T(H)AC0 Casseroll-to-hit!

aka Taco Casserole

1 lb ground beef
2 packets taco seasoning mix
3/4 cup water
1 can diced tomatoes with chili peppers
2 cups shredded cheese – Mexican Blend
1 bag tortilla chips (you probably won’t use all of it)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brown ground beef in a large skillet. When all meat is no longer pink add taco seasoning mix, water and diced tomatoes. Let mixture simmer until most of the liquid is gone.

Put a layer of tortilla chips in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Sprinkle about 1/2 cup shredded cheese onto the chips. Add the ground beef mixture in an even layer (spoon it in rather than dumping it in, or you make a mess of the bottom layer of chips). Add another layer of chips, and then layer the remaining cheese on top of that. Stick in oven for 10-15 minutes, until the cheese is nicely melted.

Serve with a bit of salsa, sour cream, and maybe a few drops of hot sauce. Heck, do all three if you want!

You could also add some onions in with the ground beef, and perhaps top with a layer of shredded lettuce after you take it from the oven.

For a more game table friendly version, you might just want to set out a bowl of tortilla chips, a bowl of the seasoned ground beef and diced tomato mixture, a bowl of salsa, and a bowl of queso dip.

S is for Steve Jackson Games

Back in my K is for Kickstarter post, I mentioned the Ogre Designer’s Edition project from Steve Jackson Games. I’ve been watching the project closely and it has gained far more support than I imagined. As I type this, the project has almost $650,ooo in support pledged, and appears to be on the way to the $700,000 mark.

In addition to the chance to get a copy of the Ogre game for $100 (and this is a huge box weighing in at around 14 pounds), the campaign has raised enough to meet a number of stretch goals adding more counters and maps to the package already. Also available in addition to the game are a number of t-shirts related to the Ogre and Car Wars games which you can have by supporting at dollar levels far below the cost of getting a full copy of the game.

The $700,000 mark in the project is of particular interest to me because if the Ogre project reaches this level, the company is committing to doing another Kickstarter to bring back the Car Wars game. I’ve been wanting a new release of the Car Wars set for a number of years, and based on what they’ve done with Ogre, I’m really hoping they will do another huge box set as part of that project as well.

Things I would like to see in a Car Wars box set:

• Rule books
• Poster sized maps: between 3 and 6, perhaps double sided. I imagine the following terrain types being represented: city, highway, race track, demolition derby arena. A large highway map even larger than poster size from Gaming Paper might be an interesting stretch goal.
• Cars: Prepainted plastic or resin minis would be the ultimate for me, though that might be another stretch goal type of inclusion. More likely some die cut cars similar to what WizKids did with their Nascar game could be included.
• Counters: several sheets of counters to represent pedestrians, obstacles, wreckage, etc.
• Dice
• Record Sheets: Either printed for photocopying, or erasable, or even an app that allows you to create and track the condition of your car during the game.
• 3D buildings or Terrain. This would almost certainly be a stretch goal, but would be neat to see a die cut gas station or diner.  Perhaps even a bridge, or cloverleaf in 3D.

I’m sure that Phil Reed and the others at Steven Jackson games probably have even more ideas, but I could really get into the box I’ve described above, so I’m hoping the Ogre project makes it to $700,000 so that in a few months I can support the game I’ve really been waiting for.

So if you’re an Ogre, or a Car Wars fan, head on over to Kickstarter and show some support.

N is for Nightmare

For those of you who only read my gaming posts, I’ve been doing the A to Z April Blogging Challenge in my personal blog.  Today my post is a bit more gaming focused, so I decided to post here and then repost it over to my personal blog.

The nightmare has existed in Dungeons and Dragons since the 1st Edition AD&D Monster Manual published in 1977. While I’ve never been a huge fan of running demons, and devils in my D&D games, the nightmare come from the lower planes where these creatures dwell, though they can also serve as mounts for powerful evil beings.

I like the imagery associated with the nightmare.  Even without pictures, or miniatures, describing this black horse racing across an open plain trailing fire from its hooves and mane, perhaps even leaving a trail of small fires in its wake.

