October Movie Challenge: The Fallen Ones

I am not doing so hot with my movies so far. I watched this one last night after trying to get some work done. I would have been better in all cased if I had just went to bed.

The Fallen Ones (2005)
Another SyFy Channel special I am sure.  This one appealed to me since it was about the Nephilim and I was working on some Fallen Angel stuff for Eldritch Witchery.  Frankly if anything in this movie makes into something I have written (other than this course) then you know I have used up every idea I ever have or will have.

This movie is terrible.  We have the evil Angel Ammon who has decide that the only way for his big dumb son (he is a giant and can't act) to survive the coming flood is to kill him and mummify him.  Solid logic there champ.  Fast forward 5000 years and he is discovered by an archaeologist and Richie Cunningham's dad (sadly this was one of his last movies ever).

What we have now is part mystery, part giant monster movie and part religious murder/slasher film.  The saddest part is there are some actual names attached to this.  Not great names by any stretch, but names I usually associate with better movies.

This movie was so bad I am sure I fell asleep a couple of times while it was on.  It certainly didn't help or hurt the plot any.

Ah, what the Hell. NaBloWriMo 2011

Since I am going to be writing every day anyway.  I'll throw my hat in to the National Blog Writing Month, NaBloWriMo, which is the most awkward acronym ever I think.

They also have a blog, http://nablowrimo.blogspot.com/ and that Facebook thing, http://www.facebook.com/pages/NaBloWriMo/203905936342372

So look forward to a bunch of stuff from me all through the best month here at the Other Side, October!

So tune in tomorrow folks for a rare Sunday post.

October Movie Challenge: Let the Challenge Begin

Once again I am going to participate in the October Movie Challenge from Krell Laboratories
This time you can also follow the goings on at Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/groups/173610362715851/

Tonight's bit of cinema is "The Unamable" (1988), based on the H.P. Lovecraft short story.  Already you know this is going to go one of two ways.  Bad or really bad.  I have yet to see a movie faithful to H.P. Lovecraft's work.  "From Beyond" and "Re-Animator" are different since they transcended their source material into something new.

What can I say about this?  The creature looks kinda cool, but the rest is kinda bad.  The "Randolph Carter" character causally reads his copy of the Necronomicon and gleefully trying out spells while his friends die.  We get most of the 80s cliche's in movies including the "first to die" teens as the ones making out.

It was sorta fun, sorta stupid.

This is 1 down.  I thought it was a new one, but I realized I a little bit into it I had already seen it.

Zatannurday: Justice League Dark Review

Justice League Dark was released this week and since it features Zee as a main character I thought a review would be in order for today.

I like the idea behind JL Dark to be honest; cases and missions that are to dark, to scary and too dangerous for the Justice League.  In the first issue Superman, Wonder Woman and Cyborg get their asses handed to them by the Enchantress and she is still imprisoned.  But I am getting ahead of myself.

The story is by Peter Milligan and it is a good little mystery.  We have a woman, June Moon, that seems to be crazy and a bunch of copies of her getting killed all over the place. 34 copies according to Batman. All the while we get this voice over from Madame Xanadu about how the future is in trouble.  We are introduced to Shade the Changing Man (at least I have no familiarity with him except from the Flashpoint miniseries) and his girlfriend, who seems to only be a figment of his imagination.  Xanadu is shooting up.  Oh and John Constantine is here too.  Obviously this is not the Justice League.  What about the Justice League?  Oh yeah they are trying to stop Enchantress and getting their asses handed to them.  Not Booster Gold and Blue Beetle here, Superman, Wonder Woman and Cyborg.

And aside...I read Wonder Woman #1 as well and I liked it, but where is this in that continuity?  No idea.  Not sure I even care to be honest.  Anyway back to the story.

We get to see Zee chatting with Batman and she decides that if the best of the best can't deal with Enchantress she will have too.  She ties up Batman and heads out to where Enchantress is causing all this damage while still in prison. And insane.

What is good?  Well the Mikel Janin art is great.  There is such a cool style here and there is no cheese cake shots to speak of.

What is good?
I like the story so far, though it is not great or perfect, it is certainly a mystery.  This is story that gets this group together and it is bound to have some issues.  I like that all the characters are "damaged goods" somehow, but all have some great power.  And Constantine is still smoking, that is good since it is so much a part of his character.  He looks younger here, like many of the new 52s.  But really he should look more like Sting or Johnny Rotten. (see here)

What need work?
Not enough Zee so far.  AND we have not been given much on her background in this reboot.  She obviously is part of the JL proper and has had dealings with Batman and Enchantress before.  I'd like to know more about her costume change, but may that will be explained later.

I am not a fan of Deadman though.  His costume is too silly for someone as serious as he is supposed to be. I know his backstory, but I need to see a good reason for including him in this group. Other than of course he is dead.

Also if this is the JL Dark should we get Raven at some point?  Is she still part of the Teen Titans?  After all if Cyborg is now part of the JL (as he should be really) then Raven can be part of this league.  Especially since we seem to be using everyone else from the Flashpoint Secret Seven group.

