Tagged: rpg
Mini Movie Round Up: Sam Elliot Kills BigFoot, Evil 80’s Genies and More!
Hey! I’ve been watching a TON a movies this last week, some old and some new some good, some great, some well…anyway here’s my reviews of some of my most recent gambles! Have you seen any of these?
The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then The Bigfoot (2019)
This movie has all the ingredients sprinkled just within it’s title alone to be possibly the greatest movie of all time! Add in the awesome Sam Elliot as “the man” who does the killing and you pretty much can’t lose right?! Well going into this you just might think it’s supposed to be some sorta’ over the top exploitation style action flick, luckily I watched the trailer and did a bit of poking around beforehand, cuz’ this one is pretty much the opposite of what you’d be lead to believe from it’s wild and crazy title. Knowing this already, I felt prepared for a good heartfelt drama, but instead was delivered a jumbled mess of a movie. A mash up of flashbacks to WW2, romanctic interludes from the past and back to the modern times of Sam Elliot’s now lonely existence should have held more much more weight. I was left wondering why even have these insane all too brief plot lines with Hitler and Bigfoot at all? None of them are very memorable and neither have much real time dedicated to them. In fact I’d have preferred the movie more if they’d have skipped all the ‘Bigfoot and Hitler’ stuff altogether. It’s well acted and looks great but it’s weak meandering storyline for a movie with a title like this leaves me quite perplexed. I was really looking forward to this one, but man towards the middle I was starting to feel like nodding off, while my mind began wandering, finding myself checking the clock and runtime. It fails a drama & an adventure flick and it leaves me pretty disappointed with what it could have been ultimately.
The Final Terror (1983)
This little largely forgotten slasher flick is officially my first blu ray disc I’ve ever purchased. It’s 20 steps up in film quality from it’s previous VHS release, much of what was shrouded in darkness by the terrible transfer, making many of the scenes so damn hard to watch. Well this cleaned up version is truly stunning, being a horror movie that takes place in the forests of the Pacific NW most of it’s appeal comes from the lush vast foliage captured here. It’s a sweet little survival flick that features both Daryl Hannah and Rachel Ward in early roles as part of a camping crew that heads off into the woods only to be pursued by an evil psycho backwoods stalker. The problem for some may be the extremely low body count and high survivor rate of the group of twenty somethings. I think it’s a pretty cool different take on the genre, the whole movie has a genuinely spooky atmosphere, creepy foreshadowing campfire tales, cool raft scenes and a pretty likable cast. We even get an over the top super duper young Joe Pantoliano. It’s also got a great slasher villain, who unfortunately gets far too little screen time. But If you’re looking for a beautiful looking 80’s survival flick with some slasher elements sprinkled about, The Final Terror will likely quench your thirst! Continue reading
The 10 Most Important Ingredients for an Epic D&D Adventure!
Joining or starting a new Dungeons & Dragons or table top RPG? Wanna make sure you have a great time? Here are 10 things to seriously consider as a player character (PC) or Dungeon Master before committing to the grand adventure. Some of them you might think are common sense but you’d be surprised how many people overlook these important guidelines. I’ve been playing for years on both sides of the table and have found from my experience in the dungeon that a recipe for a successful RPG adventure isn’t quite as simple to achieve as some might be lead to believe. There are a lot of factors that seriously enhance or hinder the experience from becoming the ultimate form of escapism many of us role playing nerds deeply desire. So let’s get started!!
10. Like Minded Adventurers:
Ok, over the years I’ve learned this is easily one of the most important factors for having a truly amazing experience playing table top RPGs. It’s extremely important to really think about just who it is that you’ll be spending hours of your time with trying to trudge through the dangerous and magical realms of the dungeon. I’m not talking about whether or not someone is going to be a wizard or a paladin. I’m talking about the real people you choose to add to the group or the group you join. Make sure everyone who’s joining wants the same thing from the experience.
It’s totally cool to have a group of people who’re getting together to party, hang out and casually roll some dice BUT if you’ve got a mixture of people, some who’re looking to pay attention to the details and really immerse themselves into the story you’re likely to have some unhappy campers among the group. This can also be extremely frustrating for the DM when preparing specific details & important plot points to have a crew of people partying too damn hard to remember what happened the prior week. Make sure everyone in the group is looking for a similar experience. Whether it’s a lighter party style game or a more serious role playing session. Talk this over before starting and maybe keep the first adventure short with a new crew to make sure everyone is on the same page. If you don’t address this it could make for some awkward moments later down the line and likely some seriously frustrated gamers.
9. A Bad Ass Dungeon Master:
HarmonQuest: Real Life Animated Dungeons & Dragons Sessions?!
This rad series called HamonQuest is fucking awesome. It takes a real life D&D game and puts it into an animated adventure as it’s happening! What a brilliant idea, I wish I would have thought of this. I always imagine what our games of D&D might look like if we could see them on screen with all of the ridiculous scenarios and decision making that ends up going on.
