My father views board games as a critical tool for learning concepts such as tactics, probability, and the importance of having flexible plans.  This is why he had to beat me at every game of Risk for two years he claims.  “I couldn’t just let you win.  The game would have been pointless if you just win.”  I didn’t win my first game against him until I was nearly thirteen years old, at which point I asked him if there’s any other games we can play.  He went to the massive double door cabinets that held all his dusty games and brought to the table a box much smaller than that of Risk, which admittedly had me disappointed and suspicious.  It simply read ‘Stratego’.  That’s not even a real word!  At least Sorry and Trouble are real words I thought to myself.  He explained the basic rules of the game and then we began to set up our pieces.  He went first.

Table top gaming is an art form to me.  I know some people just see it as a way to pay homage to their fandom, others see it as a tool for hanging out with friends, and some just enjoy the competition of it all.  But I can never see a game as something quite that simple, rather they provide me with inspiration, laughs, enlightenment, satisfaction, debate, creation, goals, wit, and mass quantity’s of joy.  Gaming isn’t a hobby for me but rather a section of my life that I carry with me every where I go.

Now that my love and adornment of gaming has been established you should probably know that I’m extremely critical of the medium.  If I’m to invest my funds, time, and friends time in a product then I want high quality.  I believe in quality over quantity and don’t want to wake up to see that my board games and role playing books are all the same thing just painted differently.  With prices often matching or exceeding a new video game the board game company’s must remain making the best possible games they can and avoid at all cost the mediocre.  I want to be impressed when I play a new game, not simply accepting of it.

Like anybody though I have preferences.

Horror is delightfully deliciously delectable in every sense.  I am practically a cultist when it comes to H.P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos because for me it’s not enough to just read the story’s.  I like the board games, video games, comics, movies, clothing, toys, all of it.  Does this make me a mindless consumer I ponder at times?  No.  Why not?  Because I still have quality control over this encroaching Lovecraftian madness.  In honesty I would be far angrier should I play a bad game that’s steeped in the Cthulhu Mythos than if I played a poorly built Civil War game.  Don’t just start trying to prod me with tentacles, I demand some crazy chanting first and a minimum of at least four hooded cultists.  Oh and my favorite story by him is The Rats in the Walls, yes it’s somewhat outside of the Cthulhu Mythos, but it just grips you.  Plus it was the first story by Lovecraft I ever read.

I also enjoy movies a great deal and am planning on presenting you with a variety of sci-fi films that are must see’s while potentially stumbling across the occasional dud that must be avoided at all cost.  I often have the tendency to blur the lines of sci-fi and horror though so I’ll try my best to limit it to sci-fi and sci-fi horror films.

I’m pretty sure it’s self evident that I enjoy writing other wise I wouldn’t be doing this.  Other interest include comics, cartoons, investigating geek culture (stumbling about online looking for cool things so I can go ‘Oh that’s cool.’), video games, and the out doors.

While this is the first time I’ll have my writings read by others I’m hoping to continue this trend and have my short story’s published and eventually work up to writing a series of books and comics because when it comes to writing I honestly love nearly every medium as is the same with gaming.

Popularity: 1%

 

I wasn’t planning on attending PAX East this year, honest. But sometimes things happen and you just have to suck it up and go to a huge gaming convention.

It was Thursday evening that I got a surprise email from one of the Dead Gentlemen, a tale of woe and loss in and around the Boston area. Where there were supposed to be two to man a booth at PAX East, there was now only one.  They offered a pass for Saturday in exchange for working the Zombie Orpheus Entertainment booth. I happily accepted, and with the help of my saint-like wife, rearranged my schedule to be there.  I stopped in at the booth right at 10am, walked around PAX East with Scott for a while, and then became the worlds worst “booth babe” from 1 to 4pm.

It was quite an experience! I handed out hundreds of little cardboard bits with ZOE’s website and shows printed on them.  Much cooler than that though, I got to hang out with Clancy Bundy & Jade Warpenburg who’s web series Transolar Galactica is now under the ZOE banner.  They were cool guys, and the show is funny, biting, sci-fi madness at its best. I did spend a bit of my time covertly watching the first hour of Transolar Galactica while at the booth – you should certainly check it out!

