Zatannurday: Gillykins Cosplay

I stumbled upon this cosplayer Gillian aka Gillykins a while back while looking for some Red Sonja pics on Deviantart.
I thought these would be worth sharing!

You can see more at her DeviantArt page, her Facebook page and at her Geek X Girls photo shoot.



Sentinel of Magic by ~gillykins on deviantART


Show Time by ~gillykins on deviantART


Zatanna by ~gillykins on deviantART


Cue the Lights by ~gillykins on deviantART


Illusion by ~gillykins on deviantART


Cards of Fortune by ~gillykins on deviantART


Magic Act by ~gillykins on deviantART


Do you belive in magic by ~gillykins on deviantART


SUCOP SUCOH by ~gillykins on deviantART


Magical Mistress by ~gillykins on deviantART

And one I found laying around.

Sherlock Holmes

Been on a huge Sherlock Holmes bender now for a while.  I listened to all the Sir John Gielgud radio plays, have read all of stories in the Holmes cannon, watched all the episodes of Peter Cushing Holmes I can find.  Next up is the Jeremy Brett  Granada TV series, which I have on DVD now.

Should be good!

This blog has a point but...

http://uadnd.blogspot.com/2012/05/dear-wizards-of-coast.html

But the trouble is WotC/Hasbro can't not publish a new edition.
The number of old core books that they can sell has an upper limit.  Afterall you can still get copies of most editions on ebay or your FLGS.  Some stores still have overstock of 3.x in fact.

It's a nice idea.  But I can't see it working.

I would like to see some POD myself, there are lots of things I'd like to buy, but the demand just isn't there to make it work really.

Supporting the OSR (Sell me your game!!)

This link is making the rounds of Facebook right now, it is a good read and I am sure we have all been in the author's or the father's place before.
http://in-the-cities.com/2012/05/30/the-old-school-revolution-one-step-at-a-time/

Which go me thinking...

I like supporting the OSR.  Sure, I have bought the "same rules" dozen of times over now which would be under other circumstances insane.

Anyway not trying to ramble here (oops, failed that one so far) but I guess here is where I am at.

I plan on showing my support of the OSR at Gen Con again this year in the best way I know how.
With money.

The second way I know how is talking about it here.

So...If you are selling anything for the OSR or related products (like say dice bags with the OSR logo) at Gen Con then tell me here!  Go ahead and post something below.

IF you are not selling something at Gen Con, that's cool, post here too.  Let me know about your Kickstarter too.

I am not promising I will buy your product, I am promising though I will buy something posted here.
I'd like to buy it at Gen Con direct from you if I can.  Failing that I'll buy it from my FLGS.

Help me help you.

White Dwarf Wednesday #19

The summer of 1980 I turned 11, and White Dwarf published issue #19 for June/July.

Let's take a moment and look at this Les Edwards cover.  Some sort of ghoul or demon coming up out of a pit (a ghoul according to his website).  He is not here to welcome us to the dungeon or give us candy.  I love the detail of this image.  But it is not the only detail we should look at.  Note how the magazine is up 15p from last issue (and 50 cents in the US, Canada and Australia).
We are treated to some more full-page ads.  Again, I enjoy these and they are a different insight to the time and too what was popular.  Up front, Chaosium is no longer "The Chaosium".    An ad as a letter from TSR detailing what is coming to the UK this summer from TSR.  The new Deities and Demigods book as well as the  Modules GW1, S3, B2 and Q1.  Interestingly enough B2 is listed as both for D&D and AD&D.

An aside.  We are really getting into the time when I was hardcore into D&D (as opposed to the last 30+ years I guess).  I can't help but reflect on when this was all so new to me and new to everyone else.  Popping in my MP3s from Stevie Nicks "Bella Donna" (ok that was 81, but hey).

An ad for the the new Ares magazine and the new game John Carter, Warlord of Mars. (Aside #2: Must pick up John Carter on Blu-Ray today!)

The editorial this issue is about the lack of back issues (tell me about it!!) and how they will publish the White Dwarf compendiums, one "The Best of White Dwarf Articles"  and the other "The Best of White Dwarf Scenarios".  I remember wanting those both so bad back in the day.  It was not till post college, a steady paycheck and the magic of eBay that I was able to fill in my gaps.

On to the articles!

Trevor Graver gives us a criminal background for Traveller characters.  Again, I love these old mags because they were so system agnostic.  Everything was thrown in together.  Traveller, D&D/AD&D, Runequest, it was all here.

The Fiend Factory is back with some low level monsters.  The Empopath, which is like a low-level psychic frog.  The Stormbiter, a sort of air-elemental of the desert, similar to a Dust Devil.  Undead Horses (what it says on the tin), the Werefox which I think is the same the would later appear in Monster Manual II. And the Darkhawk which is an evil looking, but not evilly aligned, undead hawk.  Monsters still have Monstermark ratings.

A Runequest mini-scenario, Jorthan's Rescue, by Stephen R. Marsh & John T. Sapienza Jr. is up next.  It looks pretty solid to be honest.

Next up is a page on how there has been an interest of late of new character classes and some ideas behind the new Beserker class that follows.   Roger E. Moore then presents the Berserker as a complete class.  This is an order of magnitude above other classes in terms presentation, use and how it was written.  The class is complete on one page.

ANOTHER mini-scenario by Tom Keenes is next.  Ogre Hunt is presented as suitable for 4-7 moderate to low-level characters for C&S.  At only a page and 3/4s it is smaller, but does what it sets out to do.

Open Box is up with new games.  Starfire from Task Force Games is a tactical naval space battles game for 2-3 players.  It gets a solid 8/10.  Magic Realm from Avalon Hill has been a constant search for me at game auctions. It is described as a fantasy-adventure role-playing game with a board.  While reviewer Colin Reynolds likes the magic battles, he downgrades it for it boardgame like set up.  I get the feeling that this game was in his mind neither RPG or board-game.   It gets a 7/10.   We also have two books from Fantasy Productions Inc. The first is High Fantasy, which reminds the reviewer of D&D. It has some interesting design ideas, including a to hit vs dodge mechanic, but the rest seems uninspired. Don Turnbull gives it a 4/10.  Fortress of Ellendar is an adventure module to be used with High Fantasy, but it fares better with a 7/10.  Finally the first official adventure for Traveller, Adventure 1 The Kinunir gets 9/10 from Bob McWilliams.

