The Professional Dungeon Master is COLD!
Hello again Friends, here in Texas we welcomed February with a stiff arctic front and some freezing rain and sleet. Good weather to cozy up to the hearth and tell some stories playing DnD and TRPG's! Public games - My last spot just filled for Rime of the Frostmaiden game, we launch on Saturday February 12. I don't know when I can get another game in but I would love to run Curse of Strahd or Tomb of Annihilation one of these evenings. I will probably have to wait until we conclude a campaign before adding anymore, which at this point is at least 9 weeks out. I am also trying to squeeze in a time to offer a hearing or speech impared friendly game, where we would play via live text in the Above VTT platform. I look around and see a few discord play by post options but not nearly enough accessible games offered by a professional game master. I would like to change that and get something going for folks that can not hear well, speak well, or have issues with social anxiety but would still like to play and are more comfortable with a text based game. More on that likely next week. Speaking of Above VTT, we migrated a few games this week to the new VTT and the reports back are overwhelmingly positive. All the gameplay is contained to one screen and it opens up a possibility to roll dice from your phone! Pretty cool stuff. Any new DnD game will be using this format. The current games migration are player group optional and all but 2 at this point have transitioned over. I did have one player who prefers multiple monitors and the custom formulas in Beyond 20, so I recognize its not for everyone but in my opinion its a big leap ahead for usability for the majority of players.
Week in Review On to the gameplay this week! Our Family Table featured plenty of combat but a good amount of sharp thinking and parlaying with the big bad to come to a mutually beneficial resolution. The party reunited some estranged lovers with BIG feelings and are taking a much needed breather by setting up camp. What will they do with the artifact they have found? Monday night Mad Mage was an absolute blast. Not sure if the players ate their wheaties (tm) before the game but everyone came in fired up and ready to go. There was plenty of banter in between fighting off some spiders and Drow, always a good time! Tuesday in Katashaka - was nothing less than epic. The party made it up to see the "ancient spirit" and meditated with them overnight. They received some useful new powers, and they are going to need them as they prepare to engage with the Armageddon machine that is the Tarrasque. Tuesday's Texas (st)Rangers Monster of the Week game was a blast! The team received word that "something bad" was about to happen in a nature preserve south of Dallas, and they were not let down. They had to fight off moss, moss creatures, and a giant plant based brain. Dr. Cornwall has most likely learned his lesson about mixing AI and plant life. Wednesday Night Mad Mage was some crazy clever times down in Wyllowood. The party really got the leg up on an encounter that was going to be VERY difficult but they brought the fight to them and toppled the odds into their favor. I have to admit, it was almost a bit anticlimactic as the big bad went down fast, and hard. I don't think they will feel the same as they continue to venture down and have some interesting creatures bring the fight to them instead! What can I say about the Rangoon Platoon on Thursdays other than: Giants, Dragons, Cheese, and COLD. We are really hitting a juicy part of the adventure as the party climbs their way up to ancient halls built into a very cold and icy mountain in the Spine of the World. Special thanks to this crew who sent me a mini figure of their favorite NPC - none other than the Were-Rat himself Don-Jon Raskin, as featured in the cover image of this post. Seriously fella's this token of your appreciation warms my heart. Thank you. Saturday nights will be filled with stories from Icewind Dale as we start Rime of the Frostmaiden, we have 6 players ready to go and I am excited to add their story to our week in review! Thanks for playing! Adventure in Courage Friends, and stay warm.