How I learned to stop worrying...

and like the Realms.
(I don't quite love them yet)

I have always been a Greyhawk fan. Some of my very first games were looking for ancient Suel mysteries or exploring the dirty streets of the Free City of Greyhawk.   While I ran my adventures in the Known World of Mystara, I played in Oerth and Greyhawk.

For years I even combined the two into one world, and that worked out pretty well.

I remember reading about the Realms in Dragon Mag and I was never impressed.  The increased fetishization of the Drow and Drizzt worship turned me off as well. I can't tell you how much I despised "Lloth", it's LOLTH goddamn it. Any way. I saw the Realms as an upstart to Greyhawk and not even a good one to be honest.   This oddly enough was right around the same time I played my first game of OD&D set in Greyhawk.  To me Realms fans were snotty little kids with delusions of adequacy.

My opinions have softened since then.

This weekend before last I was at the Games Plus game auction.  I was able to pick up the Forgotten Realms books for 1st and 2nd Ed. AD&D.  I picked up the 3rd ed stuff a while back and had the 4e stuff from Half-Price books.  All in all I was able to get all these books for under 50 bucks total.

The 1st Ed box is in fantastic shape, minus some shelf wear.  The 3 and 4e books are in mint condition.

I have been using the Realms for the 4e game I am running and I have been enjoying it.
Sure, I am still using elements from the Points of Light campaign that 4e is built around, but all of it is in the new version of the Realms.  There are lot of things that came together nicely for this for me really.  In the 4e game I am running the kids are going to go after Orcus.  Much the same way as the old H1-4 Bloodstone series a while back.  That was set in the Realms, so it is kind of fitting really. Plus it would help me flesh out some of the 4e Orcus arc (HPE series).  Not sure how I'll fit Hell into it all, but I might not have to worry about it.

I love the gonzo feeling of two worlds mystically crashing into each other.  I like that the place has some history to it.  Plus I really liked the 3e Realms book. This might irritate some long time Realms fans, but I think the Realms fits better with 3e and 4e.  Greyhawk is better for 1st ed and the like.  At least in my mind.

So maybe it's my age or something, but I feel I can finally sit back and appreciate what the Realms really are and not what I think or thought they were.  I have the main books/sets (for the most part) for all four editions of the game.  Honestly I think that is enough. People have done far more with less.

Here are my other thoughts in my introduction and use of the Realms.
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2010/12/could-my-answer-be-in-realms.html
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2010/03/drow-should-be-lawful-evil-among-other.html
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2012/06/new-game-new-world.html
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2012/07/gods-of-new-game.html
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2010/01/church-of-lolth-ascendant.html
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2012/07/nothing-like-sun.html

October Challenge: Twins of Evil (1971)

Twins of Evil (1971)

My love for Hammer films is well known and well documented.  I am also a huge fan of the Carmilla story.  So it really seems like a no-brainier that I had already seen all the movies in the Karnstien Trilogy. Except that I haven't.

This movie works a little a prequel to The Vampire Lovers. This time we have a Count Karnstein.  I like the story itself is not a bad one.  Afterall the Karnsteins were supposed to be a family of evil, this current Count helps fill in some of those gaps.  We get a guest appearance from Mircalla who turns our count into a monster.  There are other call backs to the first movie in how the vampires can still move about during the day, but their shrouds they need in death are now gone.

Let's be honest here.  There was really only one (er..two) reasons why this movie was made.  Mary and Madeleine Collinson.  The former Playmates, and the first twins to appear in Playboy, where here not for their acting ability (they were over dubbed in fact) but for their ability to appear in the movie nude. Mind you this is usually a good enough reason for me, but I did want some more.

Peter Cushing is back, but not as the same or related character, but as a witch-hunting zealot and uncle of the twins.  In fact he plays a rather unlikable character.  In truth his character kills more people than the Count does either before or after his vampiric transformation.

The plot seemed a bit confused and it isn't due to my lack of sleep here.  I think some bits were cut out of the version I saw on TV via some channel/cable service called Impact.   Pity really.  I had great hopes for this one.
This one put my wife into a deep sleep and she is just about ready to ban me from watching anymore Hammer films.  I did point out that the Woman in Black was also Hammer.

