The S&W Kickstarter Ends this Evening

As I write this, the Kickstarter for the new sig stitched HC S&W Complete and Monster Books is at $76,440. It's ending at 6:00 PM EDT today.

76K!

Not bad, for a "Dead" System, from a "Dead" OSR!

10 RPG Books Bandwagon - Zombie Apocalypse Edition

Tough! Real, real tough!

I'll pretty much jettison any Collector considerations. If I'm stuck on a desert island, or in a Zombie-Apocalypse proof underground shelter, I don't think I'll be worrying about my Collection. Just what I want to game with. Hopefully, I'll have someone(s) other than Zombies to play with.

10 RPG books I would fight and dodge Zombies for, to take with me into exile.

1. The AD&D DMG. Gary's Masterpiece! No way I'm leaving that for the Zombies.

2. OSRIC - Black Blade Pub. HC. I can only pick ten, so I'll make a sacrifice and kill two birds with one stone. I'll take OSRIC and leave behind the AD&D PH & MM. It hurts, but it's efficient.

3. World of Greyhawk Folio - Just found a copy on ebay, the cover of which, isn't totally ragged out! It's currently in the hands of the USPS, but for purposes of this list I'll assume that the zombie-virus thingie won't hit the general population for a few more days. Otherwise it's the 83 Boxed Set.

4. Matt Finch's Tome of Adventure Design. Maybe, the most generally useful RPG book I own.

5. DCC RPG. For when I want to shake things up a bit. Also, fantastic art and tons of swipeable content.

6. The Wilderlands of High Fantasy.

7. City State of the Invincible Overlord. These last two because, well, they're fucking awesome! The Zombies shall not have them!

8. Fight On! HC Compendium 1, comprising issues 1-4.

9. Fight On! HC Compendium 2, comprising issues 5-8. These last two give me the most bang for my buck, for awesome gaming and reading material.

10. The First Fantasy Campaign. Fascinating. Historically important. One of my favorites.

Ok. Maybe collecting considerations influenced my list, just a little.

I was going to grab my S&W HC, the printing with the cool, white, metal logo. But, I have to be practical. Zombies and all that. Combined with my own memory and ideas, I can Tailor OSRIC to whatever I want.

D&D Inspiration Cinema: The Warriors - With Bonus Random Table

For those who haven't seen it, here's the set-up for Walter Hill's 1979 cult classic The Warriors.

The leader of the most powerful gang in New York, Cyrus of the Gramercy Riffs, calls a summit and invites most of the gangs operating in the city to attend. Cyrus wants everyone to unite and take on The Man. Cyrus has a lot of Charisma, if not Wisdom and when he intones "Can you dig it?" the majority of the assembled gang-bangers respond enthusiastically.

The Warriors are skeptical. But, they're not the only ones who aren't "Digging it." Luther, leader of the Rogues, decides to shake things up. Why?

"No Reason. I just like doing things like that."

So, being Chaotic Evil, he whips out a handgun and decisively ends the Summit. One of the Warriors sees what went down. The cops show up and in the ensuing chaos, Luther points and shouts, "The Warriors did it!" He then rushes Cleon, the Warriors' leader. Cleon takes him down, but just as Luther intended, other gang dudes join in and Cleon is overwhelmed. Word spreads. The Warriors killed Cyrus!

Far from their own "turf," the Warriors spend the rest of the movie trying to get back to Coney Island. While hundreds of colorfully dressed gang dudes, intent on vengeance, try to kill them all!

Wikipedia tells me that the movie is based on Sol Yurick's 1965 novel of the same name. Which, was based on Anabasis by Xenophon. The Warriors has since spawned two video games, toys and comic books.

So. Place Cyrus in a D&D type setting. Mid or high fantasy, with plenty of adventuring groups and mercenary companies. Maybe add some demonic backing and you've got a potentially campaign changing event.

Following the film more closely, we can set it in a major city and have some asshole like Luther kill the new messiah. Maybe a Disintegrate spell, or Sphere of Annihilation. Of course, the PC's get framed for it and now have hundreds of adventuring type dudes, henchmen and hirelings, chasing them through the city and out for blood!

Bringing us to:

Twelve Reasons the Rival Adventuring Party is Trying to Kill You All!

