Wednesday, August 6, 2014

The Asphyx Vs The Beast In The Cellar

8/5/14

Since I have no direction here is some…

RANDOM CRAP!

- We went to Guardians Of The Galaxy last Sunday.  I won’t go too far into detail as I want to Podcast about it with James and his Magical Beard.  Let me just state that even though there were things I wanted and didn’t get; Richard Rider as Nova, credit to Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning, and the Supreme Intelligence.  I DID get EVERYTHING I could ever have hoped for in a Guardians movie.  I’ve come to realize the Marvel cinematic universe is NOT the Marvel universe, and that isn’t a bad thing.  So whether it is this weekend or next week I’m hoping to dedicate an entire Podcast to our thoughts on this flick, as well as the comics that gave it inspiration.  Until then, GO SEE IT!

- We ate at Mad Jack’s last night.  I had never eaten there, but was sold on the idea because of their elaborate Gluten Free menu.  Let’s just say I was NOT disappointed as I got to have fried chicken and calamari for the first time in like half a year.  It was delicious.  Thank you to Cassandra and Master Kedrin 4.0 for taking me.

- Drunk Comic Book History is going to be a ‘thing’ on the Insecurity Blanket Podcast.  It is Cassandra’s ‘baby’ so she is going to be in charge of the moderation when it happens.  The basic idea is I and one other person drinks and re-tells, most likely poorly, one of our favorite comic book tales.  Thus far I am planning on starting with ‘For The Man Who Has Everything’ Superman story, Mighty Mike’s amazing wife Emily is going to lay some Preacher on us, and James & his Magical Beard are lying in wait with only his Beard knows what.  I mentioned it on the Facebook(s) and feedback has been swift and positive SO the sooner we can try it out, the better. 

- The often talked about, never recorded ‘Anxiety’ episode of the insecurity Blanket Podcast MIGHT get recorded next week!  Three of the four of us are settled on it.  I am really hoping to get Wednesday as the date, get confirmation from Scott, and nail The Geneious down for it so we can all get together and record.

- Mantic’s Dungeon Saga is now LIVE on Kickstarter!  When I awoke this morning to check it out it has already went past $200,000.00.  Yup, in less than 24 hours it basically quadrupled its goal amount, and some wonderful Stretch Goals have already been unlocked.  The best part is we still have over 25 days left.  I like the fact that there is ONE pledge level, $100.00.  This gets you the game and all the stuff that gets unlocked, which so far has been a ton of stuff.  In addition there are some additional items you can purchase like the Epic Heroes pack and a pack of additional monsters, which are CRAZY cheap.  I can’t state enough how impressive this game looks to be, so if you are in the market for an immersive, but simple, Dungeon Crawl game with a lot of customizable elements, then go to Kickstarter and GIVE THEM YOUR MONEY!

- It sounds like my Dungeon Crawl Miniatures Kickstarter stuff should finally be here soon, the Bones II stuff should be here in October, Deadzone part II has shipped, the Pro-Wrestling X video game Kickstarter sends me ENDLESS amazing updates, and the small ‘pay what you want’ stuff done by the same folks who Dungeon Roll, I think it was Tasty Minstrel Games, has shipped!  On the flip side, the Guilded Age Kickstarter has been delayed due to quality control issues Cool Mini or Not’s Wrath Of Kings Kickstarter hasn’t deemed us worthy of an accurate shipping date, I still haven’t gotten my wooden box from the Superfight Kickstarter and they’ve basically stopped giving us updates, and I have no idea when my next shipment of Drake stuff will arrive.  That is the thing with Kickstarter, I want to give you my money, but I just don’t know if I can trust you.  Companies like Cool Mini or Not, and their practice of not finishing one Kickstarter and running three more leaves me not wanting to support companies that aren’t bigger or have a proven track record like Mantic or Reaper.  I’ve become much more selective with who I give my hard earned ‘chedda’ to.  Kickstarter is a strange and wondrous source of new cool minis and games, but be wary of who you do business with.  All that being said let me repeat again, GIVE MANTIC YOUR MONEY(s)!

- The board game Othello is pretty good, it is even better if you’ve been drinking AND you win!

- I am, and now by proxy the lovely and multi-talented Cassandra, obsessed with The Chris Gethard Show on YOUTube (search TCGS for episodes).  It began with me catching an episode on the website ‘Drop Toehold’ which is a wondrous place for those of you who enjoy the lighter side of wrestling.  It was brought to my attention because they did three consecutive shows about Wrestling, and basically did them on the whim of a caller.  See the thing is the show is like watching a crazy mix of improv, a podcast like fluidity of subject, interactive calls with viewers, and DIY punk rock.  It never goes where you think it will, it never ceases to be weird, and it ALWAYS makes me think and laugh.  I mean c’mon the episode we watched last night consisted of the host handcuffing himself to a chair and trying to convince one of the ‘sort of cast’ guys, Messenger Bike Bag, to defend him from periodic, vicious assaults from other cast members.  And they were VICIOUS!  There were whiffle ball bat beatings, attacks with dildos, bludgeoning with crusty French bread, and aggressive face punching with blow up boxing gloves.  It was ENTHRALLING.  So far I’ve watched episodes about wrestling, depression, anxiety, the villain’s journey, and serial killer prize roulette.  I would recommend that EVERYONE at least gives it a cursory watch. 

