Zatannurday: Zatanna as an RPG Character

Magic using characters are interesting, but in comics their powers tend to be all over the place.   Zee is no different, but at least she is not as bad as Scarlet Witch.

I have been thinking about magic using characters a lot of late.  Partially as I wrap up my new Witch books and as I look forward to maybe working on my own system/modern system.

So here are some of the links I have been using of late to help research her character for various games I might want to add her to.

Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zatanna
Comic Vine, http://www.comicvine.com/zatanna/29-5691/
DC Wikia, http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Zatanna_Zatara_(New_Earth). This has a good list of her powers
DCAU Wikia, http://dcanimated.wikia.com/wiki/Zatanna
Smallville Wikia, http://smallville.wikia.com/wiki/Zatanna_Zatara. I'll need to talk about Smallville soon.
Her IMDB page, http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0035273/

Interestingly enough, while in some comics Zee is seen to need to use her voice to cast spells (or be rendered helpless if she can't talk) sometimes, like the above screen shot, she can do magic without needing to vocalize at all. Or, as in the past Paul Dini run, she can write the word backwards.

The DC Adventures game has all her spells as "vocal" ones. But even recent comics has shown her writing a spell backwards to get the desired effect.

I'll spend some time looking over her RPG stats for DC Adventures and Mayfair's old DC Heroes.

TBBYANR: Thoughtcrime Inc.

Once again it is time for another entry of The Best Blog You Are Not Reading.
Which really is an excuse for me to tell you about blogs that I like that off the beaten path of what you normally see around here.

This time around I want to draw your attention to Thoughtcrime Inc.
Run by artist David Reynolds of Shadowgirls fame it features his art and thoughts on cartoons, animation and comics.

If you are a regular reader here then you have seen David's work.

and this

D.Rey has been talking a lot about the DC 52 and some of the issues going on there.
Plus he has an undying love for the Batgirls and that is ok in my book.

He has been talking about a faux comic/fan comic "Batgirls: Hope Prevails" which has all the Batgirls in it.

• http://thoughtcrimeinc.blogspot.com/2011/08/batgirls-aka-if-i-had-my-way.html
• http://thoughtcrimeinc.blogspot.com/2011/09/batgirls-hope-prevails-character-cards.html

As well as a favorite of mine, Power Girl,

• http://thoughtcrimeinc.blogspot.com/2011/10/last-daughter-of.html

I like his purely Atlantean take on her.  Or Lemurian.  Which also has lead to the creation of his own character: 

• http://thoughtcrimeinc.blogspot.com/2011/09/intrepid-verisimilitude.html
• http://thoughtcrimeinc.blogspot.com/2011/08/lemurs.html  (names are Marcia and Shampoo according to DA)

I like her, and the lemur is a nice touch.

He also has a Deviant Art page. http://machsabre.deviantart.com/ and his Journal there talked about a lot of the same things he talks about on his blog.

If you like comics, comic art and thoughts on cartoons, then Thoughcrime Inc. is a great place to start.

October Challenge: Let Me In (2010)

The modern vampire movie has very little that can surprise me.  Then we get this little treat. Based on the Swedish book and movie, Let the Right One In, this marked the return of Hammer to the American screens.

Let Me In (2010)

Let Me In is the fantastic Swedish vampire movie starring Chloë Moretz (Hitgirl from "Kick-ass") as the vampire girl Abby.  She is only 12, but she has been 12 a very long time. Abby befriends Owen, a scarred boy that is getting picked on a lot a school.
The relationship builds slowly between the two main characters and it seems obvious that these two broken and lost children need each other.  That is to me the most interesting part of this film.  I can get gore and vampire angst from 10,000 movies, this one is different.  It is better.

There are some traditional vampire elements here.  Abby can't come in unless invited (hence the name), she has   a vampiric form, and is burned by sunlight.
Owen discovers Abby is a vampire and in his own child like innocence he accepts her for what she is.

I feel this film is never going to get it's due.  It is a good film, but a touch slow for American audiences. While it gets rave reviews, I don't think many people have seen it to be honest.

Also Chloë Moretz is fantastic.  She is a great actress now and will only get better as she improves her craft.  I am looking forward to seeing her in the new Dark Shadows.

Tally: 14 movies, 12 new.

Game Material: This is really a good one to use.  The movie took place in 1983 with a 12 year old Owen and Abby.  Now it is 2011 and 40 year old Owen moves in with his 12 year old daughter Abby and strange deaths begin.   Of course Abby is last person your players would suspect, right?



Abby
Life Points 44
Drama Points 15

Attributes
Strength 3
Dexterity 3
Constitution 4
Intelligence 3
Perception 5
Willpower 4

Qualities
Attractiveness +1
Hard to Kill 2
Fast Reaction Time
Situational Awareness
Vampire (Ghosts of Albion type)

Drawbacks 
Dependent (co-dependent Owen)
Love (Owen)
Teenager (from Buffy/Angel)

Useful Information
Actions 1
Perception 1d10 + 8

Skills 
Acrobatics 3
Art 1
Crime 1
Doctor 1
Driving 0
Getting Medieval 2
Influence 2
Knowledge 3
Kung Fu 2
Languages 1 (English)
Notice 3
Occultism 3
Science 1
Sports 1
Wild Card, Puzzles 3

The Kids Are Alright

With my wife down from her surgery I have been left to do all the things she does, take care of her and still find the time to squeeze in "my" stuff.
One thing though (of many) that has taken a hit is my game time.

