Good Friday all!
Before I begin, let me wish you all a Happy New Year. I am aiming to write a post on Tuesday, but that will be in the year 2013.
So if you don't hear from me before then, stay safe and party on!
**********
Anyway, last night I played my regular gaming partner at a game of BloodBowl thanks to the combined medium of PC gaming and Skype.
I must say, it has been a very long time since I last played BloodBowl, and I knew there must be a reason why.
With hindsight I now get it: I never fully knew the rules before! Tackle zones, dodging, catching! Everything just seemed a jumbled mess of stats and dice rolls.
This is where the computer comes in.
I mentioned in a previous post about Computer Games like Vassel replacing the actual miniature game, and most people have replied saying that they don't think it ever would.
- well let me tell you, with the medium of Skype to chat to my friend, I would gladly play a game if BloodBowl on a weekly basis, maybe even more!
Gone are the calculations of what I need to roll or the negative modifiers!
Gone is the need to try and work out the best route down the pitch!
Now all I need to do is click a player, click where he wants to go and the computer does the rest!
So how did the game go? Well we played two games, his Elves vs my Skaven. Two games and I didn't score a single touch down!
What I did however was get 2 team members killed, but also managed to foul about 3-4 of his players without a single send off!
Oh and Rat Ogres are terrific!
- truth be told, they are the only reason why I play Skaven, them and mutations!
Anyway, that's it from me for now.
So stay safe, and I'll see you all breachside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Friday, 28 December 2012
Thursday, 27 December 2012
Back to the grind
Good Thursday all,
So it's the 27th, we're all back to work (except for First Capital Connect who appear to still be on holiday based on the train service at WGC).
I trust everyone has had a wonderful time off?
I genuinely have, my mother inlaw visited, presents were given and lots of fun was had.
Amazingly my cat even went the entire if yesterday without once trying to pee on my stuff!
- in no way am I chancing fate and saying he is 'fixed' but this is a step in the right direction.
So ultimately we're onto presents. I was given an awesome collection of wargames stuff including the Seamus boxed set, along with aSeamus, the large Sarissa hotel and the coolest of water towers:
Yesterday I got started in assembling my new Dungeon Rise box, and surprisingly it was a lot easier than anticipated. After about 30mins to an hour I built the following:
Of course this is just an example dungeon and my first attempt, there were plenty of components left over for me to use.
I've also come up with an idea that I'm going to try out very soon; using walls only on the North and East walls (where possible). This should make it easier to move models around, allow better view points, but also give more walls for me to use, and that was what seemed to be lacking.
******************
Last night I also made a pass on the MaliQuest card backs, and created this as my first attempt:
After initial feedback it was agreed that this looked a little too clean and so it was filtered into this:
Rather depressingly, when it prints out (at least on my printer) the pattern is hardly visible. This may be altered, but thankfully the name itself pops!
**************
And that's where we are. I'm sadly still waiting for a train (I'm sadly going to be late) tonight I should have an game of Blood Bowl over Steam and I am counting down the minutes until I can finish tomorrow and have a lovely 4 day weekend.
Stay safe, and I'll see you all breachside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
So it's the 27th, we're all back to work (except for First Capital Connect who appear to still be on holiday based on the train service at WGC).
I trust everyone has had a wonderful time off?
I genuinely have, my mother inlaw visited, presents were given and lots of fun was had.
Amazingly my cat even went the entire if yesterday without once trying to pee on my stuff!
- in no way am I chancing fate and saying he is 'fixed' but this is a step in the right direction.
So ultimately we're onto presents. I was given an awesome collection of wargames stuff including the Seamus boxed set, along with aSeamus, the large Sarissa hotel and the coolest of water towers:
Yesterday I got started in assembling my new Dungeon Rise box, and surprisingly it was a lot easier than anticipated. After about 30mins to an hour I built the following:
Of course this is just an example dungeon and my first attempt, there were plenty of components left over for me to use.
I've also come up with an idea that I'm going to try out very soon; using walls only on the North and East walls (where possible). This should make it easier to move models around, allow better view points, but also give more walls for me to use, and that was what seemed to be lacking.
******************
Last night I also made a pass on the MaliQuest card backs, and created this as my first attempt:
After initial feedback it was agreed that this looked a little too clean and so it was filtered into this:
Rather depressingly, when it prints out (at least on my printer) the pattern is hardly visible. This may be altered, but thankfully the name itself pops!
**************
And that's where we are. I'm sadly still waiting for a train (I'm sadly going to be late) tonight I should have an game of Blood Bowl over Steam and I am counting down the minutes until I can finish tomorrow and have a lovely 4 day weekend.
Stay safe, and I'll see you all breachside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Monday, 24 December 2012
Merry MaliXmas!
Good Monday everyone!
Before I get to the point of today's post, a quick update on things.
So yesterday was my first demo day outside of probation. It was a quiet day with little foot traffic at the store.
Luckily however, David who works there had free time and so I showed him how to play a game, as despite owning a crew and books he had never actually played a game before.
I brought out Lady J and let him use my dreamer crew.
Now I should point out that I had only played with the Dreamer, never against. Despite this it was a thoroughly enjoyable game and facing off against Chompy who thanks to Onslaught managed to pull off 6 consecutive Strikes was thoroughly enjoyable!
It's funny really, I've faced off against lots if strong crews before, but few of them were as enjoyable as vs Chompy.
With hindsight I think it was because of how he plays, even with a super long potential melee reach, and being able to pull back away from harm I still knew how to deal with him.
With careful melee placement I was able to take out the Dreamer, leaving Chompy exposed. Then with Chompy and Teddy running riot in the centre of the board I still knew how to deal with him, and that was card removal.
I had to play at card management, I had to find a way to remove Chompy's control hand and Soul Stones, but at the same time, my own hand was expendable.
Playing Guild, I knew that most of my attacks had a higher Cb compared to Chompy's low Df, so as long as Chompy's hand was gone, then there was a better than average chance that my Cb score would be higher than his Df. Throw in a few additional Crits from Rams and I was able to take down his Wds pretty fast.
Then with only a single model on the table (Austringer) and just enough APs to get into place I was able to grab Claim Jump and win the game.
Thankfully with this game going on we got a little bit of attention from passers by, a lot more then we would have gotten had I been sat there twiddling my thumbs.
****************
Anyway, on that note I'd like to thank all my readers a Merry Christmas from myself and my family.
I hope you have a good festive season and enjoy any time you have off.
I'll probably make a new post in a day or two, but until then; stay safe, and I'll see you all breachside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Before I get to the point of today's post, a quick update on things.
So yesterday was my first demo day outside of probation. It was a quiet day with little foot traffic at the store.
Luckily however, David who works there had free time and so I showed him how to play a game, as despite owning a crew and books he had never actually played a game before.
I brought out Lady J and let him use my dreamer crew.
Now I should point out that I had only played with the Dreamer, never against. Despite this it was a thoroughly enjoyable game and facing off against Chompy who thanks to Onslaught managed to pull off 6 consecutive Strikes was thoroughly enjoyable!
It's funny really, I've faced off against lots if strong crews before, but few of them were as enjoyable as vs Chompy.
With hindsight I think it was because of how he plays, even with a super long potential melee reach, and being able to pull back away from harm I still knew how to deal with him.
With careful melee placement I was able to take out the Dreamer, leaving Chompy exposed. Then with Chompy and Teddy running riot in the centre of the board I still knew how to deal with him, and that was card removal.
I had to play at card management, I had to find a way to remove Chompy's control hand and Soul Stones, but at the same time, my own hand was expendable.
Playing Guild, I knew that most of my attacks had a higher Cb compared to Chompy's low Df, so as long as Chompy's hand was gone, then there was a better than average chance that my Cb score would be higher than his Df. Throw in a few additional Crits from Rams and I was able to take down his Wds pretty fast.
Then with only a single model on the table (Austringer) and just enough APs to get into place I was able to grab Claim Jump and win the game.
Thankfully with this game going on we got a little bit of attention from passers by, a lot more then we would have gotten had I been sat there twiddling my thumbs.
****************
Anyway, on that note I'd like to thank all my readers a Merry Christmas from myself and my family.
I hope you have a good festive season and enjoy any time you have off.
I'll probably make a new post in a day or two, but until then; stay safe, and I'll see you all breachside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Sunday, 23 December 2012
Vassel: The End of Non-Painters?
