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Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Castles & Crusades Ruleset for Fantasy Grounds 2: Review

Fantasy Grounds 2 is one of the Big Boys in the Virtual Table Top arena these days. Its a fairly easy to use program with a relatively low learning curve for GMs that use prepackaged rule sets and adventure modules.

Castles & Crusades (C&C) is a licensed rule set for use with the Fantasy Grounds 2 VTT. If you've played D&D 3.X or earlier you should be fairly comfortable with the rules, which realy heavily on AD&D 1st edition for their feel and nostalgia. The original game rules are by the Troll Lords and are currently on my list of favorite games.

How well done is the conversion to an FG2 rule set? Very well done indeed. The VTT background artwork comes from the C&C Player's Handbook and fits the game well.

Pretty much every rule (if not every single rule) from the C&C Player's Handbook and Monsters and Treasures can be found clicking links under the book headings in the program. The character sheet plays well and I've yet to find a glitch in it after over six months of using it from the player's end (I'm playing in a weekly game).

Probably the best praise I can give for it is this: I tend to even forget it is there. It plays fluidly, both the rules and the rule set.

You can find the rules in PDF format as well as the rule set and modules at
RPGNow

Castles and Crusades for FG2

Looks like there will be some more C&C adventures for sale at RPGNow.com. I'll review then after I get to check them out.

Another plus for the Kindle

The ability to get constant AP News updates throughout the day. Who needs a newspaper?


-- Post From My iPhone

Monday, June 1, 2009

Amazon Kindle 2

Why is the first gadget I post one that has little to do with RPGs? Because it is quite possibly the best e-book reader out there. Yes, there are many choices, and Sony has a nice contender, but no other reader offers instant gratification. Download the latest novel in the never ending fantasy series you've been following - you can buy it wirelessly from your Kindle. Go to the Baen website and download free (and legal) SciFi and Fantasy novels in Kindle (and other formats). Its truly an amazing device.

What doesn't it do? It doesn't do cheap. $359 (no cover - add 40 bucks or so for one of those)

It doesn't do PDFs - at least not in a manner that serves the purpose of gamers. To use a PDF on the Kindle or Kindle 2 you need to have Amazon convert it. Tables don't survive the conversion process, making nearly every RPG PDF horribly crippled.

Still, the Kindle is an amazing device despite its short comings.

(The Kindle DX promises to do PDFs natively and has a 9.7" screen, compared to the 6" on the earlier Kindles - approximately 2 1/2 times the viewing surface - not cheap at $489 plus the cover)

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Taking Aim

What I would like to do (no idea if I will come close to accomplishing it) is give ideas for the classic rpg gamer who either had little space for gaming (and storing games) and / or has seen his old face to face gaming group disperse in the winds of change (life, family, jobs, moving, etc).

I will be touching on Virtual Table Top gaming, PDF gaming material (one heck of a space saver), e-book readers (for reading those PDFs on the go) and anything else that comes to mind.

Let the games begin!

Sunday, June 22, 2008

My Worthless Words of Wisdom

Gadgets, Apps and PDFs... How best to game when you don't have room for a table or a room full of books.
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