Note: this review was first posted on Reedsy Discovery, an awesome website that pairs independent authors and readers. To see the post there, click here.
If you are a book reviewer and want to contribute reviews on Reedsy Discovery, click here.
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SUMMARY
The decades long war against demon ruled Traag left the Solarian Empire a decimated wreck. Rebuilding the nation is a nightmare. Worse, the demons are still out there.
Tia traveled to Cosslet Barony in search of a nobleman willing to marry a wealthy commoner. She finds feuding aristocrats and an impoverished populace terrorized by a monster out of legend. Then matters get really bad…
⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 3 out of 5.
Lady Tia Samos of Equitant is a well connected merchant looking to find new enterprises and a suitable match for matrimony. She has gone around the Solarian Empire in an attempt to do both. While she has found some potential matches, none have worked out thus far. She travels with her companions Peter and Kyle who both saw action in the war. Peter is a knight and fighter and Kyle has some magical abilities, although he lets drink get to his head a bit too often. Tia and her party head to Cosslet Castle to see if a match with the minor noble and Peter’s half brother Ian both in business and marriage might be worthwhile.
While the war has ended, the Empire is still feeling some ill effects from it and everyone from peasants to nobles are trying to recover. To make matters worse, the demons who waged the war in the first place are not entirely gone. Tia an Ian make a discovery of some unknown resources that may help Cosslet Castle come back to full financial health. Unfortunately, there have been sightings of strange creatures and deaths of peasants and livestock plaguing the surrounding area. Tia will have to survive not only using her wits and friends but also avoiding the life threatening demons.
Empire: Country makes a good start for a fantasy series, taking a few key elements rarely seen in fantasy. We get to see the aftermath of war, rather than the throes of it, and Tia in particular, takes a major role in events. The book does have a large cast of characters and while it mostly manages the balance well, there are some spots where the shift in perspective seems not entirely necessary. At times this leads to some confusion on the part of the reader but most of those instances are minor.
The action that ensues is quite enjoyable and the last third of the book is surprising and inventive. The story here makes for a good start on what could be an excellent series.
If you like epic fantasy books with elements of cosmic horror and some truly nail biting moments, Empire: Country is a great choice to read next.
Leonardo Dicaprio and Kate Winslet in Titanic (1997)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
Hello internet, it’s me, Slick Dungeon back to review another movie. James Cameron has a visually stunning, incredibly brilliant, emotional and moving film in theaters right now. And there are not any blue aliens in it. I’m talking, of course, about Titanic, his masterpiece from 1997. It was released in theaters in 3D for a limited engagement and I thought I would give it a review here. Do be forewarned there will be spoilers below from a 25 year old movie and an even older historical event. But if reading spoilers doesn’t float your boat, go watch the movie and come on back here to read the review.
There have been countless new reports, historical records, in depth analysis, scientific recreations and eye witness accounts to one of the most well known disasters in human history, the sinking of the Titanic. If somehow you don’t know, the Titanic was the largest ocean liner ever made at the time and it was thought to be unsinkable. Unsinkable it was not. There were tons of factors into how and why it sank but the fact is, it did sink and a great number of people lost their lives in the disaster. But all of those historical records etc. don’t seem to quite make the tragedy feel as real as James Cameron’s Titanic which still, 25 years after release, has the ability to make an entire audience ugly cry.
The film starts out with Brock Lovett (Bill Paxton) in modern day times, leading an ocean expedition to recover valuable goods at the wreckage site of the Titanic. He’s clearly a bit of an opportunist but has a large team of ocean researchers working for him. They are looking for a lost jewel known as the heart of the ocean. After a dive to recover a safe turns up nothing but a drawing, Lovett is surprised to find there is a Titanic survivor over 100 years old who can shed some insight into the necklace and the events of the sinking of the ship.
The elderly woman is Rose who was the person in the drawing. James Cameron uses this framing device to allow Rose (Kate Winslet) to relate the story as the viewers go back in time to see Rose in her younger years and the audience gets wrapped up in a love story which takes place in the midst of a disaster. Rose is engaged to Cal Hockley (Billy Zane), a wealthy business man who believes himself to be deserving of the elite status bestowed upon him. In other words, Rose and Cal are members of the 1% of the time.
Our perspective shifts as we see Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) win a lucky hand of cards which just happens to have two tickets for him and a friend to board the Titanic. As you might guess, the love story is a bit of an opposites attract or kind and intelligent rich girl meets freedom loving and good hearted poor boy sort of story. Since Rose is engaged to be married this is a bit of a problem. Jack may not have the resources of other elites on board but it’s clear from their first meeting they belong together.
If the love story was all there was to the film, this might make for a mediocre romance. But we all know the real story is the disaster of the ship. James Cameron uses several scenes with Rose and Jack running around the ship and away from Cal to make sure we see all parts of the ship before it hits the iceberg. There are a few key characters who play sort of a background role but are important to the actual historical events. We see the captain, the designer and builder of the ship, and one of the more famous survivors of the tragedy, Molly Brown (Kathy Bates). Through these characters we pick up most of the information we need to know about why the boat sinks and how so many people drown. While it was an impressive ship, there were not enough life boats, the elite class was seen as more valuable than those below decks, the visibility was poor, and the ship was going too fast. The initial collision doesn’t seem that bad but the builder of the ship knows it is a mathematical certainty the boat will sink. And, to make matters worse, there are no ships less than four hours away to help rescue the Titanic passengers and the Titanic will sink in around an hour.
The first two thirds of the movie really focuses on the love story and how Jack and Rose are meant to be together while Cal is just the worst. Like, so bad he’s willing to pretend a kid he does not know is his just so he can get on a lifeboat kind of worst. Oh, and also he tries to shoot Rose and Jack while the ship is sinking. It’s kind of insane to be honest.
The last third of the movie is the disaster and Jack and Rose doing everything they can to survive.
This is where the visual effects are most impressive in the movie. I will say that although I saw this in 3D, I don’t think the 3D effects really add much here and it’s fine to watch this in 2D, it’s still just as good.
We again see bits of things we know from history intermingled with Jack and Rose, such as the dance band continuing to play right until the end, lifeboats made for 70 people being loaded with a dozen before being launched, and the passengers in steerage being locked behind a gate until it was far too late for most of them to survive.
As anyone would expect in a film about a disaster, the end is heartbreaking and tragic. But the performance put in here by Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio are career bests for both of them. If you can watch this movie without finding yourself crying at least once, you are either a robot or have a heart of stone.
