Tabletop Roleplaying Review: Barbarians of Lemuria

    Way back when I first started writing for In the Mouth of Dorkness, I had plans to explore one of my favorite hobbies, tabletop roleplaying games. I started the Prodigal Son column, where I chronicled my attempts to get back into the hobby, which sadly didn’t really work out. At the time, I thought I’d write the occasional review of a game or game book. I only did that once, with my exploration of Over the Edge. Well, I’m giving it another go.

    I can’t remember where I first came across the name of Barbarians of Lemuria (BoL, as it’s known). I think it was on a Facebook gaming page where people were talking about their favorite “light mechanics” games (games with fairly simple, straightforward rules). Whatever the case, something struck me. I read further into it and found that it was a small game, independently written and produced, that had garnered quite the fan base. Those who had heard of it; who had read the book, seemed rather enamored of it. Looking deeper, it started to sound like just the thing I’d been looking for, a game made for running Swords & Sorcery games, a la Robert E. Howard’s Conan. So, I hopped on to Lulu and ordered the hardcover (I always prefer a print copy, and hardcover if I can get it; I’m just not very good with e-books and PDFs).

    The game evolved out of Simon Washbourne’s desire to create a game based on the world of Lin Carter’s Thongor of Lemuria, kind of a second string Conan. Because he couldn’t get an official licensed game out, he modified things, making it more his own. The setting is fine. It’s very true to the Sword & Sorcery aesthetics and would make a fine sandbox to play in. But the system is what I was most interested in, this time around (not something I ever thought I’d say). I was looking for a good system for Conan, and I found it. The basic mechanic is easy and intuitive, which I like. But the thing that really makes the game for me is the career path system. This captures something of the genre I haven’t seen captured before. When you look at a character like Conan, or Solomon Kane, or Elric, or Fafhrd & the Gray Mouser, they weren’t always one thing. Conan wasn’t always a roving adventurer. He was a thief, a military man, a deckhand on a ship, and many other things. He had several careers, learned many skills over his years. And BoL’s career path system reflects that.

    The only weakness I see in the game comes from its adherence to some of the less advanced views of many of the classic genre authors. I’m talking about women, here. The game is firmly set in the ‘big tough men rescuing shapely, weak women’ mindset. It’s not too blatant or overbearing about it, but there are bits dropped throughout that remind you many of the more interesting female swords & sorcery heroes came around much later. It wouldn’t take much of any effort to tweek things onto a more enlightened path.

    So, for folks who like easy, numbers light game mechanics and Swords & Sorcery Fantasy adventure, this is a great game. The setting is fine. The mechanics are nice. And I think you could have a lot of fun with it. I know I’m really looking forward to roping some folks in to Hyborian Age game, and I’ll almost certainly be using Barbarians of Lemuria when I do it. 

-Matthew J. Constantine

Prodigal Son: Roots

                                                                  Part Twenty Three

    Cue long, exaggerated sigh, followed by a nostalgic musing while I stare off into the distance.  Yes.  It is done.  Or, to use a phrase I think should never be used in another film in the history of ever, “It has begun.”  After all the talk, all the wishful thinking, all the day dreaming, and yes, all the many false starts, the first night of actual roleplaying has been accomplished.  The first full session I’ve run in more than six years (other than that one on one thing with Brad a couple years ago when I was first trying to get serious about this).  I think that’s the longest continuous gap in gaming I’ve had since I started with the hobby as a young lad (pretty sure Reagan was still in office).  It feels good to slay that dragon.  Starting a game is always difficult.  Starting a game with people new to the hobby is a challenge (a very worthy one).  But starting a game after six years was very, very hard to do.  I’m using mental muscles that have atrophied, digging into parts of my brain that haven’t seen the light of day for far too long.  But, it all worked out pretty well.  All the stress and apprehension melted away fairly quickly, and I began to feel the old rhythms.

