Spirit of 77 RPG Kickstarter

What may be the funkiest tabletop RPG of the year (all years?), Spirit of '77, is currently running a Kickstarter for the game. The '70s-themed RPG by Monkeyfun Studios is running on a modified version of Apocalypse World. For more information on Spirit of '77's rules and setting, please check out Monkeyfun's demo of the game on their website.

Since Dorkland! has covered Spirit of '77 previously, I'll hop straight into the Kickstarter page -- and what a page it is. Needless to say, the project funded pretty quickly.

The first thing you're likely to notice is the cherry red muscle car speeding away from an exploding backdrop -- very nice artwork that is interspersed during the explanation of the game. Other imagery includes explanations of the various pledge tiers, add ons, stretch goals, and the Monkeyfun Studio guys, themselves (done in-character, to boot).

Everything is nicely explained. The information on the system is fairly simple, but also covers a decent bit to give the potential pledger a general feel for the game. The free demo (also linked to and easy to find on the Kickstarter page) goes into further detail, and allows the game to be trialed before pledging. Any pledge tiers, add ons or stretch goals that may require additional information have it included right below the imagery used for explanation -- and the information is italicized to further draw attention to it. In fact, just the general use of italics, bolding, bullet points, links and images throughout the page really help to break up and emphasize the information -- making it quicker and easier to process than most Kickstarter projects.


The header video is done in-character and is fairly entertaining, as well as informative. It doesn't go terribly in-depth, but it gives a good impression of what the game is like. The biggest issue I have with the video is the audio -- it could have used some more editing and cleaning. That audio is really the only complaint I have with the Kickstarter, on the whole.

For the pledging, US$20 will get you every digital product in the Kickstarter. US$25 will net you a physical copy of the core book (and its PDF), digital stretch goals, and a sticker (US-only option, UK/Canada and International folks have their own tiers, to cover shipping). And, lastly, the US$50 tier gets you all of the physical products (core book and expansion, PDFs of both, too), as well as physical and digital stretch goals (additional costs for shipping outside the US). Overall, the pricing isn't bad. The digital only tier is quite close to the physical core book, though, but it's a solid option for those living outside the US.

And there you have it -- one of the best setup Kickstarter pages I've seen for a tabletop RPG recently, and a very funky RPG in-general. If you would like to know more about Spirit of '77, be sure to check out the Kickstarter page, Monkeyfun Studios' website, and their demo adventure -- The Cruise Ship of the Damned.

Top Five Most Viewed RPG Videos

Periodically I go through my YouTube channel (you can find a link to the right) and see what videos are the ones that people are watching. It is always interesting to see what people want to watch on my channel. Following are the five (in order) with the most viewings.

1) Dorkland Roundtable with Zak Smith

A couple of years ago I launched an experiment in interviewing gaming people via the wonders of the (then new) technology of G+ Hangouts on the Air. I did these for a couple of reasons: to put faces and voices to the names that so many of us have seen on books over the years, and to help humanize gaming creators as well. When people are used to interacting with people through the text of books, or social media, they can start to see those people as just that text. Sometimes seeing a game designer or publisher in their home, or office, shows that they aren't all that different from the rest of us.

Zak is a controversial figure for some, but he made for an interesting interview subject. Someday, I think that I would like to tackle interviewing him again.

2) The Great Cyberpunk 2020 Adventure Ep. 1

I love Cyberpunk 2020. I found the game while I was in college, back in the day when a lot of the elements of the game were still science fictional. It is a great game, and it has given me a lot of fun over the years. I ran a few episodes of it for some G+ people before scheduling fell apart. We took on the game as a sort of retro experience, much like playing Old School D&D. We didn't try to change or update the game, we just went for it. The group become a ring of "art terrorists" fighting against the corporations of the "future." It was a fun game while it lasted.

3) Dorkland Roundtable with James Maliszewski

I enjoyed this interview, even if I still can't pronounce James' last name properly. We talked a lot about our experiences as gamers back in the early days of the hobby. Both of us being about the same age, and having started gaming at about the same time, it was interesting to see how our experiences compared and contrasted. This was probably the last interview with James before all of the controversy around Dwimmermount. I know that's mostly why people have been watching the interview. There is still some good stuff in there, and it is an interview that I am proud of having done.

4) Masks of Nyarlathotep: Episode 1

I love Call of Cthulhu. One of the things that I had never had a chance to do was to run one of the big "megacampaigns" for the game. This was my hope. Sadly, scheduling caused the game to quickly fall apart. We still had a good time with this session. This session shows off the reasons that I enjoy the Call of Cthulhu game. One day I will run this campaign in its entirety. Hopefully.

5) Rifts Episode 1

Ah, Rifts. I've been a fan of Palladium games since I found a copy of Ninjas and Superspies back while I was in college. I have a lot of their games, but the one thing that I have never had a chance to run has been Rifts. Things blew up fast, but that's cool because that is what Rifts is supposed to be. I would run Rifts again, definitely. Every time I see a new book for it, it makes me want to run the thing. We almost went for another Rifts game as the interim before we start playing D&D 5e, but Call of Cthulhu won out instead. Surprising, but it is a fun game.

Really, I am surprised that the actual play videos have been as popular as they have been. None of us really expected that people would want to watch any of us sitting around playing role-playing games by Google Plus Hangouts. I have always been surprised that my Dorkland Roundtable with Monte Cook wasn't more popular. It does make me realize that I need to do more vblog posts on my YouTube channel, however.

