So, I've been debating about writing this review since I've seen it. The Dark Knight The newest, biggest, most anticipated summer blockbuster of the year. It's out, and I find myself dumbfounded, trying to figure out how to think about it.
Mainly, I think this is because I enjoyed Iron Man so much. But, as I've thought about the two films more and more, I find myself nearly unable to compare them. However, I'll do my best, here, as I give my review on The Dark Knight.
The Dark Knight begins scant months after Batman Begins--the mob families of Gotham are in disarray, and the appearance of The Batman has caused several "copycat vigilantes" to pop up, to say nothing of "the freaks"...including a perennial psychopath called The Joker. However, rising to the occasion is also District Attorney Harvey Dent, played by a grimly determined Aaron Eckhart.
If Iron Man was a film that was driven by Robert Downey Jr.'s performance, The Dark Knight succeeds in spite of Christian Bale's presentation. This is not to say that Christian Bale does badly, but the film itself is not about him--The Batman's already been established, and the screentime focuses more specifically on Dent and the late Heath Ledger's Joker. Batman becomes second fiddle in his own film, growling menacingly at any who come by, as he simply reacts to the Joker's threats as swiftly and mercilessly as possible.
And it is Ledger that absolutely steals the show. Something of a combination of Sid Vicious and "A Clockwork Orange"'s Alex (both of whom were inspirations for Ledger's character), with a touch of Kevin Spacey's "John Doe", The Joker comes across as a man possessed. Licking the corners of his facial scars with frentic abandon, Ledger slinks his way through the part like a predatory cat. The writing for the Joker, particularly, crackles like a loose high-voltage cord. Jeff Bridges' Obediah Stane has nothing on this guy--while Bridges made for a suitable industrial businessman, Ledger brings a genuine insanity to the part that no villain in recent memory can match.
The plot of The Dark Knight moves subtly and (to a degree) slowly, starting first as a bust on mob money launderers, then spiraling further and further out of control as the Joker turns his anarchic vision to judges, Police Commissioner Gordon, and D.A. Dent, as he goads The Batman to dare to stop him, mainly by breaking his "one rule"--no killing. While the film maintains a taut sense of tension throughout, the side-plots and continual layered machinations run just a little long. I actually began to wonder, by about the 2 hour mark, where they were getting any more Gotham policemen or Joker henchmen...
Believe it or not--and trust me, this is going to sound odd--I found myself somewhat bored with The Dark Knight's fight scenes. Oftentimes, they felt unnecessary and rushed, and I felt myself longing for them to end as soon as possible, so we could get back to the high tension. This was a massive departure from most superhero movies, where the actions scenes pile up like one of Michael Bay's wet dreams. Again, Iron Man had a good balance here, but the action drove the plot, rather than vice versa, as in The Dark Knight.
I suppose this is another major point of differentiation. Iron Man and The Dark Knight both shared PG-13 ratings, but for very different representations. Iron Man had the various expected explosions, but was not afraid to kill--I remember particularly when the Armored Avenger punches one of the Gulmira terrorists and he crumples into a wall about 20 feet away. The Dark Knight, on the other hand, has the exact opposite effect. While Batman refuses to kill, this movie is dark. Yes, I know you've heard that already, but let me put this straight...
...early on in the movie, the Joker kills a mob thug. With a pencil. The camera speed is moved up, so that the action happens in a flash, as the Joker literally slams the mobster's head down, impaling his skull on a sharpened pencil.
That's grim. That's dark. That's psychotic. It's ground that superhero movies have never trod before. It's more reminiscent of films like Se7en or Saw than of Fantastic Four, and doesn't let up through the whole film. The irony of this is not lost on me--Iron Man kills people, while Batman does not...yet Batman's film is so much darker, most likely for that fact.
I have no problem with this direction in films, but it shows a grim darkness that is almost unfitting with other superhero movies. That said, I cannot believe whatsoever that parents would let their children under 10 or 11 see this, particularly unsupervised.
The Dark Knight is an absolutely fantastic film. While it runs long, and Bale's Batman gets somewhat lost beneath Ledger's schizophrenic symphony, it deserves every ounce of hype it gets. However, it is not a true superhero/comic-book movie. It's a psychological thriller, complete with sociopathic serial killer, with just enough of a superheroic twist to get kids in the seats and action figures in the aisles.