Tally: Watched 17, New 13

What are you watching?

October Challenge: I am Legend

I am Legend

One of the things that I love doing (but irritates my wife) is watching multiple versions of the same movie.  This year I choose the various incarnations of Richard Matheson's "I am Legend".  I had read the book years ago back in grad school and I recalled seeing "The Omega Man" (which I ad always thought the Police song was based on).  Well the new I Am Legend was on so I figured what the heck.

The Last Man on Earth (1964)
Vincent Price stars as the Robert Neville character, Robert Morgan.  The interesting thing about this movie is that Matheson worked on the script, but decided that he didn't like it.   The vampires in this version are more of the classical, "Hammer" vampires.  Affected by mirrors, sunlight and garlic.  This premise though is the same as in the book.  Neville/Morgan spending his day killing vampires.  As far as the movie adaptions go, this one is the closest to the book, though there are still some differences.  The name it the first obvious one.  Plus while the vampires are closer to the book, they are more like zombies here in the movie. They are fast and more vampire like in the book.  The feel of the movie is closer to the book as well.
Vincent Price of course is always a joy to see in the movies and frankly it would not be Halloween without him.
This movie was also an influence on George Romero for his zombie movie Night of the Living Dead.

The Omega Man (1971)
I remember seeing this one years ago.  At the time I thought it was a little stupid and slow.  It took a lot a liberties with the book and the vampires now were suddenly a thinly disguised racial tension metaphor.
Rewatching it now a lot fo that still holds true, but it is also a fun horror/action movie.
So what was going on in the 70s? Cause there is a lot of fear in this movie.  Not horror movie fear, but fear of the world written into the movie.  Chemical waefare, race riots, all sorts of things to scare you.
Now I like Heston in this, even if his Robert Neville is getting further away from the book.
The movie has a similar ending to the book, but not really the same impact.
This movie is notable for one of the first interracial kisses between Charleston Heston and Rosalind Cash.

I Am Legend (2007)
Will Smith is now Dr. Robert Neville in this version that tries to use more science.  In this case the vampires are altered humans from a genetically re-engineered measles virus.  In this movie Neville is the last man here, but maybe not the last man anywhere
It is a passable version.  Will Smith is fun actor and he is good in this role.  The movie though in the translation seems to have lost something since the 60s and 70s.

I Am Omega (2007)
I am not even sure what to say about this one. I will be honest, I like The Asylum. Their "Mockbusters" are often a lot of fun  But this one fell far from the mark.  It only shares surface similarities with the other movies and book; only enough to make it any generic Post Apocalypse movie really.  I suppose you can admire their cheek of it all.

This Tally: Watched 4, New 2. Best: Last Man on Earth
Tally: Watched 16, New 12

What are you watching?

Zatannurday: Alouette Cosplay

A while back I featured a pic of a faux Justice League movie that featured Zatanna.

Well I finally tracked down that Cosplayer, Alouette Cosplay, and she has done some more.

Here are some of her DC Heroes. First up, Zatanna



:DC: Sorcery Savant by ~AlouetteCosplay on deviantART


:DC: A League of Their Own by ~AlouetteCosplay on deviantART

And as Black Canary, with an unknown Zatanna


:DC: Fishnet Heroines by *AlouetteCosplay on deviantART

As Catwoman with Poison Ivy,


:DC: Double Team by *AlouetteCosplay on deviantART

As Catwoman again with Harley, Ivy and the Bat.


:DC: The Sirens and The Bat by ~AlouetteCosplay on deviantART

Batwoman (love this one)


:DC: Twice Named by ~AlouetteCosplay on deviantART

And finally Black Canary


:BC: Little Bird by *AlouetteCosplay on deviantART


You can find her on DeviantArt and Facebook.

October Challenge: Dark Shadows (2012)

Dark Shadows (2012)

I was eagerly anticipating the new Dark Shadows from Tim Burton and Johnny Depp.  Well tonight, thanks once again to the magic of OnDemand I was finally able to catch it.

