DnD Next: Player's Handbook $50?

There have been several reportings of the next edition of the Player's Handbook for Dungeons and Dragons running $50 at Barnes & Nobles.

I can see why Wizards of the Coast would charge that much. I've heard that the 3rd edition Player's Handbook for example, was a loss leader and that it lost money. Mind you that was short term as it was meant to draw gamer's into the buying of more expensive supplements that came out generally two a month.

In addition, many role playing games have more expensive core books. The Pathfinder core book for example, is running for $33.98 at Amazon, but the cover price is $49.99. Legend of the Five Rings, a game I feel is awesome but am loathe to buy a physical copy to go with my PDF from Drive Thru RPG because my group is flaky, runs $43.32, also from Amazon, from a cover price of $59.99. The PDF from Drive Thru is currently $34.99. I know I bought that on one of the sales. Expensive books yes?

Both are generally all you need to play. Well, not quite. Pathfinder really benefits from a bestiary of some sort, and to be honest, all the supplements I've seen for 4th edition L5R have looked awesome and highly useful.

I'm sure someone could pull up better examples of fairly expensive single role playing books that allow you to start up right away like Call of Cthulhu but I'll leave that to the better minds.

Dungeons and Dragons is and has been for many years, built on a three book foundation of Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual. In the past, some of the books have cost more than others. In more recent times, all have been equal price.

Assuming an equal pricing schedule this time around, this puts the game at a retail of $150 to get started.

I'm not saying that the initial sales won't be good. They might be great. Anyone remember when 4th edition first came out and a certain spokesperson for Wizards of the Coast mentioned how awesome it was doing? Something along the lines of 3rd edition was good, 3.5 was even better and 4th edition doing even better than that? And then Essentials and all sorts of other weirdness with a fairly short shelf life? Initial sales are not long term sales.

While Wizards of the Coast is doing a better job getting non-gamer excitement going, I'm not seeing that level of excitement in my own gaming group. Mind you I fully know that we are a terrible indicator of what's happening. My group is so eclectic in their taste that I don't play half the games they do. I'd rather catch up on painting or do some prep work for running games.

But from looking online, they're not the only ones.

Don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying no one is interested. There are a lot of groups interested in the game. But looking at places like Facebook and other social sites, their interaction with the existing crowd base seems... small. This may be a result of changes Facebook has instituted or something along those lines, but I see a potentially different thing happening.

If to you, Dungeons and Dragons was 3rd edition, you've probably stuck with it or moved onto Pathfinder.

If to you Dungeons and Dragons was 2nd edition or older, you've probably embraced the OSR and it's many clones or used the variety of premium reprints to get yourself back into the game.

If to you Dungeons and Dragons was 4th edition, well... I don't know to be honest. The game is still relatively knew despite it's lack of support so maybe you're still enjoying it. Maybe you've gone onto 13th Age.

And for every player and every game master, maybe you quit playing altogether because you've got better things to do with your money. You don't need to worry about getting a group of people together at the same time to play in person when you've got Diablo 3 or are waiting on Titanfall. You've got whole seasons to go through on Netflix. The movies that have been hitting the theater are taking up all your time. Your online addition to social media leaves no time for actual socialization!

I think that long term, a core trio of books at this price point is the end of Dungeons and Dragons.

We can talk about inflation, but then we have to talk about minimum wage which has essentially never kept up with inflation. We can talk about deep discounts to keep people buying, but then we're not talking about hobby stores at this point as Amazon and other online sites are going to smash brick and mortar retailers. And for a lot of people, all of their transactions are already done at this point and the hobby has continued.

Without seeing the final rules, without knowing what type of 3rd party support via OGL/GSL that Wizards of the Coast is planning, it's hard to get an idea of whats actually going to happen. A lot of variables there.

But, and I've been wrong many a time before, I think that this is going to cause Dungeons and Dragons to fail, after an initial sell through at Gen Con, and after that failure, the role playing game will be shelved and mined for ideas.

And to be honest, Hasbro could do worse. Battleship the movie anyone?

The Borgias: Season Three

Damn you Showtime! I finally catch up on everything and discover that this was meant to be a four season series that was cut short by a whole season? Curse your financials that prevent this from coming out!

Yeah, I enjoyed it in case you can't tell. The tensions between family members come to a head in a big way between father and son, and between sister and brother and not everything works out in such a happy campy charming way that leaves me wondering where Showtime was going to take it.

