Search Posts
Pathfinder Duels is out for iOS and on GooglePlay, and I noticed something about the cartography on game board (in tutorial). It’s not Golarion, it’s Maine!
Thanks for all the great fiction, James!
Attention Customer Service Representatives:
Thank You for your assistance in this matter, though canceling
Fellowship of the Ring first published today in 1954.
54 years later. Impressions?
Picked up the new 4th edition adventure (Labyrinth whatever it is) and then put it back down. Probably wouldn't have done that a year ago. Bought one box of Against the Giants miniatures. Just one for a taste. Bitter. $21.99 is far too expensive for cheap (mean it) pre-painted minis manufactured by slave labor for obscene wages and a ridiculous profit margin, I'd wager. I play by post, saves on gas. Won't be hitting GenCon for the first time in four years. Will miss that considerably. Drinking cheaper beer.
I have a Cthulhu fish on the back of my VW. Perplexes most, frightens Christians, makes me grin devilishly everytime I see it. It's only been recognized on two occassions. It's hilarious to listen to someone try to explain it to another person.
Anyway, I carry a d20 (vibrant translucent yellow) at all times. I occassionally take it out, spin it in my fingers. Gamers instantly recognize it, infidels think it's "pretty."
sigh; just waiting in thor #10; is it out? has anyone seen the two Marvel animated movies of the Avengers? I bought the first one; am considering buying the second one; but the black panther storyline doesnt really interest me; is it any good? Haven't seen #10 yet, have had to fall back on the two "one-offs" recently. Reign of Blood was pretty sick, I must say. I have both Avengers films and the second was a bit of a disappointment. Same alien menace, predictable Wakanda scenario, andSpoiler: . I thought that the Iron Man animated film was pretty decent but found Doctor Strange to be uninspiring. I usually buy the Marvel films, but balked at Dr. Strange. Giant Man dies, redeeming himself after being a total prick
I have no doubt the earth will live on without us. I'm pretty sure we'll kill ourselves with pollution and greenhouse gases first though. I loved the Earth webbed-in by space junk (Thanks Devo). I remember arguing the point that contemporary approaches to space flight and related endeavors were creating an ultimately inescapable web of fast moving debris about the planet with a couple of space-businessmen on Science Friday (NPR alk show) years ago.They laughed my notion off with the thought of the fiscal opportunity available to the private sector and their companies. I am no scientist, but I laughed when I saw the web and still hope that they will be unable to escape when the Mayan calendar ticks down in 2012! lol
The fact that this was so enjoyable when the two main characters get through the entire movie while hardly speaking any real dialogue says wonders for Pixar. Did you notice that Ben Burtt, of Star Wars sound fame, was responsible for the sounds/voices? He made it work for R2 pretty well, eh?Took the kids to this yesterday. I think I enjoyed it as much as they did!
That is interesting! I had forgotten that you were on the East Coast. I was in Bar Harbor, Maine (where I stayed for a couple of nights) and my sister lives in Orono, Maine (where my nephew's birthday party was). I brought my books but only cracked the 4e Monster Manual for ten minutes on Sunday night. We could have hooked up for a delve session! lol I hail from Rhode Island, where I am glad to be back. Six and half hours in the car, each way. And I drove every mile. Though I did listen to the Punk Rock channel on satellite for most of it!
dudes,
Moonglum Pat, can you inform my comrades in the Keep?
I penciled up an Eladrin Wizard using the new PHB and standard array.
Nice DMing with the new system.
Have you seen Kung Fu Panda?
Eberron is not undergoing anything like what the Realms did. there is no time jump, no world shattering event, and more importantly, no major comology changes. Dig it. I simply meant that it was being updated for 4e. I read the LiveJournal, too. And subscribe to a couple of the messageboards that he participates in. His comments are always insightful and revealing, as well.
Because 4th Edition came along, a special rendition of the Forgotten Realms has had to be produced to fit the edition, but when it comes to Eberron, Keith Baker is able to get the designers to rethink/invent game mechanics Seems like Keith made that one up himself and did not influence designers to rethink or invent game mechanics. He certainly has the capacity to do so himself, as this demonstrates. He is a crafty designer in his own right. Eberron is being retooled in similar fashion to the Realms, which is why he is "splinting" together these mechanics.
Dyrnwyn: You should only have one encounter power. Also, you left off the cantrip Prestidigiation. Finally, you should also select three level-1 rituals that you know. I'll look into this, I just copied the information from the Dnd Experience Character Sheet. Didn't have any Ritual information and didn't mention Prestidigitation.
