stories. Play in any era of Star Trek - from the 21st century to the 32nd century and everything in between. Explore strange new worlds, new civilizations, and all the wonders of the universe!

[Blackhawk]

You know you want the Star Trek Adventures Captain's Log solo RPG.

You're right. I do. But I won't.

I might.

[TheMix]

I might.

Sheesh. Spoiler that!

[Smoove_B]

I might.

I'm still not entirely comfortable with solo RPGing and I wish I was a hardcore Star Trek person as this seems like a good way to potentially grok the process.

Either way, at least hepcat can wander around his apartment saying "Captain's log..." and he's potentially playing a game for once.

[hepcat]

Captain’s Log. Stardate….Sexy.

I like this line from the game description:

Story-driven solo gameplay that promotes drama in a safe space.

There’s nothing I like more than a game without a hint of danger. I modified Frosthaven so it’s a game about CPAs tackling an especially challenging excel spreadsheet for an annuity.

In any case, I’m on this like…well…fill in whatever you want. But I want it. Maybe I can play Garak and create an amazing frock for someone on DS9.

[Smoove_B]

If there's some way I can just craft endless adventures with Garak, I would absolutely purchase this without hesitation.

[Blackhawk]

Remember, he's just a simple tailor.

In any case, a Captain's Log would actually be an interesting format for an AAR.

[Punisher]

I'm pretty sure you can tailor any adventures you want to fit in Garak.

[Smoove_B]

For those interested, here's a video covering a theory that AD&D fundamentally changed with the release of Unearthed Arcana in 1985. Namely, that it was the start of ridiculously overpowered player characters with god-like stats and abilities.

[The Meal]

I still think of UA as "the new stuff".

[LordMortis]

I still think of UA as "the new stuff".

Yeah, 2nd ED was the last I really played and UA was the last of manuals I went through with a couple of Grimiore supplements. I never even owned it, as I was rarely playing by the time of its release. Fiend Folio was the last book I bought. While I have a passing familiarity with D20, that's the last I played and it was pretty much as a D&D outsider, what, 20some years ago, I think. As to the time of UA, Deities and Demigods was the most controversial, so much so, that my version, somewhere in this house, was considered a collector's item once upon a time. Between copyright violations and parental groups it made a hubbub my teen years couldn't understand... and still don't.

"...alive when this book came out..." Ouch.

[GreenGoo]

I still think of UA as "the new stuff".

Me too!

Although I did play 2e in college, but UA will always feel like "extra".

[Blackhawk]

UA is 38 years old.

My UA memories: My friend in high school had it. I did not. I wanted it, but could not afford it. I, therefore, engaged in piracy. I borrowed it for a day, and feverishly copied every relevant piece of information (including most tables) out into a notebook. I had exactly one dollar, which I turned into dimes and strategically chose ten pages to feed to the school library copy machine, mostly the more elaborate tables.

[GreenGoo]

Amazing what a motivated kid is willing to do!

Reminds me of when I was 12 and I had a copy of Ultima III (Might have been II or even I, but probably III) for the C-64 that wouldn't work. I had borrowed someone's official version but when I tried to copy it, my new copy wouldn't work. I then proceeded to do a comparison (by hand!) of the hexadecimal map of each copy, changing mine to match the original.

Ta da! Working copy of Ultima III.

I'd rather shoot myself in the face than do that today as an old man, but when you're young and motivated...

My point is, I empathize and am impressed, blackhawk.

[Isgrimnur]

What If the Robots Were Very Nice While They Took Over the World?

[T]here was an email from Andrew Goff, widely considered the greatest Diplomacy player of all time.
...
The email was about Cicero, a Diplomacy-playing AI that Goff helped create for Meta AI. Last fall, Cicero managed to best Goff in several games, sometimes partnering with weaker players to bring him down. Noam Brown and Adam Lerer, who were part of the immense team of experts in game theory, natural language processing, and Diplomacy that created the AI, both say that Cicero is the most humanlike AI they’ve ever created. Lerer, who now works at DeepMind, goes further: Cicero may be the most humanlike AI on earth.

Could Cicero even be conscious? “A threshold for determining AI consciousness is whether the program is capable of outwitting humans at Diplomacy,” wrote Irish Diplomacy champion Conor Kostick in The Art of Correspondence in the Game of Diplomacy, in 2015.

Cicero is also something of a Goff tribute band. It plays the same magnanimous game Goff does. In one memorable showdown, Lerer told me, Cicero played Russia and allied with a human who played Austria. Throughout the game, Lerer said, Cicero was “really nice and helpful to Austria, although it maneuvered in its discussions with other players to make sure Austria was weakened and eventually lost. But at the end of the game [the human playing] Austria was overflowing with praise for Cicero, saying they really liked working with it and were happy it was winning.

[hepcat]

For those who want the Arkham Horror living card game core set (or want a second copy for deck building purposes), it's on amazon for about half off at 24 bucks. I'm tempted, but I only play two to three characters solo at a time, so I don't really do any deck building.

[RMC]

For those who want the Arkham Horror living card game core set (or want a second copy for deck building purposes), it's on amazon for about half off at 24 bucks. I'm tempted, but I only play two to three characters solo at a time, so I don't really do any deck building.

It is a good game with four players? Wondering if I should by two core sets? Love the theme's of these games, but not sure they always scale well.

[hepcat]

I think it plays well at 1 to 4, but I’m not a nit picky gamer that worries too much about exact builds and what not. If you’re going to deck build with 4 though, you’ll probably want two cores.

edit: i didn't make the connection, but these are the older editions. MiniatureMarket.com has them for 8 bucks a pop right now, so that's even better. The difference between the revised and this is minimal (box mostly). So this would be a cheap way to get up and running. Also, I think MM is having a free shipping sale for the next day or two.

[Blackhawk]

Pathfinder Adventure Card Game. The original, not the 2.0 that was released a couple of years ago. I have all four - Rise of the Runelords, Skull & Shackles, Wrath of the Righteous, and Mummy's Mask, a Christmas gift from several years ago.

My group (myself, my son, and I) are about to finish our current board game campaign. I figure we'll take a few sessions and just play one-off games to try a few things out, and then I'm thinking we'll dive into one of these. I've played a bit myself, so I'm familiar with the mechanics.

I was wondering which one is the best/plays the smoothest? I'd personally prefer to not play Rise of the Runelords (for a couple of reasons.) Of the other three, which one stands out?

[Smoove_B]

I could be wrong, but I seem to remember that Mummy's Mask modifies the core game mechanics in a big / significant way which would be ideal after you're experienced with the core/basic rules. I also believe Skulls and Shackles is the I've heard is the best in terms of overall design and feel, so that would be my recommendation.

[TheMix]

(myself, my son, and I)

Something you want to share? Either of you?

[Blackhawk]

No. We're good.

So is my friend, who comes by every two weeks when I isn't available.