RPGSC Discord Server

The RPGSC has one purpose: to help people have fun playing role playing games. We do this by hosting games ourselves, building and developing persistent story lines, and by welcoming and giving training to new players and people who want to play. To that end, we have created the RPGSC Discord Server!

The only requirement for membership is a desire to play role playing games. It is the standing policy of the RPGSC to maintain a friendly, inclusive environment and to celebrate its diverse community. Neither harassment nor language which is sexist (misogynist or misandrist), homophobic, xenophobic, racist, ageist, ablest, or otherwise pejorative in nature will be tolerated. We represent the a broad range of people and ideas telling stories that can live on in memeory for generations and, as such, there is no room for such regressive, repressive behavior. We enforce this policy first with verbal reinforcement, second by removing the offender from the game, and finally by removing offenders from the organization.

Please join our discord server, and feel free to give out the link to anyone that you know that wants to join us. hhttps://discord.gg/hJv82hy

If you would like to help out with GMing a game, or have a story line that would be good for our group, let an Admin or Moderator know.

Tales from the Yawning Portal AL (Season 6)

D&D Adventurers League Play

Since this season is already a series of shorter adventures (compared to the long campaigns of previous seasons), the D&D Adventurers League will release modules that tie into several of the Tales from the Yawning Portal adventures. The six adventures are directly tied to an adventure as a sequel, a prequel, or expand on some aspect of it. In addition, three of the six adventures are Epic adventures and are paired with one of the three other adventures.

The Sunless Citadel

DDIA06 – Sunless Citadel

What adventure does the Sunless Citadel hold? A mysterious fruit, kobolds, and a cult from long ago reaches through time. An 8 hour adventure for 1st level characters (Tier 1, levels 1-4)

Forge of Fury

DDAL06-01 A Thousand Tiny Deaths

Designer: Travis Woodall
Level Range:
 1-4 (3)
Adventure Length: 2 hours
Premiere: April, MagCon, Tricon, Save Vs Hunger, NotACon
DMsGuild Release: May 2, 2017

The promises of glory and the chance of riches draw you to Blasingdell, a small village near the infamous Stone Tooth. Within the rocky mountain lay the dwarven stronghold Khundrukar and the fabled Forge of Fury, to which a chance encounter provides you with the location of a hitherto unknown entrance. Are you brave enough to explore this mystery? Will it lead to wealth or doom?

EPIC – DDEP06-01 Relics of Khundrukar

Designer: Bill Benham
Level Range: 1-4 (3), 5-10 (7)
Adventure Length: 3 hours (1 round)
Premiere: April, MagCon, Tricon, Save Vs Hunger, NotACon
Khundrukar held many fine implements of war in its heyday, many of them now lost to time. Clues point to some of the long dead Master Smith Durgeddin’s handy work in the service of sinister forces that bid their time deep in the Underdark. Reclaim the riches of Khundrukar from the darkness if you dare

White Plume Mountain

DDAL06-02 The Redemption of Kelvan

Designer: Greg Marks
Level Range:
5-10 (8)
Adventure Length: 2 hours
Premiere: May, Tidewater, Chupacabra, 1d4Con
DMsGuild Release: June 6, 2017

A strange, foreign wizard calling himself Kelvan has appeared at the same time a strange mountain materializes out of thin air. He asks you to recover the Gloomblade from a Netherese ruin in order to help him with his research into this strange new mountain.

A strange, foreign wizard calling himself Kelvan has appeared at the same time a strange mountain materializes out of thin air. He asks you to recover the Gloomblade from a Netherese ruin in order to help him with his research into this strange new mountain.

EPIC – DDEP06-02 Return to White Plume

Designer: Claire Hoffman
Level Range: 5-10 (9), 11-16 (12)
Adventure Length: 4 hours
Premiere: May, Tidewater, Chupacabra, 1d4Con
New information has tarnished the reputation of the wizard Kelvan. Can he really be complicit in the kidnapping of a high priestess and the disappearance of others in the area around White Plume Mountain? Or is he simply the pawn of a much greater power?

