Fiasco by Bully Pulpit Games

Do you like the kind of movies where the characters are charismatic and a bit crazy and by the end, everything has gone horribly (and hilariously) wrong for everyone?

YOU WILL LOVE FIASCO.

Or maybe you’ve always wanted to play a character like that but your regular group (or game) doesn’t handle PvP well?

YOU WILL LOVE FIASCO.

Do you have a group of gamers chomping at the bit to play, but nobody wants to step up and GM?

YOU WILL LOVE FIASCO.

Have plenty of people who want to play RPGs, but scheduling conflicts that make a regular campaign impossible?

YOU WILL LOVE FIASCO.

Hate games with so much dice rolling and math that you lose sight of the story?

YOU WILL LOVE FIASCO.

Did I mention YOU WILL LOVE FIASCO? Well, YOU WILL LOVE FIASCO.

One Book, Endless Possibilities

The official description of Fiasco:

Fiasco is a GM-less game for 3-5 players, designed to be played in a few hours with six-sided dice and no preparation. During a game you will engineer and play out stupid, disastrous situations, usually at the intersection of greed, fear, and lust. It’s like making your own Coen brothers movie, in about the same amount of time it’d take to watch one.

What you’ll need to play:

• 3-5 players (Got 6 people? Assign one person to be “Misc NPCs.” This works GREAT!)
• Fiasco book
• Playset (several playsets included in the book, others available for download!)
• Black & white d6s, 2 of each color per player (you can obviously substitute other colors depending on what your dice collection looks like – red/blue, purple/green, whatever!)
• Scrap paper and pencils
• A sick and twisted mind

Playing The Game

Everyone at the table helps create the characters by selecting character relationships, locations, objects, and needs using the playset and the pile of dice. You’ll have a relationship with your table neighbors: maybe the guy to your left is your husband and the girl to the right is your hairdresser/drug dealer.  Then you’ll share either a location, an object, or a need with each of those people.

Once these things have been selected, it’s pretty easy to hash out character concepts with the help of your friends at the table. In my first Fiasco game (using the playset ICE, which is in the book), I was in a penguin-worshipping cult with the guy on my right. I was a priestess and he was my acolyte and whenever we had a scene together, we ended it by having hot ritual penguin sex. (What that involved, we’re not quite sure. Possibly lots of arm-flapping.)

In Act One, each character has two turns. During your turn, you can choose to set the scene or resolve it. (You can’t do both!) As an introverted player, I love this aspect of Fiasco. Sometimes when it gets to be my turn, I’m not sure what I want my character to do. I get stuck in analysis paralysis and then I start to freak out that everyone is staring at me and I’m holding up the whole game and AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Fiasco gives me the out of saying, “You guys set the scene” and then sitting back and hearing the craziness my friends come up for my character. Then at the end, I can say, “This will go well for me” or “I think this probably should go poorly.”

If the scene went well for you, take a white die from the pool and award it to another player. If it went poorly, use a black die.

After each character has had their scenes, the game moves into The Tilt. Dice are rolled and certain complications are thrown into the mix. In ICE, one of our Tilt events was that something precious was on fire. The way it played out was that the warehouse caught on fire and my character had to choose between letting a penguin die or saving it (at the expense of her own life). Being a priestess of the penguin cult, I’m sure you know what she chose. I spent most of Act 2 being 95% dead and scorched. (And it was awesome!)

In Act Two, each player gets more time in the spotlight. Things will be going horribly wrong at this point. You may die during Act 2. You may kill another player during Act 2. Whatever happens, it will be spectacularly horrendously laugh-out-loud fun. If your scene went well for you, take a white die from the pool and keep it. If it went poorly, take a black die.

For the Aftermath, you will roll all your personal dice, do a wee bit of math, and consult the table to see how things ended for you. Maybe you got lucky and got off totally free and started life over somewhere far, far away. Maybe you suffered a fate worse than death. Or maybe you got lucky and died quickly.

The final round, each player gives several “This is me” statements based on their fate. For example: “This is me in my orange jumpsuit, meeting my very burly cellmate for the first time. His name is Bunny.”  Or maybe: “This is me, on the Maury Povich show, trying to figure out once and for all who my baby’s daddy is. This is my third appearance.”

When you die in Fiasco, it is awesome. Or at least, it should be. If it’s not, you’re doing it wrong! Both times I’ve played Fiasco, my character has ended up dead. In the ICE playset, my character died when a bunch of her (god’s messenger) penguins picked her up and carried her on their backs down a hill (penguin sled!) and into the frigid ocean.  It definitely cooled off her burns… but then she drowned. In the Alma Monster playset (by my boyfriend, DaveTheGame), my character was transformed into some sort of tentacled horror, presumed dead, and then thrown into a woodchipper by her pot dealer, who used her ground-up remains to make a special blend of marijuana. How cool is that?

