*record scratches*

Hold up. Look, I agree Taskmaster was done dirty here. I've heard rumors they do actually still have plans for the character, due to multiverse shenanigans. Or it could just be the actor was done/had conflicts.

But Taskmaster is an important character??? Really?!

I've been reading comics since I was a kid. More DC than Marvel in my youth, sure, but I've been reading them a long time. I've also watched my fair share of spinoff cartoons and the like... Spidey and Amazing Friends, X Men, etc. I feel reasonably well versed in Marvel lore, and far more so than your average person on the street.

I had never even heard of Taskmaster until the character was announced for the Black Widow movie. And I even love B-listers. The Domino comics a few years back were great, for example. Never heard of Taskmaster though. When people were b!*!+ing about changes made to Taskmaster in that film,* I asked a friend of mine who had even been far more deeply involved in reading Marvel stuff since the 80s than I had been. "Am I missing someone critically important to the MCU? Why are they so pissed? Do I need to know who this guy is?" I asked. He replied, "Nah, he's not important. He's C-list at best, and mostly a joke. I have no idea why they're so mad, I think they're just complaining because of the gender swap." (Andostre, not suggesting you are complaining about that, just what my friend said about why huge swaths of fandom hated how Taskmaster was used in Black Widow. My only issue about Taskmaster in Black Widow is apart from the Dreykov's daughter twist, the Taskmaster identity was pointless and it might have been better to make a unique character to the movie. Or make her Iron Maiden and have Melina take her suit at the end of the movie.)

I've since looked up his appearances in the comics. Looks like he had a major role in one Avengers storyline in 2014. Mainly...

NO Taskmaster is not a major Marvel character, and honestly, the iteration of the character in the MCU isn't really the Taskmaster that I grew up with in the comics.

I get that you've never heard of him, but if you've been reading comics since the 70s and 80's you know that Taskmaster was the guy major villains hired to train their hordes of faceless thugs. That most of the time he took the money doing this rather than going out and doing crimes himself. That alone made him an interesting character in that he was a pragmatic antagonist, which could have translated well to live action.

I grew up reading a lot of Marvel, including his earliest appearances (I have a 1st appearance of Taskmaster signed by George Perez, R.I.P.). His origin was redone in the late 90s and early 2000s, and retconned VERY well and very tragically. He's also a relatively decent part of the AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE series by Dan Slott and Christos Gage post-Civil War. He's a great character with A LOT of potential, and that's what I think upsets fans of the character, myself included. It was an ignoble death, and within the context of the story, I get why it was sort of necessary, but still...

I suppose that I'm just weird as I want BOTH Superman AND Fantastic Four to be good and do well.

I just don't get the need for one to succeed and the other to fail. I'm a Marvel guy, both comics and movies. I have always been, but I also read and collected DC books. There are stories and characters from both companies that I really like.

I like Superman when he's written well and when he's challenged not just physically but emotionally and morally. I think he's Superman not because of his power set, but because he's a man with that power set that only wants to HELP and PROTECT people. Where most of us would either just be selfish or cruel for no good reason (*looks around at the US*), he's just a better person.

I'm not Gunn's biggest fan, but I do like some of his work, especially his pre-Marvel movies like SLITHER and SUPER. This trailer looks great.

I only know Ernie Gygax from when he got sued a few years ago for snapping up the Star Frontiers trademark when it lapsed, trying to publish a book stuffed full of such charming things as mechanically-superior 'Aryan' humans and mechanically-inferior Black humans, complete with a cap on the latter's maximum intelligence. His racist and transphobic public comments while that was in the limelight did not endear me to him much.

You'll forgive me if I don't mourn the man.

THIS PART.

While $80 is a lot, the fact that this has 550 reference cards (and I presume of the same quality as the pre-remastered versions) makes it worth it for me. I may have a skewed view on this though as I've been watching how much money my son shovels into his Warhammer 40K obsession so I don't feel so bad about money I spend on Pathfinder anymore!

Yup! As someone who is into the miniature side of 40K as opposed to the gameplay side, the very idea that Games Workshop will charge $60 for a 128pg codex that can be invalidated only a few weeks after its release via rules updates? *shakes head*

Listening to people complain about the price of these cards is HILARIOUS to me. If you're running a regular or semi-regular Pathfinder game? Even at $80? These cards are STILL a steal.

Anyway....

To start, the movie was entirely too short to properly tell the story from the novel.

King spends a bit of time building up the townfolk and their interpersonal interactions. Many of which feed directly into the spread of the vampire plague later on. In this we barely get to know any of the characters. I thought the only ones who truly got some decent fleshing out were Ben, Susan, and Mark. Parts of Ben's own story were changed or left out altogether. Susan and Mark's storylines were limited. Father Callahan deserved better. As did Dr. Cody (a wonderful, but underused Alfre Woodard) and Matt Burke.

