Thursday, July 1, 2010

Night At The Museum Vs. The House Of Wax


*As much as I loved the first DDM preview for Lords Of Madness, this one is WAY more impressive. Good lookin' minis here...

My lovely, talented, and generous wife packed four donut holes in my lunch today and I have to say after just devouring them the day is 1 Million times better. Seriously. I could eat three to five of those little nuggets of pure bliss and find my entire day completely transformed from brooding thoughts of Hatin’ on the vast majority of humanity to day dreaming of rainbows and puppy dogs. So in short the Math(s) don’t lie;
- Donut Holes + Eating = PURE BLISS

Just thought that was very important.

So I finished Brian Lumley’s Necroscope (*** ½ out of 5) last night. I went in VERY skeptical of this trilogy and was most likely hyper critical of the effort as a whole. All that being said, I really enjoyed the book. It’s a slow burn of a book, it takes awhile getting to where it’s going, but once it gets there the results are excellent. I’m up in the air right now on whether or not I’m going to make the time investment of reading the next two books. I’ll have to pick the Lord Of Lumley, Dave’s, brain and see if it’s really worthwhile. On a side note I started a one of Dave’s recommended Robert Sheckley books, Pilgrimage To Earth, this morning, and the first tale was superb.

So I’ve semi-finished the first D&D Dungeon Crawl Module here is the intro;

The Thing In The Asylum

For ten years the Southern border town of Dunsmouth has been considered the center of the “Learned”. Arcanists, Alchemists, and other seekers of knowledge had flocked from as far as the Jade Lands to exchange information at the Great Library and witness the effects of magic(s), new and old, within the confines of the Great Hall. Little attention was paid to the construction of Deraleth’s Asylum on the west end of the ever-expanding settlement. No one noticed its proximity to the burgeoning city’s cemetery and tomb area. There wasn’t a protest lodged when certain city officials committed horrible atrocities without any memory of them and found themselves either under the Executioner’s blade or locked within Deraleth’s massive monument to “Health”. The Halfling Artificer Jacob Nimblehips has seen the city slowly go from shining example what the greatest minds of the Known World can accomplish to dismal city in a state of disrepair and insidious ruin. The Great Library ransacked, great works destroyed or missing, & the Great Hall abandoned and defaced, all in ruin, all except the ever expanding Deraleth’s Asylum. He has sent out the clarion call for help and is willing to pay a pretty coin for answers to just what is going on not only in Dunsmouth, but more importantly what is going on in Deraleth’s Asylum.

As you can see it’s Lovecraftian to say the least. I wanted something different from the classic Dungeon, and I think I accomplished that vibe. I had an idea to go trap heavy sort of a less deadly version of the Gygax classic Tomb Of Horrors (*** ½ out of 5), but then I remember that this was to be an easy & fun way to quickly play a light version of D&D 4E. So I dumped a lot of the traps for more contained encounters with minions and themed monsters. Suffice to say there are some seriously nasty enemies that might require a smart group to run for their lives. The key will be whether or not we’re that “smart”.

I think my second attempt will be a Castle, in fact I’m thinking of using The Court’s Of The Crimson Queen idea and reworking it as I have a particular idea that I want to use. My third option will be a classic Dungeon, Into Grummsh's Teeth, complete with classic Pig-Faced Orcs! As for Jacob Nimblehips, I have to give credit where credit is due. This was a Marcus G. character from the old Twin Ports gaming crew. I believe J.B. ran the game. In that game Jake Nimblehips was a shift Halfling, I think he was a rogue. I’ve always L-O-V-E-D the name, so I’ve stolen it. I prefer to think of it as an homage or even as a distant relative, especially since in our Known World setting previous characters run by myself, J.B., Don, & even Josey have run. Now we just have to test the rule set and play out to see if it works.

How about some

RANDOM CRAP!

- If you check this blog out make sure you’re checking out Heidi’s blog as she’s now putting her excellent new cartoon there. It really is quiet funny.
- Last night we went out with Mary & Christina to Big Bowl (**** out of 5). I had only eaten there once before, with the mercurial Rayne. I mimicked Christina’s choice of meal, a spicy Thai chicken with basil and peanuts. It was spectacular. I wasn’t overly fond of the price, especially on the drinks, but the food was fantastic. It’s always excellent to spend time with M&C.
- With an hour and a half left of work I’m feeling stretched to my absolute mental limitations.
- Yesterday I ordered a BUTTLOAD of board games;
o Zombie State: Diplomacy Of The Dead
o Chaos In The Old World
o Last Night On Earth: A Growing Hunger

I’m crazy excited about all three of these games. Zombie State just looks easy and brilliant to play as it’s as Coop/Competitive as it gets. Everyone who I know who’s played Chaos In The Old World has loved it as a multi-player game, so now I just need three more players. And let’s be Frank, ok well you can be Frank and I’ll be Larry, we ALL know my feelings on Last Night On Earth; it’s one of my favorite games. So it would just seem academic that an expansion would do nothing but make me even fonder the game. I’ll finally have some new things to add to Thursday Night Board Gaming.
- I’m doing nothing from 1:45pm tomorrow till 9:45pm on Monday, and I’m going to LOVE every minute of it.
- I take that back we’re watching a marathon of True Blood Season 3 with Dave & Liz on Saturday. Oh well that’s not like real work & I get to see the Rolly Fingers ‘stache up close and personal. Maybe he’ll let me touch it.
- I loves me some Banana Bread.
- Facebook simultaneously makes me ill and yet fascinates me, just like the horror movie Audition.
- When it comes to Wonder Woman’s new costume, I for one like it, but JMS’s new direction on the book I’m not so sold on.

GAH! I’m ready to get into my Mr. Rogers clothes now.

“Just like a paper tiger
Torn apart by idle hands
Through the halter skelter morning
Fix yourself while you still can

No more ashes to ashes
No more cinders from the sky
And all the laws of creation
Tell a dead man how to die

O deserts down below us
And storms up above
Like a stray dog gone defective
Like a paper tiger in the sun

Looking through a broken diamond
To make the past what it should be
Through the ruins and the weather
Capsized boats in the sea

O deserts down below us
And storms up above
Like a stray dog gone defective
Like a paper tiger in the sun

We're just holding on to nothing
To see how long nothing lasts

O deserts down below us
And storms up above
Like a stray dog gone defective
Like a paper tiger in the sun

There is one word to the morning
There is one word to the truth
There is one word back to civilization
Well there is no word back to you”

4 comments:

  1. Yes, make your readers check out:
    http://galuchka.blogspot.com/

    I'm working on some characters while I develop this cartoon strip before I try to launch its own website. We'll see how it goes and how long my interest in being a cartoon artist holds out this time around! :)

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  2. You should go on "Teh Facebook(s)" and befriend a guy who I grew up with who IS a cartoonist and illustrator named Stephen Gilpin. He had a Blogspot site for a bit, but moved his stuff to his own website. He might be a good resource, not to mention he's just a Class Act guy. For the love of Peter he introduced me to Anthrax, SO YOU KNOW he's awesome.

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  3. Yes, you should read at least the next Necroscope book...proably the third and if you like that, #4&5...then it goes into another series, but they are all tied into one another...oh, and there are some "Lost Tales" of Harry Keogh too.

    sorry about the rolly fingers...weep...sob, boo hoo.

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  4. I'd be interested in the 2nd book, just not right now as I've got a TON of stuff to get through first. I'll keep it in mind though.

    I blame myself for missing the Rolly Fingers...

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