Halo saved the Xbox. Prior to its arrival, the gaming console was an also-ran; afterwards it was the definitive reason to buy Microsoft’s PlayStation competitor. Gears of War may be the Xbox 360’s Halo. Like Halo, Gears of War features humanity fighting a desperate, last-ditch war against alien destroyers. As the game opens, the far-off … Read more
Tonight we’ll be playing Khelez-Mar: The Dwarven Imperative, our dwarf-centric campaign set on the Pomarj in the World of Greyhawk. The last adventure saw the adventurers tracking a large orcish warband comprised of orcs, grey renders and manticores. They engaged and mostly destroyed several of the warbands patrols before breaking off from the main body … Read more
Tonight … we begin our horror-filled return to Ravenloft! Erilar will be running us through Expedition to Castle Ravenloft, the updated and expanded version of the original 1st edition module.
I’m excited to play it — the last time I ventured to Castle Ravenloft, I was in 6th grade and playing my fighter Samuel “Battle Axe” Longriver (but, ah, he was just called “Battle Axe” then…) who eventually found and wielded the fabled sun sword. That was years and years ago, and most of my memories of Ravenloft have been consumed by the mists of time. Almost everyone in our group has been to Ravenloft at one time or another, and just about everyone is eager to return.
It’s only fair that since I complained mightily when my Xbox 360 died, I should also let everyone know when it was resurrected. During the week after my machine died, I spent a lot of time on the phone with Xbox and Best Buy, determining that a) either of them would replace the broken Xbox … Read more
It’s Game Day, meaning that in about seven hours, a horde of geeks will descend on my house and we’ll spend 4-6 hours hacking, slashing (and yes, role-playing) our way through a variety of humanoid menaces. Alternatively, we may be vying for world domination playing Risk 2210 or trying to prevent the Rise of the … Read more
If your Xbox 360 is red-ringing, and you’re looking for half a clue as to why, check out the AV Science Forum’s 3 Red Rings Xbox Diagnostic. It explains how to put your 360 in to diagnostic mode, and what the different patterns of flashing lights mean, such as “0001 power supply problem” or “0022 … Read more
With my Xbox 360 dead but blinking, I am forced to fall back on some of my older games to get my twitch fix, which (as is almost always the case) means I’m firing up Warcraft III. Playing through the Night Elf campaign in Frozen Throne, I was once again impressed by how good this … Read more
You’ve got to give it to Microsoft — no one creates iconic crash messages like they do. The Blue Screen of Death tormented and terrified millions of Windows users and while it’s appearances have been greatly diminished since the release of XP, it’s legend lives on. Now with the 360, Microsoft has created a new … Read more
When it comes to pen-and-paper role-playing games, one of things that causes the most consternation for non-gamers is the concept of character death and the effect this has on players in the campaign. While those with religious objections may focus on the spell-casting and pantheonic aspects of games like Dungeons and Dragons, I’ve found that … Read more
The mountain dwarf Torthan of Clan Urtcheck, follower of Luc, dwarven hero of the Grand Duchy of Geoff, died at the hands of a vile undead shadow on Friday, Nov. 24. He was momentarily survived by himself, having risen from the grave as another of the undead creatures to threaten his fellow adventurers. They defeated him and his shadow progenitors, as well as the master they all served: the Mad Marquee of Sterich. His ashes remain lost to the world in the dungeons beneath the Marquee’s castle.
It was not the first time death touched him. During an earlier expedition to the Lair of the Eyebiter in Geoff, the barbaric bard fought and was killed by the evil followers of a rebel noble. His spirit could not be bound to the afterlife however, and he willingly allowed himself to be reincarnated by a druid. This resulted in his return to the land of the living in the form of a human.