Sunday, November 11, 2007

"Rush in and Die, Dogs!" or, the Eternal Beauty of the Poet

Cinerati recently waxed eloquent about Conan, and the perceived resurgence of the grim Cimmerian in popular culture:

Howard's typical Cimmerian is similar to that of the classical scholars, and presents a figure most unlikely to advance the literary arts. But this is where Conan differs from his kin. In The Phoenix on the Sword, Conan is an older man who has conquered on of the greatest nations of the Hyborean Age expressly to free them from tyrannical rule. He conquered to rule, and to liberate an oppressed nation. A far cry from the typical barbarian. By separating Conan from his kin, Howard simultaneously increases the audience's sympathy for the barbarian king while enabling the character to advance a theory of the value of literature.


Neat stuff, but I fear Cinerati is too well read for his own good. ;)

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Getting Under the Hood of Mongoose's Traveller

Mongoose Publishing is holding an open playtest of their version of the Traveller RPG. The bits leaked so far have been getting lots of good response over at RPG.net. Click here to check it out and post your feedback.

Frankly, I think this is an excellent idea, and I hope it results in an exceptionally fine-tuned game for Mongoose.

(Via RPG.net.)

Complaints Dept.

People who complain about scantily clad warriors in their fantasy art, saying that they are unrealistic, and that no "real" warrior would ever enter battle barefoot, or so naked without being armoured completely from head to toe, need to
study
more
history!

;)


Edited to fix a broken link on 02/11/11.

Friday, November 09, 2007

Sexiest RPG Art at RPG.net

If you're not getting enough sexy RPG art, there's a new thread just for you over at RPG.net. They quickly brought up and derided the cover to Savant and Sorcerer and the ubiquitous Avalanche Press covers. Now they're digging into the good stuff: Diterlizzi's "Cat Lord", Lim's work for Exalted, and similar goodness.

There's new art over at Ackergard's and Andersson's pages. I'll have a post up about that, and a new artist who has one foot firmly set in the styles of the "old school" of RPG illustration, this weekend, assuming I can get out from under this damned flu long enough to finish it up.

Dragonlance Movie Release Date and Cover Art

Oops! A bit late with this. The Dragonlance straight-to-DVD movie will be released on January 15th of 2008. I have no idea what the market is like for DVDs. Is this too late for the Christmas rush? Or just right for the post-Christmas returns? Anyone know more about how this market operates?

You can find the announcement and a pic of the cover here. Hey, that dragon doesn't look half bad. Maybe I've been unnecessarily pessimistic. Here's hoping...

Thursday, November 08, 2007

William Gibson: Too Lazy to be a Survivalist

Via Instapundit, a short, interesting interview with William Gibson. Spoiler: he's still thinking the worst is yet to come. But don't expect him to do anything about it: "It could all go to gray goo. But it just isn't in my nature to buy a lot of canned food and move to Alaska and try to escape the gray goo."


Friday, November 02, 2007

Merric on 4e

Merric has a nice overview of what we've seen of D&D's 4th edition so far, and his thoughts on same:

There's one thing that has been very nice throughout the 3e era: I've felt like I was Wizards' target audience. Not always, but for most of it. Of course, they occasionally got my tastes dead wrong - there'd be a lot more adventures from Wizards if they were aiming directly at me, and a lot of Greyhawk ones at that! - but ruleswise? Nice going.

The biggest thing about 4e for me is the potential it has to fix the problems I've had with 3e. The biggest disappointment? The way its publicity has been handled.

If there's one thing that really makes me cringe, it's that "teaser" video displaying the "problems" with the previous editions of D&D. Now, I - and most people familiar with 3e - can relate to the problems with Grappling in 3e. (Incidentally, I don't have a problem running Grappling, I just have a problem with how powerful it is with large creatures). However, the problem with AD&D is... you don't know what mini stands for which monster? Huh? How on earth is that a 1st edition problem?

4e got off to a bad start, and things haven't gone smoothly since then.

Myself, I feel oddly disconnected. When 2nd and 3rd editions were rolling out, I was deeply, passionately involved in what was happening, and following every scrap of information with the intensity of a starving wolf tracking a lame caribou. But I've lived without the latest version of D&D for a while now. 4th edition looks interesting, but not nearly as much fun as True20 is right now. My dreams of being a professional pen-and-paper game designer have deflated under the reality of hobbiest wages. I'm just having fun, now. With the net and online play, there's no reason to feel saddled to what the corporations are doing.

On the one hand, I feel liberated. On the other, I recognize that attitudes such as mine are the death-knell of an industry. What will happen when all our games are put out by Forgites and Wayne Reynolds is forced to illustrate get-well and birthday cards to keep a roof over his head? Yeah, there will still be free or cheap content, but you really do get what you pay for.

