Page created 4 Mar 2003 by pedro , last modified 4 Mar 2003 by pedro
This entree is for the discussion of games and pastimes of the non-video variety. Games rule.
I want to teach a whole bunch of people how to play this game and have a big smear party where everyone brings junk food, and you play in partnerships -- the winners of course get to stay and the losers have to move around. It's super fun. This is how we pass the time in Northwestern Wisconsin when we're snowed in. I must bring smear to Chicago!
this game sounds really cool. it reminds me of euchre, spades, hearts, rook, and pinochle. all of which are awesome games. i would love to play.
re: reply title
I've got a little correspondence chess cgi running if anyone wants to play. Let me know.
I have a game night at my house twice a month with four friends where we play various board games, and we play Bridge with another couple. Yes, that's right, I play the old-people-game of Bridge! It's no old-people game. It's really fun, very competitive, and takes forever to figure out bidding strategy. Jay's whole family are big Spades nuts, so we play Spades frequently, which is tons of fun. We also enjoy playing Cribbage, and Hearts, and Euchre, and oh, pretty much any card game you can think of. Some of our favorite board games are Beyond Balderdash, Spinergy, and Outburst. Anyway if anyone wants a review of any of those games, I'll type one up but right now am supposed to be finishing a paper for my 4:30 class tonight, and am procrastinating. I got the outline done, and just need to beautify the language and stick some quotes in, et voila.
I love Euchre, best card game ever!
Yeah, apparently that web page seems to say it's more like other games, but I've always thought it was a lot like euchre. I don't know why people up north like it so much, but it's seriously like, inborn knowledge or something. I like taking things and holding them close to my breast as though they were super important, even if they're just a card game (shh)... so that's why I'm all hopped up to playing smear. Plus, I have great memories of bunches of people hanging out during snowstorms playing it.Anyway, there's basically two ways that we play, 7-point and 5-point. I like to think of them as "no brainer smear" and "fun smear," although "no brainer smear" can be fun too.
7-point Douglas County Smear: a.k.a. "no-brainer smear"
In seven point smear, there are 7 points (duh) -- High, Low, Jack, Jick, Joker, Joker, and Game*. Ranking is as follows: A, K, Q, Jack, Jick, 1st Joker played, 2nd Joker played.
The Jick is the Jack of the same color as trump. (i.e., if hearts is trump, the Jick is the Jack of diamonds.)
* "Game" is kind of complicated so we'll cover that later.
Players are dealt 9 cards, on which they bid 2-7 points, which is their gamble on how many points they think they can successfully take home with the aid of their partner (who sits across the table with another hand) through the course of a hand.
Whoever "wins" the bid calls the trump suit (which is the "high suit"), and all players discard all non-trump cards from their hands (without discarding the "Jick" which is trump). Trump is illegal to discard unless you have more than 6 trump.
For example, Mick and Keith are partners vs. Steven and Joe. Mick deals, and then bidding commences. Steven passes, Keith passes, Joe bids 2, and Mick bids 4. Mick has won the bid, and he calls hearts to be the trump suit. All players discard anything but hearts or the Jack of diamonds, which is the Jick.
The dealer then deals cards to the players "back up to 6" -- so if you are left with 2 cards, the dealer gives the player four, etc. If a player has no cards, the dealer gives them six new cards. This is why it is illegal to discard trump unless you have more than 6 trump. Furthermore, if you discard trump, you give it to the dealer, who puts it on the bottom of the deck. (Other discarded cards are out of play.)
The player who won the bid is "drawn back up" last, and he or she gets whatever is left of the deck to peruse. They keep whichever 6 cards they want. This insures that all seven points are in play, and that A is high and 2 is low. (This is why "7-point draw back to six" is "no-brainer" Smear. In other variations such as 5-point Douglas County Smear there is no such assurance.)
Now play begins.
The player who won the bid plays first and is obligated to play a trump card. Any trump card (even the deuce) beats any non-trump card. A common strategy is to play the Ace or the highest trump the bidder has.