Amazing Adventures RPG Kickstarter

If you are into pulpy gaming adventures, there's a Kickstarter going that may help you realize your Rocketeer dreams. Amazing Adventures is an RPG by Troll Lord Games that utilizes the SIEGE engine (as seen in Castles & Crusades). The game has been out in softcover for a couple of years but this Kickstarter project aims to bring it a hardcover edition (and, with stretch goals, its supplemental books). And bringing that hardcover, it will, as the project has already surpassed its initial funding goal and the first set of stretch goals. It's now working its way through the next sets which include hardcover editions of the supplementary books, an adventure, and something secret.
How is the Kickstarter project, in-general, though? I thought you'd never ask!

Clearly, it has more than funded and that means the project has done what it needed to do. The information present is pretty condensed, which is fine, and it does give a general overview of Amazing Adventures and the project. I would have liked to see a bit more detailed information on the SIEGE engine rules or even a play-test/demo to check out -- that would be especially useful for new, potential players. The imagery on the page is only used for stretch goals, add ons, and shipping prices. While I am fine with having all of those (especially the stretch goal 'dungeon', complete with 'secret doors' -- that's creative), there really should be, at the least, more art showing off the pulpy aspects of the game. Something to really grab the attention and entice pledgers.

The pledge tiers are done a bit differently than most projects, as the US$1 tier is used as a means to get the digital copies via add ons -- there isn't a purely digital tier. The first 'real' tier is at US$25 for the core book in print and digital. Then US$45 for the core book and the Manual of Monsters -- both print and digital. US$50 for the core book and the companion book -- print and digital. And, if you want all three, US$99 for the core, Manual of Monsters, and companion -- print and digital. That does not include international shipping, of which there is a chart to reference on the page. For the digital lovers out there, all three PDFs together are around US$49.

If you would like to get your hands on this pulpyness, be sure to check out the Kickstarter page, and, for more information, be sure to check out Troll Lord Games' website.

New Crawljammer Issue And Tim Callahan's Demon Drums

I'm not sure why the camera on my phone decided to read the bright orangeness of the cover to Crawljammer #4 as being a fleshy pink,but that seems to have happened. Perhaps my camera is trying to tell me that the new issue is pink and fleshy. I don't have an answer for that.

I've talked before about Crawljammer over at Bleeding Cool. If you don't know what Crawljammer is...shame on you. Written with the Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG in mind, Crawljammer is a zine that has been developing and supporting a science fantasy setting for that game. Why the people at Goodman Games haven't snapped up Tim Callahan and put him to work on an official Crawljammer (or similar setting) for DCC is beyond me.

In this issue you get all of the things that you expect out of Crawljammer: new classes, continual expansion of the setting and a mini-adventure. All of which is supported with top quality art. I don't play the DCC RPG myself, but that doesn't get in the way of this zine. The nature of most older edition emulators makes it easy enough to fit material from Crawljammer into your Swords & Wizardry or Castles & Crusades games. Space Pirates From Beyond The Grave, the mini-adventure in this issue, could easily be reskinned for your favorite fantasy game, if you don't play DCC or would prefer a more straight forward fantasy presentation.

Crawljammer is a spotlight shining out of the RPG zine scene, and if you haven't tracked it down yet you really should.

That puts us on to part two of this post. The second item from Tim Callahan that my camera decided to mute the colors. The actually yellow cardstock cover doubles as a map for for the Demon Drums adventure.

Originally created by Tim to give out to people at Gen Con 2014, this adventure found its way into my mail box yesterday because Tim and I managed to not see each other while we were both at Gen Con. If you saw how big the convention was, you will understand.

Thankfully, however, Tim had at least one copy of Demon Drums left and sent it too me (without my asking, which makes it doubly cool on his part).

While not a huge adventure, Demon Drums is still exciting. A dungeon, the remains of vanished, ancient civilization, which is buried beneath a haunted tree in a dark and gloomy swamp? How is this not cool. What I like about Tim's adventure writing is that he takes ideas that could easily become stereotyped and elevates them into something that is more than the sum of its stereotypes.

How again is it that this guy isn't writing official stuff for the DCC RPG?

The great thing about this adventure (other than it being a great adventure) is the fact that it can easily be slipped into a rulebook and be used as the basis for a few hours of gaming fun with your friends. And, like with Crawljammer, you can easily use Demon Drums as an adventure in the game of your choice.

If you haven't checked out Tim Callahan's work, you really need to do so now. There is a link at the top of this post to the Crawljammer blog, which is a glimpse into the mind of Tim, where you can order up the Crawljammer zine today.

Spirit of '77 RPG -- The Cruise Ship of the Damned free adventure

Monkeyfun Studios, a new developer crewed by the seasoned team of David Kizzia and Bob Richardson, are releasing their first RPG: Spirit of '77. Running on a modified Apocalypse World rule set, Spirit of '77 promises plenty of awesome 70's-themed action and adventure, taking inspiration from many of the movies and TV shows of the period.

What's more, Spirit of '77 is going onto Kickstarter in early September (as of this writing, about a week away), and, to help you decide if this is your kind of game, the guys at Monkeyfun Studios have a free adventure to check out -- The Cruise Ship of the Damned.

The PDF sits in at 49 pages, nearly half of which are the rules which give a thorough understanding of how to play/run the game. Honestly, you're given enough to start creating some simple adventures/campaigns of your own with just this PDF. There are no character creation rules, but there are seven very interesting pre-made characters (complete with images).

It's a solid adventure and introduction to the game, in general. The amount of content there is more than worth checking out, especially since it's free. And, heck, just reading it is pretty entertaining -- a lot of the writing, especially the examples, are pretty evocative and show how much the developers really love this setting and style.

