Conquest or Calamity: Hard Boiled #1

Here's the new track everybody. Hope you enjoy.



Big thanks to Battle Bards for SFX and to Imagine 3d Minis for supplying the custom Gorbash and Impala minis.

-Jon

Dungeons and Dragons (and Devils and Demons?!?)

So there is an amazing post on video games and parenting over at Penny-Arcade, which you should definitively all go read. It's fine. I'll wait. Ok. You got it? Great!

While reading the aforementioned post, specifically the parts describing how even a game as benign as Minecraft, can be very concerning to parents of young children, it occurred to me that my own medium, table top role playing games, can often be even more frightening.

I grew up in what you would call a conservative home but I was also encouraged daily to be as creatively expressive as I felt I could. I can easily recall my first role playing experiences. I was a wizard with a pet dragon. I also still remember the weary look on my father's face, when I first told him about the spells I was casting and monsters I was fighting.

In his mind, I'm sure, I was basically on the gateway drug to satanism. What a completely terrifying, albeit misguided, thought. Please don't get me wrong. My dad was an amazing guy. He took me to space camp, he coached my soccer team, and he taught me more about music than probably any other person I've ever known.

But he passed away a few years ago and the sad reality is, in spite of us both being extremely creative people, he and I were never able to connect through games. I'm sure that probably bothered him then as much as it bothers me now.

So what's the parent of an imaginative young RPG aficionado to do?

Well, first off, parents need to get educated on their kids interests. I'll be the first to tell you that, as is the case with almost all games, not every table top game is appropriate for every kid. Only you, as their parent, are qualified to decide what your child should and shouldn't be a part of and occasionally you just have to be the bad guy. That said, go and get the facts first.

Secondly, play with your kids. If you have a son or daughter who wants to try Dungeons and Dragons or Pathfinder, go try it with them and then talk about it with them afterwards. "What did you like about the game?" "Were there any parts that were scary?" Ask the important questions. You will almost certainly get the important answers.

Children are (for the most part) neurologically wired to see their parents as heroes. What could be better than to prove the completely right by joining in against "the forces of evil" or "slaying the terrible dragon"?

There's a family that Will and I play with at a local game shop some Saturdays, and it warms my heart to see parents sharing in these experiences with their kids. I'm not sure if they read this blog or not but if they do, they should know I think they rule, period.

I think the bottom line here is the same as for basically any other interactive media. Imaginative play is one of the most important ways a child has to interact with the world. Any game can be used for good, evil, and everything in between. I've met some of my best friends through gaming and if it makes anyone feel better, I've never even been inside a church of Satan.

Here's to you Dad! I hope they have D&D in Heaven.
-James

Become a Community Partner Today!

Greetings Conquest or Calamity Listeners,

Do you have a rad RPG product that you'd like to sell more of? Do you not object to my occasionally ending sentences with prepositions, in sheer defiance of the grammar I use?

Then you, Sir, Madame, or Otherwise, are in great luck!

Here at Conquest or Calamity, nothing grants us greater joy than bringing awesome interactive experiences to people everywhere. If you think your gaming, role playing, or other nerd paraphernalia might do just that, then we definitely have some things to talk about.

Shoot us an email today at james@conquestorcalamity.com or reach us on twitter @ConquestTable and you could be our next community partner. You worked hard to create the best product possible. Now, let us help you show the world!


And as always, thanks for listening!

-James

La troisième partie de la quatrième épisode

Hello people of the internet!

Behold! Episode 4 Part 3 is right here; right now. Please feel free to comment, retweet, post, etc. Big thanks, as always, to Battle Bards for amazing sound effects.



Check back later on this week for our live recording from The Wasteland Gaming. If you're all very good, maybe I'll even post some new art tomorrow.

Ciao!

James

Correan Character Bio

Well, our beloved lore master, Will, has just informed me that the character's name is spelled "Correan not Corrian" so there's that. Other than that it pretty standard fare. Check out the origin story for our favorite shifty eyed Tiefling Rouge on the Character Bios page.

In other news, I really enjoyed getting to actually play D&D for a change with a few of you at The Wasteland Gaming on Saturday. So if you were there, thanks. Enjoyed it very much. If you signed up for our email contact list, you can expect to hear from either Will or myself within a few days. If you need to get in contact with us before then, feel free to shoot me a tweet any time @conquesttable.

Currently I believe we are still on track to have our subscriber game open beta available sometime late this week and last but not least, I am currently editing this week's podcast. It should be up around the usual time on Monday and will almost certainly conclude our current story line. Now if you will please excuse me, I'm off to go edit for the next ten hours!

Happy Easter everybody!

-James

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

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.