Those who've read my blog here know that I enjoy comic books. Due to physical limitations in terms of housing though, a lot of comics I buy these days are in digital format.
Today only I believe, Amazon has several graphic novels on sale to get you into the DC New 52 series for a low price. Good stuff if you enjoy comics or wanted to see what was 'new' at the time.
Green Lantern: Jokes on you sucker! Remember how I said 'New 52'? Turns out that DC has some intelligence and didn't reset everything. Green Lantern and Batman got to essentially keep going with what they were doing to begin with. Still, this collection of the first arc is by Geoff Johns whose well known and opinions of him are easy to find.
Wonder Woman vol 1: Blood: Everyone is taken by how awesome her new origin is. I think she's now the daughter of Zeus or something. For me that's more blah than her old origin. Her old origin was used a few times in interesting ways. Having super powers because you're the scion of some one? M'eh. It's worked for Thor for hundreds of issues so clearly there can be validity to the process.
Aquaman Vol 1: The Tench. Okay, I know, "He talks to fish!". It's still funny to me. Aquaman can be more than that and often is, but between him and Submariner, overall Subby wins. The later is a often a colossal bastard whose ego gets him into all sorts of trouble. Aquaman is the guy whose son died and is otherwise a nice guy. Except when they make him 90's vicious. There was a brief sword and sorcery run but I think they pretty much nuked that into oblivion. Aquaman as he's done would probably be a better fit in his own setting as opposed to the DC one. It's all like, "Yeah, but Superman!" Poor bastard.
Justice League vol 1: Origin. I already own this one. Fantastic art by Jim Lee but really feeling the crapitude of 'The New 52'. Other people love it so take my opinion here with a grain of salt.
Justice League Dark vol 1: In the Dark. Okay, I got nothing here. I bought it for $2.99 because hell, I'll try most things for an introductory price but really? Did DC see Marvel absolutely stomping them with dozens of Avengers and X-Men titles and was like, "Hey, Justice League rolls off the tongue right? Right?"
Shazam Vol 1. I feel bad for DC here. It's like they can never do this character justice. He's had some great stories like one of the retellings of his first meeting with Superman, or his time with the Justice Society of America, but when you have Superman, and your ownership of Shazam came about directly because you claimed he was a copy of Superman, what's left for Shazam do to? Still, for $2.99 I wanted to see what Geoff Johns did with him. Man, is that guy on everything these days?
Superman: Action Comics Vol 1. Superman and the Men of Steel. Grant Morrison tackles Superman and his 'new' origin or at least his new stylings. It was a nice change of pace even though, like Spider Man, it nullified his marriage to Lois Lane. Still, it, like Spider Man's annulment, has lead to some interesting stories and they start here.
Green Arrow Vol 1. The Midas Touch. Haven't read it yet, but for $2.99 I'm there. With the popularity of the television show Arrow, I'm surprised that DC hasn't been pushing this character more.
But not all comics hail from DC comics! In terms of Dark Horse, every now and again they put their Star Wars comics on 'blow out' prices. I'm a little worried about it but I believe there has been mention that while they will stop selling them, you will be able to access them.
Darth Vader XL Bundle: A ton of comics featuring Darth Vader aka Anakin Skywalker for $24.95.
Captain Midnight Bundle: 255 pages of pulp science brought into modern day times? For $2.99, I bought it and will check it out. That's a hard deal to pass up for a comic fan. Individual issues have previews of the material, so for example, if you go here: https://digital.darkhorse.com/profile/3479.captain-midnight-1-felipe-massafera-cover/ , you'll see the preview avialable for that issue and can use those previews to decide if it's worth the $2.99.
Keep those sales coming you magnificent bastards! Memory is cheap these days and I can always download more!
For those who've already read this comics, any particular favorites? Any that you'd look at this list and warn people away from?
As usual, if you know anyone that would benefit from the sale here, +1 and share it among the peeps. Save the comic fans a few $$$$.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Heroes of the Jade Oath (Pathfinder version) arrives!
Today the physical hardcopy has arrived. That's some damn fast service. Faster than I get from some normal game stores.
Physical copy has non-glossy pages. Construction seems pretty solid. Cover is nice with that great art by Wayne Reynolds.
Heroes of the Jade Oath is still on sale for 30% off on both the physical copy, which gets you the PDF, and just the PDF copy.
