Salt VS. Wargames

* = If only I knew an artist to do some mock-ups of some of the Twin Cities characters...Hmmmm...

Twin Cities Marvel SAGA Issue Two was this Saturday, and although there was one missing cog it went incredibly well. Work Joe used the Tenebrae idea that Dave had concocted, expanded it, then allowed Boote, JB, and myself to make further additions. In the end we helped him create a bit of a monster. Tenebrae was a religious missionary who was sacrificed in Nova Roma to Selene, the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club. However, instead of dying his soul was transported, due to a latent X-Gene to the Darkforce dimension. Being a highly religious man he found his idea of God shattered. Boote on the other hand created a character fully integrated into the X-Men portion of the Marvel Universe. His character and his sister were trained by a mutant mercenary to do a job for Mr. Sinister, namely to kidnap Jean Grey and Scott Summers. Eventually they realized that their benefactor was anything but benevolent and attempted to escape, in the process the sister died. Boote’s character then dubbed himself The Half in memoriam of his deceased sister. The interesting part is that both Work Joe & Boote separately yet simultaneously came up with characters that utilized the Darkforce dimension.

So we tied them together by having The Half while in the Savage Land hunting for Mr. Sinister in a heated battle with some Savage Land Mutates. In the process of blasting one of them with his Darkforce powers he freed the force of nature that is Tenebrae. The two finished off their enemies and decided to work in conjunction, The Half looking for the mysterious Mr. Blackwater who trained him and Mr. Sinister who paid Blackwater. Tenebrae on the other hand is waging a one-man war on religion.

As you can see both are bit on the ‘grim & gritty’ Anti-hero side. So it was good when Woody went with a scientist who accidently exposed himself to one of his own experiments and now can use his dead skin to form ‘objects’, he took the name Detritus. Is it a gross power? YUP! Is it inventive, yes it is. Woody also was gracious enough as to give me the framework of two characters from his past that I have insidiously fleshed out much to his and the rest of the group’s regret.

The first two hours or so where the set-up since we were sans David and Mike was off running the show at Hot Comics; Tenebrae & The Half dealt with getting into the U.S., Woody’s guy was doing job interviews, & JB’s Momentum Man dealt with his shady lawyer/publicity guy as well as had to find out he’s failing Accounting. These are the interactions that I was concerned about. Work Joe had stated he wanted NO part of Role Playing, Boote’s always been a great player but has always a been skittish with the Role Playing, and I’d never gamed with Woody. I was blown away by Boote & Work Joe’s enthusiasm and general attempt to Role Play. In fact they did a tremendous job. I was not shocked by how solid Woody was, I had heard tales and he did not disappoint. Much the same with JB, I’ve gamed with Jon since college and he is one of the finest role player’s I know. Saturday night he delivered with a fantastic moment where I had to play the part of Darla the distraught, possibly cheating girlfriend. I’m not much of a guy for doing the female voices, but I about blew a gasket trying not to giggle during our heated argument. It really set the tone for the rest of the night for me. From then on out I went all out giving Mr. Macmullen, the wheelchair bound ne’re-do-well into the bizarre auditory love child of Mr. Brisbee from Venture Brothers and Marlon Brando circa Godfather which the players seemed to love.

Anywho, once Mike arrived the group all ended up allied either with the sinister Baintronics group or Jonni Steele’s group as they headed up to the Space/Time Zeppelin. On board there were betrayals aplenty, revelations, side changing, A.I.M. agents, Work Joe killing off defenseless costumed villains, lost Kree technology, Hydra, an Ultron unit, and Mike’s Agent Orange almost dying. In the end the team had to use an experimental Kree ship to jump into the Negative Zone before they were ripped into the drift carrying the Space/Time Zeppelin further in the Multiverse. It was a hodge podge of insanity, that worked remarkable well together and pulled the players into the game. We played from 5pm to 12pm and not a single complaint about length was made. The ending was a bit of a cliff hanger and puts the group in a perfect position to possibly deal either with the 42 Prison OR with the Annihilation Event. Either way, besides Dave not being there, it went perfectly.

Sunday Jon and I watched cartoons, ALL DAY! We ended with me exposing him to Archer. The second season has started and it lives up to the ‘funny’ that the first season bludgeoned me with. We had had plans to play Gammaworld, but they never materialized, as we were both exhausted from watching Avengers episodes until almost 3am. It looks like March will be the next Issue, all in all a successful weekend.

With that I give unto thee

RANDOM CRAP!

- Work Joe had what I have deemed “Mary Syndrome”. This where someone who in their everyday real life is calm and rational, but the moment they get a dice or card in their hands in an imaginary world they become a somewhat bloodthirsty sociopath. Understand there is nothing wrong with having “Mary Syndrome”, I have suffered from this in the past. It’s just hard to explain to someone whose entire role playing experience has been a brief foray into D&D that superheroes don’t usually off helpless unconscious bad guys. It’s made me think of my moral stance on this as well as try to come up with an angle to give him pause.
- Chammps here we come! It’s a dinner tonight with M.C.M., ½ price burger night is never more fun.
- I think I’m going to buy Gammaworld eventually. The stuff JB and I looked into was fantastic. It would be something to play in short bursts. The crazy random character generation alone seems fun.
- I need to put some quality time and finish the two books I’m slogging through.
- It’s TRUE! REJOICE!

Mantic IS making a Dungeon Crawl board game & it’s coming out in March. Dwarf King’s Hold: Undead Rising is the FIRST, yup that’s right they have three games on tap already, that they’re releasing. It sounds like you’ll get printed tiles and a plethora of minis. I for one really like Mantic as a company, and both their dwarves and the undead are top notch. Now I just need to scrape together the scratch to purchase this.
- Charlie Sheen is the white talentless Rick James.
- Mighty Mike and I decreed that this Saturday will be the Italian Apocalyptic Movie-A-Thon.

I made some phone calls, sent out the Movie-A-Thon signal via the Facebook(s), so those who make it do. Those that don’t just miss out. No more begging.
- The basement paint looks really good.
- The Sunday after I’m giving Charlene a D&D presentation. She is sort of on the fence about playing in the quarterly D&D group. I think I can be pretty persuasive. I’m hoping that this will be a nice thing that her and Anthony can do together. Nothing brings folks closer like killing Orcs.
- I would really dig on some warm banana bread right now.

With that it’s time to call it quits for the day. I have to save my strength for the stupid shoveling…


“Meaningless
It's meaningless
It's meaningless
It's meaningless

I take the hold
I take the hold
I take the hold
I take the hold

It's mindlessness
It's mindlessness
It's mindlessness
It's mindlessness

I bled for days
I bled for days
I bled for days
I bled for days

Get to the race
(Hate)
The healing of it fucking with it
Conceal the scab you don't want to show
(Fate)
Into the hate
(No)
I channel all the negative and
I bled for days now I take the hold
(Break)

I don't believe it
Fuck me, read me, get me
(Bled for days)
Smile on my rage I'm scarred by age, I bled
(Bled for days)

Uselessness
It's uselessness
It's uselessness
It's uselessness

Make my weapons
Make my weapons
Make my weapons
Take the hold”


* = The Negative Zone is serious bidnizz.

…You Know I’ve Learned Something Today…

It’s Friday and I’m trying to get my ‘mojo’ back, so it’s back to the classroom of the Internets…

BANE ON A DINOSAUR!

It was pointed out to me the other day by JB that I’m a ‘Bane Guy’, quiet possibly his ‘biggest fan’. These things are a slight, and I do mean slight, exaggeration. I do dig Bane. I am really excited to see Tom Hardy play the Anti-Batman in Nolan’s next flick. Hell I’m excited to see Bane on Young Justice tonight hopefully killing Kobra agents in their Venom drug war. And nothing shows why I love Bane more than him riding, pimp style, on a big ass T-Rex. Suck it haters.

CONQUEST OF NERATH!

So WoTC is coming out with a huge war game in June. The details are a bit sketchy so far, but I’m hoping for something a bit between Risk (**** out of 5) and Battlelore (***** out of 5). Apparently Chris Perkins has described the game as having “a big ass”, I’m not sure what that means but I’m ‘bout junk in the trunk. Apparently there will be factions involved in the game; thus far they’ve mentioned elves and infernals. I’m intrigued. IF this can live up to Castle Ravenloft & what it looks like Wrath of Ashardalon is going to be then it’s a must have.

