Pintas y Dados - El podcast

Una de las cosas más gratificantes de ser un Dungeon Master es ver como toda la preparación previa al juego resulta en una historia divertida y asombrosa a la hora de jugar. El proceso que cada DM sigue para prepararse y escribir la historia antes de contarla difiere de DM a DM. A algunos nos gusta improvisar, a otros nos gusta planear todos y cada uno de los puntos de la historia, otros lo planean pero dejan que la decisión dependa de una tirada de dados… En fin, todos tenemos nuestro “librito” que seguimos a la hora de correr nuestros juegos.

Por otro lado, una de las cosas más gratificantes de ser un jugador de DnD, es que tu Dungeon Master no te mate.

HAH!!

Pero no hay nada mejor que encontrarse con tus amigos luego de un juego y hablar sobre lo cool que fue el juego, o las diferentes formas en las que podemos correr otro juego la próxima vez que nos toque ser DM.

Con esto en mente, dos amigos y yo nos pusimos de acuerdo para crear “Pintas y Dados”.

Pintas y dados, el podcast, es básicamente una ventana en la que Fernando, Moisés y yo les hablaremos sobre varios aspectos de nuestro hobby favorito: Los juegos de Rol. Hablaremos de Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder, Fate, Numenera, Legend of the 5 rings, y muchos otros sistemas de juego, mientras comentamos sobre los monstruos, las reglas, las historias y las ideas que pasan por nuestras mentes a la hora de preparar una sesión de juego. Todo esto mientras nos tomamos una que otra pinta :) .

Además de esto, con la ayuda de nuestro grupo de amigos, grabamos varios juegos de rol que presentaremos como una historia en episodios. Así como cuando nuestros padres escuchaban radionovelas? bueno, así mismo solo que con nerdos, dados, sin guiones, y un humor mucho más cuestionable.

El día de mañana (29 de Junio) presentaremos nuestro primer episodio, gracias a nuestros amigos de Patacoins, ustedes, mis muy estimados lectores, podrán encontrar el podcast en el sitio de patacoinstv.com y así también en iTunes y cualquier aplicación de podcasts en Android (yo uso Podcast Republic, es gratis, soy pobre)

También si tienen alguna pregunta, o algún tema que les gustaría que comentemos en el podcast nos pueden escribir a pintasydados@gmail.com, o encontrarnos en twitter como @Pintas_y_Dados y en Instagram como pintasydados. En un futuro grabaremos un capítulo con sus preguntas y comentarios, asi que envíennos todas las ideas que quieran escuchar en el podcast!

Estamos muy entusiasmados con este proyecto y esperamos que les guste lo que tenemos preparado para ustedes.

Cheers!

Julio

The fine line between challenging and impossible - DM THOUGHTS

Ever had a game of DnD where your Dungeon Master seems to be out to kill you no matter what?

First round: Everyone’s surprised, the enemy spellcaster casts Hold person on both the fighter and the cleric. Don't question it, he just does. The rogue suddenly realizes he is in a place with absolutely NO place to hide or run to. The enemy hard hitter hits the mage for infinity hit points of damage and kills him. Now it’s the party’s turn, but the rogue now has a mage down, a Cleric and a Fighter on hold for 7 to 10 business days, and a mage, two Barbarians, and a pack of wolves on top of him.

Don't be this douchebag...

Another (less extreme) example

The players prepare for a Dungeon crawl. They enter the Dungeon and immediately spring a trap. One player fails his reflex check and dies. The other three continue and enter a room with a deadly encounter with a vampire. Just as the name of the encounter suggests it, another player dies. The remaining two decide to exit the dungeon for now, and return with a different approach and two other companions. Just as they start to leave, the doors close and water starts to flood the room. 2 rounds later they are drowning, and a few failed Constitution checks later, it's a TPK.

Ugh... why?

The first thing that comes to mind when a DM sets his players up for failure like this, is "Why would he do that?".

