The Gathering: Session 4 part 2

After Jacob the Rooster, Barracus, Draco and Link said goodbye to Kama-Zotz and Sorin Markov, they checked in with the group in the infirmary and decided to continue exploring the main hallway.

The next room was quite humid and a passage to the left seemed to have been flooded recently.  There were 2 more cells directly across from the passage, to their right.  The far end of the room was dominated by a huge and eerily murky aquarium.

Link swore he caught movement in the tenebrous water.  This led to Draco discovering some fairly recent webbed footprints leading out of the flooded passage, up to and in front of the tank.  Draco realized with horror, the footprints didn't lead anywhere else.

Meanwhile, Link began inspecting a large "painting", of bizarre geometric patterns, that dominated the wall behind them.  He discovered the painting opened up to reveal a secret corridor and he came face to face with...something.

At the precise moment, Barracus decided to heave his throwing axe at the aquarium, the weapon ruptured the tank and the room flooded with caliginous water...and the aquarium's inhabitant.

 Link was forced deep into the secret passage and the door forced closed, by the onrushing water.  As he got to his feet, he came face to face with a strange creature with the torso and legs of a spider (dyed many garish and bright colors) and the head of an eel, or a neogi.  Bizarrely, the creature shrieked that he owned this passage and that the elf owed him money for using it.  Confused, Link paid the being and found out the thing he was dealing with was known as Mr. Ocax.  The spider-think then began extorting Link for more and more money, with each movement and question the elf attempted.

Meanwhile, Draco warned has compatriots  about  the thing released from its tank.  Barracus spied it closing on him and unleashed several powerful and decisive blows to the monster, scoring a dire hit to it's head in the process.  This allowed Draco, to close on it and finish with a deadly blow to the thing's brain.  All 3 were shocked (and quite thankful) to learn they had just destroyed an aboleth in mere seconds.

They then began to hear Link and Mr. Ocax arguing loudly from the secret passage and entered to help their comrade.  The neogi, upon seeing the corpse of the monster they'd just slain, and the angry visages of the newcomers, decided to tout his mercantile services to all of them and survive this meeting.  Barracus asked if Mr. Ocax possessed any magic rings, but was dismayed at the neogi's answer of no.  After some conversation, Mr. Ocax offered to return to this spot every 10 hours and see if they required any of the inventory he would bring.  At that he was off, and Link was glad of it.

The Gatherers then left the passage and stood in front of one of the 2 new cells they'd found.  As of yet, none of them had noticed the doorway in the back of the aquarium.

The Gathering: Session 4 part 1

This session saw Andro's Lord Martin Wintresh's and Variel's players absent.

But two of their retainers, a Dragonborn antiquarian, named Draco (Rogue, 8)  and a Elf guard, named Link (Fighter, 8), joined the fray.

Variel and Wintresh were arguing about what to do with Wrax, when Variel passed out.  Martin and Andro, confused, removed him to the infirmary with Lin.

Since there were still 2 cells unexplored, they again ignored the Wrax situation and opened a door.

Inside was a bat-headed Gnome, who introduced himself as Kama-Zotz.  The Gnome greeted Barracus warmly and explained that he had been growing impatient waiting for his arrival.  Kama told Barracus and the others that the Smith was infected with Glistening Oil and that if he didn't have the substance removed it would transform him into a mindless war machine.  Kama explained that the man in the next cell, named Sorin could remove the oil from his system.  Kama-Zotz seemed very ernest and patient and encouraged Barracus to heavily think it through.  Kama, maintained that he was not a Vampire and only stayed because he knew Barracus was coming and wanted to help.

After a brief discussion with Jacob and Draco, Barracus opened the last cell, to meet the man who was supposed to be his savior.  Sorin Markov, looked the Smith up and down appraisingly, he did not seem very impressed.  Sorin explained that Kama had been telling him about Barracus's plight for at least a century and he was willing to drain the Oil from his system...for a price.  The Smith would be in his debt and Markov would call it in one day.  The Gatherers had many questions about the time table of Barracus's fate and the Oil itself.  Markov believed that the amulet the Smith wore was slowing the process and that the full transformation might not take effect this century.  He also was hesitant to bring the Glistening Oil into his own system but was confidant it wouldn't cause long term effects on his physiology.  Jacob the Rooster asked if the decision had to be made now and Barracus was concerned, after learning he would lose his new found augmentation, that it could put the expedition in peril.

Sorin, explained he was a planeswalker, and offered to give Barracus a "token" that could call him back at a later time, his decision was made.  But it too, would require a favor.  The Smith agreed, took the token, and asked Markov about Wrax.   The planewsalker didn't think releasing Wrax made sense and warned them about the power the Pharoh's throne.  Soon after, both Sorin and Kama departed for parts unknown.

