Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Rick Remender is a bloody genius!

I have run a comic book store for the last 13 years and I have trouble keeping up with all of the reboots, especially from Marvel Comics.  Marvel Now appeared to me as a pretty normal reaction to DC's New 52.  But I've been generally surprised at the quality of most of the titles.

I wasn't expecting much out of Uncanny Avengers (Brian Bendis's run has not been my favorite), but when I saw Rick Remender writing it, I decided to give it a look.  Boy I'm glad I did.  #1 was good, but #2 just knocked my socks off!  In a way that Stan and Jack must have back in the day.  Seriously, it's a very modern book, but it seems to understand all of those cool, over-the-top ideas that "Stan the Man" and "King Kirby" put off for so many years.

Check out Uncanny Avengers, it's possibly the coolest presentation I've seen of the Red Skull in years (and yeah, I'm a big fan of Brubaker's Cap).

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

As the year winds down...

I know my presence has been lackluster at best.

I hit a wall at work in September and somehow lost of all my discipline at updates and got "writer's block".  I'm trying to pick the pieces back up.

Part of the problem stems from essentially reducing the amount of gaming time to nearly zero.  I'll see if that changes or not.

I'd like to get back to DnD Next and jump into the Numenara material I've received.

While the year is ending poorly for this blog, I think I'm choosing to focus on the 5 months of the year I averaged over a post a day.

Now I just need to look onward and upward.

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Aquila: the Pilgrimage

Last night I ran a demo of DnD Next for the Friday group (the group John W. has shaped into a fun group of creative roleplayers).

Dave the Dwarf Fighter
Not John W. the Human Warlock
Abbey the Half-Elf Warlock
Chaypin the Human Sorceress
Will the Human Cleric of Mercury
Brian the Human Fighter
Dan the Wood Elf Fighter
Nathan the Halfling Rogue
Brock the Human Wizard

It was a big group.

The setting is Rome before the birth of Christ.  Emperor Longinus Faustus, advised by the owl-headed Bardarian and the satyr know as Lotus, has declared the monotheistic worship of Aten the official religion of the Empire and sought to persecute any heretics who choose not to convert.

Jupiter, angered by Faustus's heresy, but unable to exact any kind of vengeance, has raised the continent of Lemuria as a haven for his followers, with the help of Neptune and by taking Frigg, goddess of earth as his lover.  The waters around the island ripe with sea monsters and the only safe route is a path Neptune created by parting the seas.  A Legion loyal to Faustus was lost as the sea monsters are capable of discerning the unfaithful and by dragging them to their doom into the sea's walls.

The Senate, fearing Jupiter's wrath, have allowed pilgrims to flee the Empire as exiles.  The faithful have safely crossed the Sea Rode.

The group was amongst over 400 pilgrims seeking their new home in the promised land, but was attacked by a large Red Dragon that decimated their ranks.  As the group fled the devastation, their combined weight caused a cave in of a hidden cavern below them, but saved their lives in the process.

More soon.


Monster Monday: Ork City's Chupacabra for Shadowdark

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