Lew Pulsipher gives us an article on magical wards for AD&D. Very interesting, not just in terms of content, but as an extension of D&D scholarship; articles designed to expand some minor bit of game esoterica. This sort of thing will fill magazines for years to come and websites and blogs long after that.

The Letters section has the typical comments on Fiend Factory, but also some letters on the differences between the 1st and 2nd printings of the new MM and DMG, with one complaining that the different "editions" came too soon on the heels of the previous one.  Somethings never, ever change.

Treasure Chest gives us some pre-gen NPCs instead of magic items.

The next article is something of an archaeological find really. It discusses the future of CM gaming, that is Computer Moderated.  The Archaeopteryx of today's MMORPGs.  The game is called Starweb from Flying Buffalo Inc. The turns are still sent and returned by mail, but all the moderation is done by computer.  What is most interesting I think is not that this was the first entry into what would today become a business either adored or reviled (or both) by traditional Table Top RPG fans, but that Starweb is still going on! http://www.flyingbuffalo.com/swrules.htm.  This is what I love about these retrospectives, the archaic knowledge of a bygone time AND how it is related to today.
I suppose it should be noted that the reviewer sited a number of problems with Starweb, I don't think he foresaw it would still be running 32 years after publication.

We end with news of some new character sheet books coming from TSR and the C1 module.  The Empire Strikes Back is mentioned with the often quoted "three trilogies" idea.
We have ads. A lot of them in fact, with finally a full page ad for Top Secret again.

White Dwarf grows also to 36 pages (including covers).

This was a great issue to be honest.  Lots of great finds here.  Again, the issues and debates we today were going on then.  In one issue we get Edition Wars! Computer vs. Table Top play!  Power Creep!  Gamers of game X vs. Gamers of game Y! Fun stuff.

What else was going on in RPG history?  Well You can read about White Dwarf here.
James at Grognardia is doing a retrospective of Ares every Tuesday.
Matt over at Land of Nod is doing Dragon by Dragon every Sunday.

Dear Google Visitors...

I am sorry.  But despite your efforts over the last week you can not find "Supergirl Porn" here.

As a consolation, here is this image.

May you have better luck on other sites.

Victorian games. Almost there...

My Victorian games collection.
I am still missing a good copy of Castle Falkenstein; I sold mine at an auction years ago, long before I worked on Ghosts.

I am missing some others too, but have a lot on PDF.
But these are the big ones. If I ever need to run a Victorian era game, I think I have things covered.

Eldritch Witchery update

Jason has an update on Eldritch Witchery (and more!) over at the Elf Lair Games blog.
http://elflairgames.blogspot.com/2012/06/updates-eldritch-witchery-and.html

In addition to what Jason mentions, I am going over the edits and tweaking a few of the spells.

Not sure when the publication date is, but hopefully soon!

Edits

I just got back the edits for both Eldritch Witchery and The Witch within hours of each other.

I have not looked at either yet, but I am expecting there to be some pretty extensive changes and edits to be made.

This will certainly cut into my blogging time here.  Just wanted you to know.

Zatannurday: More Cosplay

Here are some more Zatanna cosplayers.




A photo by Brian Carter

by Duderama (I believe this is Cosplayer "Gillian", but not for sure).

One by Yumstein featuring both Zee and WW

A recent one posted to Toyriffic, Zee and Harley!

Comicpalooza Zatanna by Nadya Anton
(from Justice League Detroit)

And a couple from a favorite here at the Other Side, Jettie Monday

and few from Deviant Art.



Poker Face by *Leonie-Heartilly on deviantART


Zatanna Zatara, Revisted by ~velvetillusions on deviantART


Party time, tnellecxe! by ~strikes-twice on deviantART


Young Justice Zatanna by ~BlackRein on deviantART


FCD: ZATANNA AND PLASTIC MAN, THE HORROR by ~strikes-twice on deviantART


EVITAERC ELTIT! by ~strikes-twice on deviantART

I think I'll need to run some features on a few of these terrific cosplayers!  I admire their dedication to their hobby/obsessions. Cause I can totally relate.

Mary Pickford Blogathon

Today I am participating in the Mary Pickford blogathon hosted over at Classic Movies.

http://www.aclassicmovieblog.com/2012/04/mary-pickford-blogathon-announcement.html
Please stop by all the bloggers participating and see what they have to say about this Hollywood Legend.

Today I want to talk about the ONLY Mary Pickford movie I have ever seen.  This movie though has had such a profound impact on my gaming and later writing that I would be remiss if I didn't talk about it at least once here.

Sparrows (1926)
I saw this movie back when I was in Junior High School.  One of the great things about growing in my family is we are all movie buffs and we (dad, mom and my brothers and sisters) all have different tastes.  Sparrows is one from my Dad's collection (though I am sure my brother Daniel has seen it too). Now I don't recall if I saw it on tape or on one of those Classic Movie channels back in the early days of cable TV.  But I have very distinct memories of this movie.

First, and this might run me afoul of my blogging cohorts today, I don't like Mary Pickford.  OR rather, I should say I didn't like her in this. What I think was supposed to be a quiet reserve of faith and strength to me became a weak and ineffectual character.   But I am getting ahead of myself.

Sparrows was to me a horror movie.  That is how I was introduced to it, and those were the eyes I viewed it.  It was not though horror as I was expecting.  You can read up on the plot on Wikipedia, I want to talk about what I saw and the effect it had on me.

I guess I like and hate this movie for all the wrong reasons.  Molly (Pickford) was to me weak and spent too much time looking to God to solve her problems when I felt she should have been trying to solve them on her own.  In fact the only time she and the children in the movie are safe is when she gets up and moves them on her own.   I have (maybe because I am an atheist) always been fascinated by the "strong, silent faithful" type. I like it when they succeed, but most often I expect them to fail.   I wanted the kids to escape, but Molly seemed like a poor candidate to help them.