Long story short?
Iron Man is utterly a superior superhero movie. It centers on Tony Stark as Iron Man and doesn't let up, it follows comic book conventions to a T, and it shows the necessary action in high fashion. Take it for what it is, and you'll never be disappointed in it.
The Dark Knight, to the opposite point, is a superior "film". It's a brillant character study of a psychopathic villain, and two heroes (Batman and Dent) who must walk a thin line when chasing their adversary or risk becoming equally psychopathic. It's an absolutely brilliant piece of celluloid, but it's not a superhero movie--don't treat it as such, and you'll absolutely love it. Try to categorize it with Iron Man and you'll be disapointed.
For the sake of posterity, let me put down one last thought. Coupled right before The Dark Knight was the trailer for Zak Penn's Watchmen, which I've been drooling over for months. I get the feeling, knowing the story of Watchmen, that I'll be saying most of the same comments about it, as I've shared about The Dark Knight. Time shall tell, friends and neighbors!
Showing posts with label Iron Man. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iron Man. Show all posts
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Sunday, May 04, 2008
In Which The Warlock Wishes He Had Some Power Armor...
What a weekend of geekdom. Life is good, aside from the fact that my back has been killing me since about 4 pm today, for unknown reasons. However, the last few days have more than made up for it.
Yesterday, the Witt RP-Guild held their bi-yearly LARP in Bayley Auditorium. Lionel put this one together, much as he put together the "Diplomacy" LARP last year. Running a role-playing event for 15 people is no easy task, but Lionel's results are regularly great. He puts in a ton of time and effort, and the games themselves speak to that effort.
This year's LARP put us on the S.S. Triton Bay, a massive ship that capsized in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle. Stuck in the ship's cargo hold, our characters connived and backstabbed their way through the "Poseidon Adventure"-esque scenario...that is until the Marines arrived...
As Yannosey Cuthbert Allgrave III, my major task was to purchase a recently unearthed sarcophagus from a black marketeer to add to his collection. While I wasn't successful in this regard--the sarcophagus radiated evil like a heat lamp, which somehwat brought down the desire on it--I did get to play a massive misogynist twit, much to the chagrin of my long-suffering personal assistant Ms. Lovegood.
(And, for the record, neither Lionel or I actually realized the Bond-esque awfulness of Ms. Lovegood's name until the day of the LARP. At least it's better than Dr. Holly Goodhead!)
However, that's not what you want to hear about...nor is my new Dark Heresy campaign, but I'm going to tell you about that instead! :D
So, the PlatinumChick is notorious for her dice luck. Or, to be more specific, her lack thereof. In d20 games, it's always Natural 1. In WEGS, or other percentile games, it's always 99 or 00.
In Dark Heresy, she's found a new bane--the Willpower test.
Thusfar, our intrepid Acolytes have come out of cryogenesis aboard the Emperor's ship "Persephone", only to find the ship ransacked and nearly torn apart by daemons, loose through the Warp. Daemons have, associated with them, a Willpower test to avoid a fear aura. The first session centered around the PCs exploring a warehouse and attempting to find their stored gear...while being assaulted by a daemonic horror.
Jules? As soon as she got within the fear aura, her character failed her Willpower test, breaking ranks and screaming off into the dark. Typically, it takes a Willpower test to break out of the fear. She spent no less than 7 rounds--the duration of the combat--failing Willpower tests.
So, this past session, we hoped for something a little more helpful for her. En route to the astropathic navigation chamber, the PCs had to jury rig their way through several elevators, and were again assaulted by daemons. Again, Jules' character failed the Willpower test and flailed about on a greased floor before passing out. Then, when faced with a massive daemonically-inhabited avalanche of bodies, she simply puked on herself and passed out again.
Man...the effectiveness of first-rank characters. Just like Call of Cthulhu!
Yeah, you didn't want to hear about either of those, did you? Okay, I guess I'll give you what you wanted:
Iron Man
The movie absolutely rocks on toast. It's gotten high praise, even from some of the most critical of Hollywood reviewers, which really speaks to its quality. This may well be one of the best comic-book movies of all time. It's that good.
