On Vacation

On Vacation

On Vacation

On Vacation

On Vacation

Merry Christmas

Xenozoic is beautiful!

I am just getting to my copy of the Xenozoic book I bought a few weeks ago.  Needless to say I am loving it. I completely missed these stories in the 80's and it was just by coincidence that this beautiful compilation came out a few weeks ago. From what I understand fans of Mark Schultz have been waiting many moons for this.

Legends of Steel for ZeFRS is out of layout

I just received the manuscript the other day. I'll be looking it over AFTER the holidays. Then it will be released.


One special thing about this edition of Legends of Steel is that, other than operating expenses, all of the proceeds will be used to fund future ZeFRS projects. So rather than clip art we plan to have original art to make it look the best we can. Other possibilities are Character generators or a dedicated website. We'll see-but the best news is that this edition is that much closer to release.

John Carter Warlord of Mars

For those of you not in the know, Dynamite Entertainment is releasing Warlord of Mars in comic form.  I say this because a lot of the folks who hang out here aren't major comic geeks, so I just wanted to give them a heads up.

Lazy Sunday Photodump

The minions shook the hold of Nintendo DS and actually learned something this weekend

We had a stay-in -Lair day yesterday, thanks to heavy rains in the area. I looked out amongst my throng of Minions and noticed that their eyes were all glued to little tiny screens. I thought this would be a perfect time for a forced learning experience. I ordered all electronics turned off and then told them all that their would be a block of instruction on the a facet of the American West.  I started with a brief lecture on ranching, the cattle industry, and the logistics  of getting beef from the rural ranches to the cities in 19th century America. I then wrapped up the lecture with a showing of John Wayne's western classic: The Cowboys.  

For those of you bereft of a classical education, The Cowboys is the story of a rancher who is forced to use schoolboys to help move his cattle 400 miles from his ranch to the rail lines. The movie is a wonderful coming of age tale and one of "The Dukes" best performances. 


The Minions enjoyed the movie and at Sunday breakfast they regaled  "She who must be obeyed" with a review of the movie and how folk in the big cities got their beef.  So all in all, the lesson stuck.


Next week we'll be taking a look at the tensions between Norman and Saxon in Merrie Old England with a showing of Errol Flynn's - The Adventures of Robin Hood.

And the Winners are...

David J. West of the Nephite Blood, Spartan Heart Blog

                      

 &

YoyoRobbo of the Back in '81 Blog

Thanks to all you guys for participating and for hanging in there during my hiatus.  This was fun My minion,  Nicholas had fun drawing the names. 

Congratulations guys. Please send me your shipping info to Boojiesdad@gmaildotcom

And for those of you who didn't win this time around, remember, this is the season of giving -so buy a copy of Legends of Steel so that I can GIVE myself an IPad for Christmas. 

Lair Update

I figured we are about due for an update from the Lair…

Both Barbarians of Lemuria ZeFRS edition and BASH Ultimate edition are out of my hands and with the layout folk.   Chris at Basic Action Games will be handling the release of the BASH Ultimate edition and I’ll be handling ZeFRS. Both are in the home stretch folks…

I’m going to try something different with Dicey Tales. I’ll be releasing it as a periodical.  The first issue will deal with the first part of a pulp era expansion for Barbarians of Lemuria. The second issue will include the raining parts of the pulp expansion. The third issue will revisit Erisa with new material for Legends of Steel.

After that, I will probably try to keep the content pulp-centric –and my definition of pulp is as wide as the genre, so there will be opportunities for material for everything from Sword & Sorcery, Sword & planet, and westerns, to the supernatural and 60’s techno-adventures.

Here is a sample of some more art appearing I Dicey Tales.  The character art is from Chris Schieffer, the firearms are by Chris Harper.

As a side note, Chris Harper soon plans to release a set of pulp era firearm stock art.  If anyone has a suggestion for a particular weapon please let him know in the comments section.

Lazy Sunday Photodump

The Warlord cancelled...again.

In the "This sucks" department, I just found out that the latest incarnation of DC Comics The Warlord has been cancelled. I'm not sure why, most likely low sales. I guess if you don't have a fucking zombie on the cover of your favorite title it could be next. 

My comic guy was telling me that Warlord was a steady seller too, not red hot, but decent. I guess decent just doesn't cut it in the comics biz.

Dreaming of an "Official" Hyborian War for the PC

On the back of the late issues of the old Savage Sword of Conan magazine there was always an ad for Hyborian War. Hyborian War was a Play by Mail (PBM) game of world conquest set in Conan’s world, basically Conan Risk.  I never got around to playing it, but in the latter years with the advent of computer gaming I was sure that someone would catch on to the idea of a large scale war game for the PC using the Hyborian setting, but it never happened. 

I recently found a great little war-game called Field of Glory. It’s a turn-based strategy game where you command an army and either recreate famous historical battle or create new ones.  Fields of Glory also has an online component where you can challenge other players. I’m having a lot of fun with it and I can’t help but think this would be awesome if it was adapted for Conan’s world.