There are a few things in this movie that probably could have been improved but they are quite minor. One of my complaints here (which again is very minor) is that a bit of the running around Rose and Jack do on the ship really does seem designed to do nothing more than make sure we see all the parts of it. My other minor complaint is Jack seems to somehow know exactly how the boat is going to go under and where they need to be for the best chance of survival. This is mostly to show the audience how the ship sank from the moment of first impact to it finally going completely under the water. And of course, if you have seen the movie, there is the argument of whether or not Jack could fit on the door. Whether or not he could is in some ways irrelevant since Jack and Rose are both fictional characters and what happens at the end is in service of the story being told. Finally, the length of the movie is on the longer side for sure but this is definitely not the only film which fits into that category of complaint.
If you have never seen this movie, or if you have never seen it in theaters, don’t hesitate, it’s worth every penny to see this masterpiece of filmmaking while you can.
If you have seen it before and you watched it again what did you think? Did it hold up to what you remembered? Let me know in the comments.
Happy Friday internet folks! Here’s a little story I wrote, hope you enjoy!
Invasion by Adam Wright
It was early morning when the sirens blared. The skies went dark and there was a smell of sulfur in the air. We ran out into the streets clutching our ears against the noise. Despite the darkness, glaring lights broke through. I had to shield my eyes from the intense pain of it. Most of us clutched our ears against the din. The sirens sounded loud and long, rescue vehicles making their way to pick up whatever wreckage they could. The low hum wouldn’t stop. The constant noise drove some of us mad.
I watched as people jumped from windows, making the sign of their faith as they fell to their death on the concrete below. Had I known what was in store, I would have envied them their foresight. Walking past the rubble and the wreckage it was too surreal to understand.
There had been no warning, nothing to alert us. In my mind, when I remember those moments, I still imagine the ships as flat saucers. The screen footage shows the reality of gigantic structures, larger than mountains, all in slick lines and angles, like arrows fired from an ancient bow. Yet, I see the saucers. I guess it’s what I expected them to look like. Little green men, you know?
I had been on my way to work like most of us. I grabbed a little pick me up beverage, part of my morning routine, and was close to the building. Seconds later I ducked for cover and wondered what could possibly come next.
The news feeds picked it up quickly. If I had access to a screen at the time, I would have gathered more information. As it was, I was concerned with surviving the moment and getting to Sara. I had to know she was alright.
The school was near me and I felt my legs pumping before I realized what I was doing. I traveled past the rescue vehicles, past fires already burning. I covered my ears. I don’t know when I realized I dropped everything I needed for work. All the documents and plans for the day were irrelevant. Forgotten detritus in a sea of debris that no longer mattered. Everything we knew, everything we understood changed forever in a matter of minutes. There was no turning back from it and no escape.
I arrived at the school and rushed past the gates, into the building. Sara was covering her head, cowering in the corner with a few others. I picked her up and ran outside. She clutched my side and clung to my clothing. I had no idea where to go. It was too big for me to understand. How could anyone understand this?
I imagined we would have to look to our leaders to sort this out, if it could be sorted out. In moments giant view screens appeared in front of us. It seemed they materialized out of nowhere. I still don’t know how they accomplished that. Then we saw the gruesome faces, shades of many colors, tiny eyes and mouths, snarling, speaking in languages we could not possibly know.
It took months for us to fight back. Months to gather resources, plan strategies, and attack without a word of warning, just as they did to us. Every day during that time, I had one goal. Keep Sara alive. I’m not a perfect parent but I did my job. I sacrificed as much as anyone else to do it but I have no regrets.
After it was all over, after we beat them back and they left us alone, Sara had aged more than I could have imagined. I’d done my part, fought alongside the others. It was just luck I was in the battalion that destroyed their main ship. But it was satisfying seeing those aggressive and angular structures split apart in a burst of fire and flames.
After all the heroes’ welcomes and accolades I received, I think there is only one relevant question. Of course, Sara was the one to ask it. I wish I had an answer for her then or now when she said, “Where is Earth and why do they want to destroy us?”
I fear there is no answer I can give her. I only pray they never decide to come back.
Happy Friday everyone! Here’s a little story I wrote, hope you like it. And remember, always buy the cookie!
Twenty Years of Walking Away by Adam Wright
“Is that it then?” She bit her lower lip.
“That’s it. Nothing more to say. See you around, Sara,” Francesco wrapped his scarf around his neck.
She blew on her hands and shoved them into the pockets of her pea coat. Her steel blue eyes met his. They lingered on him. It was a searching look, one filled with despair and the slightest hint of hope.
His eyes turned away. He turned and walked away. He felt the pinch of his toes inside his loafers as he walked. He passed stores full of winter coats, people laughing as they walked past him, and he could smell the scent of chocolate chip cookies wafting from a cart near the corner.
Sometimes he felt the walk never ended. Twenty years of Francesco walking away from her. He’d convinced himself it was the right thing to do. When there were no words left, when you had gone through everything, and you knew there was no more to it, you walked away. That’s what you did.
But if walking away was the right thing, why did he always return to the memory? Why was he still walking? The same corner, the same winter, the same day, every year.
The first year, he hoped he would spot her. He thought maybe he could admit he was wrong and they would hold gloved hands, buy a cookie from the cart and split it down the middle. The second year, he held out hope, noticing subtle changes in the winter coats that adorned the store windows. The third year, he spotted a woman in a pea coat. He ran to tap her on the shoulder but when he got close enough, he saw the woman had her hair tied up in a bun with a silver bobby pin. It wasn’t Sara. He brushed past the woman with slight embarrassment, hoping she wouldn’t think too much of it. The fourth year, he almost gave up. He had a cold anyway but he thought of how much he missed her. He wandered, coughing into his elbow for hours. She wasn’t there. The fifth year, the cart was gone but there was a truck with an expanded menu of cookies. Francesco only smelled chocolate chip coming from it.
He tried to reach out to her. Her phone number was changed. Someone new lived in her apartment. Her email bounced back to him with the message “unable to send messages.” They stared at him like accusations. He had relationships, mostly short, with the occasional glimmer of commitment. They never quite stuck. He didn’t remember walking away from those women, only from Sara.