Good Sunday all!
As many of you will know, Wyrd released a module for Vassel http://www.wyrd-games.net/content.php?208-Malifaux-Vassal-Module that allows you to play Malifaux online.
I have yet to try this out, or even have the opportunity to down load it (been trying to down OS25-3D with 3 Lvl90s and 1lvl89 [we succeeded!]), but it seems interesting.
But it got me thinking, for quite a while there seems to be an ongoing debate about painting requirements in the hobby, and I've read some very interesting comments.
- my favourite was a guy who said he sprays the models in a base coat of the faction colour, gives them a suitable wash and drybrushes with said faction colour again to give the illusion of board game pieces rather than 'miniatures'. I think this is an original and unique way of dealing with the limiting and demoralising issues many of us face - I mean seriously, who of us hasn't spent hours on a model, felt really proud of it, taken it to a game and had 'that guy' say it looks like shit. Sure, sticks n stones and all that, but it does cut deep.
This then does pose a question, how do you tackle constructive criticism? I've been there, seen a model or crew where I can see what the owner was aiming for and I've made suggestions on how to improve the look, they've taken those suggestions and in the end are happier, but I can't help but feel I'm giving them a shit sandwich. You know, complement, critique, complement. Doesn't stop the fact that I'm asking them to eat a sandwich containing shit!
But with this Vassel mod, if you don't like painting, or what not, you don't need to! No models are required at all!
So what does this mean for the hobby? Is the 'pure gamer' player, those who do it just for the game and not the modelling/painting side going to become a thing of the past?
I'd welcome your thoughts, and on that note my stop is quickly arriving.
Stay safe, and I'll see you breachside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
As many of you will know, Wyrd released a module for Vassel http://www.wyrd-games.net/content.php?208-Malifaux-Vassal-Module that allows you to play Malifaux online.
I have yet to try this out, or even have the opportunity to down load it (been trying to down OS25-3D with 3 Lvl90s and 1lvl89 [we succeeded!]), but it seems interesting.
But it got me thinking, for quite a while there seems to be an ongoing debate about painting requirements in the hobby, and I've read some very interesting comments.
- my favourite was a guy who said he sprays the models in a base coat of the faction colour, gives them a suitable wash and drybrushes with said faction colour again to give the illusion of board game pieces rather than 'miniatures'. I think this is an original and unique way of dealing with the limiting and demoralising issues many of us face - I mean seriously, who of us hasn't spent hours on a model, felt really proud of it, taken it to a game and had 'that guy' say it looks like shit. Sure, sticks n stones and all that, but it does cut deep.
This then does pose a question, how do you tackle constructive criticism? I've been there, seen a model or crew where I can see what the owner was aiming for and I've made suggestions on how to improve the look, they've taken those suggestions and in the end are happier, but I can't help but feel I'm giving them a shit sandwich. You know, complement, critique, complement. Doesn't stop the fact that I'm asking them to eat a sandwich containing shit!
But with this Vassel mod, if you don't like painting, or what not, you don't need to! No models are required at all!
So what does this mean for the hobby? Is the 'pure gamer' player, those who do it just for the game and not the modelling/painting side going to become a thing of the past?
I'd welcome your thoughts, and on that note my stop is quickly arriving.
Stay safe, and I'll see you breachside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Friday, 21 December 2012
Xmas MaliDAZE
Good Friday everyone!
Well what can I say about today?
It's Friday, it's the end of the week, it's the 21st, it's the end of Pay Period 10, it's two days after the first game ever of MaliQuest and it's four days until Christmas!
(I'm sure more people can add other things it is).
You know what it isn't? The end of the world! That's Logical Thinking 1 : David Icke 0!
- seriously, this man is a total nutjob! If you haven't done so yet, read up on him... Anyone who thinks that Chris Christopherson is a Lizardman, while we live in The Matrix with portals to another dimension just waiting to open up today and kill us all... Well he just needs to be left in a padded cell so that he can cry himself to sleep at night.
- aaaanyway!
Last night a few things moved forward. With Mischa my cat still acting like a numpty, while the wife was off having her hair cut I was cleaning up pee puddle after pee puddle.
Yes the stupid animal is still peeing blood over all my stuff.
However! We moved the furniture back to where it started and almost instantly noticed a change in his behaviour.
He is in no way 'fixed' and we're not out of the woods yet, but I have hope!
Last but not least, - and possibly most importantly! This Sunday I am running my latest Malifaux demos at Leisure Games in Finchley North London.
If anyone is in the area and after a game, why not pop along? I've got nothing new I am afraid, however I will be bringing along my MaliQuest stuff should you wish to have a look and I'm more than happy to talk it through with people. I can't say I'll be able to run anyone through a game of MQ, but if you're interested come along and you might be in luck (doubtful).
And now, time to sign off, stay safe and I'll see you all breachside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Well what can I say about today?
It's Friday, it's the end of the week, it's the 21st, it's the end of Pay Period 10, it's two days after the first game ever of MaliQuest and it's four days until Christmas!
(I'm sure more people can add other things it is).
You know what it isn't? The end of the world! That's Logical Thinking 1 : David Icke 0!
- seriously, this man is a total nutjob! If you haven't done so yet, read up on him... Anyone who thinks that Chris Christopherson is a Lizardman, while we live in The Matrix with portals to another dimension just waiting to open up today and kill us all... Well he just needs to be left in a padded cell so that he can cry himself to sleep at night.
- aaaanyway!
Last night a few things moved forward. With Mischa my cat still acting like a numpty, while the wife was off having her hair cut I was cleaning up pee puddle after pee puddle.
Yes the stupid animal is still peeing blood over all my stuff.
However! We moved the furniture back to where it started and almost instantly noticed a change in his behaviour.
He is in no way 'fixed' and we're not out of the woods yet, but I have hope!
Last but not least, - and possibly most importantly! This Sunday I am running my latest Malifaux demos at Leisure Games in Finchley North London.
If anyone is in the area and after a game, why not pop along? I've got nothing new I am afraid, however I will be bringing along my MaliQuest stuff should you wish to have a look and I'm more than happy to talk it through with people. I can't say I'll be able to run anyone through a game of MQ, but if you're interested come along and you might be in luck (doubtful).
And now, time to sign off, stay safe and I'll see you all breachside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Thursday, 20 December 2012
MaliQuest: The Skype Aftermath
Good Thursday everyone!
So it is the day after the very first game of MaliQuest was played and holy wow am I tired.
There were a lot of lessons learned, the main one being: it takes a lot longer to progress through a dungeon than I first thought!
Originally the plan was to provide the party with four maps, the first three becoming increasingly complex as they delved deeper into the dungeon with the final map being an arena style layout where the party did not have to explore the dungeon but instead survive spawning waves of monsters.
The aim of these dungeons was to show case the flexibility of the system - especially when you compare the normal dungeons vs the arena style one.
What happened was very different however, namely from 2100-2400 we had only just managed to clear level one, and on top of that my note taking had turned to pot and my map looked like this:
When you hear this journey into the bowels of New Fairbank, the final 2 rooms were rewrites on my plans. The characters in the last but 1 room were supposed to be bosses who the players met at the end of each of the first 3 levels, but in order to show off boss drops and make things a little harder for the players I dropped all of them at once.
The final room existed with one aim: kill the players, or at least make them think about their actions, and make them crawl their way out.
What happened I am going to keep quiet for now, but once this recording has been edited and uploaded (<3 Jon!) you'll be able to hear the maiden voyage of MaliQuest!
All in all I think it was pretty good though. We seemed to have a good laugh and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, there were no rage quits and we reached the end - something I'm still amazed in.
- By the way, to Tom, Vicky & Jon, if you could do me a massive favour? I'd love it if you could email me your thoughts on the game, any changes you think need to be made etc. if you don't have my email address, you can use my Henchman account of doctorloxley@hotmail.co.uk
Some things were adjusted on the fly, like how the initiative is worked out, and I think the new system works well for that.
There are a number of things that I did, which perhaps I should not have, namely forgetting rules on cards for monsters, and describing the beasties and the dungeon pretty poorly.
But don't worry, I'll be sure to create a monster gallery that you can look through as you listen to the adventure.
I'll also endeavour to ensure that every loot card which appears in the game is also made available - probably in the form of a .pdf so you favoured listeners can see these as well.
