The high price is probably because the cost of collector-grade hardwoods have gone through the roof in recent years. I have tried ordering from Artisan Dice a couple of months ago but they seemed to be backlogged so far I was a bit leery on putting down (significant) money. If you plan to order call them on the phone to confirm they have the stock on hand. I share DungeonmasterCal's feelings about them. They seem to be more practical to display than to game with as wood would pick up all manner of dents with hard use (and if you see the way my players treat dice, I think only tungsten dice would be immune!). They would make a great conversation and collector items though and the occasional light use wouldn't hurt.
Steven was a great guy and a an exemplary ambassador for the hobby with his infectious passion for gaming. His wrote great and innovative gaming material and I'd like to think a little bit of Steven lives on in his words and ideas that we enjoy on our gaming tables for years to come. I haven't yet summoned up the will to open any of the many Rite books I have in my collection as the wound is too fresh now. But I will, eventually and I will be thinking of him everytime I do so.
1: Have my Fantasy novel that I have been writing on-and-off since my high school days (that would be coming up to 30 years now) published. I have had short stories published but I have not been able get any interest from a publisher. With luck I will linger long enough on my deathbed to be able to read reviews of how much it sucks :) 2: Play the Call of Cthulhu Masks of Nyarlahotep campaign, as a player. I have the book in my collection but I have resisted reading it for many, many years in the hope that I will someday be able to play it. 3: Learn how to forge a blade. I have been saving up for several years for a trip to one of the ABS Hammer-Ins in the US. If all works out, this wish probably has a higher chance of fulfillment than the previous two.
The Archer and the Sorceress
Johny Mnemonic
Why I like It: As a unabashed William Gibson fan, this film showed me the worlds that I spent my teenage years imagining, reading Neuromancer in my school library. Yes the dialogue is so cheesy you could spread it on bread. Ice-T and Dolph Lundgren ham it up gloriously too.
I enjoyed all these non-fantasy games at one time or other James Bond 007 (Victory Games): Long out of print, sadly but had the wonderfully streamlined d100 task resolution system that kept the fast, cinematic feel of the movies. The Mutant Epoch (Outland Arts): Set in a gloriously wacky and not-to-serious post apocalyptic world, this is my go to game when I want to scratch the Mad Max / Fallout itch. Cthulhutech (Wildfire): Admittedly, the rules are a mess, but what a world to play in. A kind of crossbreed of Cthulhu and Japanese manga influence. Pilot a giant robot or turn into a monster yourself to fight the real monsters.
I don't have gaming buddies my age any more (I'm 45 this year). These days I run things for youngsters (my nephew, niece and their friends) and every gaming session is like a skit from Monty Python - there will be plenty of jokes about farting, armpits (or both together), dice ending up in awkward places after yet another wild throw, minis taking death dives off the gaming table and so on. Seems like the age difference disappears once the dice start rolling. But I am having great fun and I feel they are too so that's what counts.
For any underwater campaign the last word would be Cerulean Seas from Alluria Publishing
After dispatching his attacker, the warrior in the party turns to the druid named Job who was still struggling with his foe. Before his brain fully processed what came out of his mouth next, the warrior shouted: "Do you need a hand, Job?" For weeks after that, the gaming sessions were filled with instances of other party members asking the warrior for a hand at inopportune moments.
Yagyu Retsudo from the Lone Wolf and Cub manga series by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima. Especially in the last chapters of the manga where Retsudo displays the intriguing complexities of a character who is undeniably ruthless and manipulative but also subject to the strict tenets of Bushido. Spoiler: What would you do as a villain who has just succeeded in killing the one man who has made it life's mission to destroy your family (successfully!)? You respect him so much you let his son stab you in the chest and dying(?) so you can continue the fight in the afterlife
Found the book thanks to a suggestion in http://www.whatsthatbook.com/ Steven Caldwell's The Fantastic Planet
As a fan of Wuxia movies I was thrilled to see Dragon-Tiger-Ox by LRGG. There have been many attempts to bring the East to D20 systems over the years but this one I feel does it best.
As an age of sail enthusiast who has just about every RPG book on sailing and ship-based adventures for me, this book comes closest to capturing the swashbuckling feel of combat on the high seas for RPGs. Perfect for the Razor Coast campaign for which it was written or Paizo's Skull & Shackles adventure path.
256. A daring pickpocket was caught red-handed trying to pick the party barbarian's pocket. And those grasping hands discovered what barbarians wear under their kilt... 257. A bawdy discussion extolling the merits of various village damsels goes quiet when a particularly uncomely wench appears behind her unknowing slanderer in mid-slander. With an axe. And 18 strength. 258. Somebody passed the dwarf a shaving razor
Zoe Oakeshott wrote:
They are out of print but still available as PDFs on DTRPG, Slaine from 200AD. Zoe Oakeshott wrote:
Dragon Tiger Ox captures the feel of the Wu-Xia movies particularly well (for D20 systems at least!).
As I approach my 50th year, I occasionally think about my shelves of gaming material and that they will eventually have new owners. Not to intentionally be morbid, but do you folks who have large gaming collections ever think of what happens to your stuff after your demise? Passing it on to your kids or nephews/nieces who are gamers would be the natural thing, but if you haven't got gamers in the family what then? As I fall into this latter category, I was thinking about passing on my collection to a buddy who owns a game store with the instructions that he keeps whatever he wants for himself and have the rest given away to any customer who wants them.
I started playing with the little black books that Traveller came in sometime around 1984 when a friend showed them to me and we promptly recruited a gaming group of like-minded souls for weekly game sessions. I ended up trading him a board game for those books when he lost interest. Until I tried D&D some years later thought that it was normal that your character could die before even starting a first adventure if you rolled a D6 poorly. Other games that my group played a lot of in those days were Call of Cthulhu (those insanity rules resulted in some memorable sessions), James Bond 007 (a very underrated game that deserves more attention) and Phoenix Command (it's not an RPG when your weapon has more stats than your character, but fun nonetheless...).
Black Dougal wrote:
Wing Commander
137ben wrote:
My wife gets this. The downside is that she has be married to me to enjoy the Pathfinder premium service :)
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