The sixth year, he brought flowers with him. He thought if he had them, he could give them to her if he saw her, and if not, he could give them to a little girl and make her day. He saw a six year old girl in a red coat, clutching a chocolate chip cookie in one hand, holding her mother’s in the other. The girl was thrilled to have flowers and a cookie on the same day. The seventh year, he walked to the corner from the other side. Maybe it was direction that made the difference. He wasn’t sure why he kept doing it. The eighth year, his sister was visiting the city. In a pretense of showing her the sights, Francesco made sure to walk by the corner on the same day. His sister asked him if he wanted a cookie. He declined and waited for her to come back. She gave Francesco one anyway. He didn’t eat it. The ninth year, it was snowing. He bought a new pea coat and went back to the corner. He pretended he was a tourist, acting as if he was lost in the big city. It didn’t help and it didn’t stop the memory from returning. The tenth year, the truck was gone and there was a bakery there in its place. Francesco didn’t go inside. Sara wasn’t there. It still smelled like chocolate chip cookies.
Gray invaded his hair. His job prospects became better as time went on. He had so much but no Sara. He was tired of looking for her but something in him made him return to the corner. The kiss she planted on him the first time they went on a date, light like a feather, her head moving in like a bird. It was the sweetest kiss he ever received.
The eleventh year, was a work meeting. He scheduled it at the restaurant near the corner. His partners wanted to go to the bakery across the way for dessert. Jim had a slice of cake at the restaurant instead. The twelfth year, Francesco stood on the corner for almost an hour. No one noticed he was there. He noticed Sara wasn’t. The thirteenth year, he nearly gave up. He brought a picture with him, just in case she changed her hair or her face had rounded out in all that time. Francesco’s had. The fourteenth year, the bakery had repainted the exterior. There was a chocolate chip cookie with little hands and feet and googly eyes. The chips were arranged in a smile. Francesco didn’t stay long. He stopped hoping for Sara and started coming back from habit. The fifteenth year, he wanted to buy a coat but the coat shop had become a video game store. Sara still was not there.
He stopped questioning why he kept doing it. He started to think of it as his annual tradition, one held for himself and no one else. Like a sad Christmas card to send himself, just for kicks. He didn’t stop doing it though.
The sixteenth year he heard a joke that made him laugh, but he forgot it almost instantly. The seventeenth year pea coats were back in style and twice he thought he saw her. He was wrong both times. The eighteenth year he realized how old he felt. His legs ached in the cold now. He wrapped a scarf around his face for warmth. He could smell the cookies through the scarf. The nineteenth year, Francesco was on a date. He booked a table for two at the same restaurant from years before, the one that looked out on the corner. He hated himself for doing it. The twentieth year he was single again. When he got to the corner he stood. He thought about her eyes. They were steel blue and they held a hint of hope in them.
This was going to be the last year he did this. No more regrets. He couldn’t change the past. He’d done all he could to find her. It was time to move on. He went to the bakery to buy a cookie.
Sara was behind the counter. She wore a pink apron, her hair was tied in a bun with a silver bobby pin holding it in place.
Francesco closed his eyes and reopened them. It was Sara. Her hair had a streak of gray cutting into the blonde but her eyes were steel blue. Instead of a hint of hope, they held happiness.
“Francesco?”
He nodded.
“It’s been so long. I’ve got so much to tell you,” she said.
She told him how after he left, she followed him for a minute but decided to go to the cookie cart to make herself feel better. The man selling cookies at the cart was named Jordan. That’s what she named their first son. The business was good, growing each year. Soon they had enough for a truck, then a bakery. They’d remodeled it once. Francesco remembered.
Francesco couldn’t think of much to say so he told her how his business had grown as well.
“You know, I have a view of the corner from here. It’s funny but I think I’ve seen you standing out there,” she said.
“I do. Sometimes.” He blew on his hands and put them in his pea coat.
“I wanted to come out and talk to you but it was always so busy here. And you told me there was nothing more to say. I hope you’ll come back,” she said.
She handed him a cookie. It was chocolate chip. When Francesco tried to pay she wouldn’t let him. He took his cookie and walked away. He never ate it. He just kept walking.
Note: this review was first posted on Reedsy Discovery, an awesome website that pairs independent authors and readers. To see the post there, click here.
If you are a book reviewer and want to contribute reviews on Reedsy Discovery, click here.
(Note: this post contains affiliate links. If you purchase something through this post I will get a small commission at no extra cost to you)
SUMMARY
ACROSS TIME AND REALITY, THIS IS WHERE WE WILL FIND EACH OTHER.
In this mind-bending sequel, The Movement finds absolute genius and the prophesized time corrector living the life of his dream. His AI firm is booming, he’s in better control of his powers, and Akane is with him after all this time. But, there are gaps in his memory and a new enemy, Vandal, is hell-bent on destroying everyone and everything in Vincent’s life.
Vincent works frantically to stop him, but Vandal is always one step ahead with a sinister smile and blood on his hands. When Vandal comes after Akane, Vincent realizes there is only one way to protect her. Alter her reality so that she never meets Vincent.
To set things right, Vincent finds himself back at the core of time and reality, unveiling secrets from his past that reshaped his reality as he knew it. It only takes a moment to change everything. Alternate realities collide, and unfathomable powers and greeds unwind in this gripping new saga of the Time Corrector Series.
REVIEW
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 5 out of 5.
In the first volume of The Time Corrector series, Dr. Vincent Abajian, saw one of the only people who cared about him slip away lost to time. Vincent dedicated his life and all his resources to finding Akame. But in the process he also found Emika who he developed a romantic relationship with. Meanwhile his breakthroughs in AI technology and time travel created enemies he was unaware of, causing ripple effects that would sweep him and everything he cares about just out of his reach.
In The Movement we get a new perspective on several of the events from the first book and more of the puzzle of Vincent’s past is revealed. He’s now torn between Akame who he tried to rescue for more than thirty years and Emika, the mother of his child.
While Vincent struggles to put together lost memories and get a better understanding of his time powers, a new threat named Vandal is on the horizon. Dr. Abajian, Emika, Akame and everyone else in the little circle of brilliant scientists and business leaders are under threat. Vincent will be forced to use all skill, brilliance and cunning to outsmart his enemy while keeping those he loves safe. But doing the right thing sometimes means losing everything.
The Movement is the rare sequel that not only matches but perhaps outshines the original. Avi Datta has proven to be an exceptionally skilled writer, able to handle both deep human connection and incredible action sequences.
The story is not linear but still comes together with a sensible conclusion. A book similar to this would be The Time Traveller’s Wife, although Datta provides much more action than that book does.
If you love books capable of telling a non-linear story but still wrapping things up perfectly, The Movement is the book for you.
Well, it’s February and love is in the air. Or maybe not. Either way if you love TTRPG’s here are 14 gifts you can give to your favorite Game Master, whether you have romantic feelings toward them or you just want to hang out on the weekend.