Hopefully I'll have time to do more than just keep it on the shelf.
Has anyone been using it in their campaign? Are there any huge differences between this and the Arcana Evolved version? I picked it up to mine for ideas. While I enjoy the core of Dungeons and Dragons, and Pathfinder, I also enjoy seeing alternative takes on things.
If you have any stores, resource links, or other cool bits for Heroes of the Jade Oath, lay 'em on me.
Monday, March 10, 2014
Borgia: Further Random Ramblings
I'll be hitting a few more points from the non-Showtime series, Borgia below. Anyone who doesn't want any spoilers should read no further.
One of the things I failed to mention about the Borgia series, the non-Showtime one, is that the motivation for Lucrezia to murder Juan, or at least to murder him at that time, is that Juan wants to redeem himself. He wants to confess his sins. He wants to live a virtuous life.
This means he'd get into Heaven.
So Lucrezia kills him to prevent that from happening. Her hatred of her brother is so great, that she cannot abide the thought of him going to Heaven. Her motivation is there, but the timing is directly influenced by religious belief.
It resounded in my mind an echo of the version of Hamlet with Mel Gibson as well as the play itself mind you. Here Hamlet comes across the king who has begged the Lord for forgiveness so if Hamlet does kill him at that junction, the king would go to heaven.
The hatred that Hamlet and Lucrezia share, to prevent the soul from going to a 'just' reward in the afterlife, is played out in both instances here.
In role playing games, what religious motivations can be arranged to do something similar for characters and their enemies?
In fantasy settings that have saints or gods or war, would fleeing from overwhelming victory be enough to damn a soul? What if the individual suffered from a magical compulsion that forced them to flee?
What if the damnation of the soul is of secondary importance but the appearance of the damnation is what's important?
For example, during the siege of a city, a war leader priest might call for a retreat when the city is going to fall and a high marshal or otherwise highly placed and respected knight prepares to lead the retreat but his assassination is arranged so that it looks like he was killed fleeing from the combat. This can be a devastating blow to the morale of the people he was supposed to be leading.
Such a thing might call on the players to investigate what actually happened. Was the weapon used to kill the knight one that the enemy uses? Did the knight suffer any other wounds? Is there a 'signature' mark like Zorro or other skilled opponents leave on their foes? Has the body been moved?
That's the first plot point that has a lot of potential implications for the game master and those players who pick clerics as their characters.
The second is specific missions.
Cesare's rise to power starts with a limited force of soldiers. So few in fact, that he has no desire to spend any of their lives when he doesn't have to.
In one instance, he's able to assure the people of the town that if they resist, the destruction he rains on them will be hoffic and on the other hand, he assures them that taxes and other fees will be lessened under him. They surrender.
He tries this on another town, but Caterina, 'Il Tiger', has captured the man's son so he cannot surrender without his son paying for it.
Cesare sees this as a perfect opportunity and infiltrates the castle holding the child, kills the child's captors, and makes the get away with the child and a bonus prisoner.
He does this alone, but in a role playing game, something like this might be accomplished by a few special characters, like the player's characters.
By having specific missions that can have tremendous impact on the game, the Dungeon Master allows the players the opportunity to directly influence the game. By having the players rescue an important son, or daughter, it gives the players a 'touch' with someone whose powerful or influential directly and gives that powerful person, a reason to respect the abilities of the players and to have a personal tie to the players.
Borgia: Rules of War, Rules of Love, provides a lot of ideas and visual inspiration for those who want to take their campaigns out of the dungeon.
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Amazon Sales: Kindle, blu-Ray and other goods
For March, I'll didn't run through the kindle sales list of $3.99 or less because nothing there looked appealing to me.
Today though, for their Gold Box deal of the day, Amazon decided that they would like a little (or a lot) of my money. Some great deals on the various kindle format books.
Today though, for their Gold Box deal of the day, Amazon decided that they would like a little (or a lot) of my money. Some great deals on the various kindle format books.
Bradbury Stories: 100 of His Most Celebrated Tales [Kindle Edition]: $1.99. I've read a few of Ray's stories in my 42 years and this is almost a thousand pages of goodness.
