Spell Card!

Warner Bros.: We can't tell the difference between Elfquest and The Hobbit

2012-01-24T07:22:00.000-06:00

Wow. The geniuses at Warner Bros. were developing an Elfquest movie (ostensibly looking for fantasy properties to replace their beloved Harry Potter franchise) and recently dropped the project because, as co-creator Wendy Pini puts it:

After close to four years of suspense – and longer than four years of your much-appreciated interest and support – the word has come down from Warner Bros. And the word is “no.” Their simple explanation is that they don’t want to compete with The Hobbit. This was a possibility, among several, that we were prepared for. It is a relief, at last, to know.

Apparently randy space elves are too similar to uppity halfling burgulars. Or more precisely, they hear the world "elf" and think "Tolkien". I suppose that's one better than thinking "Santa's helpers". On the other hand, perhaps Warner Bros. knows something about the elves in the new Hobbit movie we don't. (shudder)

More at Bleeding Cool

D&D 5E contents video!

2012-01-13T13:26:00.001-06:00

"Grognard" is a new race!

;)

IT'S HAPPENING

2012-01-09T09:24:00.000-06:00

I'm sure you've heard/read this already, but D&D 5 is coming--and Wizards of the Coast says it wants input this time. From the New York Times:

But there might yet be hope for Dungeons & Dragons, known as D&D. On Monday, Wizards of the Coast, the Hasbro subsidiary that owns the game, announced that a new edition is under development, the first overhaul of the rules since the contentious fourth edition was released in 2008. And Dungeons & Dragons’ designers are also planning to undertake an exceedingly rare effort for the gaming industry over the next few months: asking hundreds of thousands of fans to tell them how exactly they should reboot the franchise.

There's a movement now, perhaps you've heard of it. It's called the OSR.

So where's the banner? How do we mobilize this? Shouldn't there be a big wishlist of what we'd like the new edition to be? Where should it live and can we all sign up?

Harryhausen Documentary Trailer Promises Awesomeness....

2012-01-05T09:49:00.001-06:00

...but I can find no trace of the finished film's actual existence. Here's what facts I DO know about this video:

It's produced by Frenetic Arts, a French-based studio.
It's not out yet, despite being scheduled for Spring 2011 completion.

If you have info on this, please comment. Until then, we'll just have to be satisfied with every Harryhausen monster in one video. :)

P.S. As of June 2011, Ray Harryhausen is 91 years old and still has all of his original models from the films. He is as cool as they get!

Avengers Assembled into First Official Trailer!

2011-10-11T10:53:00.000-05:00

Yep, it's everywhere today!

Enjoy!

D&D Needs Your Help: 2011 Hall of Fame Video Contest!

2011-10-09T00:28:00.000-05:00

So you know that Dungeons & Dragons is a finalist for the 2011 National Toy Hall of Fame, right? Well they (the National Museum of Play) are asking fans to submit a short video, images, or written story telling a story about why one of the nominees are is so important to them--it's called the I Love This Toy contest.

The competition this year is pretty stiff--Star Wars figures, Hot Wheels, and Transformers are all still VERY popular. Yes, they're all Hasbro properties, so (technically) is D&D. Here's the problem--only two inductees will be selected. A few years ago, that number was three but the class of 2010 had only two.

Entries can't be longer than 2 minutes in length and there are even PRIZES:

1 Grand Prize (by online votes): $250 Amazon.com gift card
3 Curator's Choice prizes (determined by a panel of National Museum of Play experts): $150 Amazon.com gift card

So grab your camera/video camera, some old D&D books, a set of funky dice, and some miniatures and do your darnest to persuade the judges--and the voting public--to include the orignal fantasy RPG in the 2011 class.

Hurry: the deadline is next Friday, October 14!!

Contest webpage
This year's story entries
Register to create your story
Contest rules
Props to GeekDad on Wired.com

Wild, Wooly, and "Daffy" Wizard Runs Amuck!

2011-09-28T16:46:00.000-05:00

No, I'm not the first person to post this. But I definitely want it on the blog because it is awesome and should be seen by as many eyeballs as possible.

That is all!

D&D is a National Toy Hall of Fame finalist!

2011-09-13T21:18:00.003-05:00

The National Toy Hall of Fame has included Dungeons & Dragons on the slate of finalists to it's 2011 inductees--only two selections will be inducted. The full list includes dollhouse, Dungeons & Dragons, Hot Wheels, Jenga, Pogo Stick, puppets, R/C vehicles, Rubik’s Cube, Simon, Star Wars action figures, Transformers, and Twister. As you can see, a few items are non-branded, but Hasbro came out the big winner with eight of the 12.

From the Washington Post:

Forty-six toys have earned a place in the Hall of Fame. Among them are Crayola crayons, Silly Putty, and Hasbro’s Mr. Potato Head and the Easy-Bake Oven. Toys are chosen for induction based on several criteria, including “icon status,” longevity and innovation.

John Frascotti, chief marketing officer for Hasbro, said the company was “thrilled” to have so many finalists recognized as “childhood touchstones.”

I'm not sure if this is more or less nominees than previous year's but it seems as though the game has it's work cut out for it. Here's a look at the nominating criteria:

Icon-status: The toy is widely recognized, respected, and remembered
Longevity: The toy is more than a passing fad and has enjoyed popularity over multiple generations
Discovery: The toy fosters learning, creativity, or discovery through play
Innovation: The toy profoundly changed play or toy design. A toy may be inducted on the basis of this criterion without necessarily having met all of the first three.

I'd say based on Icon-status, Discovery, and Innovation, D&D should be inducted, but let's face it, several of the other nominees have had more staying power beyond their initial fadishness. Still, the fact that it's still around and currently remains published in a fourth edition may be enough. The other finalist I think would be worthy are Star Wars figures, which should be an easy "in" based on how they single-handedly changed the entertainment industry as a whole.

Well, it would be nice to see D&D given it's proper due. What do you think its chances are of being inducted?

Did I mention that X-Plorers is Now Available?

2011-09-09T09:00:00.007-05:00

Yes? Good. Just trying to get the word out. I've been shouting this from the mountain tops on Exonauts and Gamma World War, but I added a few clarifications...

CALLING ALL X-PLORERS....

X-Plorers is now available as a box set, softcover print-on-demand, or a no-art FREE download. You now have THREE WAYS to start conquering the galaxy--and you could be doing so as soon as THIS AFTERNOON while you wait for your box or softcover to arrive in the mail. Here's a look at the inside of the softcover....

The game is rules-light and can be played as-is, but it's REAL strength is in it's ability to be fiddled with under the hood. Personally, I like to tinker and I'm working on my own setting using the rules. If you're looking for more resources to help get started, check out the X-Plorers tab on the top of this blog.

On a side note, the venerable Space Admiral and X-Plorers Publisher John Adams is holding a new character sheet design contest. The winner will receive a FREE box set of the game! So submit your designs to Brave Halfling. UPDATE: the PC sheet size is 5.5 x 8.5" and John has not yet set a deadline. He also reports that there are approximately 50 Boxed Sets are left--but that was several days ago already...

More info:

Here's a link to what's included in the box sets.
What's new in this edition and what it's all about.

Anyway, go get your copy and start X-ploring!

Stop-Motion Jonny Quest is BEST THING EVAR!

2011-09-04T12:20:00.000-05:00

Jonny Quest Opening Titles from Roger D. Evans on Vimeo.

This little bit of wonderfulness from Roger D. Evans has been keeping me entertained since last week and even got me to go order the DVD set of the original show.

Film geeks like myself are going to want to check out his production diary. Apart from some effects like the sun and eye blinking, the entire intro is stop-motion animation using models.

Enjoy!

He-Man: The Bollywood Musical

2011-08-17T22:53:00.000-05:00

That's one far-out space barbarian!

Old School Renaissance gets a shout out from Wired Magazine!

2011-08-09T09:00:00.002-05:00

I was just perusing the interwebs and read a nice little write-up of Gen Con which included a mention of the OSR:

Thankfully, more than just old timers are keeping the old RPGs alive. Publishing collectives like The Old School Renaissance Group and voices like the Blog of Holding are intent on honoring the groundbreaking heritage of D&D. A downloadable gaming product called Old School Hack is doing its best to introduce a streamlined, D&D-like RPG experience to a new generation of players. “A hack of a hack of the original Red Box version of a certain popular hack-and-slash fantasy game,” is what the folks say about their wee little product. Old School Hack also won the best free product “gold” award at Gen Con’s ENnies, the game industry’s version of the Oscars/Emmys. I applaud Kirin Robinson, the man behind OSH, who humbly notes, “I’m certainly not any sort of professional game designer, just another hobbyist looking to put together a fun game.

Check out the full story. The D&D documentary I'd posted about a while back is also mentioned in the article. They've set up a Facebook page for fans to follow along and give feedback.

Should higher AC be an even bigger encumbrance?

2011-07-29T12:00:00.003-05:00

I'm sure I'm not the first to pose this question, but a new study aimed at quantifying the physical strain and exertion of armored medieval knights might shed some light. Researchers from the University of Leeds outfitted test subjects with heavy armor and ran them through a battery of tests, the most telling of which was the treadmill. From io9.com:

Donning these replica suits — which were modeled on the armor of a 15th century London sheriff named William Martyn — forced the volunteers to expend approximately twice the amount of energy when engaging in cardiovascular activity.

After physiologist Graham Askew of the University of Leeds monitored the mail-bedecked volunteers trudging and jogging on treadmills, the researchers discovered that wearing the armor resulted in volunteers using 1.9 times more energy while running and 2.3 times more while walking.

Emphasis mine. It goes on to say the researchers would like to test out different types of armor, but the verdict seems written on the wall--heavy stuff is HEAVY!

Given these findings, should encumbrance be further modified? Should there be a minimum Strength score to even WEAR certain types of armor? (Some games already do this, yes?). Get your fighters back to the gym!

Check out the full article.

Avengers "teaser-of-a-teaser" trailer now out

2011-07-28T21:54:00.021-05:00

So this new teaser trailer is really a few smatterings of a the longer teaser that appears at the end of Captain America. If you want to see the full length version, plan on staying after the credits when you see Cap in theaters.

Here's a peek at Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk and Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton (Hawkeye):

BTW, the new Cappy film is shield-wielding-tastic and worth the full-price of admission, IMHO.

Avengers Teaser Poster Assembled!

2011-07-25T09:49:00.000-05:00

click to embiggen a whoooole lot!

Important items about the Avengers film:

Avengers teaser poster has been released, click to see the new team in all their glory.
Go see Captain America. Not only is it one heck of an action flick, it has the trailer for Avengers after the credits.
While there's no Henry "Hank" Pym (aka Ant Man, aka Giant Man, aka...) or Janet "the Wasp" Van Dyne, I'm pretty pleased with the inclusion of Black Widow and Hawkeye who are not only more believable (at this point) but their roles are well cast. Now if we could just get to putting the Vision in the second Avengers I'll be a happy nerd. C'mon Marvel, it's easy--just introduce Pym at the end of Avengers working on Ultron....
The Avengers are awesome...but you already knew that.

HELP! Any Wikipedia Editors Out There?

2011-07-14T18:35:00.000-05:00

Looks like the D&D Simulacrums page is scheduled for merger with--I'm not sure what. But the users on that page are saying it doesn't deserve it's own page. To be clear, this is the page that explains what retro-clones, etc. are.

I'm not adept enough to get in there and discuss--is there an experience Wikipedia editor out there in the OSR that can intervene?

It's important that the OSR and related movements have some solid article there to explain these games. This page sets up the reasoning for Swords & Wizardry, Labyrinth Lord, X-plorers, Mutant Future, and more.

Here's the discussion page

John Carter Trailer!

2011-07-14T11:00:00.003-05:00

Thoughts?

D&D Documentary Set for 40th Anniversary

2011-07-13T09:55:00.003-05:00

Looks like there's a D&D documentary in the works, set to debut in 2013 on the history of the game. From the Examiner:

Dungeons & Dragons: A Documentary will be a definitive look at the game Dungeons & Dragons, its history, appeal and effect. A game like no other, with influences far-reaching and subtle. A feature length film, shot on HD video.

There's not much more info at this point--including whether or not this is an official project of Wizards (it doesn't look like it). That may be a strong point since they'd likely provide a more balanced look. However, a solely independent project could possibly have issues getting access. I wonder if they'll be able to incorporate any interviews from Gary or Dave before they passed. Stay tuned on this one.

The full Examiner article.