All players are required to "follow suit" -- this means that if they have trump they must play it. If they do not have trump they may play whatever they want.
Other players play around in a circle, with the bidder's partner trying to pass valuable cards to his partner, and the other team trying to "set" the bidder (stop him from reaching his bid).
The person who takes the trick is the person who plays the highest ranking card in that round.
Example: Mick has won the bid, but he does not have the Ace. He plays the King. Steven has the Ace however, and in an attempt to take the trick, he plays his Ace. Keith has a Joker (which is a point card), but Steven is now taking the trick, so Keith passes him a 5 of hearts which is trump, but is worthless. Joe has the Jick, so he gives Steven the Jick. Steven takes the trick and now they have 2 points -- High and Jick, and it is their "lead".
After the first round, the player with the lead is not obligated to lead with trump. They may lead with any suit, and all players are obligated to either "follow suit" with the led suit, but have the option to play trump (which always beats, or trumps, the lead suit). If players do not have the lead suit, they may play any other suit (and are not obligated to play trump).
Example: Steven has the lead, but he wants to get rid of lead (so that he can be last in order and maybe sneak home his Jack), so he leads a weak card, the 4 of spades. Keith, knowing that his Queen of Hearts is the highest trump, plays it, securing Mick's opportunity to play any point cards into their hand. Joe only has one trump card -- the Joker -- so he must give it to Keith. Mick does not have many valuable cards left, so he plays the 10 of hearts, which will go towards "game*". They now have one point -- the Joker. Keith takes the lead and begins the next round.
Caveat: the "low" card (which is always the deuce in "no-brainer smear") cannot be taken from the person who plays it, even if someone else takes the trick.
Example: Keith has the lead, but he doesn't want it, because he knows the Jack is still in play and it beats his Joker. Thus, Keith leads the 7 of hearts to force trump out without risking any points of his own. Joe has no trump, so he plays the Jack of clubs. Mick doesn't want to give them anything valuable, but he doesn't have any high cards, so he plays his 2 of trumps -- which is "low". Mick gets to keep his low card no matter if Steven manages to take the trick. Mick plays the card in front of him (or hands it to Keith, if Keith is keeping their spoils -- they now have 2 points). Steven plays his Jack, getting it home safely. Steven and Joe now have 3 points, and Joe has the lead. Mick and Keith must take all the rest of the points if they are to make their 4 bid. It is Steven's lead.
Steven is out of trump, and so he leads the Ace of clubs. Keith plays his Joker, because he knows it is now the highest card in play. Joe has no useful cards, so he plays a 6 of diamonds. Mick plays the ten of clubs (the led suit), which will be useful for "game". Keith's Joker takes the trick. (Keith and Mick now have 3 points as well). Keith takes all the cards, and they play out the rest of the hand, although there are no more explicit points in play.
At the end of the hand, "game" is counted. Game is a single point which results from the total face value of all cards in the spoils of both teams. Values are as follows:
A = 4, K = 3, Q = 2, J/Ji = 1, Joker = 1, 10 = 10. All other cards are worthless.
In Steven and Joe's spoils they have: K, A, J, J ,J. This works out to:
3 + 4 + 1 + 1 + 1 == 10 points for game.
However, Keith and Mick have:
J, 10, Q, 10, J which works out to:
1 + 10 + 2 + 10 + 1 == 23 points for game.
The Glimmer Twins thus get one point "for game" because their 23 is more than Steven and Joe's 10. This brings Keith and Mick's total to 4 points, and they make their bid. If The Toxic Twins had gotten game, Mick and Keith would have been "set" -- and they would have lost 4 points. (If this was the first round, they would be "in the hole.")
Joe and Steven did get 3 points though, so it's hardly been a bad round for them.
The deal goes to the next person and the next round commences. Play is first to 21, win by two (optional).
Debriefing
if you look at our example game, Mick bid 4 on a King, 10, deuce. That's an extremely risky bid, and I had to rework my story several times to make things work out alright for them. (I wasn't going to let Aerosmith win.) My dad always says to "count on your partner for one," -- and you don't really count on game -- but Mick counted on Keith for a lot more. Ace-Deuce is a safe 3 bid -- maybe 4. If you're in the lead.
