Tuesday, February 26, 2013

The Lost: A Charity Fiction Anthology

I don't often push crowdfunding campaigns, mostly because I think they get enough momentum on their own. This one is a bit different, and it is kind of close to my heart. This is about The Lost: A Charity Fiction Anthology. And, eighteen days out from the finish, it is still a few hundred dollars away from its goal. From the campaign page:

The Lost is stories of hope, tragedy, and the people the world turns away from. From a young woman struggling with addiction to a streetwise Santa looking out for his friends, these stories range from literary to magical realism. The Lost is an anthology of stories that confront issues of homelessness and the people our society ignores.

The Lost features a great group of writers who have created daring, elegant stories of loss, redemption, and love.
and (most importantly):
The Lost is a fiction anthology with nine stories about the lives of the people society has forgotten. The proceeds from The Lost will benefit City Harvest, a charity that feeds the hungry. 
Now serving New York City for 30 years, City Harvest (www.cityharvest.org) is the world's first food rescue organization, dedicated to feeding the city’s hungry men, women, and children. This year, City Harvest will collect more than 42 million pounds of excess food from all segments of the food industry, including restaurants, grocers, corporate cafeterias, manufacturers, and farms. This food is then delivered free of charge to some 600 community food programs throughout New York City by a fleet of trucks and bikes. City Harvest helps feed the more than one million New Yorkers that face hunger each year.
Part of the reason that this charity is near and dear to me is because I've been homeless, and I know how you can feel close to that edge again (having been underemployed for a while now) , so I know that the time comes when you need to get help. I've never been one to easily ask for money, unlike some who seem to think it is OK to ask others to pay for things in life like moving expenses or car repairs. Homelessness are people who are in genuine need and who need genuine help, and people like +J.R. Blackwell and +Brennan Taylor of Galileo Games wanting to help warms my heart.

I've seen an ARC of the book, and there's some great fiction to be found in these pages. I'm sure you'll recognize some of the writers:
  • Kathryn Watterson: Bumble Bee Brown
  • C.J. Malarsky: Burning Ember
  • Sarah Newton: Circles and Stars
  • K. H. Vaughan: Hell on Wheels
  • Megan Engelhardt: Jimmy Got-It Gets It
  • Stephen D. Rogers: Magpie
  • Meg Jayanth: The Beasts By Their Names
  • Peter Woodworth: The End of Hungry Santa
  • Shoshana Kessock: The Case of George the Curious
For  $5 you can receive one of the short stories in electronic form. For $10 you can receive the anthology in electronic form. Obviously, you can give more, help more. and that would be a great thing. Never ever give because someone says that you need to, or because you feel that you have to...give because it is the right thing to do.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Justice League of America and Vibe First Issues

When I read the new first issues of Justice League of America and Justice League of America's Vibe from DC Comics, I have to say that I had low expectations. I have much of the run of the Justice League Detroit from the months in between J'onn J'onzz making his triumphant return to the Justice League to the lead-up to the Crisis on Infinite Earths that lead to the deaths of a good chunk of the Detroit-era League.

I will say right now that I thought that the Detroit-era of the Justice League was a great idea. On paper. Unfortunately, that idea hit some speedbumps on the way to getting to the final stories. One of those major speedbumps was Vibe. To be honest, the portrayal of the character had all of the subtlety of being hit in the head with a bowling ball. One thing that DC Comics had a hard time recovering from, after Marvel Comic's surge of popularity in the 60s and 70s, was that all of their characters were pretty much white middle class guys (except of course for the billionaire white guys), and there wasn't much for readers of color to grab on to with DC's books. I'm sure that was part of the reason for a multicultural approach to this run of the Justice League. It just wasn't very good and to prove that it wasn't very good, the final story arc lead to the death of a couple of the new characters and the ending of this version of the Justice League.

So, let's fast forward to 2013 (and ignore the "return" of the Detroit-era  Justice League in Darkest Night) and we see a return of some of the ideas of that team to the New 52. There's a new multicultural Justice League in town, and it is set in Detroit again. Michigan native Geoff Johns launches this new Justice League of America book (although he will be replaced by a permanent writer), probably in order to tie it more tightly into the next "Aquaman" of the New 52, the comic with the awkwardly long name of The Justice League of America's Vibe (hereafter known as Vibe). I'm sure that's to avoid "confusion" with the magazine of the same name, but who really knows.

The set-up of Justice League of America #1 and Vibe #1 are both the same: Darkseid's attempted invasion of Earth from the initial story arc of John's and Jim Lee's Justice League comic. Detroit was the first beachhead of Darkseid's invasion, and also the place where the first person died: the brother of Francisco "Cisco" Ramon, the man who will become the super-hero Vibe. Cisco was caught in the first Boom Tube opened onto Earth, and was saved by his brothers Armando and Dante. Armando was killed by a Parademon in the attempt, but did save his brother.Being caught in this Boom Tube is what has given Cisco his powers: the ability to sense beings from other dimensions (due to their differing vibrational rates) and a powerset of vibrational-oriented abilities.

Both of these comics set up the background of the formation of this new Justice League, and Vibe becoming a super-hero. I think the whole "the unlikeliest hero" is a bit too cute and self-aware on the part of Johns and DC Comics. Yes, we get that no one liked Vibe from the first time around but there were reasons for that. These comics do a much better job this time around, and I'm not the only one who thinks that. Vibe is a much less stereotypical character this time around, and I think that is what will potentially keep this book going, not any marketing ploys.

Another Detroit-era character, former mentor and support staff member James Gunn returns as a member of the secret government organization A.R.G.U.S. (no where near as cool or fun as S.H.A.D.E. but an attempt by the powers that be at DC Comics to make something like Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D.) and mentor and support staff to the new Justice League of America. I'm not 100% sold on A.R.G.U.S. within the setting yet, it just seems too derivative even after a year. Throw in Steve Trevor as a super-spy and Suicide Squad/Team 7 member/leader Amanda Waller running the whole shebang and I'm still not entirely sold on the concept. Another thing that I didn't think that I would be saying, but Vibe definitely came out of the gate a lot stronger than Justice League of America, which makes sense since Vibe does have a much smaller cast to deal with.

