Random Spelljammer Ideas

I love the Spelljammer fantasy space setting by TSR. Every once in a while I have ideas that pop in my weary mind when I really should be working...

Battle Against The Horde

A great idea for a high powered Spelljamming campaign could involve the Evil Horde from She-Ra Princess of Power. The PCs are each from a different crystal sphere. On route to a Horde prison world, a fellow prison tells of a rebellion that started on the world of Etheria. The first adventure begins as the PCs take over the prison ship. During the campaign the players travel to different worlds to either escape the long arm of the Horde or too spread the message of the Great Rebellion to other worlds.

Blackstar Opening Could Be Spelljammer

I imagine a Spelljamming flying into a crystal sphere may look like this:

Key To A Crystal Sphere

Season 16 of Doctor Who, which involved the Key to Time, would make a great source for a crystal sphere. Each episode has a planet/idea or two that can be used as a planet in the sphere.

• The Ribos Operation: Ice planet with inhabitants underground, home of barbarians, scoundrels and exiles.
• The Pirate Planet: An artificial planetoid that devours small planets for energy.
• The Stones of Blood: Prison ships/asteroids that drift in space.
• The Androids of Tara: A renaissance-era world that specializes in android (read golem) construction.
• The Power of Kroll: Swamp world with colonies from the other planets in the sphere. The native people fight against the invaders.
• The Armageddon Factor: A war between neighboring planet with an evil shadow planet sowing discord throughout the sphere.

Wargolems in Spaaaaacee!

Since Spelljammer came on the market, several games have presented variants on the fantasy mecha/golem concept. Add that to Spelljammer and you add new possibilities for adventure. Imagine a magic item or helm variant that channels whatever force you wish into move a gargantuan golem body. An alternate idea is the wizard who can control a variety of golems (call jacks, constructs, etc.) ala Warmachine. Spelljammer explored this idea with the Sentinel construct from the Wildspace adventure (SJA1). . I'm seeing Iron Kingdom Warcasters in steampunk ships battling against the Bralian Golem Defense Force in the flows of the phlogiston. That could be interesting.

The Last B-Movie Monday: End Credits

Today is the last B-Movie Monday. It was fun while it lasted and it served it purpose of giving me the discipline to make a blog post at least once a week. The original plan was to stat out the creatures and characters of the movies in various systems. As the old cliche goes, "the best laid plans of mice and men."

So I give you today some of my favorite end credit themes for various movies. The grindhouse content will continue, and I may get the urge to post more trailers again in the future. Thanks to everybody who enjoyed it and commented and too those who saw B-Movie Monday as a guilty pleasure they could enjoy on a Monday night.

Christmas Eve With Full Moon Entertainment 2010

Continuing the Amazing RPG Fun Pad Christmas Eve Celebration I present to you the Full Moon Entertainment Christmas Eve Extravaganza! Here are some more trailers from one of my favorite B-Movie companies.

Tim Thomerson is the man! And Andrew Robinson is pretty creepy in this one.

Bask in the cheesy goodness on this stop motion mecha movie.

A cheap-jack Tron clone that is kinda fun in it's own way.

One of the post-Paramount era Full Moon movies I liked.

In the later years of the original Full Moon Entertainment, Charlie Band and his people would film sequels back to back, They usually did this in Romania. He's a pair of sequels done this way.

Full Moon Films always had a comic book feel to them. Each video would have a section called the VideoZone. Each one had a behind the scenes of the current movie, a feature on another movie, coming attractions, and merchandising commercials like this one with the lovely Charlie Spradling.

I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! And since it's Christmas Eve I give you the Immortal Darlene Love singing Christmas (Baby Come Home) on the David Letterman Show. This is a Late Show With David Letterman tradition I try to catch every year, on TV or YouTube. Enjoy!

B-Movie Monday

I got Christmas Cookies to bake tonight, so I have some random trailers for you today!

Originally entitled Terminator II in Europe. I'm not making this up.