They changed the fates of some characters, deviating from the book in ways that didn't truly add anything to the story.

Barlow was barely in the story, even less so than he is in the book. And he was more like the Barlow from the '79 adapation, more a simple murder force, than the master vampire and tactical genuis he's shown to be in the book. In this movie, he's kind of an idiot. He does speak, at least.

They did at least get the time correct, setting the movie back in the 70s, as near as I can tell.

They changed the final confrontation in a way that I thought was a bit silly. I'm guessing someone thought it was a bit more cinematic and exciting. Which, to be honest, it probably was.

Overall, I would not recommend this to people who actually liked the novel. As a vampire movie, it's got some nice creep factor, but that's about it. There are plenty of other vampire movies out there which are far superior.

ALL OF THIS. And as a huge fan of the book I don't need it to be a scene for scene adaption but some of the changes they made I dont quite understand why.

This REALLY should have been a miniseries and taken it's time to build the mystery and the dread of what was happening to the people of the Lot.

and yeah...I can see why this wasnt released theatrically.

ShinHakkaider wrote:

Thanks for making that Neo sized leap to a false conclusion though...

They made that logical leap because consistently getting your subscription books after the street date is not an experience most subscribers are having. The one time it happened to me it was because my shipment was lost in transit and Paizo had to send me a replacement, otherwise - even though I am receiving my books after other subscribers I am still getting it prior to street date. This is the more common experience subscribers are having.

LOL. It wasnt a logical leap because you have no idea what experience most subscribers are having. MOST subscribers dont post on this message board. You don't personally know MOST SUBSCRIBERS. So when you say "is not an experience most subscribers are having?" What are you talking about?

When I wrote my original post, I specifically spoke about MY experiences from 2009 to about 2019-20. So over the course of 10 years. The words I used to describe my experience were "many times" and "frequently" NOT consistently.

What I take umbrage to is this: I was talking about MY experience. Without discounting or attacking anyone else's. Without insinuating (on a public forum) that someone's FLGS was engaged in rule-breaking. Without insinuating or downplaying anyone else's experience. AND most importantly, without inflating my own importance / relevance by saying that I know the experiences of MOST subscribers in order to invalidate someone's experience.

How hard is it to simply say: "yikes that's rough. Okay I get why {name} would feel that way. It hasn't been MY experience but okay." Pretty hard it looks like...

He's also responsible for the themes for SANFORD AND SON and IRONSIDE. Among others. If you grew up in the 70's and 80's it was impossible to not be aware of at least something this man had touched.

He's also primarily responsible for the 1985 version of THE COLOR PURPLE coming to the big screen at a time when we still weren't seeing a lot of african-american stories that weren't violent exploitation or low brow comedies.

He's also responsible for what is my favorite MJ album, OFF THE WALL. Not was popular as THRILLER which made MJ a worldwide superstar but there's so much pure soul in OFF THE WALL than there is in THRILLER.

You will be missed Quincy Jones...

ShinHakkaider wrote:

There were MANY times where I walked into my "local" gaming store (The Compleat Strategist in nYC) and saw that they had a book on the shelves and I was STILL waiting for mine to show up in my mailbox.

That sounds like your local game shop was breaking the street dates for merchandise they received. I’m assuming that Paizo has street dates for its books like any other publisher. That’s not really something to get upset with Paizo about.

The Strat is notoriously strict about keeping street dates. I'm 53 and have been shopping at the Strat since I was about 16 years old. So when I say that I was getting my books AFTER the Strat had theirs on the shelf? I was in no means saying that they were putting things out early.

Thanks for making that Neo sized leap to a false conclusion though...

Never again. I was a Subscriber to both the AP line and the Rulebook line from the time the magazines ended. I cancelled my subs to the AP line After HELL'S REBELS and the Rulebook line some time after the 1st 3 rulebooks for 2e.

There were MANY times where I walked into my "local" gaming store (The Compleat Strategist in nYC) and saw that they had a book on the shelves and I was STILL waiting for mine to show up in my mailbox.

There was also the cost of shipping which was RIDICOULUS and ultimately not worth it considering gaming stores were frequently getting the book before I did.

I supported Paizo directly for many, MANY years because they were a great company. I still pick up books from time to time but usually at a steep discount (WAR OF THE IMMORTALS even with shipping was about $10 cheaper than if I'd bought it from Paizo). But the shipping from Paizo was murder on the wallet and not worth it.

I was here back in the Dungeon / Dragon Magazine days. I'd been reading Dragon Mag since before there was a Dungeon Mag. But I started picking up Dungeon regularly during my return to D&D in the 3.0/3.5 era. The magazines were so good that for the first time ever I subscribed!

And I stayed subscribed when the magazines ended and switched over to something called Pathfinder Adventure Paths.

I have all of the rulebook hardcovers from 1e as well as all of the APs up to the end of HELL'S REBELS.