BUDDIES!

Sometimes you can count on them; sometimes you want to punch them in their faces. I don’t know that I have a lot of them that I really rely on. It’s to big a responsibility for them and I put a ton of pressure on them. I think that realistically Cassandra is the only person that I unconditionally count on. Everyone else I’ve found, real or imagined, has flaws that make me want to punch babies. I am beginning to understand why my friends who have families invest all their time in them and let some of their other relationships drift. You can at least have a hand in those relationships while in a friendship you’re sometimes in the passenger seat of a runaway car.

MANTIC DUNGEON CRAWLER?

So Mantic, the guys who make super affordable Fantasy miniatures, especially their keen undead and dwarves, have been dropping hints of making a Dungeon Crawler game. Beasts of War dot com speculated about it, so I went to Mantic dot com and checked out their video blog. I know that sometimes we Yanks don’t always understand the English style of speaking, but I really think that they might be teasing a Dungeon Crawler. THAT WOULD BE TITS! Mantic is a great company, whose customer service in my experience is unbelievable, they listen to their fans, and best of all put out affordable products. I hope they do take a stab at this since the world can NEVER have enough Dungeon Crawl games.

TERRACLIPS!

It’s getting closer to being done. I for one am really impressed with the changes in quality they’ve already made. I will be giving the insanely talented folks at World Works Games my money when these come out.

ANTONIO CROMARTIE!

This guy is an idiot. First it was his inability to remember all nine of his kids’, by eight different women no less, names. Then it was him running his mouth while getting torched in the regular season. There was his “Tom Brady is an Asshole, Fuck Him!” rant. Last week he was making incredibly dumb statements about the league and the players union’s CBA negotiations. And now he wants to fight Seahawks quarterback Matt Hassleback over a Tweet. This guy is a class act.

THE LEGEND OF DRIZZT!

Wrath Of Ashardalon isn’t even out yet and they’ve announced that in October this will be the next game in the series. I’m thinking we get caves this time, some drow, and a massive Balor as Ertu, the final boss. We’ll get Drizzt, Wulfgar, Buernor, Regis, & Cattie-Brie as the heroes, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we get Artemis Entreri and maybe even Jarlaxle as some of the Villains. Am I excited? Hell yes! Am I a bit disappointed this isn’t Expedition To The Barrier Peaks or Island Of Dread? Yeah, but maybe next time my dreams will come true.

Normally I’d have some RANDOM CRAP for you all, ok all three of you, but you know I just can’t think of anything that I want to talk about, so I’m out…

“If you start me up
If you start me up I'll never stop
If you start me up
If you start me up I'll never stop

I've been running hot
You got me ticking gonna blow my top
If you start me up
If you start me up I'll never stop
Never stop, never stop, never stop

You make a grown man cry
You make a grown man cry
You make a grown man cry
Spread out the oil, the gasoline
I walk smooth, ride in a mean, mean machine
Start it up

If you start it up
Kick on the starter give it all you got, you got, you got
I can't compete with the riders in the other heats
If you rough it up
If you like it you can slide it up
Slide it up, slide it up, slide it up

Don't make a grown man cry
Don't make a grown man cry
Don't make a grown man cry
My eyes dilate, my lips go green
My hands are greasy, she's a mean, mean machine
Start it up

Start me up
Give it all you got
You got to never, never, never stop
Slide it up, baby just slide it up
Slide it up, slide it up, never, never, never

You make a grown man cry
You make a grown man cry
You make a grown man cry
Ride like the wind at double speed
I'll take you places that you've never, never seen

Start it up
Love the day when we'll never stop, never stop
Never, never, never stop
Tough me up
Never stop, never stop

You, you, you make a grown man cry
You, you make a dead man come
You, you make a dead man come”

* = You'll get nothing today and LIKE IT!

Hair VS. Lionheart

* = WARNING, GAMING INTENSIVE!

I know, I know another Blog? Well I find my brain afire with ideas, so let me attack these in a way that I can later come back to them for perusal and get some possible feedback from the few, the proud, the bored, those that read this crap.

So I’ve been thinking about Wrath Of Ashardalon/Castle Ravenloft since the new game hits shelves in less than a month, in fact in like 19 days. There was an ‘unboxing’ last night on Critical Hits which has done nothing but add fuel to my fire to get my grubby paws on this extension to C.R.
- Unboxing - http://critical-hits.com/2011/01/26/unboxing-wrath-of-ashardalon-dd-board-game/
See I do have those three modules I worked up for my D&D Crawl game that would be sort of easy to ‘port’ to the C.R. System, but they also have enough detail that I could easily use them for the new D&D Campaign. So I’m a tad torn on what to do there. In addition it’s not a secret that I think I have something good in the Domains Of Dread: Lamordia thing I’ve been messing with that I posted yesterday. Last, but certainly not least, I have a high amount of reverence and love for some of the older modules, especially the tremendous Expedition To The Barrier Peaks! So I’m really just trying to figure out how and what I’d like to do with this lovely toolbox WoTC has dropped in our laps.

I think I might be a bit of an impasse because I need some assistance. I need a cohort, a co-conspirator, a creative ally. Currently I don’t have one. It’s strange to realize you need someone to edit you ideas so they don’t become this living, breathing entity that overrides any restraint of creativity. I need that, because otherwise it’s the inmates running my imaginary asylum.

Speaking of which Saturday is Issue #2 of the Twin Cities Marvel SAGA Campaign and the roll call has the chance to be significantly different. I know that barring an act of Gawd Joe K, aka Work Joe, will be there. Woody has threatened to attend. And Mighty Mike has at least one friend who is very interested. That means the group size could effectively double. I’ve had a lot of time to think about the direction I want to steer the group towards, but I’m not internally debating some villain options, so how about I throw out some names, both real Marvel characters & one’s that have been created for the campaign, and anyone reading this should vote for who they would like to see battle The Protectors;
o Dr. Hemorrhage
o Madman
o The Undead Don, Frank E. Stein
o Compu-Mobster 2000
o The Circus Of Crime
o 8Ball
o Madcap
o Tyrantosaurus X
o Xmnu, The Titan
o The Mole Man
o Killer Shrike
o The Peacenick
o The World Crime League
I think there are some fun choices there, so if you think one or more sounds like a ‘solid’ pick please let me know. I’m also debating about how intrusive the Marvel Civil War event will be on the characters. I’m thinking about keeping them on the peripheral, but at the same time emphasizing the drastic changes to the status quo by having secondary Marvel characters play a larger role in The Protector’s lives. I want there to be a moral question about Super Hero Registration. Unfortunately I feel like that’s where the story itself failed, and with Mark Millar at the helm it wasn’t a surprise. It was too much of whose side are you on; Cap or Iron Man. There wasn’t enough of an equal viewpoint. Marvel hung Tony Stark out to dry as a jack booted fascist thug hiding behind the façade of a ‘futurist’. All the while Steve Rogers was simply the American Icon standing up for personal freedom. The actual issue isn’t as black and white as that, and I’m hoping to tap into that. Additionally, Annihilation (Infinite *’s out of 5) is one of my favorite Marvel stories of the last five to ten years SO I’m trying to find an effective way to have the characters become embroiled in that without forcing them. I have a wisp of an idea, but it has yet to germinate and grow into anything more.

The fun has been in building the mythology for the characters to barrel through. Saturday night will be the first real test if I can get that to stand up to scrutiny. I know the players are invested in their back stories, now I just need to find a way to get them invested in some enemies, to a personal calling, while pressing the agenda that they are characters that ‘Should Not Exist’. I know the big broad strokes, now I need to concentrate on the small adventure orientated ones, Saturday will be a good barometer of how it’s going.

Which brings us to the next thing on my gaming horizon, the D&D Campaign relaunch in March. I liked the world that was built during the last campaign; in fact I like it SO much that I don’t want to be rid of it. All that being said, I don’t want to bog the players down into a quagmire of information, which is what I did, in my opinion, last game.

