Picture of gaming group

[PeelSeel2]

Castles and Crusades makes running a group this size easy. You need a rules light game and you need fast action. C&C fits that.

In the picture we are 3 off our maximum size so far. Most of the players are regular's to the gaming session when school is on. We game most every friday night and have since ~ near end 2003. About 4 players have gamed since the group started. Having met around the gaming group or at gaming, their has been one marriage so far with another couple engaged.

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Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.

-George Washington

[gideon_thorne]

*chuckles @ the milk duds on the table* Now that's what a proper game table ought to look like.
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"We'll go out through the kitchen!" Tanis Half-Elven

Peter Bradley

[angelius]

Hey now where was this picture when I was looking for photo submissions for our contest? :p
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Big Iron Vault Your friendly neighbourhood gaming magazine. Check out our new webcomic, The Heindrich Project!

[Tadhg]

Nice pic, Peel!
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Count Rhuveinus - Lejendary Keeper of Castle Franqueforte

"Enjoy a 'world' where the fantastic is fact and magic really works!" ~ Gary Gygax

"By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes:" - Macbeth

[Rigon]

Very cool.

R-
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Rigon o' the Lakelands, Baron of The Castles & Crusades Society
The Book of the Mind

[Breakdaddy]

Very nice!

[jaybird216]

Excellent pic!
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Jason Braun
Art Monkey for Hire
Three-Headed Troll Art Wurks

[Secret Skeleton]

That's us!

[Breakdaddy]

Secret Skeleton wrote:
That's us!

Who are you trying to kid? Thats Steve Chenault and his brothers.

[CKDad]

Great pic - and that's a huge group, especially if three aren't there!

BTW, is that someone's dining room table, or some sort of purpose-built game table?
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"I don't wanna be remembered as the guy who died because he underestimated the threat posed by a monkey."

[Secret Skeleton]

Breakdaddy wrote:
Who are you trying to kid? Thats Steve Chenault and his brothers.

We're probably cousins. I am from the Ozarks of southern Missouri.

[Breakdaddy]

Secret Skeleton wrote:
We're probably cousins. I am from the Ozarks of southern Missouri.

HAHAHAHA that explains it then!

[Coleston the Cavalier]

Very cool!

I don't know if I have ever gamed (other than at a con) somewhere other than in a basement.
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John Adams

[PeelSeel2]

CKDad wrote:
Great pic - and that's a huge group, especially if three aren't there!

BTW, is that someone's dining room table, or some sort of purpose-built game table?

Purpose converted/built gaming table from a ping pong table that was no longer used. Luckily I have a large room for gaming and can leave it as my 'gaming cave'.
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Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.

-George Washington

[Relaxo]

that is a huge group!

More the merrier!

Huzzah!

[Secret Skeleton]

I built my own table from lumber I bought at Home Despot. It has a marker-board top. It was two 3.5' x 7' self-standing halves, but I broke one table trying to move it upstairs and now I only have one half and the kids have a marker board they can stand on.

The walls have thanked me.

[Joe]

Thats awesome!

It's also a great idea! Let's all do the same and share pics.

I don't think I EVER gamed in a basement.
One Question: Do you guys use minis or abstract your battles?
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'Nosce te Ipsum' -Delphic Maxim

'Follow your bliss.' -Joseph Campbell

[PeelSeel2]

Joe wrote:
Thats awesome!

It's also a great idea! Let's all do the same and share pics.

I don't think I EVER gamed in a basement.
One Question: Do you guys use minis or abstract your battles?

I have used Minis and I have abstracted. Mostly I do a hybrid where I draw letters and numbers for creatures and character. Not for movement, but for spacial awareness. It is really fast. I printed out a 'battle board' 28" wide and 40" long in 1/2" squares and had it laminated. Really useful. Dungeon mapping, battles, etc.

Back when 4e came out and I was REALLY into it, I bought a projector and we where using that for the gaming table. I had dreams of table mounting it, but it lost to my lack of ambition for the project and my having gorged myself on all the detailed miniatures play I want to see for a LONG time. Projectors with C&C just are not appealing to me. And really, miniatures can not come close to a good first person shooter .

One thing with a large group I have found is need to keep it moving so everyone stays interested and focused on the task at hand. Bringing any kind of technology or complicated rules into that environment does not work well. You loose them quickly. You are either fidgeting with getting the right map up, waiting for a player to decide where to move, what to do with his actions, etc. Really long decision to action cycles. With C&C, they quickly describe their action and we execute it. We do not worry about squares or crap. It keeps it flowing fast. One character is done with action in combat in ~5 to 15 seconds, including to hit, and if hit damage. All players well know that if they are not ready when it comes to them, they are skipped and go last of all players. It keeps the players focused because their time to decision cycle is quick. If that cycle is slow, they have other things to think about, books, playing grab ass, etc.

That is nice about the siege engine too, you can involve everyone in task resolution ala Mongoose Traveller. I noticed one thing about that game, their task resolution system encourages players to help each other out and think about a way they can help with a task with non-involved skills. Same with the siege engine. I can post how I do that if you are interested.
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Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.

-George Washington

[Secret Skeleton]

I use miniatures in C&C for every combat. We take full use of the facing rules and whatnot. Combat is actually very fast, too. We had a huge combat once where there were about 22 pirates attacking four pc's and about six henchmen. The whole fight took less than an hour to run. I remember running a fight in 3.5 where we had six pc's and eight enemies that took three hours.

Just two weeks ago we were running The Rising Knight and the party broke through the stone wall on the second floor. The dust settled and they were looking down on 17 goblins and a gnoll. That was great. That fight took them all of a half hour with the enemy moving into the hallways to outflank them. It was good stuff.

[Sir Ironside]

Just thought you guys would like to see my game group.
[/img]
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That is SIR! to you!

[Breakdaddy]

Sir Ironside wrote:
Just thought you guys would like to see my game group.
[/img]

No gamers in your neck of the woods?

[Sir Ironside]

Breakdaddy wrote:
No gamers in your neck of the woods?

Well yes... but I haven't actually played a rpg in a little over ten years. Mostly because I subscribe to the, No gaming is better than bad gaming newsletter. I did have a dalliance with two separate groups, both that started off well then took a nosedive overtime with it ending with me leaving. I'm not particularly picky, but I don't know when the disconnect between me and the people I see playing our hobby happened. Other shit makes it a long story, like why I don't ask anyone at the local game store, but considering what there is to offer, I prefer my gaming group as it stands. (Makes me seriously consider doing a solo thing. Either create or play Lone Wolf or something similar.)
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That is SIR! to you!