Adorable D&D Song [1 comment]

Tara

I posted this over on Geeky Hostess a couple days ago, but couldn’t resist posting it here as well. Such a sweet song!

Ahh. Such a nice, mellow way to end the day.

D20 Pillows for a Cause [Add a comment]

Tara

Perfect for those late night D&D sessions!

Our buddy Justin from Pixelated Geek has started an awesome new project we wanted to tell you about. He created sweet D20 pillows (available for $29.99 at ThinkGeek) which are awesome for those crazy adventures you have in dreamland. But the pillows are not just awesome for its shape. Justin has pledged to give 10% of the profits to two charities: Child’s Play, and one he created himself that will focus on scholarships and micro-loans to “fund adventures and projects that will aid the geeky world”.

He has plans for a full pillow dice set (and other fun geeky shapes!), but needs your help to spread the word before he can do that. Get a pillow for yourself and a friend, and know you’re doing some good at the same time!

Interested in learning more about scholarships and micro-loans for your projects? Email justin at pixelatedgeek dot com for more info!

D&D Encounters: Fun-Size D&D [1 comment]

Tara

Love D&D, but don’t have time for a full campaign? Stop by your local game shop on Wednesdays to play an ongoing 1-2 hour campaign (that’s friendly to drop-ins)!

Check out the video for more info (and a cameo by our friend Chris Tulach!):

You can find out more about D&D Encounters, events near you, and ways to make the game more interesting (through booster packs and social media) on the website.

And if you’ve never played D&D before, this is a great way to get a feel for the game before diving into something a bit bigger and more complicated!

Gamma World! Tara’s POV [3 comments]

Tara

Last week Britt and I got to try something AWESOME: Gamma World.

As you know, I’m the D&Der of the group. And while D&D is great, I’ve never been super into Fantasy. So when I heard I could play a D20 RPG that was a bit more up my alley (Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi?) I was all “Hells Yeah!”

Take a look at some of my experiences and clips from the game here:

(Big thanks to Forest Gibson for making the video!)

When I play Tabletop RPGs, I play with my improv buddies. Which means we make it really tough on the GM. In the past I’ve played with small talking dragons, I’ve carried multiple canoes with me “just in case”, I’ve made myself shallow, diamond hungry characters whose sole goal was to find and wear a tiara… but with Gamma World, you can practically do anything. You start off rolling dice to get your character’s two origins, so it starts off pretty random, and you get to make the best of it from there. I mean, I was Zoltar (based on my origin cards of “Hypercognitive” and “Android), for Pete’s sake. But don’t think that’s where your character stops. Depending on the GM and your dice rolls, you may end up with extra abilities (or limbs) throughout the game.

If you like D&D, try Gamma World. If you don’t like D&D, try Gamma World. Seriously. It’s available for sale TODAY.

Wanna give it a go before you you shell out the bucks? Visit your local gaming store for Gamma World game day, this Saturday, October 23! You’ll get to play the same adventure we played (although we only went an hour into it… it’s a 4 hour campaign), and you’ll get some special cards ONLY available on Game Day. Can’t wait to see what they are? Feel free to decode this one!

I’m also looking at getting a game started and Livestreamed in November. More details to come, but it’ll include you getting to chat directly with the GM and influence the gameplay!

If you go to the Game Day or pick up Gamma World, let us know what kind of character you end up being! And check out Britt’s post for a POV from someone who’s never played D&D before.

Tara’s PAX Top 5 [7 comments]

Tara

The Zaxy girls are all eagerly anticipating PAX, but for different things. Here are the top 5 things I’m most looking forward to. Be on the lookout for Britt and Kristina’s coming up soon! And if you’re at PAX, follow @Zaxydotcom and @ZaxyTara to find out where I’ll be and when!

1. Dungeons and Dragons
WOTC always comes up with something to bring the boys (and the girls) to the yard, and it sounds like they’ve outdone themselves again. They will have a freakin carriage full of things like monsters and Jones soda (best combination ever?) outside of the convention hall. Plus, they’ll be doing all types of demos and games. I won’t have time for the full Gamma World demo, but I am looking forward to the D&D convention delve of “Lair of the Dread Witch” featuring characters from D&D Essentials. And I’ll probably end up buying some more dice. I dont need more, but darn it, they’re just so pretty!

2. Controller-Free Gaming
Ok, I know some of you are hating on the Kinect. I get it. It’s not hardcore gaming. But I’m not a hardcore gamer. I like stuff that makes my friends look silly at parties and help me stay active while I’m inside “playing video games”. And honestly, Kinect and other controller-free gaming is a great way to test out technology that can end up morphing into something way cooler. I’m picturing Jetsons-style living. It will be amazing.