Oh, don't you all fret, I am indeed taking the Wizard.
Hey there.
off site for most of this weekend, beautiful weather on east coast for a change and spend most of it outside away from computer. Sorry if I didnt keep up with the action. Pat, I saw your post about the Keep adventure. Did you buy it, too?
Hi
Dude, I wasn't frustrated. I was actually drinking some strong beer and that was an attempt at humor.Sorry if it sounded like that. I'll try not to be too casual in the future. I know how these thing work and I am cool with it. I'm content to wait until we come together. Cheers!
Hi there! I posted my initial mechanics and posted them here
Need to work on background material, elven history is obscure.
Question:
Question:
Just realized that I might have used PH2. D'oh!
Thanks for the invitation! I would still like to create an Elf Wizard, if this is acceptable.
I will check out the flaws/traits tonight. I am familiar with them and believe that the narcotic user/ friend of such may be the path I take. I will reread tonight and make a decision. Thanks again. Cheers! PS Does anyone else have the Harrow deck? I have it, pretty amazing illustrations. Hope we can incorporate it somehow!
I'm guessing there's probably demand for another Curse of the Crimson Throne game around here . . . I, too have yet to play on these boards! I would like to enter my name into the lottery for players.I have the Players Guide and have not read the adventure, as I have hoped that I might be able to play at some point. I would hope to play an Elf, one of the folk that live in the South of town. I do not have the guide in front of me at the moment, I must confess. I enjoy playing magic users and would play a sorcerer or wizard, though a druid would also be acceptable. If the group needs a blade, then I would shift to ranger. First Choice: Elf, wizard. Hope to here soon! Cheers!
I am reminded of a recent bit from A Prairie Home Companion in which Garrison said of a funeral and the things we long to say ... "We say all the Old Words
Rest
I think I'm going to pick up a copy of The Anubis Murders tonight as a small way to honor a man who gave me so much enjoyment over the years. Gary Gygax signed my copy of The Anubis Murders this summer at Gen Con. For that honor and for the gift of gaming that he gave to me, I am deeply thankful.Think of the millions of lives that man changed forever.
Thanks for dungeons! And dragons!
Elric, The Stealer of Souls, Chronicles of the Last Emperor of Melnibone, Volume I has just hit the streets here in the US! If you are unfamiliar with the influence of Michael Moorcock on the genre of fantasy, catch up with the Planet Stories reissues of his work. If you are unfamiliar with the influence of Michael Moorcock on D&D, RPGs, and the tropes of swords and sorcery, you need to buy this collection of his early works involving Elric of Melnibone. Elric is among the most significance characters in the world of modern fantasy and a refreshing departure from the archetypal hero of formula fantasy. A paleblooded slayer of kinsmen, cursed with a demonblade and doomed to bring ruin to his empire and the world itself, Michael Moorcock's Elric helped to resculpt the expectation and potential of the genre. Do yourself a favor and buy this book! Just posted this over at www.multiverse.org "My copy has been in the back of my bookseller since Thursday, when I called to check on the availability of my special order. With the streetdate of Tuesday, February 19th, the independent was unable to complete the sale and I had to respect their decision to wait until the official date. That is not to say that I did not try to influence them with gold and charm, adding that the material that they were retaining with such secrecy had actually been available since the 1960s, LOL! Regardless, I picked up my copy this morning and I am thrilled. I have been a fan of the blade blade since I was a wee lad and have since felt an inexplicable kinship with the existential and conflicted anti-hero from the ruins of the Dreaming City. A brief observation ...
The introduction by Michael Moorcock is a literary journey through the genetics of the fantastic and a rewarding read for those both versed in the genre and those uninitiated. It is satisfying and validating to have Michael Moorcock chart the confluence of French Existentialists, Pulp Fiction, mythology, and the realm of Twentieth Century fantasy. Many thanks to the author for the excellent introduction! Items of interest:
And I haven't even started to read the actual tales!
To Michael Moorcock, thanks for creating more than a fictional sequence and a fictional character. Thanks for changing the course of the fantasy genre and my own experience as a reader and sailor on the seas of fate."
Eberron, folks ...
