The Knights Radiant (Playthrough of Call to Adventure: The Stormlight Archive)

Growing up in an aristocrat's house, Weset's youth was given over to indulgence and excess. When he reached adulthood, however, and reflected back on his life and the priorities of his harsh father, he realized something was missing. He gave his life to religion and joined the Vorin priests, searching for a higher meaning. His father urged him back into the family business by offering him a position of greater authority and control. Reluctantly, he agreed, finding less fulfillment than expected in being an ardent. 

Transportation Planner (Playthrough of Railroad Ink: Blazing Red Edition)

Bert Grundleson couldn't screw this up. He had begged and begged his boss for the chance to be the transportation planner for the new town of Macmontham. He was well aware of the fact that he didn't deserve this opportunity, that his boss had only relented because of his special ability to be incredibly persistent and obnoxious. But that didn't matter! He was given the job and if he made it work, this could be his (train) ticket to the top!

After weeks of planning, it was time for the project to get underway. Engineers, architects, construction workers, everyone was hired and on-site.

BOOM!!!

What was that? 

A meteor just exploded into the ground, less than a hundred metres from some tracks and roads.

To the Rescue (Playthrough of Flash Point: Fire Rescue)

Tom, Phil, and Anita arrived at the scene of the fire as quickly as possibly. It had been a slow night but when the alarm went, they were ready. They were a good team and worked to each member's strengths. Phil had an uncanny ability to suppress fires with ease. Anita's long hours in the gym had paid off as pulling people out the building usually fell to her. Tom balanced both of them out and was able to do a little bit of everything. As they pulled into the subdivision, neighbours lining the streets watching the fire grow, they realized they hadn't gotten here a moment to soon. They leaped out of the truck and burst into action.

Not All Who Wander Are Lost (Playthrough of The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth)

*Editor's Note: For some reason the photos on this blog post, photos that I took, have gone missing. I will try to figure out what happened.

In the years separating the adventures of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, 60 years to be exact, not much is known about what when. It's entirely possibly, or maybe, somewhat possible, that some of our favourite literary characters traveled together around Middle-earth. Alright, maybe not exactly possible, but not entirely impossible, either. However you want to frame the likelihood of such an event, following is one of those untold stories.

Bilbo, before finally settling down in Rivendell, travels into the lands nearby, where rangers roam. He meets up with one particularly well known ranger, one named Strider. Together, they seek to track down some thieves who have been stealing from Bree and the surrounding areas. As they begin following the clues left behind by the criminals, they were assaulted by one of its members. Strider makes quick work of this ruffian.

Beware Brawny Black Bears (Playthrough of Shadows of Malice)

The shadowy forces of Xulthûl were amassing again. Although the evil had been banished from the land of Aethos, there were signs that it was escaping it's prison. Strange creatures began roaming the land: trees that walked and sprayed acid, gigantic mushrooms that created illusions in the minds of those who encounter their spores, and bloodthirsty black bears with six legs and three eyes. The world had been safe from this type of wrongness for centuries, but the guardians of the dark wells lost their edge and Xulthûl was once again able to spread his poison through Aethos.

In response, the forces of light, celestial beings with no physical bodies, used their power to form shells on earth to inhabit. 

The Battle for Cainfield Citadel (Playthrough of Castle Panic)

Sir Owain of the East, commander of the army at Cainfield Citadel, looked over the battlements at the army assembled there. They had the supplies necessary for a lengthy siege and a sturdy castle wall, but they had never faced a force with twelve foot trolls that could climb right over that very wall. If he hadn't trained all of his men personally he would be more worried about how they would react to these invaders, but he knew they were ready for anything these monsters could throw at them.

The first attack of the battle went poorly for both sides. A giant boulder, pushed along by several rock trolls, headed straight towards the keep. It collapsed a large section of the wall but also flattened one of those climbing trolls on its way.

Caught Between a Rock...and a Bolt of Lightning (A Playthrough of Spirit Island)

For generation upon generation, Spirit Island had been a peaceful place. The Dahan, the indigenous people of the island, had named it for the spirits they lived in harmony with who helped them survive. Lightning's Swift Fury came with the rain that watered their crops and it had also brought them their first fire that they used to stay warm and cook food. They also relied on the Vital Strength of the Earth to grow their crops in and to find shelter in. They revered these spirits as gods and life was simple. 

Watch Out for Wayward Wizards (Playthrough of Kingdomino)

King Leopold knew that he could not rule the land forever. It was time to prepare his son, Prince Leopoldo (apparently they were running out of royal names), to take over the throne in a few short years. For reasons unknown to him, his son had grown up spoiled, entitled, and lazy. The king needed some sort of test to see if his son could live up to the task of leading the people and helping the kingdom to flourish. 

After several weeks of thinking and planning, the king called his son into his see him in the throne room. As the prince stood up from his respectful bow, the king laid out the plan before him. Leopoldo would be given a large chunk of land and twelve years to prepare and grow it. If the king was satisfied with the growth of this new kingdom, his son would be given rule over all the king's holdings. The prince bowed quickly and practically raced out of the room to begin his preparations for gaining the kingship.