However, these are both good comics. I'm not the biggest fan of Geoff Johns. He is a good writer, don't get me wrong, but he can be very uneven in his storytelling. His work on Green Lantern tended towards being overly long, and sometimes convoluted, and his work on Justice League is no where near as strong as what he had done with the Justice Society in the past. That said, Johns brings an incredible amount of enthusiasm to any book that he writes. Love or hate his work, but this is a man who is motivated by love for characters. Unfortunately, as I said, that doesn't always promise quality but it can bring good things to any book that the man works on.

Are these books worth buying? Yes. I would say that Vibe is definitely the "must have" book of the two. Johns has tied this new character deeply into the story of the New 52, and that means that there are going to be some big things happening in this book (as demonstrated by the reveal on the last page that I am not going to spoil), and they are going to be important to the advancement of the setting. Justice League of America is still a wildcard for me. I know that this is also supposed to be important to the advancement of the overall setting, but I'm just not feeling it as much as I did with Vibe. Probably because there is so much going on, and so many characters to introduce that there wasn't as much of a chance for storytelling.

The opinion in the comics blogosphere seems to be that Vibe will be the book that won't last, but comparing these two first issues I am going to say that it has much longer legs (so far) than Justice League of America. I'm not saying that I expect the book to be cancelled, I am just saying that of the two, Vibe was the stronger comic. You should buy both Justice League of America and Vibe, but you should buy the hell out of Vibe.

IDW Publishing + Cartoon Network = Puzzling?

News broke today about IDW Publishing picking up a license to do comics based on Cartoon Network properties like Powerpuff Girls, Ben 10, Dexter's Laboratory Samurai Jack and other cartoon. I have to admit that while I think it is great that we are going to see more all ages comics (from some great cartoons) I am puzzled as to why Warner Entertainment and the Cartoon Network made the decision to farm this out to another company, rather than publish internally through DC Comics. When Warner Entertainment and DC Comics and other companies were reorganized a few years ago the stated reason was to foster better synergy within the various Warner Entertainment companies. This means seeing more DC Comics properties making it to the big and small screen (although DC and Warner have seen much greater success in the feature-length animation works rather than feature films), but it also mean taking advantage of the fact that Warner has a publishing arm in DC Comics that would handle adapting other properties into comic book form. Yes, we've seen a few Supernatural comics (The CW Network being owned in part by Warner), but outside of that we really haven't seen the synergy.

All of this is what makes this announcement so...puzzling. Obviously, I am not tuned in to these things and I don't have any sort of inside track on what's happening, but it just seems odd that Warner would decide to do this with a company that isn't a part of their umbrella. Is this demonstrating a lack of faith from Warner in DC Comic's ability to handle doing all ages publishing?

Saturday, February 23, 2013

A Is For The Abyss

Between the three sephiroth of Kether, Chokhmah, and Binah is the Abyss. The Abyss is home to the displaced shards left over from the previous creation, these shards were once much more than the lingering, broken spirits that they are now. The previous creation was marked by Chaos and Silence, and now the things in the Abyss are what remains of all of that.

These shards sometimes irrupt into worlds, as they drift around through the cosmos; moving amongst the sephiroth and floating about through the various pieces of the tree of life. When these shards move into world they become great beasts of destruction, driven to undo the current creation and restore the one in which they had been whole. Sometimes these creatures go unchecked and they raze world, drawing them into the anti-creation of the Abyss and bringing them closer to Tohu and Bohu. Sometimes champions rise up and fight these creatures, struggling to save their worlds from death and darkness and silence.

I will (hopefully) be doing a series of Alphabet posts that tie in some of the background ideas that I am putting together for my Demon Hunters game. This is going to be a dark fantasy game, and it will be playtested by the G+ Hangout gaming group that I am a part of so you will be able to watch the game as it develops.

Friday, February 22, 2013

Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products to Develop Firefly RPG Products

MWP To Develop All-New Series of Pick-Up-And-Play Games set in the ‘Verse.

WILLIAMS BAY, WI, February 22, 2013 – Margaret Weis Productions is thrilled to announce a partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products to publish tabletop role-playing products based on Joss Whedon’s fan-favorite television series, Firefly. Initial releases are expected as early as spring of 2013 with print and digital releases based on MWP’s award-winning Cortex system.

The adventures of Captain Malcolm Reynolds and the crew of Serenity continue to attract new fans a decade after the television series first aired. Fresh from recent success, MWP’s own crew of seasoned designers and creators of licensed role-playing games, stand ready to develop an all-new series of pick-up-and-play games and game supplements. Based on much-loved characters, stories, and locations, every Firefly RPG product will be designed to be accessible, authentic, and as innovative as fans have come to expect from MWP.

"This project is a dream come true for me. I have been such a long-time fan of Firefly!" says MWP President Margaret Weis. "I look forward to working with my crew to take us all back out into the Black!"

“This partnership is another way that we can give back to the Firefly fans,” said Jeffrey Godsick, President of Fox Consumer Products. “Firefly followers have shown continuous loyalty to the franchise and we want to give them quality products in return.”

About Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd.:
Margaret Weis Productions (MWP) is an award-winning publisher of tabletop roleplaying games. Their most recent successful licensed games include those derived from the worlds of Marvel, Dragonlance, Leverage, Smallville and Supernatural. Based in Wisconsin, MWP has been bringing games to fans since 2005. Leading MWP is New York Times Bestselling author Margaret Weis. She’s a tireless supporter of fandom and gamers with a vision for her company to bring high-quality games to both long-time gamers and newcomers alike.

About Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products:
A recognized industry leader, Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products licenses and markets properties worldwide on behalf of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Twentieth Television and Fox Broadcasting Company, as well as third party lines. The division is aligned with Twentieth Century Fox Television, one of the top suppliers of primetime entertainment programming to the broadcast networks.

