Posts Tagged geek montreal

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The Initiative Initiative – A Big Fish Supplement

by on February 21, 2018 at 6:05 pm
Posted In: Blogs, Homepage, Jon, Keith

Where we take the initiative on re-thinking Initiative.

Due to some scheduling conflicts and illness the group is stuck in a bit of a month long hiatus between sessions, which sadly means that this week there is no new Adventure Blog for the Big Fish Campaign.

Instead we are going to talk with our DM Jon about Initiative. I’m in black, Jon’s in blue.

The Way It Normally Is

Initiative is one of the most jarring mechanics of almost any roleplaying game. In most of the game, players are either speaking in character, or narrating what they’re character is doing. “I search for traps”, “Hail and well met!”, “I cast Zone of Truth!”, and so on. Most rules are designed to provide mechanics for narration.

This changes when you enter combat. There’s an extra out of game mechanic that kicks in to determine the combat order. Everything stops and the DM asks everyone to roll for their Initiative. ↓ Read the rest of this entry…

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Big Fish – The Time L’Eau Dur Messed Up Bad (Part 2)

by on February 7, 2018 at 6:37 pm
Posted In: Homepage, Jon, Keith, Perspicacious Geek

Where our heroes resolve, to the best of their ability: “The Time that L’Eau Dur Messed Up Real Bad”.

If this is your first time checking out our little D&D Adventure Blog, you might want to check out this post that explains the setup and format of the game. As always, I’m in black and Jon (the Dungeon Master) is in blue. Our last adventure was “The Time that L’Eau Dur Messed Up Real Bad: Part 1”. You can check out all “Big Fish” content on this nifty landing page.

I’m going to try to keep this light and breezy, still working out the kinks of the format to ensure maximum meaty gaming enjoyment for the reader. Story highlights, DM choices and laughs to the front. Point by point recaps can stand outside in the cold waiting for their friends.

And Now, A Recap

The climax of our last sessions had our heroes sailing back from a coastal island towards Baldur’s Gate, having just unwittingly summoned a Gelugon. Said Gelugon is now screaming about wanting to eat L’Eau Dur’s bones and slowly transforming the water between it and us into ice so that it can walk across. The moon is an electric blue and everyone on shore is in a state of panic. ↓ Read the rest of this entry…

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Big Fish – The Fancy Party – A D&D Adventure Blog

by on December 13, 2017 at 3:20 pm
Posted In: Blogs, Gaming, Homepage, Jon, Keith, Perspicacious Geek

A Lizard at a Fancy PartyHere it is! The first “official” Adventure Blog from Jon’s new D&D campaign! Unfortunately we missed the first few sessions since we didn’t think about doing this until a few weeks ago. Get to know the setting and characters in our Prologue. You can also check out our mini-adventure it Tragidore here. You can check out all “Big Fish” content on this nifty landing page.

In this week’s adventure: Our resident Lizardfolk Monk, Jaxo, decided that his adventure would be “that time we stumbled into a room we shouldn’t have at a fancy party.” That was my suggestion for an adventure! We should have a little bonus if our pitch gets selected. That would be a fun incentive.

That’s a great idea.  Maybe they start with inspiration?  That’s pretty appropriate.  We’ll start that in phase 2.  Remind me.

I’ve kind of decided to try and pitch adventures where combat isn’t evident. I’m sure Jon will probably work combat in most of the time since it’s D&D and people love them some combat. I think it’s fun for the starting point to not inherently resolve with a fight. Last game I suggested “that time we played baseball in the rain.” I realized as I made that suggestion that it was a scene in a Twilight movie. The shame.

What we ended up with was being trapped in a pocket dimension by Ice King Glacius Rex. The pocket dimension had us being bodyguards for a Dwarven princess at a fancy party and time seemed to reset every 30 minutes. Like Groundhog Day. But every 30 minutes instead of 24 hours.

Was this your first fancy party idea? Anything on the cutting room floor worth mentioning?