Props to Geekdad

Sendak and Tolkien: "The Hobbit" that never was

2011-07-08T00:46:00.000-05:00

Image: Maurice Sendak/Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Yale University, via LA Times

There's been much ado about dwarves recently with the latest image to come out of Peter Jackson's version of the Hobbit. I stumbled upon this amazing article from the LA Times (back in March) on an abandoned project by beloved children's book author/illustrator Maurice Sendak and Lord of the Rings himself. From the article:

If you look closely, you will discover a master at work in the art of subtlety: Notice the heavy crosshatching used to weigh down a world-weary Gandalf contrasted with the open, airy line work that renders the jovial Bilbo. These depictions speak in an artistic conversation that has been ongoing for centuries, yet they are immediate and approachable by the child of today.

As Sendak noted passages for possible illustration and sketched in the margins of his copy of the book, the publisher prepared the art samples for Tolkien’s approval. The editor mislabeled the samples, however, identifying the wood-elves as “hobbits,” as Sendak recalled to Maguire. This blunder nettled Tolkien. His reply was that Sendak had not read the book closely and did not know what a hobbit was. Consequently, Tolkien did not approve the drawings. Sendak was furious.

Read the rest of the article to get the full story.

I find this fascinating and heartbreaking all at once. Sendak's art is vibrant and original and his interpretation may have defined fantasy for a generation had it made it to publication. Sadly, where the wild things are not is Middle Earth.

What do you think?

X-plorer Box Sets are Going...Going...

2011-07-03T14:00:00.004-05:00

If you're planning to pick up the X-plorers Box Set, now is the time. It's gone by tomorrow--and only a limited edition has been printed.

So swing on over to Brave Halfling and get yours!

Fantasy/Sci-Fi Con in the Twin Cities this Weekend

2011-06-30T16:19:00.001-05:00

Man, I'm totally slipping! Somehow this one got by me--but there's still time: Convergence Con sci-fi/fantasy gaming/comic/local celebrity extravaganza is is going on this weekend. It started today and runs through Sunday, so if you're within driving distance set your booster to maximum power out and get out here! Stat block:

What: The four-day annual convention for fans of science fiction and fantasy, with celebrity guests, film screenings, live music, a masquerade ball and themed party rooms
When: Thu.-Sun 6/30-7/3
Where: Sheraton Bloomington Hotel, 7800 Normandale Blvd., Bloomington
Registration: $80
Web: www.convergence-con.org

Event Programming
In addition to the usual (artist alley, gaming, nerd movies, silent auctions, costume contests) the program schedule includes some real gems like "I'm Your GM, Not Your Therapist" and "Elaborate Death Traps and Why They Never Work" so you know you're definitely getting your money's worth.

More Info
Local zine Vita.MN did a great article about local musician Jeremy Messersmith's D&D game. They also did a nice de-coding guide for newbies and non-nerds so you can just send it to your significant other without further explanation and they'll instantly speak your lingo/encourage you to attend. (Kidding! Like that would be possible....).

Anyway, my birthday is tomorrow so I'll check it out this weekend as a present to myself. :)

Reposted from Exonauts

Layoffs at Wizards of the Coast R&D Dept.

2011-06-26T13:53:00.000-05:00

If you haven't heard, Wizards of the Coast has laid off several of their creative/R&D staff--among the departures is Bill Slavicseck, head of the dept. From the posts I've read, it's not yet clear if he left of his own accord or not. He's married to Michelle Carter, another designer who was laid off. So he may have simply left in solidarity.

In any case, this is huge news--whether you enjoy D&D 4E or not. On the one hand, there's speculation that there's a re-evaluation of the older editions and what made them so popular (and therby, what led to the attrition of older players from the new ruleset). On the other hand, there's the rumor that Hasbro is really putting D&D on the path to boardgame-dom.

Now, I'm a fan of D&D translated into board games--for their own sake. But it's primary purpose is as a role-playing game. You may say to yourself, "I don't care about 4E" but the truth is that Wizards is the Big Kahuna when it comes to publishing RPGs and there's just no getting around the fact that this will have ripples throughout the industry.

I also wonder if any of this is fall out from Wizards losing the Star Wars license or their decision to drop their pre-painted plastic miniatures line. In the last year, Hasbro also stopped producing the popular Heroscape miniatures strategy game. And let's not forget that Wizards had already stopped supporting their OWN miniatures game rules before that.

I guess we'll have to wait and see what Wizards does next and how it will effect the rest of the RPG community--for better or worse. (Let's hope, for the eventual better!)

Rumors and speculation at the Acaeum
Props to Chuck over at Design Notes for the heads up

Science Fantasy Matinee: Masters of the Universe

2011-06-25T17:06:00.000-05:00

It occurred to me that we could use a break from the previous two memorium posts. Here's a little fun to brighten up your Saturday: the original Masters of the Universe movie trailer. Also known as "all of the good parts". Enjoy!

P.S. Did you know that He-Man was a Fulbright Scholar?

Comic Virtuoso Gene Colan is Gone

2011-06-24T10:07:00.000-05:00

The news is making the rounds now that comics artists extraordinaire is gone. This is the guy who redefined Dracula for comic books for Marvel. He took Iron Man to new adventures. He gave the Avengers a hell of a time.

We'll miss you Gene.

Gene's blog
Newsarama article
Wash Post notice

Land for Gygax Memorial Approved

2011-06-20T09:13:00.004-05:00

So it appears that the Great One will in fact get his statue--whatever shape it may take--in Donian Park in Lake Geneva, WI. From the memorial's website:

Here's a section of the City of Lake Geneva Board of Park Commissioners meeting minutes from Janurary 5th, 2011:

Gygax Memorial-

Library Park was added to the application so that it reads both Donian Park and Library Park as a potential place for a monument. The design would include a castle turret with a bust on top and possibly have a dragon wrapped around the turret. A motion was made by the Mayor to approve the site in Donian Park, south of the walkway, on the southeast corner of Mill Creek. The footprint is not to exceed 10 feet by 10 feet. This was seconded by Phillips. Added to the motion was that Gygax should bring a detailed map to bring to the Council as well as a detailed statue design to come back to the Park Board for approval. Motion passed unanimously.

Location and design are still TBD, but this is a pretty big milestone (no pun intended). I've yet to locate the park on a city map--everything so far seems to lead to a generic map of the city. I did however find this video by Gail Gygax with what looks to be a design for the memorial once this step of getting the space approved was completed. Curiously she also references plans for future game projects. I have no idea if this has already been bandied about the interwebs (I'm sure it has) but it was new to me.

Anyway, what do you think of the plans?

Full details.
Props to Boing Boing

Science Fantasy Inspiration: Eternia 2.0

2011-06-16T03:49:00.006-05:00

If I ever do get around to actually doing something about my long-pined for, but languishing Masters of the Universe setting ideas for Marvel Supes, I've found a few places to go for creative ebullience. My original thought was to go all Kirby-esque (which still greatly appeals to me) but I can't help but consider these dark and wild aesthetics:

This first one is by the legendary space exploration illustrator Chesley Bonestell. He did the film posters for War of the Worlds and Destination Moon. I like his NASA-era stuff, but I love this one that strays from his usual material. I love the idea of Castle Greyskull as a pyramid.

Following that train of thought, here's a nifty take on the Sorceress, sort of like Marvel's Eternity meets Nefertiti:

I believe that's a t-shirt design, FYI.

Next are a few Skelator concepts, I apologize I'm not sure who the illustrators are:

Or maybe we pump Skely up so he can stand big toe-to-big-toe with He-man...

This cover by Mike Hoffman, for me, defines Evil-Lyn. She should totally be a slinky, remorseless space sorceress. And is that Skelator in the corner? Et tu Brute!

And perhaps Teela became the Serpent Goddess from doing away with the last one:

Doesn't seem quite sci-fi enough, hmm...

That's better.

MoTU needs more ladies and I like the idea of swapping roles. I give you Duncanna, Lady-At-Arms:

Merman on the other hand can only go one direction--slimy:

Actually, I rather like the Monster Squad rendition:

Can't quite picture He-Man yet. I want something more sci-fi. Blonde Conan isn't quite enough. I'm going to have to go with the original space barbarian:

There's plenty more in the Frazetta tribute I did. A few that I think put me in the right frame-of-mind. These guys make for great snakemen and He-Man in a space helmet with a ray gun would be pretty nifty:

Even Carter's origin still works--super strength, leaping, and endurance granted due to the stronger gravity on his home planet. The sword of Greyskull is sort like that crystal chamber in Superman II that took away Kal-el's powers, switching him back and forth from Prince Adam to He-dude.

Just some thoughts....

X-plorers retro, sci-fi RPG now as a BOX SET!

2011-06-10T01:57:00.000-05:00

Just look at that beautiful black and white box set cover!

It's here! I had a lot of fun working on this with Bill and John. I've got a detailed post over at Exonauts, or you can just go order one now.

Enjoy!

Three great projects you should know about!

2011-06-01T14:10:00.005-05:00

I'm always impressed by creative passion projects in the geekscape. Here's a few links to a few wonderful efforts...

Yog-Blogsoth!
Some of you are already aware of Michael Bukowski and his quest to illustrate every single monstrosity in the Lovecraftian pantheon. But just in case you were itching for some weird horror beasties in your next game and needed inspiration, have a gander. Hat tip to Boing Boing.

Kids Dungeon Adventure!

Here's another fun one by Ben Garvey who's created a dungeon-crawling game using blocks and paper minis for his pre-schoolers to learn the art of the delve. He's also got a great blog named for the game called Kids Dungeon Adventure. Wired did a fine article on it back in March. FTA:

The game’s adventure framework, which is heavy on reward and achievement, is well thought out and allows plenty of room for creativity. Garvey has some wonderful suggestions for treasure and how it affects gameplay. The monsters on the cards he has created are very kid appropriate and, with a little Photoshop work, could be customized to reflect your home and family.

Though not a wargame, it has at least ancestral ties perhaps to H.G. Wells' Floor Games. I think there's a minimal cost associated with the game, but it might be enough to give you ideas of your own.

UPDATE: here's a few other case studies about getting kids interested in RPGs: Simplifying D&D (You know, for kids?) and How to Introduce a Kid to D&D Before He Goes Into Surgery both great articles from Wired's Geekdad blog.

Age of Fable Dungeon Generator!
Finally, if you're looking to stock a dungeon in a hurry, here's a nicely done auto-generator for a campaign (?) called Age of Fable. I can't recall where I found this (somebody remind me in the comments if it was you) but it's got some great resources for pen+paper games. Not only can you generate maps, but also stock and stats plus adventure hooks. Comes in two flavors: one for Tunnels & Trolls and another Labyrinth Lord/Mutant Future. Find additional resources as well.

Enjoy!

Did I mention Herculoids will be on DVD June 14?

2011-05-31T21:01:00.001-05:00

Perhaps you didn't see my post on Exonauts. Perhaps you thought I was kidding when I said I'd repost this on just about every blog I have. HERCULOIDS ON DVD PEOPLE! Laser dragons! Rock Apes! Rhinoceratopses! Slingshot wielding barbarians! Shape-shifting shmooes! Because the world needs more science fantasy cartoons filled with Alex Toth designed characters.

Pre-order the complete series or order on Tuesday, June 14!! Relevant promotional copy from Warner Bros.:

Somewhere out in deep space – and out of the creative imagination of the animation aces of Hanna-Barbera Studios – live the Herculoids. Humanoid Zandor, along with his wife Tara and son Dorno, lead a group of unique creatures: Zok the flying dragon, powerful simian Igoo (who possesses rock-like skin), rhinoceros hybrid Tundro and two protoplasmic wonders appropriately named Gloop and Gleep. Together, they use their diverse super strengths to defend their utopian planet against attack from such sinister invaders as the Pod Creatures, the Reptons and the Mutoids. For all-family entertainment, this 18-Episode, 2-Disc Collection of The Herculoid: The Complete Original Animated Series is out of this world, literally.

It's a "manufacture-on-demand" set from WB, which, kinda stinks because the price is set firmly at $29 without extras. The upside though is clean prints of the entire series. Frankly, this is the only way you're gonna get an official set. So don't go out for lunch this pay period and you can stop watching crappy Boomerang uploads on YouTube or (ahem) those other DVDs you came across....

Relevant Herculoids awesomeness:

AD&D Herculoids write-ups
Herculoids for the uninitiated (seriously, how could you not know?)
Pick up Thundarr too, if you don't already have it!

/so awesome, it's getting re-posted on Gamma World War and Exonauts.

Wizkids to produce Pathfinder pre-painted miniatures

2011-05-27T20:19:00.001-05:00

Pathfinder's Kyra the Cleric done-up in plastic

And so it begins. Back in January D&D publisher Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro quietly announced that it was discontinuing it's popular pre-painted plastic miniatures, leaving the field wide open for new takers to pick up where Wizards left off.