Iron Man begins in medias res, with billionaire industrialist/weapons developer Tony Stark riding in a convoy to an Afghani airbase following a demonstration of his newly-developed Jericho missile system. Pure to the Iron Man continuity, the convoy is blown out of the water by guerilla insurgents, and Stark is injured by one of his own weapons and is captured.
Upon his capture, Stark is given an ultimatum--build a missile for the local warlord (who makes a beautiful reference to perennial IM villain "The Mandarin") or die. Stark, and his fellow captive Yinsen, choose option D--blow the hell out of the insurgents with a powered suit of armor and escape. The experience gives Stark the proverbial kick in the butt that he needs, causing him to simultaneously disband his weapons-development division and begin his own special project--the Iron Man armor.
The plot culminates in two parts industrial-espionage and one part epic mech battle as Stark faces off with business partner-turned-rival Obidiah Stane, wearing a reverse engineered version of Stark's Mark-I armor.
As far as origin stories go Iron Man, the storytelling techniques used by director Jon Favreau really keep viewers interested. We're given the rundown on Stark's past in an awards speech, keeping the exposition brief and the camera on the action. Stark's experimentation with the Mark-II and Mark-III armors, particularly, feel real to viewers. Stark feels like 'one of the guys', tinkering around in his man-cave with hard rock blaring. It's hard not to empathize with someone like that--he feels real, and looks like the billionaire we'd all love to hang out with.
The dialogue, above all else, is what made this movie for me. So often, comic book movie dialogue is stilted and full of bad one-liners (Fantastic Four, I'm looking at you!). In Iron Man, however, the dialogue is quick and snappy--always keeping us interested. Jeff Bridges' lines drip corporate sleaze-man, and the sections between Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert Downey Jr. are simultaneously cute and awkward, as they try to rectify their middling relationship between boss-assistant and romantic-partners.
The special effects, done by titan Industrial Light and Magic, are predictably good, but it's the art designs that make the effects so great. The film's development staff went immediately to recent Iron Man artist Adi Granov to cull some ideas on the Mark-III armor. And their homework has paid off. The armor looks just as if Ol' Shellhead had stepped out of Granov's "Extremis" arc and onto the screen. Brilliant job, on this section.
I'll be honest. When I first heard about Iron Man's casting, I was more than a little worried. Jeff Bridges hasn't really done much of worth in years, and saying that Robert Downey Jr. has had character issues is like saying that geeks like spandex costumes. However, the entire cast delivers a consistently great performance all around. The only real low point in the cast--and I'm nitpicking here--is Terrence Howard's James "Rhodey" Rhodes. That said, he has little to work with, aside from set up for the already-in-the-works sequal. War Machine, anyone?
All told, Iron Man is a class of superhero movie reserved for only the best. To be honest, I'm seriously doubting that any movie this summer can keep up with it. The summer began with a bang, and it's in red and gold.
Yesterday, the Witt RP-Guild held their bi-yearly LARP in Bayley Auditorium. Lionel put this one together, much as he put together the "Diplomacy" LARP last year. Running a role-playing event for 15 people is no easy task, but Lionel's results are regularly great. He puts in a ton of time and effort, and the games themselves speak to that effort.
This year's LARP put us on the S.S. Triton Bay, a massive ship that capsized in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle. Stuck in the ship's cargo hold, our characters connived and backstabbed their way through the "Poseidon Adventure"-esque scenario...that is until the Marines arrived...
As Yannosey Cuthbert Allgrave III, my major task was to purchase a recently unearthed sarcophagus from a black marketeer to add to his collection. While I wasn't successful in this regard--the sarcophagus radiated evil like a heat lamp, which somehwat brought down the desire on it--I did get to play a massive misogynist twit, much to the chagrin of my long-suffering personal assistant Ms. Lovegood.
(And, for the record, neither Lionel or I actually realized the Bond-esque awfulness of Ms. Lovegood's name until the day of the LARP. At least it's better than Dr. Holly Goodhead!)
