The Queen of Halloween, that is...Happy Halloween, Blessed Samhain, etc. everybo...
Tuesday, 30 October 2012
Monday, 29 October 2012
On this date in 1938, many parts of the country were thrown into a panic by a broadcast of an adaptation of H.G. Wells' novel The War of the Worlds. Orson Welles produced the adaptation for the Mercury Theater of the Air, framed as a series of fictional news bulletins simulating an invasion of the Earth by invaders from Mars.People have debated for decades just why the country was so willing to be fooled by the broadcast, and the question of whether or not Welles had an inkling of what would happen was never answered. It is certain that he denied...
For those of you who, like me, are following or participating in the open playtest for D&D Next, there's a new playtest packet available for download. The new packet takes the characters to level 10, makes some changes to spells and the rogue class, adds new monsters, and skills, backgrounds, and specialties have been tweaked. The packet also includes a rework of the classic adventure X1: The Isle of Dread.You can download the latest packet here,...
Today, the memento mori, a genre of art and music that spans history from the Middle Ages through today. It was particularly in vogue in times when death was of particular concern to people; during the Black Death, for example, or in Puritan times. It was also said that the phrase "memento mori"-- which means "remember you are mortal"-- was repeated by a servant to Roman generals receiving a triumph. They often consisted of depictions of Death personified...
Sunday, 28 October 2012
Today I thought I'd give a quick run-down on real-world occult books that an enterprising game master might find of use when putting a game together. Whether you want to make your demonology in a fantasy game more true-to-life, or need some background for Call of Cthulhu, hopefully you'll find these of interest. All are still in print or available as free electronic editions somewhere online.The Key of Solomon the King (aka "Clavicula Salomonis"). There are a bunch of translations out there, but this is one of the basic texts on summoning and controlling...
Saturday, 27 October 2012
Just in time for Halloween, I'd like to remind you, my loyal readers, of a pair of NPC *cough* character classes suitable for use with AD&D, Adventures Dark and Deep, OSRIC, etc.The Necromancer is a master of death and the undead, and possesses scores of new and unique spells designed to control and mimic the undead, and enter their haunted crypts and graves. He has more than 75 new spells including Funeral Shroud, Living Death, and Kiss of the Vampire. The pdf is 20 pages.The Witch is an outcast from society, weaving malevolent magic in order...
Today, I'd like to bring your attention to some lighter fair; a pair of spooky-yet-lighthearted films that were staples of my youth. Both, not coincidentally, are currently available on Netflix for instant viewing, both featuring Boris Karloff, too.The first is Mad Monster Party? (the question mark really is part of the title). Remember those stop-motion animated specials that Rankin-Bass did for Christmas and Easter? Rudolph, The Year Without a Santa Claus, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, etc.? Well, many people don't know that they also did a...
Thursday, 25 October 2012
Today, an American classic Halloween tale. While I'm a huge fan of the Johnny Depp version of Sleepy Hollow, I have to confess that there's a soft spot in my heart for the Disney animated version, narrated by Bing Crosby. It's the version I grew up with, and to me still the best.Fortunately, someone has put the whole thing on Youtube:Part 1Part 2Part 3Part...
I hereby go on record as saying that I loved, and still love, the 1982 film Conan the Barbarian.I didn't at all like the sequel Conan the Destroyer. But the original, while blissfully ignorant of the corpus of REH's work, was a stirring romp with wonderful cinematography, outstanding music, and a great performance by James Earl Jones. Treat it on its own terms, and it's a terrific film. Big, broad, and fun. Don't try to analyze it in the context...
RESTLESS SPIRITFREQUENCY: RareNO. APPEARING: 1-6ARMOR CLASS: 3MOVE: 9”HIT DICE: 8% IN LAIR: 25%TREASURE TYPE: ENO. OF ATTACKS: 0DAMAGE/ATTACK: NilSPECIAL ATTACKS: See belowSPECIAL DEFENSES: See belowMAGIC RESISTANCE: StandardINTELLIGENCE: HighALIGNMENT: Neutral evilSIZE: MPSIONIC ABILITY: Nil Attack/Defense Modes: NilThe restless spirit is a form of non-corporeal undead who died with some great task left unfinished. They are thus doomed to wander the mortal plane for all eternity. As with all undead, they are immune to all mind-affecting magic...