    Call of Cthulhu always has always felt a bit like coming home.  It uses the Basic Roleplaying system, the game mechanic I got started on.  And it didn’t take me long to fall for it’s 1920s/1930s setting.  After all, Indiana Jones was my hero.  Over the years, it’s meant a lot of different things to me.  I’ve played in several very different games, and I’ve run a bunch myself.  It’s always challenging, but usually rewarding.  This time around, I’m trying something a little more ambitious than normal.  In the past, I’ve almost always done one of three things.  Early on, my games were always set in very cinematic versions of exotic countries.  Then I graduated to The Thing style of relatable, but hopelessly remote locations, with characters from different walks of life thrust together through circumstance (survivors of a plane crash, for example).  Later, in an attempt to get things more grounded and relatable, my games were set in and around Bangor, Maine, my home town and a place I had a good deal of practical knowledge of.  Not this time.  This time the game is set in Arkham, the city is wide open, and I’m juggling more than one story.  In the past, I’ve tended to take just one idea, one creature, one item, and build a story around it.  When that story was over, perhaps I’d do a follow-up, likely connected to the first in some way.  This time, I wanted to do something new.  So, I’ve got a whole bunch of storylines, some fully developed, some only briefly sketched out, all waiting to be uncovered by the group.  And I’m going to let them explore those stories in whatever way they see fit.  Sure, I’ll be dropping hints and hooks, but already they’ve gone off in unexpected directions, and it’s great.  Of course, not ever story will pan out.  Not every clue will lead to something important.  And these story threads aren’t all linked.  They’re not all about the same thing, and they’re not all building to something, like I’d normally do.  Though they may be laced together by the characters (that’s already started to happen), I’m letting the chips fall where they may.

    Going way back, I always knew that Call of Cthulhu shouldn’t be Dungeons & Dragons.  I don’t just mean the system and all its nonsense.  I mean, it shouldn’t be about walking around fighting monsters all the time.  It shouldn’t be opening doors and finding random creatures and artifacts.  It shouldn’t be a video game.  I think that might be part of why I always focused stories on only one core idea or creature.  If the story was about Ghouls, then dang it, Ghouls would be what you got.  Maybe, just maybe, they’d have something extra special and nasty working with them, but 99% of what the game would be about Ghouls and Ghouls only.  This time around I wanted to do things differently, so I conceived two major and unrelated stories, and multiple lesser stories.  I still don’t want this to degrade into some 20s themed dungeon crawl, with rooms full of Deep Ones or legions of Nightgaunts flapping around.  But it’s going to be more monster/thing heavy than I’d normally do.  In fact, in the very first session, a monster was spotted (briefly), an artifact was found, and a bunch of other crazy stuff happened.  Normally, I’d take a lot longer to reveal that much.  And of course, like in all Call of Cthulhu games I run, I need to make sure that the possibility of the complete ending of the world is always an option.  I feel like any given session of the game should be able to result in an apocalypse of some form, be it a plague, open war with the Deep Ones, causing Yog-Sothoth to open the Gates, a visit from Ghroth, whatever.

    So, now that I’ve got my head around the game, now that the first session has happened, I feel more focused, and more like I know what I’m doing again.  Now, I need to target each player and his/her character with some particular excitement and horror, as well as provide opportunities for each to be a valued member of a team.

    I don’t imagine this game will go on for more than 3 or 4 sessions, especially as I’m trying to keep things moving quickly, and will probably be throwing a lot more, and more deadly things at the characters than normal.  So, I’m still thinking about what other games might be good for the group.  I would certainly like to do something more long form, something open ended, where character development can get more play, where stories can take their time to build, and where actions have far reaching consequences.  One especially nice thing about games like Call of Cthulhu is that, assuming characters reach a good ending point still sane and alive, there’s always the option of picking things up again later, even if there are new players in the group.  If folks enjoy this roleplaying thing and want to do more, we’ll talk about options again then.  I hope I can keep this ball rolling.  It’s tough, with everyone having kids and jobs and social lives.  But I think we can do it.

I still love Cyberpunk 2020.

