Month: December 2016

Draw Your Character

Dyson's Dodecahedron

People often ask how I got to the point I’m at with my maps and drawings. The answer is almost always “practice”. But I often forget to mention what got me started.

Well, really, who got me started.

While I initially blame my first D&D crew and thus Gygax and Arneson, the reality is that one particular game author changed how I looked at drawing and made me start doing it even though I was horribly uncomfortable with the unskilled quality of my work.

Jonathan Tweet is the man to blame / credit. In 1992 Atlas Games published Over the Edge which was EXACTLY the game I wanted to play at that point in my life. And there was a rule in the game that you HAD TO DRAW YOUR CHARACTER.
draw-your-character

It made a HUGE difference.

That connection, even to a crappy illustration, was big. It did engage different parts…

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Minion Masters vs. Clash Royale

Me Vs. Myself and I

This month’s Humble Monthly bundle was met with mixed results. Looking at the titles on offer, I already owned a copy of Dragon’s Dogma (for PS3, though this is a copy of the recent PC port) and Mordheim. The other indie games packaged in the bundle looked pretty lackluster as well, but one game stood out to be something I was potentially interested in.

minionmasters_logo_web

The subtext should be a little clue, apparently this title comes from the makers of Forced, which was a quaint little action-RPG from a few years back. There was a sequel of sorts, and now Minion Masters, which is more of an arena duel, but there are layers of depth there — think easy to learn, hard to master. The game is currently in early access, and is likely going to be a free to play title. You can buy premium access now that provides some…

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The Epic Elite Shuricannon, Victorious

The Order of Syncletica

A DEX of 60. What else does a Shuricannon need for an Epic Elite run? A DEX of 60. What else does a Shuricannon need for an Epic Elite run?

I’ve been waiting for this moment. I’ve studied others, often “monkcher” builds, on how they survive and defeat an Epic Elite quest by themselves.

This moment also brings a moment of declaration to any player that believes that a pure class cannot survive long, much less alone, in an Epic Elite quest. Never mind the notion that a thrown weapon can equate to bow attacks.

It was time for the Shiradi Shuricannon to blow away the myths–and its enemies.

Completion Study

I’ve watched some solo EE “Gianthold Tor” runs where a monkcher (one which had Monk, Ranger and Wizard levels, based on the buffs he used) completed the initial quest, defeating the boss mage. The optional dragon/giant pairs were not shown.

I saw two very important things.

One, the monkcher’s burst damage, using Adrenaline Overload and…

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Another one for the trolls, Acid Wit

Micki's Delirium

Acid wit is another lvl 15 f2p quest in the Twelve. As my and my sis’s druids were both 17, and we had not done this quest yet, I suggested we do it today. Unlike Delirium, this quest I have actually solo’d once, on Cerge last life, so I .. even though I didn’t remember much of it, knew something about what to expect.

We entered elite, and started clearing. I’m a heavy sp user on my druid, and I was out of sp when we ran into an optional red named earth elemental. I told my sis to retreat, as I, my hire and wolf were dead, and she got us back up. After I got up, I started casting SLA call lightning on the mobs, and running behind a corner, or just kiting them around. We continued like this til we got to the door with the crystals…

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Once in a blue moon

Tactalicious & Craftalicious

I was tired last night. Halfheartedly trying to pull a Luminous Truth since I have all the stuff, but not the item. That’s unusual; most of the time it’s the other way around. And worse of all – you have to farm the end quest, so no quick run for any chest – just that one. And there’s no ‘quick’ run through it since the spiders only spawns at certain stages. And it’s not like you can keep on beating her over and over to slap out some more (she leaves several times). So functionally that’s 2 chests every 30 or so minutes which is NOT cool when it comes to farming. Plus there’s no ‘third time is a charm’ type chain reward. Which is a big oversight in my opinion.

You know what – if other quest chains have ’em then all of them should. Plus let shards and…

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What Kind of DnD Character Are You…in Real Life?

The Order of Syncletica

Wow. This was fun.

Took this quiz (it’s about 130 questions, so find some time first, and turn off your pop-up blocker and switch on JavaScript) that asks you real-world questions of your behavior and then generates who you could be if you were a real-life Dungeons & Dragons character.

My results weren’t surprising. Take a guess.

I Am A: Lawful Good Human Monk/Cleric (3rd/3rd Level)

Ability Scores:
Strength-14
Dexterity-17
Constitution-14
Intelligence-13
Wisdom-15
Charisma-12

Alignment:
Lawful Good A lawful good character acts as a good person is expected or required to act. He combines a commitment to oppose evil with the discipline to fight relentlessly. He tells the truth, keeps his word, helps those in need, and speaks out against injustice. A lawful good character hates to see the guilty go unpunished. Lawful good is the best alignment you can be because it combines…

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Catch Up

grimordes blog

It’s not been the most exciting of weeks, so I haven’t much to pass along. But I’m going to bore you all with it anyway 🙂

Our 5th guildie finally got his internet sorted out, so managed to get a few days of Mabar in with him before it dropped. Unfortunately all my farming plans seem to have gone out the window, I think I’ll have to get serious with it when (if?) it comes back later this month.

We’re gradually getting back to running our TR’s, who are now at 13 (Hymm, with 14 banked) and 11 (Fyrne with 12 banked).

I do miss my light monk though. So I cheated and created a Vet II light monk on Orien to try my whirlwind build with. He doesn’t get played very often, but it’s nice to jump on with him now & then.

Yesterday I realised that there is…

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Long time no write

Tactalicious & Craftalicious

What can I say, it started with me being disappointed at first with the rigid enhancement change (better now) and then the abysmal xpack that followed.

It sucked and drained all my energy for the game and while it only lasted for a month or so, I got back feeling less enthusiastic about the game than before. And I’m not 100 percent yet. Mostly because the raid scene is more or less dead, randomly generated items have destroyed a lot of the named stuff and I can’t get myself to run upper end xpack quests. Not only for the awful mechanics but also because they’re not fun.

Take the shadowfell effect. A purple headache inducing effect that people complained about during Beta testing and that has not changed since. No one likes it. It range from physically making you ill to making it harder to ‘see’. I can’t understand why…

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Why player housing should be mandatory, not optional, for MMORPGs

Bio Break

housing

Yesterday we got a huge amount of insight into Elder Scrolls Online’s upcoming 2017 player housing system — homesteads — and I have to say that this news definitely tips me over the edge into wanting to play the game. It looks kind of terrific, with multiple house styles (and yards), freeform placement, and interactive stations. In my eyes, it was the final big piece that the game needed to be fully fleshed-out… maybe not done, but an MMO proper.

Housing isn’t a fancy extra that some of the more extravagant MMOs can afford; it should be absolutely mandatory to any serious online game that wants to maintain and grow a community. Over the years I’ve migrated from the position of “oh housing is nice if it’s there” to “why is it NOT in this game? That’s a travesty!” I’m genuinely nonplussed that popular games like World of Warcraft and…

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