Newsround - Jan 31st to Feb 6th 2021

In the best tradition of John Craven's Newsround here's my rundown of "What I Learned" on the Internet this week.

D&D Beyond Team Exit

I'm an occasional user of D&D Beyond so this almost slipped under my radar.  Several of the D&D Beyond team left parent company Fandom including co-founder Adam Bradford, Tom Kenreck and community manager Lauren Oboe.  Now this might not seem like a big thing, but it might also be a foreshadowing of things to come.  

From a managerial perspective it makes a lot of sense that you subcontract out the creation of game software to people who are expert at that sort of thing and reduce or shift the risk of development.  

However, if it's a big hit, you now have a situation that a significant proportion of your customer base is using a product you don't technically control and have to pay twice for the same content.  Whilst you might get a cut of that cash under a licensing deal with said software company, it's a significant barrier to your future growth.

Is this the precursor to a WotC acquisition? Potentially, but it could just be individuals wanting to take advantage of new opportunities which have arisen. Time will Tell. 

SJWs Don't like D&D Puppets with Big Bewbs

Arieloa Borealis
(It's even in the name dudes)

As reported by Clownfish TV, apparently the social justice gatekeepers on Twitter are up in arms about the portrayal of one character in the new WotC approved D&D video stream The Stuff of Legends.  This outrage comes despite that voice actress Shanna Malcolm specifically requested that her puppet be a big bewbed lady Dragonborn Barbarian. 

I'm not usually a huge fan of these Critical Role style games but Stuff of Legends is doing something pretty cool which appeals to my generation raised on The Muppet Show and Fraggle Rock.  IMHO, having the puppets acting out the scenes really adds to the seperation between character and player.  I love it.    

Honestly, I get so tired of the box ticking virtue signalling manufactured outrage that I feel the only answer is to say:

"You go girl!!" 

£438 for a Digital Boardgame!!

Dropping into my inbox thanks to Asmodee Digital was this article touting the latest innovation in boardgame technology, the digital boardgame.

SquareOne is essentially a square tablet with an interactive border giving you a new way to play some of the most popular boardgames on the market.  Obviously Asmodee are heavily invested in this with 3 of their titles (Ticket to Ride, Terraforming Mars and A Game of Thrones) already having implementations.  The indiegogo project is backed by some of the other big names in boardgames including Kosmos, Ravensburger and Call of Cthulhu creator Sandy Petersen.

Backers can get in on the action for a mere £438 for the standard edition with an 8 game starter pack.  Whilst my eyes watered at this sort of investment (remember these crowd funded projects aren't guaranteed) when you consider that the average cost of a board game these days is about £40 then you are approaching a price point parity.

However, one of the great attractions of boardgames for me is that they are physical products.  They don't require an ongoing subscription to an internet service to play them, or an app to be downloaded.  If I want to thin out my collection and sell one, I can.  Unlike technology they don't have a product lifespan and tend to hold or even appreciate in value. 

That said, I do own several digital editions of boardgames for my iPad.  One of my favourites being Race for The Galaxy (also on Android, Steam and Boardgamearena) which has to be the best card game implementation I know of.  I've playtested the crap out of it during COVID-19 lockdown and racked up some 2,000+ games.  I guess for me the holy grail is to have an implementation which can run on ubiquitous hardware which I already own and be a VTT for Role Playing Games.

I can see the appeal of having all your games in one little box compared to having a house full of cardboard (particularly for the millenial generation rent) and it does look like a pretty cool way of playing some of your favourite games.

See It on Board Game Geek Firefox plugin

If like me you are constantly firing up a new tab to check what BGG thinks about a game you have just read about then this firefox plugin is for you.  Simply highlight a word on a web page and right mouse click to open a new tab with the games BGG entry on it.  So simple even Oleg would approve.

Sector 55 Blues - Prog 1 - Suits You Sir

Sector 55 Blues is a Judge Dredd Campaign using the Savage Dredd unnofficial Savage Worlds Expansion.  This is an online only game with members from Dragons Keep Roleplay Club.

It's just another day in Sector 55 and Judge Belloch is giving his day watch briefing...

"Okay listen up cos I'm only going to say this once.  There have been increased reports of low level corpulent delinquency, the usual stuff, fatties hanging around outside munce burger joints and extorting the customers, blocking the pedways and just generally being a nuisance.  The head of local gang Mosh 55 got released from iso cubes yesterday so expect them to be full of juvie bravado.  Oh and there's an intermitten a fault in weather control so prepare for inclement weather.  Now get out there and bust some perps!"   