###

Contact:
Christi Cardenas
Business Manager & Agent
Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd.
Phone: 715-629-9277
christi@margaretweis.com
www.margaretweis.com
@margaretweispro

Cynthia Pascoe
Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products
310-369-2492
Cynthia.Pascoe@fox.com
Daniella Apfel
Bender/Helper Impact
212-689-6360
daniella_apfel@bhimpact.com

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

IDW Publishing And The G.I. Joe "Relaunch"

Periodically, although some may not agree with me on this, you really have to freshen up and revitalize the G.I. Joe concept. This is, after all, what got us the 80s G.I. Joe cartoons and comics that so many are still nostalgic for today. IDW Publishing, with this new G.I. Joe #1 is doing this again, and revitalizing the concept again for the 21st century.

In the book, the team is coming out of the shadows to become a public face for the American military, or as Duke puts it in the issue, so-called "celebrity soldiers."  As a gamer, I have to say that this concept sells me on the book. As a matter of fact, this concept is ready made for a role-playing game setting (I wish that Hasbro would let Wizards of the Coast do a G.I. Joe role-playing game, but that is a digression).

One of my favorite lines from the comic comes from Shipwreck: "Do I have to wear this? I'm a Navy SEAL, not a cartoon duck." For the first time, the G.I, Joe team has to deal with marketing: tee shirts and even toys with their likenesses.

This is not a restart, or a relaunch or a revamp. The previous continuity all still seems to have taken place, right down to General Colton, the G.I. Joe of the original "Adventure Team," being put in charge of the contemporary team. These are all of the characters that you know and love, they are just changing and adapting to the world around them, a world where news and advertising are as much weapons as guns and knives.

In addition to the usual, familiar faces, there are a couple of new characters. In accordance with the team's new public mission there is an embedded blogger (named Hashtag by someone who has obviously been on the internet during the last few years) who's job it is to record the team's missions and make sure that everyone knows who they are and what they do. I also like the fact that Cover Girl had been on Project Runway.

The story is pretty fast paced. We are dropped into the action, after things have already hit the fan and then brought up to speed with flashbacks to the G.I. Joe press conference and the events leading up to the current mission going wrong. There are a lot of familiar notes to this story and writer Fred Van Lente is obviously very well-versed in the lore of the Joes. However, this is not a continuity mired comic. You don't have to have read ten or twenty years worth of G.I. Joe comics in order to know who the people are, or what is happening. With a new G.I. Joe movie looming on the horizon, that is probably a big reason for all of this, and I do not think that it is a bad reason either. Unfortunately comics have become wrapped up in a certain kind of fan who knows the trivia and minutia of thirty or more years of continuity and by creating comics that appeal to those people the casual and new readers have been locked out of comics. I applaud IDW Publishing for making a comic that is so new user friendly.

The art is really good as well. I mean really good. With Steve Kurth on pencils and Allen Martinez on inks, the book has a team that is capable of dynamic, engrossing art that is both good in the action scenes as well as the character bits. The art lives and breathes and draws you along with the story.

Is this comic worth buying? Hell. Yes. This is the best G.I. Joe first issue that I have seen in a very long time, better than previous issues from IDW. I would say that this is probably the best first issue that I have seen since Devil's Due had the rights and was publishing a G.I. Joe comic through Image Comics. Even if you're not a fan of the Joes, if you like military stories or action-oriented comics, I really think that you will like this book. It has made me impatient for the next issue. If you didn't pick this book up today, get back to your comic store and get a copy before it is gone and you have to wait for the trade to find out what all of the rest of us are excited about.

The Magic World PDF Is Live!

Another announcement of a "book" going on sale. This time it is the Magic World PDF from Chaosium. Yeah, that price is a bit wow. I don't set the prices, I just report them. Hopefully that's just a typo or something. I've seen the early stuff and +Ben Monroe has done a really good job with getting this new book together and spiffing up the old Elric and Runequest material for this. The physical book is supposed to be ready in March, from what I am told.

I do love that cover, however, and this is BRP Fantasy Role-Playing at its finest.

Bundle of Holding Is Live

Do you like eBooks? Sure, we all do. Do you like eBooks of fiction from gaming-related people? Now I bet that I have your interest.

The Bundle of Holding is open now and has eBooks from the following authors (some of whom you might even recognize from Dorkland! Roundtables):
  • Matt Forbeck (Brave New World)
  • Chuck Wendig (Hunter: The Vigil)
  • Jenna Moran (Nobilis, Exalted)
  • Stephen D. Sullivan (D&D/AD&D, Chill)
  • Rafael Chandler (Scorn, Spite)
  • Sarah Newton (Mindjammer, Legends of Anglerre)
  • Derek Pearcy (In Nomine)
  • Aaron Rosenberg (Asylum, Spookshow) 
This is a "pay what you can" bundle, with a minimum of $1. The monies raised will be split among the authors with donations being made to the Child's Play and Reading is Fundamental charities as well. This bundle is only available for another 18 days, so get it while you can.

Unearthed Arcana Returns

I know that it isn't a favorite of everyone, but I liked the book and thought it had some cool bits to it.

Starting today, D&D fans can check out the latest Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition reprint: Unearthed Arcana! The original 1985 release of Unearthed Arcana changed Dungeons & Dragons forever by introducing new races, classes, magical items, and rules written by Gary Gygax. This new printing will appeal to nostalgic D&D fans looking to add this classic to their collections, which has been faithfully reproduced in a new premium edition with gilded pages. The cover design mirrors that of the premium reprints of the 1st Edition Player's Handbook, Dungeon Masters Guide, and Monster Manual, and this reprint includes errata originally published in Dragon magazine.

From the book's foreword by Gary Gygax:
As the original volumes of the game system (Monster Manual,Players Handbook, and Dungeon Masters Guide) have altered from their first editions, so the game has changed in form and substance. This new material grew from my own campaign, articles published in Dragon Magazine, and input from many Dungeon Masters and players also. The book has a single purpose: Unearthed Arcana brings new dimensions to the AD&D game system. The compiled material which lies herein offers fresh new approaches to play without materially affecting any ongoing campaign adversely. This work does not alter former “laws of the multiverse,” but it does open insights and vistas beyond those previously understood and seen…
and
Every Dungeon Master who has created a campaign milieu out of whole cloth, so to speak, can certainly understand that the more one learns, the more one comes to understand how little he knows. So too the multiverse of this game system. The farther afield one goes in exploration and discovery, the greater the realization of how vast is the realm of unknown knowledge which awaits discovery, as it were. However, such as with our actual world, the expanses of the game multiverse will always have frontiers and unexplored territories. This fact, indeed, is what makes the AD&D game system so wonderful and appealing.

Monday, February 18, 2013

Dorkland! Roundtable with Monte Cook

I studied journalism through high school and college. I worked on the various papers of the schools that I went to, and as a blogger I have tried to utilize the skills and training that I picked up while studying journalism. When I was in high school, still living in Indiana, my mom manager to wrangle my getting to interview (then) local morning radio personalities Bob & Tom. It was a big thrill, but I think being a full of himself teen took the edge of of the awe that I felt in talking with them.

Yes, there is a point to this.

A couple of weeks ago I was able to interview +Monte Cook for my Dorkland! Roundtable. I think for the first time since I have been interviewing people, I was nervous during my interview. I tried to work around it. Who knows, hopefully (if I wasn't telling all of you about it now) it won't be noticeable.


Monte Cook was one of the designers of D&D 3e, the game that brought me back into the D&D gaming fold after so many years of wandering in the role-playing deserts of the world. Monte also was given the opportunity to not only revamp the World of Darkness, but he was able to convert it into a different gaming system. Of course, we talked about all of that.

Monte also had a big Kickstarter for a game that he is working on now, a science fantasy game called Numenera. I didn't back the Kickstarter, but I am looking forward to when the game comes out.

One of my big regrets of my many years of not playing D&D is that I missed out on Planescape, one of the big second edition settings. Honestly, from what little I do know about it I think that I would have really enjoyed playing in the setting. That's also probably why Planescape, despite being one of the things that Monte has worked on over his career, gets so little mention in our interview. Maybe one day I will find the books for cheap and I will get to see what was such a big deal about the game. Until then, I guess that I just have my imagination. I hope that you all enjoy the interview.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Dorkland! Roundtable with E. Bryan Rumph

I spoke with +E. Bryan Rumph on the Dorkland! Roundtable. A new designer with a rules light Noir game called The Coin's Hard Edge. Like a lot of starting publishers in this technological world, he is using the Print on Demand services of Lulu.com to fulfill the printing on his game. I honestly think that this is a smart decision for someone starting out (the first print run of Spirit of the Century was done via PoD after all). We talked a bit about what it is like to be a publisher and designer starting out in gaming right now.


It was a good talk and if you are looking at starting out as an RPG publisher, or have just been thinking about it, Bryan makes some good points in his answers.

Friday, February 08, 2013

Random Old School D&D Class Generator

What's that? Not enough classes in your old school game, or you just want something weird and different? Check out the custom class generator page.

This is a class that I got, now I need to find a use for it:

Requirements: DEX 9
Prime Requisites: DEX, WIS

Members of this class must have at least 13 in one or the other prime requisite to get the 5% bonus to experience. If both prime requisites are at least 13, members of this class will gain a 10% bonus to experience.

Hit Points
LevelHit Points
11d6
22d6
33d6
44d6
55d6
66d6
77d6
88d6
98d6
108d6
118d6
128d6

Armour
Members of this class may wear leather armour and carry a shield.

Weapons
Members of this class may only use swords.

Attacking
Members of this class roll to attack as a magic-user.

Magic Items
Members of this class may not use any magic items.

Magic-User Spells
Members of this class can cast magic-user spells as a magic-user of 70% of their level - that is:
Character
Level
Spell Level

123456
11-----
21-----
32-----
421----
522----
622----
7221---
8222---
9222---
103221--
113322--
123322--

Turning the Undead
Members of this class can attempt to turn the undead as if they were a cleric of their level.

Thief Skills
Members of this class have the same skills as a thief, but to a lesser extent. They gain the normal bonus when attacking unnoticed from behind, but their percentage chance with other skills is only 90% that of a thief of the same level. That is:
Character
Level
pick locksfind/remove trapspick pocketsmove silentlyclimb wallshide in shadowshear noise
11513212178121-2
22115242479151-2
32418272780181-3
42821333381241-3
53230363682271-3
64139393983331-4
75048484884421-4
85957575785511-4
96866666686601-4
107775757586691-5
118684848487781-5
128786958688811-5

Saves
Members of this class save as a fighter of their level.

Advancement
LevelXP required
10
22228
34456
48912
517824
635648
771296
8139250
9253500
10380250
11507000
12633750

As yet, I have no name or background for this class, but I definitely want one. You have a suggestion, put it in the comments here or over on G+.

Friday, February 01, 2013

Talking About Role-Aids -- Demons For AD&D

I don't think that I've ever made a secret out of the fact that Demons from Mayfair's Role-Aids line (and the rest of the Demons series as well) is some of my favorite gaming material out there. The Demons series comes from that sad period where TSR was downplaying the infernal in their D&D materials because of the whole Satanic scare gripping the hobby. So, of course, semi-official third party publishers would pick up the ball and run with it.

The Role-AIds line was a series of supplements, modules and even campaign settings writing with the AD&D rules in mind My box says "Presented by the editors of Role Aids for use with Advanced Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game." Some of the early Role-Aids stuff was officially licenses, but apparently that relationship had ended by the time that this line of supplements came out.

I've used swipes from the Demons stuff in my online Swords & Wizardry game. There is a lot of interesting material in this boxed set (and all of the others as well): demonic monsters, delightfully twisted new spells (admittedly a lot of which have to do with summoning and unleashing the nasty new creatures to be found in this material) there is even a new class and a new race.  They are even nice enough to describe a cosmology into which these new revelations fit (as well as future ones in the other supplements). All of this in about 100 pages, or so. Succinct.

The material in Demons is courtesy the imagination of Mike Nystul. Yes, the Mike Nystul who has a D&D spell named after his real name rather than a character. Also, the same guy who created Whispering Vault and did a bunch of stuff for Mayfair's other game lines, and worked on Shadowrun as well. That gives Demons quite a pedigree.