However, that's not what you want to hear about...nor is my new Dark Heresy campaign, but I'm going to tell you about that instead! :D
So, the PlatinumChick is notorious for her dice luck. Or, to be more specific, her lack thereof. In d20 games, it's always Natural 1. In WEGS, or other percentile games, it's always 99 or 00.
In Dark Heresy, she's found a new bane--the Willpower test.
Thusfar, our intrepid Acolytes have come out of cryogenesis aboard the Emperor's ship "Persephone", only to find the ship ransacked and nearly torn apart by daemons, loose through the Warp. Daemons have, associated with them, a Willpower test to avoid a fear aura. The first session centered around the PCs exploring a warehouse and attempting to find their stored gear...while being assaulted by a daemonic horror.
Jules? As soon as she got within the fear aura, her character failed her Willpower test, breaking ranks and screaming off into the dark. Typically, it takes a Willpower test to break out of the fear. She spent no less than 7 rounds--the duration of the combat--failing Willpower tests.
So, this past session, we hoped for something a little more helpful for her. En route to the astropathic navigation chamber, the PCs had to jury rig their way through several elevators, and were again assaulted by daemons. Again, Jules' character failed the Willpower test and flailed about on a greased floor before passing out. Then, when faced with a massive daemonically-inhabited avalanche of bodies, she simply puked on herself and passed out again.
Man...the effectiveness of first-rank characters. Just like Call of Cthulhu!
Yeah, you didn't want to hear about either of those, did you? Okay, I guess I'll give you what you wanted:
Iron Man
The movie absolutely rocks on toast. It's gotten high praise, even from some of the most critical of Hollywood reviewers, which really speaks to its quality. This may well be one of the best comic-book movies of all time. It's that good.
Iron Man begins in medias res, with billionaire industrialist/weapons developer Tony Stark riding in a convoy to an Afghani airbase following a demonstration of his newly-developed Jericho missile system. Pure to the Iron Man continuity, the convoy is blown out of the water by guerilla insurgents, and Stark is injured by one of his own weapons and is captured.
Upon his capture, Stark is given an ultimatum--build a missile for the local warlord (who makes a beautiful reference to perennial IM villain "The Mandarin") or die. Stark, and his fellow captive Yinsen, choose option D--blow the hell out of the insurgents with a powered suit of armor and escape. The experience gives Stark the proverbial kick in the butt that he needs, causing him to simultaneously disband his weapons-development division and begin his own special project--the Iron Man armor.
The plot culminates in two parts industrial-espionage and one part epic mech battle as Stark faces off with business partner-turned-rival Obidiah Stane, wearing a reverse engineered version of Stark's Mark-I armor.
As far as origin stories go Iron Man, the storytelling techniques used by director Jon Favreau really keep viewers interested. We're given the rundown on Stark's past in an awards speech, keeping the exposition brief and the camera on the action. Stark's experimentation with the Mark-II and Mark-III armors, particularly, feel real to viewers. Stark feels like 'one of the guys', tinkering around in his man-cave with hard rock blaring. It's hard not to empathize with someone like that--he feels real, and looks like the billionaire we'd all love to hang out with.
The dialogue, above all else, is what made this movie for me. So often, comic book movie dialogue is stilted and full of bad one-liners (Fantastic Four, I'm looking at you!). In Iron Man, however, the dialogue is quick and snappy--always keeping us interested. Jeff Bridges' lines drip corporate sleaze-man, and the sections between Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert Downey Jr. are simultaneously cute and awkward, as they try to rectify their middling relationship between boss-assistant and romantic-partners.
The special effects, done by titan Industrial Light and Magic, are predictably good, but it's the art designs that make the effects so great. The film's development staff went immediately to recent Iron Man artist Adi Granov to cull some ideas on the Mark-III armor. And their homework has paid off. The armor looks just as if Ol' Shellhead had stepped out of Granov's "Extremis" arc and onto the screen. Brilliant job, on this section.
I'll be honest. When I first heard about Iron Man's casting, I was more than a little worried. Jeff Bridges hasn't really done much of worth in years, and saying that Robert Downey Jr. has had character issues is like saying that geeks like spandex costumes. However, the entire cast delivers a consistently great performance all around. The only real low point in the cast--and I'm nitpicking here--is Terrence Howard's James "Rhodey" Rhodes. That said, he has little to work with, aside from set up for the already-in-the-works sequal. War Machine, anyone?