Against the Giants

DDAL06-03 Crypt of the Death Giants

Designer: Robert Adducci
Level Range:
17-20 (17)
Adventure Length: 2 hours
Premiere: June, Origins, A-Kon, UKGE, SoonerCon
DMsGuild Release: July 4, 2017

A magical storm builds over the Anauroch desert bringing portents of death and destruction to Faerûn. Giants imbued with power of death itself threaten to permanently destroy the giant Ordning and small folk in their wake. Can you stop these unnatural giants and those that seek to control them?

EPIC – DDEP06-03 Hectacomb

Designer: Alan Patrick
Level Range:  
11-16 (15), 17-20 (19)
Adventure Length: 4 hours
Premiere: June, Origins, UKGE, SoonerCon
Far below the reach of the sun, dark forces seek to bring a terrible darkness into Faerun. A great and awful host of drow, giants, and worse await your arrival. When even the dead tremble, what hope can you find?

RPGSC at M2X

Hello everyone! We are very happy to announce that RPGSC is going to be at MidWest Media Expo (M2X) on April 28, 29 and 30 2017 in Dearborn Michigan!

We will be running a number of panels, interviews with guests, and maybe, just maybe running a few Adventure League tables in the gaming room (TBD).

Join us for the following:

Friday April 28th

RPG Improv- Friday @ 8:30PM

Learn some very basic improve techniques to help improve the RPG and emersion at your table. These tips and tricks are very basic, but will get you started. This is an interactive Panel, so come to do silly stuff.

Tools of the Trade- Friday @ 10PM

This panel discusses various programs and apps you can use to play, or enhance your RPG table experience.

Being a Better Player- Friday @ 11:30PM

We talk a lot about how to be a better GM, but in this panel we are going to give you tips and tricks to be a better player, and how to get more out of your gaming sessions

Saturday April 29th

Welcome to the RPGSC- Saturday @ 8PM

The Role Playing Game Storytellers Collegium is a community of Players and Game Masters working to Advance the Art of Role-Playing through Organized Play, the free exchange of ideas, and spreading awareness. Together we can reduce stigma, dispel myths, and shatter stereotypes about gamer’s while supporting and growing our hobby.

Game Master 101- Saturday @ 9:30PM

We cover the basics tools needed to get started Game Mastering your first RPG. This panel aims to encourage players to take the next step into a larger world and become Game Masters.

Dirty GM Tricks- Saturday @ 11PM

So, you’re a Game Master, but your players keep walking all over you. You’re a nice person, and you just don’t know how to really stick it to your players. Well, we got you covered. We will teach you some of the dirtiest, most underhanded, meanest tricks you can pull as a GM.

Sunday April 30th

Podcasting 101- Sunday @ 1:30PM

So, you wanna start a podcast? We can help you out. We will talk about equipment, show formatting, distribution, websites, and more. If you have questions, we have answers. Studio Tembo has been producing podcasts for 6 years.

Producing a Podcast- Sunday @ 3PM

In Podcasting 101, we talk about the basics of Podcasting. Here we will talk tips and tricks to help you start to master the art of audio production for podcasting.

Dr. RPG Q&A- Sunday @ 4:30PM

Role Playing games are a passion. I’ve been playing and running rpg’s for over 25 years. This Q&A session is an anything goes bonanza where we can learn from each other, how to become better story tellers. This panel maybe recorded.

Special Guests

In addition to RPGS and The Quest podcast being at M2X, you also get a chance to meet and great with some true legends in the voice acting, and geek culture worlds, including: MC Chris, Billy West, Rob Paulsen, Maurice LaMarche, John St. John, and more!

