Star Wars Wednesday - Catching Up

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I think the past few weeks set some sort of record for me for busyness between work deadlines, freelance deadlines, conventions, and everything else. Things have eased up a little bit. I was catching up on various Star Wars novels and other releases, much like catching up here. I still have a decent stack for the holidays, and that doesn't include whatever's piled up at the comic book store. At least binge reading the comics makes a certain degree of sense, as I continue to get the single issues for the time being. I really ought to switch to trades for a few of the lines. So, continuing with the catching up theme...

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D&D Drums in the Marsh Fantasy Grounds and Map Pack Now Available

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Over at the DMs Guild, I've updated my D&D Adventurers League adventure DDEX1-07 Drums in the Marsh (Tyranny of Dragons) to include complete files for use with the Fantasy Grounds 2 virtual tabletop. Since the VTT environment works better with more maps, I've included three new encounter maps and redrew the existing encounter map. The new maps are based on my sketches for some maps originally submitted with the adventure, but not included in the final version that was released. They aren't required to run the game, but they can help.

Thanks to Fantasy Grounds for the opportunity to create these files. It was easier than I expected once I got the hang of it. I plan to make use of this for some future DMs Guild works. 

For those who play at the tabletop or on other VTT products like Roll20.net, I also released a separate Drums in the Marsh Map Pack. 

The pack includes:

  • Separate DM and player versions. 
  • Print versions for use as handouts at the table.
  • JPG files for use with virtual tabletop programs. (These maps are already integrated into the Fantasy Grounds version of the DDEX1-7 adventure file.) The maps include guides to aid in setting up grids in some VTT software. The VTT version of each map includes a players map without grids, a players map with grids, and a DMs map with notes and no grids.
  • Note: Due to the large size of the encounter areas, this pack does not include files suitable for printing at 1" miniature scale. 

The areas included are: 

  • Farm area map (new map).
  • Twilight Marsh encounter areas (2 new maps).
  • Redrawn final encounter map.

 

Star Wars Force and Destiny Ghosts of Dathomir Announced

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Today, Fantasy Flight Games announced Ghosts of Dathomir, a new adventure for Star Wars Force and Destiny, arriving in the first quarter of 2017. I had a fantastic time writing this adventure and look forward to the everyone getting a chance to play next year. In the meantime, the first preview went up today over at FFG. The art is fantastic, once again.  As always, that's about all I can say at this time....

Star Wars Wednesday - Reading and Listening

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One thing about missing weeks on the blog, there's now so much new Star Wars being released, it's easy to get behind. Not that I try and talk about everything that is released, obviously, but often like to hit the highlights. With the new season of Rebels up and running, new books and new comics recently announced, I look at the growing stack of books on the shelf and think I've got to find some time somewhere to fit some more reading in.

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Star Wars Wednesday - MidAmeriCon II Worldcon 74

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It's not every year that the world's most prestigious literary science fiction convention comes to town, so Worldcon was definitely not an event to miss. Then I found out there was a gaming area, so I knew I had to try and participate. Then they announced they were having a Star Wars Day, and I definitely wanted to be involved in some capacity. I went in for pretty much the full Worldcon experience, buying a membership early on and getting in on the Hugo award voting process. 

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Star Wars Wednesday - KCCC Rolling into MidAmericCon II / Worldcon

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Kansas City Comic Con last weekend, and now MidAmeriCon II / 74th Worldcon starts today. Same venue, but two very different events. I'm excited to see how Worldcon compares, though some differences are already apparent. With three conventions in three weeks (and two world class), it's definitely been the busiest con season I've had for a while. It definitely helps having two of them in town, and even better that both had good Star Wars connections. 

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Star Wars Wednesday - Gen Con 2016

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Star Wars Wednesday - Gen Con 2016

Last week brought another successful Gen Con, with around 60,000 gamers packing the convention center and surrounding hotels in downtown Indianapolis. The dealer hall expanded yet again, and the show extended all the way into Lucas Oil Stadium. Despite some early concerns, I got through without straining an Achilles tendon, though I did cut down on the walking some. Fantasy Flight Games that several major Star Wars boardgame and card game announcements. My product Age of Rebellion Forged in Battle was released at the show, and should be available in stores soon if not already.