Sometimes the bidder will have A, K, Q. It's not uncommon to lay all three down and say, "give me your first three cards."
Other things can work to be meaningful communication between partners. For example, if a player leads the highest trump (guaranteeing that they'll take the trick), but their partner plays a low non-trump card, they're basically saying, "I don't have *anything* in my hand."
Likewise, if a player plays the "low" when they had an opportunity to safely take home a lower-end point card (like a joker), it probably means they don't have any to count on.
I'm sure I made some mistakes here... but I'll just correct them on the backside.
Coming soon, 5-Point Douglas County Smear...
...is called "I'M SORRY!" (not to be confused with the board game 'sorry!').how to play:
buy a lot of cheap beer. (like an average of less than 50 cents a can is decent.)
invite a lot of people over.
get drunk.
then sneak up on people and pour a whole can of beer on their head while saying "I'M SORRY!" in a voice that sounds like andre the giant.
(once you have been a pourer, you must cooperate when others pour beer on you.)
try it you'll like it.
Five point smear is basically like 7-point with two important exceptions:1. There are 5 points instead of 7: High, Low, Jack, Joker, and Game.
2. It is possible for some trump to be out of play.
Where 7-point is predictable, 5-point is up in the air.
Players are dealt 6 cards (instead of 9), on which they bid as in 7-point smear, 2-5.
When a player wins the bid, she calls the trump suit, and all players discard everything but trump. (There is no jick, so they don't even need to worry about that.)
The dealer then "draws them back to 6" -- hands them enough cards from the top of the deck so that they have six cards again.
The bidder does not get the "leftovers" of the pack to look through -- they are discarded and are out of play. This is usually between 10 and 18 cards.
This means that it's very possible that the ace is not in play, so that the King of trumps might be "high" -- likewise, the deuce may not be low -- the 3 of trump is very commonly the "low" card. Players must keep track of who played what -- especially with regards to high and low to make sure that the proper partnership is given the points, and not just the team that took the trick.
Play is until 21, win by two.
is an older French card game called "Mille Bornes" It's really tough to find, but I finally got one on ebay. It's a blast; play for hours!
most game stores have it -- it is still in print.
don't remember how its played, though. perhaps someday.
i had a blast playing settlers of catan and no-brainer smear with y'all last night. we gotta have a night where we play that, and/or euchre with a bunch of cats.
"(I wasn't going to let Aerosmith win.)" -- awesome.
Does anyone here play chess? I'm a moderate player looking for someone to play against just for kicks, and good conversation. I'm not a sore loser or a spoiled sport winner. I play to relax with good company. It's tough to find anyone who wants to play chess.
for some reason it makes me nervous, go figure.
I play sometimes, and by "sometimes" I mean once or twice every year or two. Most of the time, when someone wants to play a game of chess against me, it's someone who is about to kick my ass at it. My most recent chess match ended in a resounding victory for me, though, because my opponent (my roommate, Jordan) made One Big Mistake in an otherwise very challenging game.I'll play against you sometime, OutsideInfluence.
When I was a senior in college, I tried to learn chess from one of my roommates. Justin and I would stay up all night a few times a week, and he'd make me play end game after end game. But that's all we did. So, I suck at opennings, and middles. Go figure.
and i can usually do alright. but i've never really attacked it at a deep level.
http://www.zelazny.com/chess_01.htmlI come up with strange chess sets in my head every day, but this guy actually makes them. He's kind of a wack job, but his sets are friggin' cool, though. I will give him his props.
Inkblot I'll play chess with you. Perhaps at one of the Red Vinnegar shows, before they get up on stage that is. Would you know me if you saw me? I don't think we've met in person.
I do sometimes win at chess, and have two chess sets, and the playing itself doesn't make me nervous, it's like this odd apprehension that the person I'm going to play is going to beat me so bad that I don't want to deal with it. Which makes winning an odd sensation. I have a cool set made from soap stone I picked up in Nairobi, and another carved wood one from Mexico, the one from Nairobi is animals found on the Mara, the male lion is the king, female queen, etc. My only problem with it is that the rhino's horn is too big, but thems the breaks.