The Avengers

Last night, the whole family and a couple friends went and saw the Joss Whedon's AVENGERS.

But before I get into my thoughts on the film, let me fill you in on my feelings about Comic Book Movies and Joss Whedon.

I spent quite a bit of my youth extolling the merits of Comic Book as Art and hoping for a well done adaptation of comics to film.  As I've gotten older, I yearn for the days when comics were inexpensive and easy to get into.  I shudder at my younger self's need for mainstream acceptance of comics.  Most comics published today, aren't targeting me in their demographic, and I sell comics for a living.

You might also be surprised how few comics movies I've seen in the last few years.  I'd rather not see a comic book film, than to see a bad one.  And I've really grown to feel that many of the most important aspects of comics don't work on the big screen.  Most of the times costumes, which are paramount in comics, are ridiculous in a movie.  As much as I appreciate Christopher Nolan's work on his Batman trilogy, its still hard to see a man dressed like a bat.  To give you an idea, I still haven't seen V for Vendetta, Watchmen, Green Lantern, Thor, or Iron Man 2.

Unfortunately, it's also very expensive for a family of 4 or 5 to go to the movies.  And then there's popcorn.

Now we'll get to Mr. Whedon.  Toy Story was great, but let's all be honest, it would have been with or without him.  It was Pixar.  We'll just ignore the Buffy film, Titan AE and Alien Resurrection.  I came late to the Buffy television series, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, even if Spike was forced on us and it went 2 seasons too long.  Angel was pretty good and did suffer an untimely death.  I'm no browncoat, and didn't care for Firefly, but did like Serenity, but a western in space was Roddenberry's pitch for STAR TREK .  In short, I was really unsure of which Joss we'd get.

AVENGERS is the best movie I've seen as an adult.  It beats BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA.  It's definitely the best Action/Adventure and Comic Book film, ever made.  It's up there with STAR WARS.  Yes, A NEW HOPE, technically, but when I saw it we just called it STAR WARS.  I can't recommend it enough.  Mark Ruffalo is phenomenal.  Whedon understands the Hulk, probably better than Marvel does.  In fact, Marvel Comics needs to take lessons from Marvel Studios.  Josss embraces the Marvel comic universe without laughing at it.  He has fun with every trope without making fun of any of it.  It's a perfect movie.  I loved it as a diehard comics geek, my wife loved it as a woman working in comics, my 22 year old daughter has seen it twice and plans to see it again tonight, my 10 year old son desperately wants to know who the villain revealed at the end is and my 8 year old daughter was guffawing at all the right places.

Assemble to go see the AVENGERS.

Excelsior!

The Gathering: Session 3 part 2

After finding and attending to Lin, a female halfling.  The Gatherers learn that she is a member of another party who are exploring the Tomb of Yawgmoth.  They discover the corpse the found in the previous room was named Martel and he was their infiltration expert.  She mentions that the rest her group was a scarred man named Rolf; her friend and long time companion Jenna Carlua Treme; a sour-faced man from a placed he called Miszouri, Corbin Saint Charles; the man she blames for Martel's demise, Tonfa the Magpie; and their leader, The Ebon Handed Janissary, an intimidating Mage from Sarpadia.

The Rooster escorted Lin out of the "containment wing" and had her rest, securely, in room they believed to be an infirmary.


The Gatherers then turned their attention to the first "cell" and decided to open it.  They came face to face with Wrax the XXIII, a mummified Vampire & Pharoh who was being held with his Auron Throne.  Wrax presented a very convincing argument for release and Variel was extremely swayed by it, however a consensus couldn't be reached on wether to trust him.  Wrax maintained that if he was allowed, he'd move his Throne into the hallway and leave this plane for his home.   Since there was some bitter dispute on trusting his story, Anthro summoned a pig as a "snack" for Wrax and his cell door was closed by Barracus and his offer tabled.  For now.

The second cell housed Camila Von Carstein, lounging languidly on a plush divan of a rich, deep violet.  Her beauty was stunning, and the group seemed concerned about her powers of persuasion.  She admitted their concerns were just and briefly explained that this whole wing was dedicated to studying the Vampires' "immortality" and that she hadn't dealt with her captors in close to 300 years.  She also warned them of "the witch next door" and told them that "she would soon meet them again".  Then they closed her cell, very shakily.

The third cell housed a Penalagan named Minmei.  The group was disgusted with her appearance and spent little time with her.  Though she did tell them "not to trust a thing that bitch, Von Carstein had to say".