I have no idea really if I'll get back to my Pathfinder game; things are just too crazy on the weekends and my regular game with my kids has been hurting.

My son though REALLY wanted to play.  I couldn't so he sat down on his own and wrote an adventure involving finding a lost King and defeating the monster that took him.  It was simple really but he hit it with enthusiasm.  Remember, all those things we in the older guard consider cliche or even passe are still new to someone.
He then proceeded to grab my books, roll up some characters (it was a 1st level adventure) and play with his brother and a friend.  They were in my kitchen while I worked so I got to hear it all and answer

They spent some time looking for equipment, managing their funds and complaining about the high cost of cross-bow arrows in this land.  They heard rumors, interacted with townsfolk and then went on their quest.

They were attacked by goblins, but found clues that lead them to a treasure trove, the King and a green dragon holding him hostage.  The dragon was a youngling and not very skilled.  The fighter and the thief nearly bought it a couple of times, but they had some help from their retainers.
The king was returned safe, the gold from the treasure returned to the merchants' families and the King gave them all a reward for bravery and honor.

Not bad for a few hours of play.  And certainly not bad for their age range (8 to 11).

So when people are worried about whether kids have the interest in D&D anymore, I have to think of "The Forrest Quest".

Now good readers.  Can you also ID what version of the D&D game they were all playing?

October Challenge: The Haunting

You have to love a good haunted house movie and this is a good haunted house movie, maybe even the best.

Again, my big surprise is I had never seen this one before.  I did see the 1999 remake back when it was new.

The Haunting (1963)

A great, moody, creepy movie that works on many levels.  Is Nel crazy or is the house haunted? Or both?  I think both.   There is a lot to like about this movie. Here are a couple of things I noticed watching it in 2011.  Amber Tamblyn today looks a lot like her dad did in this movie.  Secondly this movie accomplishes more with less than the 1999 remake.

This movie is almost cliche by today's standards; four people, staying in a haunted house investigating hauntings.  Classic stuff really.  This movie does it without gore, without any special effects to speak off and all with tone and mood.  Honestly I think this movie needs to be required viewing of all haunted house movie directors.
Nel's character is a bit whinny at times and we hear far too many of her thoughts that could have been better relayed through dialog.  Plus I would have liked to seen more psychic power from Theo.

Though now thanks to this movie and The Legend of Hell House and the House on the Haunted Hill (coming up soon I hope, though that one I saw years ago) I think I know exactly what to do if ever I change careers and become one of those guys investigates haunted houses.

Tally: 13 movies, 11 new.

Game material: Fantastic haunted house scenario.  I love how all the doors are off-center so the close an open all the time and how there are no right angles in the entire house.  Plus the history of house can be used as well.

October Challenge: The Witch's Sabbath (2005)

When you don't expect much from a movie and get nothing you are only mildly disappointed. When you expect nothing from a movie and get comedy of this sort then that is something else.  Witch's Sabbath is that kind of movie.

The Witch's Sabbath (2005)

The premise here is simple, even one I could use in a game.  Coven of witches, pretending to be strippers to get 666 victims for their dark lord. The 666 number seems a bit large, the cops would notice at 6 really (even less) and the strip club is the smallest, dingiest hole in the wall I have ever seen. But this little flick has some charm.   The actors don't seem to take themselves very serious, which is good since the acting is terrible.  The special effects are crappy, but fun.  If you like your gore plenty and often then this is a fun little flick.  Plus the film has Ron Jeremy in it. How can that be bad?
This is not a good movie and I am not pretending it is.  But is a stupid kind of fun.

It is worth sitting through for the witches' dark lord at the end.

Tally 12 movies, 10 new.

Game wise this is a perfect set up.  Strip-club or night-club where some mysterious goings on are well, going on, it's cliche, but still a classic.

When Blogs close

Dave over at There's Dungeons Down Under has announced that he is closing up shop and deleting his blog.

I have enjoyed his blog in the past and I am going to miss it.I wish him all the best.
Looking over his past posts it is hard to believe he has only been doing this since February of this year and has only a little more than 100 posts.  Certainly though his posts were quality filled and he always managed to get a large number of comments.

Blogs are ephemera. They, come they go, and they rarely last more than the few minutes it takes to read them.  One day even this blog will close. I don't think I am going to delete anything, that is not my style.

A few others have also come and gone without much fanfare.  I usually go through my roll and weed out ones that have not posted in a very long time.  There are few names I have not seen in a while too.  Maybe time to weed through that blog roll again.

There you are Rachel

The new cover of the next Rachel Morgan book, A Perfect Blood,  is now out.
http://kimharrison.wordpress.com/2011/10/07/cover-of-a-perfect-blood/

And we get to see a bit more of Rachel's face.

Looking forward to this one!

October Challenge: Flesh, TX

At some point the defacto home for strange goings on changed from dark castles and moors to the American countryside. "Good Evening" was replaced by "Where you goin' city folk?" as the phrase to send chills down your spine. That was what the creators of Flesh, TX must have thought. Too bad that is all they thought.