See you next week for the last B-Movie Monday.

New T.W.E.R.P.S. Wiki: TWERPS ARCANUM

For fans of minimalist role playing and pun-laced reading, a TWERPS wiki has been set up. The site is chock full of fan made rules, character adaptations, genre sets, and more. Most of them are from the TWERPS Yahoo Group How To Do Everything. I like the TWERPS rules, and I hope that this new wiki begins a resurgence of the self proclaimed The Worlds Easiest Role Playing System!

TWERPS ARCANUM Wiki

TWERPS on Wikipedia

How To Do Everything the TWERPS Yahoo Group

B-Movie Monday: Luigi Cozzi Superstar!

On this B-Movie Monday I want to give a shout out to writer/director/memorabilia store owner/Argento pal Luigi Cozzi. He doesn't have their mad flair of Dario Argento, the doom of Lucio Fulci, the sleaze of Antonio Margheriti, the action of Enzo Castellari or the "wtf" factor of Bruno Mattei. I've always had a liking for Cozzi because he was a horror/sci fi fan not unlike myself. Yes, his work is full of cliches and they have a tendency to be a little strange.

Yet two of his movies Starcrash and Contanimation are among my favorite movies ever. And he worked on three 80s peplum movies with Lou Ferrigno : Hercules, Hercules II (The Adventures of Hercules), and what I consider the real D&D movie, Sinbad of the Seven Seas.

So here's to Luigi Cozzi, all around genre fan who actually had a chance to make some of the movies he wanted to make.

Luigi Cozzi on Wikipedia (for a good overview of his career)

And as a final treat, the opening "Creation Myth" from Hercules (1983). I dare someone to use this "myth" as the source of their campaign world.



Enjoy your Monday!

Goodbye B-Movie Monday, Hello Filmation Friday

B-Movie Monday here at the Amazing RPG Fun Pad was created for two reasons: to share my immense love for B-Movie trailers and to give me a reason to do at least a blog post a week. And fun it was, for me and I hope for you. I have an itch to do something else, though, so I've decided to end B-Movie Monday with the December 27th Edition. I'll still post fun trailers, posters and dvd covers, but for now I want to take a break.

Starting the first or second week of January I will be debuting Filmation Friday! Filmation Friday is a celebration of the last animation studio to keep all of their animation in the States, and the masters of stock footage animation. Each week I may have a Filmation cartoon, some fan art, rpg stats or whatever strikes my fancy, as I dip into the vast weirdness that populates the Filmation universe as my inspiration.

So as I said in my very first post:

From Fulci...



to Filmation,

I hope you enjoy my irregularly updated blog!

B-Movie Monday: The Howling Movies!

Yes, I've seen all of them.

Thanks for the condolences. No, I don't think that sitting through all of them makes me better than you. Stronger willed? Yes. Better? Nope.

Here are the trailers. Continuity? You've got to be kidding.

There's no trailer for the seventh Howling movie Howling: New Moon Rising. That is not a big loss, gang. And there's a good possibility that someone is doing a new sequel called The Howling Reborn. Yay.

Have a good one, folks!

B-Movie Monday: Leslie Nielsen and Ingrid Pitt

The beautiful Ingrid Pitt died a week ago tomorrow. The funny (and versatile) Leslie Nielsen died yesterday. B-Movie Monday celebrates their careers with some trailers and clips from their B-Movie careers.

From The House That Dripped Blood (Amicus 1971)



See ya!

Happy Thanksgiving!

To everybody out there, The Amazing RPG Fun Pad wishes you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving! Remember the blessings you've received, the family you love, the friends you cherish. Reflect on what you are thankful for. Peace!

P.S.--Don't eat too much!

Happy Birthday Doctor Who!

On this day back in 1963 one of my favorite TV shows ever premiered across the pond in Merrie Olde England. That show was an educational program called Doctor Who. Happy 47th birthday to a show that gave me show much fun on winter Saturday afternoons on PBS when I was a child.

