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Fantasy Flight Games has recently released Mansions of Madness. The D6G team take a look at this spooky game that pits 4 players against the Keeper.

But up first: Have you ever noticed how some gamers seem to have no problem attracting folks to their games? What do they have that you don't? Gamer Gravity perhaps? What the heck is this and how can you get some?

And don't miss a special extended episode of Total Fan Girl. This time around Nicole interviews Jen Ikuta of Privateer Press discussing everything from managing Press Gangers, to Battle Engines, to Lock and Load and more!

All that and our other not-too-horrible segments including:



- The Hollywood Minute

- What's in the News

- Do You Ever Notice

- & More



Link to the episode:

http://www.thed6generation.com/d6g-ep-77-gamer-gravity-mansions-of-madness-detailed-review-privateer-press-interview


Please let us know what you think!

Downloading now. I'll start listening tomorrow! Yee-haw!

Excellent, can't wait to hear what y'all think of Mansions of Madness.

I got 30 seconds of silence at 1:02:30... Did I miss something?

Desco wrote:I got 30 seconds of silence at 1:02:30... Did I miss something?

Whoops! A bumper didn't save right. No content was lost. I'm updating this tonight.

I thought it was some sly new way to market the Lost Chapters. They're hidden in regular episodes, but if you don't pay for them you just get periodic patches of silence throughout each episode!

He's a tricky one, that Wakelin!

(I guess his explanation makes more sense)

You never reviewed Pandemic...you just talk about how you enjoy playing it in passing.

The Looney Labs people actually do a very fun event at GenCon where you play Flux or any of their other games against Andy Looney.

He plays all participants at once, though: tables are arranged in a big horseshow or loop (as appropriate) and he spins through each cluster of players, possibly playing a different game. With Flux (and variants) it's fun watching him have to keep up with so many different variants!

One of his assistants is wearing a labcoat and keeping score. I thin he's shooting to win at least half the games played.

if you win against him (and it's an hour of speed-playing, so there's a good chance you will) you get a neat ribbon. Mine was sadly destroyed a week after I got home when my basement flooded, so I'm hoping I can go to GenCon again in a year or two and win another.

A highlight was a friend that tried to remind Andy Looney of a weird rule from the edition we were playing. Andy stood back and said "I did make the game, you know" and went back to playing...

It's a recommmended event for anyone that enjoys the admittedly silly gameplay of flux or any of the other Looney Labs games.

Wait a second. Did I understand correctly? Craig is going to GM a game of Deathwatch with Dan Abnett at the table?! Is that right? OMG! That's amazing. You guys should tape it. Also you should do an interview and make it part of the podcast. I'd love to hear his thoughts on the 40K RPG's.

Craig -

I'm wondering if you've finished "Wise Man's Fear" yet? (I haven't made it to "Didya Ever Notice" in this podcast yet, so I don't know if you talk about it there). I finished it up a night or two ago...and I have mixed feelings about it. I still enjoyed it quite a bit, and will definitely be getting book 3 when it comes out...but I have an issue or two, and I think based on your comments in your last episode ("Too much side adventures") we may be on the same wavelength here. Now, lemme try this "spoiler" button at the top of the page and see if it works...

Well . . . let's see . . . firstly, thanks again for the kind words, folks.

Secondly . . . actually, Nathan Long (the new Black Library fantasist) had already agreed to the game, and Ross, and Dan Abnett had said "let me see how the jet lag hits me" . . . and then unfortunately Ross had a family situation arise and couldn't go to Adepticon, and then over dinner Saturday night it came out that almost all the BL guys were sick as dogs and Dan was brutally under the jetlag weather . . . and long story short, I still have this really cool DW adventure (complete with requisite bestiary) unplayed. It was very disappointing, but I DID get to help the BL crew judge a BL diorama competition . . . that was AWESOME. And Ross and I are already in cahoots to make a GenCon DW session (or two) happen.

Wise Man's Fear . . . I'm right there with ya, Hokie. Pretty much everything you said has gone through my mind . . . except I wasn't quite as forgiving as you vis-a-vis the Adem Detour. I enjoyed the book a lot, it wasn't quite as innovative (see what I did there?) as the first book, and two of the most interesting side stories seemed to have been rather roughly edited out (the one you cited and the 'miraculous court room drama of Kvothe versus the Iron Law first circuit court of appeals).