I stole every bit of this. A couple of games had party type scenarios like Dragon Age or FF6, there’s some fundamentals there. I think the 2nd edition Strahd module (Root Of Evil) had a time reset party scene. They’re usually slow affairs with lots of descriptions of NPCs and long discussions. That’s good RP, but I felt like things hadn’t been madcap enough in the game.  When it came to me it kind of fell together… who doesn’t want to play a Groundhog Day D&D session?

So the adventurers are basically serving a bratty self-important Dwarf princess and our main goal at the outset was to make sure that the party she is throwing goes off without a hitch.

Our Lizardman Jaxo is the star of the show and after consulting with another awkward Lizardbro attending the party decides that the Dwarf princess could be of assistance with curing his people of the genophage that is killing off the Lizardfolk.

So he’s like “Ok, I will convince her.” Convincing her for some money becomes his main priority for the rest of the adventure. My happy-go-lucky pirate character promptly tries to pocket some silverware since it’s made of fancy silver. ↓ Read the rest of this entry…

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Big Fish – The Terrible Trouble at Tragidore – D&D Adventure Blog

by on November 29, 2017 at 2:57 pm
Posted In: Blogs, Gaming, Homepage, Jon's Junk, Keith, Perspicacious Geek

The Terrible Trouble at TragidoreA side-quest where a small contingent of our beloved heroes tackle probably the most critically panned module from D&D past: The Terrible Trouble in Tragidore.

Hey there! In case you missed it, here’s the intro to Jon’s new D&D Campaign “Big Fish” You can check out all “Big Fish” content on this nifty landing page.

Years ago, Jono ran the Drunken Step-Dad of all D&D Modules “The Tomb of Horrors” for us (and you can read the epic 4 part retelling of that particular adventure here) and it was great. The old school, seemingly off the cuff vibe of it was a delight.

While I do have a pen and paper pedigree (today’s theme is alliteration), my time with D&D in any form has been limited to the past few years. That means that there are all these great little pieces of in-game and out of game lore that I know nothing about.

I don’t know the pantheon of The Forgotten Realms, I don’t know about the Lords of Waterdeep or the comings and goings of Baldur’s Gate. Hell, throughout most of my life I didn’t even know what a Beholder was.

Also though, I know nothing about the out of game history. I don’t know what THAC0 really means (it’s like Armor Class or something). I don’t know about the classic modules or why they’re so beloved (or in this case, disliked). I know that the “Expedition to the Barrier Peaks” is batshit sci-fi insanity-meets fantasy but I’ve never gotten a chance to play it.

To Hit Armor Class 0.  Your THAC0 started at 20.  Naked AC was 10, and best AC is -10.  So a level 5 fighter with a THAC0 of 16 needs a 10 to hit AC 6.  Easy as fuckin pie.  It was changed in 3rd edition, though how it stuck around in 2nd baffles me to this day.  In 2nd edition saving throws went down as they got better as well.  One of the design decisions they made for the 3rd edition release was “if a number goes up on your character sheet it should be a good thing”.  Why would anyone care about all this?  You should probably edit this out.

Nope, going to leave it in. I don’t know, maybe because stats going up is a lot easier to get your head around? Wait a second, in old editions did some stats go up while others went down as you leveled? That’s super weird.

Yep.

Anyways, when we don’t have at least 4 players available for a session, Jono has decided to run some classic modules for us. And this brings me great joy. It’s like getting to see some of the history of the game.

So What’s All the Trouble?

↓ Read the rest of this entry…

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Big Fish – A Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Blog – Prologue

by on November 15, 2017 at 8:05 pm
Posted In: Blogs, Featured Post, Homepage, Jon, Jon's Junk, Keith, Perspicacious Geek

D&D Dice

Every couple years it seems like Dungeons & Dragons makes another push further into the mainstream. Initially the only mainstream attention that it got was negative. With horror stories of demon worshipping kids getting lost in sewers and other nonsense only tangentially linked to the game itself.