It’s not to late to register and be a part of this amazing event! Click here to get your tickets to one of the most entertaining events in 2017: https://www.midwestmediaexpo.com/registration/

 

Constellations: The Game of Stargazing and the Night Sky

Constellations boxWe are joined by Dr Dante Lauretta whose debut game, Xtronaut: The Game of Solar System Exploration, was launched on Kickstarter in October 2015. The game met with huge success, being named a Best Family Board Game for 2016 by Good Housekeeping magazine, a Top-5 STEM Toy by City Kids magazine, an Awesome Math Game by MathsInsider, the Top Solar System For Kids Science Toy from Fractus Learning, and more! Xtronaut has received positive reviews from players and parents. Based on this success, Dante and his team have launched Constellations: The Game of Stargazing and the Night Sky

Humans have gazed into the night sky since the dawn of time. Dreaming, wondering, and developing stories around patterns of stars. These star patterns are now associated with some of the most intriguing and well-known creatures from mythology and nature.

With the introduction of telescopes, we have learned so much more about stars. They have different sizes, colors, locations, and characteristics. This knowledge has made looking at constellations all the more fun. We developed the Constellations game to bring our amazing sky, with its rich history, mythology, and science to your game-playing experience!

In this game, players are stargazers, exploring the night sky and collecting stars to define constellations. They compete to find the right stars to fit the needed pattern — are B-type stars or F-types required to complete the constellation? Players compete with each other to strategically collect the right stars, reserve patches of the sky for observation, and explore the universe. Once you have your constellation, add it to the map of the night sky being assembled right in front of you. The closer you get to putting together the actual map of the heavens, the more points you score!

Here’s the Kickstarter Link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/827615927/constellations-the-game-of-stargazing-and-the-nigh?ref=discovery

Constellations listsOverview of Constellations

The game involves drawing Star Cards, which represent the seven types of stars classified by astronomers. Each constellation requires a unique combination of star types to place in the sky. As the game progresses and more constellations fill up the night, players must use their puzzle skills to fit the hexes on the board to score the most points. The player with the most constellation points at the end of the game wins!

The game also includes an educational workbook about stellar evolution, star classification information, and the history and mythology of the real constellations.

Each Constellation Hex has two sides: the Illustration Side and the Information Side.

Setup

Setup is easy. Players tailor the length of the game to time available and age groups — shorter and simpler versions are available — or you may choose longer and more advanced gameplay.

Based on the desired length of the game, players randomly select a subset of the Constellation hexes for that round. Players start the game by placing a Zodiac or Milky Way hex in the middle of the table, illustration side up. This hex is the starting point for future placements.

Players shuffle and deal five Star Cards to each player. Then, they place five cards face up in a row. These are the available stars. The remaining cards are placed face down and become the draw pile.

Gameplay

The full rules are here: http://tinyurl.com/ConstellationsRules

On a player’s turn, they may take two of the following actions. The player can do the same action twice.

  • Draw a Star Card
  • Reserve a Constellation
  • Play a Constellation

Player’s may draw Star Cards from either the face-up set or from the draw pile.

To reserve a Constellation, the player takes one of the available Constellation cards and places it in front of them. Only that player may complete that Constellation.

To play a Constellation, the player plays the required set of Star Cards for the desired Constellation. The player then places the hex adjacent to another Constellation on the board, illustration side up. The player scores points equal to the Constellation’s point value plus bonuses for matching gems and desired adjacent hexes.

Points are tracked using star tokens, which remain hidden from other players until the game is over.

Game End

The game ends when a player adds the last hex to the available constellations. Each player takes a final turn, and the game ends. The player with the highest score wins! As a bonus, a beautiful sky map has been created before your eyes!

Backer Exclusive Items

Constellations patchBackers that support us at the $22 level and higher will receive the Kickstarter-exclusive Constellations Mission Patch!

Backers that select a reward level that includes Xtronaut: The Game of Solar System Exploration will also receive an exclusive mission hex. In addition, backers of our original Xtronaut campaign will receive this mission when they back Constellations at the $22 level and higher. Players will be able to plan a mission to the Rosetta target Comet 67/P Churymov-Gerasimenko!

Sponsored by Meade!