- Players were getting cocky, the DM needed to show them that death was very possible.

- Nobody likes an easy game.

- Encounters are meant to be challenging

- I don't want to make it easy on them, my games are always hard.

These are ALL valid reasons to make a game harder, more difficult, or more challenging. However there is a fine line between making it challenging and making it impossible. Encounters should be challenging to keep your game interesting and your players awake. However, once you start throwing deadly encounter after deadly encounter, eventually one of them will die, and will probably resent the fact that you seemed to be trying to kill them from the beginning.

As a DM, one should be mindful of this balance, after all the idea behind a roleplaying game is to defeat an objective using everyone's abilities in creative ways. You do this while playing what is essentially a part in a story. you, the DM, are ALSO playing a part in that story. However you get to play everyone else in the world. and here's where you need to make a distinction.

It's not a game of "the players vs the DM".

The moment you start seeing the players as your enemies, it will be easier for you to start enjoying it every time you put an impossible obstacle in front of them, because then you "win". And where's the fun in that?

Yeah, I know... it's pretty sweet...but hear me out

There's just one DM and at least 3 or 4 players. If in the end you're the only one having fun at the table, then you have failed to make it entertaining for the majority of those at your table. This eventually leads to players asking themselves why they are doing this in the first place... subjecting themselves to hours of frustration just so YOU can have a laugh everytime they fail, and once they realize they don't like it, they leave and stop going to your games.. So how do you avoid this?

Try this: the players are not your enemies, see them as your allies. Sure, you're the one who places the problems in front of them, and you probably have an idea of how they could overcome that problem. S use that in your advantage. Your attitude should be "Ok guys here's the situation, how are we going to move the story forward?". If they give you ideas that are creative and inventive, then reward them with a positive outcome and move the story forward. It's a lot more fun to do this than just throw in a random no-win scenario and have them all die.

This does not mean that there should not be any impossible tasks in your world. A level 1 party that stumbles upon a dragon's hoard should be very aware of the fact that they are in for an almost guaranteed death if the dragon finds them. This is common sense. But placing nothing but extremely hard or near-impossible tasks between the players and their ultimate goal will get boring for them really fast.

So in conclusion, keep your games balanced, give your players the opportunities to shine and solve the problems in front of them. Don't go easy on them. And don't go out of your way to make their lives miserable either. Balance. Balance is everything.

Thanks for reading!

Age of War by Fantasy Flight - DICE HEAD REVIEW

Every now and then you come across a game that is fun, simple and easy to learn. Today we look at Age of War, a fast paced conquest card and dice game released in early 2014 by Fantasy Flight games, designed by Reiner Knizia (Lord of the Rings board game, Samurai, Beowulf: The Legend).

A few weeks ago I got together with some friends to play Eldritch Horror (stand by for a review of that one as soon as I get my hands on a copy of the game) and since most of the group still hadn't arrived yet, we decided to play a round of Age of War.

The game is pretty simple. You are a daimyo (Japanese general) and your goal is to conquer castles and unify the warring clans of feudal Japan. You do this by waging war against other players ( up to 6 others) who wish to do the same. Basically, you are all generals trying to conquer Japan and bring honor to your house, your family, and your cow.

MOST HONORABLE CONTENTS:

The playing field consists of several playing cards that represent each castle. Each card is color coded and has a clan symbol on the back of it. There are yellow cards (4), red cards (2), purple cards (2), black cards (2), grey cards(3) and one green card. Each clan(color) has a different number of castles(cards) assigned to it. 

You conquer each castle by rolling seven dice and assembling your army with your results. Results may vary between infantry (swords), archers (bow and arrow), cavalry (horsemen) and daimyo (red mask). Each castle requires a certain number of each of these symbols in order to be claimed by the player.

Each castle also has a number that shows how many points this castle is worth, along with the name of the castle inspired by an actual real-world Japanese location.

