Part two of my summer con trilogy has come and gone! Dexcon marks the halfway point between Origins and GenCon. Unlike those other two cons, this one is located in NJ and too, too convenient to attend. It's also a great rally point for all our home hogs.
Dexcon was the most successful con to date from an event standpoint. Thanks to all the support from The Prof, Willy the Too and Spointer, we were able to run three WEGS sessions simultaneously, marking the most number of players to be WEGS-ing it the same time (17 players). Sure, someone might be throwing down WEGS for mass amounts of people somewhere else on the globe, but I haven't heard of it yet (and if they are, let me know so I can sell them some rulebooks!).
At Dexcon, the WEGS arena is set-up at the hotel side entrance in front of a cascading wall of water. The area is just big enough to fit three large tables, the WEGS banner and the product table. It's a great area for passing traffic, but standing in front of a waterfall for twelve hours is enough to bring down a SAN% test. Luckily, some non-con attendee decided to take a swim in the pool late Sat. night, resulting in the waterfall being turned off all day Sunday.
The con ended with yet another amazing game: 99 Low Level Orks! This was the final WEGS event on the schedule, and, truth be told, I thought there wouldn't be any player turn-out for it. Sunday con games are usually a bust. Not the case this time! Thanks to The Prof's tireless recruiting tactics, we had to set-up two tables side-by-side and run the game for 9 players. The game took us all the way up to the close of the con (6 pm).
As you can tell from the tardiness of this post, it took a little longer to recover from this one!
Next stop, Gen Con!
Showing posts with label WEGS LIVE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WEGS LIVE. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Origins 2009 Aftermath!
Origins, the first of the big three summer cons, has come and gone! Thus the gap in my postings: a couple weeks prior to the con is prep time, a couple weeks after is recovery! Two remain, though: Dexcon, NJ and Gen Con, IN. The hardest one to prepare for is the first, after that it's routine pretty much.
GameWick Games had a corner booth in the center of the exhibit hall and, thanks to our friends and fans, was rocking all the time. The Bride of WEGS (as she is called by the King of the TTG), Willy The Too and Spointer were all on hand to assist with the demos, allowing me to stay sane amidst a sea of gaming hysteria. And then there was the Witthogs, who showed up everyday for the WEGS Power Play sessions (from 2 to 4 pm). Wicked, wicked fun!
At night, we convened at 9pm for our official convention events: these are the events that folks register for. These events were jam-packed every night, so much so that on Saturday we had to add a second session of Dingbitt's Dunge O' Doom (one session run by Willy The Too, the other by Spointer). I floated between the two tables as the disembodied Kreator/pit boss. I think that's the most players ever to wegzit in the same room, same time (just barely beating the single session at the Krystal Keep back in 2008).
All in all, a great way to start the summer con season!
GameWick Games had a corner booth in the center of the exhibit hall and, thanks to our friends and fans, was rocking all the time. The Bride of WEGS (as she is called by the King of the TTG), Willy The Too and Spointer were all on hand to assist with the demos, allowing me to stay sane amidst a sea of gaming hysteria. And then there was the Witthogs, who showed up everyday for the WEGS Power Play sessions (from 2 to 4 pm). Wicked, wicked fun!
At night, we convened at 9pm for our official convention events: these are the events that folks register for. These events were jam-packed every night, so much so that on Saturday we had to add a second session of Dingbitt's Dunge O' Doom (one session run by Willy The Too, the other by Spointer). I floated between the two tables as the disembodied Kreator/pit boss. I think that's the most players ever to wegzit in the same room, same time (just barely beating the single session at the Krystal Keep back in 2008).
All in all, a great way to start the summer con season!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Gen Con Aftermath!
OK... Haven't posted since the last con! That should give you a hint on how hectic things have been and Gen Con was no different. Gen Con rocked from beginning to end (and literally the dice didn't stop rolling at our WEGS booth until the "voice of god" came over the exhibit hall loudspeaker kicking out all non-vendors). Folks were still chucking dice at our table until the bitter end! I'll post stuff over the course of the next few weeks on the GenCon games/demos once I catch up... This con-hopping summer was nutz!!!
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Of Mice & Minion Masters...
Before...
Right out of the 1954 movie, "Them!". I had high hopes for these two minions. Level 7 Giant Fire Ants with a nasty afterburn from their bites (i think it was D10 Wounds at the Spante for the next four innings). They marched confidently into battle, as ants often do...
After...