Then there is Mr. Grimes.  Not since the Baron and Baroness Bomburst of Vulgaria in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang had I seen a character more evil in his disregard of children (my mom ran a Day Care, in my mind the most evil thing was to hate or harm a child).  He left a lasting impression to be sure.  So lasting that to this day I have an evil necromancer character who lives in a swap (like Grimes) who hates children.

In my mind the dichotomous battle was set. Old, evil, Grimes versus the young, pure Molly.  And so help me if I didn't like Grimes better.  I really wanted the kids to rise up and just beat the living shit out that guy and his wife.  But they never did, worse, Molly keeps looking up to the sky like she is getting some private communique. Like that is going to help.

I think about this movie fairly often to be honest.  Many things I wrote after I watched it will bubble back up in things I write today.  I still used swamps as my ultimate hideout of evil (but that could also be in part to the Legion of Doom).

Reflecting back now I would like to see this again, if for no other reason than to give this film it's due with more mature eyes and sensibilities.

Though the metaphorical descendants of  Grimes (his own children if you will) will live on in my games for some more years.

Of course in the movie good triumphs over evil, but not because good was smarter/better but because evil was dumb.  I can't help but think how this movie would have been handled by Jonathan Demme and if Grimes had been more like Hannibal Lector.  Grimes was "Jr. High evil" not "world evil" to paraphrase Kim Possible (who also makes Molly look bad).  There is a movie for you.  "Sparrows 2000", the bad guy is a Lecter/Buffalo Bill like evil and the hero is a fiery red-head Kim Possible type.   Nah.  It looses a lot in the translation.  As much as Sparrows fails to measure up by my jaded standards today,  it was quite effective when it came out and when I first saw it.

So to the movie I remember I do owe a creative debt.

White Dwarf Wednesday #18

It's April/May 1980.  Bon Scott has been replaced with Brian Johnson in AC/DC, Ronnie James Dio is in for Ozzy in Black Sabbath and a photo of the USS Enterprise has replaced fantasy art on the cover of White Dwarf #18.

This is issue is full of big news.  First off, though in the form of an ad, we see that TSR Hobbies has arrived and is open for business in the UK.  They open their doors on March 31, 1980.  Don Turnbull will be in charge.

The next full page ad is one for Tunnels & Trolls.  Like so much else in this OSR world this ad could run right now and still work.

Ian Livingstone asks "Why do people like playing role-playing games?"  It is interesting because now we are getting more "RPGs" and less "SF/F Games".  American influence I am thinking.

Next up we get a fairly detailed minatures game for Star Trek the Motion Picture. No idea if they got the permission to do this or not, but it is a pretty detailed game (4 pages).  You do need the minis to play, but those were new from Citadel Miniatures,  so easy to get.  The game assumes you are using these, but they also state others can be used.

We have some reviews in Open Box.  A psychic battle game based on the Darkover novels (9/10).  Swordquest from the new Task Force Games gets a 6/10. Dra'k'ne Station from Judges Guild for Traveller gets 8/10.

Albie Foire gives us a very detailed (6 pages, 3 new monsters) mini-adventure for D&D, The Halls of Tizun Thane.  Oddly enough this lists 3-6 players with 6-12 characters.  This is the only adventure I have seen where the assumption is people will be playing more than one character.

Treasure chest gives us some very useful tables on weather conditions by season.  As well as some random NPC generators.

Fiend Factory gives us four also-ran monsters; Mandrake People, Hounds of Kerenos, Phung, and the Couerl.  All have Monstermark ratings and all come from various Sf/F novels.
We also get the top 10 and bottom 5 FF monsters as chosen by the readers.



Top 10
1. Necrophidius
2. Russian Doll Monster
3. Svart
4. Needleman
5. Hook Horror
6. Githyanki
7. Imps
8. Volt
9. Urchin
10. Dahdi

Bottom 5
1. Nas Nas (the worst)
2. Dahdi (both lists)
3. Withra
4. Stinwicodech
5. Pebble Gnome

The Magic Brush is back with mini painting tips.

Finally 6 pages of classifieds and ads.  Ending with a new ad for TSR's Top Secret game.

The type seems denser and the quality of the work seems better than the last couple of issues and I think we are entering another growth period for WD.  Looking forward to the rest of 1980.



BTW here is that T&T ad.  Still works today.

Amazing Adventures

As you know I have recently been turned on to the fantastic Castles & Crusades game by my son.
It is really cool and it really does feel like 1st Ed AD&D.

But does it feel like Gangbusters?

Well my friend Jason Vey aims to find out with his new game out from Troll Lords called Amazing Adventures.
http://www.trolllord.com/cnc/aa_preorder.html

Here is the sales blurb:

Amazing Adventures

Siege Engine Game for the Pulp Era
Product Type/Format & Price: Softcover; 176 pages; $24.99
Written By: Jason Vey
Ordering Info: TLG 7601, ISBN: 978-1-936822-02-7

"Pulp: Hard-boiled detectives, fedora-wearing action heroes, and steampunk gadgeteers rocketing to battle with their jet packs against bloodthirsty Thule cultists of the Third Reich." 


That's when all Hell broke loose. The back window shattered, there was a distinct "ZING!" sound, and the front window followed suit. Kate let out a yelp and jerked the wheel, sending us into a fishtail. I grabbed the door frame and held on for dear life while drawing my Colt 1911. I looked over my shoulder, and sure enough there was that pink Model T. I couldn't see if Frenchie was behind the wheel; too much sun glare off the windows. But two goons leaned out. At first I assumed they just had pistols. I leaned out the window to draw a bead, and that's when the one goon opened up with a bloody fire-spewing hand-cannon.


I ducked back into the car. "Great," I muttered. "Just my luck. The SOB's got a Tommy Gun."


