Well it’s about time to write an update about what’s going on here hobby-wise at the lair.
Legends of Steel - It’s been taking me forever to get through the magic / psionics section but I'm almost done. I have about 37 spells written up which I feel is sufficient because spell casting isn’t going to be a major component of the game, just as spell casters are not a large component of true Sword & Sorcery literature. Despite my efforts, I realize most people are going to treat this as just another FRPG (fantasy role-playing game) but I'm trying my best to give it a different angle. I'm making it human centric, low magic, and a bit tongue in cheek- all the ingredients I see in countless S&S movies, comics and books. Hopefully when I'm done with the writing and start looking to commissioning the art I will find illustrators who can translate what I’m looking for to brush.
Gaming – Online, I'm currently in just one game. The “Basher” game, I'm running a Druid named Tarus, and since it’s a wilderness adventure, I'm King Enchilada in the taco stand at the moment.
I tried to resurrect the old “Action heroes” game but the guys on that list are either burnt out or tired of all the drama that list has been through. I got a few halfhearted “Sure okay” responses but no follow- up. We had some good times, but I figure that horse has run its race.
I’ve got a Tabletop 2nd edition AD&D Greyhawk game going on. The group has just leveled up and they have divested a wizard of his tower and are setting up house.
Joes - On the Joe scene I found a program called Xow! Which does stop motion movies. I'm planning on playing with this for a bit and see if I can add a new facet to my Joe collecting.
Writing – I just sold another article to Knights of the Dinner table Magazine. It’s a “Lost gaming safari” piece on the original Chill game from Pacesetter. I'm planning on working on another piece highlighting the original Marvel Superheroes Role-playing game by TSR next.
(Originally posted on the GMing Q&A Forum)One time during a gaming funk, i was over at my cousins house watching tv with him, his wife and another friend of theirs. the conversation turned to fantasy and then D&D. before you know it we were rolling characters. none of them had ever played before and we had no books, so i did a quick n dirty fighter, mage, priest.
i then drew up a dungeon and tossed in some orcs, zombies, skeletons, a couple of traps and some treasure.
now like i said none of these folks had ever gamed before, so needless to say their style of play was totally unconventional, unpredictable and totally refreshing.
They managed to gain a +1 dagger, once i told tham the dagger was magic they treated it as if it was a holy relic. you would have thought i gave them Excalibur by the way they reacted. whenever they ran across a monster they would shout " prepare the magic dagger" as if it was the "holy handgrenade of Antioch."
we played with monopoly dice and all the rules were from my head. we played late into the night.
the next day I was back into gaming. and so was my cousins friend from what I hear.
so if your feeling down on the game grab some newbies and work some magic.
I heard about the Bratz land rover going on sale at Big Lots! While it's way too small for 12" Joes, it's Perfect for my Mego guys! 
Here is my first try at an animation. It aint much but I did it in about 15 minutes using Xow! I think you need quicktime to see it though...This
video or more for your site at
Myzine.org
Nothing much today. Just a cool animated Gif.
Since I was off for the holiday today I decided to swing by a used book store near the house. It was a good call because I found a copy of the Night Below Campaign setting for 2nd Edition AD&D. It was in great shape, complete, and only seven bucks! This find has been the exception to the rule for me lately.
I run a 2nd edition Greyhawk campaign every other weekend, my oldest son plays in the game. I decided to get him a set of his own books for Christmas. Since the holiday was coming up and I didn’t have time for EBay, I figured I’d try finding a used copy of the Players handbook and Dungeon Masters guide over at the local game store- no such luck. I found the same at several book stores. Finally, luckily I ran across a set at a used bookstore. When I was telling the owner of the store about my ordeal he stated that he wasn’t surprised. He stated that in the last couple of years he can hardly keep any 2nd edition material in stock, “it’s usually out the door within a day” he said.
I decided to take a sample poll during my weekly book/game/comic store runs. At every store I asked, I was told that 2nd edition material sold very well much better than the 3.0 books clogging the shelves (3.0 became obsolete before their spins became creased). Now I’m not getting into which system is better that argument has been geeked to death, all I’m saying is that for several reasons the 2nd edition game is still out there and still being played. My research has uncovered several reasons why:
• Nostalgia- The guys who played 2nd edition in high school or college in the 80’s and 90’s are getting older. When folks get older and raise families they tend to reflect on life “back in the day…” I started a Play by Email (PBEM) AD&D group about 5 years ago with some friends from a GI Joe collectors forum (see what I mean about nostalgia?), when I first proposed it several of the guys confessed that they hadn’t played in years-since college at least, but they had never forgotten the good times they had. Before you know it they were posting about their characters and looking through their parents attic for the box of books and character sheets.