Ok I think I've rambled on enough, and the rocking of my train is sending me to sleep.
- oh, quick update on yesterday's cat issue: there is improvement! We're not out of the woods yet, but there is improvement. Stupid freaking cat!
Stay safe, and I'll see you breachside! (God damn! I forgot to say that last night! WhyIOughta!)
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
So it is the day after the very first game of MaliQuest was played and holy wow am I tired.
There were a lot of lessons learned, the main one being: it takes a lot longer to progress through a dungeon than I first thought!
Originally the plan was to provide the party with four maps, the first three becoming increasingly complex as they delved deeper into the dungeon with the final map being an arena style layout where the party did not have to explore the dungeon but instead survive spawning waves of monsters.
The aim of these dungeons was to show case the flexibility of the system - especially when you compare the normal dungeons vs the arena style one.
What happened was very different however, namely from 2100-2400 we had only just managed to clear level one, and on top of that my note taking had turned to pot and my map looked like this:
When you hear this journey into the bowels of New Fairbank, the final 2 rooms were rewrites on my plans. The characters in the last but 1 room were supposed to be bosses who the players met at the end of each of the first 3 levels, but in order to show off boss drops and make things a little harder for the players I dropped all of them at once.
The final room existed with one aim: kill the players, or at least make them think about their actions, and make them crawl their way out.
What happened I am going to keep quiet for now, but once this recording has been edited and uploaded (<3 Jon!) you'll be able to hear the maiden voyage of MaliQuest!
All in all I think it was pretty good though. We seemed to have a good laugh and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, there were no rage quits and we reached the end - something I'm still amazed in.
- By the way, to Tom, Vicky & Jon, if you could do me a massive favour? I'd love it if you could email me your thoughts on the game, any changes you think need to be made etc. if you don't have my email address, you can use my Henchman account of doctorloxley@hotmail.co.uk
Some things were adjusted on the fly, like how the initiative is worked out, and I think the new system works well for that.
There are a number of things that I did, which perhaps I should not have, namely forgetting rules on cards for monsters, and describing the beasties and the dungeon pretty poorly.
But don't worry, I'll be sure to create a monster gallery that you can look through as you listen to the adventure.
I'll also endeavour to ensure that every loot card which appears in the game is also made available - probably in the form of a .pdf so you favoured listeners can see these as well.
Ok I think I've rambled on enough, and the rocking of my train is sending me to sleep.
- oh, quick update on yesterday's cat issue: there is improvement! We're not out of the woods yet, but there is improvement. Stupid freaking cat!
Stay safe, and I'll see you breachside! (God damn! I forgot to say that last night! WhyIOughta!)
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Wednesday, 19 December 2012
TtB: Multi Part Sprue & Prep for Tonight
Good Wednesday everyone!
Today is dark, cold and just downright miserable, but when I woke up I popped online and saw this:
A reminder, I have still not pledged, and I will never be able to afford to, so all I can do is hope these become available for regular release at a later point.
- And something I noticed before, the hardback book mentions that it's Kickstarter exclusive, these multi part models do not, which gives me hope that at some point I will be able to pick them up.
For more information please check out: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1334239018/through-the-breach-a-malifaux-roleplaying-game/posts
On an unrelated note, tonight is the night when SkypeQuest should be going ahead.
Unfortunately Mike said he may not be able to make it because of Family commitments but I am crossing my fingers that he will be available at a later point to 'drop in' on the game.
I have pulled out their equipment cards, prepped the character cards (have yet to apply stats yet) and tonight just before I'll be printing and laminating the maps - I really should have done that yesterday, but then Geordie Shore started, and nothing makes me miss Charlotte!
Anyway, I'm not sure if I mentioned this yesterday but my stupid cat is currently having 'anxiety issues' and so this morning I chased him around the kitchen while he tried to pee on everything. He's already been to the vet where he was given meds, including an anti anxiety drug and we picked up pheromone diffusers, and yesterday he was doing so much better, having a nose around things, and cheecking furniture and people, but then I wake up this morning and he's back to squatting.
I'm going to stick with the anxiety meds and with hope in a few days he's back to his old over trusting self.
Stay safe and I'll see you breachside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Today is dark, cold and just downright miserable, but when I woke up I popped online and saw this:
A reminder, I have still not pledged, and I will never be able to afford to, so all I can do is hope these become available for regular release at a later point.
- And something I noticed before, the hardback book mentions that it's Kickstarter exclusive, these multi part models do not, which gives me hope that at some point I will be able to pick them up.
For more information please check out: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1334239018/through-the-breach-a-malifaux-roleplaying-game/posts
On an unrelated note, tonight is the night when SkypeQuest should be going ahead.
Unfortunately Mike said he may not be able to make it because of Family commitments but I am crossing my fingers that he will be available at a later point to 'drop in' on the game.
I have pulled out their equipment cards, prepped the character cards (have yet to apply stats yet) and tonight just before I'll be printing and laminating the maps - I really should have done that yesterday, but then Geordie Shore started, and nothing makes me miss Charlotte!
Anyway, I'm not sure if I mentioned this yesterday but my stupid cat is currently having 'anxiety issues' and so this morning I chased him around the kitchen while he tried to pee on everything. He's already been to the vet where he was given meds, including an anti anxiety drug and we picked up pheromone diffusers, and yesterday he was doing so much better, having a nose around things, and cheecking furniture and people, but then I wake up this morning and he's back to squatting.
I'm going to stick with the anxiety meds and with hope in a few days he's back to his old over trusting self.
Stay safe and I'll see you breachside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Tuesday, 18 December 2012
MaliQuest: Shared Fate
Hello everyone!
A quick mid day post here where I want to get an idea out there and gauge the reactions to it.
The idea is that of Shared Fates.
Allow me to set the scene:
********************
You're deep underground, your party have been adventuring for hours and you have slain many monsters.
Before you stands a monstrous Teddy, it has just unleashed 2 out of 3 Flurried attacks and is about to release it's 3rd.
Your Wounds are low, only 1 or 2 remaining, and your hand is all but empty with only a few very low cards left.
The Teddy strikes with a very high card, you know that you will require a high card as well to defend against this strike, and your hand doesn't have it, and the minimal damage will be enough to kill you.
You could Soul Stone your total, or perhaps Soul Stone the damage to reduce it hopefully to 0 or a party member could use a stone to resurrect you if/when you die, but collectively your Stone pool is very low and you still have far to go before your adventure is over.
You decide that there is nothing you can do, and determine the best option to do is to take the hit and try to reduce the damage with one of your last remaining stones, you may even get lucky and the Teddy might Black Joker the damage flip.
As the Teddy's strike is about to land, a party member leaps into the fray with their Peacebringer blade and parrys the strike. The Teddy's flurry is now over, you managed to survive the strikes and now have your own opportunity to reek some revenge...
****************
What I am talking about here is the idea of party members being unable to cheat on your behalf. You don't have the cards to survive (or perhaps you're trying to land a critical strike yourself) but a party member does, and so they can use one of their own control cards to cheat your score.
Obviously this would be at the agreement of you the player, I think it would be pretty mean to cheat a party member's score down and force them to take a hit - but then maybe that would be something that should be allowed? Something like your party members tripping you up so they can steal the loot for them self?
But most importantly I'd love to hear your thoughts on this? Should this be allowed?
I've already suggested this idea to a few and some concerns have been raised.
Anyway, I look forward to hearing what everyone has to say.
Until then, stay safe and I'll see you all breachside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
A quick mid day post here where I want to get an idea out there and gauge the reactions to it.
The idea is that of Shared Fates.
Allow me to set the scene:
********************
You're deep underground, your party have been adventuring for hours and you have slain many monsters.
Before you stands a monstrous Teddy, it has just unleashed 2 out of 3 Flurried attacks and is about to release it's 3rd.
Your Wounds are low, only 1 or 2 remaining, and your hand is all but empty with only a few very low cards left.
The Teddy strikes with a very high card, you know that you will require a high card as well to defend against this strike, and your hand doesn't have it, and the minimal damage will be enough to kill you.
You could Soul Stone your total, or perhaps Soul Stone the damage to reduce it hopefully to 0 or a party member could use a stone to resurrect you if/when you die, but collectively your Stone pool is very low and you still have far to go before your adventure is over.
