I am heading to Origins with a good friend, Heath Medlin. Since it is my first time there, he was kind enough to send me daily tips about Origins. I have compiled them and published them here for those that my appreciate them.
Author: Ron McClung
The Imperial Age (True20 Edition)
The Imperial Age: True20 Edition is a RPG Setting Sourcebook from Adamant Entertainment. I have had a few PDFs in my archives that were given to me to review but due to unforeseen life complications, I was not able to. I felt I owed those products a review, and since I have started Gamer’s Codex, I have gone back in my archives and found a number of those products. The Imperial Age: True20 Edition is one of them.
Up front, I have to confess that I am a big True20 fan. I love the basic d20 mechanic but never liked the clunkyness of the system. True20 solved all those problems for me in one simple and concise generic system. I do not want to turn this into a True20 review but in general, this book already has that in its favor.
Tabula Astrum
Tabula Astrum, which may map out the locations of all the other planet-bound gates.
B Movies Inspirations: Death Machine (1994)
I found this movie after researching the last film I wrote about, Outpost and decided to research it. It has a interesting production story in that it had four different versions made because the director was never satisfied with it. It was also controversial for its time because of the psychotic behavior and drug use (wow, if they could see what we watch on TV now!).
Dark Maine
Folklore & Paranormal Rumors International Society of Cryptozoology is based on out Portland is an ally of minion hunters. Swamp lights are common in this area Sightings of bigfoot have been recorded in the area UFO sightings have been reported multiple times in the area The Bridgewater Triangle, a notorious place of paranormal activity in…
Eclipse Phase
Eclipse Phase is a Role Playing Game Core Book from Catalyst Game Labs. I have had a few PDFs in my archives that were given to me to review but due to unforeseen life complications, I was not able to. I felt I owed those products a review and since I have started Gamer’s Codex, I have gone back in my archives and found a number of those products. Eclipse Phase is one of them. Since I received this, it is apparent that the publisher has changed hands from Catalyst Labs , reverting back to Posthuman Studios. It also won the Origins Award for Best RPG of the Year in 2010 and the ENnie Awards: Gold for Best Writing, Silver for Best Cover, and Silver for Best Product in 2010. And I am finally getting a chance to review it. Sorry it took me so long. Life!
B Movies Inspirations: Outpost (2008)
This movie is a rare one, but maybe I am alone in this. I found it on Netflix, watched it, bought it on Amazon, and watched it again. It is, in my estimation, a rare gem. But where can you go wrong with Nazi zombies? Like I said, this is one of my new favorite films because it just clicked with me. I love the premise, the production and the look and feel. I did end up using it in one campaign as a side adventure. I even mapped out the entire outpost.
Pathfinder: Ultimate Equipment
Pathfinder: Ultimate Equipment is a new RPG Supplement from Paizo Publishing. I chose to do this review a little differently. I wanted to get a wide range of opinions on the voluminous book and so I let several of my gaming group borrow the book and write a short review on it. So this review is from a gaming group’s perspective – GM and individual players. Each player has their own gaming styles and preferences but all are at least 30 years old and most are closer to or older than 40.
The Mysterium Platonis (Fading Suns True20)
System/Setting: True20 System/Fading Suns Started: 5/22/2013 Introductions Justinius Hawkwood hires a team to investigate some unfinished work. 3 years ago, a mission was sent to Bannockburn to investigate the Ancient ruins there. A Hawkwood agent was a member of the team. Unbeknownst to his team mates, he was implanted with a sub dermal bio-signs tracker. The…
B-Movie Inspiration: Deathstalker (1983) & Deathstalker II: Duel of the Titans (1987)
Having reviewed a variety of science fiction films, I felt that I should try to watch some other genres. Fantasy was the next obvious route, but as we all know, Hollywood has a real bad history with fantasy. Only recently with movies like the Lords of the Rings trilogy and the Hobbit trilogy, has Hollywood given value to the fantasy genre. Perhaps CGI makes it easier now, but back in the 1980s a storm of fantasy films came out after the success of Conan The Barbarian that gave me plenty of cheese to choose from.
The Deathstalker series was one of those that tried to capitalize on the success of Conan. They even implied in the second film that the two universes were connected. There were a total of 4 Deathstalker moves, all but the first being direct to video. Roger Corman was the producer behind all 4, and I have written many times about how inspiring some of Roger Corman’s work is for a GM. However, I have to say that Corman’s fantasy is far less inspiring than his science fiction or horror. It was not easy watching either of these films.