Fiasco lets you and your friends create a crazy story that you’ll be talking about for months (maybe years!) to come. Check out Fiasco today. You can even get it in PDF and play tonight!

When the card game first arrived, I admit there was a little trepidation.  It’s not unusual for my sense of humor to be downright juvenile, but I wondered if the metric tonne of poo puns (see? there I go) was too much for even me.   A few of the puns were bordering on the gross side… I was skeptical.

As it turned out, I needn’t have worried.  The game play itself is fast-paced enough that you’re not really spending much time overthinking or conjuring up visuals – and I admit, I went from a little smirk to giggling every time I played a card where I could say “Right in the face.”

Game play is simple and speedy.   Each player is dealt five cards, and each turn you can either play a card or discard and draw a new one.  There are attack cards (worth varying amounts of Poo) and block cards that you can play instantly (these, too, are varied, sometimes turning the Poo on the one slinging it).

When you get 15 points of Poo you’re out of the game – but wait!  There are also “clean” cards that remove varying amounts of Poo from one or more players, and crazy cards played when you go out of the game that can royally screw everyone else.  Thus, the points can wildly change at any given moment, and it’s not long before you’re trying out strategies to maximize your chances at survival.

I tried out the game with only one other player, and this has its pros and cons.  For one thing, games go by pretty quickly, so you can try several rounds, several different strategies, without getting worn out or losing interest.  On the other hand, I suspect the amount of laughter and silliness grows exponentially with every additional player.  The deck is pretty large – enough for up to eight players.  That’s a lot of “Right in the face.”   I can’t wait to try it out with my family, including my two ten-year-old nephews, who I’m pretty certain will find it hilarious.

Which brings me to another point – though this game is called Poo, it’s a pretty clean-cut, all-ages sort of game.  It’s not intended to be played solely by kids, but it’s definitely kid-friendly.  And it manages to walk a very fine line of being cute with the Poo puns, without crossing the line into gross territory (despite my early reservations).

I suppose the big question is: did I like it?  Well, I don’t know that it earns a place in my Favorite Games Hall of Fame, but it’s got some things going for it, for sure: it’s an easy game that you can quickly play with a big group of people and have lots of silly fun.  I like trying all sorts of games, but let’s face it, sometimes just explaining all the rules of a game will sap some of the life from the party and put people to sleep.  Not so with Poo – it’s grab and go (I know, I’m awful).

Also a plus: the new print run (coming out this month) comes complete with a price cut – down to just less than $10.  So if you’re looking for something fun to pull out at the next family gathering, party or your kid’s next sleepover, something that goes well with a sugar buzz, something that even your non-geeky friends will want to play – you might want to scoop up Poo.

For those unfamiliar, Castle Ravenloft is one of THE most famous vampire adventures ever. Many a D&D player has fond memories of fighting Strahd. If you know Dan from Obsidian Portal, he has an awesome Strahd story that involves a very crafty cleric and a very, very angry DM.  Ask him about it sometime.

The Castle Ravenloft board game is the first in a series of new board games by Wizards of the Coast.

At a glance:

• Designed for 1-5 players (yes, you can play alone!)
• Ages 12+ (though younger geeklings could probably handle it, at parents’ discretion of course)
• Cooperative play, all players work toward a common goal
• Multiple adventures & modular board
• Includes everything you need to play, including minis for all adventurers and monsters

What I Liked About Castle Ravenloft the Board Game

D&D Feel, But Rules-Light

It definitely felt like playing D&D. The map, minis, and powers were familiar to me. I got to roll a d20 several times per turn. This was all good. What was great, though, is that all the fiddly little rules of D&D are gone. Your character sheet is streamlined down to a few essential stats. Your powers do a set amount of damage. You don’t have to worry about things like flanking or combat advantage.

If you’re looking to hook a non-gamer spouse into D&D, this is the game to play! There is just enough to do per turn to keep the veterans happy, but it’s simple enough that a non-gamer should easily get the hang of things after a few turns.

Cooperative Play

Players work together toward a common goal. With a full party of five, you have a Cleric, Fighter, Rogue, Wizard, and Ranger. Each one has skills that can help the party in some way. (But again, it’s very rules-light!)

The other thing that was fun is that every player controls both their own hero and one or more monsters or traps. On my turn, if I had a skeleton that was still alive, I was responsible for that skeleton’s move and attack of one of my party members. Everyone gets to be a DM for a little bit each round.

Everything Included, But You Could Spice It Up

The Castle Ravenloft box is big and comes with everything you need to play the game, including 40 unpainted miniatures. The good news? If you lack the Dracolich mini, you’re getting one with the Castle Ravenloft board game. Woot! The other good news? If you have painted versions of the minis, you can sub them in for the unpainted ones if you want things a bit more colorful. Not a fan of the Strahd mini? Sub him out with another vampire from your collection; it’s all good.