• Familiarity- according to the game store owners, when these folks do begin to wax nostalgic about AD&D they are surprised to find out that a whole edition and a half has taken place since they hung up their dice bag. As they flip through the 3.5 books the find them similar but not the same. These guys are trying to recapture a feeling, not rededicate themselves to gaming. They want to go home with some books and dice and take their 12 year olds through “The Keep on the Borderlands” or raid “The Temple of Elemental Evil”. They don’t want to relearn a whole new set of rules Feats, prestige classes, etc. They want to play a Dwarf fighter in a Gygax module set in Greyhawk. Not a spell casting robot –thing in Eberron.
• Price-This is probably the biggest reason for the resurgence of popularity of 2nd edition. With a little surfing, and legwork I can get a hold of the three core books for about 30 bucks. That same 30 bucks wont even buy the players handbook, if you kick in sales tax. Once again the guys buying these books are looking to relive the good old days, you start quoting the prices of gaming books these days and their eyes just gloss over.
Lets face it, there is nothing a 35 dollar mega campaign book can do for you on a Saturday night, that you couldn’t get from a copy of “Vault of the Drow” and a decent DM.
The other day I posted some thought on the Five Shires Gazetteer. Subsequently I started Googling the keyword Mystara. One interesting thing I came up with were several sites dedicated to a couple of arcade games from Capcom called “Shadow over Mystara” and "Tower of Doom". I also stumbled on to a site that showed how to down load an engine for playing the arcade version of the game. A little poking around and …Voila! I have this little known D&D gem all for my own! The graphics are classic Capcom arcade but the game is fun and takes up very little space. theres a link about the game here and an engine that can play it here, and a tutorial on all of it here. Have fun!
I recently acquired a copy of The Five Shires. It’s one of the sourcebooks in the old Mystara series of Gazetteers. Each book in the Gazetteer series detailed a different region in the classic D&D world (quite a well done series actually) . “The Five Shires deals with a nation of Hobbits umm…Halflings, or as they prefer to be called amongst themselves (according to the book) The Hin.
This sourcebook is one of the most sought after and highest priced gaming supplements on EBay. I recently saw a shrink-wrapped copy go for $85.00, my copy wasn’t shrink-wrapped but it was complete and in good shape, it still cost me $29.00 (To add insult to injury the seller left the original $4.99 discount sticker on it- gee thanks). The book is written by Ed Greenwood, he of Forgotten Realms fame, and gives a real complete look into Halfling culture that goes beyond the typical “Bilbo Baggins” stereotype that most gamers have when thinking of Halflings. He provides a complete history of the nation that is filled with struggle and adversity; overall it’s a good read. I came away with a greater respect for the race, which when I DM will reflect on the way I use Halflings in my campaign.
A really great message board is forming up over at the GMing Questions and answers forum.
It’s a message board where GM’s of all types post questions regarding the art of game mastering. Drop by and take a look.
Great idea from over at Jeff’s game blog. The Evil DM answers some four questions
Four jobs you've had in your life: Baskin Robbins (1st job), a worker Drone at EDS, an MP in the Army, a sales clerk at Waldenbooks
Four movies you could watch over and over: Gettyburg, The Wind and the Lion, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Four places you've lived: Monterey California, Honolulu Hawaii, Anniston Alabama, Denver Colorado
Four TV shows you love to watch: The Shield, My name is Earl, The office, Battlestar Galactica (current series)
Four places you've been on vacation: Manila Philippines, Las Vegas Nevada, Lake Chapala Mexico, Honolulu Hawaii
Four websites you visit daily:
· Attu sees all
· Fantasynet
· Latino review
· Gaming report
Four of your favorite foods: Pizza, Po Tak, BBQ, Fruitcake
Well part of my Christmas haul included all three complete seasons of the Shield and the first season of the new Battlestar Galactica on DVD. After watching the whole slew of them I’m kind of feeling “why should I watch TV”? It’s better to wait for the season DVD’s to come out. I get deleted scenes, commentaries, behind the scenes stuff and most importantly –NO COMMERCIALS! I’m a new fan of TV series DVD’s. Next on the list are Buffy the vampire slayer and at least season 1 of Xena.