I'm not a fan of the remaster. I do want to support Paizo for moving away from the OGL.

So I said that I'd only get the Player Core and the GM Core on one condition, that it would be the sketch covers.

My main LGS didn't get them at first so I was like that's that. It just happened that I wandered into another games store and saw that they had them and got them there.

Do I plan on ever really using them for play? probably not, I'm going to stick with Pathfinder 2E and not the remaster.

After this first weekend, they expanded it to IMAX screens here in NYC for a few days at least. I'm seeing it tomorrow in IMAX after work. I hope its as good as everyone is saying it is!

I did not expect to enjoy THE MARVELS as much as I did. I did not care for CAPTAIN MARVEL. It's the only Marvel movie that I watched only once. But I enjoyed Brie Larson as Carol waaaaaaaaaay more in this movie. It's a TIGHT hour and forty-five minutes (I think) and it's both FUN and FUNNY.

The only real problem with the film IMHO, is that it moves SO fast it doesn't take the time to process some of the real and heartfelt emotional beats (and there are more than a few of them).

I love that Carol was the combat monster/tank, Monica was the science nerd and effective brains of the outfit and Kamala was the HEART of the team. And make no mistake, Kamala (and her family to an extent) are the MVPs of this film. Also? GOOSE.

It has a relatively weak villain but her motivations are completely understandable and born out of desperation. The movie is less about antagonism than it is about the consequences of rash actions.

Also, there's a bit just before the end credits and another during the mid-credits sequence that legitimately has me excited in a way that I have not been since pre-AVENGERS ENDGAME.

Of all of the actors on that show, I think he was one of the most talented. He's funny but he was a good dramatic actor as well. I rewatch Aaron Sorkin shows pretty regularly and was actually re-watching STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP when his death was announced.

It's my least favorite of Sorkin's show but it might have the best cast of his shows in terms of talent. Matthew Perry is actually really good in it. He's vaguely Chandleresque in his delivery but there's an edge to him that fits the character.

I would have liked to see him working with directors of more renown. But I guess we'll never know...

I never miss an opportunity to plug Narrative Declaration, hosted by former Paizo Social Media Producer Payton Smith (aka Zoran the Bear).

LITERALLY just started watching the PF2e playthrough of Abomination Vaults on Friday and was wondering why the GM's voice sounded so fricking familiar...

The only group I support on Patreon and listen to for Actual Play podcasts is FIND THE PATH.

They have two PF1 AP's they're going through (WAR FOR THE CROWN and TYRANT'S GRASP) and one PF2 (a conversion of HELL'S REBELS).

Rick Sandage the GM is knowledgeable of the rules of both systems and is an EXCELLENT GM. The players are also fairly knowledgeable and fun to listen to and really get into their characters.

It's not PF2 but I'd recommend listening to their completed playthrough of THE MUMMY'S MASK. It's probably the Best AP playthrough I've ever heard. A REALLY satisfying finish.

I listened to and supported GLASS CANNON very early on and listened to their playthrough of GIANTSLAYER from almost the beginning right up to the end. My issue with them is that everything seems to be a bit and that Troy the GM isn't exactly what I'd call a fair or knowledgeable GM. At times it feels more like fratboy central than anything else.

On the positive side, the players' Skid and Matthew really get into their characters and Skid's portrayal of one of the most sociopathic PC's in a tabletop group shows that evil alignments in a mostly good-aligned group CAN work with mature players. And Grant's portrayal of Baron Redheart (Dwarven Gunslinger) is one for the ages.

I know that they're finally gearing up to run GATEWALKERS in 2e and want to give them a second chance but with Troy running the adventure and Grant gone? It's wait and see.

I tried listening to TABLETOP GOLD (they're going through THE ABOMINATION VAULTS and got through about 30 episodes) but I found them annoying as hell. Normally I try to stick through with something like this but I couldn't take them anymore and bailed.

On the positive side though, the production quality is pretty damn good and the GM has a decent grasp of the rules for what I think is his first time running 2E. It's not a bad podcast by any means it's just not for me.

ShinHakkaider wrote:

But I think the remaster project will be my jumping-off point with Pathfinder and probably Paizo. I've been around since the Dungeon / Dragon Magazine days. And that's fine. Maybe I'll change my mind once it's in the wild I'm not completely inflexible.

I see the positives for all of the things that I'm not a fan of. I just disagree with those changes.

So you’re not a fan of the changes that were forced by another company (the same one you who was the precursor to Pathfinder). I’m kind of curious, do you have ideas on how they could have changed these things so that you would keep playing the game you’ve enjoyed for the past 10+ years?

I’m excited about many of changes I’ve seen for PF 2.1!

Make no mistake, I'm going to KEEP playing PF/PF2e. I just won't be supporting/purchasing anything NEW.

