-== What is it? ==-

Nobles, Knights, and Necromancers (NKN) is a villains books for Fantasy Hero. The focus of the book is on humanoid adversaries where Monsters, Minions, And Marauders focuses more on classic fantasy monsters. It was written by Steve Long and published in September 2006 by Hero Games.

NKN has a color cover and an entirely black and white interior. The book is 8.5” x 11” and is 175 pages in length. I am reviewing a print copy that I bought. I have used some of the underlying plot threads in my Fantasy Hero campaign but I have not used any of the entries directly as written. When doing reviews I always read the product cover-to-cover.

-== What I Like ==-

NKN is split into three sections. The first covers Lords Of Evil (aka mastermind type villains), the second covers Fiendish Organizations, and the last covers Solo Adversaries.

The Lords Of Evil section is not bad. Most of the entries have useful bits and are well developed. I think the artwork by Sam Kennedy for Thorg Split-Chin is excellent.

The Fiendish Organizations section in NKN is very well done. I particularly like the Baragon Coven, Kal-Turak’s Lieutenants, and the Sarresharan Regency. The Sarresharan Regency section is particularly rich with plot seeds. For GMs running a campaign with court politics this section would be well received.

-== What I Don’t Like ==-

The Solo Adversaries section in NKN is very hit or miss. There are some great entries but there are some not so good ones as well.

The artwork in NKN is extremely hit or miss. I like the work from Sam Kennedy but many of the pieces are not that great and some are very poor. The cover is just a collection of interior pieces by Mack Sztaba that have been colored and put into a police lineup.

-== Summary ==-

NKN is a book that has some nice material for GMs running a campaign with a heavy humanoid influence. I did not find a ton of value in the product but I did enjoy reading the entries and using some of the juicier bits for my campaign. If you can find NKN used or for a good price AND you are running a humanoid centered campaign that I would buy it.

You can get copies of the book at Amazon for $26.99 at this URL. Noble Knight has the book at this URL for $15.00. The PDF is only $9.49 at DriveThruRPG at this URL.

I give it 6 out of 10 paws.

I thought it might be fun to have all of the monsters I created for my Spirit Storm campaign available for download. These monsters are entirely of my own creation. All monsters are provided in Hero Designer format. Some monsters are built using Hero System 5th edition and some are in Hero System 6th edition. There are 61 monsters included in the zip file! Entries run from Acidpede to Zelekhut. (Pictured is a Gem Eater.) Here is a hyperlink to the page where SpiritStormMonsters.zip can be downloaded.

Next up…all of the Spirit Storm NPCs!

-== What is it? ==-

Samurai Jack Season 2 collects episodes XIV through XXVI of the iconic animated series. In case you have been living under a rock, Samurai Jack is an animated series about a Japanese samurai who travels to various places where a demonic entity known as Aku holds power. This series of episodes initially aired from March 1, 2002 to October 11, 2002. These were produced by the Genndy Tartakovsky. Samurai Jack was a landmark series for Genndy that won four Emmy Awards. Phil LaMarr does the voice acting for Jack and Mako does the voice acting for Aku.

There is essentially no nudity in the series and very little sexual references at all. There is violence but it is directed primarily at robots, monsters, and serious bad guys. Samurai Jack is not rated at RightStuf.com but I would probably give it a “13+”.

I purchased the standard edition version of the Samurai Jack Season 2 DVD boxed set. Each episode of the series is 22 minutes in length. There are a few extras in the package that will be discussed below.

-== What I Like ==-

The stories in Samurai Jack are really what makes it an iconic show. Some stories have tons of action and other are more serene. Either way they are heartfelt and often full of surprises.

Season 2 contains some of the most memorable episodes of the run. Here is a list of the episodes the I would individually rate at 9 or 10 out of 10 paws!