Flesh, TX (2009)

So what do we have here? Murder, cannibalism, incest.  It opens well with a mindless random killing, always fun in a slasher flick.
The sad thing here is that there could have been something good here. The elements are in place, but the execution was terrible.  The actors for the most part are terrible (with a notable exception), the script is not great and the audio is terrible.  The direction seems non-existent.
I guess the biggest issue is that the movie is just simply bad.

It could have been good and that is the real shame here.
I would like to see the actors in something else and see if they are actually bad or if movie was even worse than I thought it was.

I did get a chance to see Kathleen Benner in "Running on Empty Dreams" and she was much better in that.

Tally, 11 movies, 9 new.

Witches of the Coast

Since D&D 4 came out I have played with the Warlock class.  It was not exactly what I wanted in a witch class, but it was close.  Close enough that I wanted to play it right away and I did not feel the need to make a Witch class for 4e.

Well now even that option is filled.

In November WotC will release their "Heroes of the Feywild". I am expecting it to be like their "Heroes of the Shadowfell" which despite not talking about it much here I liked.

Included in it will be a new "sub" class, the Witch.
http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4pr/20111007#76692

The witch looks like it fills the niche of a warlock that is more like a wizard.  Pretty awesome.
They are playing up the fey parts a bit, just like I did with my Faerie Witch from my various books.
So far I really like what I see and I am looking forward to this book.

I'll have to stat up a witch and a warlock side by side to see how they stack up against each other.

Maybe I will produce a 4e Witch and Warlocks book with some options after all.  Who knows.
But not till next year.

October Challenge: House of Wax (1953)

I have always felt that in the shadow cast by Cushing and Lee one of the truly greats gets forgotten, even by me. That great is Vincent Price. For a while Price meant horror to me and to the entire world. Even when he was reduced to playing "Vincent Van Ghoul" for the most anemic of all the Scooby Doo series. But not in this masterpiece, and it was Vincent Price that introduced movie going audiences to 3D.

But don't blame him for that.

House of Wax (1953)

In what must be the spiritual decedent of the Phantom of the Opera and the demented God Father of Price's later Dr. Phibes, Prof. Harry Jarrod is a demented, twisted, scarred man with a vision.  His vision is make the best wax museum in the world even if he has to cover his victims in wax to preserve them forever.  Its a crazy vision, but a vision all the same.
House of Wax though does suffer through some silly 3D gimmicks and suffers through some 50s steroetypes, but I can ignore these or be amused.
Really we have Price here at his best, a subtle mix of his more serious tone and his hammy best.
This movie also featured a young Charles Bronson as the mute Igor.  It was also a remake of the 1933 "Mystery of the Wax Museum" and was remade in 2005.  Of that movie we will not speak of.

Like most of the classics, I saw this one years and years ago.

Tally 10 movies, 8 new.

October Challenge: The Legend of Hell House

After the fiasco over the last few movies (and things going on at home) I opted for a classic late the other night.
Now I'll be honest I often got this movie confused with The Haunting from 1963.  I plan to watch that movie soon and maybe even re-watch the remake from 1999.

The Legend of Hell House (1973)

The early 70s were a boom time for good horror movies. Legend of Hell House is no exception.  For me the sign of quality horror or sci-fi for the 70s means it must feature Roddy McDowall.  He is the star of this one, even if his performance as a medium is a bit understated.
The story is classic really.  Four people need to stay in a haunted house in order to collect some money.  In this case there is the added twist of being able to prove that there is life after death.  In a typical 70s vibe, even the physicist is willing to believe.
The house of course is haunted, and soon everyone is affected in different ways.
What strikes me about this film is house suspenseful it must have been for 73.

I remember seeing this years and years ago, but like I said I often got parts of it and The Haunting confused.  I remember some of the scenes, but not the big reveal at the end.  So that was a nice surprise for me.
Still to be fair I think I'll mark this one as a re-watch even it was 30 years ago when I last saw it.

Tally: 9 movies, 8 new.

October Challenge: Bachelor Party in the Bungalow of the Damned

And just when I thought nothing could beat yesterday's movie I found this little gem. And by gem I mean turd.

Bachelor Party in the Bungalow of the Damned (2009)

Let's say you took "The Hangover" and mixed it with "28 Days Later" and touch of "Dusk till Dawn".  You wold not get this movie, even if that's what it looks like the crew tried to do.
I can't even get into this one and I kept fast forwarding.
It was just too dumb.

Tally so far: 8 movies seen, 8 new.  Several SAN points lost.

BTW: The girl on the cover of this video is never seen in the movie.

Zatannurday: It's in the Cards

The upcoming Young Justice will guest-star a young Zatanna.

I don't know a lot about the episode to be honest, but there is this cool card that was being used to promote the show at the SDCC.

Of course I am guessing that the "7" here means she will be the seventh member of the Young Justice team.

Here is what I do know of the episode:

Friday, October 21st, 2011 at 6:30pm (ET) - “#15 Humanity”
The Team is on the hunt for Red Tornado, determined to find out once and for all whether the robot was the mole – even if it means kidnapping new friend Zatanna and dragging her along on their quest!


I am sure Zee does not go quietly.

I like her costume design.  Evocative of her "classic" costume, but still makes her look like she is a teen performer.  So something she would wear given that she would be standing next to her dad on stage.