And if we're being honest, the alignment elimination was Paizo's idea and not something forced by OGL since alignment isn't covered under OGL but Creative Commons. If I'm wrong about that point I'm sure someone will be along shortly to tell me so.

Your curiosity nonewithstanding, I do have ideas on how to handle alignment but I find that most people who are against alignment have their minds made up so I'm not interested in having a discussion or argument about it. I'll keep using it in my games and everyone else who doesn't like it can keep doing what they want.

The splitting of the books is something else I'm not a fan of but for organizational reasons I get it.

Like I said I won't be buying anything new but I have enough material to run PF/PF2E for a long, LONG time. Even converting 3.5 adventures to run in PF1 or PF2 can be done, so jumping off the Paizo / Pathfinder wagon doesn't mean that I no longer LIKE PF/PF2e.

I'm not a fan of the removal of Alignment.
I'm also not a fan of the removal of ability scores.
I'm also not a fan of splitting the core into two books.

I understand and support that Paizo has to move away from the OGL and they absolutely should.

But I think the remaster project will be my jumping-off point with Pathfinder and probably Paizo. I've been around since the Dungeon / Dragon Magazine days. And that's fine. Maybe I'll change my mind once it's in the wild I'm not completely inflexible.

I see the positives for all of the things that I'm not a fan of. I just disagree with those changes.

Some times I think if you're hated by someone with no taste...then it's clear you're doing something right.

I will miss her...and her Harley.

Same, my preferred version of Batman IS the animated series version. And that's across Batman:TAS, Superman:TAS, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited.

Mad Love is probably my favorite B:TAS episode if not the favorite definitely top 3. Her performance as Harley in that episode is just S-Tier.

Her performance as Harley is the reason why I haven't quite been able to fully enjoy the live action version of the character. Margot Robbie is solid in the role but it's definitely a different Harley.

Oh for the love of Crom, Z. That's that most asinine comment I've read from you in quite some time.

Boo hoo, your movie get delayed. BIG whoop. Mean while the WRITERS and actors that MAKE it work are starving.

So...yeah big non-sympathy from me.

YEAH, I'm looking forward to this movie about as much as anyone. Everytime I've seen the trailer in full on IMAX I'm like "LET'S GO!!!!!"

But if I NEVER get to see it because the studios refuse to meet the demands the writers who adapt and craft these stories or the working actors who are in them? *Shrugs* OH WELL. Placing my desire to see a movie over the fair treatment for the people who help make these studios billions of dollars while most actors cant even get health care or pay rent? Nah.

Buying all the Remaster books is going to be expensive. I'm going to do it anyway. So what if I don't eat for a month or two? :-)

Yup. Each book is going to be the price of the ONE 2E CRB.

The PF2E CRB = $59.99
The PF2E BESTIARY = $49.99
The PF2E BESTIARY 2 = $49.99
The PF2E BESTIARY 3 = $49.99

And these came out 3-4 years ago.

Now:

Remaster Player Core = $59.99
Remaster GM Core = $59.99
Remaster Monster Core = $59.99
Remaster Player Core 2 = $59.99

Again I understand and support why Paizo is doing this, but the more I think about this the more I think it's super risky financially. I don't see the excitement for this that I saw for PF2E because it's so soon after PF2E. And as a fan, I've already decided that for the time being I can't support this with my hobby dollars. I'd like to but, rationally the math isnt mathing for me. I'm going to stick with PF2E and let that just be my jumping-off point with PF and Paizo.

Maybe I'll change my mind at a later date (I've done it before) but there are more than a few things I have an issue with regarding this remaster in terms of rules changes. I'm not averse to changes but the removal of alignment and spell schools is a big one for me and I'm not sure if I can look past it. It's good for Paizo as a brand and they NEED to separate themselves from D&D to be their own thing. But I've been playing long enough where while not perfect, alignment and spell schools represent enough of a relevant shorthand where if they're not part of the system I might as well be playing or running a different game. Which I suppose at this point, the remaster IS.

Oooh….that was a bit more expensive visit than I thought it would be.

I got my copy of X-Men #94, that first Claremont issue. Then I couldn’t resist - also picked up copies of X-Men 132 - 134, 137 -139, and the one shot crossover with X-Men and New Teen Titans.

That last was thanks to Walt Simonson, who had posted about it just the other day.

No lie I have maybe 3 - 4 different copies of that X-MEN / TEEN TITANS crossover which next to Busiek/Perez JLA/AVENGERS is the best DC/Marvel crossover ever.

I know one of my copies is signed by Simonson and Terry Austin.
I think one is just signed by Chris Claremont. Either that or he's signed the one with Simonson and Austin.
I know (Hope?) one is just a virgin copy.

I've been away from Pathfinder for a while. Are these new 'Core' books basically Pathfinder 2.5, and replacing the current single-volume core rulebook?

Will you be able to continue with the game using the existing books, or will you need the new books to use future supplements? Thanks.