Also, they have a Spotify list linked on their site, with indicators of suggested songs to play throughout the adventure. I'm not certain how effective it is in practice, but it certainly helps get you in the mood for the game.

If you're interested in learning more (or want to snag a copy of the adventure) be sure to check out Spirit of '77's website, Facebook page, and Monkeyfun Studios' website. And keep your eyes peeled for the Kickstarter that's opening soon.

A Dorkland Interview -- The Supervillain Handbook

A little while back I had a short article on Fainting Goat Games' The Super Villain Handbook -- a book for the Icons RPG -- and its Facebook page where you can see loads of material and give feedback directly to the developers. Today I bring you an interview I had with Jason Tondro of Fainting Goat Games about The Super Villain Handbook and its future.

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Dorkland!: What kind of feedback are you looking for and why?

Jason Tondro: People can contribute to the book in many ways. Sometimes this is simple: I can always use more examples of a particular archetype. For example, as I write this, I just posted the "Power Corrupted" archetype. Now, obvious examples include Phoenix and Parallax. But maybe there are other great examples I've not thought of, but which you have.

Also, I like to start each entry with a good quote from the comics. So in this case, I had a lot of great Dark Phoenix quotes to pick from. But sometimes these quotes are harder to find, and fans have their own favorites. That's a great help to me.

Many contributors have helped by reminding me of stories common to a given archetype. At the heart of this book, we are asking "What stories do we tell with these villains?" So when a reader chimes in with a great story which we have seen in the comics, or a new one which a GM would find helpful, that's gold.

DL: Why a Facebook group?

JT: Because I'm an academic as well as a comic nerd, I have a lot of academics and comic nerds on my friends list. I knew that, if I posted these archetypes on FB, some very smart people would respond. And they have! I have a built-in audience of People Smarter Than Me.  It's worked perfectly.

DL: Why place your villains in the public domain?

JT: So, this was an idea which grew out of another decision. The SVH is not a "setting book", but when you're making villains, it often helps to place those characters together in a setting. In addition, there are several villain archetypes which totally depend on a hero. For example, an Evil Twin villain makes no sense if the reader doesn't know the hero whom the villain is the Evil Twin of.

So I knew I'd have to make some setting decisions. And while I was thinking about it, I considered using public domain heroes for the setting. Like, what if our Evil Twin was based off of Amazing Man or Airman or someone like that.

That led to the idea that, hey, if the heroes are all public domain, why don't we make the whole setting public domain too? And Mike Lafferty, our publisher, totally stepped up to that challenge and said, sure, yes. Not only will our characters be public domain, the art depicting them will be too. And this became the unifying theme of the setting, which we are calling the Youniverse, because everything in it belongs to you.

This has the additional benefit of introducing public domain characters like Dracula and Sherlock Holmes into the setting, and it's hard to go wrong with those two guys.

DL: What are some of the sources of inspiration behind your villains? Anything that stands out in particular?

JT: I'm really making a conscious effort on this project to make our artists partners in the creative process. One of the things I've learned about myself is that, while I'm very confident in my ability to write an engaging, compelling villain, I'm not always as good at the visual design of that villain. Sometimes I get a good idea, but often I end up falling back on "he's a guy in a trench coat" or something. And there's a place for the Trenchcoat Brigade, but a little goes a long way, and let's face it, those characters are boring to draw. Artists cry at the missed opportunity.

So this time, as we approach the villains, I'm giving the artist first crack. Not all the time. Sometimes I have a specific character in mind and I'm sure he or she is perfect. But if I don't have anything in mind, I let the artist do what he or she does best: visual design. And so Jacob Blackmon, who has done a lot of our art so far, comes to me with an image and maybe a name, and I take that and create the backstory and specifics. My job is to make that visual concept dramatically compelling. And because these artists are really good at what they do, that part of my job is very easy!

DL: Why 40 villain archtypes? Will we see more in the future? From reader feedback?

JT: It's possible. I had to stop somewhere. Archetypes are by their nature kind of fluid. Other writers would have organized this book very differently. But I felt I had something to say about each of the archetypes in this book, and that was the most important factor. There are other archetypes I am not including, but I wasn't always sure I had that much to say about them. Some archetypes are included inside others. For example, if I'm talking about Psycho villains like the Joker, who in modern stories are murderous and lethal, there's a related archetype which is still crazy, but in a more harmless way. He's goofy and comical, rather than psychotic. I call these guys Lunatics. And I didn't give them a separate entry, because I wasn't sure I had much to say about them which I couldn't say in the Psycho entry, which is where they now appear.

With 40 archetypes, the Deluxe Edition of this book is already going to be at least 160 pages. That's a big undertaking. I'm very satisfied with it's scale.

DL: Lastly, will the Super Villain Handbook make its way to a crowd-funding platform in the near future? What are the plans for its release?

JT: Mike can answer this more definitively than I, but yes, we are Kickstarter-bound. Anyone who contributes to the KS will get the Starter Edition immediately. That will detail all 40 archetypes -- how they work in comics, what their common traits and stories are -- and will have 40 stat blocks for Icons. When the KS concludes, we will move on the Deluxe Edition, which will add 40 fully developed NPC villains who are part of the Youniverse, each with art. And that will double the size of the book, at least.

I hope that helps, and thank you so much for your interest in the SVH! Join us on our FB page or at Fainting Goat.

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We here at Dorkland! would like to thank Jason for taking the time to answer our questions and wish him and Fainting Goat Games the best of luck with their future crowd-funding (which, as of this post, may not be far away).