For most of my memory, tabletop roleplaying has been associated with a negative stigma. Throughout high-school and college it was a pastime that, while popular, was almost exclusively relegated to nerdy niche. However, we are recently enjoying an increased visibility of all things “geek” in mainstream media. A lot of which translates directly into the increased popularity of D&D. The most popular show on TV (Game of Thrones) is a fantasy setting. The heroes of another hugely popular show (Stranger Things) love to play D&D.

You can check out all “Big Fish” content on this nifty landing page.

Don’t take my word for it, even The New Yorker is extolling the virtues and resurgence of the game.

↓ Read the rest of this entry…

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Troy Stark & Shirley Whalen: GPYS 139

by on September 7, 2017 at 8:42 am
Posted In: Go Plug Yourself, Podcast, Podcasting

Troy Stark and Shirley Whalen have never been on the podcast before so we thought it was high time to have both of them on at the same time. Why make you wait for two episodes when we can just double your fun for the price of free? Both Shirley and Troy are all over the place and you should obviously go check out whatever show they’re featured on, but in the mean time you should probably check out Troy’s recurring comedy night “The Nerdy Show” on September 22nd (where the theme is Batman, which also kind of becomes the theme of this episode) and check out Shirley on the forthcoming Crimson Wave comedy album about period jokes.

Also, I’ve mystyped Shirley’s name as “Sheila” a bunch of times, I desperately hope I don’t accidentally call her “Sheila” at some point in this podcast. If I do: I am so sorry.gpys139-shirleyandtroy

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James “Twiggy” McGee – GPYS 138

by on August 24, 2017 at 3:13 pm
Posted In: Go Plug Yourself, Podcast, Podcasting

BATTLEWAR returns to Go Plug Yourself! Montreal’s hippest independant wrestling federation has been consistently putting on spectactular shows nearly every month at Foufounes Electriques for the last five years featuring the likes El Generico, Kevin Steen and 2 Cold Scorpio to name a few. If those names don’t ring any bells you might know them by their more popular WWE names: Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens and Flash Funk. But what makes BATTLEWAR almost a sure bet on any given Sunday is their core roster of local wrestlers. Guys like “Big Magic” Shane Matthews, Surfer Mitch Thompson, Shayne Hawke, Mathieu St-Jacques, Thomas Dubois and so many others that I feel guilty for having started a list. James McGee used to actively wrestle in BATTLEWAR under his ring name “Twiggy” but now works behind the scenes in the “official” capacity of Talent Coordinator. We talk about what’s going at BATTLEWAR lately, Una Sigaretta and farting in the bathroom. Also, tell Mike Carrozza we talk about Big Brother. gpys138

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As always, a big thank you to the providers of our theme song: Aural Turpitude! Hey there! If anything jumps out at you on this website, please consider checking it out. We talk music, games, beer and more and also host a few webcomics and podcasts, all produced DIY style.

Keith does all sorts of things here on 9to5.cc, he works with the other founders on 9to5 (illustrated), co-hosts our two podcasts: The 9to5 Entertainment System and Go Plug Yourself and blogs as The Perspicacious Geek.

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Almost Every Day I Let Myself Down – Perspicacious Geek

by on August 22, 2017 at 3:37 pm
Posted In: Blogs, Homepage, Keith, Perspicacious Geek

IMG_20170822_152926Do you ever feel the crushing weight of your own ambitions?

How do you deal with the fact that on many days, you won’t manage to get anything done that you actually want to do?

This entire was website was founded on the principle that working a Monday to Friday 9 to 5 job can be soul sucking. And that’s not just because our jobs happen to be in fields that we’re not passionate about. I’ve spoken to enough people who have literally “made it” in their dream jobs who still feel immensely drained by their work.

I’m not going to get into that whole argument.

The thing I feel like writing about this week is how depressing ambition can be.

I work my job full-time. That means for 40 hours a week I’m working.

I try to write a blog every week, and I’ve been successfully putting out a podcast every week for something like the last 4 years.

I continually try to find ways to make the website better. Working with the other founders on stuff like new banners, homepages, and other stuff.

I also make sure to spend time with my lovely and amazing wife. She’s awesome and puts up with all of this stuff that I do.

