Going through all my games for the upcoming Games Plus auction.
Made some deep cuts this year. I am enjoying playing all sorts of D&D and still love my horror games, but I have so many games that I could never, ever play them all.
So gone are my Cortex books (kept a few) and True20 ones. Unloaded a few modules and a few older D&D books that I had duplicates of. A few other games.
I might end up regretting it all, but right now I feel it was all the right choices.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Zatannurday: MachSabre Superwomen
Long time readers here might recognize the name or at least his art. David was one of the two Davids of the ShadowGirls fame and I have featured his art here many times. I am doing that again today. Mostly because I like his art and Dave loves Supergirls.
So to celebrate the announcement that David is part of a new comic, Shadow of the Black Banshee, here are some of my favorite pieces, featuring of course Zatanna.
Zatanna by ~MachSabre on deviantART
Raven by ~MachSabre on deviantART
The Scarlet Witch by ~MachSabre on deviantART
Ms. Marvel vs. Power Girl by ~MachSabre on deviantART
Hawkgirl by ~MachSabre on deviantART
Kim Possible 02 by ~MachSabre on deviantART
Last Daughter of Atlantis by ~MachSabre on deviantART
Starfire by ~MachSabre on deviantART
Wonder Woman by ~MachSabre on deviantART
Wonder Spin by ~MachSabre on deviantART
This one of all the Batgirls was my desktop bitmap forever.
Chiropteras by ~MachSabre on deviantART
And of course you have all seen this one,
Commission - Tara and Willow by ~MachSabre on deviantART
But imagine my surprise when I found this one!
Willow and Tara Cuddling by =AstronSoul on deviantART
AstronSoul is just another fan like me that had D Rey make this. I think it is cool.
Friday, September 28, 2012
October is coming...
Ok everyone. October and Halloween is coming.
This like Thanksgiving, Christmas and the Fourth of July all rolled into one here at the Other Side.
There is a lot going on here this next month so here is what is on tap.
First and foremost I am anticipating the release of The Witch and Eldritich Witchery.
Keep an eye open here for more details!
To celebrate the release, I am joining this bloghop.
http://closeencounterswiththenightkind.blogspot.com/2012/07/wicked-after-dark-halloween-giveaway.html
I am joining a bunch of other Halloween themed giveaways (mostly paranormal erotica, but hey) and I am going to give away a PDF copy of "The Witch" to one lucky winner.
I am also participating in a few other bloghops/blogfests you may have heard. ;)
There is Monstrous Monday, which you can post something about your favorite/least favorite monster on October 29th. I am going to be participating every Monday!
This is being cross promoted with the Savage Afterworld's Mutated Mondays.
There are a wide variety of sites that have joined, so please consider it. It should be a blast!
And again this year I am joining Krell Labs in participation in the October Horror Movie Challenge.
The central site for this year seems to be the Facebook site.
Hope I am not biting off more than I can chew.
This like Thanksgiving, Christmas and the Fourth of July all rolled into one here at the Other Side.
There is a lot going on here this next month so here is what is on tap.
First and foremost I am anticipating the release of The Witch and Eldritich Witchery.
Keep an eye open here for more details!
To celebrate the release, I am joining this bloghop.
http://closeencounterswiththenightkind.blogspot.com/2012/07/wicked-after-dark-halloween-giveaway.html
I am joining a bunch of other Halloween themed giveaways (mostly paranormal erotica, but hey) and I am going to give away a PDF copy of "The Witch" to one lucky winner.
I am also participating in a few other bloghops/blogfests you may have heard. ;)
There is Monstrous Monday, which you can post something about your favorite/least favorite monster on October 29th. I am going to be participating every Monday!
This is being cross promoted with the Savage Afterworld's Mutated Mondays.
There are a wide variety of sites that have joined, so please consider it. It should be a blast!
And again this year I am joining Krell Labs in participation in the October Horror Movie Challenge.
The central site for this year seems to be the Facebook site.
Hope I am not biting off more than I can chew.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Busy...
Wow. What a week.
I may or may not be ready for October yet. I need more Mt. Dew I think.
More updates soon.
I may or may not be ready for October yet. I need more Mt. Dew I think.
More updates soon.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
White Dwarf Wednesday #33
Our next monthly White Dwarf is issue #33 which brings us to September 1982, so 30 years ago.