Juve Punk Lookout

Judges Teal, Hammer and Uthred peel out of the sector house on their law masters and it is not long before sector control routes them to a disturbance at Slooty Zute's Suite You, an upmarket clothes store on the Melania Boulevard level of Trump Tower.

 As they park their lawmasters outside they see a juve punk cuffed to a holding post.  Teal challenges the punk and he reflexively raises both hands in surrender, clearly he is not cuffed to the holding post.  Uthred, unhappy with the lack of response from the punk, cuts to the chase and punches him squarely in the chest knocking him against the glasssteel door and he crumples to the ground winded.  The autodoors open automatically and the judges can see 3 more punks in the store. 

Hammer springs into action and moves into the doorway and shouts "Freeze Punks!".  The juve on the floor shouts "Its the fuzz Sid!" and lashes out at Hammer with his foot.  The punks inside turn their attention to the Judges and the leader Vicious Sid opens up with his spit gun cutting the manequins to pieces and showering Uthred and Hammer in shrapnel which bounces off their armoured jumpsuits.

Judge Teal runs through the door shooting a 3 shot burst at Vicious Sid as he runs for cover behind a trio of mannequins.  It is clearly this punks lucky day as with a click the first round jams in Teal's lawgiver.  Uthred dives into the store and brings down a solid blow against the red head girl who blocks the blow with her spit gun.  Hammer moves to get line of sight on the fleeing Vicious Sid and plants a couple of GP rounds in his back.  Sid's luck has run out and the punk crashes to the floor knocking the carefully posed mannequins over like skittles in a bowling alley.  The fat punk behind the counter unloads both barrels of his stump gun at Judge Hammer missing wildy and ducks behind the counter to reload.   

Debbie Destroy	Fat Freddy	Vicious Sid

Teal moves to the corner of the display plinth, unjamming her gun but the fat punk behind the counter is behind cover so she throws her day stick bouncing it off the counter and onto his head.  Uthred cracks Debbie Destroy over the head concussing her as Hammer calls up an armour piercing round and shoots through the counter unsighted.  The round punches through the counter front but misses the perp.  Vicious Sid summons his last energy and desperately crawls towards the fire exit leaving a trail of blood behind him.        

Uthred runs onto the plinth and launches himself feet first over the counter landing squarely on fat freddy pushing all the air and what little fight was left out of him.  Hammer runs round to the pitiful gang leader Sid and tells him to give up.  Sid continues to scratch his way towards the exit.  The Judge notes his reaction and "Brings down the hammer" crushing the back of his skull with his day stick.

Cowering on the clothes store floor are 3 civillians.  Owner, Zlooty Slute, his partner Whistler Floot and a customer Dapper John.  They pick themselves up and graciously thank the Judges for their timely intervention.  

Zlooty Slute	Whistler Floot	Dapper John

Only then do the Judges realises that the juve outside is gone.  They cuff the perps to the holding post outside and call for a Pat Wagon and a Meat Truck to haul their carcases off to the iso cubes and Resyk respectively. 

Dapper John pushes his business card into Uthred's hand telling him that if he ever needs anything to give him a call.  Uthred has no idea who Dapper John is and looks back at him blankly.  Hammer recognises the citizen as a manscaping magnate and socialite who has several male grooming ventures throughout the city.

Judge Teal goes outside to see if she can see the juve punk.  The report of unexpected inclement weather is accurate as there appears to have been a short rain shower whilst they were engaged with the Mosh 55 punks.  Her observations are cut short by the piercing scream from the alleyway beside the clothes store.  Rushing to investigate she finds a hysterical woman leaning in shock against a wall pointing to the body of a bald headed man lying on the ground in front of a row of 3 vending machines.  Hammer and Uthred gain access to the alleyway through the fire exit.  

Turning the body over, the unfortunate man appears to be in his late 40s and has had his throat torn out severing the carotid artery.  Death would have been swift as he would have bled out in under a minute. 

Searching the body turns up an MC1 ID Card and a door key card.  The victims is an unemployed local resident, Rock Dwayneson, 48 of Apartment 738 Trump Towers.

On closer inspection of the corpse they notice that the victim is bald yet his ID shows him with a full head of hair.  An examination of the crime scene does not turn up a toupee.  Is this a case of a mullett mugging with menaces or did he have some cred chips on him?

The woman is Victoria Nobody a young window dresser on her way to work at Plenty Bags of Style from her apartment in Amundsen & Abba.  She was about to buy a Synthi Joe when she found the body.  Her story checks out as her outfit is spotlessly clean and the crime scene is showered in blood so the Judges let her leave.