I've enjoyed strategy games in the past, but the world building requirements of most of the bore me. I could care less about feeding the peasants, building a chapel, or upgrading a smithy so that I can have chariots. I just want to go out there and kick some ass.

My ideal game would be one where I was the Captain of a Free Company of mercenaries and I could have them travel about the world hiring on, fighting, recruiting, and generally adventuring.  I wouldn’t mind a small logistics and supply portion where I would have to find supplies to feed the men or buy new and better weapons.

My one nit with Field of Glory is that I haven’t found a way to improve the units, whether I win or lose a battle, the next battle all the units are as good as new just like in Chess, I want a way to hire Peasant Levy and through training and experience have them grow into more effective units. But other than that Field of Glory is a great way to while away a half hour or so.

A small thank you to the "Followers"

Wow, I've been gone a couple of months and my readership actually grew!  I'm not sure what to make of that.  But  as a small "Thank you" for sticking around I'll be raffling off TWO hardback copies of The Barbarians of Lemuria edition of Legends of Steel. All you need to do is drop a comment letting me know you want in on the drawing. Everyone who has been a follower of the Lair or the Facebook site from 12082010 or earlier is eligible (Sorry "Anons"). deadline for the raffle is 11:59pm on 12/12/2010.

Flashback post to 11/2008 Once again topical, and still true.

VOTE.

Republican or Democrat- Vote

Times are are a bit tough in the US of A right now, but to put it in perspective:

1. I didn’t go to sleep hungry last night.
2. I didn’t go to sleep outside.
3. I had a choice of what clothes to wear this morning.
4. I hardly broke a sweat today.
5. I didn’t spend a minute in fear.
6. I have access to clean drinking water.
7. I have access to medical care.
8. I have access to the Internet.
9. I can read.
10. I have the right to vote. *

So all in all I cant complain (too much).

*paraphrased from Marc and Angel's blog

My Friday Guilty Pleasure "Cracklin' Rosie" Mr. Neil Diamond

I have to confess this song always puts a smile on my face.

In the immortal words of Al Pacino "Say hello to my little friend"

I bought a Kindle a few weeks ago and I'm loving it. It's very light and really does read like a book.
I opted out of all the accessories and found my own case ( I use a Swiss Army brand passport holder).
 Being the big pulp geek that I am I have mine filled with Burroughs, Howard, Lovecraft, Mundy, Lamb, and Doyle. I found most of the titles I have loaded for either under $2.00 or free. 
If your Google Fu is strong and your ethics weak you can also find all kinds of goodies on the Internets (all praise to Al Gore) and format them very nicely with Calibre E-book management software. So far I've found everything from the complete collection of Doc Savage paperbacks

to those books your uncle kept in his old Army footlocker in the closet.

Kindle can "kind of" surf the web and it can "sort of" read PDF's, but it really wasn't made for that. You could shoehorn it to do both, but it doesn't do either real well. If that what you really want then get an iPad and be done with it. 
My buddy Karl has an iPad and he loves it. iPads can do everything a Kindle can do, plus play movies, surf the web in color, write emails, and read PDF games and comic books. 
But thats the thing - When I get my iPad (and I will) I'll be using it for all that other stuff and I'll never just sit and read a book. The Kindle does one thing and does it real well- it stores a ton of books in a light, slim, easy to read format that you can take anywhere. I'm sure that even when I do get my i Pad I'll still be bringing my Kindle along for serious reading.

New art for Hador by Jonny Gray

I just had to share this...

Princess Ayesha and her Arum bodyguard Manuk.

The Nations of Erisa

The world of Erisa is the setting for the Legends of Steel campaign. 

Legends of Steel  is based on the classic Sword & Sorcery comic books of the 70's and can be used with any RPG rules engine. Currently Legends of Steel directly supports the Broadsword 1PG system from Deep7 Games. The Savage Worlds System from Pinnacle, and the Barbarians of Lemuria (BoL) system from Beyond Belief Games. By the end of 2010 it will also provide direct support for the Basic Action Super Hero (BASH) system and for the ZeFRS system.  The following is a brief overview of the various nations described so far in the Legends of Steel campaign.

The Kingdom of Tyros
Tyros is one of the largest and strongest kingdoms on Erisa. It is an old realm beset by rivals and enemies without and traitors and conspirators from within. But the lion still has teeth, as the enemies of the “Old Kingdom” will discover at their peril. Tyros is the capital city of the kingdom, and it has a number of additional cities described below.

Aragos
Aragos is one of the oldest cities in the Kingdom of Tyros. It is noted for its tolerance of practitioners of magic. The ruling Baron himself is reputed to be a sorcerer of great power.

Belsa
The Barony of Belsa is the richest agricultural area in the kingdom of Tyros. The Baron and a large number of the local gentry resent the over taxation demanded by the emperor.

Crascia
The merchant city of Crascia is the capital of the richest Barony in the kingdom of Tyros. Many of the richest guild houses of Erisa are headquartered in this powerful city.

Pyrani
The major port of the Kingdom of Tyros, Pyrani is a city of riches and villainy. The Governor –Regent and his court are as crooked as they come, but Pyrani offers countless opportunities for an enterprising adventurer.