-Matt

Prodigal Son: Choices

    It has finally happened.  I got several people together for a roleplaying game.  Dang, it’s been a long, long time.  I wasn’t sure exactly how things were going to go down, but I guess it went OK.  With only one experienced gamer, I figured a brief introduction to the hobby would help (I hope it didn’t just confuse), and then some general questions of interest.  But after talking to Lisa a few weeks back, I realized she was right, and limiting the options was a good idea (I think she said, “Matt, just make a frickin’ decision.” Though I could be remembering it wrong).  So, I kind of boiled it down to Space 1889 or Call of Cthulhu (while leaving the possibility of something else if people had super strong feelings about something).

    After lots and lots of stammering, occasional blank stares, and a few frantic, scared-rabbit glances, I managed to spit out a stream of consciousness rant about what roleplaying games are (probably missing all the essential elements) and how they’re played.  Then, after a bit of intellectual waffling, I think I may have steered the group toward picking Call of Cthulhu, which works for me.  It’s not rule heavy or number crunchy like D&D or some others, but it’s not as loosey goosey as Over the Edge or Everway.  Having some structure seems like a good idea for folks who have never tried the hobby before.  It’s a scaffolding for the imagination to build its cathedrals (how’s that for some poetry).  With CofC chosen, we set about making the characters.  There’s a handy guide, which was …handy, because it had been quite a while since the last time I went through the process.  We have a big game hunter, a retired naval officer, a reporter, and a mobster.  And the group decided that Lovecraft’s fictional city of Arkham would be our starting point.  With some assignments for reading (you know I love homework!) and a few suggestions for things to look into, I wrapped the day up and started to let it all sink in.

    Now, I’ve got some work to do, but I’ve got a direction to go in.  We’re going to try to meet on a semi-regular biweekly basis.  So, I’ve got about two weeks to do a bunch of reading on Arkham, prep up some non-player character, and create a bunch of story hooks.  I came up with three this morning, and I kind of like ‘em.  So, I’ll probably develop those and maybe a couple others.  There’s always the possibility of multiple story threads being investigated at the same time.  As I’m doing that, I want to prep a list of movies, music, and the like for folks to check out if they’re so inclined.  Things to set the mood or capture the spirit of the age.

    The 20s were pretty wild.  You had the end of the old world and the birth of the new, women entering the workplace at unprecedented numbers, courting going out of fashion to be replaced with dating, money flowing fast and free right next to shocking poverty, great advancements in science along side cultural rejections of progress.  This is the time of flappers and Jazz.  But it’s also the dying days of the Wild West and the prime of Segregation.  Racism is rampant, religious hatreds are inflamed, the scars of one war are barely healed and the shadows of another are just starting to coalesce.  The Great Depression and the Dust Bowl are a few years away, and for the lucky few, things couldn’t be better.  Of course, the brighter the light, the darker the shadow.  And that’s where Call of Cthulhu comes in.  So, with the first night, and a bunch of choices behind us, I’m ready to get this show on the road.  It’s been a long time coming, and I’m glad it’s finally happening.  Now, I just have to not screw it up.

    So, I’m popping on the Cab Calloway, dusting off the Louise Brooks DVDs, and pulling my leather bound Lovecraft off the shelf.  I’ve got my pen and notebook ready, and I’m feeling the creative juices flowing.  If we make it through one complete story, coming to a reasonable end or stopping place, I will be happy.  If folks enjoy that and want to keep going, I will be ecstatic.

-Matt

Matt’s Week in Dork! (1/5/14-1/11/14)

    Didn’t get a heck of a lot of movie watching done this week.  I’ve been trying to catch up on some reading and planning for the upcoming return to gaming, and I’ve just been danged tired.  Trying to sleep hasn’t been working out too well.  I did get around to solidifying my list of Cinematic Resolutions for 2014.

