Fun BBC Show on Netflix - Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell

Greetings all,
      While poking around on Netflix one evening I came across Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell. It is an enjoyable 7 episode series dealing with the return of magic in England during era of Napoleon. Mr. Norrell is your trained and control magician while Jonathon Strange is your amazing prodigy. It's worth a look if you are seeking something to watch at the end of the day.    ~ Padre.

Friday Night Music

For a while I was in the habit of posting some Friday Night Videos and music, but these days my blogging seems less frequent. However I heard this earlier today and thought I would share it here.
The Necromancer from Rush

Time for the Greybeards

Tonight we see about adding the older gamers to the Roll20 Mix. This time around we have been playing The Strange and really enjoying it.  Overall I have come to like the Cypher System and the more I play it and read it the more fluid it is. 

       On a side note my only real complaint about Roll20 is having to prepare everything in advance, I have hoping as the interface becomes more familiar I will be more comfortable doing things on the fly as is my normal style at table top. I would be interested if anyone has a 10 best things to know about using Roll20 as a way of accelerating the learning curb of the site.

Out of the basement and onto the internet

Greetings all,
         It's been a while since I have posted, I have done some gaming on and off in the meantime. All of it has been at the  table down in the basement, however it has become increasingly difficult to get all the players together. With some reluctant I have begun exploring the use of Roll20 as a substitute for actual table time.
       Played an on-line game using Roll20 for the first time last night with a group of three players. I am still learning the in and outs of Roll20 but overall I think it may be a good second to actually gaming with friends at the table. My biggest complain about be about maintaining connection to the server, but I am thinking that is more of a service provider issue rather than something caused by Roll20. All of the players were college students and seemed to be pretty comfortable with medium for the game. Some had their own connection and lag issues, but overall the experience was positive.
        The only other issue/complaint I have is that I have to do a lot more prep work then normal. I am guessing that once I have enough random encounter pages and the like made it will become less time consuming. The best part of it all, is more opportunities to game!    ~ Padre

Inspirational reading and watching for The Strange

Hey hey fellow gamers,

        Here are a few of the things in 2015 that fed my gaming interest in The Strange. Your player take on the role of investigators, explorers or agents delving into the bizarre world of recursions and the Strange.  The mechanics of the game revolves around a d20 and various difficulty checks all in the hands of the players. So if you enjoy rolling dice as a GM, you probably won't like the feel of game play in The Strange.

       The group I currently am gaming with are all fantasy gamers who enjoy Dragonquest and it's flow. That game is very much like a mini-wargame with a tactical map, pulses and all kinds of fiddly goodness. I still enjoy it very much.  They have taken to this game rather well and seem to enjoy the feel and play of it.

     Here are three sources of inspiration that give you a feel for the game setting and world that Bruce Cordell and Monte Cook have created in the Strange. It's the first Sci-fi game I been interested in playing since Battletech.

Happy New Year and gaming update

Happy New Year fellow gamers!  Just checking in to say hi and wish all of you a very Happy and Blessed New Year. I have not be absent from gaming, been enjoying The Strange with my old group of Dragonquest Players. Hopefully I will provide some updates on my impressions of the Cypher System and how it facilitates game play.  Overall I enjoy the system - definitely more fluid and less book checking when referencing the rules. Not knocking all the games I enjoy that are more "crunchy" and traditional, it has just been an enjoyable experience playing with the guys again.