A Revelation

Good morning, reader-folk!

So, the other day I had a very minor epiphany:
Without a game group, I don't have much to write about.

Kind of a no-brainer, but it makes sense to me.

As such, I think I will be putting this blog on an extended hiatus until I have something to actually report again.

I don't have any new games to review right now.
I have less time to work on homebrew right now.
I don't have a group to report on right now.

So, I will stop writing on the blog for a while.
But!
I will still be working on my various projects and keeping them up-to-date with anything that comes to my attention.

I'm also going to try to work more on my novels and games.
Because they have been neglected for a while.

So, this isn't so much a "good-bye" as a "see you in a while."

Hope that everyone has some great adventures while I'm away.
Until next time, may the dice fall in your favor :)

Chronicles

Morning everyone!

Like I said a while back, updates are going to be kind of sparse for now.

However, today I thought I'd share a real treat with everyone.
For the past 10 years or so, I (like many other gamers) have been attempting to create my own completely unique roleplaying game system.
And, for a very long time, I was struggling with getting it just right.

This past year, I decided to really revamp my efforts and dig in to design this game.
The one thing that hasn't changed in that whole time is the name of the game:
Chronicles.

Some of the original ideas that I had were to grandiose or complicated to work out.
As such, they were scrapped for a cleaner, simpler game that everyone could enjoy.
However, I tried to salvage as much as I could in a reasonable fashion.

Chronicles is a fantasy roleplaying game that uses mastery as the key mechanic.
Simply stated, it means that better training in a skill actually makes you better with that skill on average.
Your mastery is measured by the size of the dice that you roll when attempting a certain action.

And that's pretty much the key concepts on how to play.

I don't have anything resembling a playtest document ready yet, but plan to have one soon-ish if things pan out nicely for me.
However, I do have some pre-alpha testing that friends of mine and I had accomplished a few weeks ago. I plan on putting up a summary of what happened then, as well as their initial thoughts about the game itself.

So, until next time, stay classy readers :)

Legend of Legacy - A Review

Hello again, everyone! Long time, no post.
Thought I'd try to write something because it has been a while.
So, I have a review for everyone.

For today, I present
"The Legend of Legacy" for the 3DS.

To begin, I was drawn into this game by it's look.
It appeared to be gorgeous and suggested some serious differences in the backgrounds and play-styles of each of its 7 characters (which included a frog prince).
I couldn't help myself.

I booted the game up and had a hard time choosing my starting character.
With a little bit of roulette, I ended up with Bianca.
I was excited.
She had amnesia and was seeking a way for the elementals to help restore her memories.
It seemed like a great start.

And then I actually started playing.

While the game is pleasing to the eye, the rest can only be described as a cesspool of regurgitated JRPG errors from yesteryear.
I've heard that other entries in the "Saga" series have similar issues and are well received.
This game has officially put me off of that franchise. For life.

To begin, after I actually finished the starting area, there was no indicator as to what I had to do next.
No helpful NPCs.
No map icons.
No journal.
Nothing.

I might just be "spoiled" by the "advances" that have been made in "JRPGs" since the "1980s," as some would "put it."
But, SERIOUSLY. Those advances happened for a reason.
And I'm sure that people not being able to finish a game probably contributed heavily to their implementation.

Second big trouble: the "level-up" system.
Works just like Elder Scrolls games. You get better by doing things.
Awesome, right?
WRONG.
In an ES game, you have so many wonderful options to avoid fights where you will simply be murdered.
In this tripe-fest, you can run once you are in a fight, sure, but you also a) get sent back to the entrance of the dungeon (which isn't all that bad, to be fair), b) are treated as having each character faint once (which decreases your HP maximum until you rested in town, btw [kind of ingenious, in a way]), and c) if you want to get back to where you were after this fiasco, you had to walk back through just as many monsters.
"Oh, but you can just keep going!" - True. But you are weaker and therefore actually can't keep going.

Third big trouble: GRINDING.
I've addressed why I hate this once before.
And you would think, with an Elder Scrolls-esque level system, this game wouldn't be too bad.
WRONG AGAIN.
Even plowing through enemies, either my stats wouldn't increase or my moves wouldn't get better.
Which, of course, meant I couldn't do jack against any actual threats.
Except run.
BUT YOU CAN'T RUN FROM CERTAIN ENEMIES. AND THEY WILL WIPE THE FLOOR WITH YOUR PITIFUL MEAT-BODY.
"Oh, but replay-" - Shut up. That argument is garbage.

