[WoW] Ask Uncle Von: How To Get Ahead In Demonology

On a previous post, David asked:

Since I’ve started playing a warlock, I’m interested in how you run that pet-less demonologist? Sounds different and I’d like to give it a shot.

Since David also linked to an interesting article, with which I don’t entirely agree (I think there’s a new breed of hardcore player that subs out epic six-hour grind-fests into nibbling away at grindy content two hours a night, three nights a week, but with the same spreadsheet-driven longing for NUMBERS that the poop-sock brigade display… but these might look more ‘casual’ based on the actual time spent playing) but which I enjoyed reading, I figure the least I can do is show some love and introduce y’all to Aunty Sybeth.

I’ve had Sybeth since I started playing the WoW thing back in mid-2009, although she’s jumped back and forth across factions a few times. She levelled, in those half-forgotten days of 51-point talent spreads and careful, finicky percentile-counting, as a Demonologist before switching to Affliction when I discovered the joys of running through Battlegrounds with lots of instant-cast fear and damage-over-time effects. During that time I sort of neglected Demonology a bit and, during Cataclysm, only used the spec for daily quests because it was so damn easy and safe (send Felguard to hit things, cast Immolation, wait for Molten Core to trigger, cast Soul Fire, rinse and repeat, cast Health Funnel now and then). I was sure there was more to do with it but I just couldn’t be bothered when I had all that Afflicting to enjoy.

Mists of Pandaria has brought with it some saucy new Warlock powers, in particular some saucy new Glyphs, which have revitalised my interest in Demonology as ‘that spec you can run without a demon’. It seems counter-intuitive, but trust me on this, there’s a method to my madness here. The key lies, as one might expect, in combos. Combos that sort of leapt out at me from the morass of new options in the Mists talent builder and the range of new Glyphs and the revised class specialisation, while I was trying to work out what the hell to do with this Sybeth person. I threw this together on a whim and blow me down dead if it didn’t work quite nicely.

Ask Uncle Von: Habitat and Habits of the Pripyat Beast

Dr. Shiny gave me a buzz the other day and said:

Can I have some GM advice? I recently ran a Call of Cthulhu game set in Pripyat (with two Pripyat Beasts wandering around). The problem is, with such a large play area, there are too many places to run away and hide, and only so many times the creatures can randomly stumble over the player without it becoming ridiculous after a while. It was a really good game (and I really want to use Pripyat again), but how would you go about plausibly upping the risk of an encounter?

First things first: here’s what he’s on about.

When the secondary nuclear reactor exploded, it spewed forth a torrent of radioactivity. The inhabitants of the surrounding towns survived just long enough to dig mass graves for their dead. The unprotected and ultimately doomed clean-up volunteer force sent a flurry of distress signals, reporting the emergence of jumbled beasts from underneath piles of bodies. These creatures, sickening amalgamations of people and livestock, varied in appearance.

– art and text by Keith Robertson, Drawing and Painting the Undead.

So, basically, it’s an eldritch horror spawned of radiation and Forces Unknown acting in terrible, unconscious concert to bring forth a shambling wossname that rends and devours the living. So far, so good, and something I’d expect intelligent players to use the environment provided to avoid or defeat. It’s a good monster.

The problem, as I see it, Herr Doktor, is… well, in classical roleplaying terms, it’s that you’ve built a city-sized dungeon and you’ve only put two encounters in it. I might, if I were a bit of a git, call it quite a severe case of Maliszewski’s Syndrome.

You have a few choices.

Ask Uncle Von: What About Those Blood Bowl Teams Then?

On the Shell Case thread where I was asked to give a basic run-down of the beautiful game, sixeleven suggested talking about the Orc and Human teams in the box as a way of unlocking the tactics and strategery of the game, and the different styles in which teams can be played.  I also want to talk a bit about leagues, and the long-term development of teams over campaign play (in which the real depth of the game emerges).

Let’s get on with it then.

Ask Uncle Von: So What’s This Blood Bowl Thing Then?

A while back I promised docbungle I’d write up an introduction to Blood Bowl and now Panzar of Whelp Slayer has been asking about Blood Bowl too.  I’ll talk briefly about the game itself, and about the Orc and Human starting teams (who represent two basic ways in which a good team is good).  There will be pictures, but they won’t be of my Blood Bowl models because they are either not painted (bad Von!) or badly painted (bad former owner!).  The pictures are all used without permission in the spirit of fair use (and promoting this AWESOME game that you presumably like if you’ve taken pictures of it) and if you want me to stop using yours you only have to ask.

So!  Blood Bowl.

Ask Uncle Von: Double Your Debuffs, Triple Your Fun

Quoth Frank, in commentary on a previous emission:

Uncle Von! I’m a newbie Cryx player–could you please explain that triple-dip in more detail? I’m not understanding it and would really like to. Thanks!

Quoth Von: absolutely!  Allow me to demonstrate through the magic of pictures.

Observe: one Cryxian warcaster, one Skarlock, one Deathripper, one token representing an upkeepable spell, and three targets.