Sorry for the long hiatus but the Evil DM has been getting his butt kicked at work with end of year stuff. Hopefully we can get back on track now.
Pulp stories are a tricky thing, for every really great story you need to plow through some really lousy muck. Over at PulpGen, the authors have taken dozens of authentic pulp stories and converted them to PDF format. In addition to that they even give you little capsule reviews to help you avoid the really bad ones (Then again bad stories are kinda like bad movies, they seem to have a charm of their own). PulpGen has Pirate stories, Boxing stories, sports stories, lost world stories, and many others, a great sampling from all the worlds of pulp fiction. Download them, print them up and toss them in a folder- then read them at your leisure during staff meetings, training sessions or at your desk. Get your daily dose of action, adventure and intrigue and still maintain the façade of the dedicated employee.
Shadizar the wicked.
Retail $39.95
My price: $9.99
God I love Ebay!
It looks like the Conan animated movie is moving forward. It’s looking good so far. They are doing an adaptation of Robert E Howard’s story “Red Nails”.
This is the style of art I would love to have for my Legends of Steel Game.
Check out the Link.
Last week I received a package of Tapes that I won on Ebay. They are part of the research I'm doing for my Legends of Steel game.
-ATOR THE FIGHTING EAGLE
-THE BLADEMASTER
-INVINCIBLE BARBARIAN
-CONQUEST
-DEATHSTALKER 3
So far I have sat through Deathstalker 3 I tried to sit through Conquest but my hand kept wandering to the remote. I finally turned it off and went to bed.
Well I posted a bit of bashing last week. So this week I’ll update what’s going on gaming-wise
KODT
I'm currently working on two more “Lost Gaming Safari” articles for Knights of the Dinner table magazine. One is on the horror game Chill from Pacesetter games. the other is on The Marvel Superheroes Role-playing game by TSR.
I'm also working on an article that shows how to use movies as teaching tools to get players to role-play better, specifically in the regards to alignment and group interaction.
Legends of Steel
I am so close to finished with the rules. I'm still working with the magic system and trying to tie in a bit of Psionics. The character generation, combat, and campaign play are pretty much done. I have to do some more on the critters and then tackle the campaign world stuff. I have one professional artists on board for a piece of art or two and hopefully I’ll be able to get at least two more, the art thing is important to me cause I'm a very visual person. So although I sure in hell ain’t rich, I’m willing to invest a little to get nice artwork. Like I said before, some guys take 69 Ford Mustang and trick it out for a hobby, I'm gonna make my own game. And its gonna see print (even if its just a vanity run for friends and family).
For those of you who didn’t know, I'm working on my own Role-playing game called Legends of Steel. It’s what those in the gaming industry call a “Beer and pretzel game” that is to say a game to play for laughs or a quick aside rather than a full-scale campaign. I'm modeling it after the Sword & Sorcery B movies of the 80’s and the Fantasy comics of the 70’s.”
FASERIP-Pulp
I also started on a side project of taking the FASERIP rules from The Marvel Superhero Role-playing game and converting them to use in a 1930’s pulp setting. A much less ambitious project than Legends of Steel, but still a fun diversion. I’ve got about 13 pages written up and will probably post it on the Swords of Erisa website when it’s done.
I told myself – Self: “Don’t talk about writing, don’t read about writing, don’t dream about writing. Just sit down at the damn keyboard and write.”
So there we are.
Chap Mei is, as best as I can tell a small outfit that makes 1/18th inch bargain figures for sale at discount outlets. They have great ideas for figure lines. they do the standard soldier figures as well as police, rescue, and constrution figures and sets but they also have some really cool original lines, they have a Wildquest line that features arctic and jungle animals and the folks that capture them. they have a ninja line, a He-Man knockoff fantasy line, a knights and wizards line. and now the other day I ran across a Pirate line. the figures have cool detail, nifty equipment, and a great price point. their biggest failing if that the figures have no articulation in the knees and elbows. I think thats the only thing thats keeping this company from being way more popular. it's funny, the figures are awesome to look at, the detail and originality of the recent figures tells me someone at that company cares about what they are putting out,just look at these figures: the tatoos on the bald guy, the peg leg on the eye patch guy and the hand on the captain can be replaced by several different weapons (kinda like Mr. Han in Enter the Dragon) somebody at that company loved these guys to invest all that detail in them. but I just cant figure why these guys dont go for that extra articulation that would push these figures into direct competition with the little joe guys.
