Before and After. A Tag About the Game Day
Being a glutton for punishment I asked my good buddy, May, to tag me with the latest meme going round the blogoshere. This is called the before and after tag. It is a free form tag so you can talk about anything you want and make a comparison. Just make it before and after.
I have been wanting to post about the game day I ran for my kids, so I figure I can kill two birds with one stone here. My lad had two friends over and my daughter joined us to make it a foursome for Dungeon and Dragons in the world of Eberron. Note it is not a fivesome, because as the Dungeon Master or DM I am not a player. I just present the scenario.
The GM’s side of the game table. Before the game I had to pick a game module. Read it, and adapt it for Eberron. Then I brushed up on any special rules that might apply to this adventure. Afterwards, it was a big success as all of the kids had a good time and they really want to do a prolonged campaign.
Before I had kids I had hundreds of dice. Afterwards I am lucky to have the few that I do. Of course I have to share with these guys when we play. A gamer can never have enough dice in all those different sizes, shapes and colors.
Before the game the character was developed and printed on a piece of paper. Afterwards that piece of paper had become a hero in the player’s mind. Not everyone can go wipe out a den of goblins ya know.
Before the screen all players wonder what the DM might throw their way. Afterwards they are thankful their character survived the mystery though their interaction, dice rolling and pretending how they would react in the face of death.
Before the game players needed to read these books. After they finished they came up with some great motivations for their characters. This should be an interesting campaign.
Before the game the table was nice and tidy. Afterwards it was a bloody mess. But what do you expect after a big battle.
Before the game I had to pick out the creatures the characters would fight. Afterwards they expressed their worry when they saw so many set out. Of course that is just a GM trick to keep them off guard. muahahaha Though I did threaten them with my dragons when they did not pay attention to the game.
But now that I have completed the tag part I will give some more details. We started a campaign in game world called Eberron. I let each kid play two characters, which probably was a mistake. But it could thin out quickly enough with a little attition. *evil glare* Five od the boys’ characters are a race called shifters. They are related to werewolves and their ilk, but not evil. In fact they were zealots in a war against werecreatures in the past. The other character developed by the boys was an elf of House Phiarlan. He possesses the dragonmark of Shadow that lets him cast a darkness spell. My daughter only wanted to play one character and she picked a character of the changeling race. This allows her to look like other humanoid creatures, thus she can be a good spy.
For the purpose of the story the shifters and the elf fought on the same side in the Last War. This war lasted a 100 years and it split the nation of Galifar into many smaller pieces. Several new nations exist in the dust of an uneasy peace. The heroes gather at the castle of the lord who they served in the last war. He publically wants them to help a village recover from a plague caused by goblins. He introduces them to an expert he hired from the city of towers, Sharn (the changeling, though they do not know of her ability). In secret later that night the Lord lets them know of a depot he wants them to explore. He seeks information about this.
Let me make a long story short. The goblins have actually taken up residence in this depot. The heroes discover this and dispatch the goblins in short order. They acquire some treasure for their efforts too.
They return to the baron to tell of their success, only to learn that the Baron has been assassinated. Who could have done this? They may choose to unravel this mystery in future sessions.
November 8th, 2006 at 1:08 am
LOLOL!! no wonder you wanted to post your Before & After! I must say this is a great angle to write about Before & After. good job, SA!!
*nicks a couple of dice*
November 8th, 2006 at 1:17 am
nice dices u have
in triangular and hexagon shape..
November 8th, 2006 at 1:28 am
Very unique way!!!!! *scratch* scratch* LOL!!
ah ben finally posted his blue blue teh kor as promised liao !!
November 8th, 2006 at 4:21 am
At the end of the entry, I understood why you asked May to tag you (how many people out there wants to be tagged??!!) - so that you can talk about something obviously close to your heart. One of life’s passion, eh? LOL!!!
November 8th, 2006 at 5:10 am
not againnnnn!! booohoooo!
November 8th, 2006 at 6:33 am
I lurve your colourful dice!!! Lurve lurve lurve!!!
*hugs misti*
November 8th, 2006 at 6:35 am
My daughter creates her own games like that. I see her scratching down numbers, making markers and stealing dice from the yahtzee set. She has this fantasy world much like you do. I must say, I was thinking this would be something she would outgrow. I see now that perhaps it is a fixed part of her personality
November 8th, 2006 at 7:03 am
Not the dice May. *pengsan* keke It worked out purty good that way. Thanks for helping me.
