FURIOSA : A MAD MAX SAGA | OFFICIAL TRAILER #1

I'm so day one for this film. Can't wait. 

Notable releases on DrivethruRPG today

 Over on DrivethruRPG there are a couple of notable releases that dropped today. One is a new RPG and another is an old one finally going into Print On Demand. 

First off is the Walking Dead Universe rpg from Free League Publishing. Now while I'm completely burned out on zombies across all forms of media I am aware that this thing is going to be pretty big. Got a huge fanbase and they've been building up the interest for a while now hinting about this game. Using the Year Zero Engine that so many are familiar with means folks can pick up and run this game rather quickly as well.

Pick up the core rule book here.

Or pick up the starter set here. 

Next up is something completely different. 

The Dying Earth series of novels by Jack Vance were one of the big inspirations behind Dungeons and Dragons, especially concerning the magic system (aka Vancian Magic). Eventually it got it's own full fledged RPG several years back but has become harder to find in print recently. Finally it's now available in Print On Demand so you don't have to pay ebay or noble knight prices anymore.

You can order the POD here. 

As always if you enjoy this blog you can click on the 'support this blog' page up top. 

The Witcher ttrpg is on sale!

 

If you're looking for a good ttrpg deal for Black Friday then this just may be it. You can pick up the Witcher from R. Talsorian games for only 2.99 right now. Can't beat that deal. So if you would CLICK HERE to hop over and take a look at the page because all the sourcebooks are discounted as well!

Why you're there look around at some of the other goodies that are discounted for a few days only.

The Hobby Is Dying

 

There is a lot to this very simple meme that I agree with. I've seen so many older folks who've been in the hobby for many years doing everything possible to push new people out. Especially those new folks who may have a different idea of what they want from a roleplaying game. This has been going on for decades.

Saw it with Vampire the Masquerade when White Wolf suddenly exploded with their idea of a roleplaying game that leaned into telling stories. Including focusing less on rules (at least with the early first editions) and more on character motivations and goals. All the people who were running ADnD 2e were upset when suddenly there were all these new people who were coming into their sacred spaces. Especially when they had zero interest in doing standard fantasy sessions. Instead of realizing that more variety and styles were growing the community they instead decided to draw lines in the sand.

This continued on through various pops of popularity for other indie games in the years after that. Every single time it was the 'old guard' getting angrier and angrier over these 'new kids' coming in and supposedly ruining everything. 

Now we see the screeching still going on as they twist their nuts into knots over the fifth edition of Dungeons and Dragons. They scream it's to easy, they coddle the players, it's impossible to die in the games. But yet more people are enjoying this edition than any other edition ever before. I've also seen more 'noobs' turn and look at the old guard and tell them to go fuck themselves. That, I must say, warms my old over worked heart. The dickheads are finally drowned out, those who drew the lines are the ones who lost. Yes there are still some folks who love the old school games. But their numbers are nowhere even close to the number of people who are actively involved playing and running new games while going in new directions.

Finally the asshole grognards are now seeing nothing but a shit load of people flipping them the bird as progress moves forward and leaves them behind. All we can do is laugh as they declare, even to this day, that the hobby is dying. When in fact it's flourishing better than ever before. 

Neuromancer: The Origin of Cyberpunk | A Horrifying Dystopia

Buy the Hobby Shop Museum

So you want to buy a museum? One that's dedicated to the roleplaying game hobbies roots and where it's gone from there? Well look no further you can buy one right now! That's right the Dungeon Hobby Shop Museum that some folks have been raving about (I mean twenty people or so...) is now up for sale!

All for the ultra affordable price of just five million dollars. 

That's right I said five fucking million dollars. 

LeNassa must be high if he thinks anyone will pay this. Probably still think WotC will buy it off of him just like he knew they were going to settle with him out of court with him being on the plus side. But the grifter has bills to pay, like lots and lots of legal bills. Along with a lot more legal bills coming. Not five million worth but he's just trying to get enough so he can not do anything for the rest of life.

I would say some of this would probably go to help pay for the medical expenses of Ernie Gygax but I highly doubt that. LeNassa would vanish into the night just as soon as the money hit his bank account. 

So here is the full real estate listing for the property:

https://www.atproperties.com/1857630/723-williams-st-lake-geneva-wisconsin-53147-swi

There is a nice gallery to look through. The place doesn't look to bad. The big TSR in the tiles of the driveway are a neat touch. All in all pretty damned sweet. Not 5 million dollars of sweet though.

What I would like point out is that at the end of the gallery is the membership rates for sponsoring the place. Along with all the benefits endowed to the people who pay. Which means one would likely still have to honor all of those folks if you were to buy this turkey... I mean, buy this museum and try to keep it open just as it was. You would get none of what they have paid in, that's already in the black hole that is LaNassa's wallet, and you would have to give folks free drinks, coffee, donuts, food and all sorts of other things.

What the hell really?

Hopefully nobody is suckered into buying this place.