I’ve decided to keep the world. After careful consideration though I’m moving the timeline up 100 years. The former players have the option of playing decedents of their original characters, or they can ignore them. I think having a thread to the past could be cool for say Cassandra who really liked her character but for Joe K., he only played his Halfling Warden once, might not have that sort of investment. The other thing to keep in mind is the characters did NOT get to their big goal of confronting Pasha Bathes-In-Blood from pulling the Sea Of Sand into Yeenoghu portion of the Abyss. So there should be, and will be drastic consequences for that. I’m thinking that the Empire Of Erom is gone; it’s been pulled into the Abyss. The continent shattered and now the Empire of Eton is a separate continent, and the Jade Lands to the East were shattered into hundreds of tiny island states in a vast sea leading to the Eastern Ocean. The Teeth Of Gruumsh Mountains have expanded now in the geological upheaval through the Midlands, separating it from the North.

My idea is to have the characters starting at a young age, 14 to 16, in a smaller and isolated village at the steppes of the mountain range. The further you ascend into the range the more it becomes difficult terrain and unforgiving weather. In these upper regions you have Savage Orcs, raiding groups of Gnolls, and maybe a dragon. Just south of the village, just south of the range itself is a teeming jungle. The Jungle would be a ‘Lost World’ environment with Lizardmen at war with the Yuan-Ti. While to the west there is still the marsh, home to Aberrations galore along with the three hags and their son. The of course is the Chaos Scar and all that entails, and finally, the Bleak Tower and the Iron Mage within. That is MORE than enough for a campaign since it doesn’t even scratch the surface of what I want to do with the Shadowfell, the Feywild, The Far Realm, and the Underdark.

None of this even touches the various cult activities, the use of those gorgeous Confrontation Wolf men, and the various evils of men I want to employ. In fact there is a high chance that some of the nastiest enemies I’ll use will be human.

In a series of e-mails with some D&D pals I’ve been discussing the tone of the setting. I think in my last campaign I did a poor job illustrating the difference, the alien nature of non-humans. I need to crank that up. I need Orc and Goblinoid tribes to behave differently from not only each other, but also the demon worshipping Gnolls. When characters descend into the Underdark they should be terrified. Dying there is maybe the best option next to escape. Becoming food or a thrall to an Illithid is a fate worse than death, not to mention what would happen if a character fell into the clutches of the Derro, Duergar, or the Drow. When it comes to undead I need to crank up the fear factor, maybe making a Saving Throw necessary when dealing with say Zombies. Oh, and yes Heidi there WILL BE ZOMBIES! When the Ghouls show up I need to concentrate on their speed and all consuming hunger. I have to personalize the beasts, give them personality and flair.

The initial idea is to have the characters deal with some issues in their general vicinity affecting their village, their peers, their family, etc. I can easily put the three ‘modules’ from the D&D Crawl into this timeframe. The Pig Faced Orc push out of the Teeth Of Gruumsh, the Asylum in the south could be a destination, and castle in the Shadowfell still holds Bareal’s Blade. They all still work. I’m also really inspired by Zak from the Playing D&D with Pornstars blog & James from Grognardia to use some more bizarre elements. Maybe the potential planetary travel, crashed ships, lost technology, etc. I just haven’t figured that out yet, I haven’t figured how far from the centrist D&D approach I want to veer.

I’m sure by now your bored so how ‘bout some

RANDOM CRAP!

- I’m really looking forward to Sean’s 4 Bean Chili. In fact I’m contemplating making two batches. One for the gaming, and one for later.
- World Works Games Terraclips sets are now close to being released. I need to find $150.00 post haste to spend.
- I’m thinking of throwing together a random dungeon tile table to use in C.R. so I can then incorporate all my random D&D Tiles. I’d just need to settle on a set to use for an adventure, get a set amount of tiles, & then put together the table. Sounds easy enough.
- I know this is gaming heavy, but I also need to start gluing again soon. I was doing well last week, and now I’ve backed off.
- Speaking of backing off I also need to start painting again.

I think I’ve done enough damage to the Interwebs for today…

“I got bitten by a radioactive bug
I tried an experimental drug
I went out for a stroll on a gamma testing range
I found an enchanted Uru cane

I made a serum that made me small
I modified the serum so it would make me tall
I got radioactive isotope in my eye
A dying alien helped me accessorize

I gained the proportionate strength of a spider
Now I'm invincible and I can fly
I lost my sight and my other
senses were heightened
I'm gonna put on my pajamas and go fight crime

Now I'm a super hero (now I am a)
I'm a super hero now (super hero)
Now I'm a super hero (I'm a super)
I got my super powers (hero now)

My best friend and my
girlfriend (and her brother) went into space
Who'da thought we'd get bombarded by cosmic rays
It turns out I'm the last of a powerful alien race
My mother formed me from a lump of magic clay
I'm given super powers by a yellow sun
I studied under the Ancient One

I got an adamantium skeleton
Some grizzled old wizard
taught me a magic acronym
Now I got the wisdom of Solomon
And the Strength of Hercules
I have memorized what "AZAM" was
But I still fight evil in my red pajamas

Now I'm a super hero (now I am a)
I'm a super hero now (super hero)
Now I'm a super hero (I'm a super)
I got my super powers (hero now)

I gotta get me a helicopter
And you can get a jet plane
We'll take out their surveillance tower
We can make up code names

And when you get home at the end of your day
I'll pack your parachute and put away
Your utility belt and gas grenades
You were never meant to see

I showed you my secret identity
I suppose that I could always hypnotize you
If I wanted to
But I propose another thing
You can wear my decoder ring
We can have matching hovercraft
We can go undercover

After all we might just fall
like stars from the sky
You know too but I know you
you won't be happy til you try
Super hero team-up

Cowboy secret space detective true love

Super villain two-in-one
The bad guys have taken over Washington
Don't be scared cause I'm prepared
There's an emergency but I'm ready
Cause fortunately I'm a super hero too
I got super powers just like you

Now I'm a super hero
Now I'm a super hero
Now I'm a super hero
I got my...”


* = See! Wouldn't you want to save this from the Anihilation Wave?

A little something I'm working on for Castle Ravenloft

I'm sort of at a stuck spot in forming my home made Domains Of Dread: Lamordia for Castle Ravenloft. SO, to those proud, those few who read this tripe take a look, let me know what you think, give me your ideas, offer your Photoshop genius, and give me your Gypsy tears!

Here's what I've got so far...


The Doctor Is In…

Baron von Aubrecker has heard the tales from the villagers and fears what goes on in Mordenheim Castle. The good Doctor has assured him that it is nothing short of an attempt to cure his tragically mangled wife. Doctor Mordenheim has espoused at length that his goal is the furthering of SCIENCE and the small-minded peasants of Lamordia just don’t understand, but that a learned man like the Baron should. The Baron has his doubts. To assail those doubts he has put out a call for adventurers to look into the dealings of the good Doctor as well as try and find just what is killing villagers and livestock on the coastline of the Isle Of Agony. Peasants would say it’s the damned dead coming home to claim their own, the Baron isn’t so sure…

Dr. Victor Mordenheim
AC 15
HP 7
+7 Syringe for 1 dmg and Slowed
+6 Scalpel for 2 dmg

Adam, Flesh Golem
AC 17
HP 15
+8 to Grab for 1 dmg
+10 to Rend for 3 dmg, 1 dmg on a Miss


So keeping that in mind I’m trying to put together 5 to 10 scenarios regarding different Darklords from Ravenloft. My first foray is putting together a run of seven connected adventures involving Dr. Victor Mordenheim & his villainous creation Adam. These two are analogs for Dr. Frankenstein and his Monster. I’ve never played through the specific adventures in 2nd Edition starring these two, but I get the impression from all the info I’ve read they are more of a harkening to Hammer Film’s Frankenstein flicks, at least when it comes to the “Good” Doctor. So I’ll be treating Victor Mordenheim like Peter Cushing; he’ll be tough, conniving, and potentially physical. As for Adam he’s much more in the mold of Frankenstein’s Monster in the book. He’s adaptable, self-loathing, smart, and vicious. The interesting part is in Ravenloft Lore they are BOTH the Darklords of the Domain of Lamordia.

