From The Fevered Imaginings of Rafael Chandler Comes The Teratic Tome!

Looking for cool monsters for your old school games? Look no further than Evolved Grottoes & Griffons: Teratic Tome from +Rafael Chandler. This volume of new and original monsters was created for use with OSRIC, but as we all know it can easily be adapted to any old school game, with a little bit of effort.

Demon Knights 16

Even though Paul Cornell (of Doctor Who and a multitude of comics from both Marvel and DC Comics), has moved on from the book he created for DC Comics' New 52, the Demon Knights continues under the writing of Robert Venditti (of X-O Manowar and the indie comic Surrogates, which was made into that Bruce Willis movie that you may have seen).

Demon Knights #16 kicks off a new story and a new creative team. Decades have passed since the action of Cornell's run on the book, and the Demon Knights (at least in the beginning of the issue) are no more. Once again, with Demon Knights we have a fantasy book woven into the tapestry of the new DC Universe. Familiar characters of Horsewoman, The Shining Knight and Exoristos all reappear early in the book.

The menace of the story comes from the recently cancelled I...Vampire book, with Cain, the first vampire of the new DC Universe, crossing Europe with a growing army of vampires. They are moving across the world, searching for Themyscira (the name of the island probably best known as Wonder Woman's Paradise Island), so that he can add the Amazons to his undead army of vampires and conquer the world. Obviously the Demon Knights will have to band together again and stop him.

The one flaw to doing a fantasy story in a fictional world's past, rather than in some alternate dimension like with the Amethyst stories, is that you know that the heroes stopped things because of the fact that the current world isn't being run by vampires. That does take away a bit of the drama of the story, for me at least. However, Venditti does an excellent job of working with the tools that he has in this comic. Cornell's initial run on Demon Knights was one of the high points of the New 52 from DC Comics for me, and Venditti does not disappoint with his follow up. He has big shoes to fill but he steps right into them with a story arc that looks to be every bit as epic as those done under the previous writing team.

Bernard Chang's art is very good in this book, as well. His characters are well drawn and their faces are expressive and emotive. His action imparts a feeling of action and movement onto the page. Weirdly, when I picked up this issue I thought that Chang's cover had a certain Kevin O'Neil (of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Marshall Law fame) quality to it. That didn't extend to the interior art.

Is this comic worth picking up? I say yes. Robert Venditti and Bernard Chang have created a compelling and engaging second act to a comic book that was one of the best of DC Comics' relaunch. It is a comic that I want to keep reading and buying. I hope, with the continued success of fantasy-oriented books from DC Comics like Demon Knights and Sword of Sorcery that we will get to see the return of further fantasy characters from the DC catalog like Travis Morgan, Warlord.

Deities and Demigods Returns

As I blogged earlier today (while still asleep I might add), Wizards of the Coast and OneBookShelf/RPGNow/DriveThruRPG unleashed upon the gaming world a new site: dndclassics.com. Using a customized interface for D&D fans, WotC has begun the rollout of classic D&D materials for every edition in PDF form. These are brand new scans: with bookmarks and internal hyperlinking. Of the batch that was in the free reviewer downloads, one PDF stood out for me: Deities & Demigods for AD&D. This book was my one gamer's regret. I had a copy of the first printing (with the Cthulhu Mythos and Elric stuff), but I had to sell it during my college years to help offset the ridiculous price of textbooks.

I've missed that book and it is one of the treasures of gaming, which of course means that it is horribly expensive to try to recover (if someone has a copy that they want to let go of).

DnDClassics.com Is Real!

This just in from the people at OneBookShelf/DriveThruRPG and Wizards of the Coast. In light of the leaks and reveals of last week, I am sure that people will find this interesting.

Greetings,

At our Gen Con 2012 keynote address, Wizards of the Coast was pleased to announce that in early 2013 we would be releasing the first wave of D&D backlist products in electronic format.

Today, Wizards of the Coast together with DriveThruRPG, is thrilled to announce the official launch of Dungeons & Dragons Classics, a new online PDF store containing classic content from every edition of D&D, including fan-favorite supplement materials and iconic adventures. A one-stop-shop for classic D&D content, DnDClassics.com offers an easy way to access and download favorite titles electronically by computer, mobile phone, or tablet (including iPads).

How does it work? It’s easy! Simply create an account* and instantly gain access to a wealth of D&D titles. There are 80 titles available at launch, with smaller batches of additional titles being released on a rolling basis starting in early February.  Favorite titles can be downloaded to an online Library or saved to a “Wish List” for purchase later. Most titles can also be printed. Settings can also be customized and users can opt to get email alerts whenever favorite publishers or topics get new items (*Users can also sign-in using their DriveThruRPG.com or RPGNow.com login).