Wednesday, 24 October 2012
"Another mechanism for keeping things under control is the “Godswar.” This concept is also a good justification to cover the changeover of a campaign from D&D rules to AD&D rules—and will also justify any other divine revisions the DM feels necessary, once." (Ed Greenwood, Dragon Magazine #54, p. 7; emphasis add...
Tonight's a pretty special night for movie buffs. For one night only, TCM is sponsoring a double feature of the original Frankenstein and the Bride of Frankenstein in theaters across the country, digitally remastered. Should be a blast-- these are two of the genre-creating films of the golden Universal horror movie era (or, as Boris Karloff preferred to call them, "terror films"). You can get tickets and theater locations he...
Tuesday, 23 October 2012
Today, some spooky purported-to-be-true ghost images caught on tape. Don't worry-- none of them are the "59 seconds of silence and then there's a face and a scream" type. I hate those.That first one in the car definitely seems staged to me. All the others could be, of course (except for the police dash-cam video)...And, if you're interested, you can also check out the live cameras set up in the Willard Library in Indiana, which is purported to be haunted as well. There are several live cameras set up in several areas of the library, and you'll...
According to the latest estimates released by ICV2.com, Pathfinder was once again the sales leader in the RPG field this summer, beating out the "genre-defining title" Dungeons & Dragons. Rounding out the field are Dark Heresy/Rogue Trader by FFG, Dragon Age, and Dungeon Crawl Classics.I've got to say that last one surprises me a bit, but I'm pleased as anything that something that is deliberately being aimed at the old-school market is doing so well when stacked up against all the other RPGs that are out there. Even if I don't personally care...
Well, the trailer for Iron Man 3 hit the web today (not that trailer-of-a-trailer nonsense from a couple of days ago):Two things strike me about this. First, the "I'm not a terrorist, I'm a teacher" line sounds like something Bane could have said in Dark Knight Rises. Second, the scene of the Iron Man armor blowing up reminded me of the Riddler doing the same thing in Batman Forever. Still, I've got to see this-- I especially like the notion that Tony Stark is actually having to deal with the emotional aftermath of the events in The Avengers, and...
Monday, 22 October 2012
PYRE WRAITHFREQUENCY: RareNO. APPEARING: 1 (or 11-20)ARMOR CLASS: 2MOVE: 9”HIT DICE: 3+1% IN LAIR: 100%TREASURE TYPE: UNO. OF ATTACKS: 4DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-7SPECIAL ATTACKS: See belowSPECIAL DEFENSES: See belowMAGIC RESISTANCE: StandardINTELLIGENCE: VeryALIGNMENT: NeutralSIZE: SPSIONIC ABILITY: Nil Attack/Defense Modes: NilPyre wraiths are a unique combination of undead and elemental formed from a specially constructed funeral pyre or cremation fire. They are usually imprisoned in a funeral urn, whence they are incapable of escaping. However, if freed,...
Sunday, 21 October 2012
Last year I took the NaGaDeMon challenge and smacked that puppy up and and down the street. You start designing a game on November 1, and it's done by November 30 in every respect; design, playtesting, components, etc. If you can't play that sucker after Thanksgiving, you've lost the challenge.Not sure if I'll be able to step up to the plate this year (but I might), but I did want to remind you all that the event is being held this year as well. It really was a hoot to do last year, and it really focuses your energy when you've got that sort of...
What really scares you?I mean, what is your innermost, deepest, if-Freddy-Krueger-were-after-me-this-is-how-he'd-kill-me fear?Lots of people are scared of heights, or spiders, or snakes, or whatever; many to the point of actual phobia. But deep down inside there's got to be something much more fundamental. Something that fills you with existential dread to the point where it's difficult to even imagine, much less articulate. It's often a theme in our nightmares, although it doesn't have to be literally played out there. Often a hint is enough.For...