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: The Chronicles of Narnia [Kindle Edition] another classic. I'll be Honest, I haven't read this in about 20-25 years but it's the start of one of the oldest fantasy series out there and it's been made into Television and movies so if you want to get an inexpensive start to the series, here's the first one for $1.99.
American Gods: The Tenth Anniversary Edition: A Novel [Kindle Edition] Sometimes you want something a little more modern and Neil Gaiman doesn't disappoint. If you want to see what gods would be created like in the modern world and have something different to enjoy, Neil's book is on sale for $1.99.
Coraline 10th Anniversary Edition [Kindle Edition], another book by Neil Gaiman and well, 10th anniversary shows it has some staying power and also has a movie based on it. Also for $1.99.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance [Kindle Edition] by Robert Pirsig is one I'm throwing up here not because it's fantasy or science fiction but because it's one of those books I read in college and thought it a very intense story and one worth reading again. For $1.99 it's an inexpensive volume.
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. Here's I'm asking for opinions. Anyone read this? It looks more up my mom's alley but I think she read it when it first came out. For $1.99 though I wouldn't mind rebuying it, especially as it doesn't take up much shelf space.
There are a few other books that look to be good based on what I've heard of them. Anyone have any particular recommendations on them?
In other items though, it's Joss Whedon week. The funny thing is, most people probably interested in the stuff on sale here, yeah, they probably already have it because he tends to build up a large fanbase.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Series on dvd, not bluray, for $63.99. Hate to say it but never really a big fan personally. In most situations, the genre itself isn't my thing although there are some gems in the series.
Firefly: The Complete Series ah, now we're talking. The dvd is $12.99 and the bluray $18.49.
Angel: The Complete Series another one I'm going to confess to never being a fan of. Heck, I haven't even seen any of these to tell you if there are any 'gems' within it's borders. Has a lot of fans though and it's been at a few comic book companies so there has to be some appeal eh? $56.99 for the whole thing.
Sopranos: $139.99. I'm so out of touch, I don't know if that's a good price or not. A family based crime drama where, like many of the better series, it's all about the characters. Well worth checking out for those who never have.
Well, I think that's enough spam for this morning. Anyone have any particular favorites? I saw that they had the Dollhouse on sale as well but to be honest, have no clue about the whole series. I've heard it referred to as a snore fest for example.
If you know anyone who might enjoy any of those sales, +1 and share it on.
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Late Kickstarters
Presented without any comment. I'm sure I'm missing one or two. If there's a yellow mark, that means that some stuff has been delivered. I suppose I should mark a few more of them that way but laziness and all.
| Project Name | Due Date | Date | Late Days | Late Months |
| Tectonic Craft Studios | 6/1/2012 | 3/8/2014 | -645 | -22 |
| Dwimmermount | 8/1/2012 | 3/8/2014 | -584 | -19 |
| Steampunk Musha | 10/1/2012 | 3/8/2014 | -523 | -17 |
| Imbrian Arts Miniatures | 3/1/2013 | 3/8/2014 | -372 | -12 |
| Assimilation Alien Host | 5/1/2013 | 3/8/2014 | -311 | -10 |
| Relic Knights | 5/1/2013 | 3/8/2014 | -311 | -10 |
| Cthulhu Mythos Foundy Style | 7/1/2013 | 3/8/2014 | -250 | -8 |
| Drake The Dragon Wargame | 7/1/2013 | 3/8/2014 | -250 | -8 |
| Fractured Dimensions | 8/1/2013 | 3/8/2014 | -219 | -7 |
| Tablescapes | 10/1/2013 | 3/8/2014 | -158 | -5 |
| Domains At War | 10/1/2013 | 3/8/2014 | -158 | -5 |
| Dungeon Crawler | 11/1/2013 | 3/8/2014 | -127 | -4 |
| Kingdom Death | 11/1/2013 | 3/8/2014 | -127 | -4 |
Borgia: Faith and Fear
After watching the Showtime series, Borgias, Netflix decided, hey, you know, since you enjoyed that, you'll probably enjoy . I was like what is this? Another series on the infamous Italian family? And yup, it is.
Commonly referred to as Borgia, Faith and Fear for the subtitle of the first season, this is another show that looks at the infamous family of fifteenth century Italy. There are currently two seasons on Netflix, each season being twelve episodes long with a third one coming soon.