(Note: this post contains affiliate links. If you purchase something through this post I will get a small commission at no extra cost to you)
Fire-Breathing Dragon Coffee Cup
If you want your GM’s coffee cup to stay as hot as dragon’s breath, try this cup out. It’s $17 but well worth the extra XP you are sure to get in appreciation.
DND Cat T-Shirt
I mean, I feel like this every single day. I bet your GM does too. Or anyone at your table. The shirt costs $20 but it’s really cute so probably worth it?
A Bag to HOld Stuff with
To be a good Game Master you have to have a lot of stuff. If you like your stuff to be physical, it’s really nice to have a bag with which to hold your stuff. (I bet there is probably a good name for a bag like that.) This one is pretty nice and your GM will be over the moon for it. It costs $60 so make sure you really do like your GM before you give it to them. Or, maybe get one for yourself.
Let Your GM Be Lazy
The title of this can be misleading. The Lazy DM is one of the best books about running a great game without burning out you can find anywhere. Let’s just say I’ve had some campaigns I would never have survived without the help of Michael E. Shea and his great advice (Looking at you Storm King’s Thunder). It’s a great deal at $12. And if your GM already has this, there is a sequel called Return of the Lazy Dungeon Masterwhich you can get for $20. Worth it’s weight in gold in time saved and headaches avoided for any GM.
Spell Area of Effect Template
It can be tough to judge actual distance of spell effects and depending on the dice roll this can be absolutely critical. Let your GM take the guess work away with this fine template that is transparent and will help everyone at the table see just how many in your party are about to bear the brunt of your wizard’s fireball spell. It’s a good deal at $14.
Keep your GM’s table nice with these coasters
These coasters are great for keeping a gaming table free from rings and water stains. There are 14 of them all with different class symbols so players know exactly where to set their mug of ale. It even comes with a pretty sweet holder to match. It costs $30.
Dice Jail!
Okay this is more of a time out chair than an actual prison. But we all know dice can behave badly and sometimes shaming them is the only way to get them back to rolling those critical successes we all need. Your GM would love one of these. Although, you may want to keep it for yourself because you don’t want Tiamat rolling a 20. The little chair and dunce cap will cost you $20.
Bronze Dragon Journal
Game masters are constantly thinking of, or seeing, things they know would be great to use in their campaigns. But the bad part about that is if you don’t have a place to organize your ideas, they just kind of go poof and disappear. So, give your GM a great place to write this stuff down. Just ask them to make sure it’s not going to be a TPK kind of idea. This journal will cost you $25.
Condition Markers
Another thing that can be very difficult to track during game is who is in what condition. Which player was poisoned again? Is that spell one that uses concentration? If you use minis in your games, these rings are super helpful and will make your Game Master’s life so much easier. These will cost you $40.
Cool Socks
Cool socks. Everyone likes cools socks. Get your GM some cool socks! Or, get some for yourself, assuming you want your feet to feel good and look great. These are $16 right now.
Roll up Dice Mat
Nothing is worse than accidentally scratching up a gaming table. This roll up dice mat does a great job of preventing those scratches. Plus it comes with dice! How could you go wrong? This neat little set costs $16.
Dragon Flame Goblet
It’s a wine goblet and it has a dragon on it. A dragon wine goblet! I mean, you don’t have to drink wine out of it but your GM will sure look like they know what they are doing when they set this thing on the table. This libation holder will run you $22.
A Great GM Screen
Your Game Master may already have a good screen but this one has pockets where they can stuff all there notes and all that good stuff which is super helpful when running a game. It’s good for nearly any kind of fantasy TTRPG. And it looks amazing. You can get this one for $50.
A Whole Bunch of Dice
What’s one thing every Game Master can always use more of? Dice. Lots and lots of dice. Why not just give them a big old pile of math rocks? This set gets you 140 dice for $23 but you can buy smaller sets if that price is too high for you.
In Conclusion
Well, that’s my list of 14 cool things to give to your favorite Game Master (or TTRPG enthusiast) on 2/14 or any other day really. I’m not trying to make the hard sell on any of this stuff. Do you need anything here to be a great Game Master? Not at all. Well, it does help to hav dice. But if you were thinking of giving someone a cool gift and you buy through this post, it really helps the blog out and allows me to keep doing what I do. Whether you buy anything or not, thanks for reading and I hope all your rolls are critical successes!
Strange Tales #108 Photo Credit: Marvel, Writers Robert Bernstein & Stan Lee, Artists Steve Ditko & Jack Kirby
While a lot of the rest of Marvel 616 has been chugging along, Johnny Storm in Strange Tales has had a bit of trouble finding an arch nemesis equal to his powers. He usually seems like he can just blow past these guys and if he really gets stuck, he can always call on the rest of the Fantastic Four to help out. So far, not many of the bad guys have really stood out, and neither does, The Painter. This is a bad guy who can paint anything in record speed and it will come to life.
The issue starts us off with The Painter drawing Johnny’s demise in an asbestos lined room fighting the other members of his team.
We next jump back in time to see a bunch of crooks having a rough time committing their crimes because Johnny is in town. Torch then stops a getaway car by melting the asphalt right under it. Not sure if Johnny is on the hook for the repairs but the bad guys are stopped. We see Johnny stop a bank robbery using smoke rings, and flame scissors to cut away the bags of loot. The police seem more than happy for the assists from Torch and everything is going his way. But Johnny knows this isn’t the end. He tells the cops, “Mark my words, right now some master criminal or evil genius is figuring out some so-called brilliant scheme to get rid of me! It’s happened before..”
Then, as you might expect we see a clip show worth of flashbacks of enemies Johnny has faced. He mentions The Wizard, The Destroyer, Paste-Pot Pete and Zemu, Despot of the 5th dimension. They’re all out of commission at this point but Johnny is still around. Johnny knows it’s just a matter of time before he’ll face a new villain.
Of course he is right and that’s where we see the criminal element come together. There is an organized crime leader named “Scar” Tobin and he is interrupted by, “Wilhelm Van Vile, the counter-feiter the Torch caught… but busted out of jail last week!”
This dude wants revenge and he has… a set of paints. He demonstrates his powers by drawing a three headed gorilla to intimidate the gangsters. He does this at lightning speed so they don’t even seem to have time to pull their guns. The painting comes to life and Wilhelm Van Vile is able to control it telepathically. The other bad guys try to stop him but The Painter just keeps painting stuff that stops them, including making one of their guns super heavy, and it crashes through the floor. Van Vile paints a magic carpet and he takes the gangsters along with him on it. This gives Van Vile the opportunity to narrate his origin story.
