What's Your Favorite RPG Cartoon / Comic Strip - Past or Present

Looking over the SnarfQuest Kickstarter got me thinking about all of the cartoon / comic strips that have appeared in various RPG magazines - a type of magazine that is obviously a dying breed these days.

While I really enjoyed SnarfQuest, I think What's New With Phil and Dixie was more memorable with me. Sure, I like the art in Wormy, but the strip made little sense to me.

Now, for a more current comic strip, I'd go with Nodwick, hands down. I'm not sure if anything even comes close - but I'm open to suggestions ;)

Oh, honorable mention to Murphy's Law from the old Space Gamer mag - that shit was spot on most of the times ;)

Kickstarter - Larry Elmore's SnarfQuest: Snarf's New Adventure

I wasn't a big SnarfQuest fan the first few times I read it back in the day, but it quickly grew on me. Elmore's art is the art of D&D for me in so many ways as it graced so many covers of Dragon Magazine and SnarfQuest was a really fun strip.

I should have the Elmore art book from the earlier Kickstarter some time this month and it looks like I'll be adding the new SnarfQuest Kickstarter come payday.

Heck, it's already funded and it's only been up for a day. Looking forward to seeing some of the stretch goals ;)

BTW, Larry was man enough to do a video apology for the fact that his earlier Kickstarter is shipping 4 months late - which is damn near on time in the world of RPG Kickstarters.

Bad Myrmidon - PWYW OSR Sandbox to Benefit Mandy Morbid

Here's the skinny:

Bad Myrmidon is an old-school adventure to benefit Mandy Morbid. All proceeds will go directly to her so that she can continue her battle against Ehlers–Danlos syndrome. A bad Myrmidon, for a good cause!

Cowardly Achilles has hidden his treasures in a temple on the island of Leuke. The undead Sisters of Penthesilea want vengeance, the Myrmidons want to protect the temple, and the Amazons want to kill the Myrmidons.

Outside the temples, forest fires rage in slow-motion; feathered viragos stalk hapless men; madfolk torture and burn each other; and nude cultists preach love, tolerance, and self-mutilation. This island is damned, and those who voyage here are damned as well. But treasure awaits!

+Gennifer Bone and +Wayne Snyder contributed the kickass artwork, +James Raggi  wrote an unforgettable hex-crawl encounter, and +Dyson Logos   created the glorious new map.

So purchase this kickass module now!

(Info about Mandy and EDS: http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/get-mandy-physical-therapy-hip-braces/110938 )

Now, I'm going to include 2 sets of links to DriveThruRPG - one with my affiliate link and one without. It is my understanding that my OBS referral commissions come out of the percentage that OBS takes from sales. I will forward all commissions earned through this fundraiser to +Rafael Chandler 

I'll post a review once I've finished reading it. Having skimmed through it quickly, I'm looking forward to giving this a thorough read as it looks damn good.

DRIVETHRURPG: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/123324/Bad-Myrmidon

AFFILIATE Linky: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/123324/Bad-Myrmidon&affiliate_id=1446

LULU: http://www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/bad-myrmidon/14286243

GenCon Exclusive No Longer Exclusive - Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle Now Available in PDF

Remember back in May when I complained that WotC was releasing the first true print version of D&D Next as a GenCon only release? Well, now Ghosts of Dragonspear Castle is available in PDF for a mere $18.

What do you get for those 18 bucks? A version of the Next rules that was already obsolete when it was sold at GenCon this past summer,

BTW, the print version was $30.

Kickstarter - Amazing or WTF!?! - "Mobile RPG module. Travel-sized Magnetic Role Playing Mod"

Why does the box cover on the right look familiar to me, damn it!

I'd like to send out a big F-U! to +Tim Shorts of the Gothridge Manor blog for pointing me in the direction of the "Mobile RPG module. Travel-sized Magnetic Role Playing Mod." Kickstarter. I'm not quite sure what to make of it, as it has bits of awesome wrapped in WTF-ness.

"Now you can have your Role-Playing Module and travel too! Magnetic game board & walls with maps to offer endless variables for setup.

We believe this Project is unlike anything ever seen in the gaming realm in the past - or present. This project allows the gamer to take his gaming experience with them while mobile. We have never seen anything that crosses all games and even scales as this in the past and believe it would be a great addition to any gamers arsenal."

So, let me get this straight? No one ever brought their books and paper to a friend's house to run a game?

Now, from what I can see, this is a magnetic game board, much like the travel games of chess or checkers one would be given on a long trip to keep you occupied in the back seat.

Heck, the included tokens look like Parcheesi pieces. They are also utterly useless, as they lack any sort of facing. The miniatures being used are too big for the hexes (and are not included). Oh, and wall pieces are not included either - they're extra.

