Star Wars Saga Edition >> 4E!

With the release of Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition, my table-top gaming group spent a long time discussing our options. Many of the players were either miffed at WotC's handling of the release (and seemingly summary dismissal of lifelong players), or unsatisfied with the new rules engine.

We did run a short playtest campaign of 4th Edition. Many of us liked the ruleset, but versatility seems lacking compared to 3.X and the rules for arcane magic in particular just don't suit our Greyhawk-based home campaign setting. Maybe the fit will improve as more sourcebooks flesh out the options available to players, but most of us are heavily dissatisfied with the core mechanics. Time will tell as more 4E content is released.

We certainly have the choice to continue playing 3.5E, but much of the gaming world will be moving on. Personally, I'm worried about the slippery slope - that I might become one of those weird, wild-eyed bearded fat guys off in the corner at GenCon still playing 1st Edition...

Then there's Paizo Publishing's new rising star - the Pathfinder system. Many of our players have taken a shine to Pathfinder, but we're not keen to start learning beta rules, which may change again with the final release next August.

So what to do in the mean time? Hey - what about those cool Star Wars Saga Edition rules that Ken picked up last GenCon? Although I hadn't been able to attend, my group had playtested the SWSE core rules and found them very much to their liking. Saga Edition seemed like a perfect compromise for the time being, so we've made the decision to play SE for a year and see if the final release of Pathfinder suits our taste for our triumphant return to Obsidian Bay.

Between working on my progress in KotOR II while my 360 was out for repair, and my more recent tawdry affair with The Force Unleashed, I was already on a fairly large Star Wars kick. The Saga Edition rules have Force-Grabbed me by the collar though. I simply can't remember being this excited about a RPG campaign for many a year.

Normally, I'm pretty lukewarm about RPG gaming. Sure, it's fun because I'm getting together with buds and gaming, but typically I'd much rather play strategy board games (geeky scifi- or fantasy-themed board games, that is) . Weirdly enough though, SWSE has me gnawing on my dice in anticipation.

One last note - for any readers actually playing SWSE, be sure to check out the Order 66 podcast - very well done and informative.

Weisman Regains Rights to FASA Properties

Many fans will be delighted to hear that Jordan Weisman's new company Smith & Tinker has licensed the rights for the Battletech, Shadowrun, and Crimson Skies properties back from Microsoft. Here's a link to the press release.

Go Jordan! Can't wait to see what his next move will be.

Dungeons & Dragons II: Wrath of the Dragon God - a review

My son and I finally got a chance to sit down and watch this flick last night. DVR's are a wonderful thing, people!

Dungeons & Dragons II: Wrath of the Dragon God is a direct-to-cable movie that first aired on the Sci Fi Channel last Saturday night. Now, you may be fortunate enough to ask, "what do you mean Dungeons and Dragons II - there was a first D&D movie???" That study in fan disappointment limped past movie-goers nationwide in 2000, and is best left forgotten. It wasn't a horrible movie, but faithful gamers worldwide were hoping for much more. Unless you have a particularly masochistic sense of curiosity, best to leave that flat attempt lie undisturbed in its shallow cinematic grave.

Back to the subject at hand, I really found D&D II: WotDG to be enjoyable. Between the disappointing first D&D movie and the fact that this new installment aired directly on cable, I didn't have high expectations. I must say that my trepidations were unfounded. The new movie was quite well done, especially given the format.

First and foremost, a nod was certainly given to the players. The movie was rife with references to specific spells, magic items, creatures, locations, and gods from the actual game. The story led us through the necessitated formation of a traditional D&D adventuring party, their journeys across a varied fantastic landscape (including some honest-to-gods actual dungeons crawls), and finally into several epic confrontations with a collection of evil masterminds and vicious beasties.

Sure, the acting was frequently over-the-top, but I believe that to some extent, this may have been a tongue-in-cheek attempt to mirror the high-cheese melodrama spouted around many a dining room table every Friday evening. The only thing missing was the alluring clatter of rolling dice.

For the other parents reading, there was certainly some rather vivid violence, a little blood, and a goodly group of creepy critters and beings. That said, it was presented in such a fashion that I personally had no compunctions against my 9-yr-old son watching.

In any case, my son and I very much enjoyed curling up on the couch and soaking up this pulpy but exciting and entertaining flick. I think one must take it for what it is, but for Sci Fi's first attempt, they certainly hit their mark. Watch it soon with a son or daughter near you!

The Gamer Me

I'm a gamer. Always have been. You're going to hear a lot on gaming here, so if that topic doesn't interest you, my best suggestion is to run away screaming.

Other than time spent with my family, gaming is what keeps me sane. I guess I'm going to have to analyze this...

To begin, I've grown up with the industry. I was there for Pong, and Atari, and Intellivision. I was the first generation who's mothers had to physically drag their male children past the Space Invaders machine on their way out of a Pizza Hut.

I learned to program on a Radio Shack Trash-80, and spent long afternoons trying to land that damned lunar module on those treacherous, blocky peaks. I blew many a sunny summer Saturday holed up in my basement playing Adventure. Then Zork. Then King's Quest. We continued to grow, and the industry grew and matured with us.

I was the first generation of kids that grew up playing pen & paper Dungeons and Dragons. We imagined, we created, our adventurs were epic, and we remember those early days fondly. Fast forward to the present, and you'll still find me most Friday evenings, dice in hand, at one of my good friends' dining room tables.

Gaming is so many things. It's a social event, a reason to get together with friends with similar interests, to laugh it up, ham it up, and wind down after a busy week.

Gaming is recreational mental exercise, an opportunity to match wits (both the cerebral and humerous varieties), match reflexes, match strategies, and many times, a good opportunity to practice humility.

Gaming is an important vehicle for stress relief. It's down time incarnate. Many people enjoy TV or a movie at the end of a tough day, and I certainly do as well. Wrapping one's self up in a story, however - at least for me - is that much more effective when one can interact with said story.

People are animals - intelligent, complex, and (supposedly) civilized - but animals nonetheless. We retain our primitive urges to fight, to hunt, to mate, to flee, but we don't like to admit to it. I don't mind. Gaming is a healthy outlet for many of those instinctual behaviors. I don't get urges to get in bar fights. In the past week, I have vanquished 45 murlocs, three dozen orcs, and a giant fire elemental. I beat a hopped-up Lancer Evolution to the finish line, and wasted 9/10ths of the Covenant forces. I have no pent-up hormonal agression left to spare on two rude drunks. :)

In short, I'm a gamer.