I wrote a quick review for my professor (had to attend a parent-teacher night, as the teacher, and couldn't be in class - this was my surrogate). A bit long for the forums but what the hey! Spoilers ahead!!! Gaiman’s Beowulf is a Tragedy On Sunday morning, I purchased a bargain matinee ticket at $7.50 for the latest iteration of Beowulf, now crafted for the silver screen. As one interested in Old English literature and the genre of the heroic epic, I was skeptical about the cinematic treatment of a literary classic and reluctant to watch the potential marring of a significant work of art and poetry. Driven by the subtle prompting of my mentor and professor, I approached the situation with the lowest of possible expectations and, with ten more dollars worth of popped corn and syrupy libations, I entered the virtually empty theatre. To my astonishment, a couple had brought their young child to screen the film and I shuddered as the previews for Cloverfield, I am Legend, and a variety of terrifying images and haunting screeches filled the nearly vacant theatre. Surely the child would sustain permanent damage from the horrors unleashed at such intense volumes and frame rates. Perhaps, they hoped to breed a new race of desensitized and violent human. It was Beowulf, after all. Surely the Geats would approved. The film opened with scenes of the Mead-Hall, soon to be named Heorot, and earnestly strove to depict the revelry and indulgence characteristic of such a scenario. Darkness, flickering flames, and raucous drinking filled the screen, while dogs searched out scraps and hale men leered at Scandinavian wenches. The debauchery intensified as Hrothgar, dressed in a simple draping of cloth, was carried aloft in his throne-chair by thanes into the crowded hall. However, the overt gluttony and hedonism of the Danish king seemed gauche and wreaked of intention, as indirect characterization often is in Hollywood cinema. The Romanesque and corrupt Hrothgar seemed better suited to the pulp fiction of Robert E. Howard and his tales of the Cimmerian barbarian, Conan or the bathhouses of a faltering and burning Latin empire. Similarly, his disaffected and crestfallen wife seemed to be chiseled in the sculpt of the shamed and sullen woman of so many filmic representations. While the plotline of the film seemed relatively faithful to the skeleton of the narrative, as Beowulf progressed, I was struck by a sudden realization. The film was not the tale of the hero told in the literary genre of epic poetry, where the protagonist represents the values of the culture. This narrative followed the unmistakable and archetypal formula of the tragedy. This was particularly apparent when Beowulf of the Geats succumbed to temptation, a fatal flaw foreshadowed in his infatuation with Hrothgar’s wife and sealed with the kiss of a shapeshifting Troll-Wife of serpentine proportions. Upon reflection, the introduction included the requisite exposition and rising action, as the primary internal and external conflicts unfurled with telltale predictability, while the turning point was represented in the tryst engaged in deep in the darkness of the mere/grotto. Suddenly, the flawed hero, a victim of his own caprice and hubris, descended into inner despair and anguish while his personal and regal fortunes rose to the soaring heights of legend. Yet, the fall from grace, accelerated by Beowulf’s self-loathing, seemed eerily analogous to a Shakespearean Macbeth and betrayed all the trappings of the falling action of an Act IV. True to form, in Act V, the hero redeems himself and, having sacrificed himself to save his folk, allows good to triumph over evil. All in little more than two hours, just like a performance at “The O.” However, Hollywood has a bizarre tendency to perpetuate itself and, as the film comes to a close, the faithful and forgiving Wiglaf, now King, is captivated by the lure of the temptress serpent. The woman in water seems to pierce the stoic defenses of the newly crowned King and,
Scriptwriter and Executive Producer, Neil Gaiman, famous for his work with the Sandman comic book series and novels including American Gods, retools the English epic for the modern cinema-goer with many of Hollywood’s time tested techniques and the film’s director fashions the film with the latest computer-generated graphics and simple but compelling sets. Certainly, the ambiguities of the epic poem lend themselves to interpretation and Gaiman exploits these vagaries in his variation on a tale, creating plot points and characterization from shallow wells in between the lines of verse. While the runes and rings, an homage to the Beowulf poet, strive to create verisimilitude, the strange amalgamation of Old English and Modern English, spoken in sibilant hisses and gurgles by Grendel, played by the sinister Crispin Glover, and the Troll-Wife, played by Angelina Jolie, likely contributes to a confusing and unusual theatrical experience for the uninitiated viewer. Watch for Unferth’s gradual de-evolution into a sanctimonious and servile member of the Believers, as Christianity expands Northward, not so subtly foreshadowed in the exposition.
If you want to skip the film, but harbor a curiosity regarding the retelling of the nordic tale, check out the comic book companion to Beowulf from IDW publishing, available at Newbury Comics. Nice artwork.
With low expectations, I walked out of the theatre a little poorer but not unhappy, impressed only by the knowledge that I know a tragedy when I see one. LOL
I was just cruising the boards over at Wizards and read that
I would rather use my Mac and read Pathfinder on the couch
|
