Review: Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab RPG Series Scents
OK, quick word association game: when you think of the words “D&D” and “scent”, what immediately comes to mind?
Probably not something pleasant. Luckily, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab is trying to change that, or at least make that scent something more interesting than “Odeur de corporelle.” Seventeen vials of liquid character await, but are they worth the price? Will they get you laid?? This is dangerous reporting, folks.
The “RPG Series” includes 6 races, 6 classes, and 5 alignments – Good/Evil, and Chaotic, Neutral or Lawful. Intended to be blended together rather than be stand-alone perfumes, one should combine drops from 4 vials to create a character. Each vial sells for $17.50; though there is a no-return policy, you may purchase an “Imp Ear” of any of the RPG collection scents for $4.00, or 6 for $22.
PROS
- Uniqueness/Customizability
- Role-Playing enhancement
- Ability to buy a trial size for a reduced price
CONS
- High cost
- Good roleplaying does not necessarily mean a sexy scent
First things first: despite what the locked cabinet at the drugstore may have lead you to believe, perfumes and scents are not meant to be gender-specific. Sure, there are smells that lend themselves toward “masculine” or “feminine”, but it’s really a matter of interpretation. In fact, I found myself pleasantly surprised by some scents; for instance, I expected “Lawful Good” (note there is no scent for human, your own brand suffices I suppose) and “Paladin” to smell unabashedly masculine, which would have sent me into a rant about sexism. Instead, I found the combination to be more subtle: Flowery, but somehow strong underneath. Indeed, this was not a scent that I could imagine a guy wearing out to attract women. Also worth noting is the subjective nature of both the nose and the bearer of the scent; these perfumes might not only smell different TO you, they might smell different ON you.
Here’s the main issue: if you want to wear something to spice up your D&D adventure, this is a perfect product. Each scent I tried rang true to the words the vials bore. Again, since the scents are meant to be combined, some of them are almost offensive on their own. “Good”, for instance, smells sickeningly sweet yet fits nicely into a number of combinations. But I doubt many among us are going to shell out $70 for a full set of perfumes that make one smell like a dank, moldy cave (I’m looking at you, “Chaotic Neutral Dwarf Fighter”!)
If you’re looking for something that smells a particular way, something that you’d use to attract mating partners, use your no doubt well-trained imagination. I found that most of the scents I expected to smell “nice” smelled nice. “Evil” smells dead sexy, period – no real shock there! Most of the races you would expect to smell…unique and character-filled…do. I thought “Neutral Orc Fighter” was a great role-playing scent – kind of like a truck-stop bathroom, though more on the side of the air freshener used within. Conversely, Elf is not the most masculine smell, though that can be tempered. A particular favorite was “Chaotic Evil Elf Rogue” – very sexy, springtime in the woods, but exotic and spicy. Certainly appropriate on man or woman.
The bottom line? It’s hard for me to give one. I really enjoyed mixing and matching day to day, but that’s really not an option unless you have a lot of cash hanging around – I’d be happy to help out anyone with that particular problem, by the way! The creativity and hard work that clearly went into these products certainly deserves partaking in a few sample sizes. Each individual scent is paired with a few descriptive words on the website to make your choices easier. Who knows? You may find something that is truly, uniquely you – or whoever you’d like to be.
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab RPG scents are available now from their website. A free sample of their product was provided for purposes of this review.
Review: “Masks: 1,000 NPCs for Any Roleplaying Game”
The guys over at Gnome Stew came out of the gate strong with their first publication Eureka: 501 Adventure Plots to Inspire Game Masters last year, presenting plenty of snippets designed to jump-start the process of adventure creation, with multiple genres available to fit any game setting.
It should be no surprise then that their sophomore publication not only holds up to the high standards of content, design, and variety, but in some ways surpasses. Masks: 1,000 NPCs for Any Roleplaying Game is what it says: 1,000 NPCs ready to be dropped into any game. While they don’t have any stats (like Eureka, the book is systemless), you’ll find each NPC has a full name, a brieft summary, a quote from the character, appearance, roleplaying advice, a description of personality, motivations, background, and a set of traits (that are shared across multiple entries.)
