Minions and Musings

Call-ins from a new caller/longtime listener, Bromos!  Also, Jason of Nerds RPG Variety Cast weighs in on several topics. Let's hear more about critical hits and fumbles, plus deep dive comments. New logo artwork is from the hand of Minion Bravo!  Vocals in the intro courtesy of Minion Delta, vocal in the outro courtesy of Minion Gamma. Music - "Block Rocking Beats" by The Chemical Broth...

Part 7 of the BX Companion Deep Dive is on Treasure.  Really, this is why the characters adventure, to get sweet loot!  Does the Companion rules fit in well with the original BX or should we use what the Rules Cyclopedia gives us?  There may be a surprise here and there. The quest for this deep dive is simple - Will this rules set work for expanding play beyond the 14th level cap in...

Part 6 of the BX Companion Deep Dive is Monsters.  What do you encounter as a high level character?  Are there suitable challenges when you are over 14th level?  Let's see what the stats are here. The quest for this deep dive is simple - Will this rules set work for expanding play beyond the 14th level cap in the original B/X rules or make a mess of things?  Is it different eno...

Part 5 of the BX Companion Deep Dive is The Encounter.  When you are high levels, what changes in an encounter?  Optional rules, Mass combat rules, expanded attack matrices, and saving throw charts. The quest for this deep dive is simple - Will this rules set work for expanding play beyond the 14th level cap in the original B/X rules or make a mess of things?  Is it different enough...

We are now into Part 4 of the BX Companion Deep Dive, this is The Adventure .  What does 15th-36th level adventurers have to do?  What is special about those levels?  Let's take a listen. The quest for this deep dive is simple - Will this rules set work for expanding play beyond the 14th level cap in the original B/X rules or make a mess of things?  Is it different enough from...

Call-ins from Jason of Nerds RPG Variety Cast, Taylor of Clerics Wear Ringmail blog/podcast, Daniel of Bandit's Keep media empire, and B.J. of The Arcane Alienist podcast. Let's see what everyone wanted to say about critical hits and fumbles. New logo artwork is from the hand of Minion Bravo!  Vocals in the intro courtesy of Minion Delta, vocal in the outro courtesy of Minion Gamma. Music - "...

Herein continues the deep dive, now onto Part 3 which is the spells section.  This time, I look at the magic user spell list, noting similarities and difference between the 1st through 6th level spells.  I then look at the similarities and differences between the newly added 7th, 8th, & 9th level spells. The quest for this deep dive is simple - Will this rules set work for expanding...

Herein continues the deep dive, now onto Part 3 which is the spells section.  I look at the general rules for casting and the the cleric spell list, noting similarities and difference between the 1st through 5th level spells.  I then look at the similarities and differences between the newly added 6th & 7th level spells. The quest for this deep dive is simple - Will this rules set wo...

Yeah, I know I said there will not be a podcast today but after listening to several podcasts and saying things on the discord server, my head started running with things and there's a question that I want everybody else to think about.

Biggest call-in of the season.  Hear from Daniel, B.J., Kevin, Che, and Rob C.  Right, Jason called as well.  I appreciate the support and there are some interesting bits from my guests in here.  Let's have a listen! New logo artwork is from the hand of Minion Bravo!  Vocals in the intro courtesy of Minion Delta, vocal in the outro courtesy of Minion Gamma. Music - "Block...

Herein continues the deep dive, this time with classes.  Let's look at the  differences between the Halfling, Magic User, and Thief, plus any material that is additional. The quest for this deep dive is simple - Will this rules set work for expanding play beyond the 14th level cap in the original B/X rules or make a mess of things?  Is it different enough from the Rules Cyclopedia t...

Herein continues the deep dive, this time with classes.  Let's look at the differences between the Cleric, Dwarf, Elf, and Fighter. The quest for this deep dive is simple - Will this rules set work for expanding play beyond the 14th level cap in the original B/X rules or make a mess of things?  Is it different enough from the Rules Cyclopedia that one should use it instead of the former?...

