Kingbeast's Lair

Summary

Welcome to part 3 of my 3 part series on My Gaming Kit. In this article I’ll cover the place where I hold all of my games…the Cottage! The Cottage is a free standing structure that sits behind my house. (It was initially designed as a “Mother In Law” for the main house.) As the structure is completely free standing games can get pretty loud before anyone complains. 😉

Amenities

Here are the things that make the Cottage a GREAT place to game. (If you are reading this on my blog then you can click on the thumbnails to open high resolution versions that point out the various aspects of the Cottage. 😉 )

• Kitchen – The Cottage includes a sink, microwave, mini-fridge for beer…I mean beverages, and a gas stove top. It is really nice having all of this separate from the main house.
• Bathroom – It has it’s own bathroom so smelly gamers will not pollute the main house.
• Octagonal Table – Sermin’s Dad conveniently decided he did not want his old octagonal poker table. By adding a restaurant pillar to the center I ended up with a fantastic table for gaming. I have really come to like the octagonal shape. The square edges allow one to pull up a chair and the overall round shape really focuses the players in on the action.
• Office Chairs – I have office chairs without arms for everyone except the GM. The GM gets a fancy high backed office chair with arms…one of the GM perks in my “RPG Man Cave”. 🙂



• White Board and Pin Board – One wall has a white board and another has a pin board. The white board is really valuable for fast sketches and the pin board is nice for rule cheat sheets, pizza coupons, and Dork Tower comics.
• Shelves – Immediately behind the GM chair and under the white board my Dad made a set of short shelves. These act as a small desk for the GM and allow him to easily access books or other gaming materials.
• AC and Heat – The Cottage has a window AC unit and a wall heater. (See below for comments on the AC.)

Current Issues

The Cottage is still a work in progress. Here are some things that I would like to see improved.

• AC – Dad and I installed a window AC but it cannot keep up with 6 gamers on a hot summer day. I may want to consider a second window AC or maybe a larger one. It is also really loud. 🙁
• Rainy Season – During the rainy season the carpet near the doors gets wet. Turns out that the room has no sub-floor (i.e. it is built straight on a concrete slab). Thus water can sheet under the door during a heavy rain. 🙁

If there are things in your gaming room that I do not have I would LOVE to hear about it! Post a comment on this blog post with your suggestions. My players can post too if there is something that they would like to see. 😉

Hope you enjoyed the My Gaming Kit series! 😀

Here the winners in gold and silver color. I’ll put my picks in italics.

Best Adventure

Delta Green: Targets of Opportunity (Arc Dream Publishing/Pagan Publishing)
Monsters and Other Childish Things: Road Trip (Cubicle 7/Arc Dream Publishing)
Pathfinder Adventure Path #43: The Haunting of Harrowstone (Paizo Publishing)
Perils of the Surface World: Miracle Stone of the Amazon (Exile Game Studio)
Saturday Night Delves #1: Revenge of the Iron Lich (Save Versus Death)
Honorable Mention: The Dance in the Blood (Pelgrane Press/Graham Walmsley)

Best Aid/Accessory

D&D Essentials: Dungeon Tiles Master Set – The Dungeon (Wizards of the Coast)
Eclipse Phase Gamemaster Pack (Posthuman Studios)
Gaming Paper Adventure Maps (Gaming Paper)
Hero Lab (Lone Wolf Development)
The Unspeakable Oath (Arc Dream Publishing)
Honorable Mention: Vornheim: The Complete City Kit (Lamentations of the Flame Princess)

John’s Comments

Bummed that UO did not win…as you read the winners you can see a theme…Pathfinder.

Best Art, Cover

A Song of Ice and Fire Campaign Guide (Green Ronin Publishing)
Eoris Essence (Visions of Essence LLC)
Mutants & Masterminds Hero’s Handbook (Green Ronin Publishing)
Shadowrun: Attitude (Catalyst Game Labs)
The Laundry (Cubicle 7)
Honorable Mention: The Danse Macabre (White Wolf Publishing)

Best Art, Interior

Dark Sun Campaign Setting (Wizards of the Coast)
DC Adventures Hero’s Handbook (Green Ronin Publishing)
Eoris Essence (Visions of Essence LLC)
Legend of the Five Rings, Fourth Edition (Alderac Entertainment Group)
Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea World Guide (Paizo Publishing)

