The Lair of the Evil DM

Another Lazy Sunday Photodump

2012-01-29T23:54:00.000-08:00

Have you guys heard of Epic Table??

2012-01-26T12:54:00.000-08:00

In my never ending quest to find a way to game online that I can handle both mentally and economically, I present Epic Table...

I found this a few weeks ago but because of the move I wasn't able to delve into it much. Now that things are settling in here I'm giving it a look and I'm really impressed with what I see so far.

I'm tinkering with it and created this:

"Our three intrepid adventurer's soon there is more than just an old plane wreckage in this deadly swamp."

If any of you out there are experienced with Epic Table drop me a line. I would love to test this out. I'm wondering how it works with G+Hangout??

Saga of the Star-God

2012-01-23T10:00:00.000-08:00

I was posting in Rpgnet on a Sword & Sorcery thread and I put up this pic.

I loved this story arc. The bummer was that it only lasted two-issues, but it still inspires!

Just about settled in to the new Lair!

2012-01-22T22:53:00.000-08:00

We are finally starting to get settled in the new Lair. Much more room for everyone and more importantly everyTHING!

I never realized I had so damn much stuff. We closed escrow on the 23rd and started moving that very evening. Our Christmas celebration was brief, just and hour or two and then back to the moving. Just about everything online was put on hold as we settled in and got our internet up. But now we are back and I've been in touch with several of the Dicey Tales crew and we will crank up the works again staring this week.

One of the cool things about moving is that you run across things that were lost or misplaced.

I was overjoyed when I "found" my Grandfather's Army picture. Not the U.S. Army - The Mexican Army circa 1938, Manuel Toledo was a trooper in the 9th Cavalry Regiment in San Luis Potosi. This photo is part of his squad picture (which I have in storage in Hawai'i). The weapon he's hefting what appears to be a Mark I variation of a Bren Gun.

My Granpo was so cool. He was a retired construction worker who supplemented his retirement income playing poker at the local card rooms (he wasn't a gambler, he was too good). He was a card carrying Democrat who framed his U.S. Citizenship document and displayed it proudly in the living room. Despite limited English skill he read the paper everyday and was always up on current events. And coolest of all to his 7 year old Grandson, he always had an endless supply of Conan, Thor, Horror and GI combat comics in stacks around the couch.

Lazy Sunday Photo Dump

2011-12-18T10:46:00.000-08:00

More on Ardion

2011-12-15T15:00:00.000-08:00

First and foremost Ardion is being created for my personal enjoyment and that of my minions. I want it to have an "Old School" feel and still take off on personal tangents free of rules or regulations. To be honest Old School means rules- alot of them. It may have to do with the founders of RPG's coming from the world of war gaming where each inch of movement is measured with a with a ruler and every sack of potatoes is given an encumbrance value. If you want to play the game the way Gary and the boys wrote it you are going to have lots of rules that you may not like or may not make sense to you- you can't play a Goblin ranger, Your priest cant use a sword, your magic-user cant wear armor.

I'm willing to go with a lot of the rules, I happen to like rules, unless they get in the way of how I want to do things. Therefore on Ardion - Goblins can be PC's, Dwarves have started using Gunpowder, Orcs arent dumb brutes (they're smart brutes), and there are flying ships (and the Halflings have them).

Thats all I have in my brain for now. the rest is a blank canvas to be filled as I get inspired or at my minions request (this campaign is for them after all). If they want to go to a jungle, I'll make a jungle, if they want to hunt mummies in a desert so be it.

Yesterday I posted the start of my campaign map. Several people commented on it and wanted to know a bit about the program. It's called Hexographer. It's enjoyed a bit of popularity for its ease of use. I'm enjoying it and still finding out how to do things with it. I believe you can play around with it for free to find out if it bops yer bippy. they have an alternate tile pack but its a bit pricey for my cheapass.

In a perfect world the Hexographer guys and the Castles and Crusades guys would team up and create an ultimate online rpg software tool.

Have a bounteous Wednesday!

2011-12-14T09:22:00.000-08:00

The lands of Ardion- A work in progress

2011-12-13T09:19:00.000-08:00

The Castles & Crusades campaign that I have been running for the Minions is in full swing. With the help of Hexographer I've begun work on the campaign map. Pictured above is my progress so far. I've decided to take a tip from "The Princess Bride" and give my nations currency names.

The boys are currently in the southern half of the kingdom of Sestertius, right outside of a small Halfling village known as NewBriar. The nearest city to them is the port city of Barnacus "City in peril!"- old school dice slingers may remember the name from Dragon #80.

Snow white and the Huntsman- I'll check it out.

2011-12-12T20:39:00.000-08:00

Wednesday girl -end of year hard drive purge

2011-11-30T09:57:00.000-08:00

John Carter - Oh my Lord...

2011-11-29T09:03:00.000-08:00

The Mars books by Edgar Rice Burroughs were an early favorite of mine. I suppose it had to wait until now to be made with all the grandness that it deserves. You MUST read the books, at least the first book to truly appreciate what Pixar and Disney are making. There are those who are making ignorant comparisons to Avatar. Fools. A Princess of Mars established an entire genre of fiction and reigns supreme in it.

Manly Monday- Those were the days...sigh

2011-11-28T09:43:00.000-08:00

Lazy Sunday Photodump

2011-11-27T09:49:00.000-08:00

Dicey Tales on sale with free PDF copy!

2011-11-24T07:07:00.001-08:00

In the spirit of making a quick buck we have decided to make a special offer on issue #1 of Dicey Tales. From today through midnight (PST) on Monday all print copiesof Dicey Tales are $2.00 off and come with a free PDF Copy. So now is a great opportunity to order a book that has been personally hailed by my mom as "A really nice looking book".

You can order right there on the sidebar.

Happy Thanksgiving...now buy the book.

Happy Wednesday...Wow what a view!

2011-11-23T18:40:00.001-08:00

Gaming with the Minions...