Yeah, I saw that they came out with a $9.99 e-book but the reviews on that one are all over the place and let's be honest, I'm not paying $10 for a e-book for a show I watched on Netflix. Pass!

Jeremy Irons continues to knock it out of the park and his son, Francois Arnaud aka Cesare Borgia, have some great scenes that will be heart felt to anyone whose ever had issues with their own father in terms of trust and living up to what they wanted to be while trying to make that parent happy at the same time.

The Borgias season three is available on blu ray for $30.35 from Amazon but is streaming free on Netflix now. I was so interested in the time period and other bits going on I decided to check out another series based on the Borgias and it's been very interesting thus far with a lot of similarities but a ton of differences so will make for some interesting compare and contrast bits later.

So in terms of role playing fodder though, where to start...

1. Minor Characters: Throughout the whole of the series, Cesare has had a henchman, Micheletto Corella, who acted as his assassin and his right hand in many things. The character arcs Micheletto go through take him out of Cesare's orbit. Real life can be a PIA. Work, sickness, birth, death, vacations and other things can take players in and out of the game. Having reasons why the player's character retries as opposed to die are handy to have and having one suffer from emotional distress provides a quick way of allowing a player to bring a favorite back as opposed to having a character die and then come back for some odd ball reason.

2. Traps: Learning that pilgrims are skipping out on Rome to see another holy site, Cesare investigates knowing full well that it may be a trap. Turns out it is. Some traps have to be investigated head on while others do not. In this case the relic was a shroud of the bleeding Christ that tears were of blood. The trap? Blowing the entire cave up while Cesare was in it. Anyone whose seen the Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will also be familiar with a character walking into a trap as Gandalf, knowing full well that something is waiting for him, goes into the ruins of the Necromancer in order to expose him.

3. Poison: Season two ended with the Pope being poisoned but he is quickly saved by the knowledge that Lucrezia has of poisons. While in his weakened state, the pope learns more about who his friends and allies are, and who his enemies are. It allows him to navigate plans within plans while waiting to recover. Poison in most role playing games is often a "make a save or die" but while there are many such poisons in the world, there are also those that may incapacitate the poisoned for a while.

4. Factions: The one who poisoned the pope is captured but quickly escapes. When there are multiple factions involved in a situation, especially one as large as poisoning a pope, there may be those who seek to gain from that event even as there are those who seek to punish for it. Have plans for various events and how different factions will react to those situations. "If X happens, group Y will do the following while group Z will do the opposite." Having these things out ahead of time will prevent you as the Game Master from having to scrabble as opposed to having the NPCs having to scramble.

5. Innovative Siege Tactics: One of the interesting things that happens in the series, not based in real world history mind you, is that the castle of Caterina Sforza is taken when Cesare uses cannons to destroy the ground under a second of wall build atop an old mine. The cannon fire breaks the supports of the mine and gravity takes down the wall allowing the siege to be mopped up quickly. Allowing the players to have unique tactics that should work should be encouraged. In some instances, the Game Master should build should things deliberately into the setting so that there is a way to victory that doesn't necessarily involve 'the hard way'. Another example of this is seen in the anime/manga series Berserk where Griffith lays siege to a caste but that is only a rouse while his forces take the castle under cover of sand storm and open the gates to them.

Such tactics don't necessarily stop with siege warfare though. When Jews coming to Rome, the pope initially wants to tax them for a 'great crusade' against the Turk. The Jews counter offer though with a plan that burns the fleet of ships of the Turks to the oceanline. The careful use of the various Jewish merchants throughout the port cities, supplied with oil allows them access and means to do so.

6. Mercenaries: Second sons and bastard sons have a bit of a problem in a feudal or semi-feudal system. The inheritance can only go to one, and usually that's the eldest. So what is a second or third or even bastard son to do? Mercenary work is a good way of advancement. But as some historians note, mercenaries are not necessarily going to fight on a losing side just because they're initially agreed to it, especially if a better offer comes along. Having some sort of system to track a mercenaries 'honor' or 'valor' might be useful for players who want to hire some hirelings from time to time or even full fledged armies. Knowing who to trust though is even better.

