Motivational Monday

Sunday Funnies (sports edition)

The World of Broadsword

Well friends, the wait is over. My first supplement for the Broadsword RPG has been released. The World of Broadsword is now available at DriveThruRPG and at Precis Intemedia Games (The folks who do the oh-so-cool Coyote Trail western RPG).

Here is the blurb from the upcoming website:

More advantages, more foes, more adventure!

The World of Broadsword is a sourcebook that expands upon the Broadsword RPG by offering new material for use by both players and referees.

Included in this expansion are:

*New advantages

*A bestiary of common animals as well as creatures of myth and legend

*A full color map and gazetteer of “The World of Broadsword”

*"The River Pirates of the Belsa." A brand new adventure set in the World of Broadsword

The World of Broadsword was created to be used as an official campaign setting for the Broadsword Roleplaying game. However, the setting and adventures are written so that they could easily be adapted to just about any system.


The World of Broadsword is Available now as a PDF download for only $3.95 at DriveThruRPG and Precis Intermedia Games.

If any of you do decide to purchase it, please be sure to leave some honest feedback over at RPGNow. Word of mouth is about all I have in my marketing budget. so every bit helps.

The World of Broadsword

I received a draft of the World of Broadsword from James Stubbs at Heyoka Studios the other day. He wanted me to give it a once over for final approval. I'm very pleased with the final product. It will definitely be available by the end of next week (April). I'm also trying to put the final nails in the "Official" Evil DM Productions website. Hopefully, the release of The World of Broadsword will coincide with the opening of the website. I'm a total newbie to all of this so the actual selling of the game will be done through Heyoka Studios RPGNow storefront.

Motivational Monday

Lazy Sunday Photodump

Pulp Thursday

Elak of Atlantis
I finished my first book from the "Planet Stories" series from Paizo publishing. Elak of Atlantis, is a collection of Sword & Sorcery tales by the late Henry Kuttner. There are several stories that feature Elak of Atlantis and several of another character, Prince Raynor of Gobi. both of the characters stories are set on earth millenia before recorded history. Elak's tales take place in ancient Atlantis and those of Raynor take place in the then fertile Gobi. I enjoyed the stories. Kuttners writing is vivid, there were times I laughed out loud and others where I shuddered. He is a proponent of what my gaming buddies and I used to call the "adventure pit"- that is to say that the story just starts with little background and gets right into the action (of course these are short stories, not novels, but still very little time is wasted.). The characters are interesting, the sidekicks provide a bit of comic relief and serve their purpose as catalysts. I liked the fact that the women portrayed in the stories are strong. rather than fainting or falling at the heroes feet when faced with adversity, they pick up a blade and lend a hand. Something that I always felt REH's stories should have had more of. Elak of Atlantis is an excellent deal. the entire series of stories in one brand new volume for about $12.00



Return of the Sword
I was on the fence about buying this one, for no other reason than keeping my monthly purchases down to a dull roar. But then I noticed a story from Nate Meyer. Nate is a stand up guy, a net friend, and a regular visitor here at the Lair. So I took the dive and sent for it. I'll let you know how it reads. But you don't have to wait for me, by all means pick it up and support both Small Press publishing, modern pulp, and the Sword & Sorcery genre.

Secret of the Incas
with the new Indiana Jones movie coming out. I started seeing blurbs on a 50's era movie by Charlton Heston called "Secret of the Incas" there is much talk about this being one of the main influences for Indy- looking at the photos it's hard to dismiss it. I have a feeling young Spielberg was watching TV (UHF) one Saturday afternoon and ran across The secret of the Incas, and it apparently stuck in his mind.
You cant find this movie through any of the conventional methods. I found a copy of it (dubbed in Spanish) online and there is this place that has bootlegged copies of it for sale. Paramount owns both Secret of the Incas and the Indiana Jones franchise. I think they should really think of releasing a "Cinema Classic" version of this and cash in on the Indiana Jones movie. Unless of course, Spielberg has asked them to keep it from being released...

Pulp Hulu
You guys know I've been singing the praises of Hulu lately. I just wanted to point out that they have a nice collection of shows that fit the Pulp genre nicely- both TV shows and full length movies. for instance:

And that is your Pulp Thursday report.

Blogging

Today over at the Chatty DM’s Blog he writes about the pressures of keeping up the Blog. Finding time to juggle family, career, the hobby and still come up with something worthy and topical to write about every day.

It’s funny, I’ve sort of been feeling the same way.

