Heromachine

It's been a while since I last plugged Heromachine. It's one of the most entertaining programs out here on the net. and the 2.0 version allows you to create not only humans but Skeletons, fantasy races, and superheroes of all types. If you cant draw and you want a picture of your favorite character, this is the program for you. And here's a link for a free online copy!

GI Joe and D&D (hey, it's all Hasbro)

A couple of months ago Dragon magazine came out with a cover that had a character that could only be described as the complete dungeon delver. It gave me the inspiration to come up with my own. Now this is still a work in progress so I’m still tweaking it. But here he is, so far…

Geek Goddesses, I wonder if they print their character sheets on scented paper?

I always see these gals at conventions but never in a real honest to God game store...why is that?

Pulp Megos versus the "Iron Assasins"

I ran across these Medablok robots over at Kaybee toys in the bargain bin. not bad for $5.00. they are a little too short to use with the 12" inch guys but they make a pretty formidable team of "Iron Assasins" for my pulp era team of Megos to go up against.

Hyborean Adventures

I'm starting up a Play by email (PBEM) game set in Robert E. Howard’s Hyborian era. Despite all the great support Mongoose games is giving their Conan D20 system, I decided to give the old Conan Role-playing game rules from TSR a try. I'm thinking the stripped down mechanics of the TSR system will translate well to the PBEM style of gaming, which relies a great deal more on flavor than mechanics. But as I said earlier, Mongoose is putting out some Top shelf support for their Conan game so I'm sure I’ll be mining those supplements for ideas as well. we should be into the adventure by Monday. if anyone is interested in having a look, feel free to Stop by.

What the???

The other day on one of the many game/action figure boards I haunt someone brought up the subject of gaming in a “lost world” setting. I immediately informed the person of one of my favorite gaming supplements of that or any other adventure genre. “Lands of Mystery” by Aaron Allston. As I was writing about it I realized that it was published in 1985, 20 FRICKEN YEARS AGO! Where the hell did the time go? I cant believe I have character sheets older than most interns at medical school…

The wheels are in motion

The other night, as part of my secret plan to turn my wife into a proper Nerd spouse, I introduced her and my oldest son Anthony to that staple of gamer geek goodness “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” I sat there and watched as my family took it all in –the cocoanuts, the French taunting, the dead collector, the witch trial, the Killer rabbit, the bridge keeper. There are few things as satisfying as introducing newbie’s to a time honored tradition, and few traditions in geekdom are as sacred as the first viewing of Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It’s been a week now and I still hear my wife and son exchanging lines from the movie “What is yourrr name, what is your quest?” “I feel happy!” “one, two, five!” It does this old gamer’s heart good to see the family bonding this way, just one more cobblestone on the path to true family geekdom!

One game at a time

I have found out a few things about my style of pbem play. I'm better at one-shot games than I am at campaigns. And, I can only manage one game at a time.

My first effort on the old Action Heroes group was "Destiny of kings" and it went great. Then I tried a long game "Swords of Erisa" and it started out good but ended up dying towards the end.

My second effort "Mal's folly" was pretty good. Then I tried to follow up with a larger adventure dealing with an extra planar invasion of Erisa, and it tanked.

Then came my latest group of players “the Bashers”. "Valley of the Earth mother" was fun. It had it's moments, it was also slow going in some places, but overall I had a good time. When it wrapped up I was ready for a break, but somehow against my better judgment I decided to go on. And it didn’t last, which is where Dono stepped in.

There were other reasons why some of the games died. In Swords of Erisa one of my players had a virtual meltdown and kind of put me in a “funk” about playing in general.

In the “Invasion of Erisa” I was trying to get used to 3rd edition D&D and like it ( I didn’t). And I was soo going through the motions about it, it was like dating someone purely for the sex, and knowing once someone better comes along you are gonna dump them in a heartbeat.

With the basher game I was just too extended, work and life in general were coming at me full bore. I should have stopped when I was ahead instead of running the risk of looking more like a flake.

One of my favorite genres is the Pulp era. On two separate occasions I tried to run a pulp style game. The characters were interesting and the players were enthused, but I was running an Erisa D&D game at the same time and playing in a couple of others. So a really fun game crashed (twice) cause I was unable to handle running more than one game at a time.

I think my answer for this is to one only one game at a time and then for only for a short adventure (which in PBEM terms STILL can last 6 months).

Run one game.
Play one game.
Switch genres after each.

Oy Vey!

I Know..i'm waaay overdue in posting here. but I'm reaching the end of my undergraduate experience with just 5 credits to go and at the moment i'm on an accelerated class scheddule which means that i'm fitting two 16 week classes into 8 weeks. UGH.

every now and again i see a pic on the net that makes me go "wow." this aint a Hot babe blog, but every once in a while...