Pondering the scene Teal buys herself a synthi-caf and the robo-vendo 3000 dispenses a perfect cup of joe with a cheerful refrain

"Always a pleasure to serve the Justice Department.  Have a nice day Judge Teal" 

It dawns on Teal that the vending robot may have seen the murderer.  Handing her caf to Hammer, she dials in another cup and asks the machine who used it today.  The machine cheerily replies "Back again so soon, you must be really thirsty.  You are my first customer today Judge."  A fresh hot cup of joe with a dash of hazlenut syrup plops onto the serving tray and the robots lights go dark.  Uthred suggests that they open it up and access its video logs.  A good idea if the trio were skilled Tek Judges but as Street Judges this is out of their particular skill and toolset.

At that moment the Resk  Meat Truck crew arrive to remove the dead bodies.  The Judges retrieve the gang's firearms and help load the perps into the Pat Wagon.  For their part in an Armed Robbery and a a serious assault this pair will be doing 40 years in the cubes before the day is out.

With a cold crime scene the Judges are left with three possible next steps:

1. Visit Dwaynesons apartment to see if there are any clues and maybe find the missing toupee.
   
   
2. Visit the vending machine supplier Robo-Vend to request copies of the vending machines video records.
   
   
3. Get back on their bikes and dispense some justice.

PROG 2 - Hair Today Gone Tomorrow - >

H.R. Giger - Biomechanical Genius

It seems like only yesterday that I was celebrating the work of a visionary and here we are again...

Hans Ruedi Giger (1940 - 2014)

H.R. Giger

A legendary Swiss artist who is most famous for creating the monster for the sci-fi horror classic Alien (1979).  However, his art spans a period of almost 45 years and many different mediums.  To really appreciate the breadth of his talent, I heartily recommend you buy one of the Taschen Artbooks which feature his collected works.

Films

He worked on a number of films over the years mostly in creature design applying his signature style of monochromatic airbrushed biomechanical to a variety of costume and set pieces.  

One surprising design was his radical reimagining of the Batmobile for the movie Batman Forever (1995) which would have seen Val Kilmer cruising the streets of Gotham in a nightmarish twiglet.

Batmobile by H.R. Giger

Album Artwork

He worked with many bands creating some pretty iconic album covers,  Most famously depicting Debbie Harry on the cover of the album "Koo Koo" and giving Emmerson, Lake and Palmer's "Brain Salad Surgery" and Industrial edge before Nine Inch Nails were a glint in the milkman's eye.

Notoriously the Dead Kennedy's used his painting Landscape #XX as the inner gatefold image for the album "Frankenchrist" and the ensuing obscenity lawsuit almost bankrupted Jello Biafra's label Alternative Tentacles.  You can see a high res version of this image on the Rolling Stone website.

The action arose at the same time as the infamous PMRC founded by Tipper Gore (The wife of Vice President Al Gore) and Susan Baker (wife of Treasury Secretary James Baker).  The famous "Tipper Stickers", which fearful record execs agreed to add to the album sleeves, had precisely the opposite effect to that intended.  In fact in the 80s you couldn't call yourself a serious musician unless your latest release sported its badge of honour.   

Bubble Babies

My personal favourite Giger artwork is his disturbing Landscape #XVIII one of a series of baby landscapes

Landscape XVIII - H.R. Giger

The Giger Museum

If I ever get to visit Switzerland I will not be visiting the cuckoo clock factory instead I will be soaking up some culture in the Giger Museum in Gruyères.

Zombies!!! - The most fun you can have in a 6" x 9" box

Today we celebrate George A Romero's Birthday with a bit of zombie posting.

My favourite zombie boardgame is Zombies!!!

Zombies!!! (yes the exclamations are part of the title) by Twilight Creations is a very big game for such a tiny box and a tiny price.

Get to the Chopper

The player's objective is to "explore" the town by randomly drawing a then placing a town tile as part of their turn then defeating any zombies which they come into contact with.  When they find the helipad tile they can try to reach it and win the game.

Zombies!!! Boardgame Town Tiles

The stand out component for me are the town tiles which make up the board.  I think it is the frustrated town planner in me.  These geomorphs depict almost every type of building you are likely to encounter in a small town USA and I confess I have used them in many RPGs to quickly generate a town for my players.

As the board is generated the number of zombies increases with each new tile placed generating more and more for you to deal with.

Players also get to use the good and bad event cards throughout which introduces a Player vs Player element to the game.  These cards can really mess with your day or be the key to success and really ramp up the tension.

Fast Frenetic Fun

Gameplay is fast and simple.  Each player turn consists of the same steps:

• Draw and place a tile
• Fight zombies on your space
• Draw event cards
• Move an fight zombies
  
• Roll and Move the zombies 
• Discard event cards
  

If you die at any time you respawn back at the town square so nobody gets ejected from the game because they became zombie lunch.