Now keep in mind I am no where near as prolific a writer as chatty is. I usually supply fluff and news bites where he actually writes articles. His site is often referenced and quoted in the community, where here at the Lair we are referenced mostly on Wednesday when everyone needs to ogle a nice set of hooters- and there ain’t nothing wrong with that. But it got me thinking if I get burned out on Blogging considering the light fare I provide, imagine what guys like Chatty and Jeff (from Jeff’s gameblog) go through.

My posting has been hit and miss lately mostly because of work but also because I’m trying to get a website up and running for my Evil DM Productions venture. The Broadsword expansion will be out by the end of the month and I want to have a little web presence to support it and other projects I’m working on. And truth be told, rather than Blogging, I should be using my time to work on Legends of Steel, Mission: Adventure!, and all the other "projects” I’d like to see come to fruition.

There are only so many free minutes in a day. Chatty wants to hone his skills as writer at a more professional level and I want to get these adventures and games out of my head and onto paper, and sometimes I can’t help but wonder if keeping up a Blog is doing us more harm than good. It siphons off time, puts undue pressure (real or perceived), and the return on the investment is small (mines at a little over $50.00 at the moment). On the plus side the Blog has rewarded me with some great connections and friends, It also gives me a forum to get my thoughts out, and interact with like minded folks. What to do, what to do?

Motivational Monday

HULU and Barney Miller

I gave everyone here the heads up on HULU a few posts ago. but it deserves another mention for two reasons:
1) Because it's out of beta and available.
2) Because it's so damn cool!
They have a ton of shows and they are adding more everyday.



I'm reliving a personal bit of nostalgia watching episodes of Barney Miller. Barney Miller began when I was 11 and wrapped up when I was 18. Seeing the clothing styles and listening to the topics that they discuss is like a mini time capsule, once that thumping bass line theme starts I'm back in the old house in front of the RCA. I'd forgotten just how intelligent and nuanced the writing was, and how crazy weird the 70's were. Simpler times? Not really. Scarier and more uncertain times, to be sure. No one knew about the Internet or AIDS. We were sure a major showdown with the Soviets was just a matter of time. Peter Frampton was filling arenas and disco was heard in every nightclub.
Watch a couple of episodes of Barney Miller and you get a glimpse of just what kinds of things were occupying the public's mind at that time.

Proposed Logo

What do you guys think of this Logo?

Motivational Monday

Zombies and Monster hunters

I went to the Sacramento area GI Joe show this weekend. I had a great time hooking up with my fellow Joe heads and spending all my money.

My buddy Mike has his own little company called Peril Unlimited where he specializes in zombies. Here is a diorama made with a bunch of mikes zombies outfitted in WWII German army uniforms, looks like GI Joe is in trouble.







Here is the prototype for Zombie Betty. She will be available later this year. Sometimes it's too late to save the cheerleader...






And where you have Zombies yer gonna have Zombie /Monster hunters. Ed Cassar's customs just sing character.




Check out Mikes website. Read the reviews and buy yourself a "bloodied up zombie" you wont regret it!

Get your game on! - GaryCon 08

World-Wide GaryCon this weekend!
By now everyone I'm sure has heard of the passing of Gary Gygax. One of the best suggestions so far for a fitting tribute is GaryCon. Basically GaryCon is about gaming.
This weekend take some time and play a game. Run a game for your kids, play a game with your buddies, teach someone new about gaming-any gaming.
Dungeons and Dragons would be great, but have a game of GURPS if you like, or Candyland, or Monopoly, or even (Lord help me) Pokemon!

It doesn’t matter - just sling the dice, deal the cards, move the tokens. Interact, have fun, laugh and remember Gary and all he gave us.

Here at the Lair I'll be running the minions through a good old fashioned Basic D&D Dungeon crawl.

If you would like to play a game but lack the resources, here are some links to free games available on the great big internets!

Sword & Sorcery:
ZeFRS Homepage and rulebook

Sci-Fi:
Star Frontiers

Fantasy:
OSRIC

Mazes and Minotaurs

Supers:
Four Color here or here

Board games:
Robot Combat Boardgame

Dwarfstar games


And over at the "Forgotten files" I have the Crime Fighters pulp RPG from the Pages of Dragon Magazine and the original Dragonfist RPG.

Game on!

Gary Gygax has passed away

All across the gamer universe the word is going out-Gary Gygax has passed away.
Gary of course is one of the co-creators of the Dungeons and Dragons game.
He was the acknowledged father of RPG gaming. Gary’s creations have broadened my imagination and given me a wonderful pastime that has brought joy, friends, and creative challenges that I may not otherwise have known. In the next few days, folks more eloquent then I am will give well deserved tribute to the man. For myself, I offer my condolences to his family. I’m sure there’s gonna be one hell of a great game going on in heaven tonight.

Motivational Monday