 7. Unique Supplies: In the dreaded 'real' world, supplies are vital to all sorts of things. When certain parts of the modern world flood for example, some computer components may go up in price because they are outsourced there. In a darker time, when cannons need sulfur, controlling the supply of sulfur allows one to control the flow of war. One cannot make 'easy' war or 'modern' war without cannons and without sulfur, the canons are useless. In your own settings, are there any resources which control of is vital? Which control of may not even be seen as vital because they are from an outside source, but one that might be taken over or outright bought by a single source?

8. Financial Record Keeping: One of the cardinals accused of conspiring against the pope decides, ah what the hell, steals a bunch of land rights and titles, and burns the remaining information on the various wealth and coffers of the Church. Specialists have to be called in whose sole job is to discover the wealth that the Church has access to. Anyone whose read anything about the United States Government knows that often times there are resources unearthed decades after they were needed. If the players ever find themselves working for a government branch, don't be afraid to allow them access to resources that the government didn't even know it had.

For those who've watched other series, like the Tudors, did you find yourself stealing any particular ideas or bits for your own campaigns? For those who've watched the older version of the series, did you find yourself enjoying that one more or less?

For those running historical games, do you tend to stick with the 'real world' history as much as possible or play it fast and lose? One of the things I enjoyed about Mage's Renaissance setting was how open it appeared to be to having various cool things happen in a semi-historical period.

The Borgias: The Second Season

I enjoyed the first season so much that I quickly watched the other two seasons in a binge viewing over the last week. I'll try to refer to actual events in the second season to insure that I'm not drifting too far from topic.

The host of actors they've assembled continue to knock it out of the park. Jeremy Irons has a particular scene towards the end of season two that is powerful and some of the best acting I've seen. The use of the director in making a visual switch is also well done and pulls at the heart strings.

For those who've never seen it, all three seasons are on Netflix right now and are well worth viewing. I'll be discussion some specifics and how they may play out or be useful for your own role playing games below.

1. Hunting: When I first saw the anime Berserk, I enjoyed how one of the nobles tried to assassinate Griffith during the event. Later on in the series, something similar happens. However, hunting doesn't always have to lead to such attempts. Rather, in this season, while hunting a deer, the deer dashes through some ruins and leads the Pope to ancient murals and art that were abandoned.  While hunting and the characters are out, something can happen, it doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing or a violent thing though. Try to mix up the happenings so that players will wonder what's going to happen as opposed to just getting their favorite damage dice ready.

2. Subterfuge: Lucretzia has a child with a stable boy due to the poor treatment she received at the hands of her husband. That stable boy comes to Rome. He is murdered by Juan, Lucretzia's brother. Now Juan tries to set up the whole thing as a suicide but doesn't know that the stable boy can't read or write. So the note itself turns out to be a telling clue. More important than that though, is how far others go to try and support the lie until she blatantly points out that it is a lie and that the suicide is murder. Suicide in such times, has a huge religious implication in the Church and by pointing out that it was no such suicide, Lucretzia is essentially saving the boy's soul. Holding on to information that others don't know provides a power that characters can keep in their back pocket until needed.

3. Deception: The use of deception comes through in a few manners this season. First, it's heavily implied if not outright said that the Pope sent the French King ahead towards Naples when the Pope knew that there was plague there. The French suffer heavily under the plague. When the King moves north and wants to take a little revenge, he finds Rome heavily fortified with Canon. What the King doesn't know though, is that those canon were all plaster casts and would have been useful in an actual battle, but because he doesn't know that, he decides that there would be too many loses if he attacked.

Secrets don't have to be on such a scale though. For example, Pope Alexander is wandering around one night and finds a young artists copying some of the work he found in the ruins. Turns out that artist isn't a young man, but a woman trying to make her way as a man because of the limits placed on women being apprentices during this time period.

Another example is when the Pope disguises himself as a pauper and explorers the poor quarters of the city. By doing so in disguise, he is able to see things in a manner that he would never have been allowed to while in his full regalia.

4. Limited Resources: Despite having the whole of Rome and more at his command, the Pope is constantly burning through funds. The reason why the deception of the plaster canons was needed in the first place, is that the Pope, after discovering the art in the ruins, held a great celebration which costs money. Money and resources, like bronze, that could then not be used to craft actual canon later on. When players are faced with different choices that have costs, try to insure that any direction they take is going to have potential lose on the other side later on down the road.

