Before I posting my review on this new C&C Book, I thought I'd start off by providing a list of the critters one will find in this book before looking at any specifics. The actual review will feature in Part 2. Any typos of the creature names are likely my own since I merely typed out the entry names. Enjoy!
- A -
Achaierai - Adherer - Aerial servant - Afanc - Agathion - Aleax - Algoid - Alkonost - Al-Mi'Raj - Animal Skeleton - Ant Lion - Apparition - Ascomoid - Assassin Bug - Atomie - Aurumvorax - Avia - Azer
- B -
Babbler - Badger (Ratel) - Baku - Banderlog - Barbegazi - Basilisk, Greater - Bat, Fire - Behomoth - Behir - Berbalang - Blindheim - Blood hawk - Bloodworm - Boalisk - Boggart - Boggle - Bonesnapper - Boobrie - Booka - Bowler - Buckawn
- C -
Cadaver Caterpillar - Carbuncle - Caryatid Colums - Caterwaul - Catoblepas - Cave Fisher - Centipede, Giant - Cloaker - Clubnek - Coffer Corpse - Cooshee - Crab, Giant - Crabman - Crimson Death - Crypt Thing - Crysmal - Cyclopskin
- D -
Dakon - Dark Creeper - Dark Stalker - Death Dog - Death Knight - Demilich - Denzelian - Derro - Devil Dog - Dire Corby - Disenchanter - Doombat - Dragonfish - Dragonnel - Draugr - Drelb - Duergar - Dune Stalker - Dustdigger
- E -
Ear Seeker - Ebalis - Elementals - Lesser Elemental (Ash / Dust / Ice / Lightning / Magma / Mud / Radiance / Salt / Smoke / Steam / Vacuum) - Grouzal (Prince of Evil Earth Creatures) - Jumkin (Prince of Evil Air Creatures) - Palhyd (Prince of Evil Water Creatures) - Roog-Ar (Prince of Evil Fire Creatures) - Enveloper - Ethos Muse - Executioner's Hood - Eye Killer - Eye of Fear & Flame
- F -
Firbolg - Firedrake - Firesnake - Flail Snail - Flind - Flumph - Fomorians - Forlarren - Frost Men
- G -
Galeb Duhr - Gibberling - Gig - Gorbel - Gogimera - Gorilla Bear - Grell - Grim - Grue
- H -
Hanman's Tree - Haunt - Hippocampus - Hoar Fox - Hook Horror - Hound of Ill Omen - Huecuva - Human Giant
- I -
Imorph - Insectus - Iron Cobra
- J -
Jaculi - Jermlaine
- K -
Kamadan - Kech - Korred
- L -
Lamia Noble - Land Lamprey - Lava Children - Luck Eater - Lurker - Lycanthrope (Werefox / Werehound / Wereshark / Weresnake / Werespider)
- M -
Magman - Magnesium Spirit - Mantari - Margoyle - Masher - Meazel - Mephits (Fire / Lava / Smoke / Steam) - Merrow - Mihstu - Mongrelmen - Muckdweller - Mudman - Myconid
- N -
Necrophidius - Needlemen - Nefarian - Nereid - Nilbog - Nonafel - Norker
- O -
Obliviax - Ogrillon - Ophidian - Osquip
- P -
Pech - Penanggalan - Pernicon - Phantom Stalker - Phoenix - Piercer - Poltergeist - Pyrotrice
- Q -
Quaggoth - Quickling - Qullan
- R -
Retriever - Revenant - Rock Reptile - Russet Mold
- S -
Sandling - Sandman - Scarecrow - Screeming Devilkin - Selkie - Shade - Shadow Mastiff - Sheet Phantom - Shelkerow - Shocker - Skeletal Warrior - Skulk - Sons of Rhealth - Spriggan - Squealer - Stone Guardian - Stun Jelly - Svirfneblin
- T -
Taer - Tarrasque - Tasloi - Thessalhydra - Thoqqua - Throat Leech - Tirapheg - Tween
- V -
Vargouille - Vegepygmy - Volt
- W -
Wemic - Wind Walker - Witherstench
- X, Y, Z -
Xvart - Yellow Musk Creeper - Yellow Musk Zombie - Yeti - Zombie, Monster
M
What I'm Backing on Kickstarter:
After Winter Dark Campaign Setting
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Friday, March 2, 2012
Quick Note About This Weekend's R&R
This upcoming weekend's R&R might be delayed a tad as I'll be out of town most of the weekend. Add to that the fact that I also got my hands on the PDF copy of the new 'Classic Monsters' book for C&C means I will provide a review on this new book as opposed to provided my reflections on a past one.
Have a good one folks!
M
Have a good one folks!
M
Hey Wait A Minute!
Taking a closer look at those boxes I mentioned in a previous post and reading a bit about them elsewhere has led me to realize a mistake I made.
