Leafshine: Lust for Flower

Dungeons & Burgers

I'm sure there's a very good reason we went adventuring with a burger in the Altmeister's D&D game last night.

But it's kinda eluding me right now…

AFK: Playing With My Toys

So, I've been doing this tabletop thing again:

Gaming from Leafshine on Vimeo.

I find it fascinating how coming back from computer gaming to tabletop really changes your perception of things. For example, one of the characters has an ability called Hunter's Quarry. Which makes us all think of Hunter's Mark. Which makes us try to simulate a large, red arrow bouncing over the miniature's head. And we had a fair shot at simulating raid makers with dice, too.

But one thing profoundly disturbed me. The thing is, I keep looking at my miniature in the game (see if you can figure out which one is me in the pic) and thinking that, as I level up, the figure isn't going to change. Any new gear I acquire* isn't going to be reflected on my 3D, physical toon. And after three years or so of gear obsession in WoW, that's a very strange feeling.

By the way, has anyone bought any of the D&D Minatures Game sets? If so, are they any good?

*Enchanted mail dropped last night. Typical. Shammy loot.

AFK Gaming: D&D 4th Edition

Ladies & Gentlemen & Hunters, the Leafshine Co-Operative are pleased to announce the first regular feature on this blog, AFK Gaming. People were so interested in my brief photo post about the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop game that I'm involved with, that I'm now going to do a post each Saturday about something related to tabletop gaming of various sorts. First up, D&D 4e in more detail!

I have a confession. Despite playing tabletops RPGs for over 25 years, and despite spending half a decade actually writing the damn things professionally, I've never played Dungeons & Dragons. That's right, I've never played the game that started it all. Embarassing, isn't it?

However, a good friend was getting a game together of the new edition and I couldn't resist joining in.

And it's...interesting. It's clearly a game very much informed by MMoRPGs. You start the game with a decent range of special abilities for each class, which gives combat a surprisingly computer-ish feel. Except without the, y'know, speed.  Our first few skirmishes were epic in length, as we spent ages consulting the books to get to grips with both the new system and the new abilities each of you get. With six players in the game, a single round of combat can easily eat half an hour - if not more.

It's fun though, as you're throwing acid balls, or flurries of knives, or calling upon holy power to issue challenges from the start. It's got a heroic feel from the off that many games lack, casting you, as they do, as peasants with sharpened sticks. Combat isn't a pushover, but you do feel a distinct cut above the common mob which is nice (and quite MMoRPG-like again).