Right out of the 1954 movie, "Them!". I had high hopes for these two minions. Level 7 Giant Fire Ants with a nasty afterburn from their bites (i think it was D10 Wounds at the Spante for the next four innings). They marched confidently into battle, as ants often do...After...
And they were quickly dispatched by the Arks, who showed them who rules the checkered mat!
Best laid plans...
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Meanwhile, at another college con...
Some of the rockin' Witthogs took WEGS over to Wright State for Glory Con!
Platinum Warlock's Post-con Wrapper Upper
An adventure where you eat the remains of your minions?
Sweeeeeet!
(And check out Shroedinger's Cold Roll...)
Platinum Warlock's Post-con Wrapper Upper
An adventure where you eat the remains of your minions?
Sweeeeeet!
(And check out Shroedinger's Cold Roll...)
Our Icon Excursion...
Last weekend, me and Spointer headed to Icon, a sci-fi con at Stonybrook University on Long Island, New York. Icon is heavy on the "science" part of sci-fi, but has a gaming arm, too. There's lots of folks wandering around in costume. As it's on a huge college campus, there's the whole student body mixing in with the con-goers.
We ran three out the four games on our schedule. Friday night's Pirates of Penzantium game started off with a bang, as a returning player from last year arrived full of enthusiasm for WEGS. He brought a friend who he had run through a WEGS game a couple of nights prior, so both had experience under their belt. As noted in the post below, this greatly adds to the speed of play. Also, because they were so dang good at the game, I was able to layer in the pirate spills (Spante Skills). Unless players know what WEGS is about, these skills will slow down the play. Not so here, the skills added to the awesome. The game ended when the college kicked us out at 2 a.m. Nice! Thankfully, the Saturday a.m. game did not get off the ground, leaving us some down-time. By noon Spointer was running a demo for some folks, then we plunged into our 2 p.m session of Dingbitt's, where we created a new twist called Dingbitt's Roundhouse where the position of Minion Master rotates with each new encounter (i'll post details on that later). The con concluded with a full table of gamers for a traditional Dingbitt's.
Icon has been hit/miss for us in the past, but all in all, this was a great weekend - saw some friends, met some new ones, gamed like mad and had a blast. This upcoming weekend is MEPAcon, the Mid-Eastern Pennsylvania Con. First time going there. Details next week.
We ran three out the four games on our schedule. Friday night's Pirates of Penzantium game started off with a bang, as a returning player from last year arrived full of enthusiasm for WEGS. He brought a friend who he had run through a WEGS game a couple of nights prior, so both had experience under their belt. As noted in the post below, this greatly adds to the speed of play. Also, because they were so dang good at the game, I was able to layer in the pirate spills (Spante Skills). Unless players know what WEGS is about, these skills will slow down the play. Not so here, the skills added to the awesome. The game ended when the college kicked us out at 2 a.m. Nice! Thankfully, the Saturday a.m. game did not get off the ground, leaving us some down-time. By noon Spointer was running a demo for some folks, then we plunged into our 2 p.m session of Dingbitt's, where we created a new twist called Dingbitt's Roundhouse where the position of Minion Master rotates with each new encounter (i'll post details on that later). The con concluded with a full table of gamers for a traditional Dingbitt's.
Icon has been hit/miss for us in the past, but all in all, this was a great weekend - saw some friends, met some new ones, gamed like mad and had a blast. This upcoming weekend is MEPAcon, the Mid-Eastern Pennsylvania Con. First time going there. Details next week.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Arks In Action!
Another scene from WittConFrom Dusk 'Til Dead
(j. benton, photographer)
"What we have here is a sit-cheee-ay-tion, laddies!"
Foreground-Ethercreepers (Level 5 as per the five purple chips under each) closing in on a group of Arks who seem to be surrounding their Sage.Center: The Arks! Sage (pink chip) who has a spell ready to blast (pink pawn); Mage with two red chips under (second red chip is a spell marker); Ranger (green chip) who has Sure Shot on (green marker); Trickster (yellow chip); Warrior (orange chip).
Background: Three 88 Enchanted Warriors (each with 8 orange chips). The two yellow chips represented some special move I think... Way in the back, sitting on a mighty stack of pink is the Level 88 Sage who was leading the warriors to the attack.
That's WEGS in multi-color, folks!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Speed Of Play...
