Episode 4 part 2 recap...

Here's a little summary for you, just in case you missed this weeks episode!

<----

Yeah. Now go listen to the episode you doofus!

PS. Happy birthday Jonathan! You're a better brother than anyone could ask for.

-James

So I scurry out onto the dance floor...

Episode 4 part 2 is here! That said, I have some good news and I have some bad news. Good news first. As of today, I am pleased to announce a partnership with Battlebards! These guys make some really amazing sound effects for dungeon master's and I couldn't be more excited to have them as part of Conquest or Calamity extended family. They currently have a ton of great sound effects available and soon they'll be launching a Kickstarter to make even more, so make sure to go check them out and give them your support.

Now for the bad news. Due to the increased awesomeness of Episode 4 part 2, due in large part to the new sound effects, it ends on a bit of a cliff hanger but that's not really a big deal right? In some parts of the world they pay extra for that kind of suspense.

Anywho, I hope you all enjoy!


With best regards to you and yours, James

No News is Good News. Some News is Even Better News!

Greetings Citizens,

I've come bearing news, tidings of great joy, so to speak. Hmm... Maybe borrowing that motif on Palm Sunday is in bad taste. Oh well, it's out there now, permanently etched by unrevisable keystrokes. C'est la vie.

Back to my news! Will, Our Minions, and I have been slaving away tirelessly, in preparation for the grand opening of the Player Bazaar. For those of you who don't know (probably the majority of you), the Player Bazaar is a way to include all of you (hopefully?), the listeners, in our weekly D&D game.

Soon, Conquest or Calamity Listeners will be able to send fabulous item cards to their favorite characters or wreak havoc on the party with devious dungeon cards and that's only the beginning. Have a thing for the Moonshae Isles? We might be able to think of a Djinn who could arrange a visit. Got a soft spot for the Shaar? Too bad, it got all chewed up in the Sundering and now it's just a big dumb hole. You've gotta quit living in the past, man.

We're in our final stages of testing and we can't wait to hear what all of you think, when we launch in April. As an added bonus, anyone who subscribes before the soft launch will receive an additional 100 gold doubloons and be entered for a chance to win a Conquest or Calamity tee-shirt before you can buy one! I know, I'm excite for you.

Alright, I'd better go do some Hail Marys or something. I'll catch up with you dweebs Monday, with the exciting conclusion to episode 4.

Ciao,

-James

PS. Above you'll note the art for the glorious belt of magnificence, which will be on sale very soon. It's enchanted, such that it aids the wearer for +1 to all stats but the wearer must mention the belt to each and every NPC, with whom he or she speaks, otherwise it explodes, destroying itself, possibly the wearer, and almost certainly a players self esteem. One size fits all!

New Character Bio

Hey Folks!

We've got a new character bio up.  This time it is for our lovable Dragonborn Paladin Mishan.  Feel free to check it out if you want some more info on the origin of our resident tank/healer.  Also if you don't know much about Dragonborn in general I recommend looking them up in the forgotten realms wikia.  It's pretty cool stuff and it will help you understand a little bit more of the subtext in Mishan's bio.

I'm doing my best to continue adding content so look forward to it!!

-Will H.

Founders benefits

Hey Dudes, Dudettes, Etc.

A few days back, as one commentator was kind enough to point out, I made a veiled reference to the Conquest or Calamity founders program. Today I would like to further expound upon this reference. Ergo, it's formal announcement time!

Any and all Subscribers, subbing before Monday, April 6th in the year of our Lord two thousand and fifteen, will be immortalized as permanent NPCs in Conquest or Calamity canon. Maybe you'll be a shop keeper or a villain. The possibilities are endless. If you are already a subscriber, you can expect to see an email with further instructions regarding your founders status very soon!

If you have any further questions, feel free to comment and Will or myself will get back to you in due time. Otherwise, curious parties could always just subscribe and see for themselves. There are certainly worse ways to spend $.99.

Happy Subscribing!

-James

Livecast from The Wasteland Gaming!

Hey Guys, Gals, etc.

A few days back Will and I spent a few hours with some rad gamers at the Wasteland Gaming (http://www.thewastelandgaming.com/) and ran an adventure. It’s a little tough to hear at times due the live nature of the recording but there are still some great moments in there. I’m not sure if I will ever edit the audio or not but in the mean time I thought I would at least upload the cleaned up raw recording. This is around an hour of the recording. I'll get another chunk of it up later this week!

