Hey. It's been a crazy couple of weeks with home, work and stuff. I have been neglecting you, my blog audience and that is not fair.
But don't expect it change yet today. ;)
I am though posting some half baked posts I have started over the last two weeks into one big random update. Might not be the best post ever, but it lets you know I am still here.
• First up my friend Elizabeth J. Kolodziej has a kickstarter up for her new book. She is the author of the "The Last Witch" series and I reviewed the first book here a year ago today. Kickstarter seems to be the way to go these days for starting authors.
http://www.facebook.com/events/200302106741659/
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1960643778/help-publish-the-last-witch-series
• Need a demon? Demonicpedia then is the internet's version of the Demoniomicon of Iggwilv.
http://www.demonicpedia.com/
It is still a little new and not very full yet, but like all -pedias out there based on the media wiki software this one can be edited by you. My readers here are diverse, but horror is something most of you have in common. So I see you all as being more contributor types than just passive readers.
• A couple years back I got a book of Sherlock Holmes stories from my friend Greg Littlejohn. I am finally getting around to reading it and I am enjoying the hell of it. Watch out Ghosts of Albion players my mind is boiling over with ideas!
• Thanks to the recent GMs day sale at DriveThruRPG I bought a bunch of stock art for my upcoming books. Now I just need to make enough money off of these to cover all the costs!
• Speaking of Kickstarters and ongoing works in progress. The Player's Companion to Adventure Conqueror King is underway. I can confirm now I did a little bit of work on the Witch class. The author of the class also drew on my 3.0 witch as inspiration. The ACKS Witch is very different from either my withes in "The Witch" or from "Eldritch Witchery" but all three are largely compatible. Once all three are out expect a post.
More soon!
Friday, March 9, 2012
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Designers & Dragons
I have been wanting to pick up Designers & Dragons now for sometime. With the final hours of the GM's Day Sale going on, I figured that today was that day.
This book is everything you need to know about the history of RPGs. Shannon Appelcline, of RPG.Net fame
This is massive (440+ pages), well researched tome is perfect for reading straight through, picking up a year or company at random or even looking things up.
The style is easy to read and it's almost informal in tone. One can easily picture Appelcline sitting down ans saying "let me tell you a story, you see it all started 1974..." Like a storyteller the story takes turns and twists and doesn't follow a chronology, but that is fine since it does follow a narrative.
They layout is clean and simple. The story is the key here, and there are plenty of color photos of the games being talked about, though not all games have photos.
While there is a lot of information there is a lot of material to cover too. So sometimes some topics get a little shorted, but I can't blame the author for this to be honest. There is just so much to cover. That been said there is a lot that is in this book. I consider myself very knowledgeable about RPGs and I was nodding along with the text going "yes I remember that" but I still found myself going "wow, I didn't know that!" quite often.
In a nice feature each chapter/part ends in a "What to Read Next" that can lead you in many different directions. Like coming to a crossroads in a dungeon do you go right, left or straight ahead. The choice is yours.
This book is so full of information that it will take me weeks to digest it all and I am sure I'll be coming back to it often.
This book is the most comprehensive history of RPGs and the companies that produce them to date. I was even happy to see my own name in these pages (even if is spelled "Brannon" and not "Brannan").
One thing I am looking forward to doing is use this as another source to help out the Wikipedia articles on RPGs. For the longest time the RPG articles on Wikipedia were the target of an editor on a crusade. I am not sure what his motivation was, but it was obvious he had no clue what he was talking about. In any case it did lead to the improvement of many articles.
You can also see what Kurt Wiegel has to say about it at Game Geeks.
This is massive (440+ pages), well researched tome is perfect for reading straight through, picking up a year or company at random or even looking things up.
The style is easy to read and it's almost informal in tone. One can easily picture Appelcline sitting down ans saying "let me tell you a story, you see it all started 1974..." Like a storyteller the story takes turns and twists and doesn't follow a chronology, but that is fine since it does follow a narrative.
They layout is clean and simple. The story is the key here, and there are plenty of color photos of the games being talked about, though not all games have photos.
While there is a lot of information there is a lot of material to cover too. So sometimes some topics get a little shorted, but I can't blame the author for this to be honest. There is just so much to cover. That been said there is a lot that is in this book. I consider myself very knowledgeable about RPGs and I was nodding along with the text going "yes I remember that" but I still found myself going "wow, I didn't know that!" quite often.
In a nice feature each chapter/part ends in a "What to Read Next" that can lead you in many different directions. Like coming to a crossroads in a dungeon do you go right, left or straight ahead. The choice is yours.
This book is so full of information that it will take me weeks to digest it all and I am sure I'll be coming back to it often.
This book is the most comprehensive history of RPGs and the companies that produce them to date. I was even happy to see my own name in these pages (even if is spelled "Brannon" and not "Brannan").
