Category: Gaming

We’re Going on an Adventure!

Posted on February 20, 2017 by Bruce

For the last few years I’ve been reliving my youth by playing Dungeons & Dragons. While there is a very nice game store nearby, I drive over to my favorite comic shop twice a month to answer the call of adventure. I know that many stores have games open to everyone so check out your local game shop or comic book shop if you are interested in trying it out. For first timers they tend to have pre-generated characters ready for you. This is not a post about fantasy role playing games, but rather something that has grown out of my characters’ adventures. I am currently running two characters: Cecil (you know I had to name one that), and Peter. One on Wednesdays and one on Sundays. Since the beginning I took notes to help me keep track from month to month. While the person running the adventure keeps notes and recaps at the start, I just feel better & have found it helps me focus.

So on Wednesdays, Cecil Ookington-Smythe – a halfling rogue fights to save the world from being taken over by evil dragons & those that worship evil dragons. If I slipped into geekspeak here’s a rough translation- I’m roleplaying a hobbit (you know like the short guys in Lord of the Rings- the ones without beards) he’s a thief/spy. I sneak around & do a lot of lurking, although as luck would have it he’s dealt the killing blow to a dragon so he can add “Dragonslayer” to his name. For Sunday’s adventure I am something completely different. I’m playing Peter Paulenmary, a half elf bard (think storyteller). While I’ve been using Cecil for a lot longer, I’ve really tried to flesh out Peter’s back story a bit more. Cecil’s excuse is he has told so many lies about his origin, he doesn’t remember the truth.  Peter’s basically a guy running around gathering stories of adventure, He’s not looking for fame or fortune, just a spot in the local tavern to spin tales of heroes and get some free drinks.  He  has ended up taking some bad advice by heading to Ravenloft (think Transylvania) and is trapped with the band of adventurers he had met on the road.  I like to think of the group wishing they hadn’t taken that left turn in Albuquerque.  He’s pretty light-hearted & optimistic, he keeps a leather bound notebook that was given to him by his mentor, Woodrow of Guthrie, along with his favorite history book by S. Morgenstern.

So as the adventures have gone on, I’ve been taking notes. These started as just lists & names, but have become much more elaborate as you can see from the examples. This is basically how I see Peter’s notebook, filled with doodles and information that, when time finally permits, may be made into that great novel, song, epic poem, whatever. So while the actual comic has been on hold for way too long (I only have lame excuses as to why) I’m still recording a “geek odyssey” of sorts. Like anything, my style has changed over time, but it adds a little something to our adventures. Note: in some cases off topic bits from conversations end up in there. Proper conventions of writing are ignored, including spelling since many words are made up so a “phonetic-ish” spelling is used.

& so it begins… after a month break I tend to start off with just words.
SO the adventure really starts to take off… trolls & ghosts and I almost die.
Somehow I get dragged into a tar pit by some ghasts… and almost die.
Getting to the fight before confronting the big bad guy. orcs & snake people. Did I mention the rest of my group decided to run away?
So fighting a group of orcs & snake people ends up almost killing me (again)
Finally we confront the big baddie who is trying to control a troll/dragon spirit and… You guessed it I almost die.
So the adventure ends and the spoils are handed out. You may have noticed that some notes are circled in blue- that way I can find our spoils so I can total things up. The result of my flirting with death- I get a magic item that will allow me to escape once per day! Hopefully I won’t die as many times.