We encourage you to share this exciting news with your readers. For more information, check-out DnDClassics.com or visit Wizards.com.

Thanks,

Sheila Tayebi
For Wizards of the Coast

More as things develop, but it will be good to see the classics of D&D back in "print" again. More on this as it develops.

Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game

I don't point to other sites and say "Download this!" very often, but a recent post made by +Erik Tenkar over at his blog made me realize that I should post about Basic Fantasy here at the blog, and talk about it more. I think part of the reason that I don't push things more is that I'm not really an OSR person, so I don't feel the need to talk about games unless it is during play.

When I made my recent return to fantasy role-playing this year, one of the things that I really wanted to look for were games that were simple and streamlined. Not to knock those who like rules heavy games with a lot of crunch to them, that approach just doesn't appeal to me. Because of this, I starting looking more closely at a lot of retroclones. For my online game, I eventually ended up settling on Swords & Wizardry, but Basic Fantasy was a close second. A very close second.

This game is a retroclone, in a strict sense, but the game (and the community of fan developers that have sprung up around it) doesn't shy away from "newer" ideas, like skills, classes beyond the ones from old school games and the pages of old Dragon magazines. The people take the game into the directions that they want to go, and I respect that. If there were flaws to Basic Fantasy and its community, I would say that it would probably be that there hasn't been the branching into other genres for the game (like Goblinoid Games has done with Mutant Future). It isn't like that cannot be done with Basic Fantasy, but it is interesting that it hasn't been done yet. Maybe I just haven't seen it. I will admit that I don't spend a lot of time around forums, so I could have missed something on the site's forums.

What is amazing about Basic Fantasy and the fan community around it is the sheer volume of material that is available for free, in PDF and in the OpenDocument format used by LibreOffice. It has embraced open gaming and run with it. There are so many campaigns, modules and rules supplements that are available on the Basic Fantasy downloads page that you could easily run a game for years, and not have to pay for a single thing. You can buy print versions of the core rules, and some of the modules on Lulu.com, and if you like what you see on their site I really recommend throwing some monetary support their way. I've been thinking of picking up a print copy of Basic Fantasy as a birthday gift for myself. I really should get around to doing that.

Sort of like with my post about Warrior & Wizard, this is one of those retroclones that sort of slips through the cracks in discussions about these things. With Basic Fantasy, I think a lot of that is because the creator doesn't have all of his stuff up on RPGNow/DriveThruRPG, like some of the other retroclone/OSR publishers. I like the attitude of doing it themselves, it hits that DIY mentality that I like so much, but I thought that it would be nice to also give them a little bit of a mention outside of their circles. If you want a well-done free RPG that is every bit as good as any of the other OSR/retroclone stuff being sold (or offered for free) out there, and you haven't checked out the +Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game, you really should check it out now. You're missing out.

Dorkland! Roundtable with Steven Kenson

I don't think that +Steve Kenson requires much of an introduction from me, not to fan of role-playing games at least. He is personally responsible for two popular super-hero role-playing games (Mutants & Masterminds and Icons), as well as having designed supplements for Shadowrun, GURPS, d20 and other systems. He's also written novels and blogs. He is a one man RPG industry. Kidding aside, Steve is a really nice guy, very engaging to speak with, and probably one of the friendlier people that I know in the gaming business.

He has recently, in addition to his work with Green Ronin, reclaimed the rights to streamlined and almost old school super-hero RPG Icons and entered into the realms of being a publisher. His first Kickstarter for his first self-published Icons supplement. I managed to convince Steve to take some time out of his busy schedule to speak with me on the Dorkland! Roundtable, and although YouTube did try to eat the resulting video...it has survived for you to watch it now.

I hope that you enjoy. Also, don't forget to compliment Steve on his "dress" hoodie.

Planet Death Is Coming To X-O Manowar

X-O Manowar #9 brings to a head the plots that have been building in the previous issues. The Planet Death story arc is about The Vine (the aliens from which Aric took the X-O armor and escaped from their captivity) overtly coming to Earth to regain their armor.

The art in this issue from Trevor Hairsine is nothing less than brilliant. It reminds the reader of the Barry Windsor-Smith art of the original series, while making it his own at the same time. I have to admit that this is my first exposure to Hairsine's art. I read the first couple of issues of X-O Manowar and then let it slide off of my radar. From this issue, this was a mistake.

