THE MAGICAL/MIRACULOUS/METAMORPHIC COSTUME

This post on Public Domain gave me a Gaming Idea, but also one for Real Life.

But in Gaming the idea of full-sets of “Magical Costumes” (antique and unique artifacts, benign, and cursed – perhaps even relical) to Act as Armor, Camouflage, Costume, Cover, and Disguise.

Come to think of it, it gave me a few Literary Ideas as well, especially for scifi and fantasy and pulp.

https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/recueil-de-la-diversite-des-habits/

MUCH OF WHAT IS PRODUCED

by independent content creators on youtube and elsewhere on the internet is far (or infinitely) better than any of the stuff produced by the “professional industries and studios.” Just saying…

MIDDLE-EARTH ROLE PLAY

Take Your D&D Adventures Into The Realms Of Middle-earth

Tuesday, 25th October, 2016 10:45 PM

 

The Adventures in Middle-earth Player’s Guide from Cubicle 7 Entertainment is probably the one gaming supplement that role-players have waited the longest for. With this book, the Dungeons & Dragons game is united with the Middle-earth of J.R.R. Tolkien’s writing for the first time, officially. It only took 42 years.

Yes, there have been Middle-earth role-playing games already. Iron Crown published Middle-earth Role Playing in the 80s and 90s. Cubicle 7 Entertainment also currently publishes The One Ring Roleplaying Game. Despite the great influence that Tolkien exerted over D&D, the two streams never officially crossed before now.

Now D&D players and DMs can officially delve into Middle-earth and interact with the character’s of Tolkien’s fiction. At least partially, for now. The Player’s Guide is exactly what it says on the tin, and it contains everything that players would need to create characters native to Middle-earth, along with the basics of adventuring in that world. Creatures, characters from the books and a deeper look into the setting itself are for a further book (or books).

For decades, the concepts that many consider to be traditional fantasy, or more to the truth D&D fantasy, have been evolving in this cooking pot of tabletop games, video games and tie-in media, and now we are getting to see the raw materials for the stew getting thrown back into the pot.

I recommend the Adventures in Middle-earth Player’s Guide for people wanting to bring a more authentic Middle-earth experience into their D&D games, but I think that they might be surprised by some of the directions of the book. It is not without flaws, and I will try to address some of those as I go.

First off, the art in this book is wonderful. From the samples of the cultures of Middle-earth to the landscapes of Middle-earth to the “None Shall Pass!” Gandalf illustration on the book’s cover, the Adventures in Middle-Earth Player’s Guide has some great art in it. If, for some strange reason, you have never seen a Lord of the Rings or Hobbit movie, the art in this book will give you plenty of visual cues as to what Middle-earth would look like. This is great art. Few people do brooding landscapes as well as Jon Hodgson.

The new classes in this book are very interesting, and they bring to the foreground some of the genre conventions of Tolkien’s works.
The Slayer is the barbaric warrior type from the less civilized lands. The Scholar is knowledgeable about the world, and a healer. The Treasure Hunter is a burglar. Wanderers are travelers who wander the roads and forests of the land. Warriors are hardy and disciplined fighters. Wardens are guardians and protectors who inspire as well as protect.

Each class has archetypes that allow for specialization and differentiation, should you have more than one representative of a class in your party of characters. The niches, while they can be thinner among the fighting classes, are well defined enough so that each class can stand out among a group of characters, and have things to do.

Instead of races, like in baseline D&D, the Adventures in Middle-earth Player’s Guide instead uses cultures. When you have a handful of non-human “races,” and then a bunch of different regional ways to say “human,” going the cultural route makes sense mechanically. In this book there are eleven cultures covering dwarves, the various regional types of humans, hobbits and the elves. Each has their own traits, suggestions for names, bonus equipment and other things. For the non-human cultures there are also “racial” abilities. Each culture also has a type, which figures into the types of equipment that starting characters would have access to.

The Adventures in Middle-earth Player’s Guide also adds virtues that help to reinforce the Middle-earth feel, and to give some additional mechanical support to cultures. Basically these are renamed feats and are broken out by the various cultures of Middle-earth. They also go a long way towards helping to differentiate different characters of the same classes. How a Barding approaches being a Warrior and a Man of Bree does that are different, and their virtues can help mechanically add those flavors.

Tolkien is held up as one of the exemplars of epic, high fantasy, but the tone that much of this book is of a darker and dirtier style of fantasy than that of the D&D style of fantasy that the game has perpetuated over the years. The Slayer and Treasure Hunter classes would be as at home in a game inspired by Howard or Leiber as they would be in a game set in Middle-earth. Other rules, such as Corruption and Shadow Weaknesses reinforce the dark fantasy feel of the book.
The Shadow over Middle-earth is growing, and encounters with it, and its allies, can cause corruption to those who are trying to fight against it. This can lead to interesting character development issues, but it can also mean a loss of player agency when Corruption can take a character out of play entirely.

The things that I didn’t like are fewer than the things that I liked in this book. I’m not a big fan of the Journeys rules. I think that these rules, and some elements of the Corruption rules, take away player agency, and the Journeys rules place more emphasis on random rolls than the actions of the characters. I wouldn’t see myself using these rules, only because the handful of handful of dice rolls made at the beginning of the journey would have too much of an impact of things that would happen at the journey’s end. Moreso than the actual actions of the characters during the journey. I’m not a fan of taking control out of the hands of the gaming group, and neither are the people with whom I tend to game. I know that, in an actual journey, a bad event at the start of things can color what happens for the rest of the journey, but there should still be a chance to overcome. For a game that pushes the idea that the characters are heroes, not being able to overcome the environment would make me wonder if the characters could have any chance of overcoming the growing threats of the Shadow.

Honestly, outside of the occasional wandering monster, I am not a huge fan of using a lot of random tables to shape play anyway because the results tend to be inconsistent and can, at worse, poke holes in the suspension of disbelief of those playing. Journeys and travel are an important element of Tolkien’s works, but they are typically the parts which appeal to me the least, so excising them shouldn’t be that hard.

Whether you want to play a game of Tolkien inspired fantasy, or your games go for something a bit darker, there will be things that you can use from the Adventures in Middle-earth Player’s Guide. There is plenty to bring new directions to D&D games that are looking for an influx of creativity.

Mechanically, the material in the Adventures in Middle-earth Player’s Guide is tightly integrated and on point. The more indie design idea that the function of rules should inform the form of the game influenced this book a good deal. The various mechanical pieces from cultures to virtues to classes all work together to enforce the feel of the game’s setting, and to make it a part of the rules of the game. This book is the product of designers and a publisher who know what they are doing and are working to elevate the design of their games. Once the physical version of the book is out, it should become an integral part of the D&D sections of any fantasy gamer’s gaming collection.

I am glad that Wizards of the Coast wised up with the fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons and went back to the less restrictive OGL of the third edition game. We are definitely getting an explosion of creativity in support for this edition of D&D that we didn’t previously receive, with the last edition. While the D&D game itself seems more interested in replaying the past, because of the OGL we get books like the Adventures in Middle-earth Player’s Guide that are willing to look at the core elements of the D&D game while still making something that is bold and new. Hopefully the third party creativity that we see in books like the Adventures in Middle-earth Player’s Guide and other works like those being published by companies like Kobold Press will inspire the base of D&D development to push for new and exciting directions for the game.

