Salt Lake Gaming Con 2016, A Look Back

2016 was the second year for Salt Lake Gaming Convention. An event to celebrate, share, and promote the community of all types of game players. This year's event was larger than last year's. Some of last year's attractions and events returned to share space with new ones.

People were arriving at the convention as individuals, families, and groups of friends. They were coming to compete in one of the many tournaments, to support their fandom, and to see what this group is really about.

Entering the convention, these smaller groups arrived into a welcoming community. People were meeting old friends and making new ones. There was opportunity of getting to know others who have similar likes, either with the conventioneers, or with groups who were representing their causes and fandom. People stopped strangers to complement their cosplay, or they discussed games they were watching. They were talking to people they didn't know over the move they saw on the big screen, or what it was like after the demonstration of virtual reality. The strategy talk around the X-Wing Miniatures was similar to those around the viewing areas of Heroes of the Storm. Afterwards, they walked away as new friends, acknowledging them later as they passed.

You may have been in one of the many tournaments or contests taking place. There were also the supporters of the competitors, a cheering crowd (sometimes loud and sometimes whispers) of fans looking for the favored cosplay, and the next strategic move. All of them joining together with the goal of winning, but, more importantly, for most, of being involved.

Some were not ready for the official contests, and there were plenty of other varieties for enjoyment and fun. There were soccer moms grabbing nerf blasters and foam swords. There were families sitting at game tables. There were young children interacting senior citizens as they showed their costumes (in both directions). People were with people without regard of who they were before walking through the doors.

Along with supporting already known interests people were finding new interests and new causes. We have the areas we enjoy and what we like to do, but people who might not try a role-playing game, or Live Action Role Playing (LARPing), were signing up and giving it a try, just to see, and finding they enjoyed it. There were groups supporting interests like veterans and children. It was something to see members of B.A.C.A. (Bikers Against Child Abuse) talking and laughing with a group of zombies.

This is what gaming conventions, like Salt Lake Gaming Con, are about. There are events taking place during the convention, but it is about the building of community. There is the ability to bring together people with common interests, even if they didn't know they had the common interest before arriving. People were looking for one thing, and found more. They left with memories and memorabilia they could share with the friends they came with, and tell those who didn't. Some had made new friends they'll see at the next convention, or get together between times.

The people make events like Salt Lake Gaming Con as enjoyable as we want them to be. Watching, participating, and interacting with the people at the convention, I could see the atmosphere of enjoyment and fun. There were many smiles and jokes being shared by the conventioneers as they were leaving, and many a child who just wasn't ready to leave.

Salt Lake Gaming Con is now partnering up with Salt Lake Comic Con and I am looking forward to seeing what we get to participate in next year.

I would like to thank Salt Lake Gaming Con and Utah Geek Magazine for the opportunity of attending the convention.

If you have any comments, questions, or critiques please leave a comment here, or send an email to guildmastergaming@gmail.com.

You can join Guild Master Gaming on Google+, Facebook, and Twitter (@GuildMstrGmng).

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

"However perfect and beautiful the dogs might be on the outside, on the inside they are broken"

The video above is of a Dobermann called Bella. Be warned - the end of it shows her dying in the middle of a retrieve  "Bella..?" calls her owner as he sees his dog collapse and starts to run towards her. "Bella...!"

It is not a one-off. Many other beautiful Dobermanns die in exactly the same heart-breaking way because of a disease that now affects around 60% of the breed: DCM (dilated cardiomyopathy).

Dobes suffer from various forms of the disease and other heart issues too.  According to the available statistics, the average age of death for this breed is now between seven and eight years old.

Yesterday, Carol Beuchat from the Institute of Canine Biology came across the video of Bella dying and was so moved she stopped what she was doing to write this impassioned piece calling for breeders to re-focus on the root cause of the problem, not the consequence.

She writes:

Our dogs are dying of inbreeding. Decades of inbreeding in a quest for the ever more perfect dog has resulted in the loss of genes that are essential to life. However perfect and beautiful the dogs might be on the outside, on the inside they are broken.

What are we doing about this? We seem to be doing a lot. There are research studies, DNA tests, health seminars, disorder-specific Facebook groups, and so on.

