End of the year, 2015

     Such a fun year, which seemed to move so fast at it's end, and here I am on my 299th post. A couple of weeks ago I received my copies of GM Gems and the Monster Alphabet, both wonderful resources.

     Yesterday swung by my flgs and picked up DCC's The 998th Conclave of Wizards and the new Doctor Who RPG, both of which are excellent for different reasons. The 998th conclave is basically a mini setting in itself, from which your players can leap from adventures spanning fantasy, sci fi, horror, and many variations of those. Doctor Who RPG places all the (updated) information at your fingertips, in one handy volume. At fifty bones it is a bit pricey, but it is not necessary for every player to own a copy, just the GM. When I say pricey, I mean for non role-players coming in, it can be a bit of sticker shock, as most of the big rpg's have a basic price of that much.

     Finally, I am participating in the BX Campaign Challenge on Google +. James V West had a wonderful idea that he shared with us and pretty soon, it become a challenge. So look it up, or find someone to send you an invite. I am very excited and will keep yo all apprised of the situation as it develops. Au revoir, and I hope to post on more time before the year ends, hopefully I'll see you soon!

Crawling Under a Broken Moon #11 review

     This issue focuses on the clerics of the different faiths first introduced in issue #4. What started as a random table (Whose temple is that?, page 7) in there, has been well expanded.

     Each individual listing gives you the lowdown on the deity, their followers and their relationship to others. Any special rules for that particular group and which creatures they consider unholy (which can be an entertaining read) and special ways they can interact with their deity (Followers of Santa's Gift that keeps on giving, Kizz's enlightened awesomeness) Each entry specifies which creatures they find unholy, and are therefore able to turn (Santa can turn the naughty) Fourteen faiths in all and every one of them amazing.

     Then we come to a substitute for halflings, the Feral Urchins. Reminiscent of the wild kid from Road Warrior and the mutating kids from the OS Star Trek episode "Miri" there are three ways to play it. Depending on your alignment (though not set in stone) there Wildchildren(Chaotic) Slingers(Neutral) and Nerds(Lawful) There is enough that is different from halflings that if a group contained both they would not step on each other's toes.

     Weapons of the Wastelands returns to give us different armor types (biker jacket equals leather armor, scrap metal is like scale mail) some special armor (silver suits, power armor!) and some common homemade weapons. The section finishes with "Cheap, AKA damaged goods". In case your players can't afford a new weapon, here are some quick rules for buying/using cheap-crappy equipment.

     Hologram is a brand new class, they carry their data disc with them, like Tron, but interact with the real world. There is an occupation table to roll on, for starting holograms, as well as a corruption table to make it more interesting. As always, cool new options await!

     Twisted Menagerie returns as well with the scorpionoid, with enough back story to make them more than mindless, cackling drones to throw at the pc's. They look to be pretty deadly, but wave a soda in front of one and he might let you rub his belly. You'll see when you read it.

     Lastly, we have a piece about when deities call in favors and what happens if the pc's don't comply. Just remember, good stuff happens when your patron/god is pleased with you. There you have it, fantastic content and great art, Reid and company have delivered again.  Get it while you can!

Cryptworld Comic Conversion, issue one

     Tim Snider makes some fantastic stuff for Mutant Future, and now Cryptworld. In addition to helping bring the rules set to the masses, as well as Monsters Macabre, he has a zine for Cryptworld. What Tim has done is take a classic horror comic from the 50's, reprinted it in the first half of the zine then turned it into a scenario in the second. He gives the cryptmaster the story background (basically what is going on) and then how to run the scenario with different ways you can get the pc's involved. The main creature gets statted up, as well as a lesser critter that appears in the comic.

   Look at that back cover, a Defense Against Paranormal Agencies advert. Just like in the olden days! 

Here is the cover to the second issue, The Fleshless Ones looks to be even more amazing than the first. Tim hopes to have this ready sometime in the near future and I can't wait. Woot!

Weird Worm-Ways of Saturn

     Picked this up at this past Con on the Cob. Weird Worm-Ways is the first of a two part adventure from Moon Dice Games. A planetary crawl for characters of fifth level.