Wannabe game designer types could probably even study the character cards and make new characters of different classes if they wanted to get really crazy. I don’t see the need (since there are choices for character powers – you don’t have to pick the same powers each time you play), but hey… some people like more choices, and I think with some work, you could probably design your own characters for the game.

Never The Same Game Twice

Modular board: The interlocking dungeon tiles get shuffled for each game and depending on where your party decides to explore, could be arranged in hundreds of different layouts. (Also, you could swipe them to use as regular dungeon tiles for your D&D game!)

Scenario book: Choose your scenario and it will determine which special tiles are in your stack and also what your party’s goal for the expedition will be. Again, different scenario = different gameplay experience!

Encounter, Monster, and Treasure cards: 200 in all! There were some encounters that nearly wiped out the party, others that were a nuisance but not deadly, and others that were (due to circumstances on the board) not a threat at all. A great balance!  The monsters are your typical ghouls, gargoyles, and undead you’d expect in Castle Ravenloft, including the Burning Skeleton (I nicknamed him “Flaming Boner”).  Treasure cards are drawn each time you kill a monster and can be extended use items or expendable.

In Our Game…

We had a lot of fun!  At our table:  me, DaveTheGame & Bartoneus of Critical-Hits, Sarah Darkmagic & her husband. Trevor Kidd, Community Manager at Wizards of the Coast, should be thanked for allowing us to play the game early. We love you, Trevor!

Again, if you’re looking for a great board game with lots of D&D flavor but light on the rules and fiddly bits, Castle Ravenloft is a must-buy. Ditto if you’re looking to recruit non-RPG folks into your D&D game.  I know I’m looking forward to having a copy of this for our weekly board game nights!

Click to (pre)-order the Castle Ravenloft board game from Amazon.com.

UPDATE (8/7/10):

Here’s a video of Castle Ravenloft being unboxed with commentary by Trevor Kidd of Wizards of the Coast and DaveTheGame and Bartoneus of Critical-Hits.

At the time of this writing, I’ve played five of the six origin stories, and gotten fairly far on a few of them (well, it feels far, anyway).  I’m not through with the game by any means, but I feel I’ve gotten enough of a taste to begin to review.

First, the stories.  The last fantasy RPG  game I can remember playing for XBox was Oblivion – which, sadly, had a tendency to put me to sleep.  Not so with DAO – even when I’m observing friends play I find myself completely absorbed in the plot, which was a pleasant surprise.  Even though I knew this was supposed to be an “adult” game – I had seen the goriest trailers – I still gasped aloud the first time violence entered the picture.

That’s something of a trend with this game.  After playing one or two origin stories, you can guess what events must take place in order to put your character where it needs to be – but even if certain elements of the story are predictable, they are no less entertaining.   Conversely, there were quests in which I was certain I knew what would happen – and was floored when it took a twist I was not expecting.

The controls are something of a contradiction.  When I first took up the 360 controller, I felt that certain elements were counterintuitive – figuring out how to enlarge the mini-map took me much longer than it needed to.  However, it had been a long time since I’d played a 360 game that didn’t require a guitar or drums, so it might simply be that it was counterintuitive for me.

In contrast, I was apprehensive about the difficulty of the battle system, but it was surprisingly fun and simple.  I’ve been told by friends that you can get as in-depth as you want in controlling the members of your party, but I am content, at this point, to let fighting be as automatic as possible.

One friend felt that the fights themselves were inconsistent – that they either felt too easy or nearly impossible.  I’m willing to agree with that statement, except to say that “too easy” feels “just right” for me.

The graphics are a definite step up – visually, there’s less of a difference between when you’re controlling your character and when you walk into a conversation scene, making for a more seamless experience.  And the creepy deadeye look is indeed lessened here, as I’d hoped.  I also noticed that several different art styles are used throughout the game, adding to a sense of history, a more developed world.

The “romance” aspect has been a bit of a letdown.  Only one of my characters has earned a kiss – and then when that happened, I felt embarrassed!  I think I’ll leave the romance plots for chick flicks (and those novels that I occasionally read and then pretend I had mistaken it for fantasy).

The other adult factor, the blood, is all-too present, and at first it’s a little bit of a shock.  I soon grew used to my characters being covered in blood, though – all in a day’s battle.

All in all, I’d say that even though I was intrigued by the idea of Dragon Age: Origins, I was unprepared for how drawn in and entertained I’d actually be.  I think I was expecting something more along the lines of God of War – lots of blood, fun killing things, but not much more.  Instead, I found a storyline that, for the most part, moves along at a decent pace and keeps me playing – which is a nice surprise.

I was also unprepared for how addictive this game would be – in recent years I’ve been the sort of person who enjoys games that can be played for a few hours, left for a few months, and played a little bit more (unless it’s WoW).  I don’t think I’ve been this drawn in to a console game since the Kingdom Hearts franchise.