If you hunt around eBay or places like Noble Knights or Troll and Toad, you can find copies of stuff from the Demons line for fairly decent prices. I do need to track down a copy of the Apocalypse boxed set, I think that is the last thing that I need for this line (one of the very few game lines that I am kind of completionist about).

I think that Demons is ripe for someone to make an "homage" to the material. I would probably do it myself if I had a good enough of an artist that I could afford to pay out of pocket. There's nothing more old school than having a bunch of demons and demon hunters to stomp all over them. Just writing about it makes me want to run that sort of campaign. Needless to say, I really enjoy these supplements and think that you should check them out as well, if you haven't already. There is some really cool stuff that can perk up your campaigns to be found in all of these books. Not too many random tables, but a pack of interesting monsters, spells and a demon slaying class can be found for you in this box. Not to mention a new look at a universe that you've been gaming in, but that still has some new secrets for you.

Oh, and a slight disclosure. When I was still with Seraphim Guard I did spearhead an attempt to purchase the rights to the Role-Aid line from Mayfair Games. I thought the original material would be of use to people still gaming with the old systems, while at the same time brand new material could be spun out of all of these great books for people and their games now. Sadly, it turned out that Mayfair no longer had the rights to this line. Apparently in their legal battle with TSR over the copyright/trademark issues over the Role-Aids line, the rights had been transferred to TSR. That means, someplace in a WotC archive all of these lovely Role-AIds supplements are mouldering away.

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Interesting Old School RPG Items On The Internet Archive

These archives were pointed out to me by +Tony Love, over at Google+ today. I knew about the Space Gamer archive up there, but these are new to me. Now, I cannot attest to the legality of these items (and I am willing to guess that they are not legally uploaded to the site), so that means that people should probably grab what they can (and archive) before they disappear. I am sure that these archives will be of interest to other gamers and bloggers who are interested in old school stuff, and may not have been able to see these magazines the first time around.

First off is the Ares Magazine archive. The description from the site (for those who don't know about Ares Magazine:
Ares was a science fiction wargame magazine published by Simulations Publications, Inc. (SPI), and then TSR, Inc., between 1980 and 1984. In addition to the articles, each issue contained a wargame, complete with a foldout stiff paper map, a set of cardboard counters, and the rules. There were a total of seventeen issues printed, plus two special issues. The SPI company published the first eleven bimonthly issues (and had prepared a twelfth) before financial difficulties led to the company being bought out by TSR in 1982. A further six issues, published quarterly, were put out by TSR and then publication of the magazine was ceased. However, the Ares legacy lived on for another couple of years; a large new section called the Ares Section was added to Dragon magazine starting with issue #84 (April 1984) and was treated as almost a magazine within a magazine. This special section provided support for science fantasy and superhero roleplaying games such as Gamma World, Marvel Super Heroes and Star Frontiers. The Ares Section ran through Dragon issue #111 (July 1986) after which it too was discontinued.
The Space Gamer archive:
 The Space Gamer (TSG) started out as a digest quarterly publication of the brand new Metagaming Concepts company in 1975. Howard Thompson, the owner of Metagaming, and the first editor of the magazine, stated "The magazine had been planned for after our third or fourth game but circumstances demand we do it now" (after their first game, Stellar Conquest). Initial issues were in a plain-paper digest format. By issue 17, it had grown to a full size bimonthly magazine, printed on slick paper. When Steve Jackson departed Metagaming to found his own company, he also secured the right to publish The Space Gamer from number 27 on. In the first Steve Jackson Games (SJG) issue Howard Thompson wrote a report on Metagaming and stated "Metagaming's staff won't miss the effort. After the change in ownership Metagaming feels comfortable with the decision; it was the right thing to do." In the same issue, Steve Jackson announced, "TSG is going monthly.... from [number 28 (May 1980)] on, it'll be a monthly magazine." The magazine stayed with SJG for the next five years, during which it was at its most popular and influential. In 1983, the magazine was split into two separate bimonthly magazines published in alternating months: Space Gamer (losing the definite article with the split in Number 64), and Fantasy Gamer; the former concentrating entirely on science fiction, and the latter on fantasy. This arrangement lasted about a year. Fantasy Gamer ran six issues before being folded back into Space Gamer: "You see, we were churning out magazines - Space Gamer, Fantasy Gamer, Fire & Movement, and Autoduel Quarterly - at the rate of two a month!... We had to find some way to preserve what little sanity we had left. The best way to do this was to merge Space Gamer and Fantasy Gamer.... As it has for the past year, Space Gamer will appear bimonthly, giving us the time to get some games done, as well." Like Metagaming before it, the effort of producing a magazine became greater than its publisher was willing to bear. The change to bimonthly publication was not enough to allow SJG to focus on new games as they wished, and in 1985, it was announced, "We've sold Space Gamer. We'll still be heavily involved—but SJ Games won't be the publisher any longer. Giving up SG is definitely traumatic... but it gives us the time to do other things, especially GURPS". The magazine had been sold to Diverse Talents, Incorporated (DTI). They initially had it as a section in their own magazine The VIP of Gaming, but it soon became a separate publication again with the previous numbering and format, but with the name Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer.
Space/Fantasy Gamer PDFs are currently sold by Steve Jackson Games, through their webstore, so I will assume that these aren't legal uploads because of that.

The Polyhedron archive:
 Polyhedron was a magazine targeting consumers of role-playing games, and originally the official publication of the RPGA (Role Playing Gamers Association). Publication of the Role Playing Gamers Association magazine began in the year 1981, and the target audience was players of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. Articles were written by gamers for other gamers in the style of the Dragon magazine, and information was included on RPGA membership and events. The magazine was quarterly at first and became bimonthly in 1983. For several years it was available only to RPGA members; for some, joining the RPGA essentially amounted to a subscription to Polyhedron. Polyhedron was produced by RPGA members (some of whom were professionals in the game industry) for RPGA members.