As noted earlier, one of the amazing things during our Krystal Keep / WittCon games was the speed of play. These games, jammed with 12 players each, did not suffer from much mechanic-lag. A big part of this was that about a quarter of the players all did some WEGS-ing with us before, and these folks were coaching their friends and other players. A lot of the rules explanations were being handled by them, instead of us. It was great to watch somebody else explain the rules to a new player. It allowed me and Willy the 2 to focus more on our side of the table. Good stuff.
This also had a big impact on the "split table counter-rotational" minion mastering that we were attempting (see notes below). It drew a line in the sand between the players and us (the house). They weren't relying on us for the help with the rules, they were relying on the senior players. It galvanized the players as a team, which was great to see. Another great thing, which we're seeing more and more of, is players coaching each other on skill use. As folks become more familiar with the rules, the level of strategy is rising. It might just be me, but Level 88s ain't so tough any more...
Time to break out the Double 88s!
This also had a big impact on the "split table counter-rotational" minion mastering that we were attempting (see notes below). It drew a line in the sand between the players and us (the house). They weren't relying on us for the help with the rules, they were relying on the senior players. It galvanized the players as a team, which was great to see. Another great thing, which we're seeing more and more of, is players coaching each other on skill use. As folks become more familiar with the rules, the level of strategy is rising. It might just be me, but Level 88s ain't so tough any more...
Time to break out the Double 88s!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
WEGS @ WittCon '08From Dusk 'Til Dead
(photo by j. benton)
Lots o' rats, zombies, ether creepers, spoint frogs (on copper pot).
A Level 88 Dark Mage can be seen on that mighty stack of red chips.
Lower right is a Goblin Mage with Sense Magic up (red marker).
Level 88 Dark Mage is also about to blast a spell...
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
What Happened In Vegas, Part 2
In May 2007, I blogged about how the concept of WEGS was born early one morning after a late-night stint at a craps table in Vegas. Many times that feeling I set to recreate with WEGS reverberates down the dice. When WEGS is at its hottest, it's like a huge craps game with folks shouting, feverishly throwing down spoints and bringing the game to life. Another key part is walking away cheerfully exhausted right down to your wallet (god, that's true on so many levels in the game publishing business!). This feeling happened twice at our recent Wittcon weekend: the first at Krystal Keep and the second at WittCon. Both of these games ran about four hours - and could've gone a little longer if both places hadn't closed at midnite! In both instances I had Vegas flashbacks. And it was good.
A few blogs back I mentioned that there was a down-side to running the larger games (8 players+). It's not the same game from a player's standpoint. This was apparent at Cold Wars when we first stumbled upon the "split table counter-rotational" method of dual Minion Masters. (this method warrants its own post!), but basically two minion masters split the table into two mini-games, running clockwise/counter clockwise around the players. The Minion Masters work in concert with each other well, but from a player's perspective the right side often doesn't know what the left side is doing.
This works incredibly well for mass-combat scenarios and our Yawl games and actually increases the crazed/frenetic spirit of those games. For games with story elements, it's not the best. Wegs Wife I (WW1) was playing in the first game where this occured and she complained afterward that she didn't have a clue what the other side of the table was doing. I voiced my concerns with Willy The 2 that it was our fault for not keeping the game together. There was more to it, though - the noise in the room was ungodly. Our game was in the middle of a huge ballroom surrounded by table after table of shouting war-gamers. We were on the event horizon, as it were, about to be sucked into nothingness. Thus, it was our survival instinct that lead us down the path of the "split table counter-rotational" method. The simple fact was one central Minion Master could not hear everyone at the table. So, we split the table into audible areas and, thus, we stumbled upon a new method for running bigger games.
Who's the muther of invention?
(More details to follow on this thread. Far too long at this point!)
A few blogs back I mentioned that there was a down-side to running the larger games (8 players+). It's not the same game from a player's standpoint. This was apparent at Cold Wars when we first stumbled upon the "split table counter-rotational" method of dual Minion Masters. (this method warrants its own post!), but basically two minion masters split the table into two mini-games, running clockwise/counter clockwise around the players. The Minion Masters work in concert with each other well, but from a player's perspective the right side often doesn't know what the left side is doing.
This works incredibly well for mass-combat scenarios and our Yawl games and actually increases the crazed/frenetic spirit of those games. For games with story elements, it's not the best. Wegs Wife I (WW1) was playing in the first game where this occured and she complained afterward that she didn't have a clue what the other side of the table was doing. I voiced my concerns with Willy The 2 that it was our fault for not keeping the game together. There was more to it, though - the noise in the room was ungodly. Our game was in the middle of a huge ballroom surrounded by table after table of shouting war-gamers. We were on the event horizon, as it were, about to be sucked into nothingness. Thus, it was our survival instinct that lead us down the path of the "split table counter-rotational" method. The simple fact was one central Minion Master could not hear everyone at the table. So, we split the table into audible areas and, thus, we stumbled upon a new method for running bigger games.
Who's the muther of invention?
(More details to follow on this thread. Far too long at this point!)
Thursday, March 20, 2008
The Ides Of WEGS...
As it fell during the Ides of March, the Wittcon theme this year was "Alea Iacta Est", or "The Die Is Cast". Caeser's famous line about dice and life. Little did we know how much this would apply to the weekend WEGS games we had scheduled. Ya see, the ides are the 13th or the 15th depending on what month you're in. By some strange machinations of the gaming gods, we ended up with between 13 and 15 people surrounding the WEGS games for two of our games. We have never run games of this size or intensity before - but as luck would have it, we were ready for such an undertaking.
The week prior, at Cold Wars, we had a game with 8 players. When a game gets over 7 players, the job of the Minion Master gets strained, so the Kreator usually pivots in/out for player interaction. At this game, Willy the 2 and I decided to split the players into two groups (left side and right side). He would handle the players clockwise starting at the first player to his left. I handled the players to my right counterclockwise. We would meet invariably at the middle player in the 12 o' clock seat. This style of game-mastering gave WEGS an amazing craps game feel with folks throwing spoints into the center of the table from all sides. There's a price to be paid for this, though (details in later post).
When folks kept showing up to play WEGS at our first store demo this weekend, we just kept saying "Sure! Jump in!". Before we knew it we had nine players. Then some more showed up! Wt2 and I debated over splitting the game in two sessions - but I just didn't want to. It would be too much work to split the poker chips and the cards to two tables. Plus we only had one WEGS mat. So, we hunkered down on our side of the table. The game went from 8pm until midnite. And it was non-stop, over-the-top WEGS goodness.
Little did we know that we were about to repeat this method in a matter of hours...
The week prior, at Cold Wars, we had a game with 8 players. When a game gets over 7 players, the job of the Minion Master gets strained, so the Kreator usually pivots in/out for player interaction. At this game, Willy the 2 and I decided to split the players into two groups (left side and right side). He would handle the players clockwise starting at the first player to his left. I handled the players to my right counterclockwise. We would meet invariably at the middle player in the 12 o' clock seat. This style of game-mastering gave WEGS an amazing craps game feel with folks throwing spoints into the center of the table from all sides. There's a price to be paid for this, though (details in later post).
When folks kept showing up to play WEGS at our first store demo this weekend, we just kept saying "Sure! Jump in!". Before we knew it we had nine players. Then some more showed up! Wt2 and I debated over splitting the game in two sessions - but I just didn't want to. It would be too much work to split the poker chips and the cards to two tables. Plus we only had one WEGS mat. So, we hunkered down on our side of the table. The game went from 8pm until midnite. And it was non-stop, over-the-top WEGS goodness.
Little did we know that we were about to repeat this method in a matter of hours...
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Professer Wick Explains...
...the difference between a Chainsword and a Boomstick!(Wittcon 2008, J Benton, Photographer)
Eat! Drink! Play! Sleep! Rinse! Repeat!
March madness! From Cold Wars to Wittcon, the last couple a weeks have been non-stop. Wittcon, hands-down our favorite college con, is only a one day con with three sessions. We sandwich-ed our appearance at the con between in-store demos, turning last weekend into a whirlwind WEGS experience. Add to the fact that we played the largest games ever (12 and 13 gamers in a session) and you get a sense of the game scope. Eat. Sleep. Game. Rinse. Repeat.
Friday began with demos at an amazing store called Krystal Keep in Kettering, Ohio. This is a gamer's nirvana - the size of the store is unbelievable (compared to the standards we have here in NJ). It seems designed so you could use a shopping cart, and its luxuriously roomy. The amount of merchandise is amazing and it's all neatly arranged. It's obvious that the owners care about their business. But that's only the beginning... There's a second half to the store that is equal in size to the front. This is the gaming arena and is equipped with about 14 gaming tables and some of the most comfortable cushioned stools in ample supply. The walls have a racking system with a ton of gaming supplies (mostly terrain) - again all organized in categories, neatly arranged. I've never seen anything like this! And, oh yeah, there are private gaming rooms off of the arena. There are restaurant booths up front placed in a row in the front of the store for painting minis or small game sessions. There's concession machines in the back. This place is unbelievable. It was no shock that the store was full of gamers the whole time we were there.
