Read
I got a hold of the 13th Age 2E playtest package this morning, which I've not had much chance to really dig into yet but looks interesting. There's an appendix at the end which is meant to cover most of the big changes, which largely seem to be around improving the maths for PCs at 7th level and above. A lot of the other rules updates appear to be coming from later books and real-world feedback.
Play
My chaos birb Kenku Druid continues to amuse and appal the party in our fortnightly D&D 5E game. I feel like the module we're running isn't particularly well-designed; it started out with a lot of roleplay/social stuff before we really knew who our characters are and has now descended into a frankly kind of tedious dungeon crawl with loads of tiny fights in enclosed spaces; with 6 party members, they're all over pretty quickly, but there's little room for tactical play and not a ton of variety in location or opponents.
GM
I'm continuing with my Avatar Legends game, which is getting interesting. A new player joined the party a few sessions ago, and has provided plenty of excuses for me to push them down plot avenues that the existing PCs were reluctant to pursue (for in-character reasons that I'm fine with, but pushing people off-balance is the whole reason I'm here in Legends, so it's nice to have the excuse).
The setting writeup I was doing for a potential Scum & Villainy game is all done, so now it'll be waiting for the 5E game (or DM) to need a break and I can jump into that. I worry that it might be a little too much effort for players for a short-term thing, though, so I've also started noodling around with Mausritter as a potential one- or two-shot.
I feel like the module we're running isn't particularly well-designed; it started out with a lot of roleplay/social stuff before we really knew who our characters are and has now descended into a frankly kind of tedious dungeon crawl with loads of tiny fights in enclosed spaces
Is this one of the official ones? A lot of WotC's official output has an interesting premise, but isn't very well implemented.
Read
I gave in and bought the Alien core book. I think the system is great, and while I still think the book isn't very well laid out for reading, it does a great job as a reference document. I have a one-shot just over halfway written which I'm looking forward to subjecting some folks to (though I don't know when).
Play
I've had to miss more of the sessions I'm a player in than I've made recently; it's only a fortnightly game, but everyone else is about 10 years younger than me and without kids, so availability is often in conflict, especially now that they want to move to a Saturday afternoon IRL game 15 miles away (until now, it's been Sunday evenings, and online). I want to finish out the campaign, but then I think I'll have to bow out of the group, which is a bit of a shame - I like the people.
GM
Still just a lot of 5e; the Natura1s is currently at the mercy of a lot of Christmas-runup and work shift scheduling, but we're managing to get stuff out for the most part. And I'm having fun trying to keep a lot of plates spinning.
Curse of Strahd is getting towards the end, but suffers a bit from:
- Castle Ravenloft being a bit of a slog; and
- The party having a very videogame-y "explore everywhere" attitude.
Neither of which contribute to a particularly exciting buildup to the final showdown. There's supposed to be a Big Dramatic Ritual Atop The Highest Tower™, but the players are just searching every crypt in the catacombs. I don't know how to hurry them along any more, and I don't want to spin things out forever waiting for them; but the consequences of them missing the whole thing would be fairly disastrous, both ingame and in terms of trying to plan what follows…
@aniki I'd love to see the 13a documents of you are able to share them!
@Ninchilla Sounds like they need to meet someone in the catacombs who's been there since the last time a bunch of PCs fucked up with actually getting on with the job.
The problem is, the point of this ritual is to break the cycle of the domain of dread, so this is the first (and only?) attempt; with the aid of a rebel Dark Power, Strahd is going to break his ties to Barovia, become mortal, and leave to find other worlds to conquer. If the party don't stop him, they might not be able to escape, and if they do, I'll need to figure out where Strahd has gone, and what he's up to…
Read
Currently taking a break from GMing so I'm reading for fun, that means super grim dungeons.
The Ruinous Palace of the Metegorgos is a dungeon about a gorgon who has given birth to every thing you find in the dungeon and she loves all of them and they love her back. It's gross, I love it, I will almost certainly never run it.
The Isle meanwhile is a dungeon under a monastery on an island. A much simpler premise, but the whole thing is just as unsettling. It would take a seriously determined group to get to the end of this one.
Play
We have so far managed one session of The Sentinel Comics RPG and I'm impressed. It's a spin-off of the Sentinels of the Multiverse card game. It's a bit like Cortex but with powers I guess. I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes.
In Excelsis/What's So Cool About Outer Space - Exploring a church drifting through space trying not to be eaten by crucifix shaped worms or knifed by undead monk librarians. Much fun!
GM
13th Age is on hold while we play Sentinels. It's giving me time to flesh out the next section.
I ran a session of Ryuutama for my younger kid. I'm not sure if I liked it, but I'll run some more to find out.
Is this one of the official ones? A lot of WotC's official output has an interesting premise, but isn't very well implemented.
No, it's some third-party/homebrew setting and adventure that the GM found (I've tried googling bits of it to see if I can divine its providence, but with no luck).
Ah.
The idea of running someone else's homebrew feels a bit weird to me, even though I guess it's fundamentally no different to running Forgotten Realms stuff?
Years ago someone on Twitter was talking about the FR box sets and I asked which one was the best starting point for learning about the old school FR. Someone gave me an answer but for whatever reason I didn't reply and I forgot all about it. A few months back I found the conversation and realised that the helpful person I had blanked was Ed Greenwood.
