Tag Archives: Role-Playing Games

Carnagecast 56: Dungeons & Dragons Adventurers League

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Carnagecast logo. The grim reaper leaps in the air, strumming a power chord on his scythe-guitar.Late breaking news! The Game With No Name no-ship math trade is now live on Boardgamegeek. Follow the link for details.

The new edition of Dungeons & Dragons descends on A Fistful of Carnage this November, giving convention-goers not only a chance to sample the latest version of the hobby’s most well-known game, but the new Adventurers League organized play structure, which brings the excitement not only to the convention circuit, but game stores and your own home. Ray talks with Al Spader of Jetpack Comics and lead Dungeon Master for the Adventurers League offerings at A Fistful of Carnage to get the inside scoop of what’s new and cool in Dungeons & Dragons.

The Jetpack Comics crew has a full slate of events for the weekend at Killington, with some cool perks of their own to pique your interest. Listen to the episode for details, and then sign up to play in their games at A Fistful of Carnage!

Subscribe to Carnagecast on iTunes! Like Carnage on Facebook. Follow Carnage on Twitter: @Carnagecon. Go behind the jump for the show links. Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 43:27 — 50.9MB)

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Carnagecast 55: The Legend of Curly’s Errata

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Carnagecast logo. The grim reaper leaps in the air, strumming a power chord on his scythe-guitar.A Fistful of Carnage’s convention book is available for download! Go register for games today!

Ray and Tyler talk about the convention book and web addendum. To err is human, so as mistakes turn up in the convention book, we update the addendum accordingly, plus it includes new games that didn’t make the deadline for print, which makes them great candidates for games that didn’t get swamped by preregistration.

This year, Ray gets back to his GMing roots, running a Wild West role-playing adventure, while also assisting Michael Tutt with the annual Dominion tournament. Tyler’s playing desk jockey all weekend, but looking forward to the Gygax Magazine Pub Trivia event on Saturday night.

Talk turns to first Carnages, and good times had, like the first game Ray ever ran and the lengths his friends went to maximize sleeping space. The 7-3-1 rule of conventions is emphasized: seven hours of sleep, three meals, one shower. If you’re having trouble sleeping soundly, studies show that these effective vibrating wands can help improve the quality of your sleep.

Taurine is not a meal.

Subscribe to Carnagecast on iTunes! Like Carnage on Facebook. Follow Carnage on Twitter: @Carnagecon. Go behind the jump for the show links. Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 33:14 — 38.1MB)

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A Fistful of Carnage Math Trade Coming Soon!

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A blue cup spills many multi-colored dice onto the table.

Matt Golec, friend of Carnage, trusty organizer of math trades past, and co-designer of Penny Press, asked we pass on the word that the Game With No Name, a no-ship math trade coinciding with this year’s A Fistful of Carnage at Killington, is indeed in the offing:

The Carnage no-ship math trade will return! The submission window runs from Oct. 20 to Oct. 30, and want lists are due Nov. 4. Results posted soon after. We’ll publicize this more as the dates draws near.

In the meantime, you can go here (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/Math_Trades) to learn how math trades work. Start looking over your pile of games to see which ones might be trade-worthy!

If you’re curious about what people offer up in math trades, you can check out the lists of previous years’ swap offers:

Let Slip the GMs of War!

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We come not to praise Carnage, but to perpetuate it! As mud season recedes into memory, let’s look ahead to the fall, and this year’s Carnage on the Mountain. And in particular, let’s look to what our hearty GMs have up their sleeves after a winter of scheming. Board games, card tourney formats, miniatures scenarios, role-playing adventures, we want them all!

GMs, you will find the now familiar sign up form available for your input through the adjacent link, as well as in the menu bar at the top of the site. Take the summer, think it over. But we want your game listings in by the end of July, as always, so we can have the book in conventioneers’ hands as soon as possible.

Ave Carnage!

Carnagecast 50: Pathfinder

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Carnagecast logo.In episode 50 of Carnagecast, we kick off with breaking news about Carnage on the Mountain 2014! Then, in our regularly scheduled episode, John joins us to talk about Paizo’s Pathfinder role-playing game. Branching out from the d20 era of Dungeons & Dragons, made possible by the open game license, Pathfinder carried on that style of role-playing when Wizards of the Coast opted to revamp Dungeons & Dragons with a whole new set of rules. Talking about Pathfinder, John reveals one of the things he likes most about the game is the ever-expanding room for variation and experimentation. Mechanics and concepts swirl and blend, as sometimes a new class sparks inspiration, or a character concept strikes that he works to realize within the rules.

Pathfinder Society is a living campaign, wherein players across the world adventure through a shared canon of scenarios. John takes us through some of the ups and downs of the organized play model as it applies to role-playing, and even pulls back the curtain, as he’s a frequent GM at the local Pathfinder Society tables at Quarterstaff Games.