Happy birthday to me

Well happy birthday to me and all that. 41 years old and still playing D&D, reading comic books and buying GI Joes.
I so refuse to grow up.
Yesterday I did a little showing off regarding my winning entry in the kit bash section of the Annual fantasy net challenge. I also mentioned that I submitted another figure, this one being my version of the comic book favorite Grimjack. Alas, my efforts failed to place amongst the final winners, but I'm happy with the result nonetheless.

We have a winner!

Well it looks like the Evil DM actually placed in the world famous Fantasynet figure contest I submitted two figures, one in the kit bash category and the other in the star frontiers (Sci-Fi) category. My Grimjack figure didn’t place among all the stiff competition.
However, in the Kit bash category I took home 1st place! My entry was a traveling merchant and his burro. The figure was a first generation SOTW head on a third generation SOTW body. The robe was from a star wars figure and the armor and cloak were custom pieces from Ed Cassar. The burro was from a power team set and the equipment was a hodge-podge of stuff from my parts bin.

Fantasy net

Fantasy net is a message board for action figure collectors who enjoy creating figures within the genres of fantasy fiction, myth and legend. Ogres, Elves, Sorcerers, Warriors, Amazons and Demons can all be found there.
The first annual Fantasy net figure contest is in full swing. This is an opportunity for the members of the group to show off their kit-bashing and customizing skills in several genre specific categories: Good characters, Evil characters, “Star Frontiers” (Sci-Fi), and Kit-bashing. The members of the message board do the peer judging, but visitors are most welcome to visit and have a look at the jaw dropping creations of our talented artisans. To have a look go to:

http://p087.ezboard.com/ffantasynetfrm67

Note: the Evil DM submitted entries in the Star Frontiers and Kit-bash categories. Can you guess which entries are mine??

Pete the Barbarian

Mc Farlane came out with a conan figure a few months ago. I waited to get one and now I'm glad I did they are now on clearance at Kay-bee toys for $5.00 I just can't get over the resemblance. Surly stoic Barbarian or Surly ex-ball player?

Nor-Cal show

I had a great time at this years Northern Cal. GI Joe show. The show had plenty of tables, plenty of deals and some really great custom work. Rather than show you a bunch of pictures of middle aged guys dickering over dolls, I thought I would highlight the featured Diorama. The featured theme this year was Fantasy! Fred Jeska one of the shows organizers created a huge 15' long dungeon corridor complete with cavern dressings and monsters (A Necromancer, animated skeletons, a goblin war-band, and a monstrous Troll) . The rest of the Norcal group provided the requisite heroes. Rex and Ed brought Dwarven warriors, Pete brought a Human warrior and a Mage, Fred brought a Halfling ranger, and Human warrior (I think Filch was there as well, but he was either hiding in shadows or looting bodies, cause I never saw him during the fighting). I brought in A female Sorceress and Thaco the Ogre.

Blechh

Well the "cold from hell" continues to linger on (almost a month now). Part of the problem is that some of the medication I'm on for another condition prevents me from taking cold medicine- so I just got to tough it out. Making me tired, and irritable. I've missed a ton of work, my online game is on the road to ruin, my blog has remained frozen in January, a new group I launched is floundering, my tabletop game hasn't met in weeks, and I got into a flame war with a putz on an action figure board. I seriously need to get a grip. I got an action figure show coming up this weekend. I'm going to help a buddy (Ed) tend his booth. And believe it or not Legends of Steel is still going strong. In fact, I have re-examined my objective so to speak and am in the process of moving more in a true Sword & Sorcery direction and away from the "D&D clone" I feel it was becoming.

Dungeon crawl Saturday night

Saturday Night was the first session of my new Greyhawk campaign. Our group has 3 players and myself. Fred is playing a Desert Ranger named Katar, his daughter Is running a Human Fighter named Amrius, and my oldest son Anthony is running a half-Elven Mage from Ekbir named Akira. For added punch I am running an NPC Priest of St. Cuthbert named Stern.
As I stated in an earlier post the campaign is beginning in the Barony of Ratik. Amrius is left with an inheritance from his father. The inheritance is a horse ranch. Horses are very rare in Ratik, so the inheritance is a valuable one. Recently Amrius's horses have begun disappearing, he and his ranch hands headed out in search of the culprits. They were soon caught in an ambush near the foot of the Rakers by a band of Goblins. Amrius and his ranch hands managed to escape and return to the ranch. Knowing that however well intentioned his men were they were no match for goblins, Amrius decides to head to town to get some "professional" help. In town Amrius meets a Ranger from the deserts of the great Rift, named Katar. A Mage from the land of Ekbir, known as Akira, and a Priest of St. Cuthbert, named Stern who hails from the Southern land of Idee.
The quartet heads towards the Rakers and soon makes contact with the Goblin lair, and some good old fashioned Dungeon crawling ensues.