He was locked up first for making poor imitations of famous art and trying to sell them as originals and then he gets locked up again because he was making counterfeit bills but Johnny caught a mistake on the bills. He does have to turn into the Human Torch to get the job done and The Painter swears his revenge. The Painter then tells the tale of breaking out of prison and digging into a strange underground cavern. He finds a set of paints that look brand new but Van Vile is also aware of “ancient Egyptian picture-writing” and believes the pictures are saying the paints are magical. He also thinks these paints come from a group of aliens who traveled through space by using the paints. (What can I say, it’s a comic book. They have to have aliens or communists at this point right?) The Painter takes a chance and paints his way out of the cave.
We go back to the present where The Painter says he wants to be, “The King of Crime!” I do feel like parts of this issue are a precursor to the character who will become the The Kingpin. “Scare” Tobin kind of looks like him and this is the first real mention that there could be a “King of Crime” at all in 616.
We see The Painter toy with Torch for a bit. He draws a Fantasti-car and giant fire hydrants and he does manage to douse Torch. Johnny is safe but he definitely knows something is up. The Painter then makes some creatures at a carnival come to life. We get to see a couple of weird monster drawings from Jack Kirby which is always fun. Torch drives them into the sea and saves the day. Then The Painter draws a volcano of sand to stop Johnny but that doesn’t work either.
We finally come back to the point of the beginning of the story where The Painter draws Johnny losing a fight to his teammates. And we see him lose this fight. The crooks all hear on the radio this was the end of Johnny Storm and they are overjoyed and plan to take on the rest of the FF as soon as they can.
But The Human Torch suddenly shows up. Johnny burns up the the paintings and magic paints. Turns out Johnny had figured out who was doing this, waited until the bad guys were all asleep and painted a living picture of himself with the magic paints so he was never in any actual danger.
The Painter is baffled as to how Johnny figured this out but it turns out it was Van Vile’s own fault. He was careless in his paintings. He didn’t put nozzles on the fire hydrants, didn’t put any litter baskets in the beach scene, and didn’t even put a 4 on the uniforms of The Fantastic Four. So Johnny combed the area until he found The Painter.
The story ends kind of abruptly right there.
The story was pretty standard for the time but it is clear the creators are trying to find the right person to be the consistent bad guy for Johnny. He’s gone up against a few who will be completely forgotten but he’s also had a run in or two with some who will eventually become major players in 616 continuity. For now, it’s still kind of a bad guy of the week situation for this character.
Next up on the reading list, we’re actually staying on this issue for the D story. I thought it would be better to separate out the reviews, however because they are totally different stories. So next is Strange Tales #108 (D story)!
As most of you who read this blog probably know, I really enjoy playing Tabletop Role Playing Games. AKA TTRPG’s. Even if you have never heard the term TTRPG in your life, you know what one is. If you’ve ever heard of Dungeons & Dragons, that is the most famous one. That game is owned by a company called Wizards of the Coast or WotC for short. Even if you’ve never heard of WotC you’ve definitely heard of the company that owns WotC. Hasbro owns WotC. So when people talk about Dungeons & Dragons being a major TTRPG, owned by a big company, owned by an even bigger company, that’s what they are talking about. Hasbro is a very famous brand but they have a bit of a problem. Not everything they make is making as much money as they would like.
One brand of theirs doing well though, is Wizards of the Coast. Not only do they release D&D stuff, they’re also the company that owns Magic: The Gathering. And they are on the verge of launching a bunch of what could be really cool stuff. There is a D&D movie coming out soon starring Chris Pine. There is a Virtual Tabletop (or VTT) coming. There are several video games, books, toys, accessories and other various merchandise about to come out. And, they are about to move to the next iteration of Dungeons & Dragons. Currently they are on the fifth edition of the game. They’re moving to the next version but they are calling it One D&D. As in, we don’t need editions any more we’re just going to say it is D&D. Whether that name and attitude sticks remains to be seen.
With all of this cool stuff on its way it would seem like WotC is in a prime spot to make more money than it ever has. And honestly, as a lover of D&D and TTRPG’s I don’t mind them being successful. We’re talking the chance for them to go Marvel or Star Wars big if they do this right.
But, there has been a major snag, of WotC’s own making in the last month or so.
Usually on this blog, I don’t really delve into current events or news or whatever about TTRPG’s, I just like to talk about the stuff I like. But I honestly can’t keep silent anymore. Everything in this blog post is nothing more than my opinion, none of it is in any way legal insight or advice, and a lot of this ground has been covered by people much more knowledgeable than myself. However, since there are people who read my blog who like TTRPG’s, I kind of feel like I owe it to them to say something even if I have what anyone would consider a small audience. Because, here is the thing, at this moment in time I think Hasbro and WotC are forgetting absolutely everything that makes their own game great in the first place. Yet, I don’t think it is too late for this all to be corrected. If you’re not a TTRPG nerd, this article may not be for you. I promise to get back to movie and book reviews and all the other stuff I do on this blog soon. But if you do play TTRPG’s I hope you’ll read this because I think it’s important that we all as enthusiasts of this hobby realize we are what make TTRPG’s work, whether you make content, play the games at your own home, or just read the books and do nothing else with them.
If you follow the world of TTRPG’s even a little bit you’ve probably heard about the huge dust up between WotC and independent creators over something called the Open Gaming License, or OGL for short. This license, along with the set of rules you can use to play D&D called the System Reference Document or SRD for short is what allows people to make things related to D&D for others to use and then buy those products. For example, if there was a creator like Matt Colville who decided to make a subclass for Rogues, and wanted to sell it for $0.99 he is allowed to do that as long as he acknowledges the OGL.
WotC and Hasbro, or more accurately, their lawyers want to change that. They want to revoke the OGL and put in a new version of the OGL. Whether or not they have the right to do that, and whether or not someone would get sued for making D&D third party content under the new license is really up in the air at this point in time. You see, WotC, sent a bunch of contracts with a new OGL, that would frankly, take away a ton of revenue from almost anyone who makes third party content for D&D. These contracts leaked to the press and there was strong outrage over the terms in there from the TTRPG creator community. I won’t get too specific here but basically it boiled down to this. WotC would almost certainly be able to tell anyone they want that they can no longer use the old OGL, and might have lawyers come after those creators. In addition, if you used the new OGL, you’d have to pay fairly high royalties to WotC. This meant that publishers such as Paizo or Kobold press, who make products that use the OGL, might very well be sued by Hasbro. Worse than that, WotC was saying they could have the rights to any new characters or ideas made using the new OGL, so, say Grogg from Critical Role, might now be a D&D property even though the folks at Critical Role clearly came up with him.