I’m thinking the first adventure, Adventure #1, will be into the caves on the Isle Of Agony looking for a lost child, possibly the Doctor’s stable boy or the son of the maid. The goal will be to find the child. There will be a ten-turn limit on whether or not he’s alive. At turn seven Adam will show up. At turn ten he’ll flee. In the interim the other available monsters in the deck will be a Dire Bat, Gravehounds, Cloudreavers (aka Pirates of the Sea Of Sorrows), maybe Rot Grubs or some other small insect horde. After turn ten it’s all about finding at least the body and escaping the caves of the Isle Of Agony.

If the party is successful and bring the child back alive they then can go to Mordenheim Castle, Adventure #2.A, where the child claims that Dr. Mordenheim’s wife is still alive and being mistreated by the “Good” Doctor. Again it’s a ten-turn trip. The Castle is mostly empty; they party will be looking for a specific room tile to find the status of Mrs. Mordenheim. Whichever tile is designated, allows the players to pick up an item, maybe her journal or something, that shows she is still alive. The available monsters should be constructs in origin. Maybe Dread Guards, Animated Statues, Iron Defender, & the big bad would be the Zombie Hulk. On turn-ten they are expelled or more aptly run from Castle Mordenheim. They retreat back to the village with the onset of a huge blizzard, which is Adam’s way of closing Lamordia’s border.

If they do NOT find the child alive then upon returning to the village they will circumnavigate the Baron’s home looking for him, Adventure #2.B. This would be a seven-tile adventure, where the party is under the assault of Farmers, Tavern Brawler, Human Commoner, Dwarf Brawler, Merchant Guard, with the big ‘bad’ being the Captain Of The Watch who all want to arrest them.

If the party is defeated they go to jail and lose any items they have. The story option would then be that another child disappears and the Baron releases them, they back to the Isle Of Agony, Adventure #3.A, where they hunt for the killer, deal with Darkmantles, Dire Rats, Rat Swarms, and find the big “bad” to be a Cadaver Collector. This would be a seven-tile scenario. The child is NOT on the Isle; instead they find another item belonging to Mrs. Mordenheim. I really want a mechanic on the Cadaver Collector where he attacks nearest fig, monsters included. Every time he destroys a piece he gains a +1 to AC. From there they could go to Adventure #2.B.

If the Party reaches the Baron and is not overrun by the villagers or the Captain Of The Watch, then upon their arrival he tells them that he has a suspicion that the real murderer is hiding in the complex of caves below Castle Mordenheim and gives them a map to the cave entrance, Adventure #3.B. This is a fourteen-tile scenario, where the a named tile will be where the characters find Adam. In the caves there are also sea themed Zombies (Drowned Ones), Cutthroats (Pirates of the Sea Of Sorrows), & a Dire Bear. Adam will engage for two rounds and then run, moving two tiles away till reaching or drawing the Secret Stairwell.

Should the party be defeated by Adam then they return to town to heal, Adventure #4. This is a seven-tile scenario. They enter the Baron’s home, which is empty. They encounter Human Thugs, Human Rabble, Human Bandits, and eventually Dr. Mordenheim. Mordenheim’s grave robbing looters have allowed the manic Doctor to mortally wound the Baron, a tile should be picked as the where the Baron lies bleeding to death. In turn three the building is set afire. Meaning that every turn a tile becomes destroyed, or impassable, starting from the start tile. The start tile is then put at the bottom of the tile pile to act as the exit. The party’s goal is to escape, and find the Baron. If he’s found the Cleric or any adventurer with a healing potion or spell can stabilize him. If he is not found, then the characters move to Adventure #5.B. IF the party defeats Dr. Mordenhiem they move to Adventure#5.A.

If the party survives Adam and follows him they go into Adventure #5.A. The party makes its way into the castle this is a twenty-tile scenario. The mansion is full of Mongrelfolk, Dread Guards, crazed Prisoners, Bloodhulk Fighters, the Cursed Spirit of Eva Mordenheim, and both Adam & Dr. Mordenheim. The key to the battle will be that Dr. Mordenheim & Adam feel each other’s damage. Adam should be found in the back third of the tile pile & the Doctor should be found in the last three tiles. So a hit on Adam will damage Mordenheim and vice versa. Dr. Mordenheim should have a power that basically causes a trap card to be drawn every time he leaves the closest hero’s tile. Adam is a souped up Flesh Golem.

Adventure #5.B has the players retreat from the blazing home of the Baron & the raging winter storm into the confines of the local monastery in the hopes of finding some sanctuary. This is a seven-tile scenario. Inside they find the priest strangled on the Start Tile. The players immediately know this was Adam’s work. No Encounter Cards are drawn this scenario. The monsters are all Ghouls or Gravehounds as Adam tries to desecrate the Baron’s only other ally’s home. Adam appears on the fourth tile drawn, combats the characters till there is only one tile remaining and then retreats off the board. If the heroes do NOT survive the adventure is over, however if the do survive then they proceed to Adventure #5.A.


Thoughts?


If I can capture some of the vibe of not only the Ravenloft setting and stories and something like what Mr. Wrightson has done above I'll be very happy.

The Orphanage VS. Chronos

* = Not the most effective tool although at this point I'm willing to try anything...

Steelers verse Packers, huh? Well at least I had the divisions correct. I’m going to be actively rooting for the Steelers, but I’m really just hoping for a really good game. Maybe we’ll get a real classic. And if we’re lucky and karma does pay off, after the game angry Packer fans will sexually assault Ben Rothlisberger after getting him sloshed. They can always just lawyer up and claim he was “asking for it”.

The other night when we were supposed to be in the frigid confines of the basement putting up window thingies or taping or painting trim we instead become completely engrossed with The Fantastic Mr. Fox (**** out of 5). I’m not a huge ‘claymation’ guy, but I have to say this film just spilled charm and warmth into our living room captivating us. It helped that Wes Anderson, whom I feel has yet to make a bad film, did the movie. It didn’t hurt that the voice cast was outstanding, headed by George Clooney but also including Bill ‘Friggin’ Murray, William Dafoe, and my personal favorite Jason Schwartzman. It has the polished veneer of kid’s movie wrapped in smart dialogue, family struggles, and the inevitable coming of age story. I highly recommend this one.

I am nervous about Saturday. I’ve been very controlling in my interactions with people other than Cassandra post trip to Kansas, things have been strange, and I’ve been strange. Wrapping your head around a life-altering event is not easy; it’s made more challenging when you ask as many questions as I do. I’ve checked out of the Thursday Night Board Game Group. The place that pays my bills is getting a shell of me, and there are times when I really just want to be left completely and utterly alone. It really has very little to nothing to do with the folks in those categories. I’m just having a rough patch processing all this. I can’t really put into words my feelings or emotions, or my thoughts for that matter. Nothing does them justice; nothing seems to have the relevance or weight to do it justice. For all the words I know, that I use, I’m at a loss to communicate this and seemingly confused on how to mentally get over the hurdle. I just feel distant from everything. It’s all on the horizon both in front and behind me. It’s as if I’m traversing a long and desolate section of land able to look back with fondness as to where I came from, but also being able to look forward in anticipation of something better. I’m just on that long lonely sojourn between.

Does that even make sense to anyone but me?

I’m unfortunately finding out that there is not set pattern or standard for grief. My brain just wants this to be over, while small portions of it are holding out in a fervent fury of denial. Every time I enjoy something I feel guilty, as if it’s wrong for me to be happy. Some of it is I realize now that I’m not sure I really no how to grieve. I know how to get choked up at inappropriate times, I know how to cry, but I’m not sure I know how to come to terms with the drastic change in the status quo. There is a part of me that is so selfish that I’m actually mad that he died.

All these things are utterly and completely ridiculous. I realize that they are ridiculous. I’m self-aware enough to see this. In some ways I might be to self-aware. Every question I ask myself leads to three more questions, and unfortunately “because I said so” doesn’t fly in an internal dialogue. I want to stop thinking for a while.

That is why even though I’m nervous about playing Marvel on Saturday it might be the best thing. It’s an escape, but a social one, it’ll force me to use my noggin, and if history holds true there will be plenty of laughs. I just want it to be fun. I so badly want it to be fun.

And with that…

RANDOM CRAP!