You decide that there is nothing you can do, and determine the best option to do is to take the hit and try to reduce the damage with one of your last remaining stones, you may even get lucky and the Teddy might Black Joker the damage flip.
As the Teddy's strike is about to land, a party member leaps into the fray with their Peacebringer blade and parrys the strike. The Teddy's flurry is now over, you managed to survive the strikes and now have your own opportunity to reek some revenge...
****************
What I am talking about here is the idea of party members being unable to cheat on your behalf. You don't have the cards to survive (or perhaps you're trying to land a critical strike yourself) but a party member does, and so they can use one of their own control cards to cheat your score.
Obviously this would be at the agreement of you the player, I think it would be pretty mean to cheat a party member's score down and force them to take a hit - but then maybe that would be something that should be allowed? Something like your party members tripping you up so they can steal the loot for them self?
But most importantly I'd love to hear your thoughts on this? Should this be allowed?
I've already suggested this idea to a few and some concerns have been raised.
Anyway, I look forward to hearing what everyone has to say.
Until then, stay safe and I'll see you all breachside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
MaliQuest: Time for a Re-Record
Good Tuesday everyone!
It's been a few days since I've posted, and that is largely due to me being off work last Friday and Monday, not bad, a 4 day weekend!
But just what has been going on? And just what is coming?
Well yesterday I spent a large amount of the day chasing one of my cats around while he tried to anxiously pee all over my stuff. You see we've recently moved some furniture around the kitchen, and my daughter is now almost exclusively walking, this is apparently too stressful for my delicate cat...
... I know, what a stupid animal!
But on Sunday evening Malifool Jon and I did a recording. It 'should' be the first of a few little recordings that me and the Malifools are doing and should act as a nice gap between now and the 'release' of MaliQuest. It should also fill the gap between their Xmas episode and their first 2013 episode.
But things are not all rosey and grand, you see when you finally hear the recording we did on Sunday, a large chunk of it will actually have been made on Thursday/Friday.
You see last Sunday the recording was all about how a starting character is MaliQuest is made, but less than 12 hours after the recording, I have had to change two of the starting cards, meaning a good 10-15 minutes of the chat is now completely irrelevant!
The good thing about it however, I am really glad to see the process working. You see one of the problems I am having while working on MaliQuest is that I am finding myself stuck within my one viewpoint and quite often the larger picture is something I am oblivious to. It's much like Zimbardo's infamous prison experiment. It takes someone outside of my head to look at what I've done and to say "that doesn't make any sense!"
Coming up however! Tomorrow we have SkypeQuest! Yup, me, Jon and Mike, and my two friends from outside of the twitter Malifaux world Tom and Vicky will be meeting up on Skype, and playing through 4 levels of a MaliQuest dungeon.
Obviously this is something I am anxious of, I want it to be a big success, but am concerned that it will suck ass. But I know what I'm like, and I am sure it will go fine.
Anywho, for those who didn't know, this time next week will be Christmas Day including some pretty awesome films on TV! And shortly after that will be New Years, and following on from that will be the one year anniversary of New Fairbank News!
For those interested/curious, yes I am planning on tying the 1 year anniversary into the MaliQuest launch.
Think of it as an anniversary present from me to you!
Anyway, time is drawing on and my train is nearing it's destinations.
So stay safe and I'll see you all breachside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
It's been a few days since I've posted, and that is largely due to me being off work last Friday and Monday, not bad, a 4 day weekend!
But just what has been going on? And just what is coming?
Well yesterday I spent a large amount of the day chasing one of my cats around while he tried to anxiously pee all over my stuff. You see we've recently moved some furniture around the kitchen, and my daughter is now almost exclusively walking, this is apparently too stressful for my delicate cat...
... I know, what a stupid animal!
But on Sunday evening Malifool Jon and I did a recording. It 'should' be the first of a few little recordings that me and the Malifools are doing and should act as a nice gap between now and the 'release' of MaliQuest. It should also fill the gap between their Xmas episode and their first 2013 episode.
But things are not all rosey and grand, you see when you finally hear the recording we did on Sunday, a large chunk of it will actually have been made on Thursday/Friday.
You see last Sunday the recording was all about how a starting character is MaliQuest is made, but less than 12 hours after the recording, I have had to change two of the starting cards, meaning a good 10-15 minutes of the chat is now completely irrelevant!
The good thing about it however, I am really glad to see the process working. You see one of the problems I am having while working on MaliQuest is that I am finding myself stuck within my one viewpoint and quite often the larger picture is something I am oblivious to. It's much like Zimbardo's infamous prison experiment. It takes someone outside of my head to look at what I've done and to say "that doesn't make any sense!"
Coming up however! Tomorrow we have SkypeQuest! Yup, me, Jon and Mike, and my two friends from outside of the twitter Malifaux world Tom and Vicky will be meeting up on Skype, and playing through 4 levels of a MaliQuest dungeon.
Obviously this is something I am anxious of, I want it to be a big success, but am concerned that it will suck ass. But I know what I'm like, and I am sure it will go fine.
Anywho, for those who didn't know, this time next week will be Christmas Day including some pretty awesome films on TV! And shortly after that will be New Years, and following on from that will be the one year anniversary of New Fairbank News!
For those interested/curious, yes I am planning on tying the 1 year anniversary into the MaliQuest launch.
Think of it as an anniversary present from me to you!
Anyway, time is drawing on and my train is nearing it's destinations.
So stay safe and I'll see you all breachside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Thursday, 13 December 2012
MaliQuest vs TTB: Do I have a vested interest?
Afternoon all,
I just wanted to write a quick post while on lunch, let you know about an email I received earlier regarding my posts about the TTB Kickstarter and whether or not I have a vested interest in TTB failing.
For fairness sake I won't say who sent me the email, but I would like to publicly apologise if I have given the wrong impression.
You see, I do want MaliQuest to succeed, and before the TTB Kickstarter was announced I was concerned that the two would clash, but looking at what we know about TTB and what I have planned for MaliQuest, I honestly believe that both games can be equally successful and co-exist.
I admit I may have been overly negative about TTB over the past couple of weeks, but these are my own personal feelings towards what I have seen of the game itself and nothing more.
And so we reach the question asked: Do I have a vested interest in TTB failing?
No. Call me cocky, confident or whatever, but I wholeheartedly believe that both games reward different things to different people.
It is my honest opinion that the success of TTB will have a 0 effect on MaliQuest, and likewise MaliQuest will have a 0 effect on TTB.
So please, don't take what I have said the wrong way.
I wish our Wyrd brothers and sisters all the best when it comes to developing their game, and it is with hope they do the same to us - if they even know that MaliQuest exists.
Anyway, stay safe and I'll see you breachside
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
I just wanted to write a quick post while on lunch, let you know about an email I received earlier regarding my posts about the TTB Kickstarter and whether or not I have a vested interest in TTB failing.
For fairness sake I won't say who sent me the email, but I would like to publicly apologise if I have given the wrong impression.
You see, I do want MaliQuest to succeed, and before the TTB Kickstarter was announced I was concerned that the two would clash, but looking at what we know about TTB and what I have planned for MaliQuest, I honestly believe that both games can be equally successful and co-exist.
I admit I may have been overly negative about TTB over the past couple of weeks, but these are my own personal feelings towards what I have seen of the game itself and nothing more.
And so we reach the question asked: Do I have a vested interest in TTB failing?
No. Call me cocky, confident or whatever, but I wholeheartedly believe that both games reward different things to different people.
It is my honest opinion that the success of TTB will have a 0 effect on MaliQuest, and likewise MaliQuest will have a 0 effect on TTB.
So please, don't take what I have said the wrong way.
I wish our Wyrd brothers and sisters all the best when it comes to developing their game, and it is with hope they do the same to us - if they even know that MaliQuest exists.
Anyway, stay safe and I'll see you breachside
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
MaliQuest: Character Creation v2
Good Thursday everyone!
I have a massive announcement today, one that I am quite ashamed to have to make:
Character Creation is changing.
Yeah I know, the character pack has only been available a day and already it's getting altered.
*************
If I may, let me explain why:
So last night I was talking the game over with my wife and she pointed something out - character creation is backwards!
If you go back and read my early posts I talked over and over about how your character is supposed to start off as a nobody, but then in order to get the Skype game up and running with the equivalent of 'demo' characters, I forgot that what I was doing for them is not what a normal character would be like.