Enter Wizkids Games: makers of the highly collectible and widely appealing Heroclix miniature games (and their parent company Neca Toys). Announced earlier this week, Wizkids will be launching a new line of pre-paints for Paizo's Pathfinder RPG.

The minis will be all new scuplts of Pathfinder RPG characters and monsters. Now I know what you're thinking, "What about Reaper? Don't they have the Pathfinder license to produce metal minis?"

Yup. And according to Paizo and Wizkids, that's not going to change. It seems there's a market for both metal and plastic minis. I'm inclined to agree since each seems to fit different gaming purposes and even different target audiences (though many gamers collect both).

I think this is a good thing, possibly a GREAT thing. In fact the first release is slated to be a box set (magic words!) in October. From the horse's mouth:

“WizKids essentially created the pre-painted plastic miniatures category, and they’ve only gotten better in the years since,” said Paizo CEO Lisa Stevens. “We are thrilled to work with WizKids to bring our iconic characters to tabletops all over the world.”

Pathfinder RPG Beginner Box pre-painted fantasy miniatures will be available at paizo.com and through WizKids distribution partners worldwide starting in the fourth quarter of 2011.

If anyone is set up to be the next Big Mini on Campus, it's Wizkids. First, they they've obviously got the manufacturing and distribution channels to make a stake a serious claim. Any toy/game company will tell you that having partnerships overseas with plastics companies is essential to keeping product affordable.You've got two indy toy companies who've had to be scrappy contenders in a very competitive field.

Second, they've improved their products over the years. If you look at their early minis from the Mage Knight line the paint apps were not great--passable in most cases--but more recent lines are much cleaner, sculpts are tighter, and consistently so.

Third, they're fighters. They survived a previous shutdown and not one but TWO bu- outs--one with Topps and the current one with Neca. Now with Neca's grounding they've re-emerged, released several lines--the most recent two of which have sold out to retailers. Plus they've diversified into new products with their original Quarriors game and now have licenses with Star Trek and Lord of the Rings. Keep an eye on those last two properties: ST2 and the Hobbit are gearing up in Hollywood and families will be looking for games that can extend the experience.

In short, I think Wizkids is a great company and I'm glad to hear that they've thrown their hat into the ring with this new direction. With the makers of D&D now out of the mini gaming business, I'm curious to see how Wizkids will step up.

What's your take?

Official announcements:

Enter the Dragon: Mini Documentary on RPGers

2011-05-17T17:12:00.000-05:00

Geek Ambassador and Grand Dungeon Master Wil Wheaton posted a short video documentary called Enter the Dragon by Roshan Murthy on RPGs and gamers. Have a look!

Fantastic Masters of the Universe Art!

2011-05-16T19:46:00.002-05:00

Monster Brains has posted a He-sized gallery of Masters of the Universe paintings from the "classic era" of He-man and co. that were used over the years to promote the toys and TV show. Here's a few of the more sword and sorcery-esque pieces (or just stuff I prefer out of the batch!). Click to embiggen.

Good inspiration for space wizards and far future barbarians!

Is this a new Dungeon! board game?

2011-05-13T12:58:00.003-05:00

Heir to Dungeon!?

Now I'm not certain, but this sorta' looks like Wizards of the Coast is looking to release the heir-apparent of the old Dungeon! board game from way back when. In case you were living under a drawbridge, you likely already know that about a year ago Wizards launched a new series of board games based on the 4E D&D system: Castle Ravenloft, Wrath of Ashardalon, and the forthcoming Legend of Drizzt.

Full disclosure: I own the Ravenloft game and it's quite fun (once you mind-read your way through the obtusely written rulebook). The three games have compatible but different components (dungeon tiles, player and monster pieces) so that you can mix and match an adventure of your own creation.

Enter Dungeon of Dread, which seems to not be based on the RPG directly, but rather an even more basic set of rules. At least it appears that way at first glance (more on that in a second). I'm not yet sure how "Dread" fits into the whole Wizard's playbook. The old Dungeon! game was a way to get families to have fun playing a swords and sorcery adventure game without having to learn all those bothersome RPG rules. It was a quick and easy game to learn that was part entry-product to the world of TSR Hobbies, and part "yeah, we realize you may not like RPGs but would you play this?".

As I've said before, I'm a huge fan of the old Dungeon! game, it having performed exactly what its makers set out to do--to get me interested. The ancestral connection seems even more apparent with the artwork playing tacit homage to Jeff Roslof's wonderfully evocative cover art for the game:

This new entry seems to play that part, but it's not clear yet if it's meant to be compatible with the more expensive and expansive sets, or really is the "kiddie wheels" version. Here's a brief description from Wizard's site as it stands today*:

Dungeon of Dread
D&D Boardgame
RPG Staff

Fantastic treasure lies deep within the Dungeon of Dread, but to find it you must survive a deadly gauntlet. Heroes band together to form adventuring parties and face off against monsters and villains in the dungeon—but the adventure doesn't end there!

Dungeon of Dread is an exciting, cooperative board game experience in which heroes unite in battle to achieve a common goal and defeat the enemies standing in their way. If they succeed, glory and fortune will be theirs for the taking. If they fail, all could be lost!

This cooperative board game experience is designed for 2-5 players, ages 10 and up. One player is the Dungeon Master who runs the villains and monsters; the remaining players are the heroes. The game includes 4 adventures, each one featuring a unique villain.

This game includes the following components:
Game board
Pawns for heroes, villains, and monsters
Hero and villain character sheets
Deck of 100 cards
Dice

Now the original Dungeon! was a player-vs.-player game where you basically "cleared" rooms of monsters in an effort to accumulate a certain level of treasure (e.g., 30,000 gold pieces) and race back to the start to win the game. This version makes it clear that it's a cooperative game (much like the RPG) and that there are "adventures" (styled after modules with end-goals in mind).

This would make it appear to be more RPG focused, but just without the extra accessories. (Ravenloft, et al, has a TON of miniatures, game pieces, tiles, etc.).

Honestly, I'd rather have a new rendition of Dungeon! that played more like the original (an update would be fine by me too) than a Slim-fast version of the 4E games. Which, honestly, seems like an entirely disposable product. Is it really all about being able to offer a cheaper price point and shelf spot?

Here's another piece of evidence that the game is more 4E centric, as noted on Amazon's pre-order page:

Dungeon of Dread: A Dungeons & Dragons Board Game (4th Edition D&D)

(Red text is my emphasis.) It should be noted that this extended title is not on the WotC site, and perhaps it's a mistake anyway.

In any case, it's just interesting to see the past repeating itself. As to whether the game is any fun? Time will tell I suppose--it's set to release December 13, 2011.

Links:

Dungeon! on Boardgame Geek (there are several editions)
Dungeon of Dread at Amazon
Dungeon of Dread at Wizards of the Coast

*WotC has a way of revising their pages that sometimes makes it hard to track how a product has changed.

Notes on Geomancy and Other Earthen Magic

2011-03-09T02:22:00.004-06:00

I've been leafing through some old moleskine entries I'd written about a class of earth-based magic users. That is to say the focus is on actual earth material (e.g., rock, soil, sand, mud, pyroclastic flows, molten crust, etc.) not organic, per se. I expect that there's already plenty of other material out there covering this territory, but it was a fun little exercise.

Following are some thoughts I had on possible directions for this sub-class, which I'd liken to being an elementalist. I found an entry on Wikipedia on Geomancy and that set me off running. I'd tied some of the spells to constitution as I pictured the strain under which the caster would be to rile, rip, or rend geologic matter into doing her or his bidding. These are just rough notes so no lengthy descriptions or stats.

Geomancy (divination)
Geomancy is a form of divination and shamanism using earthen substances.

Detect Earth (allows caster to scan or sense what type of rock, soil, sand, etc. is present. Consequently, this would also allow user to detect water or at least where pockets may be)
Geomortis/Fossilspeak (commune with the dead and buried--even fossils from millions of years ago--to see the long past)
Sensestep (detect and determine the maker of any footstep, their direction, relative size and physicality, and state-of-mind when the step was made)
Dunewhishper (hear the plotting of enemies from moderate distances through sand grains blown in highly arid or dusty conditions)

Quartz Caller
A quartz caller is able to summon the energies in crystals, which act as conduits and even amplifiers for ley line energy. The practice takes enormous discipline and physical constitution to pull the energy from the crystals.Most of these have more of a psychic quality to them.

Crystal to Crystal Clairvoyance (live transmission of sight and sound)
Teleportation (from one embedded crystal to another, the further away the higher the constitution required)
Life leech (sap hit points to charge crystals which can be used to give bonuses to other spells)
Animate Dead (using the crystals to broadcast a re-animation spell or to act as puppeteer over the dead--there is no turning of these undead as their state is not derived from a cursed magic; each dead must have a crystal jammed into the corpse in order to be activated)
Mindblindness (the crystals can be activated to act as a massive psionic energy generator that "overloads" any targets that fail an intelligence check similar to an EMP, victims rendered mentally blind (as in no sight or psionic connection) though their eyes will be unharmed)
Vibrobomb (crystals can be made to vibrate a high, ringing tone similar to wine glass rim that will render victims in blast area temporarily deaf)
Seems like there should also be a light source spell also for this subspecialty

Magnetrobe
These shapers of electromagnetic energies are masters of all that's magnetic--or that which can be magnetized made so.

Detect Magnetism (self explanatory)
Magnetokinesis (move metal objects through magnetic fields, similar to telekinesis)
Coilbolt (by using copper coiled bracers, user can amplify fields to create a bolt of electricity that can be hurled at a target or contained between both hands for a stun-touch effect; full coil armor would allow the wearer to levitate
Ferrodominus (summon, pulverize, heat, bend, and shape raw ore)

Volcanny
Practitioners of volcanny are deadly, near-forces of nature. The toll on constitution is high and requires complete dedication (minus charisma for every constitution score above 11)

Detect Magma (sense the nearness of subterranean rivers of molten earth and their relative speed, temperature, and general consistency)
Porous Earth (ability to call magma--soon to be lava--to burst forth in weak spots in the ground, size of geyser is relative to constitution)
Shape Lava (rough to fine control over lava flow, from hot rivers of fire to thread-thin searing glass)
Pyroclasty (rough to fine control over pyroclastic clouds (hot volcanic ash and mud) to incinerate, suffocate, or encase targets
Seismic Shudder (give enemies a good scare by initiating a rumbler underfoot)

Geomason

Diamond Finger (drill or carve any stone, dexterity would play a part in how fine a touch or complex the design)
Stone Rolling (roll, slide, tumble, and stack large boulders and monoliths into place; quite loud so no bonuses on initiative)
Dynalithicate (explode boulders into a fine powder)
Pebblecross (weave a temporary but sturdy bridge of fieldstone to ford a river or other barrier, can be made permanent if mortarfy is known)
Mortarfy (liquefy harder earth matter into a mortar substance that can be controlled telekinetically and shaped and quickly hardened)
Abrasia (create a cone of sandblasting to smooth or erode any surface, or rend flesh from bone)
Castlecasting (telekinetic construction of a stone structure, requiring massive concentration in order to piece together each part of the "puzzle"; constitution and intelligence can be no lower than 14; all previous Geomason spells must be level 3 or higher before this can be attempted)

Some thoughts anyway...

R.I.P. D&D Minis 2003-2010

2011-01-12T22:49:00.011-06:00

Well it's January and that means that Wizards of the Coast has to dump an under-supported and product line. The D&D line of pre-painted miniatures has officially been given the pink slip. Posted today on WotC's website--buried innocuously under the fifth heading "D&D RPG Product Release Updates":

Despite the best laid plans, sometimes we make changes to the D&D product release schedule. Usually this happens well before we’ve communicated our plans, but sometimes we must make changes to schedules that have already been announced. That happens to be the case we have here.

We have made the decision to depart from pre-painted plastic miniatures sets. Lords of Madness stands as the final release under that model. We will continue to release special collector’s sets (such as the Beholder Collector’s Set we released last fall), as well as make use of plastic figures in other product offerings. Check out the Wrath of Ashardalon board game next month for the latest example of this. Moving forward, we will continue to explore more options for players to represent characters and monsters on the tabletop, including Monster Vault and other D&D products that feature monster and character tokens.

I'm not at all surprised, as Wizards had already begun cutting back on releases and switching to cardstock tokens in all of their boxed 4E products (i.e., Gamma World, Monster Vault, etc.). While these were fine for boxed sets, the loss of the pre-painted minis is disappointing as Wizards was by far the largest producer of this cheap option for minis.