I am eager to see what Cubicle 7 Entertainment does next in their Adventures in Middle-earth line, and where they take the game next. The Adventures in Middle-earth Player’s Guide is a grand slam from a publisher at the top of their game.

Read more: http://www.enworld.org/forum/content.php?3568-Take-Your-D-D-Adventures-Into-The-Realms-Of-Middle-earth#.WBKC4jXQfct#ixzz4OKQku6Ub

HORNBLOWER

In my sophomore year at Presbyterian College (one of the colleges I attended) while looking for diversionary entertainment reading to distract me from my numerous studies I happened upon the Adventures of Horatio Hornblower: The Hornblower Saga. I read every book in the series by Forester during that year, practically devouring them. I bought many of those books over time and still have some in my personal library.

It was an epiphany and my first real introduction into long series Historical Fiction. I loved them. To this day Hornblower remains my favorite fictional Commander of any ship during the Age of Sail. And one of my favorite Ship Commanders ever. Captain Kirk of the USS Enterprise is based upon Hornblower.

The difference is that over time Hornblower commanded numerous ships and even squadrons during his career.

There was an amazingly good television show detailing some of the career of Hornblower though it was very sparse in detail compared to the books. I highly recommend the series.

 

Hornblower Saga

 

MASTER AND COMMANDER

“He might have had the Weather Gage but we had the weather god.”

Captain Jack Aubrey, commander of HMS Surprise

(My first favorite film from the Age of Sail and my favorite series of historical novels on the same and next to Horatio Hornblower my favorite fictional commander of that era. I highly recommend those novels. History as True Art.)

DAMN THE DEFIANT!

“Thank you, Defiant, for swift and honourable action…”

my second favorite fictional film about warfare during the Age of Sail

(and sometimes my first)

THE OLDSTERS VAD

70-Year-Olds Play D&D for the First Time (and Love it)

October 17, 2016

Tim

Sean is 26 years old, and he runs a game of D&D for people in their 70’s – who just started playing. Read their story below.

(With a bonus interview with the players themselves at the end of the article.)

From left to right: Maureen the Human Fighter, Margiella the High Elf Wizard, Darrak the Dwarven Cleric, Kangaroo the Human Fighter, and Jeffro the Halfling Rogue

Tabletop Terrors: So Sean – your players seem to be a bit more “seasoned” than most—what’s the median age of your players not including you?

Sean: Well it’s a good thing I’m not included here because I would certainly bring down the age a bit, being 26. My grandma is 72, my grandpa is 71, and I’m not exactly sure how old their neighbors are (and I feel like I might lose a couple players if I ask!) but they are in their early-to-mid 60s. We also picked up my mom once she heard about the fun everyone else was having. She’s 51 so that puts our median age at about 63.

It seems like you’re having an absolute blast – what made you decide to try to get these wonderful folks to play D&D?

Honestly they were the ones that pushed for it. I was down at my grandparent’s shore house a few weeks ago relaxing and drawing some maps for another group’s campaign. My grandma asked about what I was doing, and I explained that it was for D&D. She said, “Oh we’d like to play, we love games!”

I actually tried to talk her out of it at first, thinking it would be a waste of time because there was no way that my grandparents would ever be interested in playing D&D. But they pushed the issue and invited me over for dinner, telling me to bring everything I would need for them to play.

I think if I was the one that pushed it on them rather than having them be the driving force behind playing, they never would have gotten into it.

What rules system are you using?

We’re playing Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition with a little homebrew here and there (mostly because when I don’t know a rule I just try to make something up that sounds fair and then stick with it rather than spend 10 minutes searching through the rulebook).

Are you running pre-made adventures, or making up your own stories? Similarly, are you using pre-generated characters, or did everyone roll their own up?

I’m running them through the 5e starter set campaign, Lost Mines of Phandelver. I may throw in some of my own sidequests here and there if I think of anything they may be interested, but for the most part we’ll probably just stick with LMoP. They’re using the pre-gen characters that come with the starter set, but only for the stats and abilities. I had them decide what their characters’ personalities were like, what drives them to go off and adventure, and what flaws their characters may have that could be problematic. I think they did a great job coming up with their backstories and I also think that by letting them decide on their backgrounds, it helped to get them more invested in the story.

Is everyone using your books and dice, or have any of the players made the leap into buying their own adventuring gear?

For now everyone is using my books and dice. I have enough dice for everyone to have their own set while we play, and I give them the starter set rulebook to use so they can look up their own spells or check on rules that they have questions about. Meanwhile I have the Player’s Handbook on my side of the screen. The plan is for us to play pretty consistently, at least for the next few months. I personally don’t mind them using my stuff for as long as they want, but I could see them wanting to get their own gear as they get more into it.

What has surprised you the most about this endeavor?

I would say I’m most surprised by my grandpa and how he has taken to the game. Out of everyone that’s playing, he is the one that I least expected to get really into his character. He’s a tough guy who has certainly done his share of manual labor, but he’s playing a sneaky, Halfling rogue named Jeffro. He’s really dived in headfirst and has even texted me to talk about his character’s backstory in between sessions.

What has been the most challenging thing that you’ve come up against while trying to play with this group? How did you overcome them?

I think at the end of the day, this group provides a lot of the same challenges that any group of first time players would provide. It’s a balance of simplifying the game in a way that they can learn the rules as they go while still not losing the depth that makes D&D so great.

Right now I think the biggest challenge I’m dealing with is just going to be getting them all on the same page. They are thinking of themselves as individuals – all of them are the heroes of their own story – and that’s not totally a bad thing because it’s helped them get into character. At some point though, they’re going to need to really work together to overcome some tougher challenges. I think they will, though. They’re all smart people, and part of learning the game is learning how your character can synergize with the rest of the group (in terms of decision-making and also in the use of abilities in combat).

The other challenge is going to be finding ways to motivate them in ways other than gold. So far their first question to NPCs asking for favors has been, “how much will you pay us?” Gold is a great motivator, especially for new players, but my hope is that the intrigue of the story starts to cause them to make decisions based off of a desire for information more than for coin. That’s not totally on them though; if I do a good job as DM, that change should happen naturally.

What has been the most rewarding thing?

The most rewarding thing for me as a DM is always just to see my players have fun. That’s true of any group, and even moreso with a group that I didn’t expect to really get into the game the way my grandparents did. I am fortunate to have a really good relationship with them, and being able to share something with them that brings me as much joy as D&D does is awesome.

In general, it’s just really cool being able to play D&D with them. Most people my age who spend time with their grandparents probably have to compromise a bit when it comes to activities. Mine have fortunately always been cooler than the stereotype of what people think of when it comes to older relatives, but this definitely makes Tuesday dinners at their house a lot more interesting.

 

Here’s the DM himself, Sean

*** BONUS: WE INTERVIEW THE PLAYERS. ***

We were able to ask a few of the players their thoughts on D&D. We posed the same three questions to all of them:

1.) What surprised you the most about playing D&D?

2.) What did you find the most challenging?

3.) What is your favorite thing about D&D?

—

Maureen the Human Fighter’s Answers

1. What surprised me most was even though the names are unusual, I found it easy to follow.

2. The most challenging thing was following my team when I wanted to take a different path.

3. My favorite thing is how everyone embraces their characters and fits into their roles.

Margiella the High Elf Wizard’s Answers

1. I was surprised to find how much I enjoyed the adventure. I was not sure when we first started but it challenges your thought process and makes your brain think of strategies to win.