All told, Iron Man is a class of superhero movie reserved for only the best. To be honest, I'm seriously doubting that any movie this summer can keep up with it. The summer began with a bang, and it's in red and gold.
Friday, April 25, 2008
The Warlock's Movie/TV Rundown
So, in addition to all of the gaming chaos about to be thrown down starting in June, we have a spectacular summer movie season coming up!
Iron Man, I mentioned earlier. I've been a fan of Shellhead for years, and this is just a massive way to start off the season. However, the Armored Avenger isn't alone!
Not two weeks later, we get hit with the full steam of movies:
May 2 -- Iron Man
May 9 -- Speed Racer
I'm not an anime fan in general, and but I'm genuinely concerned with the Wachkowski Brothers' next film. There's only one reason I would personally go see this, and that's Christina Ricci.
May 16 -- Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
When Lion/Witch/Wardrobe came out, it was billed and marketed as a spiritual successor to Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" films. While L/W/W did well, it failed in this regard. Prince Caspian, I believe, will put them back on the right track.
May 22 -- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
I was really skeptical about this one. That is, I was until I saw the trailer. There's hope...especially the section in Warehouse 23!
June 1 -- The Venture Brothers: Season 3
Sweet zombie Christ on a pogo stick, I love this show! The infamous 3rd season has been in development hell for far too long, and it's only finally about to be released.
By the by, here's the trailer!
June 13 -- The Incredible Hulk
A reboot, after the miserable Ang Lee version, I was very impressed by the lead-in and trailer for Edward Norton's newest vehicle. That said, I think this is going to be the red-headed stepchild of the summer blockbuster season. Marketing has really been on the slow side, mainly as Marvel's marketing has headed towards Iron Man instead.
June 20 -- Get Smart
Well, it has Steve Carrell. That's about all. If he can singlehandedly make it float, it'll make some money, but I have few hopes for it.
June 27 -- Wall-E
Pixar has yet to really impress me. Yes, the animation is nice--I get that. Their films are pretentious and lacking real wit. Just try listening to the audio without watching the video. You'll think much differently about their films...particularly Cars and Finding Nemo.
July 11 -- Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Del Toro's vision of Mike Mignola's seminal character was great the first time around, and I'm eager to see more, but I'm somewhat worried about the plot and scripting. Some of the early visuals seem to be less "paranormal, Lovecraftian mythology" and more "Pan's Labyrinth". Still looking forward to this one, though.
July 18 -- The Dark Knight
I had some legitimate problems with Batman Begins, but I genuinely liked it. While Batman-as-ninja and the lack of compelling villainry (Liam Neeson totally phoned in his Ra's al-Ghul, and Scarecrow was a waste of time, which was sad) turned me off, the tone, the visuals, and the attention to detail made me happy. Heath Ledger's Joker, however, looks fantastically insane.
July 25 -- The X-Files: I Want to Believe
Seriously? Are you kidding me? The X-Files are about as relevant as re-runs of Roseanne, by now. I'm not sure who actually green-lit this project, but they need to be flogged for it.
August 1 -- The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Just like Incredible Hulk, I get the impression that this will be a dark horse candidate. No doubt that it will hit #1 in the country--there's no real competition that late in the season--but can it hold up to the others this year? My guess is 'no, but it will still be fun.'
August 15 -- Star Wars: The Clone Wars
And you thought that you were done watching Star Wars in a theater? Fools! Lucas will bury you! ANAKIN SMASH!
Yeah, I'm going to see it, too. Don't feel too bad about it--it's life. Just accept that you, too, are a geek, and cannot resist the seductive hiss of a lightsaber.
On that note, bed is calling. Tomorrow, you can expect my review of "Juno", which the PlatinumChick and I viewed this evening.
Iron Man, I mentioned earlier. I've been a fan of Shellhead for years, and this is just a massive way to start off the season. However, the Armored Avenger isn't alone!