Kate snorted. "Look at the bright side. He can't aim very well on full auto."


"That's a bright side?"

Another long burst of fire went wild into the air. Tires squealed as cars bootlegged around us, and the screams of bystanders rang out.

Kate jerked the wheel left, down a narrow alley, just as I pulled up to lean out again. I nearly toppled head-first out the window into a wall. My fedora flew off my head.
This was definitely turning into a bad day.

"Geez, Doll, watch it!" I said, and squeezed off a couple shots as the goon with the Thompson tried to reload. He ducked back into the car while his buddy returned fire.

Welcome to two-fisted adventure with the SIEGE engine!

Amazing Adventures, the newest core game powered by Troll Lord Games' celebrated SIEGE engine, allows you to create any type of pulp adventure hero you want, and customize them as you like! Be it arcane scholars, mentalists, tomb-raiding archaeologists, Asian martial arts masters, or gangsters and G-Men, this game has you covered. And best of all, if you're a fan of Castles & Crusades, you can pick this game up and get playing in a matter of minutes! Inside this book you'll find:

• Eight brand new character classes: Arcanist, Gadgeteer, Gumshoe, Hooligan, Mentalist, Pugilist, Raider, and Socialite
• Character customization options: Generic Class Abilities, Traits, Backgrounds, Fate Points, Pulp Costumes, Sanity rules, and more!
• A streamlined presentation of the SIEGE engine, which uses a single Challenge Base
• Rules for vehicular combat
• Guidelines on how to run a pulp game
• A complete Monster section with all kinds of pulp beasties from giant apes to Lovecraftian horrors
• A complete starting adventure for 4-6 new pulp heroes
• And tons more!

I think I am really going to enjoy this game.  It is in pre-order now (I happen to know for a fact the game is done) and there are some sweet pre-order incentives.

I also understand that it is 95% to 100% compatible with the C&C books you own right now.  So all those monster books I bought can now roam the streets of New York OR a pulp-inspired Greyhawk.  "The dame was from Urnst. My daddy always said never trust a dame from Urnst. But I don't have to trust her, just work for her." 

So please check it out and pre-order.
http://www.trolllord.com/cnc/aa_preorder.html

White Dwarf Wednesday...

Will be a touch delayed.

Have a bunch of things at work I need to do first and the long weekend threw me off.

Mary Pickford this Friday

This Friday I am participating in the Mary Pickford blogathon hosted over at Classic Movies.

http://www.aclassicmovieblog.com/2012/04/mary-pickford-blogathon-announcement.html
Please stop by all the bloggers participating and see what they have to say about this Hollywood Legend.

Now you might wonder what a silent screen star has to do with RPGs or Horror.  Well come back on Friday to find out how at least one of her films had a deep impact on a vast majority of my work.

Willow and Tara Digital Comics

I don't read the Buffy comics. No desire really, and the world I had created with the RPG was far more interesting to me anyway. 

But when Amber Benson and Christopher Golden team up to write a Willow & Tara based comic, well how can I possibly say no?

This month Dark Horse re-released the two (well three, two stories in three books) Willow & Tara comics.  Wanna Blessed Be and Wilderness. 

You can get them here:

Willow & Tara: Wanna Blessed Be

Willow & Tara: Wilderness

I enjoyed the heck out these and went ahead and bought them again in digital format.

I ran a Ghosts of Albion adventure loosely based on these, it seemed appropriate.  The adventure still needs some work, but I do like it.  And it has a pedigree. 

So here they are.  Thought you might like to check them out.

Now if someone would make a comic of the Dragon and the Phoenix I'd be thrilled to death! 

Marvel HRP links

Quick one today.
Found some links for various builds for the Marvel Heroic Roleplaying game.

The Lost of Files of Marvel is just link after link of tons of builds.
That 70's Game also has a few, but in particular are his build builds of Zatanna, Fire and Ice from the DC world.

And only quasi-related, Tim Marchman over at the Wall Street Journal wants to know why comics aren't doing better than they are.  Actually he has a pretty good idea.

New Basic Class, The Vampire

Want to playtest something for free?

Well I want you all to have a look at my new class for Basic Era Games and their Retro Clones.

The Vampire Class

Art copyright 2012 by Jason Rainville

This is a class/race combo for the system that also had Elf, Dwarf and Halfling as a class.

From the document:
"Vampires are among the most powerful of the Undead.  But unlike other undead, the vampire can retain a bit of their own humanity. Thus a vampire can also become an adventuring class much like that of an elf or dwarf.  A vampire character still retains their original soul, trapped inside an undead body full of dark necromantic power.  Eventually even the most pure of heart will succumb to the darkness of undeath."

This is a complete class 1st to 14th level, with additional notes to 20th level for exceptional characters.
All the vampiric powers and weaknesses are detailed to allow your vampire character plenty of options to grow.

There are few things I am testing out here.  First, whether or not the word will get out about this without much fanfare.  To test Dropbox as a delivery method. Also to test my class creation algorithms.

If you can please drop me a note here (what the hell, let's call it an Open Playtest) and let me know what system you used this with and how it worked.  As my regular playtesters will attest, I don't mind it when things get broken, as long as I know why.

So. Let me know your thoughts in the replies below.

I am looking forward to seeing how this class works for everyone!

Click here to download the PDF: The Vampire Class

More Free Downloads

In the interest of providing you, the reader of the Other Side, only the finest in gaming accessories I give you a couple more more character sheets I have used in the past.

• Willow & Tara RPG Sheet
• Willow & RPG Character Journal

These were designed for my "Willow & Tara RPG", which was a mix of Eden's Buffy, WitchCraft and Ghosts of Albion games.

The Character sheet is a one page deal.  The Journal is nine pages to track everything for your Unisystem character.

Happy 90th Birthday Christopher Lee!

Sir Christopher Lee is 90 years old today!

Congrats on this milestone to man that was (is!) Dracula, Saurman, Count Dokku, Lord Summerilse, The Jabberwock, Sherlock Holmes, and not to mention he played Death in numerous unrealted movies and TV shows. Oh, and was Special Forces in WWII.