Delivery date for the Deck of Many Things

 Well it looks like there may actually be a delivery date for the delayed "Deck of Many Things" from WotC. After all the complaints that Magic the Gathering players have had for years now all came to roost right in a DnD product that was supposed to be a high quality release. So this post popped up on social media, apparently some folks are getting the new delivery date via Amazon and not WotC proper.

So just into next year. This was also supposed to be one of their big Christmas release sellers. Guess that's not happening now. Hopefully the shops that ordered this turkey can cut back their orders to reflect this. But I doubt the distributors will let them, or at least they'll try not to let them. 

Any bets on the quality still being below what it should be on this 'fixed' release? I'm predicting pringling all around. 

Coyote and Crow Sale

 

Over on DrivethruRPG the ttrpg "Coyote and Crow" is now on sale for Native American Heritage Month. This is not just limited to the corebook but to all the sourcebook and stories they have available. Although that corebook is around fifteen bucks off so it's a pretty sweet savings. 

So get over there and take a look around, this may be a game you have been looking for.

What does Charismatic Leadership look like?

What does a Rockerboy's Charismatic Leadership look like in Cyberpunk 2020? Well let's just say around the two minute mark and on you can really start to see it. 

The Chromebooks of Cyberpunk 2020

Augmented Reality in POD

 

This amazing system agnostic sourcebook for cyberpunk games is now available in print via POD over on DrivethruRPG. I cannot recommend this book enough. So much inspiration that can be gleamed from these pages. An excellent resource when you need a little something to get your brain rolling for an upcoming adventure. Two thumbs up. 

So what are you waiting for? Get over there and pick up a copy today. Also it's dirt cheap in plain old pdf format as well. 

Loki Season 2 finale

 

I have to say that, without a doubt, Loki is the best Marvel series from Disney so far. Just absolutely stunning from the writing to production to the acting. Top notch. 

The finale for season two just simply took that pedestal and raised it even higher into the air. It may be a while before we see Loki again, hell with the way it ended we may never see him even though he will always be there. But I'm fine with that. His character arc has been simply wonderful to watch.

I do hope we see Mobius, B-15, O.B., Sylvie and all the rest again soon. Some of the best supporting characters ever put together for a show. Each with so much depth you just can't get enough. Even with how they left the TVA is a very interesting development. This should affect some of the future movies a great deal. 

So yeah. Two thumbs up. Great series with a great finale. I want to see more, but I'm happy if they end it hear because it feels like a proper ending. Something so many other shows fail at.

Cyberpunk 2020 new campaign session six

 

Actual play session number six recap with "the squad that can't catch a break" (first session is here). Using straight up Cyberpunk 2020 rules and running the game in the private game room Tuesday nights at Aesop's Treasury. Currently we are starting the first part of the Land of the Free boxed campaign. Now I must say this campaign is a lot better than I thought it would be and it's pretty fast paced. I highly recommend it. Now... where were we...

The players decide to contact the fixer from New Orleans who has been trying to get in contact with them. Having the Lefty make the call untraceable they dial him up. Turns out it's an old friend of their previous fixer who set the entire job up. Things are looking bad, Eliot is probably deceased at this point and his friend has picked up his contract since he owed him his life from a few years back. But the characters need to make it down river to New Orleans where he can set them up with a proper way back to Night City. Cookie and Sara head down to the docks to see if they can find some trustworthy folks to sail them down.

While they are away Lefty decides to do a deep dive in Adrianna's tricked out cyber/clone brain to find out what else Norcross has stuffed in there. After some painful searching around they find out some very bad news. Norcross is a front, the lab is actually owned by Biotechnica. The reason her dad had her extracted was the upper executives had decided to vivisector her body and do a deep study on her various parts before starting up the next generation of clones. So they are running her from one of the most nastiest corporations in 2020. 

Brick and Bradley finally manage to get to a doc in the box to get their injuries looked at. Brick had some broken ribs and internal injuries from the airship dropping on top of him, a good tape job and some fun drugs and he was feeling better. Bradley got that cyberdog bite from back in session three looked on. In that wound was discovered a dog tooth, more specifically a tracking device shaped like a dog tooth. Well that's one way they were being followed so well.

Sara and Cookie get back. They got a boat ride... with one hitch. In order to bring the costs down they agreed to do a little "job" on the way down the river. One that involved blowing up a chemical plant down near Mississippi. Bradley just shakes his head and says "Oh so just some drive by terrorism, great", Cookie was quick to correct him it isn't terrorism, it's ecoterrorism so therefore a good thing. So everyone climbs aboard for a three day trip down the mighty muddy. 

First day, while dealing with a rough storm and some flooding the squad thinks things are going to be fine. Well besides hitting some rocks, taking some damage, Bradley accidently turning off the boats power and then a group of pirates deciding to take advantage of the situation and try running up on the boat. While some bullets are exchanged as Sara lays down some cover fire Brick decides to pull out the oh so wonderfully safe weapon to use on a boat... the fucking flame thrower. I sit back and wait for their only form of transportation to become a floating bonfire of the dead. But then the unthinkable happens.