Dragon Age: Origins is definitely worth a look – if I had rented mine, I wouldn’t have wanted to give it back.

We’ve already checked out everyone’s favorite anger management case, the Barbarian, the tree-hugging, garden-planting, recycling-before-it-became-cool Druid, the peace pipe smokin’ Shaman, and now we’re on the final class – the paladin of the forest, the Warden.

In no particular order:

#1 Level 1 Encounter: Roots of Stone

“The burst of primal energy you unleash ripples through the ground around you and limits your foes’ movement.”

Starmus loves to be the center of attention.  He’ll round up all the creatures and bring them all to him, just so he can show off.  Some of his party members say he’s just showing off how well he bleeds, especially the cleric, who often has to go into her last reserves of power to keep him alive.  But death doesn’t phase Starmus – it’s just another stop along the circle of life, death, and rebirth.

#2 Level 6 Utility: Returning the Gift

“You draw on your strength to return the aid given to you by an ally.”

Dynna’s mother raised her right.  “Always give back,” she said. “Never take without giving.”  Dynna lives by these words and is very gracious to all that she meets.  She cleans up her own room at the inn before checking out, she tips her bar wenches well and in battle, she helps the allies that help her by mirroring their beneficial spells back to them.

#3 Level 16 Encounter: Sun Fire Guardian

“Enemies that try to strike your ally are blinded by golden light.”

It’s no secret that Karn has the hots for the cleric.  He follows her wherever she goes, he won’t let her out of his sight, and his first matter of business in any battle is to be sure that she is safe. He’ll drop anything he’s doing to rush to her aid, or at least close enough to send the sun fire guardian to protect her if she’s being attacked.

#4 Level 22 Encounter: Strength From Death

“You gain renewed vigor when an enemy falls.”

Trunk is a warforged who grew up in the forest.  Although there’s very little natural about him, he feels the need to protect wildlife and all those who inhabit the forests of the world.  Killing those who threaten that way of life gives him great pleasure.  Every time one enemy falls, a giant grin spreads across his face as he raises his sword and rushes for the next target.

#5 Earth Shaker Level 12 Daily: Tread The Earth

“You dive within the earth and move through it quickly, gaining advantage over unsuspecting enemies.”

They call him the Dirty Dwarf.  In fact, nobody remembers his real name because they’ve always known him as Dirty.  His hair in dreads, his skin caked in dirt, he’s a fearsome warrior.  When he suddenly started burrowing into the ground during battles, it didn’t really surprise his party much.  He’s always been half dwarf, half bulette.

That’s all, folks!

Grab your copy of Primal Power from amazon.com or your Friendly Local Gaming Store and start having some great adventures!

We’ve already checked out everyone’s favorite anger management case, the Barbarian and the tree-hugging, garden-planting, recycling-before-it-became-cool Druid.  Now it’s time for the peace pipe smokin’ Shaman!

In no particular order:

#1 Level 2 Utility: Engaging Pursuit

“Your spirit companion follows your enemies closely, preventing them from escaping your wrath.”

Ever have a bear follow your every move?  It starts out annoying, then becomes frustrating, and eventually turns out deadly.  Friv loves sending Bobo after bad guys.  And hey, if there are no bad guys, it’s fun to make Bobo follow the cleric around.  That big city boy doesn’t know what to do with bears, even spirit ones.

#2 Level 7 Encounter: Hammer of the Grasping Tides

“Your spirit companion transforms into a thrashing tide – a tidal wave to your foes and guiding current to your allies.”

Moradin’s healers tend to be clerics.  But not Rartor.  He has always felt the call of the wilds outside of the mountains and found the ways of the shaman to mesh better with his lifestyle.  It’s no problem – Moradin has blessed him with a great hammer of water to beat down the bad guys.

#3 Level 15 Utility: Tree Father’s Bounty

“Trees erupt from the ground, battering your enemies and allowing your allies to skirt around the trunks to reach superior positions.”

Tweet believes there are never enough trees.  Whenever the party travels, she plants acorns and saplings.  She’ll even pour healing potions at the roots of ailing trees… or at least she did until the party took the potions away from her.  Because of her close connection to trees, she can summon them in the heat of battle, but she winces every time a tree takes a hit while shielding an ally.

#4 Level 22 Utility: Medicines of Many Forms

“You scatter medicinal herbs among your allies, healing body, mind, and spirit.”

Eelu loves herbs.  Eelu loves talking about herbs, collecting herbs, eating herbs, drinking tea made of herbs, and healing with herbs… but above all else, Eelu loves smoking herbs.  It’s rare to find Eelu without his special pipe.  Sometimes the herbs smell sweet, sometimes bitter, sometimes savory.  His party have learned to predict Eelu’s personality based on the way he smells that day.

