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.

I thought I found a "lost" Holloway print

This is actually from "Friend of the Lair" Jason Chalker's collection. But the style is definitely reminiscent of Jim Holloway.
I love it! I want more.

This and more from Jason Chalker can be found here.

Virtual Gaming using corkboard

I’ve been part of a Monday night Barbarians of Lemuria game set in Hyboria. We play online using Skype and Open RPG.

I’ve been having a great time with it and have really started to look forwards to Monday nights as my “game night”. It’s not in person, but we still manage to have some good laughs and manly banter.

The open RPG is pretty crappy though. I’m finding more and more that I don’t really need to see little tokens on a board to have fun with all of this, Especially with the Barbarians of Lemuria system. I think we use open rpg mostly for the dice roller but that’s not even worth it in my opinion as the dice program seems to run in strings of either high or low rolls.

I’m thinking a using a virtual whiteboard might just be better. You lose the pog idea but that’s not really all that much.

In fact someone (I'm not sure whether it was Stargazer or Greywulf) turned me on to Corkboard.me

I whipped toghether a virtual table top for a Dicey tales game. See here.

Corkboard has a chat function. I'm going to email the creator and suggest a dice rolling function to be added to the chat, Who knows, maybe he's a gamer huh?

A review of The Desert of Souls

The Desert of Souls

(Full disclosure- Howard is one of my many Online friends and as such I was sent a hardback copy from the publisher, but I enjoyed the story so much that I purchased my own Kindle Edition to have with me on hand)

Howard Andrew Jones, best known for his editorial work at Blackgate Magazine and the Harold Lamb collection from Bison Books has released his first novel featuring the adventuring duo Dabir and Asim, it is titled, The Desert of Souls.


The Desert of Souls gives us the origin of the partnership of these two characters, and lays the foundation for their long and adventure filled career. Dabir and Asim have adventured through a series of short stories written by Jones over several years now. Their adventures have graced the pages of historical fiction and sword & sorcery collections as well as those of Blackgate magazine. Dabir is a Scholar and Asim a swordsman and officer. The pair resides in the middle east of legend where they are often called upon, by their Caliph and others, to investigate mysterious happenings and solve the impossible.

At first glance it would be easy to pin the label of “Holmes and Watson meet the Arabian Nights” upon them, but that would be a gross injustice to the richness of the characters and the level of craftsmanship Jones has given these stories.

The Desert of Souls tells of a mission to solve a riddle and then to save an empire. Throughout the tale the duo faces wizards, assassins, necromancers, and demons amongst their many foes.
Despite these numerous foes, I never felt that Jones went too far in the use of the fantastic. He never loses the sword & Sorcery feel, where magic is rare and inherently a tool that corrupts.

I enjoyed Asim’s first person account of the story. There were several places where his characterization is so deep that I felt I was reading an actual recollection. Jones cites Robert E. Howard as one of his influences, Howard is famous for bringing his readers so deep into the story that we forget the characters, much less the setting, was a figment of his imagination. Jones it seems has learned these lessons well, as I found myself more and more invested in the character of Captain Asim.

While Desert of Souls is a full-fledged adventure story with plenty of action, swordfights, and nefarious sorcery, it is also the tale of two friends. The chemistry between the duo is readily apparent and the dialogue truly enjoyable. I was especially pleased at the wit and humor of their conversations, something lost in this genre since the early stories of Leiber’s Fafhrd and Grey Mouser.

The Villains and supporting characters are also well thought out, each with virtues, vices and depth lacking in many other tales found in this genre.

It’s apparent that Jones loves not only the genre but the rich setting of the Orient as well. The tale is well researched and presents an enchanting glimpse into lands that are rarely visited by other writers of Sword & Sorcery fiction.

Messrs. Howard and Lamb would be proud of their student.

