Lazy Sunday Photodump

Danger 5

Hats off to Chris for this nugget of pure pop pulp gold: www.danger5.tv

Enterprise...I get it.

Thanks to Netflix I started watching Enterprise. Enterprise was the most recent in the TV franchise and from what I understand one of the less popular of the franchise. Personally I've been a casual fan of the franchise, I grew up with a daily dose of the original series throughout my elementary and Jr. High years so I am more versed in that area of the timeline. I know enough about the other shows to keep myself involved in a conversation, but that's about it. 


Sitting down and watching this series in it's entirety I think I have come to an understanding as to why they have such a loyal fan base. When you look at the shows depicting the future you see repressive regimes controlling mankind, evil sentient computers hunting us to extinction, or a post-apocalyptic zombie filled wasteland.   The Star Trek universe offers hope and a less pessimistic future for mankind. It's not a perfect future- there are still wars and plagues and repression, but we've also conquered many of the demons that haunt us today. 


What I like about Enterprise is watching humanity stumble into space. The crew on Enterprise don't have it all figured out. they brazenly walk in to situations waving hello when they should be scanning for life forms and sending out armed recon teams to gather intelligence. They involve themselves in situations that alter the cultural evolution of an entire species, merely because they are too ignorant to know better.  There is no "Prime Directive" to guide them, the Prime Directive is created because of their actions.


I'm sure there are reasons that the hardcore fans can give me to explain why Enterprise didnt make it. But I'm enjoying it. I even like the controversial theme. If you listen to the lyrics and watch the video it is kind of moving, yes its a little Rod Stewart meets Bryan Adams, but its not terrible.

Lazy Sunday Photo dump

Netflix online works for me

I've been hearing all over the media how people are upset with Netflix for their current business practices. One of their biggest complaints is that their streaming video service doesn't offer a wide selection of the hottest and newest movies.  I can see their point - I love watching a new movie as much as the next guy, but I also make a few bucks writing material for role playing games set in the pulp genres. so Netflix's library of classic, hard to find, and downright quirky movies is like mana from heaven to me.  I hope that Netflix becomes more responsive to the wishes of their customer base-many of which have shown them years of proven loyalty. But I also hope that in doing so, Netflix doesn't purge its catalog of their less in-vogue offerings. Where the hell else am I supposed to get a hold of a copy of   "Bamboo Gods and Iron Men" on short notice?

Life at the Lair -Update

Sorry for the long sabbatical, but things have been rather up and down over here. On the up-side, She Who Must Be Obeyed, the minions, and I have been looking for a new Lair and think we have found the perfect one for our current needs. It was however, a long and tedious process. I'm hopeful that all will go as planned and I can finally have my long desired library room!

On the Evil DM Productions front. Dicey Tales #1 has been available in print and is selling. I wish it was selling faster, but I really haven't put a great deal of effort into promotion, so I figure much of the blame is mine.

Dicey tales #2 is ready to go. We just need an open spot on Jason's schedule for cover art and layout to finish it up.

I have been discussing the next Barbarians of Lemuria project with Simon and he seemed enthused about it (so much so he even offered some of his own work that was sitting "in development").

The working title of the project is "Sulan" and is basically the BoL engine powering an Oriental/Asian flavored setting similar to that found with shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender, Kung-Fu Panda,  and  Jet Li and Jackie Chan's Kung-Fu fantasy film Forbidden Kingdom. 

In Sulan I'm working on a world combining elements of Chinese, Punjabi, Arabic, and Southeast Asian Myth and culture. Careers have been added and Boons have been re-worked to add Wuxia flavored Martial arts. I've also been working on Chi Powers-similar to the psychic Powers found in Dicey Tales #1.

As is said Sulan is in the early stages of development and play-testing, so it  may not see completion until the first part of 2012.  

Here are a few sample paragraphs from an early rough draft:

Barraku

Barraku are “handlers of the dead” in Sulanese society. A character with this career is a professional involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks often entail the embalming and burial or cremation of the dead, as well as the planning and arrangement of the actual funeral ceremony. It might even involve making the casket to put the body in, but unless the Barraku is a skilled carpenter, these boxes can be very basic. Because they deal with death, they are also trained in the tanning of animal hides, taxidermy and they are even called upon to execute convicted criminals. Barraku also have extensive knowledge of the Undead and the ways of destroying or dismissing them. Barraku do not tend to favor any particular attribute over the others although Appeal is the attribute that would be least required in the performance of their work.

Elemental Sorcerer

These Sorcerers specialize in one of the four core elements; Wind, Flame, Earth, or Water.  Some practitioners learn traditionally from a Master but many learn the basics of their craft at schools. Elemental Sorcerers follow the same rules from the magic section of the BoL Legendary Edition in regards to spell power, cost, and magnitude.  Each element has an associated school the students in these schools learn not only the skills to summon and shape the elements but also specific martial arts fighting style which they use for inner discipline and self-defense.

