Lego + Dungeons & Dragons = Awesome!

Maybe it's cause its late and I ate cake at 10:30PM  but I was lying in bed and I had a myriad of thoughts going through my head (hey I made a rhyme). 


But listen to this for a moment.

A line of Lego's based on the D&D brand.  Think about it Lego and WOTC get together and come up with these great sets of iconic D&D, AD&D play sets.

Could you imagine building a "Keep on the Borderlands" set? complete with the hermit in the tree? or how about the Moat house from the Temple of Elemental evil? A set of Lego minis with all the Iconic D&D brand characters? Has anyone thought of this. shouldn't someone be calling WOTC right now and telling them to look at this post?

People are always talking about gaming needing an infusion of new blood. What could be better than a horde of Lego Maniacs? Have you seen the stuff those guys make?

The money they drop on a new set, no questions asked?
I'm telling ya people,  it's a win-win!

Ok, it's back to bed for me now. I'm sure in the morning I'll think of all the marketing and business reasons this would never come to pass. But for now, at least I'll get to dream about it for a few more hours.

Dicey Tales is becoming a "thing"...

...in a good way.
It's taking up a good amount of time. I'm getting shit done that has languished on my hard drive for ages, forgotten projects that may finally see the light of day. I've received several submissions for Simon to review for the "Lemurian Lore" section of DT.
I'm trying to keep a tight reign on my artists and writers, so that everyone can make the 08/15 I gave them, allowing me to have DT#2 ready in late August/ early September.
Jason Chalker has agreed to continue his layout duties for a few more issues at least, so that's one worry less.

I'm also looking at a reissue of "Legends of Steel" for Savage Worlds with new adventures and expanded coverage of the world of Erisa ( I figured they came out with a new snazzy edition, I should too).

All in all it's a hectic time here at the Lair but it's a fun time as well.   So if you happen to see more "Sock girls" than normal(see below), it's only because I'm too damn busy to write about anything substantive.

Lemurian Lore in Dicey Tales

Simon and I have decided that Dicey Tales will offer a "Lemurian Lore" section in every issue starting with issue #2. 


In the section, Simon and others will offer a mix of short articles covering a variety of subjects - realm information, adventure hooks, area spotlights, notable NPC's, side treks, and such. 


All of the content in Lemurian Lore will be approved by Simon and considered "Canon" for the official Barbarians of Lemuria Campaign.

Lazy Sunday Photo Dump

Hail to the King!

ComicCon 2011

Fanboys seem to have better hygiene than Gamergeeks.

Maybe it was the plethora of babes that showed up. Or maybe it was because we were in San Diego-which has some ass kicking nightlife during ComicCon. But the funk –o-meter kept hovering in the Tolerable to Low Zone. 

I think that because ComicCon has morphed into so much more than just comics, you now find tons of gals at this venue. The fact that the Gas lamp district across the street had a “Spring break vibe” going on didn’t hurt either.

So there weren’t just the beautiful but unattainable booth babes and professional models in attendance, but also a nice cross section of the female sex in general. This may have something to do with the boys making use of the dial soap and old spice solid.

San Diego is a great place to go for a convention.

These folks have the con-thing down to a science. Plenty of security, lots of friendly staff, frequent trolleys to ferry con-goers to and from all corners of the city. A fantastic night-life. And a population that doesn’t just tolerates the hordes of geeks that converge into their hometown, but they appreciate the attention and $$ we bring to the city- They were friendly from Macys to McDonalds.

I will never pay retail for a trade paperback again!

Just about every comic booth had trades at 40-60% off. And the deals were even better on the last day.

That’s all for now. There is much more but I’m tired.

Bottom line: for a Fanboy, Gamergeek, or anyone into Pop culture, ComicCon is a must.

How soon we forget

The latest nerd drama to hit the internets is all about the Dwarves from the new Hobbit movie.  I'm staying out of most of it and will reserve my judgement until my Minions and I are watching it opening night. Our hands full of popcorn tubs, Nathans hotdogs and large Pepsi's (or Cokes).

I will not bitch and grumble. I remember oh too well the days when the very thought of movies about the books and characters I loved drew nothing but laughter from all the Hollywood studios.

Bring it on Pete Jackson, I forgive you for "The Lovely Bones".

Coming soon...

Nerdgasm Alert! John Carter!

An ounce of preparation...

Thanks to Netflix I spent the other day watching a Jericho marathon. Now I'm not an alarmist or anything  but would it be so bad to stock up on a few more cans of soup and powerbars in the pantry and maybe buy a couple of extra boxes of shells for the Remington?


Well those are thoughts for another day. I'm off to start this book I just ran across...

Google+

If any of you guys need an invite to Google+ drop us a line with your email addy and we'll hook you up. It's the Google Facebook clone and looks promising.


But so did Google Wave...

The great storage room clearance!

