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VA / DC / MD - Hollow Earth Expedition Game Demo, Saturday July 14th (The Game Parlor Chantilly, VA)
NOTE: I've received several queries as to whether this will be the demo that will be running at GenCon. No, it will not, although it almost was. The demo is definitely drawn from official HEX material, with some minor tweaks and such here and there. Register soon, and we'll see you there! --tom
VA / DC / MD - Hollow Earth Expedition Game Demo, Saturday July 14th (The Game Parlor Chantilly, VA)
What: “Hollow Earth Expedition” Game Demo (A 2007 ORIGINS Award Nominee For Role-Playing Game Of The Year!) Where: The Game Parlor, Chantilly VA (Sully Place Shopping Ctr, 13936 Metrotech Drive, Chantilly, VA 20151) When: Saturday July 14th, two demo sessions -- 1200pm-400pm and 500pm-900pm Who: Tom Cadorette, tom.cadorette@gmail.com, 703-244-9084 Hollow Earth Expedition (Exile Game Studio)
First we discovered that the Earth is round. Then we discovered that it’s hollow. Now we must keep its secrets from falling into the wrong hands. Explore one of the world’s greatest and most dangerous secrets: the Hollow Earth, a savage land filled with dinosaurs, lost civilizations, and ferocious savages! Players take on the roles of pulp-era characters such as two-fisted adventurers, rugged explorers, eager academics, and intrepid journalists investigating the mysteries of the Hollow Earth. Or the action might be centered on the Surface World, as mysterious secret societies and nations on the brink of world war all vie for control of what may be the most important discovery in all of human history. Set in the tense and tumultuous 1930s, the action-filled Hollow Earth Expedition (HEX) is inspired by the literary works of genre giants Edgar Rice Burroughs, Jules Verne, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as well as the pulp hero stories and movies, from Flash Gordon to Indiana Jones. The game’s action is powered by the Ubiquity engine, an innovative role-playing system that emphasizes storytelling and cinematic action. Two four-hour HEX demos (up to 6 players per demo) will be held on Saturday July 14th at The Game Parlor in Chantilly, VA (location and store info available here). If you are interested in participating in a demo, pre-registration by email or telephone at the contact info listed above is strongly encouraged, as available spaces will be given to registrants first, with all remaining spaces then opened to walk-ups, first-come first-served. See you there on Saturday July 14th -- get ready for all kinds of pulpy HEX goodness and excitement!
What: Eberron, D&D 3.5
Quick summary: the group that I am the DM for is looking for 2 additional players to complete a 4-5 player party – the setting will be Eberron/D&D 3.5, and we emphasize ROLE-playing over ROLL-playing. About our group: I enjoy being a DM, but also like playing, so I am open to alternating or rotating DMs. I’ve been playing D&D (and scads of other RPGs) off and on since the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, as have some of the other folks in the group. The current group is composed of folks who have all just rediscovered D&D via the 3.5 rules, and have been playing 3.5 since late 2004. Our overall group knowledge of the rules ranks between intermediate to advanced ( but probably closer to intermediate). For us, the rules provide a necessary structure, but we are not chained to them, particularly when the rigidity of paper-bound rules interfere with the cinematic action we’ve come to enjoy. That is not to say that we throw the rules out, but we do what is necessary to keep the game realistic, flexible, exciting, but above all, enjoyable. We focus on the story, and not just on dice-rolling contests between lifeless sets of statistics. Put more simply, rules lawyers, munchkins and min-maxers need NOT contact me. Type of game: Characters will start at 3rd level. We prefer a somewhat gritty and realistic game, so we use several rules and variants from a variety of different WotC and non-WotC sources (all made available to players in advance). Players are expected to be somewhat familiar with the Eberron campaign setting. An electronic copy of an “Eberron primer” is available, but we’re assuming that if you’re interested in Eberron, you likely have or will get a copy of the Eberron Campaign Sourcebook (ECS). Between everyone in the group, we have all the other Eberron sourcebooks and supplements, so the ECS is the only one you really need for your own perusal, in addition to the Player’s Handbook. The campaign is story-driven and episodic. As such, characters should have some depth, background, and personality, so ideally players in this campaign would regard their characters as not just a collection of numbers on a piece of paper but as a unique individual with some peculiar motivations, personality quirks and strengths, etc. The more details you provide to make the character come alive and help drive the story along, the better. If all you're into is war-gaming, killing things, or min-maxing, then this campaign is probably not for you. There will be lots of gritty and bloody combat, plenty of treasure and adventure galore, but helping to create and being part of an epic story is what we enjoy most. Location: The group is scattered throughout northern Virginia, from Alexandria to Burke to Ashburn, and we mostly meet at my house in Alexandria (in Fairfax County, just south of Old Town, but north of Mt. Vernon). We may consider rotating amongst the homes of the various players, so that no one is always locked into just gaming at my place. Time and Frequency: We plan to meet every other Saturday, starting sometime in late-June. We’ll start around 700pm’ish, and play as late into the evening as players are motivated to do. If you are interested in this kind of gaming group and schedule, you should be able to commit to twice a month with occasionally cancelling due to life issues beyond anyone's control (work, family issues, even traffic, etc.). We all know that everyone has a life outside of gaming, but also keep in mind that a role-playing game is as much a social function as a game, since it is a group activity, so frequent no-shows will take their toll on the group in time. In interested, please email me: madwabbit AT cox DOT net.
