DIcey Tales #1

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". 

Dicey Tales - A Pulp Era Supplement for BoL

Well this is the project that has been filling the time I've saved by not posting as much here and on the forums. It's called Dicey Tales- It's a Pulp expansion for the Barbarians of Lemuria Rules Engine by Simon at Beyond Belief Games. This spectacular cover was done by Jason Chalker from The Manly Art Blog (go there, it's cool). I cant think of another pulp gaming cover more reminiscent of the pulps save for the venerable Justice Inc. cover from Hero Games.
The majority of the interior art will be done by another "friend of the Lair" Chris Schieffer.  Here are a couple of proposed sketches he's working on.

Hador is still being finished up and will most likely be released as an adventure setting for Dicey Tales and then for Savage Worlds.  


I'm currently working on the Game Masters section. The Players section of Dicey Tales is being looked over by a crack team of Pulp aficionados and BoL veterans. They have already begun to help me plug holes, remove inconsistencies and correct my grammar.
As with all my projects, you can calender it for a "soon" release date, but I am getting the art together so that means it wont be too far off. 

Gabriel Hunt

Well, I'm Reading the first Gabriel Hunt book. I'm really sorry to say I'm not particularly wowed by it so far. My first major disappointment with the book is when I found out several pages in that it's set in the modern world. I had mistakenly assumed that the series would be taking place in the 1930's or maybe even the post WWII era. The only thing that is even remotely "pulpy" is the fact that the hero uses a .45 revolver. Other than that it reads like a contemporary adventure story Ala James Rollins or Matthew Reilly. Maybe it will grow on me in the upcoming chapters but right now I'm just not feeling it.

Evil DM update

Just to let you all know that I have been hard at work on not only the ZeFRS version of Legends of Steel but also on Lost World of Hador. This explains my lack of posting and presence on some of the message boards I usually frequent. I can easily blow half a day just reading blogs and looking at funny pictures.

So if the posting is sparse, it’s because I’m actually trying to be productive.

Legends of Steel is at layout. I heard from James via email this weekend and we went over a couple of design things. It is being worked on and will come out as soon as It possibly can.

Lulu is starting to look like a viable option for those who want a printed copy in their hands (I know I want one at least). So I’m tackling that.

Hador is coming along nicely, Ryan is making good progress on the map, Joffrey is coloring the cover art, and I’m getting all my thoughts onto paper.

Pulp Thursday - Pulp Fanatic Magazine - Wow.

 

Since I began my game designing odyssey I’ve built what I consider to be a rather large and varied paperback library of  “Pulp” publications- Sword & Sorcery, Noir, Men’s Adventure, Espionage, Sword & Planet, Western, Thriller, Horror, Historical Adventure, Mystery and a large quantity of “Adult” titles in everyone of the aforementioned genres.  I have become quite the collector, and I wince when I think of all the titles I’ve passed by through the years.

So it must be fate that one of the blogs I follow (and I can’t for the life of me remember which one) made mention of Paperback Fanatic Magazine.  At this point and time in my life I can truly appreciate this publication.  Paperback Fanatic Magazine is loaded with photos of wonderful paperback art, interviews, and articles. The fact that the magazine deals mostly with English paperbacks is inconsequential.  The magazine is a delight from cover to cover. I learned about titles I was completely unaware of and best of all the articles include bibliographies of all the series titles in the sidebars. Paperback Fanatic Magazine is definitely a labor of love. It’s a quick, informative, and fun read.

Paperback Fanatic Magazine will run U.S. buyers around $10.00 give or take.  I ordered my copy on 01/07/2009 via Paypal and it was waiting for me on the kitchen table when I got home on 01/14/2009, One week turnaround from England?  Hell, I’ve waited weeks for Ebay items from neighboring states, so color me impressed.  It was also kinda cool  when I walked in the house and one of my minions called out “Hey dad, you got “Royal Mail”!

I sat down in the evening and devoured it.  Half-way through this issue I went and ordered a back issue (I would have ordered more but they are sold out of all but the previous issue).