5. Mercenaries: There's an old saying, it takes a village. Sometimes it takes an army. Where can one find such an army? Or at least a small band of rogues? If you have a strong possibility of victory and there is wealth to be found, the manpower to attain those goals should be easily found. People are hungry for a better life. In older editions of Dungeons and Dragons, many played it as if it were assumed that they would be using hirelings and henchmen to take care of a variety of duties.

Here for example, Cesare uses the mercenaries and sneak attacks to cut off the scouting abilities of the French army. Because of the advantage in sneak attack and the smaller number of foes being fought, he's able to essentially win the battles before they start.

6. Natural Disasters: In a role playing game and a setting where the gods have walked the earth multiple times, like the Forgotten Realms, a natural disaster may be easier to swallow as just a natural disaster. Historically and in settings like Eberron where the gods don't necessarily take physical form, when terrible things happen, like a lightning bolt striking and destroying part of the church, well, that might cause some reflection to happen.

7. Rivalry: Cesare and his brother Juan have been shown to have intense feelings for one another. In both this and the previous season they have dueled and Juan has lost. Juan has also been shown to not be the military leader that Cesare is. What's worse is that Juan, due to a variety of issues, is seen here as slowly but surely losing his mind thanks to Opium and chronic pain. When he takes his issues perhaps a step too far, Cesare decides that only with Juan dead can the family, or at least his sister and her child, be safe.

The rivalry between the two is played off by their father as being necessary as having one son in the religion factor and the other in the military. Were the Pope a king, his eldest, Cesare would've been in the military, but being a religion man, the Pope wants his eldest to follow after him. A thing that his son doesn't appear to be too interested in.

When creating rivalries for the players, family is a great foil for doing so. In most cases, unless the two are outright enemies, one will have to cross a heavy line for the banter and 'fun' to move to the next stage of one of the characters having to die.

8. Cliff Hanger: The season ends with the pope being poisoned while his son is making a confession about killing his brother. What a way to end the season. It certainly would have made the audience hungry to come back to the show and see what happened next.  If you can end your session on a cliff hanger where the group is anxious and eager to get back to the game, it allows you to start the next session rolling with the players fully vested.

9. Holidays: The pope is one to not make small gestures. He has a holiday with a burning of a giant bull to bring 'joy' to Rome. In a time when there is no internet, when there is no television, when there is no raido, giving the people something to do not only breaks the monotony of life up, but provides the players something to do. In such a hectic and chaotic time, when the full city is in celebration, it could act as excellent cover for other activities to go on.

The Borgias, the Second Season is available to stream on Netflix or the blu ray is available from Amazon for $27.99.

For those who've seen the show, did you enjoy the way the various characters were portrayed? I like the whole 'bonfire of the vanities' for example and really enjoy the way the actor they got to play Machiavelli does his job. Good stuff there.

The Borgias: The First Season

I've mentioned before that I'm often behind the times when it comes to various shows that might hold my interest. One of those is a Showtime Original called the Borgias. I've heard of the family before, notorious in some circles. One of the things I like about the site is that there are some interesting links to things of 'how life was like' on the site.

The Borgias has a lot going for it.. The costumes and set pieces are visually arresting. The characters have many flaws but many strengths for the viewer to root for. The period in history, the shows start at 1492, is one of turmoil for Italy. As a fan of the various mercenaries that make up a lot of Italy history, this is the point at which the idea of city state mercenaries starts to be overwhelmed by national level mercenaries. It is an era where gunpowder, especially the craft and creation and innovative uses of canons, becomes more common.

In this field, we are put firmly into the family if the Borgias.Jeremy Irons does a fantastic job of playing the head of the family, Rodrigo Borgia with a family that is strained at the best of time and threatens to unravel with the strains put upon it. The head of the family pushes forward for power but at times, does so out of devotion for the future of his family. At other times, for his own selfish fulfillment.

The backdrop allows for individuals of various power and position. For example, we Caterina Sforza who is a powerful warrior princess. It's been a while but I suspect that her character has been used for many a warrior woman archetype. We also have King Charles VIII of France whose claim on Naples puts him square against the Borgias. This doesn't count a certain philosopher who wrote many a book such as 'The Prince' or 'The Art of War'.

By using a family, the series is able to weave complex situation and historical events into a more familiar and watchable sequence. For any fan of city adventures, the Borgias is well worth a watch.

Below I'll be discussing some of the specific spoilers and themes of the show and how they might apply to role playing games.

