Falcor Abides

http://rabittooth.deviantart.com/

The Neverending Story is on my RPG Wishlist, but now I have to add The Big Lebowski as well.  

RPG Wish List: Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future

This  introduction will evoke a level of warm nostalgia in a small percentage of males who are now approaching middle age. It was, after all a program that let you shoot real lasers mounted on the Captain Power toys, directly at the TV, aiming for the Bio-Dread’s epilepsy educing flashing chests. Not that this actually did anything, but it gave you the illusion of participating.

It was also a show that introduced a lot of us to the concept of CGI, and post apocalyptic settings for those of us still too young to see The Road Warrior. The setting in modern terms was kind of a Terminator-lite, or possibly a prequalesque Matrix where humanity was fighting a (losing?) battle against Machine Overlords of their own creation that had risen up and squashed us like insects.

Never hugely popular it was cancelled after one season and I was never able to get a hold of any of the toys. Instead I remember building Captain Power ships and Bio-Dreads out of Lego using pictures out of toy catalogues. While disappointing at the time, it was probably better for me in the long run.

As a roleplaying setting it has a lot to offer; ready made archtypes, cool gadgets, formidable bad guys and more than your average world building, thanks primarily to the input of writer Michael J. Strazinski, the man who would go on to create Babylon 5.

This is Pilot. Don't get
too attached.

There has been the suggestion made to bring back Captain Power, turning it into an hour-long drama, ala Battlestar Galactica with lots of heavy emoting and questions about the nature of humanity. This strikes me as a little absurd. Despite the fact that Captain Power was a very rare kid’s show that had a proper story arc, some mild innuendo and swearing (Damn and Hell), and was willing to kill its characters, it was still an extended toy commercial for laser tag action figures and had its hero exclaim, ‘Power On’ to activate his super-suit.

I’m honestly not sure I would actually run this as a stand alone ‘campaign’. But in a fit of nostalgia, I might certainly throw in a few of the fun elements, or create a short adventure based on the synopsis for the unproduced Season 2.

Suggested Supplements

Soldiers of the Future. The Bio-Dread Empire. Eden II.

Suggested Rules

Mutant Future or Gamma World. If you wanted add a little gonzo, RIFTS.

Captain Power on Wiki (with info regarding unproduced second season)

The Captain Power Wiki

Telecanter's Village Maps

Telecanter's Receding Rules is a favourite site. He just posted a great shortcut for making maps of organic looking villages.

I've also seen a variant that used tossed coins instead of dice. I see no reason why you couldn't use both to add a variety of different building shapes.

What is TWERPS?

With generous help from Wikipedia;

The World's Easiest Role Playing System was originally created, written and illustrated in its distinctive style by "Jeff & 'Manda Dee". Jeff Dee being a noted game illustrator and co-writer of Villains and Vigilantes. It was created for Reindeer Games (whose sole product was the TWERPS line) and distributed by Gamescience (now known for its dice). Presented as a parody of the complicated RPG systems which were prevalent at the time while still being a playable game in its own right, it's simple structure and humorous nature gave it unexpected popularity.

The rules system is extremely simple. All characters have one Stat, Strength (STR) and they roll their STR plus 1d10 to make all checks, or to defeat an enemy. When playing with miniatures (the game came with paper counters and usually a paper map or hex board), STR also indicated how far the character can travel in a round. Get wounded, and your STR goes down which makes all further rolls more difficult. This makes a certain amount of sense if you think about it, try stabbing yourself in leg with a fork then trying to drive a car.

That is TWERPS. 

Reindeer Games produced two editions and a total of thirteen supplements covering everything from standard fantasy, to Mad Max style post apocalypse, to Star Trek and the X-Files, all of which were completely inter-connectable. Over the years, I've managed to collect all the supplements except the 'How to Do Everything Better', which was an expansion on the basic rules. 

