Tuesday 29 January 2013

Alas Vegas

A new 'miniseries' RPG by James Wallis, creator of The Extraordinary Adventures Of Baron Munchausen and publisher of Pantheon, now on Kickstarter.

Star Wars 6" scale action figures

From Hasbro, designed by Gentle Giant and due to start in August.

Millions of collectors' wallets cried out in terror...

First photo of Luke Skywalker, X-Wing Pilot. The starting lineup also includes R2-D2, a Sandtrooper (not a regular Stormtrooper) and token prequel character Darth Maul.

(And Doctor Who figure collectors grumble once again about the line moving into Star Wars scale...)

The crocodile's father

Tyrannoneustes lythrodectikos, precursor to the fresh water crocodile.

Identified by University of Edinburgh researchers from a skeleton found near Peterborough a century ago and kept in Glasgow's Hunterian Museum since then.

A secret chamber in Machu Picchu

Cue Indiana Jones theme.

Saturday 26 January 2013

Bad Droid!

Star Wars by JJ Abrams. Really happening. Like whoa.

 Cue hundreds of jokes about lens flare, while people who have followed his work since Alias or even earlier wonder more about if it will involve family emotional turmoil above and beyond what Star Wars already has.

Thursday 24 January 2013

Spot the difference

When designing a monster, the eyes can make all the difference between “awww!” and “run away!” Can you tell which is which?

Wednesday 23 January 2013

Teddy Bears Versus Nightmares

So apparently this famous DeviantArt pic is to be turned into a film. Very nice it is too. Compare Fuzzy Heroes, an optional advantage in Little Fears, at least two comic series and the like, so it's an idea with some other variations out there, some of which you can play.

Song Titles As Inspiration

I just realised that I hadn't linked to all those RPGnet threads of adventure hooks based on song (and other random-ish) titles for Buffy, Doctor Who, Firefly, Vampire and more, that I and others starting with SteveD have done.

Well, I have now, so go take a look...

Tuesday 22 January 2013

And there came a day, a day unlike any other...

Filming of Joss Whedon's SHIELD pilot begins.

I will most likely be talking about superspies and superhero secret agents soon.

Art of D&D Next, D&D Classics on sale

Via SteveD: concept art for the Forgotten Realms for D&D Next. Less spiky and piercings and dungeonpunk, more classic and Tolkien-y, the Northland barbarians look very Angus McBride, while the Halflings are a bit more Brave.

And also today, D&D Classics powered by DriveThru.

I found out about that ten minutes after musing I want a pdf of a first edition adventure by Graeme Davis. It’s not there yet, but still, now it has a place to appear. Of course, if I knew my wishes were being granted I’d have asked for money. ;)

Monday 21 January 2013

Primeval adventure opener

The ARC’s anomaly detector flashes a warning.

“Anomaly opening - ”
“Where?”

They turn as a shimmering golden light appears behind them.

Here.”

(What comes out? Or more likely who? I can think of various ideas, but I just like that moment, leading into the credits...)

Sunday 20 January 2013

Vampire: Blood And Smoke - Theme

From a query about the niche vampires fit into in Requiem and whether it might change, Rose Bailey writes:

Here’s the intro to the writer’s guide that we’re using on Blood and Smoke and future Vampire books.

How do you kill Death?

This short film is very clever. Expect to see an advert ripping it off by May at the latest.

In the meantime, what kind of world is it where you can find Death at a bar and put a gun to his head?

Where anthropomorphic personifications are accepted so casually?

Death is one of the classics, of course. From Durer to Bergman to Pratchett to Gaiman to Hutchings to, well, me in the final season of The Watch House. I didn’t really address the metaphysical issues of killing Death - in my case it was a personification that didn’t contain all of Death, just the desire to destroy all life. More Judge Death than a neutral force of nature.

What other embodiments might the PCs run into? Life? Evil? Good? Law and Chaos? Can you call up the Devil? And is that ever really a good idea?

“How do you shoot the devil in the back? What if you miss?

Then there are games like Nobilis and the higher superhero games where the PCs can be such entities.
More cover pose satire, this time for charity.

I have met two of the authors posing on the parody cover. They were more clothed at the time.

Monday 14 January 2013

The Trinity Continuum

Not just a new title but a hint of more to come...

A DC I am, lest a Marvel I become?

Issue 1 of a new run of Marvel’s Morbius: The Living Vampire is out, laying down the groundrules after sending readers back to Amazing Spider-Man 699.1 for a retelling of his origin, cheeky so-and-sos. Main groundrule of interest: “hating the very thing that also happens to give him amazing super powers... When your life depends on the suffering of some, while still having the ability to save others, what type of person do you choose to be?”

Meanwhile in the DC Universe, the new run of I, Vampire has revealed that Cain (no e) is apparently creator of the new universe’s vampires including direct creator of the brooding hero, and he’s becoming a big crossover villain too, moving from I, Vampire to Demon Knights and being surprisingly blond.

So that’s both big superhero universes currently home to rogue vampire types struggling with the temptation of blood and power, one of whom traces his lineage back to Cain (no e)...

ANNOYING EDIT: I, Vampire has been cancelled, along with Paul Cornell’s Saucer Country among others.

Do a bit of good, get a sketchcard

Ken Meyer Jr., one of WW's most prominent artists, is taking sketchcard requests and selling prints to pay the costs of an operation.

Strix Chronicles: Blood & Smoke: Protean

Including what could be the namesake power for the book's subtitle...

Sunday 13 January 2013

How do you lose a Roman Legion?

How do you lose a Roman Legion?

Well?

(Last time I answered this question, the Ninth Legion deserted en masse to flee to Russia to guard the Spear of Destiny. The time before that, they decamped to the Hollow Earth. They get around.)

Monday 7 January 2013

New Year, New Game - and a Primeval interview

A sale at DriveThru on core rulebook PDFs at 40% off, including V20 and Primeval.

And as the V20 Facebook page notes, get an extra 15% off with the code happynyng2013.

As also mentioned at the start of this interview with Gar Hanrahan about the Primeval RPG including what's coming soon for it.

And that puts the rulebook PDFs down past half price!