- Wrath of Ashardalon has VILLAGERS!

Oh and doors, a campaign mode, special rooms, etc. This is shaping up to be almost a Castle Ravenloft 2nd Edition type of jump. I love the idea of the toolbox game set, and this is just further fleshing this out. I only hope that the in box adventures are bit better than C.R.’s.
- Community National Bank we are now adversaries. For you or your representation to take the tact you have AFTER meeting post Big Love’s death is really shady. You assured us to “not worry about it” that it was done. To go to my mother or to try and circumvent the process is really deplorable. I guess the warm ‘fuzzies’ of Iola last just long enough to get the deceased into ‘the ground’ and then it’s back to business as usual. Well get in line and file a probate, because any loyalty or obligation that I felt towards you is gone. I’m very disappointed & vexed with some folks. Horribly vexed.
- Looks like I’m flying solo running D&D. It also looks like it’ll be a mellow & small group. I’m going to try and take a different tact with my overarching design of game this time as well as keeping the adventurers short, succinct, and high octane. I don’t think this is an exploration group. I think they want high adventure. Maybe I should go re-read some of the old modules, or some shorter stuff out of Dungeon &/or Dragon Magazine to get some ideas on self-editing.
- I’d love a Italian Hot Beef sandwich from Brianno’s right now.
- R.I.P. Human Torch, although you won’t stay dead I am intrigued to see what Hickman does with the aftermath.
- I’m not a Jay Cutler guy, but people need to get off his ass. Guy was injured, staff pulled him, he still tried to go, and just couldn’t. To hear a bunch of chuckleheads sitting on their couches at home second-guessing him is sad, and tastes of sour grapes. I mean if Maurice Jones-Drew was so good at assessing injury wouldn’t he be a doctor rather than a overrated back on an underachieving, playoff missing team? Mr. Dockett might be a decent defensive tackle, but his assessment of other players is just an opinion, and not one to be taken as fact. This is the problem with twitter and the like. It gives national voice and attention to folks who speak before they think. It helps perpetuate the idea that out there in the world someone thinks you and your ‘thoughts’ are important. It reinforces this epidemic of self-importance. Just like blogs. Don’t get me wrong I’m not claiming immunity to this. I love when people read this crap, I enjoy when someone tells me something I wrote was funny, and it’s a nice feeling to think that what you write has ‘meaning’. Everyone likes to feel important or ‘special’. The reality is this is and I am not important. No one really is, and as my dad would say, “…opinions are like assholes, everyone has one, some are just bigger than others…” I just find it unfortunate that these two guys who play a game that is so tough would take a shot at what is technically a ‘co-worker’ over their sense of toughness. It just seems very Junior High.
- I just defended Jay Cutler, who is a tool. Next thing you know I’ll start rooting for the Raiders or the Broncos…
- There are some plumbing issues in my basement now. I’m not a plumber. I do however know that if I ever get in a room with the person who ‘re-plumbed’ our home before we bought it they better have good health insurance.
- I despise being this frustrated.

I’m sure there is more I wanted to write about, I just can’t for the life of me think of them now…

“Cast out from the lands of their births
Banished from hearth and home
All brothers must swear the oath
Forsaking all they've ever known

Those who choose to take the black
Bid farewell to comforts great and small
Those who do, don't come back
Prepare yourself for life on the wall

Night gathers and the watch begins
The wind carries an unnatural chill
There are things beyond the northern borders
Mere steel can't kill

Men who choose to take the black
Rogues and rangers, one and all
Those who do, won't come back
Prepare yourself for life on the wall”


* = Could we some Hydra this weekend? "Hail HYDRA! Immortal HYDRA! We shall never be destroyed! Cut off one limb and two more shall take its place! We serve the Supreme Hydra, as the world shall soon serve us!"

Manhunt In Space Vs. The A-Team

* = In a future ruled by Kang lounging will not be optional...

The basement got painted this weekend. I didn’t help whatsoever. I don’t paint it’s just a reality. Cassandra and her parents rocked out the hallway and downstairs ‘living room’, that means that when the wall thingy for the flat screen gets here the downstairs will be suitable for Movie-A-Thons. It will also make it an excellent place for some gaming.

Now while I was of absolutely NO assistance in the painting I did make the dinner. We went with the crock-pot turkey sandwiches which are always fantastic, I spruced up some baked beans, and the coup de tat was the homemade mac n’ cheese. I have made it in the past, but usually with a béchamel sauce, this time we used a different route. It was good but the addition of bacon, some spicy sausage, and breadcrumbs on top pushed it into awesome level.

Sunday we watched the newest episode of the Avengers, it was the third part of the “Kang trilogy”. It was pretty damn good, but the cameo by Reed Richards, H.E.R.B.I.E., and the HEAVY Ultron foreshadowing really sealed the deal for me. Every time I feel the show has peeked it surprises me. I have no idea where it’s headed, and with no preview for next week I just have to chomp at the bit in anticipation. Finally Cartoon Network showed a new episode of Young Justice. I have to admit the animation is not as good as the two-part pilot. It’s not bad, it’s just not as smooth or hyper kinetic. I was also a tad disappointed with the characterization. Aqualad was very minimized, Miss Martian is a little too cutesy, and as much as I like Superboy he’s just too angry about everything. I have to give credit though, I’m “loving” me some Robin & Kid Flash. I want to love this show, but right now it’s taken a huge step backward. I would have to say Avengers is the better show currently. Do not despair DC fans. This Friday the team tries to stop a Venom drug war between Bane & agents of Kobra! That just sounds utterly and completely fantastic.

This Saturday is the second issue of the Twin Cities Marvel SAGA Campaign, and no I can’t give it a longer name. I hope to resolve a couple threads from the first session;
- Where did Crossfire get off to?
- Are the heroes employable? And if so whose cash will they take?
- Space Zeppelin exploration, yeah or nay?
- Will Momentum Man accept the race with Runnin’ Reb?
- Will Haven lose his job?
- How far will Agent Orange go to stay ‘together’?
- WHO are the new guys?
I haven’t been posting all the ‘teasers’ here on the blog lately, but if there is a call for it I’ll just repost them all in one massive post.

In other gaming related crap Dave and I tried to play the old school version of Horus Heresy (** out of 5) on Sunday. What an infuriating little game. It took two hours to set up and after one turn we both agreed that we’d had enough. It just wasn’t fun and the rules were so light that we had to many questions to really proceed without making a ton of house rulings. I was mightly disappointed as this was a game I’d heard a lot about and had high expectations for. I’m intrigued by the new version of it, and if I had $60.00 I’d pick it up, maybe in a few months, as it certainly has to be better than the old one. We used Odin’s Ravens (***** out of 5) as a gaming palate cleanser and I was able to defeat Dave in a close three-turn race. If you have a short time to play a game you just can’t go wrong. It’s short, fun, quick playing, and really easy.

BAH!

RANDOM CRAP!

- I hate when real life cuts into my ‘time’.
- My plan is to play DCU Online at least twice a week; tonight I might sneak down and play for a bit while the lovely wife paints the trim, and no Dave that wasn’t a sexual reference.
- Wanna wrestle?
- Speaking of Dave he was kind enough to bring over the newest Fairly Secret Army song on Saturday entitled “Next Song”. As wonderful as “Fairly Secret Attack”, the first song is, “Next Song” is insanely catchy. This project is shaping up to be eclectic and groovy in a way I was neither anticipating or was fully prepared for and that is awesome.
- I’m hungry for something, I just can’t figure out what it is exactly.
- Cassandra’s quarterly D&D group is shaping up. Anthony “White Box SON” J., Mighty Mike, & Work Joe are in. Heidi, Mary, & Christina are all potentially in. And I’m trying to finagle a Co-DM. I think we’ll be picking up on the Known World setting from the previous campaign like 100 years after the Old Group. It’s sad though that I sent out so many e-mails asking if folks were interested and received so few responses. Oh and Ant I forgot to ask, but would Charlene also like to play? I’m sure she’d laugh at us and say “No”, but it never hurts to try.
- Sean’s Chili for Marvel SAGA this weekend! I’m looking forward to making this.