• XIV – Jack meets a race of creatures who can jump really great. After the creatures teaches Jack how to jump he teaches them how to defend themselves.
• XVII – In this episode the Scotsman enlists the aid of Samurai Jack to rescue his wife. This might be my all time favorite episode of Samurai Jack. It is so funny that often I have to stop the DVD player to guffaw. One of the extras in the boxed set involves the episode producer pitching the episode with the team. It is hilariously funny and well worth watching. A wonderful extra.
• XVIII – Jack encounters a village killed by mysterious robots. The entire event is an elaborate trap for the samurai. Lots of great plot twists involving Extor, a scientist.
• XIX – Jack enters a village that reminds him of his hometown. There is a joyous childhood romp through a wheat field that is followed up by a scene where Jack watches a warrior at a bridge that inspires him to be a samurai. The warrior on the bridge is a direct reference to Lone Wolf And Cub. It ends with Jack receiving words of wisdom.
• XX – In this episode Jack meets three monks climbing a mountain who tell him about a great reward at the summit. After a difficult ascent Jack is rewarded with renewed faith. A wonderful tale.
• XXII – Fierce lion warrior hunters are approached by Aku to hunt Jack. This episode is filled with tons of great cat and mouse action. The lions are expertly voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson.
• XXV – Jack comes across Spartans defending a mountain pass ala 300. Awesome fight scene with Jack against the King.
• XXVI – Frantic episode of Jack against a gang of bikers after hurting his feet. Silly but really well done.

Unlike many of the products I review this DVD boxed set has some wonderful extras. There is an episode pitch for XVII (see above for details), as well as a commentary on XXV, and a very funny bio of Genndy. The bio really surprised my with the humor and details. Well worth watching.

-== What I Don’t Like ==-

Even though Season 2 has some of the best episodes in the entire run it does have a couple of losers. Episode XV has three smaller vignettes with a two-headed snakes and fairies. The story with the two-headed snake is not new and quite a let down. The other episode that I did not particularly like is XXIV. This episode is a tribute to Alice In Wonderland. It goes so far to have Jack lose his clothes and end up with an outfit that resembles Alice’s. Unlike episode XXVI this one is silly in a not so good way.

-== Summary ==-

Samurai Jack Season 2 captures arguably the best season of an award winning series then throws in some stellar extras. Avid Jack fans should pick up this set. People who have not seen Samurai Jack should rush over to Amazon and buy it for only $8. My gosh that is low. This is a fantastic show that should not be missed.

You can get it on Amazon.com at this URL for a PARLTRY $7.97!!! Jeez loueez!

I give the collection 9 out of 10 paws.

-== What is it? ==-

The Widening Gyre is best described by its byline, “Steampunk Roleplaying For The Hero System.” It was written by Bill Keys (aka Teh Bunneh on the forums) and imprinted by Blackwyrm Publishing. The first edition was released in July 2011.

Widening Gyre has a color cover and an entirely black and white interior. The book is 8.5” x 11” and is 159 pages in length. I am reviewing a print copy that I purchased. I have not run a session using Widening Gyre but I have read the product cover to cover and have a fair amount of knowledge with the Hero System.

-== What I Like ==-

Widening Gyre opens by describing the setting. Bill describes the setting in a lot of detail and provides information on how it can be played during various time periods starting at 1861 and ending around The Great War in 1918. I particularly like the story of The Gyre on page 8.

Bill does a fantastic job explaining the different roles that the PC can take in the setting. Some games do a very poor job of this…in fact some don’t do it at all. Each time period defined in Widening Gyre has a section specifically on roleplaying in that period.

In one section Widening Gyre lists 19th century sciences. I thought this section was fun and informative.

Bill presents several Packages in Widening Gyre. These are well thought out and broad in their coverage. Packages include entries like the tech savvy Savant, Detectives, Air Pirates, and even Clockwork Men. At the end of the section Nikolai Tesla is presented as a sample character. Although I gushed at having stats for Tesla I was disappointed because he does not use the Savant Package as presented in the text. In my opinion it would have been better if whatever sample character was presented used the packages as presented.

Gear and vehicles are covered next. The vehicles presented in Widening Gyre are particularly fun. They range from steam powered carriages to the time machine from H.G. Wells.

After the gear section is a sample adventure. The sample adventure involves a car race with an hidden secret. I thought the sample adventure in Widening Gyre was actually pretty creative and unique. Often sample adventures are pretty boring but this one was nice. As an added bonus there are more cool vehicles.

The highlight of The Widening Gyre is the Steampunk Sourcebook section. This section has a TON of great thoughts on the Steampunk aesthetic and how it can be used in gaming. I particularly liked sections on Genre Settings, Genre Moods, and Conventions. Fantastic stuff.

Near the end of the book is a section called Putting It All Together that really wraps up the book nicely. Often books have tons of great data then don’t explain what you can do with it. Bill has it covered in Widening Gyre.

I really like the covers by Curtis Craddock, Bill Keyes, and Jonathan Wyke. I think the front cover conveys the attitude of the setting really well. On the back cover is a poster called Notre Dame De Vapeur that I really love. I want it on a poster!

-== What I Don’t Like ==-

There is some very brief information in the book about running the setting without magic but I would have liked to see more. My expectation is that steampunk does NOT include demonic magic.

