Thistledown Actual Play
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Stars and Stones! It’s The Dresden Files RPG
Aug 31st
We’ve had a bit of a dry spell here at the podcast…but we’re about to come roaring back with The Dresden Files RPG. Our first session will be this Saturday, where we’ll take a stab at city and character creation. We’ll be creating St. Louis in the Dresdenverse. The city has tons of folklore and weird history that we think should be fertile ground for all sorts of supernatural goodness. A few of the character types that we been discussing are…
- An antique dealer who is in possession of an ancient relic – a crucifix inhabited by the soul of a Saint. The Saint warns him of impending incursions by things from outside the normal world.
- An reporter who is actually a were-gorilla. That’s right, a were-gorilla. That should prove interesting, to say the least.
- A mortal cop. No, not Ms. Murphy, but an unconventional rebel who is a devout dis-believer in the supernatural. He has a rude awakening on the way!
- A White Court vampire who also is a club-owner.
- And of course…a Wizard of the White Council. We haven’t quite wrapped up the details on this guy yet…except to say that he is a “reluctant” practitioner of the arts.
Stay tuned, I’m hoping to have the first episode up early next week…
TAP Episode 8 – An Extreme Minority – Game Over!
Aug 16th
We say goodbye to An Extreme Minority with a “Game Over!” episode. We’ll be talking about the game, good points, bad points, etc. Look for one of these after each project that we wrap up.
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Gen Con 2010 – Day Three Recap
Aug 8th
Gen Con kept rolling along today. Already on day three, and the sad end of the convention is coming into sight. Where did the time go? Highlights…
- Breakfast – Omelets, bacon, sausage, coffee, etc. I think I’ve gained at least five pounds.
- Desolation – I got to play a new RPG called, Desolation from Greymalkin Designs. It’s a post-apocalyptic fantasy game built around the Ubiquity engine from Exile
Game Studio. The idea is that your characters lived in a familiar fantasy world that suffered some sort of catastrophe. You survived in a world torn apart. Mad Max meets Tolkien. I generally enjoyed the experience and I tend to view Ubiquity in a favorable light. It works well for Hollow Earth Expedition. One nice thing about gaming at Gen Con is that you sometimes play in a game that is ran by the person who designed it. This game was exactly that. The GM was Matt Somers, the chap that envisioned and wrote the setting. - Elf Park – I ran across an “Elf Park” sign. Who knew that the Elves had their own park here in
Indianapolis? Why are they so special? I bet the Dwarves are really hacked off!
- Shopping – I did a marathon run in the Exhibitor Hall. To say it was crowded wouldn’t quite cover it. Walking was hampered. There were many bumps and stops and jostles, but I hung in. I picked up a few more dice, but not much else.
- The Auction – Gen Con has a huge auction of games and gaming products. Also, there is a Consignment Store where items can
be purchased directly without going through the bidding process. I dug through stacks and boxes, looking for ancient treasure. Lots of items caught my eye, but the only thing that I walked out with was a copy of Different Worlds #10 from Oct/Nov 1980 (Ironic, since that is the exact time that I began gaming.) I was a Different Worlds fan from the beginning, mainly because it always contanied some Runequest or Call of Cthulhu content in additional to the D&D stuff. - The Game that Wasn’t – As usually happens at least once, I attended a game where the GM didn’t show. We gave him ten minutes, then bolted. I tried to find a 1st Ed. AD&D game, for which I had been given a tip earlier, but I could find it. Perhaps I need a Ranger…
More tomorrow as Gen Con 2010 closes!
Gen Con 2010 – Day Two Recap
Aug 7th
Day Two! We’re all settled in…everyone is in the convention flow. We are attacking this con with verve! The plan shifts to less drinking – more gaming. Here’s the Day Two highlights…
- Stonesky Delve (Expeditious Retreat Press)Part Two – The first edition AD&D action continued with a few conspicuous absences. Two players dropped out, but i think it was all to the good. Yesterday, we had to join two tables together to allow for all the players. It was
hard to hear, and darn-near impossible to see the map from the other table. For part two we were down to one table, and the game ran much more smoothly. This was a tournament game and sadly, we did not win. Regardless, I had tons of fun and met some new folks. Thanks to Brett and Curtis for some fine role-playing comeraderie. - I had nachos in the middle of the Exhibitor Hall for lunch. I expected them to take a physical toll on me later, (and those around me!) thankfully, my digestive system took it in stride, handling them quite well.
- More shopping – Today, I picked up some D&D minis for which I had to battle. I dug through the bins, fighting off various competitors who tried to reach through me to grab a handful. My persistence paid off, and I have more baddies to grace my battlemat. Other booty…some Fading Suns books (cheap), two Godzilla t-shirts (Rockin!), dice from Chessex, and more dice form Exile Game Studios of the Ubiquity variety.
