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Victoria, BC’s Capital City Comic Con to Carve a Niche for Fandom Local, Far & Wide

Capital City Comic Con OLD

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Victoria, the Capital City of British Columbia saw many pop culture style conventions come and go in the past thirty or so years. Some long-time residents believe the heydays were from the last century. As for the last decade and a half, the fan base will have their wide and varied opinions about those attempts. The organizations involved in bringing Capital City Comic Con to the Victoria Convention Center and Crystal Garden March 16-18th, 2018 (not to be confused with the one in East Lansing, Michigan) want to move forward in a positive light. They are Cherry Bomb Toys, The Downtown Victoria Business Association (DVBA) and Tourism Victoria.

“I think our reputation with our Ultimate Toy Fair proves that we can do it,” revealed Biagio and Candice Woodward. “We’re on show twenty (of year ten) and we’re constantly learning. We listen to our vendors, we listen to our crowd and that’s the key. If you don’t then you’re going to miss important things.”

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From Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms to Industrious, Can It Happen?

Idle Champions

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

CodeName Entertainment’s Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms is a game designed by fans of Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) for fans. This product is basically a hack and slash, and it has the potential to be a whole lot more. If only there was an “Advanced” option ….

From what players can use, ranging from dwarves to hawk-headed demi-humans, the diversity is quite good. Each of them is unique in their own way, and I’m not quite sure if they all need to be unlocked. That will depend on the player and this game is all about experimentation. Not all of them needs to be in play. Only up to nine slots are available in the game to position these warriors. Usually, in a table game, seven is the maximum before a Game Master feels overwhelmed micro-managing. Marching order is important. Typically, players will want their best at the front, berserkers second and stealth at the back.

Idle Champions

My favourite character is Jarlaxle, a drow who can do sneak attacks. On screen, he disappears from one side and reappears on another to stab monsters in the back.

Newcomers should be careful though. The first scenario is a tutorial to get used to the relatively simple interface and how this game works. This adventure can be finished quite quickly and afterward, the character’s level resets.

Bruenor (the first character you start with) is back at level one. Given time, these characters can be leveled up to the triple digits if players decide to remain in one scenario, but who would want to do that? Just how a character’s level scales is very different from the pen and paper version of the game.

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[Victoria, BC] Gauntlet Games Impresses in Gordon Head!

gauntlet games By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

In the garden city of Victoria, British Columbia, Gauntlet Games is making an impact upon the gaming community living in the municipality of Saanich. Not only is the University of Victoria nearby for this operation to cater to students but also, lots of nearby residents find this place convenient to get to. When some folks do not want to travel into town or elsewhere to get their fix in Magic the Gathering (MtG) or Warhammer, this place is happening. It has been in operation for more than a month now.

In what I witnessed after successive visits is a very open and bright place to visit. In what I see during the evening hours are a dozen people, if not more, playing one type of game or another. Myself, I was here to try out a few role playing game systems I have not played before and tried my hand at playing MtG again. There’s only so much I can enjoy out of the electronic version (side note: the company is making a huge mistake by not completing the Amonkhet story in Magic Duels).

Brodie Cawdell is the manager of this operation. When he immediately saw that the area of Gordon Head did not have easy access to a game store, setting up shop was fortuitous. He got the best spot at University Heights Mall. People passing by can gaze through the large windows and see the fun going on inside. Some folks do not understand the gaming culture, and most of the staff and customers here can explain. They love to talk about the hobby and give tips when they realize that the visitor is new to the game (or rusty like me).

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A Look Back At Past FREE RPG Day and Selections of the Past

Here, we look back and offer a list of past Free RPG Day goodies for those looking to collect these unique offerings!

Free RPG Day has come and gone, and although not as big as Free Comic Book Day, the former has its legions of supporters. Not every local games shop participates, as they have to pay for shipping the items to them, but in those that do, the joy in discovering what’s new to play is part of the fun. The event helps bring people who love using their imagination to bring to life realms like Dungeons and Dragons. In the world of role-playing games, the sky is the limit for fantasy, military strategy and science fiction. With the roll of the dice, fates of characters are determined.

Ever since this event’s inception on June 16, 2007 by Impressions Game Distribution Services, the interest is there. This celebration has its host of regular sponsors, like Chessex, Pelgrane Press and Q-Workshop. Other companies participate when they have new products to promote. GAMA (The Game Manufacturers Association) is a major sponsor. Their mission is to promote the interests of all persons involved in the commerce of games and game-related products and their vision is to instill a positive impression of tabletop games in the mainstream consciousness, and to effect a significant increase in game play throughout the world.

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The Vintage Tempest’s Emerald City Comic Con Journal 2015 & Ch-ch-changes!

Changes are in store for Emerald City Comic Con now that it is under new ownership. Some of it is noticeable at the 2015 event and based on what I have experienced, I think what’s planned will be good. For one thing, instead of three days of the show, there will be four. That might alleviate some of the congestion as not many people will attempt to cram as much into a day.

Emerald City Comic Con

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

And maybe for next year’s show, some events can be spread out better or there will be the return of some fond favourites. The Star Wars reading by Twisted Toonz was missing this year. In previous shows, it was re-enacted by the voice talent that comes to this Seattle-based show. This year would have been killer with the fact that Patrick Warburton, the voice of the Tick and the television version of Buzz Lightyear, was in the house! Include Janet Varney, the lead character in Avatar: Legend of Korra, Steve Blum (voice of Starscream in Transformers Prime), Veronica Taylor (Ash from Pokemon) and Tabitha St. Germain (My Little Pony), and the possibilities would have been stellar!

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One Tech Geek’s Dream for Christmas Day

If there’s another nerdy wish list for Santa to look at, I can only hope that maybe one item from this list will be under my tree.

In this case, maybe a few items will finally get a proper release date because they are still stuck in their development cycle. Just maybe, one day, I will find a TARDIS waiting for me to take me on a whirlwind trip around the world. Who doesn’t want to time travel just to witness how the Egyptian pyramids were truly built? And besides, with the first item on my list, I can take home some souvenirs!

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