One minor complaint that I had with Widening Gyre is that there were a LOT of quotes in the sourcebook section. At times it almost felt like there were too many.

I think my biggest gripes are around layout issues. First the text is pretty small. I’m not sure if it is the font selection or just the font size but I found it difficult to read at times. Background coloring in Widening Gyre can also be quite dark. With a dark background the text can be hard to read. The Packages are formatted with a very dark background and are especially tough to read.

Unlike the cover artwork the interior artwork is very hit or miss. There are lots of photos and several marginal drawings.

-== Summary ==-

Overall I was VERY surprised by The Widening Gyre. I guess I did not expect the amount of coverage that this genre book provides. The quality of the writing is so high that it feels like a book that Steve Long might have produced. (FYI, this is very high praise in my book.) I think Bill has written THE steampunk sourcebook for Hero with Widening Gyre.

You can get copies at Amazon at this URL for $24.95. DriveThruRPG has is for $11.95 at this URL in PDF format. Of course Noble Knight has print copies at this URL for $21.95.

I give it 8 out of 10 paws.

I drove up to DunDraCon on Saturday just so I could attend the various seminars. The seminars at DunDraCon are often well attended and pretty darn awesome. This year was no exception. Here is my report of the seminars that I attended this year.

27 years of Dungeon Master Secrets

Saturday, 9:00 AM in 156 for 1 hours
Presenter: Robert Anderson
Description: Endless Living Universe b) Flow Chart & Quick Files c) Power Gamers & Role-players d) Don’t cap your imagination or your players and Epic is not a vile four letter word

My Take

Rob started off this early seminar in a very open manner. He encouraged people in the audience to make comments and ask questions. The result may not have been a structured seminar but it was a very interactive and engaging one. Here is a recap of some takeaways that I had from the session:

• GMs needs to deliver to the players. Running games is not about stroking your own ego but instead it is about delivering an exciting adventure to your players.
• Continuity issues can kill games. It is important to maintain momentum between sessions.
• Fairness is critical. Even fairness over an extended campaign is important so that decision made early agree with decisions made late.
• Flowcharts are a good way control plot threads. If the players get sidetracked the chart can then be easily adjusted or tweaked.
• Rob described that once he actually made a convention game part of his normal campaign. He told the PC that the convention run would affect his normal campaign when they did not want to go on a particular mission. I thought it was a pretty creative idea.
• If a player wants to try something off the wall don’t deny it…never block…instead say, “You can give it a try.” Nice technique.
• One of the attendees asked about thief characters in a party of good characters. Rob mentioned that the key is to have plots that keep the party together. This way there is motivation for them as a group.
• Rob mentioned using a 6 min timer to prevent single users from taking the spotlight for too long. For example, the thief wants to go steal something without the other PC. Give that player 6 minutes then switch back to the other group. Repeat.
• Arms races can be a problem in RPG. One solution is to give the PC harder quests to obtain more powerful objects. Rewards need to be important. GMs need to allow players to spend their gold. Also give them a chance to trade stuff if it will make them happy.
• It is important for players to know that the world is open. This way they do not feel railroaded even if some of that is happening behind the scenes.

For his first time running a seminar Rob has a great rapport with the audience. Overall I found it to be a fun and informative seminar.
My Grade: 7 out of 10 paws.

What’s New with Hero

Saturday 10:00 in 156 for 1 hours
Presenter: Jason Walters
Description: Hero Games general manager Jason Walters discusses the future of the Hero System, upcoming projects, and the new Hero System license.

My Take

I attended the Hero seminar with a lot of trepidation. Jason was not in an enviable position as he had to talk about some tough recent events at DOJ. I guess the only saving grace was that it was a partisan crowd.

Jason started by simply asking if there were any questions. I went ahead and asked my toughest question right off the bat, “Was there anything that spurned the layoffs?” Jason first explained that many of the recent Hero books had not made a lot of profit. There was also some disagreement between Darren and the investors as to the direction of the company. Jason then explained that Steve and Darren are still working with the company. He explained their legacy is one that will likely not be matched. In 10 years they released 108 products.

Next Jason went on to explain the current priorities for the company. Essentially they have three immediate priorities. They want to get all authors and artists paid off, they want to get the core books back in stock, and the want to encourage 3rd party vendors in the creation of new products. For example DOJ will likely drop to 3 or 4 products a year and only products that are sure money makers will be considered. The next project would be getting the 3rd villains book printed potentially through a kickstarter. Jason reiterated that they want to keep the brand going.

