IDW Publishing + Cartoon Network = Puzzling?

News broke today about IDW Publishing picking up a license to do comics based on Cartoon Network properties like Powerpuff Girls, Ben 10, Dexter's Laboratory Samurai Jack and other cartoon. I have to admit that while I think it is great that we are going to see more all ages comics (from some great cartoons) I am puzzled as to why Warner Entertainment and the Cartoon Network made the decision to farm this out to another company, rather than publish internally through DC Comics. When Warner Entertainment and DC Comics and other companies were reorganized a few years ago the stated reason was to foster better synergy within the various Warner Entertainment companies. This means seeing more DC Comics properties making it to the big and small screen (although DC and Warner have seen much greater success in the feature-length animation works rather than feature films), but it also mean taking advantage of the fact that Warner has a publishing arm in DC Comics that would handle adapting other properties into comic book form. Yes, we've seen a few Supernatural comics (The CW Network being owned in part by Warner), but outside of that we really haven't seen the synergy.

All of this is what makes this announcement so...puzzling. Obviously, I am not tuned in to these things and I don't have any sort of inside track on what's happening, but it just seems odd that Warner would decide to do this with a company that isn't a part of their umbrella. Is this demonstrating a lack of faith from Warner in DC Comic's ability to handle doing all ages publishing?

A Is For The Abyss

Between the three sephiroth of Kether, Chokhmah, and Binah is the Abyss. The Abyss is home to the displaced shards left over from the previous creation, these shards were once much more than the lingering, broken spirits that they are now. The previous creation was marked by Chaos and Silence, and now the things in the Abyss are what remains of all of that.

These shards sometimes irrupt into worlds, as they drift around through the cosmos; moving amongst the sephiroth and floating about through the various pieces of the tree of life. When these shards move into world they become great beasts of destruction, driven to undo the current creation and restore the one in which they had been whole. Sometimes these creatures go unchecked and they raze world, drawing them into the anti-creation of the Abyss and bringing them closer to Tohu and Bohu. Sometimes champions rise up and fight these creatures, struggling to save their worlds from death and darkness and silence.

I will (hopefully) be doing a series of Alphabet posts that tie in some of the background ideas that I am putting together for my Demon Hunters game. This is going to be a dark fantasy game, and it will be playtested by the G+ Hangout gaming group that I am a part of so you will be able to watch the game as it develops.

Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products to Develop Firefly RPG Products

MWP To Develop All-New Series of Pick-Up-And-Play Games set in the ‘Verse.

WILLIAMS BAY, WI, February 22, 2013 – Margaret Weis Productions is thrilled to announce a partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products to publish tabletop role-playing products based on Joss Whedon’s fan-favorite television series, Firefly. Initial releases are expected as early as spring of 2013 with print and digital releases based on MWP’s award-winning Cortex system.

The adventures of Captain Malcolm Reynolds and the crew of Serenity continue to attract new fans a decade after the television series first aired. Fresh from recent success, MWP’s own crew of seasoned designers and creators of licensed role-playing games, stand ready to develop an all-new series of pick-up-and-play games and game supplements. Based on much-loved characters, stories, and locations, every Firefly RPG product will be designed to be accessible, authentic, and as innovative as fans have come to expect from MWP.

"This project is a dream come true for me. I have been such a long-time fan of Firefly!" says MWP President Margaret Weis. "I look forward to working with my crew to take us all back out into the Black!"

“This partnership is another way that we can give back to the Firefly fans,” said Jeffrey Godsick, President of Fox Consumer Products. “Firefly followers have shown continuous loyalty to the franchise and we want to give them quality products in return.”

About Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd.:
Margaret Weis Productions (MWP) is an award-winning publisher of tabletop roleplaying games. Their most recent successful licensed games include those derived from the worlds of Marvel, Dragonlance, Leverage, Smallville and Supernatural. Based in Wisconsin, MWP has been bringing games to fans since 2005. Leading MWP is New York Times Bestselling author Margaret Weis. She’s a tireless supporter of fandom and gamers with a vision for her company to bring high-quality games to both long-time gamers and newcomers alike.

About Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products:
A recognized industry leader, Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products licenses and markets properties worldwide on behalf of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Twentieth Television and Fox Broadcasting Company, as well as third party lines. The division is aligned with Twentieth Century Fox Television, one of the top suppliers of primetime entertainment programming to the broadcast networks.

###

Contact:
Christi Cardenas
Business Manager & Agent
Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd.
Phone: 715-629-9277
christi@margaretweis.com
www.margaretweis.com
@margaretweispro

Cynthia Pascoe
Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products
310-369-2492
Cynthia.Pascoe@fox.com
Daniella Apfel
Bender/Helper Impact
212-689-6360
daniella_apfel@bhimpact.com

IDW Publishing And The G.I. Joe "Relaunch"

Periodically, although some may not agree with me on this, you really have to freshen up and revitalize the G.I. Joe concept. This is, after all, what got us the 80s G.I. Joe cartoons and comics that so many are still nostalgic for today. IDW Publishing, with this new G.I. Joe #1 is doing this again, and revitalizing the concept again for the 21st century.

In the book, the team is coming out of the shadows to become a public face for the American military, or as Duke puts it in the issue, so-called "celebrity soldiers."  As a gamer, I have to say that this concept sells me on the book. As a matter of fact, this concept is ready made for a role-playing game setting (I wish that Hasbro would let Wizards of the Coast do a G.I. Joe role-playing game, but that is a digression).

One of my favorite lines from the comic comes from Shipwreck: "Do I have to wear this? I'm a Navy SEAL, not a cartoon duck." For the first time, the G.I, Joe team has to deal with marketing: tee shirts and even toys with their likenesses.

This is not a restart, or a relaunch or a revamp. The previous continuity all still seems to have taken place, right down to General Colton, the G.I. Joe of the original "Adventure Team," being put in charge of the contemporary team. These are all of the characters that you know and love, they are just changing and adapting to the world around them, a world where news and advertising are as much weapons as guns and knives.

In addition to the usual, familiar faces, there are a couple of new characters. In accordance with the team's new public mission there is an embedded blogger (named Hashtag by someone who has obviously been on the internet during the last few years) who's job it is to record the team's missions and make sure that everyone knows who they are and what they do. I also like the fact that Cover Girl had been on Project Runway.

The story is pretty fast paced. We are dropped into the action, after things have already hit the fan and then brought up to speed with flashbacks to the G.I. Joe press conference and the events leading up to the current mission going wrong. There are a lot of familiar notes to this story and writer Fred Van Lente is obviously very well-versed in the lore of the Joes. However, this is not a continuity mired comic. You don't have to have read ten or twenty years worth of G.I. Joe comics in order to know who the people are, or what is happening. With a new G.I. Joe movie looming on the horizon, that is probably a big reason for all of this, and I do not think that it is a bad reason either. Unfortunately comics have become wrapped up in a certain kind of fan who knows the trivia and minutia of thirty or more years of continuity and by creating comics that appeal to those people the casual and new readers have been locked out of comics. I applaud IDW Publishing for making a comic that is so new user friendly.

The art is really good as well. I mean really good. With Steve Kurth on pencils and Allen Martinez on inks, the book has a team that is capable of dynamic, engrossing art that is both good in the action scenes as well as the character bits. The art lives and breathes and draws you along with the story.

Is this comic worth buying? Hell. Yes. This is the best G.I. Joe first issue that I have seen in a very long time, better than previous issues from IDW. I would say that this is probably the best first issue that I have seen since Devil's Due had the rights and was publishing a G.I. Joe comic through Image Comics. Even if you're not a fan of the Joes, if you like military stories or action-oriented comics, I really think that you will like this book. It has made me impatient for the next issue. If you didn't pick this book up today, get back to your comic store and get a copy before it is gone and you have to wait for the trade to find out what all of the rest of us are excited about.

The Magic World PDF Is Live!