1. Change: The whole of Italy is in the throes of change at the start of the show. The methodology of war is changing. Wars for example, are now making more use of canon. The King of France uses a cannonball with chains on it. When fired these chains whip through the air like chainsaws cutting people and horses in half with ease. Canons are being designed larger with more power and range. Add into all this a new Pope whose the leader of all Christian Hood and you can see that much is different than it was at the start.

When great social change comes, such as a Pope dying, or when innovation of new weapons need to be crafted, when possible, have the players be part of it.

2. Spies are everywhere: Any place there is an opportunity to be overhead or seen by those who should not see, spies could be there. Outside the bedrooms are waiting pages who are listening. By windows are those who should not be sitting.

3. Family complicates matters.

4. Elaborate Outfits: The church seems to have dozens of different outfits and dozens of different colors. For example, colors may vary on the position of the church member.

5. Battle: Fights may be common but not to the death. For example, a fight may be to the first blood, or to one is disarmed, or to one cries 'enough'. Fights may be until a deception is spotted.

6. Voting: When the new pope is in the process of being elected, votes may have to be cast over and over again. Contests may result in limited amounts of supplies and equipment given to those voting. To get information and communication out, people inside the voting may use birds to relay their messages and to get messages back in, may hide notes in foodstuffs prepared outside those walls.

To get the votes needed, there may be a variety of tools used. Bribes consisting of lands, money, ranks, titles, and of course, the Borgias favorites, murder and sexual favors.

7. Events: There are numerous events that take place in The Borgias. For example, the election of the Pope is cause for celebration which includes feasting, socialization, public appearances by those who might not normally do so, as well as the need to break out the fancy clothes. During some of these celebrations, a march across town may represent an opportunity to steal something, like a Pope's Crown, that is only brought out for these special occasions. An 'Ocean's Eleven' so to speak. A Tri-Crown studded with gold and gems worthy of any rogue worth the name.

8. Ethnic Tensions: The SPanish and Italians have issues. The Jews, Muslims and Christians have issues. There are tensions that go back hundreds if not thousands of years and break up from large generalities to specific tribe and family hatreds. In some things, there is no change.

9. Unique Positions: The Papal Army is small but effective. It allows for unique characters and abilities to be put into play that may not occur in other venues.

10. Faux Pas: Insults may require more than an apology. They may require the one doing the insulting to be humiliated or paid back with violence. If these humiliations are made public, they may become the source of nick names or other negative attributes given to a character so suffering from them.

11. Reversal: Tools may be used by more than one person. For example shortly after the new Pope's appointment, someone tries to poison him but the poison is turned against the one who tried to have the pope killed.

While I watched The Borgias on Netflix, I'm thinking of picking it up on bluray from Amazon. I see that it's $27.43 but know that they usually have some HBO/Showtime specials so may wait on that. In an interesting 'sale' twist, I see that the novel 1492 is on sale and what's when the series starts and for $3.99 I picked that up in kindle format.

For those who may own the blu ray or standard DVD edition, is there enough in terms of extras there to purchase it?

In terms of fantasy games, have you as a GM ever run a 'family' style game where characters played members of the same family or allies of that family?

The Borgias season one set the series off to a solid state and from what I've seen of season two, it continues on that path of awesome.

Descent of Angels by Mitchel Scanlon

Descent of Angels is another volume in the long running 'The Horus Heresy" taking place in the early years of the Warhammer 40K setting. The book to me, for about 90% of it, feels very complete and very done in one. Mitchel Scanlon does a solid job of bringing the various cast and characters to life by having a focus on one of the youths of the setting who sees his world transformed and then his own life transformed.

The military chapter that comes into play here, The Dark Angels, are lead by Lion El'Jonson but this is a tale from before he actually lead them. Rather, it starts off on Caliban, a so called 'death world' where survival is difficult. I found the writing good enough to drag me into a sense of wonder where the characters are part of a near medieval system but are using ancient technology such as old school bolters and swords and unaware, for certain at least, if there is actually a Terra.

The main character, Zahariel , is growing up in this world and is not alone. His cousin, so close they are like brothers, Nemiel, are in a state of constant one ups man ship. Almost a mirror for the activities of the Lion and his second in command, Luther. The constant state of competition, of almost being equals, shows its strain many times but the problem in this book, is it never comes to a head.

The book ends in a sort of "and then stuff happened" which leaves that aspect of it unsatisfying. For me at least, the rest of the book was well written. There is a lot of action and the nods to what is going to happen as part are told in a historical fashion as opposed to the character moments.