What: Eberron, D&D 3.5
Quick summary: the group that I am the DM for is looking for 2-3 additional players to complete a 5-6 player party – the setting is Eberron/D&D 3.5, and we emphasize ROLE-playing over ROLL-playing. About our group: I really enjoy being a DM, but also like playing, so I am open to alternating or rotating DMs. I rarely have to cancel games, if ever. I, too, and most of the current group are all mature, family guys and gals (with the exception of my 14-yr-old son). I’ve been playing D&D (and scads of other RPGs) off and on since the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, as have some of the other folks in the group. We’ve all just rediscovered D&D via the 3.5 rules, and have been playing 3.5 since late 2004. For us, the rules provide structure, but we are not chained to them, particularly when the rigidity of paper-bound rules interfere with the cinematic action we’ve come to enjoy. That is not to say that we throw the rules out, but we do what is necessary to keep the game flexible and exciting, and above all, enjoyable. We focus on the story, not just on dice-rolling battles between lifeless sets of statistics. Rules lawyers and munchkins need NOT apply. Type of game: Characters will start at 2nd level. We prefer a somewhat gritty and realistic game, so we use several rules and variants from a variety of different WotC and non-WotC sources (all made available to players in advance). We, too, use 2d10 for the core mechanic in place of the standard 1d20, for purposes of realism since the majority of rolls will tend to fall within the 9 to 11 average range, which makes skill bonuses matter a whole lot more. Players are expected to be somewhat familiar with the Eberron campaign setting. An electronic copy of an “Eberron primer” can be made available, but we’re assuming that if you’re interested in Eberron, you likely have or have access to a copy of the Eberron Campaign Sourcebook. The campaign will be story-driven. As such, characters should have some depth, background, and personality, so ideally players in this campaign would regard their characters as not just a collection of numbers on a piece of paper but also as a unique individual with some peculiar motivations, personality quirks and strengths, etc. The more details that make the character come alive and help drive the story along, the better. However, if all you're into is wargaming, killing things, and min-maxing, then this campaign would probably not be for you. That play style is fine, but in my opinion it wouldn't be a good match for a story-driven campaign. Location: The group is scattered throughout northern Virginia, from Alexandria to Burke to Ashburn, and we mostly meet at my house in Alexandria (in Fairfax County, just south of Old Town, but north of Mt. Vernon). We do sometimes rotate amongst the homes of the various players, so that no one is always locked into gaming at my place Time and Frequency: We plan to meet every other Friday, either the first and third or the second and fourth (still up in the air). We’ll start around 700’ish, and play as late into the evening as players are motivated to do. So, if you are interested in this kind of gaming group and schedule, you should be able to commit to twice a month with only occasionally cancelling due to life issues beyond anyone's control. We all know that everyone has a life outside of gaming, but also keep in mind that a role-playing game is as much a social function as a game, since it is a group activity, so frequent no-shows will take their toll on the group in time. In interested, please email me at tomcadorette AT yahoo DOT com, or madwabbit AT cox DOT net.
