Fatbeard the Pirate's Blog

This coming up weekened, the Erisian Entertainment crew is going to visit Citadel Games in Brainerd, MN.

As those of you who’ve met us know, EE doesn’t believe in being a faceless bunch of degenerates that happen to make RPGs. We want to be in the thick of it meeting, greeting, and shooting the proverbial shit with the people that play our games. It makes life more interesting. Besides, gamers are some of the nicest people you’ll probably never meet unless you get up off your ass and find them.

We first heard about Citadel when we were contacted by a member of their staff named Chris. After conversing with Chris for a few days, we decided to check out the store he worked at and navigated the web to Citadel Games. Once we had read what the web had to say about Citadel, it was just a matter of scheduling the trip.

I’ll report more fully once I’ve actually been to Citadel, but I’ve spoken to both Chris and Collin so far. If they are any indication of what goes on at this store, you’re a fool not to visit it at least once.

Anyway, we’ll be heading up to Brainerd on Friday morning. We plan to stop at the store to say hello before finding our hotel, but we’ll be at the store Saturday untiul they get tired of having us. So stop on by and say “Hello!” Who knows, you might find something you can’t live without while you’re there. Just don’t tell them that Ben sent you until after we know how the trip went…

It’s Monday night and I’m barely functional. After 36 hours of hanging out with everyone at Fire & Ice, I’ve got a terrible case of Con-Burn. I haven’t had that much fun earning a feeling this bad since Matt got married…

For those of you who did not attend Fire & Ice… there is not much I can say to you… though that will not stop me from trying.

Fire & Ice was thrity-six hours of gaming wonderment that you will never be able to experience… until next february. And even then you will have missed out on some of the greatest moments in role-playing history.

In addition to the wonderful deals offered by Old favorites like Bob from Chimera, Phil of Cheap Books fame, and Chad and Adam from ChAdam, there were new friends to meet.

As always, Bob had some wonderful deals on close out merchandise and other things that had been taking up space in his warehouse. Hero Clix packs for a $1 each. Twilight, Warcraft, and Dogma figurines for half price. You missed out.

ChAdam brought their game face as well with Warhammer starter sets for less than $90. They also had on their shelf the game with the best name I have ever seen – Mongolian Goat Rodeo! It’s two parts board game and one part RPG… and looks like a whole lot of fun.

Phil, as always, had cheap books. Chad snatched up an X-Men and Star Trek: the Next Generation crossover novel and the X-Men board game.

As usual, Sam (and his harem) was on hand to demonstrate some rail games… and I learned to play a type of chess that I have never played before…

Victory Games was there with all sorts of gaming goodness. Michelle almost repurchased her childhood in the form of vintage NES and Super NES games… all for just a few bucks.

Mark, Kevin, and Lynn from the Game Board were on hand promoting their store… which allows kids to come in and play games all day long… and unlike most stores, you don’t need to bring the games! Rumor has it that they have a life size chess board in their garden for all you Alice in Wonderland fans… or you History of the World: Part 1 buffs.

A local artist was on hand promoting his comic book – School: A Ghost Story. There were people selling hand-made posable dragons. And Privateer Fanny was selling her Bags o’ Holding…

In short, there was something for everyone… but I haven’t even begun to sing the praises of Fire & Ice.

Check this out… They had convention food that didn’t suck. Seriously, the burgers were awesome… and the chili cheese dogs sublime. I should know, I lived on them for three days straight.

More than that, Fire & Ice 2010 was the birthplace of Game Design: the Shafting. It’s a card game you’ve never heard of because we just made it up over the course of the Convention. We’re getting the art for it on Wednesday, and playtesting it during the next two weeks. With any luck, it’ll be ready to travel with us to Chaoticon and Oshcon this year…

See what you miss when you don’t follow ol’ Fatbeard around…

Well, it’s about as official as anything ever is around here. EE will be at Fire & Ice in Manitowoc on February 26th through the 28th.

Hours of Operation are as follows.

Friday 2pm until 11pm
Saturday 9am until 11pm
Sunday 9am until 9pm

Admission is very reasonable, as most good conventions are, so stop on down and take a look. It’ll be a good time… If nothing else, you can make fun of the fat guy sitting at the EE booth.

