Pages

Monday, October 5, 2020

Still alive and rethinking a few things:

Hey all. It's been a while. I hope you're all doing well in the dystopian Hell that is 2020 CE. Speaking for myself, I've... OKish. I've been busy with work and few other projects and in that time, I've been rethinking the direction of this blog.

Since starting this venture, I've mainly written about the OSR and classic RPGs. Eventually I folded in the material from my previous Savage Worlds and Traveller blogs along with some infrequent posts on miniature gaming. However, over the last year, I've been wondering if my scope has been too narrow. It's becoming harder and harder to write about classic gaming lately, especially since the OSR has waned in popularity. I think that my blogging would be far more frequent if I didn't constrain myself to just one topic.

So, in the next few weeks, expect to see some changes to the look and even the name of the blog. I'll be expanding the scope of material where I'll be writing more and more about contemporary RPGs I've playing as well as greater emphasis on miniature wargaming. 

See you all later.

Monday, February 24, 2020

I do reviews...

Dear gaming content creators:

If you have a hot gaming product that you'd like a honest, review by a veteran role-player and miniature wargaming who's work has been published in Pyramid magazine, please let me know.  I need some excuse to post on stuff on this blog. 

Monday, January 20, 2020

Mu: Shadows of Ghatanothoa

Let's head into the new year--and a new burst of productivity--with some new material for Mu using the Eldritch Tales rules involving the terrible god of Mount Yaddith-Gho, Ghatanothoa.


Slaves of Ghatanothoa:

AC: 3 [16]
HD: 3
Save: 16
Move: 6
Morale: 1
Level/XP:  4/120
Insanity: -1/1/1d3
Attacks: Claws+3, 1d6
Special: Ghatanothoa Curse, Immune to Sleep or Charm.


Sight of the god, or its image, as all the legends of the Yuggoth-spawn agreed, meant paralysis and petrifaction of a singularly shocking sort, in which the victim was turned to stone and leather on the outside, while the brain within remained perpetually alive—horribly fixed and prisoned through the ages, and maddeningly conscious of the passage of interminable epochs of helpless inaction till chance and time might complete the decay of the petrified shell and leave it exposed to die. 
--H. P. Lovecraft and Hazel Heald, Out of the Aeons
The poor wretches unfortunate enough to gaze upon the fell form of Ghatanothoa, the God of Mount Yaddith-Gho, are doomed to to a grisly fate of living death. Their still-living brains trapped in a prison of desiccated and petrified flesh and bone. However the priests and sorcerers devoted to the Mountain God have found a use for these poor souls.

Created by the spell "Awaken Slaves of Ghatanothoa" (see below), these shambling creatures obey the commands of the caster without question or pause. Their leathery skin and sinew make them exceedingly tough, and the tips of their shriveled fingers are razor sharp. Worse, someone wounded by these talons must make a saving throw or they themselves will surfer Ghatanothoa's Cruse, becoming a petrified mummy within 1d3 rounds. Anyone seeing this horrific transformation must make a saving throw vs. insanity or gain 1 insanity. Only very powerful magical intervention can save the victim from this end.

Awaken Slaves of Ghatanothoa:

Spell Level: 5
Learn Spell: -2
Casting Time: 2 Rounds
Spell Check: Intelligence -2
Range: 20 ft.
Duration: Permanent until broken.
Failure: All Slaves within the spell range awaken and attack the operator until either the Slaves or the operator are slain.

This spell activates all dormant mummies petrified by Ghatanothoa's Curse within the range of the operator. The awakened Slaves will obey the operator until they are destroyed or willingly released by the Operator.

The Amulet of T'yog

So T’yog wrote his protective formula on a scroll of pthagon membrane (according to von Junzt, the inner skin of the extinct yakith-lizard) and enclosed it in a carven cylinder of lagh metal—the metal brought by the Elder Ones from Yuggoth, and found in no mine of earth. This charm, carried in his robe, would make him proof against the menace of Ghatanothoa—it would even restore the Dark God’s petrified victims if that monstrous entity should ever emerge and begin its devastations.
--H.P. Lovecraft and Hazel Heald, Out of the Aeons

Created by T'yog of K'naa, the ancient Naacal sorcerer-priest of Shub Niggurath, this powerful amulet can protect the bearer from the petrifying effects of Ghatanothoa's Curse. Also, if touched to the Mountain God's mummified victims, the amulet will restore them to full life and vigor. However, depending on how long they've been cursed, their sanity might not be intact.