A Year in MINIons- MINIon AZ85

Posted on November 22, 2015 by Bruce

az85I have been known to play a game or two in my day. As a kid there was a game store near where my first job was. I’d get my paycheck, run to get it cashed at the grocery store, then run back to see what new games were there. OK, I may have also stopped by the candy shop for gummi bears, but most of my money went to games. I remember playing a different table top games and a bunch of different role playing games. Recently I’ve tried to get back into gaming and I’ve taken the first step- I buy games. but I tend not to play them that often. Last week I had the chance to play King of New York- a game in which you are a giant monster trying to survive and gain fame to be the “King of New York.” this was for a spot in the national tournament at GenCon in August. I won the game that mattered and lost every other game after that. Today was a little different my local game shop (Saltire Games) was having an “Asmoday” an event from Asmodee Games. Today’s was the game “Cash ‘n Guns” which if you couldn’t tell from the title deals with cash and guns… basically whoever can survive and accumulate the most loot wins. It’s a fun game but not for everyone and you really need more than four people to make it interesting. So today’s MINIon comes from that game, think Reservoir Dogs, but a cute and cuddly version, with foam guns.

After that I played “Villainy” Which I actually own, but have never played.  Now I have… still lost, but I never worry about winning- competition tends to bring out a side of me I don’t like much.

Another one bites the dust…

Posted on October 20, 2013 by Bruce

So as Fall Break comes to a close I thought I’d at least share a bit about the adventures I had this past week. For those who don’t know about Fall Break in the midwest (or at least in Indiana) there has been a short break in October for as long as I have been teaching. It started off as a time for teachers to attend workshops and conferences, but slowly (because teachers have families- and therefore need to find daycare for their kiddos) it ended up being a four day weekend, until recently. Over the past few years many people woke up to the understanding that they no longer work on a farm the idea of “balancing” the school calendar had come into vogue. Ideally the calendar would be something like 9 weeks of teaching, then a break. I did my undergraduate thesis and graduate thesis on the advantages of a “year round” calendar and it finally might become reality. Sadly opponents claim this would destroy the time honored tradition of complaining that teachers get “summers off” it could also ruin the even more sacred high school athletics schedule. So many school districts have come up with a compromise, quietly extend some of the already community approved breaks and shorten Summer “vacation” a bit. This is why many people look at me like I have three heads when I talk about going back to school in early August. So this year my school district extended Fall Break to one week (many school districts have extended it to two weeks). We also have a week at Thanksgiving since attendance during that week is awful as so many people pull their kids out to travel over the river and through the woods.

What did I do this week? If you noticed an actual comic strip was published on both Tuesday and Thursday, a tradition I hope to continue. I also tried to relax… no really. I went to a game night on Friday, attended the Kokomo-Con on Saturday, and spent a lot of the week reminding myself why I hate doing artwork for other people, even friends.

Geek-wise I played Boss Monster, Ticket to Ride and Pandemic and had a great time with each. For those who have never played any of these a quick overview of each:

Boss Monster – A chance to play the evil villain in one of those old scrolling video adventure games.  You construct a dungeon, room by room, and at the end of each turn you lure heroes to their doom (you hope).  It was a Kickstarter project and the gameplay is pretty easy to understand.  I have a few questions on the actual sequence of some things, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out if I play it more. – I lost, this time around

Ticket to Ride – Where have you been living? a cave?!?  Sorry, Ticket to Ride is a train game in which you attempt to complete routes across the country (there are many versions of this game dealing with many continents the base game is mostly the U.S> with a few side trip into Canada.)  It has been around for a few years and is a lot of fun to play, especially with more than two people, when it can get challenging, and a little cut throat. I won! trouncing my opponents with a route from Miami to Los Angeles and Houston to Winnipeg worth lots of points!

Pandemic – I don’t feel so good… Pandemic is one of those games in which it is the players vs. the game.  A “cooperative” game.  Which is a really cool idea.  In this case you are trying to stop the human race from dying off from four different diseases.  Each player has a role and therefore special abilities.  The problem with many cooperative games is all it takes is one simple mistake, or a bad draw and it’s over…and yes, it was over, we lost.  For kids Forbidden Island has a similar game mechanic and is a little easier to grasp. in that case an island is sinking and you are trying to rescue four artifacts and escape before it plunges into the depths forever.