Greyhawk

Tomorrow night we are playing AD&D. Good ol' fashioned Greyhawk campaign! a few years ago I ran across an article in praise of Greyhawk as a campaign world. I thought I would post it here since all references to it in a recent 'Google" search came up with dead links. so here it is.


What Makes Greyhawk Greyt?

By Randy Richards

1) Nostalgia
The World of Greyhawk is the first published role-playing world. Many AD&D fans have been playing in Greyhawk since its inception in 1975, as "Supplement I: Greyhawk". When you get used to something, you begin to desire it more. Original Greyhawk patrons are now in their 30's and 40's.

2) PCs As Heroes
The PC's are the heroes of the adventures and campaigns, not ultra-godlike NPCs who have powers the PCs can't even possess. Greyhawk is the ultimate role-playing world. Greyhawk's heroes seldom kill the bad guys, only temporarily put a crimp in his or her plans. Success brings the PCs notoriety, and NPC heroes exist to recognize these accomplishments, but they will have likely played little role in the victory itself. The major events in recent Flanaess history are all presented in such a way that the PCs may play a role, perhaps even a leading one. PCs fought the Greyhawk Wars, defeated Zuggtmoy and the her Temple of Elemental Evil, Iggwilv's daughter Drelnza, the Giants and Drow in league with Lolth, and could have helped Iuz defeat Vecna.

3) Medium Fantasy
The World of Greyhawk is what might be called a "medium" fantasy setting. Masque of the Red Death is a low fantasy setting; the Forgotten Realms is a high fantasy setting, and the World of Greyhawk falls in the middle. The structure of the world is grounded more in reality than a heavy reliance upon powerful magic and encumbering PCs with magical items. This emphasizes role-playing over roll-playing, and helps prevent the "Monty Haul" campaign blight without denigrating magic overall.

4) Neutrality
While there are good vs. evil conflicts, Greyhawk has historically been anchored deep in active, almost militant, neutrality. A prime example of this is the Circle of Eight, but the Flanaess druids certainly deserve some credit. Conflicts may also include good vs. good, good vs. neutral, evil vs. neutral, or evil vs. evil. The world is not black and white, but a firm shade of grey.

5) Personified Adversaries
The complexity of a sentient mind are too often diluted by the simplistic nine alignments. Adversaries in Greyhawk have both desirable and undesirable traits at the same time making the line between god and evil seem a bit blurred.

IUZ is a diabolical overlord who controls a vast realm, and who has caused many problems over decades and decades. A fiendish cambion born of Iggwilv and Graz'zt, he was imprisoned by Zagyg for years, then set free to wreak havoc upon the Flanaess for even more years to come. He became a demi-god, and a force to terrorize and threaten even the mightiest of parties for many a campaign.

THE SCARLET BROTHERHOOD was founded in 5091 SD to prevent the "dilution of Suel virtues". As a result, the most determined Suel nobility who escaped the Rain of Colorless Fire gravitated toward the Tilvanot Peninsula. The Brotherhood seeks to re-establish the glories of the ancient Suloise society: slaveholding, assassination, ritual torture, and employment of goblinoid mercenaries. Their methods of conquest usually involve assassination, duplicity, and mutants. In contrast, they also revere the highest magical and materials arts.
In the "Fate of Istus" module, we discover the Scarlet Brotherhood learned its monk-style fighting abilities from Oriental Kara-Tur natives (they came through a portal). They are responsible for giving the Scarlet Brotherhood one of its unique traits. Sadly, monks were eliminated in this adventure, blanding the Brotherhood mystique a bit.

RARY seeks order on his own terms. Rary was a member of the Circle of Eight who killed several of his colleagues, namely Tenser and Otiluke. He is now living in exile with Lord Robilar, his military advisor, in the Bright Desert. Rary is currently examing the remnants of the Flan Empire of Sulm, and attempting to obtain a cursed artifact the "Scorpion Crown" from Shattados. His future plans are presently unclear.

6) Celebrity Magic
Magic of the Flanaess is personalized. Take a gander at the magic items, spells, and artifacts even in the "Core Rules" Dungeon Masters Guide. AD&D players are familiar with the Quiver of Ehlonna, Boccob's Blessed Book,
Murlynd's Spoon, Heward's Handy Haversack, Bigby's Crushing Hand, or Tenser's Floating Disc? The World of Greyhawk has its share of famous artifacts too. The Hand and Eye of Vecna, the once lich, now demi-god, are first to come to mind, as is the Sword of Kas (Kas being Vecna's treacherous friend turned nemesis). The Rod of Many Parts first appeared as part of that setting, as well as Baba Yaga's Dancing Hut, both of which are now generic AD&D modules. Let us also not forget Heward's Mystical Organ, the Mace of Cuthbert, Wand of Orcus (recently appearing in the Dead Gods product), glowing ruby Rod of Asmodeus, and the acid secreting wavy-bladed Sword of Graz'zt. All of these personages originate from the World of Greyhawk. Magic in Greyhawk has a documented history.

