International Game Day purchases

[BiggusGeekus]

I went to the Game Parlor in Chantilly, VA for International Game Day.

I arrived too late for the official events, but I did talk to one of the clerks about how it went. He was very positive about it. He also said he liked the basic set as it is going to help him play with his son, so that's cool.

I picked up Crown of Shadow by Fantasy Flight Games and Tests of Skill by Skirmisher Games. Both of these "reviews" are cursory glances and should be taken with a large grain of salt.

Crown of Shadow is for the Midnight campaign setting. The artwork is sublime. The back cover reads that it is an adventure to take the characters from level 1 to 5. This is true. However it is done with story exp awards. That's fine! Great even! It allows the game designer to include encounters that are horribly unscaled to the character's level and still let them advance. However, it's something to be aware of. The adventuer looks to be very story-intensive and I'm going to enjoy reading it.

Tests of Skill is a sourcebook that is heavy on role-playing encounters and skill tests. It's kind of a grab bag of good stuff and ... well ... stuff that looks questionable. For example, is the Dire Hyena a niche in monsters that really needed filling? I have already decided to incorporate some of the bits and pieces into my campaign though.

So that's my quickie take on them. International Game Day was great and I picked up two good books. Can't wait till next year!

 

[Crothian]

I want to hear more on Test of Skills. I saw it at the gaming satore and looked through it but really am looking for more information on it.

 

[Napftor]

Heh, like I need an official day to prompt D&D purchases. But I went out anyway and bought the D&D Basic Set and the starter pack for the new minis. Would have bought Shining South and maybe the new undead book but I'm waiting to go to Borders with my 20% off coupon for that.

 

[Alzrius]

I went over to The Rusty Scabbard for Worldwide D&D Game Day.

I was too late to get in on the events, and even though the guy at the store invited me to take up a seat in the back, I had to turn him down; my brother was home from college only for a while, and I still have to work this week.

Luckily for me, they were having a special sale in honor of D&D Game Day. I got Ravenloft Gazetteer IV 20% off, and the novelization of the D&D movie and books 1-4, and 6-9 of the Double Diamond Triangle Saga, all 30% off!

Not bad, all in all.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

I want to hear more on Test of Skills.

Gimmie a couple of days on this. I'm still just at the "paging though" stage. There are some gems in here, but some dross as well and I'm still trying to work out the gem/dross ratio. For example, the book uses the company's campaign core-rules setting (http://www.skirmisher.com) which is a kind of alternate-Earth. That's fine, nothing wrong with a baseline, but I still don't know how much uses thier setting.

 

[Ycore Rixle]

I stopped in at the Compleat Strategist and picked up the new Dragon, the City State of the Invincible Overlord, and an expansion pack of Aberrations. I'm enjoying all of them, although I think I prefer the Giants of Legend monster selection to that of Aberrations. CSIO is old-school fun. Dragon is solid as always.