Not two weeks later, we get hit with the full steam of movies:
May 2 -- Iron Man
May 9 -- Speed Racer
I'm not an anime fan in general, and but I'm genuinely concerned with the Wachkowski Brothers' next film. There's only one reason I would personally go see this, and that's Christina Ricci.
May 16 -- Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
When Lion/Witch/Wardrobe came out, it was billed and marketed as a spiritual successor to Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" films. While L/W/W did well, it failed in this regard. Prince Caspian, I believe, will put them back on the right track.
May 22 -- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
I was really skeptical about this one. That is, I was until I saw the trailer. There's hope...especially the section in Warehouse 23!
June 1 -- The Venture Brothers: Season 3
Sweet zombie Christ on a pogo stick, I love this show! The infamous 3rd season has been in development hell for far too long, and it's only finally about to be released.
By the by, here's the trailer!
June 13 -- The Incredible Hulk
A reboot, after the miserable Ang Lee version, I was very impressed by the lead-in and trailer for Edward Norton's newest vehicle. That said, I think this is going to be the red-headed stepchild of the summer blockbuster season. Marketing has really been on the slow side, mainly as Marvel's marketing has headed towards Iron Man instead.
June 20 -- Get Smart
Well, it has Steve Carrell. That's about all. If he can singlehandedly make it float, it'll make some money, but I have few hopes for it.
June 27 -- Wall-E
Pixar has yet to really impress me. Yes, the animation is nice--I get that. Their films are pretentious and lacking real wit. Just try listening to the audio without watching the video. You'll think much differently about their films...particularly Cars and Finding Nemo.
July 11 -- Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Del Toro's vision of Mike Mignola's seminal character was great the first time around, and I'm eager to see more, but I'm somewhat worried about the plot and scripting. Some of the early visuals seem to be less "paranormal, Lovecraftian mythology" and more "Pan's Labyrinth". Still looking forward to this one, though.
July 18 -- The Dark Knight
I had some legitimate problems with Batman Begins, but I genuinely liked it. While Batman-as-ninja and the lack of compelling villainry (Liam Neeson totally phoned in his Ra's al-Ghul, and Scarecrow was a waste of time, which was sad) turned me off, the tone, the visuals, and the attention to detail made me happy. Heath Ledger's Joker, however, looks fantastically insane.
July 25 -- The X-Files: I Want to Believe
Seriously? Are you kidding me? The X-Files are about as relevant as re-runs of Roseanne, by now. I'm not sure who actually green-lit this project, but they need to be flogged for it.
August 1 -- The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Just like Incredible Hulk, I get the impression that this will be a dark horse candidate. No doubt that it will hit #1 in the country--there's no real competition that late in the season--but can it hold up to the others this year? My guess is 'no, but it will still be fun.'
August 15 -- Star Wars: The Clone Wars
And you thought that you were done watching Star Wars in a theater? Fools! Lucas will bury you! ANAKIN SMASH!
Yeah, I'm going to see it, too. Don't feel too bad about it--it's life. Just accept that you, too, are a geek, and cannot resist the seductive hiss of a lightsaber.
On that note, bed is calling. Tomorrow, you can expect my review of "Juno", which the PlatinumChick and I viewed this evening.
Monday, April 21, 2008
The Calm Before The (Molten?) Storm...
So, I'm in something of a role-playing lull right now. Things are a little on the slow side, but with madness on route that's ready to give me all the gaming I can handle.
While WittCon and GloryCon have come and gone, the next major convention that the PlatinumChick and I will be hitting is, in fact, Bookery Fantasy's annual TopaCon. That's not until Memorial Day weekend, so we have a fair amount of time to relax before it kicks off the madness that will be June.
However, we do have a few happy events between now and then, which will keep me occupied.
As I mentioned in my last post, I'm really jazzed about running Dark Heresy this week for our usual weekly crew. I've had an idea for an opening scenario mucking around in my brain for a while, so this will be something fun. Think Aliens meets The Thing, meets Fallout. Should be very interesting.