As two Jersey boys, me and Willy the Two were in awe. And it was here that we ran one of the biggest WEGS game ever... Details on that will follow later this week...
Friday began with demos at an amazing store called Krystal Keep in Kettering, Ohio. This is a gamer's nirvana - the size of the store is unbelievable (compared to the standards we have here in NJ). It seems designed so you could use a shopping cart, and its luxuriously roomy. The amount of merchandise is amazing and it's all neatly arranged. It's obvious that the owners care about their business. But that's only the beginning... There's a second half to the store that is equal in size to the front. This is the gaming arena and is equipped with about 14 gaming tables and some of the most comfortable cushioned stools in ample supply. The walls have a racking system with a ton of gaming supplies (mostly terrain) - again all organized in categories, neatly arranged. I've never seen anything like this! And, oh yeah, there are private gaming rooms off of the arena. There are restaurant booths up front placed in a row in the front of the store for painting minis or small game sessions. There's concession machines in the back. This place is unbelievable. It was no shock that the store was full of gamers the whole time we were there.
As two Jersey boys, me and Willy the Two were in awe. And it was here that we ran one of the biggest WEGS game ever... Details on that will follow later this week...
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Pour, Oh Pour, The Pirate Sherry...
The first official play of Pirates of Penzantium (202) happened on Sunday, and it was a rollicking good time, halted often by rule disputes. It has been so long since we've been in playtest mode that we forgot the frustration of not being able to play full throttle (especially after two consecutive sessions of pedal to metal Dingbitt's). Plus, we were up against a time factor: we were trying to run two 2-hour scenarios in four hours (with a new product). To make things fully pressurized, I jumped in as a player, so Will the 2 was stuck all by his lonesome running the game. At the time we thought this wouldn't be an issue as nothing on the Minion side had changed. As we got into the game, Will's head was spinning with all the new skills/spells being thrown at him. As usual, he rose to the occasion, giving me "I'll kill you when it's over" looks every now and then. We had five players:
Dwarf Sage / Don
Elf Mage / Jason
Gobling Warrior / L. Willy
Elf Ranger / Martin
Gnobbit Trickster / Chris
As you see, the Arks haven't changed. All the system stuff is the same. It's the skills and spells that are all new. Plus we have Spante Skills and Pirate Stations, both of which add new elements to the game.
Each Ark has a specific Spante Skill (aka "spill")that can be played on the Spante. These skills heighten a stat associated with the specific Ark, and benefits all those surrounding them; however these spills are expensive. Spills cost 8 spoints to use. This prevents any one Ark from using them solo, so players "buy-in" for the group benefit. Only those who buy-in get the benefit.
Pirate Station is the Ark's pecking order in the pirate crew (eight levels from Deck Skum to Dread Pirate). Stations establish the pirate's Notoriety level and grant bonuses at the higher levels (the Dread Pirate can "borrow" skills from lower crewmen). Pirates can only advance stations when those above them perish, or if the Dread Pirate promotes 'em.
These two mechanics definitely add a level of vibrance to the game. While it plays exactly the same as 101, the extra layers add a distinct learning curve for noobs. That's why we're calling the Pirates version "202". 101 is about getting into a dungeon asap and having a blast hacking. POP 202 is about establishing a group of cut-throats who rely on each other, while keeping an eye out in hopes of advancement. The new mechanics are all about getting the crew established and ready for adventure on the high seas of sorcery!
More on the playtest coming soon!
Dwarf Sage / Don
Elf Mage / Jason
Gobling Warrior / L. Willy
Elf Ranger / Martin
Gnobbit Trickster / Chris
As you see, the Arks haven't changed. All the system stuff is the same. It's the skills and spells that are all new. Plus we have Spante Skills and Pirate Stations, both of which add new elements to the game.
Each Ark has a specific Spante Skill (aka "spill")that can be played on the Spante. These skills heighten a stat associated with the specific Ark, and benefits all those surrounding them; however these spills are expensive. Spills cost 8 spoints to use. This prevents any one Ark from using them solo, so players "buy-in" for the group benefit. Only those who buy-in get the benefit.