Xtronaut is proud to have Constellations sponsored by Meade Instruments. Meade is acknowledged as one of the most innovative and dynamic companies in the telescope market. Known for its groundbreaking telescopic designs, Meade has introduced dozens of improvements over the years that have made amateur astronomy easier and more enjoyable than ever.

For the first time in 26 years, a total solar eclipse will occur in the United States. This is an opportunity of a lifetime – to see an amazing astronomical event, maybe even from your own backyard!

The Meade EclipseView™ 76mm Telescope comes complete with everything you need to view the wonders of the sky, DAY and NIGHT! This portable reflecting telescope comes with a removable white-light solar filter and is a SAFE and FUN way to view the upcoming Total Solar Eclipse! Even better, you can use this scope to view the wonders of the night sky including the Moon, Planets and more, by simply removing the solar filter and changing the viewfinder. Get your EclipseView™ Telescope through our campaign and receive a free copy of Constellations by selecting the $129 reward level.

Our First Adventure

This week, we ran our first adventure as the RPGSC, and it was great! We had a modest turnout of 7 players, some veterans, and a lot of first timers. This was exactly what we had been hoping for!

We would like to thank everyone that came out, and hope everyone had a great time!

We got some great feedback from everyone, and we have already learned so much about how to make our events just a little better.  After reviewing our feedback forms, we are going to make a few changes to the way we load our tables each week.  While Adventure League rules dictate a legal table is between 3 and 7 players, we are going to strive to keep our tables at a max of 5 players as much as possible.

If player response is high enough, we may still need to fully load a table, but we are going to make every effort to keep our at 3-5 players.

We are also adding new events on Saturdays! We have had such a great response in the first week, that we are opening up Saturday play. Our Saturday games will still be the open to anyone, but our plan is to run Adventure League storylines and modules for both the current storylines, and past storylines as demand grows.

In addition to ou Thursday and Saturday games at Fun 4 All, we are working on adding Saturday games at a new venue, as well as Wednesday games at Fun 4 All.  We will have more information as we get details finalized.

We are are also exited to announce we will be bringing “The Quest: Advancing the Art of Gaming”, to the RPGSC website! More details on this soon.

And last but not least, we are working on our GM Training program, and will be opening the doors to new GM’s very soon! If you are interested in becoming an RPGSC Game Master, please feel free to contact us, and as soon as we have further details, you’ll be the first to know.

Upcoming: Storm King’s Thunder

February 23rd is fast approaching. The RPGSC’s first foray into Organized Play begins with Storm King’s Thunder, and we are extremely excited to get started!

This 256 page, sandbox style story is a true “Sword Coast Adventure”.

storm-king

Download the Event Flyer!

Giants have emerged from their strongholds to threaten civilization as never before. Hill giants are stealing all the grain and livestock they can, while stone giants have been scouring settlements that have been around forever. Fire giants are press-ganging the small folk into the desert, while frost giant longships have been pillaging along the Sword Coast. Even the elusive cloud giants have been witnessed, their wondrous floating cities appearing above Waterdeep and Baldur’s Gate. Where is the storm giant King Hekaton, who is tasked with keeping order among the giants?

The humans, dwarves, elves, and other small folk of the Sword Coast will be crushed underfoot by the onslaught of these giant foes. The only chance at survival is for the small folk to work together to investigate this invasion and harness the power of rune magic, the giants’ weapon against their ancient enemies, the dragons. The only way the people of Faerun can restore order is to use the giants’ own power against them.

Stand with or against the giants in this adventure

You can join us as we delve into the fabled lands of Faerun and explore legendary locations, overcome incredible odds, and tell epic tails of high adventure!

The RPGSC will be running the entire scope of Storm King’s Thunder, including the main storyline and all 20 modules. If we get a good enough turnout, we are even looking to run the 2 Epic adventures at conventions this year (but we need your help to make that happen)!

