I've been pretty busy both at work and at home and was without internet connection at home last week, but things are slowing down and I am back online at home.
This is just a quick post to let you know about this terrific fan trailer for a World's Finest (Superman and Batman) movie. If only DC could actually make a good superhero movie......
Also, I don't have a link handy, but there is a really cool Green Arrow trailer out there. If fans on shoe-string budgets can make such cool things why can't WB give us something better than Catwoman?
In other superhero-related news, I picked up City of Heroes, the MMORPG where you can play superheroes in "retched hive of scum and villiany." I played it for a while last night and I may have a new addiction. If this site is still quiet over the next few weeks, you'll know why. You can find me in the Protector server. Currently, I'm playing a certain vampire named Dorian Graham.
Curse of Humility
Power Level: 3
Quick Cast: No.
Source: The Mystic Arts of Ancient Greece
Requirements: A lock of the targets hair, a mirror and a ten minute chant to the goddess Circe.
Effect: This spell causes humiliation and embaressment to its victim by compelling the target to worship the caster or another person or object. When near the chosen subject, the victims knees become weak and they fall to the ground, grovelling and abasing himself or herself before the object. While this doesn't prevent the target from atacking the subject, the spell will force them to grovel even as they attack. "Most glorious Glorificus, forgive me, your most loyal servant, for the wound my unworthy hands inflict upon you." The target initially gets to resist this spell with a x2 will roll. If the character has more success levels than the caster's, the spell is resisted. Additionally, the target receives another chance to shake this spell off after each full night of rest at an additional +2 to the roll for every day since the spell was initially cast.
Notes: Traditionally, this spell was only cast by the women of Greece and only against men. These days, it appears to work for men or women against men or women. Perhaps it always worked that way and our records are inaccurate or perhaps Circe is less picky these days and will help any mortal who calls upon her.
I ran my first adventure using the Marvel Universe Roleplaying Game over the weekend. Since I only used the system's rules a few times during the game, I still don't have enough of a feel for the system to give much commentary.
The players were:
Carla as Kitty Pryde/"Shadowcat"
Jarrod as Bobby Drake/"Iceman"
Matthew as Emma Frost
Phil as John/"Emo"
The game was set in a new X-Men universe with no connection to previous versions of the X-Men.
I had kept the plot for the game pretty simple since I expected a lot of players and it was a short period of time we'd be gaming. As it turned out, it wasn't quite enough plot for the group. It revolved around a government military group called "Weapon X" that was kidnapping mutants to brainwash them into being good soldiers for the US government. Using a mutant precognitive named Destiny, they kidnapped several students from the Massachussets Academy, a private school for mutants run by Emma Frost. Emma contacted Charles Xavier for help shortly before several of his "X-Men" were kidnapped as well. Weapon X captured Jean Grey and Warren "Angel" Worthington. Bobby Drake managed to escape with the badly wounded Scott Summers.
To rescue the missing students, several of the older students of his "Xavier's School for Gifted Youth" were brought into the X-Men: Kitty Pryde, Kurt "Nightcrawler" Wagner, "Emo", Peter "Colossus" Rasputin and Jubilation Lee. These New X-Men joined Bobby, Logan and Emma in an attempt to allow some of them to be captured and lead the other half of the team to the base the mutants were held in.
They were successful in rescuing several mutants, including Emma's "Hellions", an African woman claiming to be a goddess and a native american named John Proudstar. In the end, Emo, Shadowcat, Nightcrawler and Colossus ended up joining the X-Men permanently and Emma ended up with a new member for her Hellions, Destiny.
The players seemed to enjoy themselves. I had fun running it and I think I set it up well for future games. I plan to run this here and there whenever players seem interested but with no set schedule or players.
Whedon once admitted that Kitty Pryde served as a model for Buffy and obviously has made her a focal point here. It works well and I think this focus will continue to be of interest as will the interaction of the X team Whedon has chosen. He shows a feel for the group’s dynamics and based on his other works this could be a highlight of the series.
-From this review of Astonishing X-Men.
Interesting. I was thinking while reading Astonishing X-Men #1 that Joss seemed to be using Kitty Pryde to have that "Buffy voice." I guess Buffy had a "Kitty voice" all along.
I think it is nice to have that "good" character in the group again. Like Buffy, Kitty is a character with a strong moral center. With the changes in Scott Summers over the last few years and the addition of Emma Frost to the X-Men, a character like Kitty was needed.
Harry from Aint It Cool News wrote this review of Van Helsing that sums up why I liked Van Helsing so much, despite it not being a very good movie. You can read his review here: http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=17487
I've had this desire for some time. It has gone through several variations as I have thought about it, but it keeps coming back. Since it is the Fourth of July (a date of great significance here in the states and to this scenario), I'm bringing up again.
I want to run a game someday where the PCs are John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin and other members of "America's Founding Fathers."
In some variations, I've considered doing a weird alternate history with magic, aliens or some other weirdness thrown in as the colonies were just beginning to discuss declaring their independence from the mother country.
In other variations, I think of trying to run a large LARP where players represent a whole bunch of the delegates that were there for the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Armed with a packet of information on the delegate's background, the politics of the time, the needs of his home colony and such, players get to roleplay the arguments and process of dealing with John Adams suggestion to write the declaration and the actual writing of it. This may sound fun to me as an American History buff (particularly a Colonial American History buff), but I'm not so certain it would be fun for players or if the scenario could possibly be ended in one con slot, since it took Adams & Co. days and days of revisions and debates before the Declaration was finalized, but I think it would be an interesting way to get into the mindsets of a group of people who made the extremely brave act of becoming traitors to their home country in the cause of some ideal they held dear or the delegates that argued against independence (who had just as valid arguments).
I've thought of doing alternate history scenarios where players play some of those delegates a few years later after the swift defeat of the colonies and they are fugitives in hiding from the British Authorities because of their traitorous acts.
What do you think? What kind of scenario starring these historical characters would be interesting as a RPG. Obviously, I can't do the action/adventure scenarios I usually run.
The music video can be seen here.
It's Leonard Nimoy's greatest hit!
An added bonus! A sampling of Leonard Nimoy's Poetry:
In my heart
Is the seed of the tree
Which will be me.
Nourished by understanding
Warmed by friends
Fed by loved ones
Matured by wisdom
Tempered by tears.
Today,
Time has stopped.
A minute is still a minute.
An hour is still an hour.
And yet,
The past and the future
Hang in perfect balance.
All focused on the present.
A sweet flow of excitement
Warms me.
You are near.
Leonard Nimoy
City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau (Novel): This science fiction novel was written for the same age group as the Harry Potter books but like the Harry Potter books, should appeal to a much larger demographic. It is the story of Lina and Doon, two kids who live in the city of Ember. Ember is the only light in a world surrounded by darkness. The lights have begun to flicker lately and people fear that the electricity will stop and the world will be plunged into darkness. Lina and Doon work together to try and find a way to keep the lights on in Ember.....or find a way out. It's a great book and I'm reading the sequel right now, People of Sparks and it has been just as good. The characters are likable and the setting really keeps you interested. The mystery in the book is pretty straight-forward but still a lot of fun.
Spiderman 2: It is as good as, if not better than the first. There is a lot of great character moments and some of the best fight scenes in any movie. Sam Raimi is the only director I have seen that bring comic book action to the big screen and this movie defiantely had a lot more of his quirky style (for both better and worse).