Lately I've been going over my old TWERPS books and while I adore the basic conceit of the game, I am rules tinkerer at heart so there are a few things I would like to change …

What I hope to do with here is twofold. The first is to bring the game back a little into the spotlight a little, or at least have it pop up on Google Search. At the same time, I will be going through each of the books, looking for things that might require a bit of tweaking that I will compile into a file I plan on calling "Son of TWERPS."

Not much of a hobby I'll admit, but it keeps me off the streets. 

TWERPS LINKS

TWERPS on Wikipedia

TWERPS ARCANUM

Pineapple: Most comprehensive site I could find, but WARNING- its an angelfire site so be prepared to fight pop-ups.

TWERPS Twaveller: A nice and quick PDF for using TWERPS in Traveller

Hyperia: A setting for Cyber TWERPS

Another World: A Fantasy TWERPS rules-set that would fit well with an Anime Style Game

How to Do Everything... the TWERPS Yahoo Group (still going strong-ish!)

TWERPS Time and Spacey Wacey (Doctor Who meets Bill & Ted supplement written by me)

Holochess Art

This piece of awesome brought to you by PJ McQuade

Helm of Elanore

Jeff De Boer

This beautifully crafted helm was created by the famed Sorceress Elanore of Abernath. Elanore had been something of a prodigy in her youth, quickly mastering all seven dimensions of the magician's cube, and becoming proficient in several schools including elementalism, wyld magics, witchcraft, plane shifting and most tellingly, natural magic. Her familiar was a black cat named Norag that started out as a kitten, but grew into a sleek and dangerous panther as Elanore's channeled more and more power into her pet.

At the height of her power, Elanore created a magical helm that allowed her to communicate more directly with Norag and other felines. Elanore's bond with Norag had already been stronger than most, and some believe that her wearing of the helm caused Elanore's mind to slip so deeply into her familiar that eventually, their consciousnesses merged.

Elanore was eventually shipped off to a distant nunnery, where she helped keep the local rodent population under control. Norag, surprisingly, went on to pen a number of important treatises on the ecology of the Displacer Beast, and the importance of cleanliness in spellcasting, before she retired to a small cottage not far from the nunnery.

The Helm meanwhile, disappeared from the Mage's Vaults and some believe it had been in the possession of Paddy Furfoot, the famed Halfling burglar, catamount and arsonist before he died somewhere deep inside a forgotten dungeon. Legend has it he had scampered away from the rest of his party in valiant pursuit of a giant stoat.

Known Powers

The helm conveys on the wearer the senses of a (non-magical) cat. Heightened sense of smell and hearing, but also extremely acute low-light vision (see well in everything but absolute darkness).

If worn daily over a long period of time, it will grant the wearer the ability to communicate with felines. The effect takes a number of weeks of constant wear to manifest and will begin with housecats, then alley cats and finally up to large cats such as lions, tigers etc.

Exaggeration Postcards

For all your Fallout / Gamma World / Mutant Future needs.

via Retronaut

Video Hits Saturday: Ankh-Morpork Anthem

Did you know that the city of Ankh-Morpork has an official anthem? Since no one ever remembers the second verse anyway, they solved the problem by making it offiicaly, "Ner Ner Ner hner"

"When dragons belch and hippos flee
My thoughts, Ankh-Morpork, are of thee
Let others boast of martial dash
For we have boldly fought with cash
We own all your helmets, we own all your shoes
We own all your generals - touch us and you'll lose.

Morporkia! Morporkia!
Morporkia owns the day!
We can rule you wholesale
Touch us and you'll pay.

We bankrupt all invaders, we sell them souvenirs
We ner ner ner ner ner, hner ner hner by the ears
Er hner we ner ner ner ner ner
Ner ner her ner ner ner hner the ner
Er ner ner hner ner, nher hner ner ner (etc.)
Ner hner ner, your gleaming swords
We mortgaged to the hilt
Morporkia! Morporkia!
Hner ner ner ner ner ner
We can rule you wholesale

Credit where it's due."

