Endless Bag of Games

I was pleasantly surprised to hear that Red Eagle Games has formed a partnership with Obsidian Entertaiment with the intention of producing some rpgs for different platforms such as PS3, Xbox 360 and of course PC. The great thing is that such rpg is based on Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. If Obsidian Entertaiment sounds familiar, it is because it is known for developing games such as KOTOR2, and Neverwinter Nights 2 and Baldur’s Gate (when some designers were at Black Isle back then.) While the platforms have been decided there has been no information about dates or more specific information for now.

Red Eagle Games was launched in 2008 by film company Red Eagle Entertainment for the express purpose of making WoT into video games. Last year, EA signed on as the distributor for these games. “Games set in Robert Jordan’s universe have the chance to deliver on the epic storylines and the complex characters that the series is known for – and this is one of Obsidian’s strengths,” -Chris Avellone, Obsidian chief creative officer-

When a game makes its way through other platforms, it usually has some punch in it. PopCap’s Peggle does it with simplicity and pastel colors. I’ve always thought that the first 15 minutes of the actual game will tell you is the game worth playing or not and Peggle is no exception. Peggle is definitely worth it. To put it short, Peggle is peg-smashing bouncing phenomenon with a overwhelmingly “happy” theme. Strong pastel colors, and characters such as unicorn, sunflower and a happy dragon are put together to deliver a somewhat pleasant way to spend a hour or a two.. or three.. maybe few minutes more. That said, Peggle is one addictive puzzle game to tinker with.

Peggle offers 55 puzzles + challenges and multiplayer in the regular game which I think is reasonable amount considering that you’ll get it all for about 10$. It is simple enough for you to just grab your controller and start playing: You shoot a silver ball from the top of the screen in your chosen direction and watch it fall to the bottom. On its way, the ball hits different colors of pegs; blue, orange, purple and green and bounce around. The goal is to clear all the orange ones. Blue are the basic pegs and give you points, purple ones boost your score, green ones give you some magic powers and the orange ones you just have to clear.

The game becomes more challenging when you advance in levels and you really have to think, how the ball is going to bounce to get to the orange pegs that have too much cover. The pegs are laid out in specific shape in each level which will add the challenge. Every level is just appropriate to the theme the game has.

Peggle is a fun, low-cost, little puzzle game that you should own. The graphics are good, the price is right and I can’t actually find anything wrong with it. It may be casual game, but it can hook you big time. The ability to duel with friend (with or without online) is a nice addition to the game, but even without it, it is good game that everyone can enjoy. You may not be impressed when you see the game for the first time, but if you give it a try, I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy it. That was exactly what happened when I tried it, and the same goes with my wife.

I’ve already bought the Peggle Nights expansion..

Few days ago, the postman was kind enough to deliver the Dragon Age boxed set I’ve been so anxiously waiting for. I’ve already had the opportunity to try it, since the pre-order deal included the pdf-version of the game, so I do believe it is time to write a word or two about the game.

The box is rather study, it looks good when I slip it to bookshelf next to other rpgs that are occupying the space on the shelf. The box includes the two rule books; Players Guide and Game masters guide, which are both high quality prints. The books are both 66 pages and they pretty much cover all the necessary you need to play the game.

However, since they’re not hardcover, I do believe that constant use will leave its marks to the product. The dice included are really basic (two black and one green six sided die), but the map looks and feels quite good.

The actual content is well laid out, clear fonts, bold headings and to my surprise, the books both have excellent indexes so for once, I am able to find what I’m looking for. The art inside is quite beautiful and sometimes quite big, somewhat traditional to the actual game as you can imagine.

We’ve been running few sessions of Dragon Age for now, and the first taste of the new setting is positive. While my expectations from the game were quite high, it does live up to expectations at most parts. 3D6 and stunt system does seem to hit the spot. Here’s how;

Creating your character happens quickly and it does have elements that I love to see in character creation; some chance. The balance between luck and “character optimization” is just right. Not too much, not too little. You roll for a list of abilities: Communication, Constitution, Cunning, Dexterity, Magic, Perception, Strength and Willpower. Then you’ll have the opportunity to switch place between two of them. Once the attributes are in place, you choose your background and roll some benefits according to it. Similar activities go on until you’re finished and ready to start your Dragon Age experience. I liked it, my players didn’t complain about it. Maybe you’ll like it too?