Yeah people here will tell you that it's not 2.5 but that's being disingenuous at best. To me it's as big of a change as 3.0 to 3.5 was.

They've also removed spell schools which again changes a bit how wizards work.

I did a lot of converting from 3.0 to 3.5 back in the day and was able to run those converted supplements and adventures with minimum hassle. That's NOT going to be the case with going from PF2 to PF2 remaster.
Spells are being renamed, monsters are being renamed, how some classes work are being changed. I've been watching all of the interviews and panels about the remaster since it was announced. The individual changes on their own don't seem like much. But when taken into account as a WHOLE? I don't see how people can make the argument that it's a 2.1 update with a straight face.

I look forward to the finished remaster rules and I 100% understand and support why Paizo and its designers are doing this. But to say that it's not AT LEAST a .5 update is...not really rooted in a practical reality
aka marketing speak.

He also directed The Sorcerer didn't he?

Yup. And THE FRENCH CONNECTION, TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. and THE HUNTED.

YAY Ya'll!!! YAAAAAAAY!!!!!

I saw it once in the theaters opening weekend and enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would.

I'm waiting for my 4k disc to show up before watching it again even though I have Disney+. I primarily have it for the shows that are not or won't ever be on physical media.

My biggest issue (which is not really at all fair since I knew this would be a thing going into the film) was the final conflict between Wakanda and Talokan. I was glad that it didn't end with Namor's death but part of me wishes that they didn't have to fight each other at all. Their mutual enemies ARE the outside/surface world. They should have been fighting THEM. And I think that Coogler agrees as he depicts the final fight in a way where it's almost tragic that it's come to this much violence between peoples who are so very similar in terms of their dealings with the outside/surface world.

I can't even legitimately re-watch the first Black Panther movie anymore because I have a hard time siding with T'challa over Killmonger because as bad as he was (and he WAS a Bad Guy), he wasn't wrong. The real world, especially post-Black Panther, has shown that over and over again.

I understand the reality of big-budget Hollywood movie-making and how getting back to the status quo is a necessary evil. But more and more superhero movies are leaving a bad taste in my mouth because of it. And I LOVE superhero movies. Anyway despite my admittedly unfair gripe, I enjoyed the movie quite a bit. The redesign of the Ironheart armor was fine even though it looks closer to the Motoslave from Bubble Gum Crisis than Stark armor. But I liked it so much that I bought the Marvel Legends figure of it so there's that.

I’m seeing it Thursday after work here in NYC. I’m not excited about it being DUNE at this point. I am a fan of Denis Villeneuve’s movies and have seen all if not most of them to date, my favorites being PRISONERS and SICARIO.

I’m not a fan of pretentiousness and declarations of masterpieces these days. I used to listen to that drivel when I was younger but now its less about how the movie looks and the visual craft than it is in conjunction with how it makes me FEEL.

I say again, FOR ME, you can get all of the technical things right and make a beautiful film but if the experience of watching it is devoid of any kind of empathy and emotion then you’ve made an amazing looking but ultimately empty film. Chris Nolan teeters on the edge of this frequently as does Villeneuve but I find a lot more humanity in Villeneuve’s films, even if that humanity is very, VERY DARK (as is the case in both PRISONERS ands SICARIO and to an extent BLADE RUNNER 2049).

I’m already disappointed that DUNE will basically be half a film but I know what I’m walking into so I can brace myself.

Paizo upper management is being accused of some problematic things. Anti-woke bros show up and very vocally are supporting Paizo. But Paizo has always BEEN WOKE. At least from the creative side. And I mean, from the JUMP.

So these Anti-woke bros showing up here hoping that Paizo is going to turn into all things Alt-Right and Anti-woke? You'll gonna be waiting a loooooooong time brah...

Now that I've gotten that out of the way: I canceled my last subscription last week and I'm taking a hiatus from purchasing Paizo products. The thing is I don't want the creatives who work at Paizo to be thrown out with the bathwater either. There are few names that I do want to support and like.

So I'm going to pay attention to how Paizo weathers / handles this current thing. There are a lot of things that I'm not a fan of that wind up getting my money and Paizo despite my issues with leadership is, I feel, made up of good people. If this is handled in an empathic and substantial way (much like porn, I dont know how to define it, but I'll know what it is when I see it...) I'll start buying and supporting again. If not? *shrug* I'm good.

Could you cancel any remaining subscriptions. I believe its only the Pathfinder RPG line that remains but if there are any others that are open cancel them as well.

Just to be clear?

Sara Marie and Diego was the straw that…well you know.

But this was building up long before that.

have a nice day.

A lot going through my head right now but I'll try to be coherent.

I'm not here involved in the forums and discussions just because of the systems. Finding the Paizo forums led me to becoming genuinely happy for the first time in my life, I had found purpose, I had found friends, I had found family, all of it interwoven together.