We have another great looking cover that is evocative of some alien landscape. Works for Sci-fi and Fantasy.
The editorial is interesting. First on the perspective of 1982 it is a portent of change of things to come. And it is. Reading it today it is reads almost like an obituary of the Golden Age of Roleplaying games. !982 is the transition year between the Golden Age and the Silver Age. The 70's era of RPGs was over with 1982. 1983 was going to be very different. A tip of the hat then to Ian Livingstone for pointing this out.
The rest of the issue feels this out. You see it in the art and layout, White Dwarf is changing again. The Silver Age is nigh.
Bob McWilliams gives us some more weapons for Traveller. Actually the weapons are a from a number of people.
Open Box reviews Striker from GDW. It's another Traveller tie-in table-top minis game. By this point I had thrown my hands into the air and gave up on Traveller. I would not come back to it for another 25 years almost. This is no fault of the game or GDW mind you. I just felt overwhelmed. I had purchased the The Traveler Book that year but I never got very far with that. Oh, and Andy Slack gave it 6/10.
We also get the A-Series modules from TSR. Jim Bambra gave the lot a 7/10. There is also a review for the Elric boardgame and the first Gimetooth traps, which my then DM bought because of this review. To make things worse he added the traps to the A-series modules and turned it into a death machine. Elric and Traps both get 7/10.
Paul Vernon is back with Part III of the medieval town. This time it is running a town and city. He covers government customs, laws and order. Something a band of "murder hobos" will likely run afoul of. I have seen a lot of people talking about this series now. Most times it is in older blog or board posts, but now I am seeing them. The consensus seems mutual, these are quite good and still work today. Perfect for the time when we all were striving for more realism in a game dominated by elves, magic and dragons.
Steve Cook and Starbase pick up (almost) where McWilliams left off and covers guns for Traveller. Again there is a lot of guns here are that "futuristic" versions of modern day weapons and some SciFi staples.
Rumble at the Tin Inn is a mini scenario/bar-room brawl for Runequest. I remember pulling this one for a brief OD&D session we played back in 87 or so. It was fun then, and it still looks fun now. It's the map that sold me on it.
We have more combined AD&D weapon charts. Something only useful for this version of AD&D. And only if you did the weapon type vs. specific armor class.
RuneRites has a collection of Invisibility and Magic points of view from Jim Sizer and Greg Stafford.
Lew Pulsipher is up next with a article that rocked my world back in the day. Brevet Rank for Low Level Characters. This days I only rarely run into someone with more gaming experience than my self, and when I do it is a case of wonderment and the exchange of stories. But in 82 a year or two difference was HUGE and it meant my characters (typically) were much lower levels than everyone else's. So this idea of Brevet Rank was a watershed moment for me. Now my characters could play with the big boys. I never understood what "brevet rank" meant till I worked for the Navy years later though. I notice that in some online games, Pokemon in particular, my sons' Pokemon would gain or loose levels in much of the same fashion when they battled others online.
Fiend Factory has a group of psionic monsters. All with old-school AD&D1 Psionic Ability attack and defense modes. We loved that stuff back in the day. The Monsters themselves though are somewhat forgettable. The Psitan, the Psi-mule, the Giant Mole and the Grimp. There is also Zytra, lord of the Mind Flayers who is described as being like a demon prince. Interestingly enough this creature was created by Charles Stross. There is enough here to make something of this creature; Demon Prince or not.
Also forgotten are the Monstermark ratings.
Treasure Chest is a mixed bag called "Witch's Brew". It includes a magical Rubik's cube like item, a spell, armor vs. disintegrate and a word search.
We wrap with a few pages of ads.
Again a good issue of a magazine in the middle of change.
The editorial is interesting. First on the perspective of 1982 it is a portent of change of things to come. And it is. Reading it today it is reads almost like an obituary of the Golden Age of Roleplaying games. !982 is the transition year between the Golden Age and the Silver Age. The 70's era of RPGs was over with 1982. 1983 was going to be very different. A tip of the hat then to Ian Livingstone for pointing this out.
The rest of the issue feels this out. You see it in the art and layout, White Dwarf is changing again. The Silver Age is nigh.
Bob McWilliams gives us some more weapons for Traveller. Actually the weapons are a from a number of people.
