White Dwarf Wednesday

Will be a bit delayed today (maybe till tomorrow).

I just got back into town from a business trip and am woefully behind on everything.

Latest Drama Bomb

Well I go away out of town for a couple of days and there is yet another drama bomb dropped on the RPG community.

If you have not heard it yet, well, look around it will surface somewhere else to be sure.

Even though this is a the exact sorta thing I'd normally through my hat into, I am lacking the motivation to do so.

I will say this though.

If I don't like your product, game and even to a degree you as a human being (I never claimed to be with out bias) then I won't buy your product.  That's it. That's my worst threat.

I am not going boycott it or your publisher.  I might write a bad review if I do buy it.  But that is fair.
I am not going to declare you "my enemy" (enemy? really? What are we, 12 years old?)

I DO understand the original complaint and I DO agree with it.  I don't agree with the actions they are trying to do.

Ok, I didn't want to rant or get involved, so I'll stop here.

Kickstarter News

Angus Abranson, formerly of Cubicle 7,  has started a new Facebook group to keep track of all the RPG-related Kickstarters going on.

http://www.facebook.com/groups/430556803645272/

Stop by. Get updates. If you know of any, please join the group and post them too!

New Game Group and Game!

There is nothing quite like the excitement of a new gaming group.
New people getting together for the first time, new characters, new game, new worlds to explore.

My oldest son has a friend that really wants to learn to play D&D. So I talked to his mother and she is thrilled about it too. She used to play Werewolf back in college.  We are also going to add his younger brother and my youngest too.  So a total of four boys ages 9 to 12.

My oldest plays in a group now that he is continuing with. They are playing Castles and Crusades and having a good time with that.  My oldest and youngest are still playing our 3.x Epic game, the DragonSlayers.

Given I still have all this 4e stuff I want to get my money's worth out off, we are going to play Fourth Edition D&D.

I think it is going to be a great time to be honest.

Right now the plans are to play every other Saturday.
I picked up the Forgotten Realms books at Half-Price books a while back dirt cheap so maybe we will play in the Realms.  I have never done that before.

My kids created their characters yesterday and I am going to use the companion rules to let them have a human or animal companion.  My oldest is playing two characters a Dragonborn Paladin/Warlord and Genasi Sorcerer,  My youngest is playing a Half-elf Bard.  I am planning to go totally 4e gonzo on this too.  Use all the options, the cards, everything.

So yeah, it is about as far from an old school game as you can get, but you know what, it is going to be a blast!  I can't wait to get started!

I am not likely to use the "Basic Levels" idea I came up with.  Which is too bad really, cause I really liked that.  But hey, who knows.  Let's see what the kids want.

Free RPG Day Haul

Look what I got!

I grabbed the "D&D"-like ones, because that's what my kids enjoy the most.
Been toying around with an idea that might incorporate all four into a game...but that is silly.

The ShadowRun was more for me.  I have been itching to pull my ShadowRun books down again.

Don't forget you can also get the Ghosts of Albion Quick Start and Adventure Derby Day.

Free RPG Day: Free Stuff Here!

I hope you all enjoy Free RPG Day.

Please head to your FLGS (am will be going to mine)to get some great RPGs and accessories.

Here at the Other Side we don't want you to feel left out if you can't get to a game store.

So here, by permission of Eden Studios you can download the Ghosts of Albion Quick Start and Adventure Derby Day!

Derby Day was written by Garner Johnson who was invaluable help to me while writing Ghosts.

If you were ever curious about my game Ghosts of Albion, then this is your chance.  Please download and try this out.

You can also use these rules to play the first ever Buffy Adventure The Dark Druid.

Please enjoy these courtesy of the Other Side and Eden Studios.

Zatannurday: Zatara

Last two Mother's Day weekends I mentioned a bit about Zatanna's mother Sindella. But in truth there is only one parent that Zatanna has known here whole life and that is her father Giovanni "John" Zatara.