I have my subscriptions as a way to support the people who I look up to and admire, the editors, the artists, the freelancers, and what they do. If I just wanted the rules I wouldn't have to pay anything, I could just use Archives of Nethys and you wouldn't see a cent from me.

I have my subscriptions to support the people making the books and to voice "Hey, we need more of this!" (I am terribly lacking in writing reviews though, and that needs to be alleviated), similar to being a patron on Patreon. The people actually pushing for awesome things, for good things, to make theirs and other's dreams come true, I wish to support. The writings espouse inclusiveness and joy and fantasy and supporting that I am more than glad to do. More inclusiveness please, it's not a quota, keep going.

You take that away however, you take them away however, and there's no reason for me to continue supporting this company with my wallet, or for me to be here.

I’ve been a supporter of Paizo since the Dungeon/Dragon Magazine days.

There have been red flags with Paizo over the years that as a long time fan that I’ve kind of ignored and that’s on me. Prior to this latest thing, it was both Lisa’s non-support for racial justice re: George Floyd’s murder and the constant and consistent exit of a fair amount of creative staff (which actually started before the first thing I mentioned).

Jessica Price never took sh*t from ANYONE. I’ve seen her try and be diplomatic in threads but posters/fans would keep talking out of the sides of their neck at her so she didnt suffer fools gladly. Could it be grating sure. But she’s never popped off without being provoked or without reason that I’ve seen. So when Jessica left Paizo I wasn’t really surprised?

Crystal’s unceremonious departure from Paizo bothered me. She’d always been in my eyes one of the nicest, smartest and knowledgeable faces of Paizo’s staff.

Same for Amanda HK’s departure as well. And it made me look at the departures.that took place before (Wes and Sutter in particular) and after that as well.

Now Wes and Sutter and Amanda leaving might not have anything to do with anything but it caught my attention.

After Lisa’s non statement - I stopped buying anything from Paizo for MONTHS. Aside from my one remaining sub (which I should have cancelled) no money went to Paizo. Instead I bought other games like ALIEN the RPG, or spent that money on my miniatures habit.

I’m cancelling my one remaining sub. I’m going to purchase the remaining books of the latest AP after they’re all out and hopefully from a 3rd party.

Paizo gets no more of my cash. I’m one person so it won’t be much of a dent. But the names involved? I’ll remember and I’ll make sure I never support new work, kickstarters and Patreon with their names attached.

It doesn’t take much to NOT be a toxic employer or manager. It really doesn’t.

I tried watching Aura Battler Dunbine and Legend of the Heavenly Sphere Shurato for the influence on Spelljammer, but neither have caught my interest.

Is there a service that is streaming these? I actually have AURA BATTLER DUNBINE on DVD but I haven't seen SHURATO since it came out. I've always considered it a bit of a Saint Seiya rip off but maybe I'm misremembering.

Dirtypool,

You make a good point about both things. Also, I still think Shang Chi will kill it at the box office this year. But I'm fairly biased. (And not high..)

If the Box Office for BLACK WIDOW is any indication and COVID infection rates on the rise again, I don't think SHANG-CHI will be anywhere near as successful as most other Marvel films.

And also, I hate to be that guy, the fight choreography in the trailers have me less than enthused for a character who is supposed to be in the top 3 hand to hand fighters in the Marvel Universe.

Shang Chi should have The Raid/Raid 2, Ip Man, SPL aka KillZone or Flashpoint level fights.

And from the trailers, it all looks very Western action generic.
I can't even really use that as an insult anymore because there are definitely some Western Directors/Stars who know their way around shooting and choreographing a good fight scene. John Hyams and Issac Florentine come immediately to mind for their work with Scott Adkins on Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning and Ninja 2 Shadow of a Tear and the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Undisputed movies especially the 3rd one, Redemption.

Anyway, I say all of that just to say I'm hoping for the best and I'm hoping that I'm wrong and I'm fans of some of talent in the film on the action side but I know that it's just going to be watered down for general consumption.

I dont plan to stop playing online because two of my players are out of state and it's HARD finding good players who are also decent people? The one thing about TTRPG's that I hate is finding people to play with so once you have that I'm loathe to let it go.

That being said to answer the question,

I would miss the speed at which combat happens because of auto dice rolling/macros.

I would miss how secret messages are handled. I like the idea that when 4 players make a knowledge check and only two of them succeed it I can just give both of those players the info and then let THEM as players relate the info (if they decide to at all) to the other players.

And I know text messaging is a thing, but having something handy that I can cut and paste quickly in the chat directly to the PCs is a godsend.

Maps and tactical combat is way better and CHEAPER via tabletop. Party fighting 5 Orcs? No problem! cut + Paste 5 orcs. Label them Orc 1-5. As opposed to having to have 5 orc mini's or pawns handy. If i want to let the players know how badly they are hurt I can make that visible to them on the token.