MOST HONORABLE GAMEPLAY:

One player is chosen randomly, the game then continues clockwise. Each player throws the dice to try and complete the requirements to conquer a castle. Once a player has a castle there is the option for other players to take that castle away from him or her by rolling the required dice for that castle plus an extra daimyo dice.

Once a player has all of the castles in a colored set (clan) he flips them over, revealing the total points for that set and claiming that clan as his permanently. This means that the castles in that set can no longer be taken away from that player. This allows for a lof of different strategies in the game, which makes it very fun and entertaining. 

Once all castles have been claimed, the game ends and the points are recounted. Whoever has the most points, wins. If there is a tie, whoever has conquered the most castles wins. If there is STILL a tie after that, the players share their victory and drink sake for the honor of their respective houses, families, and cows.

I AM MOST PLEASED WITH THIS GAME!

The game is quite fun, I recommend playing it while listening to some traditional Japanese ambient music. I also encourage whoever is playing against me to use Samurai trash talk.

Like so:

Me: I see you will attack the Kitanosho Castle... A most daring move.

Opponent: I shall teach your peasants the meaning of force. Do not worry though... I shall allow your Samurai to commit Seppuku to cleanse their families' of the SHAME AND DISHONOR they have brought upon their house.

*rolls dice*

Opponent: GODDAMIT! the archers! EVERY SINGLE TIME!

Me: Ho ho ho ho ho *strokes imaginary fu-man-chu beard*... It appears not only have you failed to seize my castle, but also shed the last bit of dignity your samurai had left. YOU HAVE DISGRACED YOUR PEOPLE AND DISHONORED MY LANDS! NOW! WE SHALL ENGAGE IN COMBAT!

Good times :)

All in all, Age of War is a good solid game that will guarantee a few rounds of fun. It's also pretty cheap at around 12-15 USD. On top of that the game comes in a small 7.5" x 5" inch box so it's ultra light and easy to carry around. It will make a nice addition to your tabletop games collection.

Thanks for reading!

The Joker - Chaotic evil

(As Nightwing pummels him) "Aw... Jeez... I hit Jason a lot harder than that. (Pause) His name was Jason, right?"

I'll be really honest with you guys. As cliché and mainstream as it may sound. To me there is only one way to describe a Chaotic Evil character. And that is doing it with the Joker in mind. 

Now… let's put a smile on that face.

Chaotic Evil is the type of dude you never want to give his morning coffee, because once he gets some energy and determination in him he will burn everything. EVERYTHING. Or he might just as well go on with his life and do nothing. These characters are the most unpredictable bad guys ever. If Lawful Evil is scary because of the way they can order regular people to do evil stuff, and Neutral Evil is scary and dangerous because their one single purpose is doing evil upon others... then Chaotic Evil is Scary and dangerous because you KNOW he wants to kill you, you just don't know how or when he's going to do it. The unpredictability of chaos added to the vile cruelty of Evil make one of the most unique types of villains in roleplaying settings, comics, tv series, movies, literature, you name it.

Unpredictability is pretty much the defining word here. Just as Chaotic Neutral is all about his own freedom, Chaotic Evil is all about his freedom to do Evil unto others. And forget about laws and morals and personal codes of conduct. These guys have none. Even when they say they have a code or a "way of doing things" they will drop their Modus Operandi in a second if it means doing what they really want to do.

Want an example? Here you go:

The dude has PRINCIPLES, he ONLY kills when it's funny! The problem with that is that his sense of humor is as sadistic and chaotic as it gets. So that kid has all the right to be scared shitless.

Here's the textbook definition:

A chaotic evil character does whatever his greed, hatred, and lust for destruction drive him to do. He is hot-tempered, vicious, arbitrarily violent, and unpredictable. If he is simply out for whatever he can get, he is ruthless and brutal. If he is committed to the spread of evil and chaos, he is even worse. Thankfully, his plans are haphazard, and any groups he joins or forms are poorly organized. Typically, chaotic evil people can be made to work together only by force, and their leader lasts only as long as he can thwart attempts to topple or assassinate him.

