Total Party Kill 2/3/12: Now with More Butterment

Howdy! For those few of you out there who keep up with this blog, you may have noticed I barely did anything  here over the last week. Well, I've been more busy than usual, especially with GOTTACON coming up... in fact, GOTTACON starts today!

I look forward to GOTTACON every year, and not just because they invite me to come do things. If you are too damned lazy to look up GOTTACON, the nutshell version is that its a gaming convention that happens every year right here in Victoria, BC, Canada. All kinds of cool games and such can be found there. Panels with special guests, too. Seriously, check it out. Here's another link to their site.

At this GOTTACON, I will be excessively busy, it seems. The convention organizers have me on two panels: "So You Want To Write A..." with other writers more awesome at writing than I am, I'm sure, and "DM Roundtable" where I sit around with other consummate DMs and talking DMing and such.

I will also be working my part-time job's booth, Style N Print, selling shirts-- including the official GOTTACON shirts. We'll also be able to show off our Direct To Garment thing, where we can create shirts for you in minutes.

And finally, I will be running a Warhammer 40,000: Dark Hersey RPG game tonight, from 7 to 11 PM. I call it "Logan's World Run", and the PCs are Adeptus Arbites personnel, sent to the wild place that is Hellsreach on Logan's World... a planet that only fans of the original Warhammer 40k Rogue Trader will know about.

Anyhowitzer, here's a link to the two posts (two??? wow) I've done this week:

Traveller OGL: Alienist [RPG Review]
This is covering a short and inexpensive PDF supplement for the new Traveller rules. Review material courtesy of Postmortem Studios.

Hardcore Book pr0n: First Edition Timez
Figuring I have to use "pr0n" in another feature name, this one is about books I find or rediscover. And I found a Spelljammer novel and a couple other nice treats.

And that's it for posts...

As far as other things going on, author Ryan Speck and I finally recorded the podcast thing we've been talking about for years. We called our evil worm-baby MouthFist. As with nearly all first ventures into podcasting, we had a few massive technical difficulties and we almost scrapped this episode. But Ryan, who's producing it, didn't want to re-record... so, out of sheer lethargy, I suppose, he edited the hell out of it... and aside from the weird static bursts, it turned out okay. Please, check it oot at yer leisure:

MouthFist Podcast, Episode 0: Fudginating with Hitler

Using our mouth-fists for the butterment of mankind. 

Master Nerd points will be handed out to anyone who can tell me where we shamelessly stole our logo from. Please be a good sport and try to answer BEFORE you look it up on ze Googles!

Now let's get to some links really quick-like...

A great take on the whole "Before Watchmen" Watchmen comics coming out...

...And Markosia's Ian Sharman offering a different viewpoint on the whole affair.

Looking for a great artist to drool over? How about one of my favourite Swedes, Peter Bergting? His art rocks, folks. A few years he gave me a copy of Gangkrig 145 (Gangwar 145), which I enjoyed (despite me not knowing Swedish). Recently he masterfully crafted the art for Joe Lansdale's The Dunwich Horror comics from IDW. Lovecraft fans, take serious note here. I'll cover the comics, soon, but you must pick these issues up. Now.

For the full preview from IDW, go here.

Here's an interesting site where I saw this blog listed. Its called 6D6 Fireball, and it's worth perusing. And it's not just a cool site with interesting things, but it also has the 6D6 rules system.

I'll have to check it out more in-depth sometime-- but it does look quite good.


I really wish I could keep going, but I need to get out the door for GOTTACON. It's going to be an action-packed weekend, folks. Hope to see a few of you there!

And I promise to do a Midnight Mini pr0n soon.

--

Questions? Comments? Hit me. Or email me. 

Total Party Kill 1/20/12: Necromancing the Bones

Ahhh, the old banner. Thanks to Elliot (I think) for this one.

Happy Friday, you glorious band of brother, sister and brother/sister nerds.

Look, I have no idea if I will do this every Friday, but I did want to do two things concerning this blog:

1) Have an end-of-the-week roundup post, compiling my posts throughout the week, complete with short descriptors so you can peruse at your leisure.
2) Bring back Total Party Kill, an occasional column I did in the past some people seemed to dig.

