FBU: Fearing the Con!

Editor’s Note: This is the first of our Fear The Con 4 coverage.  FTC4 kicks off tonight with World Wide Wing Night and continues through Saturday night.  Check back often as the Ideology of Madness crew update the feed with pics, commentary and after game reports.  Now, enjoy episode 2 of Funnybooks Unlimited!

Paul’s afraid.  See, the upcoming FEAR THE CON is going to be one of his first times gaming, and he’s afraid of not only being eaten alive by more experienced gamers, but of ruining their gaming experiences with his lack of knowledge.  Tim gives Paul advice on being a first-time gamer going to a gaming convention, in his usual Tim way.

Then, Paul discusses his children’s book series, The Siblings Scarington, and solicits advice from listeners on self-publishing ideas, then complains about the unreliability of some freelancers.  Anybody looking to break into writing should give this episode a listen!

  • First time gaming at Con, in which Tim offers up sage wisdom
  • Getting published, or self-publishing, in which Paul tries not to drop the F-bomb when talking about children’s books
  • Ragey Red Rant, in which freelancers take your money and don’t understand English

FBU is a monthly special where your Funnybooks hosts talk about anything but comics!  Let Tim and Paul make sweet, sweet love to your eardrums!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Written on March 17th, 2011 , Columns, Conventions, Funnybooks Unlimited, Role Playing Games Tags: , , , ,
Funnybooks with Aron and Paulie: iPad2 and the Petting Zoo!

In the week prior to Fear the Con 4, Aron gets an iPad2 and speaks of it in glowing terms bordering on the inappropriate while Paul has a lot of explaining to do.  There’s also the Trade Paper Back and Sock Incidents to discuss.  And comics.

  • New Avengers #10
  • Wonder Woman #608
  • Ultimate Spider-Man #155
  • Venom #1
  • Justice League: Generation Lost #21
  • Superboy #5
  • Lil’ Depressed Boy #2
  • Sigil #1

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Written on March 13th, 2011 , Comics, DC, Funny Books with Aron & Paulie, Marvel, Podcasts Tags: , , , ,
Funnybooks with Aron and Paulie: Hide the Snausage!

Paul returns this week, but leaves that echo of his behind while we find ourselves lusting after the iPad2 and giddy with the anticipation of Fear the Con 4.  Join Aron, Paul, Tim, Wayne and Andrew for another podcast episode full of comics, and yes, He/She Update Week 3!

  • Annihilators #1
  • Astonishing Thor #3
  • Avengers Academy #10
  • Green Lantern #63
  • Heroes for Hire #4
  • Incognito: Bad Influences #4
  • Savage Dragon #169
  • Thunderbolts #154

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Written on March 6th, 2011 , Comics, DC, Funny Books with Aron & Paulie, Image, Marvel, Podcasts Tags: , , , ,
Funnybooks with Aron and Paulie: That Chick’s a Dude!

Paul’s away from the microphone this week and he decided to take that irritating echo with him.  So while Aron, Tim, Wayne and Andrew wait for Charlie Sheen to dial in, we chat about all manner of subjects.  For instance we mourn the loss of comics and animation luminary Dwayne McDuffie, Tim applies some savage guilt to Aron, Andrew gives us a He/She update and Aron calls Andrew out.

Oh, and we talk about comics, too:

  • Teen Titans #92
  • Ultimate Comics Doom #3
  • JL: Generation Lost #20
  • Power Man & Iron Fist #2
  • Fantastic Four #588
  • Amazing Spider-Man #655

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Written on February 28th, 2011 , Comics, DC, Funny Books with Aron & Paulie, Marvel, Podcasts Tags: , , , ,
Your Morning Head: The Topic that Wouldn’t Die

aomWhile enjoying a beer out with The Wife Saturday night, I received a message from a buddy of mine.   Deb advised me that Ross Payton and his crew over at Role Playing Public Radio were talking about me.  Or at least the subject of my previous two YMH columns concerning the use of social skills against a fellow player’s character.

“Have you checked it out yet?” She asked.  “Ouch… They’re a bit harsh toward the end.”

I hadn’t, so I downloaded it, listening on Sunday while digging out the flower beds.

The RPPR folks took the position that grown-up role players settle matters of disagreement through role playing free of a dice mechanic.  Player vs. player conflicts should be settled through acting out the drama and perhaps meta-game it a bit to resolution.  As you know, I disagree. Read the rest of this entry »

Written on April 6th, 2010 , Conventions, Role Playing Games, Your Morning Head Tags: , ,
Solomon Kane’s Travelers Tales’ for Savage Worlds

S2P10401sizedDour Puritans who fight the forces of supernatural evil with the sheer power of their faith and a vicious scowl are not exactly my cup of tea.  If anything, I am a much bigger fan of beefy barbarians who battle dark wizards and seduce lusty wenches.  So, when given the choice of Robert E. Howard’s characters, I prefer Conan over Solomon Kane.  In fact, I have only read two Solomon Kane stories.