Open Box reviews Striker from GDW. It's another Traveller tie-in table-top minis game. By this point I had thrown my hands into the air and gave up on Traveller. I would not come back to it for another 25 years almost. This is no fault of the game or GDW mind you. I just felt overwhelmed. I had purchased the The Traveler Book that year but I never got very far with that. Oh, and Andy Slack gave it 6/10.
We also get the A-Series modules from TSR. Jim Bambra gave the lot a 7/10. There is also a review for the Elric boardgame and the first Gimetooth traps, which my then DM bought because of this review. To make things worse he added the traps to the A-series modules and turned it into a death machine. Elric and Traps both get 7/10.
Paul Vernon is back with Part III of the medieval town. This time it is running a town and city. He covers government customs, laws and order. Something a band of "murder hobos" will likely run afoul of. I have seen a lot of people talking about this series now. Most times it is in older blog or board posts, but now I am seeing them. The consensus seems mutual, these are quite good and still work today. Perfect for the time when we all were striving for more realism in a game dominated by elves, magic and dragons.
Steve Cook and Starbase pick up (almost) where McWilliams left off and covers guns for Traveller. Again there is a lot of guns here are that "futuristic" versions of modern day weapons and some SciFi staples.
Rumble at the Tin Inn is a mini scenario/bar-room brawl for Runequest. I remember pulling this one for a brief OD&D session we played back in 87 or so. It was fun then, and it still looks fun now. It's the map that sold me on it.
We have more combined AD&D weapon charts. Something only useful for this version of AD&D. And only if you did the weapon type vs. specific armor class.
RuneRites has a collection of Invisibility and Magic points of view from Jim Sizer and Greg Stafford.
Lew Pulsipher is up next with a article that rocked my world back in the day. Brevet Rank for Low Level Characters. This days I only rarely run into someone with more gaming experience than my self, and when I do it is a case of wonderment and the exchange of stories. But in 82 a year or two difference was HUGE and it meant my characters (typically) were much lower levels than everyone else's. So this idea of Brevet Rank was a watershed moment for me. Now my characters could play with the big boys. I never understood what "brevet rank" meant till I worked for the Navy years later though. I notice that in some online games, Pokemon in particular, my sons' Pokemon would gain or loose levels in much of the same fashion when they battled others online.
Fiend Factory has a group of psionic monsters. All with old-school AD&D1 Psionic Ability attack and defense modes. We loved that stuff back in the day. The Monsters themselves though are somewhat forgettable. The Psitan, the Psi-mule, the Giant Mole and the Grimp. There is also Zytra, lord of the Mind Flayers who is described as being like a demon prince. Interestingly enough this creature was created by Charles Stross. There is enough here to make something of this creature; Demon Prince or not.
Also forgotten are the Monstermark ratings.
Treasure Chest is a mixed bag called "Witch's Brew". It includes a magical Rubik's cube like item, a spell, armor vs. disintegrate and a word search.
We wrap with a few pages of ads.
Again a good issue of a magazine in the middle of change.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Super Sale at DriveThruRPG
DriveThru RPG is featuring it's best Super Hero RPGS. They also are highlighting bits from the reviewers for your enlightenment and yours truly is featured!
No surprise really, I have reviewed all these games at one point.
Here they are.
Marvel Heroic Roleplaying
What I said: "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."
Icons
What I said: "Icons comes with a pretty good pedigree. First it is written by Steven Kenson, who gave us Mutants and Masterminds and also worked on Silver Age Sentinels. Steve obviously knows his supers. It has Gareth-Michael Skarka of Adamant Entertainment and one of the minds behind "Hong Kong Action Theater". Walt Ciechanowski has a ton of game systems under his belt too including M&M, True20 and Victoriana (1st ed). And Morgan Davie, whom I'll admit I am not as familiar with. But he is one of the guys that wrote Icons, so that makes him good in my book.
...if I needed to run a supers game on a rainy afternoon or a convention or just something to have some fun with, then Icons is a great choice."
DC Adventures (oddly, not on sale)
What I said: "When you take the world'ss best superhero game and combine the world's super heroes you get a combination of pure awesome that looks exactly like DC Adventures from Green Ronin. Based on the next version of Mutants & Masterminds DCA is not only a great game for Supers play, it is also a great introduction to Supers RPGs for the DC comic fan. All the iconic characters are included, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and more. Plenty of powers, traits, feats and skills to make any character you would want. It improves on the Mutants & Masterminds 2.0 design with some elements of True 20 and some nods to some designs of supers RPGs of the past. Plus the art is fantastic."