Gallery of a Golden Age

Historians pin the Golden Age from between 1941 and The Falcon verdict in 1970, but those are just arbitrary dates in a text book. There are still a few lunatics out there, bedecked with more tiny pouches a pack of pygmy kangaroos, carrying swords and guns bigger than a Buick while patrolling the rooftops and scaring the living shit out of muggers and jaywalkers. But they are only the dying embers of a bygone fire.

The fall of The Flaming Falcon was the beginning of the end. He declared bankruptcy soon after he lost a personal injury lawsuit brought by a man he saved from falling off a bridge. True, the guy suffered third degree burns and a fractured pelvis, but when the alternative is certain death a little leeway might be expected. Nevertheless, it was the first pebble in the landslide that saw lawsuits and tougher laws brought up every time someone was hit by an errant plasma bolt or had their home of place of business destroyed by battling supers. Then the so-called 'Powers Law' was voted in specifically to convict El Toranada after he punched Sonicboomer into that hospital.

Most retired quietly after that, nursing their battered bodies and trying to make due on government pensions and food stamps. For every millionaire with a hideout full of gadgets, there were a dozen pizza delivery boys, freelance photographers and secretaries out every night trying to make a name for themselves. But there are no pension plans for being a caped crusader and charities like Help for Heroes are still out there making sure that the remaining old timers don't slip too far down into the cracks.

The villains, ironically, had an easier time of it. Sure, you may be serving three hundred and twenty six consecutive death sentences like Immortalicus, but at least you a roof over your head, three meals a day and conjugal visits on the government's dime. Others, like Killatonne got into military contracting and now owns the second largest corporate conglomerate in the world.

Nowadays, most 'supers' as they have come to be called, usually end up using their talents in a related field like the guy I saw carrying a cement mixer around a construction site. Those that want to fight join the military or police force, or sign up for Ultimate Power Wrestling. The urge to show off is pretty strong and California is chock full of supers, all clamoring to become the next Mark Morpho or Seductress, but usually ending up as stunt-people or on reality shows like 'Super Island' or 'Hero House'. Most I think, just trudge along like the rest of us in our unfulfilling little jobs, but at least they can heat their frozen burrito without a microwave or fly in instead of getting snarled in traffic.

But it hasn't always been like this. Like all kids I had a fascination with the greats. I had The Captain bedsheets, Star Kid action figures and posters of The Lariateer, but somewhere along the way I had also picked up a comic book about Crusader. Something about that suit of armor appealed me and I was soon buying every magazine and pulp comic that so much as mentioned his name. I learned later that he had long since retired, but I by that time I had started collecting stories about other lesser known heroes and pursued the interest with a level of zeal only attainable by a young, socially awkward male. It is a deep and exciting time of our history that is only touched on by the flood of books surrounding the major names.

Lately, I've had cause to open my old scrapbooks and wrapped in the fuzzy pajamas of nostalgia, I started doing a little research, but was dismayed at how many of them didn't even come up on a Google search.

So I have decided to use this old blog to post some scans from those old scrapbooks and give a little history to some of these mostly forgotten heroes. Maybe you'll climb into the same fuzzy pajamas as I have.

That didn't come out right.
-P.P.

Endless Landing

Please return your trays to the upright position, this could take a while.

RPG Wish List: Equilibrium

Movies, Games and Books I wish were available as Roleplaying Games

Equilibrium

This 2002 film is one of my favourite guilty pleasures. It is a little uneven and was critically trounced, but I think it got an unfair rap. Besides, it has a pre-Batman Christian Bale, a surprisingly creepy Taye Diggs and the always watchable (and always underused) Sean Bean... who by this time is a walking Spoiler Alert.

The whole film is incredibly stylized and fun to watch with much less CG and Wire-Fu than you'd imaging. These are real guys doing real stunts, and one stunt guy doing a back flip off a moving motorcycle beats an entire planet of cg smurf-people doing a Fern Gully riff any day.