It’s that time again…

“We've crossed the burning wastelands
Sought out forgotten tombs
Within this shattered planet
Beneath a broken moon
We live amongst the ruins
Where cities once did rise
From graves of fallen nations
Watch hollow eyes

In our time we have seen
Untold pain and suffering

Our legends tell of weapons
Wielded by kings of old
Crafted by evil wizards
Unholy to behold
We seek the fire lances
That slew the ancient race
The world where they were masters
Now lays in waste

In your time you shall see
Endless death and misery
Invoke myth and prophecy
All you know shall cease to be”


* = Isn't it a shame will never see this?

Black Swan Vs. The Wrestler

* = Doubt Tom Hardy as Bane, go see Bronson!

I don’t have a ton of stuff to write about. I think I’m just trying to get back in the swing of things and the blog is sort of ‘nookie blankie’ that helps bring some normalcy. When things get abnormal I strive, NAY, cling to ‘normalcy’ like the governor in Alabama clings to his bible and guns. So the other night Cassandra was kind enough to indulge me TWO things, and no Dave I’m not talkin’ ‘bout “Business Time”.

First we watched an interesting little flick we had on the DVR, The Woods (**** ½ out of 5). This little flick came out a few years ago, 2006 or so I think, and flew under the radar. I had read about on some blog or another that had given it props, but the clincher was Bruce Campbell. That’s right ‘The Chin’ has a big role in this flick, so you know I was compelled to give it some time. Anywho, the premise is it’s the 1950’s and the girl is forced by her mother to attend a girl’s school after committing arson. Strange things are afoot, students go missing, and there is an old legend regarding the school, the woods around them, and some witches. I’m not going to give anything else away because I actually really enjoyed this film. Let me reassure some of you out there that are weak of stomach, this flick has very little to NO gore in it. It’s more of a creepy vibe with a decent twist, and a very satisfying ending. So if you are looking for something spine-tingling on a long winter night give The Woods a go.

The second thing we did was something that she and I had never done before we started a book together. The idea is to once a week take turns reading a chapter of an agreed upon book to each other, we are starting with Bram Stoker’s Dracula. It’s not really the best choice, since some of it is written in short hand, but it’s been massively enjoyable thus far. We’re already lining up our next book.

So unless you live under a rock you most likely heard that Christopher Nolan cast two more roles in his last Batman flick. Tom Hardy will be playing Bane and Ann Hathaway will be playing Selina Kyle, note that she wasn’t listed as Catwoman. Nolan has done a spectacular job thus far with this franchise and for those that are having a conniption regarding Bane they need to read a comic. In the comics Bane is the Anti-Batman; smart, resourceful, has a honor code, physically unstoppable, and a brilliant strategist. The difference is he has no moral compass and is completely and utterly ruthless. As for Hardy, I have yet to sit down and watch Inception, he’s utterly and completely brilliant in Bronson. In fact if he can take even half of the intensity and menace he exudes in that flick, as well as bulk up to that big again, he’ll be fantastic. If you watch Hardy in Bronson you might understand what I’m talking about. Hell Bronson himself, who is a real guy, could be a flippin’ Batman villain. It’s a crazy good flick, and gives me almost unrealistic levels of excitement of Hardy as Bane.

When it comes to Hathaway I think she’s gorgeous, she’s shown she can act, and this might be the roll that opens up new doors for her. She doesn’t have to don a Catwoman outfit for it to work since it’s been established that Selina Kyle is the illegitimate child of Carmine Falcone. Could it be that Falcone’s daughter comes back to Gotham for some revenge? Finally, I read that Darren Aronfsky will be taking over the Bat-franchise post Nolan. That is insane. And by insane I mean I’m completely on board. I’ll be very intrigued to see what Aronfsky does with his next flick the follow-up to the gawd awful Wolverine flick. I think this will be his chance to get his feet wet in the super hero genre.

February 15th, 2011 Wrath Of Ashardalon will be coming out, FINALLY!

So this is the next game in the new D&D board game series. I think, from what I’ve read and seen in previews so far they are taking a lot of the criticism of Castle Ravenloft and building forward. There are a lot of folks who H-A-T-E on that game, but I love it. So the idea that after being pushed back from November last year to next month the design team has busted ass in order to improve what, in my opinion, is a GREAT tool set for a board game has me excited. In fact it’s inspired me to rope in Anthony “I knowz Photoshop” J. into helping me finish my Domains of Dread adventure for Castle Ravenloft.

I think that’s enough prattle, how ‘bout some…

RANDOM CRAP!

- DDM is officially dead. Wargames Factory has undergone a hostile take-over. Games Workshop is suing Chapterhouse. What’s next, seriously?
- Rumor has it the basement is going to get painted this weekend. That means that then the new Television will be put up along with surround sound. So conceivably the next Movie-A-Thon might be in the basement with the fireplace on. That would be pimp.
- Why did the Zodiac change?
- I sent out a clarion call for D&D once a quarter to all the peeps. With the exception of Cassandra, Joe K., Duke offering to help DM from afar, & Heidi I got nothing thus far. NOTHING. I’m slightly disappointed actually. I thought that the D&D Campaign was going well; it was fun, well thought out, not to combat heavy, and had viable goals. I think it died once we lost Mary & Christina. That being said if I can just get 4 people to commit to once a quarter we could have a hell of a group. I’m looking at some Pathfinder stuff for adventure materials, maybe some of the D&D Crawl stuff I was working on pre-Castle Ravenloft, and some of the threads from the previous campaign to build something WORTH playing. I really hope this happens.
- “Fairly Secret Attack” is brilliant Dave. It’s so damn catchy.

And with that I’m done…

“I have this feeling that my luck is none too good
This sword here at my side don't act the way it should
Keeps calling me its master, but I feel like its slave
Hauling me faster and faster to an early, early grave
And it howls, it howls like hell

I'm told it's my duty to fight against the law
That wizardry's my trade and I was born to wade through gore
I just want to be a lover, not a red-eyed screaming ghoul
I wish it'd picked another to be its killing tool

Black blade! Black blade!
Forged a billion years ago
Black blade! Black blade!
Killing so its power can grow

There's death from the beginning to the end of time
And I'm the cosmic champion and I hold a mystic sign
And the whole world's dying and the burdens mine
And the black sword keeps on killing 'til the end of time

Black blade! Black blade!
Bringing chaos to the world we know
Black blade! Black blade!
And its using me to kill my friends
Black blade! Black blade!
Getting stronger so the world will end
Black blade! Black blade!
Forcing my mind to bend and bend

The black blade
Forged a million billion years ago
My cosmic sword goes on for eternity
Carving out destiny
Bringing in the lords of chaos
Bringing up the beasts of Hades
Sucking out the souls of heroes
Laying waste to knights and ladies
My master is my slave
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!”


* = Charlie Bronson always has rope...

The Whole Wide World Vs. A Walk In The Clouds

* = Behold Bran Mak Morn and shudder in fear.

I know Friday wasn’t what a lot of people, ok let’s be honest all four of you who read this drivel, expect, but I felt like it was a nice bit of closure to something that will most likely take me the rest of my adult life to deal with. As for the blog, I’m going to just say that I’m done for the foreseeable future writing about it. It’s to personal, to raw, to hard to put into words currently. Oh and I’m sure you’re all tired of reading about it.

So onto the nonsense…

I finally finished two books I’d been working on;
- The Jennifer Morgue by Charles Stross (**** ¾ out of 5) – This was a damn near perfect read for me. I’d read a bit about Stross’ “The Laundry” books, which are techno-spy books, built around the Cthulhu Mythos. Oh and they are quiet cheeky. The only reason I can’t give it 5 out of 5 was that some of the self-masturbatory techno babble was just SO above my head that it was uninteresting to try and wade through. However the plot, the characters, the insanely twisted twist were all so memorable and inspired I fell in love with this book. So I’m now trying to find the other books in the series so I can lovingly assimilate them as well. Thank you Carla for one of the best Christmas gifts I’ve gotten in some time.
- Legion From The Shadows by Karl Edward Wagner (*** ½ out of 5) – This is a non-Howard tale of Bran Mak Morn. It deals with the fallout of all of Howard’s tales but mainly the fantastic Worms Of The Earth, which is my favorite Howard story. I think it’s difficult for anyone to follow up on Howard’s coat tails, see all the horrible Conan books out there, but I will say Mr. Wagner did a damn fine job with this story. See the problem I had with it though was that this tale should have been about 50 to 75 pages shorter. There was just some portions that were overly repetitive, there was a bit to much ‘monologuing’ by the two main baddies for my tastes, and Bran was just a tad to ineffective until the very end. I will say about the ending though that it set itself up for a VERY interesting potential sequel. To my knowledge there was not one, but if there is I’d love to read it.