But our dogs are dying of inbreeding. None of the things we are doing will cure inbreeding. Scientists can't cure inbreeding. Inbreeding must be cured by breeders.

In 2002, Dr Reinhard Haberztti wrote: “The Dobermann was created from mixtures of various breeds and half-breeds at the end of the 19th century. This genetic variety was a great health advantage. Up to approximately 1950, there were practically no hereditary health problems, worldwide.

Yes, you read that right.

Less than 70 years ago, there were almost no known hereditary health problems in Dobermanns. 

Now the breed faces extinction. 

Carol references work done by Professor Sonia Garcia to conclude that without a change in breeding practices every Dobermann will have DCM by 2039. Every Dobermann.

I have a particular interest in this breed because my boy Jake is a Dobe x GSD mix (with Dobe making up the most of his ancestry). He is 14 now and, without fail, any vet that examines him raises their eyebrows when they listen to his heart.

Because it's that strong; that steady, with none of the telltale arrhythmias that kill so many Dobermanns. Just luck, almost certainly, but outcrossing is probably the only way out now for this breed.

There are now a handful of Dobermann breeders talking about an outcross but, sadly, such a venture is very unlikely, currently, to be endorsed by the majority of breeders who have been indoctrinated into thinking that such a move would sully the purity of their breed.

Here's what Carol thinks:

Unless there is some unanticipated scientific breakthrough, the future of the Doberman is grim. Dogs will continue to be snatched from life by sudden heart failure, and owners will continue to come home from work to find their dog dead on the floor. The Doberman DCM Facebook group will continue to grow. The Rainbow Bridge will widen to accommodate the souls of the dogs that are dying too young.... 

DNA testing does not make somebody a "responsible" breeder. Caring for the heritage of your breed does not make you a "preservation" breeder. Pride and love and dedication are all terrific, but they will not prevent the heartbreak that awaits thousands of Doberman owners in the future. Breeders need to DO something about this. Breeders need to step up to the plate and acknowledge that continuing to breed dogs that are likely to die of a genetic disorder is irresponsible, unethical and inhumane. That is certainly how the average, everyday dog lover feels. This is also how I feel. 

The Doberman was not created in its present form by a dog-loving God. It is a "blender" breed, created by a man who mixed a bit of this and a bit of that until he had the dogs he wanted. The breed was "recognised", the studbook closed, and the gene pool has been getting smaller ever since. Can the breed be saved by a cross-breeding program Who knows, but certainly it is worth a try and there is little too lose. But time is running out.

Read the whole of this incredibly powerful piece by Carol here - and if you don't know her work, please take the opportunity to explore the ICB website and what it offers to everyone interested in breeding healthier dogs.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

The Goblin Necromancer Gubbolt, (D&D 3.5/L5)Goblin

Continuing with the current cast in the city campaign.

Goblin Wizard by XombieDoll on Deviant Art

In many places of the world goblins have become accepted in the outskirts of the main society. In most they are not. When it comes to the magical arts one group that follows along the same path are those who study necromancy. Gubbolt a goblin necromancer has been persecuted in many locations, until he found a home in the city of Castanis.

Gubbolt started life being born a slave, the son of slaves, who were in turn the children of slaves. It was existence, not really a life. They were alive, and ever since he was young Gubbolt heard the tales of how one day they would no longer be slaves. But, the drow they were enslaved by ruled with a harsh hand. Any of the slaves who spoke of rebellion were put to death. Gubbolt saw this practiced many times in his younger life, and even though there was always those who spoke of being free, none dared act.

The other thing Gubbolt learned in those earliest years was how to be out of the way when trouble came. He wasn't the fastest or the strongest of the goblins, which at times can make it harder to get away from the problem that was about to strike, but Gubbolt was smarter than most of the other goblins. He learned the best way to get away from the punishments his drow masters loved to dish out was to leave before it happened.

In the darkness he learned to watch what was happening around him and act before it was necessary to just flee. His ability caught the attention of an unlikely mentor, a drow wizard. Bonsiess watched the young goblin and recognized he was smarter than most. He purchased the goblin and put him to work helping him in his personal studies. Bonsiess's arrogance never allowed him to consider the slave creature could be smart enough to learn the magic he was being introduced to.