But all of that isn't really related to Merric's post, just thoughts inspired by it. Merric gives a nice overview of the basic themes we've been able to see about 4th edition so far. If you haven't been keeping up with it, he's written a good primer as to where things stand now.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

I'm Gonna Live Forever...

Paizo is holding a OGL 3.5 design contest!

"With the end of the print editions of Dragon and Dungeon magazines, Paizo has lost a conduit to find new talent," said Lisa Stevens, CEO of Paizo Publishing, "so we decided to launch an RPG design contest similar to American Idol, giving unknown talent a chance to get noticed!"

Starting October 31, 2007, any eligible person will be able to submit an entry into the contest. For the open call, that entry will be a wondrous item using the 3.5 SRD. Each entry needs to be 200 words or less, and must include all of the proper mechanics and flavor. Judges will announce the top 32 entries on November 28; those contestants will advance to the first round of public voting, where they will be assigned a new design task, and their entries will be posted on paizo.com for the public to read, critique, and vote on. The designers garnering the most votes will continue to subsequent rounds, and the ultimate winner will earn a paid commission to write one of Paizo's upcoming GameMastery Modules!

Looks like it could be a lot of fun. Frankly, I'm tempted, just for the chance to possibly get paid to play in Paizo's playgrounds. If any Trollsmyth readers enter, let us know so we can wish you luck!

Monday, October 29, 2007

Some Pottage is Too Hot, Some Pottage is Too Cold...

But according to Jocelyn Robitaille, the pdf called "Harn Pottage" is pretty close to just about right:

Overall, I’ve found this product to be mostly helpful if you’re looking for non-epic, low-fantasy seeds. Therefore, I’m awarding it a 4. My feeling is that it’d earn a 5 if I was at all familiar with Hârn, and reviewing it as a straight-forward Hârn supplement.

In the end, it’s free, so you can’t really afford not to check it out!


It sounds like it might be a nice mix with Mr. Bezio's Phoenix Barony setting.

Whither Paizo?

Recently, there’s been a lot of talk about whether or not Paizo will adopt D&D 4.0 for their future products. This isn’t the idle chatter you might think. Sure, the marketing juggernaut that is WotC will make it appear like everyone and their grandmother is flocking to the new version of the game, but I recently learned that an astonishing number of AD&D 1st edition players never migrated to 2nd. I can’t remember the exact number, but I asked Mr. Dancey about it directly over at the Fear the Boot forums. I want to say something like 50% of 1st edition players never converted to 2nd. The whole point of the OGL was to create so much new content for 3.0 that there would be something for everyone, and nobody would be able to ignore it.

The problem now, of course, is that a lot of different companies have a lot of work invested in 3.5. A lot of players also have a lot of money and shelf space devoted to the current incarnation of D&D. Will they convert to 4.0? Why should they? A certain amount will, due to momentum. And 4.0 might bring in new players. But what if the new edition causes the market to fracture further? What if D&D players decide that 3.5 is a better game? What would happen to the market? What would happen to WotC and D&D?

As for Paizo, I think they should just bite the bullet and go True20. ;)

Sunday, October 28, 2007

A Review of Epic Proportions

This just looks like a great idea to me:

As I’ve just started reading the rules I thought it might be fun to do an entire thread documenting not only a review of the game, but the opinions, deductions, and problems of a typical gamer (that’s me) as he reads and attempts to gronk a new game for the first time.

I plan to contribute a step by step review of what I read and absorb day by day (and I’m going to take it slow, since I’m very busy). Then I plan to go into any opinions I might have of that, and ask any questions I may have of the fine people reading. Following that I hope to see any other discussion on the topic at hand (usually a chapter of the rules).

I hope to end the whole shebang with a playtest of the game and an actual play report (my group willing). Not sure if I will use the sample adventure (haven’t read it yet) or write one of my own.


Frankly, I can't think of a better way to review a game for others to learn from. It may not be quick and concise, but RPGs are a product with a long tail, and require a significant investment in time to play. So a longer, more in-depth review makes perfect sense to me.

- Brian

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Blumboman Reviews Mythic Role Playing

"Unofficially," whatever that means.

And he likes it:

Still, I’m more than satisfied, considering the nine bucks sacrificed for this amazing product. It’s a great, fast-moving and rules-light system on it’s own, and an awesome adventure aid accessory (Yay! Alliteration!). You can literally, and smoothly, start in a blank game world, and have an adventure constructed around you as you play, whether it be alone, with some friends but no GM, or with friends and a GM, who acts more as a referee with a knack for controlling the game than a GM. I highly recommend you get this book, no matter what system you play.