I'll probably get it myself as well, eventually. But I have a stack of Malhavoc Press stuff that I special ordered that comes first (When the Sky Falls and Iron Heroes, specifically). A good plan -- I've got it, and it's cool... but... but not all that great. They succeeded, I think, at their goal of presenting something different. In my opinion, it's something you could use to throw in a little "spice"... or you could completely throw out standard magic and use this in its place. But anything in between? Not so much. It's hard for me to qualify my "eh... so what?" reaction much more than that, because I'm not really sure what I was expecting... I only know that I didn't *get* what I was expecting. Plus I've got an irrational bias against any gaming work that uses real-world foreign words/concepts ("chakras", variations of Latin when it comes to the color blue, and even the term "incarnum" itself) when they just as easily could have made up their own words -- if it's being pushed as an extremely new concept, why not wow us with creative new terminology? But that is a very minor pet peeve on my part. I'm still skimming it and assessing, but I may end up taking it back to my FLGS for an exchange. It's cool, but my initial reaction is that it's not all that transformative nor will it add any more significant "wow" factor that a creative DM is already capable of doing on their own without spending another $30-plus or so. The key here is that I wanted to be "wow'ed" and it didn't "wow" me.
Very good points indeed... sorry for not reading more deeply into what you wrote.
Besides giving the DM an NPC voice in the party, the NPC provides a wonderful guinea pig for nasty traps to work against.I don't know. Any self-respecting good-aligned party would certainly take issue with hiring other (not to mention weaker) people to risk grave danger on their behalf. And the storyteller in me that wants to have the PCs be at the center of the action balks at the notion of having *NPCs* weather the storms that the PCs are intended to survive. Not to mention the fact that, regardless of the party's alignment, the henchman in question might decide that it's just not a good idea for him to drink it. Miasma or no, I've never seen any good campaign that had henchmen played as mindless boobs, unless they were fanatic devotees, a la Thulsa Doom's cliff-jumping babe in "Conan The Barbarian."
Very cool, very cool indeed. Somewhat along the same lines that I was thinking. I will probably run this pretty close to what you're thinking as well. In general, though, I am reconsidering whether I am going to use the whole AP in Eberron. It seems to me that it will likely require almost as much work as it would if I was just doing my own stuff. I love the story, and I love the general concepts as conveyed by the Overload document, but I must admit that it was the Overload doc that kinda "woke me up." No matter how you slice it, AoW really is a Greyhawk-centric AP, and sure it can be adapted to run in Eberron, but for me, taking out bits and pieces here and there and dropping them in will likely fit my concept of Eberron more than using the entire AP. After TFoE, I'm not really sure what works for me. But the whole AP is still pretty d@mn cool. It just doesn't "feel" enough like Eberron for me to use it in its entirety... I think. I'm still going to buy each issue and peruse it, but I'm not seeing the Age of Worms dawning in my vision of Eberron.
If anyone wants 'em, I've completed 14 NPC updates for my Eberron campaign (adapted from the Overload) .... Of course, some of the adaptations won't be useful for everyone's campaign, but if anyone wants a copy of my Word file as it stands at the moment, I'd be happy to email it out there. Leave your email address and I'll get it out over the weekend. Dude, you know it. Please email to tomcadorette at yahoo dot com. Thanks!
I'm also toying with the idea of the Faceless One having mastery over a few Living Spells... seems to fit the flavor there. Ooooooo, I bow to your superior Eberron adaptation chops. Nice, very nice.
Well as far as the cult goes in my Eberron game I use The Blood of Vol (Vecna) and their Militiristic offshoot The Emerald Claw (Hextor). They have been sent to Diamond Lake by Vol herself who once went to the Cathedral to learn Arcane Secrets and now believes that the Pool can be used to combine The Keeper, The Mockery and The Shadow into an Overgod to increase Vol's divine power. Gralluk is a member of the Dragon Below who recieved visions from Kyber and holds some secret to the Black Pool. The Faceless One took it as a sign and requested his assistance for the time being until he ceased to proove usefull. Also, instead of mixing the three gods of the Dark Six, she just believes that the combination of Death and Shadow can create this Overgod, so she allies heself with followers of the Shadow, of which Gralluk and the Grimlocks are followers of. The Ebon Triad consists of the Emerald Claw (of whom most don't know that they're really associated with Vol), the Blood of Vol and the Shadow. Insert the Shadow for the Dragon below and Khyber and there you go. I love both of these ideas -- certainly a lot more meaty than the conversion notes provided. Don't get me wrong, I love Keith's stuff, but it definitely smacks of cursory treatment on his part... which is cool. I mean, he is being asked to adapt a Greyhawk path for Eberron. I'm not a big fan of the Grimlocks and Tieflings, though... has anyone given any thought or consideration to using dolgrims and dolgaunts instead, to add more Eberron flavor? Or does anyone see any potential problems with that (my PCs are still in the Cairn, so I've got some time)? -- tmw
Valid points, however, by the time my PCs reach 3FOE it'll be around the time we'll be getting Dungeon #128, still plenty of time to keep the improvisational elements of the campaign going. And remember, these overviews aren't set in stone either, Erik (or was it James?) had said that the overviews may change as the issues come forth from month to month. However, if your group is meeting regularly on a weekly basis or even a twice a week basis, I can see why the adventure overviews are essential. Yup, we're meeting roughly twice a month, although this group takes an AWFUL long time to get through anything. They're fun to play with, but not extremely efficient when it comes to time management. And your point about the overviews themselves changing is well noted. For me, I just wanted some sense of what Erik et le crew have planned, and I already see some bits I need to change here and there.
