Stuff I Missed

A lot of good stuff has gone out on the net, some while I was taking a break from blogging for the holiday, and some since then. It's like the holiday gave everyone time to recharge their batteries.

Check out this great idea for monsters by Noisms:

These two different lines of thought have merged with another parallel line in this post I wrote, on Doppelgangers, and given me the idea for a small group of Doppelgangers who were created centuries ago by an evil archmage for some purpose or other. That archmage long ago died, but the Doppelgangers live on, still trying to perform the tasks - assassinations, spying, arson, theft - that he set for them even though they know that he is dead. They do this simply because there is nothing else for them to do and they know no other way to live; the desire and ability to create, to love, to enjoy, is not in them; it is not why they were created.

The Chatty DM has a review of Wii Fit over at Critical Hits.

I may have to start calling this blog the "Why to Read Sham's Blog" blog. He's got another interesting post up about how he plans to integrate henchmen and "entourage" play into his imminent campaign.

James Maliszewski has posted a review of Monsters of Myth, a monster compendium done by the same guys that brought us OSRIC:

Monsters of Myth is an important book. Besides being packed with 128 pages of new monsters for use with, as it says on its back cover, "First Edition-compatible games," it is in many ways emblematic of the possibilities and pitfalls that lay before the old school gaming community in general and the retro-clone movement in particular.

Be sure to check out the comments for a running discussion on publishing and licensing for old school RPG stuff.

Finally, Mr. Raggi has brought Lamentations of the Flame Princess out of the dark with a clean, white background, and to celebrate has a wonderful review of great black-and-white art from back-in-the-day. If you're a middle-aged gamer, it's a wonderful jaunt down memory lane. If this is your first time seeing some of this stuff, it's a great chance to experience art you might not otherwise get to see, and read a bit about what makes it exemplary.