You see, for SkypeQuest we are breaking a lot of the rules, we're not using models, we're playing with maps rather than terrain and I wanted the characters to feel like seasoned adventurers rather than newbies.
So you see I got so focused on how to do the final part that I forgot about what a new character is supposed to be like.
And so I present you with my first rules errata:
When creating a starter character, you do not pick the 2 offensive, 1 defensive and 2 mods from the entire card pool.
Instead you pick 2 cards from a small collection of 'starter' weapons.
This will be in the form of 'Starter Pistol', 'Starter Sword', 'Starter Shield' and 'Starter Ranged Spell Artifact', 'Starter Control Spell Artifact'.
There is no starting equipment to be worn and no starting mods.
While this incredibly reduces the customisation available, it reinforces the feeling of being a newbie trying to make your fame and fortune.
- for those who are scheduled to take part in SkypeQuest, if you would rather do this, please let me know and if there is a majority vote in favour, then we can do that.
************
We also discussed something else, deck management.
Currently the loot deck is unwieldy. There are so many cards that it's huge and all over the place.
What I am doing is looking at way of limiting it. My initial idea is to work on a 100+ concept.
First the GM goes through the deck and removes anything they want to feature as boss drops. Then they split the cards into the different rarities, they then select at random 50 Common cards, 30 Uncommon cards, 15 Rares and 5 Epics.
This gives a random selection of 100 cards which can be looted throughout the game and means that the player doesn't know exactly what to expect, however as the GM has already specified Boss Drops then they have the opportunity to fix certain drops to get items they want into the game.
- I should probably also explain boss drops.
You see, normally when a room has been cleared, you flip a number of random loot cards, usually it will be something along the lines of 1card for 3 30mm base models, 2 40mm base models or 1 50mm base models. But this is of course at the discretion of the GM, if he feels that the party really struggled with that room and needs a greater reward, they can flip more cards.
Also the party can try to search for loot. This happens by every member of the party flipping a card and the party average needs to be 10. So if there are 3 players in the party, the total needs to be 30. This can only be done once in every room, but if it's successful generates 1 loot flip. - oh and it's an (all) action.
BUT! If there is a designated boss character, placed by the GM at certain points, then the GM can specify it's loot drops as Boss Drops.
In this instance, the loot flips are like corpse counters, 1 for a 30mm boss, 2 for a 40mm and 1 for a 50mm
- in fact I might do that for all loot, thoughts?
But one of these loot drops is one of the cards previously put aside.
And that is basically it. The changes made are pretty sweeping, but it my belief that it creates a more involving and engaging game.
That's it from me today, stay safe and I'll see you all breachside
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
I have a massive announcement today, one that I am quite ashamed to have to make:
Character Creation is changing.
Yeah I know, the character pack has only been available a day and already it's getting altered.
*************
If I may, let me explain why:
So last night I was talking the game over with my wife and she pointed something out - character creation is backwards!
If you go back and read my early posts I talked over and over about how your character is supposed to start off as a nobody, but then in order to get the Skype game up and running with the equivalent of 'demo' characters, I forgot that what I was doing for them is not what a normal character would be like.
You see, for SkypeQuest we are breaking a lot of the rules, we're not using models, we're playing with maps rather than terrain and I wanted the characters to feel like seasoned adventurers rather than newbies.
So you see I got so focused on how to do the final part that I forgot about what a new character is supposed to be like.
And so I present you with my first rules errata:
When creating a starter character, you do not pick the 2 offensive, 1 defensive and 2 mods from the entire card pool.
Instead you pick 2 cards from a small collection of 'starter' weapons.
This will be in the form of 'Starter Pistol', 'Starter Sword', 'Starter Shield' and 'Starter Ranged Spell Artifact', 'Starter Control Spell Artifact'.
There is no starting equipment to be worn and no starting mods.
While this incredibly reduces the customisation available, it reinforces the feeling of being a newbie trying to make your fame and fortune.
- for those who are scheduled to take part in SkypeQuest, if you would rather do this, please let me know and if there is a majority vote in favour, then we can do that.
************
We also discussed something else, deck management.
Currently the loot deck is unwieldy. There are so many cards that it's huge and all over the place.
What I am doing is looking at way of limiting it. My initial idea is to work on a 100+ concept.
First the GM goes through the deck and removes anything they want to feature as boss drops. Then they split the cards into the different rarities, they then select at random 50 Common cards, 30 Uncommon cards, 15 Rares and 5 Epics.
This gives a random selection of 100 cards which can be looted throughout the game and means that the player doesn't know exactly what to expect, however as the GM has already specified Boss Drops then they have the opportunity to fix certain drops to get items they want into the game.
- I should probably also explain boss drops.
You see, normally when a room has been cleared, you flip a number of random loot cards, usually it will be something along the lines of 1card for 3 30mm base models, 2 40mm base models or 1 50mm base models. But this is of course at the discretion of the GM, if he feels that the party really struggled with that room and needs a greater reward, they can flip more cards.
Also the party can try to search for loot. This happens by every member of the party flipping a card and the party average needs to be 10. So if there are 3 players in the party, the total needs to be 30. This can only be done once in every room, but if it's successful generates 1 loot flip. - oh and it's an (all) action.
BUT! If there is a designated boss character, placed by the GM at certain points, then the GM can specify it's loot drops as Boss Drops.
In this instance, the loot flips are like corpse counters, 1 for a 30mm boss, 2 for a 40mm and 1 for a 50mm
- in fact I might do that for all loot, thoughts?
But one of these loot drops is one of the cards previously put aside.
And that is basically it. The changes made are pretty sweeping, but it my belief that it creates a more involving and engaging game.
That's it from me today, stay safe and I'll see you all breachside
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Wednesday, 12 December 2012
MaliQuest: Character Creation
Good Wednesday all!
So it's halfway through the week, and while I don't know about everyone, here it's freaking cold!
So yesterday's post was not as obvious as I intended, what I meant by Radio Silence was to tell people not to be surprised if things were quiet on my front for a few days while I got some required documents done.
Interestingly, in an hour and a half I managed to write up the Character Creation Document here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ss26e7bd5bx3pd6/CharacterCreation.pdf
I'd be super grateful if you could give it a look over, try to create some characters and post the results.
Obviously the system isn't infallible, I'm not under the delusion that the +3-1 stat distribution will create a guaranteed playable character, if you stack all three points in Hight and deduct the one from Wounds, I'm not saying that will be a great character, but that is where inspiration comes in, and why the first couple of steps are about coming up with a concept and 'character' for your Adventurer. Clearly you're going to have more fun with Thanatos the Steam Powered Juggernaught than you would with Jonny the Completely Random Nubcake.
But what I need is you to create your character, run the stats and let me know what you think. Do you think you'll be overpowered? Underpowered? Not powered in the right way?
You see the +3-1 system seems to work fine by itself, but this does not take into account the extra stats you get from gear, and so we're back to that. Perhaps the +2 stats (Ca, Df, Wk etc) are too powerful, should the common and uncommon cards be reduced to +1?
This is where your help is more valuable than anything, we've come very far in a short amount of time, and soon we'll be hitting the live date.
So please, give it a look, tell me your thoughts and ask any questions - but please note, if it's a game play mechanic question, such as 'how is initiative worked our?' Or 'what role does the Winds of Fate play?' These will all be explained in the actual Rules Document.
Anyway, take care and I'll see you all breachside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
So it's halfway through the week, and while I don't know about everyone, here it's freaking cold!
So yesterday's post was not as obvious as I intended, what I meant by Radio Silence was to tell people not to be surprised if things were quiet on my front for a few days while I got some required documents done.
Interestingly, in an hour and a half I managed to write up the Character Creation Document here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ss26e7bd5bx3pd6/CharacterCreation.pdf
I'd be super grateful if you could give it a look over, try to create some characters and post the results.
Obviously the system isn't infallible, I'm not under the delusion that the +3-1 stat distribution will create a guaranteed playable character, if you stack all three points in Hight and deduct the one from Wounds, I'm not saying that will be a great character, but that is where inspiration comes in, and why the first couple of steps are about coming up with a concept and 'character' for your Adventurer. Clearly you're going to have more fun with Thanatos the Steam Powered Juggernaught than you would with Jonny the Completely Random Nubcake.
But what I need is you to create your character, run the stats and let me know what you think. Do you think you'll be overpowered? Underpowered? Not powered in the right way?