There are so many good things about online play including eliminating a commute, and clean-up time and having a skeleton of a log of the actual game to review afterwards? Yeah, I'm not giving that up anytime soon.

NICE!!! Been waiting for this for a long time. Hated his character in Char's Counterattack. Hopefully he redeems himself here...

Anyone read the comic series?

I have.

I feel like Bucky is off his game. which makes sense but I miss the fine precision from Captain America the winter soldier. I feel like walker wouldn't of lasted 5 minutes against that Bucky.

In CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR Bucky was DEFINITELY having problems with one of other super-soldiers (right around the 1 hour 13 min 42 second mark) in that flashback at the Siberian Hydra Base.

So I dont know how quick a fight vs. a bloodthirsty Walker would have been either way.

He sure gets beat up a lot. Which is fine. leaves room for character growth.

This is consistent through the series. Each time he gets beat up and eventually powers through a new foe he faces subsequently MORE powerful foes. And the foes that are coming aren't people where there's a small gap between them and Mark. Some of them are not only more powerful but are better fighters and/or are more ruthless.

This show and story are not for the squeamish.

It gets BRUTAL.

ShinHakkaider wrote:

Also? not sure that it was a Congressional committee that gave him his walking papers.

"It is the order of this Council that you are no longer to act in any capacity as a representative of the United States Government or it's military. You are hereby stripped of your title and authority as Captain America, effective immediately."

Now the leader of that Council IS a senator but the council members to that senators immediate right and left are high ranking military. The four other members are possibly civilian or inteligence, more than likely a combo of BOTH.

Either way I'd guess that this defrocking was done with the sanctioning of he US military and would be considered an exceptional circumstance BECAUSE of what Walker did PUBLICALLY.

I was more bugged, however, that they just threw away a super-soldier. That made no sense whatsoever.

It made practical sense.

Publicly they needed to distance themselves as far as they could from Walkers, again, very public actions.

They are also protecting their "brand", which is Captain America. This also serves to let the next person who they hope to "appoint" the title a warning that their actions and conduct matter.

While Walker took the super-serum, is that public knowledge to the world at large? WE as the audience know. Val knows (how she knows is another question altogether) but were the people witnessing that murder know? Does the Council?

Val says: "Anyway, you did the right thing. *leaning in* Taking the serum? Yeah, of course I know about that."

Even if they did? They dont have jurisdiction over a person. He's not their property.

And brainwashing him to be a more obedient soldier? Yikes, man. YIKES.

Not to mention, I'm pretty sure a Congressional Committee can't give him any kind of discharge or take away his pension and benefits. Seems the writers don't understand the military all that well.

He was given quite literally an 'Other than honorable' discharge.

Vets who receive an other-than-honorable discharge cant re-enlist in the Armed Forces or reserves, except under very rare circumstances. Benefits are not usually available to those discharged through this type of discharge.

Also? not sure that it was a Congressional committee that gave him his walking papers.

"It is the order of this Council that you are no longer to act in any capacity as a representative of the United States Government or it's military. You are hereby stripped of your title and authority as Captain America, effective immediately."

Now the leader of that Council IS a senator but the council members to that senators immediate right and left are high ranking military. The four other members are possibly civilian or inteligence, more than likely a combo of BOTH.

Either way I'd guess that this defrocking was done with the sanctioning of he US military and would be considered an exceptional circumstance BECAUSE of what Walker did PUBLICALLY.

That was a pretty decent episode, with only a handful of disappointments.

The good:

** spoiler omitted **

The bad:

** spoiler omitted **

She's won SEVEN EMMY AWARDS. She's not JUST a comedian.

If you don't like her that's fine, I get it. But to diminish her by calling her talent just a comedian is not exactly fair.

It's part of my Friday morning watch.

I get up and watch my shows in order of interest:

FALCON AND WINTER SOLDIER

THE MIGHTY DUCKS: GAME CHANGERS

INVINCIBLE

I think that the comic is paced way better but I see why theyre doing things the way they are in the show because I know whats coming up.

I'm not that person who automatically declares that the source material is better because I dont believe that it's always automatically the case. I think adaptations are just that adaptions and interpretations of the original material and not the original material itself.

That being said, the show is good but there's something lacking. It's probably the pacing. But otherwise I DO like it.

I mean, we don't even have most of the members of the Masters of Evil in the MCU, nor do we have the Thunderbolts right? Like, wouldn't we need a lot more bad guys/not so good guys before we could say Zemo's being set up for greatness?

NO.

The MCU Zemo's motivations are NOTHING like the comics version. Neither is his origin.

I'm also going off of Marvel and Feige's ability to plan ahead and not be as slavishly devoted to the source material and still tell as story recognized and connected to the original.