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I’ve been to many a comic-con- I started with Creation Conventions, then WizardWorlds, C2E2, New York Comic Con, and San Diego… and now I can say I’ve been to Kokomo-Con.  Kokomo-Con does not compare with any of the other conventions I have been to, but that’s not a bad thing.  It has a homey feel about that only a small convention can have.  It was small, and it reminded me almost of pop culture flea market, but again not in a bad way.  It was a lot of fun and I decided to go for a few reasons.  First my friend Jim McClain who does Solution Squad a great comic to engage older kids in Math was going to be there and I had run out of books (silly kids & teachers “borrowing” them) and he had a new poster dealing with the four steps of problem solving which I wanted to get for the schools I work in.  Then  another friend of mine (from Geocaching and Lego) had posted he was going to attend, so we hung out for a bit looking at all the different things at the show.  From rare collectible toys, to a fiberglass replica of the Bat-mobile.  Booths stocked with comics & toys and folk art made from comics and toys.  I did discover some cool things so it wasn’t at all a waste of my time.  Then again, as a teacher, a lot of what I found was stuff that would be great for school.  One thing I did pick up was a copy of Boss Monster, I know I’ll have a chance to play it again.

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My MINIon badge... Yes, I am expendable.
My MINIon badge… Yes, I am expendable, and yes, this is a  modified version of the “official” graphic for MTTS.

I started off the week with a long list of stuff, and after the first day decided to dump it all and do some drawing.  So I spent most of the week doodling and inking (hence two comic strips getting posted).  This reminded me how much I love to draw and just play with images.  It reminded me why I can never do artwork for someone.  You see MINI Takes The States is coming up next summer and I was playing around with the idea of creating “badges” for some of my friends who would be going.  Making them official “Cecil MINIons”  I did some artwork for MINI on the Mack and thought it would be fun to extend it.  Unfortunately I forgot how difficult it can be to draw for someone, and not just for myself.  I asked my friends to give their “MINIon Number” and I would create a badge for that.  Now some of these folks I have known for years, and other are fairly new so what they got may be determined by how much time I had spent with them, or the geekiness of their MINIon number.  So the person who asked for #42 was pretty easy, a monkey with a towel holding a yellow fish, others, not so much.  Stupid me started with the ones I wanted to do, the fun ones.  Then like any proud parent I posted them for the group to see… then the floodgates opened with requests- which drained the fun right out of the project.  Then my friends started asking for tweaks to the drawing I had done, “Could you add this?” “Could you change that?” “I really want this instead.” Then they started to make requests for their friends… I have stopped working on this project for the time being.  I will return to it, but not right now.  I do appreciate the person who specifically asked how much I was charging for these badges, and seemed a little shocked when I said “nothing, I’m doing this for fun- it keeps me out of a straight jacket.”  I know that many of my friends would help me in a heartbeat if I needed it, so it’s not like the favor will not be returned, but for now, I’m taking a break.

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Besides that I worked a little on a Lego Project- taking the “Just like Beggar’s Canyon Back Home” to the next level, and seeing how I can add some kind of motion to it.  I’m about 1400 bricks into my first draft so we shall see how it turns out.  Fortunately I have until March to get it done.

All in all not a bad break, kept away from schoolwork unless it connected with something I was already doing, now I just have to figure out how I’m going to get up tomorrow in time to make it to school…

Guilty Geeky Pleasures

Posted on February 3, 2013 by Bruce

While I’ve posted this before (I’m sure it’s around here somewhere) I thought it might be nice to update the list of some of the geeky things you might want to explore and my plans for some of my geeky passions for 2013.

