Words of Replicant Jesus

It’s back and I am glad to have it back.  I really enjoy Legend of the Five Rings and want to continue playing it but I am absolutely chomping at the bit to run a Dark Sun game in the near future.  I missed ye olde Dark Sun and I am glad to have it back in my life.  I have so much stuff for D&D 4th Edition as well that I really want to utilize it.  I am also intrigued by this Essentials line of products especially the Monster Vault and the DM’s Kit, both look rather awesome and will be available in October I think.

I really like the map tiles as well I have two sets of the Athas Desert tiles ready to go for the campaign I am building and itching to use them.  The Dark Sun Campaign Guide and the Creature Catalog are awesome and are worth the money.  I picked up the Demonomicon as well and really enjoy it and hope to incorporate some of the ideas into my Dark Sun game to give it a sinister twist.  Also as a totally frivolous want, I want this Ravenloft boxed game like whoa.

So yeah I love D&D.

These are just some of my notes on the village of Ravendale, it’s a quaint little place on the edge of a primordial forest filled with ruins, mysetry, and humanoid tribes.  It serves as the starting point for my campaign for the summer and I wanted to share my ideas.

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Just posting some of my general notes I have for my forthcoming summer campaign:

Origin Hooks Notes

• Noble Blood: Last born in a noble family you had little chance of gaining anything other then a small inheritance and perhaps a title.  You could choose a life living in the shadow of your elders or take the path of the Rusty Legion and forge your own path.  The Legion grants you the opportunity to see the world, adventure, and most importantly find your own place in the world.  Despite your “newfound” freedom you still have ties of blood that could entangle you in the politics of court.
• Outcast (Primal Classes): You were responsible for some terrible act by your people.  You were spared from execution by the Rusty Legion, instead you were exiled, a fate worse than death for most but you are made of stronger stuff than most.  Before you left your tribe the shaman of the clan/tribe read your future and saw that you would be responsible for great change to your people, but the signs were mixed on the outcome being harmful or beneficial.  Now you have dreams that plague you of your terrible destiny.
• Blank Slate: Your first memories are waking up in a small village not far from the main settlement.  You did not remember who you were or where you came from.  The village was attacked and you sprang into action using you skills you had no idea you possessed.  Luckily a local Rusty Legionnaire was in the area and heard of your prowess and condition; you were recruited and given a name and a place in society.  But your lack of memories gnaws at you.  Your only clue is a tattoo of a two coiled serpents over a black disk on your left shoulder.
• Strange Bloodline (Psionic Classes): You were born different, always touched and always aware of the psychic energies that course through the world.  From a young age you knew things that children should never know, some say you got it from your missing parent, raised as an only child by the surviving parent you were always told that the other died before you were born.  It was not until a terrible plague took the life of your surviving parent that you found out the truth, that the parent you thought was dead could still be alive and had at one time been a Rusty Legionnaire.  Emboldened by this you sought membership to track down this parent who abandoned you and find out more about your bloodline.
• Plague Born: You were born during a terrible plague and were the only child to survive the terrible sickness.  Orphaned and alone you grew up fast and did what you had to do to survive.  It was not until you were much older that you heard of the prophecy of the Plague Child, one who would be born into an age of strife surviving when others would not and destined for a future that could usher in a reign of darkness.  Some religious orders seek your death, to avert this tragedy making your life needlessly difficult.  You joined the Legion for protection and a chance to do some good with whatever power may or may not be inside you.
• Sins of the Father (Martial Classes): The hero’s father or mother was once a Rusty Legionnaire, an individual of worth who was both skilled and well respected.  But the name was tarnished when they betrayed the order, becoming an outcast and criminal… eventually becoming one of the monsters that the Legion is sword to destroy.  Now the parent is an unliving monster an object lesson in the fall from grace.  The hero joined the legion to clear the stain from the family name.  The character has an uphill battle to earn the respect of his peers as the parent casts a long and bitter shadow.

More notes after the jump:

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Well I went running today and I had a wonderful idea for a mini campaign arc, at the Heroic tier probably blending some of the Chaos Scar adventures into a primal/Feywild focused story arc.  I am basing the campaign in my “homebrew” setting that I ran for the Spring but some 1000 or so years in the future where the current group has become legendary heroes who founded an organization to defend the common man from the evils of the world, the Rusty Legion, not the most formidable name but I wanted it to tie into the name of the bar the current group uses as their base of operations, The Rusty Pickle Jamboree.

