May 19th Game Day!

We’re continuing our monthly Game Days at Gamer Utopia on May 19th! Players of RPGs, board gam

Game Day: Saturday, April 21st

It’s the 4th month of the year, and–no coincidence–our 4th Game Day! Once again, w

Game Day: March 24th

We’re hosting our 3rd Game Day of the year Saturday, March 24th at Gamer Utopia in Rogers. The

 

NWARPG meeting at Gamer Utopia – June 25, 2011

June 25, 2011 in Banner, NWARPG Meeting

Click for the Board Game Geek review.

I’ve owned Dominion less than 24 hours and already played it six times. There’s a reason it was 2009′s Spiel des Jahres, which is basically the Oscar of board games.

I bought it last night upon the suggestion of Emily and Armaghn at the NWARPG meeting at Gamer Utopia. Good suggestion.

I’ll say that the very first impression of the game isn’t so great. Cards move fast with skilled players and you have no idea that they are simulating building a nation by buying cards from a randomized set of options.

However, after a few rounds, you get the game flow and you realize just how deep the strategy is and how it changes from game to game because of the randomized Kingdom cards you choose from.

So we played a good round with four folks last night. I think everyone enjoyed it.

I bought it that night so that I could have experienced players like Daniel, Emily and Armaghn demo it for me.

Castle House Sadness

We talked a bit about how sad we were that Castle House was closing and wished the best for Chris Curlee who has been a long-standing gaming advocate in the community.

No one is sure right now what will be fate of Fayetteville’s premiere gaming store, but there were a few mentions of – “So is there going to be a sale?”

What can we say? Gamers love a good deal.

Emily passed around a card for us to sign. Get well soon, Chris.

Book Club?

I mentioned that I was really interested in adding a book discussion to our meetings once a month. I don’t want a full book club at all, just a point of discussion. So many of us are prolific readers, I thought it would be fun to read other people’s suggestions and then talk with them about it.

The group decided that the Fayetteville space at Mordour’s is best for a book discussion and Gamer Utopia seems best for board games.

I’ve started a thread on the forum where you can suggest up to three books you are interested in discussing.

Suggest away.

 

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Free RPG Game Days go off wonderfully

June 19, 2011 in Banner

NWARPG member Seth leads the Dungeons and Dragons 4.0 adventure, "Domain of Dread: Histhaven."

We were lucky enough this Saturday to have two stores supporting Free RPG Game Day.

I was at Castle House Games in Fayetteville, while several other NWARPG members were at Gamer Utopia in Rogers. I’ve heard good reports from Rogers and I can attest that the six sessions that were run at Castle House were a ton of fun.

I was saddened to hear that the owner of Castle House Games was admitted to the hospital shortly before the event with chest pains. It appears he is recovering well and we wish him the best.

It was a good crowd at the Fayetteville event – probably 35 or so got a chance to enjoy the games.

Setting up for Paizo's "We Be Goblins" for the Pathfinder system.

“We Be Goblins” for Pathfinder was a stand out hit at hit at the event, filling three of the six gaming slots.

I ran it also for six players and I can understand why it was such a success. It allows the players to take the role of members of the Licktoad Tribe on their quest to recover “boom sticks” (or fireworks) from a shipwreck not far from the village.

It encourages mayhem and gremlin-like behavior as things blow up a lot. Perfect for a one-shot and perfect for these three-foot-tall homicidal maniacs.

The module creates great atmosphere and the group I was Game Master for really got into their characters. It was a blast and literally ended with the goblin alchemist deciding the party should fly back to the village aboard some of the rockets they recovered.

Madness.

The other game I ran was White Wolf’s “A Nightmare at Hill Manor” which was a tense haunting scenario inside of a closed set, the Hill Manor Apartments. It uses the Storyteller system like all World of Darkness games.