He first appeared in the June 1938 issue of Action Comics #1, notable for the introduction of another famous golden age superhero, Superman.

"Zatara Master Magician"  was by Fred Guardineer and ran from pages 20 to 31.
From the beginning Zatara spoke his spells backwards.  Mostly to give him something different than the other magicians-turned-crime-fighting-mystermen like Mandrake the Magician and his imitators.

Zatara was woven into the DC Comics fold more completely when he was given the back story of having been a friend of Thomas Wayne, introducing him to his future wife Martha and then later training a young Bruce Wayne in the skill of escapology.  It was in fact during the time right after the Waynes were murdered that Zatara left America on an extended tour of Europe.  Here he met Sindella and soon Zatanna was born.
This was developed more as Zatanna's history was developed and most famously in the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Zatanna".

Another of his good friends, or rather paramours was Madame Xanadu, who would not marry him.  Currently Xanadu and Zatanna share a title in Justice League Dark.  They are both Homo Magi, so even though X was Z's dad's former girlfriend, they do look about the same age.  Zatara himself was also Homo Magi in addition to being a stage magician.  A distinction he shares with other, now dead, father figures like Ludlow Swift of "Ghosts of Albion" and Harry Dresden's father.

Of course the most notable feature today of Zatara is that he is dead.  His death is what help push his daughter into a life of fighting crime as her father had done.  Though for a dead guy he pops up often enough in Zatanna's life.

I like the idea of Zatara. I'd love to try him out sometime in a supers or pulp like game.
I have already decided that my first Amazing Adventures character will be Giovanni Zatara.
But until then, here he is in all his Golden Age glory!

Giovanni (John) Zatara - PL 10

Strength 1, Stamina 2, Agility 1, Dexterity 3, Fighting 2, Intellect 3, Awareness 4, Presence 4

Advantages
Artificer, Benefit, Wealth 3 (millionare), Connected, Contacts, Defensive Attack, Fascinate (Expertise), Languages 3, Skill Mastery: Expertise: Magic, Uncanny Dodge, Well-informed

Skills
Close Combat: Unarmed 2 (+4), Deception 6 (+10), Expertise: Magic 10 (+13), Expertise: Stage Magic 6 (+9), Insight 10 (+14), Intimidation 2 (+6), Investigation 5 (+8), Perception 10 (+14), Persuasion 4 (+8), Ranged Combat: Eldritch Blast 6 (+9), Ranged Combat: Mental Blast 4 (+7), Sleight of Hand 10 (+13), Stealth 2 (+3), Technology 1 (+4)

Powers
Magic: Magic 10 (DC 25)
   !dleihS: Deflect 10
   !ediH: Concealment 0
   !elzzaD: Dazzle 10 (Alternate; Affects Sense: hearing, sight, Resisted by: Will, DC 20)
   !tsalb hctirdlE: Blast 10 (Alternate; DC 25)
   !tsalb latneM: Mental Blast 5 (Alternate; DC 20)
Magical Senses: Senses 5 (magical, Acute: Sight, Analytical: Sight, Detect: Sight, Hearing 2: ranged, Ranged: Sight)

Offense
Initiative +1
!elzzaD: Dazzle 10, +3 (DC Will 20)
!tsalb hctirdlE: Blast 10, +9 (DC 25)
!tsalb latneM: Mental Blast 5 (DC Will 20)
Grab, +2 (DC Spec 11)
Magic: Magic 10, +3 (DC 25)
Throw, +3 (DC 16)
Unarmed, +4 (DC 16)

Complications
Motivation: Doing Good
Responsibility

Languages
Italian, English, Greek, Latin

Defense
Dodge 10, Parry 9, Fortitude 7, Toughness 2, Will 10

Power Points
Abilities 40 + Powers 30 + Advantages 14 + Skills 39 (78 ranks) + Defenses 27 = 150

Happy Father's Day everyone!