This is getting to be a bad habit. I'll try to change that.
Anyway, there have been some things going on. I've gotten to partake in a little gaming (well, of the face-to-face variety, LOTS of video gaming, but I digress) and various projects are in the works, which seems to be par for the course for most gaming aficionados. So let's jump into it shall we?
We had another Game Day with the old group 3 weeks ago. We played Warhammer Quest and got soundly pummeled after a roll of 1 on the Power Die yielded two stinking minotaurs to appear on top of the goblins and spiders we were already dealing with. However, we then played Last Night on Earth after that, which went much better (for the living that is). We were playing the rescue scenario and weren't having any luck finding survivors until the last 4-5 rounds when we FINALLY uncovered the last 3 we needed. It was close, but the living won the day. All in all, it was a good time and even though my wife was enamored with WQ ("the game won, that sucks") her love affair with LNoE gives me hope that I can turn her into a total gaming geek in time.
We're having another Game Day tomorrow. Probably no board games since we'll be playing at our house this time with our 20 month old son, who has to get into everything, running about. We're going to hearken back to the olden days of the mid-90's where we'd spend hours upon hours playing Mario Kart 64 and the like. We'll be breaking out the PS3 to play some Rock Band, SEGA All-Stars Racing, and likely some Super Street Fighter IV and Soul Calibur IV. Plus, since it's supposed to be a really great day tomorrow, we may actually partake in a few rounds of washers. Sadly, this may be the last Game Day with the old group. Time is growing short and my dear friends, Mike and Cynthia will be moving away. I'm sure we'll get together upon occasion, but a 6 hour (give or take) will separate us rather than a mere 1 and a half hour drive.
Why have I not been around much lately? Well, there's not real good reason. I've been frantically trying to beat several games that have been taunting me for some time now. I finally got through Ratchet and Clank Future Tools of Destruction and was trying to complete Resistance: Fall of Man (I'm so close). However, then I picked up my pre-order of Red Dead Redemption, the newest offering from Rockstar Games, the near-infamous developer of the Grand Theft Auto series.
How is Red Dead? Simply fan-freaking-tastic! Westerns don't nearly get the play they should, and the blending of the Wild West with the sandbox style of gaming that the Grand Theft Auto series help perfect is a stroke of genius. Granted, GUN did it first, and while GUN was a great game, RDR is a billion times better in every way. The single player mode is engaging with plenty to do, but not so much that you totally forget that you do have a job to do. The multi-player mode has been the real meat of the game for me though. It's a blend of the single-player game, a massive online game, and the typical shooter match play. You've got it all, levels, lots of ways to display yourself (however, the character models are pre-set and you have to level up to unlock more models/horses/titles), death-matches, etc. or you can roam the world hunting bandits or bears and completing various missions ranging from hunting to picking flowers. Yes, picking flowers. Plus, it plays great. It's rare that I have any connection issues at all. AND it is gorgeous! If you have a current-gen console, pick it up. You can thank me later.
So Red Dead has been taking a lot of my time, but that's not the only thing. My D&D Master rules project is still going, albeit at a snails pace. I have just a little bit of work left, but I keep getting pulled in other directions. Thanks to Red Dead, I've been hankering a good Western RPG, not that I'd ever get the chance to play, but I'm looking anyway. Boot Hill 3rd edition was alright, but I keep hearing good things about Aces and Eights. Too bad that one is hard to find. Savage Worlds does a good job with westerns, but I'm more looking towards a system truly devoted to the genre. Sadly, once again, that's tough to find.
My other big project is finally putting together a "master set" of Warhammer Quest material. WQ may be the extent of my gaming for a while, so I thought I'd finally get all of the material I've collected over the years from both the few official items I have to the great fan material found on the web. The monster book is nearly done, and I haven't even started on the Character book yet. There's a lot in my WQ folder. This is going to take some time. I do plan on collecting the various monster conversions I put together back in the 90's when I played WQ the most in the books as well.
It looks like the upcoming Castle Ravenloft adventure game is going to have solo rules. Since the game is going to be (at least loosely) based on D&D 4th edition, maybe I'll get some ideas on how to effectively build a WQ styled D&D 4E. I still think that could be an excellent way to play 4E.
