White Dwarf Wednesday #10

I little late, but still Wednesday!

Issue 10 starts us off with some fantastic cover art.  Maybe the best we have seen so far.  It unites the two themes of Sci-fi and Fantasy well.

The editorial is a mix bunch, attendance at Game Day and the release of the new AD&D Player's Handbook and the late release date of the new "AD&D Referee's Guide".  Doesn't really have the same ring to it as DMG does it.
Plus the shipping costs of WD overseas is going up due to the fall of the Dollar.  Must have been the Carter Era.

We have some new magic items for Tekumel.
Nine new monsters for Fiend Facotry, of which only one graduated to the Fiend Folio.  The others though are worth looking at.  In particular a couple of interesting skeletons and a couple of cats.

Some traps sent in by readers.  I have never been over enamored with traps. They have their place, but I never fetishized them like other players/game masters.

As promised we have a collection of letters on realism in the game.  These are the same arguments that we have today, so I guess we will always have them.

Next up is a combat simulation/duel game called "Light Sword".  Which were light sabers with the serial numbers filled off.  It looks interesting enough and could be used with any sort of melee combat.  The thing I thought was odd was the art.  The first is a man's face with a nondescript sword next to it, the next one is a topless woman in a loin-cloth with two "light daggers".  The artist took the time to make sure her breasts were properly shaded, but her hair is just an outline.  Not sure what was the though process on this one.

Open Box this issues gives us the boxed set of Gamma World (9/10) and the AD&D Player's Handbook (10/10).  Worth the read just get that feeling again when everything was new.

More on the Experienced Traveller by Mike Ferguson. Chapter 3 of the Valley of the four Winds follows.
We end the issue with 7 pages of ads.  The most so far.

Not a stellar issue, but a solid one.  The Fiend Factory continues to give me entertainment and I am thinking a Fiend Folio 2 of updated monsters that didn't make the cut would be a fantastic fan-book.

My Month with Marvel

I have now had Marvel Heroic Roleplaying now for about a month.  I have read it. Re-read it. Watched games, read reviews and even detailed some characters.  Here are my thoughts.

First, I have to be honest, I am still and probably always be a DC fan foremost.  I "dabbled" in Marvel back in the 80's like others.  I enjoyed the X-Men, loved Spider-Man, enjoyed Doctor Strange and Ghost Rider...and that was about it.  I didn't have any dislike for Marvel, I just like DC better.
I enjoyed the old TSR Marvel game, but I also liked DC Heroes from Mayfair and Villains and Vigilantes.

Secondly, MHR is about as far away from the OSR as you can possibly get and still use the same set of dice.

Ok. So there are a lot of reviews out for this now, and there is really nothing new I can add to all of that.  Here is though less of a review and more of a bunch of my opinions and insights on the game.

The most notable feature of this game is there is nothing in the way of comparing ability to ability really.  Yes there are things like "combat expert" and there levels of that, but nothing along the lines of Strength vs. Strength  So there is no way to tell really who would win in an arm wrestling Thor or Thing.  But the deal is that this not something that is likely to happen UNLESS it was part of the plot, then the winner is decided by other things.

MHR is more of a game where the players are providing the framework.  You need to create your character with the other characters and players in mind.  Maybe not as much as Smallville or Leverage, but still.  It is also a game where the main drama is about heroes, not really supers.  It really is a "comic book" RPG, not a cartoon, supers or even super hero movie RPG. This game is about building characters, the relationships between them and the drama. Which, if you think about it, is kinda what Marvel Comics is about.

The game moves well from what I have seen in play and after working with your character you get the hang of the game quickly.

The book itself is great to look at, but I was expecting more to be honest.  Compare to Green Ronin's DC book.  The DCA is overflowing with art.  Everywhere.  MHR has art, but it seems to use it more sparingly.  Plus I swear it was the same characters over and over. I could easily name dozens of character I didn't see, but that is not the point, I would have liked some others.
I would have liked to Dr. Strange or some other magical/mystical types since that is my favorite part of any game and Marvel in particular. Strange at least is important enough that he should be included in the Basic rules.

Will I play this game?
That is really the only question right? Yes, I love to try it out with the right group. To me the right group would be people who are willing to invest in their characters and be able to "play the drama".  So yes, with the right group of people.

Still I might want to dual stat characters with MHR and some other traditional supers game, maybe even DCA/M&M3.

I'll be posting some characters here soon.

On the Road

On the road at the moment. Will post later today if I can.

Zatannurday: Fred Hembeck

Today I have a special treat. Not only something original, but something inspired by Zatannurday!

Look at what I got!

It's a Fred Hembeck original!

I got this as a gift from George Vasliakos, the editor and Zombie Lord at Eden Studios.  He got this for me because he knows I am a big Zatanna fan and this weekly feature!

That is really awesome!

So thanks George and thanks Fred!

Vastra and Jenny

Been thinking some more about Vastra and Jenny.

I did some posts back when "A Good Man Goes to War" first aired.
Introduction and Ghosts of Albion stats.
Doctor Who RPG stats

I have found some very cool links recently that expand their story more.
Vastra and Jenny

I have a Ghosts of Albion game coming up and I'd love to work them in somehow.  Just not sure how to do that yet.  Especially since the idea I have in mind is already dangerously close to "The Hungry Earth" except I am basing it of of a real riot that happened in London in 1846.

Walking to Mordor

Go to Google Maps.

For your starting point enter "The Shire", for your destination enter "Mordor".
Change to Walking and get directions.

It works for Rivendell too.

Blog Roll Fixed

The simple solution was to split up my blog rolls.
You will now see I have an RPG one and an Everything Else one that has all the writing, horror, comic and other stuff I read.

My RPG one though is now just as full as it was before, so even if it is an RPG site chances are I'll have to add you to the other blog roll.