Fight Nazis (In Real Life and In Game)

Zack Dolan Art

Fainting Goat Games has organized a wonderful rpg bundle. All proceeds from the bundle go to the Southern Poverty Law Center. For those of you unfamiliar with the SPLC, this is what they do (in their own words):

The Southern Poverty Law Center is dedicated to fighting hate and bigotry and to seeking justice for the most vulnerable members of our society. Using litigation, education, and other forms of advocacy, the SPLC works toward the day when the ideals of equal justice and equal opportunity will be a reality.

The bundle is only 25 dollars and contains over 250 dollars worth of gaming material. Again, all proceeds go towards the Southern Poverty Law Center. There's some great stuff in the bundle too, including the Mutants and Masterminds 3E update of Hero High and Champions Complete. There's some cool Icons material too, including a new Neo-Nazi group created by Steve Kenson.

I included this pic because it's one of my favourite Nazi-related panels.

Ash Wednesday - The King (Updated)

This is my second attempt to stat out the King. I feel more familiar with the system now and he has one of my homebrew qualities.

Elvis Presley/Sebastian Haff

Character Type: Primitive Screwhead

Description: Elderly King

Life Points: 41

Drama Points: 20

Attributes:

Strength 2, Dexterity 1, 
Constitution 2, Intelligence 3, Perception 3, Willpower 5

Skills:

Art 5

Crime 1

Drive 2

Getting Medieval 2

Gung Fu 1

Kung Fu 5

Mr. Fix-It 2

Notice 2

Qualities: 
Artist (+2)

Really Big Chin (+3)

Hard to Kill 5 (+5)

Old Coot (+1)

Drawbacks:

Mental Problems:Mild Delusions - At least as far as everyone else is concerned (-1)

Minority: Elderly (-)

Maneuvers:          Bonus     Damage           Notes
Dodge                       6            None        Avoid getting hit; -2 against ranged,; p. 89
Punch                        6            8             Bash

Maximum Mayhem Dungeon #4 - Vault of the Dwarven King Kickstarter

"The Dwarven King of Brundurum has summoned you to his throne room within the Smokey Mountain. Brave souls are needed for a noble quest into the depths of the earth to retrieve the legendary hammer known as Fireheart. But beware - the Goblin King and his evil hordes believe the hammer woke a Lava Titan and they will seek to possess it at all costs. Who is telling the truth? Who is really kin to this ultimate weapon? What secret powers are at play in this tale of suspicion, intrigue and betrayal? Only your stalwart group of adventurers will find out and walk away with more fortune and glory than ever... if you can escape the Vault of the Dwarven King!"

+Mark Taormino and Maximum Mayhem Dungeon is back! Vault of the Dwarven King is an OSRIC adventure for levels 4-7. The project is already funded and looks great. Mark's previous adventure have all been a lot of fun and I'm sure this one will too.

I Less Than Three the Army of Darkness RPG

You probably already know this based on my weekly Ash Wednesday posts, but I love the Army of Darkness rpg. I know that there will never be more official content for The Army of Darkness RPG. Honestly, the core book stretched the movie pretty thin (and did a good job coming up with more). The game is a fun addition to the cinematic unisystem series of games and you should get it. If you don't want to drop 40 for the hardcover, the pdf is only 8.50 at DriveThruRPG.

Want to know a little more? If so, you should watch the old Game Geeks review.

Even if I'm the only person playing or talking about this game, I'm going to keep making new content. I just dig it too much not too. Now that I have that I have Ash vs. Evil Dead on Blu-Ray, I'm going to re-watch the series, stat some goodies, and possibly even do a fancy pdf netbook of all the new characters and monsters.

I also recently finished watching Stan Against Evil on IFC and it's definitely in need of some Army of Darkness love. Has anyone else watched the series?

Succubus Sunday - Corruption Succubus by MihaiRadu

Corruption Succubus by MihaiRadu

Mikal kHill Digital Catalog - PWYW Until Monday

Mikal kHill has made his entire digital catalog (including things you can't find anymore) pay-what-you-want until Monday. Mikal is fam and a great dude. I interviewed him back in May. You can read that here.  Help my dude out this holiday season and support a few good causes (25% of what he makes during this time will be split between #NoDAPL and the Autistic Self Advocacy Network).

