Recounting Encounters - War of Everlasting Darkness, Session 8 : The Spellcaves of Eryndlyn

Deep in the darkness of the demon web pits, Lolth has been spinning a web of deceit, treachery, and ambition. Her goal is to seize control of arcane magic, a domain that has lain vacant since the death of Mystra 100 years ago. Lolth's web of influence has extended; controlling the Demon Weave, replacing the sundered weave that Mystra used to maintain.  

Her servitors now draw from the Demon Weave to create shrouds of darkness that they call the darkening. Drow can now move to the surface and fight with darkness on their side during, what would normally be daylight hours. With this advantage they hope to complete Lolth's ascendancy in her new role as goddess of magic.  Can She be stopped?  Can the heroes put an end to her nefarious plots?

D&D Encounters season 11, War of Everlasting Darkness, Runs from October 24th through December 19th.  This season is the culmination of the ongoing Drow storyline Rise of the Underdark.

Join us, as Derek Myers from Dungeon's Master, and me, Marc Talbot,  where we discuss what happened at our gaming table: the good, the not so good, and the wish we could change.

Recounting Encounters - War of Everlasting Darkness, Session 7: Shores of the Darklake

Deep in the darkness of the demon web pits, Lolth has been spinning a web of deceit, treachery, and ambition. Her goal is to seize control of arcane magic, a domain that has lain vacant since the death of Mystra 100 years ago. Lolth's web of influence has extended; controlling the Demon Weave, replacing the sundered weave that Mystra used to maintain.  

Her servitors now draw from the Demon Weave to create shrouds of darkness that they call the darkening. Drow can now move to the surface and fight with darkness on their side during, what would normally be daylight hours. With this advantage they hope to complete Lolth's ascendancy in her new role as goddess of magic.  Can She be stopped?  Can the heroes put an end to her nefarious plots?

D&D Encounters season 11, War of Everlasting Darkness, Runs from October 24th through December 19th.  This season is the culmination of the ongoing Drow storyline Rise of the Underdark.

Join us, as Derek Myers from Dungeon's Master, and me, Marc Talbot,  where we discuss what happened at our gaming table: the good, the not so good, and the wish we could change.

Recounting Encounters - War of Everlasting Darkness, Session 6 : Trolls of the Evermoors

Deep in the darkness of the demon web pits, Lolth has been spinning a web of deceit, treachery, and ambition. Her goal is to seize control of arcane magic, a domain that has lain vacant since the death of Mystra 100 years ago. Lolth's web of influence has extended; controlling the Demon Weave, replacing the sundered weave that Mystra used to maintain.  

Her servitors now draw from the Demon Weave to create shrouds of darkness that they call the darkening. Drow can now move to the surface and fight with darkness on their side during, what would normally be daylight hours. With this advantage they hope to complete Lolth's ascendancy in her new role as goddess of magic.  Can She be stopped?  Can the heroes put an end to her nefarious plots?

D&D Encounters season 11, War of Everlasting Darkness, Runs from October 24th through December 19th.  This season is the culmination of the ongoing Drow storyline Rise of the Underdark.

Join us, as Derek Myers from Dungeon's Master, and me, Marc Talbot,  where we discuss what happened at our gaming table: the good, the not so good, and the wish we could change.

Recounting Encounters - War of Everlasting Darkness, Session 5: Spirits of the Fell Pass

Deep in the darkness of the demon web pits, Lolth has been spinning a web of deceit, treachery, and ambition. Her goal is to seize control of arcane magic, a domain that has lain vacant since the death of Mystra 100 years ago. Lolth's web of influence has extended; controlling the Demon Weave, replacing the sundered weave that Mystra used to maintain.  

Her servitors now draw from the Demon Weave to create shrouds of darkness that they call the darkening. Drow can now move to the surface and fight with darkness on their side during, what would normally be daylight hours. With this advantage they hope to complete Lolth's ascendancy in her new role as goddess of magic.  Can She be stopped?  Can the heroes put an end to her nefarious plots?

D&D Encounters season 11, War of Everlasting Darkness, Runs from October 24th through December 19th.  This season is the culmination of the ongoing Drow storyline Rise of the Underdark.

Join us, as Derek Myers from Dungeon's Master, and me, Marc Talbot,  where we discuss what happened at our gaming table: the good, the not so good, and the wish we could change.

Recounting Encounters: Shawn Merwin Unleashed!!!

Join us for this special episode of Recounting Encounters where Derek and I have an in depth encounter with the one and only Shawn Merwin, co-writer of this seasons D&D Encounters: War of Everlasting Darkness.

We ask Shawn about his experiences as a writer for this season, tips for the newbies and some of the design strategies involved in undertaking such a monumental piece of work.

Or link HERE to open up an new page.