Comic Con won't be cheap.  So I figured waht better time to get rid of all the extras and doubles and Goodwill finds that have been stacking around here in the house. so check my stuff  HERE on Ebay. I'll be posting more and different stuff in the coming weeks, like this....

A Saturday and a Sock Girl

A Dicey Time Online

We took Dicey Tales through its pace as an online game using Skype and a web-based dice roller.  The result was a very fun and satisfying session. We didn't need to use a mapping program, thanks to the abstract sort of way that combat works in BoL. I was very satisfied that the non-combat rules held up well and it only strengthened my belief that Contacts is one of the wisest Boon choices in the game.  The adventure ended on a cliffhanger note and we plan to continue once we can coordinate our schedules.

Great Pulp game find!

I took a quick trip to the comic shop today. no real reason just burning some time. I picked up a couple of titles and lo and behold I found a game. Now my comic store is usually strictly comics, but every once in a while they pick up a few RPGs in a large comic buy. In this case it was an old classic from yesteryear. Justice Inc.

That was a cool find in itself. But as every true Pulp Gamer knows: when you find a Justice Inc. box you have to look inside for one of the "Holy Grail's" of Gaming -"Lands of Mystery".

Now, "Lands of Mystery" was a supplement for running a "Lost World" pulp setting. It was written by Champions Guru Aaron Allston, and is considered one of the best gaming supplements ever written.

Dare I hope?

Would it be there?

Yer damn skippy it would!

There it was, in all its glory and in pristine condition too!

And all for $7.99

It was a good day.

I WILL be going to Comic-Con 2011!!!

My wife and I just got our tickets!
It will be our first time there. This year I'll be going as an atendee, next year I might just have a table!

Woo Hoo!!

A Dicey Tales adventure anyone?

My buddy Conan and I are gonna play a little BoL Pulp using the rules from Dicey Tales tomorrow. We'll be using Skype. we have room for about three others.

We are going to start at about 1:PM PST.
You need a copy of BoL and Dicey Tales #1

The game should last about 4 hours. If anyone else out there is up for a quick pickup game let me know!

Is that a "redband" trailer in your pants? Or are you just glad to see me?

Here comes Drogo!

Err..uhh,,I mean CONAN!

More Conan the Barbarian in 3D Videos

The Black Death

I ran across this gem the other day on Netflix.  It had all the necessary ingredients to pique my curiosity- swords, soldiers, sorcery, and Sean Bean.  Much like "Season of the Witch" which I wrote about in January, Black Death takes place in the dark ages and involves hunting for witches in one of the darkest periods in human history. Unlike Season of the Witch, Black Death is more of a historical thriller than an out and out horror movie. There are few CGI effects, But it turns out that we don't need leaping flames and crawling demons to experience horror.

The actions of the characters in Black Death are pretty graphic and horrific without needing a green screen.  That said, the movie makes several intelligent statements about religion and morality.
Of note to gamer's- there are well choreographed skirkishes and nice depictions of weapons, armor, torture devices, and tips on playing a witch-hunter without all of the stylized anime inspired posing and coolness normally attributed to these very brutish men.

The Evil DM gives Black Death two thumbs up (now put away the thumbscrews).

Just little bit more pimping on my Blog and then we'll get back to Wednesday girls.

For a limited time I put Legends of Steel -Barbarians of Lemuria Edition and Legends of Steel - Savage Worlds Edition, on sale for 30% off at Lulu. 

LoS /BoL is a hardback and LoS / SW is a softback.

This is for a limited time only (the next few days anyway).  

I happen to be in a good mood (see Dicey Tales).

It's up for sale!

Check it out HERE

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". 

Pelinore

Greyhawk, Toril, Ravenloft, Krynn, and the rest, you thought you knew them all eh?   But how many of you have heard of Pelinore?  Chances are unless you’re either from the U.K. or a die-hard TSR fan you may not have heard of this tiny campaign world that appeared back in the 20^th century circa 1984.  It made its first appearance in a TSR U.K. magazine named Imagine, so I figure that makes it an official AD&D world (in my book anyway).  Luckily,a PDF recently made its way into my hands that collects a little over a years’ worth of articles on Pelinore, and now I make it available to you, using that most wonderful of services:  Dropbox.

The articles are as follows

July 84- a new world

August 84 – The city league

September 84-The Wynd

October 84 – Law and Order / North Docklands

November 84 – The city League/ Pablo Fanquays Fair

December 84 – The city league / The Arena

January 85 – The city league/ Gibbet street/ Guilds

February 85 – the big wide world

March 85 – The city league / the old bastion

April 85 – The cornucopia

May 85 – the Gods of Pelinore

June 85 – The county of Cerwyn: Burghalter

July 85 – the gods of the domains

August 85 – The city league/ monument square

September 85 – The city league / the Asylum

Watch Game of Thrones online

If you don't have HBO check it out here before they take it down.

There are a few annoying ads to deal with at first, but thats to be expected.