So. Here I am, wondering what to do... Ah! I know: I'll make Total Party Kill (TPK) the roundup with some new material.

Genius.

Yup. GENIUS.

More after ze jump!! Comics, minis (well A mini), games and links, oh my! /takeivoice

Punisher MAX Vol. 5: The Slavers [Comics Safari]

"It had been a long, long time since I hated anyone the way I hated them."

Here's another trade you must pick up. Especially if you are a Punisher fan, and more especially if you are a fan of cold, hard justice and payback.

The Slavers is one of those story-arcs that proves just how good of a writer Garth Ennis is. See, though The Boys and Preacher are great and, of course, his work on Punisher-- The Slavers shows he and do a hard story with hard (and I mean HARD) themes, douse them in some petrol and then light it up. I actually got physically angry reading this book. Angry in a way where I wanted to get a piece of heavy pipe and find the first motherfucker who abuses the innocent and then cave their skull in. Then go after their friends.

Yeah, The Slavers is THAT intense.

Through the usual bullet-soaked rain our story begins with Frank happening upon a women gaining vengeance for her dead baby. We then find out she is a slave in a well-oiled Eastern European based salving operation. You know, the kind of operation that abducts young women, turns them out, then makes them into sex-slaves, the playthings for those assholes out there who want to pay for it. It's all pretty damned horrible, and from the get-go "Kill them all, Frank-- kill them all" will become a mantra you mumble while reading this trade.

But the story gets tougher from there. Moments will come when you will feel punched in the gut, where you will want to reach into the pages and do some killing of your own.

That's the beauty of the story: It's ugly. It's REAL ugly, because we know this kind of shit happens on a regular basis around the world. We know that Garth Ennis is simply using Frank and a means to express his rage at the sheer, insane and evil injustice in the world. The Punisher is his tool, his poet of righteous violence. The Punisher speaks to us in such a way that no other driven sociopath can. He tells us that the world is a bad, bad place and it's best you hide under the bed while he shoots some bad, bad people in the face.

A lot.

I would say the ending of this story is one of the most satisfying on record, and if I were a normal person I suppose I'd be a little ashamed for cheering and exclaiming "Yes, Frank! YES. Don't come back here, bastards".

The intesne brutallity of this comic is assisted in no small measure by the excellent art Leandro Fernandez provides. To be perfectly honest, I think he's my favourite illustrator on Punisher MAX to come along so far. What he shows us is the dark underside of the reality we live in. His images blur the lines between justs being a comic and a story that will grab you by the throat and throw you around until you don't know which way is up, down, or sideways. It's bleak and detailed and full of raw emotion. The shadows seen will speak to you more than the clear picture. The lines are pitch black and full of meance. The pages will speak to you with more than words, my friends. Though I have no doubt in Ennis' writing ability, Fernandez easily catapults his way to "amazing artist" with this series. Man, the whole package is just... as I said: Intense.

I may never need to read this story again, this being my second time through (the first time was with the singles). I bought the trade because I saw it on sale, and it needs to be on everyone's bookshelf, you know? The story resonates with me like no other in recent memory. It's just the kind of thing that will stick to you, and stick for maybe forever.

My sincerest thanks is extended to the creative minds behind this tale. It's rare that anything I read, and certainly anything I read with comic books, makes me feel something more than just mild amusement or happy to pass the time in an entertaining way. Goddamn, this book is good.

It hurts a bit, too. So you should be prepared for that.

More information on this can be found here.


Lethality: Total Party Kill. No one in the party makes it out alive. The way it should be.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

TOTAL PARTY KILL #4

The new TPK is live! And for this time around it's hosted over at The Vorpal Gnome (a MediaGauntlet site maintained by Ryan Speck and myself).

Come, GET SOME:




What should you expect if you click on that pretty banner? My rambling thoughts on Houses of the Blooded, 3:16 Carnage Amongst the Stars, various other gaming things, lots of comics (Red Sonja, Lone Ranger, Doctor Who: The Forgotten, Hercules: The Thracian Wars, Pistolfist: Revolutionary Warrior, Dragon Prince, Necronomicon-- and MOAR!).

