Where I review some pens I have

I write a lot, mostly just notes for gaming, though also short stories and poetry. In any case, I use pens a lot. I have a strong fondness for gel pens. They tend to write the best, and don't require me to press real hard while writing. In any case, here are my own opinions on the pens I've been using lately.


Promate Grippy 1.0mm gel pen - Cheap pen, but it feels good in the hand. Writes well, if a little thick. Definitely wouldn't hold up to extended use. Rating: 2 out of 5.


Uniball Signo 207 0.7mm gel pen. Looks great. Feels nice in the hand. It skips for me, though. Not sure why. Maybe it's just the way I write. The lines are neat and look great, except when I write loops, where it skips. Rating: 3 out of 5.


Parker Jotter stainless steel ballpoint pen. Looks nice. Is a little too thin. Tends to clump on the roller, so that there's a splotch when I start using it after it's sat for a little while. Have to press fairly hard. Once it starts, it writes well. Rating: 2 out of 5. (I've ordered the Schmidt Easyflow 9000 refills for this pen. I really hope they improve it, as the included Parker ink kind of sucks).


Pilot G2 0.7mm gel pen. Works great. Feels great to hold. Perfect lines with no splotches or skips. Wish they made fancier versions that weren't plastic. Rating: 4 out of 5.

Fantasy Age from Green Ronin - any good?

Just wondering if anyone has played Fantasy Age from Green Ronin. It looks pretty interesting. I know it was based on the older Dragon Age game. I've read a couple reviews, but I'm not sure how well the game would work in regular play.

1st edition demons were scarier

Maybe it's just me, but the demons as presented in 1st edition were the scariest. Heck, a number of mid to high level spells were all about summoning and controlling them. Maybe it was just the artwork, or Gary's writing, but it seemed more dangerous than the editions that followed.

2e really did drop the ball by renaming everything, and 3e was just too numbers-heavy to give any feeling of dread. 4e was a joke, and I still haven't picked up 5e (so maybe 5e finally fixed them). In any case, I loved the whole set-up and feeling of danger created by the writing in the 1e books.

Also, the Demons boxed sets made my Mayfair Games were fantastic. I have both, and if you ever have a chance to grab them, do yourself a favor and do it. Not only do they add tons of cool demons, there are great examples of investigators going crazy, etc.