I also did some productive sitting on my ass. Here’s what I watched;
- Shadow Of The Vampire (*** ½ out of 5) – I had never seen this, which is surprising since it has Malkovich and Defoe. Nosferatu (***** out of 5) is a scary-ass flick, so to see it built into something of mythic proportions. This is a surprising little movie; it’s really funny, sometimes dark, and actually sort of sad. I was trying to glue together my Thule army grunts while I had it on, but it continually held and even stole my attention so much I almost glued my hands together. It’s a very entertaining flick.
- Dracula A.D. 1972 (**** out of 5) – How can you go wrong with Cushing & Lee in a Hammer flick? Answer, YOU CAN’T! This was Hammer’s attempt to move their Dracula franchise into modern times and what you get is pure Hammer 1970’s AWE-some. The music is just a step above porn, the lighting is bizarre, since it’s not as lush as much of their period work, and the sets are pretty campy, all that being said it’s a fun vampire movie as one would expect.
- Pandorum (** ½ out of 5) – I remember when this was coming out and I was very ‘meh’ about it. After watching it I’m still pretty ‘meh’ about it. It’s not a bad flick, but its not breaking new ground by any stretch. What was entertaining was its visuals. The ‘savages’ on the ship looked fantastic, it definitely gave me some ideas for both the Marvel SAGA campaign as well as some places to take the Basement Sci-Fi War.
- It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia Season 5 (*** ½ out of 5) – We finally finished what was a return to form by this show. Now it wasn’t as brilliant as seasons two or three, but it was much more even and consistent than season four. I have to confess though that the one hour Christmas episode was depressing, damn was that dark. Although watching Charlie go bat shite crazy on a Mall Santa was laugh out loud funny. Mighty Mike was right this season was not a disappointment.

And now I give unto you your daily allotted amount of…

RANDOM CRAP!

- Holy crap this looks good!
o
I haven’t read the books, but the vibe this show is giving me makes me really want to dig into them.
- I started The Satanic Rites Of Dracula yesterday, but fell asleep due to my overwhelming lack of said sleep. What I saw of it really had me interested. Maybe I’ll finish it this week or maybe during the weekend. Either way there isn’t much better than Cushing and Lee Hammer flicks.
- We finally get a NEW Young Justice this Friday, FINALLY!
- I have some Artscow decks coming for Castle Ravenloft. In fact someone on Board Game Geek dot com put together a total Gammaworld make-over of the game. We haven’t played in awhile and I really should just hammer out my Ravenloft series of adventures I was working on, but my brain is just getting pulled in so many other directions. Maybe I’ll have to draft Anthony “I gotz Photoshop skillz” J. to help keep me motivated and get this project done.
- Oh if your looking for a t-shirt that will set you apart, that is just the cat’s meow, look no further than what Steve Gilpin is throwing down;
o http://www.etsy.com/shop/billythesquidltd
o http://stephengilpin.blogspot.com/2011/01/in-beginning.html
Steve’s a great guy, we grew up together, and he’s responsible for my love of Anthrax & LEGO’s. All that being said his art kicks both my and your ass. You know it; I know it, so go on already and give him your money. Oh and Steve if your reading this, get it in some GIANT guy sizes and I’ll be sending you bags of cash.
- Gawds I hate the Jets. I hope the Steelers put a beat down on them.
- Here’s a bit of the DC Universe Online update;
o So Raptor, that ‘s my dude’s name, escaped Braniac’s ship in what was a harrowing experience since I was shite on the mouse and keyboard to start the game. Then I was charged with helping Zatanna stop Felix Faust in Metropolis’ China Town district from stealing souls. It took me some time to get all the parts of the quest done, but it was worth it as the final battle was fun and challenging. In the end I get Mr. Faust in a corner and beat him mercilessly. By the end my costume had drastically changed due to items I’d both picked up and purchased. Oh and did I mention Ambush Bug had a cameo. I love this game!
- Dave’s got a new music project going; The Fairly Secret Army. It’s going in a lot of interesting directions, and if you dig music you should be checking it out;
o http://theczardr.blogspot.com/2011/01/fairly-secret-army-song-1.html
o http://theczardr.blogspot.com/2011/01/tfsa-song-2.html
For the record I LOVE the first song with wild abandon, and yes it does need some Cowbell. On a side note, Dave thanks for the Battlelore. I needed it, and it's always nice to crush you when you are possessed of the Steven Miller mindset.
- So Avengers is in the midst of three weeks of Kang, and you know what? I LOVE IT! See Kang is a character that needs that sort of attention, he’s a threat that can’t appear more than once or twice every two to three years, and when he does it has to be a big deal. He’s a damn near impossible threat to defeat; he’s a time traveler, he has infinite resources, and he has the ability to attack the Avengers on multiple fronts at any time. So the fact that they’re giving him this much run on the cartoon is a great thing. I enjoyed how Cap is slowly asserting his leadership, much to Tony’s chagrin. I’ll be intrigued to see if they have a more complicated relationship than in the early comics, especially since they really play up Stark’s arrogance and pride on the cartoon. Hulk and Thor’s competition was only outshined by Hawkeye’s response to them both. I also have to say that the relationship they’ve built up between Hawkeye and the Hulk, which I think is a reflection of the relationship Hawkeye had with Hercules in the old comics, is one of the best parts of the show now. Oh and the Black Panther moment was fantastic. AND we got some Black Knight! Seriously, this show just is a half-hour of fabulous smothered in awesome sauce.
- Once the basement gets painted the T.V. will go up, and lordy LORD we’ll have another living room downstairs.

And with that…

“Great peril awaits us beyond the Black River
Summoned by the beating of drums
Our number is few and our errand is dire
We do what must be done

At the bidding of the high priest
The tribes gather for war
Evil sorcery is unleashed
Upon the opposite shore

Make your stand with great hound
The frontier is lost
Black waters lie before you
Together you cross

Take heart!
Do not fear
Though you know
Your death nears

We shall build you a cairn beyond the Black River
Where no one will disturb you rest
There you shall lay in your helm and your harness
With your sword across your breast

Now take a quick moment to answer this question
As the ferry approaches the shore
Will you have the coin to pay for your passage
And the courage to take up the oar?”


* = Look at the 'pimp' on REH!

What I Learned...

There won't be any fanciness this blog, no pictures, no videos. I simply am writing today about what I've learned in the last few weeks. I've learned to appreciate the time you have. Appreciate the adversity, relish in the good things, & make memories. Never take for granted that there will be a tomorrow.

Take those moments, those memories, and learn. Don't repeat the same mistakes, make all new, spectacular mistakes. Who knows what awaits us in the great beyond, I know I certainly don't, instead live for today, plan for tomorrow, and learn from yesterday.

Out.

Outland Vs. Zardoz

* = I don't know where I found this, but damn if it's not cool in a Scooby Doo meets Zombie Apocalypse way...

So after the maudlin post on Monday I decided it was time to lighten it back up and talk about all the crap I’ve been exposing my tiny brain to. So here are three films that I spent some time with last weekend;

- Megamind (***** out of 5) – What The Incredibles (***** out of 5) was to the Fantastic Four, this is that to Superman. I knew I was going to like this flick, I just didn’t expect to fall in love with it. I’m an unapologetic Will Ferrell fan, most likely always will be, but his turn as erstwhile incompetent megalomaniacal villain Megamind is truly inspiring. This movie doesn’t just love it’s super hero tropes, it gleefully basks in them while also taking loving care to tip them on their ear. In reality I enjoyed every bit of this flick, be it Brad Pitt as Metro Man, Tina Fey brilliantly mocking Lois Lane as Roxanne Ritchie, David Cross as scene stealing Minion, or Jonah Hill doing a disturbingly creepy vision of Jimmy Olson gone horrible wrong as Hal. This is just a fun movie, and it’s to bad it doesn’t get the love it deserves. As for me I’ll be lovin’ up this movie (ya like that Dave?) as often as possible.

