Roll20

Hello Sports fans,

This weekend was my first full D&D session run over Roll20. In 2017, I had visited my friends in Clemson and ran a 4th ed game for them. We had a blast and it was like the last twenty years never happened. We talked about perhaps trying to keep playing together online. Well a few months ago I started seriously researching and delved into Roll20. The interface was pretty simple, and after a few searches on google, I was able to start creating some simple content. I then grabbed my two buddies who played DDO with me, and we tested out the audio/visual and some basic mechanics (moving icons, rolling dice, etc).

I won't lie. I spent a good amount of time entering in content and figuring out how to add maps and get them to line up to the grid and such. I was even then able to add in monsters and stats to supplement my notes. All in all, I ended up with a play area that was a full color map and had all my creatures in it.

Above is a small example of the play space. Players only saw the non-shadowed areas, otherwise they just see black. So a really nice fog of war feature that lets me reveal only what they actually see.

The grid on the map also lines with the grid of the play space, so icons snap to the correct positions as you move them around. The character icons are tied to actual character sheets and then to the actual player. So each person just controls their own token. Also, I can display certain info on the tokens when selected...for this session, I did perception mod, AC, and HP. For the monsters I setup, I had attack bonus, AC, and HP and then added notes for specific weapons and abilities for each one.

It also has a turn counter that you can pop up too which is tied to the character initiative. Players and the DM can also ping a location on the map or even draw on it as needed. It did take a little getting used to, but after a while, things went fairly smooth.

Characters need only click on the weapon they were using on their character sheet (separate window) and Roll20 would make the roll, put it in chat, and if I said it hit, let them click on the entry in the chat window to roll damage. I will say, the DM got he majority of good rolls :)

The feedback though was very positive from every player. I also have to point out that we all used cameras so that we had live video and audio feeds from everyone, five in all. That was great honestly. I wasn't sure how important that was going to be, but wow, what a difference. I got to see the faces of my friends and their reactions as we played and it really was almost as good as them being there. The group was covering four states on both coasts. And the amazing technology brought us all together.

Oh, and we are also all using the free account. I did drop some money for the 5e PHB. As DM, I could share that resource with my players, so they had full access to the book for the built in character builder.

As we move forward, it will still be a lot of work on me, the DM to keep adding the content. But I really feel it was worth effort. For players, they have to update their character sheets which is not the most intuitive thing. Right now, the built in character builder only creates level 1, and does not have a great interface for updating or leveling. I do believe that is a planned enhancement that is coming though.

Roll20 also has a marketplace where you can buy lots of upgrades, from source books, digital libraries, and even modules, including those from D&D proper.

There is another competing product out there called Fantasy Grounds. I haven't done much research into it. It seems that the biggest plus for Fantasy Grounds is that you are able to save a good deal of money for the paid content. However, pretty much everyone needs to dish out some money to use it, or the DM a significant amount. For now, I'm sticking with Roll20 because I've only spent $50 and we are all able to play. If this really kicks off though and we start to play more regularly...I may have to decide which one is better in the long run, or else get those slackers to pitch in. :)

Until next time...

Dystopian W.....what??

Hello Sports Fans,

Dystopian Wars....didn't that company go out of business? Wasn't this a dead game that wasn't very popular in the first place? Well yes, yes it was. Even when Wayland Games bought the licence, that didn't really give me much hope. Lets face it, DW was a really cool idea, but the game itself just never got off the ground. The concepts were amazing, and Spartan Games just kept releasing cool models. But the mechanics and rules just dragged the gameplay. I'd play for over two hours and we'd barely get past the second turn. I kept all my models not from a sense that I'd ever use them again, but simply that there was no way I was going to find a buyer who would give me a decent value for them.

But last week, Youtube decided to recommend a video for me. It showed me a couple of guys playing the new beta rules from Wayland Games. In just over an hour (with explanations), I watched two full turns go by, with the game realistically not going past a third. Wha huh? Was that really Dystopian Wars I just saw? Well apparently it was. Intrigued, I downloaded the beta rules and gave them a quick read through, and I have to say, Wayland has done a good job. Clearly time will tell if it all works eventually, but they are going in the right direction.

Here are just a few of the changes that are making an impact in play speed:

• Simple 90 degree fire arcs. Fore, Aft, Port and Starboard. 
• Simple LOS. No more worries about how much or what points of a ship can you see.
• Three range bands for all.
• Two ship states only. No more calculations based on how much damage you have.
• One turning template, and two modes for turning rules.
• Simplified SRS. They act more like another form of gunnery or defense for the turn they are launched only.
• Obscurement. A single condition that prevents light hits from counting.

Now I'm sure there will be plenty of fans that will not be down with these rule changes. Some people really like intricacies that DW used to have in terms of movement, positioning, and targeting. I am not one of those people. I want to move pretty boats around the table and go "pew pew". The mighty giant that is GW has proven this with their own games. People want to move models and roll dice. They don't want argue about rules or get bogged down in micro-measuring to see just how much in in sight or what arc. Wayland seems to have found that road that makes the game easier and faster to play, while still feeling like Dystopian Wars. Wayland is also being really nice to those that like the old ways as they have kept the rules online for Spartan's version.