Another announcement of a "book" going on sale. This time it is the Magic World PDF from Chaosium. Yeah, that price is a bit wow. I don't set the prices, I just report them. Hopefully that's just a typo or something. I've seen the early stuff and +Ben Monroe has done a really good job with getting this new book together and spiffing up the old Elric and Runequest material for this. The physical book is supposed to be ready in March, from what I am told.

I do love that cover, however, and this is BRP Fantasy Role-Playing at its finest.

Bundle of Holding Is Live

Do you like eBooks? Sure, we all do. Do you like eBooks of fiction from gaming-related people? Now I bet that I have your interest.

The Bundle of Holding is open now and has eBooks from the following authors (some of whom you might even recognize from Dorkland! Roundtables):

• Matt Forbeck (Brave New World)
• Chuck Wendig (Hunter: The Vigil)
• Jenna Moran (Nobilis, Exalted)
• Stephen D. Sullivan (D&D/AD&D, Chill)
• Rafael Chandler (Scorn, Spite)
• Sarah Newton (Mindjammer, Legends of Anglerre)
• Derek Pearcy (In Nomine)
• Aaron Rosenberg (Asylum, Spookshow) 

This is a "pay what you can" bundle, with a minimum of $1. The monies raised will be split among the authors with donations being made to the Child's Play and Reading is Fundamental charities as well. This bundle is only available for another 18 days, so get it while you can.

Unearthed Arcana Returns

I know that it isn't a favorite of everyone, but I liked the book and thought it had some cool bits to it.

Starting today, D&D fans can check out the latest Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st Edition reprint: Unearthed Arcana! The original 1985 release of Unearthed Arcana changed Dungeons & Dragons forever by introducing new races, classes, magical items, and rules written by Gary Gygax. This new printing will appeal to nostalgic D&D fans looking to add this classic to their collections, which has been faithfully reproduced in a new premium edition with gilded pages. The cover design mirrors that of the premium reprints of the 1st Edition Player's Handbook, Dungeon Masters Guide, and Monster Manual, and this reprint includes errata originally published in Dragon magazine.

From the book's foreword by Gary Gygax:

As the original volumes of the game system (Monster Manual,Players Handbook, and Dungeon Masters Guide) have altered from their first editions, so the game has changed in form and substance. This new material grew from my own campaign, articles published in Dragon Magazine, and input from many Dungeon Masters and players also. The book has a single purpose: Unearthed Arcana brings new dimensions to the AD&D game system. The compiled material which lies herein offers fresh new approaches to play without materially affecting any ongoing campaign adversely. This work does not alter former “laws of the multiverse,” but it does open insights and vistas beyond those previously understood and seen…

and

Every Dungeon Master who has created a campaign milieu out of whole cloth, so to speak, can certainly understand that the more one learns, the more one comes to understand how little he knows. So too the multiverse of this game system. The farther afield one goes in exploration and discovery, the greater the realization of how vast is the realm of unknown knowledge which awaits discovery, as it were. However, such as with our actual world, the expanses of the game multiverse will always have frontiers and unexplored territories. This fact, indeed, is what makes the AD&D game system so wonderful and appealing.

Dorkland! Roundtable with Monte Cook

I studied journalism through high school and college. I worked on the various papers of the schools that I went to, and as a blogger I have tried to utilize the skills and training that I picked up while studying journalism. When I was in high school, still living in Indiana, my mom manager to wrangle my getting to interview (then) local morning radio personalities Bob & Tom. It was a big thrill, but I think being a full of himself teen took the edge of of the awe that I felt in talking with them.

Yes, there is a point to this.

A couple of weeks ago I was able to interview +Monte Cook for my Dorkland! Roundtable. I think for the first time since I have been interviewing people, I was nervous during my interview. I tried to work around it. Who knows, hopefully (if I wasn't telling all of you about it now) it won't be noticeable.

Monte Cook was one of the designers of D&D 3e, the game that brought me back into the D&D gaming fold after so many years of wandering in the role-playing deserts of the world. Monte also was given the opportunity to not only revamp the World of Darkness, but he was able to convert it into a different gaming system. Of course, we talked about all of that.

