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Sersa Victory
Kobold Press
5e
Level 8

Humanity’s Last Hope Corrupted! The Tomb of Mercy was built centuries ago to house arks that would preserve the souls of humanity from an infernal invasion. Now you must travel to the Wasted West, unseal the Tomb, and send the last ark safely on its journey. Fail, and humanity faces extinction!

A DriveThru Hot Seller! Let’s see how much I regret the purchase …

This thirty page adventure is a linear crawl through a dungeon with twelve rooms. The core adventure appears on ten pages, leaving the other twenty pages to fluff, monsters, pregens, etc. This could be a cool one-shot con adventure, but is too limiting for anything else.

I have opinions on this one. I feel like I was ripped off; that the marketing doesn’t actually tell you what you’re buying. Given the rather niche corner this occupies it feels important that expectations are set pre-purchase. This doesn’t do that, not by a long shot.

Did you know you could win D&D? Yes! It’s true! In this adventure the DM and players compete with each other to draw Augury cards. At the end of the adventure they use what they’ve drawn to try to figure out which three random cards were sealed in an envelope at the start. Whoever guesses more wins the game!

And there are respawn rules! If a PC dies then they respawn the next round next to an ally. That’s nice, isn’t it? Oh, but if PC’s die six times then the DM wins automatically, so …

[The adventure commits two unforgivable sins, and this is one of them. D&D is not adversarial. Any hint that it is needs to be stamped out. There is no greater mindset of evil than “Adversarial D&D. Respawn? Ok. Die six times and the DM wins? No.]

I want to touch on two other issues before I get to my first bullet point. First, an emphasis is given to terrain that I don’t usually see, except in 4e adventures. Second, killing things/defeating challenges give you the key to get to the next room.

You now what this feels like? A boardgame. A scenario for Descent, or some Neverwinter Nights scenario. As a one shot con game that’s fine. Weird rules for three to four hours and then you’re out. No commitment beyond that; it’s fun. As a standard adventure… well … This is a one-trick pony.

Read-aloud is in light green italics, which makes it hard to read. In spite of there being twenty pages of support material, the map is all on one page, in some weird scale. It’s gorgeous, and clearly meant to be printed out, but is too small to do that. But, hey, they got it all on one page.

Magic items are good. Unique items like a shield you can feed monster bodies to in order to get a breathe weapon attack. They feel mythic.

On the monsters, well …

The first monster is a “conjoined bonewraith dust goblin spirit caller.” It’s hard to take that seriously. I’m guessing this is some templated build? I don’t understand that shit. Just slap some stats down; why do designers feel the need to use the rules to build a monster? And if it’s not a templated build, then why the fuck would you give it a six word name that seems like a template build? It’s hard to take seriously when adventures do this. Not to mention the monsters are long. Like, a page and half in one case. There’s this style of adventure that seems to take rules lawyering to a new heights, and this is one of them. Everything explained using current rules and two paragraph entries for new monsters. Didn’t the OD&D mind flayer just each brains on a 1-2 out of a d6? Seems easier to run than digging through 1.5 pages of stats to read two paragraphs while you’re trying to run a combat with six players.

The read-aloud is ok. It’s certainly evocative although it tends towards to the unnecessarily flowery novelist style. And while there’s a LOT of DM text it’s formatted rather well in most cases. Too long, way too long, with too much crap in it that doesn’t matter during the adventure. It does matter if you are reading the adventure for fun … nice fluff. Which, of course, is also a major sin of adventure writing. More is not more. More gets in the way of running the adventure at the table.

This thing is the definition of idiosyncratic. The “Winning”, respawn and six deaths things. The setting is a world overrun by hell with the PC’s launching an ark in to space with humanity’s last souls. The pregens are all female and named “Sister of Mercy” and “SIster of Judgement” and “SIster of Fury.” [Sadly, no one sang corrosion to me during the review.] This is hard to use during a normal game and probably a decent con game. But then, the pregens are not formatted for easy printing, running to multiple columns. And the monsters are hard to grasp. And the map is not optimized for a con print.

I’m going to give the designer the benefit of the doubt. I think they wrote an ok convention game. And then the Kobolds got ahold of it and fucked it up by putting the map on one page, spreading the pregens over multiple columns/pages, and forcing a “standard monsters format” and mechanics bullshit. Then hey marketed it as an general purpose adventure instead of a one-shot … which I fucking HATE.

The preview s five pages. The last page shows you the map and the second to last shows you the first room. Nice imagery, and mechanics associated with it, but WAY too long.
This is $7 at DriveThru.
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/240933/Tomb-of-Mercy-for-5th-Edition

Fate was a way harder game for me to "get" than I thought it would be. I suspect if I'd never gamed before it would have been a lot easier.

There's a ton of blogs and reviews that can give you all the details of Fate. I'm going to talk about the Fate Accelerated version where I finally grokked the game. Fate Accelerated and Fate Core are officially the same game, but there are some definite differences.

Fate uses Fate dice - six sided dice with two plusses, two minuses, and two blanks. You roll four of them and add them together - adding various modifiers as well, but the dice give a range of -4 to +4. You're trying to beat some difficulty. It sounds pretty traditional.