7) Unexplored Territory
The Flanaess, and in Oerth as a whole, unlike so many other worlds is still relatively unexplored. The Flanaess residents are only just now uncovering the remnants of the old empires. Like the Aztec-styled Olman Empire, remnants of the Aerdi Empire, and the Flan. The Flan Empire of Sulm produced the Bright Desert, and is currently being explored by Rary. The Suel Empire became the Sea of Dust after the Rain of Colorless Fire.... difficult to reach ruins are now being explored there, as well as easier to reach ones in the migrated eastern lands. The Baklunish Empire has few ruins since most buildings were destroyed by the Invoked Devastation, however, some Bakluni relics like Tovag Baragu still remain, as do the buildings of the Baklarran dwarves.
On the fold-out Darlene map we notice Hepmonaland, Land of Black Ice, Amedio Jungle, and the Sea of Dust as unknown quantities. Oerth has other areas besides the Flanaess, as sketched by quasi-deity Heward in Dragon Annual #1. The map contains labels such as the Celestial Imperium, Empire of Lynn, Hyperboria, Erypt, Polaria, Fireland, Tharquish Empire, Nippon Dominion, Orcreich, Dragons Island, Kingdoms of the Marches, and Elven Lands among others. And don't forget Greyspace with Luna, Celene, the Grinder and more. We've only touched the surface of Greyhawk!

8) Plots Within Plots
Wheels within wheels. Subplots with even more acute subplots. As demonstrated by early modules, and the later Falcon trilogy, we see a plot avocado peeled away to reveal even deeper layers of plots. In the center we find an unexpected enemy who can be thwarted by the PCs.

9) Linked History
Greyhawk's history is a delicately part of the setting that links the races, monsters, countries, and gods into a complex whole. Greyhawk products build on this history and incorporate it, but leave enough loose threads to allow for further development by the DM. This is a special Greyhawk quality.

10) No Gunpowder
Gunpowder does not work on the planet Oerth, although it does work in other areas of Greyspace. The only published exception to this rule is the quasi-deity Murlynd (played originally by Don Kay). There has been talk of allowing priests of this demi-deity to be allowed to use them.

11) Fan Support
The World of Greyhawk was discontinued and then brought back into the mainstream by fan support. This fact alone speaks volumes on its popularity and appeal to the average gamer.

Heroic Adventure

I just started up another Yahoogroup. I love Adventure fiction. Whether it's "Sword and Sorcery", "Sword and Planet" or historical fiction in an exotic setting. There are lots of different groups out there that cater to specific writers such as Robert E Howard (Conan, Kull) and Edgar Rice Burroughs (Tarzan, John Carter). There are also groups that deal with a specific aspect of the genre: Comics, B-Movies, Role-playing games Etc. What I have found though, is that one can only stray so far before someone yells "off-topic".
What I hope to create with this group is a place where any of these aspects can be discussed without fear of being "off-topic". Where the merits of REH's tales of the Crusades can share the spotlight with the infamous "Deathstalker" movies. Where a person can post questions regarding a Runequest game, or trade episodes of the Beastmaster TV series.
So if this type of community appeals to you then have a seat, pull up the keyboard,tune out the wife, and join me at: Heroic Adventures. The setting for the group states that membership requires approval- thats mostly to keep the spammers and a couple of nutcases that haunt the gaming and action figure lists from joining to troll.

Old school gaming

The group I'm playing with on Saturdays is my LoS playtest gang, but we are taking a break from the playtesting while I right more stuff for LoS. and since Erisa is already being done on the net I wanted
something easy, Greyhawk is like a pair of nicely broken in slippers. I even allow elves!

So here is an outline of my Greyhawk campaign that starts this saturday:

Ratik
The Campaign will be set in the world of Greyhawk (otherwise known as
Oerth). It will be centered in the northeastern corner of the
continent, in a land known as The Arch Barony of Ratik.
Ratik was once the northernmost Barony of what was once the Great
Kingdom of Aerdy (which was simply known as "The Great Kingdom").
After the collapse of the Great Kingdom, Ratik declared its
independence. The Great Kingdom was too weak at the time to do
anything about it.

The land
Ratik's climate is very similar to that of the northeastern U.S. and
Lower Canada. Ratik is bordered to the south and west by mountains,
to the north by a great forest known as the Timberway and to the east
by the Solnor Sea. It's a frontier country whose population consists
primarily of humans, dwarves, gnomes, and the usual smattering of
Halflings, there is also a small community of wild-Elves in the
Timberway forest.

The humans dwell along the coast, central valley, and guard the
southern pass from incursions from the Humanoids in the neighboring
Bone march. the Dwarves are mostly in the western mountains, Gnomes
and hobbits are in the hill regions.

