B-Movie Monday: Ninjas!

One of the staples of my corner video store youth was the Ninja movie. Whether set in the age of the Shoguns or in your back yard, these black garbed masters of secrets fought with deadly skill.

One of my favorite cheesy Ninja flicks, Ninja 3: The Domination featuring the legendary Sho Kosugi! Thank you Golan-Globus!

The cheesy amazingness that is Ninja Terminator. It's been a long time since I've seen that one.

Americans can make Ninjas too!

More Sho Kosugi whooping ninja ass!

Join us every Monday for B-Movie Monday!

B-Movie Monday: Sword and Sandal Edition

In tribute to the new Clash of the Titans, B-Movie Monday celebrates the peplum, the sword and sandal movies of Italy! First, get an introduction/overview to the genre in this Wikipedia entry. Now lets have a spot of fun!

The classic Hercules movie made by the amazing Mario Bava:

A collection of various sword and sandal monsters:



And the trailer for the original Clash of the Titans, featuring the work of Ray Harryhausen. Bow your heads!



Some posters:

For great roleplaying in the Peplum genre I recommend Mazes & Minotaurs. What if Jason and the Argonauts inspired Gygax and Arneson? This is the fun result. The site given has two versions of the rules: the original 1972 edition and the revised 1987 edition. There also supplements, modules and more!

Join me every week for another fun B-Movie Monday!

Crisis of Infinite Terminators

Another idea that was siting in my head...

Imagine one of the versions of Skynet destroying the Human Resistance. Without the humans to fight, Skynet (now referring to itself as Skynet Prime) seeks to increase it's technological base exponentially. So it discovers dimensional travel technology, and begins to search the multiverse for other mechanical life. Three parallel earths later it discovers another Skynet. Logically, Skynet Prime's superior technological abilities would make an alliance between the two Skynets as foregone conclusion.

The war that broke out was much greater than Skynet Prime had anticipated. And it soon involved the Skynets from other timelines.

Skynet Prime has won many initial battles with the alternate Skynet timelines. A stalemate soon developed that was only broken when the final breakthrough was found. A stray probe found the coordinates for Terminator Prime, the original timeline that all other timelines branched out from. Now each Skynet plots to reach Terminator Prime to either rule the universe or end the mechanical madness once and for all.

Ideas for alternate Skynets include:

*A world where the technological basis of the Terminators was reverse enginered by the remenants of alien invasions. From the Dalek and the Cyberman invasions of the 70s and 80s.

* On a parrallel world where the Reich overran the free world fifty years before, the Nazi's rule a terrified world. As the fires burn over the last city in the United States, a signal goes to a secret bunker deep within a secret location. A red light begins to burn in the eyes of an army of skeletal robots, and soon the Nazis will know fear...

* A world where Skynet was infected with the ramblings of a madman. The book the madman was carrying was Necromicon Ex Mortis, the Book of the Dead.

* Skynet is a giant babbage machine built after the first invasion by the Martians. It soon goes rogue, and man must fight the clockwork army that was meant to protect its creators.

* Skynet was the first bio-computer created that could tap into the limitless storage capacity of the DNA Helix. The Terminators created by this Skynet are amongst the most terrifying things man can see.

One could play this as a superheroic dimensional travel game as supers try to keep the Skynet war from spilling out into the multiverse. Even more fun could be is for the players to each play a Skynet. This is perfect for miniature or board game type play. Each Skynet would have a set amount of Hunter Killers, Infiltrator Terminators, aircraft, etc. A system would be provided to individualise each faction.

When Terminators Make War

Robocop vs Terminator: A great miniseries, the main source of this idea.

GURPS Reign of Steel: Great reference for two reasons. First, it shows one way how AIs would wage war, both hot and cold, against each other. Second, it's probably the closest you'll get to a Terminator roleplaying game.

Terminator: The main wikipedia entry on the Terminator franchise.

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The late Fox TV series, which had hints of alternate timelines and different versions of Terminators working against each other.

B-Movie Monday: Tarantino and Rodriguez's Grindhouse Turns 3

Tomorrow is April 6, three years since Grindhouse was released in theaters. After Easter dinner on April 8 I want to the cinema to enjoy this 3+ hour epic. It was made up of two movies Planet Terror and Death Proof, and four fake grindhouse trailers. It was a riot.

Enjoy some Grindhouse





Out of the two movies, I love Planet Terror. For the horror fan of today, there's plenty of blood, babes, and belly laughs. For fans of zombie movies from the 70s and 80s like me, Planet Terror has plenty of references for us. Many scenes and concepts are homages to movies like Hell of the Living Dead, Zombie, and Nightmare City. Rodriguez has done the tributes in such a way that doesn't overwhelm the movie.





Join me next Monday for another installment of B-Movie Monday!

Buffy Characters Using Risus

I have been thinking about Risus lately. This is particularly inspired by blogs such as Greywulf and his recent Risus Supers posts , Dr. Rotwang's recent Swashbuckling characters, and the fun that is Risus Monkey. The flexibility of the system and the ease of character creation means I have a bunch of characters laying in notebooks and scratch paper waiting to come out.

Here are some Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters I created about five years ago. The time of these characters is set after the Buffy finale “Chosen”. Melissa Rickow was once of the hundreds of girls and women awakened by the Slayer empowerment. As she was taking classes at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, this was problematic. Her life became more complicated when her older brother came back from his college and old family friends reappeared. And when a handsome man becomes interested in her, Melissa may be forced to kill the ritualist if the magic he wields overwhelms him.

Melissa Rickow

A recent Activated Slayer, Melissa is a reluctant but deadly foe of the demons that haunt the Fox Valley of Central Wisconsin.

Reluctant But Ready Vampire Slayer [4], Beautiful Chemistry Whiz (3), Buddhism Enthusiast (2), Calm Surveyor of the Situation (1)

Hook: Still Unsure of Her Strength and Prowess

Christopher Rickow

Christopher was a promising college athlete until he suddenly dropped out to help his sister. He has no other monster slaying abilities other than a strong right hook and a collection of odd knowledge.

All Around Charismatic Athlete (4), Overprotective Older Brother of the Slayer (3), Master of Odd Jobs That Help Pay the Bills (2), Closet Sci-Fi Movie Fan (1)

Hook: Risks Himself Unnecessarily for Others

Leland Rickow (L’Lor of Tarn)

When Melissa and Chris’ parents died mysteriously, a demon clan repaid a debt to the Rickow family. A Tarnian Master of Arms was sent to protect the Rickow children. Fighting vampires and demons regularly is a bonus.

Tarnian Master of Arms Sworn to Protect the Rickow Children (4), Silent But Deadly Bodyguard (3), Stone and Mineral Collector (2), Master of Mirth (1)

Hook: Makes Normal People Uneasy Even When Appearing Human

Megan Reynolds

Megan followed Chris when he left college, hoping to score a great human-interest story (and maybe more). What she stumbled upon was the secret war of the Slayers, and her curiosity was set afire.

Plucky College Reporter (4), Reluctant Scion of Old, Old Money (3), and Ex-Cheerleader Whose Flexibility is Surprising (2), Fencing Club Captain (1)

Hook: Ridiculous Curiosity

Philip Wentforth-Smythe IV

Philip is the youngest member of the Wentforth-Smythe family on sabbatical in the United States. He comes from a long line of magicians who touched both white and dark magic. He interest in the Slayer is part professional, part personal.

Brooding Aristocrat Far Away From Home (4), Master of Esoteric Ritual Magic (3), Cultural Adept Traveler (2), Emotional Recluse (1)

Hook: Rigid Code of Personal Conduct

Fiction: Later, In Ultronic City

This is a piece of fiction I intended to submit for a netbook, but real life had intruded. I never submitted it. So here it is, a little superhero fiction for ya'll.

Later, In Ultronic City

Thrasher had never seen anything like this before. Some magic-using quack calling himself Mr. Crowley had got a hold of The Dark Passages of Allerac and had ripped a hole in reality. The mystic mojo stuff was way over Thrasher’s head. Well, let Doc Miracle and Penumbra and the Weird Squad deal with patching up time and space. Thrasher was an old school brawler like his old man, and Mr. Crowley had given him plenty of things to hit.

The Justice Brigade had its hands full. The zombie things had begun to pop up all over Ultronic City. Any touch or grab would drain the life force of victim and leave them in a coma –like state. It was almost as if they were gathering the energy to do something dangerous with it. Even the Justice Brigade Reserves were called to help evacuate the City.



Now, here in Silverton Heights, Thrasher joined Lasher and Brickhouse to try to contain the zombie things until the mystic guys had done their work.

“Got this area covered, kid,” rumbled Brickhouse in his gravelly voice.

Suddenly, the zombie things broke through the technomantic barriers developed by Redfist and the Blacksmyth. They swarmed the massive mutant and tried to take him to the ground. As Brickhouse fought these zombie things, Thrasher could see his friend’s red brick skin begin to fade to gray. Then the fight was over, and the good guy didn’t win.

The zombie things turned as one and started for Thrasher and Lasher. For the first time, Thrasher noticed that all of the zombie things looked the same. They had yellow eyes, wearing nothing but brown rags. Bald head, skinny with skin the color of clay. They murmured or moaned something continuously that you couldn’t quite make out.

Thrasher glanced over at Lasher. Everybody teased the pair about how their names sounded alike. It was coincidence, he always said. They had become junior members of the Justice Brigade at the same, and, Thrasher admitted, there was an attraction. Maybe if they survived this, he would...

“If I’m going down, I’m going down fighting,” Lasher interrupted his thoughts as she extended her Cyberlashes. A familiar hum filled the air as they charged to full power.

“You got that right, sister!” Thrasher yelled as the zombies advanced.

He really hoped that the Weird Squad got this settled soon.

-fin-

April Fool's Day--Now With More Weird Al

I was going to compose a lengthly discussion on the ramifactions of magic gates on the fractious nature of the dungeon architectual and ecological design. It would have been really cool--and informative.

But then I decided to just show some Weird Al Yankovic videos. Enjoy.