Pirate Station is the Ark's pecking order in the pirate crew (eight levels from Deck Skum to Dread Pirate). Stations establish the pirate's Notoriety level and grant bonuses at the higher levels (the Dread Pirate can "borrow" skills from lower crewmen). Pirates can only advance stations when those above them perish, or if the Dread Pirate promotes 'em.
These two mechanics definitely add a level of vibrance to the game. While it plays exactly the same as 101, the extra layers add a distinct learning curve for noobs. That's why we're calling the Pirates version "202". 101 is about getting into a dungeon asap and having a blast hacking. POP 202 is about establishing a group of cut-throats who rely on each other, while keeping an eye out in hopes of advancement. The new mechanics are all about getting the crew established and ready for adventure on the high seas of sorcery!
More on the playtest coming soon!
Sunday, March 2, 2008
A Sunday Dingbitt's, Part 3
And the game just kept getting better. Last Sunday, we ran Dingbitt's again at the same locale. Of the 5 players from the previous week, 2 returned to do more dungeon diving: Don/Dwarf Sage and Nick/Elf Ranger. 4 new players joined them: Jason, Will, Martin and Kristen. The party was now 6 Arks strong.
Dwarf Sage
Elf Ranger
Elf Trickster
Elf Ranger
Goblin Mage
Goblin Warrior
The week prior, the party made it to Level 4. Last Sunday, we started the party back on Level 1 (so the noobs stood a chance). We added a new rule, too - you can only get a Level Bonus (6%) for levels you've never been on. So, the Dingbitt veterans from the prior week had to "assist" the noobs on the "lighter" levels. Actually, this rule has always been in play, we just never had a group of mixed Arks (noobs and vets). It made it very interesing play as the vets were forever hounding the noobs to go down deeper. The party quickly cleared Levels 1, 2 and 3. They then decided to skip Level 4 and plunge down to Level 5. Perhaps the cockiness in their ability to clear that level went to their heads, the party decided to go full throttle to Level 8 - and therein awaited their unraveling.
The final battle was brutal: five Level 88's Ogres awaited them there (one of each Arketype: Warrior, Ranger, Trickster, Mage, Sage), plus a trio of fiercely ravenous zombies! The battle was a non-stop wegsified last stand, rife with spoint madness, phew popping, wicked failures. One Ark bit the bullet (the Mage), two fled from combat (sacrificing their exit card). The battle actually ended with a draw - neither side won. If the game had gone on longer, a few more Arks would've been added to Dingbitt's heap! Oh well, next time...
Dwarf Sage
Elf Ranger
Elf Trickster
Elf Ranger
Goblin Mage
Goblin Warrior
The week prior, the party made it to Level 4. Last Sunday, we started the party back on Level 1 (so the noobs stood a chance). We added a new rule, too - you can only get a Level Bonus (6%) for levels you've never been on. So, the Dingbitt veterans from the prior week had to "assist" the noobs on the "lighter" levels. Actually, this rule has always been in play, we just never had a group of mixed Arks (noobs and vets). It made it very interesing play as the vets were forever hounding the noobs to go down deeper. The party quickly cleared Levels 1, 2 and 3. They then decided to skip Level 4 and plunge down to Level 5. Perhaps the cockiness in their ability to clear that level went to their heads, the party decided to go full throttle to Level 8 - and therein awaited their unraveling.
The final battle was brutal: five Level 88's Ogres awaited them there (one of each Arketype: Warrior, Ranger, Trickster, Mage, Sage), plus a trio of fiercely ravenous zombies! The battle was a non-stop wegsified last stand, rife with spoint madness, phew popping, wicked failures. One Ark bit the bullet (the Mage), two fled from combat (sacrificing their exit card). The battle actually ended with a draw - neither side won. If the game had gone on longer, a few more Arks would've been added to Dingbitt's heap! Oh well, next time...
Sunday, February 24, 2008
A Sunday Dingbitt's, Part 2...
You know a game is good when you have a lingering feeling for it to continue, and you find yourself thinking about the game play a full week later; the "afterglow", as it were. There were a couple of reasons why this demo rocked: (1) three brand new players; (2) two players with books; (3) one player who just happened to be in the store and decided to jump into the game on a whim; (4) two Wegshogs in attendance: Spointer Don and Willy the 2 (Minion Master); (5) I was free to loom above the table helping the players with questions and running lesser level minions; (6) two spectators who sat in on the game and pumped energy into the players with their questions and comments. All in all, a good, solid demo that ran like a full-fledged game. It didn't feel like a demo at all. It was us power-playing WEGS.