2. The most challenging thing is deciding how to fight the enemy and what is the best weapon to use.

3. My most favorite thing about D & D is that you can play with others as a team and work together to make decisions. We played last night and had a lot of laughs on the adventure. It was obvious that some of our decisions went badly, but we all still laughed about it. This is a game that can bring together people of all ages to have a great time. My grandson is the host and in his twenties, so it is especially enjoyable for me to be able to have that time with him at this point in our lives. I can’t wait for our next game.

Jeffro the Halfling Rogue’s Answers

1. The biggest surprise to me was the intricacy of how the game plays out and how your

choices help to move the game along.

2.  The most challenging thing is as a new player it’s getting familiar with my character and what he is capable of doing.

3.  The thing I enjoy most the molding of my character to what I feel he is supposed to be like.

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JURASSIC WORLD 2

I really enjoyed the first one. My whole family did. Best in the entire series.

Jurassic World 2 Director Says Sequel Will Be Much Darker

In the aftermath of director Colin Trevorrow’s Jurassic World, the entire franchise began a process of rejuvenation. Not only was the film a tremendous blockbuster, but for the first time in years, a Jurassic Park film captivated audiences. The previous two sequels had failed to ignite the excitement and fascination that the original Steven Spielberg film had and to date, Jurassic World has been the closest that Hollywood has come to repeating that magic.

With the public now well aware of plans to make Jurassic World into a trilogy, the anticipation of those films is perhaps matched only by the curiosity of what sort of films they’ll be. For the upcoming Jurassic World 2, we know that Trevorrow has stepped back from directing in order to focus on scripting as well as producing duties. The sequel is in the hands of J.A. Bayona (A Monster Calls) and his vision of the famed dinosaur park run amokwill include animatronic as well as CG effects.

Now we’re also learning that Bayona’s Jurassic World 2 will be a much darker film than its predecessor. Scified brings us the latest news on the film after Bayona spoke with the Spanish language media outlet Agencia EFE. Comparing Jurassic World 2’s darkness and depth to other legendary second steps in successful film franchises like Star Wars and Star Trek, Bayona had this to say:

http://screenrant.com/iFramedAdTemplate/jurassic-world-2-director-says-sequel-will-be-much-darker/?ad=47

“It will be darker and scarier then the previous film. Obviously when you have Chris Pratt it will also be very funny. But it will be darker. It is a second step in a trilogy, and the second step is always dark as in ‘The Empire Strikes back or the ‘Wrath of Khan’ which are the examples you always get. The film takes the story where it has never been before. To me it surprised me. We are going to places where the saga has never been before, and at the same time we are paying tribute to the franchise. We will take it a step further. There are things that will happen that people are not expecting and they really are shocking.”

Most recently, Jurassic World 2 writer/producer Colin Trevorrow revealed that the sequel would deal with animal abuse by using the treatment of dinosaurs as a parable of the treatment that today’s animals often encounter. This sort of focus would certainly take the story where it has never been before and it’s easy to see how such a topic could indeed create a much darker Jurassic World film. Couple this darker take with Trevorrow’s previous assurances that the sequel would be scarier than its predecessor and the number of questions as to how all this could play out greatly increases.

Regardless of what either Trevorrow or Bayona might have to say about Jurassic World 2, the real test of how dark or scary the film is will come when audiences are able to decide for themselves. A film like The Empire Strikes Back didn’t require advance warning of its gloom and doom, it delivered these things while being highly entertaining. If Jurassic World 2 can perform in a similar fashion, then the dinosaur-mania that swept theaters with Jurassic World is sure to carry its monstrous momentum onward into the future.

Jurassic World 2 arrives in U.S. theaters on June 22, 2018.

Source: Scified

WONDER WOMAN TRAILER

wonder woman trailer

OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF BABES – ALL THING

Very, very nice… from Ed

My 6-Year-Old Designed A Dungeon, And It’s Terrifying

Well met, adventurers! Today I am going to do something you have not seen me do before. Something bizarre and unexpected. I am going to gush about my kid. I had meant to write this prior to Father’s Day weekend, but things here at BardCo have become somewhat hectic, what with school letting out for the summer, sports programs beginning, and new multimedia ventures coming to fruition. Suffice to say, this is a little late, but still retains much of its potency.

There are two things you should know about me. The first is that I am a fan of the old Gygaxian dungeon crawls of yore, with its pitfalls and terrors beyond reckoning. They were punishments disguised as fun, and damn it if he didn’t accomplish both. Never have I had so much fun being rent asunder or crushed to death, or boiled alive, or having my soul torn out or… well, you get the picture.

The second thing your should know about me is that my young son has a strong desire to play D&D or Pathfinder. He can’t decide which cover art is cooler. He likes to play with the minis I have on hand, set up my terrain, draw maps on my dry erase flip mat, and tell a story. Sometimes he even asks to use my dungeon master screen for reasons that are unknown but undoubtedly sinister.

If was a few months ago that he asked me if he could “Make a dungeon” for my weekly group.  I gave a wry chuckle and found myself filled with something I believe to be a mix of pride and amusement. I gave him the go-ahead, handed him a Monster Manual and a Bestiary, a couple magic markers, and a boat load of minis, and he went about his dark work. What he created still gives me pause. It would have been an act of pure cruelty and insidious design.

And it was good.

I’ve given the map he gave me the digital upgrade, as the only remaining picture I have of it (aside from the one seared into my mind’s eye), is blurry as all-get-the-funk-out. I will detail each room of this two level horror show.

The Tomb Of Xandarr, The Cruel

 The first thing you may note about the “Tomb” is that it is a little oddly shaped. The triangles, rectangles, squares, and ovals (all shapes easily recognizable to a Kindergartener) that are connected together by a series of strangely-shaped hallways. But when you really take a look at it, a couple things become apparent.

First, the rooms aren’t the typical square rooms we’re used to in dungeons, leading someone who has no idea the whole thing was designed by a 6-year-old to believe that the entire complex was created by a madman with some issues. The rooms are chaotic, adhering to no symmetry or even consistency. There is no sense of familiarity between rooms since they vary in size and shape with each new chamber. This puts characters on the defensive, never knowing what each room might hold. Granted, this should be the normal state of mind for every character going into a dungeon.

Secondly, those hallways. If you are playing with players who get paranoid easily, these halls are nightmares. Bizarre angles and narrow passages make for an almost claustrophobic setting. Without realizing it, my wee geekling is playing a psychological game with the players, putting them through their paces and tearing away any semblance of peace.

Now, let’s get into Level 1

Section 1 – Orc Encampment: “A crooked and jagged hallway of jutting stones zigs and zags its way toward a mostly rectangular chamber. Grunts from the eastern wall signal that the room is occupied. Half a dozen burly orcs rise from a sitting position gripping cruel axes.”

The dungeon begins with a pretty straight forward fight between the characters and a band of orcs camping in the room. I say camping because that is what my son explicitly said they were doing. In my “Game Master must justify everything” brain, I reasoned the orcs were about to enter the dungeon and made camp in this empty and defensible first room to regain their strength for the path ahead.