I'll be discussion some specifics of the book below so if you'd rather not have any more specific spoilers, read no further.

1. Rivals: One of the things that's supposed to be 'tragic' about the whole of the Horus Heresy is how Horus turned against the Emperor and how brother fought brother. Here we see just a taste of that between the Lion and Luther and Zahariel and his cousin Nemiel. Having characters in the setting that the players don't directly fight against provides them ties to the setting that don't necessarily have to do with killing something. But how can you bring such a rivalry out?

1a. Games of Skill outside combat: Zahariel and Nemiel train against each other many times. While you could have the characters actually fight, don't forget there are other forms of competition. For example, in shooting or throwing weapons, the characters probably aren't going to be doing such against each other, but against targets.

1b. Kill Count: Just because the characters are all in the same setting, doesn't mean that the player's character goes out on the same missions as the NPC. For example, the player may hear what a great job his rival did and how many spawns of chaos were put down under his rival's sword.

1c. Advantage: Rivals may seek out an advantage over each other. In this case, Zahariel has an innate advance in that he has 'terror vision' or something of that nature and is a potential psyker which is a powerful ability in the Warhammer 40K setting.

2. Embrace Change: In Shadow World, a setting for use with the Rolemaster system, the Shadow World setting itself is merely one planet in the grand scope of the much larger Space Master setting. While there were several times I was tempted to drag the players into Space Master and more specifically Dark Space, I held off on it, but I could have done it and it would have fit the setting. Here, the characters go from an almost backwater planet to fighting among the stars. Roll with the changes when they make sense.

3. Have an Endpoint: One of the things that Mitchel Scalon didn't do well in my opinion, is have a good stopping point. If possible, have a number of end games in mind so that if something happens and the campaign can't continue to run or players drop or you need to switch games, that you can do so at an 'organic' place in the campaign where it feels logical to do so.

Descent of Angels is available from Amazon in paperback for $8.09 in paperback and is prime eligible. As with many of the Black Library books, there is no kindle version available but an electronic version is available from the Black Library directly.

Judge Dredd: Year One by Smith, Matt, Coleby, Simon and Staples, Greg (Nov 20, 2013)

So what do you do when you've left work for a half day because you're still sick as a dog? Why, you read comics of course.

Judge Dredd is one of those characters that's iconic for me in that I recognize him, but more like say, Conan in that I take pretty much everything I read or experience about him, in it's own book. Since I don't have a lot of experience with the character, I read Year One like, well, it was actually Year One. If there are numerous tosses to the standard continuity, I probably missed most of them. This is strangely opposite of how I am with other characters like say, Spider Man where seeing his marriage of 20+ years 'magically' dissolved annoys me or seeing DC, yet again wipe the history slate clean, and yet again fail to have enough editorial control to make it easy to jump into their comics.

Anyway, in terms of what I am interested in when I read Judge Dredd, is the art, the story, and the enjoyability of it.

The covers by Greg Staples are fantastic. I know I have a lot of favorite artist out there, and Greg is on top. I'd love to see a series illustrated by him because his various covers knock the ball out of the park. They are powerful and iconic in their own way. The cover with Dredd's helmeted visage over the burning Mega City One? The flames reflected in his visor? Powerful stuff.

The interior artist is no slouch either. He does a great job, along with the inker and colorist, of having central focus and bright colors for that image and the background, not empty, but of lighter hue, fade into the background where you can study it at leisure.

The story is a bit of a mystery and a bit of an example of how huge the Judge Dredd setting actually is. It's well told and wraps up by the end with a few flash backs (odd for a Year One story to have flash backs) but few enough that I'm not left wondering where Judge Dredd the breast feeding years are.

The enjoyability of the story, for me, was high. I get to see Judge Dredd, as a younger officer here, arrogant and cock sure of himself, not filled with any of that vulnerability crap that would just get him killed, still manage to evolve and learn lessons that prove vital to other Judges.

If you're looking for some violence in your funny books, Judge Dredd Year One by Matt Smith has you covered. Amazon has it available in their kindle format for $7.99 or in graphic novel, or what we used to call 'trades' when I was collecting comics, for $13.86. Hate to tell ya fellow readers but I picked mine up from Comixology when they were doing the run on sale and think I paid less than $5 for it. Huzzah!

