Still finding love for VHS

The other day we ended up with an extra TV and VHS recorder. I figured since no one was using it I’ll hook it up in the storage room where I work on my Joes. It’s working out great. I happen to have a bunch of movies that I don't have on DVD yet, movies like Hawk the Slayer, the Diamond of Jeru, Villa Rides, and others.
I’ve also found that VHS tapes are dirt cheap at used record stores, flea markets and thrift stores I can usually find them for .99 cents and some times as low as .50 cents.
It’s great to have Krull or The Longest Day playing in the background as I kitbash away.

Here are a few bashes I've been working on.

I'm creating additional Characters for my Webcomic I Garrote the Medusa. Here is my take on a 2nd edition AD&D Paladin. I think the headsculpt looks quite "Paladinish" or is it "Paladiny?" Anyway, I think he conveys the Paladin character class quite well.





I took the inspiration for this guy from a couple of different sources. first, in a series of adult pulp westerns called The Renegade, the hero has a disreputable sidekick named Gaston, A deserter from the Foreign Legion who would slice your throat for a bottle of tequila.
The second source was the Captain of the tramp steamer The Rita. from the 1954 classic the Creature From The Black Lagoon. I was going for the untrustworthy jungle guide who would betray you once you locate the Lost City of Gold.

My buddy Ed Cassar used a General Patton head, dirtied it up, and drilled out some teeth.

"Ahh,The Jungle ees a most dangerous place senor. One misstep and she will kill you."



My last guy is a Bounty hunter. I took the head from a Viking figure and a hat from a Blues Brothers knock-off figure. And voila! Badass bounty hunter dude. he would probably fit in nicely in a Dogs in the Vineyard game.

Manly Monday

Lazy Sunday Photodump

Hador, Opara, and the "Rule of Cool"

I was on Skype with Ryan Shelton last night and we had a great discussion about Hador and gaming in general. We discussed The Rule of Cool and how it applies to Hador.
Saying that Hador is Pulp in concept and tone allows me a great deal of leeway in what I want to present. Pulp usually takes the form of a short story, and because it often deals with fantastic elements, fans tend to forgive the author if he happens to gloss over scientific inconsistencies or any weakly structured motivations. Thanks to the "rule of cool" we can dismiss the specifics if the premise is cool and leads to more fun during the game. Of course I realise that there is a fine line between cool and just plain silly. SpellJammer, as a concept was cool, giant space hamsters were just silly.
In Hador I'm asking for a lot of suspension of belief in order to create a setting. I'm asking the players and the GM not to delve too deeply in some of the inconsistencies that may arise. And as much as I try to work them out, any setting that mixes cultures from different worlds, tech levels, and time periods is gonna have inconsistencies. My main challenge is to make them either small enough to gloss over or cool enough so it doesn't matter-

The Habeshan warriors have domesticated giant bats that they ride into combat? Cool- I want one!

I have a dominant race of technologically advanced beings known simply as the Ancients. They keep the rest of the races on hador from advancing technologically, basically keeping everyone at pre-gunpowder level (see Priest-kings of GOR).
Now if they are so technologically advanced why not just leave Hador?
I don't know yet. I'm working on it. But I need a way to keep the playing field between the various cultures somewhat level and give the stranded PC's a chance.

By virtue of the setting i have a bit of a mish -mash of races and cultures. Most I added cause I thought it would be cool. some I removed cause they just didn't fit, even though they were cool, but explaining them would have been a stretch even by pulp standards. As desperate as they are, I have many of these cultures interacting, fighting and establishing trade.

Here are some notes on a locale I named "The Valley of the Moon".
I wanted a place with Huge sexy women (Salama Hayek, Linda Carter, Lucy Lawless, etc.)reminiscent of of the movie Abbott and Costello go to Mars Or Fire Maidens from outer space (check out the MST3K version).

Valley of the Moon
Opara is from the race known on Hador as the Ancients. Opara was a member of the ruling council that oversaw the development of Hador. Due to her opposition of the council regarding the creation and “seeding” of the Beast men on Hador, Opara chose self-exile rather than submission to the councils dictates. Opara left the ancients compound with a handful of technicians and followers and established a home in a distant mountain valley named the “Valley of the Moon”. There Opara has continued her research in genetics and the creation of synthetic life forms. Her dream is to find a way to extend the already long lifespan of the ancients to the point where they are virtually immortal. Amongst her experiments are a race of Beast men, stone skinned “rock men” who guard her valley, and a genetically enhanced race of women.