It's got a level of cool though with the box covers. Hell, magnets in general are just cool shit. Then it hits you - where the fuck would you ever use this? Battlemats are more portable if you are into that kind of a game and more practical in the amount of game space they cover. This you'd have to reset for each room or encounter.

"Mobile RPG module. Travel-sized Magnetic Role Playing Mod." fills a niche that few if any need filled. Better you spend your money on a Frog God Grab Bag - at least you'll get some play value out of your spent cash and probably a few "modules" too.

Looking For Signs of Life in Some Overdue Crowdfunded Projects

Has everyone received their Myth & Magic Player's Book? I have mine (and a seriously bad taste in my mouth) but I've gotten emails from folks that are still waiting on theirs.

Has anyone received a hard copy of Champions of Zed?

Appendix N is shipping again but I have only seen one sighting over on The Iron Tavern (I got mineback in June I think, but the copies shipping now have bonus goodies).

Angels, Daemons, and Beings Between: A Patron Sourcebook for DCC RPG is also apparently shipping, but I've yet to find signs of it in the wild.

Quantum RPG - 2 1/2 months, no updates - dead? Hmm, this may be worth a post of it's own.

So, any sightings of the nearly off the radar projects?

More on the HeroQuest 25th Anniversary Fiasco, Now From GameZone

Did they really expect to NOT have these issues?

GAMEZONE Communiqué, Saturday 30

We would like to inform you all about the present situation, after the pause of our Kickstarter project by Moon Design P. during the thanksgiving holiday, which is an administrative petition within Kickstarter.

Yesterday, Friday, at the start of the day, U.S. east coast time, we sent a letter to Kickstarter, LINK invoking our legitimate trademark rights so they would deactivate the pause and let us progress in the fund raising campaign. We are waiting for Kickstarter’s reply on this matter.

Simultaneously we, Gamezone and Moon Design P., had a reunion to discuss this issue face to face as and not email exchange as was what was happening up till now.

Moon Design P. solicited the pause in Kickstarter because of fear that Hasbro could act against Gamezone in our crowed funding because we are using an American company on American soil. Their argument was that Hasbro could act against them as well for not impeding us in this project. Even thought they are not in any way included in this project or affiliated with it.

If Kickstarter does not reactivate the pause taking into account our letter ( indicated above in the link), then it can only be reactivated if Moon Design P. asks them to. For Moon Design P. to do so they are asking for two things: An official letter from Hasbro in which it states that they, Hasbro, will neither act against our HQ25th nor Moon Design P. They, Moon Design P., have also demanded a considerable sum and percentages from the Kickstarter project.

If we wait for Hasbro to make a declaration, which we can solicit, weeks or even months could pass. With that our production and creation calendar would be severely affected, as not having the funding to continue the campaign.

If the Campaign does not restart soon, the HQ25th will not be ready for Christmas 2014. It will not be ready to celebrate its anniversary.

There exist 3 possible solutions to this conundrum.

    1.    Kickstarter reactivates the project attending to our petition
    2.    Wait for Hasbro to declare that they are not against this crowed funding campaign of HQ25th en Kickstarter (an American Company).
    3.    Immediately move the crowed funning to a platform within Europe, where no risks of legal repercussions exist.

Option one; we can only wait, we cannot be sure that Kickstarter will lift the pause. We cannot influence their decision any more than we have already.

Option two; Hasbro is not obligated to do anything at all.

Option three; here there is no risk, except of course we will raise less funds, no other platform out there at this moment has the same public pull as  Kickstarter.

Why are we telling you this? As our backers, what would you like us to do?

Kickstarter Update - HeroQuest 25th Anniversary Edition - Moon Design's Reasoning on the Suspension of the Project

Huge thanks to Psychman, who just left this as a comment on the blogpost here. I think it needs to be shared to a larger audience, and thus this update:

"This is Moon Design's take on the situation:
Background concerning suspension of Gamezone’s Kickstarter campaign

We want to give some background on the dispute surrounding Gamezone’s Kickstarter campaign to launch a remake of the hybrid board game/roleplaying game originally published by Milton Bradley called “Heroquest”.

Last week, Moon Design petitioned Kickstarter to remove the crowdfunding campaign for Gamezone’s “Heroquest” game. “Heroquest” is the registered US trademark of Moon Design and is the name of our “Heroquest” roleplaying game and assorted products. To allow a game using the same name to be promoted in the United States through Kickstarter without a license would be an unacceptable dilution of our brand and create market confusion to our detriment.

The trademark “Heroquest” is registered by Francis Greg Stafford with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (Registration Number 4082281) for use in game book manuals. Moon Design Publications LLC has the exclusive license for use of that trademark. For some time now we have been working on creating a board game called “Heroquest” pertaining to the mythology of Glorantha and an updated version of our Heroquest roleplaying game.

The project by Gamezone, a Spanish game company, proposes to remake a role-playing/board game originally produced by Milton Bradley and Games Workshop in 1989. The project calls their game “Heroquest” which is identical to our registered mark and easily confused with it.

