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Writer Wednesday

2/19/2020

Greetings traveler to Overland Gamer Writer Wednesdays. A branch of our regular podcast where we go on adventures in the art of writing.
On todays episode we’ll talk about the word crawl exercise using Before There Were Stars from Smirk and Laughter Games. Looks like they’re just about to get started. Lets take a seat by the fire and see what happens.

A big shout out to all our listeners. Without you this podcast would not be able to continue. Thank you for your support.

Before there were stars from Smirk and Laughter games is a dice rolling storytelling game where players will craft stories inspired by the constellations that appear before them on cards.
Players: 3-6 Players
Play time: 40-60 minutes
Age: 10+
Designed by Alex Cutler, Matt Fantastic, Alexander Wilkinson

From Board Game Geek website?
Since ancient times, the twinkling of the heavens inspired people across the globe to create stories that answered the most important of questions: "Who are we… and how did it all begin?"
Open this box, and join the storytellers of old. Before There Were Stars... is a storytelling game in which each player tells the mythic creation story of "their people". Inspired by constellation cards, players craft tales about the creation of the world, the origins of civilization, the rise of a great hero, and the end of days.
Main game has 3 phases:
Stargazing phase -
Storytelling Phase
Appreciation phase.
This is Before There Were Stars from Smirk and Laughter Games.
For 3-6 Players
Play time: 40-60 minutes
Age: 10+
Designed by Alex Cutler, Matt Fantastic, Alexander Wilkinson

Word Crawl

A word crawl is a word sprint. A word crawl uses a format similar to a choose your own adventure story. Participants write for the time given or until the word count is met. These brief exercises help to keep the participant focused on the story. Participants can use the theme of the word crawl to write their own story, or they can continue on a story of their own creation.

This word crawl will show how you can use a story-driven board game to tell a creative story. The game we chose for this event is Before There Were Stars from Smirk and Laughter Games. Another game that this works great for is Call to Adventure from Brotherwise Games.
It will also work with random word generators online.

5 Minute introduction Word War - In the beginning -

3 constellations chosen.
Example - (Cards Drawn Randomly from the Game) - Choose 1
The Moon - The Anvil - The Chest

15 Minute Word War -

6 constellations chosen
Example - Choose 2
The Judge - The Cave - The Shark - The Dragon - The Shield - The Whale

3 Minute Sprint -

3 constellations chosen
Example - Choose 1
The Fox - The Demon - The Skull

500-word sprint or 5-minute sprint

5 constellations chosen
Example - Choose 2
The Elephant - Wine - The Cloak - The Tree - Ghost

15-minute word war -

4 constellations chosen
Example - Choose 2
The Desert - The Hammer - The Mother - The Wind

Another type of word crawl or word sprint
50 Headed Hydra - A type of sprint where you have 5 minutes trying to write 500 words in that time limit.

The Heroes Journey| Word Crawl
In the Beginning - The heroes’ normal life or the ordinary world.
5-minute word war - Your main character or main characters are living their normal life.

Departure - The Heroes Call to Adventure
15-minute word war - Your character is being called away from their normal life.
Mentors - Help me, help me, give me the news.
15-minute word war - Your character comes across someone to offer them advice about the challenges they face.

Initiation - Crossing the threshold.
10-minute word war - The point of no return. Your characters are looking ahead.
Challenge - Trials, Friends, and Foes
500-word sprint - Many obstacles your character will face.
Approach - The greatest challenge approaches
30-minute word war -

Ordeal - The moment of despair -
1000 word sprint - Your characters face a great challenge everything looks grim.
Reward - They come in many shapes and sizes.
10-minute word war - Your characters achieve something great.
The road back - Headed back home
250-word sprint
Resurrection - An unforeseen challenge
5-minute word war-
Return - The ordinary world, yet different.
1000 word sprint.

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And So It Begins - Overland Gamer The Podcast Episode 001

2/10/2020

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The Show Notes

Episode 001 - And So It Begins
Overland Gamer is a podcast combining two of my hobbies, travel, and gaming. It is my hope to grow this podcast as I share my adventures. We'll showcase some kickstarters, share game reviews and game playthrough. We'll have location briefs and travel blogs. We'll talk about travel destinations, game development, writer's life, interviews and much more.

Episode 001 - And So It Begins
Kickstarter Spotlights

Here to Slay
King Arthur’s Vortex Chess
Gray Eminence: A Game of intrigue, deception, and amorality
10 Gallon Tank
The Rival Networks
Potato Pirates Enter the Spudnet
Tinderblox and Kittin
Kanban EV

Travel Brief: Home State - Gothenburg Nebraska
Escape from the Con - Ian wakes up.
Game Review: Boss Monster from Brotherwise Games
Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time.

