Discovered another game designer blog

Today I discovered that yeoman game designer Mike Mearls (author of Postmodern Magic, Elevator to the Netherworld, Relics & Rituals, and a shitload more) has a livejournal account. His most recent entry is kinda interesting, on the subject of gaming intellectualism. It's also nice to know that he likes Complete Adventurer from WotC.

Let's get ready to rumble!

Coming in April: WWE Know Your Role, a d20-based OGL wrasslin' roleplaying game. There's a very substantive preview available here. Although I don't watch much WWE nowadays, this game looks hella-fun. If I were to GM this puppy I'd be tempted to set the game in an alternate universe where WCW and ECW were still giving Vinny Mac a run for his money. Also, the Four Horsemen would still kick ass. Woo!

Solid!

Solid!, the blaxploitation d20 Modern supplement has just been released over at the RPGnow. I may have no business whatsoever playing an 'authentic' black character in an RPG, but I've seen enough Shaft and Dolemite films to allow me to climb on board this particular soul train. And unlike Wyrd Is Bond, the rappers-as-wizards rpg, I won't feel like I'm inadvertedly parodying someone else's urban culture. Dolemite is already ridiculous, if not outright parody of the genre, and you'd have trouble convincing me that Shaft is anything other than an adventure flick with a non-whitebread setting.

Missed Opportunity

The next time Dave wants a night off from his Feng Shui game I'm going to run this. Ideally, any interested players will show up to the sessions with martial artists all ready to go.

Did you notice that I managed to produce a PDF file with images? I believe Ted Hampton of Bear Productions clued me in on how to do it while we were chatting at Winter War.

A Link for the Comic Fans

The Quarter Bin is a site with over 200 short but sweet comics essays. I'm particularly fond of "The Three Trashmen Tests" and "The Bouncing Boy Test", as well as the articles on bad costumes of the sixties, seventies*, eighties**, and nineties. Although they do manage to acknowledge the existence of non-supers comics, overall the site tends to suffer from the usual sort of myopia that over-emphasizes mainstream American superhero comics. But what can you expect from a site called the Quarter Bin?

*Thought I must disagree with the author's assessment of Moondragon's costume. I dig the whole bald-psionic-chick-in-skimpy-costume-with-big-cape look. But I also liked the bald psionic chick Star Trek: The Motion Picture, so what do I know?

**And punk Storm? Smokin' hot. Anyone who says otherwise just can't remember back to the days when punk was actually cool.

Neat Link

Loose Cannon Productions is a fan effort devoted to reconstructing lost black & white Dr. Who episodes. I have yet to view any of their episodes, but the page that outlines their methodology was an interesting read. Their version of 'The Dalek's Master Plan' has been recommended to me.

Also: non-rpg one-shots

• Starmada
• BattleTech
• Star Fleet Battles (I would host & organize the game, but John Pedigo would provide the rules savvy. I'm thinking a little destroyer/frigate level engagement. Nothing too complex.)
• Illuminati (I've long wanted to try the last supplement.)
• Dawn Patrol
• Chainmail (the original version)

It occurred to me that some of these one-shots (and the RPG ideas on the list below) could be run at either Spring Offensive in April or Flatcon in September. Now that we've got a second car I'll feel less guilty daytripping to a con, since I wouldn't be leaving Amy & Elizabeth without transportation. And agreeing to GM something means I can't just get the blahs a few days before the con and blow off going.