#5 Great Elder Level 12 Utility: Great Hymn of Nature

“In the spirit world, the song is many-layered and hours long.  In the natural world, you hum three bars and the spirits do the rest.”

Lyre’s parents were bards, and she traveled the world with them, listening to their songs.  While she decided to go the route of the shaman, she still believes in the great power of music and often sings her spells instead of simply saying the words of power.  In fact, her singing voice is so beautiful that she’s often been able to earn the party free meals by performing the many songs she’s learned throughout her life.

Coming Soon…

Stay tuned for the last post in the series on the warden! In the meantime, grab your copy of Primal Power from amazon.com or your Friendly Local Gaming Store.

The first post in the series took a gander at everyone’s favorite anger management case, the Barbarian.  Today, we’ll look at our tree-hugging, garden-planting, recycling-before-it-became-cool friend, the Druid.

In no particular order:

#1 Level 2 Utility: Sudden Bite

“When a foe drops its guard, you change into a beast to strike.”

Jilene looks like a sweet and innocent elf.  In fact, she appears like she’s terrified of everything.  The sky looks like lightning bolts will fly out of it at any moment, her food always smells as though it’s been poisoned, and she’s never, never, EVER the first person to peer around a corner.  In fact, during battles, she makes it a point to stay as far back from the action as possible.  But when an enemy tries to run past her, she morphs into a black panther and swipes at the creature, snarling viciously.

#2 Level 5 Daily: Clinging Drones

“Immense insects cling to anyone who gets near you, making it difficult for them to move carefully.”

After years in the jungles of Xen’drik, Frank the half-giant has become more of a druid than a cleric.  Where he once used to summon a Celestial Bee to fight off undead (rather ineffectively when it came to damage, his party might add), he can not summon a swarm of giant bees that sting the enemy and slow it down.  Turns out that living amongst the kobolds in the jungle makes one a pretty good beekeeper.  “You’re covered in beeeeeeees!”

#3 Level 16 Utility: Dryad’s Trees

“Two ancient trees spring up. You and your allies can move from one tree to the other with a single step.”

Thorn’s father wanted him to be a warlord, commanding soldiers, leading an army.  But Thorn wasn’t that kind of guy, really.  He was more of the plant a tree, hug a kitty, love your neighbor kind of guy.  Needless to say, his father disowned him at a young age.  Luckily, he was able to take refuge in the local druid grove.  He still grins when he throws acorns of primal energy across the battlefield and watches them sprout instantly into giant trees that his allies can use to gain better positioning.  If only his father could see him now!

#4 Level 29 Daily: Earth Maw

“You call forth a maw of earth and stone, which seeks to swallow your foe.”

Hew believes that some creatures are just born evil and that they need to be returned to the earth so they can be reformed into something good.  As such, he always buries creatures that the party kills.  In fact, he bought a bag of holding just to hold a large shovel.  When he cannot bury a creature with dirt, he covers it with a large piece of brown cloth (which he also carries in his bag of holding just for this purpose).  When Hew opens the great maw of the earth with this spell, he calls to his god, asking that the creature’s next life be more enlightened.

#5 Level 12 Spiral Wind Utility: Releasing Breath

“As your friend catches his or her breath, wind gusts past, making you and your allies harder to see.”

When Hunter decided he’d rather channel the wind than be as a wild beast, everything changed.  As his spirit wind whips around the party, he heals and protects them.  This is great, since the party recently lost their cleric.  What’s not so great?  Ever since the whole Spiral Wind incident, Hunter’s been significantly more chatty.  In fact, he doesn’t shut up.

Coming Soon…

Stay tuned for posts on the shaman, and warden! In the meantime, grab your copy of Primal Power from amazon.com or your Friendly Local Gaming Store.

We’ll start with everyone’s favorite anger management case, the Barbarian.  (I think I referred to the Avenger as an anger management case, too.  Perhaps it’s a hybrid made in heaven?  Then again, the stats probably wouldn’t mesh.  Someone look into that!)

In order from lowest level to highest:

#1 Level 1 Day Attack:  Savage Juggernaut Rage

“Your blow triggers an inner wrath that grows more and more unstoppable with each enemy you fell.”

His mother re-named him Jugger after a very unfortunate encounter with a flight of stairs when he was just beginning to crawl.  She screamed in horror as the tiny gnome rolled down the stairs, head over heels, and crashed into the potted flowers at the bottom.  When she ran down to rescue him, she found he was not crying, but laughing.  “Boom!” he said, pointing at the mess of dirt and flowers on the floor. “I made a big boom!“  To this day, Jugger’s small stature is laughed at… but only until he makes a big boom.

#2 Level 7 Attack: Looming Threat

“An ally might have raised a foe’s ire, but once you strike, that enemy must pay attention to you.”