The first boxed set does have three classes to choose from: Warriors, Rogues and Mages. Every class has their specialties as you can imagine. Rogues have the backstab and warriors can do their thing in heavy armors. Mages will do what they’re expected, but there is still a flavor of specialization if you wish to. Mages will also have a mana pool so they won’t be using their “real” spells all the time. Once again, choices… I’m eagerly waiting what classes and abilities the future sets include, but in the boxed set, there’s enough to start the game.

The base mechanic is simple: 3d6 + appropriate stat + modifier vs. target number. Good and simple mechanic which I see as one of the strengths of the game. It’s easy to adapt and players won’t be forgetting how the game works. While you’ll be throwing 3d6 basically all the time, one of them (usually in different color) is a Dragon Die which will show how well did you do when you exceed the target number. The Dragon Die is also used when you roll doubles and “score a critical” and thus gain stunt points. This will give the players some flexibility to do “flashy moves” with their characters instead of never ending “You roll, I punch” (almost like Minsc said). The dragon die does bring that little something to Dragon Age rpg and from that I do seem to enjoy a lot.

Combat isn’t anything ground breaking, but the stunt point system is one of the ticks of the game. The same 3d6 mechanic is in use and you’ll be using different abilities with different weapon groups. Dexterity is for ranged and light weapons, Strength for heavy weapons. For damage: ranged weapons use Perception and Strength for melee. When you score double on any dice, you gain number of stunt points equal to dragon die. Then you’ll have a set of stunts “to choose from” and you’ll spend your stunt points for i.e. knockdown or disarming the opponent. One thing that I’ve noticed with my gaming group is that if you have enemies with big armors, you’ll be spending your stunt points for heavier damage since the armor will almost completely reduce the damage from smaller weapons.

One thing game masters have to keep in mind is how to use monsters and villains in their campaigns, since the boxed set does not include “rules” for how many villains is appropriate for any given group. Game master thus have to be careful and learn it by doing. There have been tough fights in the few sessions we’ve gone through, but there have also been easy ones as well. The feeling for “dark fantasy” thus does not come from the combat system and lethality, but from the skills of the game master, as always.

The Game Master’s Guide does not bring much fluff to the game, but one playthrough of Dragon Age Origins will cover a lot. If for some reason it isn’t enough, you can always take a look here: http://da-codex.appspot.com/ for missing information. I was little disappointed, when I realized that Grey Warderns are not covered in the first boxed set, but hey.. at least I have something to wait for. *whines… but smiles.

As a summary, the system is simple, and easy to pick up which is always a plus. The Stunt system has earned a special place in my heart and I’ll think that is one thing which I’ll have house-ruled to other systems as well. The THEDAS as a role-playing setting is just fantastic and my head is full of ideas how to use them, though the actual fluff is somewhat missing from the books. One might say that the first boxed set isn’t a full product, but as a role-playing game it is coherent and consistent. I am pleased now, but anxious to see the further releases to fill the few missing gaps.

You can follow our “Shield of Ferelden Campaign” here

It was a bright winter morning as Jorn, Lintarn, Larridan and Awellen strolled towards the pass of Caradas. One of them was already dead and they knew well, that mountain pass was now full of snow and passing the mountains could be the last thing they ever did. Still they persisted; the knowledge about the blight wolves and threat of Avvar pushed them forward: Inch by inch. While the weather had been clear now for few days, clear skies meant cold nights up the mountains so there was nothing to cheer about; cold toes and fingers, runny noses and utterly freezing wind.

It came as a surprise when they encountered a caravan of harsh men in the wilderness. It was big sized merchant: Tal Irongrip and his group. Tal told them, that they were journeying from Ferelden up to Orlais to seek trade and it would take some years to come back which meant big riches and well being for a long time. Orleasian goods were hard to get in Ferelden, so it meant big profits for a daring merchant. Tal told the heroes that few of them had perished in an avalanche at the mountain pass just one day ago, but they had been lucky to have a dwarven scout Garat with them to save their freezing buttocks. Jorn told the merchant what had been happening at the western side of the Shield and showed them the head of the blight wolf they were carrying with them as a proof. Tal was amazed by their story and offered the best help he could: Garat. He was the best scout in the area and he knew the mountains better than anybody else. Since Tal had already made pass the most difficult areas, he offered that Garat would join Jorn and the others. They were, of course, glad to accept their help.