The Unbearable Riftness Of Being

Back at the beginning of the year we did an all too brief Rifts game for a couple of months. It was fun, goofy and full of big stuff. I made some mistakes as GM during the game. I probably should have reigned in the players a bit, maybe even nudged them into some other directions. I would probably come up with more options, should we decide to play Rifts again sometime.

The interesting thing is that, whenever we start towards a new game playing Rifts again is always among the suggestions. I'm pretty sure that this means that we will end up there again.

At Gen Con I visited the Palladium Books booth and picked up the latest of the Rifts books, the latest part of their Minion War event. It is more of the same: weapons, spells, weird magic items and a couple of O.C.C.s to liven up your games. The thing is, and I say this every time I pick up something new for Rifts, the real problem with the game is that every time you pick up a new book for it (even if you're just reading through it in a store) you want to run Rifts. I'm not sure that this is something that consistently happens with other game lines for me. Half of our group has shiny new Player's Handbooks, but we're talking about playing Call of Cthulhu instead of D&D 5e.

What is it about this game that provokes such enthusiasm?

We played the game as written. We've spent enough time playing OSR stuff over the last couple of years that all of the weird sub-systems didn't really bother us. I'm not really one who sees obsolescence in rules, so I don't really care that these rules were put together in the 80s, or that other rules have come along since then. I think the Rifts rules work well, and once play starts they are a lot less complex than people give them credit for online. Are they perfect? No, but I don't expect that out of a game's rules. It was fun, and that's really what I want out of a game.

Will we play Rifts again some time? Probably. The interest is always there. As I read more of the Minion War material I want to play a game where the player's characters are right there, on the front line, fighting the good fight against the forces of Hells (of course Rifts has dueling Hells, because Rifts!) that are trying to grind Rifts Earth under their heels. The characters have to hold the line and close up a Hell Pit that the infernal forces of Dyval are trying to open up, allowing more of their armies onto Rifts Earh. Hell, yeah!

And I think that is where the appeal lies for Rifts. So many games hint at things, or show what could happen in their games, but with Rifts you get art that says things like "Want to arm wrestle a devil in order to win a handgun that can shoot holes in the moon? We want you to do that too. Look at this piece of art that shows you just how you can do that with Rifts. Enjoy." You see old school games with a push of "Metal! Demons! Carnage!" and there is Rifts, just ahead, waving at them to come and join it out on the edge.

For me, Rifts is the Jack Kirby of gaming. There's a lot of infectious enthusiasm, and it may not always make sense, but by the time you finish flipping through a book you are nodding your head and smiling and thinking "Hell, yeah. I can do this." And Rifts is whispering to you, "Come and put on giant suits of powered armor and fight demons with us. Travel to strange worlds where everyone are giants who live for thousands of years. Be a centaur who fights crime on a cosmic scale." And you look down and whisper "yes..."

There were a couple of sessions after this, but for one reason or another we didn't record them. These are actually proving to be some of the most popular of the "actual play" videos in my YouTube stream. The episode of Masks of Narylthotep and a couple of the Cyberpunk games are the only ones that are more popular.

New From Image - Warren Ellis And Tula Lotay Reimagine The Straightforward

Supreme was one of the mainstays of Image Comics during its early days. Spinning out of the imagination and world building of Rob Liefeld, Supreme was part of the super-powered arms race going on at the company at the time as creators tried to one up each other with the most powerful characters that they could create. Supreme was Liefeld's homage to Superman, filtered through the unique comic sensibilities of the 90s.

I will be honest, while I knew about the Supreme comic, it didn't really hit my radar until Alan Moore's run on the book. While I enjoyed that run, it was fueled more for nostalgia for comics from another age than the quality for which Moore was known.

Likewise, Ellis' work has been lackluster of late. Where his stories were once some of the most wildly creative in comics, they have of late been infected with an action movie idiom that has made them less appealing. Violence has been substituted for plot in too man of his stories for my taste.

Bring this together and I had planned on skipping this new Supreme Blue Rose series by Warren Ellis and Tula Lotay. However, the recent relaunches and reimaginings of Liefeld's Prophet and Glory were interesting comics that pushed the envelope on super-hero comics. Both were books that I would not have expected to come from Liefeld's studio.

Now, with Supreme Blue Rose I have been surprised for a third time.

The new Supreme Blue Rose by Warren Ellis and Tula Lotay is turning into something like the comic version of a Pynchon novel. Ellis is at his most creative in probably a decade and Lotay's art has a dreaminess to it that gives the story an ethereal quality, and when combined show just exactly how comic books can be an art form.

Fairly pretentious, I know.

I'm not really one to fawn over a comic book without some sort of a justification. As a media, comics have just become too fleeting and ephemeral. You read a new comic once or twice, and then put it away in a box. Maybe later you pull it out of that box and try to experience that initial buzz again. A lot of the time that just doesn't happen.

One of the stengths of Lotay's art in these issues is that she puts that ephemeral quality onto the page, making it a part of the story. Her art, and Ellis' script, has you questioning the reality of what you are experiencing within the comic. This is something that I think is a quality of good art, and something definitely lacking from a lot of mainstream comics these days.

For the longest time I was a huge Ellis fan boy, I even have a copy of Crooked Little Vein, his first novel. Ellis was an explosion onto the comic scene, wildly creative and bringing influences into his stories that we hadn't seen in comics for a long time. Ellis loves his science. Even if his science is itself sketchy, he is able to make it sound convincing with a lot of buzzwords that make you feel like he knows what he's talking about, even when you and he both know that he's just making it all up as he goes. That is one of the qualities that drew me into Ellis' work over the years.

