D&D Morale Through the Ages

The discussion below is only for those who are really into role playing games. It deals in minutiae and might irritate non-gamers to no end. If you are not a gamer, please don't become annoyed as you will only have yourself to blame for reading deeply into the post.

I was reading through the Troy Denning Black Box the other day. The box has a nice "toy value" quality about it and is my personal favorite "introductory box" edition of D&D. I love the Moldvay/Cook Basic and Expert Sets as rules sets to play, but I think that Denning's "Dragon Cards" system is one of the best pedagogical approaches to teaching role playing games I have ever seen.

To make a long story short, I noticed an interesting rule in the Morale section of the rulebook. According to the Denning box, "A monster or NPC who rolls 12 for his morale check has become a fanatic. A fanatic need not check morale again during this particular encounter." This quote got me wondering as to what the specific morale rules were in earlier editions of "traditional" Dungeons and Dragons, since this rule seemed to go against my understanding of how morale worked in the Basic/Expert rules set.

The Denning boxed set was published in 1991, and republished with some changes to presentation in a tan box in 1994 as The Classic Dungeons & Dragons, which makes it the last edition of the Basic/Expert rules for the Dungeons & Dragons game. The Denning box was meant to serve as the introductory product that led people to purchase the Dungeons and Dragons: Rules Cyclopedia which had the "complete" rules for the Dungeons and Dragons role playing game. It should be noted that these rules were produced during a time when TSR had two D&D product lines that cannibalized some sales from one another, Dungeons & Dragons and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

For those of you who don't know what morale is, it is a system by which the "spiritedness" of a given monster or opponent is represented. It simulates the courage of units and how they react when they are under fire, fighting a superior force, have sustained significant casualties etc. In essence, it answers the question "do the survivors flee or keep on fighting?" A historical example of a fighting force with extremely high morale would be the 300 who fought at Thermopylae. They fought to the last with no thought of surrender. Moral rules are a legacy of role playing games war game roots. Morale is extremely important in simulation war games, and is important in some role playing games.

The above quote regarding morale checks in the Denning edition is a typical description of the mechanical resolution of checking morale in the Basic/Expert series of products, but it also -- as I will discuss later -- seems to counter mechanical to that system and I believe is based on a misreading of the rules set. It was this sense that the Denning Morale rule ran contrary to the underlying mechanics of Basic/Expert morale that made me wonder what the rules had been historically and how they changed. Maybe Denning's solution was an upgrade and not a mistake. In order to find out, let's explore the morale rules of the various editions.

Chainmail

Before there was Dungeons & Dragons there was Chainmail. The "fantasy supplement" introduced in the 3rd edition of Chainmail is one of the direct descendants of the D&D game. The morale rules are fairly arcane and lack internal consistency. Chainmail morale can be divided into three categories -- Melee Morale, Casualty Morale, and Cavalry Charge Response Morale. Units in Chainmail respond using the morale rules appropriate to the situation. Chainmail defines morale in the following manner:

In addition, the mental and physical condition of the men (their morale) is taken into consideration in this game.

Morale is checked before and after combat, basing the determination on historical precedent, just as the fighting ability in actual cases was drawn upon to calculate melee results. The loss of "heart" is at least as serious as a defeat in combat, and perhaps more so, for most battles are won without the necessity of decimation of the losing side.

In the definition we see not only a description of morale and its effects, but a justification as well. It is a justification that fits well with early editions of D&D where many of the enemies players defeat flee rather than fight to the death. The game would have been much more deadly for the player's characters if the villains always fought to the death.

Melee Morale

Chainmail evaluates morale at the end of each round of combat. This is done through a relatively arcane system, which I have paraphrased below to make the rules clearer.

1. Compare the number of casualties on each side and subtract losses of the side that lost fewer troops from the side with greater casualties. Multiply this score by the roll of a six sided die and credit these points to the side with lower casualties.

For example: Steven's 10 Heavy Cavalry attacks Charlie's 20 Heavy Foot soldiers. Two of Steven's figures are killed in the melee, but 8 of Charlie's troops are defeated. We subtract the two troops Steven lost from eight Charlie lost and get a difference of 6. We roll a six-sided die and get a 3. We multiply this die roll by 6 (the loss differential) and get 18. Steven's base post melee morale is 18.

2. We now look at how many troops each unit contains. We subtract the number of troops in the smaller unit from the number of troops in the larger unit and credit those points to the player who controls the larger unit as a bonus to his or her base morale.

For example: Charlie's unit of 12 surviving Heavy Foot soldiers contains more units than Steven's unit of 8 Heavy Cavalry. We add this difference to Charlie's post melee morale score giving Charlie a base post melee morale of 4.

3. The player now examines their surviving figures and adds up their total "morale ratings." Different troop types have different morale ratings and this number is multiplied by the number of figures of that unit type and added to that player's post melee morale rating.

For example: Steven has 8 Heavy Cavalry surviving at the end of the battle. Heavy cavalry have a morale rating of 9. Since Steven has 8 figures with a rating of 9 (9 x 8 = 72), he gains an additional 72 post morale points for a total of 90. Charlie has 12 remaining Heavy Foot soldiers who have a morale rating of 5 (12 x 5 = 60), he gains an additional 60 morale points for a total of 64.

4. We now subtract the lower post morale rating from the higher value and compare the results to the morale result chart. If there are fewer than 20 figures per side of combat, then we double the result before comparing the results.

For example: We subtract Charlie's 64 post melee morale points from Steven's 90 points and get a result of 26. Since there are now fewer than 20 individual figures per side, we multiply this result by two and get a total morale differential of 52. After looking at the chart (which I am not including as this is wordy enough), we find that Charlie's troops back up 1 full move in good order and are not fully routed.

As you can see, this system is fairly arcane and fairly involved, but it is workable for a miniatures war game. It isn't particularly effective at the "man to man" combats that typically occur in a role playing game and only takes into account group morale after a round of engagement.

Casualty Morale

In addition to using a morale system that represents the effects of changes in the comparative strengths of units, Chainmail has a morale rule that is to be used when a unit becomes unstable due to an excess of casualties. Not only can a unit become routed due to comparative losses in an immediate engagement, it can become routed due to long term (or short term) attrition as well. This kind of morale is reflected in what I call Chainmail's "casualty morale" system. It is this system which provides the framework that will inspire the morale systems of the Dungeons & Dragons role playing game.

Instability Due to Excess Casualties: When casualties from any and all causes exceed a certain percentage of a unit's original total strength, morale for that unit must be checked by rolling two dice. If the loss is brought below the set percentage by missile fire, the unit must check before the melee portion of the turn. If the loss is brought about by melee, the unit must check morale after melees have been completed for that turn. If the unit remains stable, it need not again check morale until such time as it suffers losses to the stated percentage of its original strength, but at that time it must be removed from the table for the remainder of the game.

Under this system, each unit type has a different casualty rate and required morale roll. Less "professional" units have to check morale at smaller levels of loss and need to roll higher to remain stable. A peasant levy might need to check morale after losing 25% of its membership, and would thus be completely eliminated if it ever lost a total of 50% of its starting membership. This peasant levy would have to roll an 8 or better on two six sided dice. In comparison, mounted knights might only check morale if they lose 50% of their membership and would thus require a total loss to eliminate them if they made their initial morale test. The knights might only require a roll of 4 or better to succeed on their morale check. Failure at the roll means that the troops are totally defeated. Unlike the arcane comparative system used during melee, this system is quick and easy to use.

As I mentioned earlier, it is this system that eventually inspired the morale system of the D&D role playing game. The use of percentage of troop strength lost (which could be group members or total hit points) is easier to translate to an rpg, and the use of a simple roll of two dice for resolution ensures a quick resolution.