I'll be discussing some specific spoilers below and how they might apply to the various role playing games I'm prone to enjoying so if you'd rather have none of that, read no further!

1. Competent Characters: Judge Dredd starts off here as a very able character. His physical prowess are second to few. His skill set with his weapon, the always impressive Lawgiver, give pause to many. His encyclopedic knowledge of the law, impeccable. Sometimes, even when starting out a character, it's okay for them to be able to do things that they should normally be able to do. One of the problems with a lot of game systems is they are set up to advance characters so when the players first start off, their characters are wondering how they survive walking up a flight of stairs much less engaging in a sword fight or pistol duel.

2. Mystery: When people start sprouting their own unique abilities for brief periods of time, it's up to Dredd to find out how and more importantly why. The advance technology and fellow judges, some of them telepaths themselves, can help Dredd but he's got to be the one to take the steps and do the work. When putting mysteries into the campaign, make sure that they're not too easy and that saying no doesn't just close the door to the whole adventure. In terms of the mystery, part of the enjoyment in it, is seeing that not every one who gets these unique abilities acts exactly the same with them. In one instance, the 'prep' even helps Dredd.

3. The Big Con: When Dredd find outs what's going on, it's essentially a big robbery but on a scale unknown previous to this. We're talking wholesale destruction of cities and possibly worlds. But it's for robbery on such a scale that proves that you always want to see what's behind door number one. Don't be afraid to mess with the players expectations when they are looking for 'deeper' answers. Make them work to find the true answers but don't be afraid to red herring it up either.

4. Limited Powers/Plots: One of the judges, badly injured earlier, is a telepath. He dons a helmet that augments his own abilities and allows Dredd to navigate a situation he would have died in. But why not use that all that time? Why not break out the Ultimate Nullifier whenever you need to be rid of someone? Because there is a huge cost associated with it. In this example, the augmented psionic powers that the judge enjoys, kill him. Using the Ultimate Nullifier destroys the user. Provide options but have a reason why they can't be used over and over again.

On a smaller note, when characters are in a setting where their abilities are not innate, such as Judge Dredd, having them in a different venue, like say outside the city in the Cursed Earth or say, on an alternative version of his home world, may limit their abilities and force them to rely on local weapons instead. A Lawgiver without ammunition isn't too useful.

On a similar but slightly different vein, what if you have access to what you need, say the Lawgiver, but using it will alert others to your presence? In the board game, Zombicide, you make noise, you attract attention. Many dungeons have specific wandering monster tables designed with a low chance of something coming along, but a chance that is higher if the characters are making a lot of noise. Remind the players of that as their tossing fireballs and battle cries down the tombs.

5. Scope: One of the things I was surprised at, is that the Matt Smith decided one of the first things Judge Dredd needed to to, was visit another reality, one similar to his own, but having already gone through the whole of what his is just starting to in the story. It works for a number of reasons. First, in this destroyed reality, Dredd still has the temerity to claim that he is the law. The judges of this world have already been badly beaten and need someone like Dredd. Second, it allows the author to show a what if style world. There are a lot of great modules and settings out there, and putting the players in a what if setting allows the game master to play with some of the assumptions, or allows the game master to put in really dangerous things that he might not want to use in a standard campaign, but since it's just a tiny little alternative reality being destroyed...

Matt Smith does a solid job of putting Judge Dredd in enough danger that he just can't blast his way out of that the reader is curious to know where it's going.

In addition to this volume, I've read a few others in the IDW take on the characters including Mars Attacks, which was very fun, and Judge Dread Vol 1 and 2. I've heard good things about some of the other volumes, but for those who've been reading the IDW material, any recommendations or any things to steer clear from?

The Crimson Sword by Eldon Thompson

I continue to read through my dollar spinner rack from Half Priced Books. This time around, the length of the book kept me from posting for a few days. The Crimson Sword, written by Eldon Thompson, website here, clocks in at over seven hundred pages. What's worse is that this is merely book one of the Legend of Asahie meanings that there are more books in the series.

The cover piece is a nice scene taken from the book itself. I have the 'widescreen' edition where the top and bottom are in blue borders but we see more of the art itself. Shame though as the art is smaller and while the design is highly workable, this is a nice piece that I'm sure would look fantastic as a poster.