This week, on February 23rd, our Dungeon Masters will be at Fun-4-All comics and Games to start you on your journey. Space is limited, so please sign up today! https://rpgsc.org/event/storm-kings-thunder/

This week, we have 7 open seats for the main storyline of Storm King’s Thunder, as well as spaces available for the introductory adventure, A Great Upheaval, and we will have staff on hand to answer questions, help out, and if there is a good turnout of new to D&D players, run the Starter Set Adventure Lost Mine of Phandelver!

Join us!

Bugs Hunt

Hello again! This has been a big week for the RPGSC. We launched the website, we launched on Facebook, we’re squashing bugs, and we are moving forward with our first Organized Play event on February 23rd at Fun-4-All Comics and Games!!
If you want to reserve a seat for Strom Kings Thunder, go to our event page and reserve your spot. It’s free to play! We are looking to host multiple tables, including the Introductory adventure “A Great Upheaval”, the main published adventure, and one additional adventure based on what you, the players suggest (if we do not reach a consensus, we will probably run “Lost Mines of Phandelver”).
With that all out of the way, we are still refining our website and forums hunting bugs, and smashing them with our +2 Hammer of Web Forging! We encourage you to join the site and help us make any improvements. If you are having any trouble with the site, or if you spot bugs, please let us know ASAP.
If there are features you want the site to have, you find a bug, misspelling, or just have questions, we have a section of the forum just for that. Let us know and our dedicated Web Developers will get to work making things better.
Now, some of you may have noticed that there are a lot of links that just don’t work yet. Well, rest assured, we are working to fill out that content every day. Yesterday we released out “Code of Conduct” for the website, and started working on our Event Feedback Forms (we’ll talk more about how being a GM works in a future post).
We need your help to make the site, and the community, as vibrant as we can. Please, feel free to ask questions on Facebook, the forums, or send us an email at ask@rpgsc.org, and we will get back to you as quickly as we can. Our staff is here to help, and we want to help you get involved as much as possible. Without you, the Storytellers Collegium is just another D&D website.
This is going to be fun!

So, What is the RPGSC?

Hello, and welcome to the Role Playing Game Storytellers Collegium.

We are a community of players and game masters working together to Advance the Art of Role-Playing. Through Organized Play, the free exchange of ideas and opinions, and spreading awareness, we can reduce stigma, dispel myths, and shatter stereotypes; all while supporting and growing our hobby.

Ok…so what does that even mean?

Role-playing is a fun, engaging, and exiting hobby that is often ridiculed, and hidden away in dark corners. At one time, many gamer where embarrassed to admit their love for games. After all, games are for kids and weird, basement dwellers who live with their moms, and can’t get girlfriends. We’ve all heard the jokes.

Well, the first half 21st century is proving to be the “Rise of Nerds”, and this rise is, at least in part, on the backs of Role-Players.

Gone are the days when it’s a guaranteed wedgie for playing D&D. Shows like Big Bang Theory, Community, and Stranger Things have cast magic missile into even the darkest of basements. Stars like Wil Wheaton, Vin Diesel, & Steven Colbert are dragging our hobby out of the shadows, meaning more and more people are looking to explore this hobby, and they don’t know how or where to begin.

That’s where the RPGSC comes in. We’re here to forge a community for new and experienced players and game masters to come together and teach each other, to learn from each other, and to make us better gamer’s, better role-players, and better storytellers.

Together, we can move our hobby forward, and make each table we sit at, just that much more enjoyable.

Xtronaut:: The Game of Solar System Exploration

Welcome back to the quest. I don’t sound like I have a ton of energy in this episode (was fighting the plague), but I got to sit down and talk with Dante Lauretta, the creator of a new board game, Xtronaut, that is really taking off (pun intended). The audio gets a little cattywampus in a couple of spots, but it was a good time none the less!

So, what is Xtronaut?

Capturing the real-world thrill and challenges of planetary exploration, XTRONAUT™: The Game of Solar System Exploration gives 2 – 4 players ages 7 and up the chance to develop space missions and explore the solar system. The game is based on real planetary missions and rocket science. It also contains elements of politics and strategy that are inspired by the real-life situations that space missions face.

xtronauts

How do you complete your space mission?