Looking forward to seeing more of Young Zee on Young Justice.

October Challenge: Black Ribbon

Wow. That is really all have to say about this one.

Black Ribbon (2007)
I am not even sure where to start with this one.

The premise was very cool.  Writer moves out to country to work on new book.  Buys a possessed typewriter, then rape, murder and satanism ensue.
But the movie is so bad I can't even be sure that was what supposed to happen or like the book in the movie it just sort of got away from the writers.
A plot summary here is pointless really.  There is so much wasted effort here that alone should remove this movie from consideration.  No what makes this a true masterpiece of the awful is the terrible, terrible acting, terrible cinematography and just overall cheapness of everything.  It's hard to even enjoy it for camp value.
But like the proverbial train wreck I could not turn away and watched it to the end. But I will say my expectation were already really low, and it still managed not even to rise to that level.
Oh well.  Don't watch if you are easily offended by graphic nudity, implied incest, making fun of the mentally disabled, or satanism.

Tally: 7 movies, 7 new.

So what can I use here for my games?  Well easy I think.  Set up a game with a cursed object an old typewriter is a great choice.  Play in a modern system (like Unissytem) and then switch to the time when the typewriter was new (say Cthulhu by Gaslight) and have the same players play the characters that the first group is reading/writing about.  Go back and forth like this till no one knows which reality is real and which one isn't.  Course I could take a further cue from this flick and resolve it in third system at the very end.

October Challenge: Horror Hotel

Here is a movie with a creepy set, nice black & white photography, a coven of witches and Christopher Lee! The only thing I don't like about this movie is the title.

Horror Hotel / City of the Dead (1960)
Well the American title anyway.  "City of the Dead" is kind of cool.

A British film, set in America with British actors doing American accents.  Brilliant.

The movie starts with the burning of a witch back in the 17th century.  Fast forward to where Christopher Lee is a professor talking about the same burning now in the present.  BTW what do I have to do to get Christopher Lee as a professor of anything?  Anyway he send one of his students out to the town in the story for more research.  She uncovers a creepy town full of creepy people that look just like the people from the flashback.
College girls discovers all sorts of creepy things and is killed half way through the movie by the evil undead coven.  Her brother and boyfriend come to find her.  Rescue another girl and kill all the witches, Lee included, and the main witch dies when she can't complete her sacrifice to Satan.  Maybe she needed a school for girls instead.

This film is most familiar for the opening lines of Rob Zombie's "Dragula" for Christopher Lee's line "Fear, superstition and jealousy".  I didn't know that (and I should have really, there goes another hit to my street cred) and I laughed when I heard it.  I also can't help but wonder if this movie was just a little influence on his song and video "The American Witch".

In truth this film is slow, but a lot a of fun and still creepy 50 years later. The witch stuff is your typical witch = Satanist fare from that time, but it was still fun.  Christopher Lee was great and I didn't even realize the others were all British using American accents.
Patricia Jessel was great as the witch Elizabeth Selwyn and the modern version, Mrs. Newliss (Nywles; get it). If the film were redone today of course Selwyn would be portrayed as more sympathetic and Patrica Russel (the second girl and native to the town) would have her own magic from the "good" side of witchcraft.

Tally: 6 watched, 6 new

So to expand on yesterday's game idea.  The Salem School for Girls is for the best and brightest of America's young witches and it located in the town of Whitewood, MA.  While the school has had troubles in the past and the occasional rumor pops up about Satanism, that is all in the past.  Really. It is.
Guests can stay at the Raven Inn.

Vampire Smackdown

This is kinda cool.

Vote for your favorite vamp in the Vampire Smackdown over at A Piece of My Mind.
http://julia-mindovermatter.blogspot.com/2011/10/thursday-thirteen-229-13-ways-to-take.html

Review: Eldritch High

Eldritch High by John Wick

I like John Wick.  I like how he can keep coming up with these games that are really cool and really different from each other.  His latest is something near and dear to my own heart, magical high-schools.

Eldricth High

This is a great little game that you can learn and start play in about an hour. I love how the character sheet looks like a class schedule. The mechanic is a card based one and it lends it self well to alterations. The rest of the game is pure role-playing and story telling. If you ever read a YA supernatural book, watched an episode of Charmed or Buffy, or read a Harry Potter book then you have an idea of what you can do. OR better yet, if you were ever in High School and thought "this is ok, but what I really need is a Fireball to liven things up!", then this the game for you.

Even if you don't use the ultra simple game mechanic there are plenty of ideas here for your favorite game. Just now run it in a magical high school.

5 out of 5 stars.

Now what can you do this this game?
Well if you are regular reader here you can see all sorts of idea I hope.

You could for example take my movie from earlier today and do "Satan's School for Girls the RPG", but I doubt the author would approve.  But it would still be fun IF you played up all the camp 70s stereotypes.
Of course you can do a series about a boy wizard and his friends fighting evil.

Another good choice is "D&D School" where you have young wizards before they go out and adventure. Some spells would need to be tweaked, but it looks like it would work well.

You could also combine it well with a game like Hellcats and Hockeysticks for a full curriculum.

I'll be playing around with this one for a little bit.

October Challenge: Satan's School For Girls

Two things jumped out at me right away about this movie. 1. I am surprised I have never seen this. I swear I had, but I didn't remember a bit of it and the movie I thought I was remembering as SSfG must be something else. 2. 25 year old Kate Jackson was HOT.