This is more a nod to the previous group and since some of my players are from the last game will give them a sense of familiarity to the setting.  I am leaving the majority of the details pretty loose at this point I have my main villain, the basic plot flow, and the idea that the world resembles the “standard” Points of Light default setting.

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I have caught the D&D 4E fever finally after having the books since launch I am finally putting them to good use and actually running games with them.  I have a bunch of experience with 1st, 2nd and 3rd editions but this game is a very different beast and it has taken me awhile to get a firm handle on it.  I have learned a great deal since I started and have a better idea of how I want to run future games; what accessories I will need, the campaigns  I want run, and how to best run them to blend both role playing and action.

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I should be getting my Nook from Barnes and Noble tomorrow, which has me plenty excited.  I am going to load it up with a bunch of role playing books I have on PDF and probably read the hell out of them in bed and on the couch.  I really need to also get my ass in gear and get my notes written out for D&D this week and flesh out the setting I have.  I drew a map the other day of the city the campaign takes place in, Avernus.  I don’t really have a name for it yet but I should come up with something.

With the first of the Cataclysm class change previews going up today, I can’t help but wallow in anticipation for the 16th when Blizzard finally posts the new information for Paladins. Our class is so awesome we need that much more time to perfect our ground shaking changes.  With the recent announcement of the Death Knight tanking tree being Blood in the expansion and some preliminary changes about Rage Normalization I am excited to see what they have cooked up for the paladins.

I don’t have too many inferences yet on where they will take us but there is some writing on the wall:

- I expect them to make changes to Hammer of the Righteous or Seal of Command and even possibly both.  I think the fact that our threat rotation is exactly the same in single target and AoE is just boring.  I look forward to this.

- The Dispel mechanics will definitely change some of how I play at least when it comes to dispelling my own magic effects like on Steelbreaker.

- I think paladins in general will get a low level instant attack ability to add to the low level experience and make it more interactive.  At least more interactive than auto-attack and judgement.

- More of a wish and inferred guess based on similar vanity shaman changes; but I suspect that the varying paladin races may get race specific mounts in Cataclysm.

The 16th will be a good day, I look forward to the new class changes being posted today!  And now some Thom Yorke to soothe your weary soul.

The soundtrack for Mass Effect 2 is a stellar follow up to the first game’s soundtrack.  Where the first game emulated Bladerunner and the 80’s synth pop sounds, the second goes for a more gentle melding of darker tones and aggressive synth sounds for an overall more epic score.  I really prefer the second soundtrack to the first though both are excellent there are many songs that have a more diverse and aggressive sound, not to say that Mass Effect 1 OST was not aggressive but it had a very different tone than the second game sound wise.  I will list my favorite songs and what I liked or disliked after the jump.

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This is a beautiful looking game, downright gorgeous in some places.  It strikes less of being a game and more of being a cinematic adventure interspersed with scenes of an actual video game.  Overall it works well but there are some things I find disappointing.

The game is currently too linear, you basically just go from zone to zone with no real breaks or towns or chance to involve yourself in side plots.  Valkyria Chronicles has more choice than this game at this juncture.  About 6 hours in perhaps maybe less.  Vanille has a terrible English VA and I expect her Japanese counterpoint is probably squeakier than I have the stomach for.  Hope is just annoying for a variety of reasons; mostly dealing with his mother and being a total douche.  Lightning needs to get punched in the face for blaming Snow for her problems and Snow is kind of wishy washy.  If you are going to introduce a combat system it should be enjoyable at all levels, not just after you “get” everything.  The story thus far is not terribly exciting, but hopefully it gets better.

Things I like.

The game is gorgeous and it’s hard for me to pick out at times the cinematics from the in-game engine.  The character models are well done even if they are annoying.  Combat system looks deep with the Paradigm Shifting.  But so far I have yet to see the full potential.  Musical score is fantastic thus far, and is simply massive.  Character advancement system is similar to Final Fantasy X which I like, though it has the potential to be annoying.  Overall a good game thus far but not what I expected.  Not sure if that is good or bad.

Tonight I pick up Final Fantasy XIII and get to see what all the hype is all about.  I have not played a Final fantasy game since XI so I am interested to see what the game is all about.  In other news I am still slamming my head against the Lich King and we had a some hiccups on Sindragosa last night.  But nothing we can’t fix tonight and hopefully take down the Lich King.

Also I really like this advertisement.  Courtesy of Really Cute Asians.