Monday, January 7, 2013

New Kickstarters

I really need to kick my Kickstarter habit.

Maybe later.
All of these are already backed.

First up is an update to the Ron Edwards classic Sorcerer.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/847190685/sorcerer-upgrade

And what I described as the Kick-Starter of the Year, the new Deluxe Tunnels & Trolls
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/994700393/deluxe-tunnels-and-trolls

Not sure if I am going to pledge in either yet, but both are games I have enjoyed in the past and I am happy to see them get some cash for some high end production value.

There is also the new FATE Core rules.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/evilhat/fate-core?ref=home_leanback

That one is so ridiculously funded that it doesn't need my help really.  It is even linked on the front page of the Kickstarter home page. But you have to give Fred and Evil Hat credit (and kudos) for having such a successful campaign.  Plus for a buck you have access to the draft rules right now and a physical book for only 30 bucks.  Also, and lets be honest, cybernetic Kung-fu gorilla on the cover?  How can that not be cool?

The trouble with all three of these games is I don't need anymore games. But there they are, out there, taunting me.

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Known by the company you keep


Then my book is in some pretty good company here.

Not trying to indicate any compatibility here at all.   But they all sure do look good together.

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Zatannurday: DC Nation

Today is the day!

Today is the day we get new DC Nation shows and that means new Young Justice.

The clips from the website feature all sorts of cool things and the return (and sometimes for the first time in this show) of some familiar faces. The ones I am looking forward too are Slade, Apache Chief (what! He was cool in Super Friends and this version looks awesome), Doctor Fate and of course Zatanna!


It will be fun to see 20-something Zee given the recent (semi-recent) version of her in Justice League Dark #0.

New YJ also mean new Green Lantern (which has gotten better) and new DC Shorts, which I am really looking forward too.  Sadly the Subuffs aka SBFF aka Super-Best Friends Forever will not be back.

We are getting new Thunder and Lightning and Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld.
This is never a bad thing.

Just a couple more hours...

Friday, January 4, 2013

Star Trek RPGs, Part II

I feel the need to make this "Wrath of Something" or "Into Dorkness" jokes.

Anyway, last year (snerk) I was talking about Star Trek RPGs.  Well fellow blogger, sci-fi fan, all around good guy (with a GREAT name) Tim over at Hero Press posted these gems today.
http://www.heropress.net/2013/01/fleamarket-friday-gaming-where-no-die.html

First we have the Pre-Order for the Traveller based Prime Directive.
http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/rpgs/traveller/core-rulebooks-accessories/traveller-prime-directive.html
I am not sure what you all know about Prime Directive, but it is almost a thing onto itslef.  It is based on the TOS era Star Trek, but it goes in a different direction all together.  Now the purist in me used to reject this.  Especially when the later movies and TNG began to air.  But these days I find it much more appealing.  Plus, like I said, Prime Directive is now almost a thing into itself with a rich history, while not quite as equal to Trek, it is still fun.



As many of you know from my White Dwarf Wednesday I have a history with Traveller, something I want to rectify someday.  Could Prime Directive be the game for me?  At the current exchange rate that would be $50 or so.  So I might wait to see after it out in PDF.

Another game that gets mentioned to me is Where No Man Has Gone Before.
http://www.abillionmonkeys.com/trek

I don't know much about it at all save that most people seem to like it.

Maybe this is the year I find my Sci-Fi RPG.


Thursday, January 3, 2013

I Don't CAPTCHA

One of the more useful or annoying tools on the internet is CAPTCHA or reCAPTCHA.
If you have been here for a while you can guess I am not a fan.

While I do find it interesting from a programing perspective and I find the bots used to foil them just as interesting.  My "real-world, everyday" dealing with it is not wholly positive.

I don't use it myself.  I honestly don't get enough spam or bots to make it worthwhile.
I have run into cases where I was commenting on a blog and for the life of me could not get the CAPTCHA.  If I am reading a blog with my glasses off then forget it, there is no way I am going to figure it out.
It really sucks and it's too bad really because the one of the biggest joys of blogging is being able to comment on others' blogs and getting comments.

There is an interesting post on this over at Clay Baboons.


I am not sure how many comments CAPTCHA has actually killed.  In my case it killed one, maybe two, comments I would have made.All the the same, I'd rather turn it off here and maybe deal with some spam.  I get emails on every post made, so I can usually delete the spam long before others see it.

What are your thoughts on this?  My rough guess that it is about 50/50 on the blogs I visit.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

White Dwarf Wednesday #46

Happy New Year everyone!  Welcome back to the Other Side and my weekly feature White Dwarf Wednesdays. Every Wednesday I take an issue of White Dwarf and run through it both with an eye towards what the issue meant to me then and what it means in the scope of my gaming today.

This Wednesday we are going back to October 1983 and Issue #46.
Let's start with the cover.  An improvement over last week I think.  Futuristic flying city with jet fighters. Cool idea. I wonder if this was supposed to be taking place in 2013!