Musical Monday

Lazy Sunday Photodump

GEEK ALERT! Behind the Scenes on the set of "The Hobbit"

A million thanks to "Friend of the Lair" Jason Chalker for the heads up on this.

Nerdgasm time.

ZeFRS fans raise $210.00 for disaster relief efforts in Japan

 

We are proud to announce that through the sales of Legends of Steel : ZeFRS Edition, Evil DM Productions was able to raise $210.00 for the Earthquake and Tsunami relief efforts through the Save the Children Foundation.

Thank you to all who donated.

Please Help!

Today is the last day of our Fundraiser for Earthquake and Tsunami relief efforts in Japan. I just wanted to appeal to you all one last time to consider purchasing a copy of Legends of Steel: ZeFRS edition. 100% of our profit will go to the Save the Children’s special disaster relief fund for Japan.
Thanks.

A couple of REAL men for “Manly Monday”

A Gurkha soldier, who fought 40 train robbers, to be felicitated in the Republic Day of India

 

Bishnu Shrestha, a brave Gurkha soldier in Indian Army, defeated 40 train robbers while returning home after a voluntary retirement.  The Indian army, is going to awarded Bishnu with Sourya Chakra, Bravery Award and Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha medals during the Indian Republic Day celebration on January 26.

While in the train, Maurya Express from Ranchi to Gorakhpur, on September 2, 2010, 35 year-old Bishnu saved a girl about to be raped by the train robbers in front of her helpless parents. After looting the train, when the robbers started to strip a 18 year old girl in front of him, he couldn’t contain his calmness. He took out his khukari and took on the a group of 40 robbers, alone. In the fight, he killed three of the dacoits and injured eight others. The remaining dacoits fled the scene to save their lives.

The police arrested the eight injured dacoits and recovered Rs. 400,000 in cash, 40 gold necklaces, 200 cell phones, 40 laptops and other items left by the robbers while fleeing the train.

In recognition to his bravery, his regiment has given Bishnu a cash reward of Rs. 50,000 and it has also terminated his voluntary retirement, so that he could get a customary promotion after he receives the medals. In addition to that, he will also receive a cash rewards from the government, special discounts in international air tickets, and discounts in Indian railways train tickets.

 

Gurkha solider gets Britain’s second highest medal for bravery

Gurkha soldiers are known for fighting single-handedly against a number of enemies. Last time, it was Indian Army Gurkha who fought more than 40 train robbers, in India to save a girl from being raped.

Now, a British Army Gurkha soldier was honored by Britain’s second highest medal for bravery for fighting off at least a dozen Taliban insurgents.

Acting Sergeant Dip Prasad Pun was stationed in a checkpoint near Babaji, in Afghanistan’s Helmand province. On September 17, 2010 militants opened fire from all direction.

Alone on the roof, Pun fought  rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47s. He fired a more than 400 rounds of bullets, detonated a mine, and launched 17 grenades in about fifteen minutes of intense fight. He even used the machine gun tripod to knock down an insurgent, trying to climb up to his position.

In a BBC news article, Pun says, "I think I am a very lucky guy, a survivor. Now I am getting this award, it is very great and I am very happy."

The Conspicuous Gallantry Cross medal is only one level below the Victoria Cross, the highest medal a British Army personnel can get. The 31 year old Acting Sergeant Dipprasad Pun’s father and grandfather both had been Gurkha in British Army. (Photo credits – BBC)

Lazy Sunday Photo dump

I like the shot of the kid crossing the raging river using dental floss.

Very Cool.

Dicey Tales #1 Status Report

The content portion of Dicey Tales #1 is done. Unfortunately, we hit a snag with several pieces of art. Luckily, DT cover artist Jason Chalker has stepped up to fill-in and will be working on the needed pieces in between his duties laying the issue out.  The issue will be released as a PDF and we will be looking at a possible release later as a digest sized paperback. 