In addition, last fall, Wizard's parent company Hasbro (under the Milton Bradley moniker), stopped production on Heroscape, their constructable, miniature battles board game. The big "H" was watching sales dwindle after they dumped the original time/reality-hopping theme in favor of the almighty D&D. A stunted release of Heroscape under a Marvel Superheroes license led no where as well.

So what's the reason behind the poor sales for all these plastic minis and mini-related games? It's hard to be sure but I'd bet that poor shelf visibility and feeble marketing support are at least partially to blame. Wizards/Hasbro also seems to saturate the market with these products (and yet provide substandard marketing!) and then bail completely, much like the Star Wars RPG debacle in January of last year (Ah! It IS a tradition!).

I myself have bought bunches of the little guys (and some Heroscape stuff too for the scenery), which has been a lot of fun--and affordable for those of us who don't have time/cash to paint and prepare metal minis. While this might be a boon for companies like Reaper and their Legendary Encounters pre-paints, they're not running anywhere near the quantities or variety that WotC had. So there is no real heir-apparent.

Here's hoping the void is eventually filled. And frankly, at this point, I'd be happy to give my hard earned geek bucks to someone else. In the meanwhile, remainder stock will no doubt slowly dwindle from FLGS shelves...

Fixing the Blog...

2011-01-11T11:27:00.002-06:00

I'm working on some formatting issues, pardon any goofiness over the next few days or so. :)

Free D&D Dark Sun Comic Book!

2011-01-10T16:06:00.005-06:00

IDW Comics and Wizards of the Coast have published a free preview of their new D&D Dark Sun comic series. Whether you're a fan of the original setting or the current one, its pretty cool to see Athas getting some love. You get about 10 pages which include several versions of the cover.

Oh, they encourage you to ask your FLGS/FLCS about "A rare playable Module Edition", which I have to hand it to them, sounds like an awesome idea. I wish all comics came with stats!

New Thor Trailer is Full of "Oh, Hell Yes" with a dash of "And Then Some"

2010-12-12T23:08:00.001-06:00

Loving the Kirby helmets and Asgard looks deliciously space-y!

YouTube Fantasy Theater: "Journey Quest"

2010-11-10T14:56:00.000-06:00

I'm a big fan of the new trend in YouTube videos for wacky/fun, fantasy/sci-fi series--the more gonzo/zany, the better since live-action fantasy can rarely be done with a straight face. Favorites like Spellfury and Multinauts come to mind (there's another one that escapes me at the moment....). Add to these, the latest addition in the comedy/fantasy genre: JourneyQuest, about Perf, a cowardly wizard in a yellow pointy hat and his adventuring companions.

The website, as polished as it is, is surprisingly sparse on story info, but the episodes are under 10 minutes long, so it shouldn't take long to get the gist of it.

Enjoy!

Official website: http://www.journey-quest.com/
All episodes on YouTube

Ready, set, roll your save for National Gaming Day!

2010-11-09T14:06:00.005-06:00

So what are you doing this Saturday, November 13? Hopefully getting out to your local library and doing some gaming, because it's National Gaming Day, sponsored by the American Library Association! Board, traditional, and video gamers are invited to find a participating library in their area (link goes to list and map) to join in the event. From the ALA's website:

Libraries will offer a variety of activities throughout the day, including modern board games, traditional games (such as chess and checkers) and two national video game tournaments that will pit players at dozens of libraries against each other for bragging rights to the ultimate Rock Band and Super Smash Bros. Brawl crowns.

Although it doesn't explicitly say RPGs, I'd just like to point out that big, beautiful, blue dodecahedron in the logo. :)

North Star Games, makers of Wits and Wagers is a cosponsor and will be providing copies to libraries to let attendees try out the game. Library supplier DEMCO is also a sponsor.

For more info visit http://ilovelibraries.org/gaming/
Facebook link: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=164751256882566

GAME ON!

/Hat tip to Boing Boing for the news!

Setting the Scene: The Votes are IN!

2010-11-08T18:55:00.002-06:00

Here are the results to the completely unscientific poll I conducted last week regarding how DMs convey setting to their players. The results aren't too surprising given the audience of this blog is heavily weighted towards those who like homebrewing their own campaigns. (If I'm off base, please speak up!). I'm quite surprised though at a few things.

First things first, here are the results (click to enlarge):

Before we go further, it's worth noting that I let people check "all that apply" so there's not a nice round statistic here, but I think that's okay, because I'm really looking for gut reaction.

Imagery Vs. Text

From the looks of it, imagery (10) is the winner over flavor text (8), when taking both original and borrowed sources. Not surprising since imagery has such an immediate effect and is relatively easy to procure.

However, I was surprised that so many people draw/illustrate their own setting. Since I didn't specify (and likely should have) I'm guessing a few people are actually talking about sketching out maps--which is a completely fair assumption. That is, after all, the setting from a spatial perspective.

Were I to ask again, I suspect that there would be greater separation between those who draw their own maps and those who actually draw up characters, monsters, landscapes, etc.

One thing that's not surprising is the number of people who use their own flavor text. I attribute the number of people who bought/borrow text from those who might take to borrowing ideas from comics, pulp stories, and other gaming material. Again, an unscientific assumption, but then it's my unscientific poll and I'm free to misinterpret!

Video and Music

Anyway, at least one person used a movie or video--that's quite brave I'd say since it lends itself to being something so concrete in the mind's eye, but perhaps that was the intended effect. Music also made the chart, I'm guessing that given it's subjectivity, it's likely for atmosphere rather than direct, lyrical reference (but who knows).

Jumping to Conclusions
So apart from painting with broad strokes of big bucket categories, one of the things that got me curious about this question about methods is I think a question about style.

The more I thought on it, the more I wondered how GMs/refs/DMs are able to communicate their imaginings directly to their players. Since RPG games are an exercise in shared imagining, it's fascinating to me how that process takes place. I get that it's part theater, part game, etc. in a very improvisational way, but how much of the referee's imagination is understood. Phrases like "she's holding a ysalamiri so you can't do that" only work if I tell the players what a ysalamiri is or how it effects the players and/or environ. (And yes, that's a hokey example, but you get the idea.)

Sci-fi More High Maintenance?
I'm also willing to venture that sci-fi settings likely need a little more explanation since fantasy (not always, but often) has that whole mythological collective consciousness going for it, which means most people who paid attention in grade school readings are going to get the references. Science fiction can entail everything from how a tiny planet has small gravity, to try to explain how a tidally locked world might effect the local wildlife.

I'm guessing it's not too wild to guess that this is why play reports are many times dullsville. Unless all the readers have been following along, a recap post can come off as complete malarkey. A gap in understanding can lead to a deficit in interest--and hopefully, not also attention in players.

Thoughts? Rude gestures? "No duhs"?

Still Time to Vote!

2010-11-07T23:07:00.001-06:00

Last week I posted a poll asking how DMs convey their settings to players (using pictures, music, etc.). I'd sort of wondered out-loud over at Swords of Minaria what techniques referees employ in order to help their players "get" their references during play.

Poll ends at 8:00 p.m. (CST), Monday so get your votes in now!

POLL: How do you flavor your settings?

2010-11-02T16:24:00.001-05:00

Evan over at Swords of Minaria, has a nice post on using actual historic locations as campaign settings rather than fashioning one. The benefit is saving yourself a lot of work in the process (other than research of course).

I myself love both (research and the creative part) but I certainly get how time consuming world building is. What got my brain ticking was Scott's comment about how he'll pull key elements out of historical and fictional sources to build something new--something, I'm guessing, most DMs and GMs do.

So here's my question: How do your players "get" the references you use to create your homebrew setting? In other words do the players recognize that you taken something from a historical culture, pulp comic book character, etc.? If you mix Vikings and Aztecs--do people get it's a mix of those two civilizations? Or is it all in the DM's brain?

Do you use illustrations? Are they borrowed of the interwebs? Are they original (yours or do you request from a friend) because there is no drawing of a high-ranking warlord with Viking/Aztec aesthetics?

Do you say "this looks like... (the rock formations at Cappadocia, a fire hydrant, a back alley in Tokyo's red light district) when describing to players?

Or are your players "up" on all your references and they just get what you're saying?

Since RPGs are a collective/shared imagination game--how obvious is it to the players about what influences are in the referee's brain? Does it take them out of the situation if you're constantly referencing things in the real world?

It boils down to this: how much work do you do at the table to bring the setting to life?

I set up a poll at the top, right column to see what's most popular, but I'd also like to entertain comments.

Storming Ravenloft on Halloween!

2010-10-31T23:58:00.014-05:00

Finally got to break out my break out my new Castle Ravenloft board game! What better way to celebrate Halloween than staking some vamps and turning the undead. Hope you all had some festive fun with your favorite ghouls!

Happy Halloween!

Terry Pratchet Knighted, Forges Own +1 Sword from Meteorite

2010-09-20T12:42:00.006-05:00

Image: Associated Press

Seriously, you cannot get more baddass fantasy than making your own magic sword! Pratchett was recently knighted by the Queen (Helloooooo! Wait, that's Julia Child, nevermind) and to commemorate the event he MADE HIS OWN SWORD From news.com.au (really, that's your website's name? Okay, fine.)...

Pratchett, believing the sword would not truly be his own unless it was made from metal he had produced, found a field with deposits of iron ore near his home in Wiltshire, west of London. He gathered the deposits and smelted the iron ore himself.

But wait, it gets better:

Pratchett, who has Alzheimer's disease, also said he had thrown in "several pieces of meteorites — thunderbolt iron, you see — highly magical, you’ve got to chuck that stuff in whether you believe in it or not".

Read the whole, completely true and awesome story.

Image: Associated Press

Congrats Sir Pratchett!

/Hat tip to Boing Boing.

Recent OSR sightings at my FLGS and other musings

2010-09-12T22:33:00.002-05:00

Here in the Twin Cities, the OSR is alive and well--if not a little slow to get to my FLGS, Source Comics and Games. Here's a few finds over the last few weeks. Saw this one today:

Core rules baby!

This is the first time Swords and Wizardry has made it to the Source (I'm pretty sure anyway, I've been keeping my eyes peeled for a while). There have been a few Labyrinth Lord products for sale (like the time I saw a few copies of the Advanced Edition Companion), and they are always snapped up in a week--and for some reason never reordered again. While some of the crew at the Source are hip to the OSR, most staff seem to be down on the "clones". This isn't surprising considering the store is a 4E selling machine:

You should see the dice!

That's just a sign--not a box! And yes, it's an extremely cool sign, but still. 4E of course has tons of events to support it like the weekly D&D Encounters, the Annual D&D Day, and it looks as though they're starting up a D&D Essentials event (not sure if that's regular or not--but they were asking for DMs to sign up).

A few weeks ago I was pleasantly surprised to see this pop up for sale:

Has anyone played Sorcery and Super Science yet? I'd be interested to know. That's gone too now. Expeditious Retreat seems to show up on shelves more often, but again, the same products never appear twice. I'm beginning to think the store isn't keen on smaller, indy publishers.

In the last five years, the Source has held a handful of indy comic creator events--but never one for game publishers. There's several local game houses in the area--some smaller like Atlas Games, some larger like Fantasy Flight. But there's not been an event to celebrate or promote the start-up or even local game scene. Part of the reason for this might be that FF has opened it's own store a mere 3 miles/8-minute drive away, and the Source still sells a lot of FF inventory. To be honest, I don't know the reason.

Well it is good to see that the OSR is represented, and heartening to know that when products are sold, they disappear quickly. But it would be nice to see a them be treated with a little more staying power to help enhance their impact.

Brave Halfling Sale on Whitebox S&W 5-Player Set

2010-08-03T02:30:00.000-05:00

Click to view larger photo

Thought I'd spread the word that John Adams over at Brave Halfling Publishing is having a sale on a special version of the Whitebox set. This "Referee set" for Swords and Wizardry is like an instant game out of the box for up to FIVE gamers to get started!

The following excerpted text relays the details:

Each Set Includes:

A 6″ x 9″ Game Box (With a new sticker on the bottom of the box – see picture)
A complete Set of Rule Booklets for the Referee and enough extra Character & Spells Booklets for four more players! That’s 5 Character, 3 Spell, 1 Monster and 1 Treasures Booklets in all! These booklets contain the new WhiteBox logo that will be on booklets from now on (but are not on any of the previous rule booklets – see picture)
A copy of Jimm Johnson’s Adventure, “The Vile Worm of the Eldritch Oak” (with a card stock cover)
A digest-sized copy of Matt Finch’s, “Quick Primer for Old-School Gaming”
A pad of 25 digest-sized character sheets
A pad of 25 digest-sized graph paper sheets
Set of polyhedral dice
And a pencil

This is a limited run--so if you're looking to recruit players (or finally convert your buddies to a retro-clone) this is the time to do it!

