So this happened ...

I cannot figure out how to watch the new season of Community in Canada and I am becoming very upset. I mean, just lOOk! 

Hieroglyph sez what?

At some point, I gotta use this clue in a Dungeon. Another personal fave is using a sigil or code that decodes as 'mine'. 

Quick Linkin' 2: Homemade TIE Fighter Anime Short

I honestly haven't geeked out over Star Wars like this since the first Episode I trailer! Mindblogglingly awesome.

Original Link

Quick Linkin' 1: The Art of Dungeons and Dragons

2 Warps to Neptune has a great spread on the 'Art of D&D'. Can't wait until Part 2

LOVE the Rock'n Roll stance on the Lich. 

The Werewood

Dhuna Witch. by, Nathan Rosario

Talislanta.com is looking to bring the so-called 'Lost Books' up to a more official capacity. These were books commissioned and written but never published (including my own Festival of the Bizarre). The call was put out for those willing to edit and format these documents into a more presentable form, and I was lucky enough to snag the Werewood folio.

I'm really looking forward to it as I haven't had much of chance to do much gaming wise of late. A friend of mine got me a place at a table-top 2ndEd D&D game that I was looking forward too, until job related realities crushed it like a cave rat under the foot of a 12th Level Paladin.

If it goes well, I might just see what I can do with old issues of the Tamar (an old on-line zine) as well as the New Tales of Talislanta, a 'Thieves World' style group fiction project run by the old mailing list. Which is just my way of saying that I have a lot of old files from the ancient days of the internet.

Munchkin, the Comic

Boom! Studios

Goodbye Sir Terry

from, xkcd

Ready My Steed!

Tree frog riding a Rhino Beetle. Not sure if its real or staged, but it does give you some ideas for unusual mounts, does it not?  

Garthim from the Dark Crystal. These guys make all other henchmen look like wussies!

DIE Alone: Howling Hill Part 1

The hill was dotted with strange stone mounds. They were clearly gravemarkers, but of a stone not native to this area, and so worn down by the centuries that their markings were faded beyond any recognition, though they seemed alien and painful to the eye. Near the top of the hill, Thakko came across the body of a dead man, a trail of fresh blood still snaking away between the mounds. A check revealed little and he had little of worth beyond a placebo potion and a few lucre coins.

Thakko followed the blood trail to the mouth of a tomb, its sealing stone shoved aside and lying broken on its side. Inside it smelt of stale air and dust, but Thakko unsheathed his mighty axe and went inside.

The inside was indeed a tomb, with bones and rags scattered everywhere. Curiously, there were many items left around, though much of it of little of value. After accidentally disturbing a pair of Large Spiders, Thakko braved a long hallway riddled with dart traps. The traps were old and ineffectual and only a single dart glanced harmlessly off his armour. At the end of the hallway, he came across a man near death. He fed the man a placebo potion and he soon became more coherent, though still badly wounded. 

This adventure was based on The Howler, by Random Order Creations, which I picked up primary because I liked the artwork and it was cheap. Its a standard, clear the dungeon and with a monster boss at the end, and as I mentioned the artwork is really fun. Unfortunately, I found the adventure itself a little uneven. Take the dart corridor for example. There is a chance every few feet of triggering a trap. Which all pretty basic, except the adventure never tells you how long the corridor actually is, so do you have to make four rolls, or ten? The Howler itself, a warped creature that eats magic and appears undead. Its actually a pretty good boss, unfortunately, the problem is that the Howler eats the magic from magic items, but its a low level adventure, so the hero might not even HAVE a magic object for the Howler to drain attack. As my hero was neither a cleric nor did he have any magic items, it made for kind of a boring fight.

That being said, stack the Howler up against a low level party that has had a few adventures under their belts, a few trinkets in their arsenal and thinks they know what they're doing and the Howler would make a pretty good adventure. 

Cave Clowns

You ever wanted to justify having scary clowns, but you're running a 'serious game'? Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal has the answer!

Cave Clows - Gamer's Common

-Type: Humanoid
Size: Human
Stats: Average human.
Weapons: hand to hand human average. Bite strong. Can and will use weapons.
Armour: 1 - Clothing
Min/Max: Can move in aquatic environments. Strong sense of smell and electo-location allows it to inhabit dark and near-dark environs. Some have magical abilities.

TWERPS- Cave Clowns

ST: 4

Can be found in cave and sewer environments. No penalty to aquatic movement. No penalties in darkness.

Attack:

Teeth +2 Hit, 3 Damage

Mallet: +2 Hit. 3 Damage

Armour: Clothing 2

Min/Max: Some may possess magical powers.