Ratik is rich in natural resources: timber, furs, minerals and fish.

Adventuring

Warriors- if you're a local you could be part of the Army, Navy or
the local constabulary.
Ratik maintains a very large, well trained garrison at both ends of
the realm. To the south is the pass that must be guarded against
incursion by Humanoid raiders from the Bone March. And to the north
there are a series of posts standing watch against an overland
invasion from barbarian raiders from the north.
Navy and marine characters could find lots of action protecting
Ratik's burgeoning shipping trade from privateers and other raiders.
The constabulary in Ratik is very similar that of a "highway patrol",
where groups of constables travel a circuit of villages and Steadings
suppressing banditry and keeping the peace.

Rangers- as a frontier nation Ratik is well served by Rangers in the
borderlands. Rangers patrol the high mountains and deep into the
northern forests. The Rangers of Ratik usually work hand in hand with
the Druids to combat any evils that would threaten the lands or the
people.

Paladins- the presence of Humanoid and barbarian hordes on the
borderlands gives several of the more martial deities reason to
maintain a show of force in the region and in some cases young
Paladins from the southern kingdoms are sent to these "far off
regions" to hone their skills and learn the lessons of service and
humility. Several sects of worshippers serving lawful Good deities
such as Heironeous, Mayaheine, Pholtus, and St. Cuthbert operate
Keeps and Abbeys in Ratik.

Priests- priests of deities whose area of concern is the wilderness,
agriculture, freedom, and trade can be found in Ratik preaching to
the folk and promoting the doctrines of their deity.
While adventuring priests serving a myriad deities can be found in
Ratik, the following are a listing of the gods most worshipped by the
local population-
Beory (Nature), Bleredd (Smiths), Ehlonna (Forests), Fharlanghn
(Travelers), Kord (Strength), Merikka (Agriculture), Norebo (Luck),
Procan (Sea), Trithereon (Liberty), Xerbo (Merchants), and Ulaa
(Mountains).

Rogues- the city bred thief will find slim pickings in the streets of
Marner (Ratik's Capital) in fact the capital of Ratik will be of
scant interest to those who have seen the great cities of the south.
To such a rogue, Ratik's urban areas will be a miserable
disappointment. Most of the roguish activity takes place on the roads
in the form of banditry. Adventuring rogues however do find a
challenge in exploring to many ruins located near the wilder areas of
the barony.

Druids-Druids hold a great deal of influence in Ratik. Though they
are small in number, they are guardians of the land and insure that
the miners, hunters, foresters and farmers treat the land with
respect. The Druids get on well with the Dwarven, Gnomish and
Halfling communities, and are the only humans that usually treat with
the Elves. But they often meet resistance from the growing Merchant
class in Marner, who feel adherence to the "old ways" is stifling
Ratik's progress as a developing nation.

Bards- Bards have no trouble at all fitting into Ratikkan society.
The thirst for news and tales of adventure are even more pronounced
in a land so far from the fabled cities of the shining south where
golden palaces dot the hills and silver dragons carry knights upon
their broad backs. - You get the idea.

Mages-Mages are the rarest of the rare in Ratik. There are several
expatriate Mages of small ability in the employ of the Baroness in
the capital. The military also employs several mercenary "War
Wizards".
But apart from a few witches in the hinterlands, and a trio of
retired Adventurer Mages living in seclusion, that's about it.

Psionicists- Surprisingly enough there is a larger than normal
concentration of people with Psionic ability living in Ratik. It is
thought that since the general populace of Oerth mistrusts
Psionicists because of their talents and potential power, many
Psionicists become fugitives, hiding their powers and trying to fit
in as best they can. What is not known to the general populace of
Oerth is that the Baroness of Ratik is herself a Psionicist. And
through an underground network has aided many Psionicists of varying
powers and abilities to escape to a better life free from the abuse
and control that many governments and other organizations impose upon
them.

Wow

As some of you know I'm working on my own RPG that uses the genre of the Sword and Sorcery movies and comics of the 70's and 80's as its backdrop. As such I have been doing a awful (and in some cases it truly is Awful) amount of research reading every S&S novel and comic book from the 70's I can get my hands on. And watching every S&S movie ever made in the Reagan era.
well last night I finally had time to sit down and watch the beastmaster DVD uncut and in its entirety. I had seen tiny bits through the years on USA network and Galavision, but I never saw the whole thing at one time. And I missed something that would have probably made my heart stop twenty years ago...Tanya Roberts.

wow.

Tanya Roberts in 1982 with no top on. Wow.

I cant believe I've been around all this time and never saw her before...Wow.

My Aptiva

After seven years of faithful service our IBM Aptiva computer finally died. it had received a couple of upgrades , but it looks like the old horse just had to call it a day. All in all I'm pretty pleased with the length of time it served. It was windows all the way with no apologies. it went from 97 and 98 to the horrors of ME and finally to 2000. It was a present from my in-laws when Scarlette and I returned to college. My Aptiva and MS Office took us through dozens of papers, class projects, PowerPoint presentations, and many, many late nights.