As far as we know, only one of these potent talismans were ever created. It was stolen by T'yog's rival, Immash-Mo, the High Priest of the Temple of Ghatanothoa, and is believed to have been lost with the destruction of Mu.  

Monday, December 9, 2019

I'm back...


OK, I'm done with all this moping around. Time to down a fistful of Adderall with a Red Bull chaser and do some blogging!

Monday, August 20, 2018

Celebrate HPL’s 128 birthday with Eldritch Tales!


After dwelling in primal darkness for countless aeons, the stars aligned properly and Joe Salvador at Raven God Games has just released Eldritch Tales: Lovecraftian White Box Role Playing on the 128th anniversary of the birth of Howard Phillips Lovecraft! You can purchase a digital copy at DriveThruRPG with print-on-demand options coming soon! 

As stated previously, I was privileged to lend a hand in playtesting this stand-alone game, and if you are looking for a minimalist, Old-school style alternative to other Cthulhu Mythos RPGs, you should really give Eldritch Tales a try! Also, fans of all the other iterations of the White Box engine will find the new rules, spells, items, and monsters to be welcome addition to their repertoire, whether they’re playing White Star: Galaxy Edition for “Cthulhu in Spaaaaace” campaigns, White Lies if you want to try an OSR rendition of Delta Green, or even WWII: Operation Whitebox (“Damn Nazi occultists calling down Yog Sothoth… Again!”).

Joe has also thoughtfully released the official character sheet along with it along with a compatibility logo and licensing guidelines for those who wish to create their own third-party support. I've only had a chance to skim over the final product, but it looks fantastic! I'll give a more thorough review later.

Until then, Happy Birthday HPL!

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

The Sleeper has AWAKENED!


Earlier this month, Gale Force Nine, popular producer of board games and miniature wargaming rules and accessories released the following press release on their website:

BURBANK, CA – August 6, 2018 – Legendary Entertainment and Herbert Properties LLC have reached a multi-year licensing agreement with Gale Force Nine (GF9). The award-winning game publisher is now set to bring the beloved sci-fi franchise DUNE to the world of tabletop gaming.
“Gale Force Nine has consistently demonstrated a skill and passion for building successful tabletop game series alongside category leading partners and we are thrilled to announce this exciting addition to the Dune licensing program ,” said Jamie Kampel, Vice President of Licensing & Partnerships for Legendary. “Legendary looks forward to a fun and meaningful contribution to this revered legacy property.”
The agreement calls for Gale Force Nine to produce original tabletop games drawing from the full scope of the Dune franchise—spanning the many publications from Frank Herbert, Brian Herbert, and Kevin J. Anderson—along with multiple direct tie-ins with Legendary’s highly-anticipated film from director Denis Villeneuve.
“This is only the beginning of our big plans in tabletop for this captivating franchise,” says John-Paul Brisigotti, CEO of Gale Force Nine. “Dune is a rich and wonderful universe, and we expect to produce an equally expansive and inspired line of games for years to come.” 
The full range of tabletop games, including board and miniatures games are slated to hit the market just prior to Legendary’s theatrical release of DUNE in 2020. In addition, GF9 plans to align with other game companies on numerous categories and formats in the future.
I recall the long-defunct Last Unicorn Games, who had published a rather popular CCG based on the series, was to publish a Dune RPG in the 90s. The company was bought out by Wizards of the Coast and Dune: Chronicles of the Imperium was given a very limited (and, as I recall, expensive) release. It’d be interesting to see what GF9 does with it.... Wait a minute...

The full range of tabletop games, including board and miniatures games are slated to hit the market just prior to Legendary’s theatrical release of DUNE in 2020. (Emphasis added.)
Will this mean I’ll finally be able to command my own sietch of Freman warriors, rampaging across the cosmos to spread Muad’Dib's Holy Jihad?

Ya Hya Chouhada!

UPDATE:

It turns out that while GF9 is handling the miniature and tabletop aspect of this new license, they’ve teamed up with Modiphius to handle the actual RPG. Excellent choice!