[Switch Related Pun]

Hello all, I sure hope you guys are happy because OMG NINTENDO SWITCH IS A THING!

Sorry about that, that was weird. Earlier today Nintendo released a trailer of sorts for their newest console: the Nintendo Switch. This has gotten the internet abuzz because for one: anything Nintendo has a lot of hype, and two: Its gimmick actually seems really cool and isn't touched on the gameplay like the Wii U's gamepad or the original Wii's motion controls.

So let's get into it. The Switch seems to have semi-normal looking controller in that it's more like an Xbox or Playstation controller than the Wii controllers. This comes with a twist though that you can detach the button areas and put them on a screen that plugs into the main console and you can use the screen to play games portably.

One thing I’m defintly interested to understand the why behind is why the game will use cartridges like the Ds line. Nintendo seems to be scared of discs again but they seem to inovate cartridge design a lot so it will probably not be a huge deal, but I’m still curious why they didn’t decide to simply go with another disc system.

As far as the console goes that's about it so far. We also have word that there are going to be a lot of third party games on this new console with Skyrim being shown in the trailer as much as the new Legend of Zelda game. One thing that did stick out to me was the Splatoon tournament at the very end of the trailer. Obviously trailers over exaggerate things but I'm starting to think that Nintendo is for shading a possible Spatoon torment similar to their Smash Bros leagues and Pokemon Championships.

At the very least this all seems to me like Nintendo is trying change a bit with these trailer not having a family in it like every. single. Wii and Wii U. trailer. did. Instead this focuses more on the fun of video games that we all know with the trailer just being a bunch of people playing video games with other people and that first guy's dog.

Overall I'm excited for this new console and am looking to finding out more about in in the months to come. And with the trailer proudly proclaiming that the Switch will be out in March of next year, it looks like I won't have to wait long.

image from Polygon.com

It's Been Far Too Long

Hello all, a lot has changed over the past five months since my last post. I won't bore you with the details though I will have an overview later in this post. I just want to thank all of you who read this blog. I know I don't post near as often as I should, and I definitely know I don't deserve the more than 3000 individual views I have on this blog. I'm just a kid from the Midwest who likes talking about games and writes terrible poetry. but you guys seem to have found something you like about that so again thank you.

Now for something completely different.

What's been happening over these last few months.

In the Nerd Scene

Pokemon Go was released to the disparagement of about six people and the bittersweet/nostalgic joy of the rest of us. It was awesome being able to go to my town's parks and see people there finding 'mon or talking about it with people or using it as an excuse to spend time with their family. As much as we riff on this game and its bugs Pokemon Go has provided a way to interact with complete strangers in a friendly manner and even make some friends and for that it is awesome.

Two of my favorite Youtubers, Olan Rogers, and Jwittz are moving. Not much to say about that but it is interesting when it happens to one Youtuber let alone two at the same time.

Speaking of Olan Rogers he has big plans for his show pilot and is planning on making at least one other show as well. This is all awesome, Plan is one of the best youtubers, filmmaker, people in the world and is underappreciated as heck so it's awesome to see him finally get a break.

Captain America, Civil War came out this summer and it was a feels trip all the way through when it wasn't taking well deserved breather areas. With its somewhat darker take on the superhero genre as a whole it kind of reminds me of what Marvel originally had in mind for the Ultimate lineup.

I'm sure that there is more news that I'm forgetting but it's old news by now.

In My Life

I got a job that I really enjoy with my town's Parks & Rec, I get to be outside all day and I really feel like I make a difference. Unfortunately I'm just summer help so I'll be out of a job by the end of the month.

Completely opposite of that I had an overnight job at Walmart. It was not good, and I didn't. So I quit that job and I've had a lot of hope since I left.

Because the Walmart job is over I have Saturdays free so I organized a Dungeons and Dragons game with a few of my friends. It's been a lot of fun even though most of them had little experience with RPGs at all before this. Thankfully 5e's accessibility has helped with that.

Now I'm in my senior year in high school, alongside two others here at KCA. Because of that expect a lot of angst as a theme in my future poems.

I love you guys. Thanks for sticking around so patiently.

