Dyson's Delves

So +Lulu.com Self-Publishing is doing another sale. Something like 30% off till April 12th with the code APRIL30.

I just received some goods from the last sale they had. Thought I'd ping a review of Dyson's Delves I and II so people who were interested or sitting on the fence have an idea of what the product is.

I ordered the hardcovers from Lulu. They are very professional looking with a nice shine to them. Each book is 152 pages long. They are written under the OGL and include the license.

Dyson's books are roughly broken in two parts. The first part is a map with appropriate level information and monsters located in that map. The delves often includes entrances and exits, wandering monsters, and game mechanics. 

The mechanics are minimal. For example, looking at Dyson's Delve Level 9, an open room is home to four giant scorpions stated out in the following manner: AC: 2, HD: 4*, hp: 20, 18, 20, 19, ATT: 1d10/1d10/1d4+poison, Mv: 150 (50), Sv: F2, M: 11). That is old school for sure!

I enjoy +Dyson Logos work. I enjoy it on his G+ page. When the opportunity came to get a good sale, I took it. For me, this is map porn. That might not be for everyone.

For those who aren't interested in the adventures but are in maps, good news. the second part of Dyson's Delves has maps with lined blank pages opposite them so that you can customize them. For an example, check out his work with a preview page over here: https://rpgcharacters.wordpress.com/zerobarrier/dysons-delves/

One of the things I love about his maps, are the names. Hard to beat Oubliette of the Laughting Knight or The Ruins of Corvel on the Mount. They tickle my brain and make me ponder where I could put them in my own setting. In an era choking on mega dungeons and adventure paths, these are a true return to form. 

My only problem, is that because I love maps, the small size of the books, which come in at 6 by 9, is not appealing. I personally would love it if he took a cue from Marvel or DC comics and did something like an Omnibus or Absolute edition with larger books, perhaps oversized, and added some art and other bits like larger random tables of weird things (but then again, there's the Fourthcore Alphabet for that). That's not a strike against it, just my own personal wish list.

The maps are available from here: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/dysonlogos

If you can afford it, the hardcovers looks slick and I recommend them.

Fourthcore Alphabet: Dark & Deadly Dungeon Design From Altars To The Zodiac

So +Lulu.com Self-Publishing is doing another sale. Something like 30% off till April 12th with the code APRIL30.

I just received some goods from the last sale they had. Thought I'd ping a review of Fourthcore Alphabet real quick so people who were interested or sitting on the fence have an idea of what the product is.

Weighing in at 66 black and white pages, Fourthcore Alphabet is an almost system free group of tables using the A to Z method to list the tables.Before it gets to those tables, it goes into a little detail about the default assumptions of a Fourthcore setting. For the players used to 4th edition and high survivability rates, well, you're screwed. The whole idea is bringing old school lethality and randomness and weirdness to 4th edition.

Written by Sersa Victory with art by d20 Monkey scribe +Brian Patterson , the book has a bit too much white space for my taste. While as I've grown older I fully appreciate a book that isn't afraid to let the reader's eyes rest, there are numerous half pages of blank text. It either needs more art, better table design, or more tables. Maybe mini-tables to go with the regular tables. For example, under O is For Overlords, on that half page, how about some random attributes of henchmen for that Overlord?

In terms of dialing it up a notch, Fourthcore takes things like the default setting in 4e, a Points of Light setting, and makes it points of light, plus oh yeah, it's really really really bad out there. There are numerous other little attitude tweaks that go a long way in establishing this isn't meant for 4th edition standard players.

In terms of the random tables, we have the following:

A is for Altars.
B is for Beasts
C is for Corpses
D is for Dungeons
E is for Echoes
F is for Fountains
G is for Gods
H is for Hellscapes
I is for Idols
J is for Jingoism
K is for Keepsakes
L is for Lairs
M is for Mysteries
N is for the Netherworld
O is for Overlords
P is for Puzzles
Q is for Quests
R is for Rewards
S is for Secrets
T is for Traps
U is for Undead
V is for Violence
W is for Weird
X Marks the Spot
Y is for YOu're Doomed
Z is for Zodiac

The tables are there to add some random fun to the game.

For example, let's take F is for Fountains.It's a d20 roll with headers of Fluids, Adornments, and Properties. You roll once on the fluids column, twice on the adornments column, and once on the properties column.