While the adventure overviews are nice, they were completely unnecessary as we'll be getting those in each Dungeon issue. Hmmmm. Actually, I completely disagree. As a DM, I think that they are completely necessary so that I can see what's ahead for the party, and plan accordingly. Planning accordingly means seeing if each adventure has stuff I'd do differently, i.e. NOT using Smenk in TFoE so that I can prolong his existence as a nasty villain. It also allows me to work in some non-AoW stuff interstially in the gaps, so as to keep the flavor of my own Eberron campaign where I'm using AoW as a drop-in (I'm actually running two different parties, same group of players, in two different sections of Khorvaire). Of course, your mileage may vary, but for me as the "director" of the improv "movie" my "actors" are in, I'd like to know the rough summary of the story from stem to stern just so that I don't trip up over my own feet. That doesn't mean that the story is set, and the players don't have free will, but knowing the rough direction of the adventure path is critical and completely necessary, I would say. And I just did!
Oh man you are evil!!! Sigh. ~nods~ I know. I know. Sadly, it's a burden I must bear daily. Oh well... stupid users call. I must go boil some more spaghetti and then throw it in the freezer.
Oh, I have a sense of humor. It is really funny how we are all salivating over a little bit of downloaded dungeons and dragons stuff. Like our lives depend on it or something. As someone earlier mentioned, I am here also. I'm here and salivating only because: 1) I don't feel like doing any work today, since I start my vacation one the day is up. If I have to reset ANOTHER USER'S FECKIN' PASSWORD, someone will die a gruesome death involving a chair, rope, cold wet spaghetti, and repetitive cycling of Kelly Clarkson's latest CD. 2) My life DOES depend upon downloaded D&D stuff -- oh yes, yes it does. I am a content junkie, a PDF crack addict. 1.1 of 2.8 mb downloaded at 1.1 kb/sec -- and I am on a T-1. D@y@mn, the Paizo servers are getting slammed. Gee, I can't imagine why. :-) Maybe we should post on Slashdot that the Overload is available -- that'll kill a RAID array or two :-)
Geez people. What would you do if there wasn't a free supliment? Remember, this is just odds and ends that they couldn't fit in the magazines. It is not going to be earthshattering information. All of the most important stuff is already published, that is why this is going to be free. Slow your roll a little bit and remember that the best tool you have is your own brain and imagination. Geez Arhan, get a sense of humor. Obscure was clearly demonstrating his, as are almost all of us here. Join the crowd.
I say we storm WOTC HQ, snatch Overload, and hold it ransom!All right, who's with me? Arrrrr, I'm with you! Lessee: I'm in DC now, and I can probably make it to Redmond in, oh, a day and a half if I drive straight through. Of course, by then, Overload will just come out the next day. Ok, so don't wait on me -- storm 'em, and I'll get there as soon as I can to cover the withdrawal. Remember though: pillage FIRST, and THEN burn. Some folks will always get that wrong, no matter how many times ya tell 'em...