Satan's School for Girls (1973)

Ok despite being an Aaron Spelling made for TV movie, this was better than some of the others I have seen so far.  Martha's sister Elizabeth has killed herself and now she wants to find out why.  She enrolls under an assumed name at the same school Elizabeth had been at, the Salem School for Girls (unkown if it is the same Salem School mentioned in the Harry Potter books, but let's say yes for fun).  She is greeted by fellow students and future Charlie's Angels Cheryl Lass and Kate Jackson.  They meet the headmistress and a few of the teachers.  Ok only two.  And the creepy mystery unfolds.  Seems another girl had killed herself recently and Martha begins to look into why.  Plenty of very obvious clues are left lying around.  The art teacher and his subjective reality and the psych teacher and his rats. A few more suicides and Martha is thinking this not the best place to be.
Long story short, the art teacher is Satan and he is recruiting 8 (odd number) girls to replace the 9 he lost years ago.  The school burns down but "Satan" gets the last laugh and fades out while smoking a cigarette.
There is no obvious use of magic here.The girls could be in his thrall due to a psych experiment or any number of mundane explanations.  I kinda wish there had been more though.  Kate Jack's character, Debbie, mentions having Power (yes with a capital P) but nothing ever comes from that.

There is a remake in 2000 with Kate Jackson as the headmistress and fellow Spelling alum and TV witch Shannon Doherty, but I have not seen that one either.  At least the drop the witches down to a more respectable 5.

Not a great movie, but a good one to chill out too.

Tally 5 movies, 5 new (to my surprise)

Of course given this, the remake and fun connection to Harry Potter I HAVE to use this in my games someway.  The Salem School for Girls would be a great Witch Girls Adventures location.

October Challenge: The Rite

When it comes to religious-themed horror there really are only two movies worth talking about, "The Exorcist" and "Rosemary's Baby". Of the two the Exorcist has left the deepest scars in the American psyche. So no surprise then that every so often we get new exorcism movies. One of the latest is "The Rite".

The Rite (2011)

Anytime you see the words "based on a true story" you know you are either in for a good time or a really bad one.  This movie also stars Sir Anthony Hopkins, so we should, by the numbers have a good flick here.
Sad thing is we don't.  Oh, it is not bad but it fails to live up to all it's potential.
Hopkins is good of course, but not great.  Rutger Hauer is a tad underused as is Ciarán Hinds. I mean these are decent names. Again, names I usually associate with better fare.  Now in all fairness Marta Gastini did a great job as possessed pregnant girl Rosaria.
The Rite's biggest sin was not that it was bad, it was boring.  I didn't care about the main character at all really or his crisis of faith.
It might have been a better movie if they had focused on Hopkins' character more and running into dozens of fake possessions till we got to one that was the real deal.
The final possession could have been creepier, could have been more dramatic and could have been scarier.  This was a movie of could have beens.

Tally: 4 movies. 4 new.

So not to ignore my gaming folks, but what can The Rite bring to your games?  Well it seems odd that we have a game full of demons (we even have Pazuzu!) and yet no great rules for possession. And really no good reason why demons would want too.  I think I am going to have to fix that.

October Movie Challenge: Godzilla vs. Space Godzilla

Last night I was really busy so I popped in something I had laying around. My oldest son is a big Godzilla fan and I remember the old Godzilla movies scaring the crap out of me as a kid so I watched one.

Godzilla vs. Space Godzillia (1994)

In truth I have never seen this one before.  I had seen bits an pieces of it here and there.  My son loves to watch it when he is at home sick.  He even curls up on the couch with his stuffed Space Godzillia and we even used his Space Godzilla figure in D&D once as a huge demon.  But the movie itself?  Never watched it all the way through.

First off it was not as bad as the net would have you believe.  But it is not very good either.

I almost hesitate to call this one horror.   There are a lot of horror elements here, but in truth it is more Sci-Fi or even Fantasy.
True, two giant monsters fighting (well three and half, Mothera and Baby Godzilla. Four if you count Mecha Godzilla/MOGUERA) is scary.  But is it horror?

Plot, in a nutshell, Godzilla cells get sent into space where a new monster is formed, aka Space Godzilla.  Then what happens is the same for most G movies.  Godzilla and monster fight a few times.  New Monsters seems to be kicking Godzilla's ass.  Godzilla comes back in the end to destroy new Monster.  The only people that loose anything are the poor people of Tokyo who get to watch their city trampled again.  This throws in Mothera, a new Mecha Godzilla like robot/mecha and the ever annoying Baby Godzilla.

In the end this movie just seemed to have too much going on.  Maybe it is because it has been translated or maybe I am outside of the demographic now.

My wife wants to watch a classic monster movie now.  Something with a vampire or werewolf.  I think that is where I'll go next.

Tally so far: 3 movies, 3 New.

The Other OSRIC Player's Guide

So last week I discussed the OSRIC Players Reference (which I had been mistakenly called Guide).
Well it turns out that there was an "OSRIC Players Reference" and its development has been detailed here: http://www.knights-n-knaves.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=8038

It is now out and you can get it for free at:

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=95496&affiliate_id=10748

Now to be clear there is nothing new here.  The rules are straight out of OSRIC.  BUT they have been re-written and re-edited into a new volume for the Players only.  Plus it comes with a bunch of old-school-style art that is very reminiscent of the old DMG and PHB.  It would not be appropriate for a new book, but for a book like this (one trying to invoke the feel of the late 70s) it is great.  Frankly I really like the art.