2011-11-22T18:27:00.000-08:00

Our First session of Castles and Crusades started today. Twoof my Minions participated. One of them played a human Paladin named Joshua andthe other played a Gnome Rogue known as “Little Peter”-(don’t ask). They travelwith a Halfling Mercenary swordsman named Kupo (who had a class that day) andan NPC Cleric named Helga. Helga is astandard NPC that I sue in almost all my games where a combat medic role isneeded. She is usually a no-nonsense Cleric of St. Cuthbert who has notolerance for evil, undead, or laziness. In this campaign however, I decided toforgo the entire pantheon of god’s and simply take a cue from the works of the lateDavid Gemmell- I use “The Source” to represent the forces of good and “TheDarkness” to represent the forces of evil. So in this campaign Helga is aSource Priestess, though still a foe of shirkers and cowards.

I’ve decided to run them through the introductory module “Shadowsof the Halfling Hall”.

To make a long story short- Helga and Joshua have been askedby the local Abbott to travel to the Halfling shire of Newbriar to investigatereports of the town leaders all disappearing after attending a party at a localwell-to-do Halfling’s estate.

Arriving in the small shire, Joshua and Helga (accompaniedby their comrade Little Peter) make their way to the local Pub and meet withthe interim Sherriff. Who fills them in about the missing Halflings, the partythey attended, and the loss of the patrol that was sent to look for the partygoersthe day after the party.

Our three heroes decide to make their way to the estate andinvestigate. They arrive at noon and find the estate in shambles, with a verydefinite aura of evil emanating from the darkened doorway. With their Halfling guides safely down theroad providing morale support, our heroes descend into the manor.

The grand main hall resembles a slaughter house of thedamned. Corpses and body parts are strewn about the place along with broken andupended furnishings, rotting food and an overpowering stench of death anddecay. It must have been some party.

As our heroes continued further into the great hall thebodies of the Halflings begin to reanimate and gather to attack the intruders.Helga summons the power of the source and turns a good number of the zombies,but not all. Joshua whirls his greatsword in a silver arc and wades into a group of Halfling undead. Little Peterunloads his hand crossbow and imbeds a quarrel right in the eye socket of azombie (The first natural “20” of the campaign). The battle lasts severalrounds and though its close, our heroes are victorious. Little Peter was grievouslywounded and was drug out of the manor by Helga as Joshua dispatched the last ofthe zombie welcoming committee.

Our heroes decide to return to the village, healup and await the arrival of their sword-brother Kupo, Before delving furtherinto the horrors of the Halfling Hall.

Now all of this was with the new Castles and Crusades (C&C) system I wrote about a few days ago. Well, I'm here to report that so far C&C gets two great big thumbs up! The character creation rules are a breeze and combat was fun and exciting. Now, I'm running this for my guys who are 11 and 12 years old so the roleplaying is slow and halting but it will get better as they get older and more comfortable with the system. But I am having a great time reliving that feeling of low level character death coming with every new dice roll and the elation when a solid hit is scored.

Have a classy Wednesday!

2011-11-16T14:43:00.001-08:00

C&C? We'll see...

2011-11-15T14:07:00.000-08:00

The minions and I have a regular Dicey Tales game going on every weekend. The episodes feature the adventures of Dr. Arachnid and The Skull, two intrepid crime fighters that roam the fog-shrouded streets of 1930's San Francisco in search of evil doers to thwart.
Now as much fun as that is, I still have the hankering to do a bit of old fashioned "dungeon crawling". So in celebration of "Teach Your Kids To Game Week" I've decided to restart our fantasy campaign for a few adventures. We had a regular Pathfinder game going for a bit but I noticed that it ran a bit slow. I'm thinking that the Pathfinder system may be a bit much for my lads at the moment, hell it's a bit much for me most times. When I switched them over to Dicey Tales the sessions seemed to glide on rails as opposed to our Pathfinder games. I would normally just switch to Legends of Steel for a fantasy fix, but my minions want to play Gnomes and Elves, which we all know is pure blasphemy in Legends of Steel. So I did a little research and turned to Castles and Crusades.

Now personally I'm an old 2nd Edition fan (at last count I think there are at least 3 or 4 dozen of us left world-wide) but I want my boys to have at least one foot in modern gaming and still get a little Gygaxian influence in their game. I'm hoping that C&C has the right mix of what I'm looking for. First I bought a PDF of the Players Handbook (PHB) and then I tried to go budget and get a copy of their "Little PHB", thinking that it would be like the Savage Worlds Explorers Edition-wrong answer- the print on that damn thing is so tiny, it gave me a headache. I finally ponied up the money and picked up the PHB in hard back-that was more like it. I'm going though it now and so far I think I made a good choice. It has much that is reminiscent of 1st & 2nd Edition AD&D but with enough common sense changes to make me smile- and it has Monks!
The truth will be in the playing though so I'll let you all know if C&C makes the grade here at the Lair.

Lazy Sunday Photodump

2011-11-06T09:29:00.000-08:00

Danger 5

2011-11-05T09:17:00.000-07:00

Hats off to Chris for this nugget of pure pop pulp gold: www.danger5.tv

Enterprise...I get it.

2011-10-27T13:36:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Netflix I started watching Enterprise. Enterprise was the most recent in the TV franchise and from what I understand one of the less popular of the franchise. Personally I've been a casual fan of the franchise, I grew up with a daily dose of the original series throughout my elementary and Jr. High years so I am more versed in that area of the timeline. I know enough about the other shows to keep myself involved in a conversation, but that's about it.

Sitting down and watching this series in it's entirety I think I have come to an understanding as to why they have such a loyal fan base. When you look at the shows depicting the future you see repressive regimes controlling mankind, evil sentient computers hunting us to extinction, or a post-apocalyptic zombie filled wasteland. The Star Trek universe offers hope and a less pessimistic future for mankind. It's not a perfect future- there are still wars and plagues and repression, but we've also conquered many of the demons that haunt us today.

What I like about Enterprise is watching humanity stumble into space. The crew on Enterprise don't have it all figured out. they brazenly walk in to situations waving hello when they should be scanning for life forms and sending out armed recon teams to gather intelligence. They involve themselves in situations that alter the cultural evolution of an entire species, merely because they are too ignorant to know better. There is no "Prime Directive" to guide them, the Prime Directive is created because of their actions.

I'm sure there are reasons that the hardcore fans can give me to explain why Enterprise didnt make it. But I'm enjoying it. I even like the controversial theme. If you listen to the lyrics and watch the video it is kind of moving, yes its a little Rod Stewart meets Bryan Adams, but its not terrible.