For most characters who enter this room, this battle should be a breeze. Since I figure the average party should be about level 8 to take on the bulk of the dungeon, six orcs is a pittance. Still, with good tactics and focused fire, the orcs could still pose a problem, especially if the retreat down the hall in the north end of the room, which would bottleneck the players.

Section 2 – The Pit of Mummies: “This oval, domed, stone chamber is mostly empty. The walls are bare and there are not sconces for torches. The only thing of import seems to be a single, simple stone sarcophagus sitting in the center of the room. Small cracks run the length of the dust-covered floor like a spider web.”

Most dungeons will place their boss at the end. My 6-year-old says “To hell with conformity” and sticks that sonnova bitch in room 2! But he was not content with a simple boss fight. No. He wanted a boss fight with a trap. He wanted a boss fight in a trap! The stone sarcophagus sits in the center of a fragile circle. If a character spends more than two rounds on the surface of the circle, if two stand on it at once, or if two characters pass over it one at a time, the floor will give way into a 40-foot free fall onto a spiked floor. That’s a little rough, especially considering on top of the spikes you are also taking bludgeoning damage from the falling rocks.

But wait! There’s more!

Once the sarcophagus breaks after the fall, it reanimates the mummy lord within. This is Xandarr, and he doesn’t take kindly to being woken up. When I asked my progeny what kind of magic spells he had, he simply said, “Ones that make characters fall down so when they fall down they fall on spikes.”

That’s actually kind of evil. So, here is the scenario. If the floor collapses (because the encounter is actually entirely avoidable), any poor bastards that find themselves on the floor need to make dexterity or reflex saving throws. Anyone that screws the pooch ends up at the bottom of a 40-foot deep pit of spikes fighting a mummy lord that can put them back on those spikes with a wave of his hand.

 “Are you my mummy?”

Did I mention the second mummy down here? Oh yeah. Impaled on one of the spikes is yet another mummy. Granted, this is just your run of the mill mummy, but damn! That just ups the chances of the poor characters stuck in the pit to get a fun case of mummy rot (still sounds like an STD).

What’s more, the rest of the characters would be stuck up above, trying to find something to attach  a rope to, of which there is nothing. Melee characters would either have to traverse the rope and hope the mummy lord isn’t leveling spells at them or jump and deal with the spiky goodness. Those that choose the rope are looking at a 2-3 round commitment since the  average climb speed is 15-feet, and the pit is more than twice that.

The walls of the pit are flat and smooth (not to mention round, so no corners to shimmy up), making climbing out without assistance a virtual nightmare as far as difficulty is concerned (and failure meaning another trip to spike town).

On the plus side, the mummy lord is carrying an amulet that can make your skin as tough as stone, so hooray for loot. On the downside, the mummy lord is wearing said amulet, and would be foolish not to use it.

Evil, evil child.

 “There is nothing more precious than the laughter of a child.”

Section 3 – Trapped Hallway: “The door opens to a 25-foot long hallway. The hallway stretches off into a straight line, but there seems to be a five-foot deep, 10-foot long recess on the eastern side. Seven stone tiles make up the floor, each emitting a clicking sound when stepped upon. A stone door stands at the far end of the hall.”

My kid loves Minecraft. Moreover, he loves pressure plates and making them do things. This is a simple hallway, but a very complicated hallway at the same time. Immediately, a canny rogue is going to realize that every single inch of floor is a pressure plate. This makes the rogue’s job so much more difficult. Not to mention that recess. What is that? What even is that? Is it a trap?

Oddly enough, no. It’s just the shape of the hall. The mean part comes when an unfortunate character stands in front of the door leading out of the hall. Should they fail to disarm the trap, or if they step on the pressure plate before the door, that entire 10-foot section of wall on the eastern side of the door springs forward and crushes anyone standing there.

 “Holy broken bones, Batman!”

It’s sort of a fake-out. A trap fake out. The recess screams “look at me!” when it’s the stationary wall that is the killer aspect here. I am both proud and afraid on the kiddo.

Section 4 – Go Ahead. Touch It: “This triangular room is lit with a pair of torches on the northeastern and northwestern  walls. The torches burn with a sickly blue flame that casts the chamber in a ghostly light. A small pedestal stands at the apex of the triangle. Atop it rests a smooth violet jewel that size of a child’s fist. There is a pair of stone doors on the eastern wall.”

“What’s in this room?” I asked my son as he drew the funny triangle.

“A stone.” he replied matter-of-factly, “It’s purple. If you touch it it automatically steals your soul.” he continued, drawing a tiny stone in the room.

That’s right, the ultimate game of “I dare you to touch it.” The danger in this room is easily bypassed. Just walk on out. But that gem. That gem is likely to get someone into trouble. Let’ss face it, we all know that one player that can’t talk past a shiny red button without pressing it. Even if the button had a “Do not touch the red button” sign hanging over it, they would still have to push it, just to know what happens. Hell, more than one of us has been that character at one point or another.

“Touch not, lest ye be touched.”

The punishment for greed or curiosity is the loss of your soul. No save. Yeah, I made sure to ask him about that, but he insisted that it was automatic.

I asked, “Why?”

“Because they touched it.”

Can’t argue with that.

Section 5 – Dragonfire Pass: “This curved hallway has intricate carvings of dragons set into the stone walls. The doorways on the west and south are carved into the shape of dragon’s jaws. A strange and pungent odor fills the air here, leaving a sort of haze. The ground is wet, with a shimmering purple film seeping in between tiles and cracks.”

When I told my son about a dungeon I’d created where a bunch of kobolds lit everyone on fire with flammable liquid on the floor (such are out dinner conversations), his eyes grew wide and he couldn’t help but tell his grandmother, and anyone else who would listen. It was, I think, cool to him.

So cool, in fact, that he wanted to do something like it in his dungeon. The hall, as he told me, had dragon heads near the doors. The center of the hall marks the trigger for a burning hands spell to erupt from the dragon heads on both ends, and set the oil-soaked floor ablaze.

  “It’s a disco inferno.”

Sweet. Simple. Barbeque characters. Even if they didn’t get a soul stolen, the hall can easily become a serious pain in the ass, especially for those bringing up the rear. What’s worse is that the door at the end of the hall is locked. How good is your rogue? Picking a lock while burning to death good?

Section 6 – Treasure Room: “The door opens revealing a large rectangular room with heaps of gold coins and overflowing chests of treasure. The room is lit by torches in each corner. The flickering firelight dances upon each glinting bobble. An iron door stands against the south wall.”

Treasure! Who doesn’t love treasure? And there are piles of it here. Coins, gems, magic weapons, and armor. Everything an adventurer could want. But apparently, I have raised the kind of child that doesn’t let anything come too easily. I blame years of telling him to clean his room.

Something lives in the piles of treasure. Well, lives may not be the word. A pair of dread wraiths haul ass out of the coins like a demonically possessed Scrooge McDuck. Dread Wraiths, as I am sure you know, are not kind creatures. My son equally so. With a plethora of enemies at his disposal, he hand picked the wraiths because, of course, they looked cool.

 “Rule of cool.”

Section 7 – The False Exit: “The iron door opens to a long hallway with a simple wooden door at the end. Hanging over the door is a small sign that says ‘EXIT’. The walls of this hall are bare.”