Speaking of the art.  The artist is the editor of this edition, Steve Robertson.

I have not read it all yet.  But I have flipped through it.
Again, the price is good (free).
I noticed some funky bits with the OGC deceleration, but some of that could be due with the addition OSRIC license/permission needed. (IE Claiming Chapters 4, 5 & 6 as PI when this book only goes to Chapter 3).

If you are a player of OSRIC then this is certainly a good resource.

October Movie Challenge: The Fallen Ones

I am not doing so hot with my movies so far. I watched this one last night after trying to get some work done. I would have been better in all cased if I had just went to bed.

The Fallen Ones (2005)
Another SyFy Channel special I am sure.  This one appealed to me since it was about the Nephilim and I was working on some Fallen Angel stuff for Eldritch Witchery.  Frankly if anything in this movie makes into something I have written (other than this course) then you know I have used up every idea I ever have or will have.

This movie is terrible.  We have the evil Angel Ammon who has decide that the only way for his big dumb son (he is a giant and can't act) to survive the coming flood is to kill him and mummify him.  Solid logic there champ.  Fast forward 5000 years and he is discovered by an archaeologist and Richie Cunningham's dad (sadly this was one of his last movies ever).

What we have now is part mystery, part giant monster movie and part religious murder/slasher film.  The saddest part is there are some actual names attached to this.  Not great names by any stretch, but names I usually associate with better movies.

This movie was so bad I am sure I fell asleep a couple of times while it was on.  It certainly didn't help or hurt the plot any.

Ah, what the Hell. NaBloWriMo 2011

Since I am going to be writing every day anyway.  I'll throw my hat in to the National Blog Writing Month, NaBloWriMo, which is the most awkward acronym ever I think.

They also have a blog, http://nablowrimo.blogspot.com/ and that Facebook thing, http://www.facebook.com/pages/NaBloWriMo/203905936342372

So look forward to a bunch of stuff from me all through the best month here at the Other Side, October!

So tune in tomorrow folks for a rare Sunday post.

October Movie Challenge: Let the Challenge Begin

Once again I am going to participate in the October Movie Challenge from Krell Laboratories
This time you can also follow the goings on at Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/groups/173610362715851/

Tonight's bit of cinema is "The Unamable" (1988), based on the H.P. Lovecraft short story.  Already you know this is going to go one of two ways.  Bad or really bad.  I have yet to see a movie faithful to H.P. Lovecraft's work.  "From Beyond" and "Re-Animator" are different since they transcended their source material into something new.

What can I say about this?  The creature looks kinda cool, but the rest is kinda bad.  The "Randolph Carter" character causally reads his copy of the Necronomicon and gleefully trying out spells while his friends die.  We get most of the 80s cliche's in movies including the "first to die" teens as the ones making out.

It was sorta fun, sorta stupid.

This is 1 down.  I thought it was a new one, but I realized I a little bit into it I had already seen it.

Zatannurday: Justice League Dark Review

Justice League Dark was released this week and since it features Zee as a main character I thought a review would be in order for today.

I like the idea behind JL Dark to be honest; cases and missions that are to dark, to scary and too dangerous for the Justice League.  In the first issue Superman, Wonder Woman and Cyborg get their asses handed to them by the Enchantress and she is still imprisoned.  But I am getting ahead of myself.

The story is by Peter Milligan and it is a good little mystery.  We have a woman, June Moon, that seems to be crazy and a bunch of copies of her getting killed all over the place. 34 copies according to Batman. All the while we get this voice over from Madame Xanadu about how the future is in trouble.  We are introduced to Shade the Changing Man (at least I have no familiarity with him except from the Flashpoint miniseries) and his girlfriend, who seems to only be a figment of his imagination.  Xanadu is shooting up.  Oh and John Constantine is here too.  Obviously this is not the Justice League.  What about the Justice League?  Oh yeah they are trying to stop Enchantress and getting their asses handed to them.  Not Booster Gold and Blue Beetle here, Superman, Wonder Woman and Cyborg.

And aside...I read Wonder Woman #1 as well and I liked it, but where is this in that continuity?  No idea.  Not sure I even care to be honest.  Anyway back to the story.

We get to see Zee chatting with Batman and she decides that if the best of the best can't deal with Enchantress she will have too.  She ties up Batman and heads out to where Enchantress is causing all this damage while still in prison. And insane.

What is good?  Well the Mikel Janin art is great.  There is such a cool style here and there is no cheese cake shots to speak of.

What is good?
I like the story so far, though it is not great or perfect, it is certainly a mystery.  This is story that gets this group together and it is bound to have some issues.  I like that all the characters are "damaged goods" somehow, but all have some great power.  And Constantine is still smoking, that is good since it is so much a part of his character.  He looks younger here, like many of the new 52s.  But really he should look more like Sting or Johnny Rotten. (see here)

What need work?
Not enough Zee so far.  AND we have not been given much on her background in this reboot.  She obviously is part of the JL proper and has had dealings with Batman and Enchantress before.  I'd like to know more about her costume change, but may that will be explained later.