A full example of one of the 1,000 entries follows:
Professor Hilda von Tegelmanner
Double-Crossing Ghost
“Und so you see, the spirits they remain here, ja? Und they have something they must do, but that something might haf already been done, ja? So they are stuck in this loop of how-you-say, something-doing, ja?”
Appearance: Frumpy and plain-looking, she wears sensible but out-of-date clothes.
Roleplaying: Professor von Tegelmanner speaks in a strong accent, and tends towards long-winded lectures on tangential subjects.
Personality: Although very gregarious, she’s also quite nerdy and academic.
Motivation: She is bound to hire and betray adventurers.
Background: Hilda was a professor of the supernatural, specializing in hauntings and ghosts. Having grown bored simply theorizing on her subject of interest, she sought an avenue to its practical application. She settled on hiring adventuring parties from a nearby tavern to guide and protect her as she visited various purportedly haunted sites. She grew too bold after a number of successful trips, however, and acquired the services of con artists. They abandoned her deep within a haunted cave, taking her money and heading off to their next job. Hilda knew enough about hauntings to arrange her own afterlife as a ghost who would take vengeance on her betrayers. But after doing so, she herself was trapped in the cycle of betrayal and revenge, and has hired an endless stream of adventuring parties over the years only to bring them to their doom deep in the haunted cave. She is completely unaware of her metaphysical state.
Traits: (KS) Academic, eccentric, scholar
The book is divided into three genres that cover most RPG settings: fantasy, sci-fi, and modern, with each one further subdivided into villains, allies, and neutrals. Many of them are also adaptable across the different genres, or cross genres already like the germanic ghost listed above. The traits also cut across genres, so that if you need an academic, you’ll find a variety in each genre.
Along the bottom, you’ll also find a list of names, so flipping to any random page will give you a name for when you need it.
Now, the basic uses are pretty obvious. If you need a pre-made character to populate your adventure, whether it be an innkeeper, an employer, or an adversary, you can flip open the book and go to the appropriate section and find something that suits your fancy, with plenty of indexes to track down what you need. With this book, there’s literally a thousand characters at your fingertips to use for planning or if the PCs meet someone you didn’t plan (which as we know, is pretty likely.)
However, the unexpected value of Masks is that each NPC is packed with adventure ideas and plot twists. In this way, it supplements and in some ways exceeds Eureka in the raw amount of GM fuel it provides. Just looking at Professor von Tegelmanner gives me the impetus for an entire adventure, or a perfect supplement to take an ordinary plot (rescue someone) and use one of the Masks NPCs to add an extra level (their partron is a ghost who betrays adventurers) and you’ve added another dimension. You could probably even use the book to grab a few of the NPCs listed and use them to power an entire, interesting character-filled adventure with criss-crossing motives and nuanced quirks.
What I’m saying is that GMs out here need this book. You may be fine coming up with awesome NPCs on your own and don’t think you need something like this, and what I’m telling you is that this book is more than just a thousand characters, it’s a million stories.
Masks: 1,000 NPCs for Any Roleplaying Game opens for pre-order today. A review PDF was provided by the publisher for this review.
2011 Origins Report
Cthulhu Sculpture Made From Chains Outside The Art Show
Another year, another Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio. Since Gen Con tends to be both my super busy show and the one with more duties for me as Press anyway, I swore to make this year at Origins more of a “hang out and play” kinda show. That said, the advantage of Gen Con for playing is that it’s easier to just send out a tweet saying “hey, I’m looking for something to play” and actually get a group together.
So, I didn’t get in as many plays as I was originally planning, but that’s OK, I still got to play in a few pretty awesome games. I managed to fit in some playtesting (both of my own stuff and other people’s stuff) and conduct a bit of business as well, so for me, it’s easy to call the show a success.