Saturday, 20 October 2012
Today I'd like to discuss some of my favorite horror films from the 1970's and 1980's. These were my formative years, and these are the movies that made a huge impression on my young mind. I don't much care for modern horror, which is all too often just torture porn or soggy creepy kids. Here's my top thirteen list from that golden (to me, anyway) era (which is different from last year's list, which was my top ten horror films of all time)...The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) / Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972). I'm counting these two films...
Friday, 19 October 2012
I thought I'd count the run-up to my favorite holiday of the year by putting out a little something spooky, creepy, or just plain weird for the 13 days leading up to Halloween. Today, some really creepy and fun music videos, just to whet your appetites..."Sober" by Tool:"Drink with the Living Dead" by Ghoultown:And last but not least, "The Ghost of Stephen Foster" by the Squirrel Nut Zippe...
Wednesday, 17 October 2012
The good folks over at Legendary Realms are doing a Kickstarter (yeah, I know, we're all feeling KS fatigue, but this one is really cool) for their "themed rooms" line. While they make an excellent assortment of dungeon walls, floors, caves, and accessories, these are specially themed sets designed to evoke a particular locale. There's a throne room set and a cell block set, and you can get either the full magilla or just the accessories to turn...
Tuesday, 16 October 2012
Here's the latest on Adventures Dark and Deep™:The Curious Volume of Forgotten Lore hard-copy books are making their way into peoples' hands (the pdf is also available at that link, and if you buy a hard copy, you get the pdf for free). The folks who supported the kickstarter have started to report receiving copies, and there is a steady stream of sales coming in at RPGNow.com. A Curious Volume of Forgotten Lore is intended as a rules supplement,...
Monday, 8 October 2012
Looks like May of 2013 will see the return of the original 2nd edition core rulebooks with the same repritn treatment that the 1E books got:Dungeon Master's GuideMonstrous CompendiumPlayer's HandbookAnd also a hardcover edition of Against the Slave Lords and S1-S4 which is an innovation in term of reprints, as far as I can tell.Can the Rules Cyclopedia be far behind?(h/t to Jason Paul McCart...
Friday, 5 October 2012
I think this is a terrific idea to get young people reading. Tomorrow, October 6, is "Star Wars Reads Day". There are special events all over the world, some with costumed fans, at libraries, bookstores, toy stores, etc. all in celebration of the myriad of Star Wars related titles that are in print nowadays. Yeah, yeah, it's going to put a few more bucks in Lucas's pocket by selling more books, but it also encourages reading especially among young...
Thursday, 4 October 2012
I got the hardcover and softcover copies of A Curious Volume of Forgotten Lore today, and they look AWESOME!Now I just need to autograph these bad boys and send 'em in the mail to the folks who ordered the top-of-the-line reward on Kickstarter. For everybody else, your books should be heading to you directly soon; they're in RPGNow.com's capable hands, and they're working diligently to get them out. (And a special shout-out to Pauline over there,...
Over at Smithsonian magazine, there's a terrific article about the Cave of the Sybil at Baia, near Naples. It speculates that the site was used to mimic (or, less charitably, trick people into thinking they were actually) traveling to the underworld. There are apparently multiple tunnels, an underwater stream (heated "to near boiling" by the subterranean volcanic activity; the place is only a few miles from Mt. Vesuvius), hidden staircases,...
Wednesday, 3 October 2012
Just wanted to post a couple of things from around the web today that I thought were interesting, cool, etc.The 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of Werewolf: The Apocalypse blew through it's $85,000 goal on Kickstarter within 48 hours, and is now well north of $100k. Cost to get a copy of the 520 color page, black leatherette covered book? $120, but there are plenty of rewards at different funding levels, too.Someone in the Washington, D.C. area is going to get the bachelor party I wish I had thought to ask for when I was getting married. If you're...
Tuesday, 2 October 2012
Just a quick preview of something I'm working on for the upcoming Adventures Dark and Deep™ Game Masters Toolkit. A section of random tables. Dozens and dozens of them, each answering a question like "What does it taste like?" or "Why was he exiled?" or "What happened to me in the tavern last night?" or "Why is that mountebank here?" Just stuff to help the ol' creative juices to flow. This is a section that was not included in the open playtest document, but is planned for the final release. Here's one I just finished; "What has my familiar been...
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