Chuck Norris can suck it!

Read more here: http://news.moviefone.com/2012/05/24/christopher-lee-90th-birthday_n_1543929.html

Zatannurday: Other Days of the Week

We know you have a choice when it comes to super-heroine cheese cake and here at the Other Side are happy you have chosen Zatannurday for your DC Heroine needs.

But did you know there are other days in the week?!?

Love this picture by the way.  

It is true.  And one of the great things about being a part of the blogging community is the ability to see and share what others are doing.  So just as there are other days of the week and super girls, there are other blogs doing something similar too!

I have posted this one before from Adam Hughes.  That is because I like it.

First off I have to give a big shout out to Toyriffic. It was his posts about Harley Quinn ever "Qwednsday" that gave me the idea to do this!

• Wednesday: Harely Quinn - Qwednseday
• Thursday: Cat Woman - Purrrsday
• Sunday: Poison Ivy - Poisunday Ivy

Hero Press has sent me 1000s of hits over the last few years, it is always nice to send some back. Tim also has a few features.

• Wonder Woman Wednesday
• Super Girl Sunday

Cal up in Calvin's Canadian Cave of Cool is an old friend to the Other Side.  His posting schedule dwarfs all of the blogs mentioned above, including my own.  In addition to being the Fortress of Solitude for some nice little witches, he loves his super girls.  Maybe none more than Batgirl herself.

• Wednsedays with Wonder Woman
• There's always room for Batgirl (typically Fridays)
• Supergirl
• Fridays with the Furies (which includes a lot of super heroines)

By my count that leaves plenty of DC Women and Monday and Tuesday with no love.
Ones that could use (and support) their own days are Starfire, Black Canary, Raven (she fits with the theme of my blog), Vixen (though she is given a lot coverage over at Justice League Detroit), Batwoman (maybe not enough of her yet since the Kate Kane version is still pretty new), Renee (The Question) Montoya and personal favorites, Fire and Ice.

I should point out some other great blogs featuring DC women.

• Amazon Princess, dedicated to Wonder Woman
• DC Women Kicking Ass talks about the women of DC and some Marvel
• Justice League Detroit for Vixen, Gypsy and sometimes Zatanna. 
• Supergirl Comic Box Commentary
• Who is The Question?
• Comic Knockouts, featuring DC and Marvel women

IF you know of any more let me know!

Dropbox

I am adding some Dropbox functionality to my blog so you can download items or share them with me.

You can click on the link above and get your own Dropbox account, but I am also going to open up some public folders for everyone to use.

The Other Side

Let me know what you think!

D&D Next Playtest: First Thoughts

Ok. I have the playtest docs in hand now.
Now there is lot here, and there is a lot I can't say due to the NDA.

Let me take a bit and talk about the NDA.
Every game company on the planet uses an NDA. There are exceptions of course, but those companies are exactly that. Exceptions.  Plus the two that are often mentioned, Pathfinder and Dungeon Crawl Classics, are so derivative of the SRD that there is not really much in the way of new material to protect.  Plus the "beta" of Pathfinder was much more polished than this playtest of Next/5e.  This is not kick the tires or looking for bugs, this is a real play test.

That's out of the way what did we all get?
Well.....I can say there pages of rules, a bunch of pre-gens, a descent set of monsters and an entire adventure based on B2.

My thoughts, in no particular order.
- Someone put all their favorite rules from all editions of the game in a blender and hit frappe.
- Very much like 3e, with some 4e ideas.  I have noticed things though from 1st ed and 2nd ed.
- Lawful Evil and Chaotic Good are back
- like how they are doing hit points.
- advantage and disadvantage.  neat ideas. Not sure yet on how much I'll like them.
- Monster stats can now be written in one line of text!  Just like AD&D1

Characters now have Race, Class, Background and Theme (this is all old news) but damn it is nice to see it all working on one page of a character sheet.  Heck once you have your class, race, backgroun and theme down you can put your entire sheet on a half piece of paper.

On the character sheet I see bits from 3e, 4e, 2e and a lot of Basic D&D.  I also see things that are new.  Not new-new, but certainly new to official D&D rules.

I have often asked for a rule set that combines the best features of all of D&D from the last 40 years.
Damn if D&D 5/Next doesn't come really, really close to all of that.

We are going to play it this weekend.  I'll let you know how it goes.

D&D Next

I now have it in my hands and while I am not 100% sold yet, man it is a lot neater than I thought it would be.

I am much more excited now.

There is an Old School vibe to this game, yet it still has the things from 3x and 4e that I liked.  Did WotC hit a home run here?  No. But it is was a solid Double moving the runner to Third.

I don't even mind it took a long time to get.

Next Day

The playtest docs for D&D Next/5e come out today.

I am expecting them to be kinda raw to be honest, but who knows.

Are you planning to try it out?

New Class

I got some word on Eldritch Witchery today, still in edits.
The Witch will be back to from the editor on June 1.

So I figure while we are all waiting, I have a new class to share with you all.

It's not done yet, and it is designed specifically for "Basic Era" games.
It will be released as 100% Open under OGL and even better, I am going to give it to you for free.

Just give me a couple of days (or less) depending on how much I get done tonight.

White Dwarf Wednesday #17

We kick off the 80s with White Dwarf #17 for Feb/March.  Again we see a noticeable jump in quality in terms of cover art.  This piece by Angus McKie has always been a favorite of mine.

Ian Livingstone talks prices of games in his editorial.

The Fiend Factory is next with the "Near Misses Monsters", the ones that did not make it the Fiend Folio.  What is  nice about this batch is we are given the reasons why they were not included.  First up we have a Night Rider, which is to humans as drow are to elves.  The Spice Worm (should be obvious), The Heat Skeleton and the Green Worm (both not included because there were already too many skeleton and worm like creatures). The Bodach (nothing at all like the Bodak) and the Goom, both of which were not really all that interesting.