Happy Wednesday

2011-10-26T13:42:00.000-07:00

Lazy Sunday Photo dump

2011-10-23T19:32:00.000-07:00

Netflix online works for me

2011-10-07T07:31:00.000-07:00

I've been hearing all over the media how people are upset with Netflix for their current business practices. One of their biggest complaints is that their streaming video service doesn't offer a wide selection of the hottest and newest movies. I can see their point - I love watching a new movie as much as the next guy, but I also make a few bucks writing material for role playing games set in the pulp genres. so Netflix's library of classic, hard to find, and downright quirky movies is like mana from heaven to me. I hope that Netflix becomes more responsive to the wishes of their customer base-many of which have shown them years of proven loyalty. But I also hope that in doing so, Netflix doesn't purge its catalog of their less in-vogue offerings. Where the hell else am I supposed to get a hold of a copy of "Bamboo Gods and Iron Men" on short notice?

Life at the Lair -Update

2011-10-06T09:58:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long sabbatical, but things have been rather up and down over here. On the up-side, She Who Must Be Obeyed, the minions, and I have been looking for a new Lair and think we have found the perfect one for our current needs. It was however, a long and tedious process. I'm hopeful that all will go as planned and I can finally have my long desired library room!

On the Evil DM Productions front. Dicey Tales #1 has been available in print and is selling. I wish it was selling faster, but I really haven't put a great deal of effort into promotion, so I figure much of the blame is mine.

Dicey tales #2 is ready to go. We just need an open spot on Jason's schedule for cover art and layout to finish it up.

I have been discussing the next Barbarians of Lemuria project with Simon and he seemed enthused about it (so much so he even offered some of his own work that was sitting "in development").

The working title of the project is "Sulan" and is basically the BoL engine powering an Oriental/Asian flavored setting similar to that found with shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender, Kung-Fu Panda, and Jet Li and Jackie Chan's Kung-Fu fantasy film Forbidden Kingdom.

In Sulan I'm working on a world combining elements of Chinese, Punjabi, Arabic, and Southeast Asian Myth and culture. Careers have been added and Boons have been re-worked to add Wuxia flavored Martial arts. I've also been working on Chi Powers-similar to the psychic Powers found in Dicey Tales #1.

As is said Sulan is in the early stages of development and play-testing, so it may not see completion until the first part of 2012.

Here are a few sample paragraphs from an early rough draft:

Barraku

Barraku are “handlers of the dead” in Sulanese society. A character withthis career is a professional involved in the business of funeral rites. Thesetasks often entail the embalming and burial or cremation of the dead, as wellas the planning and arrangement of the actual funeral ceremony. It might eveninvolve making the casket to put the body in, but unless the Barraku is askilled carpenter, these boxes can be very basic. Because they deal with death,they are also trained in the tanning of animal hides, taxidermy and they areeven called upon to execute convicted criminals. Barraku also have extensiveknowledge of the Undead and the ways of destroying or dismissing them. Barrakudo not tend to favor any particular attribute over the others although Appealis the attribute that would be least required in the performance of their work.

Elemental Sorcerer

These Sorcerers specialize in one of the fourcore elements; Wind, Flame, Earth, or Water. Some practitioners learn traditionally from a Master but many learn thebasics of their craft at schools. Elemental Sorcerers follow the same rulesfrom the magic section of the BoL Legendary Edition in regards to spell power,cost, and magnitude. Each element has anassociated school the students in these schools learn not only the skills tosummon and shape the elements but also specific martial arts fighting stylewhich they use for inner discipline and self-defense.

· WindSchool- Crane style

· FlameSchool – Tiger Style

· EarthSchool - Stone Rhino Style

· WaterSchool -Water Snake style

Magic

The five different typesof magic found in the lands of Sulan are Elemental Sorcery, Celestial Magic,Shamanistic Magic, Witchcraft, and Wizardry. While magic is not an everydayoccurrence in the lands of Sulan, those who practice magical arts are not asshunned or reviled as they are in less civilized places. Much honor is bestowedupon practitioners of magic who use their skill for the benefit of mankind.

City-Stateof Quai

Between the southern jungles kingdoms and the borders of Great Sulan lies the powerful city-state of Quai. Quai’s well manned castles and fortressescontrol the passes through the mountains and therefore the flow of trade forthe entire region. The Raja of Quai leads an army of hardened warriors, BoundEarth Elementals, and a fierce contingent of War elephants. Though officially atributary state to Sulan, past efforts to conquer this mountain state havealways failed. With the current treaty, honor is maintained, face is saved and trade flows to the benefit ofall.

Have a Great Wednesday!

2011-09-14T13:55:00.000-07:00

Lazy Sunday Photodump

2011-09-11T13:48:00.000-07:00

The first print run of Dicey Tales #1 has arrived!

2011-09-09T12:28:00.000-07:00

It's finally here!
Dicey Tales Issue #1 is in print! We just got our first order in from the printer and they look awesome!
And it's being sold directly through Evil DM Productions with FREE domestic shipping.

Check out the button on the side!

$12.00 flat! No shipping charges for all orders in the United States. I wish I could offer free shipping World-wide but it just wasn't possible.

Bjorn!!

2011-09-08T15:59:00.000-07:00

The Saga Of Biorn from The Animation Workshop on Vimeo.

Wednesday in the woods

2011-09-07T19:36:00.000-07:00

I found my Core Rules Discs!

2011-09-06T09:27:00.000-07:00

The reason for this re-post is because I was cleaning out a long forgotten section of the Lair the other day and ran across this little gem. Not sure if it would work I took it over to the PC and booted it up. It worked! No friggen way! Core Rules works with Windows 7!
I quickly summoned all the minions over and regaled them with all the mysteries that are "Core Rules" (plus the Expansion pack, of course).
Hearing the creak of the chest and the soft crunch of the book opening, brought back some great memories of gaming in with my old group when I lived in Hawaii.

(and despite some of the recent posts on RPGNet, these guys are Gamer's and they all look to be in pretty good shape...well the one on the far left could drop 4D6 Lbs.)

Good times, good times...

I still belonged to the Core Rules Yahoo Group but I haven't participated in years. Now I have something to talk about. In fact the Minions and I were discussing resurrecting "Family Game Night", and I see no reason why we cant start a honest to goodness 2nd edition Grand Campaign- Lord knows I have enough material. And they are all of age. We have dabbled with several systems (linked adventures and such) and done a lot of character rolling. But we haven't played a true Old School campaign.