It was time to conquer the pass, so they let Garat lead the way. The avalanche had made travelling even more difficult, since it had made changes to the landscape. The situation was only made worse when the snowstorm hit. They had to find shelter soon or they would perish. Soon they came across a “bridge” that they had to pass; a huge tree over the gorge and underneath a certain death. Larridan and Lintarn gave strong objections about the crossing, but eventually they had to agree. Some rope, knots and soon they were advancing at steady pace, until Larridan slipped…

It all happened quickly as Larridan fell. The weight of him caught Awellen out of balance and she slipped over too. Now it was Jorn and Lintarn making best of their efforts to hold on the giant tree trunk not to fall. “Garat!! Some help!!” Jorn yelled, since the scout was already on the other side. “Don’t let go”, Larridan yelled in panic,”Pull us up!!”. With the help of Garat they were luckily able to heave the two elves back to the trunk and they survived. Somehow they knew, that there was more to come, the storm had just begun.

Luckily they found some shelter, a small dint in the mountainside that they were able to slip in. So they lay there, side by side warming each other and slept. It was Lintarn who was awake, when the ground seemed to be trembling. “Wake up!! Now!!” she yelled and a not a moment too late. They saw rocks hurling by. They were caught in an avalanche. “Deeper!” Garat yelled, but Awellen and Larridan were not fast enough. Lintarn last sight before she lost her consciousness was Awellen and Larridan slipping over the edge.

Lintarn woke up head dizzy and lungs full of snow. She coughed and wondered where she was. Inside some huge cavern, a huge hole in the ceiling, a big statue and some buildings. Her hands were bloody and injured, but she struggled herself up to take a look where others were. Jorn and Garat was lie nearby, both unconscious. Jorn buried from arms down. Soon the three of them were up again, still alive. “By the paragons!” gasped Garat as he looked around the cavern they were in. “I do believe this is Hriltan thaig… never thought to put a foot here.” the dwarf said not wanting to believe what he saw. “I honestly did not believe that the deep roads continued this far, but clearly I was mistaken”. Soon they realized the danger they were in. Deep roads were sealed because they’re full of darkspawn. New Blight or not, they were sure that they would soon be facing most foul threats. “No way out…” Garat said gazing the huge hole in the ceiling, “we have to delve deeper”. A sudden shriek caught their attention; a voice of struggle coming from somewhere nearby. Since Jorn, Lintarn and Garat were on the higher ground, they saw that two elves were pressed back against back and surrounded by armored figures with twisted faces full of hatred; They had found the darkspawn. Jorn, Lintarnd and Garat joined the fight.

Soon the darkspawn were defeated, but not without a price. Garat had lost his thumb and an arrow stick out of Lintarn’s thigh. Luckily Larridan was able to sew the thumb back with his equipment, but the results were not the best. If Garat’s thumb would heal, it would be awfully tilted. The arrow in Lintarn’s thigh was stuck deep and she was not happy to hear that it had to be pushed through. She managed, but the wound required some time to heal. “Genlocks” Garat snorted. “I guess they’ll the first of the many…”

They searched the Hriltan thaig for torches and equipment for the journey below the ground and with five torches they had found, they began their journey in the deep roads. It was pitch black and the dwarven road seemed to be endless and tiring. They had no way of knowing when it was day or night; they decided it would be best if they rested now, since they could not start a fire here. The young apostate proved his resourcefulness by “arming” their chosen sleeping place so, that the one on guard would feel a pull from a rope if something slumbered in the darkness towards them. They had to rest in total darkness because they had to save their precious torches. It would have been wishful thinking to be able to rest without interruption…

The giant spider was only few feet away of Lintarn’s face when the torches were lit in panic-like motion. The spider was handled with ease if you compared the threat to the darkspawn. “Did you know that these huge arthropods were once raised by the dwarves to prey on the numerous species of large bats that plagued their caverns? They called them Deep crawlers.. that they did, long ago…” Garat was talking to others as they stared the huge carcass. “Ugly bastards..” was everything Larridan managed to say. In silence, the group soon continued hoping for an opportunity to get out alive.