I even got a chuckle at the end as I recognized that one of my favorite authors Simon R. Green ( Hawk & Fisher, Deathstalker, and Nightside books) dropped them a fan letter.

So, Paperback Fanatic Magazine…Two enthusiastic thumbs up!

 

And that's your Pulp Thursday report!

Pulp Thursday

Gabriel Hunt – coming in May

Sign up for email updates here.

Thanks for the tip Paul!

Here's a funny story about visiting every 15 year old boys favorite planet…GOR!

and last but not least a few Pulpy images…

Don’t judge a book by it’s cover…the cover is nice, the book sucked.

 

I found The Colorado Kid in a .99 cent used book bin. I should have left it there. Instead, I brought it home and struggled through 37 torturous pages before I just said  “Fuck it” and moved on to the next book.  I should have remembered that for me Steven King does horror real nice but I’ve never enjoyed any of his works outside of the horror genre. When he came out with The Eyes of the Dragon I was in full Steven King fan mode, so I was extremely excited that he was doing what I thought would be a kickass fantasy/ horror story. It wasn't a total bust, but I remember being disappointed.

The Colorado Kid was just a complete waste of my time. funny thing is that King himself states in the afterword that readers will either love the story or hate it, with no middle ground. in my case he hit the nail on the head. The little that I read was about as exciting as peeling a potato. 

The Colorado Kid was released by a small crime novel publishing outfit called Hard Case Crime. As a small publisher I’m sure they shit their pants when they managed to sign Steven King on for a story. It probably didn’t matter too much to them what he wrote about, I mean hell it’s Steven fricken King!  Oh well…

But hey! Something good did come out of all of this. While working on this post I ran across The Tainted Archive Blog. On the blog is an interview with one of the publishers, from whom we get this little gem of a quote:

“Well, we are branching out into pulp adventure fiction next year: In May we'll publish HUNT AT THE WELL OF ETERNITY, the first in a series of novels about a two-fisted modern-day adventurer named Gabriel Hunt, and additional volumes will follow every few months after that. The books will be published under Gabriel Hunt's name, but will actually be written by some old Hard Case Crime hands (me, David J. Schow, Christa Faust) as well as some friends of the family (James Reasoner, Nick Kaufmann, Raymond Benson). The books are intended to harken back to the style of H. Rider Haggard and Edgar Rice Burroughs and Sax Rohmer, or Doc Savage and The Avenger, or Indiana Jones. They're a ton of fun to write and edit, and again, it's a type of book you just don't see being published anymore -- inexplicably so, when you consider just how popular the genre is at the movies.”

So maybe there was a reason for the pulp gods to test me so. It was their little way of letting me know to be out on the look out for some new two fisted action- coming soon.

New issue of Danger Magnet available now!

Yeah I know I’m late on this. But since this is their Halloween issue I figure you guys can cut me some slack.  Good stuff!

pulp story outline with a twist

We all know about Indiana Jones and his globetrotting adventures battling Nazis and “rescuing” artifacts.
But I was just thinking about a twist to the pulp adventurer plot.

Hitler supposedly sent teams of agents throughout the world to collect artifacts and conduct occult research. I was thinking about a German adventurer, an officer/scientist who serves his country in this respect. To make the character more sympathetic we can use the “I’m a German officer, not a Nazi” trope. Suppose he is sent for some powerful artifact, but during the adventure he has a crisis of conscience and decides to destroy the artifact rather than let it fall in the hands of Hitler and his cronies? He’s not a traitor so giving the artifact to the allies is not an option. He would have many of the same antagonists that Dr. Jones would have including the allies. Possibly an Indiana Jones style adversary with whom he tangles with from time to time. Our hero is in fact a hero, he just works for some nasty hombres. This might make a nice short story or a limited run comic.

Colonial Pulp Hero - The Black Coat

"The Black Coat is America's first superspy! Set in New York City in the days before the Revolutionary War, The Black Coat fights against the British and forces of the occult to protect the burgeoning nation."