I keep looking for the most recent Genus edition of Trivial Pursuit because I have decided that I "need" it. However, I can't find it. I either find no version of TP (with the exception of the Disney and Junior editions at the local Walmart) or the Last 20 Years Edition, which I don't want....
However, my incessent searching for TP, led me to spontaneously purchasing a game I would greatly recommend (it keeps me entertained anyway)- called 1313 Dead End Drive. I was attracted to the it initially because of the fun art on the box. It is a game in the spirit of Clue and the old Mystery Mansion. The game pieces are all gathered together for a reading of the will-type thing, and the players try to kill one another in order to get a bigger share of Auntie's fortune. I guess that sounds awful to say that your objective is kill off the other players. But, the players are all shifty little stereotypes and the ways that they kill one another are so funny- that I don't let my enjoyment get clouded with moral issues. I purchased it on a whim when my friend Jen came out for a visit, and we must have played it for four hours one night- laughing the whole time.
How is he a wack job? Just because of his wacky prose? Or did I miss the like, "organs from small mammals chess set"?
I saw a chess set that was all shot glasses. You filled them up with some fnie liquor and well you can guess how it works.
With all this chess talk I figure I should throw out another invite to anyone who would liek to play some correspondence chess via the web (or email for that matter). You can't set up games yet, I've got to do that in bash, so if you want to play me, or set-up games with other folks, just let me know. The program needs some hacking and a new color scheme and new pieces, but it works for simple correspondence chess.
Pedro, you must have missed the page where they guy begs and pleads with anyone reading his web site to send him pictures of their chess sets as if they were porn. He literally begs "pleeease." He's got a nice hobby going there, now he just needs to get a life. The guy's travelling to Europe and England and all he can think about is what to make his next chess set from. Granted, they ARE very ingenious sets, but there's gotta be a limit. I don't go to the Eiffel Tower and think, "Wow, if only this could be the bishop of my next chess set."For those of you who missed it:
http://www.zelazny.com/chess_01.html
Other people have reported this same obsession with the Trivial Pursuit 20th Anniversary set. My sister finally tracked one down a few weeks ago at a Target store. Toys 'R' Us always has the biggest board game selection for those interested. Cinnamongirl's sis is also on the lookout for one. My roommate said his set was hard to find as well. At this rate, Blvdgirl, the 25th Anniversary Edition may be available before you find the 20th.
Do you still have the genus 5 copy that you bought? I'll buy it off you if you're interested, it's one of the few games that I can get MEagan to play, although she does get mad at me sometimes when I answer questions she thinks are impossible.
You mean the one we bought randomly one night and played at your place? I could've sworn I left it there. . .in any event, I no longer have it.Settlers of Catan is a blast.
this game rules! we need to play it as much as possible. thanks for introducing me to it pedro...
That sucks, I wonder who has it then, because I sure don't, damn random Trivial Pursuit purchasing!
You're totally welcome. I really like that game, so whenever we can get together another group to play I'd be game. And you guys can borrow my game if you want to sometime, but if you do, please be careful with all the pieces -- the game is not cheap. I get nervous about that kind of thing. You know, letting something out of my hands. But I also believe in SHARING.
I'm hosting a game/potluck thing on Saturday. I'm not sure whether or not to make it open invitation or not, but I'm strongly considering it. I guess for now open invitation to anyone with whom I've had a twenty minute or longer conversation. If you're coming, bring some kind of food and maybe a game. I've got Trivial Pursuit, Scrabble, Triopoly (like Monopoly but bigger), a chess set, and a card game called Fluxx.Also, I'm thinking about making this a regular thing.