Well. I liked it, but not as much as I wanted to to like it.  Depp is brilliant as always and Helena Bonham Carter is there too, this time with an American accent (loved it).  Chloë Grace Moretz is here as well and way under used.  Same as Michelle Michelle Pfeiffer.

If you don't know the background to Dark Shadows, over watched the old show, then there are some things that will be lost on you, but the film was still fun. Eva Green was surprisingly good as Angelique.  But the movie lacked a real conflict and climax.  I felt like they were trying to cram as much from the series as they could into a two hour movie.

The movie was fun, but it is really stretching the definition of horror for this.  I am including it because I was such a fan of the original series.


Tally: Watched 12, New 10

What are you watching?

Willow & Tara: Slasher Flick

Willow & Tara for Slasher Flick

It's been a been a while since I stated up my favorite witches for a game.  While reading through Slasher Flick yesterday I could not help but think how well these two would work in a slasher flick like movie or game.

So I am going outside of the the Dragon and the Phoenix canon here and going back to when the girls where young.  Given the universe they don't have a lot of magic.  So this is a geekier, computer expert Willow and a quiet, but has a scary power Tara.  They end up being the Last Girls because our slasher is out cutting up all the male/female couples having sex, but doesn't know what to do about these two.   If Buffy is a slasher flick turned on it's head, then I am turning Buffy on it's head.

Or something like that.

Anyway here are my girls.  Just in time for Halloween. And look it's Friday the 12th. So, not at all like Friday the 13th.

Willow

Primary Character
Stereotype: Geek Girl/Computer Nerd

Brawn: Poor
Learned Fighter: Positive

Finesse: Normal

Brains: Good
Analyze Info: Positive
Computers: Positive
Occultism: Positive
Science: Positive

Spirit: Good
Attractive: Positive
Brave: Positive
Impatient: Negative
Prone to Anger: Negative

Special Ability: Versatile (Computers, Science)
Tidbits: In love with Tara
Items: Flashlight, Laptop


Tara

Primary Character
Stereotype: Quiet-Shy Girl/Psychic

Brawn: Normal

Finesse: Poor
Learned Fighter: Horse Riding

Brains: Good
Occultism: Positive
Perceptive: Positive
Psychology: Positive

Telekinesis: Positive

Spirit: Good
Attractive: Positive
Socially Awkward: Negative
Willpower: Positive

Special Ability: Psychic Power
Tidbits: In love with Willow
Items: book of magic lore

So they are last ones to survive the film.  They build some sort of trap with Willow's skill and they try to lead our killer into it. Of course he comes in the wrong way and it looks like he has the girls cornered, till Tara pushes him into the trap with her TK.  He dies a horrible death.....or does he!!?!?

My numbers are a little high in the above builds, but that is ok really.

This Week in the OSR: Megadungeons

So this latest issue in the OSR seems to be about and around the Mega-dungeon.
There are a lot of reasons for this but they are better explained elsewhere.

http://www.therpgsite.com/showthread.php?t=24039
http://aldeboran.blogspot.com/2012/10/schroedingers-room-and-fuck-diddles.html
http://muleabides.wordpress.com/2012/10/09/in-defense-of-the-megadungeon/
http://wondrousimaginings.blogspot.com/2012/10/played-dwimmermount-last-night-sucked.html
http://warlockshomebrew.blogspot.com/2012/10/empty-room-syndrome.html
http://dreamsinthelichhouse.blogspot.com/2012/10/lessons-from-running-mega-dungeons.html

Me? I am not trying to stir up any shit.  Here are my points of view.

• James is good guy. We don't see eye to eye on most things, but I enjoy his blog still.  He will get done when he gets done.  
• That being said, I hate to see the Kickstarter well poisoned or tainted.  Delays are happening in about half of the kickstarters I have funded, while I am not mad or even irritated, I am getting a little anxious. 
• Mega-dungeons are not my thing.  Sure I get the appeal, but give me the outside or the city or the planes.  One could argue that those are just different kinds of mega dungeons.  One might be right.

So it's Friday and typically slow around here.  So I wanted to capture your thoughts on this.