Open Box gives us reveiws of Time War (8/10), Under the Storm Giant's Castle (5/10) and Dark Tower (9/10), both Playing Aides from Judges Guild. Also we have two games from Judges Guild, Operation Ogre (5/10) and Caverns of Thracia (8/10).

Lew Pulsipher gives us a classic, "My Life as a Werebear", or rules for playing Monster Characters in D&D.  The tables and the rules are very D&D while the art and monsters are AD&D.  It was an interesting time when the two rules existed side by side like this.  The rules are solid and could be reprinted today and branded OSR and sell.

A couple of pages on painting minis.
The Sable Rose Affair is a short Traveller scenario.
Letters again focus on Fiend Factory.
Treasure Chest has a couple of Artifacts, the Tablets of the Ish Than, the Skeleton of Zzkeel, The Marvellous Flask of Suethrin the Mystical, The Ring of Manfred the Sage, The Sword of Ehemakil and Gurthlin's Silver Harp.

We have the Questionnaire results next.  Most people (51%) read WD for the RPGs, with D&D (53%) being the largest percentage of that. Most readers want a questions and answer page, and only 31% want a comic.  Most readers want WD to come out monthly.  Soon...very soon.

There is a nice interview with Chaosium's Greg Stafford.

A new Ability for D&D is introduced, Perception.  Neat idea, but it never really took off.

We end in ads.

So the start of the 80s has us looking at WD that still looks 70s.  There are improvements, but not a lot so far.  The issue is really solid, but lacks a solid feature article.

For comparisons sake check to see what is going on over at Land of Nod.  He is doing the Dragon magazines one by one, with Dragon by Dragon.

Another Award

I got another award this past week from K. D. Storm of "A Coffee Driven & Adventure Bound Life".

Here is the award:

To accept I have to answer 10 questions about me, 10 Random facts about me and pick 7 other bloggers to get this award.

Since I am all about building a community online I think it is a great idea.

The Ten Questions

1. What is your fave song? So many.  I love Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven".  Whenever Kansas' "Carry On Wayward Son" comes on I have to blast it.
2. Favorite Dessert? I am not a big dessert guy. But I love lemon flavored things.
3. What ticks you off? So much....but mostly People that waste my time.
4. When you're upset what do you do? I talk to my wife.  She is a great person to talk to and bring me back to reality.
5. What is your favorite pet? I am deathly allergic to animals. So no pets.
6. Which do you prefer black or white? Black. 
7. What is your biggest fear? Anything happening to my kids..
8. What is your attitude? Generally optimistic. 
9. What is perfection? An interesting concept, but nothing is ever perfect. 
10. What is your guilty pleasure? Playing 80s music in my car turned up to 11.

Ten Random Facts

1. My wife and I met out first week of college and were friends all throughout college.  We did not start dating till she moved 300 miles away.
2. In high school I hated writing. Now look at me.
3. And I was editor of my highschool news paper.
4. I am afraid of heights.  I am not too fond of rats either.
5. When I was younger I would sleep with my eyes open.
6. I learned the alphabet frontwards and backwards when I was 3, I can still recite it backwards as fast as frontwards.
7. Cottage Cheese makes me gag and I will throw up if I get too close to it.
8. I am in a Metalica video.
9. I am no longer allowed to play Star Wars Trivial Pursuit. 
10. I knew at a very early age I wanted to be a father, now I am and it is great!

Now Seven bloggers.  The trouble with this one is there are so many good ones out there.  I wanted to choose ones that were good, that I thought would appreciate this award and would in turn send it out to others.  Also I want to pick out blogs that I felt could use some extra exposure.  Plus they are an ecletic bunch.

*Pixies Don't Have Wings - Writer Buffy Armstrong's site.  It has been a great resource in looking at fae creatures a different way.

The Groovy Age of Horror - Horror movies and comics from a funkier time.  I love the overall feel of this blog and I come here for inspiration on my own horror themed games.

Space 1970 - A great site dedicated to SciFi of the 70s (well till 1983 with Return of the Jedi).  I grew up in the 70s and this site is a constant trip down Memory Lane-if Memory Lane was really a Hyperspace wormhole thing.

Propnomicon - pictures and posts on the creepiest props you will ever see.  Focused on the Lovecraft mythos, everything is here.

Precious Monsters - there are a lot of Paranormal/Urban Horror review sites out there, but I like this one the best.  Very edgy and has stuff the other sites don't.

Vibrant Oxymoron - A great Doctor Who and Star Trek site focusing on the classic series.  Awesome blog.

Cedar Valley Sustainable Farm - Ever wonder where your food comes from?  Not the folks at CVSF, they grow it, raise it and eat it all on their own.  Follow the story of what happens when two suburban professionals leave the Chicago suburbs to go live off the land.  I could not do what they do, but I do find it all very interesting.

There they are!  Please enjoy!

Free Stuff!!

Hey all.

I have a bunch of stuff (pdfs, docs) I want to start unloading and I thought why not here and why not for free!

Some of it is not in shape to sell and others are just better as free.

So what I want to know is what is a good place to store files that won't give you all viruses and I can track the number of downloads.  I have Box.net, Dropbox, Google Drive, and Lulu accounts.

Thanks!

Castles & Crusades updates

I want to thank everyone that gave me advice on C&C recently.

Here is what I now have:

• Castle Keepers Guide 
• Tainted Lands
• Castles & Crusades Players Handbook (4th) (a PDF for me and a physical book for my son)
• Castles & Crusades Monsters & Treasure  (a PDF for me and a physical book for my son)
• Castles & Crusades Classic Monsters The Manual (glad I got this)
• Castles & Crusades Of Gods & Monsters (glad I got this one too!)

My son owns the physical copies, I bought PDFs.  Because, well, I like reading on my tablet.
We are playing a C&C game at Gen Con and I am going to be playing around a bit with the PHB.

What I like so far is the ability to use 1st ed and 3rd ed material seamlessly.  Yeah I do that now, but I do it with 3e and a lot of prep.

Not 100% what I am going to do yet.  But it will be fun to figure it all out!

Gen Con Registration

Well I got into Gen con registration this morning.

