Sunday Funny

Games I wish I could play; or why The Evil DM cries himself to sleep

It has been MONTHS since I rolled the dice. And man, am I Jonesing for a game. The thing is:

#1 I want to play, not GM
And
#2 I don’t want to play anything I’ve played before.
And
#3 I only want to play something from this list.

Now that’s not a tall order eh?
Ha! Guess again.
Sacramento may be the capital city of the greatest state in the most powerful nation in the modern world. But I still can’t fill a table of gamers unless I’m running D&D.
Now I love D&D, always have, always will. But I have a ton of games on my shelf that I may never get to play in my lifetime. This coming year I want to make a dent in those shelves. So here, in no particular order are 11 games that are not D&D that I would love to play. Of course there are more, but I want to get these knocked out first. Even if it’s just three good sessions each, enough for one good adventure. Any takers?

Here’s the list:


Legends of steel
Before the car wreck I had a group all ready to play-test my Opus. With the holidays upon us I doubt I’ll be able to get them together before the New Year. When I do I’ll most likely be the one to run it.




Hollow earth expeditions
A beautiful book dedicated to one of my favorite genres. Several times a year I make a BIG RPG PURCHASE, Hollow Earth was one of those. No regrets, but man I really want to play this. The problem is finding other folks in the area not only willing to play, but who have the books as well.


BASH Fantasy
This is a local game created by a guy who lives in Davis (about 30 miles away). The game is affordable and looks like a quick system. Since it’s a local game I might have a shot of getting in on a local campaign.


Top secret SI: Agent 13
I tried to get a TS/SI game off the ground at least twice in Hawaii. I wanted to run a TS/SI agent 13 campaign- I still do.



Cthulhu Dark Ages
I have several editions of CoC including the rare D20 version. I respect the system but I was just never into the hopelessness of it all. But in looking over Cthulhu Dark Ages I’m thinking this might be a pleasant diversion for a few sessions. I like percentile systems and I like gritty fantasy and I reckon you can’t really get much more gritty that a Cthulhu fantasy world. Did I just say reckon?


Savage worlds- Solomon Kane, Conan or Pulp
The core book is only $10.00 what’s not to love? Hell, I have TWO copies. I even have the virtual table top version. Have I ever played it? Hell no. all the guys I know who game regularly have a D20 stamped on their foreheads. I REALLY, REALLY want to try this system. The Solomon Kane book is #1 on my Christmas list. And If I don’t get it I’m ordering it on December 26th.


Chill-Mayfair edition
I played Pacesetters Chill in the 80’s and loved it. I even wrote an article about it for Knights of the Dinner Table Magazine. But when Mayfair obtained the license I wasn’t in the Horror game mindset anymore, and it didn’t help that I absolutely hated the art in the new edition. But recently I picked up a couple of Mayfair Chill lots for real cheap on EBay. Two copies of the core rules, the companion, CM screen and several splat books all for under $20.00
The gaming Gods are trying to tell me something, I still think the art sucks but I’ve been looking over the rules and they have really improved them over the original Pacesetter ones. I’m ready to play.


Army of Darkness
I just bought this tonight. I should get it by next week. Anyone up for a game?


Mutants and Masterminds –Golden age
I don’t play D20 often, in fact only twice and one of those times was a M&M Golden age game it was just a pick up game to test out the system (so I still count it as a game I’ve never really played). I had fun. I would play D20 again in a heartbeat if it meant playing in a Golden age M&M campaign.


Conan D20
I am a Conan fan from waaay back. My grandfather used to pick up Conan, Kull, and Thor comics to help him learn English

“Jeff my lad, gather thy cloak and accompany an old man to yonder Safeway I must fetch a skin of milk for the feast this night.”

He didn’t really talk like that, but it woulda been cool huh?
Anyway, when Mongoose came out with Conan I waited and waited and hesitated and delayed. I was never sure why and as the weeks ran into months the reports started to filter in about the jacked up editing and typos, so I waited a bit longer. Eventually I found a mis-categorized copy of the Atlantean edition on EBay. I snatched it up for $13.00 ( I now have an almost complete set), which started a trend- to this date I have never paid full price for a single Mongoose Conan product. And I never will. Thank you eBay.


Broadsword
How could I not include the only game I’ve had published to date? I would love to play Broadsword. Not run it, play it. I would want to see someone else’s take on it.


So there you have it folk’s 11 games that I would love to play. So, are any of my Blog readers out there in the Sacramento area up for a game from this list? Drop me a line. According to the stats there are over 50,000 of you. Some of you have got to live in Northern California, all I need is 3 more players and a GM.