For additional resources for D&D Encounters you can visit the following pages:

D&D Encounters Insider
D&D Encounters Community Forums
Dungeon's Master
Pregenerated Characters



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Recounting Encounters - War of Everlasting Darkness, Session 4: Descent Into the Depths

Deep in the darkness of the demon web pits, Lolth has been spinning a web of deceit, treachery, and ambition. Her goal is to seize control of arcane magic, a domain that has lain vacant since the death of Mystra 100 years ago. Lolth's web of influence has extended; controlling the Demon Weave, replacing the sundered weave that Mystra used to maintain.  

Her servitors now draw from the Demon Weave to create shrouds of darkness that they call the darkening. Drow can now move to the surface and fight with darkness on their side during, what would normally be daylight hours. With this advantage they hope to complete Lolth's ascendancy in her new role as goddess of magic.  Can She be stopped?  Can the heroes put an end to her nefarious plots?

D&D Encounters season 11, War of Everlasting Darkness, Runs from October 24th through December 19th.  This season is the culmination of the ongoing Drow storyline Rise of the Underdark.

Join us, as Derek Myers from Dungeon's Master, and me, Marc Talbot,  where we discuss what happened at our gaming table: the good, the not so good, and the wish we could change.

Recounting Encounters - War of Everlasting Darkness, Session 3: Siege of Mithral Hall

Deep in the darkness of the demon web pits, Lolth has been spinning a web of deceit, treachery, and ambition. Her goal is to seize control of arcane magic, a domain that has lain vacant since the death of Mystra 100 years ago. Lolth's web of influence has extended; controlling the Demon Weave, replacing the sundered weave that Mystra used to maintain.  

Her servitors now draw from the Demon Weave to create shrouds of darkness that they call the darkening. Drow can now move to the surface and fight with darkness on their side during, what would normally be daylight hours. With this advantage they hope to complete Lolth's ascendancy in her new role as goddess of magic.  Can She be stopped?  Can the heroes put an end to her nefarious plots?

D&D Encounters season 11, War of Everlasting Darkness, Runs from October 24th through December 19th.  This season is the culmination of the ongoing Drow storyline Rise of the Underdark.

Join us, as Derek Myers from Dungeon's Master, and me, Marc Talbot,  where we discuss what happened at our gaming table: the good, the not so good, and the wish we could change.

Recounting Encounters - War of Everlasting Darkness, Session 2: Envoy to Many-Arrows

Deep in the darkness of the demon web pits, Lolth has been spinning a web of deceit, treachery, and ambition. Her goal is to seize control of arcane magic, a domain that has lain vacant since the death of Mystra 100 years ago. Lolth's web of influence has extended; controlling the Demon Weave, replacing the sundered weave that Mystra used to maintain.  

Her servitors now draw from the Demon Weave to create shrouds of darkness that they call the darkening. Drow can now move to the surface and fight with darkness on their side during, what would normally be daylight hours. With this advantage they hope to complete Lolth's ascendancy in her new role as goddess of magic.  Can She be stopped?  Can the heroes put an end to her nefarious plots?

D&D Encounters season 11, War of Everlasting Darkness, Runs from October 24th through December 19th.  This season is the culmination of the ongoing Drow storyline Rise of the Underdark.

Join us, as Derek Myers from Dungeon's Master, and me, Marc Talbot,  where we discuss what happened at our gaming table: the good, the not so good, and the wish we could change.

Confessions: DNDnext is Looking Favourable!

I really think I'm going to like DNDnext. There, I said it. Let me tell you a little story. Lately, I've been feeling a little nostalgic to play a little old-school D&D. To be clear on the subject, I'm not one of those people who bash one edition or the other. I like all editions: anything from 1st all the way to 4th. I've enjoyed many an hour playing these games, playing D&D to all hours in the morning, feeling incredibly tired the next day. I played D&D; pure and simple.

Don't get me wrong I love 4th edition I love the flavor, I love the mechanics, I love the monsters, but there's just something about 4th edition that is making me crave more than it has to offer. To give you little bit of a historical background I play D&D 3 times a week. I play game of 4th online using map tools with my gaming group from Toronto. I also DM D&D encounters at my friendly local gaming store and have been for the past 10 seasons. I also play a homebrew game of 3.5 edition each Friday night, and have been doing so for approximately 6 years.

Recounting Encounters - War of Everlasting Darkness, Session 1: Nightfall in Methegrist

Deep in the darkness of the demon web pits, Lolth has been spinning a web of deceit, treachery, and ambition. Her goal is to seize control of arcane magic, a domain that has lain vacant since the death of Mystra 100 years ago. Lolth's web of influence has extended; controlling the Demon Weave, replacing the sundered weave that Mystra used to maintain.  

Her servitors now draw from the Demon Weave to create shrouds of darkness that they call the darkening. Drow can now move to the surface and fight with darkness on their side during, what would normally be daylight hours. With this advantage they hope to complete Lolth's ascendancy in her new role as goddess of magic.  Can She be stopped?  Can the heroes put an end to her nefarious plots?

D&D Encounters season 11, War of Everlasting Darkness, Runs from October 24th through December 19th.  This season is the culmination of the ongoing Drow storyline Rise of the Underdark.