Doctor Spektor Anthology in October, Mighty Samson in September

2010-07-16T14:42:00.003-05:00

I'm not super familiar with this guy, but there's quite a buzz going on over at Grognardia about pop culture influences on the cleric class. Then I was over at Dark Horse comics rifling though the upcoming releases for Flash Gordon and saw their upcoming Doctor Spektor hardcover and it seemed like fate! Spektor will be out before Halloween in time to repel the forces of evil. Here's the cover and details:

Release date: October 13, 2010
Full color
200 pages
Hard cover
7" x 10"

I saw this earlier when I discovered Flash Gordon comics from the 40s-60s are getting their own special hardcover archive. Science-fantasy fans might also go ga-ga over another anthology for Mighty Samson (set in the future?). Here's that cover and info:

Release date: September 22, 2010
Full color
216 pages
Hardcover
7" x 10"

Looks like we're going broke before Christmas this year!

Thor Movie is Going "Kirby"

2010-07-14T11:33:00.001-05:00

I was initially concerned when I heard about Thor. I really hoped they'd be able to pull it off. A terrible TV appearance by Thor in an old Bill Bixby made-for-TV hulk movie had him running around in some ratty tunic with furry shoulder pads.

That's not Thor. Not the Marvel one, anyway. The Thor I wanted to see was Jack Kirby's squarish, shiny-metal armor and squarish-chinned "superman" with a sword--er, hammer. I wanted to see plate-armored gods and sizzling "magic" emanating from what could be some sort of high-alien technology. We just can't be sure....

Asgard was clearly depicted by Kirby as having a strong Sci-Fi influence. It was all nuts-and-bolts, but it worked. And it was all powered by "Kirby Krackle".

And rainbows, apparently--but we bought it, because IT'S IN SPACE!

So, when the film was rumored to be taking shape, I was hoping for a little Kirby influence on the designs. If Marvel was going to truly tell their Thor, it had to have JK's stamp. Ladies and Gentlemen, Jack Kirby would be proud:

I don't think it was at all easy to bring the King's art into the "real world," so I give high marks to Branagh and his crew for deftly walking a very fine line. I'm not even the slightest bit worried about the eyepatch on Odin, or the lack of helmets (hey, you wouldn't wear a heavy helmet indoors either!).

We'll see what the movie has in store, but I'm taking this bit of art direction as a good sign that Kirby's hand is guiding Mjolnir.

Read more at the LA Times.

"Creature" blogs are a Monster-lover's delight!

2010-07-14T00:42:00.003-05:00

If you're looking for the next beastie to stat or just want some visual inspiration to jump start your brain, then you need to check out these two blogs.

Creature Spot, cops to being "the spot for creature art, artists, and fans" and boy is it ever! There's dozens of artists (illustrators, sculptors, and more) who post their latest and greatest. Check out a few choice selections:

Here's a piece by Weta Workshop designer Greg Broadmore who illustrates one of my favorite books.

Emily Fiegenschuh is one of my favorite newer artitsts. She's got a real whimsical style and does a great job giving her creatures a heaping of character.

I first learned of her work on A Practical Guide to Monsters, a really wonderfully illustrated introduction to D&D creatures for youngsters. She's done art for several books in the series.

Oh, and Eli--this one by Brynn Methany's for you!

Next up is RPG Creatures, which...okay, self explanatory. The site is home to illustrator Nicholas Cloister, who posts on Creature Spot, but he's got plenty of his own creepy crawlies to keep his dungeon--er, site, stocked. On his blog, he's even provided stats, so you can stock your own personal dungeons too!

Man, those are some beautiful beasties! Wonderfully moody presentation too. I tried to make sure the artists names were credited in the files names. (Please respect their work and play nice. ;)

DO swing by and check out these two incredible blogs and show them some love!

Finally here: Swords & Wizardry Whitebox Set!

2010-06-22T17:07:00.001-05:00

I'm way over due on this, but I finally received my Swords and Wizardry White Box a little over a week ago. Due to a mix up with the mail it didn't come, but then John, who's a stellar guy BTW, sent a new one and it arrived in good order.

As you can see it's PACKED with great stuff, including some character sheets, the primer guide, and even has an adventure module. The only thing not shown here is the pencil it came with, which, believe it or not, I thought was a great touch!

I've not seen the side box art shown too much on other sites, so I figured I'd show what a wonderful job the artist did. I already have some fantastic minis I'll make part of the set and I plan throwing a copy of Doug Easterly's Savage Swords of Athanor in there too.

Thanks again to Brave Halfling for making this available, I'm looking forward to digging in!

Game Review: Iconicia (The World of Rynaga)

2010-06-10T16:21:00.006-05:00

I don't think I mentioned that I picked up this new game, Iconica, created by graphic designer Eric Torres. I'd read a review a while back on Wired's Geek Dad blog (see the link below for a solid review with more pics). It's a homebrew game strategy game that features gorgeous, original artwork by Torres, as well as a few crunchy block bits and dice.

Wired did such a great job with their coverage that I'd be just repeating most of what they said, but I can speak a bit about my own game session. I'd had it for a few months but Memorial Day weekend presented a great excuse to bust out the game with my pal Joe and take it for test drive.

Highlights of Play

Basically, you build an army (a band of character templates) from three different factions that you use in combat. The starter set gives you enough cards to play three characters in what is essentially your army (read: deck). You play the cards face up and use small wooden cubes to denote certain effects (stun, poison, blindness, etc.) and a health counter. Each character card has six "actions" (1d6) they can perform in the game, but there's a catch!

Character actions are decided by dice, the strategy comes into play by deciding which character you're going to use AFTER the dice are rolled. This might turn some people off, but in fact it's a really interesting dynamic because there are only three actions to choose from...at least in the beginning. Once your army starts to dwindle, the real strategy is in trying to stay alive. The game compensates by allowing dying characters a "final act" of heroism to stave off the reaper and inflict one final blow on your sworn enemies. Or in this case Joe, because he played dirty and blinded, poisoned, and walloped my guys.*

There are enough in-game effects and events that can occur to keep players on their toes. I also enjoy the idea of mixing/matching cards to build your army, which I'd liken to the possible board layouts you can achieve in Settlers of Catan--different cards give your deck unique abilities.

*All three of my characters are poisoned (green cubes next to cards) and the center character is blinded (orange cube on face). The placement of the cubes is as important as their color in Iconica.

Perks and Extras
Our game session was quite long, mainly due to learning the rules, which could use a better tutorial. In the end though, we had a blast, and just look at the beautiful illustration and design by Torres.

The cards are glossy, high-quality cardstock and there's even a few card protectors thrown in for good measure. It's quite clear this game is a labor of love!

It's worth noting that Torres is constantly supporting the game with new character types, illustrations, and he even published a book to describe the setting of Rynaga. The game is relatively inexpensive, which made it really easy to purchase the basic, 2-player set as well as a few expansion cards. Torres has added team rules so more players can join in the fun--I'm looking forward to trying those out as soon as I pick up a few more cards. I also really like supporting a one-man game design operation. Torres sells the game, expansions, and extras on his Etsy site.

For now, I look forward to playing Iconica again, hopefully with more players!

Learn more:
Iconica Blog
Eric's Etsy store
Wired review
Boardgame Geek entry

Just Arrived: Magic Realm!

2010-05-22T11:46:00.000-05:00

It's here! I'd won a copy of Magic Realm on ebay a couple of weeks ago and it finally arrived today. I'd first heard about it on Paladin's blog and after doing some research I considered this a good candidate for helping me convert my board gaming pals to RPGs. I've yet to perform an inventory check, but the ebay listing said it was a "complete" game with all pieces accounted for. I'm actually skeptical of this, because, as you can see, it was not shipped in a box to protect the game, but in brown shipping paper (a big no-no anytime you send collectibles, duh!). Anyway, I'm glad I didn't pay too much for this copy, but it bugs me that the seller was so cavalier/cheap.

I haven't yet decided exactly how to use it: as is or to use the rules and basically create a new setting (like the umpteen that I've been working on already!). I've been chatting with a few veterans on Board Game Geek and I think I'll be using the revised rules, which aren't so much different as much as they explain game play better than the ones that come in the box (so I've been told).

So it's finally here, yay!

Creative Ebullience: Odds and Ends

2010-05-21T02:02:00.004-05:00

Just a quick post while I'm getting caught up with blogging and setting material--I've stumbled upon several kernels of fun/creativity I thought I'd share. It's always good to have some go-to resources to get the gears turning again:

Jeff Rients has an eye for supplemental material, including this 19th Century "Encyclopedia of Useful Facts" to help round out your wild west/steampunk adventures.

While your checking out that free cowpoke book on Project Gutenberg, have a looksee at the Top 100 Books and Top 10 Authors. Everything on the Gutenberg is provided at no cost, but donations are appreciated.

Need template for a pre-historic people for your next campaign? Try the Aurignacians they look ripe for embellishment.

A list of unusual words via Boing Boing. Not meaning to cancatervate links of an inaniloquent nature, but this will help support my own philosophunculist tendencies. Here's hoping that your own ideas dehisce onto the blogpage, as it were.

Also plucked from BB is this Visual Study Guide of Cognitive Biases. Think of it as a manual for designing NPCs, angry mobs, and plot twists.

Okay, many of you already know about Monster Brains, just about the coolest blog anywhere. It's basically a monster manual begging to rolled up with stats. Helpful if you need a to fill a few spawning pools for your creeping hordes.

And finally, this is real dedication: a d1000 random table on spell effects. Don't let the fact that it was written for 4E fool you, there's some good stuff here. It's by in large rules-neutral anyway.

Carry on.

Frank Frazetta is gone

2010-05-10T13:23:00.002-05:00

Famed fantasy illustrator Frank Frazetta has passed away. Here is a small selection of my favorite Frazetta pieces. Show one of yours on a post today in honor of one of the great ones.

We'll miss you Frank.

Building a strategy for converting board gamers into RPG newbies

2010-04-29T19:45:00.005-05:00

I'm hoping to start an RPG campaign for the first time in years, here's the lowdown...

THE SITUATION:
Currently, we're playing Settlers of Catan. I started them on Dungeon! which is great fun, but Catan offered more in the way of complexity and they ate it up. I was a Catan newb as well so it leveled the playing field. Since we started playing last November we've trained 10 newbs who all love the game, and at least three others bought their own copies. Table gaming is where it's at!

THE PLAYERS:
Three players (besides me) have expressed interest and availability. Basically my wife and a couple we know. One of them I've done some D&D Day gaming with at our FLGS. The other is a certified sci-fi fan (we have protracted discussions about "magical realism" in literature. My wife is the wild card: this is like an audition to see if something this freewheeling holds her interest. Catan did, Dungeon! less so.

ME AS GM:
I haven't GM'd since high school. Yeah, talk about stage fright.Written lots of supplementary material,which is really my strength (ideas), but I've never felt strong on mechanics. This is really the bulk of my preparation of late--know the rules and flow of the game really well so I have the flexibility to follow/forget them as needed. Basically get it down so I know what to do next.

THE GAME:
Undecided. I have three players with different interests. I'm currently working on setting and randoms for X-plorers as well as a Masters of the Universe-like setting for Marvel Superheroes. I could also go straight sci-fi, supes, or fantasy to simplify. I'm still feeling them out.

THE SAGES!
While catching up on my blog reading and found the following four posts that I think each offer unique insight. I'm obviously not going to repost their entire (and very thoughtfully written) advice, but here are snippets that struck a chord with me.

1. COVER THE BASES
The Excessive Gamer, who posted about being a "decent GM" and who offers great advice (pulled from his own experience as well as others) on being prepared. Not overly prepared mind you--but there's no harm in getting your act together. I think this is the thing I worry about the most, that I'll not have a way to answer questions quick enough before the yawning commences. Here are a few (poorly paraphrased by myself) points to consider:

Be prepared (2 GM styles: preparers and improvisers, guess which one takes natural talent?)
Timing is everyting (get pacing down--something I struggle with!)
Teen wolf syndrome (achieving balance between players at proper levels)
Don't fall in love with critical results (keep the big picture in mind--avoid off-balancing the entire game with one good or bad result)
Never split the party ('nuff said!)
No one likes the RPG railroad (ditto)
Tool time (rules lawyering)
Wrong guy running the game (man, I hope that's not me!)

It's a lengthy post, but I got quite a bit from it. I know I'll be re-reading a few more times.