I didn't end up getting all the games I wanted, but I did get a lot of good choices.

I wanted to take my kids on a "history tour" of D&D.
So far we are going to be playing 5e/Next, 4e, 3e and Castles & Crusades.  I wanted to get in an AD&D1 game and Basic game.  No luck though.

I still might run them through a Basic game on my own one of the nights.  Of course if I can find a Labyrinth Lord game, I'd love that. C&C is close to 3e and AD&D so this is a good choice.  And I wanted to play that one myself.

I am not sure if I'll have time for a Ghosts pickup game, though I love to try it at least one night.

Hope you all got your games!

Zatannurday: Dave Hoover

I normally do not pay much attention publicly to birthdays or death-days of people that have died.  I would rather remember their lives in the ways they contributed by living.  But I have to admit I was taken slightly aback to learn that while I was looking around for some Dave Hoover art for something else he had died back in September.

This week was his birthday week (May 14) and I thought a post at least was in order.
I liked Dave's art because he knew how to draw women.  Not all sticks with boobs, but curvy and, for lack of a better word, realistic.  Well.  At least within the bounds of comic book art.

He does a great Zatanna that reminds me of her Silver Age appearances.

I hope you enjoy as well.


Zatanna Sketch 6 by ~Tarzman on deviantART


Zee in Color by ~Tarzman on deviantART


Zatanna Blue 3 by ~Tarzman on deviantART


Tip O' The Hat by ~Tarzman on deviantART


Magical by ~Tarzman on deviantART


Top Hat by ~Tarzman on deviantART


Zatanna Spellcaster by ~Tarzman on deviantART


Beatifull Spellcaster Zatanna by ~Tarzman on deviantART


Zatanna Sketch by ~Tarzman on deviantART

The Long Shadow of D&D Article

James Maliszewski has a new article up over at WotC's website.
http://www.wizards.com/DnD/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4alum/2012May#80014

Well worth the read.

Eldritch Skies

Eldritch Skies is the new SF/Lovecraft/alt-history game from Battlefield Press.

A few disclaimers are in order first I think.
1. I have worked with John Snead in the past ("The Magic Box" for Buffy) and personally think he is a great guy. 2. I reviewed a playtest copy of this several months ago to "check the math" on the Unisystem rules.  3. I have a project coming up with Battlefield Press.

So what can I say about Eldritch Skies?

Let's go basic. Certainly there is the feel of Aliens here more than say Avatar.  One thing though for certain, this is not Star Trek, Star Wars or anything like that.  Though to be fair, Trek did have a story by Robert Bloch and it was very Lovecraftian in tone.   Also if that is what you want (SW or ST) then the rules will support that. This book is Lovecraft as SciFi (dark SciFi to be sure), but not so much as horror.

Chapter 1 deals with the recent history and the present day, 2030.    The history of the world here is slightly different.  Think of it as if all those Lovecraft stories were true and humanity found a way to start using some of that alien tech/magic to get to the stars.  There is a history and the changes start out subtle till we get to the 90s.  We get to the present day and now we are stepping out into the reaches of space and we find wonders and horrors.

Chapter 2 is Character Creation and Chapter 3 is Game Rules.  The game system is Cinematic Unisystem.  The same system that powers my own Ghosts of Albion and other games like Army of Darkness, Buffy and Angel.  So if you are familiar with those games then you will be familiar how this one works too.
Like other CineUnisystem games there are three "levels" of characters, Civilians, Operatives and Veterans.  Unlike other CineUnisystem this game uses the Secondary Attribute Speed, from Classic Unisystem.
For Qualities and Drawbacks there are all the expected ones, Fast Reaction Time, Nerves of Steel, etc. But there are also a lot of "Ab-Human" abilities, such as Deep One Hybrid and Sorcery (it is not the same as Buffy's) and some augmentations.
The rules are same as other Cine Unisystem games with some additions to support the game, ie lots of gear.

Chapter 4 is Arcane Secrets including the secrets of hyperspace. Not just how to travel, but the biggest issue of the hyperspace madness. This is the keystone of the game.  What separates this from other Unisystem games and it from other Mythos games.

Chapter 5 deals with the Realms of the Mythos.  These are the worlds known to humankind.  This also includes the psychic Dream Realms.  This is a very cool chapter that had to be a lot of fun to write.  Tons of new worlds ready for you to use and have adventures on.

Chapter Six: Eldritch Threats and Wonders: The monsters and creatures of the settings. Includes the mythos creatures, humans and ab-humans.  If you have any passing interest in mythos monsters or expanding your CineUnisystem games with more creatures, then this chapter is worth the price of the book alone.  Yes, you can play it as is. Or use it in your Buffy, Army of Darkness or Ghosts of Albion games.

Chapter Seven is the Director's section on how to run a game.  This includes setting the tone and what to do.

The Appendix has rules for using the Classic Unisystem  and a bunch of tables for your ease.  No character sheet though.

I think one of the troubles about playing games like D&D and even to a degree Call of Cthulhu is we have tended to categorize the mythos creatures as well, Mythos Creatures.  They often times are "Stated up" as gods or some other similar sort of being.  We tend to forget that while humans may have worshiped them in cults most were not in fact gods at all.  Powerful alien beings yes, but not so much gods.  Looking at them again as aliens is a deft move and this change of the point of view makes this book less Buffy-doing-Aliens and more Armageddon/ConspiracyX-doing-Event-Horizon.

What I really, really like about this is it treats the Mythos Creatures as aliens and magic as advanced science.  The Thing is a good example of Lovecraft as SciFi story.
Also this book remembers that Lovecraft's stories were also not all about tentacle monsters and evisceration.  Sure we have the Mi-Go, but this more about the madness that lies between the stars.   Honestly to get a better feel of what you can do here, take the Sam Rockwell movie Moon and assume there are outside alien influences on the whole thing.  We never see the aliens, except for maybe when Sam's character sees a Mi-Go with a brain tube at the very end.