Join us, as Derek Myers from Dungeon's Master, and me, Marc Talbot,  where we discuss what happened at our gaming table: the good, the not so good, and the wish we could change.

Recounting Encounters Season 1: Council of Spiders, Episode 8: The Jaezred Chaulssin

We're back and with more Drow than we can shake a stick at.  Join us as Derek from Dungeonsmaster.com and I, Marc Talbot give you our weekly recap of what was good, not so good and the ugly with the encounter played at our respective FLGS.

This season is looking up to be a great season, with a ton of treachery, backstabbing and downright nastiness in the depths of the underdark.  The players start in the Drow city of Menzoberranzan.

This week is the last session of Council of Spiders, D&D Encounters 10th season.

Choose either female or male characters, slave races or drow and learn to be assertive and push people around, or learn to scheme and betray those who thought you close to them.

And then come to the site and listen to what transpired at the store.

Recounting Encounters Season 1: Council of Spiders, Episode 7: Into the Shadows

We're back and with more Drow than we can shake a stick at.  Join us as Derek from Dungeonsmaster.com and I, Marc Talbot give you our weekly recap of what was good, not so good and the ugly with the encounter played at our respective FLGS.

This season is looking up to be a great season, with a ton of treachery, backstabbing and downright nastiness in the depths of the underdark.  The players start in the Drow city of Menzoberranzan.  

Choose either female or male characters, slave races or drow and learn to be assertive and push people around, or learn to scheme and betray those who thought you close to them.

And then come to the site and listen to what transpired at the store.

My GenCon Jaunt (And How I Survive It - Part 1)

GenCon had to be the best time I’ve ever had in my life (in gaming terms anyways).  Even though I had the best time of my life, it had to be one of the most stressful planning occasions I have ever had to do in my life.  If it wasn’t for Derek, this trip may not have turned out to be the best trip of my gaming history.

How intimidating it was, when I first announced that I was taking the plunge to go to GenCon.  I did not know my head for my ass and was extremely nervous to do some of the bookings that I had to do for this trip.  Even having started an account at GenCon, there was so much information on the web site that I did not know what to do with it.  The only advantage I had in planning the trip was that I had a person of experience guiding me in the step by step process of being able to attend GenCon.

I was so excited when I finally booked my badge for this event, and right after, Derek booked our hotel room at the gorgeous Omni Severn hotel.  This was the easy part.

Recounting Encounters Season 1: Council of Spiders, Episode 6: The Brink of War

We're back and with more Drow than we can shake a stick at.  Join us as Derek from Dungeonsmaster.com and I, Marc Talbot give you our weekly recap of what was good, not so good and the ugly with the encounter played at our respective FLGS.

This season is looking up to be a great season, with a ton of treachery, backstabbing and downright nastiness in the depths of the underdark.  The players start in the Drow city of Menzoberranzan.  

Choose either female or male characters, slave races or drow and learn to be assertive and push people around, or learn to scheme and betray those who thought you close to them.

And then come to the site and listen to what transpired at the store.

20ft Radius Designated "Site of the Month" by Stuffer Shack

I love this poster.  I love monsters!!  But most of all I love life right at this moment.

It is not everyday that I can say that I am happy about the consistency of my site, but when Stuffer Shack announced my site to be site of the month I was ecstatic.

Thank you for reading my site!

Until next time...Have a blast!!!

Read an RPG in Public Week September 30th - October 6th, 2012

It is that time of year once again for those of you who are avid RPG gamers to submit your photos during this 3rd installment of read an RPG in Public week.

It runs from September 30th to October 6th, 2012.  Participate and show your love for RPG's by reading one in public and getting someone to take your photo while you are reading one.

The Escapist. WHAT?

For those of you unfamiliar with The Escapist, they are a website promoting advocacy of the game we love the most.

For a few years now they have been advocating to publicly advocate reading RPG books in public places and taking the photos of yourself reading these books in public.

I thought to myself: "Quelle idée géniale!" and decided to participate by:

a. Writing about this awesome sounding idea on my blog site,
b. Taking a photo of myself reading something RPG related,
c. Help dispel the stigma attached to RPG games and gaming in general by helping promote an event such as this one.

Recounting Encounters Season 1: Council of Spiders, Episode 5: Secrets and Lies

We're back and with more Drow than we can shake a stick at.  Join us as Derek from Dungeonsmaster.com and I, Marc Talbot give you our weekly recap of what was good, not so good and the ugly with the encounter played at our respective FLGS.

This season is looking up to be a great season, with a ton of treachery, backstabbing and downright nastiness in the depths of the underdark.  The players start in the Drow city of Menzoberranzan.  

Choose either female or male characters, slave races or drow and learn to be assertive and push people around, or learn to scheme and betray those who thought you close to them.

And then come to the site and listen to what transpired at the store.

Recounting Encounters Season 1: Council of Spiders, Episode 4: The Fallen House

We're back and with more Drow than we can shake a stick at.  Join us as Derek from Dungeonsmaster.com and I, Marc Talbot give you our weekly recap of what was good, not so good and the ugly with the encounter played at our respective FLGS.