Working for Bonsiess made existing easier for Gubbolt, almost a life. He ate a little better and was given cleaner clothes, so he could be presentable. Bonsiess would work in his lab and it was Gubbolt responsibility to clean after the drow. Until he was needed, he was expected to be out of the way, and preferably out of sight.

Gubbolt watched. He watched the wizard, and the others the wizard had in his lab. They would have their books open when they were reading them, many times following the script with their fingers as they discussed some point of magic. Gubbolt watched, and he learned.

First, he learned to read. He read as he watched. He read the books he was to put away. Next, he learned how to submit. He cowered to the wizard. He let the drow believe he was content in what he was doing, that he was better off than the other goblins, because he was, and that is what Bonsiess believed. Then Gubbolt learned how to cast spells.

Bonsiess knew the goblin slave was behind him ready to clean up whatever he left behind. He didn't know his slave was mimicking him, learning from him.  Over the next couple of years the young goblin learned the cantrips used by wizards. And, as he learned he started planning.

Gubbolt plans weren't about freeing all the slaves, nor all the goblins. He wasn't even concerned about freeing any of the other slaves at all, only himself. He studied harder to prepare for a time when he could leave the drow behind.

While studying he realized he did not care for the enchantment spells, they didn't do much good to those he wished to get away from. He also didn't care about the spells of abjuration. But, those involving necromancy were of interest.

Finally, his time had come where he dared to attempt his escape. Bonsiess had business transactions with a merchant trading goods with the surface, and Gubbolt used the merchant's goods, the merchant, his own feeble magic, and a lot of luck to get out of the drow city and to the surface. Over the next few years on the surface, Gubbolt did little more than exist, but he felt he was living because he decided what he did.

Life was harsh, but he was used to harsh. Surface dwellers were not friendly because of his race. They were not friendly when they discovered his talents. More than once he fled to save himself.

He finally found his way to the City of Castanis and had heard how every race was welcome. He also discovered that although the law said he was welcome, it did not mean the people already living there would be welcoming. But he found a goblins living in the city.

The goblins he found had created a common living area for protection. They had a strong leader. The leader, however, was like most goblins Gubbolt had known, lacking true vision for the future. They were existing. Gubbolt knew how to exist, and he had learned how to live. He decided he didn't want to be their leader, but he could guide them in a direction that would make them stronger, him stronger.

Now Gubbolt is the considered the intellectual leader of the thrown together clan of goblins in the city as the advisor to the clan chief. Gubbolt like the position. He known the leader and his secret. He knows his position is safe, and in that safety his necromantic abilities have been allowed to strengthen.

Gubbolt, Necromancer (Wizard specialist) Level 5, DnD 3.5 (core books)

Str 8, Dex 10, Con 16, Int 15, Wis 12, Chr 6

Alignment: Neutral Evil

HP 29

AC 11 (size)

               Flat footed 11

               Touch 11

Initiative +0

Attack base +2 (-1 strength, +1 size)

Melee +3 masterwork dagger (1d4/19x2)

Ranged +3 light crossbow (1d6/19x2)

Fort +4, Reflex +1, Will +5

Skills: Concentration +9 (6), decipher script +9 (7), hide +4, knowledge (arcana) +8 (6), move silent +4, ride +4, sense motive +3 (cc4), speak language (cc6), spellcraft +11 (7), survival +3 (cc4)

Feats: Combat casting, craft wand, eschew materials, scribe scroll, summon familiar

Languages: Goblin, Common, Under-common, Drow

Magic items: Brooch of Shielding (76 charges), Wand of Expeditious Retreat (16 charges)

Potions: None

Scrolls: 3 scrolls; 1^st-detect undead; 1^st-disguise self, 2^nd-see invisible, 3^rd-vampiric touch;2^nd-whispering wind, 3^rd-clairaudience/clairvoyance, haste.

Mundane items and monetary treasure as appropriate.

