Friday, March 04, 2005

"We Are The World" Celebrates 20 Years

Maybe it's not dorky, but I thought that I would throw this up on my blog in light of the Tsunami Relief project PDF that I am working on (currently in editing/layout...hopefully to be done very soon). Actually it was a line from this song that helped me to decide to organize this project, "There comes a time when we all must lend a hand."

Twenty years ago? Wow...I was 17 way back then and I had never heard of the Internet. I'm not sure if Al Gore had invented it yet...yes that is sarcasm.

"We Are The World" Celebrates 20 Years

"This week marks the 20th anniversary of 'We Are the World,' a song that made music history. To commemorate the occasion, a new DVD is being released with behind-the-scenes footage of the recording session."

I would probably buy a copy of this, I always thought that it was a good thing (whether I liked some of the artists or not). It is always good to do something to help others.

Wednesday, March 02, 2005

Planetary Photojournal

Another good image resource for publishers. This page is a repository of royalty-free images from the Jet Propulsion Lab/NASA archives. Some interesting stuff here.

Planetary Photojournal

Steve Darlington's Role-Playing Website

This site has some pretty good general articles on role-playing games, as well as being the home of the free Matrix RPG (There Is No Spoon). A site that is well worth checking out.

Steve Darlington

"In 1997, I founded the now infamous internet fanzine Places to Go, People to Be, and worked as editor for it for four years. I have also written many articles for PTGPTB, one of which was published in the now-defunct British RPG magazine Arcane, and nine of which formed the quite well-renowned History of Roleplaying. More recently, I have work appearing in the Eden Studios magazine, Eden Studios Presents and penned one of the settings for the print version of Spectrum Games Studios' Cartoon Action Hour.

"On top of this is a large number of reviews written for RPGNet (email me if you would like me to review your game). Plus some rules for Unisystem and other games I have come up with.

"And my Matrix RPG, There is No Spoon, which is proving very popular, can also be found on the rules page."

Tuesday, March 01, 2005

Satan Prefers Dorkland!



Created by the Church Sign Generator website.
Posted by Hello [via Posthuman Blues]

QuestWorlds

Interesting announcement from Issaries, Inc. regarding their new generic game. I've never played the new HeroQuest, and I am only familiar with the old RuneQuest because of it sharing the BRP (Basic Role Playing) system with Call of Cthulhu.

QuestWorlds: "Issaries, Inc. is pleased to announce our forthcoming game, QuestWorlds.

QuestWorlds is a poly-genre roleplaying adventure game in which players portray characters from any imaginable genre of fiction. From the seedy alleys of noir detective stories, to the dusty, sun-baked streets of an Old West town at high noon, to the deathly silent cryo-chambers of a ship lost among the stars, QuestWorlds allows you to experience adventure like no other.

QuestWorlds is

* Simple yet sophisticated. One system is used for ALL resolutions, whether mortal combat, intellectual debate, torrid seduction, racing spaceships or horses or giraffes, mercantile bickering, or even (depending on the scale) a worldwide nuclear war.
* Based on the popular HeroQuest roleplaying game, designed by award-winning Robin Laws, and often praised for its cleverness, ease of learning and fun.
* Limitless. Only the players' imaginations limit their options.
* A story and narrative game, not slowed down by cumbersome mechanics.

QuestWorlds has FIVE GAMES IN ONE BOOK. The five games are:

1. Western. Cowboys, indians, cavalry and the Great American Wilderness.
2. Occult. Ghosts, zombies, strange dimensions and dark magical arts.
3. Super Heroes. Zap, bam and pow, with sinister plots to destroy the world.
4. Science Fiction. Aliens, space ships and strange worlds set across the universe.
5. Wuxia. Kung fu, karate and tree-leaping feats in the exotic Orient."

1000 Monkeys, 1000 Typewriters

I haven't explored this site as much as I would like to, but it seems to be a pretty good resource for people looking for free RPGs. It may have a bit too much of an indie stance for my tastes, but I find most so-called "indie" games to be a bit pretentious and over-intellectualized for my tastes. But that doesn't mean that it wouldn't be a good resource for others.

Free Online RPGs

Monday, February 28, 2005

JAGS :: It's not Just Another Gaming System

I came across this after seeing postings by the author on RPG.net, so I decided to check it out. While it doesn't look like it is my thing rules wise...it does have some interesting background material and the production values are pretty darn good. It is certainly a game system worth checking out...plus it is free. Free is always good.

JAGS

"JAGS is a free, high quality, universal, pencil and paper RPG. It's got great support and exciting things are happening for it right now! "

Looking For Gamers

I posted this on RPG.net, looking for some new people to game with. If you're in the Cleveland area, and this sounds interesting. Leave a comment and let me know how to get in touch with you.

Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)

The system is Mutants and Masterminds, the concept is fairly open ended but it is a campaign influenced by Vertigo Comics, and comics like Planetary by Warren Ellis. It is about the world of secrets behind the veil of the standard four-color worlds of comic book super-heroes.

Sometimes, a person wakes up with a jolt from their everyday world to discover that everything is different. That all of the rules have changed. Or sometimes they discover that everything that they knew, everything that was safe and comforting to them was only on the surface of the world and they had fallen into the cracks. These cracks can be their own worlds, then, fractally reflecting the world of the surface while at the same time subtly hinting of darker, deeper worlds laying in wait in cracks of their own.

The cosmology of the world is built around my reimagining of the Cthulhu Mythos. The names and faces are different, but the concepts underneath are the same so that things can once again be unsettling and unknown to the players. Things are frightening once again. But the characters are still the heroes of the picture, facing an uncertain and unsettling world where, unlike with many heroes, things cannot be easily settled with a fist fight.

The game will be using a number of variant rules developed by myself. If all of this sounds interesting, and you would be available on Sunday evenings (and able to commit to a weekly game) then leave a comment. Of course, it also helps to be in Cleveland...

Dorkland!: Februar 2004

So, I was looking at my refererers and I saw that someone translated this page into German. Now, I really wish that I knew who or why. If you were the person who did this, and are still checking the blog out....post a comment on this and fill me in.

I'm just curious.

Dorkland!: Februar 2004

"Eine Erforschung aller Sachen, die ich betrachte, dorky, in dieser sonderbaren und wacky Welt von unseren merkw�rdig und ungew�hnlich zu sein. Wie die Tides, die oben auf dem Ufer waschen, ebb meine Definitionen und flie�en und �ndern mit den Phasen des Mondes."

Sunday, February 27, 2005

Retro Junk

This site is cool. You need to check it out...right now.

Retro Junk