Unfortunately, it felt like much of his initial joy faded away, to be replaced by a more cynical approach fueled by the idioms of blockbuster action movies. Violence became a replacement for plot and a catalog of damages instead filled in for characterization. Everything became an imitation of what he had done with Stormwatch and The Authority, I personally lost interest. I would still pick up books here and there, but a lot of them would be disappointments to me. I am still sad that newuniversal was never completed. Despite the art in that book having one photo reference too many, the writing was the Ellis that we all knew and loved.

However, Supreme Blue Rose isn't a return of vintage Ellis, and that is a good thing. The writing in these issues is subdued, very much in tandem with Lotay's art. Ellis seems to be more interested in creating a tone than in building a world. The setting is obviously our own contemporary world. Little touches of dialogue like "Best Instagram ever." ground his story in the real world.

This isn't some super-hero story filled with bulging biceps and over enhanced breasts. This isn't some hackneyed "deconstruction" of the super-hero genre that comes off as a fifth generation copy of Watchmen or The Dark Knight. The characters in the story aren't new. Much like with Moore's run, they are recreations of the characters that have already appeared in Supreme comics. Unlike Moore, Ellis is not trying to retool them into another comic idiom. Instead, much like in a story by British author J.G. Ballard, Ellis deftly blends the "real" and the "fantastic" into a story that would not be out of place among Borges' works.

I think that I have done enough name dropping for one review.

Let's just say that I think the first two issues of Supreme Blue Rose were engaging comics that drew me into the world that Ellis and Lotay are creating. This is not your father's Supreme. If you want something out of the mainstream, a comic that tells an intriguing story, you should check out Supreme Blue Rose today.

Gen Con Is Over, Long Live Gen Con

Gen Con is come and gone. It was a fun four days, but for me it was also incredibly busy. There were so many great new games that I saw (and many more that I never got to see, but only heard about). There were more great people that I got to meet for the first time after interacting with them online for years...or just who I got to meet for the first time period. Most of my time at the convention was spent in introducing myself to people who may have known of me, or who had definitely heard of Bleeding Cool. It was cool getting to talk to Monte Cook and Bruce Cordell about Numenera and The Strange. It was cool getting to talk about Glorantha with Jeff Richards of Moon Design and to get to talk about Call of Cthulhu with Dustin Wright of Chaosium. These things are what make conventions so great for me, getting to see the people who have made the games that make gaming so great and getting to interact with them one on one.

I picked up so much stuff that I am probably going to have enough games to keep me talking until next year's Gen Con.

But that's a good problem to have. It wasn't all that long ago that people were saying that gaming was dying off, and everything from Magic The Gathering to MMOs was killing it off. I was glad to see that isn't really the case any more.

What does that picture represent? That stack of books is the tip of the iceberg. There is so much new and exciting going on in gaming from the big names like Paizo and Green Ronin and Steve Jackson Games to the indie producers to the self-publishers who are throwing stuff out left and right. There is so much available for so many different styles of play and interests that we didn't have a few years ago. This is a great thing.

The crowds at Gen Con were incredible as well. The people were more ethnically diverse than I have seen at gaming conventions in a long time. There were a lot of women playing and running a variety of games. There were a diverse spread of ages and backgrounds to be seen. As someone who wants to see a diverse gaming landscape, all of these things made me happy.

The greying of gaming appears to be a thing of the past, and the reports of gaming's death are becoming greatly overstated. These are all good things.

Now, the one thing that I keep getting asked (despite answering it repeatedly in my Bleeding Cool coverage) is what were my favorites of the convention? Well, on the RPG side of things I have to say that the most exciting game for me at the con was The Strange from Monte Cook Games. The best non-RPG thing had to be the Mars Attacks Dice Game from Steve Jackson Games.

So, the countdown starts for next year's Gen Con.

D&D Tyranny of Dragons Press Release

Dungeons & Dragons Fans Must Rise Up or Bow Down

as the Tyranny of Dragons Begins!

August 14, 2014 – Renton, WA – The biggest and most exciting year for Dungeons & Dragons hits a
pivotal moment today as the Tyranny of Dragons storyline kicks-off. This rich new narrative challenges players around the world to rise up against hoards of evil dragons, including Tiamat, the most fearsome dragon in D&D’s history! With a full suite of entertainment offerings already starting to roll-out, and many more exciting launches slated for later this year, Tyranny of Dragons offers action-packed play experiences for digital and tabletop RPG players alike.

The new Tyranny of Dragons module for the highly-acclaimed free-to-play Dungeons & Dragons MMORPG, Neverwinter, is available today.  Developed by Cryptic Studios and published by Perfect World Entrainment, the new module will showcase a new character class, the Scourge Warlock, and a new race, Dragonborn.

For players eager to sink their teeth into the Tyranny of Dragons storyline around the gaming table, two new tabletop adventures will also release this year, Hoard of the Dragon Queen on August 19 and The Rise of Tiamat on October 21.  In addition, a new line of D&D miniatures from Wiz Kids will be available soon for fans to enhance their Tyranny of Dragons adventures.

With these releases, comes the highly-anticipated new rules for the tabletop roleplaying game, following a two year public playtest that help set the foundation for the future of the franchise. Currently available at select hobby game stores and releasing in wide distribution on August 19, the Player’s Handbook is the first of three “core” rulebooks to be released alongside the Tyranny of Dragons storyline and contains everything players need to create heroic characters. The Player’s Handbook release will be followed by the Monster Manual (September 30) and the Dungeon Master’s Guide (November 18). 