2. CHARGEN
When Doug Easterly posted about "Selling a different gaming experience," I don't think he had my exact situation in mind. He was thinking more "old (grog)dogs, new tricks"--that is, convincing veteran RPGers who prefer a particular type of gaming experience due to familiarity. I think there's a great lesson here about getting players on board:

"...character creation in the newer editions has a dual effect. On the one hand, it is an obstacle to just sitting down to play and thus is an obstacle to new players. On the other hand, it is a portion of the game a new player can engage in between games on his or her own, thus is appealing to new players.

Personally, I can do without all the excess work. After years of running Hero System after leaving AD&D, I have had my fill of customizing characters just so, and see the beauty of simpler systems, even class and level systems I once would have lambasted. But I am not so sure it will be easy to get my friends to walk away from newer bells and whistles."

Now this actually gives me hope that: 1.) Less prep/simplicity for players is better--esp. for newbies in my case and 2.) Be wary of letting them spend too much time customizing. In one of our Dungeon! sessions I tried to work them up to an RPG-frame-of-mind by letting them come up with background and items for characters. This was a disaster because it was plainly obvious that this was a superfluous exercise for a game that didn't require either. They did enjoy selecting their own minis to represent their board tokens--so there's hope, after all. In the end, Doug says it best that "it is a leap of faith," so it seems I have some proselytizing to do!

3. FIRST ADVENTURES:
Jeff Rients post, "brief thoughts on starting adventures" talked about including encounters that will be relevant to each player in the party. He used the example of the Keep on the Borderlands module not having enough for certain classes to do (especially as it's an introductory module). I'm embarrassed to say I never even considered that! So it's definitely pertinent with keeping the players engaged--esp. those who are known to drift off.

4. RUNNING THE GAME
Al at Beyond the Black Gate had really great advice for mechanics in his post "Old school DM, new school players," which I'll just bullet and egregiously over-simplify (apologizes to Al!):

Attacks of Opportunity (lose 'em)
Level Cap (don't be afraid!)
Critical Hit Confirmation Check (ditch it)
Class/Race (okay to limit them)
Skills (player Actions should trump Skill Checks)
Game Balance (adjust published adventures as needed--dovetails with Jeff's point)
Communicate (be up front with players)
Old School One Shots (have plan B!)

At least, I think that's what he meant. Anyway, I'm sure everyone has their own opinions on how to handle certain situations, but what I gleaned from this was to not be afraid of trimming what isn't working. Too often I've painted myself into a corner because we can't feel our way out of the rules. When we were learning Catan, we made judgement calls instead of abiding the rules--and then looked them up later--which was MUCH more successful and less intrusive to play.

Anyway, this post doesn't nearly do justice to the great advice they've provided, but it helps to collate this into once place where I can reference it and share their tips. Have one of your own to share? Please feel free to comment--and thanks!

Stat these beasts, stat!

2010-04-27T19:00:00.002-05:00

The Shared Worlds writing camp faculty had an idea: get a cadre of contemporary sci-fi writers to imagine a collection completely new creatures and have the kids at the camp illustrate and elaborate on them! From the website:

Some of the beasts are strange, even creepy, like Cory Doctorow's Hyperman or Gail Carringer's Wax Automaton. Others are terrifying like James O’Neal’s Crocostrictor. Some are small and furry, like Zoran Zivkovic's hamshees, Kathe Koja's Nyha, and Lev Grossman's Seeing Hare, while still others are lumbering behemoths or underwater wyrms. And, of course, some are humorous, like Ekaterina Sedia's Mountain Reverse Hippo or Will Hindmarch's Cattywampus.

So have a look and see what inspires you. See the link below for the full story and a table-of-contents listing of the creatures. Stat-up a beastie or six--or illustrate one yourself--and then post it to your blog and spread the word!

The full story: http://www.wofford.edu/sharedWorlds/sharedworldsbestiary.html

Back From Toronto: Tales of the Silver Snail!

2010-04-20T12:42:00.003-05:00

I'm glad to be home from Toronto--not that I didn't like the trip--but it did feel like a long week because of work. I had one morning to roam the city (on foot) before my flight out and stumbled upon the Silver Snail on Queen Street, which was a great treat to find. The outside is covered in huge super hero murals!

The inside is filled with all kinds of goodness: comics, action figures (LOTS of figures) and the upstairs is stocked with games/RPGs. It leans more towards the comic fanboy than the gamer fanboy, but I'm equal parts, so it was a welcome discovery. And then there was this little lady guarding the comics....

Great fun!

Regular posting to resume shortly. :)

Action scene inspiration!

2010-04-11T01:09:00.001-05:00

I'm off to Toronto for the week, and I'll resume posting upon my return. Until then, enjoy a few choice action scene finds. I'm sure many of artists' works will look familiar--here's hoping there's a few new to you....

Cartography in Comics

2010-04-09T13:28:00.006-05:00

I saw this initially over at Boing Boing but it's worthy of a repost. A site called Comic Book Cartography posts wonderful, brightly colored maps and diagrams of imaginary places (and more) found in comics. Here's a few samples (click to view larger):

Have a look at some high-res versions for yourself...

Marvel Universal Table of Rainbow Goodness

2010-04-08T22:50:00.003-05:00

Well, here it is, the basis of all that is good and wholesome in the Marvel Superheroes RPG....

Click to view bigger, uncropped

This particular version is courtesy of the FASERIP blog, which now seems defunct. Wherever the author may be, thank you! I'm working on stats for a few MotU characters (as NPCs). However, I'm probably less talented at creating specs for gaming than I am at drawing. Yikes.

I'm good at adapting other entries though, so I think I'll start with some existing templates and work from there. I'll post the results as soon as I've got the time to work them up.

UPDATE: I've found several Marvel RPG sites that have proved very useful. Have a look and show some love:

A Cosmic Kirby-esque Caesar

2010-04-08T13:00:00.004-05:00

These are costume designs of Caesar, Flavius, and Calpurnia that Kirby did for a production of Julius Caesar using previously discarded designs for Fourth World.

I think it's a great example of the type of characters I'd have running around my version of Eternia.

Want more? The Kirby Museum has plenty more where that came from--be sure to check them out!

RPG Mash Up: Masters of the Universe + Jack Kirby x Marvel Superheroes = WIN

2010-04-06T15:26:00.011-05:00

A recent post by Jeff Rients got my cylinders re-firing on an old idea I've had to work up a Masters of the Universe campaign using the Marvel Superheroes RPG. I think there's great overlap here: the system is infinitely flexible and great at supporting both superhuman abilities, technology, and magic.

D&D and it's immediate derivatives (clones, etc.) would do okay, but the FASERIP system is an excellent complement to the kinds of characters, feats, and frivolity generated out of comics and the Marvel system "feels" right for He-man and co. I also think that the Universal Table--arguably the heart of the FASERIP system-- would make an great fit for MotU, especially when it comes to handling combat.

Now here's where it gets weird: Jeff's post was about Jack Kirby's (not worthy! not worthy!) Fourth World being run with 4E rules (Stay focused! We're not talkin' 4E here!).

It turns out that--apart from the obvious Conan/Sword & Planet references--Kirby's Fourth World was one of the inspirations behind MotU! At least--it was for the 1987 film. There's also a good case that several of the MotU characters are damn-near direct analogs from FW. Now it get's sticky when you assume that the entire MotU franchise was in fact a He-man muscle on a FW skeleton, as some have asserted and yet others have refuted. But the visuals--if not the characterizations--were greatly influenced and inspired by Kirby, and I think the assessment is still a fair one.

For my own campaign, I pictured Kirby-esque visuals blended with a few other ideas even before I knew this connection existed. I guess it's not that far a stretch given the melting-pot-like environment of 80s fantasy--but it was definitely a welcome surprise! To be honest, it's not like I'd want the Mattel characters as PCs, but I'd jump at the opportunity to develop the setting and ability to make up new characters that could go toe-to-toe with MotU contemporaries. And yet, I'm not looking to make it cartoony. Ya dig?

Okay, so now my brain is cooking and--oh, I've got zero time to run with this idea as I'm getting ready to fly to Toronto next week for work. Gah! Why do all the good ideas bubble up to the surface when you're busy?!

Comic maestro Bruce Timm did the He-man images for the MotU 80s mini-comic, Kirby is a hero of his..

My other fantasy muses

2010-04-05T02:59:00.007-05:00

Yeah, Dungeon! my favorite boardgame cast a strong spell on the way I saw fantasy growing up in the 80s. And of course the box sets of D&D (and the accompanying illustrations) were also very influential. But there were a handful of other books, toys, movies, etc.--cheesy as they may have been. ;)

Man I played the hell out of Crypts of Chaos on my 2600. I never did have Adventure--and the official AD&D game was for the Intellivision (lame!). C of C not only sported awesome cartridge art featuring Luke and Leia stand-ins in a dream-like dungeon of weirdness--it was a FIRST PERSON GAME! The corridors of the dungeon would move toward you and wandering monsters would attack. You had mere seconds to get your wand or magic ring ready...which was usually out of charges. And I think the cart art still freaks me out....

Dragonslayer was one of the first full-length fantasy films I remember seeing and being impressed by. I saw it on VHS first and the scene with the baby dragons always made me quesy. Could have done without the page boy haircuts, but it still has one of the great wizard v. lizard battle scenes. Before this film, my idea of an amulet was a big, gaudy jewel--instead of the small, glowing crystal packed with white-hot magic featured in the film. Neat stuff!

Forest of Doom is a wonderful playset made by Dimensions for Children (a now defunct toy company) in a series of other great playmat-with-plastic-figures format sets. Reis O'Brien at Geek Orthodox has blogged extensively on the set which was part of the Dragon Riders of the Styx figure line. I can't say much more than Reis has on the subject, except that from my own experience I loved the iconic figures. They represented to me the basic monsters, wizards, and knights that make up the storybook "fantasy" template. I still have the set in it's original box and I've featured figures from it in the past on Spellcard.

Dungeon of Dread by Rose Estes was my first choose-your-own-adventure type book (TSR called their line "Endless Quest"), of which I later graduated on to the Zork books. The adventure itself is pretty basic, but the great Jeff Easley cover had me conjuring up adventures in my imagination for years to come.

Finally we come to the D&D cartoon, which I know a lot of OSR gamers detest--but I had great fun watching it when I was young. It also represented several AD&D classes as characters on-screen for the first time, so I had a good visual of what they were capable of (even though the cavalier didn't have a sword!). Anyway, I picked up the box set when it came out a few years ago and wasn't disappointed. It even came with a game scenario starring the main characters.

Anyway, those are just a few of the fun relics. What's in your vault--games, books, movies, posters? Anything off the beaten path that inspired you back in the day? Feel free to list in the comments.

Update: Reis has taken down his blog, so here are some other Dragonriders of the Styx resources out there:

Action Figures CA (this one has some good photos of the set I had)
Virtual Toy Chest
Toymania
Topless Robot posts on fantasy toys of the 70s and 80s

Fight On! #8 arrived this morning!

2010-04-03T10:17:00.000-05:00

I posted some pics on Exonauts, check it out!

A fever dream about Fight On!

2010-04-01T09:21:00.006-05:00

So being that it's April Fools' Day today, my mind (of course) was playing tricks on me even before I woke up. I can safely say that I've never once dreamt about anything in the OSR--or even hobby related--until today.

I dreamt that Fight On! with infinite DM publishing powers at it's disposal, had a huge complex where they not only collated the material for the magazine--but actually fabricated huge miniature models of each submission to test before publishing. That's right--huge models--we're talking 3 or 4 ping pong tables in size. They tested everything from one-page dungeons on up to mega-sized labyrinths was ensured to provide "maximum play value".

Writers would give tips to "play testers" while research scientists would walk around in white lab coats taking notes on clipboards: TOO FEW HIT DICE, ADD TRAPS TO ENTRANCE

It was like Willy Wonka's factory, except no Oompa Loompas (thank God!).

Yeah....weird!

I'm sure none of this has to do with the fact that I ordered issue #8 of Fight On! which LuLu says shipped a week-and-a-half ago and still hasn't arrived.

UPDATE: It looks like Fight On! issue #9 is out even before I've received issue #8. And it's FREE to boot! ;)

James Mishler is back

2010-03-30T11:47:00.000-05:00

He's no longer publishing, but his new gaming blog is up and it's sure to be one to follow.

http://mishlergames.blogspot.com/

Twin Cities Bloggers!

2010-03-30T11:35:00.003-05:00

So imagine my surprise in stumbling upon another Harryhausen fan at Old School Heretic only to discover it's a local blog! So that makes four that I know of that blog on RPGs and gaming here in the Twin Cities:

I've also created a new blog roll "Twin Cities RPG Bloggers" just for locals in the list at right.

