Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Coming Soon

Okay, FnD fans, I have just had my first meeting with my new gaming group tonight. I will still be bringing you adventures in Kamigan and Velocity with the SaaMies, but very soon I will be bringing you a new campaign with a different play group: Jester, Ashley, Jamie, and Javar. We have decided to run...
(drum roll...)

Unknown Armies!

I am so excited about this campaign. I have been drooling over this game ever since I got the .pdf a year ago, and I finally went out to my local gaming store and bought a copy of the book. This world is gritty, the magic is obsessive and crazy, the madness meters alone will make this campaign. Next week we build characters, and then from there we begin play.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

FnD News

So, yes, May has been very busy. We had the move, we had the Flipside of Con, and this was the tent we got set up to play in.

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I got to meet a couple of people out there and almost got a game started, but if you know anything about the Flipside of Con, it's not exactly a follow-the-schedule kind of event. Ever heard of herding cats? Better luck next year, and maybe I'll figure out how better to wrangle a group of gamers, play lead to a communal kitchen, spin my many fire props, and still find time to run around like the "ooh, what's that?" kitties.

But, in better news, I have found a gaming group apart from the Swing and a Miss group. I will still be playing and running with the SaaMies, but while Hero is off plotting his next scheme for world domination from his secret underground volcanic base, I will be putting together another campaign for your listening pleasure, and mine of course. The game has yet to be determined by the group, so stay tuned for that. Any suggestions?

Also, more awesomeness. Hero will be bringing the game back this weekend, so more superhero action will be flyi... uh hum, I mean phasing your way very soon. In the mean time, comment, leave feedback, let us know you're listening and that you like/love/dislike/hate us, whatever you feel, let us know.

Ghost

Monday, June 6, 2011

Summer Supers #5

This Summer Supers is the long awaited release of Mutants and Masterminds 3rd Edition, released in April of this year. The release of DC Adventures, essentially a Mutants and Masterminds 2.5 but featuring all your favorites from the DC universe, was a welcome addition to the tabletop gaming world in August of 2010, but left Marvel hero fans on the sidelines. M&M3, while not obtaining a Marvel license, allows players the ability to make their own superheros patterned after anything they desire, including Marvel characters, with far greater ease than in prior editions.

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M&M3 boasts a streamlined system that allows new and veteran players alike to create a character and begin play in just minutes, using a single die roll to determine outcomes of conflict, and thus playing hours in a game without being bogged down in combat mechanics. If you have played DC Adventures, then you'll be familiar with the system in Mutants and Masterminds, 3rd Edition.

So if you're looking to create some superhero action of your own, give this a try. At only $21.75 on Amazon, you can't beat the price, unless you're getting the Wild Talents Essential Edition, and if you enjoy the book, you'll want to get your hands on the GM Kit and Gamemaster's Guide going on sale July 12, 2011. Also check out the Mutants and Masterminds website. They have already released 22 adventures for you to play for 3rd edition, entitled Threat Reports, on sale for only $0.99 each.

Game on!

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Summer Supers #4

(Cover for JUSTICE LEAGUE #1; Art by Jim Lee and Scott Williams;
Colors by Alex Sinclair;
Copyright: DC Comics)

All right, big news in comics, DC has announced they will be relaunching 52 of their major lines of comic series, beginning with Justice League #1, with newer, younger, more modern looking heroes starting this September. Along with this relaunch will also come the release of digital versions of the paperbacks we've all grown up with, set to go on sale the same day as the print releases in stores. This fresher, greener approach to delivering four color action has already been adopted by Archie Comics, but their biggest comic rival, Marvel, has yet to report any desire to follow suit.

As I'm sure you can tell, FnD crew members are inherently more Marvel fans than any other (though I personally have only ever read from the DC Vertigo line), and so this new line up of fresher re-releases, aimed at the newest generation of the kids in everyone, will maybe hold some appeal for die hard Marvel fans. I know prepping for Hero's VeloCity campaign had me looking for a super hero cartoon fix, and I found myself watching the most recent Justice League cartoons over the older 1990s X-Men cartoons I'd watched as a kid. I'd already made up my character for Hero's game before I watched Justice League and thought it funny to see J'onn J'onzz as almost the same, at least as far as powers go.

So, whether you're a veteran of four color, or new to the genre and feel like starting up your own collection, give DC's Justice League a chance, starting again at #1 in September, 2011.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Summer Supers #3


This next Summer Super comes from Scornavacco Martial Arts Academy in Longmont, Colorado. They are a private institution that specializes in offering kids training in the forms of practical self defense, safety skills, and character development. In the summer they have a super hero camp program for your kids. In the camp you get superhero training along with creating an identity, finding a cool name, designing and making your costume, as well as instruction on how to identify and overcome the nefarious plots of your villains.

The online brochure only lists June 6 - 11, 2010 as active dates. Hopefully the superhero project was such a success, as I know it is imagining it, that it is still continuing. A superhero camp sounds like a great way to spend a summer vacation. I'd like to hear from some of the kids who attended, let FnD fans in on your superhero identity, and if you would like, maybe the FnD crew can make up characters in Hero's VeloCity under the same identity.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Summer Supers #2

Summer Movie Blockbusters.

Summer is the season for action, and comic super heroes are swinging, flying, shooting, and fighting their way onto the screen, all competing for your attention. With the release of Thor in 3D just last month, Green Lantern to open June 17, Captain America set to release July 22, a reboot of Spider Man set for summer of 2012, and X-Men First Class opening tonight, comic fans have a buffet of movie choices.



The FnD Crew, Hero mostly, are die hard comic fans, especially of the X line, X-Factor in particular. The release of this new movie is welcomed about as well as the newest Star Trek movie, where it deviates from all of the actors we've grown to associate as the main characters. As die hard fans we will watch the newest edition to the family, but are skeptical of the many changes. Often, the movies that take the origins approach feel too much like they're targeting the younger audience, alienating those of us who have grown up with our favorite comic characters.

But, until we can get another fix from Hero's Super VeloCity engine, we entertain ourselves in the ways the world provides, fantasizing about the superhero we imagine ourselves would like to be.

Flame on!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Summer Supers #1

The summer is here and it is once again time for blockbuster action. While we wait for more of Hero's Wild Talents in Velo City, let's look at some up and coming super hero action. FnD's first look is at X-Men the new anime from Japan.

"The X-Men are reunited following the death of a teammate, and are summoned by Charles Xavier to Japan following the abduction of Hisako Ichiki (Armor). There, they confront the U-Men, a lunatic cult that steals and transplants mutant organs to further strengthen their own army, and the battle for justice is on." - Marvel



What could be a better way to start off our Summer Supers than with a new anime that combines the fantastic elements of Japanese culture, similarly in Anima, and super hero action, as in Wild Talents. I've watched the first episode and it is pretty intense. This is a show for a more mature audience, unlike the X-Men cartoon that aired in America in the 1990s. About the only issue I have with the series is that it is voiced in Japanese, which has never been a problem in the past. I prefer the original language animes over dubs, but hearing characters I have grown up with suddenly speaking to each other in a new language challenges my suspension of disbelief. I would have liked a Blood: the Last Vampire approach of Japanese and English language mix throughout. Also, there are some characters that have deviated in their look from the original design. Storm and Beast have been overhauled and look almost like new characters. In all, it's different, but if you love anime you'll love this twist on classic comic mutant heroes.

More Summer Supers to follow in greater detail. Power up and game on.