- Dinner at P.F. Chang’s – Too much money not enough Chinese food, ’nuff said.
- More gaming – I played Call of Cthulhu again under the same GM from the night before. This time, we played Nazis on a mission for the Reich. It was fun regardless of all the cheesy German accents around the table (including mine!)
- Back to the room for sleep, recharging of phones, computers, and gamer brains!
See you all tomorrow for the new recap…
Gen Con 2010 – Day One Recap
Aug 6th
The first day of Gen Con has come and gone. As usual, it has not failed to deliver. The streets, bars, and restaurants are full of gamers of all stripes, spending cash in a torrent that brings a smile to the local vendors. Our group survived the pre-opening festivities which included drinking, then drinking, followed by drinking. We patronized The Ram and later, Scotty’s Brewhouse, where much Fat Dragon Ale was consumed. We also took the opportunity to chat with the guys from Fear the Boot.
Day One Highlights…
- Free breakfast – The Embassy Suites puts on quite a spread in the morning – for free! Eggs, sausage, bacon, etc. Oh, and did I mention the omelete bar ? No? Well, there’s an omelete bar.
- 1st Edition AD&D – My first game took me back to my roots. It felt like 1980 all over again! I played Stonesky Delve,
From Expeditious Retreat Press. It’s a classic dungeon crawl beneath a dwarven holy mountain. We were hired to explore an untouched section of caverns. I played a Half-Orc Fighter/Cleric, who turned out to be a monster-killin’ badass! After a near TPK, part two will resume tomorrow…after we find a Cleric with Raise Dead. - An interesting bit of news from Dan at Fear the Boot about something potentially huge for this site…more later…
- Wil Wheaton is in the house…somewhere…I think he’s avoiding me.
- Shopping! I picked up some RPG books on sale. Savage Worlds, Shadowrun, Battletech to mention a few. I plan to look for old-school stuff today.
- Call of Cthulhu – We played a game entitled “The Gates of R’lyeh.” Luckily we never found the gates, but we did go mad and kill each other before the night was out. One of the guys played a smallish, Asian woman. His accent was perfect in it’s stereotypical-ness and we laughed until our faces were blue.
- Lastly, there was the wandering back to the room, pizza, then sleep
Join me here tomorrow for the next update…
TAP Episode 7 – An Extreme Minority Concludes!
Aug 2nd
Episode 7 of Thistledown Actual Play features the conclusion of “An Extreme Minority.” Listen in, as we bring the story to it’s end!
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What’s LarryCon?
Jul 14th
So, when you move away from your long-time gaming group and miss out on all the fun, what do you do? Well…you start up a gaming convention. At least that’s what Larry did.
You see, our group started out in the eighties, and we’ve gamed together ever since. Until the real world decided to take Larry (Electron1111 on Twitter) three hours away and to another city. Larry being an industrious chap, thought that it would be a good idea to get the group together once a year and spend the weekend gaming. Well, if that’s not the definition of a gaming convention, what is? So Larry’s industriousness being what it is, he decided to call this gathering LarryCon.
Any other person might have left it at just a weekend get-together, but Larry extended the concept to a further degree. His gracious wife agreed to open up the family’s basement (a very nice, completely finished basement with all the amenities) as the venue for the convention. When we arrive, Larry is waiting behind a registration desk, where we pick up badges and programs. There are T-shirts, a miniatures contest, a fully stocked media-room, a vendor hall (a field trip to the FLGS) and games. Many, many games. As many as a gaggle of aging role-players can put together.
We leave this Friday, three weeks before heading to that really BIG convention in Indiana, but I’m not sure it’s a BETTER one than LarryCon.
Watch this space for LarryCon news and updates!
TAP Episode 6 – An Extreme Minority Part Five
Jul 12th
In this episode, we continue with, “An Extreme Minority” for HERO System 6th Edition. The PCs discover who has come to Earth and why everyone but them has disappeared.
We’re joined by Gary this week, a guy whose been playing in our group since the early days of the hobby. He’s playing Dean Wallace, a survivalist who’s been waiting in his bunker for the Zombocalypse.
Enjoy, and leave us a comment on our forums!
Link - Images for “An Extreme Minority”
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TAP Episode 5 – An Extreme Minority Part 04
Jun 29th
Join us as the players delve deep into the mystery in Part 4 of “An Extreme Minority.” There is a malevolent force that has trampled upon the world, pursuing some unknown agenda. Will the players discover its secrets…perhaps finding a way to fight back? Download and find out!
Please check out these images. They will give you a feel for the setting, and show you one of the antagonists from this episode.
Thanks for listening!
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TAP Episode 4 – An Extreme Minority Part 03
Jun 21st
An Extreme Minority continues with episode 4 of the podcast. Our protagonists begin to discover some bits of information about what happened to everyone in the city. A new player steps in! An important NPC is introduced!
Download for maximum HERO System 6th edition action!
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