     This is set in the Crawljammer DCC zine setting, centered on Saturn. In an early issue of Crawljammer (#1, I think) creator Tim Callahan gave a quick tease about what is special about each planet in the solar system, and Saturn seemed a tough sell for an adventure. The idea of an ape-men civilization and a worm god were pretty awesome sounding, but wrapping your head around the severe magnetic fluctuations of Saturn is a tough sell. Any metal will be irrevocably drawn to the surface with no chance of return. What Daniel Bishop has done is give players a good reason to visit the planet, and if they want to chance bringing metal, then maybe they can get away with it. Apparently, once every thousand years, the magnetic forces wane and a certain technomancer would like something retrieved from the Vault of Zin the Meticulous.

     The first half gives the hook for the characters, then goes on to give brief detail about the surface of Saturn. There are random encounter tables for the different terrain types you will run into, and a good selection of creatures indigenous to the planet. The second half fleshes out the hex crawl the group must travel through in order to reach the vault. In the back are rules for creating Saturnian ape-men characters.

     Stellar writing by Daniel Bishop, amazing cover art by Matt Hildebrand, fantastic interior illustrations by Fred Dailey. All using Tim Callahan's Crawljammer setting to full effect, this is a must have for DCC fans. I am reminded that Clark Ashton-Smith wrote about Saturn and Tsathoggua. Guess I'd better catch up on my reading, then. The second issue (half?) may arrive early 2016, so fingers crossed.

The Legend of Hell House

     So, finally Netflix has Legend of Hell House streaming, just in time for...Thanksgiving? Eh, I better than not at all. I remember watching this on vhs in the 80's, so I am sitting down to see if it matches up to my memories. Give me a moment while I watch it, be right back.

    

     Sweet Jumpin Bajeemers! Roddy McDowall is one of my favorites from that era, and he does well here as the sole survivor of a previous investigation of the infamous Belasco "Hell" house. The typical millionaire wanting proof of life after death pays a group (physical medium, mental medium, and a physicist with his wife) to enter the house and come out with evidence of the afterlife. Roddy (playing the physical medium) barely made it out of the house alive the last time he entered and this time he is playing it safe.

     The effects are great, and the vocal effects are fantastic. Bonus surprise, Delia Derbyshire worked on the music/electronic score! A lot here that can be used in Call of Cthulhu, Cryptworld or any number of rpg's. Simply a fantastic haunted house movie. Give a look!

NaGa DeMon update03

     Here we are, another weekend over and some more stuff for Alucar. First, lets get a dinosaur out of the way.

Deinonychus (what the velociraptor in Jurassic Park really was)
STR:5(75)     WPR:4(65)
DEX:5(75)     PER:0
AGI:6(85)     PCN:5(75)
STA:4(55)     POW:0
ATT:80%     WND:13
MOV:L80
Notes: Relatively man sized, they are sleek bipeds with sickle shaped talons on their hind feet. Capable of using limited tactics, they typically hunt in small packs.

Clockwork Guardsman
STR:6(85)     WPR:0
DEX:5(75)     PER:0
AGI:5(65)     PCN:4(55)
STA:5(75)     POW:0
ATT:75%     WND:15
MOV:L60
Notes: Resembling a typical policeman, with a porcelain mask and wearing white gloves. It's interior is a mass of gears and mechanisms. If needed, a small wooden club slides out of it's sleeve to be used to attack or defend. They are designed to follow simple instructions, and are typically found guarding the Steam Works (Prof. Atlas' labs) and the city hall.

     As usual, let me know what you think, more to come this next Wednesday. Take care, folks!

Zines and other things, update 11/15/2015

     So things are moving along here. I am getting together people for a panel regarding rpg zines at next year's Con on the Cob. I have two people committed and a few maybes, though if anyone would like to volunteer I would love that. In addition, any artists out there who would like to show their art would be welcome. There will be at least one new artist showing her work next year. Exciting things are happening and I can't wait! 

     All of my looking at various zines and their creators had me wanting to pick up some new zines to check out. Vacant Ritual Assembly by Red Moon Medicine Show is what I picked up this weekend, issues 1 and 2. Clint Krause runs a Lamentations of the Flame Princess game and these are what he has developed for it. They contain new creatures, adventures, places to inhabit, random tables and more. Issue one has an interview with Chris McDowall (Into the Odd) and issue two has one with Greg Gorgonmilk regarding his Dolmenwood project. Exciting stuff that, although written with Lamentations in mind, can be used with any game. Definitely worth checking out. Go on, have a taste! Issue one is pay what you want, so go for it.