Broadsword news and a good ol' Rant

I just sent the first draft of the Broadsword Expansion I to Heyoka Studios.
Hopefully James will like it and give it a good going over with his editorial pen. We may see it on sale by the New Year.

Now that the first Broadsword expansion is off to editing, my next project will be to finish up “For Love and Honor".

Just as a refresher, "For Love and Honor” (L&H) will be a full-sized adventure for the Idyll 1PG game. It takes place in a mythical world known as Aurora, during a period similar to our Victorian age, yup a Victorian Adventure – not “steam punk” I hate that term.

L&H will be an homage to works like "The Prisoner of Zenda" and "The Mad King". There are elements of magic, fantastic creatures, and heroic romance.

I'm a visual type of person, so first off I'm creating a map of the portion of Aurora that will be featured in the adventure. After which I will apply my notes to the locales and let the adventure spill out of my head and onto the page.

After L&H I will be giving LoS some much needed attention. The artwork for the game has been slow in coming, but I’m hoping that situation will change in the New Year. I have one group headed by Tim of Heropress that will be running a play-test of the rules very soon.

I’ve received a number of requests and offers to review and play test LoS and I have been remiss in answering some of those inquiries, I do apologize. At the present I’ve decided to hold off on sending anymore copies of LoS out for review or play testing.
The main reason being, that for all the copies I’ve sent out I’ve only gotten the tiniest tinkle of feedback.
Here’s how it generally works, I get a private email telling me how much they enjoy the Blog and love the S&S genre, then they ask if they can take a look at the game and help out with critiquing or maybe play testing it with their group. I send out a copy to them with a heartfelt thank you and a few notes on what I would like them to pay attention to. After that, a few weeks pass, and I hear NOTHING, I send an email wondering how it’s going…NOTHING.
Was it that bad? Did it suck so much that they fell off the face of the earth and they can’t even flip me one on the way down? I don’t know. If they at least dropped me a line and said:

“Hey Jeff, about your game? IT SUCKS! Bye.”

At least then I would have some closure. But like my Drill Sgt. used to say “you got screwed without even the decency of getting a reach-around.”

So I’m kinda done with sending out copies. It’s like loaning a book out to a buddy and then never getting it back. From that point on the relationship is always tainted. If you’re a reader you know just what I’m talking about.

Now that’s not to say everyone has done this, Thank God. I have received a great deal of help from close friends, gaming buddies, and internet friends. Gabriel B, Tim, Pmikey, Doc Holaday, Dabos, Walker P, Rock viper, Jeff H, Nate, Tony, and MG, immediately come to mind, there are others. Because of you guys I know the game is worth the effort. I thank you for the honest and at times tough critiquing that you have given LoS so far.

Wow, that was a rant. I haven’t ranted on my Blog in awhile…felt good though.

Conan on 45

I added a little Conan treat to my “Forgotten files” site.

Free comic book software and a top 20 ranking!

I ran across the Comic Collector Live site the other day. it has a great comic organizing program that I've been using to make some sense out of all of my boxes and boxes of comics. I'm finding out that I have whole runs of comics I haven’t even read yet. the free organizer allows you to sort the books by title, publisher, story arc, etc. and when you’re done entering them you can see what gaps you have and print up a report of your missing issues, so you can go buy MORE comics. They also have a community forum and a place to buy and sell comics. I haven’t really looked around there yet (I'm still entering my collection in the database).

Yax, over at Dungeon Mastering has ranked The Lair of the Evil DM number 15 of his top 50 favorite gaming sites. I'm in the top 20, that’s pretty cool. Thanks man.

Motivational Monday

And they lived happily ever after…

Yesterday we had quite the movie day. “She who must be obeyed” and I took “the Minions” to the movies to celebrate their excellent grades at school. We went to see Disney’s Enchanted, a wonderful family movie about a Fairy tale princess to be who is transported to modern day New York by the evil step mother of her “one true love”.
On our way out of the theater we noticed there was a special sneak preview showing of “The Golden Compass”, we promptly turned right around and went right back in (yes we bought tickets- I had to set a good example for the minions).




The Golden Compass was visually a very beautiful movie, although it’s a bit dark and involved for the little ones. It’s marketed to be similar to Narnia and Harry Potter, but be advised- this is not a kiddie movie- there are several dramatic scenes that need to be carefully explained. That said, the movie from a gamers perspective delivers.



Have you noticed the abundance of movies with a fantasy/ storybook theme that have been released lately? Not just The Chronicles of Narnia and The Harry Potter franchise but also films like Stardust, and even the Television mini-series Tin man currently on Sci Fi. Once again, on yet another front, it’s a good time to be a geek.