I rediscovered GI Joe when I found the action heroes group and I found a new way to game with the original Erisa PBEM game. We downloaded a lot of pirated stuff on Napster and Kazaa (ARRGH matey!), kicked the shit outta the Nazis in "Close Combat" and got the shit kicked out of us in "Age of Empire". We started a web site and then a blog. We paid our bills and did our taxes online and in between watched many a porn AVI.

I learned about the 9/11 tragedy while perusing my morning emails. That was a day I'll never forget.

My Aptiva has been a blessing and a bit of a curse. I made friends all over the world but I've had to deal with some real whiney nut jobs as well. I got published for the first time thanks to my Aptiva, but I also discovered a site called EBay (so much for the college fund for the kids).

My Aptiva was my Yin and Yang.

Adios Amigo

Kitbashed Dungeon of Doom!

Part of the fun of working on my own RPG system "Legends of Steel" is the chance I've had to do some honest to god face to face gaming. The only problem was that 99% of my gaming supplies are sitting in a storage shed in Hawaii. Well piece by piece I have been able to gather together some supplies here to try and make the gaming experience a bit more visual for my players. I started off by haunting EBay looking for a dungeon building system called Dungeonworks. These are plastic dungeon wall sections placed on a metallic board and held in place by magnets in their bases. I was quite lucky to win a series of auctions at a great price giving me a total of six sets for under $40.00
I then used a combination of AD&D miniatures, Mageknight dungeon dressings, Heroquest pieces and various toy snakes and spiders. The result looks pretty decent if I do say so myself.

My thanks to Ed W. and Fred J. for their help in getting some nice startup pieces.

up on the "header" you can see some of the pieces used by my son Anthony for his "Dungeon of Doom. He built a dungeon featuring a torture chamber, wizard's lab, evil chapel, and a big snake room. Enjoy!

"Man, you come right out of a comic book."

King Arthur came out in DVD last week. It sunk at the box office but I still found myself liking it, not loving it mind you, but liking it in my own gamer geek fan boy way. It's a dirty gritty re-telling of the Arthur legend. No chrome armor, jousting tournaments or fairy tale castles this time. This movie tries a more historical slant (as historical as Hollywood allows anyway). Arthur is a Roman/Briton commander; his "knights" are indentured cavalrymen from Eastern European barbarian tribes. And his lovely Guinevere is a Celtic warrior chick. Merlin is a holy man and tribal leader but doesn't have any magical powers per se. The "bad guys" are the Saxons, who surprisingly are the "good guys" a few hundred years later in Robin Hood.

When I saw the movie in the theatre I remember being disappointed that the battles seemed so tame. Now with the DVD I understand why. It seems that the director was going for a hard R rating when he was filming, but in postproduction he was told by Disney that they want it toned down to pg-13, hence the tame, bloodless battles. Well that isn't the case with the DVD version.

This movie is bloody as all hell now with limbs and heads being severed left and right. For me the violence helped sell the movie. Another little concession I made was to watch the movie and not think of it as an attempt at the Arthur legends- I saw it more as a war movie where this commander is in charge of an outpost facing overwhelming odds. With him are his elite team of warriors: the strong guy, the bow chick, the sword master, the "kid", the Axe dude, the knife guy, and the loyal friend guy who uses two swords. And suddenly it becomes the testosterone charged guy flick (Dirty Dozen, Magnificent Seven, 13th Warrior, etc.) that its supposed to be.

Hell, all we needed was Jim Kelly as the kung fu guy.

Conan Christmas

it was quite a REH Christmas for me. amongst my gifts were the new Conan TPB, the Frazetta Calender for 2005, A copy of the "whole wide world" on DVD. and a chance to get caught up on Kurt's work in the Conan comic. I haven't gotten to the stories yet in the Bloody crown book,but I must say I enjoyed Rusty's introduction.

the Calender is always a treat. I'm from the generation where Conan is personified by Frazetta's artwork. I'm one of the "unwashed masses" that enjoyed the hell out of the ace books, only later did I learn the joys of pure Howard. but in my teenage years those paperbacks with the frazetta covers always had a place in my backpack, as did the Gor books, but thats another story...(slave girls, yummy).

I hadn't seen the "Whole Wide World" in quite a long time. and ever since i found out that it was in the $5.00 bin at the Wal-Marts, I've been looking for it. the wife spotted it for me. It was a nice story, I enjoyed Vincents portrayal of Howard, My wife enjoyed it as well and it gave her a glimpse of this man whose work I talk of often. she was sad for him.