More important to all of your for sure are the games themselves. So here’s a rundown of my games played, purchased, and perused that stood out. [Read the rest of this article]
Let Sleeping Dukes Lie
When I was but a lad of 14, I used to play a lot of shareware games. It was much easier to convince my parents to pony up $2 for a disk full of PC games than it was to get them to blow $50 on another NES game. At the time, I was very much into games like Commander Keen and Jill of the Jungle. It was also about this time I played a little game by Apogee Software called Duke Nukem. It was pretty typical of PC platform shooters of the time, but I will confess to enjoying the crap out of it and its sequel. I liked the game’s catchy title and the main character’s crew cut and really didn’t think too much about it after that.
Imagine my surprise 5 years later when Apogee (now 3D Realms) drops another Duke Nukem game. This time, it’s in 3D, the graphics are better than Doom’s, and there are scantily-clad women. Also, he swears. Then I remember I’m 19, and these things aren’t really all that new to me. I regard Duke3D’s more lascivious offerings as an interesting novelty, and move on to more important things. Like blowing up aliens. Even back then I remember rolling my eyes at some of the jokes. Pigcops? Really? And with no other accompanying animal-stereotypes? I was at least expecting to kill some rabid were-weasel lawyers.
It does bear saying, though, that the joke where he threatens to rip off a boss’s head and *OMG S-WORD* down his neck and then does (complete with newspaper to read) may have been the hardest I have ever laughed. If you’re going to go over the top, go all the way.
After that, well, you’re all familiar with the story. Poor ol’ Duke got cancelled and sold to other companies and cancelled and put through the most spectacular development hell any of us have ever heard of. I was incredibly worried the day Duke Nukem Forever came out last month. I was about 12% sure the world was going to end. Conversely, after the Worst Development Cycle Ever, I was over 90% sure Duke Nukem Forever was going to be really terrible.
It wasn’t terrible. It was worse than that. It was disappointing. [Read the rest of this article]
Review: Fiasco Companion
Companions are a tradition of the RPG hobby. Call of Cthulhu, Pendragon, Rolemaster, Runequest, Shadowrun and Warhammer have all had Companions at one time or another. Sometimes “Companion” was omitted from the title (like 1st edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons’ Unearthed Arcana and Champions II and Champions III for, well, Champions), but for a while in the 80s it seemed like every RPG of consequence had one.
Companions are not 128-page volumes dedicated to a niche subject like the psychic alien zombies of Lichtenstein, either. Virtually a second (or third or fourth) corebook, Companions contain – cheek-by-jowl in a single convenient 64- or 128- or 256-page volume – new crunch (player options and antagonists), rules variants and extensions, GM advice and genre analysis. The advice and discussion of genre tropes in Champions II is still markedly better than half of the pap new DMs try to learn from today. While Companions aren’t always the best supplements available for their RPG, their batting average is good.
Enter the Fiasco Companion, the latest member of this proud cadre, which can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the best of them. It ticks most of the boxes: variants, extensions, crunch (in the form of four new playsets designed to illustrate principles explored elsewhere in the text) and advice (including chapters on using Fiasco in the classroom and as a creative tool outside of roleplaying, plus tips for playing online and facilitating in the absence of the GM role). While Fiasco’s designer, Jason Morningstar, didn’t take this chance to share how his love for the Cohen Brothers (and similar flicks) inspired his greatest hit, and the “GM” advice is aimed at all players of this GMless game, it fits the mold well. [Read the rest of this article]
Review: “Conquest of Nerath” D&D Boardgame
Today we see the release of Conquest of Nerath, the newest D&D board game from Wizards of the Coast. Unlike the last two D&D board games from WotC, Castle Ravenloft and Wrath of Ashardalon, which focused on heroes and dungeon crawling this new game is a take on large scale strategy board gaming along the lines of games like Risk or Axis & Allies. At the same time the game includes heroes that can fight alongside your larger armies and delve into dungeons to uncover powerful treasure that will help your armies attain victory over the other factions.