Chaotic evil is sometimes called "demonic" because demons are the epitome of chaotic evil.

Chaotic evil beings believe their alignment is the best because it combines self-interest and pure freedom.

Chaotic evil is the most dangerous alignment because it represents the destruction not only of beauty and life but also of the order on which beauty and life depend.

So without any further ado, here's the final piece in the chart. 2 years ago I was absolutely sure the Joker was going to be in here, and none of the other alignment examples were as clear to me as his... ok, maybe Dredd... that's the only other one that had his spot guaranteed.

HAHAHAHAHAhaHAhaHAhaHaHahAHahHaaHhaHahhaHahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHA

Leto, you better nut up for this role sir... or else no one is ever going to let you hear the end of it. 

Ok, now... since I did just flat out told you who was my choice for Chaotic Evil for this post. Here are some OTHER also chaotic evil characters from film, animation, video games and such.

Majora - The Entity from The legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. This one needs no explanation. Suffice to say that this thing makes Ganondorf look nice.

Ramsay Bolton, from Game of thrones. This sick fucker likes flaying people alive, he loves rape, he loves murder, and excels at torturing people. Fucking. Evil

The Lich from Adventure time, whose sole goal is the destruction of ALL LIFE. He is also a Supernatural undead force, created from Nuclear waste. Can it get more Chaotic Evil than that? hmmm well..

"HeeeehehehehehehehHEHEHEHEHEHEHEhehehehhehehehehHEHEHEEHEH"

Kid Buu - Dragonball Z

And hey... you know the thing about Chaos?

It's FAIR

Thanks for reading

Exploding Kittens - DICE HEAD REVIEW

Do you like cats?

How about explosions?

And lasers? Do you like lasers?

How do you feel about goats?

Are you curious to know what would happen if a Pterodactyl and a Bear had a lovechild?

If you answer positively to any of those questions then 1) we should hang out, and 2) We should play exploding kittens while hanging out.

Exploding Kittens is a card game designed by Elan Lee, Shane Small and Matthew Inman from the comic “The Oatmeal”. This project is the wet dream of anyone who has ever wanted to crowdfund a project. The original goal was to raise 10,000 USD. Within minutes (literally minutes…) they had reached their 10,000 USD goal. Then after 7 days they passed the 106,000 backer mark, breaking the record for the most backers in Kickstarter history. By the end of the Kickstarter campaign they had raised $8,782,571 USD in pledges by 219,382 backers.

That’s a lot of money.

So after much designing, playtesting and sending out surveys to their backers, they finally sent out the first batch of exploding kittens all over the world. I myself received mine last week and have played several times since. So today I bring you my review of the game, focusing on what it has to offer, the gameplay experience, and the feel of the game.

WHAT IT HAS:

My version of the game comes with 

1) The rules of the game

2) A regular exploding kittens deck (2 to 5 players)

3) A box to carry the game

In addition to this I opted to buy an additional deck called the "NSFW deck" which can be played as a standalone deck, or by adding it to the regular deck to allow for more players (and more 'SPLOSIONS!). As you may imagine the "NSFW deck" has more... "adult" illustrations, but if you've ever read any comic on The Oatmeal site, then you know what to expect.

The NSFW deck contains:

1) The rules of the game (including a guide on how to mix it with the regular deck)
2) An NSFW exploding kittens deck (2 to 5 players)

3) A box to carry the game

GAMEPLAY!

The game describes itself as a "Russian roulette". You draw cards until you draw an exploding kitten, which then causes you to explode, losing the game in the process. You win the game by playing cards to either avoid drawing a card, or avoid death by kitty explosion.