-Black coat website





Check out a free online issue.

Savage Worlds Black Coat campaign anyone? The Solomon Kane rules are out there, It would probably be a nice easy conversion.

There's also Colonial Gothic and Colonial Record (Hell' I just noticed the Colonial record "Bundle" which includes the Coyote trail core rules is only $8.00, now THATS a bargain).

Here is my take on The Black Coat Action Figure...

Pulp Thursday

Here are a couple of interesting Articles on the Sword & Sorcery genre. Sort of a point / counterpoint.




There is a preview article over at the Quarter Bin about a new Sword & Sorcery series with an East Indian flavor.




Bill Wards Blog offers up a review of an intriguing novel called The Blade Itself. Personally I haven't read the book, but I am intrigued enough that I'll be picking it up soon.




Is the Warlord returning? Can DC comics redeem itself from that fucking travesty that they created the last time they wanted to re-launch the Warlord? Well if they are, they've taken a step in the right direction by getting the father of Skataris himself, Mike Grell back on board. Read about it here.

Pulp Thursday Special-Hank Houston makes the top 10!

Who you may ask is Hank Houston?
Hank is the creation of a team of artists and writers at ECV press.

ECV is also known as Empire Comics Vault- The sole provider of comics to The Lair of the Evil DM!

My buddy Ben Schwartz and his team have put together a great Sci-Fi Pulp epic starring Hank Houston. They have submitted their proposal for consideration to the Platinum Studios comic book challenge-2008. Hank Houston has made it into the top 10 and now it's up to the fans to decide if Hank gets a shot at his own title. YOU have the power my friends.
Here is a great opportunity to get a pulp title on the market.
Please join me in supporting Ben, ECV, Independent publishing and Pulp by voting today.

It's free and easy just click on this link.

Femme Noir - The Dark City Diaries

Today I picked up a copy of Ape Entertainment’s newest title: Femme Noir- The Dark City Diaries. The four issue series is a gritty look at a place called Port Nocturne and the female crime fighter who prowls its streets dispensing justice from the barrel of a gun. I enjoyed the hell out of it. Christopher Mills ( who has a pretty snazzy Blog of his own)heads up the creative team and brings a little dark pulp to the comic world. If you love Mystery, Noir, Pulp, or Crime Stories this is a title you shouldn’t miss. You can also find a very cool website here.

Pulp Thursday

Want to escape for a few hours into a great website? Go here. The Tarzan section alone is worth the trip.






The Fanboy boards are all abuzz with rumour of Robert Rodriguez and Rose McGowan teaming up for a remake of Red Sonja - go ahead Google it.



Iron Sky is an independent film effort. I wish them the best as I raid them for cool pictures like this...


Tim Truman talks “Conan the Cimmerian”


Truman discusses the next round of Conan comics premiering this week.

Fun with the new Indy Figures

Would you like to play a game? - Savage Worlds Online

Savage Worlds is one of the top ten games I would love to play but never have.
A combination of personal issues and lack of like minded folks interested in the system has kept SW in the wings for months.

Recently a group of Savage World enthusiasts have started Savage Worlds Online. SWO hopes to gather SW players via the Internet and the Fantasy Grounds online gaming software. I purchased FGII a few months ago but never really put it to the test. However, now that it looks like it will be featuring strong support for the SW system I'm going to give it a shot and see if I can get in on a game or two.

GM'ing is a bit much for me at the moment especially since I'm not familiar with the system in actual play but I really would love to get into a Pulp or S&S game as a player. Who knows, if it works out I may be able to use this as a play tester for future WoB scenarios or the Lost Worlds pulp source book I'm currently working on. Any one else out there interested in SW or the online project?

Pulp Thursday

This fall "Solomon Kane" is scheduled to debut as a five-issue miniseries from Dark horse.






The acclaimed Sword & Sorcery writer Charles Saunders has a new website


New Indy toys and a coupon!
Check em out at the Hasbro site

But before you buy check out some reviews at Mike Crawfords website