To encourage 3rd parties to produce Hero products DOJ has restructured the Hero licensing agreement. This new agreement gives the author more profit and makes it easier for them to get accepted. Some of the projects that Jason went on to mention sound REALLY exciting. Here is a list of the stuff that caught my attention. I’m really sorry if this information is not 100% accurate…I was taking notes as fast as I could on my netbook and I am not a fast typist.

• Darren Watts will be working on a Champions LARP, Golden Age Of Champions, then Silver Age Of Champions
• Legendsmiths will be producing a Fantasy Hero product for beginners and folks who are new to the system.
• Legendary super fan Derek Heimforth will be working on two products. One is titled Eternity Island. Eternity Island is a place where parallel universes converge allowing people to slip between. The other product got me really excited is tentatively called Conspiracy Hero. I am excited about this one because I know Derek can really pull it off and because it is a genre that my players love. Think X-Files, hidden agendas, Fringe, etc. and you get the idea.
• A developer called Fred Lang plans to come out with a Skyrealms of Jorune setting done up in Hero. This announcement went over with a mixed response.
• Infinite Shadows will produce more Turakian Age material.
• Blackwyrm is working on a Folk Hero sourcebook by Michael Surbrook. Michael is also working on a third Asian Bestiary. Blackwyrm also has a project by Phil Masters called the Sands of Time in production. It will be nice to see a new product from Phil.
• Michael Satran (aka Foxbat For President and King Of The Mountain) actually flew out to DunDraCon this year from New Jersey! He plans to write what sounds like an interesting horror product called Things That Go Bump In The Night Night. It is about “imaginary friends” and will be comprised of lots of people and encounters. He promises a very different style of product and it feels like he can deliver.

At the end of the talk I was left with a surprising feeling…one of hope. I know this may sound negative but I honestly did not see how Hero could put forth anything remotely hopeful regarding their current situation. I think Jason did that by being open and forward. Excellent seminar by the lone face of Hero.
My Grade: 9 out of 10.

Alternate Histories for Gaming

Saturday, 11:00 AM in 156 for 1 hours
Presenters: Kenneth Hite, Michael Blum, Bruce Harlick
Description: From Nazi zeppelins blowing up the Suez Canal to Roman galleys rowing up the Mississippi, alternate histories give us infinite worlds for gaming. How and when do you make an alternative world plausible, and how and when can you make it fun and compelling?

My Take

The Alternate History seminar started off with the three panelist speaking about what they thought about the genre in role-playing. It was more interesting than I expected because each had a different take on the topic. They then started speaking about the value of research and pivot points. Ken was really on his game in this seminar spouting out example after example with rapid fire precision. Ken really hammered home the point that the key to alternate history role-playing is making the story interesting…don’t just wank on what would happen if event “x” led to event “y”. The conflict caused by the pivot point is the key. The conflict will drive how the players can get involved which in turn drives the story. Ken also explained that germinating the alternate history organically adds to the believability of the setting. Finally the trio spoke about some resources both online and in print.

My only real complaint with the seminar was that Bruce and Michael seemed flat at times. In later seminars this would absolutely not be the case so maybe it was just a matter of waking up. :} Either way Ken really knocked this seminar into another timeline.
My Grade: 8 out of 10.

City Building

Saturday 1:30 PM in 156 for 1 1/2 hours
Presenters: Anders Swenson, Kenneth Hite, Michael Blum
Description: The seminar about the nuts and bolts of using cities in RPGs. This year we plan to illustrate how cities occur by building a city on the whiteboard during the seminar.

My Take

This year the City Builder seminar took a slightly different approach. They detailed the history of London as a way to provide ideas and feedback on growing your own fantasy cities. This approach also showed how various aspects of London can be called up if that was a city you wanted to use for your campaign. The talk started with the founding of the London by the Romans and went forward to the current day. In this seminar Michael and Ken dazzled the crowd. They went back and forth talking about various aspects of London. The hits on culture, key people, and why things appear geographically where they are in the city. Michael provided fantastic period maps that really helped make the talk shine.

My only complaints about this seminar are really minor. I don’t thinks Anders had any feedback the entire seminar but you know what…it really didn’t matter. Also I think the 90 minute length felt a bit long.
My Grade: 8 out of 10.

What’s New At Chaosium

Saturday 3:00 PM in 156 for 1 hours
Presenter: Charlie Krank
Description: Come and ask your questions of the demented minds behind the Call of Cthulhu and Basic Role Playing.