- COST CO!  Yup, we threw off the yoke of the Walton Corporation and now do our bulk business with Cost Co.  We are paying a bit more, but it is worth every cent.

- Last Wednesday we got to spend some time with Mary, Christina, Mason, & Cooper.  It was awesome.  We had some great food, I got to hold Cooper, and read some books with Mason.  This should happen far more often.

- 2nd Group D&D met last Saturday night.  I just want to take a moment to feed Edition Warrior trolls out there.  We had a 5 plus hour session in 4th Edition, had ZERO combat, still rolled a LOT of dice, and had a blast.  Editions don’t matter.  Players & Dungeon Master’s matter.  There, I’m back off the soap box now.  We wrapped up the escape from Moradin’s Sunken Prison, and the group fled the Coltong Merchant Company’s pursuing vessels, found out they had a Naga stow-away, and made it to the island of Takakoa.  There they found an island in the grips of a sped up Industrial Revolution ran mostly by Constructs and Warforged.  They did some interacting with the locals and a TON of research.  ALL THE RESEARCH(es)!  Aldous underwent a mysterious change in personality while Gleb returned to his near constant pants less state.  NO METAGAMING!  The reality is Bob (Aldous) & Zack (Gleb), respectively have done a marvelous job of trading off something that I thought was going to be difficult to mitigate in game, but has turned out to be a constant source of joy and that is Jip Janine.  The inspiration of course coming from Paul F. Tomkins on the magical Thrilling Adventure Hour Podcast, ‘Sparx Nevada, Marshall On Mars’ serial.  Watching the rest of the group deal with this bumbling, comical, and yet frighteningly dangerous ‘Ally’ who always wants to  ‘go on adventures and share in some secrets’ never ceases to leave everyone confused, off balance, and laughing.  That being said, the return of the dour, onus driven Gleb was absolutely wonderful.  The strange interaction that he had with the servant in the inn coupled with Andrea’s character, Shera, was a delight.  In the end Aldous’ transformation couldn’t have come at a worse time as he was shamed and up-staged publicly just as the villainous Captain Cracktusk and his flotilla arrived to sack the port.  In the entire session myself & my kick butt Co-DM, Magic Mike, never had to roll any combat dice because the Players just ran with everything.  This is the first time I felt like ALL the Players had their moments to shine.  Tiffany got to do academic research, Edgar got to drink, Zack got to complain, Cassandra got to negotiate, Andrea got to bounce off of everyone else brilliantly, Christy got to go hat shopping, and Bob got to take the ball and run!  Truly it was a strange, surreal, and wonderful session.  It makes me look forward to our next session.

- ‘All The Ditto’ for those that know.

- Speaking of sessions; THE KING IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE KING!  I have decided and alerted my players that in 9 months will be switching over to 5E.  With the Player’s Handbook arriving next week, the Monster Manual next month, and the DMG not hitting shelves until November that gives me plenty of time to pour over the books and KNOW the system before implementing.  It also allows me to wrap up two more story lines per group, at least, and get us to the end of this ‘Age’ of the campaign World.  I’ve already come up with a plot device to port 4th Group’s characters over as to not upset Jake too much, but when it comes to all other groups and players that transition will be full and complete.  I’m going to shift the world ahead 1,000 years, there will be a new Pantheon of Gawds, the world will shrink back down so there is more danger and areas to explore, and there current characters will have become legendary heroes or villains.  We will be using Microscope to shape those 1,000 years and I am VERY excited about that prospect.  In the interim 9 sessions there will be a lot of Shards, some skipping of levels, lots of war, some wrapping up of sub-plots, some more Syd, LOTS of Karlot, some death, some more Uwain, and what I hope to be some satisfying conclusions to the stories of these particular characters.  I am excited and hyper-motivated by the opportunity to get into 5E and move the campaign world as well as all the NEW characters the Players will bring to life into the spotlight.

- Another round of resumes went out, and I already have gotten a call.  Hopefully a positive change isn’t too far away.

- My first foray into Dungeon World is this Friday as a ‘make up’ for throwing the Zack Attack a surprise D&D birthday bash.  I am intrigued to see how it will play.  We may even record it for Antagonist Relations.
I have been drawn into Big Brother, and I feel no shame over it.

- On a related side note, we are now in the ‘pick a start date’ phase of MONSTERHEARTS!  My excitement is off the charts.  I’m pretty sure the group is going to be myself, Electrifying Elyssa, Magic Mike, Master Kedrin 4.0, and Casual Doug with Zack running.  He has promised disturbing alienation, adult themes, and a level of discomfort almost unheard of.  It should be a great opportunity for all of us to Role Play our asses off! 

- We really need to do a Heel Turn Radio episode soon.  I have a list of topics that I really want to delve into, and a lot of interesting things I want to watch with the L.E.W.G.I.

- I had this plan in my head to paint this week, but it isn’t going to happen.  SO I’m going to try and do so in between doing some house cleaning this weekend.  There is a lot of stuff to DIP, eyes for Cassandra to finish, and a slew of new stuff that is primed.  I sort of have to start coming up with a plan of what I want to paint.  The problem is I have a lot of options and a lot of directions that feel urgent, but don’t have the focus to sit down and hammer through them.  Maybe I’ll just reach in and grab something and start there.  THE Karl when do YOU want to paint?          


Hrm, I think that’s all I got…

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