I had a growing stack of Conan's to read, so during a holiday lull i dived into a few issues. I didn't care for the Hyperborean adventure (still couldn't get over the fact that the Hyperboreans looked like Dr. Seuss had drawn them). but I was very pleased with the stories from then on. the childhood tale was good as was the two Nemedians in the bar story (did anyone else think that the two Nemedian bravos resembled Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser?).

They got it so right!

Over the weekend I finally had a chance to watch my copy of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King-extended version. Needless to say I was impressed. Now I know my accolades are nothing new to any fan of the genre or of the literary work itself, but I just want to say that watching the whole thing unfold in front of me was just such a cool experience. And to think that these folks crafted THREE movies of this scope to tell a rendition of a piece of classic literature is really amazing.
When you stop and think about it, I mean damn - the sets, the props, the technology, the editing of the story, the sheer damn magnitude of the whole effort of creating three movies, together, at the same time is just unheard of. The effort itself should be considered one of the greatest achievements in cinematic history.
I don't know, maybe in this pop culture- instant gratification- short attention span world we live in today, it's easy to become jaded and toss this aside while we wait for the next episode of Survivor. But in any other time a movie series this huge would be a cultural event.
The attention to the smallest detail, the meshing and melding of the written story into a screenplay, the epic scale of the battles- this is the type of movie our genre needed. This is our "Casablanca", our "Sound of Music", and our "Godfather". "The Lord of the Rings" movies are what we lovers of fantasy adventure knew could be made if folks making it had the right amount of dedication, love of the story, and strength to fight for the integrity of the project. Thank goodness for Peter Jackson and his team. They set the bar so high with this trilogy, that if nothing ever comes close, at least we know that Professor Tolkien's vision was done justice.


Oh, and did you catch Bruce Spence's portrayal of the Mouth of Sauron? It was too damn cool!

Up in the belltower

I enjoy sniping on ebay, it's the closest I'll ever come to hunting. I kinda get a twinge of regret when I snipe a really cool item from some poor slob with a feedback of 12. But I really enjoy sniping a dealer. when I see that my opponent has a feedback of 25987 and a power seller icon, then all bets are off. that reseller scumbag is mine, baby!
I know for a fact that the item in question aint going to his kids, or even up on a shelf in a joe room, he's gonna re-list it with better keywords and recoup his investment-plus. I feel it's my holy duty to thwart those scumbags. I go for the grandma angle a lot. I look where most folks dont, and I aint afraid to use the word doll. I've found quite a few hidden "Action figure" treasures mis-labled by uninformed grandmas as dolls. problem is those power sellers know what to look for as well. they are like the barracudas at the yard sales that troll around at 7am to buy all the good stuff from the yardsale on saturday morning-only to take it all to the flea market and re-sell it on sunday. I dont do strip clubs anymore and I only game every other weekend so I get my diversions where I can find em.

the Alamo

I saw the Alamo this last weekend. I really enjoyed it. I wanted to see it on the big screen back in march but I didn't have time. I know it didn't do well at the box office, dismal by current $$ standards, but I wasn't sure if it was because the movie was misunderstood or just plain bad. After watching it I have to say it was probably misunderstood. It may have been marketed as a patriotic film, but to me it was more of a character study of the three mythic heroes of the Texas Pantheon, Jim Bowie-Davey Crockett-William "Buck" Travis -Sam Houston (None of whom surprisingly, were Texans).
In the movie these guys were portrayed, as men of greatness who were as flawed as any of us would be. I appreciated that. I also appreciated the portrayals of the Tejano defenders and the slaves.
Once again the commentary on the DVD's added to my enjoyment of the film by providing some interesting insight that wouldn't have been available to me had I seen the movie in the theater. I took a look at the comment sections over at Amazon and at the IMDB site and I found quite a few negative reviews of the movie. Folks were posting that it was long and boring and that the fight at the end was just a chaotic mess Most of those comments I attribute to those folks who went to see it expecting something more in line with Braveheart, Gladiator, or the Patriot. There were even guys making fun of the clothing (which was historically accurate to the time). Once I started reading the posts I found that the few defenders of the movie were guys like me who had an interest in the historical points and had done a bit of reading of the period and the issues involved in the conflict. Given that, it was easy to dismiss the silly hat comments.
Overall my feeling is that the movie is good. But it must be taken as it is intended, a movie adaptation of the siege of the Alamo. Not historically by the book, but the closest in realism of the several movies that have been done on the subject.

Legends of Steel update

Well the project continues. I am writing stuff every spare minute I can. I've got my oldest son and some friends play-testing it every other weekend. And I have some experienced gamer buddies giving the rough drafts a once over and giving me their thoughts and concerns. Seeing as this is a one-man operation I think I'm doing pretty damn good. I'm finding that the hardest thing in the whole process is keeping it simple. I want it to have (as one of my buddies puts it) a "Wahoo!" feeling to it. But I also want it to be mechanically sound. Character generation is done. Combat is moving along, as is magic and Psionics, but it looks like magic and Psionics is gonna need a bit more tweaking. Some are advising a open spell creation system Ala' Hero games' Fantasy Hero system but I feel if I make it in that vein then "simple" goes out the door. Hmmmm??