The characters beat the bad guys, got the treasure, and managed to live. Now it is time to get out and  enjoy the spoils. Except, this isn’t an actual entrance. That wooden door leads to nothing. The hall, on the other hand, does lead somewhere, and it’s nowhere good.

The hall, according to my spawn, is like a seesaw. If more than one character heads to the door, the weight will tilt the entire floor, effectively turning the hall into a massive chute. A chute to where?

Well… Nightmareville, basically.

Room 8 – Arena With Two WHATS?!: “The chute leads to what looks like a large arena with a dirt floor. Empty seats encircle the arena, void of spectators. Two large creatures hover above the ground. They have massive, fanged mouths with a sickeningly huge, singular eye. A number of stocks jut from this monstrous floating head, each with an eye of its own.”

 “Eye see what you did there.”

 I had to ask him three times to be sure. He was sure. Not only had he taken the notion of escape from the players, he pitted them up against not one, but two beholders, or as he called it, “The monster on the front of the book.”

“No. Just no.”

The fight is pretty straightforward, or at least as straightforward as a fight with two beholders can be. All the characters need to do is defeat them and they can get out. According to my son, the door only opens when both are dead.

I don’t think everyone will be getting out of this one alive.

“Kids these days.”

There we are. Short, simple, brutal. I should be making some comment about child-like innocence, but honestly, after that… I think he might be pure evil.

The kid has a promising future as a Game Master.

Roll well, my friends,

+Ed The Bard 

UNUSUAL BEGINNINGS TO ADVENTURES, CAMPAIGNS, AND QUESTS

Below are to be found descriptions and entries I have created regarding unusual ways to begin Adventures, Campaigns, and Quests for various kinds of Role Playing and Tabletop Games.

Though they could also be used as the basis and genesis of other types of games as well, for example LARPS and Alternative Reality games.

I intend to provide beginning scenarios for various types and genres of games: Contemporary, Detective, Fantasy, Historical, Horror, Science Fiction, and Wargames. To name a few.

I will make such posts on every occasion I have the free time to develop them. Also these scenarios will be different from the scenarios I have developed specifically for my own Setting and World. Those will be listed separately under the Category – The Other World

Feel free to take the names of places and characters mentioned in these scenarios (or even the basic structures of the scenarios) and alter them to fit your own gaming worlds or situations. These are, of course, merely suggestions. I describe these scenarios to give DMs and GMs far better, more original and more unique methods of starting games than, “your party meets in a tavern,” or “you all hear a rumor.”

So modify and use these beginning scenarios as you will. They are meant to stimulate original situations and your imaginations, not to dictate terms and conditions.

Tonight I will begin with Four Fantasy Scenarios for beginning adventures or campaigns: Infiltration of the Fertilands, The Secret Missionaries, The Sky From Long Ago, and The Long Road to Disaster.

 

FANTASY

 

Infiltration of the Fertilands – The Senate of Alaria has decided to clear an area of land 7 and ½ leagues north of the city-state (an area called the Losharian fertilands) to provide timber and resources for a proclaimed public works building project, and to establish a new frontier’s garrison and outpost for the city to ward off raiding attacks by local barbarians. However three separate surveying teams and their armed recon in force escorts (at least for the second and third attempts) have disappeared when sent to the location.

The Senate has decided to send an expeditionary force of 1500 men to investigate and clear the area of potential hostiles, but before they can vote on the measure or dispatch the forces the chief architect in charge of the new building program approaches your party and asks you to undertake the task of infiltrating the target area in secret, to see if you can discover the cause of the disappearance of the previous teams. You are charged with secrecy in your mission (you can discuss it with no one) and if you are successful the architect not only promises that you will be richly rewarded in pay but that the Senate will award you tax free lands on which you may establish estates and villas of your own. He also hints at the possibility of awards (Champion of the City), public acclaim, and possibly even junior seats on the Senate.

However since the mission would be kept entirely confidential he can offer you no initial assistance other than to provide you with information on how to find the Losharian fertilands.

But he does offer you two pieces of advice. First, do not drink the waters of the fertiland even if it is rainwater which falls during a storm. And secondly, watch the rivers, creeks, waterways, and marshes at all times. They may hide dangerous enemies and hidden perils.

 

The Secret Missionaries – Your party is called to the Great Temple of the Sacred Hierophants after nightfall one evening. The Church of Adaltorn, the Last Hierophant, in the city of Ramara Passea has decided upon a missionary program of expansion Eastwards. They wish to convert the rich, independent merchant cities east of the river Venwaldros, which they feel would be very open to their doctrine. However to the south of the narrow strip of unclaimed no-man’s land of the Venwaldros lies the fierce (and some say cannibalistic) barbarian tribes of the Colmar Confederacy, and to the north of the river in this unclaimed area lies the Imperial outposts of the Srechalt. All of which are hostile to both the Church and to Ramara Passea. This narrow strip of land and the thin thread of the Venwaldros which passes through it is called Reedbrake (for its high and musical reeds, which go silent when anything passes through them)) and it is the only safe passage from Ramara Passea to the East.

The church has sent scouting teams of monks and priests along the river which have either had to turn back after being attacked or were simply lost, their true fates unknown.

The church is willing to produce an indulgence in the names of each of your party (meaning you will be free from both local taxes and tithes for a period of ten years), to pay you a stipend for three years, to Bless each member of your party, and to secure you Writs of Absolute Non-Hindrance from the city fathers if you can help them find a safe passage through the Reedbrake so that their monks and priests may travel securely and unmolested from Ramara Passea to the eastern merchant cities. They will also equip your expedition and provide you with river-craft, a barbarian scout (a recent convert) familiar with the Colmar, and three warrior monks as servants and men at arms to assist you.

 

The Sky From Long Ago – The retired Sage Geirwovan (rumored to have once been the famous Wizard Taleorstir) has sent every member of your party a formal and very decorative invitation to visit his mansion six miles from the outskirts of the Ulorian borderlands.

When you accept and reach your destination you are shown to the Sage’s Tower and observatory where the ancient and bent Geirwovan greets you warmly and feeds and shelters your entire party. After a late dinner and entertainment by a very talented female bard (whom Geirwovan identifies as his personal Bard, the Lady Yurliel) you are ushered back to the Sage’s Tower where Geirwovan accompanies you to the roof. Briefly after sunset (far too soon after sunset) the entire sky is afire with stars but of very unusual constellations that you have never before seen. Some of these constellations seem to come alive, take on weird and fantastical shapes of creatures you have never seen before, and to move about and even battle one another. Stars flare and flash, changing colors or becoming briefly too bright to look upon. The moon rings like a giant gong. The tower itself seems to shake. Comets flash across the sky and explode by impacting one another. Then the entire sky goes absolutely black and a few moments after that returns to normal, as it would appear on any other cloudless and moonless night shortly after nightfall.

Geirwovan then takes you back into the tower where each of you feels weird and uncanny, as if you have just witnessed something unnatural, supernatural, and/or very spectacular and unnerving.

Geirwovan makes no comment and ignores all questions to explain and instead spreads out a series of complex maps upon an antique drafting table and begins to explain how rewarding it would be and how much you would all benefit by reaching a particular destination. One he repeatedly shows on the different maps. (The maps are also all filled with odd glyphs and scripts and indicated locales you have never heard of or seen mentioned before.)