I mentioned the playtest files because I'll admit I was not initially a fan of this game when I first read it.  But I was focusing on the crunch rather than the fluff.  The Unisystem parts were (and are) fine. But since it's release I have grown to like it more for both the crunch and the fluff.

Now that I have come back to it I really like it.  I Am not 100% sure I'll play the game "as-is", I might re-do it a bit and set it in 2130 so I can include some ConX or  Armageddon  background.  Or I might just take Chapters 5 and 6 and use them with my Ghosts of Albion games.
Needless to say this thing screams "Use me with All Tomorrow's Zombies" and it would be right. Using the Classic conversion guide in back makes ATZ a perfect add-on for this game.

If you like SciFi, Lovecraft, the Mythos or Unisystem, or all the above, then this is a great game to get.

New Theme

Decided it was time for a change.  Actually I had decided this months ago.  I finally took some time today during lunch to finish it up.

The old theme was called "os_drgn42" this one is "os_drgn114".  Been wanting to try this one for a while now.
What do you think?

Personally I think it is easier to read and I like the color palate.

Wayne Foundation

Tomorrow is the last day for the Wayne Foundation Charity RPG bundle at DriveThruRPG.

Please check out this worthy cause.

White Dwarf Wednesday #16

We open the 80s with White Dwarf #16 for Dec 1979/Jan 1980.
First up we notice another step up in the cover art.

We have a few pages of ads and the editorial begins on page 7. Ian Livingstone talks about how WD was voted the best games magazine in the recent Game Day Awards.  The questionnaire they did a few months back is reprinted here (later in the magazine) and they want to get feedback.

Lew Pulsipher has 3 pages on monsters from the Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever series for AD&D. I was always one of those people who stopped reading the book after the rape of Lena so I have no idea if these are on target or not.  The monsters though look like they will work and there is quite a bit of them.

Andy Slack gives us more of the Traveller Universe with Social Class and Psionics.  These articles, while neat, are all over the place.  Maybe it is my modern sensibilities or just me in particular, but I would have enjoyed these more if there had been some organization to them.

A table of Boot Hill encounters is next from Dominic Beddow.  This is generic enough to be used in any system  dealing with the Wild West.  I might try this in Ghosts one day, I have had a desire to have an adventure in America.

Dominic continues the Boot Hill love with an 8/10 review in Open Box. Also reviewed are GDW's Imperium (9/10) and Snapshot (8/10).  The biggie is Don Turnbull's review of the AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide.  The book is "Not Applicable" for a review since, by Turnbull's thoughts, this is a book everyone needs. So basically it got WDs first "11/10".

A mini-adventure "The Paths of the Lil" from James Ward is next.  It deals with with some new mutants from the Gamma World game, the Lil, and an area they inhabit to investigate.  It's an interesting little mix of Gamma World and D&D to be honest.  The Lil are fae like creatures.  The adventure could be used with D&D for low level character with no problems, even with kids.

The Fiend Factory is back with only two pages of monsters.  The odd "Tenser Beast" which is a monster of Tenser's Floating Disk.  The Man Scorpion, which is not the same as other creatures I have seen like it. The Ogress, the offspring of a male ogre and a female human with some disguise ability. The Wrecker, a specialized Iron Golem and the Plant Man, which is part plant and part man, natch.

Pictures from Games Day V are posted. Including White Dwarf winning the best Games Magazine.  Letters follow that.
The questionnaire is printed on page 25.  Typicall range, what do you like the best, what do you like the least. Favorite games, would you like to see a comic strip.

After that, more ads.

I certainly feel WD is lacking something at the stage that I saw in earlier editions and what I know I'll see in later ones.  It seems kind of in a rut at the moment.

Talk to me about C&C

My son's group has moved from Pathfinder, to ACKs and now to Castles & Crusades.

I recall playing around with this game a little bit when it first came out.  But now I see there are a bunch of new 4th printing covers that are green.  Are they any different?

I have the Castle Keepers Guide and I have Tainted Lands.  The C&C books that came with that are all that I have.  For the record I was not thrilled with Tainted Lands.  It just never really jelled with me I guess.

So tell me about it.  What appeals to me is the 1st edition feel of it, but still taking advantage of the progress made in 3rd Edition.

This is what I have on my current "wish list", I think this could keep me set.

• Castles & Crusades Players Handbook (4th) (how is this different than what came in my TL box?)
• Castles & Crusades Monsters & Treasure
• Castles & Crusades Classic Monsters The Manual (and how is this different than the one above?)
• Castles & Crusades Of Gods & Monsters

My son really loves it, but I have also suspected for some time that our next game is going to be either AD&D1 or a very modified version of 3.x (more modified that what I have now I guess).

So talk me.  Tell me what you like, what you hate.  If you are from Troll Lord then this is your chance to sell me and my readers on your game!

May DriveThruRPG May Sale

Here are the DriveThruRPG sales for May.
You can purchase any or all of these products for 20% off.
Please use the following code: DriveThruApril (yes, "April")

Savage Worlds Fantasy Companion [Pinnacle Entertainment]
Realms of Cthulhu [Reality Blurs]
Karma Roleplaying System Core [Bards and Sages]
FantasyCraft [Crafty Games]
Fat Dragon's Dragonshire Deluxe [Fat Dragon Games]
Paths of Power (Pathfinder System) [4 Winds Fantasy]
Spycraft: Real American H.E.R.O.es [Crafty Games]
Fellowship of the White Star Campaign Book [Thenodrin Presents]
Ninja Burger RPG (2nd Edition) [aetherial FORGE]
Heavy Gear Blitz! Locked & Loaded [Dream Pod 9]
Hero's Handbook: Dragonborn [Goodman Games]
Splicers RPG [Palladium Books]
Noir Knights (Savage Worlds) [Savage Mojo]

The winner of my contest this month was picked before I even got a chance to announce it.

In honor of my Mystic Locale Halfway, I wanted to pick the follower that is Halfway to Hell, follower #333.
That is Andrea from The Enchanted Writer.  She gets a $10 gift code for DriveThruRPG!

Enjoy!