The Rooster then had Barracus open the fourth cell.  The Gatherers were  surprised to find a naked woman meditating in the lotus position.  She slowly acknowledge them and briskly explained that she had was ready for her curse of undeath to end.  She then asked them to destroy her, without fear or guile.  While there was hesitation amongst most of them, Jacob stepped forward and offered to free her from this existence.  The Rooster asked Barracus to close the cell, to give her some privacy and asked his god, Markus to release her from her curse.  In moments, his invocation was answered and the female vampire disintegrated into dust.  As she succumbed to death, her third eye opened in her forehead and s thanks for her release, the woman gave him two parting gifts.

As Jacob the Rooster dealt with the unnamed Vampire, Variel was arguing for releasing Wrax and any other Undead that would leave this plane of existence.  Lord Wintresh was completely against this course of action.

Finally, there was knock on the cell Jacob was in and Barracus released him.  The group was shocked to see the vampire's third eye orbiting erratically around his body, Jacob's first gift.  The second he kept to himself.  Behind him the ashes of the strange woman rested on the floor.

Weird War Stories: Reichsraptor

France 1946
Agents of Operation: Malleus have been faced Uberfalkonier's who were commanding highly trained velocirapters on the field of battle.  Obviously, this was surprising to the agents because they thought dinosaurs were extinct and they didn't expect the Fuhrer to have weaponized them.

It appears the program is still fairly recent as creative problem solving quickly dispatched their first encounter with what has been labled Reichsraptors.

There is growing concern that more cryptids are joining the 3rd Reich.

Reichsraptor

No. Enco.: 1 - 6

Movement: 120'

Armor Class: 2 (18)

Hit Dice: 3

Attacks: 1

Damage: 1d6/1d6/1d4

Special:  Surprise.

Save: F3

Morale: 8

Alignment: N

X.P. Value: 95

DESIGNATION OF OPEN GAME CONTENT All text and tables in this document are open game content.

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12 Inability to Comply: If it is impossible for You to comply with any of the terms of this License with respect to some or all of the Open Game Content due to statute, judicial order, or governmental regulation then You may not Use any Open Game Material so affected.

13 Termination: This License will terminate automatically if You fail to comply with all terms herein and fail to cure such breach within 30 days of becoming aware of the breach. All sublicenses shall survive the termination of this License. 14 Reformation: If any provision of this License is held to be unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable.

15 COPYRIGHT NOTICE Open Game License v 1.0 Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc. System Reference Document Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathon Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. System Reference Document Copyright 2000-2003, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Rich Baker, Andy Collins, David Noonan, Rich Redman, Bruce R. Cordell, John D. Rateliff, Thomas Reid, James Wyatt, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. Modern System Reference Document Copyright 2002-2004, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Bill Slavicsek, Jeff Grubb, Rich Redman, Charles Ryan, Eric Cagle, David Noonan, Stan!, Christopher Perkins, Rodney Thompson, and JD Wiker, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Richard Baker, Peter Adkison, Bruce R. Cordell, John Tynes, Andy Collins, and JD Wiker.

Copyright 2012 by Mark Crasddock.

G.I. Combat #1

This week DC Comics launched a new G.I. Combat series as part of its NEW 52 line-up.  Specifically, it features The War That Time Forgot, which is a major inspiration for several elements of my WEIRD WAR STORIES game that, hopefully, will return from hiatus this month.

After the Avacyn Restored Prerelease, today is basically my monday, so I've not yet read the issue.  But I intend to do it soon and will post my thoughts.

I can't recommend the Showcase Presents: War That Time Forgot Trade Paperback enough, if you want to see the silver age stories where these ideas originated.

Mayday! Mayday!

Welcome to May.  This is probably my busiest month of the year, so I'll try my best to post something every day, but please forgive me if I fall behind.

The title also refers to the news that Monte Cook has left Wizards of the Coast and that Mike Mearls announced the Open Playtest for 5E beginning May 24th.

A lot has been speculated about why Monte left.  I don't know Monte or what his disagreements were, but what we do know is that his life has changed quite a bit in the last year.  And as much as we'd like to return to places in our life that we remember fondly, you can't always "go home again".  I hope Mr. Cook well in his future endeavors and respect his skills as a writer and designer.  From what I've played of 5E, I deeply appreciate the contributions he's made.

As for the Open Playtest, it's format is a bit puzzling to me.  I understand providing information in small packets, but Pre-Gens with an adventure seems odd, and compares poorly to Paizo's Pathfinder playtest.  As a positive I will say that I've thoroughly enjoy the rules I've seen and ask everyone to be patient.

I think many people see Hasbro & Wizards of the Coast as the same company.  From my interactions with both companies, they couldn't be more wrong.  I hope that 5E DnD Next can live up to its potential and that means Hasbro has to stand back.  I guess we will see what happens.