This season is looking up to be a great season, with a ton of treachery, backstabbing and downright nastiness in the depths of the underdark.  The players start in the Drow city of Menzoberranzan.  

Choose either female or male characters, slave races or drow and learn to be assertive and push people around, or learn to scheme and betray those who thought you close to them.

And then come to the site and listen to what transpired at the store.

Recounting Encounters Season 1: Council of Spiders, Episode 3: Sezz'ia Outpost

We're back and with more Drow than we can shake a stick at.  Join us as Derek from Dungeonsmaster.com and I, Marc Talbot give you our weekly recap of what was good, not so good and the ugly with the encounter played at our respective FLGS.

This season is looking up to be a great season, with a ton of treachery, backstabbing and downright nastiness in the depths of the underdark.  The players start in the Drow city of Menzoberranzan.  

Choose either female or male characters, slave races or drow and learn to be assertive and push people around, or learn to scheme and betray those who thought you close to them.

And then come to the site and listen to what transpired at the store.

Recounting Encounters Season 1: Council of Spiders, Episode 2: Miner's Ambush

We're back and with more Drow than we can shake a stick at.  Join us as Derek from Dungeonsmaster.com and I Marc Talbot give you our weekly recap of what was good, not so good and downright ugly with the encounter played at our respective FLGS.

This season is looking up to be a great season, with a ton of treachery, backstabbing and downright nastiness in the depths of the underdark.  The players start in the Drow city of Menzoberranzan.  

Choose either female or male characters, slave races or drow and learn to be assertive and push people around, or learn to scheme and betray those who thought you close to them.

And then come to the site and listen to what transpired at the store.

GenCon 2012: D&D Championship, Fourthcore Team Deathmatch, and so much other coolness! (Part 2)

What constitutes the ultimate gaming high known to humankind?  I'll give you a hint: it has 93 hours, 2 tournaments, umpteen seminars, and a lot of cool people.  It's called GenCon, and this is the first year I have attended it and I can tell you it was the absolute best days of gaming I have ever had in my life.  My schedule was busy from start to finish and I came home absolutely exhausted. I will go over some of the things that I did over the course of the weekend and show some of the stuff I managed to pick up.

D&D Championship

First of two events that I was going down to GenCon to do.  D&D Championship is a fast-paced, grueling 4 hour, 5 encounters...if you make it that far.  This year the Championship was an Epic level tourney;  22nd level to be exact.  We played 5 encounters of 45 minutes each.  This was a timed event and if you failed any of the encounters, your chances of being eliminated from the tourney was very likely.

Out of the forty or so teams that entered this competition, we made it down to the last 6, to eventually win 3rd place overall in the tourney due to two rookie mistakes we made at the table.  Great time was had by all. I can't wait to see what they throw at us next year.  Our team came out of there with some pretty good swag.  Worth missing 4 seminars for it.

Recounting Encounters Season 1: Council of Spiders, Episode 1: Survivors

We're back and with more Drow than we can shake a stick at.  Join us as Derek from Dungeonsmaster.com and I Marc Talbot give you our weekly recap of what was good, not so good and downright ugly with the encounter played at our respective FLGS.

This season is looking up to be a great season, with a ton of treachery, backstabbing and downright nastiness in the depths of the underdark.  The players start in the Drow city of Menzoberranzan.  

Choose either female or male characters, slave races or drow and learn to be assertive and push people around, or learn to scheme and betray those who thought you close to them.

And then come to the site and listen to what transpired at the store.

GenCon 2012: D&D Championship, Fourthcore Team Deathmatch, and so much other coolness!

What constitutes the ultimate gaming high known to humankind?  I'll give you a hint: it has 93 hours, 2 tournaments, umpteen seminars, and a lot of cool people.  It's called GenCon, and this is the first year I have attended it and I can tell you it was the absolute best days of gaming I have ever had in my life.  My schedule was busy from start to finish and I came home absolutely exhausted. I will go over some of the things that I did over the course of the weekend and show some of the stuff I managed to pick up.

D&D Encounters Podcast: Web of the Spider Queen, Recap.

This is a weekly recap of the events happening every week at the sessions of D&D Encounters at my FLGS in Elliot Lake at Sights&Sounds Music Store.

Following the success the characters had in defeating the drow and defending the patrons of the Old Skull Inn, the characters receive a message from an important individual in town which bids them on to bigger and better things.

Rushing to the tower of Ashaba, tracks of the remaining drow lead them to the cellar under the tower. They encounter a dead-end, discover a secret entrance and battle an ambush party of Drow.  The party learns of Valan Jaelre. Having survived the ambush, the characters are put to the test before their grand entrance to the Underdark. The characters pass the tests of Lolth and enter into the Underdark proper and encounter an elite strike force of Jaelre. The characters storm the Demonspur trading post and manage to outwit two idiot Ogres.  Last week the players found Tharinel and ended up at the torture theater. Having defeated the two torturers and their minions, the characters rescue Khara in the slave pits. The heroes return to Shadowdale and are confronted by Valan in the finale to this awesome season of D&D Encounters.