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Podcasts-

Yes, these have been around for what seems like forever, but I’m always amazed at the number of people who still have no idea about what they are.  A podcast is a simple interweb audio show it comes out on a regular basis and they cover a large number of topics.  When I first heard about podcasting in 2005 I starting looking around and amazingly enough while I add a few here and there a few I’ve stuck with since the beginning- my top (not in any order) are:

Decoder Ring Theatre – Pure escapism from Toronto.  The shows alternate (for the most part) between the Red Panda (Canada’s Greatest Super Hero) and Black Jack Justice (with Trixie Dixon, Girl Detective).  Both are set in the 1930’s and 40’s and are in the style of the old-time radio serials.  The Red Panda will actually get a comic book treatment in Comixology at the end of the month- an announced Feb 27 release date from Monkey Brain Comics.  Many times this podcast is what makes me happy during the week.

Podcacher – Family friendly podcast all about Geocaching.  When I attended a computer education conference in sunny San Diego I decided to stop in on a session that really changed my life.  It was all about this thing called geocaching (gee-oh-cash-ing).  Sonny and Sandy are now friends and if you are interested in learning about caching I highly recommend it.  It is well produced, and filled with lots of great information.

White Roof Radio – The MINI Cooper podcast.  I bought my first MINI in 2005 and started listening to the podcast around that time.  The format is a roundtable discussion hosted by DB & Todd with regular appearances by Chad, Gabe, and Nathaniel.  The topic is MINI Coopers.  While sometimes it gets technical especially when dealing with wheels and tires its a great way to get to know what is happening in the MINI Community.  I will admit there have been times when I have skipped a bit especially when they are discussing in depth events I can’t attend.  I almost wish they would exercise the Zaxxon rule*  but over the years, Todd & DB have become close friends (again one of those great things about podcasts is they are put together by real people) and I enjoy listening to the discussion each week.

Pop Culture Happy Hour – I’m trying to figure out how I stubbled upon this podcast, but it quickly became a favorite.  PCHH is put together at NPR and is a weekly roundtable discussion about pop culture.  Linda, Trey, Stephen, and Glen have opened my eyes to many parts of pop culture and have added some pieces to my vocabulary including “What’s making me happy this week” and the Zaxxon Rule*

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Kickstarter–

It’s a crowdfunding site in which you donate money to “kickstart” someone’s project.  There are hundreds of options and the rule is the creator of the project set’s a goal.  If the goal is met by a certain date- you get charged, if it isn’t you are out nothing.  The cool thing for most projects the backers get a reward in return for their support.  in some cases it’s something as simple as “gee, thanks!” in other cases it might be some really cool items.  Every project is different.  I recommend just checking out some of the Kickstarter geekiness there seems to something for almost every kind of geek.

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Comics-

I have always loved comics.  For as long as I remember I have read comics.  The problem right now as a long time reader of comics is that the major comics publishers seem to be trying to attract a new audience or bring back lapsed readers.  So for me, I get confused as to what to read since the creative teams or story lines are getting all mixed up.  I liked Captain America, but now he’s battling evil in another dimension.  Don’t even get me started with what DC has done to the Teen Titans…

So while I still try to keep up with my old titles (though I keep bouncing between reading Batman & Superman)  there are a few titles that I have stuck with- please note not all of these are “all ages.”

Fables-  Bill Willingham’s story of what if the characters form fairy tales were real and had been exiled to our world?  Not for kids, but frankly much better than some of the TV shows presently on with the premise (although I am a fan of Grimm)

Mouse Guard-  David Petersen’s wonder tales of “mice with swords”  but it is so much more than that.  the artwork is wonderful and the tales compelling.  I’m now being very patient waiting for the next issue about the “Black Axe”

The Walking Dead-  Yes, it was a comic before it was a TV show. Robert Kirkman’s story of survival after the zombie apocalypse.  while in black & white still not for kids.

Invincible-  I’ve been reading this since issue #1 and issue #100 just arrived this week.  to overly simplify it- it’s the story of Superman’s son, except… I don’t want to give anything away.  Like Harry Potter where the first books were for younger kids, the same rule applies, not really for kids, especially as the story has become more violent and dark.

Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man- Again another one of those I’ve been reading since the beginning.  This started off as a retelling of the Spider-Man story for a new audience.  The villains may have the same name, but slightly different powers and origins, making it really cool.  Until they decided to kill Spider-Man.  THings then became interesting as we discover another spider in the lab escapes and bites another kid and what happens after that.  The first part of the story parallels the final issues of Peter Parker as Spider-Man which makes it even better.

While I have issues (and have mentioned them before) about crossover events and how they tend to make me stop reading a title.  Once or twice, I can understand, but most of these things cover multiple issues and frankly they don’t need to- the red sky issues in Crisis on Infinite Earths.  Hence my hesitance to read Batman or Superman.

What’s on my pull list? (a pull list is what a comic shop has for regular customers, I’ve had a pull list at Comic Carnival for close to 20 years now- to the point where Dan knows when I’ve missed something and will add it back) So here’s what usually is on mine: Earth 2, Fairest, Justice League, Justice League of America, Fables, Flash, Teen Titans, Unwritten, Ultimate Comics: X-Men, Spider-Man and,  Ultimates, Captain America… then there are various titles that I bounce around with.

As for comic conventions I’m planning right now on attending C2E2 in Chicago, but will be skipping SDCC this year.

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Games-

I’m still enjoying Fantasy Flight’s Star Wars X-Wing Miniature game. Cecil still thinks I should play an Imperial squadron… I like the game play, and while I have a few games on my shelf (right now Settlers of Catan, Munchkin, Quarriors, and Monty Python Fluxx) finding the time and the opponents seem to be the biggest issue.  I am planning on attending GenCon this year (it’s local) and hopefully will branch out and actually play some games instead of just spending money in the Hall.

As for video games-  I completed and throughly enjoyed “the Room” on the iPad.  and when I think about it the Walking Dead and Bad Piggies are quick diversions.

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Lego-

Yes, this is new and while coming back to Lego after 30+ years it’s like finding an old friend.  While I still don’t understand the cost or the various sets or story lines.  I am enjoying myself.  The thing I like the most is it tends to be relaxing.  I can build a kit and really can relax while doing it.  Although as with many of my interests I do go a little overboard.  I have promised to put together a display for Brickworld Indy and it has required me to actually attempt to create MOCs (My Own Creation) that I’m not quite sure of how well I’m doing.  This is also causing me to buy more bricks than I ever thought.  It all started with a visit to Brickworld Fort Wayne and thinking about using Lego Brick more at school and now, I’ve working on two different displays of Lego projects at both schools and one of my own.

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Geocaching-

I still am caching and once the weather settles down have planned to put out a couple new series of caches.  While I’m slowing down (weather related and other things) IndianaGeocaching.com is going well and keeping me busy.

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MINI-

My initial plan at the end of 2011 was to keep my 2005 Cooper S until the rumored new John Cooper Works GP out, trade it in and have a new GP.  In June that all changed and we went with plan “B” which has been wonderful (although all the hype about the GP is tiring).  I cannot say how much fun it was taking Alfie (the Roadster) cross country.  I really do love this new car, almost as much as my first MINI.  Once Spring starts I have a few things on my list.  First is new tire for Alfie, then I’m planning on spending the summer working on a much neglected Tink.  With everything that has been going on Tink is in need of a lot of TLC and that is the next thing.  Besides new tires, she needs a new battery and just another once over in the shop.  I really feel bad how much I’ve neglected the classic and I hope that this summer I’ll have the time to get out there and get her back into running order to keep some miles off of Alfie.

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Finally, I’ve made the decision in order to keep my sanity- My Geek Odyssey the comic will be posted once a week, this is at least a schedule I can keep up with.

SO I’ve thrown down my list of geeky suggestions and plans any thoughts?  Did I forget something?  Do have something you think I should try out?  Tim at Comic Carnival did suggest this week that I read the Batman & Robin Annual #1 which was a wonderful story, so thanks for the suggestion.