My oldest boy is in college and is a casual Gamer and my two younger ones are just entering Middle School- so I figure the time is now before full-time jobs and pretty girls start crimping in on hanging out with the Old Man.

Any way here is that post from a few years back on Core Rules:

Back in the 90’s at the tail end of the 2nd edition of D&D, TSR came out with some software that combined all of the core books (fully indexed) with HTML versions, a character generator (that allows you to maintain the character and add equipment and proficiencies as the character progresses), a dice roller, and two different map making programs. The character generator allows the user to customize character races, classes, magic items, spells and equipment. The software also allows the user to “link” map locations to monster encounters and a treasure data base. They also had an "Expansion pack" which refined many of the features from the core rules program AND added all the books from the "Complete book of..." series.

TSR supposedly had big plans to make a version for the then new 3.0 game. That never really came to pass. There was a character generator but it didn’t compare to the core rules software in the least, there was no map program, dice roller, or indexed books.

I was just thinking about all the software advances that have been made since then, and I wonder why there has never been a product released to challenge the Core rules set? I’m not a software developer by any means but you have to think that there have been enough advances in software that someone could take their RPG system and make a kick ass package for their games. Wouldn’t a GURPS core rules set just rock?

Or a FUDGE/FATE core rules? There are several other products that do a bit of this and a bit of that, but I have yet to see one that combines all the features that were in the Core rules and the expansion.

I’m one of “those guys” that still loves and plays 2nd ed and I treasure my copies of this software, it has bugs and you need to do a few work arounds from time to time but all in all it’s a very cool tool.

You can still find copies out there but now days the core rules software can go for as high as $200.00 bucks on Ebay. For those of you lucky enough to own a copy, you can find find plenty of patches, custom items and support at the core rules and beyond yahoo group.

Here is a map I made using one of the core rules mapping programs:

Lazy Sunday Photodump

2011-09-04T07:54:00.000-07:00

Hope you had a great Wednesday!

2011-08-31T21:03:00.000-07:00

Reddy for Wednesday!

2011-08-17T07:47:00.000-07:00

Dicey Tales now at Lulu!

2011-08-16T07:44:00.000-07:00

After receiving the first issue of Dicey Tales from Lulu, I'm happy to say I was very pleased with the result. Its on sale now at the Evil DM Productions page on the Lulu website.

Lazy SundayPhotodump

2011-08-14T06:47:00.000-07:00

Have a great Wednesday!

2011-08-10T00:21:00.000-07:00

Lego + Dungeons & Dragons = Awesome!

2011-08-09T23:16:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's cause its late and I ate cake at 10:30PM but I was lying in bed and I had a myriad of thoughts going through my head (hey I made a rhyme).

But listen to this for a moment.

A line of Lego's based on the D&D brand. Think about it Lego and WOTC get together and come up with these great sets of iconic D&D, AD&D play sets.

Could you imagine building a "Keep on the Borderlands" set? complete with the hermit in the tree? or how about the Moat house from the Temple of Elemental evil? A set of Lego minis with all the Iconic D&D brand characters? Has anyone thought of this. shouldn't someone be calling WOTC right now and telling them to look at this post?

People are always talking about gaming needing an infusion of new blood. What could be better than a horde of Lego Maniacs? Have you seen the stuff those guys make?

The money they drop on a new set, no questions asked?
I'm telling ya people, it's a win-win!

Ok, it's back to bed for me now. I'm sure in the morning I'll think of all the marketing and business reasons this would never come to pass. But for now, at least I'll get to dream about it for a few more hours.

Lazy Sunday Photodump

2011-08-07T13:13:00.000-07:00

Dicey Tales is becoming a "thing"...

2011-08-06T13:06:00.000-07:00

...in a good way.
It's taking up a good amount of time. I'm getting shit done that has languished on my hard drive for ages, forgotten projects that may finally see the light of day. I've received several submissions for Simon to review for the "Lemurian Lore" section of DT.
I'm trying to keep a tight reign on my artists and writers, so that everyone can make the 08/15 I gave them, allowing me to have DT#2 ready in late August/ early September.
Jason Chalker has agreed to continue his layout duties for a few more issues at least, so that's one worry less.

I'm also looking at a reissue of "Legends of Steel" for Savage Worlds with new adventures and expanded coverage of the world of Erisa ( I figured they came out with a new snazzy edition, I should too).

All in all it's a hectic time here at the Lair but it's a fun time as well. So if you happen to see more "Sock girls" than normal(see below), it's only because I'm too damn busy to write about anything substantive.

Have a great Wednesday!

2011-08-03T00:19:00.000-07:00

Lemurian Lore in Dicey Tales

2011-08-02T23:59:00.000-07:00

Simon and I have decided that Dicey Tales will offer a "Lemurian Lore" section in every issue starting with issue #2.

In the section, Simon and others will offer a mix of short articles covering a variety of subjects - realm information, adventure hooks, area spotlights, notable NPC's, side treks, and such.

All of the content in Lemurian Lore will be approved by Simon and considered "Canon" for the official Barbarians of Lemuria Campaign.

Lazy Sunday Photo Dump

2011-07-31T02:01:00.000-07:00

Hail to the King!

2011-07-29T13:40:00.001-07:00

Have a great Wednesday!

2011-07-27T08:52:00.000-07:00

ComicCon 2011

2011-07-26T13:37:00.000-07:00

Fanboys seem to have better hygiene than Gamergeeks.

Maybe it was the plethora of babes that showed up. Or maybeit was because we were in San Diego-which has some ass kicking nightlife duringComicCon. But the funk –o-meter kept hovering in the Tolerable to Low Zone.

I think that because ComicCon has morphed into so muchmore than just comics, you now find tons of gals at this venue. The fact thatthe Gas lamp district across the street had a “Spring break vibe” going on didn’thurt either.

So there weren’t just the beautiful but unattainablebooth babes and professional models in attendance, but also a nice crosssection of the female sex in general. This may have something to do with theboys making use of the dial soap and old spice solid.

San Diego is a great place to go for a convention.