I've decided on some things about tomorrow's game night. It will start in the early evening. Feel free to arrive whenever you think "early evening" is. So far a couple people have mentioned that they plan on coming around 6-7. Bring some kind of snack food to share, or some kind of drink. This is not absolutely requisite, but it is a potluck, of sorts. The above mentioned games will all be here, and so will Catan (I've had confirmation from its owner that he and it will be here).Also, if there are more than 18 people here, I will run out of things to sit on, but I think at that point, it's a very minor issue.
Hmmm, I guess most diner goers don't actually know where I live. Email for directions.
If you have cool games that you like to play, bring them!alh and I are going... wagner said he might be interested in going... it should be fun. And the more the merrier.
OH! I'll also bring Mille Bornes and Set.
I also have Scrabble. I'll bring that to. (With my OSPD, of course!)
...But Cinnamongirl's Dad and brother are gonna be getting in town that night. Since you challenged me to a chess match, Inkblot, I'd hope that I'd be a welcome addition to the gang. Pedro and Baggins can vouch for me, if you need a recommendation.Also I have been toying with the idea of creating a Tastytronic Diner Monopoly. I could use all of your help in its design. Any suggestions? Once created, all of us could actually play as ourselves. Imagine a little mini Baggins figure buying hotels on Park Avenue.
it's funny cuz there's nothing 'mini' about me. george's would have to be the 'Boardwalk' of the game. and Loree's would have to be in place of 'Jail', maybe. i like the idea, though.
Remember that it would be our Tastytronic Diner names that are made into characters, so Baggins would be a hobbit -- and therefore "mini." Pedro would be a little Hispanic boy, and Inkblot could be this spilled bottle of ink. What the heck would I be? Maybe some stranger in a cloak and dagger costume. I guess my user name doesn't conjure warm and cuddly thoughts.Brainstorm with me here:
What would replace the hotels and houses, the Chance & Community Chest, etc? Would one of the cheaper "dive" places be the 'Wood?
The Cozy Corner and The 'Wood
It could be The Cozy Corner and Le Sabre -- Le Sabre being the nicer of the two... what would the railroads be? Mc Donalds, Shell, The Pit, and Bery's^HHNicks^^Whatever's Pizza?
Okay, Pedro's got the idea. What about the electric and water companies, or jail, or free parking?I could actually create this thing in Adobe Pagemaker once we get it all hashed out... theoretically.
One of the mid-priced properties should be Zephers. And, I think the train lines should be the el lines... or the two airports, the train station, and merchandise mart. And, the whole left side of the game (from the jail to the community chest) should be North Park related...
I would say Brown Line, Red Line, Blue Line, and Metra, because they're the majority of things in the north park area.Or, El, Bus, Metra, Tollway.
Free Parking should be the Hump.
Al-Amir, aka "Senor's," should totally be on there.
Well, for the "utilities" it should have something to do with Phys Plant and Computer Services. And you gotta include the Jewel complex as something. And Swedish Covenant. I think the El lines for the railroads and Free Parking for the Hump are good ideas. And G_ry Ir_land's office for Jail because they're in close proximity and because, let's face it, as cool as he was, you didn't want to be called into the dean's office.I think the low rent places should be the dorms and you should also include the Kedzie apartments. And Von Stoopid (Sorry, Big J and others) And the Wood is much higher than the dorms because, well, it's the wood.
I'm up for some kind of long-distance chess game. Let me know...
pedro has this really cool set of scrabble dice. They used to be sold by Levenger, but now I can't find them anywhere. Last time I was in Chicago I had pedro copy down the layout of these fabulous dice. Long story short, I'm going to order some blank dice and make my own. I can get a better deal if I order more blank dice so if anyone wants a set of handmade scrabble dice, let me know. You won't get the fancy leather snap case, but I'll also let them go for cheap (couple bucks or a beer).
I also created a chess game for me and scinatfilm. If anyone else wants to play, send me the names and emails of the players and I'll create a game for you.
Lukas, How are you going to do the letters? (and/or keep them from wearing off?)
I've been thinking about that and I figure I'll use some sort of enamel paint markers to do the lettering. Then I'm thinking about using a clear polyurethane coating to keep them from wearing off. Does that sound feasible?