On a separate note, the player bazaar is coming along nicely and I am confident that I will be able to get it up and running by next monday’s episode. In the mean time, here is a new piece of art.

Lastly, if anyone out there is interested in having Will or Myself DM a game for you feel free to shoot me a line at james@conquestorcalamity.com

Keep the peace,

James

Episode 4 Part 1

Hey dudes, dudettes, etc,

New episode. Had to break this one into parts. The next part should be out Wednesday. Enjoy! 


Ps. We're working on the  Player Bazaar as much as we can. I hope to have it up by the end of the week!

Ciao!

James

New Content on the Way

Hello goodly internet veiwers!

As you may have noticed we've started adding some more content to the site including the Bazaar page and the Character Profile Page.  We sincerely hope you check them out.  I plan to continue adding content as soon as it's produced.

On that note.  We've got some great items that will be circulating the bazaar.  These are my favorites so far.  I can't wait for our subscribers to buy one of these for our players to use.

“Diplomacy”:  This item is a crowbar that grants the user a +6 bonus to strength checks used to open things such as doors or chests.  Can also be used to shift large inanimate objects.

Glorious Belt of Magnificence:  Character gains a +2 to all stats but must mention his glorious belt whenever having a conversation with an NPC or it self destructs dealing 2d10 fire damage in a burst of 15ft, destroying itself.

I've also started trying to fill out the character profiles.  Talimund has his info posted and I'm doing my best to get around to the other party members.  I will continue to update the page whenever I complete either art or lore for them.

Hope you all enjoy the new content!

-Will H.

So what is a Subscriber anyhow?

Hey guys and gals!

Over the past couple of days, with the big subscription drive, I've had a lot of people ask me "What does a Subscriber get?" or "What does being a Subscriber mean?". We'll here's the answer.

Here at Conquest or Calamity, we believe that a Dungeon Master’s role is to facilitate the stories players tell one another. We’ve found that the best games to play and to listen to are the games wherein players are given the freedom to fully express themselves within the world. Moreover, we believe that it’s the DM’s job to make sure everyone is able to participate and tell their story.

We started Conquest or Calamity because we believe that when it comes to telling stories, two is better than one. But I wouldn’t be doing my job as DM if I didn’t do everything in my power to make sure everyone gets a chance to play. That is why, as of Monday March 23, subscribers will be able to influence game events each week in new and exciting ways.

So in summary, Subscribers are listeners/readers that are able to get involved in playing the game and telling the story. I know vague yet exciting. Stay tuned for more!

-James

PS. Subscribers who join before March 23 will receive founder status. Oooh enticing!

Pardon Our Progress...

Good evening,

Check out all these new tabs! We've added an archive to enhance your podcast locating ease and, coming soon to a podcast near you, the Player Bazaar which will contain exciting new NPC item vendors each week. What items will our cast be spending their Favor Tokens on this week? It's up to you to decide!

Subscribers can vote for their favorite storefronts. 

Lazy Sundays With Griff: Up to His Shoulders in Good Eats!

Good morning and welcome to Griff chat. Today, my ten top tips to take your tastebuds to the next tier. Whether you’re on a short rest in the marshy crags of Dunkappk Castle or you’ve just gotten home from a full day of guarding caravans along Trade Way, some occasions leave you only have a few minutes to prepare your next meal. Well, have no fear, fellow foodies, with these tips and a few spices, you’ll turn your hesitations to celebrations!

The last time I was out questing along the waterways of Chelimber, I ended up stuck in the muck with an empty stomach and nothing but Bullywug meat and a few spices. What’s a hungry adventurer to do? I’ll tell you what, readers.

Braised Bullywug Shoulder
Prep Time: 15 Min
Yield: 8 Servings
Skill Level: Intermediate

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons coriander seeds, toasted

2 tablespoons cumin seeds, toasted

One 4-pound Bullywug picnic shoulder, sliced in half along the grain

Kosher salt

Extra-virgin olive oil

1 fennel bulb, sliced

1 large onion, sliced

Pinch crushed red pepper

4 cloves fresh garlic, crushed

2 -inch piece fresh ginger, finely grated

2 cups dry white wine

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

3 bay leaves

1 bundle fresh thyme

3 to 4 cups chicken stock

Directions:

Using a spice grinder, (if you don’t have a spice grinder any coarse grinding method with suffice. I used my claws!) grind the coriander and cumin seeds until they are a fine powder.

Summon faerie fire or set up another magical cooking mechanism and preheat to 375 degrees F.