Kinect’s supposed to have a pretty awesome and flashy set-up at PAX. The Zaxy girls are also psyched for our demo of Kung-Fu Live, which puts camera tech and controller-free gaming into a multiplayer Kung Fu battle that will GUARANTEE that we have a great time and all look ridiculous.

3. Meeting People
Whether they’re bloggers, fans, developers, or random guys who jump on top of me to get a flying free t-shirt, I’m excited to meet them. I will take pictures with people in funny costumes, trade business cards with businessy folks, and chug beers with wizards at the Tri-Wizard Drinking Tournament. I can’t wait. Going to PAX? Please say hi! Take a picture! Tweet at us! Challenge us in a game!

4. Free Stuff
I’m a sucker for free stuff. And PAX has enough free stuff to keep me happy for days. Rumor has it that Death Spank will have ACTUAL thongs of virtue. So I’m pretty much set for life.

5. Zaxy Party!
We partied it up at PAX East, but this time PAX is in our hometown, and we’re hosting our own party.
Place: Neumos on Capitol Hill
Time: 7pm – 2am
Major Nelson will be there–will you? RSVP now to be in the drawing to be a part of our Geek-Off hosted by Ken Jennings. He’ll test your smarts and stamina in exchange for some wicked prizes. We also have bands and food and drink sponsors. What are you waiting for? RSVP!

Overall, PAX is going to be a blast. I already have demos set up with Alienware, J!nx, Kung-Fu Live, Portal 2, Tripwire, Slam Bolt Scrappers, and Glass and have a few more in the works. And in case you haven’t heard, there will be a DeLorean there in honor of TellTale’s Back to the Future game! OMG.

Are you going? What are you looking forward to?

D&D Monster Man, Will You Be My BFF? [3 comments]

Tara

This may be the best thing I’ve ever seen.

I know, I know. I say that all the time. But seriously. I thought this was going to be awful. I dreaded watching it. But oh. my. gosh. I want to BFF this man, and make him DM for me all the time.

AMAZING.

What was your favorite monster? Do you have a great impression of a D&D Monster? I wanna see!

Porn Stars Playing D&D [2 comments]

Tara

Apparently Escapist Magazine has started a new webisode featuring porn stars (fully clothed) playing dungeons and dragons. And surprise, the girls almost all play elvin rogues. That used to be my go-to. Time to try something new, I guess.

Io9 interviewed one of the “actresses” on the web series, and I found some of the stuff said to be hilarious. For instance:

They’re not all porn stars: “We’re a medley of porn stars, strippers, models, a hair dresser and I am an ex-porn star/fetish model and currently an illustrator.”
As far as I’m concerned, most of those professions are pretty darn close to porn.

About this group of porn stars: “We are the next generation of sexy women in the media where most of our sexy comes from our brains.”
Unless it’s a zombie porn, I don’t think your brain is a necessary requirement for “sexy” in porn.

On what edition they’re playing: “A mix of AD&D and 3rd Edition. We don’t list our skills or use feats. Instead Zak likes us to play as if anything we could imagine up and do in real life, we could do in the game… The same with alignments – we don’t use them. He doesn’t want the skill list or alignment to limit what we think we are able to do or how to act.”
So you took out the math, critical thinking, and limitations. Understandable.

If you’re interested in checking out an episode, just press play.

My favorite comment from the io9 page is from schrodingers-katana. He says: “I’ve actually had a fair amount of luck in getting attractive girls who have no business gaming at the table for D&D and other games on a pretty frequent basis. Once you break them of the game’s stigma and reveal to them that a lot of their friends are playing with them it’s pretty easy to make a hot girl ONE OF US! ONE OF US!”

It’s true! D&D is a lot of fun if you play with friends that share your personality and humor. You can get your girly friends to join you if you help them get past the stigma they may experience.

Moral of the post: I probably wouldn’t play D&D with porn stars. Honestly, I think they would be pretty boring. Give me non-porn stars with a good sense of humor any day!

If you could play D&D with any person/profession, who would you want to play with?

Sources: Io9 and Escapist Magazine

Step Into My Dungeon… [1 comment]

Tara

Coolest D&D Dungeon/Game Room ever!

These guys are the coolest. And by coolest, I mean nerdiest. Their D&D room includes props from the movies and dimming lights, strobes, and fog machines, all able to be controlled by the DM.

The one thing that concerns me: You need a handmade skeleton key to exit the room. Seriously? You can get locked in this dungeon? I’d like to be able to get up and use the bathroom/ get more snacks when I play D&D, not have to beg the DM to release me. Yikes.

In similar news, Jill’s never played D&D and I am excited to introduce her. I’m looking at a couple campaigns/groups right now, and should be finding one for us to jump into shortly! Stay tuned.