Kingbeast's Lair

We’ve all had them?those nights where nothing you do goes right?well last night I had one of those. Before I get to my plea for help let me explain a bit. I’ve been role-playing for 30 years. During that time I have taken part in many games but for the most part I GM. In fact I probably GM 99% of the time if not more. After every session I go over the details in my mind thinking of how I could have done things better. I’ll then adjust for future session that I run. My players seem to enjoy my games so I must be doing something right. For some reason that skill does not come easy for me on the player side of the screen.

Now?back to last night?

Last night I met with 5 friends to play 4e. This was the first try of 4e for 4 of us?really only 3 of the players and the GM had read any of the PHB. The first thing we did was to divvy out characters. As we had only a short time to play we used all pregens. I took a half-elf cleric of Bahamut. That was probably a mistake as on hindsight I know I like fighters or mages. The session started with a fight that went good for the PC but I had trouble figuring out some of the details so a couple of my moves did basically nothing. For example, I figured I would move up next to a kobold and blast him with a daily power?well that give him an opportunity attack?ok?I’ll shoot first the move?oops?now I can’t give the injured fighter HP as he is too far away?fine?I’ll just do it anyway. My PC was extremely ineffectual. After the fight we went to a city to gather information so that we could continue the adventure. Me and the dragonborn paladin were trying to find out about a death cult that was supposed to be near the town. For some reason every time I went to talk with an NPC I froze up. I’m not sure if it was because of the character I was running or what?!? After the session I could not decide if it was worth staying up late on a work night to game. GASP! That is not like me at all.

So now my plea?

Help me out here players. Does anyone have any advice for getting out of ruts during or after sessions? The advice can be specific to this session (i.e. ?I might have done X?) or long term ideas. I want to improve my playing skills?I can self evaluate as a GM but it is hard for me as a player.

GAME ON!

DunDraCon XXXII

DunDraCon was a BLAST! I went with my friend, Brian, and had a very eventful time.

On Friday I started off with a rousing game of Memoir 44 then moved into a game of Dark Heresy. I played an off-world guardsman in Dark Heresy. He was a total thug. Awesome! Memoir 44 and Dark Heresy both look like winners to me.

On Saturday I played in Rod Currie’s Friends Of Justice game. I played the boxer character, Joey Pulzak. We stopped the dreaded vigilante known as The Fog. At dinner time I attended a seminar on Keeping The Plot Boiling that was hosted by Steve Long, Ken Hite, and Bruce Harlick. GREAT seminar! DunDraCon really does seminars right…keep reading. Saturday night I attended the annual Hero Games party. Jason Walters had the lucha libre action going and Ken Hite had everyone in stiches.

Sunday continued with several seminars. I started with a seminar that was on Games For Kids. It was very nice. The second seminar was called What’s Cool. It was hosted by Darren Watts and Ken Hite. Both pundits mentioned several products including Dirty Secrets, Grey Ranks, Esoterrorists, Colonial Gothic, and Aces and Eights. After a great Italian lunch with Darren and Ken I attended the What’s New With Hero Seminar. Darren and Steve hosted this one. The big reveal for this seminar was the 6th Edition of Hero. Wow. 😀 Sunday ended with a great game of Battlelore hosted by Craig Rose. Great stuff!

Monday had only one event but it was a biggie. It was the Hero seminar for their second reveal…Champions Online! A MMORPG based on the beloved Hero IP. What fantastic news for Hero and us fans.

Hero 6th Edition

The first of the big announcements. This is scheduled for a release in August of 2009. The plan is to have two books (characters and combat/adventuring) in full color. The other key news is that Steve is asking everyone for input! WOW! That is SO cool! 😀 I am really looking forward to seeing the end result.

Champions Online

The second big announcement is huge…a Champions based MMORPG by Cryptic Studios! I can’t believe how cool it will be to play some of my old characters in this game. Hec…I have never played an MMORPG but I am looking forward to this one. I think the real impact will be to bring players to Hero. That can only mean more books and higher quality products for our beloved game system.

Congrats Hero…you deserve it. 🙂

I thought I would spend a minute blogging about my gaming life in 2007.

Star Aria Planetfalls With A Bang

The highlight of my 2007 RPG life was the conclusion of my Star Hero campaign Star Aria. For the first time in my RPG career I actually created a campaign with a real ending and ran it all of the way through. Boy was it a rush. The last three session are something that I will never forget. Complete homeruns.? Special thanks to all of my fantastic players!

Derek’s Monthly Sunday Game

Another highlight of ’07 was my return to the other side of the screen. I started playing in a set of games run by Hero fanboy extreme Derek Heimforth. These fantastic games ran from a Hero adaptation of GURPS Infinite Worlds to the current banish the hidden evil Darkwalker campaign.

TIAM Rings In At The End Of The Year

As a filler for about a year or so I am running a Terra Incognita based monster hunting campaign. It is nice using a different system for a real campaign. I’m not sure if my players would agree with the move but they are a friendly sort and are being patient as we work out the kinks. 🙂

Game on in 2008 everyone! 😀