Cool stuff!

FOUND: Rules Cyclopedia!

2010-03-20T15:28:00.001-05:00

This is just a bit of bragging on my part--though I'm sure everyone has had it on their shelves for years already. I just never got around to picking one up, and by the time I realized I wanted one, it was impossible to find.

So I'd been scouring used book stores for the last four years, to no avail. Then last week I found myself again in the RPG section of Half Priced Books--not thinking of it and THERE IT WAS!

And in great condition too! Anyway, glad I finally found a (thankfully, non-musty) copy. I apologize for the craptastic photos--this is as quick/dirty as it gets.

No more A's, Just XPs please!

2010-03-18T20:04:00.003-05:00

A professor at Indiana University has replaced the grading system with experience points!

Students commenced the program as avatars at level one, which corresponded to zero XP and a grade of 'F'. They gained XP by completing 'quests', 'fighting monsters' and 'crafting'-- in other words, giving presentations, sitting quizzes and exams, and handing in projects.

Personally, I think it's a neat idea. Feel free to discuss your thoughts in the comments.

Full story...

Fight On! #8 is out!

2010-03-18T19:56:00.001-05:00

I just purchased this. Can. Not. Wait.

As if I needed more to read right now. But Erol Otus did the cover, and the venerable Jeff Rients interviews him in this issue. Mike D. puts up the TOC.

Print
PDF

Enjoy!

Original D&D art with an extra cup of snark

2010-03-11T09:17:00.000-06:00

Always irreverent somethingawful.com has a new post on original D&D art. It's a far cry from the usual compliments and platitudes we usually see (and give, I for one am guilty!) to D&D artists. What strikes me about this though is....they're right! Not all the time, but some of the early art isn't that great.

Don't get me wrong, my lack of artistic skills are nothing to crow about. But it's fun to see just how much the hobby grew in such a short time. Between the original edition's debut in 1974 and the dawn of the 80s, the art substantially improved in to what most of us think of when we think of D&D art: the era of Otus, Trampier, etc.

Anyway, their little stroll down memory lane is nothing, if not entertaining!

Swords and Wizardry White Box booklets now available a la carte!

2010-03-10T15:26:00.001-06:00

Brave Halfling Publishing is now offering the four booklets from the S&W White Box set as individual purchases. These are handy $4/ea. softcovers that are great if you've picked up the box and need to get extra character and spell books for your players. You can even buy them in bundles for players who don't need the DM guides, a complete set, and a "referee bundle"--perfect for starting up a new gaming group!

Have a look for yourself.

The Vorpal Sword of Wonderland

2010-03-05T23:35:00.003-06:00

Beautiful sword designed by Deviant Art artist Merlkir

Just got home after seeing Alice in Wonderland in 3D. Definitely a feast for the eyes and I'm glad I went. I won't spoil it for anyone who wants to go, except to say that the Jabberwocky and Vorpal sword make an appearance.

Speaking of which, does anyone know when the first mention of the Vorpal sword appeared in D&D lore? Which book exactly?

UPDATE: An astute forum commenter over at Dragonsfoot found my answer:

First D&D appearance was in Supplement 1: Greyhawk (1975) under magic items as Vorpal Blade. It was a pumped up Sword of Sharpness.

Thanks themattjon!

Let's celebrate GM day with ideas, not ire

2010-03-05T02:21:00.006-06:00

Yes, GM Day was yesterday I know, but hear me out. Recent developments in the last week have tainted the blogosphere with ire over the OSR's apparent attitude toward gaming. And I'm not going to rant (or link) back. That's well covered territory. There seem to be two sides to this, but I think there's a third that the "silent majority" would prefer to have heard: game and let game.

That's it. No eureka moment here, just go and play what you want whether it's in a big sandy box, on railroad ties, or using whatever other gaming metaphor puts fuzz on your navel. No one's forcing anyone to play a certain way or subscribe to their beliefs about Gygaxian naturalism for pete's sake.

From the Moldvay edition (1981), page B60:

I first got it in my brain that I wanted to try my hand at RPGs again, I wanted to re-learn the rules. I found blogs such as Grognardia and learned about a whole history to a hobby that I'd only barely waded into. By understanding where those ideas came from I caught on to an even greater realization: there's a whole community of people with great ideas of their own out there. So now, I spend my time focusing on one thought "how can I make this more fun." Setting, rules, what-have-you, are all meaningless if I can't make it enjoyable. So I beg, borrow, and beget what's exciting to me and let go of the rest.

Great ideas are made great by passionate players and GMs. They can emerge from anywhere and should be used with enthusiasm. And in the last two years the more vocal gamers (bloggers, etc.) have focused their energies in this direction. Blogs like Planet Algol, Eiglophian Press, A Paladin in Citadel and countless others that I read regularly are great examples of this. It's all relative to the people involved and how much of themselves they put into the game. Diversity of ideas is what feeds gamers' passion for the hobby. It's all good.

Sometimes our passion gets the best of us, but it's important to remember that this is a freakin' great hobby that takes a lot of brain power and energy to invent worlds and then invite our friends over to come and play in. I'm all for lively discussion, but why waste that energy on infighting? Unleash it on psionic, brain-eating illithids, I say!

Most people don't get to enjoy something as creative or gratifying as this hobby--and I'd venture to guess that they don't even understand it, or we wouldn't need public awareness campaigns. So for the rest of us who'd rather "imagine the hell out of it" over beers (root, lager, or ale) let's try and remember what brought us to the hobby in the first place--fill in your own blank, and roll with it.

GM Day Sale at RPGNow, 25% Off

2010-03-03T15:48:00.004-06:00

RPGNow.com also known as Drivethrurpg.com is having a hefty 25% off sale on a lot of their PDF inventory--through March 8. I've got my eye on a few items already and I've found quite a bit for more than 25% off. One thing I've been itching to do is pick up PDF versions of some of the print products I own so I have searchable copies (or just have back ups). Sales like these make archiving my stuff much less painlful.

System neutral templates--a little help

2010-03-03T09:08:00.000-06:00

So over at Exonauts! yesterday I asked for some input on templates for system neutral material. As a few of you old school RPGers out there might not read that post, I've doubled up here to get suggestions. My original post:

So I've got a ton of posts on deck that I want to flesh out, (e.g., gadgets, enemies, etc.) but I'm still wading through rulesets. I'd like to start posting stuff without having to get into the crunchy bits of stat blocks that will essentially need to be converted anyway. I guess, I'd rather there was as little as possible at this point--allowing anyone who wants to yoink an idea can do so and incorporate with ease. So my question is: is there a good template out there for system neutral? Is narrative enough? How much crunch is too much--or not enough?

Ideas? Thoughts? I'd appreciate any suggestions in the comments.

Thanks!

Feel free to drop suggestions in this post or the one on Exonauts. :)

Read an RPG Book in Public Week(s) in 2010

2010-02-22T12:25:00.003-06:00

February 28th - March 6th
July 25th - 31st
September 26th - October 2nd

I have to admit, I rather like this idea, though I'm notorious for compartmentalizing my life to the point that mixing arenas is often uncomfortable for me. Basically it works like this: pick up an RPG manual and read it in public area where there's at least moderate foot traffic, in order to attract people who might ask you about it. Essentially, it's a way of creating visibility for the hobby and promote it's overall acceptibility.

In light of the hobby's poorer reputation--or just outright ignorance of it in general--this is really an intriguing way to show how "normal" it really is. :)

Full details including a few ground rules.

When combat is boiled down to initiative

2010-02-19T15:53:00.002-06:00

It just takes the fun out of everything!

Inspiration: Character Portraits

2010-02-14T03:40:00.005-06:00

It's Sunday and that means inspirational art (not mine, we're all well versed with how bad that is). Authors (if known) are listed in file names. Enjoy!

Harryhausen films to storm the theater again!

2010-02-05T11:34:00.007-06:00

Ray Harryhausen is perhaps one of my favorite directors and his films are being featured this March at the Trylon Microcinema in Minneapolis. I'm so freakin' excited about this my head is about to 'asplode!

I grew up on a steady diet of peanut-butter-and-jam-wonderbread fantasy delivered courtesy of Mr. Harryhausen's verdant imagination and penchant for lavish special effects. But there's definitely some of missed and I've not seen ANY of them in a theater. The line up includes:

Friday, March 5 - Jason and the Argonauts
Saturday, March 6 - Jason and the Argonauts
Sunday, March 7 - Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers

Friday, March 12 - Mysterious Island
Saturday, March 13 - Mysterious Island
Sunday, March 14 - It Came From Beneath the Sea

Friday, March 19 - First Men in the Moon

Saturday, March 20 - First Men in the Moon
Sunday, March 21 - 20 Million Miles to Earth

Friday, March 26 - The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad
Saturday, March 27 - The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad
Sunday, March 28 - THE SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD!!!!!

I think they're really trying to tell us something with that last weekend. I own all the Sinbad films and Jason and the Argonauts in a fantasy box set. Must...get...sci-fi...set.....

Anyway, I've seen (and enjoyed) Mysterious Island which includes a brilliant and very memorable portrayal of Captain Nemo by Herbert Lom (who's still alive, BTW!). But I'm definitely psyched for First Men in the Moon and 20 Million Miles to Earth as I've not seen those at all.
Fair warning: you may not see much of me in March!

What a great way to get warmed up for the upcoming Clash of the Titans remake, which I've already decided I'm on board with.

*There's a present waiting for you if you click the last 7VoS link. ;)

"Con of the North" this Weekend

2010-02-03T14:45:00.005-06:00

I suspect I don't have too many local readers (yet), but Con of the North is happening in the Twin Cities this weekend: February 5, 6, and 7. The convention is taking place at the Holiday Inn St. Paul East. A few highlights I've found interesting:

The Stone Circle of Arneson and Gygax
A crazed wizard has stolen an obscure artifact known only as the Orb of Di-Em. He has led you on a wild goose chase to this long-forgotten ruin known as the Circle of Arneson and Gygax. Are the legends true? Could he really use this artifact to undo and change all of reality? What are the consequences of meddling with such primal powers? Be willing to experience all editions of D&D.

This is being offered in 1E, 2E, 3E and 4E simultaneously! I'd love to hear the players from those four groups swap stories afterwards! There is also a "Brief History of D&D" session available. Lots of board games and RPGs to choose from too.

Check out the full events listing.

Pre-registration is closed, but you can still register onsite. Find out more at www.conofthenorth.org.

Crystar: Crystal Warrior

2010-02-02T16:12:00.009-06:00

Star of comics and action figures alike, Crystar was with us for all-too-short a time. I hope to see him resurface again. Plus he had a kick-ass side kick named Warbow, who was green, mean (had an eye patch) and crossbow.

That guy's almost cooler than the hero! Almost....

If there's a cosmology that badly needs to be retro-cloned into an RPG it's Crystar. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I give you exhibits A-F:

Previous testimony:
Geek Orthodox, also
Rotten Tomatoes
Plaid Stallions
Comic series episode guide
Action figure series , also
UPDATE: Complete overview of Crystar's world, Crystalium

I rest my case.

P.S. Isn't he do for a re-make in general right about now?

P.P.S. This post has nothing to do with recently winning a Crystar action figure on eBay. Nope.

Wizards of the Coast kicks Star Wars to the curb

2010-01-28T21:07:00.002-06:00

WotC is done with Star Wars. As in, the miniatures and role playing games aren't being suspended--the license is not being renewed. Not sure what this says about D&D--whether this is good or bad for their main tabletop RPG by allowing them to concentrate on keeping it viable. This is all perplexing to me as the license for the action figures and toys is of course held by Hasbro, of which Wizards is a subsidiary.

I posted a more in-depth response over on Exonauts.

If Zelda was zany....

2010-01-28T11:11:00.007-06:00

Yes, this is RPG-related, but it's of the the video game variety. If I HAD to make it relevant to the OSR it would be if Link had wandered into letters W and Z of the Dungeon Alphabet.

Or maybe it's just some dude who happens to really love Zelda.

Either way, it's full of WIN.

/enjoy!

An OSR overload!

2010-01-27T01:35:00.005-06:00

The last of my recent holiday acquisitions arrived today (Stonehell Dungeon). The whole pile of loot includes:

Dungeon Alphabet, Michael Curtis with Goodman Games
Fight On! issue #7, (fall issue)* from publisher Ignatius Ümlaut
Doug Easterly's Savage Swords of Athanor (a Swords & Wizardry supplement)*
X-plorers (sci-fi RPG) by David Bezio*
Stonehell Dungeon, by Michael Curtis*
Used copy of Star Frontiers via ebay
Starblazers and Dungeon Crawl Classics (PDFs only)*
Kobold Quarterly, issue #10 (free off KQ's website using promo code)

Don't get me wrong I'm elated that I got it all for a song compared to what most game material goes for in stores, but I'm ready (and so's my wallet) to stop spending and get reading! What are you all reading--or looking forward to reading these days?