Happy Turkey Day!

Dragon Age Hardcover

I'd call this a definite upgrade. I've had the Dragon Age Set I for a few years now. I finally decided to pick up the hardcover collection (which also contains material from the second and third sets). This book is gorgeous. It's 400+ plus full color pages. The system is very simple. You pick a background (which determines your race) and a class (warrior, mage, or rogue). Eventually you get to pick a specialization which is where you really start differentiating yourself from others. The game does a good job of translating the video game into a table top. After I get a better handle of the game, I'll probably stat my heroes from the video games into table top characters. There's also the real cool Dragon Effect fanart, that's begging to get the tabletop treatment.

Ash Wednesday - Old Coot Quality

I rewatched Bubba Ho-Tep last night. It's such a bizarre but wonderful flick. The film is actually a sad, but interesting look at how the elderly are treated in America.

I've statted the King out before, but I think I'll revisit him in my next post. First I want to make a quality for those wanting to do something different and play a retiree. I'm not trying to be offensive with the name, but it sounds like something Ash would call an older person.

Elvis and JFK

Old Coot Quality (1 pt. quality) 

You're an old fart, a geezer, or a coot. You've lived a long life and seen a lot. This has given you years of experience, a wealth of knowledge, and a desire to keep young punks off your lawn.

You're a stubborn old timer and gain a +2 to you Will. In addition you get 5 extra skill points. On the downside you're not as spry as you used to be and you get a -1 to your Dexterity. Also, folks seem to overlook you and you gain the Minority (Elderly) background.

Succubus Sunday - Graz'zt

Since my love and lust is an equal opportunity thing, I though I'd spotlight my favourite demon prince for this Succubus Sunday.

You can read more about him over at Power Score.

Storm King's Thunder - Session Five

Date of Session: 11-18-16

The Party

Dor (NG Half-Orc Druid): Dor is a half-orc druid of simple tastes (his favorite of which is a good ale). Despite his brutish appearance, he's actually quite humble and kind.

Varkus the Charmer (CG Dhampyr Rogue): An extremely charming "bard," Varkus friendly demeanor masks a dark past. No one knows which is sharper, his tongue or rapier...


Ella Henwen (NG Human Wild Magic Sorcerer): Ella is a magic user of humble origins. Touched by wild magic, strange things happen when she's around. Sweet and naive, she wants to see the world and make it a better place.

Nathaniel Graves (LN Human Fighter): The last surviving member of the Iron Eagles mercenary company, Nathaniel is a grim marksman. He adventures for coin and only cares about those in his mercenary company (the party), though he often works for the Lords' Alliance.

Session Four

• The party dispatched the rat king and his blue dragon rat minions. Ella was temporarily transported to the Astral Plane due to a wild magic mishap and was nearly eaten by a rocky creature.
• After seeing her magical prowess, Nibbles decided Ella would be a more appropriate "master" than Varkus.
• The party is now level three.
• Upon further exploration they realized the tunnels went much deeper. Varkus suspected it might connect to Skullport and wanted nothing to do with it. They demolished part of the tunnels.
• Tofdir, the gnomish bartender, granted them a driftglobe as payment and gave Ella a journal that detailed instructions on how to create more.
• Nathaniel heard rumors of giants causing chaos along the Sword Coast.
• The party did a bit of shopping. Dor discovered the large feather from the leviathan mine was the equivalent of a staff +1, Varkus found out the strange liquid he discovered underground was evil, and the rest of the party bought wagons, chickens, wheels of cheese, and a goat...
• The party arrived at Nightstone to find it deserted. The only sound was from a ringing bell.
• Varkus and Nathaniel snuck into the settlement and ambushed two worgs. The worgs had no chance. Seriously, the characters basically did double HP damage to them in one shot.
• The commotion brought out the looting goblins. Nathaniel learned that even weak creatures can be frightening when they focus fire. Stew had a goblin vulture pilot mini so I decided to use it. The vulture was killed rather quickly and the goblin fell to the earth and made a small crater.
• After the fight the party investigated the church and watch towers. Varkus spotted signs of life in the keep.

