Lovecraft Week Continues

I wrote an article examining the short stories "The Call of Cthulhu" and "The Dunwich Horror" as an introduction to Lovecraft's impact on gaming.  Check it out at the Eye of the Vortex and vote in the Lovecraft poll / and or make a post detailing how Lovecraft has influenced you as a gamer and you get a chance to win gift certificates to boardgames4us.com.

Baby's First Mythos Book Review

I reviewed the coolest children's book ever.  Not just for twisting the little one’s mind, this eldritch tome is the perfect gift for the hard-to-shop-for cultist in the family!

The review was published at the Eye of the Vortex as part of their continuing Lovecraft Week.  If you haven't already, make a post in the forum about how Lovecraft has influenced you as a gamer and get a chance to win gift certificates to boardgames4us.com.

Cthulhu Egg Hunt: Lovecraft Contest - Win Free Boardgame Stuff!

A Lovecraft themed week and contest kicked off today at the Eye of the Vortex.  All you have to do to be eligible for the random prize drawing giveaway ($100 worth of gift cards to Boardgames 4 Us) is vote in the poll or post a response to the contest thread describing how Lovecraft has impacted you as a gamer.  First place is a $50 gift card.

I really hope a lot of people post how Lovecraft has inspired them, because I am sure there are some crazy stories of mind-bending horror just waiting to be told.


Cthulhu Commands You to follow the link to the contest!

Stonehell Dungeon Review and Interview

My review of Stonehell Dungeon just came out at the Eye of the Vortex.  Not only do I review the megadungeon, I scored an interview with author Michael Curtis in which he hints at a very interesting location in the upcoming publication that will detail the deep levels of Stonehell.  

This is just the first in what will be an ongoing series of reviews and interviews with some of the luminaries of the old school movement.  An interview with the always interesting James Raggi and review of his module Death Frost Doom will be next up in the series.

As a related side note, if any of you out there in the blogosphere reading this have a RPG product you would like me to review on the Eye of the Vortex, shoot me an email (carlgnash  AT gmail DOT com) because I would love to hear from you.  This is your chance to get reviewed in a forum that reaches beyond the dedicated folks reading and writing all the great old school blogs and taps into a much broader audience of gamers of all sorts.  

D&D Heroscape Review

A few weeks back the new D&D themed Heroscape set was released.  I reviewed Heroscape Master Set Three - the Battle for the Underdark at Eye of the Vortex.  Check it out!

My fervent hope is that this brings in new blood to both games.  I think the set did a good job of including D&D gameplay elements to get Heroscape players interested in D&D, but I think more could have been done to get D&D players into Heroscape.

4e- Dragonborn Book Review

I just got the Player's Handbook Races - Dragonborn book.  Read my full review here - I just started writing for the Eye of the Vortex game site, which I am excited about because I will be getting free stuff to review soon!

I play a dragonborn ranger in my weekly 4e game, and while I have been having fun with her, I knew next to nothing about how dragonborns fit into the default 4e world.  After reading the book, I have to say that in many ways this book feels "old-school" to me.  There is a ton of inspiration crammed into 32 pages, and without fully detailing anything, it creates a sketch of the ancient dragonborn kingdom of Arkhosia, dragonborn family and clan structure and dragonborn religion that made me envision running a game based on uncovering the past glories of the old dragonborn empire.  I guess what I am saying is that it evokes rather than details.

In an odd way, I would almost recommend this book more to someone who didn't play 4e!  To the 4e player, it is going to be a disappointment in terms of the amount of new "crunchy" feats, powers and items, and what it does have in that department is going to show up in D&D Insider anyway.  But taken as a systemless inspiration for a campaign, it is actually pretty good!