Blue Ribbon for you.
Oh yeah Chen. They come in all sizes and shapes. They number of sides can be 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 20. Heck they even have a 100 side, but I do not own one of those. hehe Red Ribbon for you.
Haha. So you ever played this in school LB? I never have visited Ah Ben before. I guess I need to go see what this blue thingie is. White Ribbon for you sir.
I was gonna talk about this anyway Bkworm. Still not sure I have reached my objective. That being why dice are so important to a gamer.
Ah misti. I still got a huggie for you dear.
You can never have enough dice Angel. I may just go and buy those boys some dice for Christmas. My kids already have their own, which they lose and replace with mine.
They have conventions for these games Dapphenwood. The big kahuna is Gencon in Indianapolis. I went last year and there were 40,000 people there. I go to smaller local cons in Texas and you can see around 100 and on up folks playing these games. These are good for developing creativity and teaching problem solving skills.
Your daughte reminds me of me. I was creating games when I was 8 or 9. Usually the Battle of the Alamo, though in my games the Texans usually won. hehe
November 8th, 2006 at 8:20 am
Haha SA I know what you mean about dice. My prized crown royal bag contains little more than moths and a few worn out polys… had to break down and order one of those pound-o-dice bags
Clever of you to enlist your young ones in obtaining a new gaming group. I only need to wait a few more years. I just hope chick dosn’t write a tract about me corrupting the youth!?! Oh well if he does I’ll just have Neal5×5 rescript it hehehe
November 8th, 2006 at 10:09 am
I still have a few of my dice from the original box set. Talk about some ugly dice DU.
Corrupt thme kids right. hehe
November 8th, 2006 at 2:40 pm
There is a card shop in Houston called Heroes. I must have bought her every type of dice they sell. She hasn’t found a replacement shop here in KS where she can meet other uh….introverted kids like herself. When we went to Houston in August you better believe she made me stop there. Never mind visiting her relatives, she needed to go to Heroes!
November 8th, 2006 at 4:39 pm
*hugs Angeliu back* i macam this month don’t have present liao. *stares at SA*
November 8th, 2006 at 8:56 pm
ohhh, I wish I was playing D&D, use to play lotsa of RPG during my school days from Robotech series to Cyberpunk, did a bit of D&D but was never hardcore. Wish I could do some adventurin now and then. Cheers!
November 8th, 2006 at 10:06 pm
i have never understood the dungeons and dragons game!! i had the book many years ago, but i never understood how the game is played!!
i love the colourful dices! where did u get them from?*tries to steal some as well*
November 8th, 2006 at 10:07 pm
thats odd, how come my comment didn’t show…
November 8th, 2006 at 10:07 pm
ok now i see it!! hehe.. sorry for clogging up your comments!!
November 8th, 2006 at 10:17 pm
games games games!!!
we should play sometime also eh…
November 8th, 2006 at 10:18 pm
I know Heroes quite well Daphnewood. Though I go the Sugar Land store. Thats where I bought my kids dice. And quite a few other things. hehe I know there has to be a shop in KC. Tell her not to give up.
Stares @ misti.
When I go to Singapore I know there are some folks that wanna try my horror game JoeC. Maybe I can play a session in Kay El too.
I bought them at the game store JJ. How did you get a hold of this in Malaysia. Cool. I can teach ya when you come this way or I go that way. Its not hard, but it helps to have someone that has played before.
The refresh can be slow JJ.
See.
November 8th, 2006 at 10:18 pm
Sure FF. Would love too.
November 9th, 2006 at 9:08 am
Did you have a round die before?
November 9th, 2006 at 10:01 am
There are some Abaniko. But I don’t trust ‘em.
November 9th, 2006 at 12:35 pm
*stares harder*
hehehe
November 9th, 2006 at 1:00 pm
How much harder?
Hmmm? *blink blink*
November 10th, 2006 at 3:52 am
D&D?
DICES?
GEEK ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!
November 10th, 2006 at 7:10 am
Geeks?
0.0
Where Simmie?
hehehe. Caught me.