Research -wise I'm watching movies ("Sword and the Sorcerer" the other day) and reading comics (I just won a set of Atlas comics titles "Wulf the Barbarian" and "Iron Jaw" comics). Doing this always helps bring me down from the "rules rafters" and reminds me of what I want to create here, a fun game that can be played quickly rather than a set of ponderous rules that intimidate casual players. The saga continues...

Playtesting

It's been hard keeping up with my Blogging for the last couple of months. But in a good way I suppose.

Legends of Steel is coming along nicely. I'm just about done with the core portions and then I'll start on the fluff like DM sections and a sample campaign world. Right now I'm trying to tackle the magic and Psionics section. Then come the tough part...monsters. Research wise I've been reading more than I have been watching. I just got a nice run of Claw the unconquered and Arion of Atlantis from DC. And I'm looking for some cheap copies of other S&S comics (Dagar, Stalker, Skull the slayer). We are playing every other Saturday night though I wish I had at least one more player. My Son and Fred's daughter have been a godsend in the play test area showing me the gaps in the rules that only a 13 year-old power-gamer can find. The last game session was kind of weak and the blame for that rests on me alone. My players are not big on puzzle solving, and I should have recognized that early on instead of wasting 90 minutes of game time trying to force feed them the solution. We are playing this weekend and as my way of saying sorry, I'm gonna have some serious Hack-time ready for them!

Postwar A/T

I love the Headsculpts for Lanards Ultracorps!Line. the problem is the bodies suck. So I kept the heads and swapped em out to the latest SOTW figures, which have great bodies for $7.00.

I had this idea to do an -earlier than the 60's-version of the GI Joe Adventure Team. I'm thinking post WWII, These guys would have some nifty 50's sci-fi type weaponry, probably stuff the Government developed after they seized Nicolai Tesla's notes. so here is a starter pick of my "post war Adventure team" I figure they are all ex service men, probably OSS and commando types. Sporting hi-tech secret weaponry to fight commies and aliens- in that order.

Are you guys passing the torch?

after quite a hiatus from table top gaming I now have a regular group. My 13 year old son Anthony, my buddy Fred and his 11 year old daughter. It's a far cry from my mountain dew-fueled weekend long gaming marathons, but we still have a good time. I also let my two little ones play with the figures and the dice (The new D&D miniatures are excellent for kids, those damn things are near indestructible).
the other day I went to Ebay and picked up a copy of "fantasy forest" an early TSR board game for children based on the D&D cartoon. the boys also watch my wife and Anthony play Baldurs gate: Dark Alliance on the playstation. so the kids are getting a fair share of indoctrination in the mysteries of gaming. and just to insure we don't overdo the geek factor I'm also having them start Little Dragons Karate and Football league is on schedule next fall.

By the way, Ain't that a cool pic?

HEY look ma, no nipples!

Man, this has got to be the best Batman costume yet!
Dig it Baby!

Get a life...please

So a few weeks ago with nothing better to post I put up a picture of the Justice League of Amazons and I make mention of the fact that an "idiot moderator" of an action figure group saw it as pornographic and put me on notice (I shortly thereafter left the group). fast forward to this morning and who do you think I get an email from? Yup, "mister moderator". He must have been visiting my web log to check out the "porn" instead of "moderating his own group. Anyway, he goes into me being bitter for being booted from his group and trashing people behind their backs...Yadda...Yadda...Blechh. Whatever. Like I said earlier his censoring policies didn't jive with my sensibilities so I LEFT HIS GROUP. Not only that, I quietly unsubscribed and went away (Unlike some people who feel they have to post a "Swansong diatribe" as to how they are being forced to leave. screw that nerdy bullshit.). as to being bitter- I posted the picture for the pictures sake, it had nothing t do with leaving his group, he was just an amusing anecdote. And as to posting it behind anyone's back...hello, this is a web log, A very public forum. He's probably just mad cause he just found out that he's an amusing anecdote.

Daddy Day!

I had some actual free time over the weekend. Wife at work kids at Grandmas and Jeffy all alone with his toys!
So I decided to do a little kit bashing. Nothing fancy just point and shoot. Maybe some day I'll have enough time and stuff for a photo story..


First up here is an AT guy on a PT horse... I took the horse and kinda fluffed him up with some gear. Bedroll, saddle blanket, saddlebags, etc.
The premise was an AT guy who rides the high mountain ranges, protecting folks, keeping and eye on things and rescuing hikers. My son noticed the lack of weaponry so I included the obligatory shotgun (hey, he might run into a bear or some escaped convicts) I figured I'd never go into the woods without a gun why should he?