1. They want to kill you and take your stuff!
2. They do side work for the authorities, who think the PC's have gotten too big for their britches.
3. A PC bedded a Barmaid, who previously caught the eye of some other bad-ass adventurer.
4. "That Dungeon is Ours!"
5. Trying to make a name for themselves.
6. "No Reason. I just like doing things like that."
7. God/Devil/Space Alien told them to do it!
8. Hired by any one of no doubt numerous people, that the PC's have managed to piss off!
9. "Join us or Die!"
10. A PC looked at one of them "the wrong way."
11. Revenge. Possibly a Frame-Up.
12. "Let's you and him fight," orchestrated by a shadowy entity, seeking to remove potential threats.

Now, we'll see if I can manage to turn this into a series.

In which I Dust off the Blog, Pay Homage to the Iron Crown and Unduly Alarm Myself

Let's See if I can Get Back Into this Blogging Thing

I haven't gamed in months! Haven't really worked on anything game related either, though I've got a campaign idea, kicking around in the back of my head. More on that, anon. Bought some stuff, though.

I.C.E., I.C.E., Baby!

Rolemaster! It's not just an RPG...

It's The Law!

Boxed set, with the three main 2nd edition books, a setting module and a little something extra, the Creature & Treasure book.

Brisco: "Can we play it?"

Me: "Yeah, but I'd rather start you out with D&D."

Brisco: "Why? Is this more complicated?"

Me: "Yeah, you can say that..."

Brisco: "Well, I don't really have to know the rules, anyway."

True dat!

Oh, No!!!

So, I open up the box and start inspecting my new, used Rolemaster books. Part of said inspection being sticking my nose into the middle of the books and giving them the sniff test, just to make sure that...

"WTF?"

It was fairly faint. Undetectable, unless you stuck your nose right up to the pages. But there was the unmistakable odor of... something. Something that smelled too damn similar to mildew, for my comfort level.

Fuck!

It wasn't damp, or musty, though. Real pungent. Faint enough that my olfactory apparatus quickly filtered the odor. I couldn't quite get a handle on it. The books themselves, looked fine! No moisture damage, or staining.

Still, mold can be invisible and on your RPG items, isn't something to take lightly. That shit can spread to adjacent items! 

Oh, the Horror!!!!!

I couldn't release the Rolemaster stuff into my general collection, until I was sure it wasn't some sort of moldy growth! So, with no other option, I sought an outside opinion.

Everyone has at least one Superpower

My ex-wife has a super-sniffer. Something that's caused me no small amount of consternation, over the years. So, I consulted her and her nose.

"Can you do me a favor?"

"What?" An ex-wife can imbue a staggering amount of wariness, into that one, simple sentence.

"Smell this and tell me if it smells like mildew. I don't think it is, but..."

So, she smells it. And makes the kind of face that someone with super-olfactory powers might make, after sticking their nose into a litter box. She sniffs it again.

"Cheap ink. And a little bit of tobacco smoke."

"Cheap ink?"

"Yeah. I used to be a typesetter, remember? That's cheap ink. Very, cheap ink."

Huh. Cheap ink I can live with. My own nose completely failed to detect the cig smoke.

Le Sigh

So. I now have Rolemaster. This means, there's no reason to put off my long-planned campaign, to collect the I.C.E. Middle-Earth supplements. 

"Ka-fucking-ching!"

Except, I plan on finishing Judges Guild, first. I'm getting closer. :)

WotC's AD&D Reprints Now Available for Pre-Order on Amazon

Amazon is now accepting pre-orders for the 1e re-prints. Estimated Delivery date is Aug. 6-10. Eligible for Free Shipping.

Of Death, Appendix N, and no Longer Being 12 Years Old

I

 On May 28, 2012 my father went into the hospital. At the time, I didn't know if he would make it back home. He was diagnosed with advanced Cirrhosis of the Liver (he was not a drinker.) The illness caused a massive fluid retention, which filled his stomach and left him unable to eat or drink. The medical team at Shelby Baptist Hospital drained the fluid, only to watch him fill right back up.

 On June 12, his overall state took an acute downturn. He contracted pneumonia, his lungs now joining in with the rest of his body, in drowning itself. By that point, there was little doubt about the outcome. Thursday, the Doctor advised in-patient Hospice care, after my father expressed his wishes not to be resuscitated. I went to the hospital to sign the necessary papers. My ex-wife brought my son to the hospital, to see his grandfather. We left.

