I have long been of the frame of mind that gamers, in general, are some of best people when it comes to helping others. Is it because our hobby is one of pure social interaction? Is it because we learn the value of helping each other out in the game very early one? Not sure why, I can only say I have seen it work.
One only needs to look no further than the fundraisers at DriveThruRPG for various disasters or even the Bad Myrmidon fundraiser. I have raised a little money myself for various charities.
So I wanted to let you know about another one that I think is worthy and not really getting the attention it deserves.
Randall over at RetroRoleplaying is raising some money to help treat his wife's cancer.
He is asking for donations, but he is giving away an absolute trove of treasures from the early days of gaming. It's insane the stuff he is parting with, but I would do the exact same thing.
So please. Go to his site. Donate what you can. It's Christmas after all.
How about this. Instead of that large coffee you get before work today or while doing your last minute Christmas shopping, you donate $5 to Randall's wife. Make her life a little better, and hopefully a little longer. Not trying to sound overly maudlin here, but this community has given so much for lesser reasons (myself included and especially) that maybe this also something we should do.
If everyone that reads this blog here, via Facebook or even Twitter gave something, well that would be great.
Start here:
http://blog.retroroleplaying.com/2013/11/holiday-2013-cancer-fund-drive-with.html
http://www.retroroleplaying.com/content/retroroleplaying-cancer-fund-special-downloads
http://blog.retroroleplaying.com/2013/12/holiday-cancer-fund-drive-17-away-from.html
I can't promote this one enough.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Monday, December 16, 2013
To Stranger Skies
I have been watching, but not participating in (yet, see below) Bruce Heard's World of Calidar Kickstarter.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ambreville/world-of-calidar
I will be honest, it looks fantastic and it should be a lot of fun. But I was going to wait for the PDF since I never feared that he would get to his goals. Plus I am trying to cut back on my Kickstarter addiction.
Bruce is a great guy and I have been a fan of his work since the Glantri Gazetteer first came out. So I know this is going to be a good one. Thorfinn Tait is doing the maps. If you don't know Thorf, well he has been doing maps for Mystara's fan community for decades; going all the way back to the MYSTARA-L list on MPGN.net.
I changed my mind this past weekend. I was going through a stack of old notes and sheets for a different project that I found my old Spelljammer characters. I say Spelljammer, but we never quite got that far. The idea was loosly based on Star Trek and they characters all started on ship that would eventually get to the stars. All the characters were officers so even the 1st level wizard began as a 3rd level fighter. It was going to be something very, very different than what I had done in the past. But the realities of college life got in the way and we never got all that far with it. I have no idea if my DM at the time even did anything else with it. I think he did. The game was going to be predominantly on the shared Mystoerth world my DM and I had.
There had been games that have arisen in the past that made me think back to that old game, but this is the first that has made want to try it out again.
World of Calidar is set up to be "edition neutral" so really I could use anything with it.
So I am going to support this one. I'll look for a good edition to try it with too. I'll admit I am tempted to do this with 2nd Ed AD&D or Adventures Dark & Deep.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ambreville/world-of-calidar
I will be honest, it looks fantastic and it should be a lot of fun. But I was going to wait for the PDF since I never feared that he would get to his goals. Plus I am trying to cut back on my Kickstarter addiction.
Bruce is a great guy and I have been a fan of his work since the Glantri Gazetteer first came out. So I know this is going to be a good one. Thorfinn Tait is doing the maps. If you don't know Thorf, well he has been doing maps for Mystara's fan community for decades; going all the way back to the MYSTARA-L list on MPGN.net.
I changed my mind this past weekend. I was going through a stack of old notes and sheets for a different project that I found my old Spelljammer characters. I say Spelljammer, but we never quite got that far. The idea was loosly based on Star Trek and they characters all started on ship that would eventually get to the stars. All the characters were officers so even the 1st level wizard began as a 3rd level fighter. It was going to be something very, very different than what I had done in the past. But the realities of college life got in the way and we never got all that far with it. I have no idea if my DM at the time even did anything else with it. I think he did. The game was going to be predominantly on the shared Mystoerth world my DM and I had.
There had been games that have arisen in the past that made me think back to that old game, but this is the first that has made want to try it out again.
World of Calidar is set up to be "edition neutral" so really I could use anything with it.
So I am going to support this one. I'll look for a good edition to try it with too. I'll admit I am tempted to do this with 2nd Ed AD&D or Adventures Dark & Deep.
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Saw the Hobbit
I saw the Hobbit yesterday and I enjoyed it. I was not expecting the book, but I do think some of the changes were a bit too much.
I consider myself a huge Tolkien fan. I have read The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings 12-14 times over the last 30 years. I have read the Silmarillion a couple of times and I loved it. Really. I have read many of the lost tales, the Tolkien Reader and tons of his works. So I am approaching this as a fan.