You see the +3-1 system seems to work fine by itself, but this does not take into account the extra stats you get from gear, and so we're back to that. Perhaps the +2 stats (Ca, Df, Wk etc) are too powerful, should the common and uncommon cards be reduced to +1?
This is where your help is more valuable than anything, we've come very far in a short amount of time, and soon we'll be hitting the live date.
So please, give it a look, tell me your thoughts and ask any questions - but please note, if it's a game play mechanic question, such as 'how is initiative worked our?' Or 'what role does the Winds of Fate play?' These will all be explained in the actual Rules Document.
Anyway, take care and I'll see you all breachside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Tuesday, 11 December 2012
MaliQuest: Radio Silence
Good Tuesday everyone!
So yesterday was my 29th birthday and an awesome day was had thanks to my wonderful/amazing/fantastic wife!
But sadly all good things come to an end, and today I had to go to work (boo!)
********************
Over the past few days something occurred to me, while I've been putting off creating the On Pickup cards (largely because they don't interest me, they're boring and have no real challenge) there's something else that I need to do: get started on creating the Supplement Rules Pack!
Part One: Character Creation.
With the recording of the proto Skype game just a week or do away this is something that is needed so that people know how we came up with these characters.
Of course I also need to create the maps for the 4 levels - Eep! There is so much to do! And on top of that there is also regular revision, work time and family time...
...Fuck...
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
So yesterday was my 29th birthday and an awesome day was had thanks to my wonderful/amazing/fantastic wife!
But sadly all good things come to an end, and today I had to go to work (boo!)
********************
Over the past few days something occurred to me, while I've been putting off creating the On Pickup cards (largely because they don't interest me, they're boring and have no real challenge) there's something else that I need to do: get started on creating the Supplement Rules Pack!
Part One: Character Creation.
With the recording of the proto Skype game just a week or do away this is something that is needed so that people know how we came up with these characters.
Of course I also need to create the maps for the 4 levels - Eep! There is so much to do! And on top of that there is also regular revision, work time and family time...
...Fuck...
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Saturday, 8 December 2012
1 card sleeved, 249ish to go!
Good Saturday everyone!
It's the first day of my three day weekend, and I thought it might be fun to try and keep up the pace of posting every day of this week!
So where we at? Last night I went to the Christmas Social with the Titans club, was fun! Got to meet some faces who I've never seen before, and likewise some I haven't seen in a while.
Got to run my cards past one of the members who seemed to really like them!
Thankfully I was also able to get to Finchley in time to reach Leisure Games before they shut at 1800, which allowed me to pick up 300 card sleeves for my loot deck.
So what's planned for this weekend? Got a few things, doing some shopping later on today, and then this evening I'll be putting cards into sleeves.
Tomorrow we have some family coming around, and in the evening I'll probably still be putting cards into sleeves.
On Monday I'll be celebrating my 29th birthday, and probably have more cards to sleeve.
At some point I really want to get around to making the Soul Stone, Booby Trap and Elixir cards.
- which reminds me, so I'm going to introduce some Elixir cards which are On Pickup cards, rather than equips.
There's the obvious Healing Flip Elixir, but what else should there be? Perhaps Enhanced Casting? (Makes your next spell cast with +1Ca) but what other types of one off bonuses could be awarded? - Remember, loot is almost always dealt outside of combat, so there needs to be an opportunity to delay the effects.
Oh and for those who missed it:
Character Cards!
Anyway, I'm going to get back to my bath, see you all breachside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
It's the first day of my three day weekend, and I thought it might be fun to try and keep up the pace of posting every day of this week!
So where we at? Last night I went to the Christmas Social with the Titans club, was fun! Got to meet some faces who I've never seen before, and likewise some I haven't seen in a while.
Got to run my cards past one of the members who seemed to really like them!
Thankfully I was also able to get to Finchley in time to reach Leisure Games before they shut at 1800, which allowed me to pick up 300 card sleeves for my loot deck.
So what's planned for this weekend? Got a few things, doing some shopping later on today, and then this evening I'll be putting cards into sleeves.
Tomorrow we have some family coming around, and in the evening I'll probably still be putting cards into sleeves.
On Monday I'll be celebrating my 29th birthday, and probably have more cards to sleeve.
At some point I really want to get around to making the Soul Stone, Booby Trap and Elixir cards.
- which reminds me, so I'm going to introduce some Elixir cards which are On Pickup cards, rather than equips.
There's the obvious Healing Flip Elixir, but what else should there be? Perhaps Enhanced Casting? (Makes your next spell cast with +1Ca) but what other types of one off bonuses could be awarded? - Remember, loot is almost always dealt outside of combat, so there needs to be an opportunity to delay the effects.
Oh and for those who missed it:
Character Cards!
Anyway, I'm going to get back to my bath, see you all breachside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Friday, 7 December 2012
I have cards coming out of my ears!
Good Friday everyone!
Wow what a time this has been!
In the past few weeks I've generated, printed and cut out roughly 250 Loot cards, I've gone through 5 versions of the character cards which I have now printed out and laminated, had 2 recordings with the Malifools, one of them being 1.5hrs long! Begun work ok the Skype maps, and discussed the rules over and over!
I have still to produce the On Pickup cards (Soul Stones & Booby Traps), I was planning on doing them last night, but printing and laminating took priority (plus Young Apprentice).
I also have yet to finalise death, and what happens in game.
I've spoken to a good few about it, and the current working model is to use Soul Stones. I've had some very good suggestions made, but I'm going to stick with my gut feeling. It's being adjusted however:
When you are reduced to 0Wds you are dead. Any party member Within 6" can perform an (all)? Action to resurrect you at the cost of a Soul Stone, you are then Summoned anywhere Completely Within 6" of the Resurrector.
If you are the only adventurer, then instead you can use your own stones to Rez on the spot, but this is only allowed when you are solo.
In both instances as you are summoned, you gain Slow.
I think this is the easiest way of working it, staying true to that Malifaux world and making it easy to remember.
****************
Anyway, what's in store? Not much I am afraid! Tonight I am meeting up with the guys from the Titans club for their Xmas Social (I've brought some cards along to ask for opinions in person), this weekend should be nice, my sister is coming over to spend some time with my Mini Moo, and on Monday I'll be turning 29!
So bring on the birthday weekend I say!
Oh and before I forget, I've penciled in a day for my next demo! Sunday 23rd! It'll be a Christmas Demo!
Stay safe and I'll see you breachside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Wow what a time this has been!
In the past few weeks I've generated, printed and cut out roughly 250 Loot cards, I've gone through 5 versions of the character cards which I have now printed out and laminated, had 2 recordings with the Malifools, one of them being 1.5hrs long! Begun work ok the Skype maps, and discussed the rules over and over!
I have still to produce the On Pickup cards (Soul Stones & Booby Traps), I was planning on doing them last night, but printing and laminating took priority (plus Young Apprentice).
I also have yet to finalise death, and what happens in game.
I've spoken to a good few about it, and the current working model is to use Soul Stones. I've had some very good suggestions made, but I'm going to stick with my gut feeling. It's being adjusted however:
When you are reduced to 0Wds you are dead. Any party member Within 6" can perform an (all)? Action to resurrect you at the cost of a Soul Stone, you are then Summoned anywhere Completely Within 6" of the Resurrector.
If you are the only adventurer, then instead you can use your own stones to Rez on the spot, but this is only allowed when you are solo.
In both instances as you are summoned, you gain Slow.
I think this is the easiest way of working it, staying true to that Malifaux world and making it easy to remember.
****************
Anyway, what's in store? Not much I am afraid! Tonight I am meeting up with the guys from the Titans club for their Xmas Social (I've brought some cards along to ask for opinions in person), this weekend should be nice, my sister is coming over to spend some time with my Mini Moo, and on Monday I'll be turning 29!
So bring on the birthday weekend I say!
Oh and before I forget, I've penciled in a day for my next demo! Sunday 23rd! It'll be a Christmas Demo!
Stay safe and I'll see you breachside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Thursday, 6 December 2012
The Reason I Have An Issue...
Good Thursday all!
Last night I took a break from working on MaliQuest, and as a quick notice, my next working will be on 'on pickup' cards, things like "Bag of Soul Stones" "add X number of Soul Stones to your cache" where X is equal to the rarity (something like Common=1, Uncommon=2 etc).