I’ve probably most frequently used the nightmare as a mount for evil NPCs, especially Anti-paladins, I also like the idea of them appearing riderless, as kind of a messenger, or warning sign. The sight of a nightmare riding along the horizon during the night could serve as an omen that powerful evil forces are working in an area. Your villain could also slip a messenger bag over the nightmare’s back and send it to deliver a note, or other small item to the players.

While preparing to write this article, I found a unicorn miniature painted as a nightmare. Not sure if this type of creature has ever appeared in print, but the idea of a villain defiling a unicorn in such a way could make for a great adventure hook.

Hope you can find a way to add a nightmare to your players’ nightmares!

K is for Kickstarter

Reblogged from Paul's Life:

In case you haven’t heard, Kickstarter is a web site that allows someone to propose a project, set a funding goal for the project and ask for backers.  If the project reaches its funding goal, the money is collected, and the project moves forward.  If the goal is not reached, no one pays anything and the creators of the project get to go and rethink their plans.

Read more… 471 more words

G is for Gaming

Reblogged from Paul's Life:

Other than a mention of Dungeons and Dragons in my B is for Bucket List post, I haven’t spoken much about gaming yet during this challenge. So here’s a list of 5 6 games I’d like to play sometime soon!

1) Pathfinder. I picked up the Pathfinder Beginner Box last year, and it is still in its shrink. Want to rip it open and get the kids playing one Saturday.

Read more… 379 more words

Vancian Magic

Yes, today I’m stepping on the third rail of Dungeons and Dragons Next discussions.

I’ll start by stating: I like Vancian Magic. While I didn’t play many straight Magic-Users under 1st Edition Dungeons and Dragons, I frequently played the illusionist sub-class and enjoyed the heck out of it. Part of the fun of playing with a more limited set of powers is trying to find the right moment to apply those powers.

With the new editions stated goal of allowing different types of play within a single framework, I think a place should be made for Vancian Magic. This doesn’t mean all magic use should use the fire and forget method, but I do hope that either upon release, or in a module released very shortly thereafter the new edition includes one or more classes built around the idea of Vancian spellcasting.

I like the idea of including the Vancian spellcaster right from the start. In my mind this would probably mean including at least 3 arcane spell casters starting with the core rulebooks.  Bring back the class of Magic-user from 1st Edition to represent the Vancian casters. Add the Wizard to represent casters tied to studying and memorization but built along a more modern version of the rules set. And then the Sorcerer to represent casters who harnesses some inner force to cast their spells. Potentially the Sorcerer and Wizard can be built from the same class and differentiated by feat or power choices.

I do think some allowances should be made within the Vancian caster to make them a viable option though.

They will need access to more spells at low levels than the traditional Magic-Users had. This could be by simply giving them more spells, or daily powers per day, or by including feats or class abilities that allow for recovery of cast spells. Using 4E terminology, I would allow Magic-Users a fair number of daily powers, while eliminating all their encounter powers.

They also need some access to some useful at will abilities. For a high-magic campaign, something like a magic missile that requires a to hit roll, or a magic pebble spell which always hits but only deals 1 or 2 points of damage. In a low magic game, the ability to do something like daze an opponent for one round with a successful attack using a specific ranged weapon could keep the Magic-User out of melee while still allowing him to take a more active role in combat.

While I’d like to see them at release, I think it is more likely the core release will have casters built in a method closer to the 4E rules.  Because of their goal of allowing varied play styles I think the Vancian caster will release fairly quickly after the core rules, either in an online article, or in a splatbook covering one or more alternate magic systems.

More Than Just a Basic Attack

With all this talk about ideas for the new edition of Dungeons and Dragons, the following idea popped into my mind.

Instead of needing a specific power to create different conditions the rules for causing these conditions should be offered within the condition itself. For example, in addition to the effects of being prone, it might include the text: To trip opponent: Attack vs. Dexterity at -2 to hit, -1W Damage.

In addition to this base method of causing your opponent to be prone, there might be feats, or weapons properties that eliminate the penalties involved. For example, bolos and whips might have the Trip property which removes the to hit penalty when making Trip attempts. Bludgeoning weapons might be effective when trying to daze your opponents, while spells with the Light descriptor might work well when trying to blind opponents. Force based spells might add a push effect by giving up all or some of the spells damage.

This would not replace or eliminate powers, but allow more variety to basic attacks.