Spells: memorized spells are left to the GM based on need or style of play

               Spell Load 0 level-4, 1^st-4, 2^nd-3, 3^rd-1 (additionally one necromantic spell per level)

               Barred schools are Enchantment and Abjuration

0 level-all as per Player’s Handbook

               1^stlevel: cause fear, chill touch, colorspray, comprehend languages, detect undead, enlarge person, expeditious retreat, feather fall, grease, identify, mage armor, ray of enfeeblement

               2^nd level: detect thoughts, fog cloud, ghoul touch, invisibility, mirror image, scare, scorching ray, see invisibility, spectral hand

               3^rd level: clairaudience/clairvoyance, vampiric touch

If you have any comments, questions, or critiques please leave a comment here or send an email to guildmastergaming@gmail.com.

You can also join Guild Master Gaming on Google+, Facebook, and Twitter (@GuildMstrGmng).

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Pugs: some too scared to sleep at night

"There are tons of videos of dogs awaking with a start in the middle of the night, and owners laughing about it. Stupidly enough, people get a good giggle from these videos, because they think it’s 'cute' when their pug jolts out of their sleep and looks around confusedly. What they don’t know is that their dog nearly just died from suffocation. With the soft palate blocking the entrance of the trachea, the dogs stop breathing. Their oxygen levels drop and at some point the brain will send warning signals in order for the dog to wake up, hence the panicked and confused startle. For some dogs this even gets so bad, that they refuse to sleep at night, because they’re simply scared. Yeah, it’s that horrible. 

"In case your brachycephalic dog snores: that’s the soft palate hanging down into the airway and vibrating during expiration. No, it’s not cute. It’s a fucking airway obstruction!"

Read the rest here - written by Nadia Ayu who is studying to be a vet at the University of Leipzig in Germany.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Martial Art, Game Review

The clans of Japan are assembling to determine which has rightful leadership. As your clan's leader you must take charge and organize everyone for the upcoming battles. It is your decision of who should fight now and who should be held back for later battles. But, there is more than just sending your warriors forth into battle, you can work on building greater reserves or use treacherous twists to deceive.

Martial Art is the second game to come from Spider Goat Games (their first game was Gangster Dice—review from 2014). And Spider Goat Games is working to maintain the quality of an easy to learn, quick-play game.

Martial Art pits players against each other, battling for control of significant locations. The mechanic is one most people are very familiar with, the same mechanic as in the card game War. However, Martial Art includes hand management, bluffing, and conditional effects that occur depending on the land being fought over, and the cards being played.

Each turn the players battle for a place (as identified on the land card). Some of the lands have effects that come into play alter events, like for Sagami, "After the battle, the player with the lowest strength may take a card from the discard pile, including those this round." And, some of the battle cards also effect play.

Two of us sat down at the table to learn Martial Art. The rules are easy to learn and we were able to start playing quickly. Because the mechanics of the game are something we understood, the only thing causing us to slow down at all was reading the conditional effects to decide if we wanted to use the particular card that round.

Once the land card was revealed, we saw if it had any effect on the battle. Then we selected our battle cards, deciding if there were any we could, and wanted to play, prior to the battle, and which card we wanted to bring into the battle directly. There is also an option of "forgoing" the battle to create a larger hand to choose from later. The cards are placed face down, that is the bluffing part; each player decides their action without knowing what the other players are attempting.

Once the cards are revealed the battle is concluded and any after battle effects are completed. Once one player has achieved a victory condition based on the land cards, the game ends. In our games we never ran completely through the deck.

Since this is a straightforward card game, it plays quickly. We were able to get several games played while we were filling in the time waiting for others of our gaming group. Set up and clean up are also quick. Since you are working with a pack of cards (or 2 for playing the 3-4 player variation), they are easy to have packed away in the game bag, backpack, or suitcase to have ready for a quick game anywhere.

The artwork on the cards is wonderful (classical Japanese). While finishing up, the art work was enough to get other players interested in wanting to learn the game.

Spider Goat Games is bringing another good game to have handy for the spare moments you want to fill. They are starting a Kickstarter campaign in the month of June 2016.

Thanks to Spider Goat Games for a copy of the prototype for review.

If you have any comments, questions, or critiques please leave a comment here, or send an email to guildmastergaming@gmail.com.

You can join Guild Master Gaming on Google+, Facebook, and Twitter (@GuildMstrGmng).