Wherein I talk about a recent return of one of my favorite play-by-post games, where you should go to read about my adventures, where you can also go to mine for gaming ideas.  I also give a bit of an update on gaming projects as well. New logo artwork is from the hand of Minion Bravo! Music - "Cobalt" by Massivivid Want to leave me a message?  Click Message Evil Jeff !

Herein begins my deep dive into the BX Companion rules set.  We will be giving a bit of a comparison against the D&D Rules Cyclopedia as we go along.  The quest for this deep dive is simple - Will this rules set work for expanding play beyond the 14th level cap in the original B/X rules or make a mess of things?  Is it different enough from the Rules Cyclopedia that one should u...

We have calls from Jason C of Nerd's RPG Variety Podcast and Che Webster of Roleplay Rescue on the first two podcasts of the season. New logo artwork is from the hand of Minion Bravo!  Vocals in the intro courtesy of Minion Delta, vocal in the outro courtesy of Minion Gamma Music - "Block Rocking Beats" by The Chemical Brothers. Want to leave me a message?  Click Message Evil Jeff!

I received this Kickstarter PDF recently and have had an opportunity to read it.  So, herein I will talk about the contents and my thoughts about it. New logo artwork is from the hand of Minion Bravo! Music - "Cobalt" by Massivivid Want to leave me a message?  Click Message Evil Jeff!

Where and I talk about current gaming situation, some of the projects that I'm working on, and questions about creature rarity in games. I'm starting to think through how rare different creatures should be in my campaign world so I can update my spreadsheets accordingly. Be interested in hearing other thoughts as well. New logo artwork is from the hand of Minion Bravo! Music - "Cobalt" by Massiviv...

Wherein I give my thoughts about this book and some interesting little pieces that I found in it. New logo artwork is from the hand of Minion Bravo! Music - "Cobalt" by Massivivid Want to leave me a message?  Click Message Evil Jeff!

Wherein I talk about some of the issues I had in starting up the game with the minions.  Also, I've got a thought on why B/X is different from AD&D.  It was an interesting step of thoughts that got me there. Also, going to probably put the podcast on a bit of hiatus while the work schedule and demands dictates that I focus on that for the next several months.  Will still sneak o...

So, I get this message from Arlen Walker and he says something that makes me wonder why I said a particular thing.  So, I decided to double check then make a quick podcast to correct it.  Don't want to leave it hanging out there for too long. Want to leave a message?  Click Message Evil Jeff!

Wherein I receive calls from Joe at Hindsightless and Che at Roleplay Rescue and comment back on them. I do clear up/correct my stance as previously stated. The back half is a small bit of what I've been doing and upcoming podcasts. I figure that I could let you know what may occur so you can either run for the hills or wait with baited breath. I never know how listeners may react....

I respond to calls from FreeThrall and the Other Jason.  What did they have to say?  What do I say in response?  Wondering if anyone actually reads liner notes anymore.... Music - "Monster" by Skillet

I do an average job of going through an already built class to see if it lines up with the XP requirements that one should expect in a BX game with the listed abilities of the class.  Then I get to rambling on more about the classes in Pacesetter's BX Remastered book as it related to the Class Builder book.  Maybe I need help to just let go of how I feel about that product..... Music - M...

Wherein I do a review of a recent Kickstarter that is fulfilling, Third Kingdom Games' (Todd Leback) Filling in the Blanks - A Guide to Populating Hexcrawls.  I give you the specs on the product, go over the content and give you the good and the bad (which there really isn't any but me being picky).  What did I think about it overall?  Give it a listen. Click the following to see Fi...

Reading the Hobbit to the Minions, I came across a passage that has me feeling that many people playing RPGs are making the demi-humans more heroic than they were intended.  Should a GM be a bit more strict in how these dwarves, elves, gnomes, halflings, and other demi-humans are played?  There it is.  Discuss. Also, Jason calls in and I try to respond.  Not sure how well that...