I honestly thought these were digest sized but they aren't. They are 9" wide x 12" long x 2 and 3/4" deep!
While it's really cool to know that these are full sized gaming boxes which means you can store your full-sized saddle-stitched modules or even some favored hardbacks, I think we now need a digest-sized option!! How else am I going to store those digest booklets!!
;)
Cool either way but I needs my digest boxes. Hopefully they will do well enough to justify a digest box run.
M
I honestly thought these were digest sized but they aren't. They are 9" wide x 12" long x 2 and 3/4" deep!
While it's really cool to know that these are full sized gaming boxes which means you can store your full-sized saddle-stitched modules or even some favored hardbacks, I think we now need a digest-sized option!! How else am I going to store those digest booklets!!
;)
Cool either way but I needs my digest boxes. Hopefully they will do well enough to justify a digest box run.
M
Boxes & Snow
The past week has felt like a slow one as I considered the various blogs I follow. Not much news in terms of new releases I personally would be interested with either. But I did see one yesterday of note:
Brave Halfling Publishing has released and started shipping the 'Old-School Gaming Boxes' featuring art by Erol Otus and, as a surprise reveal, a box featuring art by Pete Mullen! The boxes look great but there was one that I noticed which admittedly disturbed me in the pictures and the video so I address this question to John:
"John... WHERE THE HELL IS ALL THE SNOW!?"
;)
Montreal, Canada gets its fair share of snow (as does the rest of Canada) but it isn't the frozen wonderland that some people who live outside of Canada sometimes assume it to be. I've been lucky this Winter but it looks like this week we got a reminder that we *are* still in Winter -- not early Spring like previous conditions would have led us to believe. Plenty of snow covering the ground ... no grass of any sort. Now, back to the boxes...
The look great and, some of you may wonder what the appeal is about these boxes (aside from the cool art). Some of you may even consider the prices for the boxes a bit on the hefty side (I don't -- box sets are usually more expensive BECAUSE of the boxes). Why would people want these?
Well, it's no secret that segments of the OSR community have love the original D&D box sets... They were digest sized and we have seen many products and releases continuing in the digest format. It's just simpler to put together isn't it? Of course there is a convenience about the size itself. Over the years, I have collected a bunch of digest sized 'indie' releases. In order to protect them and not lose them, I tend to put them in digest box sets I already own. Unfortunately, I don't own many and the ones I do already have a bunch of stuff in them! A couple of this boxes would help me out immensely -- just the multiple digests that James Mishler put out before AGP closed its doors would easily fill one of these boxes.
If you are like me and need a slightly more elegant storage solution, be sure to check them out HERE.
M
Brave Halfling Publishing has released and started shipping the 'Old-School Gaming Boxes' featuring art by Erol Otus and, as a surprise reveal, a box featuring art by Pete Mullen! The boxes look great but there was one that I noticed which admittedly disturbed me in the pictures and the video so I address this question to John:
"John... WHERE THE HELL IS ALL THE SNOW!?"
;)
Montreal, Canada gets its fair share of snow (as does the rest of Canada) but it isn't the frozen wonderland that some people who live outside of Canada sometimes assume it to be. I've been lucky this Winter but it looks like this week we got a reminder that we *are* still in Winter -- not early Spring like previous conditions would have led us to believe. Plenty of snow covering the ground ... no grass of any sort. Now, back to the boxes...
The look great and, some of you may wonder what the appeal is about these boxes (aside from the cool art). Some of you may even consider the prices for the boxes a bit on the hefty side (I don't -- box sets are usually more expensive BECAUSE of the boxes). Why would people want these?
Well, it's no secret that segments of the OSR community have love the original D&D box sets... They were digest sized and we have seen many products and releases continuing in the digest format. It's just simpler to put together isn't it? Of course there is a convenience about the size itself. Over the years, I have collected a bunch of digest sized 'indie' releases. In order to protect them and not lose them, I tend to put them in digest box sets I already own. Unfortunately, I don't own many and the ones I do already have a bunch of stuff in them! A couple of this boxes would help me out immensely -- just the multiple digests that James Mishler put out before AGP closed its doors would easily fill one of these boxes.
If you are like me and need a slightly more elegant storage solution, be sure to check them out HERE.
M
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Continuous Campaigning
A bunch of us, if we are fortunate enough, have embarked on a campaign that has gone on for a long time. In some cases, this is a simple case of a group of players and their characters embarking on multiple adventures and quests throughout the years in a setting. Like a good series, there could be many stories told with various characters and circumstances providing the highlights when we look back upon them. However, like the mega dungeon, their can be adventures which will span a great deal of time. We have seen various mega dungeons published and we have seen entire campaign series published as well. The Dragonlance Saga (chronicling the Heroes of the Lance though a series of adventures modules DL1 though DL14) is one such example.