You could get a fountain flowing with liquid mithril where the fountain is etched with demonic runes that glow brightly when the crusaders draw near and a corpse lies near this fountain and those who make a blood offering to the fountain may cast a single ritual the GM determines beforehand. The crusader is considered to be trained in the ritual's key skill for the purpose of this effect. This boon functions only once.

Simple right? The tables are mostly about description and not game mechanics. This allows the book to be useful for almost any edition of the game. On the few cases when it does call for game mechanics, those are 4th edition. Again though, minimum amount of game rules here.

There's also the 'Chaos Deck', which requires you to have a Deck of Many Things. It notes that there were two, one from Dungeon 177 and another from Madness at Gardmore Abbey. At the end of each extended rest, you pull a card. This helps motivate players to maybe not make too much camping.

So over there, Fourthcore Alphabet in PDF is 99 cents. What's the one guy always saying? "Come on." Seriously guys, for 99 cents you cannot go wrong.

In print, with the discount I'd say it's worth it. It's nice to have a physical copy. The layout and design strikes a nerve with me because of all the white space and I'm sure this is actually like a 48 page product, but it's not a bad product. It's just laid out bad. (Cue Jessica Rabbit)

G is For Gilgamesh

I know I've been hitting some of the old bits in this month's A to Z Challenge but I think it's important to have a good grounding.

The more you are a reader, gamers, consumer of media, are able to relate information back to its roots, the more you can know how things relate to each other, how they build on each other, and that Warhammer Fantasy was around long before World of Warcraft!

In this case, Gilgamesh doesn't seem to have the love that some other classics like Robin Hood, Kind Arthur, or even Beowulf have. This doesn't mean that there have not been popular adaptations or modern takes.


But that doesn't stop it from being important.

The writer and artist Jim Starlin, creator of Dreadstar and Breed, did Gilgamesh II, a series in the far future about a leader who was an outcast among his people and only found kinship with an alien. The depths that this Gilgamesh went to in order to raise his friend mirror some of the original tale.

Gilgamesh is a demigod. A ruler of an ancient land in Mesopotamia. His gods are ancient and include some like Tiamat. Again, a name that should be familiar to many who enjoy Dungeons and Dragons. Again, a reason to know some of the mythology and historical context that games are built on.

Gilgamesh also had a comrade, a prototype of the wildman, Enkidu. This 'eternal companion' was a loyal ally to Gilgamesh onto the point of his death.

This demigod finds himself fighting fantastic creatures, fighting against the gods themselves. In doing so, his comrade dies and so shaken is Gilgamesh by this, that the demigod seeks out immortality only to have that slip from his hands.

The tales of Gilgamesh are ancient, short, and can provide sound solid foundations to Mesopotamia deities like Ishtar, Shamash,  Enlil an others. There are enough myths and monsters that the old Necromancer Games (now Frog God) did a Mesopotamia book for the d20 system.





I generally recommend the Penguin version unless another version has popped out ahead of the pack. If anyone knows of a more trusted version, leave a comment.

F is For Full Metal Alchemist

Full Metal Alchemist is a story about two brothers trying to reclaim their lost humanity. Along the way they make numerous friends and enemies and wind up in a much larger scale of events than they had ever anticipated.

The series has proven very popular. There are two separate animes on it. While this is not unusual (see Gundam), the fact that they came out so close together is a little unusual. There is also a lengthy manga. I stopped reading a while ago as I had caught up to the series and after watching the new anime, will have to go back and catch up on it all over again.

One of the things that's great about Fullmetal Alchemist, is the world building. By making the characters Edward and Alphone, into specialist in a field of specialist, the viewers are able to have numerous favorites. There are different named characters like the 'Crimson Alchemist' or the 'Flame Alchemist'. Some very impressive sounding names.

These named characters also have named maneuvers and abilities. This puts them into a category that is above the standard soldier. In many ways, this makes them perfect classes with each type of class having a different specialization.

Because they work for the government, they also automatically have a patron. This prevents the Game Master from having to work too hard in order to get the characters involved with the adventure.

When a setting gives you an "in" like this, it can make running the campaign easier. In the classic game, Legend of the Five Rings, one of the suggestions is to make the characters Emerald Magistrates. This allows the game to get moving without the dreaded "You all meet in a bar" standard. In newer games, Spears of the Dawn has a similar option in that the title, Spears of the Dawn, is an actual title of those who fought against monsters and are well respected.

