Episode 103 – How to Be a Better Player

We’re joined by longtime contributor to the Gamer’s Haven Actual Play, Andre – yeah, that guy who does Wizard’s College, City of Angels, Brothers, and countless others.

We talk about an article, and the contracts that Andre made thereof for his players, that we found here:  http://lookrobot.co.uk/2013/06/20/11-ways-to-be-a-better-roleplayer/

This episode runs long, as we have a full house on the show this time around.

 

In the Three Parter, Nathan talks about what he’s into with Might and Magic 7, Jeremy reviews some fiction from The Yellow Sign and Other Tales by Robert W. Chambers & Robert E. Howard’s Ancient Terrors, Ethan reviews the Fantasy Flight game Red November, Noah rants a bit on nostalgia, and Andre does a thorough review of the Paizo adventure path for Pathfinder “Skull and Shackles.”

Total running time of this episode is 2 hours 54 minutes.

About Might & Magic VII: For Blood & Honor

Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor is a role-playing game published in 1999 by 3DO and developed by New World Computing, and is the predecessor of Might and Magic VIII: Day of the Destroyer. It is the sequel to Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven and, in a way, Might and Magic III: Isles of Terra.

About The Yellow Sign and Other Stories: The Complete Weird Tales of Robert W. Chambers

This massive collection brings together the entire body of Robert W. Chamber’s Weird fiction works, including material unprinted since the 1890’s. Chambers is considered a landmark author in the field of horror literature for his KING IN YELLOW collection, which itself represents but a small portion of his weird fiction work.

These stories are intimately connected with the Cthulhu Mythos introducing such manifestations as Hali, Carcosa, and Hastur. This book contains all the immortal tales of Robert W. Chambers, including “The Repairer of Reputations”, “The Yellow Sign”, and “The Mask”. These titles are often found in survey anthologies.

In addition to the six stories reprinted from THE YELLOW SIGN (1895) this book also offers more than two dozen other stories and episodes. These narratives rarely have appeared in print. Some have not been published in nearly a century.

Stories are collected and edited by Lovecraftian Scholar S.T. Joshi.

About Robert E. Howard’s Ancient Terrors

Prehistoric adventure, Lovecraftian terror and psychological horror from the creator of Conan!

  • Spear and Fang
  • The Valley of the Worm
  • The Garden of Fear
  • The Slithering Shadow
  • The House of Arabu
  • The People of the Dark
  • The Cairn on the Headland
  • The Black Stone
  • The Dream Snake
  • The Man on the Ground
  • The Dead Remember
  • Sea Curse
  • The Haunter of the Ring
  • The Fearsome touch of Death

Formatted for Kindle, with original commentary by the editor.

About Red November

  • Warning: Oxygen levels critical! Danger! Asphyxiation!
  • Oxygen levels stable.
  • Warning: Reactors overheating! Danger!
  • Reactors cooled.

Warning! Warning! Warning!

Welcome to the BFGS Red November, a doomed submarine where everything can and does go wrong. The Red November is home to gnomish submariners trapped struggling against a hellish cycle of fire, floods, missile strikes, and nuclear meltdowns. In the face of such catastrophe, sometimes the only choice is a stiff gulp of grog.

Red November is a cooperative board game for 1–8 players, and the revised edition includes a larger game board,Item cards, and clarified rules. Control desperate sailors in a frantic race against the clock. Can you survive in the submarine until you are rescued? To prevent destruction, players must work together to complete tasks as efficiently as possible.

About Skulls & Shackles

There’s adventure to be had on the high seas when a group of press-ganged strangers seizes a ship and becomes embroiled in the plots and politics of the Shackles—an infamous island chain dominated by pirate warlords. But as these new swashbucklers make names for themselves, rival scalawags, enemy navies, legendary sea monsters, and the infamous Hurricane King himself seek to see them walk the plank. Who will survive when there’s glory to plunder?

Pathfinder Adventure Path is the premiere monthly resource for your fantasy roleplaying campaign. Every month, the Pathfinder Adventure Path brings you a new installment of a 6-part series of interconnected quests that together create a fully developed plot of sweeping scale and epic challenges. In each volume of the Pathfinder Adventure Path, you’ll meet nuanced characters, visit fantastical locations, face deadly foes, and learn ever more about nefarious plots and an incredible world forged by some of the most popular authors and artists in fantasy gaming. What’s more, each Adventure Path also comes complete with new monsters, detailed supplementary chapters on important topics and locations, and fiction in the Pathfinder’s Journal—everything you need to make your campaign rich, detailed, and engaging.

  1. The Wormwood Mutiny (1 of 6): The adventurers wake up in the hold of a ship at sea, only to discover they’ve been press-ganged into a crew of scoundrels, thieves, and buccaneers from the pirate isles of the Shackles. When they’re assigned to a captured ship as part of a skeleton crew, the adventurers finally have a chance to stage a mutiny, but a sudden storm strands them on an isolated island inhabited by strange monsters? Can the adventurers survive the dangers of the island to overthrow their cruel captors and take control of their own destinies? Will they become feared pirates with their own ship, or will they meet their ends in a watery grave?
  2. Raiders of the Fever Sea (2 of 6): Now masters of their own ship, the adventurers can become pirates in their own right, but they must first rename and refit their stolen ship. But to be considered equals by the pirates of the Shackles, they have to prove themselves worthy of the name. When they discover a treasure map tattooed on a defeated pirate rival, the adventurers go in search of buried treasure. If found, they’ll have enough plunder to return to the Shackles as true Free Captains!
  3. Tempest Rising (3 of 6): Returning to the Shackles with a hold full of booty and plunder, the adventurers must present themselves to the Hurricane King of the Shackles. Now recognized as Free Captains, they can enter the Free Captains’ Regatta, a grueling race along the fringes of the mighty hurricane called the Eye of Abendego. The winners receive a fat prize purse, their own private island, and a seat on the Pirate Council of the Shackles. Will the adventurers triumph against fierce competitors, old rivals, and the treacherous winds and currents of the Eye of Abendego itself? Or will their ship be dashed against the rocks, never to sail again?
  4. Island of Empty Eyes (4 of 6): Having won the Free Captain’s Regatta, the adventurers must now claim their prize—an uninhabited and dangerous isle called the Island of Empty Eyes. After exploring strange ruins and fighting the island’s monstrous denizens, the adventurers must host a feast for their new peers on the Pirate Council. But a mysterious saboteur threatens to disrupt the party. Can the adventurers tame their island wilderness and protect their influential guests? Or will they lose the respect of the pirate lords and fade into obscurity?
  5. The Price of Infamy (5 of 6): The adventurers now have their own island and port, but they’ll need more than one ship to defend it. They must scour the harbors and docks of the Shackles to recruit more ships and more crews to their flag. But when a rival from their past sends a fleet to attack them, they must defend their island home. And when they sail to his island to get their revenge, the adventurers discover a traitor whose betrayal threatens all of the islands of the Shackles.
  6. From Hell’s Heart (6 of 6): With an enemy fleet intent on conquering the Shackles looming on the horizon, the adventurers must build their own fleet of pirates and buccaneers to defend against the invaders, culminating in an epic naval battle in the middle of the Eye of Abendego. Will the adventurers defeat the invading navy and save the Shackles? Or will the independence of the Free Captains be eradicated forever?