I am, however, a sucker for Savage Worlds and will devour pretty much anything that they produce.  So, when I went to the prize support table after running my game at Fear the Con 3 (yes, you get a prize for running games at Fear the Con.  You regret missing it even more now, don’t you?) my eyes were immediately drawn to the Savage Worlds of Solomon Kane Travelers’ Tales book.

The book is just over 30 pages long and has about the same dimensions as a magazine.  It contains three complete adventure scenarios set in Solomon Kane’s world of supernatural darkness.  The stories echoes tales that are familiar from the real world.  The first involves the Uffington Dragon and the apparent return of the beast that inspired it.  The second is a tale of a Frankenstein style mad scientist.  The final story features Kublai Khan and his secret city of Xanadu.  The book ends with several sample characters that players can use should they not already have Solomon Kane characters or if they want to try a new character. Read the rest of this entry »

Written on March 23rd, 2010 , Conventions, DriveThru RPG Reviews, Role Playing Games, Savage Worlds Tags: , , ,
FtC3: Escape Into the White Man’s Planet
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Game Master Chris Mais oversees The Escape Into White Man's Planet

I have enjoyed the terrific honor of gaming with Chris Mais at each of the three Fear the Cons.  He played school teacher Peter Badger in my zombie game the first year and reprised  the role in the second year sequel to the game.  Fear the Con 3 saw my first opportunity play in his game.

Chris ran ESCAPE INTO WHITE MAN’S PLANET, a game in the style of the blacksploitation films of the 1970s such as SHAFT, SUPER FLY, and even the more recent BLACK DYNAMITE.  Chris used the Savage Worlds system for his setting’s mechanics.  The pulp nature of Savage Worlds made things flow smoothly and in cinematic fashion.

Shortly before he started, Chris shared that it had been in excess of five years since he last ran a game.  I think I’d have pee’d myself had my first game after such a hiatus been a con game.  Chris ran his game masterfully.

Without a doubt, this was the most irreverent, offensive, and outright hilarious game I have ever played.  Chris rocked this thing hard.  He was blessed by some amazing talent around the table who came to the game with the intent of working towards a great game.  Rarely have a seen so many players focused on EVERYONE’s good time – including the fun of the GM.

Chris tickled us and we tickled him and each other.

My ears hurt from all the laughter. Read the rest of this entry »

Written on March 22nd, 2010 , Conventions, Games, Role Playing Games, Savage Worlds Tags: , ,
FtC3: The Iron Tyrants Review
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Luke Meyer: Crafting Iron Tyranny

Sometimes you just want to play with giant robots blasting each other to smithereens.  That is exactly what I got to do when I was given the rare opportunity to not only play test a new game before it was fully developed, but also to do so with one of its creators.

The game that I’m speaking of is Iron Tyrants and the creator is Luke Myer of the Podge Cast.  Iron Tyrants is a game of tabletop miniatures battles that he has been developing with his partner Adam Pinilla for over a year.

This game has a number of remarkable traits.  The first that it is exceptionally fast paced.  We were able to resolve a four player, eight Tyrant game in just over an hour, a length of time that would be necessary to play just a round or two in a game like Battletech.

The rules are also exceptionally simple and intuitive.  We only needed Luke to walk us through a round or two of combat before we had all of the core concepts down and were essentially able to run the game without his aid.  As simple as they were, however, the rules were neither boring nor limiting.  Like many RPGs and CCGs these days it is a game of exceptions.  The core rules are simple but each Tyrant has certain abilities that allow them to break these simple rules. Read the rest of this entry »

Written on March 19th, 2010 , Conventions, Role Playing Games Tags: , , ,
Pics from Fear The Con 3
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Twitter's @ThistledownJohn and Fear The Boot's Chad at World Wide Wing Night

chad wwwn2

Chad's Cigars 101 at World Wide Wing Night

Click through for more pics from FtC3 Read the rest of this entry »

Written on March 17th, 2010 , Conventions, Role Playing Games Tags: , , ,
Your Morning Head: Limiting Free Will at FtC3
ross payton

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. Read the rest of this entry »

Written on March 17th, 2010 , Conventions, Role Playing Games, Your Morning Head Tags: , , ,
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