At about 3:30 pm, we were wrapping up the fourth encounter. Arks had already sprung a few leaks: Phew! were being blown, spoints were being conserved, the Warrior had a Wicked Invulnerability Failure). It was up in the air if all the Arks would make it out of the encounter alive. There was one Minion left on the battlemat: the 66% Undead Sage who had only five Wound Chips and one Blood Chip. For those of you who don't speak WEGS, that meant the enemy had anywhere between 60 and 150 Wounds. The Blood Chip strength isn't revealed until it is tapped. (I'm sure that explanation was even less helpful for the Unwegs.) Anyway, the Undead Sage (who was holding the bottom of the inning) successfully cast a spell. He would be blasting it the next inning.
Top of the inning. Players go!
With the breath of the Undead Sage's spell breathing down their necks, the players needed to take him out fast; hopefully before the spell went off. The Warrior charged up to him and took a whack. He reduced the Undead Sage to 1 Wound Chip and 1 Blood Chip. The Gnobbit Trickster ran up and jumped into the Undead Sage's square. This would cause the Sage to suffer an Invulnerability penalty the next inning. No other Ark's were close enough to help (or none wanted to get within the Undead Sage's spell range...).
Bottom of the inning. Minions go!
The Undead Sage launched Clash of the Spheres. This instantly paralyzed the Warrior, who was now a sitting duck. Unfortunately, this did NOT paralyze the Gnobbit who was in the same square as the Undead Sage. The spell has a ground-zero benefit. The safest place to be when this spell goes off is exactly where the Gnobbit was! This was the first time we ever saw this maneuver - ever. Moments like this solidify the afterglow.
At about 3:30 pm, we were wrapping up the fourth encounter. Arks had already sprung a few leaks: Phew! were being blown, spoints were being conserved, the Warrior had a Wicked Invulnerability Failure). It was up in the air if all the Arks would make it out of the encounter alive. There was one Minion left on the battlemat: the 66% Undead Sage who had only five Wound Chips and one Blood Chip. For those of you who don't speak WEGS, that meant the enemy had anywhere between 60 and 150 Wounds. The Blood Chip strength isn't revealed until it is tapped. (I'm sure that explanation was even less helpful for the Unwegs.) Anyway, the Undead Sage (who was holding the bottom of the inning) successfully cast a spell. He would be blasting it the next inning.
Top of the inning. Players go!
With the breath of the Undead Sage's spell breathing down their necks, the players needed to take him out fast; hopefully before the spell went off. The Warrior charged up to him and took a whack. He reduced the Undead Sage to 1 Wound Chip and 1 Blood Chip. The Gnobbit Trickster ran up and jumped into the Undead Sage's square. This would cause the Sage to suffer an Invulnerability penalty the next inning. No other Ark's were close enough to help (or none wanted to get within the Undead Sage's spell range...).
Bottom of the inning. Minions go!
The Undead Sage launched Clash of the Spheres. This instantly paralyzed the Warrior, who was now a sitting duck. Unfortunately, this did NOT paralyze the Gnobbit who was in the same square as the Undead Sage. The spell has a ground-zero benefit. The safest place to be when this spell goes off is exactly where the Gnobbit was! This was the first time we ever saw this maneuver - ever. Moments like this solidify the afterglow.
Next inning. Top. Players go!
I'll cut to the chase here - the Gnobbit Trickster has one shot to kill the Undead Sage, and so he takes it. He only does 40-something points. He destroys the Undead Sage's last Wound Chip and so everything hinged on the Blood Chip total... Willy rolls and scores...
1
The worst possible roll for him... The Undead Sage perishes! The Minion Master groaned. The Arks cheered. The game ended on a high note - kinda. After all, the players were still trapped in Dingbitt's Dunge O' Doom!