I am not a fan of Deadman though.  His costume is too silly for someone as serious as he is supposed to be. I know his backstory, but I need to see a good reason for including him in this group. Other than of course he is dead.

Also if this is the JL Dark should we get Raven at some point?  Is she still part of the Teen Titans?  After all if Cyborg is now part of the JL (as he should be really) then Raven can be part of this league.  Especially since we seem to be using everyone else from the Flashpoint Secret Seven group.

Of course I am going to keep up with this one.  Magic and comics are a potent mix for me.  Plus I have always wanted to see more Madame Xanadu and Shade (a character I wrote off) seems more interesting.

Vampire the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Ed

It is hard to believe that it has been 20 years since Vampire the Masquerade had been released.

The effect of this game on the gaming industry (and on the whole "Vampire subculture") should not be understated.
I know at the time I dismissed this game and I didn't even bother to look at a copy till 2nd edition was out and I still didn't buy it till 2nd Ed revised hit the stores.

It came at a great time.  AD&D 2nd Ed was lagging, TSR was all but dead to be honest and games had gotten a little too safe because of the 80's backlash.  Still it was not just that V:tM filled a void.  It created it's own niche and genre of games that is still felt today.

White Wolf may not be as big as it once was and Mark Rein Hagen is out of the gaming industry all together.  But this game remains, and this "new" book take you back to a time when the nights were ruled by such things as Ravnos, Brujah and people spoke of Gehenna.

There will be a print version out sometime.  But for those who can't wait, the PDF is up at DriveThruRPG now.
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=94815&affiliate_id=10748

DriveThruRPG Fall 2011 sale

It is fall and here are the products that DriveThruRPG has made available to loyal blog readers.

The code is DiceInTheFall and tt's good for 20% off for all of the following products.

* Games I own or have played.

Savage Worlds Fantasy Companion [Pinnacle Entertainment]  *Like SW and D&D? then this is great buy.  I use this with other systems too.
Realms of Cthulhu [Reality Blurs]  *SW and CoC! Very cool book
Karma Roleplaying System Core [Bards and Sages] *A deconstruction and reconstruction of d20 system into something new.  I like it.
FantasyCraft [Crafty Games]* another cool de/re construction of the d20 system for gritty play.
Fat Dragon's Dragonshire Deluxe [Fat Dragon Games] *Print and build cities.  My boys get excited anytime they see a Fat Dragon product on my desk because they know it is going to be fun.
Ninja Burger RPG (2nd Edition) [aetherial FORGE]
Heavy Gear Blitz! Locked & Loaded [Dream Pod 9]
Hero's Handbook: Dragonborn [Goodman Games] *Great stuff for your 4e Dragonborn character.
Splicers RPG [Palladium Books]
Caladon Falls [Savage Mojo]
Legend of the Five Rings (4th Edition) [AEG] *Epic role-playing with all the excitement of the far East.  Spent some time as part of D&D, and as it's own game, but this is the ultimate edition.
Fuzzy Heroes (2nd Edition) [Inner City Games]  *If you have kids then they have stuffed animals.  Here is the game you can bring them to life with.  Great fun and a great way to introduce the younger set to RPGS.
Ave Molech (2nd Edition) [Morbidgames] *Interesting genre mashup.  I need to play this one more.
Book of Alignment (OGL/Pathfinder) [Emerald Press] *164 pages of detail on the alignments.
Horrific Universe: 12 Months of Horror [Bailey Records] (audio product)
Directors Cut Survival Horror [Crispy Zombie Productions]  (interestingly enough I don't own this one.  Fight have to get it with a 20% discount!)
Friar's Almanac (Complete) [Dark Spire]
Distant Vistas [Draken Games]
Stories in the Ether, Issue 1 (Bundle) [Nevermet Press]
d-Infinity Volume #3: Children of the Night (Gen Con Special Edition) [Skirmisher Publishing]

That's a huge list.  I sure there is something there for everyone.

OSRIC Player's Guides: Do we need one?

After yesterday's little drama (and it is good to have these every so often to keeps things lively) I have a couple of random thoughts.

- First it looks like Vince made an honest mistake with the cover art.
This is obviously not a James Shipman deal.  But I'll counter with that if you are going to go through the effort of putting a product together, make sure that what you are doing is 100% legit.  Don't assume anything.  Unless you know 100%, don't use it.  Even then verify.  Even if you buy the art make sure the person you are buying it from actually has the rights to sell it.
Right now I think I am in about as deep as I can get with art for my witch books.  Depending on how these books are priced (I want them to be inexpensive) I might break even with the money I have spent on it so far.  That's not a complaint mind you, I like the art a lot and has a nice 70s-80s vibe to it.

- Secondly does the OSRIC community need a Players Guide?  
Given that this product got so much attention that even I noticed it (and I am far outside the OSRIC community) and there is another project of similar scope on the way.  I would guess so.  Personally I would think you could just print up the OSRIC book's first few chapters and be done with it.

I guess that is part of my confusion.  Is OSRIC a guide or compendium or is it a game in and of itself?
I am not involved enough with OSRIC to really know.  I like the idea of one.  I liked the idea of the one just recently out, but not as a guide or as a book itself but as something that extended the OSRIC concept and potentially raised the bar in terms of production; till it didn't.