The Crimson Sword follows more along the paths of the old Terry Brooks series like the Sword of Shanara in that despite the length of the book, things are done. The story is told in one shot. Do not mistake me in saying that every single thing is wrapped up and finished, but at the end of the story, characters have moved from point A to point B and the world is not the same as it was at its start. It does not take twelve books each of 700+ pages to get us to that point. 

For which I'm grateful.

Eldon Thompson isn't the best writer I've read. I wouldn't put this in my top ten list or anything but the writing is smooth enough and the characters enough of an archetype, that despite its page length, it's an easy read. 

If you're looking to get your money's worth out of a book, The Crimson Sword has you cleared. I'll be discussing some spoilers specific to the novel below so if you'd rather avoid spoilers, read no further. 

1. Hidden Kings: A common enough theme in fantasy is the peasant hero who turns out to be related to, or is a king. It's been a while since I've read a story that actually went with this theme, so ingrained is it in fantasy fiction. For a while, especially when reading the Wheel of Time and other series, I worried that readers would drown in peasant heroes saving the world in their newly found kingly guises.

But it can work when its not used in every story. When its not the hook of every tale. And for a role playing game? If you want to elevate the characters from fighting giant rats and goblins to fighting against things that endanger the whole of the land while working their way up? It works well.

2. Magic Items: Another nice nod to older stories, is the powerful magic item. A very distinctive blade with red fire burning inside it that protects the user from hostile magic and is capable of cutting through the strongest enemy, the Crimson Sword itself makes a nice addition to the field. It's in many ways a Advanced Dungeons and Dragons artifact in that it does things that magic items normally can't do and that's okay for a weapon of that caliber.

For example, when Jarom is fighting in combat with it, he feels no fatigue, no fear, no pain. Those who fight with him, have a touch of that as well. Such an ability could be something like +2 to allies within 50' saves vs fear effects and endurance tests. It lets the GM throw new revelations into the setting later on as things can change or move around what the sword can and cannot do. Much as the unique spear in The Desert Spear by Peter V Brett, the Crimson Sword also functions as a rallying point for those who follow the character.

3. Archetypes Modified: While I could easily see several of the characters falling into place as standard archetypes, the shadowy assassin with a heart of gold, the country ranger whose bow skill is second only to his loyalty, etc..., one of the characters is an elf from what I could only describe as one of Robert E. Howard's 'Pict' backgrounds in taht they are savage and feral and broken into different tribes, some of which are man eaters. Having an elf be that true to nature goes well beyond even the 'wood' elves that many fantasy settings strive to bring in terms of the naturalist to play.

4. Multiple Quests: Initially it seems enough to retrieve the Crimson Sword but that's only the start. The forces, which Jarom initially thinks are lead by his brother, a wizard who conquered the land and killed the king, is actually only the tip of the iceberg. That wizard lacks the power of the Demon Queen who rises, and she has other more powerful allies like a dragon that can create dragonspawn which in turn act as an army for that Demon Queen to conquer the land.  The nice thing about the variance in enemies though is it allows more than just the Crimson Sword to shine through as the one who needs to kill the dragon isn't the wielder of the Crimson Sword, but another altogether whose had his own unique weapons when introduce whose origins prove the ideal method of killing the dragon.

5. Multiple Eras: One of the things that tends to be a downer in some fantasy setting is that while they usually have multiple eras and ages to them, that everything that comes about to the 'now' is of that one era. Here the Demon Queen is from one era while the Crimson Sword from an older, more ancient and legendary time. It makes for an interesting clash of times and eras.

6. Temptation: One of the things I'd mention to GMs who are inspired by their readings, is that the Demon Queen is part tempress. While Eldon Thompson doesn't go into great detail about her seductive looks and mannerisms, he does so enough that when he offers the wielder of the Crimson Sword anything he wants, that it could make a good moment in a role playing game. Have a plan for when the players yield to that temptation. To be the mate of a demon queen, at the head of a dragonspawn army, and to ask for your hated brother's life in the bargain? What gamer wouldn't want to do that? I'm not saying don't put such opportunities in the game, but I am saying have a plan for whatever the characters decide to do.

The Crimson Sword is available from Amazon for $8.09 in paperback, prime eligible, or $6.99 in kindle format.

Chances are I'll probably pick up the second book in kindle format. It's running like $4.99 right now so that's not a bad price at at the page count, I'm sure it'll earn it's ratio of page/price.

For those who've read further in the Legend of Asahiel, does Eldon's writing pick up? Are the stories relatively self contained? More of the same?