In 2002, Paizo Publishing acquired publishing rights and merged the Polyhedron magazine with the sister publication Dungeon to form a single magazine (issue 90 of Dungeon and issue 149 of Polyhedron were one and the same magazine, and this dual numbering continued throughout this period). This ended the association of Polyhedron with the RPGA. It also marked a major change in the magazine's focus, from a primarily Dungeons & Dragons-oriented magazine similar to Dragon to a general d20 system magazine that often featured entirely new, simple role-playing games based on this system, along with support for non-D&D d20 games such as d20 Modern. Eventually another formerly separate magazine, the Living Greyhawk Journal, briefly became a section in Polyhedron as well. Though this version of Polyhedron had many vocal supporters, sales were poor, a situation many blamed on putting two magazines with distinct target audiences together in one somewhat higher-priced package. The Polyhedron section was removed from Dungeon as part of a major revamp of the latter magazine in 2004 and Polyhedron is no longer published in any form.
 The Dragon Magazine archive:
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The final printed issue was #359 in September 2007.
 Also of potential interest to gaming fans are the archives for Starlog (which I read off and on, back as a kid), Galaxy and OMNI. I am posting these links, but I did not upload them to the Internet Archive. If you find this stuff interesting, you might want to move quickly.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Appreciation

Real life almost got in the way of my posting about this, which would have been ironic since I was the one pushing for more talk about this RPG. In case you missed my previous post about the Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game, just click there and get the basics. In case you're wondering why a bunch of bloggers are suddenly talking about this game, that isn't unintentional. This has rolled out of some G+ discussions on unnoticed free role-playing games. That's right, free.

The Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game is part of the retroclone movement, using the Open Gaming License (OGL) and various open gaming content (OGC) to create a "clone" or "emulator" of older, out of print games. One of the reasons that I like Basic Fantasy is because the creator (+Chris Gonnerman) didn't just make a clone, he also made Basic Fantasy his own with his own tweaks and changes to the material. Since I already talked about the game itself, and I am sure that some of the other bloggers on this project will do the same, I am going to focus instead on talking about some of the supplemental material that has sprung up around the game, and point out some of the bits that I particularly like. Basic Fantasy has developed quite a prolific community, a community that has  developed enough supplements and adventures (all available for free off of the Basic Fantasy website linked about) that you can get a campaign off the ground and go for (and this may or may not be hyperbole) a year or two without having to spend any money (except maybe your printing costs). This is DIY gaming at its finest.

While Basic Fantasy is available in at cost print editions on Lulu, the community is pretty much self-contained around the game's site. You aren't going to find Basic Fantasy over at RPGNow, and I think that is a strength. It does mean that it can be a bit harder for people to stumble onto this game, but that is what blog posts like this are working to overcome.

So, let's talk about some of the supplemental material that's available.

I like skills. Not having them is, for me, one of the weak points of old school gaming. Omer Golan-Joel came up with a short supplement that give you rules for skills, working off of the Ability Roll rules that are in the core rules of the game. I like the simplicity of the approach, and I like how the rules are robust despite this simplicity. If you're like me, and I know I am, this supplement is something that you will be attaching to your set of the core rules.

Chris Gonnerman, the creator of Basic Fantasy has a cool supplement for Sentient Weapons for the game. Stormbringer, anyone?

And, speaking of Stormbringer, or RuneQuest, Joe Carruthers has put together a supplement called Basic Fantasy Questing that merges some of the concepts of d100-based role-playing games with the core Basic Fantasy rules. There are some neat ideas in this supplement that creates a fusion of two different approaches to fantasy role-playing games.

Who doesn't like have more magic? Libram Magica by R. Kevin Smoot and various other contributors, gives you a whole parcel of new spells and options for your spell casting characters.

Honestly, these four supplements are just the tip of the Basic Fantasy iceberg. Check out the Downloads and Showcase pages for a lot more stuff. Even if you don't use the Basic Fantasy game, all of these things (new spell options, new classes, campaign settings and modules) can all be used with your existing old school games with little to no conversion work. That's just a small part of what makes all of these games so cool.

Like what you see? Tell me about some of your new or old favorite stuff from the Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game.

Last.fm "Milestones"

I was playing around with my last.fm account and came across a way to make a list of some of the milestone scrobbles that I've made. For those who don't use last.fm, scrobbling is sort of like when the site makes a note that you've played a certain song/artist and can give you recommendation on other artists that you might like. It can be a pretty good method for finding stuff sometimes. The code that was generated was a bit ugly, but here it is.

I like the fact that it generates YouTube links (for those songs that it could find on YouTube at least). A couple of these I actually still listen to now.

Last.FM Milestones
Generated on 30 Jan 2013
Get yours here

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Reviewing Doctor Who: Prisoners of Time No. 1

Fifty years of Doctor Who, Who (no pun intended) would have thought that it would have lasted this long and had such a lasting impact on science fiction and entertainment.

IDW Publishing is part of the celebration for this 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who with their twelve part mini-series Doctor Who: Prisoners of Time. Each incarnation of the Doctor will be featured in a story and then (hopefully) we will get the "team up" that Who fans cannot get in real life: a meeting of all eleven incarnations of the Doctor.

This first issue starts at the "beginning," with the First Doctor (as played by William Hartnell from 1963-66) getting involved in an altercation with a classic Doctor Who monster. The Doctor and his companions (Barbara, Ian and Vicki...I am a bit disappointed that this story didn't feature his granddaughter Susan instead) travel back to London in 1868 to hear a lecture from Thomas Huxley. This is an excellent nod by the writers (Scott and David Tipton) to Doctor Who's start as an educational program geared towards teaching about history.

In typical Doctor Who fashion, things quickly go wrong and aliens get involved. I know, reducing it down to one sentence like that makes the comic sound more cliched than it actually was to me. This was my first time reading one of IDW's current Doctor Who comics, in the past I just picked up some of the reprint collections. The Tiptons definitely know their way around a Doctor Who story, quickly immersing the story in the tropes of an early Doctor Who story. The handling of the characters is spot on. Vicki is her typically condescending self, making sure to point out how much better educated she is than the people of the time period they are visiting. Ian is square-jawed and heroic, providing the muscle needed at times in these early adventures. Barbara is, well, Barbara...and being the Doctor's general sense of empathy. The villain of this story is a direct followup to a Doctor Who serial from 1965. I would tell you the identity of the alien but I want to leave something for the readers.