 

To start your adventures in the Tyranny of Dragons story, visit DungeonsandDragons.com. Also, be sure to follow D&D on Facebook and Twitter.

About Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast LLC, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS), is the leader in entertaining the lifestyle gamer. Wizards' players and fans are members of a global community bound together by their love of both digital gaming and in-person play. The company brings to market a range of gaming experiences under powerful brand names such as MAGIC: THE GATHERING, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, and KAIJUDO. Wizards is also a publisher of fantasy series fiction with numerous New York Times best-sellers. For more information about our world renowned brands, visit the Wizards of the Coast Web site at www.wizards.com.

Live From Gen Con

Tomorrow I arrive at Gen Con, midday Indianapolis time. Since I grew up in Indiana, it is always a little weird to come back for me. This year it is probably more weird in an interesting way, but I am definitely looking forward to the show.

This is me. I'm usually this happy.

If you're a reader of the blog, or if we follow each other on Google+ or Twitter, come up to me and say hello. I may or may not shake hands, depending on how many hands I've had to shake already. Please don't be offended if I don't want to do that, it's going to be a long weekend.

I am going to be making my way through the convention, spreading the word that Bleeding Cool is covering tabletop gaming now and looking for contacts for news and announcements. You have news? Stop me and tell me what you news is.

I'm not going to spend every minute of my time doing media stuff, I am there to have fun as well, so don't be upset if I give you my card, or point you to the comment submission form here at the blog and ask if we can talk after Gen Con. I have a pretty full schedule already, so that is appreciated.

+Josh Thompson will be manning the Dorkland! office while I am con-ward. Anything sent to the submission form or directly to my email will be forwarded to him for posting, so there may be some delays. Get your information in early, if you want things posted during Gen Con.

I will also be at the ENnies Awards Friday night. The blog is up for an award in the Best Blogging category, and I hope that we win something. There's a lot of great blogger in the running, so the competition is keen. Good luck to everyone else in my category.

If you're not going to Gen Con, keep an eye on my Twitter feed (linked above) and my YouTube channel. I will try posting some videos from the convention floor (internet connectiveness permitting).

Also, here's a map. Gamers like maps.

Gen Con On Twitter

Not at Gen Con? Want the next best thing? Here's a couple of the hashtags for the show on Twitter. Follow the pictures and tweets of the people going. It is the next best thing to being there.

#gencon2014 Tweets

#gencon Tweets

There will be plenty to see over the next few days. I arrive at Gen Con mid day tomorrow, and I will be doing what I can to contribute to the pictures and fun.

EXTERMINATE! The New Doctor Who Comics From Titan Comics

I meant to talk about these a couple of weeks ago, but with all the Gen Con prep, they sort of fell through the cracks here at the blog. If it isn't apparent yet, I'm a huge fan of Doctor Who, started watching the classic series as a kid on PBS, and then carried over to the new stuff. It isn't a popular position amongst older Who fans, but Matt Smith grew into the role and became one of my favorite Doctors (never surpassing Jon Pertwee, however).

As you may or may not know, the comic license for Doctor Who recently changed hands, now being possessed by the British publisher Titan Comics. I've reviewed a few Titan books here and there on the blog, and if you look around you can find some of my reiviews. They do good books.

I had good expectations that they would do some good Doctor Who books as well. I was right.

Both of these first issues felt like they could have been episodes of their respective Doctors' television runs.

The 10th Doctor issue was mostly set up of the situation, and introduction of Gabriella, a first generation Mexican-American, the next Companion. I'm sure that it was intentional, attempting to create an echo of previous Companions, but the Doctor's first words to Gabriella in the story are almost exactly the same as when the 9th Doctor first met Rose. I thought that was a nice touch.

The setup is that there are some supernatural shenanigans going on around The Day of the Dead in present Day Brooklyn. Being that it is Doctor Who, I am assuming that the supernatural veneer will be debunked for something more alien, but it is still a good story. I am guessing that this is the 10th Doctor after the events of the Anniversary Special, but I could be wrong. Those few quiet moments we get with the Doctor in the issue seem to hint to that to me.

However, the high point of this issue has to be the art of Elena Casagrande. She brings a indie comic, personality-based approach that brings the characters to life and reminds me a lot of the work of Ming Doyle. This is an artist to watch in the years to come.

With the first issue of the 11th Doctor's comic we get a similar approach as in the 10th Doctor's. We get an introduction to the world of the person who will be the Companion, in this case Alice Obiefune, a Londoner. When the alieness breaks into her world, we see the differences immediately between the 10th and 11th Doctors. The comic captures the manic quality of the 11th very well. All in all, I think that both of these first episodes manage to capture the qualities of their Doctors well.

The 11th Doctor is kind, sympathetic and as empathetic as his alien nature allows him to be. For him, how Alice is feeling is just as important as the alien stuff that is happening in the city, if not more important. He takes time to talk with her about her mother, rather than chase down the alien. All because he thought that she was sad.

One of the reasons that I liked Matt Smith's portrayal of the Doctor was that his character was this juxtaposition of weird alien not quite getting it with a strong empathy for those around him. Where other Doctors were drawn into situations to win, he honestly wants to try to help. Unfortunately the Doctor getting involved in a situation isn't always helps. This dichotomy drives not only this incarnation of the Doctor, but also many of the stories that he is a part of as well.

How does the "man" who needs to help deal with his very existence often making things worse?

I enjoyed these comics. To be honest, I don't have a lot of a background with previous Doctor Who comics. I read a few of the IDW Publishing era issue, and I've seen a few of the classic stories from the Marvel Comics era, but this is my first time getting in on the ground floor of things. I very much enjoyed these comics. Both issues encapsulated what I liked about the respective Doctors and did a good job of feeling like episodes of the show.