Overall, I just became disinterested in this game because it was so disappointing.
It started out so well.
But there was just so much about this game that I didn't like.
And it all happened so quickly, too.

Final verdict: 2/5
Visual - 5/5: the graphics in this game were simply beautiful, through-and-through. Particularly the way that the maps "popped-up" like a living story book
Audio - 1/5: there didn't seem to be much of anything in terms of music or sound effects. Maybe I just wasn't paying that close of attention?
Replayability - 1/5: in my humble opinion, even one play through would have been too many. This game is so freaking repetitive, it almost caused me physical and psychological harm. The fact that you can play through with all 7 characters for slight differences in the story is nice, but I couldn't even stand to do the 1st one I picked :/
Controls - 4/5: the actual controls were comfortable and intuitive (A to activate, X for menu, Start for screenshot [okay, that one actually pissed me off], etc.), but weren't any sort of major change-up from what I've come to expect in games recently
Story - 1/5: when I first started playing, I was very intrigued (I chose Bianca's story - she has amnesia). However, very shortly into actually playing the game, I discovered things from JRPGs of yesteryear that really irk me - lack of direction after the story began (I had literally no idea what I had to do to advance the story), requiring complete exploration of an area to have any semblance of an idea as to what is going on

Overall, worse than Lord of Magna.
Don't waste your money.
Don't waste anyone else's money, for that matter.

Catch you later, readers :)

Notice of Intent

Hello everyone!

Due to some changes in my work environment, as well as some difficulties in my life at home, I have decided to take a small break from blog writing.

Not quite sure when I'll get back to typing things up for you all.
Hopefully sooner than I think it will be.

As this is my plan, please don't expect any major updates for the next couple of weeks.
Maybe even until the new year.
But we'll see what happens.

Until next time, readers.

Tri Force Heroes - A Review

Mornin' all!

Today, I thought I'd do another review for a 3DS game.

This time, the slightly-more-well-heard-of-and-anticipated
"The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes" for the 3DS

First off, I'd like to state that I completely understood that this game was designed for multiplayer and, as someone who can't spend much/any time online gaming, this was probably a dumb purchase in the first place.
However, I've also played almost every Zelda game made to-date. And I didn't want to pass this one up just because of this minor shortcoming.

And so, I began this game.
Which is very much not a standard Zelda game.
For starters, Zelda isn't even involved in the plot - this game has Princess Styla. Not necessarily a bad thing, just different.
Secondly, while you get access to an impressive arsenal of tools, the main focus of the game is the costumes that you can assemble on your journeys to give Link new capabilities. Which is both odd and neat at the same time.
Third, it's a multiplayer Zelda game focused on puzzles more than adventuring. There is no overworld map, and the dungeons are broken into manageable chunks.

The controls are simple enough to understand: Y uses your equipped item (you only get one, sadly), X takes a screenshot for the Miiverse, L/R is dash, A is activate/talk/Totem (in which you stack Links to solve puzzles [order is VERY important when doing this, btw]), B is swing sword.
And that's basically all you need to know there.

Like A Link Between Worlds, this Zelda game made use of the energy meter instead of finite numbers of bombs/arrows/etc. Which meant that exploring was less limited than in previous entries.
AND I WOULD LIKE EVERY ZELDA GAME FROM NOW ON TO USE THE SAME MECHANIC BECAUSE IT IS PURE FREAKING GENIUS.

-ahem-

So, the first thing that I'd like to point out is that there are 8 larger dungeons comprised of 4 smaller dungeons each (and each of those small dungeons contains 4 rooms).
Which means that this game has 32 dungeons in it.
Which sounds like a lot, but isn't all that bad (keep reading for more on this).
Definitely gives you room to run around and play with your friends :D

I played the first dungeon completely in multiplayer and, I must say, it was a blast. I'd never played any Four Swords games due to not being able to meet with that many friends at the same time. But, thanks to the plug-in-group method used in Tri Force Heroes, I was finally able to see how fun multiplayer Zelda games could be.
To help things out, the tappable icons to communicate were not only useful for chat, but tapping them multiple times allowed you to send some of your emotions through the internet. Very well done, Nintendo.
Working together with players from around the world, I was able to plow through some puzzles that were refreshing and inspired in a series that has often been criticized for feeling stale. It was some of the most fun that I've had playing a Zelda game.