The story is fast paced, probably much faster paced than the First Doctor serials were, but that is not a bad thing. People do expect faster paced stories these days, particularly fans of the newer version of Doctor Who where the stories are in and out in a single episode, rather than the multipart serials of the classic show.

Is this comic worth getting? Definitely yes. If you are a fan of Doctor Who and your exposure to the earlier incarnations of the character has been limited, this comic is a good way to learn more about the earlier incarnations of the character (so far at least). The characterizations in this story are in line with the characters that I remember from the old serials. The story is reminiscent and the aliens are taken directly from a Doctor Who serial. The portrayal of the First Doctor is spot on with my remembrances of how William Hartnell played the character. This Doctor is just as crotchety and willful as Hartnell's character was.

There is an overarching story, with a shadowy villain manipulating things from behind the scenes, someone with a vendetta against the Doctor. Nothing much is revealed of the villain, but I am hoping for a classic bad "guy" like the Master, the Valeyard, or even the Rani. I am really hoping for the Valeyard, but I can understand that might be just a wee bit too obscure of a character. Time will tell.

Go out and get this comic.


Happy Birthday To Me!


Sunday, January 27, 2013

Dorkland! Roundtable With Tim Kirk

I talked with +Tim Kirk, creator of the super-hero RPG Hearts & Souls about his game, his history as a gamer, comics and what lead him to create his game. If you don't know about Tim or his game (particularly if you are a fan of comic book super-heroics), you definitely need to check it out.


Let's Talk About Atlas Games' WaRP: The Wanton Role-Playing System

Let's talk about the WaRP system from Atlas Games. For those who may not know, these are the rules, now released under the OGL, that powered Atlas' groundbreaking game Over The Edge. For me, Over The Edge was really one of the first freeform and rules light games that really clicked for me. Over The Edge came out in 1992, designed by +Jonathan Tweet and then revised by +Robin Laws. Over The Edge was a weird game, with a setting that is strange even for RPGs, and the light approach to the rules for the game really benefited that weirdness. By focusing on a stripped down approach to the system it meant that players (and game masters) could come up with strange concepts for characters (I once ran an Over The Edge game at a convention where the characters were all different media incarnations of the author Hunter S. Thompson, racing against time to solve a murder on the streets of Al Amarja, the default setting of the game) without having to worry about having to rationalize their ideas within the framework of the game's systems. It is like Hassan I Sabban's famous quote "Nothing is true, everything is permitted."

Many game systems have the mindset of "If it is not covered by rules, it is not permitted." With a system like WaRP, that is turned on its head with the idea that the rules are there to help and to guide, but not to limit. That's a sensibility that was once much more prevalent in the design of RPGs that I think people have lost over the years. For some, the idea that rules have to cover every distinct possibility that could ever arise during a gaming session means that they are protected from unfairness, either from the rules themselves or by those who run the games. Sadly, no matter how explicit rules may be, or how many of them that there are in a game, ultimately they will not be able to stop someone who wants to make their fun more important than the others at the table.

WaRP uses an idea of defining characters with fairly freeform, and player-defined, traits. Fans of more contemporary games like PDQ or Fate will recognize the DNA of these ideas within those games. Each character is defined by four traits, one of them a disadvantage of some sort or another. Each of these traits has a physical "sign" or tell that helps to define the character's physicality. This way, the interior life of the character informs the exterior. It is an elegant way to cover many steps in a streamlined fashion. Physical traits (like Tough, Former Soldier, Boxer, and the like) also help to define the hit points of a character. Traits can also determine if a character has special or exceptional powers and abilities (called Fringe Powers in the game). Fringe Powers can cover anything and everything from psychic abilities to magic to the powers of super-heroes to the extraordinary abilities of aliens and extradimensional beings. And WaRP does all of this in 28 pages (which includes the OGL as well).

Developed for a surrealistic game of conspiracies and strangeness, this basic engine can be used to cover a lot of different sorts of games. It can be used for playing super-heroes. Author +trey causey has been using it to run online games set in his excellent Weird Adventures setting. By the way, I cannot recommend Weird Adventures highly enough if you are a fan of the heroic pulps and the fantasy literature that informed the creation of D&D. WaRP is a flexible gaming system that has a lot of juice in it. If you haven't checked it out before, I suggest doing that now and maybe checking out Over The Edge, or the supplements for the game that Atlas Games has produced over the years. If you're looking for a simple and streamlined game that's different from all of the D&D-inspired games available and yet has had a huge influence on lighter, more story-oriented styles of gaming, you really should check this game out.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

From The Fevered Imaginings of Rafael Chandler Comes The Teratic Tome!

Looking for cool monsters for your old school games? Look no further than Evolved Grottoes & Griffons: Teratic Tome from +Rafael Chandler. This volume of new and original monsters was created for use with OSRIC, but as we all know it can easily be adapted to any old school game, with a little bit of effort.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Demon Knights 16

Even though Paul Cornell (of Doctor Who and a multitude of comics from both Marvel and DC Comics), has moved on from the book he created for DC Comics' New 52, the Demon Knights continues under the writing of Robert Venditti (of X-O Manowar and the indie comic Surrogates, which was made into that Bruce Willis movie that you may have seen).

Demon Knights #16 kicks off a new story and a new creative team. Decades have passed since the action of Cornell's run on the book, and the Demon Knights (at least in the beginning of the issue) are no more. Once again, with Demon Knights we have a fantasy book woven into the tapestry of the new DC Universe. Familiar characters of Horsewoman, The Shining Knight and Exoristos all reappear early in the book.

The menace of the story comes from the recently cancelled I...Vampire book, with Cain, the first vampire of the new DC Universe, crossing Europe with a growing army of vampires. They are moving across the world, searching for Themyscira (the name of the island probably best known as Wonder Woman's Paradise Island), so that he can add the Amazons to his undead army of vampires and conquer the world. Obviously the Demon Knights will have to band together again and stop him.