To make a long story short, community creators didn’t like this and there has been a lot of pressure put on WotC to do something about it, or at least acknowledge the problems people were complaining about. In fact, WotC waited so long, Paizo may end up looking like the biggest heroes in the TTRPG space for decades to come. (More about that later in the post.) The pressure seemed like it might have started working as people began to unsubscribe from D&D Beyond, where you can buy lots of virtual stuff for D&D fifth edition. Hasbro has assuredly at this point realized they are losing money. Whether or not they care about that is still unclear in my opinion. WotC released a statement over the whole debacle and there was something in there that just angered and saddened me so much that I had to write this post.
On the one hand, they have delayed the release of the new OGL, probably because they now need to scramble with the wording to make it more palatable for creators, but still basically suck as much money from people as WotC can. It makes sense for them to delay given the context of what is going on. But in their statement, giving what amounted to a non-apology apology, they had a paragraph in there that just blew my mind as to how adversarial and negative the Executives at WotC and Hasbro must think towards their audience.
The quote is below and I’ll talk about why it made me so upset after.
A couple of last thoughts. First, we won’t be able to release the new OGL today, because we need to make sure we get it right, but it is coming. Second, you’re going to hear people say that they won, and we lost because making your voices heard forced us to change our plans. Those people will only be half right. They won—and so did we.
WotC STatement on 1/13/2023. Full statement available on D&D Beyond
Like I said, delaying the release of the new OGL makes perfect sense. I don’t have any issue with that. But the statement in full did not completely address some of the biggest problems with the proposed new OGL. If Wizards of the Coast was smart and could see the writing on the wall, they would have given up and said they would just stick with the old OGL.
There is another alternative WotC could have chosen but we’ll get to that later as well. What they instead chose to do, was to talk about winners and losers. I want you to keep something very basic about D&D in mind as you read the rest of this post because this just shows how little WotC and Hasbro seem to get it right now. There are no winners or losers in D&D. Never have been and never will be. We’re not playing Monopoly here. This is a cooperative game where people are supposed to work together to slay the dragon. WotC and Hasbro don’t seem to realize that at this point, they are the dragon. In my opinion, this whole “people say that they won and we lost because making your voices heard forced us to change our plans.” section absolutely is trying to devalue any opinion long time lovers of this game have. It’s not so much how they phrased that but that they think there should be any us against them at all in the TTRPG community. When D&D does well, other TTRPG’s also do well and vice versa.
In essence Hasbro expects that they can lose a bunch of old timers who have been playing this game since forever and replace them with all the new fans they will get once a shiny new movie and edition come out. They may even be right about that. It’s possible D&D will see more devoted and dedicated players than ever before and they won’t need any of us who have always played this game. But I have my doubts that will work. For one thing, I’ve never heard of a show or movie convincing anyone to actually sit down at a table and play a D&D campaign for hours on end. As successful as Stranger Things is, I don’t think there are very many people who started playing solely because they watched that show.
You know who does get people to start playing D&D? People who already play D&D. Older sisters, younger brothers, friends, cousins, teachers, mothers, fathers, sons, aunts, uncles and anyone else who just really loves the game and wants to share it with others. As much as I love this game, it’s going to be hard to tell someone I want them to play this game, but be warned, the company that makes this game does not care at all about the people who play it. And right now, that’s what I would have to say in order to be honest.
Now, maybe Hasbro actually doesn’t care about the TTRPG known as D&D. Maybe they only care about the movie, video games and VTT that are coming because those are potentially bigger money makers. But a big chunk of their audience is upset and disappointed in the direction this stuff is going. I don’t, nor should anyone, blame people who just so happen to work at WotC or Hasbro and have no influence over this decision. The people I do blame are the ones who don’t seem to understand this game at all, don’t care about the creators, players, older sisters, younger brothers, friends, cousins, teachers, mothers, fathers, sons, aunts, uncles and anyone else who just really loves the game and wants to share it with others. Instead they see us as roadblocks to money. It’s as boldfaced an incident of corporate greed as I have ever seen. And I was willing to hand my $50 over for almost any book WotC printed before. I’m not so willing now.
I had some content coming up this year that was going to feature some 5th edition D&D. I was strongly considering doing a solo D&D 5E play through and writing about it on this blog. I was also considering writing an adventure for D&D this year and releasing it on The Dungeon Master’s Guild website. I still may do so, but it is going to 100% depend on what WotC does next. I would be considered the tiniest of tiny creators but even someone as small as me is having second thoughts. I would encourage anyone reading this to think twice about making anything using the OGL at this point in time because we just don’t know what will happen and it would be a major shame for all that energy and effort to simply put you in a courtroom.
I know I sound negative and like doom and gloom is coming. But there are spots of hope. For one, WotC did delay the release of what would have been an utterly horrendous OGL and that is for one reason and one reason alone. The TTRPG community is a tight-knit, friendly community, who knows how to read and understand rules, and is more than willing to organize. For goodness sakes, most of us devour 500 page books regularly and organize 5-7 people weekly guiding our players through rules that can be very difficult to understand. That’s just to say, we can tell when a company thinks we are too dumb to understand something. That’s exactly what WotC is saying with their statement. It’s been inspiring to see the TTRPG come together and activate so quickly. Now, there are some who seem to blame people who are just doing their jobs at companies like WotC and Hasbro and that should not be the norm here. We’re better than that. Fat cat executives who only care about the price of stock and the lawyers who are more than happy to squeeze every penny out of every person playing D&D are the ones to blame, no question.
The second inspiring thing here comes from one of D&D’s largest competitors (although I don’t actually see them as competition because as I said, TTRPGs all do well when any one of them does well), Paizo. Paizo knew it would be inevitable that at some point, if the new OGL was released, they would end up in court over it. They rolled with advantage on their initiative and announced they would get behind something called the Open Resource Creative License nicknamed the ORC license. Essentially the statement from Paizo did absolutely everything right that WotC did wrong. They got ahead of an issue, even one that wasn’t of their own making, they respected the TTRPG community while doing it, and they offered to bring their lawyers to slay the dragon of Hasbro if needed. Contrast the statement below with the one above and see if you can tell which company is being friendly to their audience.
We believe, as we always have, that open gaming makes games better, improves profitability for all involved, and enriches the community of gamers who participate in this amazing hobby. And so we invite gamers from around the world to join us as we begin the next great chapter of open gaming with the release of a new open, perpetual, and irrevocable Open RPG Creative License (ORC).