Spoilers follow.
I liked the bits with Gandalf at Dol Guldur, that was all in the Lord of the Rings and expanded tales, so I am 100% fine with that.
The CGI didn't bother me. In fact Smaug looked fantastic.
I liked the addition of Tauriel. Yeah she was not in the books, but I don't care.
But the movie was too long and some of the things added to the movie had no real benefit.
In many ways the movie was exactly like the giant golden dwarf statue in the movie. Large, overwrought, a monument to excess and ultimately ineffective.
So in the end I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted, but it was still a lot of fun.
I consider myself a huge Tolkien fan. I have read The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings 12-14 times over the last 30 years. I have read the Silmarillion a couple of times and I loved it. Really. I have read many of the lost tales, the Tolkien Reader and tons of his works. So I am approaching this as a fan.
Spoilers follow.
I liked the bits with Gandalf at Dol Guldur, that was all in the Lord of the Rings and expanded tales, so I am 100% fine with that.
The CGI didn't bother me. In fact Smaug looked fantastic.
I liked the addition of Tauriel. Yeah she was not in the books, but I don't care.
But the movie was too long and some of the things added to the movie had no real benefit.
In many ways the movie was exactly like the giant golden dwarf statue in the movie. Large, overwrought, a monument to excess and ultimately ineffective.
So in the end I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted, but it was still a lot of fun.
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Zatannurday: ICONS
It's been a long time since I last talked about ICONS. I would like to do more with it someday.
Zatanna
Abilities
Prowess: 3
Coordination: 5
Strength: 2
Intellect: 6
Awareness: 7
Willpower: 8
Powers
Wizardry (Magic) 8
- Blast
- Mind Controll
Telepathy 4
Teleport 5
Astral Projection 6
Specialties
Performance (Stage Magic) - Mastery
Sleight of Hand - Mastery
Occult - Mastery
Stamina: 10
Determination: 1
Aspects
Qualities
Connections
Epithet
- "World's Greatest Magician"
- "Mistress of Magic"
Challenges
Weakness - Must speak backwards to use her magic
Relationship issues.
Links
Friday, December 13, 2013
Bitten on SyFy
"Bitten" is the breakout novel from author Kelley Armstrong. It deals with Elena Michaels, the only female werewolf.
With Bitten Kelley began a 13 novel epic story of many lives and different types of supernaturals collectively known as "The Women of the Underworld". The last novel of the series came out this last year and it was a very satisfying end to the series.
It is also the name of the new SyFy Channel's new series based on the book.
It stars Laura Vandervoort, in what might be the best bit of casting ever, as Elena.
Can't wait for this!
Of course I am looking forward to seeing Paige, Eve and Savannah; the Witches of Underworld. And Jaime, the Necromancer.
Tomorrow is her birthday, so stop by her site and wish her a happy birthday and a congrats on the new series. http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/
With Bitten Kelley began a 13 novel epic story of many lives and different types of supernaturals collectively known as "The Women of the Underworld". The last novel of the series came out this last year and it was a very satisfying end to the series.
It is also the name of the new SyFy Channel's new series based on the book.
It stars Laura Vandervoort, in what might be the best bit of casting ever, as Elena.
Can't wait for this!
Of course I am looking forward to seeing Paige, Eve and Savannah; the Witches of Underworld. And Jaime, the Necromancer.
Tomorrow is her birthday, so stop by her site and wish her a happy birthday and a congrats on the new series. http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Lilith can be Yours
Normally I like to spend the profits from my books on more art for the next book or something like that. You know, put it back into the creative effort. But this was a particularly good couple of months so I splurged and got something nice for myself and my game room.
I got this from the artist's, Israel Llona aka Isra2007, shop over at Deviant Art.
The great thing is, you can get one of these prints too!
Just go to the prints page, http://www.deviantart.com/art/Lilith-142131246 and choose one of the prints.
This is the 12" x 18" art print.
Plus all the money goes to the artist, well minus whatever DA takes, but I don't get any. Not even a commission. So if you liked my book and the cover, or you picked up my book for the cover, grab an art print too! It will look great on your wall.
You can also see all his great art here, http://israllona.wix.com/isra
He has a few more that I think would make awesome book covers.
I got this from the artist's, Israel Llona aka Isra2007, shop over at Deviant Art.
The great thing is, you can get one of these prints too!
Just go to the prints page, http://www.deviantart.com/art/Lilith-142131246 and choose one of the prints.
This is the 12" x 18" art print.
Plus all the money goes to the artist, well minus whatever DA takes, but I don't get any. Not even a commission. So if you liked my book and the cover, or you picked up my book for the cover, grab an art print too! It will look great on your wall.
You can also see all his great art here, http://israllona.wix.com/isra
He has a few more that I think would make awesome book covers.
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