Capes, Cowls and Villains Foul
What I said: "Capes, Cowls and Villains Foul (CCaVF) is the eagerly anticipated supers/comic book emulation game from Spectrum Games. The same folks that gave Cartoon Action Hour. I want to start off by saying that this is an attractive book. At 164 pages of full of color it feels like a comic. Since that is what the author aims to emulate I would say it so far is a success.
All in all I am quite pleased with this game. I agree with the author in that I love Supers games, but it is hard to find that perfect game for your group. There have been some great choices that have come out in the last few years, but none are 100% perfect. CCaVF may not 100% perfect either, but it is really damn nice and has a lot of great things going for it."
Mutants & Masterminds Hero's Handbook
What I said: "M&M 3rd Edition first off looks a lot like the DC Adventures RPG also from Green Ronin out earlier this year. What are the big changes from 2nd Edition? Well GR is moving more and more away from the d20 3.0 standards and more into True20 land. That is the Abilities (and there are now 8 of them) are the pluses. So instead of Strength 18 (+4) like you see in other d20 games, M&M3 just uses Strength 4. Easy enough and a logical extension of their line of thought with True20."
Read more here, here, here and here.
BASH (Original and Ultimate)
What I said: "BASH! is a fantastic little game of Super Heroes. Instead of a huge book of powers or effects, BASH instead focuses on "What do you want to do?" and "What kind of hero are you?", Simple, but powerful questions. The game achieves the near miraculous feat of being simple to use and learn and yet powerful enough to keep you interested and coming back to the game."
Read more here and here.
BESM d20
What I said: "Is BESM d20 Anime? Well I guess I have to ask, what is Anime? BESM d20 is a good d20 version of BESM. I am not convinced though it taps into that collective known as "Anime" as well as BESM 2 or 3 does. I have played more BESM d20 than BESM 3 so to me it came off more like "Cartoon Cinematic d20". Which is in itself not so bad. I have mixed BESM d20 and D&D3 and gotten something a bit more cinematic. I have also mixed BESM d20 with d20 Star Wars for some really weird stuff, but all of it fun."
BESM 3rd Edition
What I said: "The book is very attractive and one of the most colorful RPGs I have seen in a long time. It reminds me of Mutants and Masterminds in terms of color. It is a thick tome, and now sized to fit well on my shelf. The Niko Geyer artwork is great and really captures the feel of the game well. On the other hand I have seen all this artwork before, maybe not in color, but certainly in other editions of this book. Now I understand that money was very tight at GoO and the art is great, so I am willing to cut them some slack here."
Read more here and here.
BESM Revised 2nd Edition
What I said: "All in all. BESM 2r is still the standard in which all other Anime games must be measured against. Despite (or maybe even because of) it's flaws the game has style and character that no other game (even BESM d20 and BESM 3) have been able to duplicate."
Read more here.
Enjoy!
No surprise really, I have reviewed all these games at one point.
Here they are.
Marvel Heroic Roleplaying
What I said: "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."
Icons
What I said: "Icons comes with a pretty good pedigree. First it is written by Steven Kenson, who gave us Mutants and Masterminds and also worked on Silver Age Sentinels. Steve obviously knows his supers. It has Gareth-Michael Skarka of Adamant Entertainment and one of the minds behind "Hong Kong Action Theater". Walt Ciechanowski has a ton of game systems under his belt too including M&M, True20 and Victoriana (1st ed). And Morgan Davie, whom I'll admit I am not as familiar with. But he is one of the guys that wrote Icons, so that makes him good in my book.
...if I needed to run a supers game on a rainy afternoon or a convention or just something to have some fun with, then Icons is a great choice."
DC Adventures (oddly, not on sale)
What I said: "When you take the world'ss best superhero game and combine the world's super heroes you get a combination of pure awesome that looks exactly like DC Adventures from Green Ronin. Based on the next version of Mutants & Masterminds DCA is not only a great game for Supers play, it is also a great introduction to Supers RPGs for the DC comic fan. All the iconic characters are included, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and more. Plenty of powers, traits, feats and skills to make any character you would want. It improves on the Mutants & Masterminds 2.0 design with some elements of True 20 and some nods to some designs of supers RPGs of the past. Plus the art is fantastic."