~Craig

Another great episode gents. It was an interesting juxtaposition of pre- and post- Adeptacon coverage. Neat that Chaplain got a shout out at the Did Ya Ever Notice section-he's a great guy. Gamer ministers are rare and I would argue worthy of interviewing. He also has a podcast called God' Word from the Village worth checking out of you are of a religious bent.
Also awesome that at least one of you is a Phineas and Feb fan. Possibly some of the best family friendly but also generation spanning animated humor out there. Russ needs to incorporate some sort of '-inator" to the show. It would be so very evil yes?

SpookyVeez wrote:Gamer ministers are rare and I would argue worthy of interviewing.

Tom Vasel (of The Dice Tower) is a youth pastor. I've been both a youth pastor and a game store owner. But, yeah, rare breed indeed, and I think an interview could be most interesting.

I haven't yet finished the whole review yet, but I'm curious to know if Mansions of Madness scales to the number of players in the same way as Descent?

If it does, then it will have to go into my collection for sure. The aspects of the game that add in character development through traumas added to the puzzle solving mechanic seem to make this an extremely well themed game. It might also serve to scratch the itch I get to play Call of Cthulhu, but have players resistant to the idea of their characters ending up dead or stark raving mad.

Mansions Scaling: Yes, it does appear to handle scaling similarly to Descent. I say appear because I've not played it with less than max players, but there are a few mechanics, such as 'threat per player' that seem like they'd keep the game fun at lower player counts.

P&F: I've considered creating some -inator bits for the show. But after careful consideration and witnessing the number of failures, I thought it might be better to go with '-noninator' type devices. However, after having watched the clip show I think I'm now unclear as to which type of device is best. All I do know is that we need some kind of platypus proof facility if we do intend to ever successfully take over the tri-state area.

Finished the episode today. Good stuff as usual, gang.

I really enjoyed TFG's interview with Jen Ikuta from Privateer. I'm just getting into Warmachine Mk2 so I'm eating up any Privateer right now. Quartermaster sounds like a very busy job!

The Gamer Gravity discussion was very interesting. I enjoyed it. I wish I had a gaming group to which I could identify some of those personalities. Someday, perhaps. It's what I get for living in the sticks.

Mansions of Madness sounds like a very cool game...however, like Russ and Craig, the theme just ain't in my wheelhouse. Would I play it if somebody broke it out? Sure! Would I buy it? Nope. 'Fraid not. I read some Lovecraft this year (felt like my geek cred was in jeopardy if I didn't!) and just didn't care for it. But, the mechanics of the game sound really interesting. Perhaps some will pop up in another FFG game down the road with a more palatable (to me) theme.

However, the highlight of this episode for me was Craig's latest "Do You Ever Notice..." segment. Oh how I have felt that way about a good many things, not just conventions. Movies is a big one for me. I will be anticipating a given movie for years (rumors, to greenlight, to script, to pre-production, to production, to post, trailers, marketing and finally - release!) so after I spent my 2hrs in the theater there's something of a let down. It's over now. Really?

Cons are much the same way. I've already got my hotel booked for Gen Con. Credentials submitted for my press pass. That's 4 months away still! Between now and then there's Origins to plan for, too. But, soon they'll be in the past as well. But, when they're gone, just as Craig pointed out, the memories are still there.

But, heck, I'm getting older and those might not be around too much longer! ;-)

It's also like the D6 Generation podcast. You wait for two long weeks for a new episode to get posted, finally get it, download it, listen to it and then....it's over. It's in the past and the wait begins for the next episode.

Speaking of cons, are you guys planning a live D6 event at Gen Con like last year. I wasn't able to get in to that one, and don't want to miss this years (get a bigger room). I was happy to meet Russ and Raef on the con floor, 'though.

Master-Terraformer wrote:Well . . . let's see . . . firstly, thanks again for the kind words, folks.

Wise Man's Fear . . . I'm right there with ya, Hokie. Pretty much everything you said has gone through my mind . . . except I wasn't quite as forgiving as you vis-a-vis the Adem Detour. I enjoyed the book a lot, it wasn't quite as innovative (see what I did there?) as the first book, and two of the most interesting side stories seemed to have been rather roughly edited out (the one you cited and the 'miraculous court room drama of Kvothe versus the Iron Law first circuit court of appeals).

~Craig

Yep...I'd forgotten about the courtroom scene that happened off-stage. Again, like you, I enjoyed the book...it just didn't quite live up to expectations for me.

