Chess Enthusiast?

If you are a chess enthusiast, my niece has started making chessboards with pieces. Her site is Amber Resin.

If you are interested in chess, or just feel like checking it out, I encourage you to do so!

Spawn of Cyclops Con & Etc.

Spawn of Cyclops Con was the last weekend in February, so I am a bit late in posting this. However, since I was set to record Episode 109 of Spellburn the Friday after, and it discussed the convention, I decided to wait until after the podcast episode dropped. In the meantime, I discovered this nice podcast, in which a few nice words are said about my blog post about creating magic items!

I only ran one adventure this convention, Journey to the Crypts of Orderly Death, a level 3 adventure originally written for a patron at Storm Crow Manor in Toronto, and which I am currently playtesting.

On Saturday, I ran an 8:00 am game for Steve Barnett, Jason Menard, David Persinger, William Walters, and Bryce Katzman. Journey opens with a "Michael Curtis Special" - an encounter in which a character may easily die. In fact, that is exactly what occurred. 

This was the first time I had run the adventure in over a year (damn you, Covid-19!), but the group was fantastic, I soon hit my stride, and some of what followed included little bits of improv that I used in every session that weekend, and which will surely make it into the final product! I am hesitant to say too much about the adventure before it is published, but I think the players enjoyed drinks at the Fallen Angel if nothing else!

The second group, playing at 6:00 pm managed to win the "Michael Curtis" opener without any losses at all! In fact, they managed to do so well, that it was a shame that a more powerful version of flaming hands than expected took out a character near the end. Still, the players did very well, and they surprised me in the end with a well-cast holy sanctuary! This group consisted of David Dubois, Mike Dawson, Matthew Shayefar, Joe Colistro, and Jack Derricourt.

The final group on Sunday included Pete Doroshenko, Jon Wilson, Hector Cruz, Aaron Kreader, and Julian Bernick. The game started at 1:00 pm. The entire opening encounter was bypassed by a well-cast holy sanctuary, which received some mention on the Spellburn episode. I wouldn't nerf a critical if the monsters rolled one, and I won't nerf good rolls from the players either. 

Since there was a preview version of The Inn in the Forest given away as Virtual Con Swag, I didn't create anything additional for this convention. The Vecnoid, however, does appear in Scientific Barbarian #2, and I have an article in Scientific Barbarian #3, which is currently kickstarting!

Overall, I am enjoying the plethora of virtual conventions this year, but I take up the kitchen table when I run games, so I limit how much time I actually get to spend playing. I miss rolling out of bed at a hotel, showering, and then rushing forth to roll dice in person!

Down to the Final 8 Hours

The Inn in the Forest is down to its final 8 hours. The outpouring has been phenomenal, and I cannot thank you enough!