Capes, Cowls and Villains Foul
What I said: "Capes, Cowls and Villains Foul (CCaVF) is the eagerly anticipated supers/comic book emulation game from Spectrum Games. The same folks that gave Cartoon Action Hour. I want to start off by saying that this is an attractive book. At 164 pages of full of color it feels like a comic. Since that is what the author aims to emulate I would say it so far is a success.
All in all I am quite pleased with this game. I agree with the author in that I love Supers games, but it is hard to find that perfect game for your group. There have been some great choices that have come out in the last few years, but none are 100% perfect. CCaVF may not 100% perfect either, but it is really damn nice and has a lot of great things going for it."
Mutants & Masterminds Hero's Handbook
What I said: "M&M 3rd Edition first off looks a lot like the DC Adventures RPG also from Green Ronin out earlier this year. What are the big changes from 2nd Edition? Well GR is moving more and more away from the d20 3.0 standards and more into True20 land. That is the Abilities (and there are now 8 of them) are the pluses. So instead of Strength 18 (+4) like you see in other d20 games, M&M3 just uses Strength 4. Easy enough and a logical extension of their line of thought with True20."
Read more here, here, here and here.
BASH (Original and Ultimate)
What I said: "BASH! is a fantastic little game of Super Heroes. Instead of a huge book of powers or effects, BASH instead focuses on "What do you want to do?" and "What kind of hero are you?", Simple, but powerful questions. The game achieves the near miraculous feat of being simple to use and learn and yet powerful enough to keep you interested and coming back to the game."
Read more here and here.
BESM d20
What I said: "Is BESM d20 Anime? Well I guess I have to ask, what is Anime? BESM d20 is a good d20 version of BESM. I am not convinced though it taps into that collective known as "Anime" as well as BESM 2 or 3 does. I have played more BESM d20 than BESM 3 so to me it came off more like "Cartoon Cinematic d20". Which is in itself not so bad. I have mixed BESM d20 and D&D3 and gotten something a bit more cinematic. I have also mixed BESM d20 with d20 Star Wars for some really weird stuff, but all of it fun."
BESM 3rd Edition
What I said: "The book is very attractive and one of the most colorful RPGs I have seen in a long time. It reminds me of Mutants and Masterminds in terms of color. It is a thick tome, and now sized to fit well on my shelf. The Niko Geyer artwork is great and really captures the feel of the game well. On the other hand I have seen all this artwork before, maybe not in color, but certainly in other editions of this book. Now I understand that money was very tight at GoO and the art is great, so I am willing to cut them some slack here."
Read more here and here.
BESM Revised 2nd Edition
What I said: "All in all. BESM 2r is still the standard in which all other Anime games must be measured against. Despite (or maybe even because of) it's flaws the game has style and character that no other game (even BESM d20 and BESM 3) have been able to duplicate."
Read more here.
Enjoy!
I Don't Like Mondays
But this October I'll make an exception!
While I will be doing a Monster every Monday in October culminating in MONSTROUS MONDAY on Oct 29th. The Savage Afterworld will be doing MUTATED MONDAYS!
http://www.savageafterworld.com/2012/09/monstrous-andor-mutated-mondays.html
This is a good thing too. I am going to be posting a lot of monsters that either are in The Witch or are compatible. So lots of "Basic Era" game goodness.
You still have time to participate and since I am getting a few people now outside the RPG community this is a great chance to show of your game, game supplement, or what ever makes you happy about RPGs. As long as it has a monster in it!
So sign up today!
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/p/bloghop.html
While I will be doing a Monster every Monday in October culminating in MONSTROUS MONDAY on Oct 29th. The Savage Afterworld will be doing MUTATED MONDAYS!
http://www.savageafterworld.com/2012/09/monstrous-andor-mutated-mondays.html
This is a good thing too. I am going to be posting a lot of monsters that either are in The Witch or are compatible. So lots of "Basic Era" game goodness.
You still have time to participate and since I am getting a few people now outside the RPG community this is a great chance to show of your game, game supplement, or what ever makes you happy about RPGs. As long as it has a monster in it!
So sign up today!
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/p/bloghop.html
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