Dwarf twins Yarka and Tarka have always had problems sharing.  Luckily they went different paths for training – Yarka as a Barbarian and Tarka as a Warden – but being in the same adventuring group causes issues.  For example, whenever Tarka marks an enemy, Yarka does her best to pull the enemies attention to her so she can make the kill.   It’s a constant back and forth that can sometimes drive the other people in their party crazy.

#3 Level 10 Utility Power:  Howl of the Alpha Wolf

“You snarl nearly incomprehensible orders to your allies, and they hasten to obey.”

There are so many great, juicy, absolutely vile vulgarities in the giant language.  In fact, Gauthak believes there really isn’t any other language that can describe horrific things in such detail with so few words.  During a near death experience, Kord appeared to him and told him that he should never use these words again.  “These words grant power to your enemies,” Kord said, “and you will be a stronger warrior if you avoid them.”

For someone who grew up with the mouth of a sailor, giving up vulgarities has been very difficult for Gauthak.  He does his best, messes up frequently, and beats up on himself after the battle.  When he does manage to avoid swearing, he snarls and screams in gibberish.

#4 Level 16 Utility:  Bounding Advance

“You bound past your foes.”

Eyrina is a paradox.  She’s quite possibly the happiest elf ever to walk the earth, but she’s also a bloodthirsty warrior ready to gut an enemy with a single swipe from her blade.   Eyrina doesn’t “bound” across the battlefield – she skips.  And whistles.  With a grin that spreads ear to ear.

#5 Level 20 Stonefire Rager Attack: Volcanic Rage

“Your weapon is sheathed in flame as you strike.  Your wrath boils over, radiating from your molten skin and scorching nearby foes.”

Biri has always breathed fire, but nothing like this.  With this, she is fire.  Ever since she began channeling fire energy, Biri has become more and more hot-headed.  She’s easier to get riled up and extremely hard to talk down.  The party’s wizard helps focus and calm her by producing a small ice cube with one of his cantrips and floating it over to her.   This fiery rage is not something she wants spilling outside of battle and she is extremely apologetic to her party members once she calms down.

Coming Soon…

Stay tuned for posts on the druid, shaman, and warden!  In the meantime, pre-order your copy of Primal Power from amazon.com or your Friendly Local Gaming Store.

In the spirit of Geek’s Dream Girl, I’m not one for serious, nitty gritty reviews.  That’s just boring and frankly, that’s what everyone else is going to do.  I’m not everyone else.

Ultimate Toolbox has a bazillion tables for everything you could ever imagine (and some things you probably never thought to imagine).  Every table has 20 options, so you can go totally old school and let your dice decide if you want.

Here are some of the neat things you can do with AEG’s Ultimate Toolbox…

Make a Crazy Character (PC or NPC!)

Select your stats:

• Table 1-1: Character Beginnings
  • #4  Born into a convent
• Table 1-2: Family Composition
  • #18 One parent alive, no siblings
• Table 1-3: Famous Ancestry
  • #18 Powerful cleric of a strange faith
• Table 1-8: Character Backgrounds, Concepts
  • #12  Tattoos.  You can’t quite get enough of them; you either pay someone or you do your own.
• Tables 1-9: Character Motivation
  • #9 Become a martyr
• Table 1-16:  Common Rites of Passage
  • #20  Taking vows
• Table 1-17:  Character Quirks
  • #12 Frequently rubs holy symbol around neck
• Table 1-19: Character Features
  • #3 Bald, intentional or not
• Table 1-33: Tattoos (Unusual)
  • #3 Crows feeding on a dead body
• Table 1-49: Cleric Quests
  • #4 Build personal strength

Do you have the same image I do?  I’m thinking about a character who is a member of a bizarre faith (perhaps a cult?), born into that group as the only child of the leader.   After taking her vows to her goddess, she’s sent out into the world to build up the strength she would need to be the leader of her faith once her mother dies.  If she cannot do this, she must die the death of a martyr.

As dictated by her faith, she shaves her head nightly and rubs her holy symbol over her head and neck before going to sleep.   She throws herself into fights, pushing ahead of her party so she can get to the action first.  In her mind, if she dies fighting for her goddess, it is just as well.

After every major encounter that she survives, she tattoos herself with an image to remind herself of the battle.   She hopes that by the time her skin is covered with ink, she will be ready to assume her position as priestess of her goddess.

Answer Questions You Weren’t Planning on Answering

Every GM has had the experience of players latching on to something and heading in a completely different direction than you’d originally planned.  Now, you can always railroad, but what’s the fun in that?  Why not pull an adventure straight out of your ass… oh wait, you don’t have to!

Flip to Chapter 2.  Roll a die.  Question answered.

