Kingbeast's Lair

Date At Start Of Game: 10/21/206

[Author's Note: This is the log for the 18th session. Note that the order of the events in this record may not be in the exact order that they occurred during play.]

The Temple – Level 2

After the unholy earthquake subsides Po and Cillian spring into action. Po starts healing Oren while Cillian finishes off the smith’s dogs. When the PC check the door to the forge they find that it has been thrown from it’s hinges by the quake! Expecting an attack Po hurries to wake up Oren. Once Oren is awake he collapses the stonework above the door which has been weakened by the earthquake. This traps the PC inside the room but also prevents the mutated Raven sentries (aka the Rooks) from entering. After recovering from their recent attack Bilby ties up the smith and put him in an adjoining bedroom. Later Oren collapses the doorway to the bedroom leaving him trapped inside.

At this point only Cillian can observe what is going on outside of the room using his earth vision. While the PC are trying to decide what to do Cillian provides updates on the actions of the temple forces. After a few minutes he spots three figures who appear to be leading the Rooks. The three figures appear to be Narduhl, a Raven Kin in a dark green cloak, and a gaunt looking Ape Kin in a gray cloak. To Cillian it appears that the men are in an argument. Specifically he thinks the Ape Man and Narduhl are in an argument with the Raven Kin. After a few minutes the Raven Kin approaches. Narduhl tries to argue with him again but the Raven Kin chastises him. With that Narduhl and the Ape Kin return to the depths of the temple. At this point immediately outside of the forge room Cillian sees two Rooks cast spells! One puts up a shield with circling Ravens and the other summons black magical talons. The Raven Kin directs them to take down some of the stones that are blocking the door. Once a small opening is present the Raven Kin calls out do see if Xander is ok. (The PC realize that Xander must be the Pit Bull Kin smith.) When there is no answer the Raven Kin then says that he can sense others in the room and tells them that it is useless to hide. Po then recognizes the voice of the Raven Kin as his son Kai! When Po emerges and speaks to his son in Raven Kin it is apparent that Kai has also been tainted with the same Dark Lord curse. After some discussion the Rooks take down some stones blocking the doorway and Kai, who now insists on being called Malotoch, enters the room. After entering the room Po asks him what happened. Malotoch relays the following story…

“I guess I should tell you about what happened that morning all those months ago. I was having a fitful night’s sleep when I heard something moving in our home. I saw Father leaving and decided to follow. He flew to where a nearby army was preparing for battle. Planning on having a jest Father weakened the ropes on their siege weapons. The next morning he watched in hiding to see his “joke” play out. When the army attacked their weapons failed. They still ended up winning the battle that day but they were not happy with their losses. Their commander put a bounty out on ravens and Raven Kin. The warriors decimated our village then took the heads from the dead to claim their rewards. In the chaos of the attack I lost track of Father and flew as fast as I could. Eventually I found shelter in an old set of ruins. I had nowhere to go…I could not return to my village and I could not return to Father. As I contemplated ending my life on my own terms I found a loose tile in the ruins. This tile gave me a purpose for living…it was obviously calling out to me. It says…”

A father’s jape goes the way of sin,
Sending his son to the edge,
From vengeance malevolence is reborn,
The Dark Lord’s heart beats once more,
This child’s taint will linger on,
Festering for all eternity.

At this point Malotoch asks Po to join him in serving the Dark Lord. He tells Po that he can grant him even more power than he has already felt. Po tells him that he does not serve evil but instead serves those that protect the land. Malotoch changes tacts and asks the PC to return his sword. Convincingly Oren lies and tells the Raven Kin high priest that they have already destroyed it in the forge. At that remark Malotoch tells Oren that he hopes he is lying as all of their lives depend on delivering Crimson Tears. Oren rebuffs him with a stern reply. At that point Malotoch shakes his head and quietly walks away. As he leaves the forge room Malotoch tells his Rook acolytes in Raven Kin speech to kill everyone in the room. With that the Rooks advance…

Date At End Of Game: 10/21/206

I’ve updated the 6th edition Spirit Storm Campaign Document (version 2.1) and added a new copy of the GM screen inserts updated to 6th edition. You can get them on the File Downloads page at the regular place.

