Jack Chick Joins Black Leaf.

Jack Chick, fundamentalist cartoonist and RPG hater seems to have died at the age of 92.  For those of you who might not be familiar, Chick wrote cartoon pamphlets known as Chick Tracts designed to be handed out by evangelist folks.  They cast dispersion on what he viewed as the evils of many thing.  One of his most famous (for the RPG Community) was Dark Dungeons, which focused on the evils of fantasy roleplaying games, however it is far from his most infamous.  I'd link to his site, but I have a rather strict no hate speech policy on my blog.

Miniatures Monday

This week, we keep with the Halloween theme for Miniatures Monday.  Here we have a restless spirit rising from its rocky tomb to haunt the living.  The miniature is quite an old one and is by Mithril Miniatures.  Back in the late 80s/ early 90s, Mithril Miniatures started producing a great line of Tolkien themed miniatures, and at the time, they were some of the best miniatures around.  Of course, back then I was in college, so I couldn't afford to buy very many, but I did snag a few and have decided to finally paint some of them.  Imagine my surprise to find that Mithril still seems to be in business!

Oh, Hell yeah!

http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/21/health/wonder-woman-un-ambassador-trnd/index.html

Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea 2nd. Edition Kickstarter is live!

The Kickstarter for Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea by +Jeff Talanian is now live.  For just $59, you can get a hardcover edition plus a map and a PDF.  For just $99, you can get the foil stamped special edition.  If you're into swords & Sorcery, you really owe it to yourself to check this one out!  If you would like to know even more about the game, check out the official website.

Wandering in Mirkwood (Photos)

Well not Mirkwood exactly, but perhaps as close as one can get in western Pennsylvania.  Something about the autumn always makes me want to walk in the woods.  Partly it's the chance to experience the fall foliage, but it also stems from my childhood love of the Hobbit.  I always feel a bit like Bilbo when I'm out walking, and the autumn always awakens within me a desire to see far-off places and to sing dwarvish songs.  So, on Saturday my wife and I packed a picnic lunch and headed up to McConnells Mill State Park to walk the trail to the falls.  It was a lovely day, and one could perhaps be forgiven for half expecting to meet some elves along the trail.

Following the stream deep into the forest

The water has carved a path deep into the rock

Sunlight on a calm pool

I think there may be a barrow wight in here...

The falls

Mysterious toadstools...

No elves yet... 

The stream disappears around a bend.
Perhaps that is where the elves are waiting?

The Hobbit at 79

On this day 79 years ago, the Hobbit was released.  The year that I was born, it had just celebrated its 32nd anniversary, and professor Tolkien was still alive.  My, my, how time flies.  I still feel that the Hobbit is the best of Tolkien's work.  Not as epic as The Lord of the Rings or as grandiose as The Silmarillion, nevertheless I think it's a better story, but then I'm a sucker for fairy tales. :-)

Miniatures Monday

This week, Miniatures Monday continues its undead theme with yet another incorporeal undead creature!  The miniature is 02148: Guardian Wraith sculpted by Bob Ridolfi from Reaper Miniatures, and you can get your own for only $5.49.  Once again, I'm pretty happy with the result given  the simplicity of the paint job.  My collection of painted undead continues to grow!

Sword & Sorcery World Map (W.I.P)

This blog has been pretty quiet lately, but that doesn't mean that I haven't been doing things. ;-) I've been wanting to run a Sword & Sorcery style game for quite some time now.  One of my biggest impediments though has been that I haven't had a map.  I did this one in Campaign Cartographer back in 2015, but I just wasn't quite happy with it.  So here is another attempt.  This map was hand drawn and then colored using GIMP, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  It has only some generic sea an place names on it so far, and while the cities are there, they have yet to be named.  Now of course the next big question would be what system do I use for the game?  Savage Worlds seems to be my best bet for ease and flexibility, but a strong case could be made for Barbarians of Lemuria, being that it's, well, a Sword & Sorcery Game.  I'v also toyed with the idea of Trying Fate Core/Accelerated because of its incredible flexibility, but I haven't come across many folks who have used it for S&S.  Decisions, decisions, and yet one more reason to delay running a game. :-)

Kickstarter: Holy Crap: The Great Sects Change Operation (Only 24 hours left!)