We just returned from OshCon late last night. For those of you living in northeastern Wisconsin, if you failed to attend OshCon this year, you missed one hell of a good time!

We met a lot of interesting people at OshCon and had a chance to visit with some old friends. Now I’d like to take some time to shamelessly plug our friends and let you know what you missed all at the same time.

Chimera Hobby Shop was there as usual. Also as usual, they brought a truckload of merchandise. They had several tables of games ranging from versions of monopoly that I had never heard of to miniatures and RPGs. If you’ve ever seen the selection at either of their stores, you might have some inkling of what they brought to the convention. If you haven’t been to either of their stores, you’re missing out.

GuardTroll T-Shirts was there with the new OshCon shirts as well as some old Favorites. I proudly wore my “Where are my minions?” shirt on the first day of the con, but no one seemed to have the answer. I know more than a few people who should be wearing their “I’m only here because the server is down” shirt, and I can’t help but laugh each time I’m reminded that you don’t have to outrun the dragon… just the dwarf.

Snarling Badger Games did demos of their products during the convention. If you haven’t played Zombie Rally, well… It’s a race with Zombies… What more needs to be said? Their philosophy of only making games that they would like to play is more than admirable. Their products are inexpensive and fun to play. Check them out.

Cheap Books by Phil was also on hand to provide us with literary wonder. Phil goes around collecting the paperback novels we all know and love, and then sells them for a buck or two. I don’t know about you, but the way I forget to return books, that’s cheaper than checking them out from the library! I bought a bag of books from Phil… for my children… yes, honey, for the children… really… I swear… It cost me about $5. At that price, even if you don’t read it, it’s a bargain. You can send Phil your wish list at philfromocs@gmail.com. If they’re out there, Phil will find them, and ship them to you… shipping fees, of course, will depend on where in the world you live.

We also met the guys from ChAdam Games. Not only are Chad and Adam good guys, they provide a valuable service. Check this out… Let’s say you don’t have a game store in your area… or you’re too lazy to leave your house… Talk to ChAdam Games and they’ll find what you’re looking for and ship it right to your house! SWEET! I just ordered a game from them that I saw at the Con. Once I’ve played it, I’ll let you know what I thought.

In addition to these fine people, there were other great vendors their. I bought a chainmail keyring that holds my lucky d20… Just in case I need a critical hit while driving. Of course, Dave pointed out that the one was also showing… He always sees the glass as half-full… While I see it as too large for the amount of liquid you’re trying to contain.

We’re almost done with the shameless plugs… I promise…

Last, but most certainly not least, is Lisa… I don’t know how to start. One of the guys from OshCon asked if I had taken a look at the sculptures in the Art Room (Yeah, there is even an art room). I had and told him that I was impressed by the painter. To my amazement, he informed me that these sculptures weren’t just painted but sculpted by the young lady sitting behind the table. I was floored. These things seriously looked like professional models that you order and paint.

The great news is that she’s also a talented artist… and we’ve asked her to do some art for us… look for her work in upcoming Erisian Entertainment products. You will be amazed!

Alright, plugs are done… Now for the news…

OshCon was the first place you could buy Plying the Aether, and it was very well received (Yay Us!). We sold a bunch of stuff, hired a new artist, and met a bunch of great people. I can’t not say enough how much I love OshCon!

As with last year, we’ve put some of our PDF products on sale through DriveThruRPG in honor of OshCon. Our three core books, including the new one, are $5 off their regular price… which is already half off the cover of the physical book. If you didn’t get the newletter, you’re in luck, here are the links to the discounted price. These three offers are good until the end of 2009.

Lady’s Rock $7…

Codex of Creatures $5…

Plying the Aether $5…

As a special treat for reading our blog, here is a link to get Sliver of Dawn, the first book in the Malaclypse Cycle for Free! That’s right, FREE!!!

For those of you who don’t know, the Malaclypse Cycle is a quadrilogy (is that even a real word?) set on the Lady’s Rock. It’s a good story and a fun read… though I might be more than a little bias…

Anyway… Until next time…

This is Fatbeard the Pirate saying, “May all your dice roll well and may all your games not suck!”