GAME ON!

-== What is it? ==-

Stuff You Missed In History Class (SYMIHC) is a podcast that is published by the fine folks at HowStuffWorks.com. Each podcast covers an interesting historical event, person, or theme. For example, the Taiping Rebellion, Simon Bolivar, or Famous Battle Horses. The hosts of the show are Katie Lambert and Sarah Dowdey. I believe both of these ladies are content editors at HowStuffWorks.com.

Most SYMIHC episodes are around 20 minutes long. I really think this is a good length as they release episodes quite frequently. This short length allows the show to jump around to different topics which is appreciated.

-== Why will it help your RPGing? ==-

Probably the most useful thing one can steal…I mean “loving borrow”…from SYMIHC are plot ideas. When a certain event is discussed the hosts cover not only the topic but events that lead up to it. This is great information for figuring out how something similar could be done in your own campaign. Just replace the historical figure with someone fictional and see how it plays out in your own campaign. Scrubbing off the serial numbers to get plots for RPGs is a given for fiction so why not history!?!

One thing that you may ask is, “Well my campaign world has aliens, elves, and radioactive zombies, how can real history be applicable?” You would be surprised! I once heard Ken Hite pimping his The Day After Ragnarok campaign setting at a local gaming convention (DunDraCon). In that seminar he spoke about how he utilized inspiration from history when making The Day After Ragnarok. In an example Ken mentioned that when doing research for the product which is set in the 1940′s he found that Stalin actually had a scientific team looking for a way to turn apes into warriors. No that really happened! As Ken is often fond of espousing, “You can’t make this stuff up!?!” (Watch this space for a review of The Day After Ragnarok. )

The famous people that the podcast covers are great inspirations for characters or NPC. As SYMIHC often reveals historical figures often have difficult childhoods and pivotal events that shape their view of the world. These can often be ported almost directly into an RPG character.

-== Where do I find it? ==-

Although SYMIHC is not a hardcore history podcast and has received some negative reviews on iTunes I think it has a lot to offer to the RPGer. Katie and Sarah make the podcast light, fun, entertaining, and darn interesting. If you are looking for some ideas for your campaign or new PC give this one a look.

SYMIHC is presented in MP3 format and can be downloaded individually from their site, subscribed to through their RSS feed, or managed through iTunes.

-== What is it? ==-

Batman:Gotham Knight is a collection of 6 animated shorts which are connected via an overarching story thread. It was released in July 2008 and was produced by Toshi Hiruma and Bruce Timm. Bruce Timm has a long history of fantastic animated features including Batman:The Animated Series. Each short was written by a different person and animated by a different company. In all case voice acting for Batman was done by Kevin Conroy who has voiced Batman for many of his animated tales.

Batman:Gotham Knight is comprised of 6 short films written by some excellent folks and animated by some amazing Japanese houses. Each short will be discussed in the detailed review below. The result is a film that in many way reminds one of Highlander:The Search For Vengeance.

There is no nudity in the movie but there is some strong violence. Some bloodletting is present in a couple of shorts but it is not excessive. This is not a Batman movie that you want to show young children. The movie is rated “PG-13″ and I think that rating is accurate.

I was gifted the single disc standard edition version of the DVD. The version I have has only a few extras. One nice extra is a voice over by Greg Noveck, Kevin Conroy, and comics legend Dennis O’Neil. It was neat hearing the three compare notes on what they liked in the film, writing for Batman over the years, and voice acting for the various shorts.

-== What I Like ==-

The first short is called Have I Got A Story For You. It was written by Josh Olson and animated by Studio 4C. Studio 4C has done some fantastic anime work on titles like Tekkon Kinkreet and The Animatrix. This might be my favorite story of the bunch. The story revolves around a group of kids telling a story about how they say they encountered Batman. The storytelling on this one is masterful. The animation on this piece is very different and downright fantastic. It has a loose style that reminds me of Tekkon Kinkreet or maybe Beck. This one is a 10 out of 10.