Derek Myers from Dungeon's Master joins me again this week to talk about what he liked, disliked, and things that could have been changed for this season's recap.

Follow us on this week's recap podcast of D&D Encounters Web of the Spider Queen

D&D Encounters Podcast: Web of the Spider Queen, Session 13 - Return to Shadowdale

This is a weekly recap of the events happening every week at the sessions of D&D Encounters at my FLGS in Elliot Lake at Sights&Sounds Music Store.

This week and for the remainder of this season, I will be posting weekly recaps in the form of a podcast, to see how it takes off.  The feedback has been good so far and let's see how it goes until the end of the season.

Following the success the characters had in defeating the drow and defending the patrons of the Old Skull Inn, the characters receive a message from an important individual in town which bids them on to bigger and better things.

Rushing to the tower of Ashaba, tracks of the remaining drow lead them to the cellar under the tower. They encounter a dead-end, discover a secret entrance and battle an ambush party of Drow.  The party learns of Valan Jaelre. Having survived the ambush, the characters are put to the test before their grand entrance to the Underdark. The characters pass the tests of Lolth and enter into the Underdark proper and encounter an elite strike force of Jaelre. The characters storm the Demonspur trading post and manage to outwit two idiot Ogres.  Last week the players found Tharinel and ended up at the torture theater. Having defeated the two torturers and their minions, the characters rescue Khara in the slave pits. The heroes return to Shadowdale and are confronted by Valan in the finale to this awesome season of D&D Encounters.

Derek Myers from Dungeon's Master joins me again this week to talk about stuff that happened at his table at Hairy T North.

Follow us on this week's podcast of D&D Encounters Web of the Spider Queen the finale, Session 13 - Return to Shadowdale.

D&D Encounters Podcast: Web of the Spider Queen, Session 12 - Slave Pits

This is a weekly recap of the events happening every week at the sessions of D&D Encounters at my FLGS in Elliot Lake at Sights&Sounds Music Store.

This week and for the remainder of this season, I will be posting weekly recaps in the form of a podcast, to see how it takes off.  The feedback has been good so far and let's see how it goes until the end of the season.

Following the success the characters had in defeating the drow and defending the patrons of the Old Skull Inn, the characters receive a message from an important individual in town which bids them on to bigger and better things.

Rushing to the tower of Ashaba, tracks of the remaining drow lead them to the cellar under the tower. They encounter a dead-end, discover a secret entrance and battle an ambush party of Drow.  The party learns of Valan Jaelre. Having survived the ambush, the characters are put to the test before their grand entrance to the Underdark. The characters pass the tests of Lolth and enter into the Underdark proper and encounter an elite strike force of Jaelre. The characters storm the Demonspur trading post and manage to outwit two idiot Ogres.  Last week the players found Tharinel and ended up at the torture theater. Having defeated the two torturers and their minions, the characters are introduced to the slave pits.

Derek Myers from Dungeon's Master joins me again this week to talk about stuff that happened at his table at Hairy T North.

Follow us on this week's podcast of D&D Encounters Web of the Spider Queen, Session 12 - Slave Pits

D&D Encounters Podcast: Web of the Spider Queen, Session 11 - Torture Theatre

This is a weekly recap of the events happening every week at the sessions of D&D Encounters at my FLGS in Elliot Lake at Sights&Sounds Music Store.

This week and for the remainder of this season, I will be posting weekly recaps in the form of a podcast, to see how it takes off.  The feedback has been good so far and let's see how it goes until the end of the season.

Following the success the characters had in defeating the drow and defending the patrons of the Old Skull Inn, the characters receive a message from an important individual in town which bids them on to bigger and better things.

Rushing to the tower of Ashaba, tracks of the remaining drow lead them to the cellar under the tower. They encounter a dead-end, discover a secret entrance and battle an ambush party of Drow.  The party learns of Valan Jaelre. Having survived the ambush, the characters are put to the test before their grand entrance to the Underdark. The characters pass the tests of Lolth and enter into the Underdark proper and encounter an elite strike force of Jaelre. The characters storm the Demonspur trading post and manage to outwit two idiot Ogres. Last week the players found Tharinel and ended up at the torture theatre. This week the players confront the great torturers of the drow city.

Derek Myers from Dungeon's Master joins me again this week to talk about stuff that happened at his table at Hairy T North.

Follow us on this week's podcast of D&D Encounters Web of the Spider Queen, Session 11 - Torture Theatre.

Losing my Convention Virginity: GenCon, Here I Come!!

I guess the sign says it all.   No game left behind.  It should actually say no gamer left behind.  As I ponder my upcoming trip to Indianapolis, I realize that it is only about 20 days away.  How awesome is that.  from the day I booked my badge to the event registration date, time flew fast.  Not to worry though, I am prepared; well prepared booking-wise, but not quite aware yet of all the awesomeness I am going to be subjected to.

