Twitter's @ThistledownJohn and Fear The Boot's Chad at World Wide Wing Night

Chad's Cigars 101 at World Wide Wing Night

Click through for more pics from FtC3 (continue reading…)

Ross Payton of Role Playing Public Radio

At Fear the Con last week, I had the good fortune to play in Ross Payton’s Age of Masks Wild Talents game.  Age of Masks is a setting not unlike that of Watchmen.  It is a grim  and gritty modern era world where those wearing the cape of the superhero are anything but heroic.  Remember Miller’s Dark Knight Returns?  Then you can imagine the world Payton painted for us.

The game employs the Wild Talents system. It’s a nifty, streamlined system that were it not for it’s dice mechanic, I’d like rather a lot.

Here’s an excerpt from a great review of the game over on RPG.net:

The heart of Wild Talents is the One Role Engine. It does what it says on the tin: it tells you everything you need about an action based on a single roll. It’s a die pool game, wherein you take your statistics (Body, Coordination, Command, etc.), add them to your skills (Swordplay, Chemistry, Brawling, etc.), and roll the resultig number as a pool of ten-sided dice. Unlike similar die pool games, you’re not looking to beat a target number–you’re looking for dice that show the same result. The number of matching numerals is the “width,” and the actual numeral is the “height.” For instance, if you roll a five-die pool and get 3, 8, 3, 3, and 2, then you’ve got a 3×3 result: three instances (width) of the number three (hight). You can never roll more than 10 dice, because you’re guaranteed success if you do, and that’s just not cool. (continue reading…)

Aron, Wayne, and Jonathan prepare for Fear The Con 3 while Paul stays at the office to mind the store.

• Deadpaul Corps
• Three Tales of Full-Bellied Puking
• The real reason why Paul didn’t attend Fear the Con 3
• Marvel’s plans for New Avengers
• Punisher gets re-titled
• We are the X-Men
• X-Men: Second Coming… Prepare!

We also include in this episode Paul’s interview with Lucifer writer Mike Carey.  Carey’s comics work includes X-Men: Legacy for Marvel and The Unwritten for DC’s Vertigo imprint.  Also of note are his Felix Castor novels, which sound pretty damned cool.

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From left to right: Aron, Tim, Jonathan, and Wayne. Not featured is Paul who was too full of fail to be present.

Four out of five hosts agree, Fear the Con 3 in St. Louis rocked!

For the first time, the four of us met face-to-face.  Tim, Wayne, and Jonathan are just as great guys as you’d think they are.  Truly, excellent fellows to call friends.

Paul was sorely missed, but I think we’ll get him to the next one.

Something that surprised me at the con was how much Funnybook love was shared.  Many people pulled me aside telling me how much they enjoyed the show.  I talked comics with lots and lots of new friends.  I cannot begin to tell you how amazing it was!

First game huge success. I played in a Weird War II, a setting for Savage Worlds. I’ve been very curious about this one and have wondered if I should pick it up.

Totally sold on it.

We played Russian partisans monkey wrenching the Nazi war engine marching across Beloruss (Sp?).

Slicing the throats of Nazi sniper’s, I settled on my battlecry: “I accept your surrender.”

Our lieutenant forgot to call in the artillery. Note his shirt below, which cracked me up.

Outstanding game.

I’m off to Ross Payton’s Age of Masks.

it’s all about to start. Giddy. Giddy, I am.

The room is set up and dig that sexy prize support!

Two St Louis Treasures: Luke Meyer and Toasted Ravioli

Best. Wing. Night. Ever!

Seriously, a terrific turn out tonight at the pre-Fear The Con mixer.  Tons of the best people you ever wanted to chat with all right under one roof with copious amounts of wings and booze in ready supply.  I cannot begin to tell you how much fun this was.

My inability to describe it is largely due to the fact that I had a considerable amount to drink.  The bar bill reads a bit like this: A glass of scotch, five glasses of bourbon, and two Irish Car Bombs.

I have to document the evening now as I may not recall it in the morning!

The best part of the drinking was Jonathan Landreth buying them.  Hoo buddy, good stuff.  Thank you, Jon-Boy!

Twitter's @ThistledownJohn

I enjoyed cigars with an awesome crew of dudes and had some righteous comic discussion with Noble Bear and others.  By far, I was stunned at how much love Funnybooks got this evening.  Many people came up to comment how much they enjoy the show.  Truly, a very humbling experience.

The brilliance of Fear the Con is WWWN.  This mixer allows folks who’ll be spending the next two days together playing games the opportunity to break the ice.  It sets the tone for the rest of the weekend.  In terms of gaming and company kept, FtC is the best con around.  If tonight’s festivities were any indication, FTC3 will be the best yet of this convention.

NOTE:  I took a ton of pics on my digital camera.  I won’t be able to load them to the site until Sunday since I left my adapter at home.  Me am smart.  I’ll be capturing images on my iPhone in greater number tomorrow and Saturday as well as higher res images for later publication.

Lots more to come tomorrow morning when the con officially kicks off.

A little retro FtC action: The logo from the first year!

As I write this, it is half-an hour from World Wing Night, the social event kicking off the Fear the Con 3 activities. Today, my traveling companion James and I ventured ‘cross this great nation of ours from Texas to Saint Louis.  We have secured ground transportation, lodging at the con hotel, and even enjoyed a little BBQ.

We lunched at Bandana’s where our server, Francisco, recommended the Wet Bandana.  I believe this may have been something like what I paid 1000 pesos for the last time I was in Juarez.  Francisco also spent some time reviewing the various “sauces,” stating that for something really spicy – well – he had that “in the back.”

St. Louis, what a welcoming, exotic place.

30-minutes to Wing Night.

Stay tuned!

This week, Aron provides marital advice while Jonathan, Wayne and Paul take notes.

• Siege Update
  • Invincible Iron Man #24
  • The Mighty Avengers #34
• Justice League: Cry for Justice #7
• Fall of the Hulks Update
  • Savage She Hulks #1
• Green Hornet #1
• Ultimate Avengers #5
• New Ultimates #1
• What if were writing the Ultimate Universe?

At GenCon 2009, Aron was on a panel about the work which goes on behind the podcast.  With folks from TrapCast and The Brilliant Gameologists, social networking and community building are discussed.  Check it out!

Also, Kicked in the Dicebags’ fiftieth episodes was released this weekend!  It’s awesome because Chris and Jonathan aren’t on it and Aron is!  Enjoy a cultured, sophisticated Kicked in the Dicebags.

Stay tuned to the site in the coming week for lots of Fear The Con coverage.

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CUE: OCD Old Man Rant

I’m not much on the all you can eat buffet.

Sure, when I was 20 years old nothing excited me more than a pizza buffet.  I remember once, when complaining to Mama at Mama’s Pizza that more pizza was needed on the hot table, she told me I’d had enough.  I had to emphasize to her that it was not all she could eat.  Rather, it was all I could eat.

But those days are long gone.

Unless you’re visiting some uptown Sunday morning brunch, most of the food on a buffet is quantity over quality.  Not so at Sweet Tomatoes (aka Soup Plantation). I love the selection.  Fresh salads, wide variety of soup, potato bar, fresh breads… Yummy, healthy choices!

My experience last night will keep me from ever visiting there again. (continue reading…)