Pokemon in Hawaii

     So a new Pokemon trailer released today and now I'm really excited. It had all of the good stuff, starters, region, legendaries, and a release date.

Starting with the region, it's very obviously based on Hawaii, from the designs of the landscape to the people present there's no mistaking. There doesn't seem be any screenshots up yet but if you haven't seen the video yet you really should because the landscapes are beautiful.

Next up is the starters and I am uper excited for all three of them. First is the Grass/Flying type Rowlet, he's an owl and is one of the most adorable of the Grass type starters which is amazing with all of its competition, it is also the second starter that is dual typed from the beginning with the other being Bulbasaur so I'm wondering if that was a bit of a reference to the first games.

The Fire type starter is Litten, a red and black kitten who can apparently catch its hairballs on fire to hurl them at foes, which is either hilarious or terrifying. I mean what if you're just one of those people that keep Pokemon as pets and stay at home, you pick a kitten thinking it will be easy to take care of then the last thing you hear before your house catches on fire is the cat going "hach, hach." I really hope this Pokemon ends up dual typed into either Dark or Psychic, I don't have a particular reason I just think that those types fit cats really well.

And lastly is Popplio which is honestly the one I'm most excited for, admittedly because I really like cute Pokemon. The last two generations have had awesome Water type starters and it seems like they're continuing that tradition. I really hope that this Pokemon ends up being dual typed with Ice, I think Ice types are underrepresented and I really like the type's Pokemon. It also seemed a little prideful, sense the second thing it does in the trailer is puff out its chest so I'm wondering if the Popplio line will reference the Piplup line, another prideful Water type starter.

We also get a look at the new legendaries of the two games. They didn't name either but the legendary from Sun is based on a lion and the legendary from Moon is based on a bat. My theory is that they will be either Fire/Steel or straight Fire for the Sun legendary and Dark/Flying for the Moon legendary. There have been some complaints that these two are "over designed" and for once I agree with the complaints. These two look almost more like Power Rangers Zords then animals but since they're legendaries it can probably be excused.

Lastly we have a release date: November the 18th of this year. This doesn't come as much of a surprise except for the fact that it's coming out this year. Usually Nintendo advertises their games for at least a year before the release date and this is only the first proper trailer. This maybe Nintendo trying to keep leeks to a minimum and since nothing really has been spoiled so far, they seem to be doing a good job.

I'm excited about these new games and I really hope I get a replacement 3ds so I can play these games when they come out. What do you guys think about all of this information? What did you interpret differently than me from the trailers.

I'd love to hear about it in the comments but for now I'll see you next time.

Picture from Pokemon.com

Growing Up With Pokemon

As my 18th birthday is just around the corner I want to take some time to reflect on my history with Pokemon.

    I of course used to watch the Pokemon anime, what little kid in my generation hadn't? But it never was something I really sought out until I learned about the card game. Initially I only had my next door neighbor and his cards to play with and if memory serves we had a rule set closer to Yugioh than the official game but nevertheless I loved it and when I got a ton of his cards when he was "too cool for Pokemon anymore" I was excited. There were a lot of cards but among them my favorite had to be the Turtwig family, probably because it was the only set that I had all the cards for. I still didn't know the rules though I do remember playing with the cards as if they were regular toys and -much to my current self's annoyance- bend the cards up so that the picture came off the ground.

    Eventually I did learn the rules though I came up with a few rule sets myself before hand, and I roped as many people into playing as possible into playing though I found my sister, Madison, to be the most fun to play with. Every time we went somewhere overnight I made sure Madison had her cards so we could play. I even managed to find a book about the game written for parents and I was so excited to finally have my parents play but, try as I might, I could never get them to read it. It probably didn't help that my Mom thought that the anime was annoying and that I practically had to beg her to allow me to watch Zoroark; Master of Illusion when it came out.

Over time our games improved as we started getting better cards, I focused on Grass and Ground types with high attack powers and Madison focused on Pokemon SP, especially the ever annoying Ambipom SP. I found the Pokemon website including its great big Pokedex which got me understandably excited. I poured over as many of those two to three sentence entries and loved every bit of it. It really helped me feel like the Pokemon world was a real and lived in world all its own. This was further supported when I saw the premiere of the Black and White series. Seeing all these new Pokemon, most of which I had never seen before, living and loving the world they lived in. As a twelve year old boy I sat in wonder just seeing this world that I only knew through cards, and a website come alive.

