Wonder Woman and Justice League!

I'm a rabid DC comics fan. Its no secret. (Green Lantern especially, but we're going to talk movies here so I'm not going to go into that).

The point is: Marvel (Disney) has been dominating the superhero movie scene, with DC trying to play catch-up. Fortunately, looks like things have finally started to turn around for us Justice League fans.

At Comic Con they just released the trailers for Wonder Woman and Justice League, and they look great! (well, at least the Wonder Woman one does. I'm still going to try and stay optimistic about Justice League though.)

Wonder Woman

Justice League

Starship Troopers Miniatures Game and the Perils of Licensing

I have a confession to make: I love Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers.

Whether its the serious Starship Troopers novelization proselytizing about taking responsibility toward a functioning society, or the tongue-in-cheek mockery of a militaristic dystopian future, both takes on it are equally pleasing to me.

That's why back in the ancient times of the early 2000's I got heavily into the Starship Troopers miniatures game from Mongoose Publishing. It had everything, beautiful bug miniatures based on the cheeseball movie, fantastic rules written by the illustrious Andy Chambers of ex-Games Workshop fame (who's wargaming genius was not being recognized by GW during their foray into a 4th edition of Warhammer 40k), and Starship Troopers fluff written by Mongoose publishing, which is a gaming company that only employs writers who really love the shit out of the stuff they write about. Unfortunately Mongoose has a bit of a "holding onto the license" issue, which I'll get to...

Nexus and Eternia 2016

Hey hey! Time for some convention gaming pics!

This post is a little late since Nexus Game Fair 2016 happened almost three weeks ago, but I have a very good reason for the delay, and that's because of [INSERT EXCUSES HERE].

Now that that's out of the way, I want to talk a little about the games I ran at Nexus. I once again ran Shadows Over Eternia: He-Man vs. the Cthulhu Mythos at Nexus, and it was again a ton of fun. I always worry about getting a problem player at my table for convention games, but thus far every time I run Shadows the players have been great and its gone smooth as silk. I don't know if that's because the subject matter (He-Man/Cthulhu cartoon-horror mashup) attracts the more fun-loving and considerate players at a Con, or because the presence of so many miniatures and terrain makes people less apt to act like jerks at the table, or just because my self-involved narcissistic DMing style means I don't actually remember anyone being a problem as I was just so wrapped up in patting myself on the back due to how well I feel I pulled off the Mordak and Mer-Man impressions. In any case, I'm going to go ahead and confirm it as being a really fun time.

D&D Nerdcore - Dungeon Brothers

As some of you may know, I have a deep and abiding love for all things Nerdcore Hiphop. I was rambling around on r/nerdcore the other day, and came across a new group that I am really digging on. Dungeon Brothers from Portland. Their rap is focused on D&D. I like them so much I thought I'd suggest to others that they check out their bandcamp and give 'em a listen. I particularly recommend "I See Demons," "Sludge," and "Old Black Magic" if you've only got a few minutes to listen and pass judgement, but the entire record is entertaining if you like phat rhymes about dungeoneering adventure. The "My Apothecary Skit" and following song are also pretty on-target for how Goblin Apothecary's end up working in my games as well!

DUNGEON BROTHERS

He-Man vs. Cthulhu at Nexus Game Fair 2016!

Its May of 2016 already, and you know what that means... Nexus Game Fair in lovely downtown Milwaukee this Memorial Day weekend!

This year I'll once again be running Shadows Over Eternia: He-Man vs. the Cthulhu Mythos (5e D&D). Only I'll actually be running two sessions of it, at 10am-4pm on Friday and 10am-4pm on Saturday (with breaks for lunch, of course).

He-Man and his friends must team up with Skeletor and his minions to fend off the forces of the Great Old Ones from taking over Eternia! You can check out the 5e character pre-gens on the Vorpal Chainsword Campaign Resources page.

I've run this He-Man game for two years now and its been a lot of fun, but I think this'll probably be the last time I run it at a Con. I've got other mash-up games I want to polish up and run at Nexus next year, and mentally closing shop on He-Man will force me to get back to work on the other ones. And after all, even He-Man can only take so much Sanity damage!

So if you are intrigued by the idea of He-Man battling snake-worshiping Servants of Yig and mind-shattering cultists of Hastur then I recommend you take this one last opportunity to sign up for:

Shadows Over Eternia - He-Man vs. the Cthulhu Mythos at Nexus Game Fair 2016!

A pic of He-Man riding a T-rex from the game at Nexus 2015. Yeah, things got pretty epic.

PS: I'll also be running a few sessions of Tower of Gygax at Nexus as well. I'm super happy they're bringing it back, and if you're a lover of all things deadly and AD&D, make sure you also check out Tower of Gygax!

WE DID IT! - Ravingspire Funded

The Kickstarter for Ravingspire finished yesterday and did great, closing at $74,858! Plus, we got so close to the final $75 stretch goal (Crashed Steampunk Airship Expansion), we decided to include it to our backers anyway! You can't officially donate your own money as a creator to a Kickstarter, but you do have the flexibility to round up!

Now we'll be able to bring our own brand of insanity to the market, and include four card expansions: The Vorpal Chainsword Expansion, The Old West Expansion, The Vengeance of the Goblin Queen Expansion, and the Steampunk Airship Expansion! Hooray!

One day left in Ravingspire

Wow, I've been so focused working on the Ravingspire Kickstarter Campaign that I've not had any time to paint, or game, or blog! But there's just 24 hours left in the Ravingspire Kickstarter and we've already hit every stretch goal except the for one, the Crashed Steampunk Airship expansion. And we may still get to it yet!

I'm very excited about how far we've come and how the latest game prototypes are looking. The backers and commenters have been generally super positive and I am blown away by how great it is to interact with so many gamers who are as excited as we are. The Kickstarter backers are going to get their game in a sweet wooden box with our artwork on it that looks and feels like a leather-bound tome, which I think is going to blow them away. People are going to be really pleased that they backed Ravingspire, I can confidently say I am proud of what we've built and how much the three of us worked on the game during nights and weekends before we even thought about doing a KS campaign.

And hey, if you haven't seen it yet, come on over and check out the campaign page on Kickstarter. There's still a little time to join us in the Tower of Madness and get in on all the deluxe stretch goals!