One thing I am looking forward to doing is use this as another source to help out the Wikipedia articles on RPGs. For the longest time the RPG articles on Wikipedia were the target of an editor on a crusade. I am not sure what his motivation was, but it was obvious he had no clue what he was talking about. In any case it did lead to the improvement of many articles.
You can also see what Kurt Wiegel has to say about it at Game Geeks.
White Dwarf Wednesday...oops!
Sorry folks!!
I just realized that today is Wednesday and I forgot to post my White Dwarf Wednesday post.
I'll do a special run of it tomorrow.
I just realized that today is Wednesday and I forgot to post my White Dwarf Wednesday post.
I'll do a special run of it tomorrow.
Ghosts of Albion: Batman
This made it's rounds last week, but I am just getting caught up.
Clips from a proposed Gotham by Gaslight video game.
Might make for some good Ghosts of Albion fodder.
Clips from a proposed Gotham by Gaslight video game.
Might make for some good Ghosts of Albion fodder.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Tale of Two Games
It has been a busy week.
So busy that I have not had the chance to game (and next weekend is not looking good for that either). I had a lot of things planned to talk about, to do. Just none of those happened.
But one thing I do want to talk about, two games I just picked up. And really they could not be more different.
Adventurer Conqueror King System and Marvel Heroic Roleplaying
Let me talk about why they are similar first.
Both are highly praised games that have been well received by players and designers.
Both owe something of their popular due to the legacy of games produced by TSR in the 80s.
Both, now during the GMs sale, are under $10. So for a Hamilton, you can get a new game.
I was eagerly waiting for both. Was slightly disappointed when I finally got them (expected more from one,
But there the similarities end.
Designwise, Adventurer Conqueror King System (ACKS) has defined beginning, middle and end. Marvel Heroic Roleplaying (MHR) is open ended. In deed things on character sheet (Milestone) change as the game goes on. In the case of milestones, something that gave you experience last year, might not this year.
Greg, my friend and GM for myself and one of the games my kids play in described MHR as the "Antithesis" of the OSR, whereas ACKS is a synthesis of all the OSR embraces.
Character design in ACKS is straight-forward, roll your dice assign (in order) your scores. Then see what you are going to be? Rolled high in Strength? Congrats you are a fighter! But don't worry about much else, in fact roll up four more characters, you might need them.
Character design in MHR starts with a concept, and a fairly well articulated concept at that. Who is your hero, what does he do? How does he work in teams or with a partner? What are his goals, his issues? Once you have that THEN you assign values to them, but in truth these values can be about anything. It doesn't matter to MHR that the Hulk and Thor are both strong, we don't even need numbers for that. If the hulk wants to pick up a tank and hit you with it, he does. What matters instead is what motivates the Hulk to do that. How does he perform in a group. What are the things that are important to his story.
Character design then are two very different things in both games. Given that overlap one could stat up the Howard version of Conan (from the books) and the Marvel Comics version of Conan, but come at it from completely different mindsets. In ACKS we would be interested in his level (depending on when we read the tale), his strength and prowess with a blade. When the Player's Companion comes out we might even be better able to mimic him. In MHR we are interested in his ability to work in a team, partnership or solo. We would also be interested in who his enemies are, what his goals are. How close is he to regaining his throne? His loves?
On a personal note. It took Greg and I a couple of hours to detail Justice and Zatanna in MHR. Earlier in the day he, my son and 4 other 12 year olds rolled up 5 characters each for ACKS.
ACKS is a D&D clone that attempts to mimic the great stories of the pulp age. Conan rose to power from humble beginnings. As did John Carter and the Grey Mouser.
MHR is social game that attempts to mimic comic books, not supers games. Comic book writers don't keep track of such things as how much can the Hulk or Spidey can bench press, only that they are as strong as they need to be for a particular scene. MHR is the same way. Can Spidey lift 1 Ton? No idea, can he lift enough to save Mary Jane? That is a more important question.
ACKS will run like any number of D&D games, but maybe a little grittier, a little more deadly.
MHR will run like any number of supers games, but while you might not ever die in this game, you can loose everything important to you. Which is sometimes worse.
I guess there is one other area where the games are the same.
Both are great fun.
It took me a bit to see the value of each game.
After all I have tons of D&D clones and Supers games. In the end it is not about what these games do that is the same as their "cousins", but rather what they do that is different.
ACKS is about the Short Game, or rather the game that is like a story with a beginning, middle and end.
MHR is about your hero and their story, their struggles and stress. What makes them get up and keep fighting. To me it is no wonder that the unofficial mascot of MHR is Captain America. In fact I think I "get " Cap a little bit better now thanks to this game.
I normally would put a "Which Game Should I Buy" section here, but I won't. I think you know already which one is right for you. I say that you take the time to look at the other game too.
Please expect more detail on each game in the next week.
So busy that I have not had the chance to game (and next weekend is not looking good for that either). I had a lot of things planned to talk about, to do. Just none of those happened.
But one thing I do want to talk about, two games I just picked up. And really they could not be more different.
Adventurer Conqueror King System and Marvel Heroic Roleplaying
Let me talk about why they are similar first.