I just ran across my old TSR Conan character

I loved playing Khoraj. Nothing flashy about him, just a cool head and a steady arm in a fight.  I always thought of him as being a friend to Conan during his days as a Turanian officer. 

The fun I had playing him was what propelled me to help set up the LoS: ZeFRS Edition.

The theme grew on me. Now I love it

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When this last season began I thought the new opening theme was interesting but that was about it.  Then as we got into this final season, I realized the genius of it all. 

The song “Home” is a few years old and is by a British group  The Engineers.

ZeFRS for Japan Tsunami Relief

 

For the month of March 100% of all profits earned from the sale of Legends of Steel ZeFRS Edition will be donated to the Japan Earthquake Tsunami Children in Emergency Fund, Sponsored by the Save The Children Foundation.

Please help by purchasing a copy at
RPGNow

Please pass the word!

Lazy Sunday Photo Dump

Lazy Sunday Photo Dump

Getting the word out on ZeFRS

So ZeFRS is out. It’s currently in the top ten Hottest sellers at RPGNow. I sent out a bunch of free copies to “Friends of the Lair” I’m hoping they will give it a read, and eventually posts something on their blog or favorite message board. Word of mouth my friend, that’s what, spells success in our medium. So if you’re in any way interested in Swords & Sorcery gaming please give it a look.

In other Legends of Steel news, I heard from Chris Rutkowsky the other day. He ran a BASH Fantasy: Legends of Steel game at Dundracon last weekend. He said it was a great success and the players at his table really liked the game. I’m waiting for a few more pieces of art and then layout of LoS for BASH should be out later this year.

Funny guy

Finally...ZeFRS is out!

After months of writing and years in production, the PDF for the Legends of Steel: ZeFRS Edition has finally been released. It's been a long haul, and to be honest, until I reread the PDF the other day I had forgotten how cool a system ZeFRS is.

Zeb's Fantasy Roleplaying System or ZeFRS is a reimagining of the original Conan© Role-Playing game written for TSR® by legendary game designer Dave "Zeb" Cook over a quarter of a century ago. Mark Krawec, with the permission of the original author, has brought this classic game back to life. And now, Evil DM Productions brings together ZeFRS and the latest edition of its critically acclaimed Legends of Steel campaign world to let you trample the kingdoms of Erisa beneath your sandaled feet!

Legends of Steel: ZeFRS Edition contains the complete Legends of Steel Campaign world and an LoS-adapted version of the ZeFRS rules engine.

Get $3.00 off Through Monday!

Use coupon code: 

Three favorites 70's 80's & 90's

Heading down the Path

The Minions have played Basic D&D, Star Wars, Heroscape and Heroclix. I’m now going to try and bring their roleplaying up to date using Pathfinder. Despite the fact that I consider Dungeons and Dragons THE definition of a Roleplaying game, I’m drawn more to Pathfinder than I am to 4^th ed. D&D. Besides I already own a couple of the Pathfinder books, whereas I don’t have any of the 4^th edition books, and if there is one thing I have plenty of is books. 

Ive been on the lookout for a series of modules to run them through and I decided to go through the series set in Falcon's Hollow to start.

Robert E. Howard's Savage Sword #1

As discriminating and thrifty as I try to be in my comics purchases I keep running into titles that have me reaching for my wallet just about every week lately.
Robert E. Howard's Savage Sword is just such a title.

Dark Horse has gathered some great material that has so far rarely been seen in the world of Sword & Sorcery comics. We are all well familiar with Conan, Kull and most recently Solomon Kane, but Dark Horse is taking the unprecedented step in printing tales of some of Howard's other, lesser-known adventurers. Dark Agnes (the original template for Red Sonja), the Pict King Bran Mak Morn, and of course one of my personal favorites Francis Xavier Gordon also known as "El Borak".

Each appears in serialized form and shares the book with a tale of the one and only Conan.

If you're a Sword & Sorcery junkie like myself, you really cant pass on this.

Lazy Sunday Photodump