My Take

Charlie essentially sat down and went through a fantastically wonderful and extensive list of upcoming products. Here are some of the notes I took. These are in very rough order of release.

• New edition of Call Of Cthulhu.
• Cthulhu By Gaslight 3rd edition with TONS of new material by Ross. BIG HELL YEAH!
• Mythic Iceland.
• Two fiction anthologies called Extreme Planets and A Long Way Home.
• Atomic Age Cthulhu – 1950′s era fun.
• House Of R’Lyeh adventure.
• Shaan – A Call Of Cthulhu campaign setting.
• Advanced Sorcery – A BRP magic book based on the system in Nephilim.
• Undead And Unbound – A fiction anthology where every story has a twist. 19 stories! I may have to get this one.
• Magicworld and Superworld being released again!
• Secrets Of Tibet – The monograph is getting the full book treatment like Morocco.

Charlie then talked a lot about working with other developers and a particular company in France that has done some amazing work. It sounds like he is hoping he can make a deal with them that would let everyone partake of some Cthulhu goodness.
My reaction after hearing this laundry list was…DAMN! This list is HUGE!
My Grade: 8 out of 10.

Rogues in the House

Saturday 4:00 PM in 156 for 1 hours
Presenters: Randy Angle, Bruce Harlick
Description: This seminar is about Heists and other Roguish Adventures for both players and game masters. For running and playing in campaigns similar to TV shows like Leverage and White Collar.

My Take

Randy and Bruce went through a series of PowerPoint slides talking about all things thiefy. They covered the definition of a rogue, the various type of rogues, equipment, skills, security systems, cons and marks, steps in a heist, and steps in a con. During the talk they added a plethora of examples and commentary. The pair played really well off of the other during the talk. You could tell they have a passion for the topic. The talk ended with some videos showing various rogue skills at use. Bruce and Randy also took comments from the audience and addressed them well.

My first reaction when I saw the PowerPoint slides was not good…what am I at work!?!? It turned out that I was dead wrong. This was a wonderful talk by two guys who know how to be great players. They stole my heart and soul with this one. One of my favorite seminars of the day.
My Grade: 9 out of 10.

What’s New in Indie RPGs

Saturday 5:00 PM in 156 for 1 hours
Presenters: Jason Walters, Ken Hite, Chris Hanrahan, Carl Rigney
Description: Author and pundit Ken Hite, Endgame’s Chris Hanrahan, and Indy Press Revolution’s Jason Walters discuss what’s new in the world of self-published and micropublished games in 2012.

My Take

Essentially the format for this panel was pretty simple. The various panelists showed a product then talked about it. It was really neat to hear the panelists speak about products that they feel are really special. Here are some of the reviews that made me want to look up the product as soon as I got home.

• Technoir by Jeremey Keller – This one was actually on my list to ask about so I was glad to hear Carl talk about it. Endgame sold out but I was able to order a copy directly from his site. Head on over why he still has some left!
• Night’s Black Agents by Ken Hite – I covered this LAST year and got in on the preorder at Pelgrane Press…I strongly suggest you do as well. Ken thinks it should be shipping in the April or May time frame. I LOVE Ken’s elevator pitch for Night’s Black Agents, “The Bourne Trilogy except replace Treadstone with vampires.” SIGN ME UP!
• Vornheim by Zak S. – Vornheim is a book designed to help GMs with fantasy cities. The review for Vornheim floored me. The reason it floored me was twofold. One was that Ken Hite GUSHED about this product. He mentioned the fantastic design elements and flat out usefulness of the product. Ken flat out said that if he was still writing Out Of The Box this would have won his award for 2011. That is VERY high praise! The second reason was that I had not heard of Vornheim before this seminar…um…sorry…gotta finish this post so I can run over to IPR and buy a copy. Jeez loueez.
• PurplePawn.com – This is not a product but it is a site that aggregates non-electronic gaming news. I thought I followed the industry…how did this site slip by me!?! [John slaps his forehead.]

Overall this was a stellar seminar. It was great to see Carl on the panel. Last year he had as much feedback as the hosts! Carl should definitely be drafted as a regular for this seminar.

I only had a couple of complaints. One was that there was not enough time to take questions from the crowd. I showed up with a list of games that I wanted to ask about but was given no time at all to ask the panel about them. The second was that some of Jason’s reviews were canned statements from the designers. I want reviews with opinions from the panelist not canned statements that I can read on the IPR website.
My Grade: 8 out of 10.

DunDraCon really knows how to do seminars right! My gosh!