Cavalry Charge Response Morale

The final representation of morale effects in Chainmail is their "cavalry charge response" system. Mounted troops have historically had a significant advantage over their more earthbound foes due to the fact that a cohort of well armed men on horseback is an extremely intimidating thing to face. There were rare armies, like the Romans or Swiss pikemen, who had the discipline and courage to stand firm when confronted with a mounted charge, but these were the exception rather than the rule. To represent the fear most troops experience when confronted with a charge, Chainmail uses the following system:

Cavalry Charge: In order to withstand a charge by mounted men, the defending unit must check morale. Fear of the charge was usually more dangerous than the impact of the cavalry. Units that fail to score the required total retreat 1 1/2 moves, backs to the enemy, and must rally. If both units are charging, both must check morale, adding 1 to the dice score if Foot, and two to the dice score if Horse.

This awkwardly phrased paragraph is followed by a chart that compares defending unit type to attacking unit type and gives a number that must be rolled in order for the defending unit to stand firm. For example, a force of Heavy Foot soliders must roll a 9 or better (on 2d6) or flee the charging cavalry. This system is very similar mechanically to the casualty morale system with some modification allowing for the differing ability of some troops to withstand charges from different kinds of cavalry. Like the casualty morale system, some legacy of the cavalry charge system can be seen in later editions of D&D.

Dungeons & Dragons (First Edition)

The first edition of the Dungeons & Dragons game uses the morale systems as they are presented in Chainmail and provides no specific guidelines for a morale system. All references to morale in the original 3 D&D books refer to modifiers that are applied to morale checks with one exception in the section discussing the "Loyalty of Non-Player Characters (Including Monsters)." This additional rule is a demonstration of how the morale rules were developing away from war game considerations and into narrative role playing situations. This was done by essentially combining the casualty morale rules with the cavalry charge morale rules. The additional rule reads as follows:

Non-player characters and men-at-arms will have to make morale checks (using the above reaction table or "Chainmail") whenever a highly dangerous or un-nerving situation arises. Poor morale will mean that those in question will not perform as expected.

Periodic re-checks of loyalty should be made. Length of service, rewards, etc. will bring additional pluses. Poor treatment will bring minuses.

The emphasis on "highly dangerous situations" rather than a quantified representation of damage or unit loss signifies a major shift away from mechanics and demonstrates one of the ways that D&D began to emphasize how the player's characters interacted with non-player characters could affect behavior in the long run. This is one of the early rules hinting at how to incorporate the "acting" portion of role playing games into a game by mechanically rewarding the behavior when it is done in a particular manner. Though the rule mentions the possible use of a reaction chart for morale reactions, when one looks at that chart it becomes clear that the Chainmail morale system gives more individualized results that represent the specific kind of non-player character being modeled by the rules. The reaction chart is useful as a quick and dirty solution, but it gives uniform results regardless of troop type. It should be noted that no monster is given a morale rating in this edition of D&D, though Chainmail does provide morale scores for fantastic creatures that can be used in the melee morale resolution system. How much braver a dragon is than a goblin is only reflected in the fact that goblins subtract 1 from all morale checks in sunlight.

Dungeons & Dragons (Basic -- Holmes Edition)

The word morale is only used three times in the Holmes Basic Set. The Bless spell is listed as adding 1 to morale checks, Hobgoblins are listed as adding 1 to morale checks, and the rules mention that the morale of retainers might be affected if players continually force hirelings to test potentially dangerous magic items. It appears that the Holmes set assumes that players who are interested in adding details like morale can find them in the other rules available at the time, which included both the original three D&D rulebooks as well as Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. That said, it is possible that monsters will surrender in the Holmes set if the dungeon master decides that is the case, or if the monster has a positive reaction to the player's characters when it first encounters them.

Dungeons & Dragons (Basic -- Moldvay)

It could be argued that the Tom Moldvay edited D&D Basic Set -- published in 1981 -- is the first version of D&D that can be "played out of the box." Previous editions of D&D almost required aspiring players to find a group of existing players who could explain the mechanics of the game so that the new player could play the game at all. Dr. Holmes attempted to create a version of the game that could be played by neophytes with the earlier Basic Set, but there are those who believe that he failed at the task. I think that the failure to have any morale rules, while including references to morale effects, is indicative of Holmes' failure to deliver on his intentions. He certainly laid the foundations for how a Basic Set could be written, and articulated clearly the task of a Basic Set, but it is arguable whether he succeeded or not.

Holmes described the purpose of a Basic Set in Dragon Magazine #53 as follows, "the D&D Basic Rulebook is written for people who have never seen a game. It is intended to teach the game to someone who's coming to it for the first time. All other considerations should be secondary to teaching how to play the game with a minimum of confusion." Holmes believed, and I agree, that "the first Dungeons & Dragons rule sets...were intended to guide people who were already playing the game. As a guide to learning the game, they were incomprehensible." As I have demonstrated above, the morale rules are clearly an area where this was true. Early morale rules were difficult to understand and inconsistent in mechanics, and Holmes' Basic did not dispel any obfuscation in the original rules.

Moldvay's Basic Set, the set that I learned to play D&D from, was different. It was not only clear in its presentation of the game's mechanics, it was also fun to read and contained some writing that sparked the imagination. The prose wasn't high art, but it was fuel for starving fantasy fans. It was also the first edition of D&D to have a quickly resolved, and easy to understand, morale system.

Knowing that morale rules added complexity to the game, the morale rules in the Moldvay Basic Set are optional. That said, they are easy to understand and clearly articulated:

MORALE (Optional)

Any creature in battle may try to run away or surrender. Characters are never forced to do this; a character always reacts in the way the player wishes. NPCs and monsters, however, may decide to run away or surrender. To handle this situation, each monster is given a morale score...

MORALE SCORES: ...This number is from 2-12. The higher the morale score, the better the morale. A score of 6-8 is average. A score of 2 means that the monster will not fight. A score of 12 means that the monster will fight to the death without checking morale. Creatures with a score between 2 and 12 will need to "check morale" at some time during battle, as explained below.

HOW TO CHECK MORALE: ...To check morale, roll 2d6. If the result is greater than the monsters' morale score, the monster will try to retreat...If the result is less than or equal to the morale score, the monster will continue to fight.

There are a couple of interesting points here. I believe that the Moldvay book is the first time that player's characters don't have to check for morale. Older editions of D&D are more rooted in miniatures war gaming, and morale checks would equally apply to PCs as to monsters. At least, this is the first reference I have seen to pure player empowerment with regard to moral. This is an important innovation in role playing as it gives full decision making to players. If they want to play cowards, they can. If they want to play foolhardy combatants, they can.

You can see how the Moldvay rule runs contrary to the Denning morale rule. Denning's presentation of the morale system is almost identical, save for the "if you roll a 12 on the morale check the monster becomes fanatic and won't surrender rule." Under Moldvay's system, the roll won't ever make a monster fanatic, only an initial score will. More on this difference later.

Dungeons & Dragons (Basic -- Mentzer)

In 1983, TSR published a third edition of the Basic Set. This time the rules were edited by Frank Mentzer. Mentzer brought some innovations to the presentation of the rules, including dividing the rules into a player's booklet and a dungeon master's booklet. This edition keeps the morale rules as optional and expands on Moldvay's description of how and why the rules work. Though the language is expanded, the rules are the same as those in the Moldvay edition.