Unfortunately we won't be able to play for a month because the next session Justin and Kasey will be missing to attend a work holiday party.

Storm King's Thunder - Session Four

Date of Session: 11-4-16

The Party

Dor (NG Half-Orc Druid): Dor is a half-orc druid of simple tastes (his favorite of which is a good ale). Despite his brutish appearance, he's actually quite humble and kind.

Varkus the Charmer (CG Dhampyr Rogue): An extremely charming "bard," Varkus friendly demeanor masks a dark past. No one knows which is sharper, his tongue or rapier...

Ella Henwen (NG Human Wild Magic Sorcerer): Ella is a magic user of humble origins. Touched by wild magic, strange things happen when she's around. Sweet and naive, she wants to see the world and make it a better place.

Nathaniel Graves (LN Human Fighter): The last surviving member of the Iron Eagles mercenary  company, Nathaniel is a grim marksman. He adventures for coin and only cares about those in his mercenary company (the party), though he often works for the Lords' Alliance.

Session Four

• The party met their patron, Milo Thann, at the Fiery Grog Tavern in Waterdeep.
• Valkur negotiated payment for the vanquished goblins and kobolds.
• Nathaniel took the Fiery Grog Tavern, failed, and vomited on a surly dwarf. Luckily Ella cast prestidigitation to clean him up and Dor was able to calm him.
• The party were hired by the gnome bartender to take out the monsters in his cellar. The monsters were *gasp* dire rats.
• After dispatching the rats, the party found complex cave system.
• They faced several types of mutant rats, including horrifying spider rats.
• They found journals written by a mad rat king.
• The party encounter Nibbles, an awakened albino rat with an enlarged cranium. He agreed to give the party information in exchange for being allowed to travel the world with them.
• The party rescued a tortured human teen who was searching for the fabled armor of invulnerability. 
• After dispatching a mimc the party prepared to face the rat king, himself.

Buffy/Angel Bundle of Holding

If you've ever wanted to check out that kooky cinematic unisystem I'm talking about, now is the perfect opportunity to do so. For the next twelve days the Buffy/Angel Bundle of Holding is live. For 8.95 you can get the core Buffy Book, the Slayer's Handbook (more character options and alternate settings), The Magic Box (all things magic and superscience), and the Buffy Character Journal. Pay more than the threshold and you get Monster Smackdown (all the beasties you could ever need), Angel rulebook (fully compatible stand-alone that expands demon creation), and Angel and Buffy screens (which each have adventures).

Even if you don't like Buffy/Angel you can play all sorts of games with these. I've thought about doing a teen mutants/X-Men game with it using the various supernatural qualities. TMNT is another setting I've played around with cinematic unisystem.

Ash Wednesday - Rick and Morty vs Evil Dead Part II

Part II of my Rick and Morty posts inspired by artwork created by my friend Travis Herman of Simple Interesting Visions.

Morty Smith (of Dimension C-137)

Primitive Screwhead
Life Points: 49
Drama Points: 20

Attributes:
Strength: 2
Dexterity: 4

Constitution: 3

Intelligence: 2
Perception: 2
Willpower:2

Qualities: 
Hard to Kill 5 (+5)
Natural Toughness (+2)
Resources: Wealthy (+6)
Resistance: Pain (+1)

Drawbacks: 
Outcast (-2)
Teenager (-2)

Skills:  
Crime 1
Driving 1
Getting Medieval 3
Gun Fu 3
Influence 3
Notice 4

Maneuvers:          Bonus     Damage           Notes
Dodge                        7            None        Avoid getting hit; -2 against ranged,; p. 89
Punch                         7             4             Bash

Mythoard #21

Mythoard 21 is an interesting mix of materials. I have to say my favorite items are The Croaking Fane (it's Michael Curtis DCC goodness) and suprisingly The Slumber Tsar Saga Coloring Album. I've recently got into the adult coloring book thing and the timing is great. I find them very relaxing and I believe they can be very beneficial for self care.