Then Geirwovan tells you of the fabulous riches, both mundane and magical, that can be found at that destination though he will not describe the particulars nor disclose any details about what else may lay at the destination. He tells you that if you will go to that location then you will understand what he means and that you will understand what you saw in the sky. He asks only two things: 1. that when you arrive you do what is appropriate, and 2. return to him all that you find so that he may examine it and then he will keep only one article, a small silver coin of unremarkable design. You may keep all else that you find and there will also be another reward awaiting you upon completion of your expedition. If you agree then he will hand you one of the maps which he says will guide you unerringly to your destination but that you must never venture from the route it dictates for the map is untrustworthy otherwise and you may find yourselves lost in such a way that you will be unable to return. He also offers to allow you to take his bard Yurliel with you if you so wish.

 

The Long Road to Disaster – The Lord of Merchants and Commander of the Merchants at Arms have called your party to the Tent of Foreign Prizes in the Agora of Kroipos to discuss an urgent matter. They explain to you that they have recently (within the past year) opened up a new trade route to the Far South, through the desert of Samorah, that they call the Elidian Road. (Elidia being what some rumors declare to be a semi-mythical and legendary city of peculiar and unique wealth located in the Far South.)

Within the past six months no fewer than four separate and well-armed caravan trains have been ambushed and destroyed or lost. By what the Commander describes as a well-organized, large, ruthless band of experienced brigands, raiders, and thieves.

Searchers and follow up teams have only recovered small bits of debris or valueless remains from the ambushed caravans and the losses to merchants in the area have been sunstantial and heavy indeed. Armed scouting parties sent by the city have discovered nothing and have been of almost no help.

Only three survivors have escaped thus far, two from one caravan (the first attacked) and one from the second caravan. No other survivors have surfaced or are accounted for.

Both the Lord of Merchants and the Commander of Arms ask if you will entertain shadowing the next caravan to be dispatched along the Elidian Road to see if you can discover who is responsible for these raids and possibly help save the caravan from being plundered and destroyed. If not can you then follow the attackers to discover their identities and base of operations so that a military force can be dispatched to kill them all.

Neither wants you to be part of the armed military and merchant force of the caravan so that if the attackers arrive in overwhelming force you may survive and bring back invaluable Intel on the parties responsible. They only want you shadowing the caravan unless it is obvious you could actually safely protect and rescue the caravan if it is attacked. Both Merchants promise you will be richly rewarded for your efforts. Though neither will describe precisely how or in what form.

After the meeting the Commander of the Merchant at Arms leaves but the Lord of Merchants pulls your party aside in confidence and tells you that his nephew will be accompanying this caravan in order that he may be trained in commerce. As is the custom at his age. This being his Voyage of Initiation. The boy has instructions that if the caravan is attacked he is to flee to the safety of your group or if necessary you are to rescue him and flee after discovering what you can of the enemy. He promises to reward you separately for this action and he tells you that aside from his nephew and the head merchant of the caravan no one in the group will even know of your existence or that you shadow the train. So he says it is imperative that the caravan not discover your presence either. You must also never mention this side deal involving his nephew. Especially not to the Commander at Arms, who would consider such actions cowardly and dishonorable.

He also tells you that he has personally interviewed the three survivors of the previous attacks. One is now dead of unknown reasons, one is in a long sleep from which they will not awaken (coma), and one appears to be mad. But before these things happened the survivors described weird things occurring during the attacks and despite the Commander’s opinions to the contrary the Lord of Merchants is not at all convinced this is the work of brigands or caravan raiders. In fact he says that he does not believe any raiders are involved at all. But he will not elaborate on his suspicions.

He will only say that he once read a passage in a book in the Far South that said that long ago the skies were poisoned by an unknown creature so that ghosts and dead men rained upon the living.

 

Also, feel free to suggest your own ideas in the comments below, or tell me if you’d like to see Beginning Scenarios for certain types of games,  particular subject matters, or for specific gaming genres.

STAR TREK BRIDGE CREW

You’re in Command with Star Trek: Bridge Crew

StarTrek.com Staff

June 13, 2016

A+ A A-

Today at E3 in Los Angeles, Ubisoft announced a fall release for Star Trek: Bridge Crew, a new virtual reality game that will allow players to explore space as a member of the Federation. Supporting the announcement: a cool video featuring LeVar Burton, Jeri Ryan and Karl Urban trying out the game. Playable co-operatively with a crew or solo as Captain, Star Trek: Bridge Crew puts players directly onto the bridge in a Starfleet ship. The game will be available on PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

Bridge Crew puts a player and their friends in the heart of a brand-new starship, the U.S.S. Aegis, where every action and decision made will determine the fate of the ship and her crew. The overriding mission is as follows: Explore a largely uncharted sector of space known as The Trench, in hopes of locating a suitable new home world for the decimated Vulcan populace — while coming into direct conflict with the vaunted Klingon Empire.
As developed by Red Storm Entertainment, a Ubisoft Studio, Bridge Crew is designed exclusively for VR. It capitalizes on the powerful sense of social presence only possible through virtual reality. Through hand tracking and full-body avatars, including real-time lip-sync, players can experience what it’s like to serve as an officer on the bridge of a Federation starship.
As a crew, players will form a team of four to operate the roles of Captain, Helm, Tactical or Engineer. Each role is crucial to the success of the varied missions players face, and only by working together can the crew complete their objectives. Also playable in solo, players will assume the role of Captain and dispatch orders to their NPC crew mates. The Captain’s strategic decisions will be vital in order to successfully complete missions. In other words, it’s your ship and you’re in command.

Keep an eye on StarTrek.com for additional details about Star Trek: Bridge Crew.

—

– See more at: http://www.startrek.com/article/youre-in-command-with-star-trek-bridge-crew#sthash.pGLwqy04.dpuf

BONDSTON

He looks a great deal more like Ian Fleming, a classic Brit, and a WWII era Brit than any other Bond I’ve ever seen. And having watched him as Loki and Henry he’s certainly crafty enough.

 

Tom Hiddleston In Talks To Be New James Bond — Report

By Vikram Murthi | IndiewireMay 27, 2016 at 2:08PM

Sony representative had no comment on the matter.

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“The Night Manager”

Tom Hiddleston is having quite the year with starring roles in Ben Wheatley’s “High-Rise,” about a tower block stratified by class that devolves into chaos, Marc Abraham’s “I Saw The Light,” a Hank Williams biopic, and the AMC limited series “The Night Manager,” based on the John le Carré novel of the same name. Now, BMD reports that a source has confirmed that Tom Hiddleston is in talks to replace Daniel Craig as the new James Bond. Though no official offer has been made, Hiddleston is interested in the job and the relevant discussions are under way. Indiewire reached out to a Sony representative on the matter and they had no comment.

READ MORE: Why the Next James Bond Won’t Be a Woman

If Tom Hiddleston were cast as Bond, he would be the eighth actor to play the role after Sean Connery, David Niven, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig. The Bond film series kicked off with “Dr. No” in 1962, after which Bond films were released at steady clip until 1989 when a legal dispute stalled the series until 1995 with the release of “GoldenEye.” In 2006, Eon Productions effectively rebooted the series with “Casino Royale” and Craig who portrayed Bond much closer to author Ian Fleming’s vision of the character. The last Bond film was “Spectre,” which received a mixed-to-negative reception.