Dungeons & Dragons (Basic -- Denning)

As you may remember from the beginning of this post, at least those of you still reading this will, the Denning Basic Set -- published in 1991 -- contains a change from the earlier morale rules. In Denning, "A monster or NPC who rolls 12 for his morale check has become a fanatic. A fanatic need not check morale again during this particular encounter." This is in contrast to the Moldvay and Mentzer rules where only a score of 12 indicates a fanatical opponent, and where the roll only determines incidental success or failure.

What is interesting about this rule, and why I believe it to be rooted in a misreading of the earlier rules by Denning, is that it effectively removes any difference between an 11 morale and a 12 morale. Under the Denning system, these scores are statistically identical. This is because a roll of 11 or less gives a successful morale check for the monster and a roll of 12 makes the monster fanatical. At first, I wondered if the rule was an intentional change as it gives any monster (including one with a morale of 2) the chance to become a fanatical opponent. This could lead to some interesting, and amusing, encounters, but when I checked the D&D Rules Cyclopedia -- the rules set that the Denning rules are supposed to be an introduction to -- it turned out that the Cyclopedia did not have the "roll a 12 and monster becomes fanatic" rule. This is something that only exists in the Denning version.

Having written all of this, I am pondering whether to use the Denning "mis-reading" of the rule precisely because of its fun possibilities and the randomness it adds to the game. The rule will only come into play 3% of the time for monsters with other than an 11 morale as one only rolls a 12 once in every 36 rolls on average, and it might create situations that surprise my players.

What are your thoughts on whether to use the Denning rule or not?

Post Apocalyptic Home Alone

I have always been a big fan of the Vincent Price The Last Man on Earth, as well as Charlton Heston's The Omega Man, both of which were based on Richard Matheson's story I am Legend. The story is one of the primary sources for the Zombie Apocalypse genre in film and literature -- a genre that has a fairly basic premise, but seems to continually inspire inventive narratives. One might imagine that the genre would be completely played out by now, but with shows (based on comics) like The Walking Dead and films (and books) like Book of Eli and The Road it's pretty clear that the cannibal apocalypse genre still has a lot to offer.

If you want to get into an argument about how cannibal apocalypse films and zombie apocalypse films aren't the same thing, we can talk about distinctions without differences if you really want -- but I'd rather not.

Instead, I'd like to share a small clip that I think would make a wonderful addition to the genre. It's called "I Am Home Alone." I would have gone with "I Am Alone," but that's just me. It's a mash up of Home Alone and the more recent Will Smith I Am Legend. It's pretty enjoyable. In fact, I wouldn't mind seeing a real version of this story.

Dave Morris and Jamie Thomson's Fabled Lands Adventure Gamebooks Return

In the mid-90s during the dwindling days of the vibrant Fantasy Adventure Gamebook phenomenon, Dave Morris and Jamie Thomson released their Fabled Lands series. It was a "mythical" and much talked about series among gamebook fans, but one that wasn't often seen in the United States. Dave Morris was one of the authors responsible for the Dragon Warriors role playing game (one of the most narratively driven role playing games of its time) and the books featured artwork from Fighting Fantasy artist Russ Nicholson, so the difficulty in finding the books was frustrating to many gamebook fans. I personally wondered if I would ever be able to find copies of the books, and thankfully my wait is over. Fabled Lands Publishing has recently published the first four books in the Fabled Lands series and has eight more listed on their publication schedule.

The adventure gamebook was a genre created by Ian Livingstone and Steven Jackson in 1982, with the publication of the classic Warlock of Firetop Mountain adventure. The genre combined the gaming experience of role playing games like Dungeons and Dragons with the narrative choice pathing of the Choose Your Own Adventure series. For over a decade publishers released a wide variety of these gamebooks.

The Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, being the first, set the standard for the industry. The vast majority of the Fighting Fantasy series were entertaining and inventive, but they didn't contain epic narratives that used the same character that traveled from book to book. The majority of the Fighting Fantasy series were episodic, and they failed to capture the feel of a role playing game campaign. The first series to truly capture the campaign feeling was Joe Dever's Lone Wolf series, where a player could use the same character for over 20 books as that character changed and grew and faced increasingly challenging foes.

Like the Dever books, the Fabled Lands series contains innovations that separate them from the typical gamebook. In Fabled Lands players have a wider array of character choices to play from than are typically offered. In your standard gamebook, players are typically limited to one "character class." There are books that allow you to play fighters, wizards, superheroes, kai disciples, and more, but each volume typically offers only one archetype. Steve Jackson's Sorcery is one exception, as are the Fabled Lands books. In Fabled Lands, players can choose from one of six professions which cover the majority of fantasy archetypes a player might find interesting. Additionally, Morris and Thomson included a "keyword" mechanic where players acquire keywords as they progress through the series. Possessing these keywords will affect future encounters and shape the playing experience. For ease of play, all keywords within a particular volume begin with the same letter. In The War-Torn Kingdom all keywords begin with A and the progression continues in later volumes. Fabled Lands uses a quick and effective combat system that allows for more variety in results than the Fighting Fantasy series without the use of a chart like in Lone Wolf.

My books came in the mail today, and I am eagerly anticipating my first foray into Sokara and the rest of the Fabled Lands

Light Grammatical Amusement for Your Friday Pleasure

David Mitchell, on behalf of the Queen's English, conveys a small grammatical lesson to Americans. Quite funny and quite useful.

Harry Potter Flashmob at The University of San Diego

Students at the University of San Diego planned and performed a wizard's duel at one of the school's libraries during finals season. The performance seems a little clumsy, and the filming isn't the best, but there are a couple of magic moments and the student's hearts are definitely in the right place. I hope that these students get together for another duel with more planning time, and they definitely have to reuse the "waaaagh!" guy again. He makes the video worth every moment.

INCEPTION in Real Time

As a strong supporter of Intellectual Property rights, I am often hesitant to post links to videos that might cross the line away from "fair use" of other's IP. This video featuring a "real time" interpretation of the "heist" sequence from INCEPTION is a rare exception. I think that its imaginative use of footage and the way it presents a concept discussed in the film, combined with the fact that it in no way presents an alternative to the original IP make this video a clear example of fair use. This is one of those rare instances where the creator of a derivative property has not only made an interesting work of art, but has added to my affection for the originating IP and reminded me that I need to buy the DVD of INCEPTION as soon as possible.

Do You Want to Be Ghost Writer for Me? I Will Cut You in for 10%

Who can turn that down?

Will Winnie the Pooh Be the First Film I See WIth My Daughters on the Big Screen?

Next summer Disney's newest version of Winnie the Pooh will make its appearance in theaters.   From the looks of the trailer, it appears that it will be a wonderful presentation of the classic children's character.  I cannot wait to see the film, and my twin girls should be ready to sit through an entire feature by next summer.  What a wonderful graduation present from my MBA a theater experience with all of my ladies would be.

Wizards of the Coast Makes Virtual Table Announcement

Just prior to the release of the 4th edition of D&D, Wizards of the Coast promoted a number of computer based tools that would go live shortly after the release of the game in support of play.  It was one of the most exciting things about the build up and announcement, and the failure of Wizards to "deliver the goods" was one of the things that most fed into the Edition Wars that flamed through internet forums after 4e's release.

I have been a big fan of 4e since the get go, and run the Encounters program for a local game store, but even I have succumbed to the disappointment bug from time to time.  I wanted all those cool toys that Wizards "promised" me.

Today they sparked hope that they would be delivering the goods on one of the most anticipated of the gaming tools they promoted, the Virtual Table.  This computer application will help to speed up play at real tables and expands play opportunities for those who live far from other gamers.

From the initial screenshot, this is looking good.

If I could just get in on the beta...

Ryan Reynold's Green Lantern Preview...Two Words -- "Kilowog Woot!"