YEAR ONE

"Things are already going poorly. I knew that the people would need wheat for baking and feeding the animals we would later raise, but we found a surprise when plowing one of our new fields. Turns out there was a sinking swamp just below the surface. Thanks for this little piece of paradise, Pops." - Leo

Mae'el's Escape (Playthrough of Unbroken)

Mae'el slowly opened one eye. She couldn't believe she was capable of opening an eye - she should be dead. If she weren't so good at hiding, she would be. Like the rest of her adventuring party. She peered out from behind the giant mushroom she had used as a hiding place. The stench alone had kept her enemies from searching too closely here. Growing up in the slums where refuse was regularly dumped into the streets had paid off this time. Nostrils of steel.

Godfrey the Great (Playthough of Goblivion)

King Loko the Brute was preparing to defend his innocent people from the invading goblins. What his innocent people didn't know, however, was that The Brute had picked this fight. Things got too boring without a good head or two to lop off.

Paragon of Light (Playthrough of Call to Adventure)

Fenwick was just a lowly settler when he first came to this land, gifted with just a little bit of constitution and intelligence. The only thing that set him apart from others like him was his thirst for knowledge. As he read and studied in the local library, he learned about the virtues of purity and goodness and honest. He strove to be an example of living for others. 

The Dwarven Mine (Playthrough of Clank! Expeditions: Gold and Silk)

Grief the Thief (great at stealing, awful at coming up with a great nickname) had never tackled a dwarven mine before. He'd stolen from dragons and mummies, gone underground and underwater, and always came away with a pile of riches. Dwarves were well known for guarding their treasure more carefully than any others, but that's what made the job so exciting.

Sniped

They needed to put out that beacon before reinforcements arrived. The ratmen had been working hard to exterminate the humans from this part of the world. They were very close, but if the beacon was lit, it would all be for naught. But they didn't know how to stop that mysterious, magical man. He tore through their ranks like a knife through paper. Finally they were able to surround him, swarming him with their largest warriors. 

Don't Get Obliterated! (Playthrough of Heroes of Tenefyr)

The brave barbarian-thief had battled through the last of dungeon's creatures. Piles of gold and jewels lay before him. Finally, the spoils of war!

Slime is Money

Heroes of Tenefyr was on Kickstarter last year and while I didn't back it, I did download the free PnP and print it off. I'm always game for a good fantasy deckbuilder, but I didn't have the funds to buy the actual game. I'm going to have an actual review of this up soon, but for now here's the teaser as I haven't been able to finish this latest playthrough yet.

Here is the game all set up. Takes up a decent amount of space, but there's not much added space for added characters - it's the different dungeons that eat up that table space.

Queen Jade the Ruthless (Playthrough of Goblivion)

Queen Jade the Ruthless, cursed with red magic blobs that covered her ample bosom, gazed out from the parapets of her ancient stronghold, Castle Ruthless. Her muscly bodyguard, Dustin, stood quietly beside her. In the distance, she noticed a cloud of dust. What could that be? she thought to herself. She called for her scouts to check it out. 

Too Many Spirits on the Island

So I recently picked up one of my wishlist items, Spirit Island (woohoo!).  I'd only played it cooperatively so far and it had been a little while, so I decided to throw down a multiplayer game to refresh my memory of the rules.  Usually when I play a cooperative game solo, I'll play at least two-handed (e.g. Lord of the Rings: The Card Game and Aeon's End).  I thought I would try that here as well, I'm a pretty expert gamer, right?

I decided to use two of the lower complexity spirits: Lightning's Swift Strike (chosen for their attack) and Vital Strength of the Earth (chosen for their defense).  I played on the simplest difficulty with no specific invader or blight cards.  Things seemed to be going pretty well at the start. The invaders were slowly spreading but I had a pretty good control of them still.

Busted (Playthrough of Burgle Bros)

I've been performing a heist over the last few days.  My team of three broke into a bank and we were trying to make off with as much loot as possible.  My job, as the The Rook, was to help the team hide and sneak around the guards as much as possible.  Due to this fact, I was the one most often in the line of sight of the guards.  The Peterman came along to help us crack into the safes and he was doing a great job.  We had two of the three safes open when everything came crashing down.  With her sharp eyesight, The Hawk helped us spot out the best routes to travel.

We were on the third floor, we had found the last safe and were just working on the combination.  The Hawk had traveled back to the second floor to try and confuse the guards.

You Got Porgs, We Got Borgs (Playthrough of Star Trek: Frontiers)

When rumours of Borg activity reach my ears, I don't hesitate.  I jump into action right away.  We've had relative peace within the galaxy for several years and I'm not about to let a few giant cubes ruin that.

Get In Its Face! (Playthrough of Tragic Events Expansion)

The call had come in - there was a fire on Main Street.  It wasn't big, yet.  The information received over the radio made it clear that it was spreading quickly and that there were people inside.  The fire truck there sent two firefighters into the blaze - Ed Kearney, a structural engineer, and Pete Templeton, a suppression specialist.