Friday, January 29, 2016

Friday Night Videos: Frog Leap Studios Metal Covers

No big theme tonight. Nothing to do with RPGs either.

Just a new artist I discovered this week.
Leo Moracchioli of Frog Leap Studios (which I think is just him and his wife, and sometime their daughter) does these amazing metal covers of popular songs.

You can find his cover on Amazon and iTunes.

Here are few I got a kick out of.




























Enjoy!


Kickstart Your Weekend: Family and Familiars

A couple of Kickstarters today.

First is a really cool one,  I really love Castles & Crusades, but I also really love D&D 5e.
So it is really cool to see the Troll Lords bring out a product for 5e that was also one of my favorite Troll Lords books.

5th Edition: Familiars, Monstrous Companions, Steeds & More is part of their new 5e line.  It is an update of their Castles & Crusades Book of Familiars.   Though I have on very good authority that this book is more than a conversion, it's a complete rewrite of the book.



It looks really cool and will be a nice addition to my 5e library.


This next KickStarter I know very, very little about except that it is a widow wanting to bring her late-husband's game to the market.

The game is EVERYVERSE RPG and it is a multi-genre RPG.


You can also read more about it on their blog at, http://rpg.parizekdevelopmentllc.com/

Both are worthy of your attention.

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Review: The Winter Witch by Paula Brackston

I have been researching a bunch of witch books and winter witches in particular.  I found bunch of books so here is the first.  Paula Brackston was recomended to me as a fan of Harry Potter. In this book, The Winter Witch, I didn't quite see it, but I think other books of hers might be a closer fit.

There was a lot about this book that attracted me. Set in the early 19th Century, set in Wales and it dealt with a witch from a line of witches.  Interestingly enough her parent that was a witch was her father.

The story revolves around Morgana and her new husband Cai.  The characters are both likable and you really root for them throughout the book.  Morgana has a quiet...sorry no pun meant; she is a mute...sort of witchcraft.  She can move things with her mind, see far away places and other subtle powers.  I really like how her powers were protrayed and how they grew throughout the story.

The story of course is not without conflict. This arrives in both mundane issues such as the villiage getting used to Cai's strange new wife, a priest who is accusing her of witchcraft and a rival witch that wants Cai and his land.
The story built rather slowly and honestly I felt it dropped a bit in the middle, but near the end Brackston turns it all the way up and it becomes a magical adventure and battle worthy of it being mentioned in the same reviews as Harry Potter.

I listend to this book as an audiobook from Audible.  Marisa Calin was fantastic as all the characters and really did do a good job of giving Morgana a voice.  I am happy to see tht she has read other books from Paula Brackston, so that also makes her books more attractive to me.

In the end I am giving the book 3.5 out of 5 stars.

For gamers this is a good set piece to show how well you can involve low level character in epic battles.  I will have more to say about Winter Witches when I am done with the other "Winter Witch" book in my TBR pile.

This book qualifies for the following reading challenges.




Belle's Library New To You Square


No surprise it fit so many, I was joining all these while I was reading it!

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

The Greatest Pen and Paper RPGs

I know it's silly, not at all accurate, not really an indication of anything really.
But it is fun.

Rank your favorite RPG!

The Greatest Pen and Paper RPGs

Vote for your favorites. Add something that isn't on the list.
Oh and if possible, spare a vote for Ghosts of Albion! ;) Thanks.

Original Dungeons & Dragons at DTRPG

Well.  Hell is frozen.  You can now buy a legal PDF copy of the Original Dungeons & Dragons rules.


No you too can play the game that started it all.  For just about the same price charged then.

Monday, January 25, 2016

A to Z sign up is Live

The sign up for the 7th annual April A to Z blog challenge is now live.



I am participating again this year.  Last year was a challenge for me to be honest.  But I hope I am better organized this year.  I already have an idea for my posts, I just need to check my Y and Z posts.

I do encourage others in our little corner of the internet to participate.  It not only helps grow your readership and blog, it also helps grow our hobby.  I won't lie, sales of my books go up in April.  People read what I have and they get curious.  My book plus Labyrinth Lord or my book plus Basic Fantasy is enough to get a newbie going for under the price of going to the movies.

Think about and join me if you can.


Sunday, January 24, 2016

7 Myths About the Aquarian Order

“The Star Knights are valuable allies. When they are not thinking with their swords...”
-  Abbess Wednesday CLX of the Kelron Priory 

“We have a saying, ‘Never trust a Witch.’  It’s been good advice.”
-  Master Mic-ahn Amej of the Star Knights

The Aquarian Order are a mysterious group. They do rarely reveal their goals and motivations and never come out and say what their plans are.  They also actively spread disinformation about the nature of the order.   With a large galaxy of trillions of inhabitants, rumors and stories spread.

Myth 1, The Sisterhood are not Human:  The most common belief is that the Sisterhood isn’t, or is no longer, human.  This is also the furthest from the truth.  The Sisters are very much human, and any human in the galaxy can be born and become a Sister. Providing that they are female of course.

Myth 2, The Order is the Female Version of the Knights: Also common and also very far from the truth.  The average galactic citizen is likely to have heard of the knights, and even a few may have seen one.  When they learn about the Sisterhood they naturally assume that they are part of their Order.  Many female Knights find this a little insulting.  Both are esoteric orders with their roots in ancient times and both wield strange powers.  Knights and Sisters are concerned with the safety and well-being of humanity, but their methods are often very different.

Myth 3, The Sisters like/hate the Knights:  Those that do know the difference assume there is some sort of accord or rivalry between the two groups.  The truth, like most things, is much more complicated.  The Knights and the Sisters can share goals on one mission and be at odds on others.

Myth 4, The Sisters practice Magic:  Another common myth is that the mystical power of the Sisters are magic. Again the truth is more complicated.  The powers the Sisters have are fantastic but they come from training their minds and their connection to the Gestalt.

Myth 5, Failed Candidates are Lobotomized: One of the more distrusting rumors spread about the Order is that those that take the Test but fail are somehow lobotomized. Either via the process or by the Sisters themselves.  This is also not true but based in the reality that the vast majority of the galaxy does not know about the Tests and what happens after the test.  In reality failed candidates go back to their lives, but are sworn never to talk about it.

Myth 6, The Order takes Girls from their Families:  This one is partially true. The Order searches the galaxy for potentials. Girls that show psychic potential are taken back to the Order’s homeworld of Gaia.  Here the girls are trained, but they are not completely cut off from their former lives.  Once they become full Sisters many are too busy with their own duties.  There is also reality that these girls spend their formative years among the Sisterhood and they do view them as their new family.

Myth 7, There is more than one Sisterhood:  This one is also true, but not in the way most people think.  The vast majority of people in the galaxy do not realize that all the Orders of the Sisterhood are part of the same Order.  The truth, only known to very, very few is there a splinter group known as the Capricorn Order that Sisterhood does not want anyone to know about.


More answers when Sisters of the Aquarian Order is released.