• “What’s the name of the bridge we just crossed?”
  • #15  Span of Harmony
• “What’s the weather like here?”
  • #11 Flashes of lightning from the clouds nearby, but not a drop of rain falls from the sky
• “Are there any goblins living near here?”
  • Yep, and they live in… #3 Eel Gut Hole
• “I caught a fish!”
  • It’s a … #8 Grouper
• “I’m going to hunt!  Woo, 20! What did I shoot for dinner?”
  • #12 Silver Fox
    
• “I’m gonna pick that guy’s pocket!  How much did I get?”
  • #6 1d3cp, 1d8sp, 1gp
• “What kind of rumors do we hear at the tavern?”
  • #2 Circus always leaves death in its wake
  • #8 Guild leaders are in league with hell
  • #14 Ruler is a vampire lord

Fun Tables, Tables, Tables

Here are some of my favorites:

• Gatehouse Diversions (page 82)
  • #9 Members of the town guard check all who enter against a wanted poster.
• Local Legends (page 93)
  • #5 Dire rodents eat local lettuce and dance to strange music.
• City Smells (page 106)
  • Table 3-62, #12 Cut grass or bushes. (I love the smell of freshly cut grass!)
• Gravestone Description (page 109)
  • #6 “Best cook in the land,” followed by “Always go easy on the basil.  Too much can overwhelm the stew.”
• Blocked Path/Detritus (page 155)
  • #19 Slow-moving livestock  (Believe it or not, I’ve had this problem in real life!)
• Potion Tastes (page 227)
  • #7, Burnt leather (Ew.)
• Villain Trigger (or Hot Button, page 322)
  • #18, Sensitive about height or appearance
• All of Chapter 5′s section “The Dead.”  Seriously, if you want to make your Buttkicker players feel more kickass, start using the tables here to describe the carnage they create.
• Uses for Gnomes (page 391)
  • I love all of these!  (#3 is especially devious.)

And yes…

While this book does contain nearly 400 pages of tables, there is an extensive index in the back so you can frantically look up the page of flag descriptions, or pirate names, or tavern dinner menus.

Finally… The Editorial Nightmares

One thing kept cropping up over and over and over as I read through this book – silly mistakes that could have been avoided by a good editor.  For example:

• There’s no set amount of spaces after a period.  Sometimes it’s one.  Sometimes it’s two.  Sometimes there’s no space at all.
• There are times when an asterisk is placed after an item in a table (or a table header), but there’s no reference in the footnotes (pages 66, 119, 123).
• In other cases, what should be a footnote for multiple tables is listed directly under the first or last table of that set, regardless of whether it’s located on the top of bottom of the page (pages 312, 313).
• In other cases, the asterisk is followed by an explanation on the same line (pages 15, 220).
• In two-column layout, descriptions spanning two lines sometimes have the second line indented (page 17), but sometimes not (page 68).
• On page 81 in the CITIES box, the third sentence reads: “They answersthe basic questions…”
• On page 85, #12, the words “stone bridge” are repeated twice back to back.  Seriously, it says “complete a great stone bridge stone bridge connecting two interested but separated lands.”

When one purchases a $50 book, it is expected that all parties involved did an outstanding job creating it.  While I can’t say that the editorial team hit the mark, I can fully vouch for the writing team.

There are pages and pages of awesome ideas in this book that any GM, regardless of system, can pick up and use in their campaign.  GMs will love this book.  Players who like to write extensive back stories for their characters will love this book.  Folks who want to write their own adventure modules or fantasy novels will love this book.

Grab your copy of Ultimate Toolbox from Amazon.com if you can, it’s nearly $20 cheaper than retail!

P.S.  For those who want to scan this review and comment with any editorial discrepancies they may find within it, knock yourself out.  I’m sure I missed a few, but then again, I’m not being paid to find them.

In the following letter, Mielka Dawnhammer, Divine Oracle and Cleric of Moradin, sets out her holiday wishlist.  (Things in orange are text from the AV2.)

Dear Father Winter,

It’s me, Mielka. Moradin will tell you that I’ve been an extra good girl this year – after all, he made me a Divine Oracle!  HIMSELF, even!   I mean, even if I get nothing for Winter Solstice, I think that the memory of meeting the Soul Forger himself when I wasn’t already dead was a pretty big present.

But if you’re up for giving me some more stuff, here are some things that make my cleric-y heart go pitter-pat like … like… something that goes pitter-pat that’s not a heart.

Armor

Healer’s Armor – for extra healing goodness!

Property: When you use a healing power, the target regains additional hit points equal to the armor’s enhancement bonus.

Holy Radiance Armor – shiny beautiful shiny light! and healing! and light!

Power (Daily): Minor Action.  You expend your use of a Channel Divinity Power for this encounter and shed bright light 20 squares in all directions.  While within the light, you and each ally gain regeneration 3 while bloodied and +2 power bonus to saving throws.

Winged Armor – because every dwarf secretly wants to fly.  And honestly, Father Winter, walking chafes my ample womanly thighs, if you know what I mean.  Come to think of it, being FATHER Winter, you probably don’t… just trust me, k?