When the movies tend to make a habit of killing off most of their villains whenever they DONT I take notice. Zemo, Emil Blonsky, Justin Hammer, YellowJacket (??),

And with the concept of the multiverse (in the upcoming DOCTOR STRANGE 2 and SPIDER-MAN 3)in play as well as time travel (AVENGERS: ENDGAME and the upcoming LOKI series) I dont think we're going to have a problem with a lack of villains. Meaning villains who are DEAD in our universe MAY NOT BE DEAD in some of those others...

I guess I just wish it hadn't been such an obvious, binary choice for the audience that either the main characters work with Walker or, after learning that HYDRA wasn't involved in the new super soldiers the ONLY logical choice was to go along with springing Zemo out of prison. I mean, it's a fun romp and buddy comedy springboard, but it just feels to me like the whole rest of the MCU was disregarded for this one choice.

I think the use of Zemo is very deliberate in setting up what's coming next in the MCU.

I think that they have bigger plans for Zemo...

I'd like to remind folks that, at the time, pushing it all the way through and destroying that chest plate COULD'VE killed Tony the way he armor worked back then.

If you mean in the way the edge of that shield jammed into someone's chest could have possibly killed ANYONE then yes.

But I'm assuming that when you said "destroying that chest plate COULD'VE killed Tony the way his armor worked back then' is alluding to the arc reactor keeping the metal shrapnel from the first movie away from his heart? Then, No.

At the end of IRON MAN 3 he has the surgery to remove the rest of the shrapnel so that he doesnt need the arc reactor fix for the shrapnel.

TONY: Of course there are people who say progress is dangerous. But I bet none of those idiots ever had to live with a chest full of shrapnel.
And now, NEITHER WILL I. Let me tell you, it was the best sleep I'd had in years.

Forgive me if i misunderstood what you were saying.

For my money, Snyder's best movie bar none was that 2004 DAWN OF THE DEAD remake. That was a pretty solid movie.

become less and less a fan of WATCHMEN the more I watch it.

Still like Man of Steel as long as I dont view it as a Superman movie. It's a really solid first contact/alien invasion movie though.

Kingdom Come was, is and still remains one of my favorite DC stories of all time.

I've noticed that while I'm not a BIG DC fan and there are many more Marvel stories that I like, the DC stories that I DO like? I LIKE ALOT.

Case in point: KINGDOM COME along with ALL STAR SUPERMAN are two of my favorite Superman stories. Especially ALL STAR SUPERMAN. So much so that I own both of them as Absolute Editions.

The LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES: FIVE YEARS LATER and THE GREAT DARKNESS SAGA both arent perfect but they were MY real introduction to the LEGION and I love them BOTH.

Wolfman and Perez (as well as Wolfman and Grummett's) NEW TEEN TITANS are some of my favorite teen team comics EVER.

CRISIS ON INFINTE EARTHS will forever be one the best event comics ever. AS much as I love SECRET WARS it pales in scope and detail in comparison.

Wally West will ALWAYS be my FLASH in the same way that Kyle Rainer will always be my GREEN LANTERN. I'm old enough where it was supposed to Barry and Hal but they never clicked with me.

Anyway, I'm a Marvel guy but at the end of the day I LOVE good, HUMAN superhero comics.

Did they say when the Beginner Box is coming out?

cabbage patches

Video OR it didnt happen...

Saw this at a screening on Tuesday and again on Friday.

I personally think that the 2nd movie is the best in the series, followed closely by the 3rd and then the 1st.

There's about a two minute sequence in CHAPTER 2 where John Wick is chasing his quarry through a museum just MURDERING henchmen as he goes and to me aside from the earlier sequence in the tunnels in Italy is the best straight up action sequence in the franchise.

There's a sequence in CHAPTER 3 that comes close involving John and Sophia and the two dogs that comes very close to matching it.

CHAPTER 3 is great fun and has tons of action. I enjoyed it ALOT.

But you aren’t making 3 different 576 page books (or 720 page). You are creating 3 different stat blocks (which you are essentially doing anyways due to the besitiearies) with most if not all of the descriptive text the same. You are doing more layout for sure. I am a 5E player/DM that buys a fair amount of Pathfinder modules and converts them but this excuse doesn’t pass the smell test. I have seen many Kickstarters that produce books for multiple editions and you are not even doing the 5E conversion. I get that it is a lot of work but charging me $115 for the $80 I want is not a good business plan or test of what the demand is for 5E products.

As part of my job I provide tech support for clients who do layout and design for an mechanical engineering magazine. For you to downplay how a few changes can throw off the exisiting layout and having seen first hand the gymnastics that come into play to sort those issues out to still create a viable publication? Again, I've seen the work that goes into the design and layout of a publication/magazing/document.

I have a fair amount of FFG products, before I stopped supporting them as a company, and while not bashing thier content their presentation doenst even come close to what we expect from Paizo. I think the words "no-frills" comes to mind.