I have been gaming for 28+ years and have never been to a gaming convention, whether it was in Toronto (when I lived there for 10 years) or any other place for that matter.  In essence I am a convention virgin, at the age of 38, and my first one is going to be GenCon: I am scared out of my pants.  I am extremely lucky though, cause this year I am travelling with a pro convention goer, Derek Myers (Ameron from Dungeon's Master), who has shown me the ropes on how to register, how to get the best events and how to make all the travel arrangements.  Without him, I would not be in a hotel right next to the convention centre, nor would I be attending some of the cool seminars I am actually signed up for.

Overwhelmed is not a word I use lightly for the amount of events going on at GenCon.  The hardest part about this convention was finding enough time to to the absolute minimum I would like to do.  There is so much stuff to do.  Seminars on building chain-mail, board games galore, new gaming systems tables(that I will unfortunately not have the time to try while I am there), and most importantly D&D.  Here is a look at some of the events I will be attending at GenCon as well as some of the things I would like to accomplish on this trip.

D&D Encounters Podcast: Web of the Spider Queen, Session 10 - Flycatcher Tangle

This is a weekly recap of the events happening every week at the sessions of D&D Encounters at my FLGS in Elliot Lake at Sights&Sounds Music Store.

This week and for the remainder of this season, I will be posting weekly recaps in the form of a podcast, to see how it takes off.  The feedback has been good so far and let's see how it goes until the end of the season.

Following the success the characters had in defeating the drow and defending the patrons of the Old Skull Inn, the characters receive a message from an important individual in town which bids them on to bigger and better things.

Rushing to the tower of Ashaba, tracks of the remaining drow lead them to the cellar under the tower. They encounter a dead-end, discover a secret entrance and battle an ambush party of Drow.  The party learns of Valan Jaelre. Having survived the ambush, the characters are put to the test before their grand entrance to the Underdark. The characters pass the tests of Lolth and enter into the Underdark proper and encounter an elite strike force of Jaelre. The characters storm the Demonspur trading post and manage to outwit two idiot Ogres.  This week the players find Tharinel and end up at the torture theatre.

Derek Myers from Dungeon's Master joins me again this week to talk about stuff that happened at his table at Hairy T North.

Follow us on this week's podcast of D&D Encounters Web of the Spider Queen, Session 10 - Flycatcher Tangle.

Stuffer Shack Presents:

Do you have a lot of ideas you have always wanted to put on paper?  Villains that just don't fit into your current campaign needs?  Sometimes you just need to get some of these ideas out of your head to make room for others.

Look no further....

D&D Encounters Podcast: Web of the Spider Queen, Session 9 - Gates of Zadzifeirryn

This is a weekly recap of the events happening every week at the sessions of D&D Encounters at my FLGS in Elliot Lake at Sights&Sounds Music Store.

This week and for the remainder of this season, I will be posting weekly recaps in the form of a podcast, to see how it takes off.  The feedback has been good so far and let's see how it goes until the end of the season.

Following the success the characters had in defeating the drow and defending the patrons of the Old Skull Inn, the characters receive a message from an important individual in town which bids them on to bigger and better things.

Rushing to the tower of Ashaba, tracks of the remaining drow lead them to the cellar under the tower. They encounter a dead-end, discover a secret entrance and battle an ambush party of Drow.  The party learns of Valan Jaelre. Having survived the ambush, the characters are put to the test before their grand entrance to the Underdark. The characters pass the tests of Lolth and enter into the Underdark proper and encounter an elite strike force of Jaelre. The characters storm the Demonspur trading post. This week is all about the ogres.

Derek Myers from Dungeon's Master joins me again this week to talk about stuff that happened at the table. We go on to comment about Chapter 2 of the encounters season so far.

Follow us on this week's podcast of D&D Encounters Web of the Spider Queen, Session 9 - The Gates of Zadzifeirryn

D&D Encounters Podcast: Web of the Spider Queen, Session 8 - Demonspur

This is a weekly recap of the events happening every week at the sessions of D&D Encounters at my FLGS in Elliot Lake at Sights&Sounds Music Store.

This week and for the remainder of this season, I will be posting weekly recaps in the form of a podcast, to see how it takes off.  The feedback has been good so far and let's see how it goes until the end of the season.

Following the success the characters had in defeating the drow and defending the patrons of the Old Skull Inn, the characters receive a message from an important individual in town which bids them on to bigger and better things.

Rushing to the tower of Ashaba, tracks of the remaining drow lead them to the cellar under the tower. They encounter a dead-end, discover a secret entrance and battle an ambush party of Drow.  The party learns of Valan Jaelre. Having survived the ambush, the characters are put to the test before their grand entrance to the Underdark. The characters pass the tests of Lolth and enter into the Underdark proper and encounter an elite strike force of Jaelre. This week the characters storm the trading post and many things can happen at this point.

This week, I join Derek Myers from Dungeon's Master at Dueling Grounds in Toronto to talk about stuff that happened at the table.