10 Years Of Dorkiness

It's hard to believe some days, but I've been doing this for 10 years, almost. I made my first post on this blog in September of 2003. It is pretty amazing how much blogs and blogging has changed since I started out. I am hopping to be able to hit some of the big conventions this year, to celebrate this anniversary. I would love for this to be the year that I am finally able to go to San Diego Comic Con, but I will probably have to settle for GenCon again. Hopefully, at least, if the finances come together on it.

In the fall, around the time of the actual anniversary I am going to have a big giveaway to readers. I already have some role-playing publishers promising prize support for the giveaways, but hopefully some others will roll in as well.

Let's move into the next 10 years of the Dorkland! blog.

Dorkland! Roundtable with Corvus Elrod

Last week I spoke with +Corvus Elrod on the Dorkland! Roundtable. It was an interesting talk and, as always, a valuable insight into the workings of the mind of a game designer. We talked about his influences, how being a computer game and tabletop designer can influence each other, as well as his crowdfunded game Bhaloidam. Check Bhaloidam out at the link, because Corvus gives it out for free in PDF form at the link. There are some interesting innovative bits to the game, around the character sheet and how players interact with it to play the game. We talk about it a little bit in the Roundtable, so check it out.

I'm also using a new feature of Blogger that lets me + a person by their G+ account in a blog post. For them, that lets them know that I am talking about them. For you, as the reader that gives you an easy way to track these people down and find them over on G+. If you are a gamer and you aren't yet on G+, you really should be. Some of the best gaming (and general geeky) conversations that I have had online in a very long time are happening on Google Plus. I didn't think it was possible, but it is. If you haven't circled me over there you you can find me at +Christopher Helton.

If you add me over there, please let me know who you are and why you are adding me. It will make things simpler.

Brian Wood & Ming Doyle: Mara Issue One

Brian Wood likes his near future stories, a reflection of today with just enough distance to almost make the stories allegorical. From comics like DMZ to The Massive to Channel Zero, Wood has become one of the few voices for political and social issues that has been around in mainstream comics. With Channel Zero and DMZ growing out of his post 9/11 experiences in New York City, a bit of Wood's psyche gets woven into the stories that he tells.

Ming Doyle is a relative newcomer to comics, but her art has been featured in anthologies such as Comic Book Tattoo, Womanthology: Heroic, volume two of Popgun and many other places in both bigger and smaller comic companies.

Doyle's aesthetic as an artist is similar to that of Wood's, who unfortunately does not do as much are or design of books as he has in the past, which gives a synergy to this collaboration. Another newcomer, Jordie Bellaire, contributes a restrained palette of colors, fleshing out the world visualized by Doyle in her job as the book's colorist. Colorists in comics do not get the attention that they deserve, but it is their work that helps bring the world in the pages to life, making just as important of a final contribution as the artists themselves.

On a slightly political note, it is nice to see a comic where two-thirds of the creative team is female. With the subject matter of this book, I honestly think that helps.

Mara Prince, the title character, is a super-star athlete in a future athletes are super celebrities. At seventeen, she is the foremost star of volleyball around the world with endorsements and payouts unimaginable probably to current athletes. She lives in an exclusive home unobtainable by most people in the world (even by her teammates), far, far above the hassles and problems of the rest of the people in her world. This is not without drawbacks, because she also suffers from isolation from the world that watches and idolizes her. However, it is slowly revealed in this first issue that there is a secret, other than her celebrity that also isolates her from the world, and is at the root of her capabilities as an athlete. I won't give it away, but the reveal in the final pages casts an entirely different light on the character and the story.

There is a morality at play, but it isn't apparent until the last few pages. I won't give the reveal away for those who haven't read the book yet, but I can say that it casts the story into a "What would you do to be the best at what you are? Would you even lie?" direction. The issue pulled me through the story, and when I got to the ending I had to go back and read the entire comic again a couple of times to see if that ending was as blindsiding as it was at first, and then I picked up the little clues leading up to the reveal. This is a remarkably subtle story. In ten years, this will be one of the comics that we all look back at and point at as a demonstration of how comics can be more than protracted fist fights with interjections of emo "character development." Brian Wood and Ming Doyle give us a sophisticated story that is very literate. I know that I am looking forward to the next issue. I want to see how the big reveal impacts those close to Mara, as well as the world as a whole. It's just that big.

Should you buy this comic? I give this my first unreserved recommendation of "HELL YES" for 2013. If you like comics that are more than just super-heroes. If you want literate, thought-provoking storytelling in the graphic medium. If you just want a damn good comic, Mara is the comic for you. Now I will start to impatiently wait for the next issue to come out.