Ed and Al have their own motivations though. In this case, it is to get their bodies back. To do this, they need to do research. This involves them going to different research faculties and studying. While that could be boring, the writer showcases several small bits that are anything but ranging from a burned down library, to a random encounter with a former state alchemist who knows more than he's telling.

By having both options, player driven quests, and the ability to introduce patron level quests, the Game Master has the best of both worlds. Indeed, if the characters are having too easy a time of getting their own deeds, the Game Master can add complications through the patron. They may have to do some standard guard duty instead of hunting down that serial killer.

Of course players will seek to work around such restrictions but that's the point. The conflict of trying to do what they want against what others want them to do, is how the game creates a sense of tension.

The setting that Fullmetal takes place in, is one that has a variety of creatures that themselves can be different than one another. For example, Alphonse does not have a body, but rather, his soul is bonded to a suit of armor. During the series, we discover that there are others like this.

There are also combinations of men and animal known as chimeria. Each one potentially different than the others.

Then there are the Seven Sins. Some of these are 'standard' like Lust and Gluttony while others are a bit more friendly than you'd think.

The setting is large enough to weave numerous threats that the characters can't overcome just with punching or kicking.

Despite the grim overtones the series carries, the writer is able to weave quite a bit of humor into it. This should be something that a Game Master keeps in mind when prepping his own work. Even as plagues and zombies take over the land, there needs to be some genuinely funny things. Perhaps someone has a favorite cup that he dropped and is always talking about it. "My favorite cup!"

The humor helps break down the gruesome elements and gives the viewer a break and allows the reader to recharge her batteries.

Another element to note, is that there are changing alliances. One of the most popular characters here is Scar, named (originally!) after his scarred face. He's a tough loner who hates the heroes! This type of anti-hero is fairly common and the anime/manga Dragon Ball Z is littered with characters who once fought against Goku but now work alongside him.

When designing your NPCs, are there 'hooks' that the characters can use to turn them from enemies to friends? Are there deeds that the characters can perform to show these foes that the players are not the true enemies?

Have any other gamers used Fullmetal Alchemist as inspiration for their games? If so, how did it go? I have friends who are enamored of the art style in the series and love the animated suits of armor as well as some of the villains the characters face.

E is For Empire

While I've been... 'enjoying' my forced time off with pinched nerves and bulging disks, over the course of several days I've managed to stream Empire from +Hulu .

Fantastic show.

It has many elements of a Shakespeare tragedy tied into neatly into the modern era and hits subject matter that the bard would have been unaware of.

At its heart, Empire is about family and legacy. About drive and ambition. About pride and making 'hard choices'.

It is the characters that allow Empire to be a fantastic resource for anyone looking to do a character study.

Fist, it's designed to appeal to a wide range of audience.

The cast members are modern royalty. They are members of an upper elite. The children are gifted. They are young. They are driven. They are loved. They have wealth. They are in great shape. They have status. They have power. This gives them an appeal beyond what a standard member of say, "All in the Family" may have. The stories are on a higher plateau, one that has bigger consequences.

For a Fox show, the amount of diversity at least acknowledged, is tremendous. Not all of it plays out well, and some of it may be harmful. But to its credit, it opens a door. Few traditional subjects are not put under a spotlight.

For the patriarch of the family, Lucious Lyons, played by actor Terrance Howard, his is in many ways a vile person. This is in part explained by his upbringings, growing up an orphan on the streets at the tender age of nine. Part of it is his ambition and drive, to leave something behind.

Part of it is his fear. Much like a true tragedy of the darkest era, Lucious is initially given a medical diagnosis that is a death sentence. That in and of itself drives him to push him family against itself in an effort to allow the most worthy heir to step forward.

Competition is one theory in terms of bringing the best goods and services to market. Having more water in the pool to lift all boats is another.

But in terms of how vile Lucious is, we have to look at how his 'standard' sins are. For example, he is a womanizer. This includes cheating on his soon to be wife, as well as his ex-wife.

He is a child beater.

He is a manipulator.

He is a murderer.

He is a drug dealer.

All of these things though, are put into his own perspective.

He is a child beater because his child does not confirm to what he thinks a child should be.

He is a manipulator for other people's benefit. He does it to make them better, according to what he thinks they should be.

He is a murderer because those who he has dealt with, according to him, needed to be dealt with. They were not some random shootings unneeded violence.

He is a drug dealer out of necessity.

Every action, ever step, ever move, one that is countered by his own belief, his own confidence, his own inability in his abilities.