Does anyone here play it?  Do you play it as straight OSRIC or are you playing 1st ED AD&D with OSRIC as guide book?

OSRIC Player's Reference - RETRACTION

EDITED TO ADD:  Looks like editor/creator of this project did not know the art was not PD and has taken down the copies.  I guess the lesson here is unless you know for sure, err on the side of caution.

So this morning I posted my endorsement of the new OSRIC Players Reference.

Only after did I learn of the drama behind it (which I am not getting into here, but you can read about it on your own here, here and here).

What really struck me was the cover art.
How cool it was and much better it was than anything else produced by the OSR (yes, present company included).  Soon I discovered why.  I wasn't produced by the OSR at all, but an old AD&D 2nd ed cover.
http://www.tsrinfo.net/archive/dl/dl-lairs.htm
http://www.acaeum.com/ddindexes/museum/dlbooklairs.html

Well the painting is by Bruce Eagle and was owned at one point by Pat Wilshire.
The interior cover of the OPG book claims that the cover is public domain.  That, and the fact that cover is very pixilated made me curious.  So I contacted Pat Wilshire.

Turns out that the art is definitely not in the Public Domain at all. Pat is still friends with Bruce and contacted him about it.  It looks every bit like this art was stolen for use of this book.

This is exactly why companies pay for art. They say don't judge a book by it's cover, but on the net that is often all we have and this cover looked awesome, so I got the book.  Turns out the Editior, Vincent Florio didn't even pay to use this cover.

The more digging I did the less I like this product.  All of it is copied right out of OSRIC.  Which in and of itself is not a huge deal.  But it is tacky.

Here are the pages that detail it.  Click to enlarge.

The page on the left is the OSRIC Players Reference. The right is OSRIC (2.2) version.
The page has been copied with the new information added in, in a different font no less.

The thing that sticks out of course is the "Cover/Back artwork is Public Domain".
Well not according to the owner of the art in question.

I wanted to like this product.  But I can not in good conscious recommend it.

Please instead download OSRIC proper and just use the pages you need.

Next time I'll put a little more research into a product before letting you all know.

OSRIC Player's Reference

EDITED TO ADD: Please read an update here, http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2011/09/osric-players-guide-retraction.html

Original Post:

The new OSRIC Player's Guide (don't call it a Handbook) is out now for a price that can't be beat.
It's free!

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=95152&affiliate_id=10748

If you are looking to get started in OSRIC then this is a good place to start.
If you want to learn the basics and the thought of picking up the massive OSRIC tome is too much, then this is also a good place to start.

While there is nothing really new here (nor should there be) the cover art is fantastic.

Edited: Seems the cover art is copied from this book.
http://www.tsrinfo.net/archive/dl/dl-lairs.htm

Not sure what the deal is there.

The Witch and Eldritch Witchery

I am working hard on putting the final touches on my next two books.  The Witch and Eldritch Witchery.

They are not quite ready for full on press releases or product announcements yet,  but I am very, very excited about them.

The Witch

"The Witch" is designed to be used with "Basic Era" games.  Games that were released in the late 70s and early 80s and whose legacy is being continued with games like Labyrinth Lord and Basic Fantasy RPG.

The Witch will feature a new character class, the witch, and witchcraft Traditions so you can play any type of witch from fantasy, pulp or faerie tale.  In addition there are going to be new monsters associated with the witch as well as tons of new spells and magic items.  Many of which I have playtested over the last 12 years and some even dating back to my original notes I had written on the witch back in 1985.
Also included are appendices for extending the "Magic-User" class into a proper Wizard and Demi-human witches, something I had never considered doing in '85.


Eldritch Witchery

Eldritch Witchery is a bit different.  First it is for the Spellcraft & Swordplay game specifically.  Though it should be compatible with nearly any "old school" game or clone.

Many of the ideas that were used in "The Witch" found a home here as well, though in a different way that makes this a very different sort of class.  Actually it makes it two different sort of classes since Eldritch Witchery includes a witch and a warlock class.  As to be expected there are magic items and spells for both classes included.  This book also extends the magic of wizards, clerics and necromancers found in the S&S core rules and Monstrous Mayhem.

This book will also introduce demons to the S&S game and a new demonic hierarchy.  Make sure you know your stuff before you go into battle against the demons, a Baalseraph will have different abilities than the Calabim who are different still from the Lilim.

Which Book should You Get?
I am hoping both!  There is some overlap (I can only say "an athame is a ritual knife..." so many ways) but I am taking great pains to make sure each book has their own feel and unique material.  You could in fact get both and have three different takes on the witch, each one doing their magic a bit differently.  The traditions and lodges are not repeated between the books (save for one at present, but it makes sense to do so). Eldritch Witchery has demons, but the Witch goes into greater detail with everything.   I would say that either can be played with any version of the World's Greatest Fantasy RPG circa 1975 to 1985 and any clone based on it.

Stay tuned, I'll be posting some characters created with both books and we can see how they fare.

The planned release date is right around Halloween.

Limited Posting

Hey all.

Posting is going to be fairly limited over the next few weeks.
My wife needs to go in for surgery and at present has very little mobility.  So now and till after she heals I am both mommy and daddy at the house.

I'll keep you all updated.