We have the usual pages of ads including a new one for Battlecars from Games Workshop.
Our editorial this month comes once again from Ian Livinstone. He discusses the latest landmark reached by White Dwarf, 20,000 copies per month. He credits this to the rise in the  RPG hobby, which at the time was nearly 10 years old and the inclusion of WD in WHSmith stores.

First up in the articles we have Phil Palmer trying to bring some logic to wandering monsters.  This is territory that has been well covered.  I am not even sure if games today even talk about wandering monsters anymore.  I still use them out of habit, but they have to make some sort of sense. I am not sure if it was reading this article that got to me to that point, or it just seemed logical.

Open Box is next with the RuneQuest Companion as reviewed by Oliver Dickinson. He gives it an 8/10. Mentioned as the first of the series, I'll have to go back and check to see if they kept up with that.   The next item up is the re-issue (as they call  it) of FGU's Chivalry & Sorcery.  Marcus Rowland gives it high marks all around with an overall score of 8/10.  I am a touch surprised that no one has tried to retro-clone this game.  And finally the Sanctuary Board Game from local guys (local to me now that is) Mayfair Games.  It gets a 7/10 from Allan E. Paull.

Critical Mass has some reviews of new books.  One that always grabbed my attention, but I never read was "Golden Witchbreed" by Mary Gentle.  I have to say that going back over these Critical Mass articles have made me want to go back and revisit some of the classics of my youth.  It is 100% nostalgia, but I know I missed some good ones from back then.

Counterpoint is back with a new board game, Dragonhunt.  These articles were always very detailed affairs. Which begs the question.  Was there a greater connection to RPGs and Boardgames in England than here in the US or was I just not that interested in Board Games?

Part 3 of the 3 part Dealing With Demons focuses on the Demonic Nobility.  There is a lot of good advice here for any game that has demons.  The demons themselves do not inspire me, but they are certainly usable.

Phil Masters has some world governments for Traveller.
Lew Pulsipher goes over some non-fiction sources for use in RPGs.

Letters has a letter complaining about the cover for WD 44. 30 years later we still haven't gotten the chainmail bikini worked out of our system. A later asking people to leave D&D for "newer and better" games.  And some alignment squabbles.

Part 5 or 6 of Irilian is up.  I don't recall this one as well but there is a ton of detail.

Play by Mail is the subject of Microview.  Using the computer to handle the PBM turns and then print out and send the GM responses to everyone.   This is a rare window on a time when we knew computers would change everything, we just didn't exactly know how.  While I would say that at least 80% of WD is still usable today,  with 10% of the remainder either needing updated or in use already.  The last 10% or so is something like this.  Artifacts of the hobby that have been left in the past.   PBM would be a foreign concept to many new players and the idea that you would print out something and mailing it makes very little sense.  This is also one of the cases where computers have really improved the experience in my opinion.  A Play By Message Board (PBMB) does allow for the same sort of interaction that MMORPGS only sort of do, but also the ability to connect to other players around the world.  Google+ Hangouts are the current ultimate evolution of these.

Thrud the Barbarian gets hungry and the Travellers leave hyperspace.

Fiend Factory has been lacking a bit for me lately.  The crazy monsters are thankfully something of the past, but now I find I miss the creativity that came along with them.  This one features a collection of woodland monsters and an associated mini adventure. We get some intelligent plants like the Ivyix, Crimson Carpet, the Puffbal Plant and the Acrophids which are a bit like Triffids. We also get the Vily (woodland spirits) and Dame Vertes (green lady), which are a sisterhood of protectors.

RuneRites has some combat related ideas for RuneQuest.

Lew Pulsipher devotes a page to a single spell, but to be fair it is a big one.  The Hellwalk Spell sends victims to a pocket universe where they must defeat monsters. It's a neat idea and one that would work with any game system or edition.  In D&D4 terms this would be more of a Ritual than anything else.

There is an odd page, Pirate Eye, that is attempting some humor.  I like gamer and geek humor as much as the next guy, but this one seems too out there for me.  Maybe it is too British and I am not grounded in the same culture.  There are bits of news here too.  I guess it is trying to come off as a gossip column for gamers.
Though I will admit that the use of Steve Jackson was amusing. As in "Steve Jackson-not-of-Car-Wars" and "not-this-Steve Jackson".

Some small ads and Gobbledigook. More ads. An ad and sign up for Games Fair '84 featuring E. Gary Gygax. Color ads for RunwQuest and for the new Star Frontiers set, Knight Hawks.

All in all this issue didn't wow me.  I enjoyed Irilian as usual, but the rest didn't do much for me.  Ah well.  There is next issue!

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Welcome 2013!

Here we are! 2013!  Let's get the new year started off right with some gaming.
Today I have to help my oldest make a Buffy RPG character, level up the DragonSlayers and find an adventure for their next trip.

Should be a great year.