It was a few years later that I discovered the video game through my best friend who had a copy of Pokemon Diamond, yes that copy I talk about so much on this blog. I played on my friend's save for a few days beating it in that time with the team he had made but I had made my own with nicknames and everything. I eventually bought the game from him and I reset the game determined to make new friends with a starter of my choosing. I can't tell you what resonated so much with me about that game. Maybe it was the world or sense of adventure. Maybe it was the battling and sense of accomplishment after a successful battle. Maybe it was the Pokemon, creatures that I captured and felt it was my duty to protect, especially since I didn't have a pet IRL until a few years ago. And it was all that to various degrees but I think that the most important aspect of it was that this game was my adventure. I'm one of those people that puts their real name in when asking for character names so I was really drawn into this world because of that habit. Everywhere I went it was "Hey it's Jacob," "Jacob we need your help." "Jacob you're the greatest Pokemon trainer ever."

I can't express enough how much I love this game. It's part of the reason I am who I am today and I know that may seem silly to anyone who hasn't played one of the games but my early teens were a time of confusion and fear of the unknown but having a game like Pokemon, that you can play on a portable device so you can play it anywhere was really important to me. It was a world I knew enough about to not get scared of but a world with enough unknowns that it was an adventure plain and simple.

Since then a lot has happened. I've met other people who love the game including the first and so far only girl I've ever been in love with. I've bought new cards and got my other sisters to play. I've gotten Pokemon X and had a lot of adventures there (maybe soon I'll make a post about my best stories in these games.) I've found youtubers, pinteresters, and tumberers, who love the series as much as I do. And of course I've started this blog, originally a school project, and my first post here? My top Ten Favorite Pokemon Megas.

Why did I write this? Well I'm reaching a milestone in my life and I want to honor something that has helped me get through the years, one that is also reaching a new milestone this year. I look around and see so many people who love something but are two embarrassed to express their love for it for fear of being made fun of. I find this sad. I just want to say this: never be ashamed of something that you love, especially something responsible for making you. We only get a short time on this Earth and we should spend it not leaving in fear of rejection but being bold about whatever you love and never compromising your love just because someone says it's "stupid" or "childish." If anything that person is the stupid and childish one.

With that I must leave you guys. Thank you all so much for your support and I'll be seeing you around as an official adult.

photo from e621.net which I am just realizing might actually be a furry site 0_0

Alt Rules for 5e Ranger Companion, Paladin Mounts, and Warlock Familiars, or How To Make Them Not Suck

   

   One thing that I like to do aside from video games is play Dungeons and Dragons, I'm relatively new to the game so fifth edition coming out about the time I started to find out about it was a great thing for me and I currently DM a game with a few of my siblings and cousins (noobs the lot of them)

     One of the bad things about 5e though is the ranger class is less than its potential especially the Animal Companion archetype and a lot of people have a house rules to make the ranger a bit better or just use the rules creatively and while thinking about this the other day I thought of the following idea, which I'm going to implement in my current game since I have a ranger in the party. Keep in mind this have not been play tested yet so could either lead to animals still being under powered or end up with them severely overpowered, we'll have to see.

    The idea is that the companion/mount/familiar is different from a regular animal allowing special training or magical powers beyond your control to effect your animal, which is why I have excluded wizard familiars.

    For example the three feats that give resistance are powered by your connection to something, a fey patron might want your familiar to spy for it, a god of life might see your connection to your mount, or your own concern for your companion combined with your pseu-drudic powers would all be reasons for the resistance.

Alt Rules

When you choose the Animal Companion ranger archetype, Pact of the Chain warlock pact boon, or are a paladin that summons a mount using the Find Steed spell every time you have an ability score in that class you may, in addition to your own improvements may now  choose to either increase two of your companion/familiar/mount’s stats by one point up to a maximum equal to the animal’s natural max (e.g. a Warhorse’s max would be 18 and a Mastiff's max would be 14) or you may choose an animal feat from the Animal Feat list.

Animal Feat List

Diver

Prerequisite: your animal has a swimming speed

Your animal has been trained in swimming enough that it is nearly as good in water as it is on land.

The animal now has the ability Hold Breath: the animal can hold its breath for 1 hour

Communicator

Prerequisite: animal has an intelligence of 6 or higher and you have an intelligence of 10 or higher.

You and your animal have special training that lets your animal communicate simple messages to others

You may cast animal messenger on your animal as a bonus action on your turn; the animal can be tiny, small, or medium but the other spell rules still apply.

Swift Flight

Prerequisite: your animal has a flying speed

Your animal is so fast that few can hit it even when it close to them.

Enemies have disadvantage on opportunity attacks against your animal.

Trained Attacker

You have trained your animal in the ways of offence

You can command your animal to make one attack against a creature as a bonus action on your turn.

Hellish Resistance

Prerequisite: You have a Warlock level of 8 or higher

Your deal with your patron extends to your familiar, protecting it from certain attacks.   

Your familiar gains a resistance to one of the following damage types:

• Fire
• Neurotic
• Acid
• Psychic

Blessed Resistance

Prerequisite: You have a Paladin level of 8 or higher

Your connection with your deity extends to your mount, protecting it from certain attacks.

Your mount gains a resistance to one of the following damage types:

• Slashing
• Radiant
• Poison
• Force

Earthen Resistance

Prerequisite: You have a Ranger level of 8 or higher

Your connection with the earth extends to your companion, protecting it from certain attacks.

Your Companion gains resistance to one of the following damage types:

• Thunder
• Piercing
• Cold
• Lightning

Dodger

Your animal is used to being in battle and can foresee some attacks

Your animal gains a bonus to its armor class based on its size:

• Tiny: + 4
• Small: + 3
• Medium: + 2
• Large: +1

Watch-Animal

You have trained your animal to be alert at all times and to warn you of possible attacks.

You have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks provided your animal is within 10 feet of you and can see or hear at least as much as you can.


What do you guys think? What do you do to improve the ranger or do you like to leave it as is. I'd love to hear about it.

Until next time :)

Picture from hackslashmaster.blogspot.com

Calling all the playtesters.

     Sorry for the long gap since my last post, I've been trying to balance schoolwork and some creative projects I've been doing, namely my board game. And that is what I need you, my fellow Castler's, help with. I'm not comfortable with asking strangers to play-test and most  all of my friends would be too easy on me and it. So your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to play the game and tell my what you think about it. What all you liked and what you didn't like. What seems broken and what seems underwhelming. 

     I will hopefully in the near future have original art and a set board design. The board is just suggestion, feel free to design your own. Thanks guys, hope you enjoy. 

Game rules

game board (sorry about the potato quality)

Image from lonecanuckpublishing.ca

Pokemon Z and Pokemon in real life?

     So I was a little worried that I would miss the bus so to speak on Pokemon Go but today I also learned about the leaks for Zygade so I guess I get to talk about two big bits of Pokemon news.

     First up is Pokemon Go. I'm sure most of you already know about it but to refresh: it is an app currently in production that works kind of like the game Ingress in terms of how game-play is handled. One thing I noticed about the trailer is that with the exception of one girl all the actors are in their 20s and 30s, so Pokemon Co is probably aiming at the older Pokemon audience (a claim further supported when you realize that all the Pokemon shown in the trailer are from Gen. 1.) With that and the fact that at least one senior Pokemon staffer will help out with the game, makes me definitely interested in the game. I do want to caution everybody, including myself, to not get too excited over the visuals shown since while it would be EXTREMELY cool if the game played like that it probably won't.

     The other thing I want to touch on is the fact that, accounting to a recent leak:

That's right guys that legendary from X and Y that most if not everybody ignored isn't even fully formed, 50% formed actually. With 10% form preceding it and 100% form following it. If these rumors are true it could mean both the first evolving legendary (yes I know Raquaza got a Mega but that's a different type of evolution even by Pokemon standards) and could also mean Pokemon Z is coming out. Over all I am super stoked to see what this rumor has in store for us.