The Eleven Doctors:

Top row: William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker

Middle Row: Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann
Bottom Row: Christopher, David Tennant, Matt Smith

The Fourth, Third and Tenth Doctors are my favorites.

Check out the official Doctor Who page at http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/dw .

Visions of Vanth 3

The Pirates of the Sea of Great Peril are a varied and colorful lot. Many fly under the colors of the Family of the Sea. There are independent operators, but no one trusts them.

The Sulduku Hierophants have many treaures (both religious and secular) in their Island home. Although many countries and kingdoms have respected the Hierophant's neutrality, there are those who do not. Pictured here are the Red Monks of Sulduku, Guardians of the Relics. Disguised from the world, wielding blades of meteoric iron, they are the last sight many a tomb robber has been graced with.

A recent unwanted development is the creation of the Haemoborgs. Warlord Scimitar Blayde of the Steel Warlords developed a biofuel conversion adaptor for his personal cyborg bodyguard corps. Unfortunately, saboteurs from the Anti-Robodroid Enclave delivered a virus that gave the Haemoborgs an insatiable thirst for blood!

Most Vanthians hunt the dinosaurs of Dino Island with a variety of rifles and lasers. The Hanta-Sealgaire Clan from the City of Thunders prefer to hunt dinosaurs only with their Martial Arts Prowess.

The reach of Darth Viraxis stretches across the face of Vanth. Pictured here is one of his servitors, Lord Oskar Steiner. From his secret giant skull shaped cliff base amongst the Seven Mile Pillars of Haragorn, he sends his Technomantic Robodroid lackeys to infiltrate the Cities of Blackhawk and Bloodhaven.

Should We Call It B-Movie Monday? SyFy Original Movies

This week we "celebrate" the SciFi/SyFy Original Movies. They are not the best, even by my admittedly low movie watching standards. A SyFy Original is usually a rote, by the numbers genre film with cheesy plots and low budgets. The cast is made up of newbies, Canadian actors, stars who would have been in syndicated genre TV shows 20 years ago, and two or three recognizable names. They probably ripped off another movie. Add a usually CGI generated monster and shake it up. There are exceptions, but most of them are kind of meh.

But what the hell! Here are some of my favorite trailers for SyFy Original movies.

See you next week!

Veterans Day

Remember those who served and fought for our country.

B-Movie Monday:

A couple of fun bits today!













See you next week!

B-Movie Mon--er Wednesday

Been busy with clearing up the rest of my Grandma Angel's furnishings and personal effects. Well I'm back with various trailers and such. B-Movie Monday should resume next, you know, Monday. ;)

I love the Waxwork movies. Here's the UK trailer for Waxwork II.













Have a great day!

Happy Halloween from the Amazing RPG Fun Pad!

Me and the Demons from Lamberto Bava's Demons wish you and yours a Happy Halloween!

Lego Machete Trailer (NSFW)

Somebody made a Lego trailer based off the original trailer for Robert Rodriguez's Machete. Words can not express how awesome this is.

15 Games That Inspired Me

Following in the internet meme, here are 15 RPGs that inspired me, in no particular order...

1. Dungeons & Dragons (the introduction to fantasy rpg for me)

2. Lords of Creation (The rock on which my love of the weird in RPGs was made)

3. Marvel Super Heroes (the first RPG I ran)

4. Over the Edge (The closest RPGs will ever come to the Twilight Zone)

5. Champions 4th Editon (One of the best superhero continuities in RPGs)

6. GURPS 3rd Edition (Great source material and my first amateur RPG work)

7. Call of Cthulhu (I love reading the monster, gods, and spell sections)

8. Risus (the best free RPG ever)

9. Heroes Unlimited (can't stand the system but I love the Source material)

10. Bureau 13: Stalking the Night Fantastic (more source material I love)

11. Nightlife (horror role playing with a worldwide mythology)

12. Cartoon Action Hour (cause that was MY idea, dammit! ;)

13. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Cause I love BtVS and Angel and Unisystem rocks)

14. All Flesh Must Be Eaten (Zombies, zombies, zombies!)

15. Toon (An underappreciated game of cartoon humor)

I got more, but they said 15.