Speaking of "living up to expectations", anyone else see the "Game of Thrones" premier on HBO? I convinced my wife that we needed to order HBO for the next 3 months or so for this series (she's not read the books, and I kept pausing to explain backstory). As expected, some things were edited out, and some things worked better than others, but by and large I thought they did a good job. Maybe a little too much gratuitous nudity, but it was all female, so who am I to complain about that. Biggest complaint by far from the fans seems to be that when Khal Drogo and Danaerys consummate their marriage, it seems a little more brutal (i.e. rape) than came across in the books. One other complaint that I missed at the time, but may be notable is that the scene with Bran "fighting" against Tommen and knocking him down (and leading to a confrontation between Robb and Joffrey) was cut out. This sets up future events...and we'll have to see how they do that without having that scene included.

RussWakelin wrote:
P&F: I've considered creating some -inator bits for the show. But after careful consideration and witnessing the number of failures, I thought it might be better to go with '-noninator' type devices. However, after having watched the clip show I think I'm now unclear as to which type of device is best. All I do know is that we need some kind of platypus proof facility if we do intend to ever successfully take over the tri-state area.

Playtpus proof? Why, everyone knows they don't do much.

I'm a big Cthulhu fan so I think I'm destined to pick up Mansions of Madness. The only thing that has held me back, other than gaming funds, is that I already own and play a lot of Betrayal at House on the Hill and the games feel similar to me. Since you guys have played both, what are your thoughts? I know you all were disappointed with the components in the new Betrayal game (as was I), so I'm more interested in the "feel" of the game as compared to Betrayal.

Love the show guys. Great as usual. It took me several days to get through it (geez, like they actually expect me to work at work!)
Loooove the new "Hollywood Minute" theme. The old one sounded like some bad 70s por.....uh yeah. What or who is it from?

I registered on Audible on your recommendation, but I fear I will not be extending my membership beyond the free weeks. Audible's DRM management is rather shoddy in comparison to the sites I have used previously for audiobooks: it is, in fact, impossible to play the free book (and the other book I overenthusiastically bought before checking compatibility) on my Nokia N900 and Audible has not been too helpful so far.

DRM once again scews legitimate customers. Sigh.

Craig and Raef,

Can you guys list the audio books covered in Episode 77?

I'm interested in those books but too lazy to rewind back and find where you had mentioned them in the podcast.

'Did You Ever Notice' really put into words a great deal of my con experiences. Just add in the frustration had by a wife doesn't understand why you feel melancholic after the event that you were both having such a good time at, and then you have my experience.

It sounds like I'm going to have to buy Mansions of Madness. I'm a big Lovecraft fan. It's hard to get my gaming group into playing anything with that theme, though I have been known to sneak it into other non-mythos oriented games. Arkham Horror is my current go to game for that experience, but it seems that Mansions of Madness delivers theme without the need for everyone to spend some serious time learning the rules, much less the complications added by the expansions.

Hey all- 2 quick things

1- Nice work on the episode! I really loved the Raef-led review of Mansions.
I have played Mansions about 6 times now and I'm really enjoying it. One small issue, though:
The more I play it, the more I feel a sense of impending doom. Its not the doom from the game though- its a concern about the the limited number of adventures. Even with incredible variation between games due to random cards and variations because of the keeper's pre-game choices, I'm concerned that after another 6 plays I may be less excited about visiting the Lynch House, the Inner Sanctum, again etc.
I'm hoping FFG announces expansions with new adventures/scenarios soon. Its really my only concern about the game.

2- I often hear that people will "replace" Arkham Horror with this game because its shorter, more streamlined and a more interesting (intimate & detailed) perspective for the players. I kind of disagree. I am a big fan of Arkham Horror particularly because of its wider scope and longer timeframe. The narrative perspective of the stories you create in these games is the main difference for me:
* Mansions seems like short story by Lovecraft or a single adventure of Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu.
* Arkham Horror feels like a whole Novel by Lovecraft or an entire campaign of Call of Cthulhu.
I want to do both from time to time. Both make sense for me to have in my collection.

My ultimate dream is that "Arkham Horror" would be a campaign system for "Mansions" like "Sea of Blood" is to "Descent".
One problem with this is the lethality of "Mansions" and "Arkham Horror"- that might make campaigns impossible, but I'm willing to try it!

I'm looking forward to your Adepticon write up. This year was my 1st Adepticon, and I had a blast. I missed you guys because I left on Saturday. Looking forward to hearing what I missed.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also, for anyone who has yet to play Mansions:
If neither your Keeper nor ANY of the Investigators have has played before, make sure to set aside ~45 min for setup.
Noen of us had experience doing this setup, so this was a surprising delay before our 1st game.
No problems after game 1, though.

Baseball bats.

Magic Cards.

When dose the Privateer Press interview begin? I am eager to hear that part but I'm really not a fan enough of the show to sift through those other segments to listen. I respect what you guys do but it is very much not to my taste.