↓ Read the rest of this entry…

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Alice Glass Released a New Ep and It’s Not Great – Perspicacious Geek

by on August 18, 2017 at 11:13 am
Posted In: Blogs, Homepage, Keith, Music, Perspicacious Geek

aliceglassep-1503007654-640x640Alice Glass just released a surprise EP this morning. It consists of 6 tracks and starts off with the single “Without Love“.

Two weeks ago at Osheaga I saw Crystal Castles perform with Edith Frances on vocals. It was the first time I had seen them without Alice Glass so I was a little bit skeptical.

For all of their sketchiness, when Crystal Castles consisted of Alice Glass and Ethan Kath (starting late, completely no showing, reportedly being disasters back stage, etc.) and they were on, they were ON.

I had already enjoyed the latest Crystal Castles’ release Amnesty (I) with Frances on vox more than Crystal Castles (iii). Maybe on par with (ii) in my opinion. At the live show I was pleasantly surprised with how much energy Edith brought to her performance. I was also impressed that she managed to kind of find her own thing within the realm of the Crystal Castles’ “vibe”.

A big piece of the Crystal Castles live performance is that the duo always looks like they’re on the verge of having a bad trip, steering the show like an out of control big-rig fishtailing down a rain slicked highway. Without imitating Glass, Frances managed to find an onstage persona that fit the theme.

It was cool. So I put my own personal (whatever that’s worth) stamp of approval on the “new” Crystal Castles. I like the album, and I liked them live.

Now it’s Alice’s turn.

A lot was said during the departure of Glass from Crystal Castles and it mostly revolved around Glass feeling stifled creatively. There was a “he said, she said” about who wrote the lyrics and arranged the vocal melodies, with both members seemingly taking credit for those elements in various interviews.

So here we are, 3 years after Glass’ left Crystal Castles and Alice has finally released a collection of music.

I had already heard “Without Love” when it came out last week and my response was almost immediately “uh oh”. I was not a fan of the high-pitched vocals and the melody was entirely forgettable.

Having just listened to the entire EP I can say that the regrettable adjective “forgettable” applies to the entire thing. I am right now sitting at my desk and actively trying to remember a single tune or chorus from 6 songs that I just listened to and I cannot. That’s not a good sign.

Glass made a big deal about how “dark” she wanted to be with her voice and persona, but the high-pitched squeaking that is employed for most of the EP is sort of the polar opposite. It doesn’t sound dark, it sounds whiney and pathetic. ↓ Read the rest of this entry…

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Choosing The Right D&D Miniature – Perspicacious Geek

by on August 16, 2017 at 4:17 pm
Posted In: Blogs, Homepage, Keith, Perspicacious Geek
Crimes Against Miniatures Warhammer Bloodbowl Orcs (2)

Click the image to go to a great write up on the sadness of poorly painted miniatures at Hungry Ghosts Chaos Squats of Khorne

The summertime festivals of Montreal have come and gone. Even though there may be a few more festivals that the 9to5 Crew finds themselves at, they are mostly at out of town locations for the time being.

That means that it’s time to play D&D more.

Miniature figurines are not a “must have” in most campaigns. They were much more important in 4th Edition since combat in 4e was basically a tactical boardgame with all sorts of rules hinging on movement and placement. Even then, if you were totally dedicated to not using miniatures you could just use a penny or a piece of popcorn or something to represent your dude moving around the play area.

However, and maybe this is just because of the conditioning that I’ve experienced with video games, having the right little guy representing my character is pretty important.

Think about nearly any video game where you create your character. This happens in sports games, wrestling games and, most often, RPGs. You select the stats of your dude (which takes about 5 minutes) and then you create their look (which takes about 4 hours). The more detailed the character creation options are, the longer you spend tweaking literally every minute detail of your character.

“How far apart should his eyes be in relation to the length of the bridge of his nose.” That’s a thought that I’ve had. It is not a thought that anyone outside of maybe professional statue makers has ever had before some time in the 2000s when it became an option in character creation. ↓ Read the rest of this entry…

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