Follow us on this week's podcast of D&D Encounters Web of the Spider Queen, Session 8 - Demonspur

D&D Encounters Podcast: Web of the Spider Queen, Session 7 - Jaelre Elite

This is a weekly recap of the events happening every week at the sessions of D&D Encounters at my FLGS in Elliot Lake at Sights&Sounds Music Store.

This week and for the remainder of this season, I will be posting weekly recaps in the form of a podcast, to see how it takes off.  The feedback has been good so far and let's see how it goes until the end of the season.

Following the success the characters had in defeating the drow and defending the patrons of the Old Skull Inn, the characters receive a message from an important individual in town which bids them on to bigger and better things.

Rushing to the tower of Ashaba, tracks of the remaining drow lead them to the cellar under the tower. They encounter a dead-end, discover a secret entrance and battle an ambush party of Drow.  The party learns of Valan Jaelre. Having survived the ambush, the characters are put to the test before their grand entrance to the Underdark. The characters pass the tests of Lolth and enter into the Underdark proper and encounter an elite strike force of Jaelre.

Once again,  Derek Myers from Dungeon's Master joins me on the podcast to talk about stuff that happened at his table.

Follow us on this week's podcast of D&D Encounters Web of the Spider Queen, Session 7 - Jaelre Elite

D&D Encounters Podcast: Web of the Spider Queen, Session 6 - Tests of Lolth

This is a weekly recap of the events happening every week at the sessions of D&D Encounters at my FLGS in Elliot Lake at Sights&Sounds Music Store.

This week and for the remainder of this season, I will be posting weekly recaps in the form of a podcast, to see how it takes off.  The feedback has been good so far and let's see how it goes until the end of the season.

Following the success the characters had in defeating the drow and defending the patrons of the Old Skull Inn, the characters receive a message from an important individual in town which bids them on to bigger and better things.

Rushing to the tower of Ashaba, tracks of the remaining drow lead them to the cellar under the tower. They encounter a dead-end, discover a secret entrance and battle an ambush party of Drow.  The party learns of Valan Jaelre. Having survived the ambush, the characters are put to the test before their grand entrance to the Underdark.

Once again, we have a special guest this week.  Derek Myers from Dungeon's Master joins me on the podcast to talk about stuff that happened at his table.

Follow us on to the podcast of D&D Encounters Web of the Spider Queen, Session 6 - Tests of Lolth

D&D Encounters Podcast: Web of the Spider Queen, Session 5 - Valan Fights Back

This is a weekly recap of the events happening every week at the sessions of D&D Encounters at my FLGS in Elliot Lake at Sights&Sounds Music Store.

This week and for the remainder of this season, I will be posting weekly recaps in the form of a podcast, to see how it takes off.  The feedback has been good so far and let's see how it goes until the end of the season.

Following the success the characters had in defeating the drow and defending the patrons of the Old Skull Inn, the characters receive a message from an important individual in town which bids them on to bigger and better things.

Rushing to the tower of Ashaba, tracks of the remaining drow lead them to the cellar under the tower. They encounter a dead-end, discover a secret entrance and battle an ambush party of Drow.  The party learns of Valan Jaelre. The characters in this session get to meet Valan when they are ambushed by his croonies.

Once again, we have a special guest this week.  Derek Myers from Dungeon's Master joins me on the podcast to talk about stuff that happened at his table.

Follow us on to the podcast of D&D Encounters Web of the Spider Queen, Session 5 - Valan Fights Back

D&D Encounters Podcast: Web of the Spider Queen, Session 4 - Into the Underdark

This is a weekly recap of the events happening every week at the sessions of D&D Encounters at my FLGS in Elliot Lake at Sights&Sounds Music Store.

This week and for the remainder of this season, I will be posting weekly recaps in the form of a podcast, to see how it takes off.  The feedback has been good so far and let's see how it goes until the end of the season.

Following the success the characters had in defeating the drow and defending the patrons of the Old Skull Inn, the characters receive a message from an important individual in town which bids them on to bigger and better things.

Rushing to the tower of Ashaba, tracks of the remaining drow lead them to the cellar under the tower. They encounter a dead-end, discover a secret entrance and battle an ambush party of Drow.  The party learns of Valan Jaelre.

We have a special guest this week.  Derek Myers from Dungeon's Master joins me on the podcast to talk about stuff that happened at his table.

Follow us on to the podcast of D&D Encounters Web of the Spider Queen, Session 4 - Into the Underdark.

Taverns 411!!! (Part 2)

Are you stuck during game play? Can't think of any names to fill that tavern space at your table.  Having trouble coming up with NPC names.  Look no further.

D&D Encounters Podcast: Web of the Spider Queen, Session 3 - Below the Tower

This is a weekly recap of the events happening every week at the sessions of D&D Encounters at my FLGS in Elliot Lake at Sights&Sounds Music Store.