A quick summary from Wikipedia:

"The film follows John Preston (Bale), a warrior-priest and enforcement officer in a future dystopia where both feelings and artistic expression are outlawed and citizens take daily injections of drugs to suppress their emotions. After accidentally missing a dose, Preston begins to experience emotions which make him question his own morality and moderate his actions, while attempting to remain undetected by the suspicious society in which he lives. Ultimately, he aids a resistance movement using advanced martial arts, which he was taught serving the very regime he is to help overthrow."

But really, this movie is all about the Gun Fu (properly known as Gun Kata), an invented martial art that mixes traditional martial arts with guns. Specifically by memorizing the most likely locations and trajectories of all incoming and outgoing bullets, one can move into ideal locations to avoid being hit, and to know where your targets are without aiming in a traditional sense. 

Suggested Supplement

Grammaton Clerics. The Underground. A Guide to the Nether. The State of Libria.

Suggested Systems

The city state of Libria (or version thereof) could easily be inserted into any post-apok, sci-fi game or even a fantasy kingdom that removes the emotions of its people by magic (and defended by some seriously bad-ass clerics). But if you were to run a straight Equilibrium game with Clerics and the Underground, then the only game for replicating Gun Kata would be Feng Shui.

Seven RPGs I Wish I Had Played

This wasn't part of the original meme, but the other two parts got me thinking...

Paranoia

My dream game, but I never seemed to have the the right clearance level.

 

TWERPS

I adore simple rule systems. It strikes me that one rule that covers everything is a much better idea than a hundred different rules covering a hundred different scenarios, because you just KNOW that the player is going to suggest scenario one hundred and one.

This game is the grand-daddy of Rules-Lite and few others can hope to match it.

Gamma World / Mutant Future

I’d probably go with a Fallout setting, but of course I would have to add MEGAWEAPON!

For all your megaweapon needs.

Any Superhero Campaign

Don’t care which rules system. It is just a genre that for some reason, we utterly missed.

Though this would likely be my character

Empire of the Petal Throne / Skyrealmsof Journe

There was a time before the Internet where details about games like these were limited to a rare article in a game mags or zines, or more likely just ads in old issues of DRAGON magazine. Having gotten hooked on Talislanta, I always kept an eye out for these, but was never able to find them in my local games store.(Fandom II represent!)

Shadowrun

Love the setting and have owned a few books over the years, but could never get my head around the rules. I seem to have this block when it comes to FASA.

Ah, the nineties. 

Synnibarr

Just to say I’ve done it. Can you not feel the awesome?

Seven Games that I Have Run

Still aboard the meme-train!

Talislanta

Not as often as I would like, but it remains my all time favorite game. Inspired by the works of Jack Vance (primarily the Dying Earth Books), it is a post-apocalyptic fantasy world complete with crumbling empires, vast wastelands, strange magics and over a hundred playable races, game balance be damned. 

If you're even remotely curious, here is the free pdf of 'The Chronicles of Talislanta'. It is a rules-free guidebook to the continent which twenty years ago I ran out and bought after seeing this iconic add... 

Dungeons & Dragons. 

Who hasn’t? 

Which by the way, brings me to my theory that modern D&D is based heavily on the Talislanta rules-set. It seems that Wizards of the Coast once owned the Talislanta property for a few years before they started devoting all their time on something called, 'Magic the Gathering'. But a few years later, when the launched D&D3, there were suddenly a lot of similarities between the New D&D and their old Talislanta project. 

Kinda like when Paramount studious was considering JMS's Babylon 5 series and was in preproduction for a year. Then they suddenly dropped the project but a year later launched DS9. Not saying that both products or programs were equally awesome. It is just something to consider. 

RIFTS

When we wanted to get a little gonzo, this is what we played. Once you jettison most of the rules, it was okay for a long time until we got tired of the, ‘he with the most MDC wins' mechanic. 

Ghostbusters

I'm an unabashed Ghostbusters fan. We still have the toys, the cartoon was awesome (still saving up for that firehouse box-set) and I say that the second movie ROCKS! But Dan please, even I have no desire to see a third one. 