Poly spray, or painted on lacquer -- the trick would be keeping it even, not just for fairness, but to keep the edges smooth. But I have faith in you!
That chess game you mocked up is trés cool, Lukas. How does it work? Obviously, I can't just begin a game without an opponent, but how does one start a game? Can the game be saved?
I think that instead of Electric and Water works, it should be coffee pot and cigarettes.
OutsideInfluence, the chess thing is a corresopndence chess CGI I found on the web a while ago to play with some friends because the place we were using, itsyourturn.com, was horrible. As it santds now, I have to create games from the command line. The games are saved and moves are emailed out to people and you can add comments for each move to be included in the email. So the time between moves can be minutes, days, or weeks. A move list is kept in algebraic notation so you can keep track of what happened. Basically, it's correspondence chess by email with game history and board display. It will detect and disallow illegal moves but it does not detect checkmate or stalemate. I've always been meaning to clean it up and spiff up the design, get some new chess piece graphics, and add a feature for users to create games...one of these days. I would be more than happy to create games for you, or anyone interested. You can email me game requests or put them on the diner. All I need is (nick)names of people playing, email addy's, and who is playing white and I'll create the game. I suppose the least I can do is create a mailto: form to accept game requests. Maybe I'll throw that together tonight...
I was selling this chess set on eBay, and I guess the price was too steep for those mo-fos. If anyone here would like to make me a reasonable offer, I'd be glad to consider it. Also, when is someone gonna teach me how to put up a decent link on this thing?http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2554&item=3121001590&rd=1
of how to do links i learned from the first paragraph of interweb hobo stew...dunno nuffin 'bout chess sets.
ok, there's lots of rules clarification that i think needs to happen.
some of this is in the rulebook. some is not so clear. some is how i learned it from pedro. some is different rules that joe t. and co. incoporated. whatever. here's my thoughts:
Development Cards
The rules say that cards like 'Road-Building' or 'Monopoly' are to be removed from play after being used. there are multiple cards of these kind in the deck. the debate is over the somewhat-precedented practice of reshuffling them into the deck. what do you think, pedro? or anybody else who has played it? i like the reshuffling. kinda makes the soldiers harder to get. im not too decided, either way, though.
Win By 2 Option
if i remember correctly, this is either a rule we were playing by with pedro, or one we had merely talked about. i think i like it, but it opens up a few more cans of worms.
Limit To Number of V.Points Possible obviously, after all the victory cards are played, and the settlement and city pieces are used up, and the longest road cannot be ascertained viably (due to road piece shortage, nowhere else to build roads, or settlements breaking roads) there will come a point where no more victory points are possible for anybody on the board. so, is it first to 10, or first to win by 2 with 10 or more (and how do you deal with the inevitable possibility of no more victory points possible?)
Order of Play
especially in the expansion, this becomes more poignant. obviously, if its first-to-10, then thats clear as crystal. but if its gotta-win-by-2, then it could change things. like: after the roller rolls, and plays, everyone has a chance (in order) to build/buy before the next roll. if someone gets to 10, should the other players be given the option to get there as well, before the next roll? thus negating victory at that point? or possibly getting to 9 V.P.'s making the victory only attainable at 11 because of the gotta-win-by-2 rule?
this may sound confusing. in fact, it probably does. and the simplest explanation might be the best. but, its just a couple things to think about regarding this game.
but in my favorite game, Cosmic Whimpout, after someone gets to 500 then everyone else has a chance to roll and get higher than that person, and I like that, I'd say if you are half way through a round of rolling then everyone else in the round should get a chance to match up because otherwise it would make the first roll of a turn the power spot, and all spots should be equal, think of it not as an individual roll but rather a turn in which everyone goes at once, but since that's not possible it goes in order.
but I have some thoughts about j's catan ideas.