The types of cards:

Exploding kittens: The deck starts with a number of exploding kittens equal to one less than the number of players (4 exploding kittens for 5 players, 3 for 4, etc)

Green cards: These are the defuse cards, you use them to defuse the exploding kittens and avoid death by 'splosion. After successfully playing this card (see the red NOPE card) you may re-insert the exploding kitten ANYWHERE in the deck (which lends itself to some pretty nasty strategies).

Blue Cards: lets you skip a turn.

Pink Cards: See the future by looking at the top 3 cards of the deck and returning them in the same order.

Orange cards: Attack cards. Lets you skip a turn and makes the next player take 2 turns.

Brown cards: These cards let you shuffle the deck before you draw a card.

Black cards: Favor cards let you choose another player and have him choose a card from his hand and give it to you.

Red cards: The Nope card. This card negates any other card except for the exploding kitten and defuse cards, and may be played at anytime to stop another player from doing anything. MY FAVORITE TYPE OF CARD BY FAR.

Yes, that card does say "Don a portable cheetah butt"

Cat cards: There are other cards with kitty-related illustrations. These cards do nothing on their own, but if played together (two of a kind, three of a kind, 5 different cards) they let you execute other advanced plays, like picking a card from your opponent's hand, or picking a card from the discard pile.

 Everyone starts the game with 5 cards in their hand: 1 Defuse card, and 4 random cards from the deck. After the cards have been dealt, the remaining defuse cards and the exploding kittens are mixed with the rest of the cards, the deck is placed in the center of the table and the game can begin!

The game starts out at a moderate pace, and since everyone starts with a defuse card, everyone has a fair chance of not getting blow up in the first few rounds. But then as the deck becomes smaller, the impending doom becomes greater and greater. The tension builds up as players start exploding faster and faster, It's tons of fun because even when you blow up and lose you feel like you're having a great time!

GENERAL OVERVIEW

This game is fun. I tried it out at home, then with some friends at a party, and we had a blast. You could see the cards as simple colored cards, but it's way more fun to actually read the descriptions and appreciate the bizarre drawings on them. One of my favorite things is watching a person draw a card, and see how their face goes from a confused look to a snort and a laugh in a few seconds.

Now, about the nope card...

I've mentioned before how much I love the nope card, but you have to experience the thrill that comes with playing one of these by yourself. Imagine it's down to just two of you and your friend draws a card. It's an exploding kitten. He plays it and tries to defuse it via a Catnip sandwich card. But then you slap your nope card on the table with a loud "NOPE!". He smiles  cockily as the pulls out a SECOND defuse card, this time a "Cat therapy" card. He seems to have saved himself from the impending explosion but "NOPE!"... you had a SECOND nope card in your hand! Now he's done, defeated! BOOM!!! there goes the exploding kitten, and the game is yours!

So good... SO GOOD.

The game is very fast so you could play a good 3 or 4 rounds within an hour once everyone's familiarized with the rules and how to play. And learning the rules is really easy and fast. The game states that you'll spend 2 minutes learning to play, and 15 minutes playing it. I'd say this is pretty accurate.

The Illustrations by Matthew Inman are simple yet hilariously comical. One has to wonder how he comes up with stuff like "A Butt tuba spelled backwards is still A butt tuba" and then make an illustration for that. But like I said before, if you are familiar with his comics then this is exactly what you'd expect from him. 

As of right now only the backers of the Kickstarter campaign will receive copies of it, however the Exploding Kittens website has put up a mailing list in case you'd like to be notified when new sets of the game are available for purchase.

Considering all of this, I would definitely recommend picking this game up once it's available for purchase. Take it to a party and play it with your friends, have a few drinks and enjoy the sillyness of this very unique game.

Let me know what other products you would like to see me review next (If any). I'm working on a "Legend of the 5 rings RPG" review, on top of some other things, but I really welcome your feedback regarding this blog and I look forward to reviewing some other games for you, so if you have any favorites that you'd like to recommend to me, then leave a suggestion in the comment section below