Volo's Guide to Monsters

Friday I picked up a hobby store variant of the new 5E book, Volo's Guide to Monsters. The first chapter takes a detailed looked at the physiology, psychology, and social structures of several iconic D&D monsters. Chapter 2 presents new monstrous player races. A few of these are retreads. The Goliath appeared in the Elemental Evil Player's Companion. The aasimar is also in this chapter, though this version is very different from the DMG version. It's really cool and I think I'd like to play a fallen aasimar. Other races detailed are firbolg, lizard folk, kenku, and tabaxi (catfolk). There's a page that presents other monstrous player options (though the stats are limited). The final chapter of the book is a mini monster manual. There's a lot of interesting stuff.

This book is nominally set in the Forgotten Realms. Volo and Elminster wrote the forward and provide commentary (which look like notes attached to the tome) through out. Otherwise, the book is rather setting neutral. If you play 5E, I definitely recommend this one. I'm not going to say it's a must have, but it's a great one.

Also if you want a cool copy like me, support you friendly local game store and get a limited print run hobby edition like I did.

Like previous 5E books, this one has a great disclaimer. I think this is my favourite thus far.

Succubus Sunday - Ruby Roxx

Model: Ruby Roxx
Photography: Aparte Photography
Horns: ShiverZ Designs

Ash Wednesday - Rick and Morty vs Evil Dead Part I

This post was inspired by artwork created by my friend Travis Herman at Simple Interesting Visions. If you haven't watched Rick and Morty, you should give it a shot. I love it.

Rick Sanchez (of Dimension C-137)

Hero
Life Points: 49
Drama Points: 10

Attributes:
Strength: 3
Dexterity: 2

Constitution: 3

Intelligence: 6
Perception: 4
Willpower: 4

Qualities: 
Contacts 5 (+5)
Fast Reaction Time (+2)
Hard to Kill 5 (+4)
Nerd (+3)
Resistance: Pain (+3)
Resources: Wealthy (+6)
Situational Awareness (+2)

Drawbacks: -7
Addiction: Alcoholism (-3)
Adversary 4: Galactic Federation (-4)

Skills:  
Computers 5
Crime 1
Doctor 5
Driving 3
Getting Medieval 2
Gun Fu 3
Knowledge 5
Kung Fu 2
Mr. Fix It 5
Notice 2
Science 5

Maneuvers:          Bonus     Damage           Notes
Dodge                        4            None        Avoid getting hit; -2 against ranged,; p. 89
Ray Gun                    5              30           Fire damage; pistol range

Rick has a few more points than a starting Hero, but I didn't want to stat him as an Experience Hero. He's not actually wealthy, but the resources attribute reflects his access to gadgets and super science.

Vote!

I'm going to echo the sentiments of +Timothy Brannan. If you live in the States and haven't already, go vote.

Afterlife with Archie - Sharknado

Sharknado has not appeared in Afterlife with Archie, but there was an Archie vs. Sharknado crossover and the Afterlife with Archie artist did a variant cover. That's how I'm justifying this post.

Sharknado

Ultimately sharknados are just plot devices. They can release as many sharks as you'd like to set against your cast members. They seem to be destroyed by explosions so I'd say it takes 100 points of explosive damage to destroy a "typical" sharknado. However, the bigger the sharknado, the more explosive damage it will take to disperse.

Shark

Strength 8                                     Intelligence 0 (Animal)
Dexterity 4                                   Perception 5
Constitution 4                              Willpower 2

Life Points 70                             Speed 31

Attacks: Bite D12 (6) X 9

Skills: Brawling 3, Notice 3, Swimming 6, Tracking 4

Large Shark

Strength 12                                  Intelligence 0 (Animal)
Dexterity 4                                   Perception 5
Constitution 5                              Willpower 4

Life Points 85                             Speed 33

Attacks: Bite D12 (6) X 13

Skills: Brawling 3, Notice 3, Swimming 6, Tracking 3

By The All-Seeing Eye of Agamotto!

Take a minute to imagine a 60's era Vincent Price as Dr. Strange...

You're welcome. I've not watched the new film, btw, but I hope to in the next couple of weeks.

Succubus Sunday - Hellraiser

It's way to expensive by Sideshow Collectibles is releasing an amazing looking Hell Priestess statue.

Cactus Joe, Gorilla Gunslinger

I was looking for something and I came across the perfect miniature for Six-Gun Gorilla. Reaper's Chronoscope line has a mini called Cactus Joe, Gorilla Gunslinger.