The Wolf of Wall Street: There are like eight things on earth that interest me less than Wall Street and stock exchanges, so this movie had an uphill battle to rope me in.  Still, the popping style, funny dialog, and solid performances had me smiling and laughing.  Considering Lawrence of Arabia is one of my all time favorite films, and I only watch the extended versions of the Lord of the Rings, this may be an odd statement.  But the biggest problem I think I had was that the movie was just too long.  It wasn’t boring.  Not really.  Though the second half did drag at times.  But I feel like I got the point, like the message was delivered, but then it just kept going and going and going.  I don’t think, as some critics have said, that this movie is morally bankrupt.  I didn’t feel like the filmmakers were saying this sort of thing was good.  Only that it happens; it happened.  And yes, rich people get away with stuff all the time because they’re rich.  That’s just the way it is.  But within 24 hours of watching the movie, most of it had faded from my memory.  It's something I've seen, and something I enjoyed while watching, but not something that left any kind of mark on me.

Clerks II:  I really, really, really love Rosario Dawson in this.  She’s so danged cute and funny.  The rest of the movie?  Pure Kevin Smith.  If that sounds good to you, you should like this film.  I have to admit, after a few years of trying really hard to be one of the cool kids who liked Kevin Smith films, I realized I don’t.  I enjoyed Mallrats the one time I saw it, but never felt the need to watch it again.  And Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back came out while I was working in a theater, so it holds some kind of place in my heart (I may have even taken a lady friend to it, which might account for the positive vibes).  Otherwise, blah.  He’s still running through the same gags, the same obnoxious half-assed social commentary, the same bunch of dick jokes.  The nerd humor feels forced by this point, almost like self parody.  And shoehorning his wife into the film was…um…weird.  Really weird.  Creepy weird.  It just didn’t work for me.  But then, neither did Clerks or Chasing Amy.  I never felt connected to the 90s and Kevin Smith never left them.  (edit: Upon reflection, I think I’ve figured out one of the things that bothers me about Smith’s work.  He subscribes to that particular 90s brand of pseudo-feminism in which women are ALWAYS right and men are ALWAYS wrong, and if a man doesn’t immediately change any and every aspect of himself to fit what a woman wants, he’s an asshole, and part of the Patriarchy [a shadowy conspiracy that seems an awful lot like the Nazi version of the Jews, running everything from behind some horrible penis curtain].  This is just a half baked theory right now, but I think I might be onto something.)

Mystery Science Theater 3000: Gamera VS. Guiron:  “It’s a planet.”  This one is pretty darned good.  The Gamera movies are more kid friendly (read: shoddy) kaiju movies, and their American releases had some epically bad dubbing.  All the stuff with young Richard Burton cracks me up.  And the ending piano bar thing with eventual host Mike is priceless and weird.  Perhaps not in the upper echelons of the series, but a darned fine entry, none the less.

Raiders of the Lost Ark:  Straight up, one of the best danged movies ever made, and one of the very top action films.  It’s also the film I can trace a great deal of me back to.  At the core of my interests, my loves, and my way of looking at the world, there is Raiders.  Karen Allen was one of my very first crushes, and became a template for the tough, black haired ladies I’ve always found myself falling for.  Indiana Jones became the model for my ideal self (one never achieved).  History, geography, religion, archeology, and fighting Nazi bastards became essential thoughts for young Matt, and paved the way for my life to come.  It’s beautifully shot, tense, funny, action packed, and sweeping.  It’s a true homage to the serials and adventure films and fiction of the 30s and 40s, and a great way to spend an evening.

47 Ronin:  If I were 13 and had never seen any movies about samurai, or any Asian fantasy films, this would probably have been pretty cool.  A good springboard movie for me to get into other, better films.  Unfortunately, I’m nearing 40 and I’ve seen everything in this film done before in much, much better films.  I was hoping for a Pirates of the Caribbean type action fantasy film with a Japanese style.  In stead, I got a made for TV, slow paced retread, with little passion and less excitement.  I liked the look and feel of the film, but the script and the acting were not so good.  And shooting digital made everything look cheap, like soap operas.  Still, it wasn’t awful, just dull.  It should have been much, much better.

    I finally got around to listening to Kate Nash’s new album, Girl Talk.  It’s more polished than her previous work, and very catchy.  She’s talking about the same stuff, bad relationships mostly.  But some of her poor London girl charm is missing, due to that polished, studio sound.  And there’s a weird undercurrent of feminism lip-service, like she’s trying to set herself up as some kind of crusader.  But that feels a bit half-hearted.  Whatever the case, the album is pretty good, and fans of her earlier work should enjoy it.