After the first complete dungeon, I decided to play the game in solo mode.
And, while doable, swapping dopples is more of a chore than anything.
Unless you use the games unique (and awesome) Totem feature, moving each dopple individually could take a long bit of time out of your day.
Not to mention, some puzzles simply could not be done using dopples. You'd think that Nintendo would have thought of this, but there are points in the game where you simply have to skip a section of a dungeon using faeries. Which, of course, means less reward at the end of the dungeon :/
Kind of a slip-up, in my opinion.

Speaking of faeries, I discovered around the third dungeon that I could beat the entire game and get its complete story in less than 1 hour.
By skipping around using faeries.
Once you finish the first room of any dungeon, you can spend your three faeries to skip right to the treasure room.
No muss, no fuss.
And, oddly, no boss fights (you can skip them just like everything else).
Did I miss out on anything doing this? In terms of story, no, but I'm sure that I missed at least one really nifty puzzle along the way. Oh well :/

So, if you can beat the actual story mode in about an hour, what else is there to do in the game?
If you are a completionist, you can go back through the dungeons, complete the Tri Force Challenges, gather materials, and build costumes that you'd missed.
Or, if you just wanna beat up things, you can enter the arena with two other Links and compete for the top spot (which nets you some Rupees and a costume material).

But, if you don't want to be that thorough (like me), there isn't really anything to do after you defeat The Lady and save Princess Styla.
Which is kind of a bummer.

If I'd beaten the game in one sitting, I could have turned it back in the same day that I bought it. But, overall, it was a pleasant Zelda experience with some welcome shake-ups to a familiar formula :)

Final verdict: 4/5
Visual - 5/5: great graphics inspired by A Link Between Worlds and the game ran smooth as butter :D
Audio - 5/5: everything that I've come to expect from a Zelda game in my many years of playing that series
Replayability - 3/5: with an arena mode and a plethora of costumes to unlock, there's a lot to do after you beat the game, though only if you are a major completionist
Controls - 4/5: in multiplayer, the controls are just swell, but in solo play, having to swap dopples sometimes resulted in puzzles that could not be solved :/
Story - 3/5: the game has a story, but it is brief and very much not a standard Zelda game (Hytopia? Princess Styla? cursed dress? 32 mini dungeons?)

So, there you have it - the newest Zelda game reviewed by yours truly.

Until next time, my read-folk :)

Final Nail in the Coffin: End of an Era

As of yesterday, I made the executive decision to shelf the 5e Praerus game for the time being.

The actual final nail was Rellon's truck breaking down on the freeway.

At this point, transportation to and from gaming has become an issue for everyone.

So, sadly, we won't be sharing in the adventures of that hapless crew again for some time.

We might pick it back up down the road, but we're not sure if or when that will happen.

And, because things were left at kind of a cliffhanger in regards to who or what stole the prophecy, I've decided to write up an actual "conclusion" for everyone to read.

It is highly rail-roaded and done purely as a work of fiction.

Should have that up sometime this week.

Not sure how much homebrew work I will be doing this week.

Might take some time to work on my novels again...

At any rate, until next time, my fellow gamers :)

Readers?

Wow. The last few weeks have just been dead on here.

Do people really miss the tales of my misbegotten gaming group that much?
Sadly, due to scheduling conflicts and other real-life things, it's looking like we might not be meeting any time in the near future. Or at all :/ But, that still remains to be seen.

If that falls apart, I do have another group lined up (in a way), but there's no guarantee that we'll be playing 5e. Which is kind of a bummer, as this campaign is pretty awesome IMHO.

Also, my recent homebrew (the 5e factotum) doesn't seem to have had much thunder behind it. Which I find odd, given that folks seemed to love the original. Any comments or questions on it - feel free to drop me a comment.

Despite a dire drop in readers recently, I will continue writing. Because that is what a blogger does, right?
If there is anything that anyone out there would like to see finished sooner-than-later, feel free to write about it in the comments below :)

So, until next time folks - may the dice fall in your favor.

Lord of Magna - A Review

Or "I'm Here to Trade in This Hunk of Detritus."

So, the Sunday gaming group didn't meet, sadly.

But, on the positive side of things, I was able to trade "Lord of Magna: Maiden Heaven" away.
And that led me to this thought: I could write reviews of 3DS games on the blog!
"Why 3DS games?" you might be wondering?
Because I own one and don't have time to game at home. Ever.