Crossfire is the second vignette. This one was written by Greg Rucka and animated by Production I.G. Greg Rucka is a favorite of mine ever since a friend showed me his graphic novel Whiteout. Production I.G. has a long history of great anime including titles like Blood:The Last Vampire, Ghost In The Shell, and Le Chevalier D’Eon. (Watch this blog for an upcoming review of Le Chevalier D’Eon.) This story follows two detectives who have been recently added to Gordon’s hand picked crew. The pair get caught in the middle of a terrible gang war. The story and art style remind me a lot of the animated Spawn stories. This one is a 9 out of 10.

The third story is called Field Test. For this tale Jordon Goldberg does the writing and the animation is done by Bee Train. Bee Train is responsible for the .hack anime as well as Immortal Grand Prix. Field Test has a clean style of adult anime animation that I enjoy. It reminded me of the Basilisk series animation. This story involves a new Batman gadget that ends up putting others at risk. This one is an 8 out of 10.

In Darkness Dwells is the fourth story. This one is penned by David Goyer of Batman Beyond fame and animated by Madhouse. Ninja Scroll, Metropolis, Trigun, and Black Lagoon are just a few of the masterpieces from Madhouse. This segment has a fantastic art style that reminds me of work by comic great Mike Mignola. The shadows have a sharp quality that really brings them alive. This story involves Batman going into the sewers where he meets Killer Croc and Scarecrow. After Batman gets bitten by a toxin the story twists into that of a distorted madman’s dream. Brilliant. This one is a 10 out of 10.

The fifth story is called Working Through Pain. Brian Azzarello did the writing and Studio 4C did the animation. Brian Azzarello is most famous for his wonderful work on 100 Bullets. The art style for Working Through Pain reminds me a lot of Wagner’s Black And White. The lines are clean but soft. Nice. The story is out of this world. After being wounded the Batman wanders the suers trying to control his pain. All the while he is having flashbacks to times in his past where he learned about controlling his pain. The flashback scenes are telling and fun. The story with Cassandra in India is fantastic. Even though the flashbacks are so great the last scene in this segment is iconic. It shows Batman holding a handful of guns looking up out of the sewers. He is a hero burdened by violence. The image is one of the most powerful images of Batman I have had the joy of watching. Powerful. Another 10 out of 10 for this one.

The final story in the set is called Deadshot. This one is animated by Madhouse and written by Alan Burnett. Alan Burnett did many of the memorable Batman:The Animated Series episodes. Madhouse gave this story a great animation style. The shadows are angular and the technology is steampunk in design. The story involves the master sniper Deadshot trying to kill Gordon. The story really makes use of earlier events and characters in a wonderful way. I give this one a 9 out of 10.

-== What I Don’t Like ==-

The story in Field Test is a bit simplistic and rubbed me as being a bit naive. If the gadget worked that well except for this flaw maybe you could perfect it instead of canning it…I dunno. This is a minor gripe.

My only other complaint of Batman:Gotham Knight is with the voice acting. I LOVE almost every animated incarnation of the Batman especially the older Batman:The Animated Series. Even though Kevin Conroy does a wonderful job on these older series the dark nature of the Batman:Gotham Knight tales didn’t always fit his lighter tones. Maybe it is because I am used to hearing Kevin with lighter versions of the Batman but it was a distraction…albeit a minor one.

-== Summary ==-

Sometimes a collection of things combine to make something great. Batman: Gotham Knight is one of these times. Each time a short started to roll I marveled at the art style. By the end of each short I was in awe at the storytelling. This is a complete package that deserves a complete score.

You can get the single disc edition at Amazon.com at this URL for $7.99. For $8 this is a friggin’ steal!

I give it 10 out of 10 paws.