Frankly, it’s hard to recruit for World of Darkness. It’s not a crunchy combat game, has no meta story or setting  and seems pretty dormant at the moment. Vampire has always been the marque product and with the company’s slow release schedule, it’s been difficult to interest people in it.

I was lucky to have two people join me and we had a very good time unraveling the nightmarish mysteries of the apartment complex built atop an old manor house. Thanks to Eric and Michelle for playing along.

It's all d10's when you are rolling with the World of Darkness

 

I arrived around noon and didn’t leave till 6 p.m. Except for about an hour intermission, it was all gaming.

And it was all good.

See you in 2012.

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NWARPG meeting at Mordour’s – June 8, 2011

June 9, 2011 in Banner, NWARPG Meeting

The monthly meeting at Mordour’s was a good time and well attended. Several new faces.

We even got introduced to the ancient game of Go.

Discussion continued about the website and we might have a compromised worked out. Check out the forum conversation on the topic here.

Apparently, on Wednesday night any size pizza is only $10. Couple that with 24 oz Fat Tire beers for $4 and you’ve got a pretty awesome place to game.

Looking forward to going there again soon … maybe for a game of Pathfinder.

Thanks to everyone new who came by the meeting. Hope we didn’t bore you too bad with club stuff.

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Free RPG Day goodness is around the corner

June 6, 2011 in Banner

The annual Free RPG Day event is fast approaching – June 18 this year.

We’re lucky enough in Northwest Arkansas to have two gaming stores supporting it – Gamer Utopia in Rogers and Castle House Games (FORUM TOPIC - and registration) in Fayetteville.

There’s a ton of free games to play in, including All Flesh Must Be Eaten, World of Darkness, Pathfinder and at least 17 other companies. The event is certainly catching on.

What I love is how it is a grassroots con that every Friendly Local Gaming Store can participate in. It’s a great way to expose first-timers to the hobby also.

I’ll be gaming at Castle House, though other NWARPG members will be in Rogers. We’re spreading the RPG love in two counties.

I hope to run two sessions – White Wolf’s “A Nightmare at Hill Manor” and Pathfinders’ “We Be Goblins!”

Both adventures look outstanding and I’m eager to play through them.

Hope you all have a fantastic Free RPG Day as well.

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NWARPG meeting at Gamer Utopia – May 27, 2011

May 28, 2011 in Banner, NWARPG Meeting

NWARPG-ers at the back table of Gamer Utopia in the Frisco Mall in Rogers

It was a pretty good crowd Friday night at Gamer Utopia in Rogers. We had several long-standing regular members and even a few new folks from the Meetup Group.

Much of the early discussion revolved around whether or not to implement this tester site into main website. There were lots of questions, some concern and confusion, but no one who adamantly opposed the transition.

My thoughts are that we have nothing to lose by implementing it and seeing if it catches on or not.

Also, big thanks to Gamer Utopia for hosting.

Mansions of Madness

The main event was Emily’s unveiling of the Mansions of Madness board game. It’s a game in the same vein as Arkham Horror.

Here’s a description from Board Game Geek:

Horrific monsters and spectral presences lurk in manors, crypts, schools, monasteries, and derelict buildings near Arkham, Massachusetts. Some spin dark conspiracies while others wait for hapless victims to devour or drive insane. It’s up to a handful of brave investigators to explore these cursed places and uncover the truth about the living nightmares within.

Designed by Corey Konieczka, Mansions of Madness is a macabre game of horror, insanity, and mystery for two to five players. Each game takes place within a pre-designed story that provides players with a unique map and several combinations of plot threads. These threads affect the monsters that investigators may encounter, the clues they need to find, and which climactic story ending they will ultimately experience. One player takes on the role of the keeper, controlling the monsters and other malicious powers within the story. The other players take on the role of investigators, searching for answers while struggling to survive with their minds intact.

Do you dare enter the Mansions of Madness?

How can you say no after a description like that?

I headed out before the game got started but it looked like a full slate of players. Good times indeed.

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