These folks have the con-thing down to a science. Plenty ofsecurity, lots of friendly staff, frequent trolleys to ferry con-goers to andfrom all corners of the city. A fantastic night-life. And a population that doesn’tjust tolerates the hordes of geeks that converge into their hometown, but they appreciatethe attention and $$ we bring to the city- They were friendly from Macys to McDonalds.

I will never pay retail for a trade paperback again!

Just about every comic booth had trades at 40-60% off. Andthe deals were even better on the last day.

That’s all for now. There is much more but I’m tired.

Bottom line: for a Fanboy, Gamergeek, or anyone into Popculture, ComicCon is a must.

How soon we forget

2011-07-16T18:26:00.000-07:00

The latest nerd drama to hit the internets is all about the Dwarves from the new Hobbit movie. I'm staying out of most of it and will reserve my judgement until my Minions and I are watching it opening night. Our hands full of popcorn tubs, Nathans hotdogs and large Pepsi's (or Cokes).

I will not bitch and grumble. I remember oh too well the days when the very thought of movies about the books and characters I loved drew nothing but laughter from all the Hollywood studios.

Bring it on Pete Jackson, I forgive you for "The Lovely Bones".

Coming soon...

2011-07-15T17:05:00.001-07:00

Hope you had a great Wednesday!

2011-07-13T11:14:00.000-07:00

Nerdgasm Alert! John Carter!

2011-07-12T11:10:00.000-07:00

An ounce of preparation...

2011-07-10T08:36:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Netflix I spent the other day watching a Jericho marathon. Now I'm not an alarmist or anything but would it be so bad to stock up on a few more cans of soup and powerbars in the pantry and maybe buy a couple of extra boxes of shells for the Remington?

Well those are thoughts for another day. I'm off to start this book I just ran across...

Google+

2011-07-09T09:34:00.000-07:00

If any of you guys need an invite to Google+ drop us a line with your email addy and we'll hook you up. It's the Google Facebook clone and looks promising.

But so did Google Wave...

Have a great Wednesday!

2011-07-06T00:46:00.000-07:00

The great storage room clearance!

2011-07-03T13:44:00.000-07:00

Comic Con won't be cheap. So I figured waht better time to get rid of all the extras and doubles and Goodwill finds that have been stacking around here in the house. so check my stuff HERE on Ebay. I'll be posting more and different stuff in the coming weeks, like this....

A Saturday and a Sock Girl

2011-07-02T09:32:00.000-07:00

A Dicey Time Online

2011-07-01T21:01:00.000-07:00

We took Dicey Tales through its pace as an online game using Skype and a web-based dice roller. The result was a very fun and satisfying session. We didn't need to use a mapping program, thanks to the abstract sort of way that combat works in BoL. I was very satisfied that the non-combat rules held up well and it only strengthened my belief that Contacts is one of the wisest Boon choices in the game. The adventure ended on a cliffhanger note and we plan to continue once we can coordinate our schedules.

Happy Wednesday!

2011-06-29T15:14:00.000-07:00

2011-06-28T14:53:00.000-07:00

I took a quick trip to the comic shop today. no real reason just burning some time. I picked up a couple of titles and lo and behold I found a game. Now my comic store is usually strictly comics, but every once in a while they pick up a few RPGs in a large comic buy. In this case it was an old classic from yesteryear. Justice Inc.

That was a cool find in itself. But as every true Pulp Gamer knows: when you find a Justice Inc. box you have to look inside for one of the "Holy Grail's" of Gaming -"Lands of Mystery".

Now, "Lands of Mystery" was a supplement for running a "Lost World" pulp setting. It was written by Champions Guru Aaron Allston, and is considered one of the best gaming supplements ever written.

Dare I hope?

Would it be there?

Yer damn skippy it would!

There it was, in all its glory and in pristine condition too!

And all for $7.99

It was a good day.

I WILL be going to Comic-Con 2011!!!

2011-06-24T11:03:00.000-07:00

My wife and I just got our tickets!
It will be our first time there. This year I'll be going as an atendee, next year I might just have a table!

Woo Hoo!!

A Dicey Tales adventure anyone?

2011-06-23T19:37:00.000-07:00

My buddy Conan and I are gonna play a little BoL Pulp using the rules from Dicey Tales tomorrow. We'll be using Skype. we have room for about three others.

We are going to start at about 1:PM PST.
You need a copy of BoL and Dicey Tales #1

The game should last about 4 hours. If anyone else out there is up for a quick pickup game let me know!

Oh, what a Wednesday!

2011-06-22T19:27:00.000-07:00

Is that a "redband" trailer in your pants? Or are you just glad to see me?

2011-06-17T15:02:00.000-07:00

Here comes Drogo!

Err..uhh,,I mean CONAN!

The Black Death

2011-06-16T07:56:00.000-07:00

I ran across this gem the other day on Netflix. It had all the necessary ingredients to pique my curiosity- swords, soldiers, sorcery, and Sean Bean. Much like "Season of the Witch" which I wrote about in January, Black Death takes place in the dark ages and involves hunting for witches in one of the darkest periods in human history. Unlike Season of the Witch, Black Death is more of a historical thriller than an out and out horror movie. There are few CGI effects, But it turns out that we don't need leaping flames and crawling demons to experience horror.

The actions of the characters in Black Death are pretty graphic and horrific without needing a green screen. That said, the movie makes several intelligent statements about religion and morality.
Of note to gamer's- there are well choreographed skirkishes and nice depictions of weapons, armor, torture devices, and tips on playing a witch-hunter without all of the stylized anime inspired posing and coolness normally attributed to these very brutish men.

The Evil DM gives Black Death two thumbs up (now put away the thumbscrews).

Happy Wednesday!

2011-06-15T08:49:00.000-07:00

Just little bit more pimping on my Blog and then we'll get back to Wednesday girls.

2011-06-14T14:01:00.000-07:00

For a limited time I put Legends of Steel -Barbarians of Lemuria Edition and Legends of Steel - Savage Worlds Edition, on sale for 30% off at Lulu.

LoS /BoL is a hardback and LoS / SW is a softback.

This is for a limited time only (the next few days anyway).

I happen to be in a good mood (see Dicey Tales).

It's up for sale!

2011-06-11T22:13:00.000-07:00

Check it out HERE

DIcey Tales #1

2011-06-10T18:35:00.000-07:00

The first issue of Dicey Tales will be coming out this weekend. It will be released as an $8.00 PDF download over at RPGNow.