·       Wind School- Crane style

·       Flame School – Tiger Style

·       Earth School - Stone Rhino Style

·       Water School -Water Snake style

Magic

The five different types of magic found in the lands of Sulan are Elemental Sorcery, Celestial Magic, Shamanistic Magic, Witchcraft, and Wizardry. While magic is not an everyday occurrence in the lands of Sulan, those who practice magical arts are not as shunned or reviled as they are in less civilized places. Much honor is bestowed upon practitioners of magic who use their skill for the benefit of mankind.

City-State of Quai

Between the southern jungles kingdoms and the borders of Great Sulan lies the powerful  city-state of Quai.  Quai’s well manned castles and fortresses control the passes through the mountains and therefore the flow of trade for the entire region. The Raja of Quai leads an army of hardened warriors, Bound Earth Elementals, and a fierce contingent of War elephants. Though officially a tributary state to Sulan, past efforts to conquer this mountain state have always failed.  With the current treaty, honor is maintained, face is saved and trade flows to the benefit of all.

Lazy Sunday Photodump

The first print run of Dicey Tales #1 has arrived!

It's finally here!
Dicey Tales Issue #1 is in print!  We just got our first order in from the printer and they look awesome!
And it's being sold directly through Evil DM Productions with FREE domestic shipping.


Check out the button on the side!


$12.00 flat! No shipping charges for all orders in the United States.  I wish I could offer free shipping World-wide but it just wasn't possible.

Bjorn!!

The Saga Of Biorn from The Animation Workshop on Vimeo.

I found my Core Rules Discs!

The reason for this re-post is because I was cleaning out a long forgotten section of the Lair the other day and ran across this little gem.  Not sure if it would work I took it over to the PC and booted it up. It worked! No friggen way! Core Rules works with Windows 7!
I quickly summoned all the minions over and regaled them with all the mysteries that are "Core Rules" (plus the Expansion pack, of course).
Hearing the creak of the chest and the soft crunch of the book opening, brought back some great memories of gaming in with my old group when I lived in Hawaii.  

(and despite some of the recent posts on RPGNet, these guys are Gamer's and they all look to be in pretty good shape...well the one on the far left could drop 4D6 Lbs.)

Good times, good times...


I still belonged to the Core Rules Yahoo Group but I haven't participated in years. Now I have something to talk about.  In fact the Minions and I were discussing resurrecting "Family Game Night", and I see no reason why we cant start a honest to goodness 2nd edition Grand Campaign- Lord knows I have enough material. And they are all of age. We have dabbled with several systems (linked adventures and such) and done a lot of character rolling. But we haven't played a true Old School campaign. 


My oldest boy is in college and is a casual Gamer and my two younger ones are just entering Middle School- so I figure the time is now before full-time jobs and pretty girls start crimping in on hanging out with the Old Man.


Any way here is that post from a few years back on Core Rules:

Back in the 90’s at the tail end of the 2nd edition of D&D, TSR came out with some software that combined all of the core books (fully indexed) with HTML versions, a character generator (that allows you to maintain the character and add equipment and proficiencies as the character progresses), a dice roller, and two different map making programs. The character generator allows the user to customize character races, classes, magic items, spells and equipment. The software also allows the user to “link” map locations to monster encounters and a treasure data base. They also had an "Expansion pack" which refined many of the features from the core rules program AND added all the books from the "Complete book of..." series.

TSR supposedly had big plans to make a version for the then new 3.0 game. That never really came to pass. There was a character generator but it didn’t compare to the core rules software in the least, there was no map program, dice roller, or indexed books.

I was just thinking about all the software advances that have been made since then, and I wonder why there has never been a product released to challenge the Core rules set? I’m not a software developer by any means but you have to think that there have been enough advances in software that someone could take their RPG system and make a kick ass package for their games. Wouldn’t a GURPS core rules set just rock?


Or a FUDGE/FATE core rules? There are several other products that do a bit of this and a bit of that, but I have yet to see one that combines all the features that were in the Core rules and the expansion.

I’m one of “those guys” that still loves and plays 2nd ed and I treasure my copies of this software, it has bugs and you need to do a few work arounds from time to time but all in all it’s a very cool tool.

You can still find copies out there but now days the core rules software can go for as high as $200.00 bucks on Ebay. For those of you lucky enough to own a copy, you can find find plenty of patches, custom items and support at the core rules and beyond yahoo group.

Here is a map I made using one of the core rules mapping programs:

Lazy Sunday Photodump

Dicey Tales now at Lulu!

After receiving the first issue of Dicey Tales from Lulu, I'm happy to say I was very pleased with the result. Its on sale now at the Evil DM Productions page on the Lulu website.

Lazy SundayPhotodump

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.