Monte also had a big Kickstarter for a game that he is working on now, a science fantasy game called Numenera. I didn't back the Kickstarter, but I am looking forward to when the game comes out.

One of my big regrets of my many years of not playing D&D is that I missed out on Planescape, one of the big second edition settings. Honestly, from what little I do know about it I think that I would have really enjoyed playing in the setting. That's also probably why Planescape, despite being one of the things that Monte has worked on over his career, gets so little mention in our interview. Maybe one day I will find the books for cheap and I will get to see what was such a big deal about the game. Until then, I guess that I just have my imagination. I hope that you all enjoy the interview.

Dorkland! Roundtable with E. Bryan Rumph

I spoke with +E. Bryan Rumph on the Dorkland! Roundtable. A new designer with a rules light Noir game called The Coin's Hard Edge. Like a lot of starting publishers in this technological world, he is using the Print on Demand services of Lulu.com to fulfill the printing on his game. I honestly think that this is a smart decision for someone starting out (the first print run of Spirit of the Century was done via PoD after all). We talked a bit about what it is like to be a publisher and designer starting out in gaming right now.

It was a good talk and if you are looking at starting out as an RPG publisher, or have just been thinking about it, Bryan makes some good points in his answers.

Random Old School D&D Class Generator

What's that? Not enough classes in your old school game, or you just want something weird and different? Check out the custom class generator page.

This is a class that I got, now I need to find a use for it:

Requirements: DEX 9
Prime Requisites: DEX, WIS

Members of this class must have at least 13 in one or the other prime requisite to get the 5% bonus to experience. If both prime requisites are at least 13, members of this class will gain a 10% bonus to experience.

Hit Points

Level	Hit Points
1	1d6
2	2d6
3	3d6
4	4d6
5	5d6
6	6d6
7	7d6
8	8d6
9	8d6
10	8d6
11	8d6
12	8d6

Armour
Members of this class may wear leather armour and carry a shield.

Weapons
Members of this class may only use swords.

Attacking
Members of this class roll to attack as a magic-user.

Magic Items
Members of this class may not use any magic items.

Magic-User Spells
Members of this class can cast magic-user spells as a magic-user of 70% of their level - that is:

Character Level	Spell Level
	1	2	3	4	5	6
1	1	-	-	-	-	-
2	1	-	-	-	-	-
3	2	-	-	-	-	-
4	2	1	-	-	-	-
5	2	2	-	-	-	-
6	2	2	-	-	-	-
7	2	2	1	-	-	-
8	2	2	2	-	-	-
9	2	2	2	-	-	-
10	3	2	2	1	-	-
11	3	3	2	2	-	-
12	3	3	2	2	-	-

Turning the Undead
Members of this class can attempt to turn the undead as if they were a cleric of their level.

Thief Skills
Members of this class have the same skills as a thief, but to a lesser extent. They gain the normal bonus when attacking unnoticed from behind, but their percentage chance with other skills is only 90% that of a thief of the same level. That is:

Character Level	pick locks	find/remove traps	pick pockets	move silently	climb walls	hide in shadows	hear noise
1	15	13	21	21	78	12	1-2
2	21	15	24	24	79	15	1-2
3	24	18	27	27	80	18	1-3
4	28	21	33	33	81	24	1-3
5	32	30	36	36	82	27	1-3
6	41	39	39	39	83	33	1-4
7	50	48	48	48	84	42	1-4
8	59	57	57	57	85	51	1-4
9	68	66	66	66	86	60	1-4
10	77	75	75	75	86	69	1-5
11	86	84	84	84	87	78	1-5
12	87	86	95	86	88	81	1-5

Saves
Members of this class save as a fighter of their level.

Advancement

Level	XP required
1	0
2	2228
3	4456
4	8912
5	17824
6	35648
7	71296
8	139250
9	253500
10	380250
11	507000
12	633750

As yet, I have no name or background for this class, but I definitely want one. You have a suggestion, put it in the comments here or over on G+.