devo cards: I think the cards that you have drawn are "removed from play" after being played, leaving whatever else in the deck. I think this is the best, because it limits how often those cards can come up. If they are reshuffled back in, then a ton of road building cards (for example) could come up in a single game, and I think that's against the spirit/balance of the game. I think the soldiers are not supposed to be hard to get, either -- that's why there are so many of them.win by 2: we talked about this possible rule, but I think the practical limit of possible points, and the time factor make this rule less fun. Also, the rules state that when pieces are gone, that's the end of road building or settling. I think that's important for adding constraints to the game. Other "win by 2 games," like card games or volleyball, are more open-ended contests, so it's not hard to just keep playing for a few minutes. But with Catan, someone can go from 6 to 10 in a single turn -- but if another player had 9, that person wouldn't win, and might lose because their hold on those 10 points was tenuous (longest road or largest army perhaps) -- so their "finishing move" would be undone by their lack of ability to solidifty it. But is that a weakness of the game, or a strength? I like that someone can make a brilliant move, come from behind, and beat out the person who already had 9 points.
That, coupled with the practical limits of the game, as well as the additional time-frame and back-and-forth that would be bandied about over things like LR or LA, makes me think that the "win the instant you got 10" rule is good.
I might support a game where the other players had one round to try and knock you down or win, but that to me is different than the extra complications imposed by a win by 2 rule.
I *do* however, like the house rule where you start with one of every resource you border -- it helps get the game started faster.
Also, relatedly, Some people play where they shuffle the tiles and the number distribution chits, but I don't really support that idea, because it allows for really sweet spots that can be monopolized too quickly in the setup phase, basically cutting other players out from the beginning. I like the mathematical balance that is imposed upon the chaos of the shuffled land tiles by the ordered distribution.
I'm just curious. I am involved in a campaign that has been running for 12-13 years. My own campaign will be turning a year old in May.by the roadside
Dave
I messed with D&D a little, but never got really into it, it just took too much time, and when I started it the video role playing game came out and well it won out over the old fashioned kind, now I'm addicted to them and it drives my wife nutso, but she knew it when we were dating so she can't compain too much, of course that all depends on who's defining too much!
William and I rented the BG game for Xbox... pretty fun. It rocked when we were attacked by the gelatinous cube. But that doesn't really answer Dave's question.
Is that Dark Alliance? Me and my friend Paul played that. It was pretty sweet. Did you guys get to fight the Beholder?The Baldur's Gate series has been true to original D+D. Dark Alliance and Neverwinter Nights even use the boring new 3rd Edition Rules but they are still very fun to play. Neverwinter Nights is also cool because it has a Dungeon Master aspect.
The table game hinges on the DM, and I think most people are bad DM's. It is too hard for the former player to remove himself/herself from interest in the outcome of the game. That's been my biggest struggle, anyway. Half of the chuds I used to game with viewed the DM as an adversary, but that's only a small part of the game's player/ref dynamic.
Did anyone here play Pete's Star Wars RPG module?
btr
Dave
i played the one time we got everyone together. it was fun, but we got like 7% of the way into the stuff he had lined up for us. and it was hard to get those cats together again.
i'd be interested in playing it again sometime.
The module, a predesigned adventure that stands alone from an ongoing storyline, that Pete put together was solid. I helped him a little on it. I never got to play it. But I will be moving to Milwaukee soon...I like table RPGs over video game RPGs because of the interaction at the table. Granted you can get a lot of that same interaction with chat channels on Tribes or Unreal, but it isn't the same as sitting next to your buddy trying to figure out if that Dark Apprentice is telling you the truth or not.
I've played EverQuest, and that comes close, but you have to play it so much to be high level and be a worthy addition to a guild. Has anyone heard anything about the new Star Wars RPG?
btr
Dave
We haven't played that far, but I'm pretty sure we're going to buy it. The biggest things we've fought were bugbears. It's a fun game.I need to get SW back going... I have a new adventure storyline (Shred, the one we talked about at Perkins that night)... but it just takes so darn long to get a campaign together.
my parents love it. thanks for letting me borrow it pedro. you should get it back, sometime. (i.e. i should give it back to you soon). when are we gonna play?
oh yeah. i beat the crizzap out of my parents in this game. 'cept the first time. my dad won.