After a big T-junction Garat realized that they were closing the Gherlon thaign which had been a tribute for a paragon Gherlon the Blood-risen. Thaigs were pretty much the only changes they had if they wished to get out. Orzammar were miles away, and there was little or no hope to reach that amount journey with darkspawn lingering after every corner. They ventured forth, only to find out that near the entrance, there was a band of darkspawn camped there, but for some reason only three of them were present. One hurlock and two genlocks. When the attempt to sneak past them failed, a fight emerged. Three dead darkspawn were left behind as they continued quickly They knew, that once the darkspawn were aware of their presence, they would become the hunted…

Most excellent session if I might add. I had the intention of making the past encounters more difficult, but since the system is still fresh I noticed that big amounts of damage are not so lethal since the armor rating will reduce the damage quite heavily. Still I do seem to like the system more and more. Few more sessions and it is time for a review.

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The Cast of Characters:

Jorn Saavorwel: A noble from Denerim. Jorn is on a journey to prove himself – and his father – his worth. Jorn’s father is a notable bann in Denerim.

Awallen (Fenwyn): A cast out Dalish elf woman with bad temper. She is travelling to learn some self-discipline.

Larridan Alawei: Apostate elven healer learned with the arts of magic. Larridan wants to be acknowledged and wants to work real hard in order to achieve it. The fact he race is what it is, makes it difficult.

Lintarn: Lintarn has lived a tough life in Denerim, suffering from racism and the fact of being a woman. After a mysterious incident, she was forced to fled the city and has been travelling ever since.

Garat: A dwarven scout who had left the life in Orzammar behind him. Knows the Frostbacks very well.

Tal Irongrip: A warrior-merchant who travels from Fereldern to Orzammar seeking riches.

Mavervo: The head of the village Cantagan. Middle-aged man with already grey beard and big gut.

Stone Age, designed by Bernd Brunnhofer (Michael Tummelhofer) is another game of resource gathering and managing workers just like in games such as Caylus or Agricola. Players control prehistoric communities who are competing for resources. They develop them by growing their societies larger, discovering tools and growing food supply. Winning player has most efficiently developed his/hers society. Simply put the goal is to gather the most victory points around the table and you get them by increasing population, gathering resources to build huts and establishing richer culture. This means you’ll be having multiple paths to victory, which always is a nice addition to the game. In Stone Age, the balance between luck and strategy is just right and makes it fun game to play.

The visuals and material used in the game are very good looking and well made. The art by Michael Mendez is delightful. We could say that the strong theme of the game is in synergy with interesting game mechanics. The pieces included are just fun to play with. The game supports two to four players and the game takes about 60-90 minutes to complete. Of course, the first game is a bit longer cause you learn the rules. One round includes three stages: 1) Place your cavemen to the board, 2) Use actions where the cavemen do the actions according their place at the board and finally 3) Feed your people.

Placing your cavemen
The first phase in the round is placing your people the board. In the beginning you’ll have five people and according the places at the board they’ll breed, do hunting, gather resources or create tools. The tick is to understand the value of the cavemen and the resources you have. Having too many cavemen too soon can end up in disaster when it is time to feed your people. So you’ll be wanting to send cavemen to places where they benefit your society the most.

Actions
Depending where your cavemen are on the board, you’ll gather resources (such as wood, stone, gold, brick) or do actions according to it. You may build tools which will add modifiers when you go gathering resources. Resource gathering happens with the help of dice thus modifiers can be a nice addition. First you count how many cavemen are i.e hunting and according to their number, you get that many dice to use, then you add the modifiers and make your roll. You can also build huts or acquire civilization cards (and gain victory points) if you have enough resources to pay for them. There are three different ways to gain points. You can build huts to instantly gain victory points according the value shown in the hut or you can gain points at the games end by certain combination of cards. One option to gain victory points is by multiplying particular area of the game (let’s say you have constructed lots of huts) with the amount specific civilization cards (which show the amount of workers). The juicy bit is to choose strategy according your gaming style.

Feed your people
No community survives without food and in Stone Age it has only one purpose.:Feeding your cavemen. If you cannot feed them, you’ll lose resources or worse; victory points. Once again,according to your strategy, there are different ways keeping your people fed. You may want to build sustainable platform by increasing your food production OR you can go hunting when you need. The choice of feeding your people will affect other aspects of the game and can make big difference!