Some of my fondest memories are night time readings of the Giffen/DeMatteis Justice League back when I was proving to her how wonderful comic books could be. The wonder of the Giffen/DeMatteis issues is that they presented the lives of super heroes in a way that comics had never done before, and hasn't really done since. We got to see the day to day dynamics of a super hero team. The Giffen/DeMatteis work was a combination comic book, sit com, action movie, and drama.

Wonderful stuff.

Among the joys of those books was a Green Lantern named Kilowog. Someone had the good sense to put him into the upcoming Green Lantern movie.

A 70s Chevy Van Mural Come to Life? Or...a Film Representation of a 70s D&D Campaign?

I just saw the Red Band trailer for Your Highness. The Danny McBride and James Franco fantasy follow up to Pineapple Express. Like Pineapple, Highness is a fusion of stoner jokes and genre film making -- in this case Fantasy.

I don't know what to think of this kind of movie. I've never been big on the Cheech and Chong style of comedy, even when well done. As amusing as parts of this film look, the pot joke in the film's title, like most stoner jokes, is as stale as hard tack left over from the Civil War. Get it? "Your Highness?" ahuh ahuh

I like comedy aimed at shock value a great deal, but I don't like stale comedy. After all of the anti-Prop 19 editorials published this year, I've had enough stale pot jokes. Hopefully this film will have something more to offer. There are glimpses that it might.

That said... I have a compulsion to watch every Fantasy film ever made and I have a crush on Zooey Deschanel.

I can say that this trailer reminds me of the gaming sessions that one of my best friend's older brothers used to have in the late 70s and early 80s. Those sessions were a gonzo fusion of Led Zeppelin, Tolkien, and Thongor.

Raging Phoenix -- Does it Rise to the Occassion?

Martial Arts films are continually attempting to push boundaries. Sometimes, especially in Wuxia films, the boundaries they are pushing are visually and narratively artistic. Typically, the boundaries being pushed relate to the sophistication of the choreography and the danger (perceived or otherwise) of the stunts being performed by the martial artists and stunt men and women working on the production.

A quick look at the final battle sequence in Five Deadly Venoms versus the end fight in Flash Point provides a nice demonstration of just how far martial arts films have pushed their performers to provide exciting viewing experiences. Five Deadly Venoms may be the more coherent and entertaining film overall, but the final fight scene in Flash Point is more than worth the price of admission.

Throughout the 80s and 90s, Hong Kong was the place to look for exciting and adventurous action. When some of the HK talent migrated into Hollywood, there were those who argued that HK had lost some of its edge and looked for new markets to find the next big thing in action and excitement. These cinephiles didn't have to look very far. Thailand has been producing entertaining action fare for decade, but the charismatic personalities of Tony Jaa and Jeeja Yanin have attracted an audience of loyal fans. Both Jaa and Jeeja have demonstrated a strong work ethic and a willingness to follow in the tradition of boundary pushing action. I would argue that Donnie Yen's past few films, with their breakneck pace, are a reaction to the fast paced action of the Thai productions.

While martial arts films are continuously attempting to push boundaries, there are those rare films that push them so far as to redefine genre expectations. Jackie Chan's performances in Wheels on Meals and Armor of God and Jet Li's Bodyguard from Beijing and Fist of Legend quickly leap to mind as just these kinds of films. Jeeja Yanin's latest film Raging Phoenix is attempting to be one of these genre redefining films. Raging Phoenix combines Muay Thai with break dancing and drunken fighting in an attempt to create a visually dynamic action style.

Raging Phoenix has a fairly straightforward plot. Young woman barely escapes being kidnapped by the Jaguar gang of human traffickers when she is rescued by an opponent of the Jaguar gang. The woman's rescuer becomes her martial arts trainer and she joins a rag tag band of people who have lost loved ones to the gang. The members of the band hope to put an end to the Jaguar gang's reign of terror and to rescue the fiance of one of the band's members from the clutches of evil. There isn't much new in the story's formula, but if well executed it can be an entertaining ride.

Sadly, Raging Phoenix -- at least in the subtitled American release -- doesn't convey the narrative of the film particularly well. Time jumps come at seemingly random intervals and the audience seems to be expected to fill in the narrative gaps in the story. This isn't a difficult task, but as in Ong Bok's American theatrical release, it can be annoying as it creates a stutter in the storytelling.

What was particularly frustrating about the stuttering narrative was that the film did in fact have an interesting twist on the main premise. The Jaguar gang is kidnapping women, not for ransom or to sell into prostitution or organ "donation," instead they are harvesting their victims tears in order to create a pheromone based perfume -- perfume made from the tears of the hopeless. It's not just any perfume either, the tears of the hopeless apparently add to the martial and physical prowess of those who use them.

The stilted transition of scenes is additionally frustrating due to the fact that the acting performances by Jeeja and Kazoo are pretty solid. Certainly the performances are theatrical and melodramatic at times, but when they need to be they are quite powerful. The actors portray their emotional losses well, and the film would have been better served if it had all the necessary filler scenes.

But enough of the narrative and its merits. How well does Raging Phoenix achieve its goal of pushing the boundaries of martial arts action through the inclusion of break dancing based techniques? In short, not so well. Overall, the martial arts in the film is quite exciting. Of particular merit is the battle between Jeeja Yanin and Marc Ngai Hoang. There are some great fight scenes in the film, but whenever a character inserts a "hip hop" move the fight seems to slow down and the choreography becomes readily apparent. The break dancing elements typically shatter the illusion that you are viewing anything remotely spontaneous.

Thankfully, the hip hop insertions are minimal and when the fights get really rolling the fluidity of drunken Muay Thai take over. The flying elbows and knees are impressive, and the damage they deal to opponents is believable.

Had the film eliminated the hip hop, focused on the action, and added some narrative filler scenes, this could have been an instant classic. As it is, it is a film that I will fast forward to a couple of fight scenes just to experience them again. None of those fight scenes come close to matching the brutal dynamism of Flash Point.

D&D Essentials Continues to Impress -- Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms

Last week I picked up my copy of the latest D&D Essentials book, Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms. Like its predecessor, Heroes of the Fallen Lands, Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms is meant to be an evergreen starter book for people interested in playing the Dungeons and Dragons role playing game. Where Fallen Lands featured rules for characters who fall within the four "classic" D&D archetype classes (Fighter, Cleric, Wizard, and Thief) and major races (Human, Halfling, Elf, and Dwarf) that made up the core of the Moldvay Basic Set when D&D was young, Forgotten Kingdoms introduces "classic" archetypes from the pages of the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (Paladin, Ranger, Druid, and Ranger) game with one addition -- the Hexblade -- as well as a host of new races (Dark Elves, Half Orcs, Dragonborn, and Half-Elves).

Both Fallen Lands and Forgotten Kingdoms are excellent products that accomplish the tasks they are attempting. The first three chapters of each book is identical and provides an overview of the basic mechanics of the D&D game system. If someone wants to play D&D as a player, all they need is one of these books and they are good to go. Their taste in archetypes can be used to determine which book they wish to buy, or they can buy both books which is my recommendation. None of the class builds in the books exist in other books and the classes are presented in a way that is easy to understand and learn.

But one question lingers at the back of many players brains.

What exactly are the Fallen Lands and Forgotten Kingdoms that are referred to in the titles and how do they relate to the characters and races presented in the books?

This is where the books truly shine. While the information is only hinted at in the flavor text throughout the books, after reading The Mark of Nerath I had a bit of an epiphany.