(I use Magi brand faerie fire in a bottle)

Sprinkle the Bullywug shoulder with the spices and salt, then tie each piece so that they cook evenly.

Coat the inside of your cooking pan with olive oil and bring to a high heat. Brown the Bullywug on all sides, then remove from pan and let rest. Lower heat and add fennel and onions to the pan, seasoning with salt and pepper. (For an added bonus throw in some crushed red pepper!) Cook the fennel and onions until they are very aromatic. (7 to 8 minutes) Then add garlic and ginger. (2 to 3 minutes)

Add the wine and reduce by half. Stir in the mustard and add the bay leaves and thyme. Return the Bullywug to the pan and add stock to the pan until it comes halfway up the side of the meat. Bring liquid to a boil over your magical fire and cover. Cook for 1 hour then turn meat and return to cooking for 45 minutes.

Remove pan from heat, remove the Bullywug, and let rest for 15 minutes. Slice and serve with fennel and onions.

Wine Pairing Suggestion: Sweet Arrhenish

Good eating my friends!

-Griff is an adventurer and an adventurous eater from the Sword Coast.

Episode 3

Hey everybody!

I got this week's episode done early, so I figured I'd share the wealth. You'll all still get your episode post and new logo on Monday, so stay tuned! In the mean time, everybody enjoy your sneak peak.


Ciao,

James

House Rules: Why we do them.

Hey guys I wanted to make this post to address some of our house rules and why we use them.  I first want to say that both James and I are huge fans of customizing our games.  We have created completely new worlds and rule sets for some of the games we have run to mixed, but generally good, results.  However; our changes always stem from the base rule sets developed by the pros at Wizards of the Coast.

Whenever we choose to make a change that decision always stems from a desire to increase the fun factor in our games.  The first consideration when we look at this is the players experience.  When I say experience I mean both what the game feels like from a player perspective and how well versed is the player in tabletop roleplaying games in general.  I think it is fair to say that a good DM would never run a game the same way for veterans as for total newbs.  For example our current podcast is run using primarily the 5e rule set.  We do this because we know they are well balanced and "fair" for new players.  It also gives us a fallback since we can simply look up the corresponding rule if we are confronted with either a situation we weren't prepared for or a conflict between what a player thinks is correct and what we may believe.  Having a standardized set of rules is invaluable in dealing with these situations especially when dealing with new players.

One of the things you may notice is that we don't play with a high attention to the rule sets governing inventory weight or spell casting slots in our games.  We make this choice very intentionally in order to enhance the player experience.  Since we are playing with relatively new players we don't want to overburden them with considerations that remove them from the game.  That being said, we do generally have an idea if a player is gaining an unfair edge by ignoring any of the rules in place.  If that happens we gently remind them of their characters limitations.  We want our players to feel as empowered and cool as possible as long as they also understand that the world is still threatening.  In my experience; one of the worst ways to get a new player comfortable with the game is to make sure they adhere absolutely to all of the rules.  I prefer to simply let them play and let them learn their character and the rules as they go.

The biggest house rule we do use for this game is the "over crit" system.  I have to say I was inspired to create this system by some of the games I watched on itmejp's channel on youtube and twitch.  If you like us please check him out at www.twitch.tv/itmejp or www.youtube.com/channel/UCQj4ZJd2QxRHwVYQbMvcKdQ.  I introduced this system for a couple of reasons.  The first is that it speeds up combat.  James and I both agree that we do not like combat that degenerates into hitting someone enough till they fall over.  We want players to be able to wipe out enemies quickly if they roll well.  It makes them feel awesome and that's a huge part of what we want to achieve as DMs.  This system also rewards better rolls.  What I mean by this is that in a typical combat all you need to roll is above the enemies defense threshold but aren't rewarded for rolls above that unless you roll a natural critical.  But with the overcrit system you get to feel great for rolling higher.  I think it is way more fun to be looking to roll as high as possible as apposed to just high enough to hit.  Also, I think it makes a lot of sense to reward a blow that hits with high accuracy in a real world sense.

The system breakdown is pretty simple: for every five over the enemies natural defense you roll you add a hit dice to your damage.  For example if Talim hits an enemy with a 17 roll against 16 ac he deals his normal 1d8+4 damage.  But, if he rolls a 21 he gets to roll 2d8+4 and if he somehow manages a 26 his damage goes up to 3d8+4.

If you want more info or have any questions feel free to comment.  I'll do my best to respond.