The feeling of the game is actually light strategy, but the reality is rather different and shows that the game has depth. One nice addition is that there is just enough chance to give little surprises during the gameplay. Just enough, but not too much. Let’s say it is in delicate balance for my liking. It would be unfair to say that the winner in Stone Age is chosen randomly since this IS a strategy game. One which requires focus. I enjoy the fact that players are active almost all the time and there isn’t big delays waiting for other players. It creates a captivating feeling  so you won’t feel bored and the game steadily moves forward. The thing is, I cannot imagine anyone who could not play this game. It is simple, it is deep enough, you can play it with two players and it is not too serious. As a whole, I like the game very much and I recommend it to everyone. 4/5

PRO’s
Quality
Strategic
Engaging

CON’s
Lack of five player support

Recently I read a post at Stargazer’s World about video games that should be turned to a pen & paper RPGs and I thougth that I couldn’t agree more, but in addition to the list he mentioned, there are other games that also would deserve to be converted to be used around the table. In fact there are so many, that it is hard to think where to start…

Final Fantasy X
In Final Fantasy series, one could turn any game of the series alone to pen and paper role-playing games, but I would particularly like to see Final Fantasy X as such. Final Fantasy X, released in 2001, is the tenth title in the series and it is developed by Square Enix. The game is set upon the the world of Spira, which is a rich world including diverse nature and variety of races. Not to mention a massive amount of strange creatures and the “unsent” strong-willed individuals who have not been “send” to the Farplane, where all souls go when being dies. Like every game in the series, Spira is full of elements that I would like to see around the table, rich cultures, small details and of course a dire theme: Sin. And of course, it would be nice to ride a chocobo wouldn’t you agree? While the series is a huge success, no official, licensed Final Fantasy RPG exists, nor has Square Enix shown any interest in producing it. Few fan made version exist though, but it would be nice to see something official…

Bioshock
Bioshock, developed by Irrational Games/2K Boston/2K Australia and it is set on Rapture; underwater dystopian city during 1960s. The city has rich history which to use and I can easily see myself planning countless of city campaigns. Rapture was built in 1946 on a mid-atlantic seabed using volcanoes for geothermal power. Engineering triumphs and biotechnology strives forward. One mentionable advancement is ADAM, stem cells harvested from sea slugs. It has the ability to regenerate damaged tissue and rewrite human genome. The thing is that ADAM can be mass produced in the stomachs of young girls (Little Sisters) that are taken from orphanages. Little Sisters harvesting ADAM from the dead, Bid Daddies in their armored diving suits, addiction to ADAM, unstable times, violence.. Hmmm.. sounds like suitable elements for a pen & paper game.

Avatar
James Cameron’s Avatar the game by Ubisoft turned quickly to a video game, which has been rated a mediocre game at best, but the rich details that I found in the game surprised me (a big amount of wiki-like information even from the simplest of flowers). The world of Pandora, exotic Navi, RDA’s and very rich flora and fauna could provide a fun setting to try sometimes. The struggle between the natives of the planet and humans with their mechs would be fun to tinker with.

Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts series by Square Enix. In short: Kingdom Hearts features a mixture of familiar Disney and Final Fantasy characters and heavily uses Worlds from Disney films. The game introduces Heartless as a threat and utilizes villains of every imaginable story Disney or Final Fantasy has used. Now this may sound like a really wild idea to be seen as a pen & paper role-playing game, but it would be worth seeing I think. Especially for a group who enjoy or have grown up watching disney classics and playing amazing jrpgs from Square Enix, then Kingdom Hearts roleplaying game would be just the thing. Kingdom Hearts would allow the players to delve in the most familiar worlds. Imagine players in Wonderland, imagine Donald, Mickey, Goofy, Cloud, Auron, Snow White, Aladdin, Hercules etc. etc. to be involved in a light rpg. Not for a “serious gamer” though…

So there I have introduced only a few from vast mass of video games that could work as pen and paper role-playing games. We shall see will the success of Green Ronin’s Dragon Age role-playing game affect other video games as well. Well who would want that..? I WOULD!!!

I would just like to let you know that my blog Endless Bag of Dice has now moved to greener pastures. The journey however did not come without changes. I now have my own domain: http://bagofgames.com which is the new home for the blog. The old address still redirects people here, but not for too long. Anyway, these changes made me think about the blog more in detail thus the visuals and (hopefully in the future) the depth of the blog will be increased.

Since video games also play a part in my life, I have decided that it should also be seen in the blog as well. It has already proven useful, since I have about a dozen things to write a post about (still heavily role-playing influenced). In addition, I thought it was time to finally introduce myself, since that is a thing that has been delayed for a long time. So due the changes in the blog’s nature I thought it is only suitable to alter the name of the blog so from now on:

Endless Bag of Dice shall be known as Endless Bag of Games.