I came into this game looong after it had finished publishing, but I wish I had found it sooner. You want a real good time as a GM? Run some Chuthulu adventures for the team.  Instead of a ‘Slimer’ ghost sidekick, the team ended up with a zombie head on a stick.

He name was Harry.

Poor Cal.
Never saw it coming.

Star Wars WEG

One of my players had developed this elaborate back story to his character; complete with an extended family, detailed history, hide outs, former squad members and much more, all kept in a neat little binder … which he left in my basement after one game session. A few minutes with the company copier when no one was looking, and I gave him back the binder the following week. The next few months were a nightmare for the poor guy as more and more of those details crept into the game, usually dead or destroyed, and he came to realize that the character’s mother, a high ranking Imperial officer, was coming after her son the traitor. Good times!

Kobolds Ate My Baby

Drunk, bored or don’t feel like doing anything remotely serious or strenuous on your game night? Play this game. Exactly what it sounds like; on the orders of your King ('All Hail King Torg!), you are a band of kobolds out hunting dinner, preferably the sweet, sweet taste of baby flesh. Warning, your kobold will die, probably in some gruesome and hilarious manner. 

BESM

Not the bloated, license-gobbling monstrosity that Guardians of Order became, but the pure fun of the original Tri-Stat rules. While I still like the original rules-set, my only excuse for the rest of it is that I was going through a bit of an anime phase back then. 

It was the late nineties.I got better. All I have left as some Miazaki films and Iria (right), honest!

Seven RPGs I Have Played

Because it is never too late to jump on a meme.

Lord of the Rings MERP

This was a very short, one or two game session from way back in the High School era. I don't remember much, but we did create two memorable characters that eventually got ported to a D&D campaign years later.

 

I've always looked to Tolkien as an inspiration for fantasy role playing, but I don't know how well Middle Earth would translate into an actual campaign. Then again, there are a lot of magic rings out there…

D&D

Usually AD&D, but we did dabble in the 3rd Ed. Mostly we went for classic 'non-specified fantasy world', with imported elements of Mystaria, Kyrnn and Dark Sun. In recent years, I've tried to stir up a little old-school enthusiasm in my group, with mixed results.

Amber

This was the pet game of one of my gaming group and we ended up getting really into it. I played a Chaos Dragon who had become the guardian of a lost Princess of Amber and the plot was to restore her to the throne. By the end of the campaign we were cautious allies with a woman named Luci in her battles with a giant, winged deity. It was fun!

RIFTS

One of our default games for a long, long time. This is pretty gonzo stuff but it was perfect for a bunch of bored, geeky teens just out of High School. We all played dozens of characters, but my personal favorite was The Flooper, a joke class from the Vampire Sourcebook.A four-hundred pound, mega-damage acrobat that can teleport? A lot tougher than you'd imagine.

Wheel of Time

Another pet game from one of my group players. While I'm not the biggest fan of the books (I think I gave up around book 6 or 7, whatever book it was where they started resurrecting villains they'd killed in book 1), this was a pretty awesome game. We never really did finish his campaign, which I always thought was a shame. 

Mechamorphsis

I'd buy this toy.

One of my gaming group is a Transformers junkie and this was his attempt at running a Transformer's game. We played a group of Autobots who had been woken in the 1950's, and when reawakened again in the 1980's, we went out to hunt down Commies.

We went so far off the rails that at one point we tried to invade North Korea. I think we ended up made the GM cry. Still, I thought my golf cart named 9-Iron (who spoke like Mr. Howe from Gilligan's Island) was pretty cool.

Tunnels and Trolls

Kind of a cheat, since this was mostly solo-play on my part. I'd picked up a few T&T books over the years, but didn't do much with them until last year when I ended up spending a lot of time in the hospital. My chemo regime meant that every third week I'd spend five days in hospital, plus all the extra time tagged on for fevers. Tunnels and Trolls Solo adventures helped fill many an hour, though I eventually had to create a spreadsheet to help me keep track of the dice. You have to roll a LOT of dice.

