Farewell to my Savage Eberron character!

Rest in Peace Yton Greenleaf. (In a T-Rex's digestive system!)

My Savage (Worlds) Eberron character, the lovable and entertaining halfling bard, Yton Greenleaf, was devoured by a T-Rex a couple of sessions ago. Unfortunately, I wasn't there to witness his wacky demise, but I'm not fretting over that! I assure you, I fully approve of this most gonzo of demises; I just get bummed out that I wasn't there to see it!

Anyhow, now I get to create a brand new Savage Worlds character. And with a new character they'll be more frequent session recaps jam packed with pictures, quotes, and coherent writing! This I promise!  

Wood Elves With Funky Uniforms

My Wood Elf Blood Bowl Team/ Glam rock band

I don't know what inspired me to paint my Blood Bowl wood elf team in yellows and oranges. Maybe I forgot that wood elves typically wear green.

That being said, this color scheme has grown on me over the years ( I painted this team a couple of years ago.)  I think the flashy jump suits give the team character; even if it is totally out of sync with known Wood Elf history and idiosyncrasies. 

(I'll apologize in advance for the horrible quality of the pictures. I don't have a decent camera.) 

Then again, why would you magically hide in the forest when you look this glamorous?

I need to re-paint the team because some of the colors have faded. I'll post an update when the team is completed.

Apollo 18

Apollo 18 is a film about the last manned mission to the moon. It is one of those movies constructed from a bunch of "found footage." Yeah, another one of those. Yet, if you can look past the Blair Witch gimmick, Apollo 18 is as really solid horror tale.

Apollo 18's atmosphere is one of absolute dread. Almost everything that happens in the movie is discomforting. A lot of the film's dialogue is done through radio communication; from mission control to the mission and from astronaut to astronaut. Every single line of dialogue has an eerily, distant quality to it. (Think of Orson Welles' War of the Worlds broadcast.) Most of the movie takes place in two very uncomfortable locations: the claustrophobic confines of a lunar capsule and the desolate and oppressive lunar landscape. One of my biggest gripes with newer horror movies is that they are often disguised action adventure films. At no moment does Apollo 18 morph into a supernatural adventure film. Apollo 18 is a strange story that progressively gets bleaker. With such a marriage of atmosphere and science fiction, it is hard not to think of Lovecraft. 

Apollo 18 is almost flawless piece atmospheric horror. I don't feel totally comfortable calling it "cosmic horror," but a lot of the hallmarks of a weird tale of the up most quality are present at every moment. In my opinion, it is a fun watch for anybody that's bored with the shit-that-passes-as-horror today. 

Alternate Combat Sequence Method No.3

I think that the best type of house rule for oD&D is the one that adds detail to the game without introducing new mechanics. That's why I'm going to begin to resolve my fantasy combats with the "Alternate Combat Sequence Method Number 3" found in the Swords & Wizardry Complete Rulebook on p.37. 

This alternate combat sequence emulates (and streamlines) the combat resolution system introduced in Eldritch Wizardry. The streamlined combat system divided a round into segments of time. Participants act on a segment that is determined by various factors. The combination of these factors also determine when a character's subsequent actions will take place. 

The Alternate Combat Sequence addresses some of the issues raised by many people who dislike oD&D: randomness and lack of detail. It elaborates on information that is already available to anybody that creates a Player Character in any version of oD&D. It takes into account decisions made by the players (such as armor worn and action taken) and reflects them in a tangible way within a combat sequence. It is a relatively simple way to add some details to oD&D combat that feats, skills, and maneuvers add to newer versions of the game. 

At the end of the day, this alternate combat sequence will not satisfy gamers that like a lot of tactical detail in their game or those who like to keep things ultra-LITE. I think it's a good halfway point for both camps to meet  for an exciting session of D&D. 

  

Tales of the Lovecraftian Mythos or Tales of the Derlethian Mythos?

The Mask of Cthulhu

Call of Cthulhu shouldn't be called Call of Cthulhu. The title is a total misnomer. I think the game written by Petersen and published by Chaosium has more of the traits associated with the Mythos fiction of August Derleth than the weird tales of H.P. Lovecraft. I do not mean this as criticism. Call of Cthulhu is the best Role Playing Games ever created. I just think that the elements that it borrows from August Derleth's simplistic take on the mythos are the same thing that makes it into a fun table top game.
Most of the Derleth stories that I've read all follow the same basic format: and intellectual type comes into contact with the weird outside in the form of some sleeping creature or god. By the end of the story, the intellectual figured out how to vanquish the thing back to whatever weirdness it came from. In most stories, the creature seems very interested in coming back to our world; one gets the feeling that even though they weren't "killed," they are sad or angry at the fact that that pesky humanity lives another day.  God and evil play a role in these stories. A good investigator of the weird vanquishes an evil creature or God from the weirdness. Add machine guns, dynamite, and cultists to the mix and you have the typical Call of Cthulhu scenario.