Both are highly praised games that have been well received by players and designers.
Both owe something of their popular due to the legacy of games produced by TSR in the 80s.
Both, now during the GMs sale, are under $10. So for a Hamilton, you can get a new game.
I was eagerly waiting for both. Was slightly disappointed when I finally got them (expected more from one,
But there the similarities end.
Designwise, Adventurer Conqueror King System (ACKS) has defined beginning, middle and end. Marvel Heroic Roleplaying (MHR) is open ended. In deed things on character sheet (Milestone) change as the game goes on. In the case of milestones, something that gave you experience last year, might not this year.
Greg, my friend and GM for myself and one of the games my kids play in described MHR as the "Antithesis" of the OSR, whereas ACKS is a synthesis of all the OSR embraces.
Character design in ACKS is straight-forward, roll your dice assign (in order) your scores. Then see what you are going to be? Rolled high in Strength? Congrats you are a fighter! But don't worry about much else, in fact roll up four more characters, you might need them.
Character design in MHR starts with a concept, and a fairly well articulated concept at that. Who is your hero, what does he do? How does he work in teams or with a partner? What are his goals, his issues? Once you have that THEN you assign values to them, but in truth these values can be about anything. It doesn't matter to MHR that the Hulk and Thor are both strong, we don't even need numbers for that. If the hulk wants to pick up a tank and hit you with it, he does. What matters instead is what motivates the Hulk to do that. How does he perform in a group. What are the things that are important to his story.
Character design then are two very different things in both games. Given that overlap one could stat up the Howard version of Conan (from the books) and the Marvel Comics version of Conan, but come at it from completely different mindsets. In ACKS we would be interested in his level (depending on when we read the tale), his strength and prowess with a blade. When the Player's Companion comes out we might even be better able to mimic him. In MHR we are interested in his ability to work in a team, partnership or solo. We would also be interested in who his enemies are, what his goals are. How close is he to regaining his throne? His loves?
On a personal note. It took Greg and I a couple of hours to detail Justice and Zatanna in MHR. Earlier in the day he, my son and 4 other 12 year olds rolled up 5 characters each for ACKS.
ACKS is a D&D clone that attempts to mimic the great stories of the pulp age. Conan rose to power from humble beginnings. As did John Carter and the Grey Mouser.
MHR is social game that attempts to mimic comic books, not supers games. Comic book writers don't keep track of such things as how much can the Hulk or Spidey can bench press, only that they are as strong as they need to be for a particular scene. MHR is the same way. Can Spidey lift 1 Ton? No idea, can he lift enough to save Mary Jane? That is a more important question.
ACKS will run like any number of D&D games, but maybe a little grittier, a little more deadly.
MHR will run like any number of supers games, but while you might not ever die in this game, you can loose everything important to you. Which is sometimes worse.
I guess there is one other area where the games are the same.
Both are great fun.
It took me a bit to see the value of each game.
After all I have tons of D&D clones and Supers games. In the end it is not about what these games do that is the same as their "cousins", but rather what they do that is different.
ACKS is about the Short Game, or rather the game that is like a story with a beginning, middle and end.
MHR is about your hero and their story, their struggles and stress. What makes them get up and keep fighting. To me it is no wonder that the unofficial mascot of MHR is Captain America. In fact I think I "get " Cap a little bit better now thanks to this game.
I normally would put a "Which Game Should I Buy" section here, but I won't. I think you know already which one is right for you. I say that you take the time to look at the other game too.
Please expect more detail on each game in the next week.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Delay
Don't you hate it when you get everything ready to game and the DM says you can't play today because of other issues (family, work...)
What makes this worse is I am the DM.
Crazy hectic week and I had hoped that the 12+ hour days I had been pulling this week would have given me some time to play today. No such luck.
What makes this worse is I am the DM.
Crazy hectic week and I had hoped that the 12+ hour days I had been pulling this week would have given me some time to play today. No such luck.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Zatannurday: More Deviant Art
Zatanna 2 by ~Pencilbags on deviantART
Simsalabim colour by ~Penelope77 on deviantART
Zatanna says Hi by =powerbook125 on deviantART
Zatanna colour by *Penelope77 on deviantART
zatana rabbit by ~undergrace777 on deviantART
Zatanna + Vampi by *theartofshade on deviantART
DC Girls Commission by *rafaelalbuquerqueart on deviantART
Zatanna - Only $1 Bonus by ~tanoshiboy on deviantART
Zatanna-Portrait by ~Meejay7 on deviantART
Zantana by ~CWARDART on deviantART
zatanna by ~xryss on deviantART
Zatanna SOTD by *logicfun on deviantART
ZATANNA by ~CHUBETO on deviantART
The Magician 2 by ~StickyMon on deviantART
Zatanna by ~OcelotXIII on deviantART
Zee by ~bangali on deviantART
Zatanna by ~amatuerpornstar69 on deviantART
Waiting for magic by *KeyD on deviantART
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