There are only 24 hours left in +Andy Hopp 's Low Life RPG Kickstarter!  For those of you not familiar with Low Life, it's an awesome Savage Worlds setting, the post-apocalyptic world of Oith which is populated by the mutated descendants of snack cakes, worms, roaches, smelfs, and other assorted wacky creatures.  I really can't do it justice, so check out http://muthaoithcreations.com/ if you'd like to learn about the world.  I've been a big fan since the first edition, and I was really excited when the new edition came out last year (I bought 2 copies).  Now there is a new Kickstarter for a book exploring Oith's religions.  Come on, you know that you want to know what sort of gods mutated intelligent twinkies worship, don't you?  If you like gonzo, you really owe it to yourself to check this one out!

Campaign

High On Fire "The Black Plot" from Hey Beautiful Jerk on Vimeo.

Sometime I have a tough time explaining the type of campaign that I would like to run.  I usually end up describing it as Thundarr meets Heavy Metal by way of Conan.  However after seeing this, I no longer need to describe it.  THIS is the campaign that I want to run!  :-)

Miniatures Monday

Miniature's Monday returns after a late summer vacation hiatus!  This week, in preparation for Halloween, we have a vengeful undead spirit.  The miniature is 02281: Crypt Wraith from Reaper Miniatures, and you can get your own for only $5.49.  I think that it turned out pretty well for being such a simple paint job.  I really need to paint more undead.  :-)

Delvers Lost in the Dungeons of Doom! Miniatures Kickstarter

There are less than 48 hours to go in the Kickstarter for Delvers Lost in the Dungeons of Doom! by  +Darcy Perry .  It's fully funded and a great opportunity to get some really cool looking miniatures.  So if you haven't looked into this one yet, check it out!  Seriously, what are you waiting for?  :-)

Weird Adventure Wednesday

This week's weird adventure idea:

On a raw night you are accosted by a chatty cutthroat in a forest clearing.  The cutthroat tells you a rumor that 9 days hike to the northeast, deep within The Ice Swamp of Visions is hidden The Flooded Crypt of the Phantasmal Fish.  Legends hold that there is hidden The Irregular Spidersilk Hairpiece of Dread Voices.  But beware, for the cutthroat warns you that The Pustular Brain Insect of The Unholy stands guard there!

If you enjoy Weird Adventure Idea Wednesday, be sure to check out these free resources:

1,001 Weird and Wacky Adventure Ideas

and

1,001 More Weird and Wacky Adventure Ideas

Miniatures Monday

Deep In a forbidding dungeon, this scaly horror coils itself around the remnants of a shattered obelisk and prepares to strike!  This is another on of those miniatures that I started painting well over a year ago and then let fall by the wayside.  I wasn't sure whether to go with a desert color or with stripes, so in the end I just went with greenish scales.  Nothing earth shattering, but I'm pretty pleased with the end result.  The miniature is from Reaper Miniatures and was sculpted by Julie Guthrie.  It's 03676: Giant Snake, and you can get your own from reaper for $9.99.

R.I.P. Kenny Baker

Kenny Baker, known to many as the fellow inside of R2 D2 in the star wars films has died at the age of 81.  However, I don't think of him as R2 D2 as much as I think of him as Fidgit from Time Bandits (front row: Second from left).  I remember my parents taking me to see that film in the theater in 1981, and it's still a favorite of mine.  With him gone, only two of the bandits remain, Malcolm Dixon, who played Strutter (second row: left) and Mike Edmonds, who played Og (front row: left)