*Print versions purchased using discount codes on LuLu; PDFs purchased using discounts on RPGNow.

Free Stuff: Kobold Quaterly

2010-01-26T12:03:00.002-06:00

Let me be honest--after the holidays and the tons of OSR products that went on sale in the last few weeks I'd be smart to not spend any more cash for a while. The problem is more awesome stuff keeps going on sale! Luckily there's some FREE stuff out there: a free PDF of Kobold Quarterly magazine, issue #10 available through the end of January.

To get it, you'll need to log in/register and then put the item in your cart. Enter KQ10Free in the promo code field to get the item at no cost. (It works, I tried it.)

For those who may not have heard about KQ, it's Wolfgang Baur's ENnie-Award-winning, indpendent RPG magazine. It's usually got a good interview along with both professional and amateur submissions. Material covered is always fantasy and crosses several editions of D&D--including system neutral or OSR. I want to say that there's nearly always an monster ecology article. This one features Gelatinous Cubes (!) and includes an article by Monte Cook on the old school, which should make for an interesting read. ;)

Also in this issue:

Jason Bulmahn on the Pathfinder RPG
Ed Greenwood’s Dwarven Goddess
Ecology of the Hill Giant
Wicked Fantasy: the Haffun
Secrets of the Halberd
Monte Cook’s Game Theories
Rampant Elf Lust

I have several issues of KQ, though it's typically a little pricey. This is a good opportunity to check it out for free if you've not had the chance before.

Enjoy!

Inmate banned from playing D&D

2010-01-26T09:28:00.001-06:00

Wow, so this is weird. A federal court of appeals has held up a ruling that a convicted felon cannot play D&D because other inmates were afraid he'd started a "gang". Oh, and there's this from Boing Boing:

Singer was told by prison officials that he could not keep the materials because Dungeons & Dragons "promotes fantasy role playing, competitive hostility, violence, addictive escape behaviors, and possible gambling," according to the ruling. The prison later developed a more comprehensive policy against all types of fantasy games, the court said.

Just wow. And in Wisconsin no less, where the hobby was invented! This will set gamers/nerds back decades!

Granted, the guy's a fellon, but seriously that legalese is about as psycho-babble fascist as it gets. I wonder what evidence they have to back that up. Here's the full story....

Exonauts! has launched!

2010-01-25T16:14:00.003-06:00

My new sci-fi adventuring blog, Exonauts!, is up and running. It focuses on ideas for sci-fi RPGs and writing, etc. Exonauts are explorers and adventurers cavorting to/from/around/on exoplanets--it's as simple as that. Instead of creating a campaign based on a single world, I thought it might be cool to do one from a an adventuring perspective where any world could be one of many destinations. So how would these exonauts be equipped, what would they find, where would they go? That's what the new blog is all about....

Have a look for yourself.

GO FOR LAUNCH!

2010-01-21T17:21:00.001-06:00

A new adventure awaits!

Something on the launch pad....

2010-01-11T00:26:00.000-06:00

New project in the works. I'll point you to it when it's go for liftoff....

Learning My Dungeon Alphabet!

2010-01-09T22:16:00.006-06:00

IT'S HERE!!!

I'd pre-ordered Michael Curtis' wild and woolly Dungeon Alphabet from Goodman Games back in December and it arrived this morning. I can't tell you how un-be-liev-ably cool it is--so I'll just show you! I don't want to get into any trouble with images, so I'll keep these small, but rest assured it's worth MORE than the measly $9.99 I paid for it (plus shipping).

Inside cover spread...

It's filled with all kinds of old-school goodness (it's system neutral) and even has a few pages on injecting weird elements into your games. Here's the alpha-letter rundown:
A is for Altars
B is for Books
C is for Caves
D is for Doors
E is for Echos
F is for Fungi
G is for Gold
H is for Hallways
I is for Inscriptions
J is for Jewels
K is for Kobolds
L is for Levers
M is for Magic
N is for No Stone is Left Unturned
O is for Oozes
P is for Pools
Q is for Questions
R is for Rooms
S is for Statues
T is for Traps
U is for Undead
V is for Vermin
W is for Weird
X is for Xenophobia
Y is for Yellow
Z is for Zowie!

All of the letters are chocked full of great ideas in the form of random tables. Just about every page has an illustration in the OSR spirit, as well it should--it boasts an incredible line-up of OE D&D artists, including Erol Otus, Jeff Easley, Jim Holloway, Jim Roslof (among others).

A is for Altar....

Z is for Zowie...

I especially appreciate the W is for Weird and Z is for Zowie letters, which are direct descendants of modules like Expedition to the Barrier Peaks (these aren't my words, they're straight outta' the book). Anyway, this has to be one of the best OSR products out there and you don't have to be a fan of the OSR to use this book. That said, those who are playing OE or retro-clones will full appreciate what a wonderful product Michael, Goodman, and the illustrators have created.

So the real question here is--why haven't you picked up yours yet?! :)

Swords and Wizardry White Box SOLD OUT! Cover Revealed Early

2010-01-07T04:42:00.001-06:00

Did you get yours? I hope so brother because it's sold out until April with another chance again in November (just in time for next Christmas!). If you were able to get your order in early, here's a special treat--the cover revealed earlier than expected.

And it's a beauty!

Another Motley Selection of Legendary Encounters Minis

2010-01-07T04:17:00.014-06:00

These are a few I've had for a while, but they're pretty nifty nonetheless. I have to apologize for the lighting in my photos. It's been driving me bonkers to get decently lit shots with the macro focus on our craptastic camera. It serves it's purpose when we need it. Except for when I REALLY am counting on it (like for clear, close up shots like these). So today we have...

An ogre, one of my favorites actually in the line...

A nasty green cave troll!

A ghost, who's about as in focus as a ghost can get...

Some very Harryhausen-esqe undead warriors--notice that Reaper updated the shields between purchases. I think they've even updated them again since these came out...

And a few heroes, including an elf archer...

What is it about elves that makes them so hard to determine the gender? I thin this one is technically male, but who knows.

Next we have an "evil" warrior, I'd prefer to think of him as "slightly perturbed"...

And finally, a good one! This is Ranald, you've likely seen him in these posts to help provide scale, bad jokes, etc. I think of him as being more than slightly skittish. It must be the awkward way he holds his sword!

This last one should give you some idea of the size differences between the figures. The macro setting is a bit deceptive here as the skeleton is actually slightly shorter than Ranald.

As always you can click the images to see larger versions (hoping my bandwidth holds out!).

I've got just a few more of these guys to share so stay tuned!

HOT Sale at Flames Rising RPGs!!

2010-01-05T02:45:00.008-06:00

Normally I don't pimp businesses (unless it's my FLGS) on this blog, but there's a great, big heckova PDF sale on Flames Rising's RPG Now storefront. They're having a "Twenty for 10" sale (that's 20 products for 2010). Word to the wise: the sale ends January 7.

There's some seriously good swag to be found there--many at more than half-off the cover price. Lest you all think me a sellout (I wish!) here's a few choice items that piqued my curiosity:

Dragon Warriors RPG (I’ve heard great things about Dragon Warriors lately)
Dungeon Crawl Classics #51: Castle Whiterock (This is a compendium of adventures from Goodman that’s usually $60)
Hero 6th "2010 Special" [BUNDLE] (Isn’t this the Champions game engine?)
MT MegaTraveller Core System [BUNDLE] (Original price is over $70!)
Mouse Guard Roleplaying Game (Was JUST talking about this on Narmer’s blog)
Cooper’s Compendium of Corrected Creatures: [BUNDLE] (lots of OGL 3.5 monsters)
Starblazer Adventures (I think I’ll have to get this one, in print it’s usually $50 in hardcover and 600+ pages of ideas, great illustrations, and even has a comic included!)

This is just a sample, there's lot's more Traveller and Twillight stuff plus Deadlands made the list and how can you not love an old west RPG?

With all the new OSR products coming out in the last month, and a few more on the horizon I feel like I'm going broke. But then this damn sale cropped up and there's only 3 days left--what's a guy to do?!

Huge props to DeForest over on Narmer's blog Dynasty Zero for the tip!

UPDATE: I purchased the two in green yesterday, lot's of great material, I'm quite pleased!

Hey, you've got your SCIENCE in my FANTASY!

2010-01-02T20:43:00.005-06:00

No, you've got your fantasy in my sci-fi!

There's a lot of talk lately about the resurgence of the old-school or the old school renaissance in RPGs and a call to return back to the roots of science fantasy. In fact some are calling for an escalation of these efforts (which I whole-heartedly embrace BTW). Apparently some people are squeamish about mixing the two, barring a few one-off exceptions. Which, to be honest, is understandable. Especially if you're trying to create a world where technology can't come in and trump your magic system or where an omnipotent race of aliens can easily annihilate your meticulously crafted medieval analogue world. For some, it was less of an issue, but most seem to be more comfortable keeping sci-fi and fantasy separate.

It occurred to me however that if you started with a sci-fi universe and sprinkled in some magic or low-tech, then people don't seem to mind. Mysticism and lasers seemed like two things too good to pass up.

Case in point:
...or so we thought, before 1999. But isn't it funny how (essentially working backwards in a sense) it's easier to think of a sci-fi world in the broad strokes of fantasy, than to try and upgrade an ancient world into a larger universe.

Food for thought I guess. Thoughts?

The New Frontier!

2010-01-02T10:23:00.009-06:00

So this JUST arrived from the mailman not even 5 minutes ago. I saw the post over at Grognardia and had Star Frontiers on the brain for sometime. Yeah, I've already downloaded all the PDFs of the remastered SF books and modules over at StarFrontiersman.net and StarFrontiers.com. And all of his supplement issues. But what I really wanted was the box set...so I could stare at it. That's not weird is it?

Art for Unproduced Stormbringer Animated Movie

2009-12-08T09:34:00.013-06:00

Image: Wendy Pini via Boing Boing (click pick to visit book online)

So this is pretty cool--apparently, Wendy Pini, the artist behind the Elfquest series attempted to get Michael Moorcock's Stormbringer made into an animated feature back in the 80s. While the movie didn't happen (obviously) Richard Pini, (her husband and Elfquest's co-writer) brought the book to the web and you can click through the illustrations. While I can't say I've counted myself an Elfquest fan, the artwork is quite wonderful. Huge props to Boing Boing for the story. Pini also recounts the effort to get the film made.

A word to the wise, the book's website may take a moment to load (it did for me anyway) as a little timer pops up in lower right corner between pictures, so be patient!

Enjoy!

From the Vault: Green Dragon Lurker

2009-11-14T02:02:00.006-06:00

Just a quick post to show off my all-time favorite dragon figure. It's just a plain, green dragon with an old school feel because, well, it's old! It was included in the Forest of Doom playset made by Dimensions for Children (DFC) in '81.

It was part of the Dragon Riders of the Styx series (so I'm told). Reis over at Geek Orthodox did a lengthy post on the whole series a while back, so I'll let him fill you in on the details. Some of the photos over there weren't holding up when I checked, but here's hoping they are back up. Here's an alternate set of photos just in case (scroll down a bit).

Anyway, who can resist this little guy? What a great pose!

What constitutes a new edition of a game?

2009-11-12T18:17:00.009-06:00

Specifically: a board game. I have a reason for my rant, which I'll get to in a second. First, let's ponder the question. What makes a new edition of game "new"? Is it new box art? Different playing pieces? A new set of rules? Is it the fact that a game manufacturer says it's new?

What if just the box is different? I'm looking for input here people.

Here's why: I was noodling around on Board Game Geek and saw a gap in the database--that is, I saw a game that didn't have an fairly prominent edition listed. I won't go into specifics in this post, but sufficed to say that the game is very well known, and considered a family type board game.

I submitted the game (three actually) for entry into the BGG database--even had dozens of photos of my copies at home ready to upload. The answer was swift, it took less than 24 hours: Denied!

Denied? The reason? Why it's elementary--there's really no reason to have multiple entries for these was the response I got back. I did my best to present a rational argument that several games have different pages for each edition--including the ones I'm proposing--why what's up with the denial bro?

VS.

So, what say you gentle readers? Am I off base here? Is an edition an edition an edition? Or should a game get one entry no matter how many times it's been reprinted....in the last 65 years?

*Photos: Board Game Geek; and no, these were not the ones I was proposing.