I always as a DM plan for a serious game but then when you get the actual group together and people begin smoking weed, drinking or being caught not paying attention you often times get a totally different storyline than what you may have originally planned for. Ultimate rpg buffoon-ery to the max. That’s fine by me too, I totally dig the unpredictable nature of a D&D session. Well HarmonQuest puts that grand idea into perspective in an incredibly entertaining way. Check this shit out!
Check out the whole series on youtube and get ready to laugh your ass off!
Dungeons & Dragons Gets….Sexy?!!
Here’s an awesome Kickstarter campaign to get behind it’s called “Dungeons After Dark” and if you have any interest in the world of Dungeons & Dragons or the like you’ll get a kick out of this. What we’ve got here is an adult coloring book (these seem to be getting quite popular these days) filled with all of your favorite fantasy RPG races in sexy pin ups! Yep you no longer have to wonder what a Gnome, or heck even a Treant looks like when they’re totally feelin’ frisky!
Nope artist Cori Redford has taken the time to give the genre a full on erotic kick in the ol’ booty! It seems that Redford decided for a tabletop game to actually draw a Dwarf in a sexy pin up pose and everyone in the game had a blast with it.
Hence the idea was born for this fantasy coloring book! As a Dungeonmaster myself I too draw the characters for my campaigns and I really dig this girl’s idea as I’ve also been responsible for some pretty outrageous D&D character pics myself! Check this cool little Kickstarter out it’s pretty damn sassy….
Paperless Table Top D&D: The Ipad Takes Over the Dungeon?!
So I arrived at my weekly D&D session this last sunday, ready to play a brand new adventure, stepping down from the throne of being the Dungeonmaster & eager to finally play a game as a PC! As I entered the room I saw the usual suspects getting the table set up for the first night of the new game, however something was different, there were four Ipad/tablet stands set up on the table in from of each seat where there might usually be some folders a stack of papers and some players handbooks, monster manuals etc. At first sight it kinda shocked me but then I quickly realized my group had decided to make the tech savy switch from the middle ages straight into the modern world!
I had sat down with my stack of papers and newly hand drawn pictures of my character, the rest of the group said “Check out this app we are using for d&d now it’s amazing!” they all began to show me their characters, all neatly on their Ipad screens and I’ve gotta say it was quite impressive. No more pencil scribbles, wine stains or candle wax upon a weathered piece of paper. Press the tabs on the screen and it tells you all you need to know, instantly calculates your hit points, heck it even rolls a dice on screen for you when you press a tab! The next question was “are you gonna bring your Ipad and get this App or what?!” I responded that I spend enough time as it is looking at computer screens, smart phones and my Ipad at home that I wasn’t quite ready to integrate it into my world of D&D just yet!
So what’s the damn problem huh?! Should I just drop this old school pen and paper attitude already?! Get with the damn times with my D&D? I mean, does anyone even use pen and paper for table top RPG’s anymore?! Do people even roll real dice? The last game I DM’d I had a giant stack of papers, and a ton of books piled around me! It was a frantic scene of animated movement as I paged through books checking rules while role playing all the NPC’s like a damn madman! So now our new DM is equipped with an Ipad and stated the fact that in this day and age you don’t even need books to play the game anymore. It’s true, but part of that make me a bit sad in a way. There’s something quite charming about the old school pencil and paper game, where you might have to add and subtract on a piece of paper, erase some stuff with a rubbery eraser or write down your new magic item with a page number next to it.
In a way it feels like the only way to play for me, I almost imagine myself transported back to 1970’s when the game had some mystery behind it still and the religious fanatics thought it was causing people to worship Satan. But It clearly ain’t the 70’s and I suppose it’s only a matter of time before I get on the ol’ Ipad bandwagon and bring my trusty hi-tech tablet along to the game of swords & sorcery. Paper books are surely on their way to becoming extinct, all music now is downloaded, comics are headed to digital downloads and let’s face it there a motherfuckin’ “app” for pretty much anything and everything you can imagine these days. For the mean time, I know I’m dying breed of D&D player, a bit like I’m actually living in the dark ages and for the moment i’m going to relish in it, but man I gotta admit those Ipad apps sure do look slick…now if I really wanted to be shocked I guess I could have walked into this:
Goodbye 4th Edition hello “D&D Next”? Hmmm…
I recently just finished playing my first D&D 4th edition adventure, and though it was a good time I just personally wasn’t sold on the changes that were made to the game. I know 4th edition is old news now, but the reason why it took so long for us to finally try 4th was because we all liked 3.5 so much and the freedoms that come with those core rules. What they were trying to do with 4th was to make it more like playing a modern video game, which left for some stiff battle action amongst other things. It just wasn’t very interesting.