Of course I am going to keep up with this one.  Magic and comics are a potent mix for me.  Plus I have always wanted to see more Madame Xanadu and Shade (a character I wrote off) seems more interesting.

Vampire the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Ed

It is hard to believe that it has been 20 years since Vampire the Masquerade had been released.

The effect of this game on the gaming industry (and on the whole "Vampire subculture") should not be understated.
I know at the time I dismissed this game and I didn't even bother to look at a copy till 2nd edition was out and I still didn't buy it till 2nd Ed revised hit the stores.

It came at a great time.  AD&D 2nd Ed was lagging, TSR was all but dead to be honest and games had gotten a little too safe because of the 80's backlash.  Still it was not just that V:tM filled a void.  It created it's own niche and genre of games that is still felt today.

White Wolf may not be as big as it once was and Mark Rein Hagen is out of the gaming industry all together.  But this game remains, and this "new" book take you back to a time when the nights were ruled by such things as Ravnos, Brujah and people spoke of Gehenna.

There will be a print version out sometime.  But for those who can't wait, the PDF is up at DriveThruRPG now.
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=94815&affiliate_id=10748

DriveThruRPG Fall 2011 sale

It is fall and here are the products that DriveThruRPG has made available to loyal blog readers.

The code is DiceInTheFall and tt's good for 20% off for all of the following products.

* Games I own or have played.

Savage Worlds Fantasy Companion [Pinnacle Entertainment]  *Like SW and D&D? then this is great buy.  I use this with other systems too.
Realms of Cthulhu [Reality Blurs]  *SW and CoC! Very cool book
Karma Roleplaying System Core [Bards and Sages] *A deconstruction and reconstruction of d20 system into something new.  I like it.
FantasyCraft [Crafty Games]* another cool de/re construction of the d20 system for gritty play.
Fat Dragon's Dragonshire Deluxe [Fat Dragon Games] *Print and build cities.  My boys get excited anytime they see a Fat Dragon product on my desk because they know it is going to be fun.
Ninja Burger RPG (2nd Edition) [aetherial FORGE]
Heavy Gear Blitz! Locked & Loaded [Dream Pod 9]
Hero's Handbook: Dragonborn [Goodman Games] *Great stuff for your 4e Dragonborn character.
Splicers RPG [Palladium Books]
Caladon Falls [Savage Mojo]
Legend of the Five Rings (4th Edition) [AEG] *Epic role-playing with all the excitement of the far East.  Spent some time as part of D&D, and as it's own game, but this is the ultimate edition.
Fuzzy Heroes (2nd Edition) [Inner City Games]  *If you have kids then they have stuffed animals.  Here is the game you can bring them to life with.  Great fun and a great way to introduce the younger set to RPGS.
Ave Molech (2nd Edition) [Morbidgames] *Interesting genre mashup.  I need to play this one more.
Book of Alignment (OGL/Pathfinder) [Emerald Press] *164 pages of detail on the alignments.
Horrific Universe: 12 Months of Horror [Bailey Records] (audio product)
Directors Cut Survival Horror [Crispy Zombie Productions]  (interestingly enough I don't own this one.  Fight have to get it with a 20% discount!)
Friar's Almanac (Complete) [Dark Spire]
Distant Vistas [Draken Games]
Stories in the Ether, Issue 1 (Bundle) [Nevermet Press]
d-Infinity Volume #3: Children of the Night (Gen Con Special Edition) [Skirmisher Publishing]

That's a huge list.  I sure there is something there for everyone.

OSRIC Player's Guides: Do we need one?

After yesterday's little drama (and it is good to have these every so often to keeps things lively) I have a couple of random thoughts.

- First it looks like Vince made an honest mistake with the cover art.
This is obviously not a James Shipman deal.  But I'll counter with that if you are going to go through the effort of putting a product together, make sure that what you are doing is 100% legit.  Don't assume anything.  Unless you know 100%, don't use it.  Even then verify.  Even if you buy the art make sure the person you are buying it from actually has the rights to sell it.
Right now I think I am in about as deep as I can get with art for my witch books.  Depending on how these books are priced (I want them to be inexpensive) I might break even with the money I have spent on it so far.  That's not a complaint mind you, I like the art a lot and has a nice 70s-80s vibe to it.

- Secondly does the OSRIC community need a Players Guide?  
Given that this product got so much attention that even I noticed it (and I am far outside the OSRIC community) and there is another project of similar scope on the way.  I would guess so.  Personally I would think you could just print up the OSRIC book's first few chapters and be done with it.

I guess that is part of my confusion.  Is OSRIC a guide or compendium or is it a game in and of itself?
I am not involved enough with OSRIC to really know.  I like the idea of one.  I liked the idea of the one just recently out, but not as a guide or as a book itself but as something that extended the OSRIC concept and potentially raised the bar in terms of production; till it didn't.

Does anyone here play it?  Do you play it as straight OSRIC or are you playing 1st ED AD&D with OSRIC as guide book?