Lionel and Ebbs have also been diligently planning the Guild's great one shot/LARP for this semester. I can tell this one is going to be great, mainly because Lionel's been so tight-lipped about it. Usually, he and I hash out all sorts of ideas for games that either of us run, but this time? No, not so much. The only thing that I've been able to milk out of him is that it will deal with the Bermuda Triangle, and that the setting is a cruise ship. Now, knowing that my fellow Witt-Wegger Illuminatus just picked up the Call of Cthulhu Bermuda Triangle sourcebook...I get the impression there's going to be some good ol' fashioned sanity-blasting-horror-from-beyond! Woot!
May 2nd, though, kicks of Summer Blockbuster season with a film I've been aching to see: Iron Man. I'll admit, I was really skeptical when Robert Downey Jr. was announced to be playing Ol' Shellhead, but he's really convinced me. He has the smarmy arrogance necessary to pull off the smug Tony Stark. I'm sure I'll be seeing this one on opening day.
It's June that gets it all started, really. The day after I get out Summit, D&D 4th Edition is released, and the PlatinumChick and I head off to Wheeling for a friend's wedding. While we have the next weekend off, the next week is a massive one--my birthday, the 21st, is also Free RPG Day! Thank you, geeks of the world, thank you for a glorious birthday present--lots and lots of RPG swag. Woot!
And then, the big one...Origins. Plans are already set, rooms are already reserved, and we're waiting with baited breath for event registration to start up. It'll be great to hit up all the hot gaming action, meet up with the WEGS-Hogz yet again, and enjoy the massive spectacle.
Regarding Origins, I've finally decided what I'm going to do with my brainchild, Dungeon Slam! While I'm reluctant to show it off to the major populace, El Willy's been aching to play it. So, ideally, we'll pull up one of the open tables at the Convention Center and get our collective crews together to throw down in the Mad Mage's dungeon!
Further, I've come upon a great solution for a problem that's been plaguing Dungeon Slam! for a long time. You see, in Dungeon Slam!, you have 6 major stats:
Strength governs your To Hit and Damage.
Intellect governs your Spellcasting and Puzzle/Trap tests.
Toughness governs your Health and (possibly) your Defense.
Quickness governs your First Strike, Hazard tests and (possibly) your Defense.
Wits governs your Arcana amount.
And Luck...well, Luck really didn't govern anything, for quite a while. However, that's changed!
With our last playtest, we tried out a new rule. Typically, you could spend an Arcana to re-roll any dice roll (once only!). While this was useful, you couldn't necessarily guarantee any results--after all, you've gotta play the Odds and Gods, right?
Our new rule is that, while you can still spend an Arcana to re-roll if you so choose, you also have an option to spend an Arcana to add your Luck bonus to any dice roll. Only thing is that, if you do so, you cannot re-roll that test!
Basically, this gives the players a degree of choice. If it's a test they seriously need help on, adding the Luck score to the roll could make a massive difference. However, if you keep your Luck high, you're keeping your Wits low, which means you have less re-rolls and Luck adds in general. Plus, you're keeping yourself from re-rolling, which can mean the difference between life and death!
At first, I thought adding this rule would be somewhat unbalanced, but preliminary playtesting has shown the breakdown of Arcana use to be pretty equitable. On tests that have a 50/50 shot to succeed, players tend to use Arcana more for re-rolls than Luck adds. However, in more dire straits, the Luck add seems to be more popular--for good reason!
One of the nice side effects of this, though, is that it speeds up the game. Players are more likely to take on higher-level monsters faster, if they know they can add a +5 or +6 to their base die rolls. This leads to faster advancement and loot gain, which means that players start hitting Skull Sanctum a lot earlier. While play-time has been around 3 hours so far, pretty consistently, I wouldn't be surprised to see it trimmed down by a full half-hour simply because of the faster advancement!
It'll be exciting to see how this all hashes out before El Willy and Krew take a look at my project come June. Hopefully, I'll pick up a third revision printing, ready to go for the new sessions!
While WittCon and GloryCon have come and gone, the next major convention that the PlatinumChick and I will be hitting is, in fact, Bookery Fantasy's annual TopaCon. That's not until Memorial Day weekend, so we have a fair amount of time to relax before it kicks off the madness that will be June.
However, we do have a few happy events between now and then, which will keep me occupied.