Despicable Me 2:  I didn’t love the first film, but I enjoyed it just fine.  This second movie is more of the same.  It’s funny, occasionally very funny, and cute.  But at the end of the day, not something I’ll be thinking back on too much.  If you enjoyed the first one, by all means, check this out.

Images:  I guess this film captures the point of view of someone who’s completely insane, but that doesn’t really make for a particularly watchable movie.  There’s little to latch your brain onto, so very little to understand or follow.  Every scene and shot is unreliable, so what does anything matter.  In that classically 70s way, everyone is absolutely awful and emotionally bankrupt.  Just unpleasant.

We Are What We Are:  Writer/director Jim Mickle and frequent collaborator, actor/writer Nick Damici have put together another entertaining, atmosphere rich, modern horror film.  I watched Mulberry Street on a whim, and was shocked that such a silly premise turned out to be such a moody and watchable film.  Stakeland, their follow-up was equally as moody, and also quite entertaining.  And now with We Are What We Are, a remake of a Mexican horror film from a couple years back, they’ve cemented their place as high quality-low budget film makers to watch.  This movie looks better than many big budget Hollywood films, has excellent acting, and a good slow-burn pace.  Mickle isn’t re-inventing the wheel here.  He’s not breaking new ground or making movies that will change the way you think about film.  But he’s making good horror movies.  And that makes him a rare breed these days.  Horror has been a near dead genre since the late 80s, and now I’m starting to feel like there’s still potential in it.

    That’s about it for this week.  A lot of things in life are kind of on hold for a bit right now.  My holiday horror isn’t quite over yet.  Soon.

-Matt

Prodigal Son: Inspirational Films for Space 1889

                                                                    Part Twenty One

    I’ve been thinking a lot about various roleplaying games recently, particularly about cinematic inspiration in relation to games.  I’ve already written a few articles about this, tackling player character groups, as well as specifically Call of Cthulhu and Ars Magica.  I thought this time I’d branch out a bit and do a slightly more obscure game, but one I like the setting for quite a bit.  This time around, I’m going to look at ten inspirational movies for the game Space 1889, a ground breaking early example of what would become Steampunk.

10.  Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959):  An excellent cast of characters goes on a wild adventure into the heart of our own world, discovering strange secrets, hints of ancient civilizations, weird pre-historic creatures, and dangers undreamed.  Victorian morality, self-motivated adventure, and hints of deeper history make this an especially charming tale.  (See also; At the Earth’s Core).

9.  The Jungle Book (1994):  British Colonialism meets native life in this classic tale of West meets East in India.  This film could be translated almost directly to one of the canal cities of Mars.  The British officers, their relationships with the locals, even the plot would all work.  In many ways, though the weather is different, Mars is the India of Space 1889.  (See also; Gunga-din).

8.  The Time Machine:  The Victorians were all about exploring and inventing.  In this tale of an inventor who rockets himself into the future, we see the perils of war and the potentials of Darwin’s dangerous idea.  The Time Traveler is a perfect character for Space 1889, even if he can’t get that particular machine to work (and goodness, what if he could).  (See also; The Golden Compass).

7.  The Prestige:  The darker side of invention and the wild showmanship that really came into its own during this time.  Mad science, mysticism, and the obsessions of driven men.  Plus, Tesla.  Thomas Edison plays a large role in Space 1889, but what if Tesla was luckier or craftier?  What if Tesla and Edison became epic and powerful rivals?  What would Tesla be doing in space?  (See also; The Illusionist).

6.  Sherlock Holmes (2009):  This more earthy, grimy rendition of Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic mad genius is my favorite cinematic version, and just behind the Jeremy Brett TV version for all time favorite.  Here we see the world of the late 1800s in all its dingy, ugly glory.  Fast paced adventure that recaptures the pulpy aspect of Doyle’s work that has generally been lost in previous film versions, and excellent renditions of the various characters make for a very charming whole.  The Holmes-Watson relationship is one of the best, most honest friendships I’ve seen on screen, and the fact that Watson’s fiancé isn’t  relegated to nagging harpy was a pleasant surprise.  She’s got all the pluck (if not the screentime) of a good heroine.  (See also; The Wolfman [2010]).