Gamezone initially asked us for use of the Heroquest trademark on July 31, 2013. The next day we asked them if they could provide us with a copy of any written agreement with Hasbro to produce a 25th Anniversary Edition of Hasbro’s board game. Gamezone did not provide us with any written confirmation (and as of this date still has not done so). On August 26, 2013, we informed Gamezone by email that we must decline their request.

Despite being explicitly refused permission to use our trademark, Gamezone went ahead and launched this Kickstarter. As a New York State corporation, Kickstarter is subject to US trademark laws and the use of our trademark in the campaign was a violation of those laws.We told Gamezone that they needed to immediately get a licensing agreement from us (which, among other things, would require that they pay us for the rights to the name since it would mean foregoing our opportunity to release our game using our trademark and to compensate us for that lost revenue).

Gamezone did not get back to us within the period we set, and rather than have this end up in litigation (which could also bring in other parties with IP at stake), we asked Kickstarter to suspend the campaign. We then spoke to Gamezone informing them that we had certain non-negotiable demands for any license agreement, among them a statement that Gamezone has explicit permission from Hasbro to make this game based on their IP. Gamezone has assured us that they can get such permission, but until we see confirmation, we cannot responsibly license our trademark to be used in this Kickstarter campaign.

We sympathize with the fans of the Milton Bradley game who enthusiastically supported this project. We strongly support Kickstarter and the revitalization of old games with a loyal following. However, such activities must be done with the consent of the trademark holder and of any other legal owners of the property."

Big sticking point seems to be the lack of a "statement that Gamezone has explicit permission from Hasbro to make this game based on their IP. Gamezone has assured us that they can get such permission, but until we see confirmation, we cannot responsibly license our trademark to be used in this Kickstarter campaign."

I suspect this is damn near close to dead.

Into The Glory Hole Dwarven Mine - It's Not What You Think - Maybe ;)

+Joe D and I alternate campaigns on Saturday nights. Joe will take the reigns with his heavily houseruled LotFP Weird Fantasy Blood Island setting for a few sessions, and then I'll come in with my houseruled Swords & Wizardry Complete in the Wilderlands for a few sessions. It's been working well.

Last night Joe introduced us to the classic Judges Guild module - Glory Hole Dwarven Mine. I think I actually own this and have it packed away. I know this and Srcapfaggot Green were popular choices on the worst named RPG products post I did a while back.

How did we do? Barely a scratch on the party, thanks to a well timed charm spell by one of the casters. It was either that or a potential TPK, as the party is all 1st levels and even a small fire elemental would have turned us to toast.

All hail the hobgoblin that held the controlling stone - charmed, then slept and finally beheaded by my glass-steel axe. Huzzah!

So, What Was Your "Black Friday" Gift to Yourself This Year?

I've been highlighting the RPG deals as I've found them here on the blog -just look at a few of the posts right before this one to see some of the deals that are out there. I really do enjoy Black Friday much more these days, as I am 17 years removed from working retail, and almost anything that I really want to get, I can snag online.

So, what were my grabs this year?

The Frog God Games Grab Bag is probably my big gaming get. I like gaming gifts, and no one in my family know enough about gaming to do it right, so a grab bag of goodness works for me.

As for non-gaming, I snagged the Dell Venue 8 Pro with Win 8.1 and MS Office for $227 earlier this week on Amazon. Full Windows operating system on an 8" tablet. For a tech geek like me, it's an amazing little piece of computing.

So, what did you gift yourself on Black Friday?

Kickstarter - Talking About Far West (Late AGAIN) - Let's Look at Some of the "Patron Art"

Since Far West is late YET AGAIN (from the Nov 21 Update - "Completing the layout is taking me longer than I'd hoped for, due to some sort of virulent plague hitting the Skarka household. We will be ready to deliver the files to the printer (and the digital copies to you) in the next few days, though -- hopefully this weekend, definitely before the US Thanksgiving holiday next week."

Well, at least it's not "Con Crud" again.

I'm not sure how good Hershey's stuff was before he up and left the project midstream, but the above looks to me to be photoshopped - and not all that well either. BTW, that is apparently me in the green coat and red hands and orange face.

Another backer actually wanted his "portrait" to NOT be used, he was so disappointed in the results.

As for me? I no longer give a shit. When my book arrives, it will go right to the shelf along with the Myth & Magic Player's Handbook. Too much BS, too much drama and too little interest for me to care about this project at this point.

Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyberborea on Sale For $7.50 At RPGNow

Somehow I missed this yesterday.

Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea is on sale for $7.50 in PDF at RPGNow. +Jeff Talanian also has 2 AS&SH adventures discounted. This is in addition to the boxed set (and  adventures) being 20% off until Dec 4th.

Huzzah!