I have to be honest: Things are much more on the "ravings" side of things, as opposed to "reviews". I guess it depends on what you consider a review, but in most cases this TPK, I just blabble on, sometimes not even really talking about the product at hand critically. Just a heads up. (My natterings on the Doctor Who comic is a fine example of this!)

Also, this edition has "anchors", which means you can just click to the section you want to go from the Table of Contents at the very beginning.


Hope you enjoy this installment. I sure as Nine Hells enjoyed writing it.


All I ask of you is to read it and spread the TPK links around!

TOTAL PARTY KILL #3

Hey folks! If you don't mind, I would like to direct your attention to my latest column-thing of TOTAL PARTY KILL over at Comics Waiting Room.

This fortnight I cover some stuff like my thoughts on D&D 4e, Mutant Future (a brilliant Gamma World semi-clone, available as a free PDF), Houses of the Blooded (or rather, the $5 deal!), Twilight: 2013, some bits about Warhammer 40k: Dark Heresy and how I think it runs (so far), One Monk Miniatures (some of the best paper minis out there-- seriously! And they're giving away FREE DEEP ONES!!), Hirst Arts (they make moulds so you can make your own plaster terrain pieces), Gun Street Girl (a terrific webcomic involving a kick-ass woman and the magician she works for), Conan the Cimmerian #2, Libris Mortis and The Bonegarden as idea mines, Fate: Undiscovered Realms (a fun new Diablo-like), JESUS HATES ZOMBIES (featuring Lincoln Hates Werewolves!!), Sails of Blood (pirates!), The Harvest War over at Zuda.com (fantasy!), and a bunch of little things you'll digm like a great rpg that fits on a sheet of paper and a links to more free crap.

So, please... get to it and tell me what ye thinks!




This latest issue of CWR has lots of great stuff, including comic book reviews; a director's cut of Brandon Jerwa and Eric Tarutmann's Wide Awake: Behind the Wall of Sleep from the new Popgun 2 anthology-- which is shown on CWR in it's 9 page entirety! (and it's AWESOME); a new Jess Knows Best (geek advice column!); an interview with the creator of The Devil's Panties; and Elliott (two Ts!) Serrano showing us the future of DC Comics movies!... plus much, much more.

A very engrossing issue of Comics Waiting Room for sure. :)

(X-posted in my Livejournal!)

TOTAL PARTY KILL #2

Just covering my personal blog-assosphere, and posting that the new TOTAL PARTY KILL column is up over at Comics Waiting Room!

What should you expect to get your grubby eye-mitts on? Here's a taste:

"In this installment, you can find coverage on the following: Chaosium’s Basic RPG, Pathfinder RPG Beta, a couple terrain treats from Fat Dragon Games, me not really covering Warhammer 40,000: Dark Heresy , Grey Ranks, Foundry miniatures, some excellent ideas sources via MonkeyGod Enterprises, Geneforge 4 and other tasty items.

I’ll also give you my quick opinion on the following comics: Red Sonja #36, Fall of Cthulhu: Godwar #1, Crossed #0, Army of Darkness #11, Knights of the Dinner Table Special #1, H.P. Lovecraft’s Haunt of Horror, Dragonlance Legends #1, The Gloom, two Warhammer 40k comics and more…"

So... what are you waiting for?

GO HERE NOW, plz.


Lethality: What? You need a Lethality Rating? Pah! Not to toot my own galleon-load of trumpets, but I think TPK is a triple TPK at least this bi-week. So there.

Found on the Internet: Zombie Hunt

I'm really, really tired now, and just want to relax today. This meant trying to potty train two children.

No, you don't want to know more. In the spirit of laziness, I don't feel like reviewing anything today. Hey, I said I'm being lazy, alright!?

Anyhow, here's something super awesome my buddy Park Cooper linked to earlier.

That's right, zombie killin' Lego style!

How cool is that? I'll tell you: Very freaking cool!!!

And since I'm here, I might as well give you folks who read Grognerd here some cool time-machine action. See, my next TOTAL PARTY KILL column doesn't show up until tomorrow, but if you click here you'll get to take a look at TPK #3 from the comfort of your time-machineless hovel / coffee hangout / bus stop.

It's SCIENCE.


Lethality: Party is TPK'd by the undead. Duh.