Overland Gamer The Podcast Episode 001 - And so it begins - Boss Monster - Gothenburg

Welcome friends to my podcast about two of my hobbies, travel and gaming. We’ll talk about upcoming kickstarters, game reviews, travel destinations, game stores, upcoming events, share a tale or two by a campfire, and much more. Come along as we take a trip.

(Sound Clip: Door Opens and shuts)

Recorded 2/9/2020
This weeks episode we kick things off with a look at some kickstarters that have caught our attention. We visit a bit about my home town Gothenburg Nebraska. We’ll begin a tale from Escape from the Con. During our game review we’ll talk about Boss Monster from Brotherwise Games. Lets get going shall we?

DO you like podcasts? I like podcast! I enjoy listening to podcasts, and now I’m creating podcasts thanks to Anchor.FM.

(Sound Clip: Car Starts)

Today’s kickstarters are inspired by the fine folks at Indie Game Alliance. Indie Game Alliance is a great resource for board game developers to get your game out there in the eyes and hands of those who want to play games.

Here to Slay - 24 hours left - funded

Unstable Games
Role playing fantasy card game assmbling a party of heroes and slaying monsters.
2-6 players with a 15-90 min playtime ages 14+

King Arthur’s Vortex Chess - 16 days to go - Funded

From El Fenix Games

Chess like game set in arthurian mythology
Designed by Marcin Malinowski with art by Jakub Glab.
2 players with a 25 minute play time ages 13 +

Gray Eminence: A Game of intrigue, deception, and amorality 10 days to go - Funded

From Timo Multamaki at Arctic Union

Bidding, voting, tactical card play, negotiation, trading, public goals, hidden agendas and event resolutions. Players work together when their interests align…
3-5 players with a 60-90 minute play time age 15+

10 Gallon Tank - 10 days to go - funded

From Winsmith Games LLC
Split and choose card game where players take on the role of aquarists competing to stock the most aesthetically pleasing aquarium.
2-5 players with a 15 minute play time. Age 8+

Jujo - Redux - 20 days to go - Funded

From David Santiago
A strategy tile laying pirate themed game.
2-5 players 30 minute play time Ages 8+

The Rival Networks - 5 days to go - Funded

Formal Ferret Games
2 player version of the tabletop game The Networks. Strategy drafting style game.
2 player 30 - 45 minute play time Ages 14+

Canosa - 16 days to go - Funded

One Day West Games
abstract strategy game. Influence sailors and move them towards your island.
2 player game with 25 min play time Ages 8+

Age of Ambition - 10 days to go - Funded

Tab Creations LLC
Role playing game set in an age rapidly leaving the traditional fantasy behind.
RPG Players

Potato Pirates Enter the Spudnet - 6 days to go

Codomo
Route connecting compete with other factions to be the most reliable delivery route
3-6 players with a 20 - 45 minute play time. Ages 10+

Tinderblox and Kittin - 17 days to go - Funded

Caezar and Kuly from Alley Cat Games
Two dexterity games in a small mint tin package.
Tinderblox players building a campfire.
Kittin players race to build stacks of cats
Tinderblox is 2-6 players with a 3-15 minute playtime
Kittin is 2-8 players with a 3-15 minute playtime
Both games ages 6+

Kanban EV - 11 days to go - Funded

Eagle Games
Deluxe Edition of Vital Lacerda’s acclaimed efficiency euro car manufacturing game with new art from Ian O’Toole
1-4 players 90-120 Minutes ages 12 +

(Sound Clip: Car Drive)

This weeks location brief is brought to you by Home State. A project I’m working on exploring the state I grew up in. Today we visit my home town Gothenburg Nebraska.
Nestled in Dawson County, Gothenburg Nebraska is home of the Gothenburg Swedes.
Named after Gothenburg Sweden and has much of it’s roots in Sweedish Heritage. Gothenburg is home to two Pony Express stations. Both stations still exist as tourist attractions. One in the middle of town at Ehman Park, and the other is four miles south of gothenburg at the Lower 96 Ranch.
Another historical landmark in Gotheburg is the Sweedish Crosses. These crosses mark the graves of 3 children of swedish immigrants.
The Gothenburg Historical Museum is a nice local museum with a bit of town history, school memorabilia, and other fun facts about Gothenburg.
The Sod House Museum is a nice attraction right off the interstate. You’ll find a couple of artwork sculptures of a bison, a horse, and a covered wagon.
Some of the notable local businesses are the Sun Theatre, Sabin Body Shop, S&S Auto, and Pony Express Chevrolet. Frito Lay has a large corn processing facility in Gothenburg.
Located on exit 211 right off I180. Highway 30 travels through town, with highway 47 slicing north and south.