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*The Zaxxon Rule: from Pop Culture Happy Hour.  Limiting discussion (or in some cases eliminating discussion) on something that not everyone has the opportunity to experience.  This came about in the “What’s making me happy” segment specifically when Stephen Thompson for weeks would talk about a classic Zaxxon arcade game he was purchasing from Craig’s List.  I feel that many podcasts could benefit from adding this rule- one of the nice things about podcasts is you can add “Very Special” episodes focused on “Zaxxon” topics for those who care.

Gaming Geekiness- “Oh no, not again.”

Posted on November 3, 2012 by Bruce

So geeks & games…

Today I tried out a demo of Fantasy Flight’s X-Wing miniature game.  This was after purchasing a copy of the game for my brother in August, and a number of expansion packs.  I decided I should try it out.  So here’s a first dog fight review of X-Wing.

Starting out, I’m a Star Wars fan… old skool Star Wars. Episode 4, 5, & 6 before they got “fixed.”  I grew up with Star Wars, my brother & I used to beat each other senseless with broomstick light sabers.  So I decided I would try this game out after avoiding it for a while.

I started out at my local game store (Saltire Games) and watched a game finish out.  A squadron of Y-wing fighters against a squadron of TIE fighter lead by Darth Vader.  It was little confusing at first since there are a number of elements at play each turn. So here are the basics from one game:

  • Pick your side and ships-  Ships gain special abilities due to who is piloting them and added things like droids.  Each of these things are worth points.  In my case I chose Biggs Darklighter and R2-D2 for one X-Wing and a Rookie pilot for another X-Wing -50 points.  I was going against a squadron of three TIE fighters also worth 50 points.
  • Each ship has a movement wheel where you decide how fast your ship will travel and what direction it will go.  These are unique for the type of ship. You begin by setting the dial and then placing it face down so your opponent cannot see what you are going to do.
  • Movement is resolved along with actions- this could be locking on a specific target, or having your pilot focus or evading.  Each movement is performed using a guide which fits between two bumps on the front & back of the figure’s base, making it really simple to move a piece correctly without needing a game board.
  • Combat is resolved by the use of eight sided dice with unique markings.  Red dice are used for attack, green for defense.
  • When damage is taken if your ship has shields you would remove a shield token, if you don’t you take a damage card.
  • When you have the same number of damage cards as the ships structure the ship is destroyed. (ka-boom!)
  • Games have specific victory conditions which could be a time limit or until all ships are destroyed.  We played until the complete destruction of our enemies.

So those are basics, with some help I was able to win (Biggs has the ability to have all enemy fire focused on him, R2 repairs shields so basically if you can’t take this combination out in one combat phase they just keep regenerating).  I have skipped some game elements to keep this short.  I figure I will need to try out an Imperial squadron next.

The system is very player friendly and rather simple even if at first glance it looks complicated.  Each ship has certain strategies and tactics that help (ion cannons on a Y-wing).  I followed the suggestion of focusing fire on one ship and taking the squadron down one ship at a time.

The game is very true to the Star Wars universe, and I was especially happy that at this moment they are sticking to the original trilogy with a Millennium Falcon, Slave 1, A-Wing and TIE Interceptor expansions coming out before the holidaze.  It is not a collectible game… so if you buy three X-wing expansion packs, you end up with three copies of all the materials needed.  Unlike other games where you need to keep buying in hope that you get a super exclusive piece, the only unique pilot is Luke Skywalker who comes in the Starter Set.  The miniatures are painted and look really good.  They went back and looked that the original models used in the film when creating the pieces, this detail makes me happy.  Right now for the Star Wars universe this is a great game and I can’t wait to play it again.  On a sidenote: as a Star Trek fan, I haven’t seen anything to beat FASA’s Star Trek: Starship Tactical Combat Simulator, long out of print, but that is a story for another day.