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

The best of breed GSD with shock hocks

© DogWorld TV

While the Kennel Club looks busy with a workshop that is supposed to decide how to tackle "the GSD issue" this bitch went Best of Breed at the Scottish Kennel Club Championship Show last weekend. 

Conbhairean Gabriella (b. 7 March 2012) looks more sound than Cruaghaire Catoria, the GSD that caused all the fuss at Crufts two months ago. But just look at the wobble when she's stacked  - and the droop when she isn't.  She looks like a gust of wind would blow her over. 

And those hocks!

For those interested, here is her pedigree - illustrious in show terms.

A reminder of what the Kennel Club standard demands:

"Seen from rear, the hind legs are straight and parallel to each other. The hocks are strong and firm. The rear pasterns are vertical. Any tendency towards over-angulation of hindquarters, weak hocks, cow hocks or sickle hooks, is to be heavily penalised as this reduces firmness and endurance in movement." 

A final note: this dog passed a vet check after her win.  

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Mow Money, Game Review

Mow Money from Mayday Games

There is a lot of competition when starting a business, and you're starting a landscaping business. You have your lawnmower and ambition. With those two items you can compete to get contracts in the neighborhoods of the city, Walkerville, to earn money and build your prestige. As you earn, you have to decide if you or going to buy better equipment or leverage your money so you can bid on more landscaping jobs. Then, when one neighborhood has no more contracts to be filled, the company that has earned the most prestige will be awarded the contract to take care of the public buildings and parks.

Mow Money, from Mayday Games (their websiteand Facebook), pits you as a startup business owner against others in the city to become the premier landscaper. Four friends and I opened up the game and played. The only information we had beforehand was the information on the outside of the box.

We had a good understanding of the game from the first pass through the rulebook. We talked over the points anyone found confusing, set up, and played. About half way through the first game we were no longer using anything to remind us about game order, or what could and could not be done. We played a second game with no difficulties.  

Each player starts with a basic lawnmower and the ability to bid on jobs. You can bid for a mowing contract, which earns you money and prestige, or pick up an odd job for money. Then you have to decide on how you are going to invest your money. You can buy large mowers or the ability to bid for jobs. You have to maintain a balance. The larger mowers are needed to buy the bid cards, which allow for easier bidding of better contracts and higher paying odd jobs, but you have to have money to buy the bid cards.

There are the same number of neighborhoods as there are players (except for the one-player version which has two). Each round, every neighborhood has one contract available. The first round the contracts are all the same, and the easiest to obtain. The rest of the contracts come up on a random basis. The number varies, but the game ends when one neighborhood no longer has any contracts for the players to bid for.

Bidding is concealed. Each player can bid for up to two jobs, two contracts or one contract and an odd-job. The lowest bid gains the job, gets paid, and earns prestige for contracts. There is a way you can also alter your bid by staking previously earned reputation. The concealed bids allow for bluffing (extra cards are in your hand just for that purpose) so others don't know if you are bidding on a particular contract or an odd job.

In our two games we developed different strategies. It didn't seem like there was a one-way strategy to win, which we liked. The first game was one with a strategy of focusing on earning money early through odd jobs to go after the larger contracts. This same strategy didn't work in the second game. The second game was won with a more balanced approach between odd jobs and contracts.

The recommended is ages 10+. The theme of mowing lawns is one many younger players will probably relate to, even if they are not yet competing for contracts. There are many other games that use a bidding system, so younger players who have had some experience with that should not have a problem.

Mow Money was designed by Matt Saunders for 1–6 players and should last about 45 minutes. We played with 5 and were right around that time frame for both games. The first game took a little longer and the second shorter. This was partly from learning how to play, but also how the bidding went. With 5 players there were 6 contracts available from each neighborhood. In the first game we went 8 rounds while in the second we finished with the sixth round.

Our discussion after playing was positive. We all agreed we would play Mow Money again. For this game we had five players, and five positive responses.

Thanks to Mayday Games for the review copy.

If you have any comments, questions, or critiques please leave a comment here, or send an email to guildmastergaming@gmail.com.

You can join Guild Master Gaming on Google+, Facebook, and Twitter (@GuildMstrGmng).

reade more... Résuméabuiyad