After my stint at the ZOE booth, it was off to meet up with some of my tabletop friends, and play a couple of rounds of Cutthroat Caverns, one of my favorite backstabby type games. Then it was back home.

I ran into a bunch of folks I hadn’t met in person, which was fun and I ran into a bunch of folks I’ve come to know from the local convention scene, which was also fun! I got a chance to talk with the creator of the  Miskatonic School for Girls game for a bit which was great! I also talked the folks at the newly formed Game Salute, folks who have an interesting new model for board game development.

All in all it was a great time! If I didn’t catch you this time, look for me next year (I’m thinking of getting an indie booth of some sort).

Popularity: 1%

 

Thanks to flickr user the justified sinner! CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

The idea of the “suspension of disbelief”, of which you’ve surely heard, is quite simple: in order for any form of art to be effective, it’s viewer (or listener, or whatever) needs to, in some way, suspend his disbelief.

The idea was first articulated by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in his Biographia Literaria, which can be found here:

it was agreed, that my endeavours should be directed to persons and characters supernatural, or at least romantic; yet so as to transfer from our inward nature a human interest and a semblance of truth sufficient to procure for these shadows of imagination that willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes poetic faith.

While Coleridge was writing particularly about the inclusion of elements macabre and supernatural in his writing, the idea holds firm today: for example, when you watch a movie, you willingly suspend your disbelief (in fact, you are simply watching rapidly-changing images projected on a large screen) and buy into the idea that Neo and Agent Smith really are fighting.

Coleridge’s idea of poetic faith is important. I think he means that there’s an implicit bargain between the poet and the reader; the poet is going to be limited by his medium or his topic, yet the reader is going to give him the benefit of the doubt anyway.

This neatly parallels the relationship between the game-master and the player. The GM sets up the world (his poetry, let’s say) and the player experiences it. Obviously, you are (most likely) not a barbarian, so there is some willing suspension of disbelief there when the game calls for you to play one. You’re not in a fantasy tavern, you’re not slamming back ale, and you’re not actually seducing wenches. (And if your gaming experience does involve all these things, do you have an extra seat at the table?)

Of course, the player needs to be suspending way more disbelief, as most of the games we play are fantastical in some way or another, whether they involve swords and sorcery, eldritch horrors, or simple standoffs and desperation. However, this comes easier than it sounds. Most of us who play role-playing games naturally want to suspend our disbelief. We take the word of the game-master or the sourcebook as the gospel. We want our games to be fun, so we’re willing to accept whatever ridiculous, convoluted worlds in which we end up playing.

After the jump I’ll discuss a couple of ways that the Suspension of Disbelief might affect your games, whether you know it or not.

Continue reading »

Popularity: 2%

 

My White Mage Cosplay

This month I had the great pleasure to attend Katuscon 2012 in Washington D.C. It was my first time there and I was pleasantly delighted with it. Not as huge as some of the more popular conventions it had comfortably sized crowds.

Venue

Held at the GayLord National Resort and Convention Center right in the National Harbor, Maryland. This giant hotel and convention center sported plush interiors just ripe for amazing cosplay photography. The rooms are expensive but large and comfortable. Lots of elevators and escalators for exhausted con-goer’s tired tootsies. There was plenty of parking at a very reasonable price and the National Harbor food options ranging from quick and cheap to expensive elegance.

Cosplay

Like most anime conventions this one boasted of some amazing outfits. From last minutes home-brewed concoctions (like mine) to competitors for the World Cosplay Summit. The lovely venue and perfect sunny weather provided excellent opportunities for photographs and cinematography. For a good time just Google Katuson 2012 for some  beautiful videos and photos.

Artist Alley

My favorite room was filled with upstart artists selling paintings, jewelry, clothing, and more. Several artist were available for commissions. My favorite item was a D1: A simple clay Mobius strip with a one painted on it. No matter how you flipped it you always knew what you’d get!

Merchant Room

So many awesome things! Mostly Anime and Japanese products but several booths had dice and game books. Rare DVDs and video games were to be found alongside mini figures and plushies. Clothing styles spanned the range of Gothic Lolita, cyberpunk and steampunk. And so many giant robot toys!