B-Movie Monday

Not alot of time today, so here's some DVD artwork that is really cool.

I adore this artwork for Zombie.

German poster for Night of the Seagulls.

The West German title for Lamberto Bava's Demons/Demoni (1985).

See ya next week!

B-Movie Monday: The Blogger With Four Lions presents Giallo Trailers!

Here's a couple of trailers of the Giallo persuasion. These bizarre murder mysteries are beloved the world over for their murderous set pieces, bizarre plots, outrageous clues and strange characters. A good overview of the Giallo genre can be found at the Giallo Fever blog!













See you next week!

Fight On! #10 is Out

Fight On! #10 is available for release at Lulu in both Print and PDF editions! I've recommended Fight On! in the past but this issue is special. Why, you may ask? Because one of the tables I wrote on this very blog is in this issue! Tom Moldvay is celebrated in this issue, and my table is a tribute to the mad genius that he introduced me too. Check issue 10 out!

Fan Film Trailers

In a way, fan films are close cousins of RPGs. It's just another way to tell some stories you've always wanted to tell with your favorite characters.

RIP Ruth "Grandma Angel" David (1920-2010)

My paternal grandmother died last night at the age of 90. Complications from her falling and breaking her hip led to her passing. She was the person who introduced me to horror movies and encouraged my writing (even if she didn't understand it). In the last two years we would watch horror movies like Zombie, Evil Dead II, and more afterI got done with work. Without her and my aunt I probably would have never gotten into fantasy, sci-fi and horror. Without her and my family I would never have even had the thought of the Amazing RPG Fun Pad.

B-Movie Monday will return in 2 weeks, and more stuff will be popping up here soon. Grandma Angel would not want me to dwell on what happened. She would want me to live.

B-Movie Monday: Indiana Jones "Tributes"

Like most blockbuster hits, Raiders of the Lost Ark inspired some great rip--I mean tribute movies. The return of B-Movie Monday brings trailers for some of the more fun pulp films that spawned from Indy.
















Enjoy your Monday!

[B-Movie RPG] Dr. Freudstein from The House by the Cemetery

Submitted for your approval another Fulci creation using Cinematic Unisystem! From the classic 1981 Italian horror movie classic Quella villa accanto al cimitero (better known in America as The House by the Cemetery I give you the diabolical Dr. Jacob Freudstein. All abilities for Dr. Freudstein are guessed at because they are never really explained in the movie, which is actually pretty normal for an 80s horror movie. I originally wrote this up on the Eden Studios Message Boards.

Dr. Jacob Freudstein

The House by the Cemetery French language poster

Jacob Freudstein was a doctor in the 1800s that began to experiment in means of prolonging the human lifespan. His research became an obsession. Freudstein began to indulge in increasingly bizarre and bloody experiments. The medical authorities of Boston rescinded his medical status. Driven into hiding, the Doctor retired to his home in the town of New Whitby, Massachusetts. Soon rumors began to circulate about the strange house by the cemetery. By the middle of the century Jacob Freudstein, his wife Mary, and their daughter May were dead. The house gained a reputation for strange disappearances and murders happening around the grounds. No matter who tries to sell the land or what the realtors call it, the residents call it “the Freudstein House”.

Jacob Freudstein walks today as a creature similar to a zombie. Well over 150 years old, he exists by harvesting the blood, limbs and organs of the people he kills. Limbs and organs he grafts onto himself to replace parts of himself that have rotted away. The only original body parts of the doctor that remain are his head and torso. The vocal chords have atrophied to the point where the only way Freudstein can communicate is with cries, moans, and grunts. Like most zombies and revivified beings, Freudstein is very hard to destroy.