Maidens of the Valley

Opara has created a race of genetically superior human females. They are 6’5” tall, robust, and have twice the strength and endurance of a human male in peak physical condition. Opara decided on creating a race of super women because of the females higher tolerance for pain, greater dexterity and natural protective instincts, she also found the female form much more pleasant to look at than the male. Opara’s Maidens are completely loyal and make the perfect companions and bodyguards. They form the elite of the valleys defense force and are trained in a variety of archaic and technologically advanced weaponry.

The rock men


Another of Opara’s creations are the Rock men. Rock men serve as Oparas army. These being are somewhat larger than the average human male and have a thick mineral skin that is all but impervious to most weapons (swords shatter against it and bullets bounce off). The rock men aren’t very intelligent, but they are loyal and relentless. They will follow a command to the letter.

Odds, Ends and a Rant

Dangerous curves ahead



Okay. Now that I have your attention, let's get started.



Today's quote
"I've been in TV shows before. The ones I star in last for one year. The ones I don't last for six years".
Bruce Campbell - on his career in television.


Did you guys notice the new banner on the site?

It's a link to a copy of the original Crimefighters game from Dragon Magazine. It's free to all, until I get a threatening letter from a Hasbro attorney. And I mean a REAL attorney not some armchair gamer attorney.
Until then have at it.




DaRK PaRTY ReVIEW
For an eclectic look at media this is one of my daily reads.


Darkworlds is the companion blog to the Darkworlds Magazine. I have yet to read the magazine (I'm waiting for "She who must be obeyed" to print them up for me at her work) but if they are as entertaining as the blog I'll be one happy Evil DM.



Don't let the plain header fool you, Quasardragon is an insane blog. Insane in regards to how this guy finds the time to scour the Internet for all kinds of cool free stuff. E-books, RPG's, Public domain comics. you could visit his archives and give up a day just picking up all the goodies he has there for everyone.




Ahh...Adventures in Nerdliness. One look at this blog and you will know why I love it. Gaming, Chicks, movies, geek treats, and more. If your a regular here you should be one over there as well.


Skype
Okay, a few weeks ago I posted about skype. Its a free communication service that lets you chat in text and voice for free with anyone in it's network.

The good news- It works. Ive chatted with guys here in the states, Canada and Europe and the quality has ranged from good to Excellent. I cannot recommend the free service more. If you have friends and family who are just a tiny bit Internet savvy have them download skype and save yourself some major buck on long distance.

Bad News- Their "pay version" SUCKS! I repeat, IT SUCKS! don't use it. don't join it. I was so happy with the free version I figured their pay version must be cool. ten bucks a month for world-wide unlimited calls?
Sound like a deal.
Wrong.
You pay your money and they take forever to get you on the plan.
And there is NO ONE TO COMPLAIN TO! No customer service what so ever.
I have emails saying they got my money, but when I look in my skype account it shows no activity. There is no one to call and you never receive a response from their "Customer Service" department when you email them.
I did a little research (which I should have done before opening my wallet) and I find out I'm just one of a band of fools that has been fucked by this company.
Their headquarters is somewhere in Central Europe, so good luck on that refund request.

So use skype for free, but don't give them a fucking dime.



The Dane of War isn't a new blog. It's been around for a while. Recently I've seen several posts for things that I thought were especially cool, including a new Pulp RPG supplement for adventure in the South Seas. But rather than pimp it here I'm going to send you over to the Dane of War's Blog. you'll find that post and a few other goodies as well. Have fun.

Gearing up with Hador

Legends of Steel is at the proofreaders right now. So I'm focusing more on getting The Lost World of Hador ready to go. Ryan Shelton is working on the map and I'm currently awaiting some preliminary sketches from a new artist for Hadors cover. for those of you who may not be familiar with the Lost World of Hador project, here is a rough outline-


The Lost World of Hador is an adventure and setting created in the vein of Lost World stories and Sword & Planet romance tales made popular in the pulp writings of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and others. The setting is non-system specific and can be used by any number of different role playing game systems.

Hador is a planet in a distant galaxy. Beings from throughout the multi-verse (including earth) may find themselves transported to this barbaric world.

Amongst the Various cultures one may encounter on Hador are :

French Knights from the Crusades.
Japanese Sailors from the Russian/Japanese War.
A technologically superior culture known simply as "The Ancients".
A people known as the Habeshan. Possibly one of the "Lost Tribes of Israel".
A race of large Arachnoids with powerful psionic abilities.
A race of serpent men (of course).
A deadly band of 17th century pirates from the South China sea.

Plus many other groups and lone individuals from throughout time and space (from Cave men to Starship pilots) all stranded on Hador and trying to survive.

Some of the cultures have made strides in this new world and have established themselves, others have splintered off and died out. Our intent is to make Hador a world of adventure with many of the classic tropes one would expect in a "Lost World" or "Sword & Planet" setting, but adding just enough twists and surprises to keep your adventurers guessing.