Dicey Tales is a periodical that features articles supporting the Barbarians of Lemuria (BoL) roleplaying game. Our goal is to expand the reach of BoL beyond Sword & Sorcery into the full realm of the pulps. Every issue features official expansions of the BoL rules allowing the system to encompass all of the various genres of pulp adventure- Two-fisted adventure, Western, Outer Space, Lost World, and many more.

Issue #1 of Dicey Tales launches our two-part foray into the classic adventure pulps. With this issue of Dicey Tales the world of daredevils, soldiers of fortune, occult investigators and cloaked crime-fighters will now be fully incorporated into the BoL system.

New “Adventure Pulp” Character generation rules

New Careers

New Boons

New Flaws

New rules for Magic, Psychic Powers, Super Science Gadgets, firearms and vehicles

Two complete adventures

All officially approved for use with the Barbarians of Lemuria: Legendary Edition rules.

I've decided not to send out "Review Copies" this time around. I've tried it before with my various versions of LoS and never really received much feedback. A few good folks turned in reviews, but compared to the number of free copies I gave out, the response was just too small. That's not to say no one will be getting a free copy- all the folks who helped out with DT are on the list as well as a few "Friends of the Lair".

Happy Wednesday!

2011-06-01T11:10:00.001-07:00

Pelinore

2011-05-31T10:57:00.000-07:00

Greyhawk, Toril, Ravenloft, Krynn, and the rest, you thought you knew them all eh? But how many of you have heard of Pelinore? Chances are unless you’re either from the U.K. or a die-hard TSR fan you may not have heard of this tiny campaign world that appeared back in the 20^th century circa 1984. It made its first appearance in a TSR U.K. magazine named Imagine, so I figure that makes it an official AD&D world (in my book anyway). Luckily,a PDF recently made its way into my hands that collects a little over a years’ worth of articles on Pelinore, and now I make it available to you, using that most wonderful of services: Dropbox.

The articles are as follows

July 84- a new world

August 84 – The city league

September 84-The Wynd

October 84 – Law and Order / North Docklands

November 84 – The city League/ Pablo Fanquays Fair

December 84 – The city league / The Arena

January 85 – The city league/ Gibbet street/ Guilds

February 85 – the big wide world

March 85 – The city league / the old bastion

April 85 – The cornucopia

May 85 – the Gods of Pelinore

June 85 – The county of Cerwyn: Burghalter

July 85 – the gods of the domains

August 85 – The city league/ monument square

September 85 – The city league / the Asylum

Watch Game of Thrones online

2011-05-17T07:32:00.000-07:00

If you don't have HBO check it out here before they take it down.

There are a few annoying ads to deal with at first, but thats to be expected.

I thought I found a "lost" Holloway print

2011-04-30T06:25:00.000-07:00

This is actually from "Friend of the Lair" Jason Chalker's collection. But the style is definitely reminiscent of Jim Holloway.
I love it! I want more.

This and more from Jason Chalker can be found here.

Virtual Gaming using corkboard

2011-04-29T11:09:00.000-07:00

I’ve been part of a Monday night Barbarians of Lemuria game set in Hyboria. We play online using Skype and Open RPG.

I’ve been having a great time with it and have really started to look forwards to Monday nights as my “game night”. It’s not in person, but we still manage to have some good laughs and manly banter.

The open RPG is pretty crappy though. I’m finding more and more that I don’t really need to see little tokens on a board to have fun with all of this, Especially with the Barbarians of Lemuria system. I think we use open rpg mostly for the dice roller but that’s not even worth it in my opinion as the dice program seems to run in strings of either high or low rolls.

I’m thinking a using a virtual whiteboard might just be better. You lose the pog idea but that’s not really all that much.

In fact someone (I'm not sure whether it was Stargazer or Greywulf) turned me on to Corkboard.me

I whipped toghether a virtual table top for a Dicey tales game. See here.

Corkboard has a chat function. I'm going to email the creator and suggest a dice rolling function to be added to the chat, Who knows, maybe he's a gamer huh?

The Wednesday Girls are clogging up the hard drive again, so from mine to yours...

2011-04-27T07:36:00.000-07:00

A review of The Desert of Souls

2011-04-26T11:00:00.000-07:00

The Desert of Souls

(Full disclosure- Howard is one of my many Online friends and as such I was sent a hardback copy from the publisher, but I enjoyed the story so much that I purchased my own Kindle Edition to have with me on hand)

Howard Andrew Jones, best known for his editorial work at Blackgate Magazine and the Harold Lamb collection from Bison Books has released his first novel featuring the adventuring duo Dabir and Asim, it is titled, The Desert of Souls.

The Desert of Souls gives us the origin of the partnership of these two characters, and lays the foundation for their long and adventure filled career. Dabir and Asim have adventured through a series of short stories written by Jones over several years now. Their adventures have graced the pages of historical fiction and sword & sorcery collections as well as those of Blackgate magazine. Dabir is a Scholar and Asim a swordsman and officer. The pair resides in the middle east of legend where they are often called upon, by their Caliph and others, to investigate mysterious happenings and solve the impossible.

At first glance it would be easy to pin the label of “Holmes and Watson meet the Arabian Nights” upon them, but that would be a gross injustice to the richness of the characters and the level of craftsmanship Jones has given these stories.

The Desert of Souls tells of a mission to solve a riddle and then to save an empire. Throughout the tale the duo faces wizards, assassins, necromancers, and demons amongst their many foes.
Despite these numerous foes, I never felt that Jones went too far in the use of the fantastic. He never loses the sword & Sorcery feel, where magic is rare and inherently a tool that corrupts.

I enjoyed Asim’s first person account of the story. There were several places where his characterization is so deep that I felt I was reading an actual recollection. Jones cites Robert E. Howard as one of his influences, Howard is famous for bringing his readers so deep into the story that we forget the characters, much less the setting, was a figment of his imagination. Jones it seems has learned these lessons well, as I found myself more and more invested in the character of Captain Asim.

While Desert of Souls is a full-fledged adventure story with plenty of action, swordfights, and nefarious sorcery, it is also the tale of two friends. The chemistry between the duo is readily apparent and the dialogue truly enjoyable. I was especially pleased at the wit and humor of their conversations, something lost in this genre since the early stories of Leiber’s Fafhrd and Grey Mouser.