: )

-Will H.

Free Advice: One should search a potential blog or podcast name before adopting it as canon.

Hey guys and gals, It's great to see you all again. How's your mother? Yeah, mine's pretty quiet too. Today; the story of how it all started. The humble saga of a humble podcast with stars in its eyes and more than a few songs in its heart. (We'd like to apologize at this time to any listeners who might have heard the stars/songs from Episode 1 and thereby suffered mental or physical injury. We are truly truly sorry.)

Yes, Episode 1, our primitive ancestor. It's actually a pretty funny story. I was just sitting on the sofa with Will, drinking a coke, watching the Acquisitions Incorporated D&D game from PAX a few years back (Side Note: If you haven't seen Acquisitions Incorporated definitely check it out https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi-PULMg2eD_v5AO0PlW4sg ) and all of a sudden it just occurred to me: There really isn't very much else out there like it.

Twitch streamers do a great job creating content for video gamers but by comparison table top fans are all but left out in the cold. No more, I say. At that moment, I decided that this was my job and within about ten minutes we were recording our first, rather ill fated episode. (Quick aside: If you are a first time reader/listener please give episode 2 a listen. It's much more...together than it's predecessor.) We couldn't figure out where the fan sound was coming from. I realized today that, in fact, episode one was actually recorded on an ancient headset mic that had fallen behind the desktop case onto the ground and was pressing up against the main fan.

Even as embarrassing as episode 1 was/is/shouldITakeItDownYouThink?/NoLetsJustTalkAboutItMore, as I'm editing the next one, I can't help but smile at the thought of its grandfather standing stalwart in the face of all opposition and reminding constantly me that I wanted to make something, that I did, and then asking what my name was again. Maybe that's an insensitive joke. Hmmm... Here check out this new logo sketch I did!

Finished version should be up with the new episode on Monday. (Yeah that seemed to do the trick they are on our side again.) The bottom line is, thank you all so much for reading, listening, subscribing, commenting, or what ever it is you do. Because at the end of the day, you're all the only reason to even do something like this and I am very grateful that I get to. 

-James Hicks 

Conquest or Calamity Dungeon Master and Lover of Ducks.

Will Kobold for food!

Good morning everybody! I've just added the ability to accept donations on the site, via Paypal. It takes a lot of time and effort to make Conquest or Calamity happen each week and we are just getting started. If you like what you hear and you want to get on board, supporting us at the ground level, this is your chance. Just choose your fandom level and click the subscription button on the right hand side of the page. There is no pressure to donate anything but who can say what perks early subscribers might gain in the coming weeks? Thanks for everything!

-James

Griff Character Sheet

Hello there sports fans,

As promised, during our most recent episode, here is Jon's character sheet. The class is loosely based on a D&D 5e barbarian, with more than a little creative agency taken. Let me know what you think! With any luck, we'll have character art and more posted very soon. 

Episode 2

Hey there guys and gals! I've got great news. It's time for another episode of Conquest or Calamity. This week featuring brand new cast members, an updated theme song, and were-badgers. Oh my!
Let us know what you think in the comments below and don't forget to vote for your favorite character!


Thanks for watching!

Conquest or Calamity Twitter Handle

Salutations dear Viewership! The purpose of this correspondence is to inform you of our new tweeting device @ConquestTable. Our staff will be hard at work, tweeting the most relevant C&C role playing jams. You are all welcome!

Yours Always <3

Kevin Oceanspray

Podcast Re-Roll

It has come to my attention that Roll 2d6 is already the name of another well known and all together not this podcast. Being the positively scrupulous man that I am and being the captain of this here web vessel, such that I am, we shall press on but under a new guise. Thus, it is my absolute pleasure to announce to you all at this this time, ladies and gentlemen, coming to an i-pod near you, Conquest or Calamity, with your host; ladies and gentlemen, he's the Sultan of Sleeze and Far-lord of the Lost Sands but you know him from Neverwinter Top 40, Kevin Oceanspray! Stay tuned for a new podcast every Monday! -James

Episode 1

Hiya!

Welcome to Roll 2d6. I will at some point in the near future, when I am of sounder mind and surer footing, retrace my key strokes and do this post over for the sake of propriety. That said, this cake is half baked right now. Don't pretend you didn't notice. It's what makes it so moist and gooey inside. Now I give you, without further adieu, Roll 2d6, episode 1.


-Peace Out Dudes

PS. The chords to the theme song are C, E, Dm, E, C.