Each player selects a Mission Card from the deck. This card determines the player’s mission – the mission destination, type of spacecraft needed, the amount of Delta-V needed to achieve the mission, the potential to obtain gravity assists, and the points earned for completing the mission. Delta-V stands for change in velocity, and as applied to space missions and this game, it means the change in velocity necessary for a spacecraft to complete a selected mission.

Game play is straightforward. On their turn each player draws a playing card, plays up to three Action Cards, trades with other players, and places components on their game board. The Action Cards add real-life issues to the game that space missions often encounter – project cancellations, audits, government shutdowns, and other exciting twists and turns.

To complete a mission you must populate your game board with the right combination of cards for mission success. Each player needs to collect the Playing Cards that give them the right spacecraft, first and second stage rockets, and matching fairings. Gravity assist and solid rocket booster cards are available to provide additional Delta-V if needed to complete the assigned mission. Once the mission is complete, the player earns the points for the mission, which varies based on the size of the spacecraft and the target, and starts work on their next mission. The first player to score 10 points wins.xtronaut-game-toy-fair

Xtronaut Home Page:

Xtronaut on boardgamegeek.com:

Buy Xtronaut on Amazon.com!

Good Housekeeping Award Winning game that captures the real-world science, technology, and challenges of planetary exploration. XTRONAUT: The Game of Solar System Exploration is a board game that is easy to learn, and gives 2 – 4 players ages 7 and up the chance to develop space missions, build authentic rocket systems, and explore the solar system. Designed by Professor leading major NASA OSIRIS-REx space mission, the game is fun and engaging, but also exposes players to space science concepts related to planning and undertaking a real space mission — complete with full color education workbook that explains game scientific concepts.

Click HERE, or the image below to get Xtronaut on Amazon.com!

b016va9f30_logo-_sr600180_

 

More about Dante Lauretta:

maxresdefaultDante Lauretta is a Professor of planetary science and cosmochemistry at the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. He is currently serving as the Principal investigator on NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission.

He received a B.S. in physics and mathematics from the University of Arizona in 1993 and a Ph.D. in Earth and planetary sciences from Washington University in St. Louis in 1997. He was a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Geological Sciences at Arizona State University from 1997 through 1999. Dante was an Associate Research Scientist in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Arizona State University from 1999 through 2001. He was hired on to the faculty at the University of Arizona in 2001.

 

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Folklore: The Affliction (Interview with Will Donovan)

I talk with Will Donovan of Twinfire games about their new game, Folklore: The Affliction, a new project they are working on with Greenbrier games! We have a few technical difficulties, but this sounds like a great game.

Embark on a cooperative epic adventure that is Folklore the Affliction. Find and destroy the source of the evil spreading its claws into the heart of the land, decimating its people and resources. Free the denizens from the scourge of vampirism and lycanthropy and expand your power and abilities. Are you a survivor, or will you play as your ghost? Will you fall to the bloodlust or the taint of lycanthropy yourself?

Folklore: The Affliction is an expandable ongoing horror RPG board game for 1-4 players that focuses on immersive storyline, strategic combat, character development and intense character customization elements. Your successes and failures, encounters and challenges can affect the entire group raising the ante and fueling interaction. Play one of six customizable and unique characters in a quest to gain Lore by conquering the supernatural Afflictions. Travel the land and enter dark locations where the action becomes a miniature based dungeon crawl. Uncover deeper and more intriguing storylines as you go further into darkness in your quest to drive the evil back into the hell it came from.

Dying in Folklore is not the end for your character… dead characters play on as their ghost with ethereal powers to strike down your foes from beyond the grave. You are never truly out of the action. Customizable abilities even include those that can strengthen your character in the afterlife!

If you want to learn more, go to the Folklore: the Affliction Kickstarter page!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gbg/folklore-the-affliction-0

Folklore on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FolkloreTheAffliction?fref=ts

Greenbrier Games:
http://www.greenbriergames.com/main/

Boardgame Geek
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/159504/folklore-affliction

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