This week and for the remainder of this season, I will be posting weekly recaps in the form of a podcast, to see how it takes off.  The feedback has been good so far and let's see how it goes until the end of the season.

Following the success the characters had in defeating the drow and defending the patrons of the Old Skull Inn, the characters receive a message from an important individual in town which bids them on to bigger and better things. Rusing to the tower of Ashaba, the characters encounter the drow andcleanse the tower of the invader, and the tracks of the remaining drow lead them to the cellar under the tower.

Follow us on to the podcast of D&D Encounters Web of the Spider Queen, Session 3 - Below the Tower.

The Gecken: Socially-Impaired, Obsessive and Overly Intellectual

We have all probably heard the terms geek and nerd thrown our ways when we were lower level humans. Some of us may have gotten the daily wedgie, a swirly, bullied, pushed around and even excluded from many facets of the "sane" childhood.

The fact that pop culture in the 70s-80s was a horrible time for the "odd" group.  Movies like "Revenge of the Nerds(1984)", "Short Circuit(1986)", were awesome but you could not admit for fear of being "even more nerdy or geeky".

You had to cater to the "tough-guy" movies, like "Deathwish(1974)" or "Platoon(1986)", where the men were macho and good looking and the all loved them in the movies.

D&D Encounters Podcast: Web of the Spider Queen, Session 2 - The Tower of Ashaba

This is a weekly recap of the events happening every week at the sessions of D&D Encounters at my FLGS in Elliot Lake at Sights&Sounds Music Store.

This week and for the remainder of this season, I will be posting weekly recaps in the form of a podcast, to see how it takes off.  The feedback has been good so far and let's see how it goes until the end of the season.

Following the success the characters had in defeating the drow and defending the patrons of the Old Skull Inn, the characters receive a message from an important individual in town which bids them on to bigger and better things.

Follow us on to the podcast of D&D Encounters Web of the Spider Queen, Session 2 - The Tower of Ashaba.

Recent Changes to the Site

Hey all.  Just a quick post to tell you of a couple of new changes that have appeared on the site.  I have decided this season to podcast the recaps of the weekly encounters sessions.  I will be podcasting all the sessions of Web of the Spider Queen, season 9 D&D Encounters.

Click the following links to access the podcasts:

Web of the Spider Queen - Week 1, and the Web of the Spider Queen - Sneak Preview.

Secondly, I have added a pre-generated characters from 1st to 3rd levels of the original modules as well as some of the characters created by the good gents at Hit-on-Crit.  They were kind enough to let me use their work on the site, so go take a look, they have a lot to offer.

Take a look at the pregenerated page here.

Lastly, I have added a collection of possible great purchases for anyone's gaming table.  From condition arrows, to combat markers, to customized figurines.  Check out The Store tab and buy to your heart's content. I have listed here some of the content of the store.

Thanks for your continued readership and have a great weekend.  

Until next time, have a blast!

Review: Venom in Her Veins - A Forgotten Realms Novel

You know if you have read this blog often enough, that I am a huge fan of most fantasy novels based in the world of Dungeons & Dragons, whether it be Eberron, Forgotten Realms, plain old D&D and even Dark Sun (still not a fan of the world).

I highly respect the authors who take the time to write these books, all the hours they put into them and the numerous revisions and spelling errors they have to catch before the initial release of these novels.  

I thoroughly enjoy most of the novels.  They are neither too deep, nor do they require post-secondary education to understand them (unlike a novel like Game of Thrones) and most do have very enjoyable story lines.  

The novel "Venom in Her Veins" by Tim Pratt is no exception to this rule.  Based on the description of the novel by various sites, I was hesitant to buy the novel, but I said what the heck and bought it, since I had a coupon for 50% off the next Kobo book I bought.  I needed something to read and was not disappointed.

D&D Encounters: Web of the Spider Queen: Session 1 - The Old Skull Inn

I seem to have started getting the hang of doing something like this.  Here is the podcast of Week 1- The Old Skull Inn of D&D Encounters Web of the Spider Queen.

This week and for the remainder of the season, I will be posting weekly recaps as a podcast, to facilitate my tasks for the week.

I will also be posting the map associated with each encounter below to give you an idea of the layout if you have not played the adventure thus far.

I hope you enjoy them.  Please give me some feedback as to the quality of the audio and the content in the podcast (too much or too little etc.)

Review: The Mark of Nerath - A Dungeons & Dragons Novel

When I discovered the Dungeons and Dragons novels, I immediately jumped online and bought quite a few of them for my e-reader.  One of the first novels I read was this one (prior to my reviewing books).  It took me awhile to get back to this one but I guess I saved one of the good ones to review.

This novel, by Bill Slavicsek, is one that is set in the world of D&D.  It is his first novel, and I hope it is not his last.  When 4th disposed of releasing Greyhawk and instead invented this world for the players to do with as they saw fit, what other perfect setting for a book such as this one.

This novel introduces the continuing series of The Abyssal Plague.  It is a great introductory novel, introducing us to some of the characters we may love for future iterations of Dungeons & Dragons novels.