Manly Monday

Lazy Sunday Photodump (under the Sea)

Kinda cool, but just a little creepy

I love action figures. And yes I dress them up- the term is Kit-bash. "She who must be obeyed" calls it like she sees it "dressing up my dolls".
Anyway, these guys take it to a whole new level- Hell, these look better than real girls.
The level of detail is amazing. Of course the outfits and posing suggest things that would make Barbie faint. I wasn't sure how much they cost because the website was in Japanese, but I can imagine they ain't cheap.

One day House Pontifax will rise again!

If you’re a reader I’m sure this has happened to you- there’s a book up on a shelf that you bought at someone’s insistence quite a while ago, It’s been sitting there unread for a couple of years now. For whatever reason, you finally decide to have a look at it, and you discover within the first ten pages that this is going to be one of those books that will make it to the shelf of favorites.

All the while saying to yourself “Why the hell didn’t I read this years ago”?

It just happened to me a few days ago. The book- “A Game of Thrones” by George R.R. Martin.

I can imagine a few of you out there rolling your eyes and saying “Duh”.

I haven’t been this enraptured in a story since I cracked my first David Gemmel story (Morningstar).

The story reminds me When I first started my online journey over a decade ago (has it been that long?). I joined an AD&D Play by Email (PBEM) game. My character was a Fighter, a nobleman named Sir Halcyon Pontifax. He was a Knight of the Shield Lands (it was a Greyhawk campaign). He had only his name and his warhorse, having lost everything else when Iuz overran the Shield Lands. Most of his time in the campaign was spent adventuring in order to support his sister and children (His wife died while he was away fighting in the "Greyhawk Wars). His dream was to one day reclaim his lands.

Man, I wish I could find a game around here where I could drop him in and have him manage his estate, deal with intrigue and go chasing after the occasional bandit gang or rival lord. I know there is at least one RPG version of “Game of thrones” out there with another one on the way. It could also be done with a number of other systems From GURPS and Pendragon (BRP) to the venerable and beautiful Birthright. The problem is finding a group in my area actually running this type of campaign.

Up and at 'em... ADAMANT! $1.00 PDF Sale!

Can you ever have enough RPG PDF's? I can't, I love them. I have dozens. I've even read a couple of them.

Giving thanks is great and Adamant Entertainment is being especially thankful this year and offering all of their PDF's for a buck a piece.
Read on...

To celebrate five great years in operation, Adamant Entertainment is running a special sale from Thanksgiving Thursday through the weekend -- the entire Adamant catalog of products have been reduced to a recession-friendly price of one dollar apiece! In addition, every customer during the sale will be registered in a drawing that will take place on Monday, December 1st -- and the winner will receive a subscription for every PDF product that Adamant will release in 2009! (No purchase necessary -- email marketing@adamantentertainment.com for a free entry.)

Now Adamant has always been a little hit and miss in my book, but they do have some solid products and they know how to market well.
I'm Grabbing me the Mars and Northern Crown books peppered with a few Thrilling Tales products. Check out the deals at:

Marvel Score!

I braved the seedier side of Sacramento today in search of Chap Mei sets.

No joy.

However I did run across this little gem over at the Burlington coat factory outlet.

It's a book with an attached digital audio commentary by Stan "The Man" Lee.

This baby was on closeout at $9.99!

Can you say sweet deal?

"Stan Lee—whose wildly creative imagination gave life to such superheroes as Spider-Man, The X-Men, and Daredevil—presents his 50 favorite MARVEL-ous moments. This exclusive book and digital audio collection is a must-have for every comic book fan.
Experience the Marvel Universe in a whole new way—guided by the master himself in a gorgeous, deluxe volume with audio files that actually feature Stan Lee speaking. Lee is known and beloved to millions as the man who helped propel Marvel to its preeminent position in the comic book industry. From The Incredible Hulk to The Fantastic Four, his work has left an indelible mark not only in comics, but also in movies and TV. That’s why his huge number of fans will be thrilled with this unique and beautifully designed full-color book, printed on art-quality paper. It presents 50 top Marvel happenings, arranged chronologically, plus 68 audio tracks (45 minutes running time) of Lee’s fascinating commentary. The format, which contains an actual 2" speaker, allows you to skip and scroll easily to wherever you want. There’s even a 3-digit LCD display. Anyone who’s ever wondered why the Hulk started out gray and then changed to green, what Stan was thinking when he agreed to kill off Gwen Stacy, and why Lee decided to make Daredevil blind, will finally find the answers. The book is profusely illustrated, showcasing ten thematic spreads that detail such subjects as the “Women of Marvel,” “Marvel vs. DC,” “Morality in the Marvel Universe,” and “Spider-Man’s Artists.”"

Manly Monday