 

The art is the 11th Doctor comic moved effortlessly between realistic and "cartoony" (for lack of a better word), as the story needed it. This flexibility of the art is also what gives the story much of its impact. Artist Simon Fraser should get props for the power of his art bringing so much to this story.

Should you buy these comics? I would say that picking up these comics are a necessity for any Doctor Who loving comic fan. If, like me, you've never regularly picked up a Doctor Who comic, now is your chance.

As a fan of roleplaying, it is a shame that we can't see synergy between the various licensors, I would love to see writeups for the Doctor Who game from Cubicle 7 of the various characters appearing in the comics.

Why Gamers Can't Have Nice Things

Putting this out there for people to see.

We really shouldn't have to tell people to knock this shit off, but it appears that we have to.

Things To Do At Gen Con - Food Truck Rally

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS POST IS FROM 2014. 

Food is always a fun challenge at any convention. The food in the hall is always expensive and usually not the best. One of the things that Gen Con has tried to do to help with that is to have rallies of area food trucks around the convention center during the show. Here is the schedule of times, locations and trucks for each day.

I'll say it, I'm a picky eater. Not in the way that a lot of picky eaters won't eat things, but more in that I'm not a big fan of greasy foods (although diners can still be my Kryptonite) and I don't really care much for bar food or the big chain restaurants. I like unique and interesting, and I like flavorful. Break out of the bonds of the usual convention junk food and give some of these places a try. I bet you might find them interesting.

I've also tried to track down the website and Twitter for as many of these as I could find. You can thank me at Gen Con by sharing your fancy french fries with me. I know that people have special dietary restrictions and quirks, so being able to get a look at the truck and their menu in advance should help out. Having grown up in Indiana, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that some of these trucks don't have a web presence.

Remember that the schedule is subject to change, but with all of this information, you should be able to track down food even if they end up not at Gen Con directly.

Also, check out the Roaming Hunger site. They seem to have a lot of information about area food trucks. This way you can plan things for yourself as well. The Roaming Hunger site also has tracking for food trucks, and it looks like they have an iPhone app as well.

Thursday August 14

11 am - 4 pm

Georgia St
Citizen Hash | Twitter
Nicey Treat | Twitter
Chef Dan's | Twitter
Scout's Treats | Twitter
Byrne's Grilled Pizza | Twitter
Gobble Gobble | Twitter
Gypsy Truck | Twitter
Big Guys BBQ | Facebook
R&R Extreme Wings | Twitter
Talkin Turkey | Twitter
Taste of the Caribbean | Twitter

Capitol Ave
Cutie Pies Pizza | Twitter
GiGi's Cupcakes | Twitter
Food For The Soul | Twitter
Groovy Guys Fries | Twitter
Big Ron's Bistro | Twitter
Tacos W/O Borders | Twitter
Simple & Good | Twitter
Taste of Memphis | Twitter
Ahh Burrito | Twitter
Soul Sista OTM | Twitter

5 pm - 11:30 pm

Georgia St
Spice Box | Twitter
Little Eataly | Twitter
Duos | Twitter
General American Donut Cpmpany | Twitter
Circle City Spuds | Twitter
Mac Genie | Twitter
SOT SOT | Twitter
The Flying Cupcake | Twitter
Da Blue Lagoon | Twitter
Taste of Heaven | Twitter
Hoosier Fat Daddy | Twitter

Capitol Ave
Serendipity | Twitter
Key's Gourmet Slider Station | Twitter
The NY Slice | Twitter
Dashboard Diner | Twitter
Nacho Mama | Twitter
Der Pretzel Wagen | Twitter
Scratchtruck | Twitter
Johnson's BBQ | Twitter
Sweet Jeanius | Twitter

Friday August 15

11 am - 4 pm

Georgia St
Spice Box
Groovy Guys Fries
Johnson's BBQ
Sweet Jeanius
Talkin Turkey
Natural Born Juicers
R&R Extreme Wings
Scratchtruck
Soul Sista OTM
Simple & Good
KG Slider Station
Big Guy's BBQ

Capitol Ave
Chef Dan's
Der Pretzel Wagon
SOT SOT
Circle City Spuds
The Flying Cupcake
Big Ron's Bistro
Da Blue Lagoon
Taste of Heaven

5 pm - 11:30 pm

Georgia St
Little Eataly
Nicey Treats
Duo
Heavenly Sweets
Serendipity
The NY Slice
Dhaba Indy
Gypsy Truck
GiGi's Cupcakes
Taste of the Caribbean
Taste of Memphis
Cutie Pies Pizza

Capitol Ave
Byrne's Grilled Pizza
Gobble Gobble
Mac Genie
Scout's Treats
Pierogi Love | Twitter
Rolin With Tha Roux | Twitter
General American
Hoosier Fat Daddy
AP Delicious Ribs | Twitter

Saturday August 16

11 am - 4 pm

Georgia St
Hoosier Fat Daddy
Groovy Guy Fries
AP Ribs
The Flying Cupcake
Gobble Gobble
KG Slider Station
Mac Genie
Dhaba Indy | Twitter
Cutie Pies Pizza
Big Ron's Bistro
Ahh Burrito

Capitol Ave
Circle City Spuds
Neighborhood Pizza
Little Eataly
Nicey Treats
R&R Extreme Wings
Serendipity
Spice Box
Da Blue Lagoon
Taste of Memphis
Gypsy Truck
Scout's Treats