*Marching around the room, stomping feet, throwing fists in the air chanting "What do we want?" (Overload!) "When do we want it?" (A month ago...!) "What do we want?!?" (Brains!) "When do we want them?!?" (Brains!) Damn, gotta stop hanging out with zombies... :-)
As for replacing Kyuss with Shudde M'ell or any other Great Old One/Outer God... good times! Although Mordiggian's probably a better choice. Actually... an even better choice in such a campaign would be to keep his name and make Kyuss a super powerful worshiper of Mordiggian, since it's sort of important to the storyline that Kyuss was at one time a human. If you change him into a Great Old One, all I'm saying is that you should be prepared to change more than just some names... Wow. It's so cool to see all the "Old School" names and monsters coming back into vogue again. Alas, I'm all about Eberron these days, so it will be interesting to see your/Erik's/Keith Baker's suggestions for how to handle Kyuss in an Eberron setting. I mean, I've got some clues, ideas and whatnot on how to handle it, and Baker/Wyatt et al have given us plenty of wiggle room (pun intended), but still, I will DEFINITELY be interested to see Kyuss (or even a Great Old One) is envisioned in Eberron (hopefully as something more than just a demon/rakshasa/generic fiend of yore, but I could live with that). -- tmw
email list Rob, If you haven't already, please add my email to the Overload announcement list: tomcadorette AT yahoo dot com. T'anks! -- madwabbit
Ah, my apologies for unintentionally belittling your cozy corner of Ohio. My group is in the Northern Virginia/Metro Washington DC area. Lots of gaming groups, but quantity does not ensure quality. There have been sessions lately where a drive to Ohio would not have seemed all that unreasonable. :-) We're all big fans of Eberron, though, in an area that is Greyhawk and FR obsessed. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but ... well, you know. ;-)
I can see why some people would want to defend the editors etc. from paizo for the stupidly long delay on this supplement. They're fan-boys (or girls) that dont want to bite the hand that feeds them. Or else they're "up-and-coming" RPG writers that don't want to bite the hand that feeds them. Or, they're softies that have never had to make noise about a company's (albeit unintentional) shoddy practices. Proof positive of the JGGIF Theory! Thank you, sTress, and don't forget to collect your compensation for subject participation on your way out.
Dude, where is Celina?
... one of the things that is very unique about the web is that when someone writes things, sometimes they may be more free to say whatever due to anonymity, but I think more importantly its very hard to get the "tone" of what someone is saying by simply reading words. Your mention of anonymity reminds me of "John Gabriel's Greater Internet (Unprintable) Theory (JGGIFT)." I'd post a link to it, but there isn't a work-safe/minor-appropriate one that does it justice, nor a way to describe it without using really naughty words. Google is your friend. ;-)
(Sam Kinison Voice ON) AAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH! WHERE IS IT? WHERE IS IT? AAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH! SAY IT!!! SAY IT!!!! (Sam Kinison Voice OFF) Sorry... someone had to do that to break the tension in here. :-)
Well its a new week. They should probably update the Overload link on the front-page again. Not trying to be an arse, just pointing that out. I'm holding out hope that the update will say "Click Here To Download." ;-)
(Don't worry, you Windows folks will be able to do the same thing when Vista finally comes out in 2000-whenever. ;) Not to be a smart-arse, which of course means I'm gonna be, but I'm both a Windows AND a Mac user, and for either platform, Google Desktop Search does exactly the same thing. And a zillion other search utils available for the PC via download from the Intarweb. Sure, it doesn't have the fancy keystroke combo (which is not to say you couldn't program a hot-key for it), but for all intents and purposes, GDS does the same thing PLUS scans inside the Evil Empire's proprietary Office formats. While I will agree that Apple does just about everything wonderfully, contrary to Tiger's P.R., they didn't pioneer desktop search. -- tmw
When I get a solid day, I will let you guys know. Until then, it is "as soon as possible, hopefully by the end of the week." In what might be an unpopular sentiment on this board, please, PLEASE, PLEASE take your time!! I'd rather have "behind-schedule" quality than crap delivered on time. Myself, I'm more interested in story than stats, and I remember you saying earlier that one of the things holding you up is a plot summary of the whole AP. That is far more important for me (as a narrative-intensive GM) than whether Smenk is a +8 or +11 at Open Lock. But then again, it's all about my needs and wants, right? ;-) One quick question, though: have you already gotten all of Keith Baker's input for Eberron-adaptation or are you getting that as you go along? Just curious as to how the process works (and I loves me some Eberron, dontcha know?) -- TMW
It's going to lose formatting here, but I can email the PDF if anyone wants... wakedown, you rawk! Please send the PDF to: tomcadorette (at) yahoo.com. Thanks!
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