The one flaw to doing a fantasy story in a fictional world's past, rather than in some alternate dimension like with the Amethyst stories, is that you know that the heroes stopped things because of the fact that the current world isn't being run by vampires. That does take away a bit of the drama of the story, for me at least. However, Venditti does an excellent job of working with the tools that he has in this comic. Cornell's initial run on Demon Knights was one of the high points of the New 52 from DC Comics for me, and Venditti does not disappoint with his follow up. He has big shoes to fill but he steps right into them with a story arc that looks to be every bit as epic as those done under the previous writing team.

Bernard Chang's art is very good in this book, as well. His characters are well drawn and their faces are expressive and emotive. His action imparts a feeling of action and movement onto the page. Weirdly, when I picked up this issue I thought that Chang's cover had a certain Kevin O'Neil (of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Marshall Law fame) quality to it. That didn't extend to the interior art.

Is this comic worth picking up? I say yes. Robert Venditti and Bernard Chang have created a compelling and engaging second act to a comic book that was one of the best of DC Comics' relaunch. It is a comic that I want to keep reading and buying. I hope, with the continued success of fantasy-oriented books from DC Comics like Demon Knights and Sword of Sorcery that we will get to see the return of further fantasy characters from the DC catalog like Travis Morgan, Warlord.

Deities and Demigods Returns

As I blogged earlier today (while still asleep I might add), Wizards of the Coast and OneBookShelf/RPGNow/DriveThruRPG unleashed upon the gaming world a new site: dndclassics.com. Using a customized interface for D&D fans, WotC has begun the rollout of classic D&D materials for every edition in PDF form. These are brand new scans: with bookmarks and internal hyperlinking. Of the batch that was in the free reviewer downloads, one PDF stood out for me: Deities & Demigods for AD&D. This book was my one gamer's regret. I had a copy of the first printing (with the Cthulhu Mythos and Elric stuff), but I had to sell it during my college years to help offset the ridiculous price of textbooks.

I've missed that book and it is one of the treasures of gaming, which of course means that it is horribly expensive to try to recover (if someone has a copy that they want to let go of).

DnDClassics.com Is Real!

This just in from the people at OneBookShelf/DriveThruRPG and Wizards of the Coast. In light of the leaks and reveals of last week, I am sure that people will find this interesting.

Greetings,

At our Gen Con 2012 keynote address, Wizards of the Coast was pleased to announce that in early 2013 we would be releasing the first wave of D&D backlist products in electronic format.

Today, Wizards of the Coast together with DriveThruRPG, is thrilled to announce the official launch of Dungeons & Dragons Classics, a new online PDF store containing classic content from every edition of D&D, including fan-favorite supplement materials and iconic adventures. A one-stop-shop for classic D&D content, DnDClassics.com offers an easy way to access and download favorite titles electronically by computer, mobile phone, or tablet (including iPads).

How does it work? It’s easy! Simply create an account* and instantly gain access to a wealth of D&D titles. There are 80 titles available at launch, with smaller batches of additional titles being released on a rolling basis starting in early February.  Favorite titles can be downloaded to an online Library or saved to a “Wish List” for purchase later. Most titles can also be printed. Settings can also be customized and users can opt to get email alerts whenever favorite publishers or topics get new items (*Users can also sign-in using their DriveThruRPG.com or RPGNow.com login).

We encourage you to share this exciting news with your readers. For more information, check-out DnDClassics.com or visit Wizards.com.

Thanks,

Sheila Tayebi
For Wizards of the Coast
More as things develop, but it will be good to see the classics of D&D back in "print" again. More on this as it develops.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game

I don't point to other sites and say "Download this!" very often, but a recent post made by +Erik Tenkar over at his blog made me realize that I should post about Basic Fantasy here at the blog, and talk about it more. I think part of the reason that I don't push things more is that I'm not really an OSR person, so I don't feel the need to talk about games unless it is during play.

When I made my recent return to fantasy role-playing this year, one of the things that I really wanted to look for were games that were simple and streamlined. Not to knock those who like rules heavy games with a lot of crunch to them, that approach just doesn't appeal to me. Because of this, I starting looking more closely at a lot of retroclones. For my online game, I eventually ended up settling on Swords & Wizardry, but Basic Fantasy was a close second. A very close second.

This game is a retroclone, in a strict sense, but the game (and the community of fan developers that have sprung up around it) doesn't shy away from "newer" ideas, like skills, classes beyond the ones from old school games and the pages of old Dragon magazines. The people take the game into the directions that they want to go, and I respect that. If there were flaws to Basic Fantasy and its community, I would say that it would probably be that there hasn't been the branching into other genres for the game (like Goblinoid Games has done with Mutant Future). It isn't like that cannot be done with Basic Fantasy, but it is interesting that it hasn't been done yet. Maybe I just haven't seen it. I will admit that I don't spend a lot of time around forums, so I could have missed something on the site's forums.

What is amazing about Basic Fantasy and the fan community around it is the sheer volume of material that is available for free, in PDF and in the OpenDocument format used by LibreOffice. It has embraced open gaming and run with it. There are so many campaigns, modules and rules supplements that are available on the Basic Fantasy downloads page that you could easily run a game for years, and not have to pay for a single thing. You can buy print versions of the core rules, and some of the modules on Lulu.com, and if you like what you see on their site I really recommend throwing some monetary support their way. I've been thinking of picking up a print copy of Basic Fantasy as a birthday gift for myself. I really should get around to doing that.

Sort of like with my post about Warrior & Wizard, this is one of those retroclones that sort of slips through the cracks in discussions about these things. With Basic Fantasy, I think a lot of that is because the creator doesn't have all of his stuff up on RPGNow/DriveThruRPG, like some of the other retroclone/OSR publishers. I like the attitude of doing it themselves, it hits that DIY mentality that I like so much, but I thought that it would be nice to also give them a little bit of a mention outside of their circles. If you want a well-done free RPG that is every bit as good as any of the other OSR/retroclone stuff being sold (or offered for free) out there, and you haven't checked out the +Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game, you really should check it out now. You're missing out.