The "Fallen Kingdoms" are the recently fallen kingdoms of man, chief among them the Empire of Nerath. The Empire of Nerath was a strong empire that once ruled the dangerous area that makes up the Points of Light setting, but which fell victim to a curse due to a bargain that Nerath's founder, Morgath, entered into 500 years ago with Orcus the Lord of the Undead. As a recently memorable kingdom, having "fallen" within the past century, the character archetypes and races depicted are of the more mundane sort. Nerath was less fantastic than the kingdoms of the past and was filled with Fighters, Mages, Clerics, and Thieves. Elves (both Woodland and Fey), Dwarves, Humans, and Halflings walked its streets. These are the classes and races that the book presents to the characters.

The "Forgotten Kingdoms" of Arkoshia and Bael Turath collapsed long ago and their origins are lost and filled with mythical imagery. The Dragonborn Empire of Arkoshia was founded by those who sought to glorify Bahamut the Drakonic god of Honor and Duty. The land was filled with the stoic (in the philosophic sense) and sturdy Dragonborn and its Paladins are things of legend. Bael Turath was an Empire founded when a band of humans made a pact with Asmodeus, a pact that magically cursed those humans to become Tieflings, in order to attain glory. The events that collapsed these great empires are "forgotten," but their legacy remains. "Forgotten Kingdoms" presents classes and races that are more "magical" and alien to the world, or that echo those ancient empires. For example, today's Essential Paladins are no longer able to summon the wondrous and magical Holy Steeds that Paladins of the ancient kingdoms could summon. The modern Paladin can only summon an echo of that great ability by channeling the spirits of those glorious Holy Steeds into the mundane beasts they and their companions ride into battle. The powers of the epic Paladins are lost to time, but the residual essence remains.

I am mesmerized by the presentation. My only critique is how this relationship must be trepanned out of the text rather than openly stated. I remember the old AOL Greyhawk group, where we would mine for minor details in each D&D module to find a kernel of information about the World of Greyhawk. These two Essential rulebooks are filled with nuggets that hint at the glory of the Points of Light setting and the Nentir Vale.

I hope they give us some more explicit information, as I am enjoying the subtle hints.

Ultramarines DVD in the Mail

This past weekend I ordered a copy of the limited edition Ultramarines Warhammer 40k animated movie. I found out about the limited edition of the film at the last minute, but the second trailer makes the film look remarkable. If it lives up to its presentation, this could be the best rpg/wargame based movie of all time -- a title currently held by Fantasy Flight Games' Midnight Chronicles.

Insert Quarter, Gets Rejected! -- LITERAL TRON: LEGACY Trailer

I know this was posted five months ago, and that everyone else knows about Tobuscus, but I found this amusing. Especially the quote, "Insert Quarter, Gets Rejected!"



I am so excited about TRON: LEGACY, even with all the mockitude.

Gamma World Supers -- Out of the Box

I mentioned in my recent Gamma World review that the games mechanics felt very much like a super hero role playing game to me and that my current GW game was being run with a post-apocalyptic super hero theme. In my world, the mutant heroes have decided to pick up the legacy of the heroic legends of the Ancients and defend the defenseless. Consider it a Legion of Superheroes meets Ralph Bakshi's Wizards.

But the game could be run as a straight modern super hero game straight out of the box with minimal changes to keep the tone heroic and to avoid comedic randomness. I will make a list of recommendations and follow this with two examples, one a randomly created character and the other a "modeled" character based on an existing superhero.

• Interpret the origins broadly. Look at what the powers and abilities affect the world around them and use the descriptive text second.
• To simulate super strong characters do the following. First, use skill checks to simulate lifting capability and base lifting cars etc on an Athletics check (scaled by level). "Hard" difficulties for 10 tons or so and as per page 95, "a super-challenging" check for 100 tons. Require that the character be themed super strong to gain the benefit. Second, use the weapons table on page 74 as your ally. There are no rules for disarming in GW and who says that a "Heavy Two-Handed Melee Weapon" isn't a haymaker? Third, use the abstract armor rules to help you simulate characters like a certain rock covered blue eyed strongman. He's got innate Heavy Armor. It's simple, abstract, and freeform. Go with it.
• Speaking of that weapons chart, don't be afraid to have it simulate all kinds of super hero attacks. A patriotic shield wielding brawler obviously is using a light one handed ranged weapon. Since the game assumes you "can find or make new projectiles as needed," you can simply rule that the shield returning to his hand is automatic. The "ricochet" ability of said patriot might require a power, but the basic throw doesn't.
• Take off your Hero System Microscopic Glasses. Don't be afraid to be abstract instead of granular. Rather than requiring a specific rule be crafted for your specific action, modify broad rules to specific applications.

Now for a couple of examples.

Random Hero

Plant/Yeti

Interpreting Plant -- Plant Characters have a high Con (18), a bonus to overcharging biological powers, are trained in nature, have high Fort, are vulnerable to fire, and once an encounter can damage and slow all enemies in a large burst.

Interpreting Yeti -- Yeti are Strong (16) as secondary, are also trained in nature, have a bonus to AC for being tough, resist cold, and can rake with their claws once an encounter, which slows their opponent.

Got it...

Doctor Chillbourne

Doctor Thaddeus Chadbourne was a undergraduate student assisting a professor who researching the polar ice caps when he came upon an amulet in one of his deep core samples. Upon examining the amulet Thaddeus body was altered. He acquired the ability to generate cold and manipulate the water in the air around him to create armor and weaponry. He also discovered that his body structure had become more hardy. He was now super strong and resistant to cold, but alterations in his body make up have made him vulnerable to heat based attacks.

STRENGTH: 16 (+3)

• Atheletics -- +4

CONSTITUTION: 18 (+4)
DEXTERITY: 8 (-1)

• Acrobatics +0
• Stealth +0

INTELLIGENCE: 11 (+0)

• Conspiracy +1
• Mechanics +1
• Science +1

WISDOM: 9 (-1)

• Insight +0
• Nature +8
• Perception +0

CHARISMA: 11 (+0)

• Interaction +1

HP: 30 Movement: 5 (Heavy Ice Sheath)
AC: 19 (Heavy Ice Sheath)
FORT: 17
REFL: 11
WILL: 11
RESIST: Cold 10, Vuln Fire 5

ATTACKS (Interpreted from Weapons on Page 74)
Blast of Cold (Heavy One Handed Ranged)
Intense Cold Wave (Heavy Two Handed Ranged)
"Ice" Claws (Heavy One Handed Melee)

ARMOR
Heavy Ice Sheath (Heavy Armor)

POWERS
Chillwave (Encounter as per Lashing Creepers)
Devastating Ice Claw Blow (Encounter as per Big Claws)

ALPHA POWER
BRAIN FREEZE (As per LMAO Base Card)

OMEGA TECH
AMULET OF NEGESTH (As per Flash Neurojack)

I have left out some of the specifics of how the powers work, I want you to buy the game after all, but I am ready to play this character. As you can see, it didn't take much to adapt existing power titles based on their effects. Lashing Creepers does damage and then slows the opponent. That seems like a wave of cold to me. His Athletics check, and Yeti Origin (one of the super strong origins), will let him lift 10 tons on a 13 or better and more on higher rolls, but topping out at 20 tons if I choose a +5 to skill check for double the weight rule with categories doubling with each level increase as well.