I'd try to do a breakdown on the differences between the two but to be honest, I think this guy over here does a fantastic job: http://www.exurbe.com/?p=2176 , a specific post on a blog that has a lot of other cool stuff over here: http://www.exurbe.com/.
In short, the Faith and Fear series starts earlier in the time frame, it goes into more detail and dove tails more events, it has more character growth and more vile things happening not just to the 'villains' or opposition of the period, but to the heroes as well. Cesare here is far more confused, far more looking for himself, then he ever was in the Showtime version. The Pope here is far more flawed , far more flawed, far more seeking of redemption at times, then Jeremy Irons.
Both are enjoyable but I'll be honest, I'm looking forward to the next season of Borgia: Faith and Fear hitting Netflix.
Below I'll be discussing some potential bits that would be useful for various role playing games:
1. Life: Often players need to eliminate a threat. They need to find a way to remove an obstacle. But what if, what if they need to keep something alive instead. When Faith and Fear starts, the old pope is dying but that Pope's bastard son has changed the will. Some are not pleased with this so special doctors and medicines are brought in to prolong the Pope's life and have the problems of that changed will undone. Changing the nature of what it means to succeed can provide different challenges for the players. In a fantasy game like Dungeons and Dragons, this can be a relatively simple thing if the players are high enough level with spells like Cure Disease and Remove Curse so keep those elements in mind when designing the issues.
2. Shifting Alliances: The Pope has many enemies. There are even some who seek to have him removed through military means. When these methods fail though, they don't necessarily 'come around', as they are always still in opposition, but they recognize the political landscape for what it is and work within it. This is perhaps even more dangerous for the Pope in that the old saying, "Keep your enemies closer" means that well, your enemies are closer.
3. Politics: Lucretzia's wedding is prevented from being consummated by the Pope. This allows the pope the easy annulment of the wedding if he decides that he can marry his daughter off to a better match. This political gambit is easier to believe than tales of impotency that were used as grounds in the Showtime although turns out that happens here as well.
4. The French Disease: Syphilis! There are historical debates about the so called French Disease. Apparently there are those who think it came from North America and those who think it was present all the time in Europe. As player characters in advance science fiction settings, and high fantasy settings tend to wander all over creation, to different planets, different times, different planes, the players may carry disease with them when they return. Or when interacting with people who have been to those places, may encounter the disease first.
5. Historical Uncertainty: In both series, Juan dies. Both have the deed happen differently. When looking at things that happened in the past, keep your options open. Unless the players specifically need to know exactly what happened and have the means to do so, such as with time travel or viewing it directly with magic or technology, having the past events be more fluid allows you to change or customize things later on. The end result doesn't change though, but the viewing of it, the happening of it, do.
6. Public Executions: So you've committed a crime. No big deal right? No so quick here. One man is put on the wheel and his bones and body broken with a hammer. Others are spread eagled upside down and sawed in half. Others hung and burned. Public execution is a common thing here and its for the masses. Its the public entertainment of the day and the warning of what happens to those who cross the people in power.
7. The Papal States: Too often history, indeed, most subject matter, tries to simplify things to make them easier to digest, to give the reader/viewer/observer some method of starting to gather information about the subject in question. For example, when thinking of Italy, do you think of it as a single country or do you break it up into the various factions and city states? Within those city states, do you further break those down into cities with individual governors and fortifications that provide security to those around them? The Papal States are an excellent example of a miniature country within Italy surrounded by various City States and stronger countries, like France that allow the information to flow out in parcel form. Here is independent city state, here is unrepentant Il Tiger, etc... When setting up the locations in your campaign world, while the whole of it might not need to be presented to the players in one bite, having the ability to expand beyond the starting point is important.
8. Random Death: People die all the time and sometimes die of the weirdest things. For example, imagine being a captain of the guard and having a lightning bolt strike a cross atop a building that causes the cross to fall down and crush you. Imagine eating some bad fish at dinner and falling dead not long after that. Without access to modern medicine, or it's magical equal, death can occur from any number of things ranging from small cuts that lead to infection, to STDs that without cure, grow progressively worse and worse.
9. Action and Reaction: In the later part of the series, as Cesare is walking through Rome, he encounters a blind man. The man relates that he was blinded in a brawl by a great warrior. Cesare asks if the blind man hates that warrior, who it turns out was Cesare himself, and the man replies that no, it was his own act of aggression that lead to him being blinded. When characters take action, there will be reactions to those. Some of those will be in support, some indifferent, some in direct opposition. When you know who the players are, the actions of the characters become easier to see how they ripple and effect others.
