Top RPGs, CRPGs and Anime of 2018
Hello fellow gamers! Allow me to introduce myself. Sham B. here reporting for duty. Avid collector of RPGs and CRPGs, full-time geek, proud waifu admirer, anime fan, self-proclaimed bastion of gaming knowledge. Also old… yeah getting old gotta love it. So excuse me if every once in a while I tell someone to get off my lawn. That is a habit that seems to just come with age. Otherwise I am 18 at heart. I might grow up, someday. Just not today. Hello and salutations my few and precious readers! I come to you tasked with a quest.
Blast from the Past: Point and Click Games Gaining a New Wind or Just Nostalgia?
Salutations, nerds!
I’ve been thinking a lot about games I used to play as a kid, in no small part thanks to some games I’ve been playing as an adult in similar styles.
The point and click genre is always going to have a special place in my heart. I can’t tell you how many hours I sunk into King’s Quest and Mixed Up Mother Goose, even after current Windows stopped supporting them and I had to resort to using DOSBox to get them to play.
DriveThruRPG Sponsors Nerdarchy and Saves You Money on RPG Stuff
Nerdarchy is proud to announce a terrific sponsorship from DriveThruRPG – the largest RPG download store! Since 2001, DriveThruRPG has been a premiere online marketplace for digital and print-on-demand roleplaying games. Even more, the expanded family of sites makes comic books, card games, fiction and more available with ease. With DriveThruRPG as a sponsor, we can now pass along great deals to the Nerdarchy community.
Are Tabletop Games Destined To Go Digital?
I know, I know – the very title is blasphemy. Tabletop games in digital form have been tried before, and while they can be perfectly enjoyable, they kind of miss the point. These games are about gathering together, enjoying a tangible game board (with pieces and/or cards), having a few drinks together, or even dressing up for the event. It’s about community and friendship as much as the game itself, and there’s a depth of experience there. For crying out loud, it’s even become the foundation for Stranger Things, which is one of the most popular shows on the planet right now!
Mists of Ravenloft Engulf D&D Online
Mark your calendar for Dec. 5, 2017 and stock up on garlic and wooden stakes – Dungeons & Dragons Online delves into darkness with the Mists of Ravenloft expansion release! Featuring 12 new quests, a new raid, new wilderness area, two new public areas, a brand new saga and more, Mists of Ravenloft has been a long-rumored addition to DDO players will finally be able to enjoy…if they dare.
Count Strahd von Zarovich casts his shadow over the lands of Barovia from Castle Ravenloft. Are you brave enough to face him?
Blast from the Past: Phantasy Star
There’s a school of thought floating around out there suggesting whatever a person is into when they’re 12 years old will stick with them the rest of their life. I’m a believer of this notion. Personal experience and ad hoc research (i.e. asking around here and there) bears it out.
So it’s no surprise that Phantasy Star II holds a place of reverence in my nerdy heart.
The Reroll Rule Problem
The Article Abstract: To highlight the issue with confusing rules from one system to another. While it can be very useful for homebrew and discussion, the danger is that it can cause confusion and arguments between friends. The solution, unfortunately, is to simply be prepared for the situation when it comes up and to simply allow the Game Master to adjudicate the situation. Being able to support your position with documentation helps your case, but ultimately it is the responsibility of the GM to keep the game moving and keep it overall enjoyable.
Product Overview: Star Trek Adventures Copy
Star Trek Adventures, by Modiphius Entertainment
The reason why I’m calling this a product overview, as oppossed to a preview or review, is because my intent isn’t really to do either. I haven’t had a chance to play a single session of it so far, although Nerdarchy Staff Editor Doug Vehovec, and Staff Writers Asa Kinney (who recently wrote an excellent article on paid GMs), Drew Murray, and I had an excellent Session 0, and we’re going to run a test game on September 24 (absolutely coincidentally the same day as the premier of Star Trek: Discovery).
Product Overview: Star Trek Adventures
Star Trek Adventures, by Modiphius Entertainment
The reason why I’m calling this a product overview, as opposed to a preview or review, is because my intent isn’t really to do either. I haven’t had a chance to play a single session of it so far, although Nerdarchy Staff Editor Doug Vehovec, and Staff Writers Asa Kinney (who recently wrote an excellent article on paid GMs), Drew Murray, and I had an excellent Session 0, and we’re going to run a test game on September 24 (absolutely coincidentally the same day as the premier of Star Trek: Discovery).
Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms is Free to Play Dungeons and Dragons in Early Access on Steam and it’s Awesome
Salutations, nerds! And good news for fans of idle games like Cookie Clicker and AdventureQuest Dragons. Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms is a Dungeons and Dragons game in early access on Steam right now, free to play, and I have to say it’s exactly what I needed.