With a steady stream of “donors”, Freudstein could exist in this undead state forever. Reports suggests that he still lives in the cellar of his house or in catacombs that exist beneath the cemetery that sits by the house. The true number of people he has killed has never been calculated, and his current activities are unknown.

It is also unknown if anyone else has used the Freudstein method of revivification.

Name: Dr Jacob Freudstein
Motivation: Live Forever by Killing People
Critter Type: Revived Zombie Doctor
Attributes: Str 8, Dex 3, Con 7, Int 5, Per 4, Will 5
Ability Scores: Muscle 22, Combat 16, Brains 14,
Life Points: 70
Drama Points: 3
Special Abilities: Appearance –6, Iron Mind, Regeneration (7 per hour), Zombie, Deranged Cruelty, Deranged Obsession (Eternal Life), Mute, Unique Kill (Must incinerate head), Weakness (Must Harvest Victims Limbs, Organs, and Fluids to Replace Aging or Damaged Parts), Haunted (His wife and Daughter, antagonistic), +5 Doctor, +4 Science.

Maneuvers

Name-Score-Damage-Type
Break Neck-22-32-Bash
Grapple-18-0-Resisted by Dodge
Choke-22-7-must grapple, possible asphyxiation
Toss-18-8-Bash, must grapple first
Big Ass Knife-16-24-slash/stab
BAK (Thrown)-15-21-slash/stab
Ax-16-40-slash/stab
Punch-16-16-bash
Wall Slap-22-24-bash, must grapple first
Throat Rip-13-32-must grapple, if damage fatal throat ripped out

When I can find my pdf copy of Ghosts of Albion (and have some free time to do it), I have an idea for making Freudstein as a malevolent ghost who can materialize to murder his victims.

Plus, Ghosts of Albion will hopefully be coming out in print soon…

Visions of Vanth 2

"Blades Muerte" Naschy: pirate, explorer, legend, and one of the few people Darth Viraxis is terrified of.

Darth Viraxis' Sharkman Shock Squad (Khurasan miniatures)

A rare picture of Los Caballeros de la Máscara on their way to save a small village.

Mad stone collasai roam through the Forbidden Waste.

Three members of the Ape Sultanate Exploratory Enclave (Eureka miniatures)

Encounter Critical Represent!

It is with much honor and respect for my EC peers that I join the Encounter Critical Blog Ring created by Mr. Criss Creel!

Click here to access all of the Encounter Critical fun on the Amazing RPG Fun Pad! Everything from a brief discussion on transformable robots on Vanth to seven new races and more. This is the official home of the Dr. Rotwang! approved Los Caballeros de la Máscara (The Knights of the Mask)!

Hope you all enjoy!

B-Movie Monday: Italian Post Apocalyptic Smackdown!

I broke down and got a print copy of Mutant Future. This, and the fortunate watching of Thundarr the Barbarian while eating pizza at CiCi's Pizza restaurant inspired this trailer collection. I give to you one of my favorite movie genres, the Italian Post Apocalyptic movie.

David Zuzelo on his blog Tomb It May Concern has one of the best essays on the Italian Post Apocalyptic genre here. And he has some great reviews in the book that he wrote called Tough To Kill Volume 1 - The Italian Action Explosion. Check it out!

Now on to the trailers!







The New Barabarians AKA The Warriors of the Wasteland



One of the greatest cheesefests of all time: Bruno Mattei's Rats: Night of Terror



The Bronx Trilogy trailer featuring the work of one of the great directors of Italian action films, Enzo Castellari:



And no Italian Post Apocalyptic Movie discussion woud be complete without some Yor the Hunter from the Future!



Have a great Monday!

The Return of B-Movie Monday: 1990 Horror Films!

In honor of my 20 year high school reunion (Go Milwaukee Tech Trojans!) this past weekend, here are some good (and not so good) horror movie trailers. All of them were released in 1990.