Now, we need a little bit of caution here. We haven’t seen the final draft of the ORC license but man, I already want to go around saying I have an ORC license. Something else very encouraging here is that Paizo doesn’t actually intend to be the caretaker of this license. They want to give it to a non-profit organization who has expertise in dealing with open source material. If you know anything about software think about Linnux as opposed to say Microsoft. The point is for everyone to use it and everyone to have the same basic building blocks to make stuff with. It will be important that there be some set of rules to go with the ORC license. I’m talking game rules, not law rules, although those are also important. It’s one thing for a company like Paizo to say something like this but it’s something entirely different to hear that a ton of other companies have also said they would adopt the ORC, including Chaosium Inc, Kobold Press and a bunch of other publishers well known in the TTRPG industry. This move is so bold, TTRPG gaming may have just been changed forever. And when people look back at what happened in January 2023, they are going to say Paizo innovated, thought well of their fans, and landed boat loads of good will. It’s possible Paizo’s idea won’t work but they are seriously trying to make it work and it helps that several of the people from Paizo who are working on the ORC also worked on the original OGL. In other words, Paizo had major, major credentials here.
I will admit this to everyone reading. I have never played Pathfinder which Paizo produces. I have played a few sessions of Starfinder and enjoyed it but I’m by no means as well versed with Paizo products as I am with WotC products. But I’m seriously considering the switch. (Also I love Chaosium and they were never in danger from the OGL issues but they’ve also had a good response to the whole debacle so I’ll still be playing their games.)
If you think the OGL issues has no effect on you and you play 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons at all, you’re wrong. There is some rule or mechanic, or situation you have used that came about because of the OGL. And even if you’ve never played any D&D this OGL could still affect you. The video game Knights of the Old Republic uses the same d20 system that D&D does. I don’t think Disney is going to line up to hand over money to WotC any time soon though and there’s no way, any Jedi get to become part of D&D because of this proposed move.
If WotC wanted to maintain good will and bring people back from the brink of walking away with money in their pockets, their smartest move would be to sign on to the ORC. There’s almost zero chance of that happening but if they did, I think a lot of people would come right back to sing the praises of WotC.
At this point, unless we’re major creators, all we can do is wait and see what happens. I will say this though. If you feel strongly about the OGL needing to stay as is, or if you think WotC should sign on to the ORC, the best way to demonstrate that is with money. Or, rather, the withholding of it. If you were considering purchasing a book printed by WotC, wait a little while and see how this resolves. If you have a D&D Beyond subscription, consider cancelling it. Don’t shout at WotC employees online or in real life. Even if they are executives, they won’t hear you, but they will miss your money. And if you just can’t bring yourself to cancel that D&D subscription, I totally get it. D&D is fun! It’s supposed to be fun and giving it up is hard. But, maybe, take that money you were about to spend at WotC and go buy something new from an independent creator. Buy things on Drivethrurpg. Get something from Paizo, or Kobold Press, or Chaosium or Modiphius or any other TTRPG publisher you’ve heard of and always wanted to try. Or heck, try one you’ve never heard of and find out if it’s fun. There’s a good chance it is.
If you decide to cancel your subscription to D&D Beyond or buy a book from another publisher, use the hashtag #OpenDnD to let WotC know you can’t simply be lied to. Let them know you’re not okay with that. As always, be polite about it and thoughtful in your reactions to any news you hear. Spread the word about games you love playing that are not D&D. Or, in the case of some of these publishers who are publishing 5th edition content, such as Kobold Press, buy directly from them and use their books in your games. While D&D is the biggest name out there, they are by far not the only name out there.
To be 1000% clear here, none of the links above are affiliate links, meaning I get absolutely no percentage of anything bought through those. I just think we should all take the time to take a stand against a company who will discard its own best audience. Purchasing something at the links above may help to do that.
I really hope in the end WotC saves face here, stops thinking of people like me and those of you reading this as the enemy, realizes we all can love this game together and if a smaller publisher is profiting because they are producing content for the game you have ownership of under an open license allowing them to do so, everyone benefits. The person selling the content benefits, the person buying benefits, and WotC benefits by spreading the word of this amazing game that has enamored so many of us.
I know this is a long post but I want you to just hang in there with me for a little longer. Before I go, I have to mention some of the people on YouTube who have done much more insightful, thoughtful and compelling pieces on this subject than I ever could. If you haven’t seen anything from these channels, take a look at their videos. I’ve curated what I think are the best of them so far.
Dungeon Dudes
Roll for Combat
The Rules Lawyer
LegalEagle
Sherlock Hulmes
With all of that said, I’m going to sign off here. I don’t know if I’ll ever do another post like this. It was kind of heartbreaking and frustrating to write. I never thought I would ever be in any position where I might want to step away from D&D at all but here I am. I hope I never have to completely walk away but the next move is WotC’s to make. Do they want to lose people like me, move on with their megacorporation plans, and only let in new players who are just here because of what they saw on television or in a movie theater? I am all for new players but I can’t recommend anyone become one at this moment. Hasbro may not care about that. I’m going to keep playing TTRPG’s no matter what.
If things all work out, maybe my next post will be about how awesome it to use horror elements in D&D. If not, well, Call of Cthulhu is pretty damn scary if you want it to be also.
I hope you’ve gotten something out of this post. If you get nothing else out of it, just take this with you. People who play this game, even the smallest of us, deserve to be heard. We deserve to be respected and we can tell when a corporation thinks of us as walking wallets. It’s not okay to treat people that way and not okay to have an us vs. them mentality when it comes to your own customers. It’s just not. WotC needs to hear this. And while there’s pretty much zero chance they will read this, maybe some of you will. If you do, feel free to share this post, reply back to me, tell me what you think in the comments (politely) and keep playing TTRPG’s. I think no matter what happens this community of people is smart enough and kind enough to keep this hobby thriving with or without big companies trying to stop us. I hope to be talking about something more positive the next time I write but until then, do what you can to help others in this community.
Happy Friday the 13th everybody! It’s me, Slick Dungeon, back to review the meetup of two titans of horror, Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees in a film quite obviously titled Freddy vs. Jason. If spoilers are what gives you nightmares, be warned I’ll be slashing my way through my thoughts on the movie. So, if you haven’t seen it, run through a cornfield and hope not to meet a flaming Jason on the way and watch the movie. Then come on back here to read the review.