Anyway, in the absence of anything MaliQuest, I'd like to tell you about a thought I had yesterday while at work and was busy decorating the office's Christmas tree:
Why I have a bug up my arse about the Through The Breach(TTB) Kickstarter
It's strange, every year Wyrd produce many things that despite my fan status, I just don't like. Either it's a sculpt I don't like, or a style if crew, even games like Evil Baby - not that I've played EBO, I just have no interest in playing it.
Whenever I see something I don't like I normally feel the urge to share my dislike, in the same way that I share my liking for something, so saying I'm not happy with the rewards of the TTB Kickstarter for the price is to me the same as saying I don't like the sculpt of Alt Perdita, or how I loved the fluff in book 4.
But something occurred to me, I've been compelled to share my dislike and the reasons for at great length, and I now know the reasons behind this compelling need.
I'm sorry to say, that the reason is because of the general attitude of those who have backed the Kickstarter.
Apologies if you have backed it, and if so, and you believe what I am going to say now is aimed at you, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.
The issue is the assumption that as a Wyrd/Malifaux fan I am automatically going to pledge hundreds of dollars into this game.
I'm sorry, but despite loving most of Wyrd's work and adoring Malifaux, what I have seen of TTB makes it appear to be a game that I have no interest in playing, despite really enjoying RPGs.
On top of this, the Wyrd opinion I find slightly insulting, this is based off a comment made by (Eric?) on the main boards in response for value for money. I can't find the post right now, but in short he said that he didn't understand why people were saying they didn't think the Kickstart was good value for money, as stretch goals included on the $125 pledge we are getting stuff at well beyond a 50% discount.
Perhaps reading this you don't see why that is insulting, why I may feel the need to get aggrieved by that comment? Sure, I'm not surprised, my set up to explain this was terrible.
The thing is, I'm sure on a financial level it is good value for money, but from a personal level, I have no interest in nearly everything included in the Kickstart.
Sure I'd like the hardback book (I only buy hardback rule books as I've explained in a previous blog post) and the custom assembled miniatures are very appealing, but that is not enough for me to cough up the money they are asking for and this is including the extra stuff being thrown to us through the stretch goals.
This you see is my issue.
I personally do not feel, out of everything I can walk away with that out of everything I actually want, it's worth $125(+P&P), and throwing 20 fate decks and PDFs at me is not going to change that.
I get it, both Wyrd and the backers are enthusiastic about this, just like I am about MaliQuest. That makes sense to me, and I love seeing a company and it's community so enthused about a product, but not all of us feel like that, and I personally don't appreciate the assumption that we automatically are going to but into this.
I have to bring this back to MaliQuest, you see I would like to think that I have no assumptions at all about this game. It's a game I want to play, and yes I admit, I spam twitter and my blog with info about it, but do I expect anyone to play it? Of course not!
So there we have it.
If your enthusiastic about the TTB Kickstart I am genuinely happy for you, but please, when I state that in my opinion it is not good value for money or something I want to buy into, don't react like I've just said that Up is Down.
Stay safe and I'll see you breachside.
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Last night I took a break from working on MaliQuest, and as a quick notice, my next working will be on 'on pickup' cards, things like "Bag of Soul Stones" "add X number of Soul Stones to your cache" where X is equal to the rarity (something like Common=1, Uncommon=2 etc).
Anyway, in the absence of anything MaliQuest, I'd like to tell you about a thought I had yesterday while at work and was busy decorating the office's Christmas tree:
Why I have a bug up my arse about the Through The Breach(TTB) Kickstarter
It's strange, every year Wyrd produce many things that despite my fan status, I just don't like. Either it's a sculpt I don't like, or a style if crew, even games like Evil Baby - not that I've played EBO, I just have no interest in playing it.
Whenever I see something I don't like I normally feel the urge to share my dislike, in the same way that I share my liking for something, so saying I'm not happy with the rewards of the TTB Kickstarter for the price is to me the same as saying I don't like the sculpt of Alt Perdita, or how I loved the fluff in book 4.
But something occurred to me, I've been compelled to share my dislike and the reasons for at great length, and I now know the reasons behind this compelling need.
I'm sorry to say, that the reason is because of the general attitude of those who have backed the Kickstarter.
Apologies if you have backed it, and if so, and you believe what I am going to say now is aimed at you, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.
The issue is the assumption that as a Wyrd/Malifaux fan I am automatically going to pledge hundreds of dollars into this game.
I'm sorry, but despite loving most of Wyrd's work and adoring Malifaux, what I have seen of TTB makes it appear to be a game that I have no interest in playing, despite really enjoying RPGs.
On top of this, the Wyrd opinion I find slightly insulting, this is based off a comment made by (Eric?) on the main boards in response for value for money. I can't find the post right now, but in short he said that he didn't understand why people were saying they didn't think the Kickstart was good value for money, as stretch goals included on the $125 pledge we are getting stuff at well beyond a 50% discount.
Perhaps reading this you don't see why that is insulting, why I may feel the need to get aggrieved by that comment? Sure, I'm not surprised, my set up to explain this was terrible.
The thing is, I'm sure on a financial level it is good value for money, but from a personal level, I have no interest in nearly everything included in the Kickstart.
Sure I'd like the hardback book (I only buy hardback rule books as I've explained in a previous blog post) and the custom assembled miniatures are very appealing, but that is not enough for me to cough up the money they are asking for and this is including the extra stuff being thrown to us through the stretch goals.
This you see is my issue.
I personally do not feel, out of everything I can walk away with that out of everything I actually want, it's worth $125(+P&P), and throwing 20 fate decks and PDFs at me is not going to change that.
I get it, both Wyrd and the backers are enthusiastic about this, just like I am about MaliQuest. That makes sense to me, and I love seeing a company and it's community so enthused about a product, but not all of us feel like that, and I personally don't appreciate the assumption that we automatically are going to but into this.
I have to bring this back to MaliQuest, you see I would like to think that I have no assumptions at all about this game. It's a game I want to play, and yes I admit, I spam twitter and my blog with info about it, but do I expect anyone to play it? Of course not!
So there we have it.
If your enthusiastic about the TTB Kickstart I am genuinely happy for you, but please, when I state that in my opinion it is not good value for money or something I want to buy into, don't react like I've just said that Up is Down.
Stay safe and I'll see you breachside.
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Wednesday, 5 December 2012
MaliQuest: Character Cards - Factions
Good Wednesday all!
With only a few more days until my birthday weekend (I turn the youthful 29 years old on Monday) I'm kicking back and having some relaxed days, be it at home or work.
In order to facilitate this, last night I finished* the MaliQuest Character Cards.
*By finished, I mean provisionally, I am allowing for the fact that I may want/need to make changes at some point soon.
So let's get this show on the way:
First up, we have the card everyone is familiar with, the Guild Card.
Closely followed behind the Guild Card is the Arcanist Card.
Resurrectionist's Card
Neverborn Card
And last but not least, Outcast Card.
It was then last night that I realised I had not even touched the Ten Thunder's faction. To them I say "Screw you Ten Thunders!"
Nah not really, I'll probably be making a TT themed deck in the near future full of Pan Asian weapons and Artifacts, I'll sort it out then.
Anyway, I hope you like, please feel free to print and laminate and give a go!
- well at least do so once the character creation system has been finalised. I'm pretty sure the +3-1 system will work, but need to confirm.
See you all breachside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
With only a few more days until my birthday weekend (I turn the youthful 29 years old on Monday) I'm kicking back and having some relaxed days, be it at home or work.
In order to facilitate this, last night I finished* the MaliQuest Character Cards.
*By finished, I mean provisionally, I am allowing for the fact that I may want/need to make changes at some point soon.
So let's get this show on the way:
First up, we have the card everyone is familiar with, the Guild Card.
Closely followed behind the Guild Card is the Arcanist Card.
Resurrectionist's Card
Neverborn Card
And last but not least, Outcast Card.
It was then last night that I realised I had not even touched the Ten Thunder's faction. To them I say "Screw you Ten Thunders!"
Nah not really, I'll probably be making a TT themed deck in the near future full of Pan Asian weapons and Artifacts, I'll sort it out then.
Anyway, I hope you like, please feel free to print and laminate and give a go!
- well at least do so once the character creation system has been finalised. I'm pretty sure the +3-1 system will work, but need to confirm.