Conquest of Nerath is meant for play between 2, 3, or 4 players and can be played in a short game that will last around 2 hours or longer games that can go on for much longer (4+ hours). The game is quick to learn, plays well, and is incredibly fun. It appeals to fans of classic strategy board games while bringing familiar fantasy elements to the genre which is traditionally modern/historic.
Rules of the Game
The game Conquest of Nerath involves four factions battling over a map of two continents and one central island, including the Dark Empire of Karkoth (warlocks and undead), the Vailin Alliance (elves), the Iron Circle (goblins and orcs), and the Nerathan League (humans and dwarves). Every game starts with each faction having control of their assigned territories with a set number of starting units, so set up is quick and easy and doesn’t involve random region selection or placing of units from player to player. If you’re playing with four players then each player controls one faction, but if you’re playing with two or three players then each player will control an alliance of factions battling the other players. [Read the rest of this article]
Review: Battle Tag (by Ubisoft)
The odds are that you haven’t heard of the game Battle Tag that was released by Ubisoft in November of last year. How do I know that? Because so far it has only had what must be called a “soft release” and is only available through Ubisoft’s online store or in stores in Canada and Texas. Aside from some attention garnered at E3 2010, there’s not many ways you would have heard about this game. What’s surprising about this is that Battle Tag is far and away the best laser tag game I’ve ever played and may even be one of the best back yard experiences I’ve had in my entire life.
I found out about this game because my wife and our friend Joshx0rfz heard about it from a mutual friend and immediately decided it would be perfect for my birthday party last weekend. They kept it a secret from me, but through some hints I had an idea of what was going to happen, but Battle Tag was way beyond anything I expected. The key element that sets this game apart from other back yard battle games is that Battle Tag requires you to use computer software hooked up to a Ubiconnect antenna. The included software lets you name players, set up teams, and change many of the elements of the game such as health, ammunition, rules for each game such as Free For All or Team Frag, and even set the beam power depending on if you’re playing indoor, outdoor, in bright light, or in the dark.
With a company like Ubisoft behind the game, I was not surprised to find that the software made the game feel more like all of our favorite FPS games than a simple game of laser tag in our back yard. In addition to the software and the ability to customize the details of the game, it also incorporates small plastic boxes for home bases and reload stations which you tap to the bottom of your gun to respawn or to reload your gun. In addition there are eight different game types out of the box that includes one or two which involve shooting the Ubiconnect antenna or tagging specific bases as a part of scoring for that match. For our first outing with the game we stuck almost entirely to the Team Frag game type, but once I got home and looked at the different variations I decided that we definitely need to try them all.
Specs and Details
The one major downside to Battle Tag is without a doubt the cost, but when you consider how much you would spend on playing laser tag at an arena or paying for paintball equipment and course time to me it still comes out ahead. Battle Tag costs roughly $60 per player and the current software handles up to 8 players so the investment you’re looking at to get the most out of the game is steep at around $500. The two player starter set costs $130 and includes two vests, two guns, one CD of the Battle Tag software, one Ubiconnect antenna, two bases, and two ammo boxes. There is a single vest and gun expansion as well as a med-kit and two extra bases expansion but both appear to be sold out (from everywhere, unfortunately) at the moment. [Read the rest of this article]
Review: D&D Daggerdale
Those of you out there that said 4e would make a great video game? Well, turns out, not so much…
D&D Daggerdale is the newest D&D video game release from Atari, available for download on PC, Playstation Network, and Xbox Live. We played the Xbox version, using review copies provided from the publisher. A “hack and slash” style game (in the same genre as Diablo, World of Warcraft, and to a lesser extent older D&D games like Neverwinter Nights and Baldur’s Gate), the game is touted as the first game to use the D&D 4e ruleset (though the connection is loose, as we’ll discuss) and set in the Forgotten Realms. The game features single-player, local 2 player, and online up to 4 player modes. Both Bartoneus and I played a bit of single player before joining up later on for a 2 player online game. Collectively, we played probably about an hour and a half of actual game play, leveling up to 2nd level before calling it quits for the night, covering the same ground multiple times for reasons I’ll discuss. [Read the rest of this article]
Boardgaming Resurgence
Just over a year ago our group of friends was heavily into the deck building game Dominion. It was relatively new but had been out long enough to have three quick expansions and we really couldn’t get enough of it. Some days we would play game after game for hours on end. As should be expected, we eventually burned out from that pace. After that I found myself not playing tabletop board/card games much for the next several months with the exception of finally playing Race for the Galaxy for the first time and playing Castle Ravenloft many times after its release. Thankfully, over the last two months I have noticed an extreme increase in the amount of board games that my friends and I have been playing and I want to share a few of the stand out games we’ve been enjoying.