Best Blog

At-Will
Critical Hits
Gnome Stew
Sarah Darkmagic
Thistle Games

Best Cartography

Bookhounds of London (Pelgrane Press)
Deep Vistas Map Set I – III (Maps of Mastery)
Gaming Paper Adventure Maps (Gaming Paper)
Heavenring Village – Virtual Boxed Set (0One Games)
Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Poster Map Folio (Paizo Publishing)
Honorable Mention: Shadowrun: Sixth World Almanac (Catalyst Game Labs)

John’s Comments

Glad Bookhounds took this category. Congrats Pelgrane! 🙂

Best Electronic Book

Cerulean Seas Campaign Setting (Alluria Publishing)
Continuity (Posthuman Studios)
Shanghai Vampocalypse (Savage Mojo)
Temporal Probability Agency: To Predict and Serve (Apathy Games)
The Running Death (Terminal Studios)

Best Free Product

A Time of War: The BattleTech RPG Quick-Start Rules (Catalyst Game Labs)
Hell for Leather – Free Edition (Cobweb Games)
Old School Hack – Basic Game (Kirin Robinson)
Saturday Night Delves #1: Revenge of the Iron Lich (Save Versus Death)
The Running Death (Terminal Studios)
Honorable Mention: Ultimate Combat Playtesting PDF (Paizo Publishing)

Best Game

Happy Birthday, Robot! (Evil Hat Productions)
Icons Superpowered Roleplaying (Adamant Entertainment/Cubicle 7)
Legends of Anglerre (Cubicle 7)
Mutants & Masterminds Hero’s Handbook (Green Ronin Publishing)
The Dresden Files RPG (Evil Hat Productions )
Honorable Mention: The Laundry (Cubicle 7)

John’s Comments

Very cool…Evil Hat really deserves this one. 🙂

Best Miniatures Product

BattleTech 25th Anniversary Introductory Boxed Set (Catalyst Game Labs)
Deep Vistas Map Set I – III (Maps of Mastery)
Mousling Heroes (Reaper Miniatures)
USCR – Commissar (MERCS Miniatures)
WARMACHINE Khador Gun Carriage (Privateer Press)
Honorable Mention: Gaming Paper Adventure Maps (Gaming Paper)

Best Monster/Adversary

Doctor Who: Aliens & Creatures (Cubicle 7)
Fey Folio: Clans of the Fey (Alluria Publishing)
Monster Vault (Wizards of the Coast)
Mythic Menagerie: The Kingdom of Graves (Super Genius Games)
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Bestiary 2 (Paizo Publishing)

Best New Game (published for the first time ever)

A Taste for Murder (Graham Walmsley)
Happy Birthday, Robot! (Evil Hat Productions)
Icons Superpowered Roleplaying (Adamant Entertainment/Cubicle 7)
The Dresden Files RPG (Evil Hat Productions )
The Laundry (Cubicle 7)
Honorable Mention: Stars Without Number (Sine Nominee Publishing)

Best Podcast

Atomic Array
Chronicles: Pathfinder Podcast
Flagons and Dragons
The Dungeon Master Guys Podcast
Yog-Sothoth
Honorable Mention: Kicked In The DiceBags

Best Production Values

Gatecrashing (Posthuman Studios)
Happy Birthday, Robot! (Evil Hat Productions)
Legend of the Five Rings, Fourth Edition (Alderac Entertainment Group)
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Bestiary 2 (Paizo Publishing)
The Dresden Files RPG (Evil Hat Productions )

John’s Comments

Bummed that Happy Birthday, Robot! didn’t win anything. I thought this is the award they really deserved. 🙁

Best RPG Related Product

BattleTech 25th Anniversary Introductory Boxed Set (Catalyst Game Labs)
Castle Ravenloft Boardgame (Wizards of the Coast)
Hamlet’s Hit Points (Gamplaywright Press)
Tall Pencil Strap Dragon Chow Dice Bag (Dragon Chow Dice Bags)
The Bones – Us and Our Dice (Gameplaywright Press/Atomic Overmind Press)

Best Rules

D&D Rules Compendium (Wizards of the Coast)
Icons Superpowered Roleplaying (Adamant Entertainment/Cubicle 7)
Legends of Anglerre (Cubicle 7)
Mutants & Masterminds Hero’s Handbook (Green Ronin Publishing)
The Dresden Files RPG (Evil Hat Productions )
Honorable Mention: D&D Gamma World Roleplaying Game (Wizards of the Coast)