I'll reiterate that I do not mean any of this as criticism. While Derleth's take on Lovecraft's creations are not high art (then again neither was Lovecraft), they sure may for awesome tabletop sessions. There is a lot of horror in his stories, but there is also room for action and even a bit of empowerment. Those are three elements that I think work well in the role play medium.
Lovecraft's stories, on the other hand, are not about empowerment or action. As we all know, at the heart of Lovecraftian Horror lies the insignificance of man in the uncaring cosmos. I think Algernon Blackwood expressed the relationship between humanity and the outside better than Lovecraft:

"There are forces close here that could kills a herd of elephants in a second as easily as you or I could squash a fly. Our only chance is to keep perfectly still. Our insignificance perhaps may save us."

With the exception of The Dunwich Horror and Charles Dexter Ward, the response to the character encounter with the weirdness ( that is reality) is madness, death, or escape. His stories featured a lone intellectual obsessed with discovering the horror beneath the veneer of normality. (In other words, the do away with the lie that everything is alright and come face to face with a horrible reality.)  So, the role play campaign of Lovecraftian Horror would be a solo game where a single player plays an intellectual who collects a bunch of clues that lead to a horror that either shatters his mind, causes him to flee without putting up a fight, or kills him outright. The only reward for all his struggles is the confirmation that his life and the life of everyone he cares about and everyone they care about is a forgettable speck of dust in a sea of infinity. For the horror to truly sink in, both player and referee must put themselves in the place of the poor investigator.

I don't know about you, but what I've just described does not sound like the perfect backdrop for many laughs. If anything it sounds like an emotionally draining experience.
I rather spend my RPG sessions socializing with friends, laughing and catching up. I leave the existential dread for later, when I can suffer through it alone.

I'm not saying that Lovecraftian Horror can't be fun at the gaming table; What I'm saying is that I think that Derlethian Horror (the Cthulhu Mythos) is more likely to be a fun experience within the role playing medium. Especially if the group intends to play a series of interconnected scenarios.

What do you guys think:

 Is Lovecraftian Horror a "one-shot" only type of deal or can Lovecraftian Horror be a fun experience in continuous play? 

Conan The Barbarian (2011)

I think we can all agree that many of Robert E. Howard's original Conan stories can easily be adapted into awesome, blockbuster films. For some reason, the people who made the new Conan movie didn't go that route. Conan the Barbarian (2011) has very few hints of Howard's original creation. The original story doesn't have enough of that Howardian flavor to justify the use Howard's characters and creation.

That being said, I don't think the Conan movie is not without some merit.

I was able to get over the fact that my favorite Cimmerian has been once again dumb down  by Hollywood, and I actually was able to enjoy the film for what it is: a very simplistic action-adventure film with lots of graphic violence and cool special effects.

Conan the Barbarian is a travesty to Robert E. Howard's memory, but, all things considered, it is by no means a movie that can't be enjoyed on a lazy Saturday afternoon.

Stake Land

Stake Land's awesome poster caught my eye the other day. Like the b-movies of old, the kick ass poster worked its magic on me and I rented the film without even reading the synopsis.

Stake Land is a post-apocalyptic action vampire movie about a group of survivors headed to Canada for a new start. Their journey is filled with insane Christian cultists, various types of rabid vampires, and cannibals. Along the way, the group develops a bond even though they all know it is best not to get attached because human life can end very suddenly in Stake Land.

I wouldn't call Stake Land a straight horror movie because it is too satisfying an action experience. Yet the action never crosses that fine line between gritty and over-the-top. The heroes of the story are competent vampire hunters (particularly the enigmatic Mister, who is pictured in the center of the poster) but they are still just humans. Unlike the Blade series, you never really know how any of the encounters with the undead will turn out in Stake Land. I really liked that.

Stake Land gets almost everything right: the film's look is bleak, the characters are believable, and its story is pretty intelligent and uncompromising.

I recommend it to anybody who doesn't mind good character development mixed in with their vampire hunting.