By stock in a dice company before playing

Star Wars WEG D6

This was our game. We played it for years, running a group of characters from a year before the Battle of Yavin, to roughly a few years after The Battle of Endor. There were betrayals, character deaths, reoccurring villains, epic battles and even a bit of redemption for a rag-tag group of smugglers who got blackmailed into helping the Alliance. This one got so deep that it had spin off campaigns, one involving a group of lost Ewoks (when we weren't in the mood to be serious), and a prequel era Jedi campaign.

Left: The group's protocol droid. Non-affectionately called 'Dik'. Infamous for once rolling a '1' when looking out for enemies; 'Look out sir, dirt!' 

Video Hits Saturday: Sark summons Chuthullu!

This is from an old 1991 HBO movie called 'Cast a Deadly Spell'. It stars Fred Ward (Remo Williams!) as a  gumshoe in 1948 name Phil Lovecraft who is investigating the disappearance of the Necronomicon for David Warner (Sark!). I didn't even know this existed until a few days ago. Its not spectacular, but a damned site better than some Lovecrafting dramatizations   

Advanced Dungeons And Dragons Picture Transfers, 1981

via: Monster Brains Blog

LEGO A-TEAM RC Controlled Van

Let that sink and then bask in the awesome.

RPG Wish List: G.I. Joe!

Movies, Games and Books I wish were available as Roleplaying Games 

Become a real American Hero and battle the terrorist organization of COBRA! 

Even though I am Canadian, this was my favourite toy line as a kid. At its zenith, it far surpassed even my Star Wars collection.

That there isn't already an official game is quite surprising considering that HASBRO currently owns Wizards of the Coast. It would be very easy of them to pump out a quick cash-grab sourcebook for D20 Modern. A 'Battle for Cybertron' quality video-game appears too much to ask for.

In the meantime...

There is a lot of love for this line and it is easy to see why, in addition to the cool gadgets, vehicles and equipment … it has ninjas, which is a word that grabs an eight year old boy's attention like a moth to a bonfire.

Kiddie Crack

The playing group could be a Special Missions team sent out to battle agents of Cobra and other treats to international peace. The fabulously geeky File Card that came with each fig listed a Primary and Secondary Specialty. It provides a great model to build a GI: Joe Player Character.

All he needs is a COMELINESS stat!

If you are not familiar with the series, I recommend starting with either the Marvel Comics run from 1982-1994 (including GI Joe: Special Missions) and the cartoon series that ran from 1983-1986. For a more modern approach, I highly recommend the surprisingly excellent GI JOE: Renegades TV series that ran from 2010-2011.

Single greatest comic I have ever read. I am not kidding.

And for the sake of your own sanity: avoid the movies. There is a Wayans brother involved, that is all I'm saying.

Suggested Supplements:

Order of Battle: Cobra. Order of Battle: G.I. Joe. Mars Industries Catalogue. De-Classified: Secrets of the Arashikage Clan. De-Classified: The PIT. De-Classified: Secrets of Cobra Industries. Operation Cobra Island. Operation Springfield. De-Classified: Oktober Guard.

I could spend all day doing this..

Suggested Systems

My personal preference would be for something fast and easy that handles scaling (person vs. vehicle) well, like WEG D6. The aforementioned D20 Modern is a possibility, as is GURPS (you could pull from a lot of different sourcebooks). Savage Worlds, FATE and FUDGE are also strong contenders.

However, buried somewhere in my files is a half finished TWERPS hack. I'm almost inspired enough to go back and finish it.

Yo Joe!

Video Hits Saturday: Heterosexual Man!

Anyone catch Dave Foley on 'The Middle' this week? He makes a Kids in the Hall joke that jumps up and slaps you across the face. It was awesome. In his honour, I give you 'The Odds' and 'Heterosexual Man'.
Also, watch 'The Middle'.