Game Room

This large space was host to several large tables set up with different consoles and games. Atari, Sega, Playstation 3, Wii, Kinect and more. Several large arcade games were set up in the back for good old nostalgia gaming. Several competitions were held throughout the con and gaming went far into the night. One featured retro video games which, when I was a kid, were just called video games. The Magic the Gathering tables were always filled with players.Sadly there were no empty tables for tabletop gaming. I had carried my dice around all weekend hoping for a quickie but alas it didn’t happen.

Conclusion

                Like most conventions you get out of it what you put in. The higher profile panels had long lines, you had to walk a ways to get fed or pay for an expensive one. Chasing down someone to take their picture can get old. But being surrounded by lovely people having fun is always a delightful experience. I try to enter conventions with little expectation of how they’ll be and I’m always delightfully surprised by what I find. That way I’m never disappointed by panels I miss or friends I won’t meet up with. Most important rule: Enjoy yourself!

 

Pirate Deadpool

Sailor Venus Courtesy of Caitlyn Jones

Popularity: 2%

 

Ong Bak! Thai Warrior!

Synopsis: Set in present day Thailand, Ting (Tony Jaa) is an orphan, raised by a village monk and trained in the martial art of Muay Thai. His mentor urges Ting not to use this deadly art form for fun. However, when the head of the village’s sacred Buddha statue Ong Bak is severed and stolen by a lowlife drug dealer, Ting takes on the mission of going to Bangkok in order to retrieve it. Ting is a country bumpkin in a big city and his efforts to enlist the help of a childhood acquaintance, George, backfire when it turns out that George is only interested in turning fast bets in order to make money to pay his many debts. In the illegal fighting parlours of the underworld, Ting’s promise to never fight must be abandoned to help innocent people and get him closer to the stone head he needs to find. A simple retrieval mission turns even more dangerous when they cross Komtuan, a kingpin of the underworld with enough power to crush them all.

Continue reading »

Popularity: 2%

 

Image courtesy of Deep Studios

There have been attempts made in the past to put the gamer experience on the big screen.  The end result is usually something that mocks the genre without really understanding it.  Now, a true representation of gaming would never make for a mainstream movie, it would hardly make it as a niche movie.  Anything that will have a chance of appealing to folks outside of the realm of gamers is gonna mock the genre to some extent.  I can live with that, I learned a long time ago that laughing at yourself can be healthy from time to time.

Unicorn City appears to maybe have that chance of showing a bit of gamer geek culture, with a healthy dose of parody and inside jokes, to a broader audience.

Unicorn City?  Yep.  Unicorn City.  I know it sounds fake.  Everything about it sounds fake.  But here is the actual website.  And, here is the IMDB page.  So, it is real, but what is it about?

Well, taken from the IMDB synopsis.  Voss entices local gamers to create a Utopian society in an attempt to impress a potential employer, but paradise is disrupted when his nemesis lays claim to the city and Voss’s true love.

I truly hope that this one lives up to some of the hype I am hearing from friends that have seen it.  We all should go see it.  Like, as soon as possible.  If it ends up being just another debacle that does nothing but mock without the love, then I’ll owe you one.

 

 

Popularity: 1%

 

Synopsis: While there can be no doubt that Tien (Tony Jaa) is an amazing warrior, he simply cannot take on an army of highly skilled warriors, the most fearsome of which is the Crow Ghost(Dan Chupong). Taken into custody by the cruel Lord Rajasena (Sarunya Wongkerjang), Tien is beaten to the point of being crippled and is about to be executed when a rider enters, bearing a royal decree that frees him. Lord Rajasena is not happy to hear that this ‘traitor’ has been freed and begins to have hallucinations and terrible dreams, remembering earlier treachery that caused him to be cursed by an important official that he murdered. The cause of the dreams are supposedly known and can be cured by the Crow Ghost, the same malevolent figure who took down Tien in the previous film. The Crow Ghost wrestles with Lord Rajasena’s sanity and his power while Tien must deal with being crippled. Through the teachings of a Buddhist monk and his childhood friend and love, Pim, Tien trains in the way of the Buddha and prepares to face his greatest rival. Will Tien choose the path of revenge again? Or will he finally set things right within the kingdom and within his soul?

Continue reading »

Popularity: 2%

 

Too busy kicking ass to brush his hair.