SO, here goes:
"Lord of Magna - Maiden Heaven" for the 3DS

Normally, I love JRPGs and when I saw a game from XSEED that combined dating sim elements with JRPG elements with bowling elements, I was kinda big on that idea.
So I bought a copy.

Visually, the game is cutesy, using chibi characters. Which, you know, whatever. No big deal for me. Very vibrant.
The music is great, though. Beautifully scored.
And the combat? Using bowling to fight your enemies? Inspired. Mind you, it wasn't nearly as involved as I thought it was going to be. Mostly just setting up foes to fly into each other. Kind of wished that you actually used a bowling ball in combat.

Where this game fell apart, for me, was playability.
Not replayability.
Playability.

There are simply no choices that you make that actually affect the story.
You literally go from cut scene to fight to cut scene.
Very little to do between those points, except maybe buy healing items.

Worse, is that the box promised fully animated cut scenes, then delivered 3 seconds of animation every hour of play time.
And voice acting?
Forget about it.
You get about one line of that per 10 minutes of play.
In this day and age, and with how simple the rest of the game was, you'd think that XSEED could have gotten full voice acting and fully animated cutscenes.

And the combat, while innovative, was extremely repetitive.
You have special attacks, sure, but only once the story allows you to use them.
And there's only so much of knocking one enemy into another to rack up combos I can take.

Kind of a nit-picking point for me about this game: a near complete lack of 3D support.
For a game that is designed for a system that has been shown to really push dimensional boundaries, this game simply lacked 3D scenes.
Even with my slider turned all the way up, there was almost nothing showing :/
It makes me feel like XSEED dropped the ball there.

The game had a lot of promise, and the story seemed to be going somewhere (maybe?), but I just got so bored with all of the repetition that I made it about halfway into the game and traded it away. The quote at the top of the page is exactly what I told the store clerk when I walked in.

Final verdict: 3/5
Visual - 4/5: would have been better with actual 3D and maybe less cutesy characters
Audio - 5/5: great music and sound, even if voice clips were few and far between
Replayability - 0/5: if I couldn't even stomach playing the main game to completion, I dread to think what a NG+ would have looked like
Controls - 4/5: intuitive overall, but could have used more of the bowling mechanic
Story - 3/5: based on what I had gone through, the story was there, but it wasn't terribly original

And that's all for now!
Still working on older homebrew things (which I actually received suggestions on!) and getting my life in order after my move.

Until next time, gentlefolk :)

WE MOVED!

So, my wife and I moved into our new house.
And that's pretty awesome.

But, we don't have internet, so that makes things slightly complicated.
Will work on things as I get time.

Chat sooner or later!

Ask the Audience #3 - What NEXT?

Hello everyone!

So, my move has been pushed back a week. Which means I am another week without any of my books or notes. Which makes working on things a little difficult.

HOWEVER!
I'm still working on all of the stuff that I've posted up to this point.
Nothing else completed just yet, but I have quite a bit of ground covered on several things :)

Now, returning to the title of this post: Ask the Audience!

I just want to know: what would everyone like to see me homebrew next for 5e (previously called NEXT... see what I did there?)
Up-vert old material? Create something new? Bring something from your favorite fandom into the game? WHATCHUWANT?

I would like to focus on 5e D&D stuff (because I'm on a roll there), but I'm open to any suggestions or ideas :)

So, until next time dear readers.

Happy Start of October!

I love this month.

Also, the following homebrew items are "done":

• sha'ir warlock pact
• hybrid class rules
• incarnate base class for incarnum rules
• simple tome of magic conversions

Feel free to use and critique at will :)

That's all I had.

Until next time, dear readers!

Still Hiatus-y

Hello folks!

So, the Sunday group didn't meet this week.

But might meet this week.

Or maybe the week after.

It seems like I've lost a player...

I'm still on hiatus from creating new homebrew.

But I have been working on the 4e-to-5e races and a few of the class options.

I had some serious "shower epiphanies" about one of my board games for my company.

So that was cool.

Going to revise and implement those decisions when I get time.

I am packing and cleaning my apartment.

And my house purchase has been pushed back one week.

I officially filed my first assessment of someone in my new job.

And I feel great about that :)

So, until next we meet, may the dice fall in your favor.

New Job, New Things

Greetings internet people!

I have just started my second day of my new job as a job coach, and so far, so good. Seems like a lot to learn and get into the swing of, but nothing I can't handle.

Now, for the reason you folks read this blog: things related to gaming!

Even now, I'm finding forum posts from people that want to "up-vert" their character from 4e to 5e.
And, so, I have taken it upon myself to work out something for those wanting to do that (even if I'm late to the party lol)

So, later this week, I'm going to start converting 4e races to 5e compatible equivalents.
Due to copyright and what-have-you, I will not be using the same name that WotC used for their race, but I will include the 4e race name as a header to ease conversions.

So, be expecting that in the near-ish future.
Also, I will hopefully be working on/finishing my other homebrew items that need work.

Later on, I will start making assorted conversions to achieve properly converted classes, but I felt that the races would be easier.

So, until next time, may the dice fall in your favor :)

Things That Grind My Gears #1: Grinding!

Hello again, dear internet!

Today, I thought I'd start yet-another article type thing.
This one is about my gripes about games, gaming, and gamers.

The topic this time:
GRINDING!

To begin - I LOVE JRPGs. And dungeon crawlers. And pretty much any sort of video game that has RPG elements.

However, something that bothers me about most of those games is
HOW.
MUCH.
GRINDING.
THEY.
REQUIRE.

I recently bought Xenoblade Chronicles on my 3DS.
And made it through a good portion of the game without having to grind.

But then, around level 70, I encountered a boss at level 75.
For those of you that aren't aware of the math/combat of Xenoblade, that much of a level difference means I would hit that boss once in a blue moon.

Not hitting at reduced damage.
Just not hitting.

So, I decided to try to do some grinding to gain some levels and even the playing field.

It took me two weeks, gaming for about one hour for each of those days, to gain one level.

Suffice to say, I will not be completing Xenoblade.
I give up.
I refuse to invest that much of my time in just leveling up a couple of characters to advance a story that is fairly typical of the genre.

But why grind at all?

What drives game designers to continue to use this mechanism to "increase play time?"

Anyway, that's just my most recent complaint about this practice.
What sorts of experiences do you all have with grinding?
Do any of you enjoy it? Hate it as much as I do?

That's the end of that rant. Stay tuned for more fun sometime next week :)
Until then, may the dice (virtual or physical) fall in your favor!

Difficulties in Getting the Group Together and Other Gaming Group Discussions

Internet people! How goes?

So, Sunday fell through.
As usual.

But, Hekatonchires' and Rellon's players showed up and we hung out anyway.
And discussed a campaign that Hek's player wanted to run.

For those of you that are familiar with Giant in the Playground, this campaign is called "The Test of Ice and Mettle."
For those of you that recognize that, you can stop reading now.

For the rest of you:
This campaign takes place in a fantasy-version of Scandinavia/Norway.
It is cold.
The whole thing is an escort mission.
Death is expected more often than not.
The classes are all homebrewed (and pretty freaking cool!).
The rest is pretty crazy (bloodlines, feats from anywhere, traits and flaws, one homebrew item, any race, etc.).
Full information here.

So, there's that.

I'm playing an eighth level Pengu (refluffed tundra halfling turned sapient penguin) Pathfinder with a major Titan bloodline and feats that focus on his "backstory" of being one of the spawn of Loki.
Might tack on some other stuff...

So... yeah...

Anyway, I've decided to stop saying that the group "will meet," because I'm constantly surprised.
However, I can say with certainty that I will not be doing any gaming this weekend, so any updates will be on completely random tracks :)

As always, may the dice fall in your favor!

Ask the Audience #2: LARP?

Hello, everyone!

I have been kind of rambling along in my thoughts and realized that I should probably post more than just things about my 5e campaign here.
Because this is For Gamers, By Gamers, About Gamers.
And, part of me thinks maybe I should start posting twice per week...

Anyway, I thought I'd try the Ask the Audience column again.

This time: LARP!

Okay, so my questions for you all are:
Do any of you have any experience with LARPing?
If you do, what did you think of it? Fun? Boring? Way-too-childish?

I'm just curious what everyone thinks of this oft-misunderstood pastime.

On my experiences: I have none.
The most detailed portrayal I have experience with is from "Knights of Badassdom," which was filmed in the woods near where I live (Spokane, WA).
If you haven't seen it, I'd suggest changing that. It's pretty entertaining.

But I am interested in giving LARP a shot.
I'm thinking of trying to write up some basic rules and put something together with friends and family, see where it takes me.

In the Spokane area, I know of two groups that exist that do things of a similar nature ("Society for Creative Anachronism" and "Stormhaven"), but they don't really do the RP portion of LARP (from what I can tell).
So, that's my take on the subject.

Hopefully the gaming group will meet on Sunday (looks good right now).
And hopefully Washington state will not be smoldering ashes by then.
Stay safe out there folks, especially those firefighters taming these blazes.

Until next time, may the dice fall in your favor :)

Yet Another Late Update

Hey folks!

Sorry for a delay in posting. The reasons are many-fold.

1. My Sunday group ended up not meeting after all due to assorted scheduling troubles. So, there's that.
2. I haven't worked on any homebrew in a long while, so that wouldn't be updated.
3. I've been working on a pet project of mine that has been tormenting me for over a decade. But, now I'm making great headway on it and hope to share it with you folks in the near future :)
4. I had an interview for a new job this morning, and got a call back just 1 hour later saying I got the position. So, was freaking out about that for a while, but I am overly happy now :)

So, nothing terribly new to report for the time being.
However, everyone seems to be on board for Sunday.
If it fall through, though... maybe I'll see about a new game...

We shall see then.
Until then, may the dice fall in your favor.

Funny Things

Greetings, internet!

So, Sunday passed in a rather funny way.

As Sabah's player and I were walking to check her mail, Hec's player called to say that he couldn't make it.
That's okay - I can run the game with three players!

On the way to the store to get some food stuffs for the group, Ulic's player sent me a text. He wasn't showing up either.
Darn. Guess we'll inform Trinity's player...

She responded saying that she couldn't make it either.

And so, Sabah's player and I grabbed some lunch and headed back to our apartments (we're neighbors).

And that was how Sunday passed :)

--------------

Now, on to other business: why is this post tagged "Pathfinder?"

I've been following the business of the Vigilante class since the beginning of the playtest.
And it amuses me that pretty much every single post in the "Final Thoughts" board is negative (my opinion is in there as well, btw).

It seems to me that Paizo is on the verge of losing a lot of money if they don't change their thoughts on this particular class.
But, I also know just how staunchly RP fans defend things from their favorite publishers, even if they are flawed beyond reason.

So, more like a "snarky funny thing" here, I guess.

But, I do hope that Paizo learns from this experience. I still rather like some of the improvements from 3.X that they made, and would love to see the game continue.

Anyway, due to having my desk at work moved, posting is going to be slightly more difficult and/or later in the day than normal.

May have more for you all later this week.
Who knows?
Until then, may the dice fall in your favor :)

Ask the Audience #1 - Edition Wars

Good morning, people of the internet!

Today, I thought I'd start up a short article on reader opinions.
This will be the first of many, I hope.

Even if you just stop in for a second, feel free to leave your opinion. I enjoy reading comments on things, even if they are detrimental to my calm lol

So, today's "Ask the Audience" wants to know:
Which edition of Dungeons and Dragons is your favorite? Why is that? (this can include Pathfinder)
Which edition of Dungeons and Dragons is your least favorite? Why is that? (same here)

And, here's my input on the matter:

My favorite edition to-date is 5th. It combines so much that I like about the previous editions, but it also makes it so that I actually enjoy running a game for once. I don't have days of prep work. Things are so much more streamlined that I can just wing it.

My least favorite edition is probably 2nd. Admittedly, I have limited experience with it, but it is just so much more complicated than even 3.X that I sometimes end up scratching my head in the process of reading through the books.

As far as I know, the Praerus group is going to meet on Sunday. So, I will update you on their misadventure sometime next week if that pans out.
Until then- you know the rest :)

Why U No Update?

Sorry for the enormous delay in posts, dear readership!

Normally, I work on the blog while I'm at work, but I've been stupendously busy due to having my job title change.
Sadly, only a horizontal move, not vertical.

However, my group is planning on meeting up on Sunday, so hopefully that will pan out.

In other news, I have finished work on the Incarnate class and made good advances on the Artificer and Tome of Magic class 5e conversions. So, feel free to use them at your leisure. And, remember, feedback is appreciated :)
I still need to finish the soulmelds for the incarnate, but that should be done in the near-ish future.
I intend to continue work on the Psionicist, even though WotC has pushed out the Mystic class in the most recent Unearthed Arcana. In part because I've already come this far, and also in part because I just want to finish it.

So, that's it for me. Hopefully there will be more to say after Sunday.
Until then, may the dice fall in your favor :)