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
A Sunday Dingbitt's Demo
This past Sunday, we ran a demo at Time Warp Comic & Games in Cedar Grove, NJ. Had 5 players (Don, Nate, Nick, Todd, Joel). Three players were brand-spanking new to WEGS. Willy the 2 was Minion Master. I floated about as Kreator. Scenario was Dingbitt's Dunge O' Doom. The game was fluid and the new players took to it like fish to water. Arks were:
Dwarf Sage
Goblin Warrior
Elf Ranger
Gnobbit Trickster
Goblin Mage
This list also represented their batting order. They started and ended each inning with a spellcaster action (Sage/Mage). The group plunged down four levels, picking up speed with each passing encounter. All in all, they completed four encounters in three hours - which is great for this scenario. In the final encounter on Level 4, they faced one 88 Warrior Lord, one 66 Undead Sage and three 33 Zombies. The group perfectly divided themselves to fight this three-front battle. The Ranger took on the zombies. The Mage and Sage focused on the Undead Sage. The Warrior and Trickster engaged the Warrior Lord. The field was covered with mini-battles. Stuff that was great:
Top of the Inning was in effect. We normally don't push this rule, but the speed of play warranted it. The Arks were able to start at the bottom of the inning and hack their way to the top by eliminating the minions of higher stat percent.
Trickster Blitz (page 45, WEGS 101). We tend to leave this rule out at conventions as it's one of the extras. Two players had their rulebooks and called it into play. It allows the Trickster to move+attack. Being that the Trickster in this game had found a pair of magic boots that added +3 Move, he was able to fly around the field of combat. Great stuff!
More to follow!
Dwarf Sage
Goblin Warrior
Elf Ranger
Gnobbit Trickster
Goblin Mage
This list also represented their batting order. They started and ended each inning with a spellcaster action (Sage/Mage). The group plunged down four levels, picking up speed with each passing encounter. All in all, they completed four encounters in three hours - which is great for this scenario. In the final encounter on Level 4, they faced one 88 Warrior Lord, one 66 Undead Sage and three 33 Zombies. The group perfectly divided themselves to fight this three-front battle. The Ranger took on the zombies. The Mage and Sage focused on the Undead Sage. The Warrior and Trickster engaged the Warrior Lord. The field was covered with mini-battles. Stuff that was great:
Top of the Inning was in effect. We normally don't push this rule, but the speed of play warranted it. The Arks were able to start at the bottom of the inning and hack their way to the top by eliminating the minions of higher stat percent.
Trickster Blitz (page 45, WEGS 101). We tend to leave this rule out at conventions as it's one of the extras. Two players had their rulebooks and called it into play. It allows the Trickster to move+attack. Being that the Trickster in this game had found a pair of magic boots that added +3 Move, he was able to fly around the field of combat. Great stuff!
More to follow!
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Happy New Year!
I unplugged completely from GameWick the last few days of 2007. When I checked my email this morning, I had a note from a WEGS fan from the great state of Illinois:
2008...
Let the good times roll, folks!
Dear Larry,Happy to say, the ruling was spot on with how I would have called it! This fan played at GenCon 2006 and had to wait a full year for WEGS 101 to be released. It's great hearing that folks are playing WEGS and having a good time!
Thanks for a great Holiday season. We have been getting the most out of WEGS101 and are anxiously awaiting the release of Copper. We had a question arise around the Molten Storm mage spell. What defines a group? We first assumed that the basic ASQR and ESQR rules applied and worked it like an area spell. However, there was a dissenting opinion that a wider area could be affected so long as the SPS+D6 limit on targets was not exceeded. I allowed this, provided that all targets were in adjacent squares. Can I get an official ruling?
2008...
Let the good times roll, folks!
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Flashback: Yawlwyrd
For some reason, this story popped into my head last night. It was triggered by the fact I'm working on some of the game scenarios for the Cold Wars con in March. Generally, we end cons with a Sunday WEGS game of epic proportions (3+ hour session with 8+ players). We call these games Yawls, and the scenario title is some derivation of that root: The Yawlwyrd (Ubercon 2005) was the first. The Yawlamo was next, and one we've used as our staple con-closer. My new one is called Escape From Yawlcatraz (a piratey prison-break scenario). The Yawls came from the marriage of two disjointed things. The first being that it is based on the Icelandic All-thing, an enourmous meeting of chieftains, for my purpose key players. The second thing was an elevator ride I experienced at GenCon 2005, Indianapolis. In the elevator were two game geeks decked out in their fantasy armour, two non-gamer NASCAR types (father and son), and me and Sue (who showed no signs of our geekage). As soon as the two knights of the dinner table left the elevator, the two Nascar guys started cracking up to each other. They turned to us and said something like, "Can you believe those guys?!?" I said, "Yup. We're gamers. We're here for the convention, too. We just don't dress up for it." The father chuckled and replied, "Well, y'all weird!" Thus, the Yawlwyrd was born. It's a light-hearted nod to the wackiness of this hobby and the diehard commitment to have fun until the last possible moment.
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