Expansions Galore

Just like movie franchises, the sign of a popular game is often the number expansions it has.  Zombies is no exception and with 15 editions there is a lot to choose from.  If you want to recreate Dawn of The Dead, then there's Zombies!!! 3 - Mall Walkers.  If you want to explore the sewers then you need  Zombies!!! 6 - Six feet under.  If clowns are your thing then Zombies!!! 7 has you covered.

The Board Game Geek community has also created several house rule expansions to add flavour,  My own particular favourite is the addition of weapon cards which greatly enhance the game with ranged attacks.

Give it a go, you won't be dissapointed... you'll be dead!!! 

A Gift from the Gods

Gifts of the Gods is the theme for this month's RPG Blog Carnival kindly hosted by the Sea of Stars RPG Design Journal.

A Clash of Titans

Whenever I think about divine artifacts I am reminded of Clash of the Titans (1981) where Perseus is gifted:

• A helmet of invisibility - given to him by his father Zeus
• A magic sword - gifted by Aphrodite
  
• A magic shield - given by Hera

This trio of powerful magic items would make most PCs wet themselves, particularly if given to a relatively low level character as in Perseus case.  However, what we must also recognise is that Perseus is a demi-god.  I very much doubt that this sort of largess would be shown to a mere mortal so why should you do the same for your PCs?

Clash of the Titans (1981) - Release The Kraken

A Pawn of the Gods

The Gods play games from their lofty home of Olympus.  In the movie Zeus is bound to honour the laws of Olympus which means he must allow Andromeda to be sacrificed to the Kraken but he does not have to play the game fairly.  We mere mortals cannot fathom the machinations of Gods, but we do know that Perseus is his pawn in that game.

When contemplating granting a PCs a gift of the Gods, it should definitely come with strings attached.  A great evil must be defeated, a quest achieved which benefits the Gods in some way.  It could even be a wager between two Gods.  Whose champion will be first to succeed the trials and rescue the maiden?

Have a warlock in your party?  Well in order to receive their power they need to have made a compact with an eldritch power.  The PC is a manifestation of that power and must obey the whims of their master.  Power does not come without consequence so exercise some consequence now and then.  

These could all be great epic story arcs in themselves and would certainly add flavour to any mythical campaign.

Single use Deus Ex Machina

Another way to resolve the dilemma of giving PCs uber powerful magic items and turning them into OP Murder Hobos is to make them single use.  It is not unusual for an item to be crafted with a sole purpose in mind and once that purpose is achieved it is destroyed or loses its magical properties.    

The Gift of Information

Information can often be the most powerful weapon of all and having a God visit you in your dreams or answer your prayers with knowledge can be a blessing.  When faced with insurmountable odds or an impenetrable fortress, the knowledge of a secret entrance to the big bad guy's inner sanctum would be just as effective as hiding inside a wooden horse.

Blessings and Curses

Having a God backing your cause can be a real boost.  In fact why not give your PCs temporary stat increases or something visible to others like a glowing aura, a halo or give them perfect hair.  If your game is set in a quasi medieval world where everything is caked in a layer of grime, make your blessed PCs stand out from the crowd by mud literally not sticking to them.

"By The Gods..." is a popular invocation among PCs.  How about you actually give PCs the power of minor curse.  Alternatively, you could bestow the power of curse reflection upon your characters which could lead to some interesting interactions with local NPCs.   

By the Power of the Pantheon

Of course playing with Divine Items requires you to have at least one God or better still a Pantheon as part of your setting.  If your games are set in one of the many published settings like Forgotten Realms you have a cavalcade of Gods to choose from.

Otherwise treat this as an opportunity for some world building with your pious PCs.  If like me you are a fan of Terry Pratchett, you may have read Small Gods, a satire upon religion and politics.  The power of the Gods is directly related to the size of their congregation. In the book Om is a once powerful God stuck in the body of a small turtle and the novice acolyte Brutha is his one and only true believer.  What better personal mission for the party's Cleric than to spread the word of their God and convert believers as they move from town to town.

Plot and Personal Quests Breeds Engagement

I have always been a firm believer in incorporating elements of PC backgrounds into my plots to give every player around the table a real tangible reason to be engaged in the story.  If players include a deity in that background then why not use it.  Your players will feel rewarded when part of the background that they have created becomes a central motif to the weeks play. 

How Do you Deal with Divine Gifts in your Game?  

I don't have all the answers (that would be omniscience) and to the point of writing these blogs is to share ideas.  If you have any cool examples of how you gifted a player a divine artifact then please leave a comment in the box below.