Now, much like Mega Dungeons, I tend to avoid doing campaigns with a long and involved story arc. I prefer smaller morsels of adventure but the call for something epic is a hard one to resist. The problem with these LONG campaigns where everything is tied to some sort of conclusion has been maintaining interest and focus for the players. Unfortunately, I have never been blessed with players that all want the same sort of thing in their game. I quickly learned a few years ago that the instant that a dungeon spans into multiple sessions, that a couple players tend to lose their motivation for the adventure quickly. These players prefer a lot more interaction with characters I populate the campaign with as well as politics and a game of intrigue. Of course, other players prefer to kill, kill, kill. They love the possibility of strategy and tactics and are genuinely interested in circumventing puzzles and traps. I have had to learn to balance the interest of my players as well as deliver smaller doses of 'story advancement' if I do decide to do something on a larger scale.
By giving pieces of 'critical' game of information slowly in a series of seemingly unrelated and unconnected adventures, I can bring all of these pieces together when I decide to focus on the larger story arc when the time is right. This way, I can do a small dungeon centric adventure one session and follow through with a wilderness adventure or city/political intrigue based one the next. The pieces I deliberately provide are seemingly not relevant or they are purposely highlighted and left vague. I know... it's kind of like hitting someone on the head with a sledge but, if playing for months (and years), it can actually work quite well. Ultimately, it is still up to the players if they choose to pursue a particular course of action or not. If they do, I also know that they are genuinely interested. If not, I can always file it away for later use.
With this method, I have been able to do a whole campaign based on Hommlet and the Temple of Elemental Evil but the campaign looked nothing recognizable with the material beyond the excursion to the moat house. The adventure was adapted to suit the needs and wants of the players. In fact, I merged portions of another campaign with it to give it a completely different spin. This was done in the course of a couple of years but now is on hold due to obligations and real life commitments of some of the players.
A year ago, I had also begun the Umbrage saga by Troll Lord Games but I took the axe to chunks of each module. The start of the campaign was also a complete success but that too has been on hold for a few months. I hope to start it up again soon or, adjust the campaign accordingly to move on without one of the players who is frequently called out of the country.
With Ballista in development and playtesting being needed, I'm thinking of starting up something anew just for the sake of gaming but I still don't know how to go about it. I am probably going to try something simple and do something to stitch these stories together but I really am in need of running a campaign again -- if only to provide a break from the work on Ballista.
Getting a game together is never too difficult but sustaining for something a bit longer term does take some effort.
M
Now, much like Mega Dungeons, I tend to avoid doing campaigns with a long and involved story arc. I prefer smaller morsels of adventure but the call for something epic is a hard one to resist. The problem with these LONG campaigns where everything is tied to some sort of conclusion has been maintaining interest and focus for the players. Unfortunately, I have never been blessed with players that all want the same sort of thing in their game. I quickly learned a few years ago that the instant that a dungeon spans into multiple sessions, that a couple players tend to lose their motivation for the adventure quickly. These players prefer a lot more interaction with characters I populate the campaign with as well as politics and a game of intrigue. Of course, other players prefer to kill, kill, kill. They love the possibility of strategy and tactics and are genuinely interested in circumventing puzzles and traps. I have had to learn to balance the interest of my players as well as deliver smaller doses of 'story advancement' if I do decide to do something on a larger scale.
By giving pieces of 'critical' game of information slowly in a series of seemingly unrelated and unconnected adventures, I can bring all of these pieces together when I decide to focus on the larger story arc when the time is right. This way, I can do a small dungeon centric adventure one session and follow through with a wilderness adventure or city/political intrigue based one the next. The pieces I deliberately provide are seemingly not relevant or they are purposely highlighted and left vague. I know... it's kind of like hitting someone on the head with a sledge but, if playing for months (and years), it can actually work quite well. Ultimately, it is still up to the players if they choose to pursue a particular course of action or not. If they do, I also know that they are genuinely interested. If not, I can always file it away for later use.
With this method, I have been able to do a whole campaign based on Hommlet and the Temple of Elemental Evil but the campaign looked nothing recognizable with the material beyond the excursion to the moat house. The adventure was adapted to suit the needs and wants of the players. In fact, I merged portions of another campaign with it to give it a completely different spin. This was done in the course of a couple of years but now is on hold due to obligations and real life commitments of some of the players.
A year ago, I had also begun the Umbrage saga by Troll Lord Games but I took the axe to chunks of each module. The start of the campaign was also a complete success but that too has been on hold for a few months. I hope to start it up again soon or, adjust the campaign accordingly to move on without one of the players who is frequently called out of the country.
With Ballista in development and playtesting being needed, I'm thinking of starting up something anew just for the sake of gaming but I still don't know how to go about it. I am probably going to try something simple and do something to stitch these stories together but I really am in need of running a campaign again -- if only to provide a break from the work on Ballista.
Getting a game together is never too difficult but sustaining for something a bit longer term does take some effort.
M
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