See you all breachside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Tuesday, 4 December 2012
MaliQuest: A (Near Final) Character Card Update/Greedy Gamer Gits
Good Tuesday everyone!
A couple of things today:
First, if you saw the discussion yesterday in my comments, a lot of things were suggested regarding the character cards, so I went home, did some rearranging and came up with:
This is still A5 in size, but allows plenty of space for any notes the player may want to make.
The only issue that was raised to me just prior to going to bed was the optical illusion caused by putting the Boots Cog between the larger Artifact and Weapon Cogs. It makes the smaller cog look a lot smaller than it is, even smaller than the other equipment cogs.
I will be getting around this by either making the equipment cogs bigger, or the offensive cogs smaller.
Not sure which to do, any preferences? Answers on a postcard or in the comments please :)
*********************
Next up was something I was made aware of last night over Twitter.
As most of you know, I do my Malifaux demos at Leisure Games in North London.
Now these guys are a great bunch, they are very accommodating and always looking to encourage games being played in their store. This is because they understand that such activity keeps the holy-trinity of retail happy (Manufactorer-Retailer-Customer).
So I was quite shocked when I was pointed to a thread on the official FFG website about the game XWing and a tournament they were holding in their store.
In short, Leisure Games featured the following comment on their events page:
So what's the problem here? The store has changed the rules (slightly) to mean that prizes will be given out in January rather than straight after the December event.
(I suppose I should give you a link to it) http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp?efid=254&efcid=6&efidt=752608&efpag=0
For those who haven't dredged through multiple pages of teenage drivel, that thread is full of people asking for Leisure Games to be blacklisted because they're committing fraud.
Now I don't know about you, but I was under the impression that fraud is when something is given when it should not, or the reverse, when something is supposed to be given, but denied.
In this instance Leisure Games have clearly advertised their stance and internal rules change on their website well in advance of the event. There is no misinformation, no false advertising and the event is a free to enter event on top of that.
To me this is yet another example of Generation Y and it's requirement to be given everything right now with minimal effort on their behalf.
It sickens me!
Why can't these 'people' get a job if their own, move out of their parent's home and realise what responsibilities there really are in life beyond 'I want'?
Damn I feel old.
And on that note before my gears get truly ground, stay safe and ill see you all breachside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
A couple of things today:
First, if you saw the discussion yesterday in my comments, a lot of things were suggested regarding the character cards, so I went home, did some rearranging and came up with:
This is still A5 in size, but allows plenty of space for any notes the player may want to make.
The only issue that was raised to me just prior to going to bed was the optical illusion caused by putting the Boots Cog between the larger Artifact and Weapon Cogs. It makes the smaller cog look a lot smaller than it is, even smaller than the other equipment cogs.
I will be getting around this by either making the equipment cogs bigger, or the offensive cogs smaller.
Not sure which to do, any preferences? Answers on a postcard or in the comments please :)
*********************
Next up was something I was made aware of last night over Twitter.
As most of you know, I do my Malifaux demos at Leisure Games in North London.
Now these guys are a great bunch, they are very accommodating and always looking to encourage games being played in their store. This is because they understand that such activity keeps the holy-trinity of retail happy (Manufactorer-Retailer-Customer).
So I was quite shocked when I was pointed to a thread on the official FFG website about the game XWing and a tournament they were holding in their store.
In short, Leisure Games featured the following comment on their events page:
FFG’s Kessel Run preview event is an exclusive X-Wing tournament taking place December 14 – 16, and a limited number of retailers will have a chance to participate. This exclusive event will provide players their first opportunity to see some of their favorite new starships in action!
This event is free to enter.
PLEASE NOTE: This event is scheduled in anticipation that the tournament kits reach us in time. Further information to follow when available. The Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) web site states that the ships used in this event will be given as prizes, however we want to give more people a chance to see and play with these fantastic miniatures so we will be using them for other events. In order to run the "Kessel Run" event we have to purchase a kit from FFG, they are NOT given to us free of charge, and each retailer can only purchase one kit, so we have to re-use the one kit. We expect to run another event at "Conception" games convention at the end of January. Models will be given to event winners when we have finished running events with this kit.
So what's the problem here? The store has changed the rules (slightly) to mean that prizes will be given out in January rather than straight after the December event.
(I suppose I should give you a link to it) http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp?efid=254&efcid=6&efidt=752608&efpag=0
For those who haven't dredged through multiple pages of teenage drivel, that thread is full of people asking for Leisure Games to be blacklisted because they're committing fraud.
Now I don't know about you, but I was under the impression that fraud is when something is given when it should not, or the reverse, when something is supposed to be given, but denied.
In this instance Leisure Games have clearly advertised their stance and internal rules change on their website well in advance of the event. There is no misinformation, no false advertising and the event is a free to enter event on top of that.
To me this is yet another example of Generation Y and it's requirement to be given everything right now with minimal effort on their behalf.
It sickens me!
Why can't these 'people' get a job if their own, move out of their parent's home and realise what responsibilities there really are in life beyond 'I want'?
Damn I feel old.
And on that note before my gears get truly ground, stay safe and ill see you all breachside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
Monday, 3 December 2012
MaliQuest: Character Cards
Good Monday everyone (damn I'm tired).
This weekend my MaliQuest focus has been two fold.
First: Finish cutting out my Loot Deck: Essentials cards.
As you can see, it's big! By my count in fact I make it roughly 250 cards.
But this is everything in the deck, my aim is to encourage people to play with only the cards they want.
For example: when it comes to SkypeQuest, I'll probably remove everything below rare quality (other than mods) which will drastically reduce the deck size and increase the chances of good draws.
But my main focus has been on designing the character cards.
So on Friday I came up with the following:
The aim is to allow for the players to laminate and write in their character name and stats and then mark off when they equip gear.
In addition, the Wound and SoulStone markers work in reverse of those found on Malifaux stat cards. You fill in however many you have, and then as you get hit/use stones, wipe them off the laminate, meaning everyone can have up to 10 Wounds and 8 Stones, but starting with much less.
I've had some feedback and based on that the following v2 was created:
The plan was to de-clutter the card, however as my wife pointed out, now the space for recording stats is drastically reduced.
Something I'll be trying tonight is creating some more cards, the first will have the Head/Gloves cogs moved to be in line with the Torso/Boots cogs.
The second will have all 4 cogs moved to be next to the Wd/SS blocks.
The third version will have the cogs removed all together and replacing them with a manual writing space, thus suggestion came from @Gorbad13, and I am curious to see how it will compare to the others.
I welcome any comments/suggestions. For obvious reasons, my trail of thought is so stuck into wanting there to be cogs, the idea of not having any had not even occurred to me!
Anyway, please excuse me while I take a nap on the way to work.
Stay safe, and I'll see you all breachside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
This weekend my MaliQuest focus has been two fold.
First: Finish cutting out my Loot Deck: Essentials cards.
As you can see, it's big! By my count in fact I make it roughly 250 cards.
But this is everything in the deck, my aim is to encourage people to play with only the cards they want.
For example: when it comes to SkypeQuest, I'll probably remove everything below rare quality (other than mods) which will drastically reduce the deck size and increase the chances of good draws.
But my main focus has been on designing the character cards.
So on Friday I came up with the following:
The aim is to allow for the players to laminate and write in their character name and stats and then mark off when they equip gear.
In addition, the Wound and SoulStone markers work in reverse of those found on Malifaux stat cards. You fill in however many you have, and then as you get hit/use stones, wipe them off the laminate, meaning everyone can have up to 10 Wounds and 8 Stones, but starting with much less.
I've had some feedback and based on that the following v2 was created:
The plan was to de-clutter the card, however as my wife pointed out, now the space for recording stats is drastically reduced.
Something I'll be trying tonight is creating some more cards, the first will have the Head/Gloves cogs moved to be in line with the Torso/Boots cogs.
The second will have all 4 cogs moved to be next to the Wd/SS blocks.
The third version will have the cogs removed all together and replacing them with a manual writing space, thus suggestion came from @Gorbad13, and I am curious to see how it will compare to the others.
I welcome any comments/suggestions. For obvious reasons, my trail of thought is so stuck into wanting there to be cogs, the idea of not having any had not even occurred to me!
Anyway, please excuse me while I take a nap on the way to work.
Stay safe, and I'll see you all breachside!
- Your friendly neighbourhood Doctor Loxley
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