5 pm - 11:30 pm

Georgia St
Nacho Mama
General American
GiGi's Cupcakes
Der Pretzel Wagen
Scratchtruck
Natural Born Juicers | Twitter
Talkin Turkey
SOT SOT
The NY Slice
Big Guys BBQ

Capitol Ave
Sweet Talk me
Rollin Wit Tha Roux
Heavenly Sweets
Johnson's BBQ
Soul Sista OTM
Taste of the Caribbean
Simple & Good
Tacos W/O Borders
Taste of Heaven

Sunday August 17

11 am - 5 pm

Georgia St
Nicey Treats
Hoosier Fat Daddy
Byrne's Grilled Pizza
Scout's Treats
Johnson's BBQ
Chef Dan's
Mac Genie
Soul Sista OTM
Ahh Burrito
Little Eataly
Sweet Jeanius

Capitol Ave
The NY Slice
The Flying Cupcake
Der Pretzel Wagen
Taste of the Caribbean
Heavenly Sweets
AP Ribs
Dhaba Indy
SOT SOT

Here is a basic map of downtown Indianapolis, to help you find where the places are.

Tampa Bay Comic Con

I went to the Sunday of Tampa Bay Comic Con yesterday and I had a really good time at the convention. I'm working up a more detailed piece about it for Bleeding Cool, but my initial impressions were really good ones. I saw some great cosplayers in some spectacular costumes, I got to meet some great local comic creators and I even was able to see my friend +Norbert Cartagena and his niece (who I now feel guilty that I don't remember her name). I also got to meet artist, writer and designer Jim Steranko and writer Nick Cuti (co-creator of the comic character E-Man with Joe Stanton!).

I had a really good time, and the show opened my eyes to a local community of comics creators that I admit that I didn't know about before now. However, I've got some great comics that I picked up at the convention to rectify that situation, and I got a lot of business cards and email addresses of publishers, writers and artists. I am very excited about this, and I am excited about the things that I will be getting to write about. Expect to start hearing more about all of this both here at the Dorkland! blog and over at Bleeding Cool as well.

I was also finally able to meet with Cullen Bunn face to face. We've talked before on Twitter, and I ran an interview with him here on the blog about being a gamer. He and I talked for a bit about comics and gaming, and how he might be going to Gen Con again this year. We can only hope.

More to come!

Meanwhile At The Bundle Of Holding - A One-Roll Engine

It is the last day for the One-Roll Engine Bundle of Holding. You're not familiar with the One-Roll Engine?

The One-Roll Engine (ORE) system resolves initiative, success/failure, and damage in one quick roll. Designed by Greg Stolze (Unknown Armies) and Dennis Detwiller (Delta Green), this d10 dice-pool system is fast and easy to learn, yet has enough crunch and options to satisfy veteran players and GMs. Though technically a generic system, ORE really shines in superheroic action. 

I'll say right now, that this probably isn't going to be a game for everyone, and that's all right. But with the One-Roll Engine, and its accompanying suite of games, you have a game that is tightly designed around a specific idea: gritty super-heroic action.

That's something that is a sort of holy grail for super-hero gamers. A lot of super-hero RPGs do an excellent job at the "higher end" of the super-hero spectrum, but a lot of these start to fall apart when you get to the "lower end" or more street level types of games. With Godlike, Dennis Detwiller and Greg Stolze changed this. I have the original edition of Godlike in my gaming collection and I've played it a few times. It did have some mechanical quirks to it, but those were outweighed by a system that did a good job of handling the previously unhandleable. (Yeah, I know that's a made up word. Sue me.)

If you haven't played Godlike, I can describe it as being akin in tone to the Liberty Files graphic novels put out by DC Comics. If you don't know what those are, then shame on you. After you check out the Bundle of Holding you need to track down these comics as well.

A lot of these kinks were ironed out with the more generic version of the rules from Godlike, released as the game Wild Talents. Designed from the basis of a number of hours and months of play of the engine of the rules, Wild Talents expanded the scope of the rules to handle super-heroic action in a number of different eras, outside of the World War II action of the original Godlike rules.

In addition to a fine-tuning of the rules, Wild Talents has some additional material that would be of interest to super-hero gamers. The book has valuable campaign creation/design material from super star game designer Kenneth Hite, If you feel that your skill as a game master isn't up to describing the world that you want to game in, the section and advice written by Hite will help you over that hill.

The bundle also includes settings and expansions for the One-Roll Engine's rules. eCollapse and Better Angels are built around some interesting setting ideas from Greg Stolze, the creator of the rules.

Also, if the One-Roll Engine isn't your thing, Godlike features a conversion of the super power rules from that game into a d20 structure. That conversion was done by a designer who's name you may have heard of: Mike Mearls. I've always been surprised that these rules never went viral into the open content landscape. They should have been a part of open gaming for a long time now.

If you're not a fan of super-heroes, there is also a fantasy game that you can find in the Bundle. Reign, also designed by Stolze, is a demonstration of how well the One-Roll Engine rules can be used as the backbone of a fantasy game. Reign also features one of the more interesting and unique fantasy probably since Greg Stafford's Glorantha.

The game may not be to the tastes of those who only want to play D&D and the derivatives thereof, but for those people looking for something different in their fantasy gaming, Reign just might be that game that they are looking for.

And in addition to getting some good gaming material in DRM-free PDF form, you are also doing a good thing. Ten percent of the monies raised by each Bundle goes to charities of the designer/publisher's choice. For this Bundle, the charities of choice are Doctors Without Borders and Action Against Hunger. Check this bundle out soon, because tonight will will be done.