Taurus
The Barony of Taurus is at the frontier of the Kingdom of Tyros. Far from the Kings court, Taurus struggles each day to hold its grip on the settled lands against barbarian raiders, outlaws, monsters and the elements.

The Southern Kingdoms
The Southern Kingdoms consist of seven city states that lie along or north of the Drujistan Mountain range. The cities of Al-Khalid, Kobar, Akkar, Padjistan, Kumar, Zandara, and Jandahar are all independent and are linked only by ancient cultural ties that have long since lost any political value. The mis-appellation of “Southern Kingdoms” was given by merchants from Tyros. In fact, of the seven city-states only Jandahar and Kumar are actually kingdoms (and even they are currently ruled by a Prince and a Queen, respectively), the rest have governments ranging from Theocracies (Akkar) to Plutocracies (Al-Khalid).

Akkar
One of the Southern Kingdoms, “Akkar the golden” is a holy city and the center of religious activity on Erisa. Ruled by a theocratic council, Akkar is home to great libraries and temples holding century’s worth of artifacts and holy icons.

Al-Khalid
Al-Khalid is a major port, whose trade in rare spices and exotic intoxicating herbs has made it the richest of the Southern Kingdoms.

Jandahar
This cursed kingdom, once a great trading center is a brittle shadow of its former glory. The land is barren and the people are barely surviving day to day. It is the poorest of the great kingdoms of the south.

Kobar
The City of Stone is home to the main temple of Na-Ko, as well as the Citadel of Stone, a sorcerous citadel that houses a mysterious brotherhood of mystics.
Kumar
Kumar is a mineral rich Kingdom in the heart of the Drujistan Mountains. Its monarch, Queen Sybillia is obsessed with crushing the neighboring city-state, the Emirate of Padjistan.

Padjistan
The Emirate of Padjistan is the bitter rival of Kumar for the rich mineral resources of the region. The eccentric Emir is obsessed with collecting curiosities and plotting the overthrow of the Queen of Kumar.

Zandara
“The City of Golden Chains” is built on the slave trade. The powerful port city, provides slave laborers to the great mines of the Drujistan and the rest of Erisa as well as highly trained Gladiators and pleasure slaves to fulfill the lusts of the rich and powerful.
The Free Cities League
The Free Cities League is a collection of four city-states. Emesa, Albena, and Teve are port cities that lie on the coast of the Emerald Ocean. The forth city, Hogar is located inland amidst the High Mountain range. The cities are bound by a complex collection of economic and military treaties that help provide growth and security. These treaties are facing their first major test as Albena has become involved in a war with a nonmember state (Radu), which it is losing.


Albena
The shattered lawless city-state of Albena was once one of the strongest members of the free cities league. However, the war with the Dark City of Radu has all but destroyed the once mighty port city.

Emesa
Known as The City by the Sea, Emesa is not only the founding member of the Free Cities League, and a major seaport, but also the home of the University of Alcides. The University is itself an autonomous domain within the city and is considered the most prestigious institution of learning in the civilized world.

Hogar
The City-State of Hogar lies deep in the High Mountains of Erisa. It is the only place where the legendary Hogar method of steel craft is known, producing the finest, sharpest and strongest weapons on all of Erisa.

Teve
The warrior priests of Kesh have recently taken control of the city-state of Teve as the elected government was found to be in league with agents from Radu. The plot was uncovered, the conspirators quartered, and now the priests have declared martial law as they prepare the populace for a showdown with the forces of Radu.

Other Lands
Lastly, there are lands are independent of these regions.

Boskar
A rugged boomtown located on the Sikkar Plains, Boskar is a bustling settlement growing beyond its wooden stockade walls. The recent discovery of gold in the nearby hills has drawn every miner, adventurer, and bandit for a thousand leagues.

Broaq-Nohar
Broaq-Nohar is a breakaway province of the Kingdom of Tyros, noted for the excellent quality of their troops. The land is now ruled by a military council and has allied itself with the despotic island nation of Yar.

Radu
The “Dark City” of Radu is a nest of Pirates, evil priests, and outlaws. It is presumably ruled by an exiled Sorcerer from Yar. Radu has reportedly just destroyed the fleet of Albena in an epic sea battle, during which the sorcerer is said to have summoned several dragons.

Sikkar Plains
The mighty Sikkar are a nomadic people who call the “Sea of Grass” their home. Dozens of tribes travel on horseback and with wagons, following the herds of bison, and occasionally raiding their neighbors. Other people in Erisa regard them as barbarians, and the Sikkar have little regard for city folk.

Umbria
Now a “Puppet kingdom” Co-administered by Yar and Broaq-Nohar, Umbria is slowly being raped and plundered by its new masters. But there are whispers that a “prince of the blood” has returned to the island kingdom to free the land and its people.

Yar
The ancient and vile kingdom of Yar sends its shadowy tendrils into every court from Radu to Jandahar. The priest-Kings of Yar deal openly with demons and plot to once again rule Erisa.

LaZy SuNdAy PhOtOdUmP