READ MORE: Ranked: Every James Bond Film From Best To Worst

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COME NOT BETWEEN THE DRAGONS – STC

I am really, really looking forward to this. If you haven’t seen Star Trek Continues then you really should. Superb work by everyone involved! It’s one of the best things on the internet. As a matter of fact it should be on TV.

And this episode has a Boarding Action!

I’m all about the boarding actions!

STAR TREK CONTINUES

 

 

Actually, I am finishing up a script for Star Trek Continues right now. Whether they will use it or not I don’t know, but I sure am having a ball writing it. And it’s science heavy and something I’ve always wanted to see in Star Trek.

 

 

THE TOMBS OF THE WHISPERING WORMS – LOST LIBRARY

THE TOMBS OF THE WHISPERING WORMS

Not my work but I fund the idea to be very interesting… see title link for .pdf download

 

THE PACIFICATION AND PUSSIFICATION OF MARVEL’S CIVIL WAR – ALL THING

THE PACIFICATION AND PUSSIFICATION OF MARVEL’S CIVIL WAR

(Spoilers included: so if you get all emotional about spoilers then take a powder, this ain’t for you.)

My wife, the girls and I went to see Civil War this evening. Before you come to the conclusion that I didn’t like the film based on the title of this post, actually I did, let me just say the entire subject matter of Marvel’s Civil War was completely pussified and pacified by this particular film. Not that the film wasn’t good, it was at a certain level. It just had nothing to do with Civil War.

What Marvel did so bravely in the comic series Civil War (to the outrage of couch potato fisticuff Captain America’s throughout this great land) they completed pussed out on in this film and in that sense entirely ruined it. There was no tyranny of the government, nor was there a real rebellion against the government. A real shame since what this nation actually needs is a real and certifiable Civil War. The closest the film even got to the real ideas and ideals in the Civil War series was in just speaking the terms “vigilante” and “criminals.” There was nothing really about the series evident in the film. Hell it wasn’t even an initiative of the US government, it was a damned United Nations effort. Any time anything is a UN effort you can bet it will be entirely pussified, and completely ineffective at attempting to achieve it’s true goal. As this certainly was.

Nothing about the original Civil War was evident, not the fact that the government tried to suppress the rights of the individual (and not just for the Avengers, narrowing the Civil War down to just the Avengers completely missed the point, not that I disagreed entirely with what the government was attempting to do) and tried to tell individuals what they could do with their own talents and abilities and “powers.” Nor did it ever truly address the issue of what is the proper response of the individual to such an attempt at tyranny by the government? How Far does the individual have a right to go in rebelling against government oppression? (All the way – he has a God-given right to go all the way to destroy such a government. Well, all the way short of murdering the innocent. He should leave that kinda shit to the government. They’re really good at it.) All of that, all of the really important stiff, was completely missing. This was Civil War Lite, the balless Millennial Edition. The pastel and collegiate safe-zone/safe-place edition. You know, still-mint-in-box with that plastic smell. A shame Marvel pussed on that very germane and pertinent point, especially at this time in our history.

I think back to Batman-Superman (and Superman-Batman had it’s share of problems, but being about true ideals was not one of them) and how Superman, realizing that Luthor’s mark was about to explode and kill everyone in the US congress chamber did not even bother to move, did not even bother to attempt to move to save anyone at all. Not anyone at all. Didn’t even use his body to mitigate the explosion so at least some could survive. He just passively watched it. Just stood there shaking his head as if to say, “if only the government had allowed me, if only I had permission.” Now that’s actually about something, a critique of Modern Man, of the Modern American actually. Hell, that is the modern American. The passive, uninvolved, don’t drag me into this, that’s someone else’s job, “do I actually have your permission to intervene” modern American. Or modern Christian, take your pick. (Superman was at one time the quintessential American of Action, now he is the quintessential modern American as well. Welcome to your true selves modern Americans. Even your superheroes are now in on your pathetic act.) Civil War never rose to that point, to being about something nearly that big. It was, as a super-hero film, more or less just a kick-ass superhero film about nothing more than, you guessed it, mere superheroes. Ina tiff about their own drama-club, their own Dr. Phil episode. Civil War was not about something really important, such as the people and population that the superheroes are supposed to represent, either as wish-fulfillment, or as a real critique on their actual natures. In a way though that is unfair criticism, because unintentionally this was a critique on the character of modern Americans. How by absence, habit, and training we don’t really have any anymore. So in that sad sense it was Batman-Superman all over again, just without all the outright honesty. This film though never truly gets a chance to succeed at failing like that because it fails to be about what it was supposed to be about.

What then was Civil War the film actually about? The closest it ever got to being real was a running (literally, a lot of running) discourse about friendship, loyalty, and how far a man will go to remain loyal to a true friend. (Black Panther by the way had an excellent little sub-plot which was aloes instructive, about vengeance for the right reasons versus vengeance for the wrong reasons. I truly enjoyed watching Black Panther.)

Now didn’t get me wrong, friendship and true loyalty (that is to say the kind of, “I will fight and die for you loyalty”) is an extremely rare commodity in the modern world. And in modern America. Hell most modern Americans won’t risk themselves for anything, much less other people. See the Superman reference above, and so that’s precisely the point. So I am in no way denigrating or negating a film about true loyalty and real friendship. It’s important subject matter for modern myths, like comic superheroes. The shame is that it could have been that and still been about an actual and real Civil War. Oh, I understand that the film had to be limited (in comparison to the comics) in actor numbers and scenes and the overall plot had to be pared down, but it could have still been about a real Civil War. And friendship. Like the comic series was. It wasn’t. It wasn’t about a war at all really, and that’s the real fault of the thing. Mostly it was only about superheroes and character development and all of the other comic book bullshit that so floats the hole filled chalk anchors and thrills the nascent testicles of comic book fangurls everywhere. But it really wasn’t about anything. Other than that. Superheroes, entertainment, diversions, fist and laser beams fights, explosions.

If only there had been a Real War. An actual Civil War. But Marvel pussed out. They could have taken what they did with the last Captain America film, Winter Soldier (an excellent film about a real rebellion against government) and went all the way. Instead a cold wind blew up their skirts and they pulled their panties up and went home. And there ya go. Civil War as a faux entertainment and superhero fight fight, rather than one about a well, ya know, a war…

This was more like a hat-tip to fangurls and continuity agitators so they could babble more Nerdspeak while Rome burns. The real Rome I mean. Not that I blame the actors and actresses. They did superb jobs especially Falc, Panther, Cap, Iron Man, Vision, Widow, the kid playing Spiderman, and Bucky. No, this film was entirely a failure of writing and balls. Not acting, and maybe not even of directing. Just an horrendous and total lack of balls. No balls and you can’t write around that kinda thing. It becomes obvious quick.

Technically though, and as an entertainment, I give it a 4 out of 5. Because technically it was a superb film. And as a comic book superhero film it was also pretty good. Just not Winter Soldier good.

As far as being an important film, I give it a 2 out of 5. It was an urban film. Unlike the Winter Soldier it revolved around urban thinking. Petty turf fights. Avoidance of reality. And that showed the whole thing through.

