February 2018 – Page 2

D&D 5E “Storm King’s Thunder” Session 41 Recap

We rescue Harshnag and officially delve into the Eye of the All-Father temple.

Streamed, recorded and uploaded every week. Subscribe for our weekly adventures. Join us live on Fridays at 7pm Pacific/10pm Eastern!

Previously on “Storm King’s Thunder”

More empty rooms. The barracks within the Eye of the All-Father were as giant-size as everything else, but also completely barren. I poked my head into one of the side bedrooms while Bryseis darted further into the receding darkness of the long hallway.

As I turned to leave the ground began to shake. I heard Bryseis make a startled sound and saw glimpses of her running, followed by the brimstone poof of her Misty Step.

That’s all I saw before the open doorway in front of me suddenly became a solid stone wall, as if there had never been an opening.

“Uh, guys?” I called out, my voice echoing off my newly sealed tomb.

The rumbling grew louder and louder, as did the shouts and screams of my friends. I took a few steps back as something large rolled by, violently shaking the ground. I pressed my head up against the stone, heart beating rapidly as I listened for the sickening crunch of bone.

It never came. The rumbling began again, but this time slower and more rhythmic. As it passed by once again the stone wall magically melded back into the sides. I raced outside. To my left I saw a massive stone boulder rolling back into the darkness. To my right I could make out the prone forms of Bryseis and Halfred panting, with a wild look in their eyes. But they were alive.

This week we finished our battle with the giants, and delved further inside the Eye of the All-Father temple. Continue reading “D&D 5E “Storm King’s Thunder” Session 41 Recap”

No D&D Tonight – Rescheduled to Sunday, Feb. 11

Last minute reschedule! Due to one player being out at a wedding and another out sick, we are moving our weekly D&D session to this Sunday, February 11th. Same start time at 7 pm Pacific/10 pm Eastern. See you then!

Roxley Teases New Dice Throne Season 2 Heroes

You’ve watched my video review of Dice Throne and know that I’m excited about Season 2 of Dice Throne, which is launching on Kickstarter next week, February 14.

Publisher Roxley has been teasing pictures of the new and improved components for the new characters, and they are jaw-droppingly gorgeous (images below).

Huge new tri-fold game boards featuring the hero front and center, individual art on each ability box, color-coded dice, and artwork on all the cards. They look absolutely incredible. I’m actually worried the poor originals will look a bit dour in comparison!

Season 2 will feature three two-character expansion packs, each at a lower price point then the full six-character base game, which I guess we’re calling Season 1. Technically any of those Season 2 packs are stand-alone for playing 1v1 games. The Samurai and Gunslinger are included in the Battle 1 box. The others are Tactician/Huntress and Cursed Pirate/Artificer.

Dice Throne Season 2 hits Kickstarter February 14.

Monster Hunter: World Tips and Guide for New Players [Pixelkin]

Read the full guide at Pixelkin

Monster Hunter: World may be the most accessible game in the series but it’s still a tricky game to jump into, particularly if you’re completely new to the Monster Hunter series. We’ve compiled some helpful tips and explained some important mechanics to help start novice hunters on the right path to hunting and slaying.

In Monster Hunter: World your progression is tied directly to your gear, as well as a single Hunter Rank number. This number could be considered your level, just without all the normal RPG benefits of stat increases and abilities. Your HR determines how difficult of a mission you can accept, as well as unlocking new areas, quests, and facilities in Astera. Every quest has an HR requirement, and you can never join one that’s above your HR. Keep that in mind when playing multiplayer.

Read the full guide at Pixelkin

RogueWatson Reviews is my new board game video series

After reviewing a series of DMs Guild D&D adventures late last year my YouTube channel has been relatively quiet in 2018. I’ve been gearing up for a new project – a board game review series called RogueWatson Reviews.

In this series I’ll highlight recent and semi-recent board games (going back two, maybe three years), including an overview of how they play, running through a sample round, and giving my Pros, Cons, and Final Thoughts.

I’m kicking off this series with Dice Throne –

These videos are much more heavily edited than my DMs Guild and Roll20 Reviews, and require a lot more time and effort to put together. I won’t be able to put them out once a week, for example, but I am shooting for about twice a month, at least to start.

If you have been enjoying my tabletop RPG reviews – fear not! I plan on jumping back into those as well. In a perfect scenario I can stagger these series together, producing videos at a consistent rate. But as a freelancer my work load ebbs and flows, so I’m not ready to commit to a solid schedule.

As always I appreciate kind words and constructive feedback on YouTube as well as here on my blog. Thank you!

Monster Hunter: World Review [Pixelkin]

Read the full review at Pixelkin

I had the Anjanath on the run. Monster Hunter’s version of a Tyrannosaurus Rex decided he’d had enough of my hacking and slashing, and fled to higher ground. I chased after him, winding up the trees and branches in the Ancient Forest. We reached a nest-like clearing and faced each other, prepared to duel it out again. A terrifying roar signaled a newcomer to the party. We’d wandered into the nesting grounds of a dragon, the Rathian.

The 10-year old within me excitedly cheers as the giant monsters battle each other, the dragon picking up the T-Rex and dropping it from its nest. When the Rathian turns its attention toward me, I make like the Anjanath and run like hell.

Monster Hunter: World excels at capturing these emergent, exhilarating moments, and creating reactive areas where your hunter exists among larger, even deadlier hunters.

Read the full review at Pixelkin

D&D 5E “Storm King’s Thunder” Session 40 Recap

We come up with a plan to free Harshnag and battle the giants at the entrance to the Eye of the All-Father.

Streamed, recorded and uploaded every week. Subscribe for our weekly adventures. Join us live on Fridays at 7pm Pacific/10pm Eastern!

Previously on “Storm King’s Thunder”

Halfred and I crept along the ledges that flanked the massive hallway leading to the main doors of the Eye of the All-Father temple. Though we were 20 feet above ground we weren’t even eye level with the giants who stood around the bound Harshnag. One of them was wearing robes and wielding a staff, and stood chanting before the sealed doors.

Harshnag was berating the mage for his folly of trying to enter the temple, and received a massive blow to the head from one of his stone giant captors.

As we approached I reached out with my mind, alerting the slightly dazed Harshnag to our presence. His body language changed slightly as he nodded in acknowledgement. He shifted and turned. His hands were bound behind his back by massive chain manacles, which he now rested on the ledge. Right next to me.

I turned to Halfred. Or where I thought Halfred was, as we were both still invisible. “Fly back to the others,” I said in his mind. “We need a plan.”

We knew we had a big battle on our hands this week. So big we didn’t even finish it over our nearly three hour session!

Our little group has not been the best at planning our actions around hostile encounters. It’s probably why we end up splitting the party and getting in less than optimal situations.

This time, however, we actually spent a good chunk of time planning exactly what we wanted to do. Continue reading “D&D 5E “Storm King’s Thunder” Session 40 Recap”