- Shivers (*** ½ out of 5) – David Cronenberg is a guy whose movies you’ve most likely seen. I know I have, but I’ve never had the undying love or appreciation for them the way my movie aficionados allies, Dave & Mighty Mike, have. So in order to rectify that situation, and to curb the melancholy mood 2011 has set upon both myself and Mike it was determined an EMERGENCY Cronenberg Movie-A-Thon would take place. On the docket was Shivers & Rabid. This has a lot of the same feel as a zombie movie, and that’s not a bad thing. There is a claustrophobic, end of day’s vibe that permeates the film, sort of rotting just beneath the surface of the first half. The thing is you really get a feeling that David Cronenberg has some SERIOUS body issues based on this flick and his other movies. He might even be somewhat of a germaphobe. The twist of the infected become sex crazed maniacs is a little different and in reality the way it’s carried out is creepy as hell. Cronenberg does a good job of setting a tone and not forcing you to see all the horrible acts commited instead he leaves that to your vivid imagination. This is a low budget 70’s flick and it shows visually, but it’s well done and it will push you in uncomfortable ways.

- Rabid (*** out of 5) – This was our second Cronenberg flick of the night. Really Rabid is a variation on the themes Cronenberg hit in Shivers; body invasion, hyper-sexuality, and plague. While it’s a bigger movie, better acted, and larger in story scope it doesn’t have the same confined and tense feeling that Shivers elicits. I really dug Marilyn Chambers in the lead role as the infected woman who must feed on the living while simultaneously infecting them. This was quiet a stretch for an actress who I only previous knew through adult films, not that she’s not a hell of an actress in those, but I’m just sayin’. The male lead was a pretty wooden performance, but strangely ‘Walken-esque’, which made it bizarrely fun. Cronenberg isn’t afraid to smash you with a downer of an ending, but this one doesn’t quiet have the ‘all is lost’ feel of Shivers, and between that and the definitive lack of mood it’s just not as good a movie.

I do look forward to our next foray into Cronenberg territory as I think he’s an interesting director and has some themes that both push the boundaries of the view and are extremely inventive.

So for those that don’t know for about a year now I’ve been slightly, ok I’ve been INSANELY, obsessed with the prospect of DC Universe Online (Infinte *'s out of 5!). Well it came out yesterday. I didn’t pre-order. I know I’m an idiot, but luck was with me and I found one of the last copies in the Twin Cities metro in Plymouth. It took a while to install, two long attempts, but once I got it up and running OH what a time was had. Cassandra helped me to design my first character, a hero named Raptor. We took the look of Hawkman, because I love him, and ‘tech’ed it up. Raptor uses two blades, can fly, is pretty damn strong, and has a sweet tazer grappling hook attack. So this is a Massive Multiplayer Online RPG, but the combat isn’t turn based. It’s strictly button combo mashin’ bliss! The premise is Luthor, in the future, puts together an end game, as seen in the fantastic game trailer, and WINS! That’s right Lex and company manage to off the heroes, well with no Superman and Company to stop him Braniac moves right in and takes over. Luthor travels to the past to warn Batman, Superman, & Wonder Woman, & infects a ton of humans with nanobytes giving them powers in an effort to stop his future. The premise as you can see is fantastic.




Building a character is really fun, and we went out on a limb and took Wonder Woman as our mentor, which has already served to change where my character starts and what it is his focus will be. For the record there are six mentors to start with; Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and for the villains Lex Luthor, the Joker, & Catwoman. I know there will be a ton of updates and the potential for add-ons is astronomical. It is a learning curve, for me at least, to use the mouse and keyboard, but as the night progressed I became much more adapt. I’m hoping that eventually I’ll figure out how to use my video game controller with this particular game.

As for how it plays, well it was fantastic. My character awoke aboard one of Braniac’s invasion ships and had to fight his way out without being overwhelmed, which was not easy with my fledgling skills. In the end I had to destroy a weapons array while being mobbed non-stop by Braniac’s soldiers to allow Superman to Boom Tube into the ship. This game makes you use some smart tactics or die. It’s as simple as that. So eventually Supes and I mopped up and I was transported down to Metropolis, it was midnight and I had to stop playing and go to bed. Which was unfortunate because there was PC’s EVERY FRIGGIN’ WHERE! Oh and did I mention that by the time I reached Level 3 and got to Metropolis my costume had drastically changed due to items I’d picked up? I started out looking like a technological version of Hawkman, and instead ended up looking like a Kirby-esque 4th World flying brawler. I love this game and I’m going to have to work REALLY hard not to waste my life away glued to my computer.

How ‘bout some

RANDOM CRAP!

- Helium Francis & the Fairly Unknown Army have officially entered into the Twin Cities Marvel SAGA lore. Thank you David.
- Normally I’m always looking for something to do every weekend, some event or a reason to get together with friends. With all that has transpired here recently I’m really excited for this weekend to get here. Nothing on the docket, no plan to plan anything, just blissful solitude.
- I hope the Patriots drop 50 on the f’n Jets.
- The plan is to continue to knock out my Basement Sci-Fi Wargame army this weekend. Sunday night I was able to put together like ten of my human conscripted soldiers using WH40K Imperial Guard soldier bodies, various heads, and some Wargames Factory Shock Trooper arms. I like the way they turned out so far.
- Laughing Cow Cheese RULES YOU!- By the by if you love nerdery & good art like I do, please check out this blog;
o http://superherogirladventures.blogspot.com/2011/01/when-i-think-about-someone-being.html
I don’t know the artist personally I just really enjoy the strip.
- This whole Arizona assassination thing is disgusting, not just the whole crazy murderer thing, but also the way that pundits, commentators, and idiot bloggers have used it to push their own personal agendas. It’s obvious that logic, humanity, and common sense have drowned in the shallow end of the gene pool to make way for the slack jaw troglodytes more room in their feeble minds to concentrate on things like texting & Snookie.
- I miss our D&D group, and I know Cassandra does too.
- There was a new Avengers last Sunday, “The Man Who Stole Tomorrow”. Finally after what felt like an eternity, pun intended, we get our first Kang centric story. First off let me say, I LOVE what they’ve done to Kang to fit him into the cartoon continuity. Kang’s a tough villain to pull off, but they’ve done it brilliantly. OH and by the way we get a great Fantastic Four moment! I’m also really excited to see that this week is ANOTHER Kang episode following up on his vow to not only destroy Captain America & defeat the Avengers, but to also conquer that time period in order to ‘save’ it. Oh, and what is he saving it from? Well a future Kree/Skrull War! That’s right foreshadowing! On another cartoon note Young Justice has started on Cartoon Network, it’s just to bad their taking the one hour premiere from last month and using it as the first two episodes. So last week and this week their just playing something I’ve already seen. Thanks for being douches and making me wait even longer Cartoon Network. You’ve got gold in your hands, but you’re to dumb to do anything with it.
- Anthony ain’t heavy, he’s my brother…


And with that I’m out…

“She keeps Moet et Chandon
In her pretty cabinet
'Let them eat cake' she says
Just like Mary Antoinette
A built-in remedy
For Kruschev and Kennedy
At anytime an invitation
You can't decline

Caviar and cigarettes
Well versed in etiquette
Extraordinarily nice

She's a Killer Queen
Gunpowder, gelatin
Dynamite with a laser beam
Guaranteed to blow your mind
Anytime

Recommended at the price
Insatiable an appetite
Wanna try?

To avoid complications
She never kept the same address
In conversation
She spoke just like a baroness
Met a man from China
Went down to Geisha Minah
Then again incidentally
If you're that way inclined

Perfume came naturally from Paris
For cars she couldn't care less
Fastidious and precise


Drop of a hat she's as willing as
Playful as a pussy cat
Then momentarily out of action
Temporarily out of gas
To absolutely drive you wild, wild
She's all out to get you

Recommended at the price
Insatiable an appetite
Wanna try?
You wanna try”


* = There ya' go gentlemen...