| KEYSTONE GAMING SOCIETY REVIEW | |
| GAME: | Aces & Eights |
| PUBLISHER: | Kenzer and Company |
| WEBSITE: | http://www.kenzerco.com/aces_n_eights/ |
| PRICE: | $50.00 |
| THE RATINGS: | |
| SCOTT: |  |
| OLD BRIAN: | |
| YOUNG BRYAN: | |
| DAVE: | |
| SAM: |  |
Saturday, March 5, 2011
KGS Podcast - Episode 00004 - Aces & Eights Review
KGS Podcast - Episode 00004 - Aces & Eights Review
KGS Podcast - Episode 00003 - Colonial Gothic Review
KGS Podcast - Episode 00003 - Colonial Gothic Review
| KEYSTONE GAMING SOCIETY REVIEW | |
| GAME: | Colonial Gothic |
| PUBLISHER: | Rogue Games |
| WEBSITE: | http://www.rogue-games.net/ |
| PRICE: | $24.99 |
| THE RATINGS: | |
| SCOTT: | |
| OLD BRIAN: | |
| YOUNG BRYAN: | |
| DAVE: |  |
| SAM: | |
KGS Podcast - Episode 00002 - Castle Ravenloft Review
Review of Castle Ravenloft Board Game
| KEYSTONE GAMING SOCIETY REVIEW | |
| GAME: | Castle Ravenloft |
| PUBLISHER: | Wizards of the Coast |
| WEBSITE: | http://www.wizards.com/ |
| PRICE: | $69.99 |
| THE RATINGS: | |
| SCOTT: | |
| OLD BRIAN: |  |
| YOUNG BRYAN: | |
| DAVE: | |
| SAM: | |
KGS Podcast - Episode 00001 - Atomic Highway Review
Review of Atomic Highway Role Playing Game
| KEYSTONE GAMING SOCIETY REVIEW | |
| GAME: | Atomic Highway |
| PUBLISHER: | Radioactive Ape Designs |
| WEBSITE: | http://www.radioactiveapedesigns.com/ |
| PRICE: | $29.99 |
| THE RATINGS: | |
| SCOTT: | |
| OLD BRIAN: | |
| YOUNG BRYAN: | |
| DAVE: | |
| SAM: | |
Friday, March 4, 2011
Lone Wolf Multiplayer - Open RPG Day at CSW
On Saturday, March 12 for Open RPG Day I will be running the Lone Wolf Multiplayer RPG game at Comic Store West in the early session. In the 80's there was a series of books called Lone Wolf. These books were very popular and have a very devoted fanbase even today. The concept is a choose-your-own-adventure style "solo adventure book." It allowed you to role play with the book itself essentially being the DM. Like regular tabletop role playing you have a character sheet with stats and items. This character gains abilities from book to book and an item you picked up in book three may prove useful in book seven. You never know. You experience combat that is much like a regular RPG - you have combat skill and endurance and randomize combat results based on your relative toughness of your enemy. There were quite a few other solo adventure books like Lone Wolf but none executed the concept quite as well.
Recently, Mongoose Publishing has begun releasing the Lone Wolf novels again and TWO multiplayer RPG systems based in the Lone Wolf world. The first is a D20 "DnD-style" game. The second is a much more stripped down version that more closely resembles the original books but is designed as a traditional multiplayer RPG.
Whether or not you're a fan of the original books I encourage you to take a trip to Magnamund with me and experience the adventure of Lone Wolf on March 12th at Comic Store West. FOR SUMMERLUND!
Thursday, March 3, 2011
D&D, Unfortunately, Jumps the Shark
Well, I opened my first (and only) pack of D&D's new Fortune Cards recently. Ugh. It's worse than I thought.
The ONLY reason I even TOUCHED the Fortune Cards is they came free with the latest issue of Game Trader Magazine. Normally you'd have to shell out FOUR BUCKS for EIGHT CARDS. And they don't even have any good art on them! You just get generic icons that took ten minutes to make! Here's an example:
That's worth fifty cents right there, huh? Looks like someone in Wizards's accounting devision designed it. Which is probably true of the entire idea of Fortune Cards. Really, it's like a bad joke from Knights of the Dinner Table.
So, what could I do with my eight cards? I could torture my DM and the other players by:
1) Rolling a D20 to half the damage I take
2) Move through enemies' spaces
3) Leave one creature out of my area of effect
4) Reroll a saving throw
5) Negate teleportation, pushing, pulling, or sliding
6) Get a +2 to attack rolls
7) Take a hit that would have hit another party member
8) Target Will instead of the normal defense.
The 9th card is a blank "condition tracker". Thanks. I could have used a sticky note for that.
I see no way that this can positively impact any table game whatsoever. If you disagree, I'd love to hear your stories of how these cards have vastly improved your gaming. How did we ever survive before we had these Fortune Cards?