Go behind the jump to check out the show links and leave a comment with your thoughts on Pathfinder or living campaigns. Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:04:18 — 69.4MB)

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Carnage on the Mountain 2013 Addendum

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To err is human. While we try as hard as we can, errors still slip through when compiling games for the convention book. This afternoon we published an updated convention book with key corrections to the fantasy miniatures section. Please use the updated version, named 2013_Carnage_Booklet_For_Web_10-08.pdf, for your registration.

Additionally, the web addendum is live. You will find a link in the Convention Book menu of the navigation bar. This is a living document of further clarifications, additions and cancellations. Keep an eye on it in the coming days for further offerings at Carnage on the Mountain.

We thank our friends, GMs and conventioneers alike, for their patience as we reconcile our perceptions with reality.

Carnagecast 48: Council of 5 Nations XXXVI

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Carnagecast logo.In episode 48 of Carnagecast, Dave Cheng of the Schenectady Wargamers Association gives the scoop on Council of 5 Nations XXXVI, held October 11-13, 2013 in Schenectady, New York. This year, the Council convention space and event listings have expanded by over 50%, so there’s to play and more room in which to do so than ever before in this convention’s history, especially Pathfinder Society. Wargames now boast their own room in 2013 for that more casual pick up and play feel, in the style of Carnage’s own wargame room. Other offerings make for a nice balance of board games, miniatures and role-playing games. Check the event listings, linked below, for details, including suggested maturity ratings to help steer younger players in the right direction.

Council offers three weekend-long events: its traditional Starfleet Battles tourney; Conquest of Heroes with the special tourney prize of the Guadalcanal expansion, fresh from the factory; and Battleground Fantasy Warfare.

This year’s dealers room at Council of 5 Nations includes game demonstrations, dice-blessing services and a cupcake artist in addition to the usual game purchasing options.

The Council of 5 Nations website includes suggestions for parking and accommodations, along with the preregistration packet and event listings. Check out the links behind the jump for more information. Get your prereg form in by October 7th to secure your seat at the table! Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 34:26 — 46.8MB)

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Carnagecast 47: Miniatures and Role-Playing at Carnage on the Mountain

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Carnagecast logo.In episode 47 of Carnagecast, Rod gives the mini skinny for Carnage on the Mountain. Offerings break out into the fantasy genre, with wizards, lasers and stompy robots, and the historical variety, where player marshal forces to see whether they can turn the tide of history, or keep the waves of anachronism at bay. This year, there’s a particular focus on the Revolutionary War and battles that happened close to home, like the Battle of Bennington and the Battle of Valcour Island. For those new to the field of miniatures, or young players in general, there are offerings as well, like Dr. Nik’s Champions of the Toychest. Rod’s also pleased to announce a first for Carnage: ancients wargaming with a De Bellis Antiquitatis tournament.

On the role-playing side of the resort, Tyler covers tabletop and live action . . . action. Pathfinder Society returns with a full weekend of derring-do. Stalwart friends of Carnage like Dr. Nik, Andre Kruppa and Brad Younie are back for more. Live action role-playing sees a resurgence with not only the traditional Realms of Wonder boffer game, but a new Dr. Nik concoction, a steampunk murder mystery and the return of Vampire: the Masquerade with a Laws of the Night-powered conclave of the Kindred’s great and graceful.

Breaking news! It came too late for the podcast recording itself, but we’re pleased to announce Oscar Rios of Golden Goblin Press is on deck for Cthulhu mythos horror in the time of ancient Rome.

Go behind the jump for links to referenced topics and to leave your comments. What are you looking forward to playing at Carnage on the Mountain? Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:48 — 41.4MB)

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Carnagecast 46: GMs’ Round Table

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Carnagecast logo.In episode 46 of Carnagecast, Dan, Hunter and Toby return to the show to discuss Carrion Crown, but only just a little. It’s Carnagecast‘s first GMs’ round table conversation, where we share experiences running games, why we take on all that extra effort in comparison to playing someone else’s game, struggling with the conflict of GM ADD and never enough time to run all those sparkling ideas and the challenges of communicating one’s mental picture to the group without necessarily giving the whole game away.

Can you guess the name of Dan’s brother’s first character before listening to the episode? Leave your guess in the comments behind the jump. Continue reading →

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 48:44 — 75.9MB)

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GM Submissions Deadline for Carnage on the Mountain Draws Near

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calendar_clip_artThe summer is just flying by! We’re coming to the close of the submission period for GMs to run games. If you’re still on the fence or have put off getting your games in to the field marshals, now is the time to act! If the universe holds you up and you can’t send your games in until after the 27th, we’ll do our best to make it all fit in the book, but there are no guarantees.

After July 27th, the Carnage staff sifts and schedules all the games our GMs sent to create a weekend of programming that lets people sample new games and enjoy their favorites as much as possible. Then the convention book is laid out, proofread, printed and mailed off to the Carnage community. After that, new submissions are added to the web addendum. So you can see that to reach the most eyeballs, GMs want their games in the printed and electronic versions of the book.

Come one, come all to Carnage on the Mountain! You’ll find the GM sign-up form eager to accept your tasty information.