Now for the "modeled" character:

THE HUMAN TORCH
SPEEDSTER/PYROKINETIC

STRENGTH: 10 (+0)

• Atheletics -- +1

CONSTITUTION: 14 (+2)
DEXTERITY: 18 (+4)

• Acrobatics +9 (Flying Tricks Only)
• Stealth +5

INTELLIGENCE: 10 (+0)

• Conspiracy +1
• Mechanics +1
• Science +1

WISDOM: 16 (+3)

• Insight +4
• Nature +4
• Perception +4

CHARISMA: 16 (+3)

• Interaction +8

HP: 26 Movement: 8
AC: 18 (Flame On!)
FORT: 13
REFL: 17
WILL: 14
RESIST: Fire 10

ATTACKS (Interpreted from Weapons on Page 74)
Fiery Energy Blast (Light One Handed Ranged)
Double Fiery Blast (Light Two Handed Ranged)
Fiery Punch (Light One Handed Melee)

ARMOR
Flame On! (Light Armor)

POWERS
Fiery Aura (see page 49, house rule auras can be turned off per 4e standard)
Mobile Assault (Encounter - as per Quick Attack)
Intense Flame (At Will as per Fiery Flare)

ALPHA POWERS (Deck of 7 Selected Cards, Can only use 1 at a time):
WALL OF FIRE x1 (as per Force Field Generation)
FLIGHT x2 (as per Fire Wings)
ENHANCED FLAME AURA x2 (As per Shimmershield)
SMALL NOVA BLAST x1 (as per Body of Light)
LARGE NOVA BLAST x1 (as per Explode!)



OMEGA TECH
None Selected

I had to use cards from the booster to do this particular modeling of Johnny Storm, but I could have gone a different route to simulate his powers had I wanted. I think that this looks like a highly playable character. He won't be flying in every encounter, though he will be flying in about 30% of them and the odds increase as he goes up in level. I don't foresee adding more Alpha Powers as he levels up and with eventually being able to use 3 alpha powers at the same time, he will be able to fly in most encounters. That's if I use the "core" rules and make the players change Alphas after each encounter and on a roll of 1. House rules could guarantee the use of core powers.

My thoughts are that super heroes tend to have more powers than they actually use in any given encounter, so it isn't too big a deal for Johnny to only fly 30% of the time. Otherwise, I'd have given him the Hawkoid type which has a flight speed to start with.

Gaming Paper Launches Patronage Project

Erik Bauer and the good folks at Gaming Paper are currently asking for patrons for the first product in their Gaming Paper Adventures line of combination map packs/rpg adventures.

This first product features the cartography of industry stalwart Christopher West who has created a giant map for the "Citadel of Pain," and an adventure written by Lou Argresta and Rone Barton.

Erik Bauer has found a way to use his industry competitive advantage, the production of high quality paper gaming maps, to differentiate his rpg adventure offerings. A complaint I have about many modern adventures is their lack of "out of the box" playmats. Some gamers prefer to keep their adventuring purely within their imagination, and I have participated in many successful campaigns that did so. The gaming group I have been playing with for the past 10 years isn't one of those groups. We have a combination of strategy game and eurogame veterans in addition to the pure role players in my group. All of the players like to role play out narrative scenes, but the majority of my players feel most comfortable when they have a nice batch of terrain in front of them during battles. This is one of the main reasons I own so many battle tile style products. I am constantly in need of terrain and maps to use in my adventures.

I am also very busy and rely heavily on prepublished adventures. Sometimes it can become irritating inventorying my tiles/maps to make sure I have the right ones on hand during the session since too few modules provide robust maps for use during play -- Paizo and Wolfgang Baur I'm looking at you.

This product addresses that issue, but it has one added bonus. The map tiles are designed to be GEOMORPHIC! How "old school" is that? What this means that I can use them even if I don't run the module they are associate with because any tile should be able to attach to any other tile. This expands the usefulness of the product to include those who need maps, but don't run published adventures.

I could continue with my thoughts on the product, but I think I'll let the Huckster in Chief (Erik Bauer) sell you on the merits himself.



Make sure that you support the project. I put a widget along the right hand column of the blog where you can help Kickstart the project.

Reviewing the New Gamma World -- The Adventures of Gamma Terra's Super Team Go!

This week Wizards of the Coast releases a new edition of the perennial "Gonzo Post-Apocalyptic" Role Playing Game Gamma World.  This edition will mark the seventh incarnation of the game, and the 6th version by TSR/Wizards.  In the 2000s, Wizards of the Coast licensed the game out to White Wolf Publishing who released a number of books that presented the Gamma World setting under the d20 rules set.  The newest edition of Gamma World uses the new 4th Edition of Dungeons and Dragons as its foundation, and demonstrates the flexibility of that rules set.

Historically, the Gamma World game has fluctuated between editions which have significant similarities to the TSR/Wizards flagship game (D&D) and those that have their own unique system.  The first and second edition of Gamma World were close enough for government work, and the 1st Edition AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide provided conversion rules that would let dungeon masters use Gamma World monster in their D&D games and vice versa.

The 3rd edition of Gamma World featured an Action Table mechanic that was used in a number of non-D&D TSR games at the time -- including Marvel, Indiana Jones, Conan, and Star Frontiers' Zebulon's Guide.  The fourth edition of Gamma World saw a return to D&D based mechanics, but the fifth edition of the game had mechanics based in TSR's Alternity Science Fiction role playing game.  Alternity was a quality game, that had a couple of high quality settings like Dark*Matter and Gamma World, that had the bad fortune of being released during a time when TSR's product lines were so extended that they were cannibalizing TSR's market share -- one of many problems TSR faced at the time.

For the sixth edition Wizards of the Coast licensed the property to White Wolf Publishing's "Sword & Sorcery" studio.  That edition of the game used the d20 Modern mechanics (those rules were an adaptation of the 3rd edition D&D mechanics) and was published under a d20 System license.  The game received some good support and like other editions of the game has its share of fans.

That's enough history for the moment.  I'll be doing a series of posts covering the various editions throughout the month.  That brings us to the newest edition which hits the shelves in its wide release today.

As mentioned earlier, the latest edition of Gamma World uses a stripped down version of the 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons rules.  Gamma World's 160 page rule book provides all of the rules that you need to have an entertaining post-apocalyptic game experience, but this experience can be extended if you supplement the rule book with the 4th Edition Rules Compendium, as will be made clear as we move forward.

First Impression

As soon as I opened the box I new I was going to enjoy this game, but not for the reasons I would have assumed.  As readers of this blog know, I am a sucker for super hero role playing games and have made it my life's work to own a copy of every super hero rpg ever published.  Past editions of Gamma World, like this edition, featured mutations that afflicted the post apocalyptic player characters, but those mutations never quite equated with "super powers" in my mind.  This edition of Gamma World, on the other hand, screams to be played as a post-apocalyptic super hero game. From the character creation systems "origins" mechanic to the incorporation of "Alpha Mutations," this game comes closer than any earlier edition to being a supers game.  This supers connection is enhanced by the "What is Human?" sidebar on page 57 and the discussion of "Reconciling Contrary Origins" on page 35 and the themes of the origins themselves.  For some, that will be a bad thing.  For me, it is a blessing.

Essentials got me to play 4e, but this Gonzo Post-Apocalyptic presentation will likely keep me playing that system.

The Setting

This game has one crazy post-apocalyptic setting.  As their Introduction describes it:

In the fall of 2012, scientists at the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland, embarked on a new series of high-energy experiments.  No one knows exactly what they were attempting to do, but a little after 3 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon came the Big Mistake.  Something unexpected happened, and in the blink of an eye, many possible universes all condensed into a single reality.