Star Wars Taxidermy

This speaks for itself, really.

RPG Wish List: Villains By Necessity

Books, Games, Comics, Movies TVshows etc that I wish where available as RPGs.

Villains By Necessity

by Eve Forward

Ever wonder what happened after the series ended?

One hundred years ago, the Victory over the dark forces tipped the balance. The world is now a brighter, happier, kinder place full of peace and love. But the balance has gone too far, and the world is now sliding into the Plane of Light where it will soon vanish in blaze of holy light.

So it is up to an assassin, a thief, a druid, a dark elf and a cursed knight set out on a Quest to save Evil, their own skins, and consequently the world.

This book hard to find, but seriously deserves a comeback. Funny and quick moving, it perfectly reflects the standard fantasy tropes, while turning them completely on their ear. Plus Ms. Forward manages to do it all in the space of one book, though the referenced deeds of the Good Heroes sound like they'd fill a shelf-breaking epic (think Dragonlance and Lodoss War). If your gaming group is clamoring to run an 'Evil Campaign', this would be the place to start. If the group isn't familiar with the book, you can simply lift the plot wholesale.

This is NOT 'The Book of Vile Darkness' or 'Saw: The RPG', where the party runs around slaughtering people willy-nilly. While they don't really like each other much, each of the characters in the book are committed to the quest, albeit for their own reasons. They also quickly realize that they must work together or they will be eliminated or brainwashed by the Forces of Good. Killing and looting would get them noticed fast (but a little light larceny is fine). I think that this would be the toughest part to sell for any gaming group as most players don't really consider what it would be to be 'evil'. Instead some players seem to run evil aligned characters like demented psychos who would make the Joker and Hannibal Lector suggest that maybe they should go lie down for a while.

Just read the book. When the party travels through an enchanted forest they kill the Smurfs, what more could you ask for?

Suggested Supplements

While a Supplement for the world tipped into Light would be fun, Krynn or Mystaria or Middle Earth or your personal homebrew would work just fine. This works best as a stand-alone adventure.  … because Good is dumb.

Suggested Game System

Straight up old school all the way (D&D, Tunnels and Trolls, Rolemaster etc), though whatever game you choose must have an alignment system.  

Giant Squid

Discovery Channel announces pictures of a live Giant Squid .... Awesome.

(via Deep Sea News)

500!

Image Courtesy of Savage Chickens.

500th post. I suppose that should mean something. I didn't really want to be part of the New Year flood of Blog resolutions, but it seems as good a time as any to try to get a little focus.

Limitless

When you pick a specific game or rule-set, you automatically exclude 99% of the people who might be interested in your stuff, but play a different game. Even choosing good old reliable Dungeons and Dragons suddenly throws you into the middle of THE EDITION WARS.

So instead, I'm going to post more stat-free ideas under the banner of Limitless.

RollCore

That being said, I would still like to continue to develop my own set of rules. It's a contradiction, but hey, it's my blog so I'll do what I want.

RPG Wishlist

This is just fun.

Video Hits Saturday

Again, more for my own amusement than anything else.

The Golden Age of Heroes

Not a final title. Coming soon!

Never Say Die

My adventure idea based on the movie, 'The Goonies'. I keep starting this thing, time to finish it!

Fiction

There can be nothing worse than Blogfic, but I still want to develop my own writing. You've been warned.

Focus on the Games I Like

TWERPS, Kobolds Ate My Baby, Paranoia, Talislanta, Ghostbusters, TOON, WEG D6, OSR etc, etc.

Pop Culture

I like books, games, movies and TV so I'm going to write about it more. Just what the internet needs, another jackass spouting off about how much he hated Prometheus … oh wait, I already did that.

Paranoia is the result of simply knowing the truth

"Imagine a world designed by Kafka, Stalin, Orwell, Huxley, Sartre and the Marx Brothers..."

Paranoia is the greatest game I've never actually played.

IO9 has a great article on WHY it is such a memorable experience.