I don't have a problem with the actual abilities the cards give you, per se. After all, if my character gets a talisman that allows me to reroll a failed saving throw that's one thing. But to get a reroll because your power-trip deck says you can? Sad. All of your character's abilities, items and stats are part of who they are. They EARNED them in one way or another. But these banal cards are just munchkin bait.
I've got a great idea that will be a lot cheaper for gamers. Next time I DM and you want some in-game perks, just slide me a buck.
Failed saving throw? *BUCK* Reroll that sucker!
Wanna move illegally? *BUCK* I didn't see a thing.
Oh, Oh! I've got another great idea! I'm going to pitch to Wizards that they officially license a D20 with only 20's on it. They could sell it for $20 and it would be OFFICIAL so your DM couldn't balk! Sweet! I could make a.... fortune...
Mark my words, this is the death knell of Dungeons and Dragons as we know it. The Keystone Gamers don't say "Jump the Shark" anymore to signal the moment in time when something just isn't cool anymore. We say, "Played a Fortune Card." And, unfortunately, that's what Wizards has done to Dungeons and Dragons.
If anybody want these cards, I'll sell them to you... for $4. It's a deal, really.
The ONLY reason I even TOUCHED the Fortune Cards is they came free with the latest issue of Game Trader Magazine. Normally you'd have to shell out FOUR BUCKS for EIGHT CARDS. And they don't even have any good art on them! You just get generic icons that took ten minutes to make! Here's an example:
That's worth fifty cents right there, huh? Looks like someone in Wizards's accounting devision designed it. Which is probably true of the entire idea of Fortune Cards. Really, it's like a bad joke from Knights of the Dinner Table.
So, what could I do with my eight cards? I could torture my DM and the other players by:
1) Rolling a D20 to half the damage I take
2) Move through enemies' spaces
3) Leave one creature out of my area of effect
4) Reroll a saving throw
5) Negate teleportation, pushing, pulling, or sliding
6) Get a +2 to attack rolls
7) Take a hit that would have hit another party member
8) Target Will instead of the normal defense.
The 9th card is a blank "condition tracker". Thanks. I could have used a sticky note for that.
I see no way that this can positively impact any table game whatsoever. If you disagree, I'd love to hear your stories of how these cards have vastly improved your gaming. How did we ever survive before we had these Fortune Cards?
I don't have a problem with the actual abilities the cards give you, per se. After all, if my character gets a talisman that allows me to reroll a failed saving throw that's one thing. But to get a reroll because your power-trip deck says you can? Sad. All of your character's abilities, items and stats are part of who they are. They EARNED them in one way or another. But these banal cards are just munchkin bait.
I've got a great idea that will be a lot cheaper for gamers. Next time I DM and you want some in-game perks, just slide me a buck.
Failed saving throw? *BUCK* Reroll that sucker!
Wanna move illegally? *BUCK* I didn't see a thing.
Oh, Oh! I've got another great idea! I'm going to pitch to Wizards that they officially license a D20 with only 20's on it. They could sell it for $20 and it would be OFFICIAL so your DM couldn't balk! Sweet! I could make a.... fortune...
Mark my words, this is the death knell of Dungeons and Dragons as we know it. The Keystone Gamers don't say "Jump the Shark" anymore to signal the moment in time when something just isn't cool anymore. We say, "Played a Fortune Card." And, unfortunately, that's what Wizards has done to Dungeons and Dragons.
If anybody want these cards, I'll sell them to you... for $4. It's a deal, really.
Thor Movie Poster Contest
The first ever KGS contest has launched. Stop by Comic Store West and check out the gaming room to see this authentic, double sided 27x40 teaser theatrical Thor movie poster that you could win!
What do you have to do? Simply e-mail us at keystonegamingsociety@gmail.com and tell us the following:
- Your full name
- The name of one game you'd like us to play and review.
It could be any type of game - card game, role playing game, board game, etc.
One lucky winner will be chosen at random. All entries must be received by March 25, 2011. One entry per person and no purchase necessary, yada, yada, yada. The lucky winner will be notified as soon as we pull our act together
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Firefly Returns! .... Sort of...
When I read an article in March 2's York Daily Record about Firefly returning I just about fainted. And then I realized the article was just about RERUNS. I think that it speaks volumes about the show's popularity that the fact it is going to be rerun warrants a newspaper article. Of interest: The show will feature a commentary by Dr. Michio Kaku - you know, the guy that cofounded the string field theory (that's big time real-life science there!). This Sunday, SyFy will begin their rerunning of the series.
Honey! Time to call the cable man and get the cable hooked up!
 |
| Firefly - SyFy Fly on into limitless Space and adventure |
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Welcome to Second Life
No, not the popular online game. "Second Life" as in the afterlife. Where you go when you die. A man in China recently died because he spent three straight days gaming in a cyber cafe without rest. Apparently, he died of exhaustion. But good news! He finally completed the Everquest Iksar Monk's Shakle Quest and he gained PRESTIGE with the monk's clan!
If you want to read the full news story, check it out here: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,297059,00.html
If you want to read the full news story, check it out here: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,297059,00.html
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