In some of these universes, little had changed; it didn't make a difference which team won the 2011 World Series, for example.  In other universes, there were more important divergences:  The Gray Emissary, who was carrying gifts of advanced technology, wasn't shot down over Roswell in 1947, the Black Death didn't devastate the known world in the 14th century, the dinosaurs didn't die out, Nikolai Tesla did conquer the world with a robot army, and so on. The Cold War went nuclear in 83 percent of all of the possible universes, and in 3 percent of the possible universes, the French unloaded their entire nuclear arsenal on the town of Peshtigo, Wisconsin, because it had to be done.  When reality stabilized again, the familiar Earth of the 21st century was replaced by one formed from many different realities.

The year is now 2162, (or 151, or 32,173, or Six Monkey Slap-Slap, depending on your point of view).  It's been a hundred and fifty years since the Big Mistake, and the earth is a very different place...

This world features mutated Badgers, Giant Cockroach-Yeti Hybrids, Flying Plants, Fusion Guns, Pick Up Trucks, Draft Horses, Alien Technology, Felinoid Rat Swarms, and random holes in reality.

It is desperately in need of heroes.

The Rules

The game uses a pared down version of the 4th Edition D&D game mechanics.  During character creation, players roll on a chart twice to determine their primary and secondary "origins."

The character's origin determines the value of the character's primary and secondary statistics, thus guaranteeing that at least some of the characters statistics and powers will line up with regard to usefulness.  All other statistics are determined by rolling 3d6 like in "old school" D&D.

As might be imagined, the character origins might not always line up with what one first imagines.  What does a Hawkoid/Plant Hybrid look like exactly?  The rules provide some guidelines for reconciling these difference, but the key concept to take away is that what the powers do, and how those relate, is more important when reconciling origins than the origins' names.  Our Hawkoid/Plant hybrid has a sonic screech, the ability to fly, and an ability that damages and slows all opponents within a small radius.  Hmm...that sounds like Banshee of the X-Men.  Players should feel free to redefine the "special effect" of an origins power set to assist in creating a theme for the character.  The power that slows and damages opponents is described as "Lashing Creepers," but there is no reason it couldn't be an alternate scream effect that affects enemies inner ear.

Combat results and Skill use outcomes are determined using the standard 4e mechanic.  A player rolls a d20, adds one or more modifiers, and compares that number to a target number.  If the roll is equal to or higher than the target, then the action succeeds.  Very simple.

Gamma World adds a ripple to the standard 4th Edition mechanical framework with its use of Alpha Mutation and Omega Tech cards.  In the rules as written, these cards add a random element to game that adds to the atmosphere of unpredictability in the setting.  Alpha Fluxes, and encounters with alternate realities, can occur at any moment which can cause new mutations to players' characters.  Omega Technology, devices and weapons left by the "Ancients," are old and neglected tech that is amazingly powerful but isn't very reliable in the long run.

Players can minimize the pure random nature of Alpha Mutations by purchasing booster decks that contain a Alpha and Omega cards.  These cards can be used to build character decks, typically 7 - 10 cards, that are used when the Alpha powers shift or when players discover Omega tech.  This allows players to assign powers that match their early themes and with some minor house rules strengthens possibility of playing Gamma World as a super hero game rather than as a post-apocalyptic game.

Some consumers balk at the collectible nature of the game thinking that the collectible aspect makes the game sillier than it would otherwise be.  The purchase of boosters is not a necessary activity to play a Gamma World game, the game is perfectly playable out of the box.  Contrary to assumptions, the cards lessen the silliness of the game by providing additional stability of powers that are available to characters.  The collectible cards won't be for everyone, some people will play the game and have a great time without them, but I am a big fan.  As a "completist," I would have preferred that Wizards sold the cards in sets rather than in booster packs, but that is a different conversation.

All I can say is that the card mechanic makes this edition of Gamma World a pretty good super hero game.

Game Play Experience

The first session of Gamma World that my group and I played last week was one of the most entertaining gaming sessions we have had.  It ranks up there with our Eberron, Greyhawk, and Necessary Evil experiences.  This game is fun.  It plays quick and is easy to pick up.  The character creation is fast, but inspires the imagination.  The shifting Alpha powers can get a little silly, but as we shift to player built decks this will become mitigated.

Our group decided early on to play the game as a super hero game in a gonzo post-apocalyptic setting.  Yes, civilization is shattered.  Yes, reality fluctuates.  Yes, there are cannibalistic mutant humanoid chickens.

But this is a world in need of heroes, and my players are stepping up to the plate.  The team is named Super Team Go! and is inspired by the heroic visual narrative archives of the ancients -- stories of heroes like Speed Racer, The Stig, and The Super Friends.  They vigilantly defend the residents of Cul Ity in Sou Cal.  Their ongoing battle against tyranny and villainy begins with a foray into the Hollywood Hills where they seek to find the source of the sinister attack robots that siege the fortress gates of Muggem Dios, the Keep of Cul Ity.

Their roster includes the following heroes:

Paul Cano --Pyrokineticist/Mindbreaker.  In his White Alpine Stars armor and wearing his Stig helmet to conceal his features, Paul is the current leader of the team.  His fiery temper in the face of injustice motivates the group.

Harvey Glenn -- Plant/Hawkoid.  Harvey is the team's frontline fighter.  He is agile, tough, and wise.  His deep connection to nature allows him to call upon the spirits of the air and the woods.

Wendel Heckler -- Mindbreaker/Electrokinetic.  Wendel is the cautious type.  When combat begins he fires on the enemy with his trusty mini-autocannon and only after they are softened up does he enter the fray to bludgeon his foes with his trusty "transformer on a stick."  Those who think he is a pure combatant are quickly surprised as they feel the brunt of his psychic assault.

Francis Speed -- Speedster/Seismic.  Francis is the descendant of the famous NASCAR/F1 driver Scott Speed, an Ancient hero from Sou Cal.  He embodies Ancient Sou Cal culture.  He is always on the go, but likes to shake things up every now and then.

I cannot wait to see what this group encounters next, and will blog about their first encounters soon.  Needless to say, their early Alpha powers included Wings, Tentacles, a Proboscis, a Polar Aura, Hyper-Balance, and the ability to speak with dead.

This last power led to their recruiting of their handy "valet" Stiff.  Every super team needs a valet after all.

RPG Now Supports Another Good Cause with a Great Offer

PDF publisher RPGNow has added a Pakistan Flood Relief Bundle to their regular offerings. As RPGNow points out:

Record monsoon rains caused flooding that left almost 2,000 people dead and 20 million homeless. Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani estimates crop losses at $3.3 billion, total damage of about $7 billion. People displaced by the flooding that began at the end of July are still living in temporary shelters, such as schools, or in tents. Doctors Without Borders continues to provide medical care, clean water, and relief materials.

During major floods, medical care is a central concern. Please donate to the cause.

As a bonus, in return for your donation a number of publishers are offering their products. In all, you get $700 worth of product for a $25 donation.

Among the products offered are:

Magnum Opus' excellent Dragon Warriors RPG
Adamant Entertainment's remarkable Icons Super Hero RPG
James Maliszewski's haunting module The Cursed Chateau
Pelgrane Press' terrifying Fear Itself

Those products alone would be worth the $25 price tag, but the bundle is filled with other gaming goodness.

A Quick Illustration of the History of Board Games from Senet to D&D

Via: OnlineDating.org

Upcoming Blu-Ray "Back to the Future" Release Has Eric Stoltz Footage

Ever since I first watched Some Kind of Wonderful, I have been an Eric Stoltz fan. I have known for years that he was the actor originally cast to play Marty McFly in Back to the Future, and I've always wondered what his performance was like.

According to The Hollywood Reporter the new Blu-Ray release of Back to the Future will finally answer that question.

Now...if only I had a Blu-Ray player...

First Impression of the New Gamma World

I am in love!

Sweet Christmas!

Can't wait to play this tomorrow!

...why is the book so shabbily bound?