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MidAmeriCon II / Worldcon 74 - Panel & Games

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This year, the 74th annual World Science Fiction Convention (Worldcon) is being held in Kansas City as MidAmeriCon II, August 17-21, 2016. Among the events, such as the noted Hugo awards, is Star Wars Day. The original MidAmeriCon hosted Worldcon in 1976, and featured a promotional panel of an upcoming sci-fi movie called Star Wars. Mark Hamill, Charles Lippincott and producer Gary Kurtz attended. This year's convention is welcoming back Lippincott and Kurtz for a return visit, along with novelist Alan Dean Foster.

There will be a number of other events for Star Wars Day. I will be part of the Star Wars Tie In panel, discussing novels, games, and other elements beyond the movies. Stephen Saffel (past Del Rey editorial director for the Essential Guides, etc.) will be the moderator, and the other panelists are Kevin J Anderson (Jedi Academy Trilogy, etc.), Rebecca Moesta (Young Jedi Knights series), and William Dietz (Dark Forces trilogy).

I will also be running Star Wars RPG games and demos. The demos will feature the just-released Star Wars the Force Awakens Beginner Game RPG. The full 4-hour games will feature the main RPG lines. I am also running one session of Dungeons & Dragons (5e).

My full schedule is here.

Sign up for games ahead of time on Warhorn. My events are not yet listed, but hopefully will appear soon. My games are listed on my full schedule (link above).

Now available: DM Combat Tabs on Dungeon Masters Guild

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DM Combat Tabs is my new product now available at the Dungeon Masters Guild.  

Track initiative, conditions, and more on any DM screen.

The kit includes 37 tab types:

  • Player Character, Monster (2 types), NPC, Ally, Your Turn
  • Blinded, Charmed, Deafened, Frightened, Grappled, Incapacitated, Invisible, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned, Prone, Restrained, Stunned, Turned, Unconscious
  • Death Save (Fail), Death Save (Success), Stable, Dead
  • Concentration, Inspiration, Reaction Used, Ready Action, Other
  • Lair Action Active, Legend Used, Recharge
  • Advantage, Disadvantage, Spell Effect, Roll to End Effect
  • "More Problems" tab extension for those unfortunate monsters suffering many effects at once.

DM side.

Fill the PC and Monster tabs out by hand after printing, or use the PDF form fillable options before printing. Forms can be saved for reuse.

Customize tabs for your game. Do you want to track different conditions, spell effects, or other information not provided in the kit? Do you run the same adventure often and want to create tabs for the specific monsters used? Use the customizable tabs to add your own text to the front and/or back of the tabs. Add images to the front of the PC and Monster tabs.

5 fully customizable tab types:

An example of a customized tab page.

  • Player Character (Front and back: character name, class, level, race, faction, player Name. Front only: image. Back only: AC, HP, Passive Perception, Vision type and distance)
  • Monster (2 types)/NPC/Ally, (Front and back: Name. Front only: Image. Back only: AC, HP, minimal notes)
  • Condition tabs: Long and short.

Tabletop Tab Rack.

Keep organized and find the right tab quickly during the game using one of two rack types:
DM Screen Tab Rack: This pair of racks hangs right on the DM's screen to minimize loss of table space. It works with the official standard D&D screens or most any other screen type.
Tabletop Tab Rack: A simpler rack folded into a sawtooth shape to hold the tabs. It sits on the table top. 

Storage options: Assemble the included custom box to store the DM Screen Tab Racks with the tabs still in place. Other storage suggestions are also included.

DM Screen Tab Racks and Storage Box.

Also use on table tents and minis.

Printing on cardstock is highly recommended, but thick or regular paper can be used. Cutting and folding is required to use the tabs and the racks. Assembly of the optional storage box requires glue or tape.

Formatted for US letter sized paper. 

Player side view.

DM side view

Storage box.