And because he has so much of his own confidence, he manages to maintain a somewhat sympathetic nature.

First, above and beyond anything, he is under a medical no cure death sentence. People with that amount of pressure on them can be driven far beyond what normal people are.

Second, he is old school. He did come up from the streets. Unlike his children, some of who grew up in wealth unlike anything a young Lucious could even hope for, he has a hard edge. His street creed is beyond reproach or question. He has earned his respect.

Third, he does love his family. This may be a horrible love that pushes him to push them, but beyond his own ego, beyond his own ambition, he wants them to have exceeded what he has done. But not too soon.

Fourth is his talent. This is not some con artist. This is not some petty hustler. He carriers himself with earned talent that not only comes from his survival on the streets, but his ability with music, with his talent, with his gift, to rise above those streets. His survival is earned with gun and drug, his ability to leave it behind, with music and talent.

The soundtrack has a lot of variety to it. There are numerous genres represented here allowing people whose music taste vary tremendously, to enjoy it. For example, my 71 year old mother greatly enjoys the R&B styling while I enjoy the cover of Money For Nothing.

Empire deserves several more mentions just to hit on how it deals with homosexuality, mental disease, drug use, and other bits, but for the A to Z Challenge, E is for Empire and you should be watching.

D is for Detective

Okay, I'm lying. D isn't just for Detective. It's for Davis, Lindsey Davis and her novel The Iron Hand of Mars. This is the next volume in the Ancient Rome Detective series starting Marcus Didius Falco so it could be D for Didius!

Besides, I'm already behind so it's okay if I cheat in this A to Z April Blog Challenge right?

In short, Lindsey continues to put Falco through the paces.

This includes emotional as well as physical.

Stress from financial situations as well as the desire to do what's right in a world that often isn't. What does he say? "No point risking my neck unless it's for a world where chldren can believe magicians will  always mend their broken toys.'

Lindsey does this with an ability to take the reader to these ancient lands, so that we can smell the food cooking and look around in a sense of awe and wonder at a different era.

She brings the reader in through familiar use of first person as we see the world through Falco's eyes.

In terms of detective, she often pairs Falco with others so that Falco has someone to bounce his ideas off of. In some instances, Falco isn't too pleased with those they've set him with. For example, Falco loves Helena Justina.

Helena is more than a match for Falco. She's smart and forward, quite unlike many women in her era. She's also the daughter of a Senator, far above Falco's station.

Helena Justina is being pursued by Titus Caesar.

Falco likes to think of himself as a man of the world, so that when Titus Caesar's 'barbar' is assigned to go with him up north into Germania Libera, Falco thinks that it's to make short work of him while he does his own investigations.

Along the way Lindsey brings a lot of tricks that can be used for almost any situation.

For example, towards the end, there is a building of suspense.

Falco is exploring the wild regions looking for numerous things.

Things he isn't looking for? An abandoned Roman fort, long ago fallen and empty with no signs of life or habitation. When adding something like this to say, a role playing game, you have a few options.

If it's to showcase a sense of fallen civilization or how quickly things can happen, a rough description of what happened and what's left should be all that you need. If you're using it as a set piece however, you should have it fully mapped and noted out what's in there. If you map it out and there's nothing there, you're wasting everyone's time.

Thing he isn't looking for? A druid circle complete with freshly slaughtered animals and skulls nailed to trees.

Thing he isn't looking for? An opposing military force that captures him.

By building the suspense, Lindsey is able to augment the sense of dread and the tingle of anticipation. This is a technique used in the original Alien movie where we're not seeing the monster on screen every second so that when it does appear, it's appearance means something.

Another nice thing, is that Falco isn't perfect and he often thinks something is happening when it's not. For example, his 'assassin' barber is merely a barber, but one who does save Falco's life with one of his razor's so the man is capable of killing.

In addition to exploration, part of Falco's detective work involves speaking with numerous people. Often these individuals are not happy to speak with Falco for whatever reason.

He sometimes compensates this by having someone else talk to the same person. In a society where status has real meaning and real power, while someone is willing to dismiss Falco, they are not quite so willing to do the same thing with Helena, a Senator's daughter. Even in the far out lands outside civilization, such a person has their own amount of regal bearing and pose.

Lastly, there is also the ability to use random encounters to one's advantage. During the final tangle, Falco and his allies are outnumbered and surprised, one of them already taken down by a barbed spear.