So what does this mean for me? It currently means I'm pretty hopeful for the new Dystopian Wars. I'm also excited at the prospect of pulling out my fleets and playing again. That being said, the big question now is, can Wayland draw in new players? Not only that, but can they entice the existing players to buy more? That license they bought isn't going to be worth it if all they can do is sell rulebooks. After seeing the rules so far, I think that the game will be more accessible and be interesting to new players. As long as Wayland produces new models that capture that Spartan magic, I think they'll have success. I'll be keeping a closer eye on this now and hope to see some side by side comparisons between Spartan models and Wayland models.

That's it for now. One little side note, I'll be trying out a Roll20 D&D session for the first time this weekend. Keeping my fingers crossed that it goes well. I'll let you know. Till next time.

Terrain Building and AoS Champions

Howdy folks. Wow, almost went off on a huge tangent on the way words sound....

Anyways...good old, Brother G. has been up to stuff this week. First off, I've been putting together terrain. GW has this graveyard for AoS. Sort of a hefty price tag, but got it on ebay for around $60. It actually makes a good amount of footprint terrain. What I mean by that is, it takes up horizontal space on the board. It is pretty much perfect for Vanguard or other skirmish type games. All in all, I have six crypts, two statues, and a decent amount of fence with four gates. Each piece comes with a base area that is larger than the vertical structure. I can't wait to paint these up. Plus, their size will even work with making D&D maps as well. Assembly took me three nights to put together while watching TV with the wife unit. I need to take pics and post them...so watch this space for an edit later on.

Next up I've been playing a game on my phone called AoS Champions. Falls into the vein of MTG and other one on one card games. I think it plays very well and you can play the app, or with actual cards (why by the way can be scanned into your online collection). Hoping to find time to teach it to my wife this week. She used to play MtG, but the sheer number of cards has made it too daunting to build a deck, and the always increasing rules do the same for just playing. This game currently only has four factions and the rules are fairly straight forward, but there is depth for deck design as well. The app is free, with really no reason not to give it a try.

I also go to play D&D again this week after a two week absence. Here is my dilemma. Most of the players truly enjoy engaging in the absurd with their characters. I am not. I want a good role playing experience. Sure, I enjoy joking around just as much as the next guy, but the sheer scope of the hi-jinks is completely distracting. I just sit there now and hope that it ends so we can continue with the actual playing. I was very close to actually leaving the group after last session. I have no problem with the players. They are all nice guys. And they are definitely having a good time with the game. I've wrestled with the question if it is just me...am I too stuck up with how I want to play to engage along with the rest of them. Maybe it is an age thing? But I don't think so. Back when I gamed in college, my friends and I didn't play like that. It was never a circus. I did do a little bit of looking around for a new group. That is not an easy thing either. It took me a while to find these guys. I'm going to play tonight, and will see how it goes. If it is again distracting, then I'll bring it up and see what the group thinks. Again, I'm torn with possibly taking their fun away. But right now, I'm just not enjoying it.

So there you go folks, hobby stuff, gaming, drama....kind of feels good to have so much going on. I'll see about getting some pics up tonight or tomorrow. Until next time,.

Vanguarding Vanguard?

Last few posts have been about the concept of hobbying rather than the actual hobbying itself. So trying to get back on track here. Lets talk about Vanguard. Vanguard is Mantic's latest skirmish level fantasy game. Lore wise, it ties in with Kings of War. Mantic chose to have it fully integrated with the lore of the massed fantasy battles game instead of some kind of "one off" scenario (a la Mordheim).

Strangely enough, I didn't back the kickstarter for Vanguard. Nope, I figured I had way too many models already, and I just didn't need more. Plus, I don't really have Mantic models anymore. I did at one point have an Abyssal army, but traded that away some time ago. My friend Robert though was very interested in it and dropped some serious coin. He's getting all the stuff, and I can use my existing models to play. Win/Win for me.

Before going too much farther into this, no, he does not have the rules yet. So all of this discussion is going off what has been posted in the Mantic blogs so far and other rumors I've heard. That being said, what I know of the game is that it is a skirmish warband game. That means small model count and an integrated campaign/progression system in place. So yes, the game is more like Mordheim than it is Age of Sigmar. That is a good thing as I prefer a Mordheim style game over AoS.

I also need to interject at this point that the models are pretty good. Clearly the best stuff Mantic has put out so far. Nicely detailed, good poses....makes me wish I had actually done the KS, but that's because I'm a sucker for cool models.

So the game is basically, you have a leader, some cool LTs, and then a few grunts to carry the baggage. Strangely enough, they only ever mix it up with other gangs and Bob's your uncle. They had an open Beta Rule package out for use for quite a while, and have been blogging various pieces of the rules online as well. So far, seems fairly simple, yet adding depth in various ways. I'll go into rules later once I actually have them in hand.

So, Vanguard is about to drop...what does that mean for me? Means I'm getting ready. I haven't worked out which faction I want to go with just yet, again...waiting on rules. However, I have started to prep for the game itself. I have some mordheim terrain still from back in the day, and I've also purchased some recent stuff that I've actually started to put together. I have the cuts to prove it. I also have an un-opened mordheim terrain expansion box that I am thinking of putting together as well. I'll start putting up some pics of my progress. Till next time.