Mama Loufing's page

Hi all,

One of our own has a novel in the Geek and Sundry contest. Take a look. There are sample chapters on the site. If you love it, let's help a fellow gamer out and pre-order the book.

Click to preview the book: The Fairy Stepmother, Inc..

Hi all, I'm running Reign of Winter and decided to build a chicken hut since I couldn't find a good miniature anywhere. I built it a little larger scale wise, but I wanted it to be larger for my campaign. I just wanted to share the finished product.

To see pictures, go to Baba Yaga's hut.

Hi Everybody,

Sadly, my dad has had a heart attack and instead of boarding a plane to Seattle, I am rushing home.

I had a spot in Secrets of the Sphinx, (Friday 1-6) run by Rob McCreary
and my daughter had a spot in Search for Syrja Vel (also Friday 1-6) run by Stephen Radley-MacFarland.

We both also had spots in Old School Game Theory on Sat at 8 to 1.

Since we can't trade anymore, perhaps you could show up and find an open seat.

So Rob and Stephen, you have no idea how sad we are to be missing this.

Cathy and Maggie Hoyt

I just got mine and I will immediately add them to my game. The Plot Twist cards have added so much depth and fun to our game. Players have used them in incredibly creative ways. Don't be afraid to give these a try.

I decided to use the Plot Twist cards in my latest campaign. It's been fun, but nothing too dramatic until last Saturday.

The party was fighting a BBEG and he magically suggested to the fighter that something was wrong with the cleric, that he might be possessed, dominated, or a doppleganger. After a flurry of note passing, the fighter then grappled the cleric and told everyone else to flee the area. The cleric then deduced that something was wrong with the fighter, suspecting that he might be a doppleganger. Meanwhile, the blind paladin (whose eyes had been gouged out in a previous fight) attempted to fight the BBEG with the assistance of a seeing-eye arcane archer. The paladin finally triumphed and we moved on.

A few battles later, the party was attacked by an army of undead and the fighter was isolated from the rest of the party. He was then sadly killed by a friendly-fire fireball when he failed his reflex save, rolling a 1.

Everyone was stunned and really felt bad. Then they went to the plot twist cards for a way out. In a genius move, our Gunslinger played the Plot Twist card of that very name. He took over the story and said that as the fighter died, his body transformed into the doppleganger that he had been all along. Suddenly, the fighter's earlier bizarre actions made sense. The group then backtracked to the point where some enemies had taken the fighter prisoner and allowed the doppleganger to take his place in the party. They rescued the fighter and on we went.

Not only did the card save the evening, but it led to some really exciting play. Is anyone else having good luck with these cards? In an open-ended story, they seem like a great way to keep everyone involved.

I need a little help from my fellow GMs out there. I'm running two campaigns at the same time, so my prep time is becoming limited. Five of my players would like to try a 2-night (approx 8 hour) game where they will get to be total optimizers (all roll, no role-playing) to test their combat abilities. They would like to create characters somewhere from Level 8 to Level 10. Any suggestions? I don't have time to go all original material. They have fond memories of the deadly nature of the Swords of Sin module. They want me to go all out and try to kill them (fairly, of course). (They plan to have back-up characters just in case I succeed--and I will.)

Any thoughts? I don't mind converting something to Pathfinder.

The Grand Melee at Paizocon this year was particularly tough. Something like that could work.

Suggestions?

I'm looking for a way to speed up play and occasionally skip over a few of those early in the adventuring day encounters, especially when the PCs have been traveling overland or exploring an area.

Sometimes we have limited time to play and I don't want to spend too much time on minor skirmishes, but I want them to have consumed resources before they approach a bigger, and more interesting and entertaining battle. I'm thinking of something where they mark off levels of spells, channels, use of rage powers, bardic performance, etc.

Does anyone already do something like this? What mechanics have you developed? And if it's a terrible idea, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

Okay, I'm at my wit's end. I've been playing with the same bunch for almost 30 years. Two of the players are really having a tough time processing the complexity of the rules. These two were never the quickest in the group (They never grasped THAC0), but now their lack of "getting it" is really draining the fun out of game sessions. Every turn grinds to a halt while they try to remember the mechanics of whatever it is they want to do.

Actual conversation from last week:

Old Guy: "Now do I roll a 20-sided dice?"
Me: "Yes. That's pretty much Dnd 101."
OG: "Well, I just wanted to check." (Rolls dice)
Another player: "Okay. You've just rolled a 12-sided dice."
OG: "Really?" And on and on.

So here's the problem. I've got 5 regular players. Three are great. They love the complexity of the game and my intricate plots. They aren't optimizers, but they really get the game and play well. Then I've got these two are are starting to struggle. They do okay (barely) while their characters are 1-4 level, but as they go up levels, their turns take longer and longer. I tell myself to be patient, but this is the one night most of us have for recreation each week and it's starting to get very frustrating.

Suggesting that they don't play is an option, but not one I'm ready for yet. Can anybody think of any new ideas for making the game more manageable for my AARP players? The ideas might prove helpful for beginning players who feel insecure as well.

Thanks for your thoughts.

The info say the order was shipped 5/6/08, but it never came. I did get Pathfinder #9. Something went awry, huh?