Best Setting

A Song of Ice and Fire Campaign Guide (Green Ronin Publishing)
Dark Sun Campaign Setting (Wizards of the Coast)
Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea World Guide (Paizo Publishing)
Progenitor (Arc Dream Publishing)
Space 1889: Red Sands (Savage Worlds) (Pinnacle Entertainment Group)
Honorable Mention: Bookhounds of London (Pelgrane Press)

Best Supplement

Block by Bloody Block (Print Version) (White Wolf Publishing)
Gatecrashing (Posthuman Studios)
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Advanced Player’s Guide (Paizo Publishing)
Shadowrun: Attitude (Catalyst Game Labs)
Space 1889: Red Sands (Savage Worlds) (Pinnacle Entertainment Group)
Honorable Mention: The Danse Macabre (White Wolf Publishing)

John’s Comments

Really surprised that Red Sands took this award. Awesome! 😀

Best Website

d20pfsrd.com
Obsidian Portal
RPG Geek
The Escapist
UK Role Players

John’s Comments

I really thought RPG Geek deserved this one. Ah well.

Best Writing

The Danse Macabre (White Wolf Publishing)
Delta Green: Targets of Opportunity (Arc Dream Publishing/Pagan Publishing)
Gatecrashing (Posthuman Studios)
The Dance in the Blood (Pelgrane Press/Graham Walmsley)
The Dresden Files RPG (Evil Hat Productions )

Product of the Year

A Song of Ice and Fire Campaign Guide (Green Ronin Publishing)
DC Adventures Hero’s Handbook (Green Ronin Publishing)
D&D Gamma World Roleplaying Game (Wizards of the Coast)
Gatecrashing (Posthuman Studios)
Happy Birthday, Robot! (Evil Hat Productions)
Legend of the Five Rings, Fourth Edition (Alderac Entertainment Group)
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Advanced Player’s Guide (Paizo Publishing)
Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea World Guide (Paizo Publishing)
The Dresden Files RPG (Evil Hat Productions )
The Stork (DreamPunk Productions)
Honorable Mention:Legends of Anglerre (Cubicle 7)

John’s Comments

My pick took the silver. Congrats Evil Hat! 😀

I preordered a copy of Bookhounds Of London from Pelgrane Press and it arrived just a few days ago. The presentation of this package is not like anything I have ever seen in any product. It is so crazy cool that I am having trouble finding a place to start. I’ll detail the contents of the package as I open them. 🙂

First off it is delivered in a burlap army green messenger bag with word “DARCY” on one side and a strange Cthulhu-esque logo on the other side. When you open the bag you find a brown hardcover copy of Bookhounds Of London, a copy of Liber Fumo de Drater Vigilo: Agustus Darcy’s Guide to Occult London, a small plastic chip with a leaf insignia, and a manila envelope.

Opening the main book reveals a signature from the author, Ken Hite, and the word “ABYSSAL”. (Every copy has a different Lovecraftian word.) In the center of the book are 28 pages of fantastically beautiful color period maps. The work on these is just gorgeous. The book got an ENnie nod for best cartography and I can easily see why. To top it off the index contains an extremely detailed index for the book AND maps. (I will do a full review of the product and post it on this site after I have read it but knowing Ken’s work it will be a great review. 😉 )

The Liber Fumo book is a small (roughly 6″ x 8″) hardbound book. It is 148 pages in length. It covers occult London as researched by Augustus Darcy. The interior is entirely black and white but there are several inset photos to support the text.

The manilla envelope contains two postcards, an aged period book called Theosophy by Annie Besant (roughly 100 pages), and an aged period pamphlet called The History Of Christianity In The Essex Region by the Essex Education Committee (roughly 28 pages). When I describe the the book and pamphlet as “aged period” I mean that the pages are yellowed, some pages are stained, the binding on the book is threadbare, and the pamphlet shows wear. At the back of the Theosophy book is even a pasted in newspaper clipping that is stained. The postcards appear to be period and show faded text. The stamps are real and over stamped with period looking postmarks. I am not a “bookhound” but these look 100% authentic to me. If these are not authentic I applaud whoever created these objects.

These contents are extraordinary. I am running out of words to describe this package. Since I have run out of words I will leave you with the sound of my breathe getting taken away…[gasp]… 😀

[If you are reading this from the Kingbeast’s Lair blog site you can click on the pictures and examine full resolution shots of the details.]