Nick
The coolest sounding RPG book I’ve heard of in a while
Lucha Libre HERO! I can’t imagine ever getting around to running this but I like the fact that I live in a word where it can exist.
(via Ken Hite)
New Mieville Extract
One of my favourite ’speculative fiction’ authors from the last few years has to be China Mieville. Reading Perdido Street Station for the first time was a revelation. That’s still my favourite book of his and, to be honest, I haven’t enjoyd his last couple so much, but I still look forward to a new work with some anticipation. The combination of the grotesque, fantastical and political really appeals to me even when he’s not at his best.
Kraken is his upcoming book (out in the UK in May) and there’s an extract at the publisher’s website. It’s just a short one but it’s a great set up. It’s a return to the real real world – actual London (like in King Rat) rather than made up eastern Europe (like in The City & The City) so that will be interesting. Most people, including myself if I’m honest, would prefer a return to Bas-Lag, the world of Perdido Street Station, The Scar and Iron Council, but a man’s gotta write what he’s gotta write – the worst possible thing would be a new Bas-Lag novel just for the hope of selling more copies!
I waited to buy The City & The City until I saw it on sale and I suspect I’ll wait for this in paperback too, unless it gets really seriously good reviews. Luckily Mieville is one of those guys who everyone has an opinion on so at least there will eb lots of reviews.
I added this blog for a really bad reason
I just subscribed to Game Stooge entirely because of this. I am an idiot.
Serenity Now
While we all wait for what Joss does next, the A.V. Club has an extremely insightful discussion of Serenity in it’s ‘New Cult Canon’ feature. The line is basically this: it’s a love letter to fans that doesn’t hit the highs of the show and here’s why. And I more or less agree.
I travelled with a friend down the highway to Geelong to watch Serenity in a pre-release screening. I had a good time, liked the film, saw it once again in the cinema on general release with another friend and bought it when it came out on DVD in order to help boost sales and convince them to make more. We now know that that’s never going to happen but what the hell. At least I have it on DVD right?
But here’s the problem: I’ve never watched the DVD. Beyond that, I’ve never revisited the original Firefly series (which I also own on DVD). I’m currently watching (extremely slowly) Buffy with my highly horror adverse wife and I’m enjoying it – we’re only two episodes in and it’s still astonishingly amateurish but it’s fun. When I think of Firefly now I think of it being (a) slightly forced and (b) unfinished. Now I know that (b) is not Whedon’s fault but (a) certainty is. Firefly, I suspect, is not going to go down in history as one of the great shows. If Fox hadn’t canned it in mid-stream, the reasons it is so missed would have been removed. Hopefully it would have provided new reasons to be missed, but I don’t think we’d seen them yet.
HBO greenlights A Game of Thrones
George R. R. Martin reacts here, with links. I’m pretty excited about this – the series is human-centric enough to not require much in the way of effects and the story is complex enough that it needs TV, not movie, timelines. Who knows how well it will do but I can’t wait.
Need a 1920’s character photo?
I had a GM a while back who required us to all get photos for our characters. It wasn’t something I’d done before and I’m not sure we really used them much but I thought it was a decent idea.
Today I found (via Very Short List) this cool flickr set of 1920’s passport photos. They’re of famous people but they’re largely not recognisable (and not all of them are still famous). Perfect for a Pulp game or some 20’s Call of Cthulhu.
Want to play ars Magica? Live in Singapore?
If so check us out!
My Gamemaster is looking to expand our group up to 4 players (we’re currently at two). It’s a fun game (that I should post about more) so hopefully we’ll find someone soon.
Age of Conan gets a free trial
So I’m not a massively-multiplayer kind of guy especially – I like the idea but I have a job, kids and other things that mean that they’re not suited to my lifestyle. I pelayed a little EVE Online and that was it. But I heard good things about Age of Conan and apparently there’s now a free trial. According to Economical Gamer you need to register and download by the end of the year (which is why this isn’t just a link post kind of thing) so get stuck in and drive your enemies before you…
Cælin the Huscarl – Nick’s Character Backgrounds
So I’ve been going through old PCs (as in the computers) and found a few old PC backgrounds (as in player characters). I’m posting this up in aprt to get a bit more RPG content here but also to keep a record of the characters. I’ve been meaning to do this for a bit, so here it goes! At the moment I just have fluff but will try to post stats as well.
Cælin thus Huscarl was a PC in a shortish game I played with the Oakleigh Roleplayers Club. You can get most of the background from the campaign wiki but basically it was a Dark Ages game played with the HarnMaster rules, using the GM Kyle’s own setting.
Cælin is a young huscarl in the service of the Eorlderman. At age 7, as with all Bronding children, he was fostered out to learn a trade. In Cælin’s case this was to Offa, his mother’s brother. Offa was a huscarl and he trained young Cælin in the ways of battle.
There was little doubt that Cælin would become a warrior – he was a strong but slow witted child, with none of the mental spark of his brothers and sisters. 4th in line, there was no way he would inherit property and he had no flare for craft. Cælin liked to hit things and so a warrior he became. When he came of age he inherited his uncle’s franciska and was given a ring byrnie by the Eorlderman. These are his most treasured possessions and he keeps them in immaculate condition.
But for all his dullness, Cælin was well liked amongst the clan. He had a sense of fun, a willingness to do almost anything, and he delighted in eating and drinking all kinds of things. Where ever mead flowed and meat was roasting, there was Cælin, looking for a story to hear (for he had no talent in that regard) or a woman to fondle. His like of drink and his strength meant that Cælin could find himself in trouble, as he was easily led, but so far nothing to untoward has happened.
Of some concern to his parents and Offa is Cælin’s friendship with Alric, the seneschal’s assistant. Alric has always been a reliable source for Cælin to get things from the larders and Cælin has rewarded this with stanch loyalty. For those who know Alric’s reputation for dubious moral sense, Cælin’s friendship seems misplaced. But Cælin’s reputation for slow wittedness has helped disguise the fact that he has fairly lax morals himself.
Finally though, Cælin has a secret which none know but Offa. Once, while hunting near the Henna, Offa and Cælin saw a gigantic black boar with but one tusk staring at them from the edge of the woods. Thinking it to be the Mæstbar of legend, the two hunters charged heedlessly into the forest. While in pursuit, Cælin tripped and fell down a steep slope, hitting his head hard upon a rock. When Offa scrambled down to check on him he found Cælin in the grip of some uncontrollable fit. The moment passed, but Cælin lives in fear that another blow may set him off again, this time either in battle or in front of the other clan members. Cælin believes it is a curse upon him from the goblins who haunt that forest. Offa has agreed to keep his secret, but worries that it to do so may be a mistake. For Cælin, the dark woods of the Henna hold a hidden fear. As a result, nether have ever told of the time they saw the Mæstbar.
Linky linky linky linky LINKS
Sorry for last week’s lack of links and apologies in advance for the lack of links next week!
- Mark Charan Newton thinks sci-fi books are dying. I tend to agree.
- Why fandom owes even more to H.P. Lovecraft than we realised.
- A man has ‘beaten’ WoW. Sort of (via Boing Boing)
- Dollhouse battles were about sex. So says Whedon – Fox will never tell.
- Real life vampire killing kits!
- Using Microsoft’s Surface to play D&D – more footage.