GenCon, Baby!
Between preparing the for GenCon 2017 release of the Orphans & Ashes: More Phun expansion and my wife going into labour a week early, the Top Comments took an unexpected hiatus for about a month. Instead of catching up on the past four weeks of strips, everyone who commented in that time can consider themselves the top commenter! You’re all winners just for participating!
GenCon
A lot of Blind Ferret staff look forward to GenCon more than any other convention we attend. We’re happy to meet fans at any convention we attend, of course, but there’s a world of difference between chatting across a table and playing a game together. And game we did!
We had six tables set up to demo Orphans & Ashes, five of which included More Phun. I am happy to say that we rarely had less than five tables running at any given time, and often had fans waiting in line for tables to clear. As the designer, this was obviously super encouraging. It was also an encouraging contrast to past years of running the demo where people who were interested sometimes walked away when they found out it was a 2-player game. I’ll even admit that when I’m shopping for games either for myself or to include in Board Game Bento, a 2-player only game is a red flag. I still think the cat-and-mouse mechanic in the base game makes it a fun and exciting 2-player game, but I like that we have an alternative for gamers who shy away from 2-player games.
Another commonly raised eyebrow about the game is the theme. Which, yeah, is what it is, it’s based on Looking For Group after all. For some people there’s a line between a game that features burning orphans and a game where one of the players is actively burning those orphans, even if the other player is saving them. With More Phun, that kind of player can play with Cale, Benny, and safe mode Sooba, or a 4-player cooperative version of the game with alternative rules for Richard that represent his bloosh period. For the exact opposite of that type of player, you can play Richard v kill-mode Sooba in an orphocidal Olympics.
Baby
Oh hey, I had another baby! Go me!
Not much more to say there. If everything you know about babies is from Hollywood, just remind yourself that Hollywood needs to take everything anyone could experience about a topic and presents it in the most dramatic way possible. So yeah, this new baby just sits there, wakes every few hours to feed, repeat. She’s not gross and I’m getting so much sleep. I’m almost caught up on The Defenders, too.
Speaking of caught up, time to catch up on the Top Comments for August 14th to 25th, 2017!
LFG 1113
Luke Merritt
>Implying that Richard gives a sh*t who started it… All he knows is that he will end it.
John Peter Riendeau
I have heard worse reasons to genocide cloud people. The best worst reason was They ruined my picnic with rain.
Jens Glibstrup
To be fair, if they had looked exactly like Richard, he would still have started it. Page 149 proves so.
TDA 183
Nanifa Ivan
You get a free gun, a free helmet, free emergency rations, and his wallet.
Kenny Trent
I recently interviewed my dad about his time in the Vietnam War. He told me a story of an officer who under fire, ran. He then told me about someone he knew who got a field commission, because the officer who ran was killed by friendly fire for running away. So I guess the “Red Derp” would be a field commission.
Eruanion Nolaquen
I’d be freaked out like the guys in the first panel too, if Richard was in my trenches, because he probably already killed half my men….which explains his “friendly fire” comments
LFG 1114
John Daly
For those criticising Cale for not looking for a bow, I will ask you to remember your RPG days, because when the king says, “You may take what you require,” you should pretty much say, “Well, I could certainly use this castle to defeat the EVIL OVERLORD, no, wait, it’s no good without the lands and peasants to support it, along with the political clout to rule same. Nope, I’d better be king. Thanks for being so generous in our noble goal of defeating the EVIL OVERLORD. Would you like a receipt for, well, everything? Oh, there’s my major domo, look, write this nice man a receipt, give him some clothes, about 40 gold pieces, and a carriage ride to the next kingdom over.”
Cameron Seipel
Cale, you only grab the blade if you’re half-swording or performing mordhau, and the design doesn’t look appropriate for the latter. Perhaps if you found something to stand on and pulled it up, out of its perceived cage, things might be a little easier. Or if you employed the services of your more competent companions, the Warlock or Orc, they might be able to nullify that’s keeping it there. Or use Pella, she’s much brawnier than you!
Herkko Pulkkinen
Attempts to grab a sword instead of the Bow they need
Grabs the sword by blade instead of the hilt
Cale is incapable to such a degree he couldn’t pour water from a boot even if the instructions were written on the heel.
LFG 1115
Kimon Froussios
BOW= Bring Own Wealth (gold)?
Swords are usually rigid, but since this one is more… airy, they’ll have to learn some airbending.
Jerome Davis
Now he can air his grievences with the Princess. Looks like this may come to blows. I knew Cale was a windbag. That sword must be really well balanced, it is light as air to swing. Cale seems to be inflating his self-image. Sharp breaths are usually short, this seems to be a bit longer. Would you call one made with thick soil, a Clay-More?
Yeti Frostgale
The relic can be bonded to gold to bring it to your realm. = “That’s just the display model, the real one is in the back. You have to pay first.”
TDA 184
Casey Fuentes
You know what’s super weird? I looked at the sun without eye protection like 3 times at various times during the eclipse (and I didn’t get to go see totality, so that’s not the joke). The weird part? I can see as well right now as I could last week. There’s nothing special about an eclipse that makes it more blinding, if anything part of the sun’s light is occluded (not enough that you can stare, but still). The point is, just like LITERALLY ANY OTHER DAY OF THE YEAR the sun will NOT blind you instantaneously if you glance at it. Long before it would do any lasting damage, you’d go “Well, shit, that’s unpleasant, I should probably look elsewhere.” If we didn’t have that instinctive response hard-wired in without needing the Internet to tell us “don’t stare for extended periods at the sun, ya moron”, do you think our species would ever have persisted, with a significant chance of total blindness every time you’re under open sky during the day?
John Peter Riendeau
But mama, that’s where the fun is.
Alexandre Cauchon
who would go on the internet and tell lies?
LFG 1116
Brandon Collup
“I swallowed a sword once. It was awful.”
Like any good warrior, Cale has become the weapon. Now all they have to do is let Tim swing him around.
Tim: CHICKEN BAT!
Cale: Do you mean cricket bat?
TIM: NO.
Dee Tak
Nobody wants to hear about D&D game sessions that go right. It’s schadenfruede or nothing.
Robert Martin
But is his Heart of Gold powered by the new Infinite Improbability Drive?
Now you know,
Costello