Into that mess comes a maddened wild bull which gores the opposing captain allowing Falco's group to seize the initiative, even as the bull itself then turns on Falco, which requires the nimble 'detective' to engage in some fancy footwork to prevent himself from being gored.

Lindsey Davis is more than familiar with these characters and this setting and reading this book is like visiting an old friend.

For those who want to see how a detective story can be one that involves exploration of the width and breadth of a massive empire like Roman, The Iron hand of Mars is a worthy read.

C is for Captain Marvel

It appears that somewhere, someone in comics, decided that there is not enough variety in terms of who people can read about.

As far as I'm concerned, that's a good thing.

To help celebrate this push in diversity, +Google Play  and +Amazon.com have a ton of comics on sale featuring leading ladies.

One of those I picked up is Captain Marvel. It's important not only because Captain Marvel is an older character whose have various incarnations, but also because she's been poorly treated. While she's been 'rehabbed' a few times, there hasn't necessarily been a definitive sticking point for her yet either. I probably better remember her from her time with the X-Men as Binary, a cosmic level entity.

Perhaps more important than who the character is, is who is writing Captain Marvel. In this case, it's Kelly Sue DeConnick. This is important, I think, for a major reason.

It's a woman writer.

All too often men think they know how to write women and pat themselves on the back for what outstanding jobs they've done.

Sometimes they do a good job.

Sometimes you just don't know what other people are capable of bringing to the field because no one lets the other kids play.

It is my believe that as we get more creators, illustrators, and people of color and different belief, that the medium will continue to expand just as it did with Milestone originally despite that line not having long lasting success (as many brands of the 90's didn't including many Image comics, Malibu, and others.)

By having actual different people at the creator's helm, things can move in a different direction that might not have even been bought first possible. It's a potentially good thing.

And if I don't like it? Move on! Plenty of comics out there. So so so so so many... hush Wallet!



I bought all three series. I figured at $2.99 a volume, it's hard to go wrong. Unfortunately, Marvel did go wrong. There's a tremendous cut off between volume 2, back to a NEW volume 1 (comics everybody!) which should have been included in that volume 2.

Another potential problem, and this again, is a standard comic problem, is the change of art styles. I don't know if that's in order to maintain the timing of the comic or artist issues or pricing. Often like with Avengers Assemble, Marvel with start with top notch talent to capitilize on something and then as sales die down, keep low balling artists and writing until the inevitible happens and the series is canceled.

For what it's worth, my favorite artist was .Dexter Soy. Deep rich colors, almost painted like panels. Reminded me a lot of Mark Texeira work on Ghost Rider back in the day.

Emma Rios was my least favorite. That style didn't match in tone, color, or well, anything. Very jarring as a matter of fact. But again, for $2.99 a volume?



One of the things that Kelly had to do, was bring in some new mythology for Carol. Part of that is done by going to the past. Part of that is done by showing her relationship with the other characters in the Marvel Universe.

To me, that's one of the blessings and curses of the Marvel Universe. Comics, at least to me, like Runaways, Young Avengers, Avengers Arena, and others, often do much better in terms of telling a more closed story, when they are somewhat isolated from the actual Marvel Universe.

Far too many series, like the original Secret Avengers, get their face smashed in over and over by the continual need for cross over events that lead to perhaps brief sales bumps, but also horrible impact in the story itself.

And in the second volume of this series, we do have a bit of that in that Captain Marvel, the original Mar-Vel, his old foe long gone for many years comes back and almost kills Carol but again, to be continued in another series!

The last volume, the new volume one, is an almost pick up series in that it happens after one of the other crossovers, this time, I believe Infinite. The good news is that it's relatively isolated, can be read in and of itself, and isn't a bad story.

The bad news? It wasn't a story for me. It had the problem is isolating Captain Marvel too much from the greater Marvel universe, despite some fun times with the Guardians of the Galaxy, who really ,are not that impressive outside of the movie and in comic time, are essentially a bunch of normal people running around. Let me know when Drax is back to being more than an assassin style guy with a Racoon shooter, another assassin, another shooter, and a tree eh?

For me, the series was okay. I recommend it at the $2.99 price point. I think that much work remains to be done with Carol though. She still needs a rogue's gallery for example. Personally, I'd have Epoch make a Marvel Version of the Green Lantern Corps with Carol as their tactical leader and Quasar as the 'heart and soul' of the team. If the universe needs protecting and Marvel wants to make Captain Marvel be something big, it doesn't get much bigger than that.