Brick pulls that trigger and lights the other boat up without a single problem in the world. Turning the pirate boat into a barbecue on the waves. 

They breath a sigh of relief and get some rest after the storm passes. Until the next night when it's time to do some black op shit in order to pay for their passage. They meet up with another ships crew who have are part of some sort of resistance group of ecoterrorist types. The mission is simple, the heavies will do a false attack on the main entrance to the plant as a distraction, meanwhile Lefty will open a set of flood gates on the drainage ditches so the others can go inside and plant explosives on the chemical tanks. 

Brick is happy to be with his kind, solo's with big guns and even a rocket launcher. They're happy to have him and his flame thrower aboard. Sara is with the assault team wondering what kind of insanity she has dropped into. Cookie, who actually knows how to set explosives, is going in with the infiltration group, Bradley is allowed to film while going in with her as long as everyone is masked up and he doesn't reveal anyone's identities. 

The frontal assault goes off so well that they very well could have just walked in through there and set the explosives. People are on fire, a jeep is on fire, the gates are blown open, lots of lead is being thrown down into the guards who are taken completely by surprise. The infiltration goes without a hitch and everyone pulls back as they watch the chemical tanks reach to the heavens in a wonderful series of fireballs. 

The squad that can't catch a break... caught a break.

Of course Bradley immediately sells the footage just as soon as he gets back on the boat. But a few others point out that he seemed to get a lot of shots of Cookies ass in his footage. Maybe the fancy ass reporter has a thing for dirty, uncouth, kleptomaniac nomad girls. 

Only a few more bumps along the road, like hitting a mud bar, and the squad can finally see New Orleans in the distance as they can't wait to get the hell off that boat.  

How to Play: Cyberpunk 2020: Episode 3

First Blood book review

 

One of those books I always wanted to read but always forgot to look for when I was at a book store. First Blood inspired the movie by the same name and kicked off the entire Rambo franchise. I've seen many people talk highly about this story so when one came into the used book shop that I now work at I snagged it up. 

I must say it lived up to the hype that I heard. Within less than a day I was finished reading, probably about three to four hours total. It's an action thriller that really hooks you and keeps on running. It doesn't let up at all right up to the very end. 

Most folks know the basics of the story, a veteran with some issues runs into a Sherriff who is a bit of an ass to him and it's just the straw that breaks the camels back. Leading Rambo on a fight with the local police that escalates further than what either expected. With the book you get a glimpse into Rambo's head a hell of a lot more, he's got some severe mental issues dealing with some equally severe past trauma. You understand him a bit more and why he finally pushes back. 

One main difference between the book and the movie is the body count. Rambo kills a lot more people in his print version, not just by accident either, it's straight up murder in most cases. But when transferring this to the screen I feel it would have made him look more like the ultimate bad guy because you couldn't really get the idea of what's going on inside his head. 

Lots of changes did happen. But a lot of the same situations were still there. Some things were probably changed due to budget constraints and limitation of filming locations. Others to tone down the violence of what is happening. 

But the writing, damn the writing. This is the definition of fast paced reading. The words pull you along without letting you go. You don't want to set the book down. The characters are well developed with the main centers of the story getting most of the details, but even those who are only in there momentarily feel unique and stand out on their own. 

Rambo, Sherriff Teasle, Orval, Trautman, they are all given some time. Some given a whole lot more depth than I ever expected, especially compared to what they got in the movie. You even understand why Teasle is the way he is and understand his actions. All of this takes place in just a hand full of days, from the jailbreak to a final confrontation near where it all started. 

So in the end two thumbs up. Highly recommended to those who want action that is fast paced in their reading. 

If you enjoyed this review you can always show some support via my Kofi page. If you want to read this book then head over to Amazon where you can find it in multiple formats including on audible. Or you can just look around your local used book store if you are lucky enough to have one. 

Marvel Studios' Echo | Official Trailer | Disney+ and Hulu

Okay this is looking a hell of a lot better than I expected. Getting a lot of that Netflix Daredevil feel off of this trailer. So hoping this show surprises the hell out of everyone, especially those who talked shit before any teasers were even released. 

Deck of Many Things update

 

Sort of an updated on the Deck of Many Things that is supposed to be coming out from Wizards of the Coast. Just a few days ago it was announced there were production problems and they were delaying the release to straighten it out, I talked about that on a previous post. Now tonight at work I checked out the WPN page to see if they updated the release date and this is what I saw.

The Deck of Many Things is no longer on the release schedule at all. 

So I imagine this means that the problem was very serious on the quality of the cards. Something that comes as no surprise to Magic the Gathering players who have been complaining about the card quality dropping into the toilet for years. Apparently the top dogs thought they could make a high end product using their low end standards they have been reduced to. Looks like they were quite wrong about that.

So now it's a waiting game to see just how long it will take for this product to actually hit the store shelves now. The digital release is, of course, going to be coming out on time. Wonder how many scrapped stacks of cards we'll be seeing in a landfill soon?