I’m getting ready to launch a new adventure where I will be the Dungeonmaster and we’ve all chosen to go back to playing version 3.5. Now though I play D&D more frequently than most gamers I’m not too up on all the new D&D merch and pre-written campaigns. All of our adventures are written by our DM, whomever that might be for each adventure. I like to think that we’re a creative bunch, we take it seriously but still like to socialize at times while playing, drink and smoke all while in the confines of the a candle lit basement. Just generally taking a real break from the real world.
So now I’ve just been hearing that D&D Next is the new thing for table top role players. So now just what the hell is D&D Next? It seems that Wizards of the Coast has had people downloading free play tests of this new edition. Supposedly “Next” is more of a throw back and combination of the previous editions. Thus far there is no firm release date for this new edition. I’ve heard some positive reviews for it, but at this point I’d have to be sold pretty hard on it to switch again to another system, obviously releasing new editions is a good way to make money but if it ain’t broken why try and fix it? here’s a few videos I found interesting about it!
Or if you have a few hours to spare you can watch this official game go down using D&D Next rules:
The History of D&D!
I am a huge D&D nerd, I pretty much play every week and I’ve spent many years in the Dungeon Master’s chair. I’ve been checking out this neat-o little documentary called “The Dungeons & Dragons Experience” on Youtube piece by piece. It will give you some cool history on its origins and it will also take you into different peoples games and styles, revealing the legendary secrets shrouded in mystery for years by the taboo table top role playing experience.
It’s a cool little obscure film that gives that will give you everything you ever wanted to know about the world’s most popular RPG. Check it out if you play or if you’re one of those people who are always asking me what it’s all about! I posted all seven segments below..
Zero Charisma: Another Tired Stereotypical Nerd Comedy?
I just watched the trailer for the upcoming “Zero Charisma”, a comedy again about D&D. I’ll admit this movie looks like a damn good time, but after thinking about it for a little bit it kinda started to bug me. First check it out:
Looks good huh? Yeah, but really how many more comedies are we going to get about people who either A. LARP or B. Play RPG’s being socially awkward, yet lovable man-children? I think this stereo type had a bit of truth to it like 20 years ago! I know a lot of RPG-ers and none of them still live with their mom. Hell most of them are married or have hot girlfriends / boyfriends! Yeah I get it, it’s a nerdy game, because you’re using you imagination? I find it a lot more stimulating than sitting in front of a tv for hours on end playing X-Box. I think it’s funny too that the “new guy” to the game in the trailer brings a six pack like it’s a big deal! Geez everyone, get over it, these “nerds” have been drinking beer and smoking weed at D&D for decades now! D&D for me often feels like a party and I’ll have you know there’s not a Mountain Dew near anywhere near our battle grid.
So what I’m getting tired of is this continual stereotype in movies ect. about the modern day nerd. Most people that play RPG’s don’t even fit into this bracket. I get that it’s a fun and easy topic to poke at but come on it’s time to recognize that times have changed and you don’t need to be a socially awkward moron to enjoy this type of activity. I think today you find people of all races, social classes and genders enjoy a good game in the world of adult make believe, don’t you?
Take Me To Unicorn City Please!
Being a big fan of D&D, LARP-ing has always been a serious curiosity of mine. I hope someday to actually try it for real as it’s become quite popular over the years. However what is the real reason why it’s gotten so much attention? To me it’s apparent that it’s an easy thing to poke fun at. Yeah I do see how silly it is, I mean grown women and men playing pretend in the forest. To me though it looks like a great time and a great escape from this mundane world we currently inhabit.
This form of entertainment has been featured in quite a few films, like “Role Models”, documentaries like “Monster Camp” a more serious thriller in the awesome “Wild Hunt” and even popular music videos (Red Fang). So let’s add another comedy to the list the upcoming “Unicorn City”.
Even if it’s another tear on LARP-ers it’s still getting the word out there and getting me a step closer to some day try it for myself! Check out the trailer!
Dungeon Masters & the Real World…
Finally a movie I can really relate too, The Dungeon Masters! Well, we’ll see I guess, but nonetheless a movie centered around the lives of three Dungeon Masters. I guess this movie is showing what the life is like of those who are completely immersed in the culture and subculture of Dungeons & Dragons. How they deal with the real world and the role their fantasy world plays in their every day living. I know that there are groups of people who play D&D religiously almost every day of the week. People who LARP as well every weekend. I do play D&D though at the moment there is no game we’re playing, I am looking forward to the next adventure. I definately look forward to seeing this movie and seeing how different our lives are or maybe how similar they are. I’m also interested to see the game play of the different Dungeon Masters and what kind of game and environment they produce for their players.
I’d say the groups I have played in have been pretty hardcore. Sometimes we’ve dressed up, we play in the basement by candlelight, Continue reading
Universal Dork 