The Villains and supporting characters are also well thought out, each with virtues, vices and depth lacking in many other tales found in this genre.

It’s apparent that Jones loves not only the genre but the rich setting of the Orient as well. The tale is well researched and presents an enchanting glimpse into lands that are rarely visited by other writers of Sword & Sorcery fiction.

Messrs. Howard and Lamb would be proud of their student.

Musical Monday

2011-04-25T10:44:00.000-07:00

Lazy Sunday Photodump

2011-04-24T10:24:00.000-07:00

GEEK ALERT! Behind the Scenes on the set of "The Hobbit"

2011-04-14T10:01:00.000-07:00

A million thanks to "Friend of the Lair" Jason Chalker for the heads up on this.

Nerdgasm time.

Hey there Wednesday girl

2011-04-13T09:45:00.001-07:00

ZeFRS fans raise $210.00 for disaster relief efforts in Japan

2011-04-01T06:10:00.001-07:00

We are proud to announce that through the sales of Legends of Steel : ZeFRS Edition, Evil DM Productions was able to raise $210.00 for the Earthquake and Tsunami relief efforts through the Save the Children Foundation.

Thank you to all who donated.

Please Help!

2011-03-31T06:57:00.001-07:00

Today is the last day of our Fundraiser for Earthquake and Tsunami relief efforts in Japan. I just wanted to appeal to you all one last time to consider purchasing a copy of Legends of Steel: ZeFRS edition. 100% of our profit will go to the Save the Children’s special disaster relief fund for Japan.
Thanks.

Hope you had a nice Wednesday!

2011-03-30T06:43:00.000-07:00

A couple of REAL men for “Manly Monday”

2011-03-28T19:12:00.000-07:00

A Gurkha soldier, who fought 40 train robbers, to be felicitated in the Republic Day of India

Bishnu Shrestha, a brave Gurkha soldier in Indian Army, defeated 40 train robbers while returning home after a voluntary retirement. The Indian army, is going to awarded Bishnu with Sourya Chakra, Bravery Award and Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha medals during the Indian Republic Day celebration on January 26.

While in the train, Maurya Express from Ranchi to Gorakhpur, on September 2, 2010, 35 year-old Bishnu saved a girl about to be raped by the train robbers in front of her helpless parents. After looting the train, when the robbers started to strip a 18 year old girl in front of him, he couldn’t contain his calmness. He took out his khukari and took on the a group of 40 robbers, alone. In the fight, he killed three of the dacoits and injured eight others. The remaining dacoits fled the scene to save their lives.

The police arrested the eight injured dacoits and recovered Rs. 400,000 in cash, 40 gold necklaces, 200 cell phones, 40 laptops and other items left by the robbers while fleeing the train.

In recognition to his bravery, his regiment has given Bishnu a cash reward of Rs. 50,000 and it has also terminated his voluntary retirement, so that he could get a customary promotion after he receives the medals. In addition to that, he will also receive a cash rewards from the government, special discounts in international air tickets, and discounts in Indian railways train tickets.

Gurkha solider gets Britain’s second highest medal for bravery

Gurkha soldiers are known for fighting single-handedly against a number of enemies. Last time, it was Indian Army Gurkha who fought more than 40 train robbers, in India to save a girl from being raped.

Now, a British Army Gurkha soldier was honored by Britain’s second highest medal for bravery for fighting off at least a dozen Taliban insurgents.

Acting Sergeant Dip Prasad Pun was stationed in a checkpoint near Babaji, in Afghanistan’s Helmand province. On September 17, 2010 militants opened fire from all direction.

Alone on the roof, Pun fought rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47s. He fired a more than 400 rounds of bullets, detonated a mine, and launched 17 grenades in about fifteen minutes of intense fight. He even used the machine gun tripod to knock down an insurgent, trying to climb up to his position.

In a BBC news article, Pun says, "I think I am a very lucky guy, a survivor. Now I am getting this award, it is very great and I am very happy."

The Conspicuous Gallantry Cross medal is only one level below the Victoria Cross, the highest medal a British Army personnel can get. The 31 year old Acting Sergeant Dipprasad Pun’s father and grandfather both had been Gurkha in British Army. (Photo credits – BBC)

Lazy Sunday Photo dump

2011-03-27T13:58:00.000-07:00

I like the shot of the kid crossing the raging river using dental floss.

2011-03-24T14:05:00.000-07:00

Very Cool.

Hope your Wednesday is shaping up nice

2011-03-23T05:37:00.001-07:00

Dicey Tales #1 Status Report

2011-03-22T06:29:00.001-07:00

The content portion of Dicey Tales #1 is done. Unfortunately, we hit a snag with several pieces of art. Luckily, DT cover artist Jason Chalker has stepped up to fill-in and will be working on the needed pieces in between his duties laying the issue out. The issue will be released as a PDF and we will be looking at a possible release later as a digest sized paperback.

I just ran across my old TSR Conan character

2011-03-17T08:20:00.000-07:00

I loved playing Khoraj. Nothing flashy about him, just a cool head and a steady arm in a fight. I always thought of him as being a friend to Conan during his days as a Turanian officer.

The fun I had playing him was what propelled me to help set up the LoS: ZeFRS Edition.

Have a great Wednesday!

2011-03-16T09:25:00.001-07:00

The theme grew on me. Now I love it

2011-03-15T15:37:00.001-07:00

When this last season began I thought the new opening theme was interesting but that was about it. Then as we got into this final season, I realized the genius of it all.

The song “Home” is a few years old and is by a British group The Engineers.

ZeFRS for Japan Tsunami Relief

2011-03-14T20:57:00.001-07:00

For the month of March 100% of all profits earned from the sale of Legends of Steel ZeFRS Edition will be donated to the Japan Earthquake Tsunami Children in Emergency Fund, Sponsored by the Save The Children Foundation.

Please help by purchasing a copy at
RPGNow

Please pass the word!