In other words it was just another superhero fun-flick, rather than a film about what it actually means to be a Hero fighting for a truly important cause. You won’t get that in this flick. Nothing really important happens. You will get some boom-boom and some pretty flashy fights. Just not many fights about anything really worth fighting about. Or about anything applicable to the Real World. And if a story isn’t really applicable to the Real World then let’s just call it what it is, a pussified wish-fulfillment, or put another way, just another diversionary fantasy. I hope Marvel stays far away from ever again doing this kind of thing to their best work in the future.

You want something much, much more entertaining and infinitely more important then read the original Civil War comic series.

Better yet start your own Civil War. It’s way past time anyhow.

That’s my take on the thing. What’s yours?

DESERT JOURNEYS – GAMEPLAY

20 Things to Enliven a Desert Journey

by Creighton Broadhurst

Adventurers are intrepid types and often disappear into the wilderness in search of gold and glory. Many such adventures seem to happen in the furthest reaches of barren deserts.

 

Use the table below, to breath life into adventures set in a desert. None of the happenings listed below are intended to spawn a full encounter; rather think of them as wilderness dressing designed to add realism and depth to proceedings.

1. A lone desiccated tree emerges from the flank of a large dune standing across the party’s march. Its wide, frond-like leaves provide a modicum of shadow—and a brief respite—from the merciless sun.
2. A smudge of black smoke stains the horizon. If the PCs investigate they discover three burning wagons along with the slashed and torn bodies of their drovers and guards scattered about the churned, bloodstained sand.
3. Tracks—of at least a half-dozen humanoids—cross the party’s path. A PC steeped in wilderness lore can determine the creatures were trying to move single-file (perhaps to hide their numbers) and they were heavily leaden.
4. In the valley between two dunes, the remains of a crumbling dry stone wall struggles above the sands. Its line straggles along for about 15 ft. before disappearing below the sands.
5. A camel’s stark white bones lie amid the shifting sands.
6. A small flock of buzzards circle the party for several hours, before losing interest and flying away.
7. Heat rises in shimmering curtains. On the horizon, keen-eyed characters can make out what might be a small caravan trudging across the burning hot sands.
8. A lone cloud scuds across the sky. Bizarrely it seems to be moving against the wind.
9. A metal helmet—scorching hot to the touch—lies in the sand. Slightly further on, the party find a heavy steel shield and still later a breastplate scoured to near-blinding brightness by the wind-driven sand.
10. In the shade of a deep valley between two towering sand dunes lies a seemingly dried up oasis surrounded by forlorn palm trees and stubborn, coarse grass. Characters digging in the dried up pool discover water several feet down.
11. The sun reflects off something shiny on a far-off dune. The flash of light catches one of the party’s attention. Investigations (eventually) reveal a partially buried steel shield. The sigil of a local knoll tribe is crude daubed across it.
12. Seven rocks—placed to form an arrow—point back in the direction from which the party has come. Small drifts of sand around the stones suggest they will not be visible much longer.
13. A ripped and torn carpet lies half buried in the sand. The worn fabric is wrapped around the desiccated body of a man wearing only a loincloth. Perceptive PCs notice it seems nearly every bone in the man’s body is broken—in the same way as if he had fallen from a great height.
14. The mouldering body of a hyena lies amid a swath of bloodstained sand. Two arrows protrude from its body and a pack of buzzards peck and tear at its flesh.
15. A pack of hyenas trail the party. They hang back well out of bow range, waiting for someone in the group to collapse. If attacked, they retreat in search of easier prey.
16. A sandstorm blows across the horizon. Luckily for the PCs it is not heading in their direction.
17. The party encounters a wide “field” of cacti. Many of the prickly plants are as tall as human. In the centre of the field lies a small oasis. Because of the cacti, the oasis is relatively safe from wandering predators.
18. The party encounters an area of particularly soft sand. Although this is not quicksand, it makes travel even harder than normal. The area is quite extensive—several miles across in fact—but diverting around it could add a day to the party’s journey.
19. The wind and shifting sands reveal the remains of an old battle. Skeletons scoured bright white by the sands lie where they fell. Amid the carnage lies the combatants’ desiccated and rusted equipment.
20. The party witnesses a savage storm ahead. Later—as night falls—they encounter an area of rock upland scoured free of sand. Near its peak they discover a cave containing a worn set of steps leading down into darkness…

GM’s Miscellany: Wilderness Dressing

If you enjoy the table above and like wilderness dressing, check out GM’s Miscellany: Wilderness Dressing—Endzeitgeist’s choice as the number one book of 2014! Crammed with 150 pages of information and charts designed to bring your wilderness adventures alive, GM’s Miscellany: Wilderness Dressing is an essential part of any GM’s arsenal.

STAR TREK BEYOND – LOST LIBRARY

‘Star Trek: Beyond’ Gets New Release Date

SEPTEMBER 17, 2015 | 04:58PM PT

Dave McNary

Film Reporter@Variety_DMcNary

Paramount has moved “Star Trek: Beyond” back two weeks to July 22.

The studio had originally announced a July 8 release date late last year. It will face Warner Bros.’ “King Arthur” and Fox’s animated “Ice Age: Collision Course” on July 22.

The film will mark the 50-year anniversary of the television launch of the landmark science-fiction series. The TV series debuted on Sept. 8, 1966, on NBC and aired for three seasons.

Justin Lin is directing the third installment in Paramount’s rebooted “Star Trek” franchise with Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto in the lead roles. J.J. Abrams directed the first two “Star Trek” reboots in 2009 and 2013.

David Ellison’s Skydance Prods. and Abrams’ Bad Robot are producing. Orci and Abrams are theproducers.

Lin directed the third, fourth, fifth and sixth installments of the “Fast and Furious” franchise.

2013’s “Star Trek Into Darkness” grossed $467 million worldwide, including $229 million domestically.

WONDER WOMAN – THE FORGE

Confirmed: Wonder Woman To Begin Filming In November

• Jay Jayson
• – 09/09/2015

  

Wonder Woman producer Deborah Snyder (Zack Snyder’s wife) has now confirmed that filming for Gal Gadot’s solo film, which will be directed by Monster director Patty Jenkins (replaced Michelle MacLaren), will begin filming in November.

“But we still wanted a female director and we found Patty Jenkins, who had the right vision and the same vision as we had for the character,” Snyder said at Geena Davis Institutes’ Gender In Media event. “And we’re really happy to be going into production in November and it’s been a really great process. We tried to hire as many female people on the crew as possible.”

 

Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman solo film, also starring Chris Pine (Star Trek), will hit theaters on June 23, 2017.

FF4 TRAILER – DESIGN OF THINGS TO COME

Final ‘Fantastic Four’ Trailer Brings the Team in Full View

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BY: BRAD BREVET
TUESDAY, JUL 14, 2015 AT 7:08 AM

Photo: 20th Century Fox

The biggest thing the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot has going for it is its cast. Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, Miles Teller and Jamie Bell make up the titular superhero team and they, and they alone are the reason I have any modicum of interest in this movie as it’s become harder and harder to actually muster interest for superhero movies nowadays as they all feel part of a larger whole that’s more about selling toys and tickets than telling a good story. In fact, the supposed turmoil behind-the-scenes concerning director Josh Trank may actually be further evidence the goal here was to make something more than just another visual effects extravaganza. I guess it all depends on how you choose to look at it.

Today a final trailer for the upcoming Aug. 7 release has arrived and it offers the most extensive look at the film yet. For video see link.