(Sound Clip: Car Drive)
Escape From The Con:
“The room is dark! Very dark! Ian wake up with his head buzzing. Confusion blurrs his thoughts. He tries to think of what is going on. He tries to look around but finds the darkness haunting. “Hello?” he says loudly. No reply
Ian reaches into his pocket and pulls out his cell phone. He clicks the button on the side. The screen blinds him for a moment as his eyes adjust to the light. He notices the time. 3:33pm. There is a circle with a red line through it next to the time.
“Dang, no signal!”
He drags his finger across the screen activating the flashlight function. Taking a look at the battery indicator he is relieved that it appears to be at full charge!
Shining the light around the room he notices a familiar sight.
“No, no, no, this can’t be!” he says out loud his voice beginning to tremble nervously.

What has Ian found in the darkness? Where is Ian? Who is Ian? Does he know where his towel is? These questions and more will be found out in future episodes of… Escape From The Con!

(Sound Clip: Car Drive)

This weeks board game review we start off with Boss Monster from Brotherwise Games.

Publisher: Brotherwise Games

Players: 2-4
Playing Time: 20 - 30 min
Age: 13+
Designer: Johnny O’Neal, Chris O’neal

Boss monster is a fun hand management dungeon building card game from Brotherwise games. In Boss Monster players play as bosses at the end of a dungeon. The goal is to build your dungeon by playing cards to attract and defeat heroes. Players can play spell cards on themselves or their opponents to affect the outcome of the game.
The first person who defeats and captures 10 hero gold coin icons, wins. Though if a player fails to defeat heroes and receives 5 wound blood drop icons that player is eliminated.

In Boss Monster, Players will select a boss to be their avatar. Each boss has an XP listing, which determines the order of players through the game. Each boss also has an Icon for the type of heroes they will attract, as well as a special ability when the dungeon is built to it’s max of 5 rooms.
The turns are broken down into phases to trigger different effects.First phase heroes are drawn from the hero deck and placed in town. Each hero has a hero type symbol that corresponds to the dungeon they will choose to explore. Fighter, red sword. Mage, blue book. Thief, brown coin bag. Cleric, white ankh. The heroes list a number in the heart, which is how much damage it takes to defeat the hero. Basic heroes at the start, as the game progresses more difficult heroes will come to town.
The players then draw a card from the room deck.
The build phase, players play a room card face down to expand their dungeon. Once each player has decided to build a room or not. Each room has a corresponding symbol at the bottom that tells which heroes will come into their dungeon. The dungeon with the most symbols that match a heroes type will attract that hero during the bait phase of the game. The dungeon rooms also list a number in a black heart. This is how much damage a hero will take when it first enters that dungeon. Each room has special abilities that will affect the game. These effects may be as you play the room, as a hero enters the dungeon, as you draw a card, be affected by other rooms in your dungeon, or they may affect the rooms adjacent to them.
The bait phase - going through the heroes in town, the heroes are attracted to the dungeon with the most symbols that match it’s type. Fighter, red sword. Mage, blue book. Thief, brown coin bag. Cleric, white ankh.
The Adventure phase. In XP order the adventurers move one at a time through a players dungeon. As the adventurers move through the dungeon, they take damage from the room equal to the number in the black heart. The room may have effects that will affect the heroes as well. If a hero is defeated the hero is flipped face down on that room tile. If a hero makes it through the dungeon they are placed face up next to the boss card.
The end of turn phase happens after all the adventurers have gone through the players dungeons the end of turn triggers. The defeated heroes are moved next to the boss card face down.
Players who have received 5 wound blood drop icons are elminated. If any player have recevied 10 soul icons, or gold coin icons is the winner.

Boss Monster is a fantastic game from Brotherwise Games. It has made it to my table a number of times. It’s not heavily competitive for players, but it has potential to build into a competitive game. One of the biggest comments I get about the game, is the same reason I was attracted to the game to begin with. That is the art style. It has pixel art graphics, which when done right as Brotherwise Games has done, is a beautiful addition to the game. There are many throw backs to video games in the art and card style as well.

Expansions available
Boss Monster 2 - Stand Alone Expansion - New rules change with opening hands.
Boss Monster: Tools of the Hero Kind - added items for heroes to pick up making the game difficult but fun.
Boss Monster: Implements of Destruction
Boss Monster: Crash Landing - Introduces more players
Paper and Pixels -

Accessories available
Collectors Box -
Playmats -
Sleeves

Boss Monster, from Brotherwise Games is available for sale at most friendly local game stores, or online.

Head on over to our facebook group to continue the discussion there.

(Sound Clip: Car Drives)

Well, this about raps it up for this weeks adventure. Thank you very much for time from your day to listen to us. Next week we’ll adventure into Lincoln Nebraska and we’ll take a look at a look at Dice Throne from Roxley.

Again, thank you for listening.
Remember
Be kind to one another.
Always know where your towel is,
And be kind rewind.

(Sound Clip: Car shuts off)

Overland Gamer is produced by Joe DeMarco. Sounds recorded by Joe DeMarco. Escape from the Con is written by Joe DeMarco.
See you next time.

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Writer Wednesday

Word Crawl

And So It Begins - Overland Gamer The Podcast Episode 001

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