My Two Favorites
7 Wonders was a game that I fell in love with the very first time I set eyes on it. First off I’ve taken numerous ancient history classes related to architecture and so the flavor of the game including the Colossus of Rhodes and the Mausoleum of Halikarnassus immediately hooked me. Beyond that I really enjoy the game because it uses a card drafting mechanic but avoids many of the common deck building mechanics that have become incredibly popular since Dominion took off. Don’t take that to mean 7 Wonders is a deck building game, it is actually a game where you draft a collect cards in front of you around the wonder you’re playing as.
Depending on which structure/nation you’ve chosen you have different advancements you can choose from that allow you to excel at some of the specific focuses in the game. For instance, the Colossus of Rhodes can amass more military than other wonders and at a quicker pace, and as it was the first wonder I played the game with it was a tactic I could quickly latch on to and make good use of. If you haven’t tried this game yet and you enjoy tabletop card games (or board games with card-based mechanics) it is without a doubt my top recommendation. Another great advantage is that the game easily handles up to 7 players in one game and the play time is almost always between 30 and 45 minutes. [Read the rest of this article]
Unboxing – The Shadowfell: Gloomwrought and Beyond Boxed Set
We were extremely fortunate to get an early copy of the upcoming D&D boxed set called The Shadowfell: Gloomwrought and Beyond to unbox and show you all today. It comes packaged in a thin box the same size as the Red Box starter set and comes with a very sturdy 127 page paperback Campaign Guide, a 31 page Encounter Book, two sheets of cardboard tokens, one poster with a map of gloomwrought on one side and an encounter map on the other, and a Despair deck of 30 cards.
The Books
The first thing that I noticed within the boxed set is the size of the Campaign Guide. Though it is a paperback (the cover is a very nice quality card stock) at 127 pages it is only 30 pages short of the smaller hardcover books that Wizards of the Coast has put out for 4th Edition (Forgotten Realms Player’s Guide & Eberron Player’s Guide for example). Inside of the book you get the first 12 pages dedicated to running and playing D&D in the setting of the realm of the dead, including some ideas for adventures to have there and the new rules for the included Despair Deck. Following that you get 50 pages all about the so called “City of Midnight”, Gloomwrought, including pretty much all that you could want when running a game that involves the city. This part of the book includes the various factions within the city, in depth descriptions of the various quarters and districts that make it up, and picture references to the larger city map that is included in the box set.
Next the book presents us with 30 pages on the areas of the Shadowfell around Gloomwrought, titled “Beyond the Walls”, which includes places such as the Oblivion Bog, Dead Man’s Cross, and the Darkreach Mountains. Perhaps most importantly there is a section detailing the realm of Letherna where the most powerful entity of the Shadowfell, the Raven Queen, dwells and attracts the souls of the dead. I was very happy with every section of the book that I read, the content and writing reminds me of the Plane Above and Plane Below books which are some of my favorites since the release of 4th Edition and will be my go-to books for campaign and adventure planning for years to come. I am extremely pleased with a book of this caliber about the Shadowfell, especially in the light of the Ravenloft setting being shelved, because this book provides me with a lot content along the same lines as what I would expect from Ravenloft (but it just FEELS different when it has the word Ravenloft on the cover). [Read the rest of this article]