Unpainted

Pro-painted version

Seriously, how badass is this mini?

Black Sheep - Part II

If I gave the killer sheep of Black Sheep classic unisystem stats, of course I need to do the same for the sheep human hybrids. You can read the first classic unisystem Black Sheep post here and my cinematic unisystem Black Sheep post here.

Sheep Human Hybrid

Strength 6                                    Intelligence 1
Dexterity 5                                   Perception 3
Constitution 6                              Willpower 2

Life Points 58                             Speed 22
Endurance Points 47                  Essence Pool 23

Attacks: Bite D6 (3) X Strength + infection

Sheep bitten by the hybrid because flesh-eating sheep. Humans bit become sheep-man hybrids.
         

Take Back What's Yours (Dishonored 2)

Check out this live-action trailer for Dishonored 2.

I only played the first Dishonored for a few minutes, but this trailer makes me want to go back and play it and then give the sequel a spin. If you're curious about the song it is Take It All by Ruelle.

Trailers like this really make me want to roll dice.

Black Sheep - Part I

2006's Black Sheep is one of my favorite horror comedies. It's also a party of an interesting sub-genre of zombie films I enjoy, the non-zombie zombie movie. The flesh eating-hordes in Black Sheep are a flock of genetically altered sheep. I'm not saying the movie is brilliant, but it's pretty funny and has some nice gore. This isn't my first post about the movie btw.

Oldfield Sheep

Strength 3                                    Intelligence 0 (animal)
Dexterity 3                                   Perception 2
Constitution 3                               Willpower 1

Life Points 34                             Speed 12
Endurance Points 27                   Essence Pool 12

Attacks: Bite D6 (3) X Strength + infection

Sheep bitten by infected sheep because flesh-eating sheep. Humans bit become sheep-man hybrids (stats coming later).
           

The Burrowers

Released in 2008, The Burrowers is a weird west thriller. A posse is formed to track down missing prairie folk. Initially, the posse believe they're hunting Native Americans, but they find out they're hunting subterranean predators the natives have been fighting for ages. I enjoyed this movie and it's quite creepy. It also is a good representation of how Native Americans and African Americans were treated in the old west, which is heartbreaking. Keeping with my recent trend of weird west classic unisystem posts, I give you the burrowers.

Strength 4                                       Intelligence 2
Dexterity 3                                     Perception 2
Constitution 4                                Willpower 2

Life Points 42                             Speed 14
Endurance Points 32                   Essence Pool 17

Attacks: Bite D6 (3) X Strength (slashing) + paralysis (treat as Curare (AFMBE core pg. 107)
           
Defense: Burrowing

Ash Wednesday - My Name Is Bruce

I'm not sure how I missed this one when trying to come up with Ash Wednesday post.If you've not seen My Name is Bruce, Bruce Campbell plays a sleazier version of himself that is kidnapped and roped into fight a real life monster, by his biggest fan. It's a pretty funny movie. When the movie came out, Bruce did a tour across the country and did Q&A with crowds after the flick. A small group of friends and I went to the Columbus screening and it was great. Bruce seems to be a lot like Ash in public. He's an asshole, but a lovable one. I've had a few friends that have met him and conventions and they all say the same thing.

Bruce Campbell
Primitive Screwhead
Life Points: 49
Drama Points: 20

Attributes: 
Strength: 2
Dexterity: 2
Constitution:4
Intelligence: 2
Perception: 2
Willpower: 3

Qualities: 
Big Chin (+1)
Contacts 2 (+2)
Hard to Kill (+5)
Natural Toughness (+2)
Status: B-List Celebrity 1 (+1)

Drawbacks: 
Clown (-1)
Covetous: Lechery (-1)
Mental Problems: Cowardly (-1)
Resources -2 (-2)
Schmuck (-2)

Skills:  
Art 3
Crime 2
Driving 3
Getting Medieval 2
Gun Fu 2
Influence 2
Knowledge 1
Kung Fu 2
Mr. Fix-It 2
Notice 2

Maneuvers:          Bonus     Damage           Notes
Boomstick               4            20               Bullet; uses pistol ranges
Dodge                      4          None            Defense action