I've never seen this one but heard it's good:
















A B-flick I really like featuring the funny Peter Riegert, the late Alexander Godunov, the hot Joan Severance and the "whatever happened to him?" Chris Young.



Lotta spoilers in this one folks, but it has work by Dario Argento AND George Romero!

New Mini Six Bare Bones Edition At AntiPaladin Games

Vacation was way too short but I ate too much, got sunburnt, hung out with family, and had a great time!

But the reason why I'm here is:




The boys at AntiPaladin Games have put up a cleaned up and expanded edition of their variant Open D6 game Mini Six called the Mini Six Bare Bones Edition. It's free and available for download at their website at:

http://antipaladingames.com/minisix.html

The folks at AntiPaladin Games have put out a versatile cinematic RPG. Check it out!

ON VACATION!!!!!

For all the folks who check out my blog while wandering through the RPG Blogosphere, I'm going on vacation starting this Tuesday afternoon and I'm off for an entire week! Got nothing planned but visiting family out of town (my second home town Winneconne, Wisconsin). Oh, and the Wisconsin State Fair on August 11.

So if you stop by, look around, enjoy my writing, enjoy some B-Movie Mondays, and I'll see you late next week.

B-Movie Monday: Random Stuff!

Let's get random, kids!

Easily the best documentary I've watched this year (Not Safe For Work):

And for those of us who remember the VHS days...



Have a great week!

B-Movie Monday: Predator Trailers

I went and saw Predators yesterday and thought it was an excellent movie. I got $7.50 worth of entertainment. Since it's late and I have to go to bed soon (Sunday was a busy day and I had to work today), I got some Predator trailers (the three movies and some fan films) for you. I consider fan films a viable part of the B-Movie experience, and some of them are more fun than the official movies that Hollywood puts out.

And now a public service message: Vote Carl Weathers!



I'm Mike David and I approve this message!

[Icons RPG] Bonelord, the Skeletal Sorceror

Here's another character for ICONS, generated using the ICONS Character Folio. He's a magic item using living skeleton who has horrible luck.

I give you...

Bonelord
Clinton Darner

Origin: Transformed

Prowess 4
Coordination 5
Strength 4
Intellect 7
Awareness 3
Willpower 5

Stamina 9
Determination *

Specialties
Occult
Sleight of Hand
Business

Powers
Wizardry 7 - Mystic Items
Detection 6 (Magic)
Immortality 5

Qualities
Catchphrase : "With [insert item name here], I will have all I desire!"
Epithet : The Skeletal Sorceror
Well Placed Investiments

Challenges
The Unluckiest Man in the Mystic World
Walking Talking Skeleton
Ridiculously Overconfident

Point Total 49

Bonelord looks like a walking, talking skeleton encased in a gaudy but effective suit of red and green armor. He always carries magical items of varying degrees of power. Despite not having any lungs, Bonelord still sounds like a normal human being.

Bonelord claims to be Clinton Darner, a rich amateur occultist who accidentally summoned a demon of flaying instead of a hyperactive succubus like he wanted. The occultist escaped his imprisonment in Hell, but could not regain his original body, just his bones. Most of the mystic community believes this story. Bonelord has two reputations: he is extremely clever, but his also one of the unluckiest supervillains on Earth.

A typical Bonelord plan usually involves gaining an artifact that can augment his meager magical skills and give him access to undreamt of magical ability. Procuring the artifact is usually no problem for Bonelord; controlling it is another matter. If an item will open up a gate to the Pure Heavens, an angry Archangel will send down some Seraphim to cleanse the North American continent. If one of the Lost Pages of the Necronomicon will raise “an army of bone”, Bonelord will summon some marrow eaters instead. Anything that can go wrong usually does around this villain. Even other weirdness magnets marvel at the bizarre ways that reality conspires to stop whatever he attempts to accomplish.

Current Status: Mobile, still wreaking havoc by ham-handed use of mystic artifacts.

Bonelord Picture created using Fábrica de Heróis.