AD&D Core rules STILL 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:

Flash back Friday - The Travelling Guy visits Hawaii

My journey into Cyber space began almost ten years ago. One of the first groups I hooked up with online were a bunch of guys from a list called Action Heroes. The AH guys were into action figures, specifically the 12" GI Joe action figures. Through the group I was able to re-connect with my childhood love of GI Joe and other nostalgia. One of the projects we had was the "Traveling guy". One of the guys in the group volunteered a figure to make it's rounds with each member of the group. "TG" as he was known travelled from Washington state across the country and even to Europe and Australia. I happened to be living in Hawaii then so when TG made it to the islands I was responsible for showing him a good time. After his inspection of my GI Joe team,I took him to Waikiki, the Arizona Memorial, and of course to a luau beach party on the North shore. I even hooked him up with a local gal. Good times.

Here is the Hawaii team during the field evaluation.

After action report, TG gives a few tips and suggestions.

Back to the barracks for a night on the town.

Out front of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki.

Aahh Paradise!
Diamond head in the background.

At the Arizona Memorial.

TG and Lani "Island love.

Time for some island fun and suna at the beach. Colonel Teddy (in the background) has had bit too much to drink.

Colonel Teddy and Major Ike with some of the girls from the finance department.

Pulp Thursday

Galactic Central
Here is a great repository of pulp magazine covers





Cool Blog Alert! With a touch of Russian SF art! Just the thing for some retro –pulp sci-fi inspiration. Thanks Kenny!



And that post led me to this website. I don’t know what the hell they are saying but this guys stuff rocks on ice for Pulp inspiration.





Fu Manchu & Shang Chi
One of my desires for the Mission: Adventure! project is to run a pulp game using the story line ideas from The Master of Kung Fu series that Marvel Comics did in the 70's. Here is a nice site for everything you wanted to know about Pulpdoms most famous Oriental Villain.

Here is another Chronology of the Master of Kung Fu series




Octopus pulps…no really Octopus pulps
There’s more of them than you would think.


Need a map of the planet Mongo? Who doesn’t?
Try this cool Flash Gordon site.






And, as I’ve said before my idea of Pulp extends beyond masked Crimefighters, Barbarian kings and two fisted sailors. I find many a pulp character in a variety of settings.
Two fisted action?
Larger than life characters?
Thrilling escapes?
Huge Afros?
You can find it all here in SOLID!
I don’t really play D20 games but some D20 stuff is just too original to pass up. SOLID turned out to be a fun read and provided inspiration and fodder for several ideas I’ll be stealing in the near future. And the price is right at $5.99






Free holiday stuff!
While gathering info on SOLID! I ran across this freebie from Evil Hat and Atomic Sock Monkey. I haven’t had a chance to check it out, but I hear only good things about both companies. Plus its pulp and it’s free!

“It’s the Most Wonderful Time Of The Year… For EVIL!
The miserly villain Doctor Scrooge hides behind legal technicalities as he steals from the pockets of the impoverished… explorer-gone-mad Jacques Frost preys upon the peoples of the north with his resurrected prehistoric murder monsters… the immortal Baroness Blackheart quests for the Elixir of Life, threatening to destroy all foundations of happiness for mankind…
… and it’s up to Nick Saint — Codename: Secret Santa! — his Reindeer Men, and you to save the holidays from their vile clutches!
Spirit of the Season is a holiday treat from the minds of Evil Hat Productions and Atomic Sock Monkey Press. Featuring characters and new rules compatible with both Spirit of the Century and Truth & Justice, Spirit of the Season is your ticket to two-fisted holiday pulp adventure!”

And thats your Pulp Thursday Report!

50,000 hits!

We reached 50,000+ hits! Not too shabby for an off the cuff effort. As Blogs go I’m not exactly shaking the pillars of heaven. No deep morale or political rants, no great insight on my life or the workings of my psyche, no long diatribes on roleplaying theory. The Lair of The Evil DM was created as a place for me to post some photos of my action figure kit bashes, write about the games I’m working on, and gather together a lot of the crazy stuff I see on the net every day.

Occasionally I post opinions and reactions to trends in the hobbies that I find interesting but mostly it’s become a place to hang out for a few minutes, check out some links, have a chuckle, and catch some eye candy. I’m okay with that and from the looks of things, folks out there like the formula as well.

Someone once remarked that my Blog is “like a Maxim magazine for gamers”, I liked that description so much I use it as the Mission Statement here. Thanks for stopping by, leaving comments and hanging out with me for awhile.

Motivational Monday