5.  20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954):  This action packed adaptation of the Verne novel features an excellent cast and amazing production design.  Once again, the issues presented could translate either directly to Earthly seas of Space 1889, or with very little work, into some area of the solar system.  Captain Nemo might be a disenfranchised native of Mars who flies an advanced ship through the either, blasting other ships in a protest against England’s continued expansion of influence.  (See also; Atlantis The Lost Kingdom).

4.  John Carter:  Though it fails to capture much more than the barest fraction of the magic of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ novels, this film still visualizes some of the things that were obviously influences on Space 1889, including the Barsoom air ships.  Mars itself has a lot of the right look and feel, if you just put more fins and bat features on the Red Men, they’d make pretty good Martians.  The deep history implied in the film captures some of that ambiance, too.  (See also; First Men in the Moon).

3.  The Ghost and the Darkness:  Life on the frontier, building outposts of civilization can be difficult and dangerous.  It takes people with a lot of nerve and maybe too little smarts.  Capturing some of the societal situations of the day, this historically inspired yarn of killer lions also cranks up the mystery and horror.  (See also; The Mountains of the Moon).

2.  The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello:  A creepy animated story of plague and lost love, this film feels more like the tales told by children in the slums than an actual Space 1889 story.  But don’t those tales usually have a grain of truth in them?  A very creepy and dreamy film.  (See also; City of Ember).

1.  The Man Who Would be King:  Daniel and Peachy are fantastic Space 1889 characters; men ready to take on the world, looking to make their fortune, and just about mad enough to pull it off.  A beautiful epic of two mad bastards putting their mark on a mysterious land.  (See also; She).

    There have also been a few TV shows over the years that capture at least something of the spirit of the game.  The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne was deeply, deeply flawed, but did have some cool elements.  The Adventures of Brisco County Jr., as well as the original Wild, Wild West give the American West a steampunk vibe that works pretty well with Space 1889.  The Amazing Screw-On Head was the pilot for what could have been a great show.  And the Sherlock Holmes TV series starring Jeremy Brett is quite excellent.

-Matt

Prodigal Son: Let’s Try This Again

Part Nineteen

    It’s been some time since I last wrote a Prodigal Son article.  Things came up, the way things do.  I got busy, other folks got busy.  I made some priority choices, and gaming lost out.  Life happened.  Well, I’m back, and this time I’m going to give it a serious go.  I’m not stopping off at the Moon, I’m taking a rocket straight to Mars.  While I would love to do another game night some time soon, I’m putting my effort into going straight for a regular roleplaying game.  Now, I would absolutely love to get a weekly session, but while I’m a dreamer, I’m not kidding myself.  That won’t be happening in all likely hood, and I’d rather have something than nothing.  So, come the new year, I’m gathering a few friends together, and we’re going to discuss options and interests.  At the moment, it looks like most, if not all, of my potential players will be new to the hobby, which is exciting (and a bit scary).  I have to remember a few things in the meantime.  1. Roleplaying is one of the most creative and exciting hobbies around; it trumps video games any day, and on the best days it trumps film and literature.  And 2. Roleplaying should be fun.

    I figure the first night, we’ll just chat about the hobby, and maybe play a round of Once Upon a Time or some such.  From there, I figure we’ll arrange a schedule of sorts, hopefully on a no less than bi-weekly basis.  To start things off, I’ll run a one or two night game of something easy and introductory, with pre-made characters.  The obvious options here would be my go-to one-shot game, Call of Cthulhu, or maybe Unknown Armies.  Or maybe, in spite of my frustration with the over-saturation of zombies, All Flesh Must Be Eaten.  Or I could go really crazy and do something like Terra Primate.  Anyway, whatever it ends up being, the point is to get the basic idea of how it all works.