As I mentioned in my last post, I'm really jazzed about running Dark Heresy this week for our usual weekly crew. I've had an idea for an opening scenario mucking around in my brain for a while, so this will be something fun. Think Aliens meets The Thing, meets Fallout. Should be very interesting.
Lionel and Ebbs have also been diligently planning the Guild's great one shot/LARP for this semester. I can tell this one is going to be great, mainly because Lionel's been so tight-lipped about it. Usually, he and I hash out all sorts of ideas for games that either of us run, but this time? No, not so much. The only thing that I've been able to milk out of him is that it will deal with the Bermuda Triangle, and that the setting is a cruise ship. Now, knowing that my fellow Witt-Wegger Illuminatus just picked up the Call of Cthulhu Bermuda Triangle sourcebook...I get the impression there's going to be some good ol' fashioned sanity-blasting-horror-from-beyond! Woot!
May 2nd, though, kicks of Summer Blockbuster season with a film I've been aching to see: Iron Man. I'll admit, I was really skeptical when Robert Downey Jr. was announced to be playing Ol' Shellhead, but he's really convinced me. He has the smarmy arrogance necessary to pull off the smug Tony Stark. I'm sure I'll be seeing this one on opening day.
It's June that gets it all started, really. The day after I get out Summit, D&D 4th Edition is released, and the PlatinumChick and I head off to Wheeling for a friend's wedding. While we have the next weekend off, the next week is a massive one--my birthday, the 21st, is also Free RPG Day! Thank you, geeks of the world, thank you for a glorious birthday present--lots and lots of RPG swag. Woot!
And then, the big one...Origins. Plans are already set, rooms are already reserved, and we're waiting with baited breath for event registration to start up. It'll be great to hit up all the hot gaming action, meet up with the WEGS-Hogz yet again, and enjoy the massive spectacle.
Regarding Origins, I've finally decided what I'm going to do with my brainchild, Dungeon Slam! While I'm reluctant to show it off to the major populace, El Willy's been aching to play it. So, ideally, we'll pull up one of the open tables at the Convention Center and get our collective crews together to throw down in the Mad Mage's dungeon!
Further, I've come upon a great solution for a problem that's been plaguing Dungeon Slam! for a long time. You see, in Dungeon Slam!, you have 6 major stats:
Strength governs your To Hit and Damage.
Intellect governs your Spellcasting and Puzzle/Trap tests.
Toughness governs your Health and (possibly) your Defense.
Quickness governs your First Strike, Hazard tests and (possibly) your Defense.
Wits governs your Arcana amount.
And Luck...well, Luck really didn't govern anything, for quite a while. However, that's changed!
With our last playtest, we tried out a new rule. Typically, you could spend an Arcana to re-roll any dice roll (once only!). While this was useful, you couldn't necessarily guarantee any results--after all, you've gotta play the Odds and Gods, right?
Our new rule is that, while you can still spend an Arcana to re-roll if you so choose, you also have an option to spend an Arcana to add your Luck bonus to any dice roll. Only thing is that, if you do so, you cannot re-roll that test!
Basically, this gives the players a degree of choice. If it's a test they seriously need help on, adding the Luck score to the roll could make a massive difference. However, if you keep your Luck high, you're keeping your Wits low, which means you have less re-rolls and Luck adds in general. Plus, you're keeping yourself from re-rolling, which can mean the difference between life and death!
At first, I thought adding this rule would be somewhat unbalanced, but preliminary playtesting has shown the breakdown of Arcana use to be pretty equitable. On tests that have a 50/50 shot to succeed, players tend to use Arcana more for re-rolls than Luck adds. However, in more dire straits, the Luck add seems to be more popular--for good reason!
One of the nice side effects of this, though, is that it speeds up the game. Players are more likely to take on higher-level monsters faster, if they know they can add a +5 or +6 to their base die rolls. This leads to faster advancement and loot gain, which means that players start hitting Skull Sanctum a lot earlier. While play-time has been around 3 hours so far, pretty consistently, I wouldn't be surprised to see it trimmed down by a full half-hour simply because of the faster advancement!
It'll be exciting to see how this all hashes out before El Willy and Krew take a look at my project come June. Hopefully, I'll pick up a third revision printing, ready to go for the new sessions!
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