10. Introductions: Long before we see Caterina Sforza, the fierce warrior woman, various characters mention her prowess. This feats of impressive ability from third party allow the viewer to get an idea of the nature of Caterina. This is similar to how various shows or novels or comics will bring in a new villain and the first thing they have that villain do is demonstrate how powerful they are by destroying someone else. Having the players learn about some new menace through word of mouth is an effective way of providing information and allows the Game Master to put false information and rumor out as well as actual information and detail out.
Borgia: Faith and Fear, brings a lot to the table that the Showtime series didn't get to and I'm looking forward to the third season when it hits Netflix.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Sales: GM Day Sales and Other Goodies:
The internet has created a holiday for Game Masters. This is a good thing because there are way too many anti-perks from running games ranging from the prep time to juggling the different priorities of the game. Its good to see some good things heading that way.
And Amazon has some stuff on sale that might be useful for role playing and board gamers.
So some links will be thrown about!
Shadow Chaser: I'm still reading Shadow Chaser. It's the second book in the series. It's 'okay' and could be better. I'm not sure if it's the result of the translation or if it's just m'eh writing. But it's $3.20 which is why I bought it in the first place eh? I'll have a review of it sooner or later.
Wizards of The Coast Legend of Drizzt: A Dungeons and Dragons Board Game: A little over $35 bones right now and 45% off. I snagged it because I'm a sucker for fancy board games. Mind you I'll probably just put it into the old storage unit but who knows, perhaps for the price I'll sell it at a later date.
Red Dragon Inn: A fun board game and it's under $18. It's a 55% off sale. Spread the word! I myself have all three of them and need to do a review one day.
Red Dragon Inn 3: I don't know why 3 is on sale and 2 isn't but again, a massive sale. Less than $17.
Ultimate Psionics: The Drivethru sale has this huge book for $13.99. Yeah, I bought that. I'd say I'll review it 'soon' but my actual gaming is minimal and I hate reading PDF's of this HUGE size on my tablet. Perhaps when I get a new one I'll read it more than just a glimpse here or there.
Heroes of the Jade Oath: Drivethru has the PDF and the hardcover on sale. Ordered the hardcover and received the PDF instantly. Now that's service. Another one that's not quite suited for long term reading but love that Wayne Reynolds cover.
Those are the ones I've personally bought. There are some others I'm looking at like the Red Tide and some of the source material from other publishers but for now, that'll do.
Anyone else pick up anything? Anyone else have any recommendations?
And Amazon has some stuff on sale that might be useful for role playing and board gamers.
So some links will be thrown about!
Shadow Chaser: I'm still reading Shadow Chaser. It's the second book in the series. It's 'okay' and could be better. I'm not sure if it's the result of the translation or if it's just m'eh writing. But it's $3.20 which is why I bought it in the first place eh? I'll have a review of it sooner or later.
Wizards of The Coast Legend of Drizzt: A Dungeons and Dragons Board Game: A little over $35 bones right now and 45% off. I snagged it because I'm a sucker for fancy board games. Mind you I'll probably just put it into the old storage unit but who knows, perhaps for the price I'll sell it at a later date.
Red Dragon Inn: A fun board game and it's under $18. It's a 55% off sale. Spread the word! I myself have all three of them and need to do a review one day.
Red Dragon Inn 3: I don't know why 3 is on sale and 2 isn't but again, a massive sale. Less than $17.
Ultimate Psionics: The Drivethru sale has this huge book for $13.99. Yeah, I bought that. I'd say I'll review it 'soon' but my actual gaming is minimal and I hate reading PDF's of this HUGE size on my tablet. Perhaps when I get a new one I'll read it more than just a glimpse here or there.
Heroes of the Jade Oath: Drivethru has the PDF and the hardcover on sale. Ordered the hardcover and received the PDF instantly. Now that's service. Another one that's not quite suited for long term reading but love that Wayne Reynolds cover.
Those are the ones I've personally bought. There are some others I'm looking at like the Red Tide and some of the source material from other publishers but for now, that'll do.
Anyone else pick up anything? Anyone else have any recommendations?
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