David Given Schwarm

Married, Father, United

Tag: Public Play

  • Actual Play–Journey into Nyx Game Day

     
     

     

  • Journey into Nyx Game Day Deck Tech

  • Journey into Nyx Game Day @ Magic & Monsters


    Matt Wins!

    For the Journey into Nyx Game Day this weekend Tuesday headed to Magic & Monsters for some Draft!


    Matt

    Liam

    Matt’s brother Will & Preston


    Derek & Jack


    And Alexander 


    Sat down to pass around three packs. 

    We got some great tokens


    But no one really got that great of cards.

    The boys did a lot better job building their decks.

    I stated my first game with a very inauspicious start

    And Liam ended me fairly quickly with his red white deck!


    The other boys all had great matches!

    Jack and I had a great Black mirror match!

    Will did really well for his first draft


    The shop was super cool–giving the boys all sorts of promo cards!


    Very good time was had by all!


  • Free RPG Day 2014

    This year for Free RPG Day on 06/21/2014, I plan to return to Comic Quest for some Pathfinder adventuring!


  • Changes to Public Play

    There are a lot of changes coming to public play–the most exciting is a very good red, white, and back color scheme. 

    And look at that Ampersand–may be the best that we have ever seen, no?

    The first real important change I see is a greater clarifications on the roles–we have players, DM’s, and Coordinators. I think Coordinators have not been getting nearly the same level of support as the other two roles & an increased focus on communication with the shop organizers is a very welcome change.


    Story first is a very good idea. I think it is representative of how most of us have been playing D&D Encounters for a while & improved focus on the story is never a bad thing.

    The introduction of factions is also brilliant–it is another great move that I have seen bring a lot of fun to the PFS tables. 

    A certificate reward system has been tried before–I think in theory it is a good idea, but it can be very hard to implement and often does not really add much to the action at the table…I am taking a wait and see attitude on this.

    Community involvement & more player input to the story has been the Gold Standard since Living Greyhawk, but I am not sure how important this will be at the beginning. My thoughts are that if the story goes well & the factions start to really matter then including more community stuff may work. Either that or just having random shops insert stuff based on raffles or something may work–you know a shop is chosen at random to design the boss dragon for season three or something…but again with this, I am taking a wait and see attitude–I would love to see it work, but I do not think it is required.


    Kick off events are ALWAYS a good idea–I would love to see a return to the Great Game Days of years gone past. Also, dropping the mini’s and other material on the Game Day would be fantastic. I really like a move towards integrating these with the Encounters seasons, when that was done in the past I think it really paid off.



    I am a huge fan of D&D Encounters not only as a way to draw in new players, a la Friday Night Magic, but also as making Wednesday the Day you Play D&D. I think that the routine of playing on Wedensday and knowing that people around the country are playing the same adventure as you was one of the first things that drew me to Encountes.

    I think we are moving away from Encounters being kind of central to the story and moving things more to Home Games which I think is fine, but I would like to see a lot of continued support for the Encounters Program and the DM’s that run it.




    This is the gold in the announcement, in my opinion. CON play is really where I expect to see a lot of growth in D&D and I think that the plan they lay out here is spot on exactly what needs to happen. Really looking foreword to this next year.

    Overall, I am extremely excited with the way in which Public Play is moving with the new edition. 


  • Actual Play Dead in Thay–D&D Encounters S18 S2

  • Actual Play Dead in Thay–D&D Encounters S18 S1

  • Elemental Plane of Earth Dead in Thay–D&D Encounters S18 S1


    DM Alan lead Brian, Chris, David, Jack, Scott, &  Victoria through the Game Day Adventure section this week–it was a blast.



    This is DM Alan’s first time behind the screen and so far he is doing great–sourced his own mini’s, knew the rules, kept things moving and focused at a very difficult table. If week one is any indication, this may be an epic week!


    Brian is playing Dopey the Gnome Druid and he is digging the new location–Comic Quest is near his home which makes it easy. The shop is also full of Magic players & Comic kids on Wednesday so there is some great interaction opportunities.




    Scott is making the drive from Long Beach and playing Happy the Human Paladin. We meet before the session at the local Chipotle.


    Victoria is a DotA playing friend of Scott’s–I think. This was her first D&D Experience. She played Cat, an Elf Ranger and did well.


    Jack is playing Bashful, an Elf Wizard who casts fireball. A lot.

    I think he is happy with the level of Magic players in the shop & seems to be having some fun.


    Chris is still having a blast playing Kaius, the Drow Rogue. He seems to be fitting right in even though his views on D20’s vs Spin Dice is archaic at best.


    Space was a little crowded at the table.


    The shop has a soda machine, which stopped working about half way in–it was super hot this Wednesday, but the shop cranks the AC & it was actually a little cold at the end.


    I am playing Doc, a Human Cleric to St Cuthbert & have the perfect mini


    Brian is using his iPhone for his mini


    The party does look much more heroic than the sound.


    Negotiations with the NPC’s went better then expected


    Combat was not horrible–with a lead off fireball & some decent strikers we are able to push through most combats in 15 minutes or so.


    There were a few crits–here is DM Adam’s Earth Elemental crit on Jack



    Victoria scored her first ever crit



    Doc got one with his mace–for ST CUTHBERT!


    We are having a map drawing contest. Here is my map


    here is Brian’s


    DM Adam liked mine better!

  • Actual Play Dead in Thay–D&D Encounters S18 S0

  • Dead in Thay–D&D Encounters S18 S0

    Character Building Week!




    We have moved from Mercenary Market to Comic Quest in Lake Forest  



     We came up with a bizarre retelling of the Snow White story that involved an abandoned drow baby, a Naming Day Massacre, and a random pack of miners. You will have to watch the video to see if it makes any sense at all.


    Brian is playing a druid this season, Scott has a paladin, Jack has some crazy DOTA wizard, I have a cleric, and new player Eric has a drow dagger master. 

    DM Alan will be behind the screen this season–he has an amazing knowledge of the rules & will likely run a very tight adventure–I am really looking foreword to it!

    The store is very clean & has a great staff with awesome attitude. There is a Legacy Magic group that also meets on Wednesday so when attendance spikes in the summer things may get a little crowded–but this week with six people at the table things were just fine.

    The shop is also near a lot of good food & coffee choices.


    We are off to a great start this season.