STALKER7

Almost, anyway.

August was a strange month, full of changes. I closed my glass shop, inventoried and sold the contents, took down the sign, shut down my studio website. 36 years cutting glass, 23 of them on my own in art glass. I had a weird moment when I wiped down the vehicle after taking off the lettering; it was perfectly clean – you couldn’t tell anything had ever been there. Sobering.

At the same time, my daughter, her husband and kids sold their home, bought a new one, moved off Cape. (Only an hour away but very different from 12 years right around the corner) Today is my grand kids first day in a new town, new schools, in fact.

Change isn’t always bad. It takes time to adjust and start moving forward again though.

Part of that forward motion was converting my old shop into a dedicated space for writing and gaming. Pleased to note that’s nearly complete. (needs more swords and shields, right?)

Fresh Start

On that note, the weekly group met last night in the new space. Two members down, we took a look at Free League’s ‘Forbidden Lands’ RPG. An OSR game, (old school renaissance) think ‘streamlined D&D’ and you’re in the right neighborhood. The game makes it very clear the player characters are rogues and fortune hunters who are venturing into a previously isolated territory that had been ruled for centuries by a mad sorcerer. (pacts with demons, a terrible fugue over the land called the ‘blood mist’, lots of ravenous monsters, ruins, treasure, and gibbering inhabitants)

I’m a little concerned what these guys will do, untethered now to any semblance of principle or noble aspirations. Forget heroes and chivalry. Last night’s character creation saw the advent of a Halfling Rogue/Peddler with penchant for lies and an obsession with daggers, an aging Wizard dedicated to the ‘Path of Death’ school of magic, and a Goblin wolf-rider who gets off on shooting things with a short bow. Go team Murder Hobo.

And to think Mike D and Matt still have to make their characters…

Son of a Witch and Nightwatch

We did meet while things were upended, playing the interesting but fiddly board game Malleus Maleficarum, as well as the similarly themed but oh so much easier Nightwatch.

In MM, players are hunting witches. Very cool artwork, game tiles, and minis. Great concept with interesting details and ideas. Absolutely. But Cards, and Tokens, and Special Rules, oh my!

Now I’m a fast-play/beer-n-pretzels gamer and game designers, so add salt, horses for courses, etc. But even allowing for learning curve, seems to me the game action bogs down. RPGs have a slower pace Understandably. However, MM is a combat minis game and IMO, it needs to flow. No stutter, interruption, or unnecessarily fussy rules. Move, act, roll dice, kill baddies. “Enough talk. Time to fight!”

Despite the upheaval, I managed to get time at the painting desk and wanted to get the minis on the table. So after three games of MM, we statted out some Guild Hunters and went looking for some pesky Revenants.

Located, the undead were dispatched again. Permanent, this time. “I will kill you until you die from it!”

Coming soon

Forbidden Lands sessions, Mork Borg minis and more, When Nightmares Come playtest games, Exploit Zero material, and another ‘tale from the Exclusion Zone.’

Thanks for stopping by. Have an excellent day.