 Friday, the 15th, I woke up, got my act together and left to go back to the hospital. I pulled into the hospital lot and as I parked my truck, I received the call. A nurse, a student and the hospice nurse were in the room, the first two asking me inane questions. Curt civility, seemed the most appropriate response to their inability to grok that 10 minutes into my father's death, as I was staring at his corpse, wasn't the most welcoming time to ask me about his tattoos and piercings. Or, if I were his only child and where did he grow up.

 After a few minutes, another nurse showed up and they were then empowered to officially pronounce my father dead. I asked them to leave the room. I wish I could tell you that he looked to be at peace, or something. Actually, he looked exactly like he did the day before. Pallid, drowsy, his eyes half-open, mouth agape, as he struggled for breath. No breath now, though my mind tried to tell me, on a couple of occasions, that his chest was rising and falling. A close inspection disabused it of the notion.

 II

 To say that my father had a large media collection, would be an understatement. He loved books, movies and music, a love he passed on to his son. At the age of five, I was listening to his Rolling Stones, Kiss and Waylon Jennings albums, while reading his Marvel and DC Comics and waiting for HBO to begin broadcasting for the day.

 As I got a little older, 12 or so, Creepy, Eerie, Vampirella, Heavy Metal and the Savage Sword of Conan became my go-to after school reading material. This led to his paperbacks. The De Camp Conan editions. Thieves World. Various and sundry fantasy, science fiction and horror novels. Then, the Direct Sales comics boom hit. Grimjack, Dreadstar, Sable, Alien Legion and many, many more.

 My father was taping damn near every movie that played on cable and building a soon to be obsolete collection of factory-made VHS tapes. A rather large pool, from which to draw my own Appendix N. I would be 14, before discovering Dungeons & Dragons.

 III

 My father got rid of most of his books and comics, several years ago. Then, immediately set about collecting more. A lot of his attention, over the past 15 or so years, was spent on his DVD and CD collection. There's well over 1,000 DVD's and DVD boxed sets, though I haven't taken an exact inventory yet. About as many CD's. 2,000 books? Not as many as he used to have. Only a few boxes of comic books and graphic novels.

I just ran across a copy of the graphic novel of DC's Identity Crisis, which James Raggi posted about, a few days ago. Mr. Raggi says its good, so I'll keep it.

 My father's tastes were... eclectic. He was also a pack-rat. It'll take me a month to go through everything. It's weird. Trying to sort and organize all this stuff, brings back a lot of memories. Being twelve years old and in my father's room, discovering some new book, or magazine, filled with swords, sorcery, rocket ships and horrific monsters. Adventure. Titillation. Ideas to inflame my imagination.

 Except I'm all pensive, melancholy and don't feel like reading, watching, or listening to anything at all.

CDC Denies "Zombie Apocalypse" is Immanent

From the Huffington-Post

"CDC does not know of a virus or condition that would reanimate the dead (or one that would present zombie-like symptoms)," wrote agency spokesman David Daigle in an email to The Huffington Post.

"Nevertheless, recent incidents in which humans reportedly ate human flesh have the Internet in a firestorm, with "zombie apocalypse" being Google's third most popular search term by Friday morning.

"The zombie craze seemed to start with an attack in Miami on Saturday, when Rudy Eugene, 31, was killed by cops while in the process of eating almost the entirety of a homeless man's face off. The victim, Ronald Poppo, miraculously survived, but doctors are having a hard time figuring out how to put his face back together.

"Then, on Tuesday, 21-year-old Alexander Kinyua of Maryland allegedly admitted to dismembering his roommate and then eating his heart and brain.

"Cops in Canada are also searching for a low-budget porn actor who allegedly killed a young man with an ice pick, dismembered the body and then raped and ate flesh from the corpse. Luka Rocco Magnotta is being hunted after he allegedly mailed some of the body parts to Ottawa. He's also accused of killing cats on video and posting the footage online.

"Gawker fingered a "mysterious rash" breakout at a high school in Hollywood and other parts of Florida -- which hazmat and disease control teams still can't explain -- as further proof that zombies are taking over.

"Zombie-like characteristics have been confirmed in the animal kingdom, just not in humans. A newfound fungus in a Brazilian rain forest -- called Ophiocordyceps camponoti-balzani -- is known to infect an ant, take over its brain so as to move the body to a good location for growth, and then kill the insect."

Well. Fuck me!