For years horror fans had clamored to see a couple of the biggest names in horror meet up. We’d even seen a tease of it years before this famous crossover came out. But due to lots of behind the scenes copyright issues and negotiations it was delayed so much that both Freddy and Jason ended up having movies set far in the future before this one actually takes place. Who would win, and deliver more fear, between the machete wielding, hockey mask wearing, un-killable lunatic, and the man who has a burned face, knives for fingers, and can invade your nightmares? Surely this would be an epic battle and one of the scariest movies of all time right? Meh. Not so much.
Both Freddy and Jason have gone to hell at this point. Freddy is having a bit of trouble because Springwood doesn’t seem to remember him. And if no one remembers him, no one is scared of him. If no one is scared of him, Freddy has no power. Good thing for Freddy, Jason is an unstoppable killing machine. So Freddy decides to let Jason loose in Springwood, assuming correctly that people there would think it was Freddy doing the killing. Freddy’s legend would grow again and he can terrorize teenagers once more. At least, that’s how he wanted it to work.
What the movie results in here is more of a… clip show? Yeah. One of the biggest problems with this movie which was made for fans who already love both franchises is that the film makers seemed to feel the need to rehash a whole bunch of what we’ve already seen to explain who Freddy and Jason are. They recreate some of the famous scenes from both franchises and those are somehow the most interesting part here.
That’s not to say there is no good stuff in this movie. It is definitely fun to watch Freddy and Jason fight. Freddy wins in the humorous quip department because, well, Jason doesn’t ever talk. But Jason is also quite the workhorse and he’s pretty hard to stop. They also bring back Jason’s mother for a few scenes and that’s always a good touch.
Once Freddy gets Jason out in the real world, Jason starts killing teens as all of us might expect. Said teens don’t know about Freddy or Jason but the police who are trying to do everything they can to cover up the existence of Freddy Krueger say the name Freddy Krueger right in front of the teenagers.
The teens fall asleep and Freddy visits them but he’s still not strong enough to get them so he lets Jason run wild for a bit. More teens die but now they have a person in a hockey mask to blame. Some people seem to know this is Jason because… well there was a cop from Crystal Lake but for no other reason.
When you are threatened with death and you are a teenager what do you do? Throw a huge party in a cornfield of course! At the party, Jason picks off a few more victims but one of them happens to be sleeping. Freddy ain’t too happy about that.
Eventually there is a bit of exposition about both Freddy and Jason and the teens come up with a plan. They want to put Jason to sleep so Freddy will fight him and then drop Jason off at Crystal Lake and high tail it outta there figuring Jason will be home and won’t leave the camp. Either way their odds are better if one of them dies.
We get to see Freddy toss Jason around in the dream world and then we get to see Jason shred up Freddy in the real world. Epic battle ensues. And of course you kill Freddy with fire and you drown Jason to stop them. We get a stinger at the end which implies Jason won the fight but Freddy is never going to be gone for good.
Is this the most enjoyable film of either franchise? No. Is it the worst movie in either franchise? Again, no. I do feel like if they had spent less time telling us and showing us stuff we already knew, this could have come off a little better. Freddy seems funny but menacing for most of this and Jason is certainly the juggernaut he’s become. But at times the film dips into a bit of the ridiculous and it seems like our final teens figure out how to stop Jason and Freddy way, way, way too easily. Not that they don’t have a lot of friends die first.
One issue I have with this is pretty simple. Jason is an undead, unstoppable killing machine. Does he even dream? I mean why would he? That’s never addressed, it’s just assumed he does. Still, that’s kind of a small issue. Also, the teens assume Jason wouldn’t come after them if they leave him in Crystal Lake but did they not notice Jason when he was in the middle of Times Square? Seems like the dude can leave when he wants to.
While the movie does retread a lot of old material, I still only recommend this if you have seen at least some of both franchises. It’s more fun that way. Just don’t expect it to have the intensity of some of the better movies in both franchises. There are still some fun and inventive kills here and they do the best they can with the story here, it just could never quite live up to the hype and build up of what was expected. If you’ve seen all the rest of these movies, give this one a watch.
And I also hope this movie acts as a lesson for horror franchises looking to do a crossover in the future. Make it early, while the buzz is going, but take the time to develop a good story that makes sense. And yes, I am staring directly at your murderous child doll eyes, M3GAN and Chucky!
Basic Role Playing: The Chaosium Roleplaying System
Hey TTRPG fans, Slick Dungeon here. If you are at all involved in the TTRPG community, you’ve probably heard about the whole Wizards of the Coast Open Gaming License debacle. I’m no lawyer and really can’t give anyone advice on what to do about that situation but I will try to sum it up real quickly here before I give you an alternative.
Basically, there is currently an Open Gaming License known as the OGL 1.0a which allows content creators to make stuff for Dungeons & Dragons. It’s worked really well for a long time but Wizards of the Coast is making changes to it and not to get too into the weeds here but creators are going to potentially see much less profit and maybe not be able to produce content without handing over a ton of rights and royalties and whatnot to Hasbro. As I said, I can’t give anyone advice on that. But, I do have a suggestion for everyone and it comes from one of the biggest competitors to D&D, Chaosium Inc.
Chaosium makes some outstanding products with lots of fun games to choose from. As a horror fan, my favorite is their Call of Cthulhu 7th edition game but they have several others including RuneQuest, StormBringer, Superworld, Pendragon, and Rivers of London.
Well guess what? Those games use a rule system as well. And Chaosium actually wants people to make cool stuff with their system! Again, I am 100% not a lawyer so before you make anything with Chaosium’s BRP system, do your due diligence and make sure what you are making complies and all that good stuff.
Still, I get the distinct impression Chaosium, Inc. would really kinda like it if we all made some cool stuff because they are practically giving away their rule system right now. This system allows you to make derivative work using the BRP rules. That’s a fancy way of saying you can make stuff, including full on TTRPG’s using this system. Again consult a lawyer because if your idea is to, make Call of Cthulhu again, that’s not gonna work but there are tons of things you can do here and it’s a great rules system.
Anyway, why do I think Chaosium Inc. really would like us to make some cool stuff? You can get the BRP on drivethrurpg.com for $0.99 instead of the normal $21.95 it usually sells for. I got my own copy already but I definitely want to see other people make more games, supplements, scenarios, and generally fun stuff we can all get into so get your own copy!
And, if you want to help out this blog just a bit, buy it through my affiliate links in the image or right here. I’ll get a small commission for it but honestly I don’t care how you get it because I just want to see more people make more cool stuff for TTRPG’s.
Non-lawyeringly yours,
Slick Dungeon
(Note: this post contains affiliate links. If you purchase something through this post I will get a small commission at no extra cost to you)
