RPG Day 2017

Yesterday I attended my first RPG Day event. I was originally scheduled to GM a Savage Worlds game in the morning, but with only two players a week away from the con date, I decided to cancel it so the players could sign up for another game.

So I spent the morning sitting at the various tables to watch the other GMs at their craft. The first 40 minutes or so were slow as many of the players were new to D&D and RPG indeed, but after that everyone got into stride and there was a nice buzz in the hall.

It was interesting to see how different GMs used different tools and styles. Some stood, others sat throughout the game. Some used markers on blank mats, some printed battlemaps, while others used "theatre of the mind".

Curiously, almost all the players looked like they were in their twenties or older. There was a teenager at my game in the afternoon, but he was perhaps the only one there. I spoke with another player over lunch and he thought maybe it was because teenagers tended to play with their schoolmates and so were not represented at what was primarily an Adventurers League event.

The game I played in was quite fun, even if my character went to 0 hit points at least twice. We had a good mix of classes and co-operated well, allowing each character his or her moment to shine (except my paladin, who simply could not hit anything!).

Still, I feel that the format of AL means that each game is essentially a one-shot with strangers. While you kept your character and his XPs and gear, there was no shared memory between members of a party, which I feel is an important part of the whole RPG experience. It is a concession to the reality that for many people, getting a regular group of players together week after week is simply not possible; I am glad I have a regular gaming group.

July Giveaway

For the month of July, I am giving away several sprues of WW2 German infantry which I don't think I will ever get around to painting.

They are as follows:

Pegasus Hobbies German Fallschirmjaegers.

Leftover figures from Plastic Soldier Late War German Infantry

Plastic Soldier Company Self-propelled Gun Crew, and some soft plastic figures and equipment from the Pegasus Hobbies IG18 set

Once again, if you want these items, do leave a comment, and I will draw a recipient on 01 July. This is not a first-come, first-serve offer.

The offer is free: once I let you know you have been drawn, do let me have your email and mailing address and I will send them off to you. You don't even have to pay for postage; I am hoping to give these figures a good hope.

Good luck!

Added: Also, would Michael Mills contact me on this blog so I can send you last month's giveaway please? Thank you.

Have Dice, Will Travel (for RPG)

A couple of my new players in the Space Opera RPG I am currently running are also GMs on the Meetup group, and I have attended a couple of games in the past few weeks, and will be attending another one on RPG Day (17 June).

I like to use my own (Gamescience) dice, and I wanted a way to bring them around that wouldn't rattle or damage them, so I googled around and decided I wanted to make myself one of those fancy wooden RPG carrying cases that doubled as a dice tray and pencil case.

Unfortunately, the only good-looking wooden boxes at the local art store were those that came as part of water-colour or pastel sets that cost around S$70, which was more than I was prepared to spend.

Then I saw a plastic "bits" box at a general store that was about the right size (21cm x 15cm) and came with customisable partitions. I bought the box, a sheet of black rubber foam, and after trying a few configurations came up with this:

It can hold a 7-dice polyhedral set plus 2d6, or plus 1 extra d20 and d6 (for D&D 5E games), a few pencils and an eraser, and a post-it note pad. If you don't mind folding a character sheet, that can fit inside the box too. The bottom and inside lid of the box are lined with rubber foam so the the large compartment can serve as a dice tray and the dice won'y rattle when the box is closed. The box clips shut securely, which is important.

It's not as fancy as one of those custom-built wooden RPG boxes, but it's light-weight, compact, and cheap.