More will come next week after a proper playing.

Some Recommendations from Poul Anderson

Some time ago, Poul Anderson wrote a famous essay providing advice for would be authors of heroic fantasy. The title of the essay was "On Thud and Blunder" and that title became a descriptor for an entire sub-genre of mediocre and derivative heroic fantasy stories. In written form, "Thud and Blunder" tales would include the John Norman Gor novels (though those have additional issues as well), the Lin Carter Thongor tales, and the vast majority of Conan pastiches. In film, almost every heroic fantasy ever made -- with some recent exceptions -- falls into the "Thud and Blunder" camp. Kull, the Conan movies, Krull, The Sword and the Sorcerer and countless other films fall into this category. The recent Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter movies (among others) have managed to avoid the syndrome, as has the wonderful independent film The Midnight Chronicles by Fantasy Flight Games. One imagines that the upcoming Conan film will be no different from its predecessors in this way. It seems that whenever anyone writes a Conan story (no matter the medium), they use the old Frazetta covers as inspiration rather than Howard's work.

As an aside, Anderson mentions DeCamp as a fantasy author who managed to avoid writing tales of "Thud and Blunder." Those who are only familiar with DeCamp's Conan pastiches might find such an assertion baffling, as DeCamp's tales of Howard's barbarian are particularly bad, but those readers would be well served to read further into the library of DeCamp's work. Sprague was quite a wordsmith and when he wasn't busy unfairly damaging the writing reputations of talented pulp era writers, he was writing wonderfully fun and imaginative fiction. One might attribute the degrading of past authors by a talented author of one generation as a necessary "canonicide" by which one generation of writers asserts its talent and authority, were it not from the genuine pleasure that DeCamp seems to derive from reading the fiction of Howard and Lovecraft.

Adding to bewilderment in this regard is DeCamp's contemporary Lin Carter. Carter also enjoyed and promoted the virtues of heroic fantasy, and compiled wonderful collections of older fantasy writings. Carter's own attempts, like the aforementioned Thongor series, are nigh unbearable to read. Yet Carter's passionate, and articulate, introductions to his collections demonstrate that he could be a capable writer.

Maybe there is something about the heroic fantasy pastiche that brings out the worst writer in all of us, kind of like buddy heist movies can bring out the worst in screenwriters.

Back to "On Thud and Blunder" though...

The key tenant of advice that Anderson, who was a skilled author of heroic fantasy, gives to prospective authors is the need for verisimilitude in the presentation. Certainly fantasy tales will violate many of the laws of nature, but they should seem to take place in living and breathing worlds. Anderson provides several ideas for areas where authors might look to increase the realism of their world and the quality of their fiction. He recommends that authors think about the physical aspects of the environment (what lighting would really be like for example), the real politics, the role of religion, the realistic use of weaponry, and/or the lives of the common classes when they approach a fantasy tale.

When one thinks about it, the best fantasy stories are those that do just that. What draws me to George R.R. Martin's epic fantasy? His portrayal of political relationships. What draws me to Michael Moorcock's Elric saga? The living nature of the metaphysics and religion of the tales. Elric's actions have consequences and the religion of his people is a "living" thing -- quite literally. Tolkien was a wonderful practitioner of mythopoesis. Even when Tolkien's tales lacked "action," they contained deep realism.

Anderson's brief essay should be required reading for any fantasy author, and for most Dungeon Masters as well. Think about how much better your role playing game sessions would be if they took place in a living world. I often think that James Maleziewski's rejection of the "narrative" module model of rpgs, is that he wants to have room for a deep verisimilitude that is often included in "geographically" based adventures and lacking in "narrative" ones.

My only criticism of the Anderson piece are his uses of Society for Creative Anachronism activities as proxy for any kind of historical representation. These events have themselves become as divergent from the reality they seek to recreate as anything else. When one, as Anderson does, begins discussing chainmail constructed of hanger wire as analogous to real chainmail it is easy to see how the comparisons can begin to fail. Add to that modern metallurgy, which creates lighter and stronger metals, and the errors only begin to compound. SCA comparisons aren't useless, but they shouldn't be viewed as "accurate simulations" any more than an episode of "Deadliest Warrior" or a wikipedia article. Members of the SCA aren't typically Andre Marek who attempt to live their entire life as if they were in the middle ages. Speaking of Andre Marek, the Timeline film is a perfect example of how you can take a book which isn't "Thud and Blunder" and transform it into a "Thud and Blunder" tale in another medium.

I'd like to re-assert though that if you want to write fantasy, or if you are looking for game master advice, Anderson's "On Thud and Blunder" is must reading.

Yogi Bear (2010) -- It will likely annoy me, but my daughters will love it.

Even by the sneak preview, I can tell that my daughters will be enraptured by the upcoming Yogi Bear movie. The animation on the bear looks pretty good, and it has just the right amount of slapstick to appeal to them.

The Warrior's Way (2010) Cowboys and Ninjas! My Life is Now Complete.

The Warrior's Way looks like a combination of Once Upon a Time in China and America, Chushingura, Lone Wolf and Cub, and Ninja Assassin with just a touch of The Quick and the Dead.

All it is missing is pirates, dinosaurs, and zombies.

I am so jazzed.

I Call That Bold Talk For Brotherly Directors -- The Trailer for the Coen Brothers' True Grit

I love the performances of John Wayne and Robert Duvall in Henry Hathaway's classic Western True Grit.

John Wayne manages to simultaneously pander to those who are critical of his earlier Western performances by giving them a "clownish" version of his hero archetype, while bringing a genuine depth of character and emotion to the role. He would expand on this deep performance later in The Shootist where he will leave behind the clown and reveal the strength of performance that had always been the staple of a Wayne role. Wayne's characters had never really been as mockable as his critics wanted them to be, and his portrayal of a clownish version followed by a return to form eviscerates his earlier critics.

Duvall is..well...Duvall. He is a powerful actor to watch and his performance as the nihilistic Ned Pepper is perfect. He delivers frightening lines with a dead pan that demonstrates the character's dissociation from the rest of humanity. Duvall's Pepper is the Nietzschian Overman, he is beyond good and evil and is an expression of Will. His character is a sharp contrast to the classical virtue of Wayne's Cogburn, a character who appears to be filled with vice but in the end has "True Grit."

Glen Campbell is passable in his performance. He neither adds nor detracts from the mood of the film and presents the flashy false hero with some charm. He is the man that everyone believes is the hero because he is handsome and apparently forthright. He is almost too good to be true, but in the end what the cynical may have viewed as illusion is revealed to be true. His heroism isn't false, it is as real as Cogburn's.

Kim Darby's performance as young Mattie Ross is the weakest link in the film, and I've always found it hard to empathize with her character -- even given her compelling mission. She has always come across as more bratty than determined. If a director were to attempt to remake the film, it is this performance that I would seek to change and use as the basis for new interpretation.

It appears that is exactly what the Coen Brothers have done in their upcoming version of the tale. That is, if the teaser trailer is any indication.

I couldn't ask for a better choice of Cogburn than Jeff Bridges, though this will make two Jeff Bridges Christmas must see movies for me this year, and Matt Damon in the Glen Campbell role seems appropriate. Casting Josh Brolin as the dastardly Tom Chaney implies that the film will be darker and the character sterner than the Hathaway version. When I read that Barry Pepper was cast as Ned Pepper, the image seemed as natural as the sharing of last names. Barry Pepper has a likability, akin to Duvall's, that will allow for a wonderfully sinister Ned Pepper.

I wouldn't have thought I could be excited about a remake of True Grit, but then I never would have guessed it would be the Coen Brothers making it.