I'm very curious about this system. When I'm flush with disposable income again, I'm highly tempted to check it out.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Get Some Pants on, Lady!

More lovely art from Wayne Reynolds, for Pathfinder.

Via the Paizo blog, of course.

He-Man. No, seriously...

I'd pay to see this flick.

Mongoose Reveals Combat System for Traveller

Well, it's actually just the initiative system. And yet, it's so elegant, and so wrapped up in everything else, it's not fair to say that.

And the folks at RPG.net seem all a-drool over it.

There are some details I'm unsure about, like how often you reroll your initiative, or what happens if everyone gets it up past ten, things like that. But it looks like a very slick design.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Dragonlance Trailer

Well, a rough version of the trailer is out, and there's not much good to say about it. The motion is smooth, but it's disguised by the stiffness of all the characters involved, hand-drawn or cgi. The cgi is especially egregious, with little done to disguise its mechanical nature. The mob of draconians all clanging their swords on their shields is probably the worst offender, but the motions of the dragons, who seem to be flipping around in zero-g and not soaring through the air, or the motions of the heroes, who exhibit no sort of follow-through when they swing their weapons, or that bird at the very end, who flaps his wings without bending them... stiff, stiff, stiff.

The really bizarre thing is that the animation screams low budget and cheap, but the music and voice talent want to be high-budget. Frankly, I think the blame for this resides solely with the animation team. They don't appear at all to have worked up to the standards of the rest of the crew. But I could be completely wrong, and blame might more fully reside with the producers who failed to arrange the proper funding for this film.

I have no idea of their respective budgets, but the animation I've seen so far fails to measure up to the "Record of Lodoss War" OVA from 1990, which made extensive, sometimes painful, use of recycled animation, but didn't have the benefit of computer animation. And computer animation can be a powerful tool when combined expertly with traditional cell animation, as was seen in "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas". The creature designs are especially noteworthy in that film, and the soaring snow roc was beautiful to watch, especially after it snatched up the heroine and carried her to the top of it's mountain lair, snow drifting from its wings. By comparison, the dragons of Dragonlance, which still resemble ugly crossbreeds of snake and duck, move like spastic puppets, without any sense of weight or flight.

I'll probably rent this one when it makes its way to our local video store, but I really don't see adding it to our collection. And I'm not going to encourage the Trollwife to see the trailer, because I'm fairly certain if we do, she'll refuse to watch the movie. :(

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

There are a Thousand Stories in the City...

...and Craig over at Treasure Tables thinks you can't tell just one.

There's a been a bit of happy thread necromancy at the GMing Forums at Treasure Tables, and this one is golden:

To quote Inigo Motoya from The Princess Bride', "Let me explain, no, that would take too long, let me sum up"

A typical Side Events table I use now has the following columns:
Characters' actions
Characters' orders (magic and masterwork items on order)
Antagonists' actions/plans
The Weather
The Moons
Civic events
City news
City rumours

Most column entries have only half a dozen words in at most, but these can blossom into a wealth of detail and opportunities for the players.


This sort of thing doesn't just work for urban campaigns. The entire world ought to be busy about its own ends while the PCs are shaking its foundations. You don't need something as ornate as Craig's tables. Just having a few yearly festivals at the turnings of the seasons will make your campaign world feel more real for your players.

How Dr. Rotwang Learned to Relax and Love the Random Encounter Tables

You know...the old me never would've done what I did on Thursday. But the new me totally did, and it felt goooooooood.

Starting this blog, and talking about the gaming-related change of mind-set as I do, has really had a positive effect on me. My gamemastering style really is changing, and it's for the better. I feel...

...I feel like a new GM.


Continued here.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Did he Ever Visit the Stonewall?

Some stories continue to grow, even after the last book is closed:

Rowling said Dumbledore fell in love with the charming wizard Gellert Grindelwald but when Grindelwald turned out to be more interested in the dark arts than good, Dumbledore was "terribly let down" and went on to destroy his rival.

That love, she said, was Dumbledore's "great tragedy."

"Falling in love can blind us to an extent," she said.

The audience reportedly fell silent after the admission -- then erupted into applause.

Rowling, 42, said if she had known that would be the response, she would have revealed her thoughts on Dumbledore earlier.


I'm surprised, but not shocked. Say what else you will about Rowling, but she's always been true to her characters, no matter what. Bully for her!

Frankly, though, I'm interested in seeing more characters like Dr. Who's Captain Jack. I can't shake the feeling that our infatuation with sexual identity as a defining personality trait is a bit myopic. A character like Jack, whose sexuality is "Yes, thank you!" feels like a breath of fresh air.

WoW Players to Camp Wal-Mart?

The title says it all:

The World of Warcraft TCG: Now With Tedium!