It’s an idle game, and if you’re not already aware of what that means I’ll give you the run down: you don’t have to do a whole lot for the game to do what it does. You click a couple of times and get it started and then watch the numbers go up and get ridiculously high as the story progresses and in this case, as your heroes do more damage.
D&D adventure within adventure at Gen Con 50
A couple of days have passed since returning home from Gen Con 50 adventure. Decompression and recovery efforts were successful – getting back to the gym and catching up on sleep work wonders!
All the physical stuff is unpacked, flipped through wistfully, played again, read, and admired now on the shelf. So I thought I’d unpack the intangibles to share. The memories, experiences and lessons for fellow nerds and gamers.
I love me some tabletop games, and this trip to gamers mecca did not disappoint. But of all the games in all the world, that sweet, sweet D&D is my favorite.
Q&A: Starfinder RPG from Paizo Inc.
The cover for the Starfinder Core Rulebook, from Paizo Publishing
2017 is a huge year for tabletop roleplaying games. Rich and rapid growth of the industry has ushered in a new golden age for what we all know is the greatest hobby in the world.
Or perhaps it’s a space age. With all the space fantasy and science fiction themed RPGs entering the marketplace, it might be more accurate to say tabletop RPGs are the greatest hobby in the universe.
Leading the fleet of these myriad cosmic game enterprises, Starfinder is set for launch on Aug. 17 at Gen Con 50 where the hardcover version drops, with the PDF version of following in September. Preorders are open now, so you can head over to Amazon here and get your copy of Starfinder reserved.
Nerdarchist Ted had an opportunity to playtest the game in a live stream event run by Owen K.C. Stephens, game designer and developer for Paizo. If you missed that event, you can still watch the VOD on WebDM’s YouTube channel. And in the video above Nerdarchist Dave welcomed Stephens to the live chat to talk about Starfinder as well.
Here on the website, we had a chance to pose some questions to Rob McCreary, a senior developer at Paizo Inc. and founding member of the Starfinder Roleplaying Game development team. McCreary also holds the distinction of being the first author in the Starfinder Adventure Path line (among many other distinctions in his career!). Incident at Absalom Station kicks off the Dead Suns adventure path and is available for preorder now, with a scheduled release date of Sept. 5.
Gaming Has Changed My Media Expectations
Jon Heder, as the titular Napoleon Dynamite, and Aaron Ruell as Kip engage in a nerd battle in the independent film “Napoleon Dynamite.”
Arguing about media is a staple of the nerd subculture. We spend an inordinate amount of time going over our favorite shows, movies and books with a fine-toothed comb picking out small details and jabbing at each other with them, because as nerds it’s just what we do. It shouldn’t be a huge surprise, then, that my friend group is no exception to this.
I’m not going to lie, much of the time it’s my fault. I am a total killjoy to watch a movie or anime with, because I absolutely hate it when the main character does everything.
Product Review: Monopoly Gamer Puts Nintendo Twist on Classic Game
Is it weird that I simultaneously feel offended, as a gamer and nerd, to be blatantly pandered at and almost assuredly going to get it? https://t.co/Y9wfRieKBK
— Joshua Brickley (@OriginalRubahak) June 28, 2017
When I first heard about Monopoly Gamer, I rolled my eyes. “Yet another cheap shot at gamers to buy Monopoly for the 50th time with a dumb gimmick,” I thought to myself. It’s not the first time a company slapped “Gamer” onto a product in a cheap attempt to sell a few more products. (Full disclosure: I did end up buying one some time later, with some personal disgust in my heart, but I couldn’t pass up the color scheme.)
At first glance, it’s just Monopoly with plastic Mario figures instead of generic metal ones, and coins instead of money. Plus, they’re adding IRL downloadable content by means of extra figures you can buy. Commence even deeper eye roll. However, as ashamed as I am of myself, that was enough for me to buy it.
Open Legend RPG character build: Aetherficer Bunny
You might be familiar with our Open Legend game “Aether Skies – The Beginning of the End.” Doug, Professor Bill, Ty and Megan have already done character builds for the game, and those articles were fascinating reads, so now I’m finishing up the series by stepping back onto the website and showing what is behind the curtain with my character.
Open Legend RPG is an open source roleplaying game designed by Brian Feister, who sponsors our weekly live game that streams on Fridays at noon Eastern on the Nerdarchy YouTube channel. The core rules for the game are available for free online here.
It feels weird writing an article again when I have not done so in so long. I might dive into stuff currently going on in the game or even stuff that has not been revealed yet so you have been warned.