PeteYou might want to consider just playtesting your modules. The difference is that you can give your players a little more to work with, character wise. Like better stats, a sponsor or contact that would normally take a character history to establish, or even that big f'in' gun or lightsaber when you playtest and not have to worry about where it came from. If the players want to use their characters for epic level campaign style gaming, that's fine. The suite stuff just goes on a temporary Equipment list that you hand out and collect at the end of the game. You can also play test module segments if you can't get a whole table together.
I know it is hard to get a consistent table going, especially for you because you have so many different things going on at any given time. It was hard for me when I started the D+D campaign, but after a year, it has finally become its own thing, and the prep work I have had to do has been cut, literally into one fourth.
btr
Dave
i'd be willing to commit like one saturday a month, or something like that, to playing the SW game. especially if Dave's moving down to Milwaukee (i can't even think about Milwaukee without thinking of Alice Cooper in Wayne's World!!) and is interested. when are you planning your move, Shred?
For like the last 3 or 4 years. My girlfriend, Crystal, just got accepted into Milwaukee's Psych Dept. Grad School, so she is moving down in September. I may move down then, I may hold off until December, my release from Superior Educational Hockey Prison pending. I will most likely not be getting time off for good behavior.Anyhoo, when I get back down to Milwaukee, you can count on me spending some time down Chicago way.
btr
Dave
but I've been playing my roommate's Xbox, specifically the Indiana Jones game and the Two Towers game, both of which kick ass, if you ever get the chance to play them.
is the suite-ness.btr
Gimli
PS: I be blocking the arrows with me axe.
My buddy Jacko, who has been running his D+D campaign for almost 13 years, has a rule of threes.Three moral compasses: good, neutral, and evil Three social compasses: chaotic, neutral, and lawful Three sides: The Antagonists, Those Caught In The Fray, and The Protangonists Three Players at a table: Or else gaming is cancelled.
He also says that he started his campaign with three characters, my friend Paul's Ranger, Paul's girlfriend's character, a mage I think, and their friend's Barbarian.
As long as you can get a group of three people aside from yourself consitently at a table, you can run a character driven campaign. If you just want to sim battle, you don't even need three, but if you want to have a lot of storyline and not have to spell out the between the lines stuff, three people can usually converge with enough perspective to figure out what is going on.
btr
Dave
i played a bit of this game at CBC. it was a die-roll based, short-term miniature-including, battle-simulating game akin to Warcraft (though i've never played Warcraft. but if you've never heard of Necromunda, you might have heard of Warcraft). anyway, it was fun, each person controlled a Gang of characters whose attributes changed subtly but substantially through and at the end of each battle. it was a blast, and only required a couple of hours of play at the most for each battle. at the end, the victors got the spoils, the experience points accrued, and each Gang was intact until the next battle could be played. i enjoyed it. i wish we could get this game (or something similar) going. though i believe it is out of production now.
has anybody else heard of this game? any thoughts?
i used to go to wheaton college to play some old rpg that i can't remember the name of with a pastor's son friend of mine...mmmmmm rpgs at wheaton
I thought that was against the rules at Wheaton. Somewhere mixed in the clause with thou shalt not commit a laughter offense.
java catan
For cool people who run free software!
the very first time i've actually been interested in what a spam-email is selling.
That link is messed up! I got two websites from it- the deck of cards a some sex-enhancer. I was a bit confused why you had linked to the second until I saw the first.... But I am still confused as to why I linked to two separate sites....
you probably linked to the deck-of-cards site, and then the sex-thing was just a popup ad. that'd be my guess anyway...
i (my household) now owns the Seafarers of Catan and the Cities & Knights expansions for Settlers of Catan. no 5 & 6 player expansion yet, but that will come sooner or later. it's fun to play it with my parents.
1. e4 ...
Played for the first time last night. I lost twice but had much fun. I picked up on the rules very quickly, thanks to my tutorial with Pedro in June. Great game!
they're back! Although I much prefer the smaller case they originally came with. I still might just make my own for fun.
The dice are better though -- they have indented letters -- the printing is starting to wear of my crossword dice.