Synopsis: Set in Feudal Siam, Tien (played by Tony Jaa) is a young boy and the son of  a great warrior and provincial ruler. When a rival faction led by the cruel and power-hungry Lord Rajasena rises up to take control, Tien is rescued from the men who have killed his family, only to be kidnapped by slave traders. The boy is spirited  and refuses to submit to the cruel traders. As some kind of ultimate punishment, the slave traders throw Tien into a pit to fight a giant crocodile. Watching within the crowd is a mysterious man (with an awesome mustache) who sees the fire and determination in Tien’s eyes and offers him a dagger, telling him ‘your life is up to you.’ Tien kills the crocodile and is taken in by the mysterious man named Chernang who turns out to be the leader of the Pha Beek Khrut Bandits. After being given the choice to strike out on his own or train in the bandits’ martial practices, Tien chooses to fight and learn under his adoptive father. Tien excels and masters many martial arts forms and gains the respect of the rest of the bandits, all of them adept in fighting and trickery. However, before Tien can take his place as the next leader of the Pha Beek Khrut bandits he must avenge the death of his biological parents and punish Lord Rajasena. Will Tien succeed?

Continue reading »

Popularity: 2%

 

Image courtesy of Ruby-Spears Entertainment

The year 1994:  From out of space comes a runaway planet, hurtling between the Earth and the Moon, unleashing cosmic destruction!  Man’s civilization is cast in ruin.

Two thousand years later, Earth is reborn…

A strange new world rises from the old:  a world of savagery, super science, and sorcery.  But one man bursts his bond to fight for justice!  With his companions, Ookla the Mok and Princess Ariel, he pits his strength, his courage, and his fabulous Sunsword against the forces of evil.

He is Thundarr the Barbarian.

There are many things that have inspired me over the years when it comes to my writing and to the various campaigns and games I have run over the last 30+ years.  Thundarr the Barbarian was easily one of the biggest.  For a 9 year old kid, this show blew everything I knew about science fiction and fantasy out of the water.  It had monsters, wizards, giant robots, ancient cities, and a trio of bigger than life heroes.  For someone that was just starting to play Dungeons and Dragons, Thundarr filled me with more ideas than I knew what to do with.  I started a post apocalyptic campaign using the old Red Box rules, improvising rules for guns and robots (which I am sure by my then 9 year old standards were amazing).  Though I had few role playing friends back then, and most of them were older, they humored me and played the first game I ever ran, in the odd world known as Marrgon.  It only lasted two sessions, but we all had so much fun that when brought up the idea of resurrecting it almost 10 years later there was a resounding YES from my players.  I had progressed as a DM quite a bit in that time, and the second time visiting this strange world was even more fun than the first.

Now, there are games out there like this, Gamma World comes to mind first for me because that is what I gravitated towards in the early days of high school to fill my magic and science fix, later it would be Shadowrun.  I have always had a love for the mixing of genres, and even my own game, Mistrunner, mixes magic with Steampunk.  I think a lot of that would never have happened for me if it hadn’t been for Thundarr the Barbarian opening my eyes to the possibilities that mixed genre stories hold.

If you have never seen these cartoons I cannot recommend them enough.  Yes, they are cheesy and corny as many 80′s cartoons were, but you need to look past that, look at the world that exists in the series, the characters that populate it.  There is such a wealth of material to be mined from this show that you could easily run a campaign for years.  I am seriously considering bringing back my old Marrgon game, though none of the original players are still around.  Perhaps it’s time to introduce a new bunch to my first ever gaming inspiration.

I recently got Thundarr on DVD, and when I saw these on eBay I couldn’t resist.

They now sit at a place of honor in my workshop.  We should all revisit some of those pleasant memories from our earliest days of geekdom, they are the foundation of what has made us the proud Geeks, Nerds, and Dorks that we are today.

For more info on the series, check out this great Thundarr fansite.

Popularity: 2%

 

He who stumbles around in darkness with a stick is blind. But he who… sticks out in darkness… is… fluorescent!

Read on for your chance to win one of four HD downloads of Gamers: Dorkness Rising and JourneyQuest Season 1 from DriveThruRPG!

Continue reading »

Popularity: 3%

© 2012 Troll in the Corner Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha