JP On Gaming

Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Does Herolab module help sales?

I have been toying with the creation of a HeroLab extension for the next two Gostor releases: Gostor Amazon and Gostor Seishin. This is to try and see if the investment of time and energy into creating this is worth it. As I have limited time, I have a "mostly" working Saggakar supplement that allows me to generate stat basic blocks that I must then re-tweak (sometime a lot) to come up with something useful.

But these, I want to be different. I want them to be the basic of something good, something solid.

Would having a HeroLab extension for FOE make you more likely, less likely, or equally likely to buy the product? That's a question I really am asking myself.

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

[Troll Tuesday] The Mountain King rumbles on

More from the Facebook mega-lot! A hulking troll in the form of the Mountain King!!!

Monday, April 24, 2017

[Cryx Monday] A new Skarre for 2017

The Facebook mega-lot continues! Here is another Skarre-1 from it. The Pirate Queen is a model I painted a few times before, represented below how I did her in 2014, 2013, and 2012!

This latest one got the pale white skin I gave to the Satyxis raiders from the same lot. She was done to fit in with the raiders. I really like this model for its simplicity and clean, effective lines.

Which one do you prefer?



Saturday, April 22, 2017

Writing, art, adventure, miniatures all in one massive update

With Rhym being almost complete (I'm waiting on national maps), it is now time to look ahead at my next list of projects.

Next up is Lexicon in Lexington KY. I have one adventure for Saggakar I need to finish for that.

Then Nashcon where I have to finish a number of pieces of terrain, a veritable army of conquistadores. With all the minis done and completed, I will work on the actual scenarios using my own set of rules, Mecha Battles. The conquistadores will be a single battle royal scenario while Gundam will be a few short "episodes" meant to be played in rapid succession, I plan to have a big end game.

I have been working with some new artists, like Eva who did this portrait of Corfell Treeshadow, the high priest of Keron in the ArchDespotate. Corfell is a half-elf which is described as an effeminate man with his left eye completely black, Alice Cooper-style... I think she got it right. I am expecting more art from her in the coming days.

What next products can you expect to see from FOE?

Rhym Campaign Setting I plan to have this one done in time for Origins! With the 5e version done, next will be a Pathfinder version!

Gostor: Amazon features a new race for Pathfinder and 5e. As I have been playing with it over and over, I keep adding a few things here and there. This will be something to add to your campaign. Something to add without completely changing your setting.

Gostor: Seishin Another race to plug into your campaign. I have been putting ideas and notes together for this one. Seishin are spirit-people that form strong bonds with a particular place. This one will be similar to the Amazon book.

I am working on a pair of projects: one is a superhero adventure set in Nashville that really is irreverent. I've no name for it yet, but I've been playing around with the idea for these character. This could become a series of one-shots, maybe sell them or not. I will definitely have fun with it. I sent an art request for it.

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

[ArcadiaQuest] Evil Voldemort and his posse

And finally the final goodies of this batch.

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

[ArcadiaQuest] Voldemort's Nameless

Good Voldemort with his cadre of nameless!

Monday, April 17, 2017

Voldemort is back

Harry Potter fans will find this one to their liking. It is a pair of Voldemort for Will's ArcadiaQuest! One is a "good guy" with the blue robe and an "evil one" with the black robe! The pic makes it hard to see, but the skin color is different. The good one has a rosy skin while the bad one is all white. Cool dudes...

Tomorrow, he is joined by his buddies...

Sunday, April 16, 2017

Ethereal Horrors

With the recent release of Gostor: Etheral Horrors, I had to create some minis to go with them. Turns out I have the perfect minis - thanks to Reaper Bones - in my bag o minis! Here are the ethereal scarabs and the ethereal hulk.

Fitting their background, I put them on a grey dirt background (which some of you will recognize as the same effect I do for Will's ArcadiaQuest, just don't tell).




Saturday, April 15, 2017

Doctor Who is back today!

Today, amid the madness that is the NHL hockey playoffs (Go! Habs! Go!) we also get the added treat of getting a new season of Doctor Who (and thank GOD Moffat's final season as the show-runner). I think this image is appropriate for today... I don't think I will use them for the Doctor Who minis game... rather they will become table decoration for Frostgrave.

Friday, April 14, 2017

[ArcadiaQuest] Friday of the Dead

The first foursome of this batch are a group of four ghosts: two male and two female ghosts.

For these guys, I went a little rogue and I hope Will will like them. Originally, I planned to paint all the ghosts with a blue tunic/gown. However as I was working on another one of the minis, a drop of purple fell upon it. I then quickly watered it down. The effect really looked good, but I made the color lighter, more pinkish. The guys I kept blue.

The red eyes with white pupils make them look unnatural IMO. These guys were fun to paint.



Wednesday, April 12, 2017

[ArcadiaQuest] The Heartless... From Heart

Another fun one... this gal was inspired by Ann Wilson from the band Heart, a group I really enjoyed listening to over the years. There is a good (red) and a bad version (black).

This one is call "The Heartless". I hope she's never never out of control. As a special touch, I added glitter to her eye shadow. She is pretty cool.

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

[ArcadiaQuest] Cthulhu Twins

More from Will's lot... here comes... CTHULHU!!! Everyone's favorite Great Old One! The Dreamer in R'lyeh!

These guys were an interesting pair. Will wanted one green-skinned and one with pinkish skin. I think the "good" Cthulhu came out more purple than pink. He is actually the color of the dark one's pink spots. An interesting pair for sure!

[Review] Gundam 8th MS Strike Team

This short series deals presents us with a small team of Mobile Suit pilots as they fight Zeon in Asia. This one had me giggling with glee as it was set in the Universal Century, during the One-Year War, and had decent reviews elsewhere. I am a fan of short, limited series where we focus on the essential elements of the plot rather than endless fluff.

As is typical in UC Gundam, we are presented with this new up-and-comer pilot thrust into the thick of things right at the start, given command of a team of ragtag mobile suits.

The opening has a really cool scene where the two protagonists: Shiro and Aina meet when Shiro flies out to face off a Zeon Zaku in a space bubble (a unit designed to transport things and perform repairs). The take each other out, meet in space outside their MS and enjoy a brief moment. The scene was filled with action and made the tender moment between the two much more believable as they expected to die in space.

The episodes are combat intensive and we are introduced to some local bandits/ freedom fighters, follow the story of the Reaper, a team member whose teammates have the unfortunate habit of not coming back. The NCO's down-to-earth common sense clashing with Shiro's aggressive and wild tactics. Shiro and Aina's ultimate reunion is timed right.

The final is not as great as the rest of the story. It felt more than a little cliche, bringing an "okay" ending to a great story.


Story: This is perhaps the best Gundam serial I have seen in a long time. The series hits the tropes, with one being able to see both sides as justified in their actions, both sides being in the wrong. I do like that we are given some insight into other theaters of the war, beyond the Asian focus, namely the Odessa theater. I would give this a 4/5.

Characters: Perhaps a little cliche, but in a short time, they manage to make the cast feel interesting with each of them having one or two quirks without overpowerfing the story. A strong point of this I'd give them a 4/5.

Animation: The animation was "fine" I don't really have anything bad to say about it. 4/5

Overall: Overall, this is a solid series fans of Gundam will want to watch. I think it is approachable enough for a new viewer to get into the universe. 4/5, a very enjoyable series.

Monday, April 10, 2017

[ArcadiaQuest] The Monster is loose!!!

The first of the next batch fro Will's ArcadiaQuest collection... Frankenstein's monster! I really enjoyed this guy as he does not quite look alive.

Conglomeration 2017 AAR Part 2: Good, Bad, and the highlights

If you missed it, go check out Part 1

The Good

Conglomeration is a convention that feels rather laid back and relaxed. Its feel is one I would describe as "lazy southern". Do not take this as a pejorative, "it's a southern thing" for those of you not in the South... I would describe this as a laid-back, friendly, get together with your friends you haven't seen or talked to in a while.

Our Rhym setting was well-received by those who came to play with us. This was something that caused me the most worry, after all JD and I were both into Rhym, understanding all its intricacies, and we managed to pass on some of the knowledge of them. The bigger concepts did not prevent game play and added a touch of flavor.

Dove-tailing on the previous point, FOE ran something in every slot, even if we had to shuffle a few things.

There were a lot of games offered: From FOE's own Rhym and Saggakar games to PFS, to Randy's 2KG material, but also a number of interesting games: Call of Cthulhu (there were quite a few of those), and CCGs and board games. I must say that attendees had the burden of choice, with many options.

One of the things I am extremely encouraged was that the gaming room folk did solicit input and ideas to improve next year. I must say this is always good to see and forces people to sit back and think about what's good, what needs improvement, and what sucks. In a way, this second post was the result of this call for input and insight. Kuddos to the gaming team: Chuck and Derek. Already, they mention a few things to help out.

The Improvable

For me, the biggest issue (and I told the organizers many MANY times) was the lack of firm game slots. Formalizing some of that would help, if only for marshaling and using available to complete tables.

I will take an example of Saturday morning. Randy had a table scheduled to start at 8AM. He showed up, saw there was no one, and he left (for breakfast or sleep, I don't know). My own games were scheduled to start at 9AM. I had no sign ups for that first slot. I chose to sit and write some stuff for a future Saggakar product. Chad and the PFS crew were scheduled to start at 10AM, where only a few people showed. They ended up completing their table with other PFS GMs (I was offered a seat but declined to play as it was a game using PFS pregens). I reorganized things and managed to start a table of six players at 11AM. Now if all three of these had a slot start, I'll take 9AM as a middle point. This would mean that at that time, there would have been four-five GMs on-site we could've pulled and argued to run a game and use a more formal marshaling system.

Another thing to look into: games that were announced and planned before the con should be given priority over the off-the-cuff games, "I wanna run this game right now"-type events. It is annoying to plan out games only to see players head off to play with someone who just showed up and throws something haphazardly. Why did I bother to send in a schedule if my games will be promoted as much as those who did not?

I have a number of other tiny issues: the cost of entry (it's not bad, but could be better, no kids' badges), the con suite (people can bring their own food), and to formalize things a little more: have the panels and gaming run at the same time, not in competing slots. Perhaps splitting the events into RPGs/Minis/CCG/Board Games to channel people into the overall type of game they are most likely to play. Where these are located in the room is fine.

The Random Highlight

It is always fun to argue with Chad about what I dislike about PFS. I get a good talking to and he gets snarky comments back. Always fun. Oh yeah, and he flipped me and 5e off too. Gotta love 'im.

I love my former "Work Husband" Derek (long story, but a true one). Hehehe now watch that rumor mill run. He runs around like a madman to ensure that we, the gamers, get to remain spoiled! He works non-stop, round the clock during the con without rest, and does it with a reassuring and friendly smile on his face. Big shout-out to you brother for your kind answers to my dumb questions throughout the year, for your support to my events, and to my on-site requests for printing to changing tables.

I really liked to play with JD in Rhym as it was a very unique delight, similar to the time I played in a Legacies game back in Denver...

I got to meet many people I interact with regularly (Chad, Derek, JD, Randy) but also got to chat with some I see at Conglo: Derek-M, Archie, Matt M, Chuck, Jake, and I forget many more. I really enjoy Conglomeration for that. I got to chat a little with all of these guys during the con which was made possible by the "lazy southern" atmosphere of the con...

Finally

At the end of every con, I must ask myself what I really thought about the event. I enjoyed myself, the hiccups were mild annoyances that invariably led to a positive outcome, so I was happy with that.

I am very encouraged by the gaming team to do some changes and improve how the game room flows and runs and will anxiously (read: I will bother Derek about it through the year) wait for details of decisions and plans.

Therefore, I do plan to be back next year. I really have a sweet spot for the Louisville gaming scene. These guys have been very nice and welcoming to me from the moment I arrived in 2013 to this day.

JP

Sunday, April 9, 2017

Conglomeration 2017 After Action Report Part 1

This past weekend was Conglomeration 2017 in Louisville, a convention dedicated to all forms of geekdom. This is the second consecutive time I went, after skipping 2015. This is a con that was literally just around the corner from my house there. One of the game organizer is none other than my good friend Derek-R.

I had been working like crazy to get everything done: the Saggakar special, the Rhym Campaign Setting book, the terrain for the special, get it all printing, sorted and ready. In short, I have been working like a madman to get a million things done.

Thus is the glorious life of a small-time publisher!

Let's see how it went...

My weekend started Friday around 11:45 when I took my wife to a local Indian restaurant we like. We had a great meal before I got on the road heading north on I-65.

I stopped to fill up and refill my coffee in Kentucky and saw I received a text from JD (the creator of Rhym). His wife just reminded him the con was this weekend. Quick text back on the road.

I got there a little later than I planned but with ample time to do some catching up, chat, see what's going on, and just enjoy the con.

I got to chat up a little with Derek-R, Chuck, Jake, and so many others, say hello to people I hadn't seen in a long time. You know, just get into the beat of things.

Then JD showed up and he invited me to dinner at a local Asian restaurant. It was just great. We talked about Rhym, traded ideas and realigned the next step(s) for Rhym. A great time around food.

Back at the con, he set up a Rhym impromptu game that got four names very quickly, a very encouraging start indeed! I gave him a copy of the iconic characters and headed off to my panel.

GM Panel was a panel I was looking forward - and my only one this year - the panel was composed of fellow GMs I meat last year. One GM owns a store in Louisville, one runs games only at his house for friends, one was a big fan of story games and ran LARPs, and me: organize play GM... There was no fixed agenda, we fielded questions from the audience and from our moderator, Carol. This was a very entertaining panel which definitely reinforce my growing view that gaming is not a one-size fits all and that everyone approaches it differently. Preparation, handling groups, GMing horror stories, pitfall of character creation. A lot of fun stuff.

After that, I returned to the gaming room where I sought a game of something. I found a game of 5e ran by a kid named Rowan. The game ended up being a long-running series of gags. Having just come out of a panel with so many great GM, this was somewhat different. He has much to go, but I think it was a good formative session for him. Talking to the other players, it seems he is used to coercing his players into doing anything.

Saturday morning rose to a beautiful day, I made my slot and... no one signed up. I was sad. I declined an offer to play in a PFS game (especially since it was one where you had to play a pre-gen, and while I do my best to avoid PFS at conventions, I flat out refuse to play anything with a pregen). Saddened, I moved my start time from 9 to 11 (since the games I was offering was the "Service and Rewards" series, which are all about two hours long).

At 11, six people sat down and I was able to run my one Saggakar adventure.

My next slot was in the afternoon and I ran my first Rhym adventure: Black Sails. A tale of pirates, dragons, and paranoia... The adventure can run a little long, but is quite fun to run and play. The basic idea of that adventure had been rattling around in my head for a long time, even before I started working full-time on Saggakar.

Finally, the time for the special came and it could not come fast enough. I had secured one of the larger tables, and waited.

And waited.

Turns out I had no sign-ups!

I talked to Chad about this and that, unfortunately he could not play himself.

JD came to the rescue by offering to run a second table of his adventure, which I had not played yet and was quite curious. Yes, this meant that there were TWO Rhym adventures available at the con! I got to play Juri-Sho, the fire-elemental sorceress. The adventure had a very home game feel to it, which was both exciting and refreshing. Very interesting intro to the campaign.

Sunday started with a similar day: nice and warm.

My 9am table had nine sign-ups. I was both flattered and freaked out by this, but knowing JD would be coming back, if push came to shove, we would divide the players into to tables and run distinct adventures. (Remember, when I noted with some elation that we did have two available adventures? Another plus!)

Turns out that five players showed up - mostly on time (Randy) - and we were able to start at a decent time. In a similar situation as the night before, now JD got to sit down and play! He ended with Lady Hanalyr, our paladin iconic.

The adventure over, I packed up, said goodbye to folks and hit the road back to Nashville. All under a beautiful sun.

Next time: The good, the bad and the conclusion!

JP

Friday, April 7, 2017

Five RPGs of my teens

There is a meme out there on blogs and social media about people putting down five or ten RPGs from their teens that influenced them. I chose to go with five. As my teenage years started in the mid 80s, I chose to focus on "my high school years" (1986-1991). The years after that saw a lot of changes in my playing habits, style, and the availability of games that re-defined and hooked me for life.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons

If you played RPGs in the 80s, you knew or played AD&D, or one of its variants. I did too. Though I will admit not understanding the game early on. I never had the chance or opportunity to learn under a good GM, I had to learn it on-the-fly by myself. Add to it the many problems I saw with the game (limited character choices, multi-classing was the only way to have some basic abilities, and strange rules), especially when comparing it to the other options of this list.

I disliked the game more and more over time, leaving to my completely abandoning it for a decade in 1983 in favor of other games I liked better. It was not until AD&D 3rd that I came back to it and feel in love with it again.

Star Wars

Back in the late 80s, all us Star Wars fans had to go by was the original trilogy (*Amen*) and the Star Wars RPG. The products they came up with were good and much to my own liking. Miles ahead of AD&D IMO. I ran and played in a number of campaigns (I loved playing the retired Imperial Officer template or the Quixotic Jedi). This was a very good game indeed. I often refer back to some of these old adventures for inspiration. Re-reading their plots and twists.

Space 1889

Odd to put here a game whose campaign I just finished. But that is true, I really enjoyed this game back in the day, even if my players' - and my own - grasp of the 19th century warfare was at best very limited. I owe my interest in colonial gaming, which I discovered years later, to this game. In fact, I still own both my original Space 1889 book AND the Soldier's Companion, the minis game that goes with it. I will admit I never played the minis game at the time, but always dreamed of it.

L'Oeil Noir/ The Dark Eye

There is no RPG that influenced me more in the early days than this one. Simple, quick and better balanced than D&D, this game gave you what people griped about vancian magic for years: you had a mana pool and could put it into however many spells you wanted to throw. Even combat was based on balancing your attack and defense points, in a way that is very close to D20 systems today.

However, as much as the rules were fine, the adventures and their plots were really where the game shined bright. It wasn't all to kill the monsters, there was always something else, something more to the story.

Marvel Superheroes

Oh the FASERIP system! How I loved you even though you knew nothing of balance. No one ever wanted to play anyone but Thor. Captain America never got any love. Well that's because he couldn't do anything to most of the baddies. It was still a fun system because it had so many of our favorite heroes within. As a big X-men guy myself, I liked to play simpler character, but that was not the case for most players of the time, who had been trained with D&D.

The module were simple and fun, as they departed greatly from the fantasy adventures we had.

I refer to them whenever I want to run something with super heroes.

Robotech

Now if there is a game that answered my teenage need to destroy things, kill aliens without regards for life, and fire volleys of missiles at random targets, this game had it all. It was also fairly quick and brutal. Although some of my best and earliest campaigns using this system would come during the early 90s with the Macross ][ version of the RPG, this was the one that started things. They had mechs, cool baddies you could kill in droves, loads of missiles, explosions, aliens, big repeating guns, GAAAAAH!. What was not to like about it? I especially liked the Invid Invasion-era game with its "the villains won" feel that still resonates with me today...

I know that's six. So after writing all this, I opted to drop AD&D from this list. It was influential, but in a mostly negative sense during that period.

Did not make the list, because I played but a few short game of it: Warhammer FRP, Palladium Fantasy RPG, Twilight 2000, MERP, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

[Review] Gundam OO Season 1

In the future, mankind created three enormous pillars allowing us to harness solar power from orbit, effectively solving the energy crisis. This creates a world where three main powers (one in the Americas, one in Europe, and one in Asia) control the world and engage in proxy war around the globe. Independent nations are relegated to being effective second-class citizens.

In that mess, a new group arrives, called Celestial Being. This organization has four Gundams that are just ridiculously more powerful that what the government of the world have to offer. CB and its Gundam announce to the world that they will strike wherever there is war and conflict. So these four Gundams begin shooting and imposing peace by destroying the means of war.

A mouthful. This series is that, a HUGE mouthful of stuff crammed into one.

Each pilot has a Gundam that matches his personality: one is fiery and in-your-face with a close-combat Gundam, one is a sniper, etc.

There is so much happening that I think this series may have been more interesting if we'd seen the story from one side at a time, which would allow us to understand the difference between the regimes, get to care about the different character and how the Gundam's actions affects them. Instead it's just a mess of too many characters needing more screen time that any revelation about a character makes you go "where did that come from?"


Story: The story is convoluted and difficult to see the exact point. Through most of it, I got the clear impression that Celestial Being was the villain. I really wanted them to get their butts kicked because they were such jerks. There are so many sites and characters to follow, that it turns into a mess where the point of the series gets lost. I can't give more than a 2/5, mostly because you cannot help but wonder "who are these people again?", "how can 4 Gundams effectively take over the world?", "how do they travel so far so fast?"

Characters: There are so many characters that they blend into a big mess, just like ground pork and ground beef become indistinguishable when cooked in chili. You have the Gundam pilots, the star ship crew of CB, the American MS pilots, the American president, the European MS pilots, the Euro-leaders, the Asian MS pilots, the Asian leaders, civilians in Asia, journalists, but also the princess of an Arabic nation and her entourage. I think I got all of the groups. Each has 2-5 characters sharing the screen and different story lines. It's just too much. I'll give this a 2/5 because of the mess. A few characters were interesting: the Asian MS crew and crew of CB's Prometheus ship were those with the most potential, but they blend into and disappear in jumbled mess.

Animation: The animation is good and modern. 4/5

Overall: Let's see... the series starts off decent and descends into a complex series of thread that feel more at home in soap operas than a Gundam series. There are some good action scenes, but towards they end, they are difficult to follow because of the number of characters acting at the same time. "The battle has been raging for ten hours! Where are they?" After debating, I give this an "okay" rating. It starts in a high "3/5" ends as a "2/5", which mean I must give it a 2/5 since it does not warrant a 3/5. Don't feel bad if you miss it, enjoy it for the battles if you see it. Just don't try to understand what its message or morale is, I haven't found any.

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Playtest, design, and thoughts about the game

After many many playtests of the Mecha Battles rules, the rules play very well and very fast. We played a number of games: one-vs-one, one-vs-many, many-vs-many, few-vs-many. The game runs pretty much the way I intended it to. It is fast and rather furious. And worked decently for up to 5 mechas a side, beyond that, it slows down.

We played a three mecha vs one with Kitty and the game took less than a half-hour, a good quick-game point. I was able to destroy her three mechas due to a good series of initiative cards.

The initiative system with the limited number of activations really ups the pace of the game. When playing, I find that this works very well for small-scale actions: up to 3-5 mecha per sides, more than a full-on large-scale battle. This is fine for most of the games we play at home. However, I wonder how I could use it for a larger-scale event.

So I have about two months to figure out how I can deal with this difficulty. How can I keep producing a game that mimics the dynamism of the battles found in anime shows without bogging down the game?

I have a few ideas that could accomplish this without changing the feel of the game too much. The skirmish-scale really does what I wanted to accomplish.

Could a large-scale game represent major engagements between two or more forces?

  • Two types of units: squads of 3-5 mechas and characters in their own mecha
  • Activation by squad or character
  • Simplify the attack/location system to destroy/disable mechas quickly
  • I will have to try those ideas out.

    I have been toying with the idea of publishing a series of "pilot" cards that would add flavor to the game and allow a given mecha to be made better by the addition of a unique pilot. For example one could give a +1 bonus to ranged attack while another give a +1 damage, etc.

    I am also toying with the idea of putting the mecha sheet on cards too, but I have to investigate how to make those and now is not the time for me to do so (cons, writing, painting) but it will happen.

    This game keeps getting better and better.

    JP

    Sunday, April 2, 2017

    Kryssa: Conviction of Everblight

    Kryssa is the newest member of the Legion warlocks. I don't like my work on this one. It's effective but I just could not feel inspired by her.

    Give me more of these five TV shows!

    These are the five TV shows I hope to see more of in the future, and why.

    5- The Walking Dead/ Fear The Walking Dead

    The original TWD series feels tired. What was so awesome at the start: that anyone could get it at any time is now replaced with the much more stable "If you're one of Rick's old group, you are safe". I did post about How I would Fix it back in November and that still holds.

    Though it suffers from the same "core group is safe" syndrome, Fear the Walking Dead has moved up in my opinion. I am looking forward to it more than to see how Rick will cry for another hour. Still it feels more dynamic right now than the other show. I wonder how it will go from here.

    4- Doctor Who

    Another show I posted about How I would fix it, after such a dismal showing for the Christmas special, the only new material we had this year. In contrast, I far more enjoyed the animated version of the Second Doctor's serial "Power of the Daleks", which was exciting unique and presented a view of the early show that was quite refreshing.

    What am I so excited for in 2017? The end of the Moffat era. I expect a number of episodes that will try to outdo themselves, but will likely fall as flat as Superman and the Doctor... I expect an overload of monsters done and redone to death... The Weeping Angels again people? GAH...

    I'm already impatiently waiting for the end of that era and the start of a new one, hopefully where the Doctor can have wings again, like during the time of Russel T Davies.

    I can't wait for this new era to kick off.

    3- Game Of Thrones

    I love GoT because unlike TWD, no one is safe. Ever. And it makes for compelling "OMG" TV. Plus this coming season it seems things are coming to a head with Danarys and her dragon coming to Westeros, and Jon Snow uniting the North (ish). I wonder what will happen next. One of the best things about it is that every episode presents a series of the subplots, advancing the overall story. Unlike TWD where we only see one subplot at a time.

    I hope we won't be teased for a full season as people move around and nothing really happens until the finale. It's a big hope.

    2- Vikings

    I have been a huge fan of the series since day one. And although not a strict historical storyline (the characters are a mishmash of many real-life Vikings), the show managed to present a series of scenes, particularly the battles that are extremely interesting and entertaining. I will not learn my history from there, but it makes for a very compelling soap opera for guys... Other than wrestling.

    I do like that they at least make an effort to short that people speak different languages and that not everyone speaks English, like in Star Trek...

    Visually stunning, this is one of my favorite shows on TV.

    VIKINGS!!!

    1- Westworld

    The wait for this one, 2018, is the longest of them all. I saw the original 1974 movie, and its 1976 sequel as a boy, and they both rattled me. The implications of creating human-like robots has always fascinated me and led me down the path of philosophical debates. Yes, I wondered about such things as a kid.

    I came to this show with hesitation, as I re-watched the first film on TV as short time ago, and again while on vacation in Florida. Yul Brenner is simply terrifying in his relentless pursuit.

    This show really hit all the right buttons. In its 10 episodes, we are given a constant series of reveals that makes you squint or scratch your head in wonder. The whole thing is very well done and acted superbly.

    Anthony Hopkins.

    Yes. It's that good.

    The season finale leaves you wondering what may be coming next. There are still questions outstanding and loose ends galore. A lot of them.

    It will be a long wait.

    Saturday, April 1, 2017

    Skorne Saturday: Rhinodox

    More from the Facebook megalot.

    I took inspiration from the titan to do this guy.