Power (Daily): Move Action.  You fly your speed.  You also gain a +2 power bonus to all defenses until the end of your next turn.

Weapons

Now, Father Winter, you know I’m not the type to jump into combat.  It’s just too bloody and gross up there.  But every once in a while, a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.   It might be nice to do it with these:

Earth-Wrought Hammer – because it’s always good to have a bit of the mountain with you at all times.  Also, would be fun to yell like a mountain goat when knocking people over.

Critical:  The target is knocked prone.

Supremely Vicious Hammer – Okay, this is kinda a silly one.  There are other people in my life who would make better use of this.  But seriously, how awesome would it be to bring down the wrath of Moradin in a super lethal way once in a while?  Right?  Maybe I’ll just stick to healing, though.

Critical: +1d8 damage per plus, and you can choose to reroll any or all of your critical damage dice, but you must take the second result of each die.

Holy Symbols

I’m of the belief that a girl can’t have too many holy symbols.  I mean, it’s like, awesome.  It’s the bling of the gods.  Who’d want any other kind of bling?  Oh, and it has POWERS.  Yeah.  Nobody else’s bling from the corner shop has powers like Moradin’s bling.

Symbol of Branding – NOT FOR ME.  Please, Father Winter, bring this totally awesome holy symbol to a needy Paladin of Moradin.  Because what would be more awesomer  than Moradin symbols branded into the foreheads of every evil thing in sight?

As you utter a prayer, this symbol flares to sear your god’s icon into the forehead of your foe.  Until the end of the encounter, when that enemy takes radiant damage from your divine challenge or divine sanction, it takes 5 extra radiant damage.

Symbol of Defense – You know I hate blood.  This would help me prevent blood.  Hence, WORTH IT!

Power (Daily):  Immediate Interrupt.  Trigger: An attack hits an ally you can see.  Effect:  The ally gains a +5 power bonus to all defenses against the triggering attack.

Symbol of Shared Healing – I’m all about the healing.  So, this would be really good for my often-bleeding friends.  (See how NICE I am, Father Winter? I ask you for this stuff not for me, but for THEM!)

While you wear this symbol, you can heal an ally even as you tend to your own wounds.

Symbol of the Holy Nimbus – A nimbus is a cloud.  A cloud is fluffy.  I’m fluffy like a cloud.  Thus, this would be the bestest holy symbol ever for me.

When you use the healing word power during a combat encounter, you and each ally within 5 squares of you also gain temporary hit points equal to your Charisma modifier + the symbol’s enhancement bonus.

Arms

My old Shield of Protection is cool, but I think I’d really like a Preservation Shield better.  Even though it has arrows on it and those are kinda elfy, it’s okay.  I hear tell it’s good for quick healing.

Power (Daily): Minor Action.  You and each ally within 5 squares of you gain temporary hit points equal to the number of healing surges you have remaining.

Feet

Fey Warrior’s Boots – Okay, I know I said I’m not into elfy stuff, but let’s be honest here.  I’m a 5×5 dwarf, I’m not too good on the quickness.  These might help me get out of the way of things a bit quicker.

Power (At Will):  Immediate Reaction.  Trigger: An attack misses you.  Effect: You teleport 3 squares.

Hands

Gloves of Grace – I’m pretty sure part of my destiny is being around people who are always dying.  Like, seriously.  These might help me prevent this from happening.

Power (Daily):  Minor Action.  An ally adjacent to you makes a saving throw.

Head

Sacred Mask – It’s pretty and ivory and it scares away the undead – how super cool is that?  Besides, every so often I need to hide my drunk face and when singing the Sober Face Song doesn’t work, this mask would do just fine!

Property:  When you use a Channel Divinity class feature, until the end of your next turn, you deal 1d6 extra radiant damage against undead enemies and can score a critical hit against undead enemies on a roll of 18-20.

Neck

Possum Amulet – I’ve already met Moradin twice, Father Winter, so I’d really like to have this amulet so I don’t have to meet him again until my destiny is fulfilled.

Power (Daily):  Trigger: An attack reduces you to 0 hit points or fewer.  Effect:  You are instead reduced to 1 hit point and knocked prone.  Enemies believe that you have been reduced to 0 hit points, and you gain total concealment from them until the end of your next turn.

Rings

Alliance Band – Because you know how much I love preventing people from bleeding everywhere.  This will help keep everybody nice and sealed up!

This silver ring is inset with complex interlocking decorations and provides healing to your allies.

So, Father Winter, if you could, bring me some of these thingies.  There’s a good long time left before Winter Solstice, so I’ll probably even be strong enough to wear all of them by then.  (Well, except the hammer, you can’t WEAR a hammer, duh.)

To sum things up, I’ve been a very good girl.  Ask any of my traveling companions.  Nobody’s even died yet!

Thanks for everything,

Love,

Mielka Dawnhammer