Lazy Sunday Photo Dump

2011-03-06T21:41:00.000-08:00

Happy Wednesday

2011-03-02T09:23:00.000-08:00

Lazy Sunday Photo Dump

2011-02-27T09:15:00.000-08:00

Getting the word out on ZeFRS

2011-02-26T13:08:00.000-08:00

So ZeFRS is out. It’s currently in the top ten Hottest sellers at RPGNow. I sent out a bunch of free copies to “Friends of the Lair” I’m hoping they will give it a read, and eventually posts something on their blog or favorite message board. Word of mouth my friend, that’s what, spells success in our medium. So if you’re in any way interested in Swords & Sorcery gaming please give it a look.

In other Legends of Steel news, I heard from Chris Rutkowsky the other day. He ran a BASH Fantasy: Legends of Steel game at Dundracon last weekend. He said it was a great success and the players at his table really liked the game. I’m waiting for a few more pieces of art and then layout of LoS for BASH should be out later this year.

Funny guy

2011-02-25T08:17:00.000-08:00

Finally...ZeFRS is out!

2011-02-24T09:19:00.000-08:00

After months of writing and years in production, the PDF for the Legends of Steel: ZeFRS Edition has finally been released. It's been a long haul, and to be honest, until I reread the PDF the other day I had forgotten how cool a system ZeFRS is.

Zeb's Fantasy Roleplaying System or ZeFRS is a reimagining of the original Conan© Role-Playing game written for TSR® by legendary game designer Dave "Zeb" Cook over a quarter of a century ago. Mark Krawec, with the permission of the original author, has brought this classic game back to life. And now, Evil DM Productions brings together ZeFRS and the latest edition of its critically acclaimed Legends of Steel campaign world to let you trample the kingdoms of Erisa beneath your sandaled feet!

Legends of Steel: ZeFRS Edition contains the complete Legends of Steel Campaign world and an LoS-adapted version of the ZeFRS rules engine.

Get $3.00 off Through Monday!

Use coupon code:

Three favorites 70's 80's & 90's

2011-01-28T08:01:00.000-08:00

Heading down the Path

2011-01-27T18:12:00.000-08:00

The Minions have played Basic D&D, Star Wars, Heroscape and Heroclix. I’m now going to try and bring their roleplaying up to date using Pathfinder. Despite the fact that I consider Dungeons and Dragons THE definition of a Roleplaying game, I’m drawn more to Pathfinder than I am to 4^th ed. D&D. Besides I already own a couple of the Pathfinder books, whereas I don’t have any of the 4^th edition books, and if there is one thing I have plenty of is books.

Ive been on the lookout for a series of modules to run them through and I decided to go through the series set in Falcon's Hollow to start.

Have a Great Wednesday!

2011-01-26T06:12:00.000-08:00

Robert E. Howard's Savage Sword #1

2011-01-25T22:18:00.000-08:00

As discriminating and thrifty as I try to be in my comics purchases I keep running into titles that have me reaching for my wallet just about every week lately.
Robert E. Howard's Savage Sword is just such a title.

Dark Horse has gathered some great material that has so far rarely been seen in the world of Sword & Sorcery comics. We are all well familiar with Conan, Kull and most recently Solomon Kane, but Dark Horse is taking the unprecedented step in printing tales of some of Howard's other, lesser-known adventurers. Dark Agnes (the original template for Red Sonja), the Pict King Bran Mak Morn, and of course one of my personal favorites Francis Xavier Gordon also known as "El Borak".

Each appears in serialized form and shares the book with a tale of the one and only Conan.

If you're a Sword & Sorcery junkie like myself, you really cant pass on this.

The Lair of the Evil DM

Another Lazy Sunday Photodump

Have you guys heard of Epic Table??

Saga of the Star-God

Just about settled in to the new Lair!

Lazy Sunday Photo Dump

More on Ardion

Have a bounteous Wednesday!

The lands of Ardion- A work in progress

Snow white and the Huntsman- I'll check it out.

Wednesday girl -end of year hard drive purge

John Carter - Oh my Lord...

Manly Monday- Those were the days...*sigh*

Lazy Sunday Photodump

Dicey Tales on sale with free PDF copy!

Happy Wednesday...Wow what a view!

Gaming with the Minions...

Have a classy Wednesday!

C&C? We'll see...

Lazy Sunday Photodump

Danger 5

Enterprise...I get it.

Happy Wednesday

Lazy Sunday Photo dump

Netflix online works for me

Life at the Lair -Update

Have a Great Wednesday!

Lazy Sunday Photodump

The first print run of Dicey Tales #1 has arrived!

Bjorn!!

Wednesday in the woods

I found my Core Rules Discs!

Lazy Sunday Photodump

Hope you had a great Wednesday!

Reddy for Wednesday!

Dicey Tales now at Lulu!

Lazy SundayPhotodump

Have a great Wednesday!

Lego + Dungeons & Dragons = Awesome!

Lazy Sunday Photodump

Dicey Tales is becoming a "thing"...

Have a great Wednesday!

Lemurian Lore in Dicey Tales

Lazy Sunday Photo Dump

Hail to the King!

Have a great Wednesday!

ComicCon 2011

How soon we forget

Coming soon...

Hope you had a great Wednesday!

Nerdgasm Alert! John Carter!

An ounce of preparation...

Google+

Have a great Wednesday!

The great storage room clearance!

A Saturday and a Sock Girl

A Dicey Time Online

Happy Wednesday!

I WILL be going to Comic-Con 2011!!!

A Dicey Tales adventure anyone?

Oh, what a Wednesday!

Is that a "redband" trailer in your pants? Or are you just glad to see me?

The Black Death

Happy Wednesday!

Just little bit more pimping on my Blog and then we'll get back to Wednesday girls.

It's up for sale!

DIcey Tales #1

Happy Wednesday!

Pelinore

Watch Game of Thrones online

I thought I found a "lost" Holloway print

Virtual Gaming using corkboard

The Wednesday Girls are clogging up the hard drive again, so from mine to yours...

A review of The Desert of Souls

Musical Monday

Lazy Sunday Photodump

GEEK ALERT! Behind the Scenes on the set of "The Hobbit"

Hey there Wednesday girl

ZeFRS fans raise $210.00 for disaster relief efforts in Japan

We are proud to announce that through the sales of Legends of Steel : ZeFRS Edition, Evil DM Productions was able to raise $210.00 for the Earthquake and Tsunami relief efforts through the Save the Children Foundation.

Manly Monday- Those were the days...sigh