    Once that introductory game is done, we can look at doing something more long term.  Maybe not an indefinite game, but a mini-campaign.  The growth and development of a character is one of the great things about a game, and something missing in one-shots, of course.  With a mini-campaign, there could be a particular story direction, with some major events mapped out, and an ending (or at least a place for an ending to fit).  It gives some sense of development while it also gives the satisfaction of a conclusion.  Short campaigns have a lot of advantages, not the least of which is their finite length.  If they’re good enough, and feature particularly memorable endings, they’ll be remembered for years to come.

    If the group only makes it through one mini-campaign, I’ll count it a success (assuming folks enjoy themselves).  But my hope isn’t to do a single four to eight session story and be done with it all.  There was a time when I was involved in two or three ongoing games a week, when some games lasted several years.  While those days may be long gone, I’d like to get back a bit of it.  So, if the first game and/or the first mini-campaign is a success, I’d sure like to do more.  More mini-campaigns?  This is, of course, an option.  It allows for various types of games, and there are so many I’d like to try.  However, I’d very much like to do a long form campaign.  Something open ended.  As with all things, there are pros and cons to this.  But the longer the game, the more character and setting development, and the more players can influence not just events, but the whole tone and direction of the story.

    The real trick, and this will likely take some time to get rolling, will be to get a game of Ars Magica going.  For that, the group’s numbers might have to be expanded.  Ars Magica is the only game I can think of where very large groups can still work.  Otherwise, six people is pushing it.  Before an ongoing, open ended game, it’s time to get serious, and get this business done.  Time to stop putting things off and talking about how cool it would be if…  Come January, I’m getting a game together, dang it.

-Matt

See the rest of the series here, and here.

Matt’s Week in Dork! (8/25/13-8/31/13)

    What did I do this week?  After a good start on Sunday, with a surprise trip to DC and Maryland, the rest of my week seems like a haze.  I’ve done a bunch of reading, sure.  But that doesn’t seem to justify the blank that is my memory of this week.

    On Sunday morning, I watched the first disk of Shogun, the classic TV miniseries.  I remember seeing it when I was a wee lad, and I’ve been wanting to revisit it for some time.  The first part is quite good, with a good cast and surprisingly good production value.  Later, Brad and I headed into DC, and stopped by Politics & Prose on Connecticut Ave.  I like that area of DC, and the bookstore is pretty good.  More character than most box stores, but more proper organization than some of the smaller businesses I’ve seen in these parts.  The café was unimpressive, but the rest of the store was quite nice.  From there, we headed up to favorite haunt, Silver Spring, where we hit the AFI to see Razorback.  Yeah.  Razorback…at the AFI.

Razorback:  On my long list of movies I never conceived of seeing on the big screen, Razorback would be pretty high.  This art-film/giant-boar film is crazy.  I mean, it’s CRAZY.  Don’t go to Australia.  That seems to be the moral of the story.  So 80s.  So Australian.  So much Dicko.  It’s kind of a must for fans of weird film.

Twixt:  OK, so this movie really isn’t good.  It’s watchable, but not particularly well made.  However, Val Kilmer is great.  I like this bloated, middle-aged Kilmer.  He has an odd, slightly desperate charm.

Myra Breckinridge:  One of the worst films of all time?  I can’t argue with that.  This is one of those famous turkeys that turns out to be just as bad as everyone says (like Ishtar).  Everyone feels miscast.  The direction and editing are atrocious.  The humor is broad and clumsy.  And the big sin: it’s boring as all get-out.

Still more fun than watching the movie!

Oklahoma!:  Some catchy tunes and good performances make for a fun musical from that genre’s golden age.  It’s not amazing.  It’s not gonna go on my list of best musicals.  But it’s still a good, solid film.  The humor in it is quite cheeky for an American film of that era, with some jokes I’m surprised slipped past the censors.

    I did some prep-work for trying to put together a game group again.  I’ve got some stuff going on in my life right now that may keep that in a holding pattern for a bit.  But I have more hope about getting something going than I’ve had in a long time.

-Matt