Here's where it diverges. Fate Core gives your character traditional skills like shooting, piloting, etc. Fate Accelerated goes for approaches - how you do something, Are you forceful? Are you sneaky? Both a wizard and a warrior can be forceful. But your aspects and stunts give more definition.

Aspects basically describe something. It can be as simple as "strong", but that's a pretty lousy aspect. "Strong and dumb as an ox" on the other hand works pretty well - a good aspect has positive and negative aspects and helps form the picture of who you are. It also can be something temporary - attached to a scene or a character. For example, "warehouse floor on fire" is an aspect. So is "I've got you covered". Aspects can also be a permission to take some action. For example, with the aspect "Dark Lord of the Sith" it would be reasonable to use the Forceful approach to yank blasters out of the hapless rebels' hands.

Stunts are mechanical exceptions - bonuses you get under certain circumstances being the most common.

When you pay you are throwing aspects, fate points, stunts, etc. all over the place. Invoking an aspect typically gives you a +2 bonus. But unless you create that aspect, something that takes an action, or have some other way to get a free use, you need to spend a fate point. Lousy stuff happening to you is a great way to get more fate points.

I've talked about the mechanics. They're pretty simple, but it took me a long while to get the hang of how best to use them. It's a very narrative system, designed to tell stories of exceptional people. I used it for a team of Star Wars rebels and it worked great. But I also had previous so-so attempts at using the rules. You really need to buy into the game. But when you do, it is fantastic at telling stories of exceptional people.

Like everything else on this list, I'd not use it for everything. But I did finally get to see how powerful a system it can be. Still got Dresden Files Accelerated on my bucket list....



Blog note - updates this month have been near-impossible. Lots of family activities, grad school, etc. I'd been planning on going to North Texas RPG Con next month but that's looking less and less likely as the semester progresses. Just one and a half classes left...

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Welcome to gaming releases this week!

This is my first attempt at something like this, so feel free to give me comments and suggestions!

There were over 200 products released in the last 7 days, what follows are highlights only. If you'd like to be highlighted, get at me during your release week!


Steve Jackson released a large number of Car Wars .pdfs!

• Car Wars Expansion set 8 - Chopper Challenge
• Car Wars Tanks
• Autoduel Quarterly #8/1
• Autoduel Quarterly #8/2
• AADA Road Atlas V6: The Free Oil States
• AADA Road Atlas V7: Mountain West

Pandius Provided the Poor Wizard's Almanac: The Year of Chaos
Popular threads on the vault include a civilization, wilderness and monsters density poll; and of course the Mystarn's community response to the denigration of the setting by Matt Sernett during a podcast and his subsequent apology, and their attempt to address the "endemic disrespect for Mystara [in] the community at Wizards of the Coast." Mystara is one of the most D&D-like settings ever created, with ancient human empires, magical flying cities, immortals and a hollow world.

Unearthed Arcana covers the new playtesting rules for centaurs and minotaurs leading to reddit postulating the infinite centaur because medium creatures can ride centaurs who are themselves medium size. It's centaurs all the way down!

Greg Gillespie has 5 days left for his funded Barrowmaze: Highfell - The Drifting Dungeon Megadungeon for Labyrinth Lord and other Old School Role-playing game.



Saturday May 12th

• Corporatocracy: Company Rule in Fact & Fantasy, by WMB Saltworks
• A quick perusal shows information about both historical cases as well as specific ideas for campaigns that can be caused by certain company interests. The text is excessively wordy, "Usually, of course, we refer to corporations in a business sense. It can be useful to remember, however, that not all companies are corporations." If you can take that sort of meandering well, this may be of some use to you.

Sunday May 13th

• The Handbook for Saucy Bards by Tangent Artists
• Reminds me of books of jokes in people's house from the 70's like "The Complete WASP's Guide to Blond Jokes." The preview shows some mild racial jokes reskinned with fantasy races.
• Inkwell ideas released their monthly Patreon collection of map icons. This month is the Undersea Kingdom City Map Icons (February), Cityographer Medieval Castle City Map Icons (March), and Cityographer Vegetation City Map Icons (April)

Monday May 14th

• Raging Swan Press released a Village Backdrop: Underdell in System Neutral/Pathfinder/5e versions. It's 3.45 for a .pdf, and it provides 9 pages of a fully fleshed out village. It's by John Bennett and certainly seems to have a lot of useful hooks within. I generally find the further Raging Swan leans away from pathfinder, the more and more useful I find their supplements. Some of the Dressing pages have a permanent place in my DM's folder. 
• Spellcaster: Frostgrave Magazine Issue #3, the supplement from the "Wizards fight in an ancient frozen city" miniatures game. 
• Silence from Sommerisk by Petersen Games
• This is a starter adventure for the Pathfinderized Call of Cthulhu, by Peterson Games 
• River Gorge Gauntlet by Erie Underground
• A one page dungeon about bandits by the river. Above average, in regards to terrain and space.
• Buried Temple of the Death God by Cirrem's Tower
• An adventure with good review but no preview. For 6th-8th level 5th edition players. 
• Tome of the Gods and The Genisys Tome, a very wordy pantheon of gods, and a point buy heartbreaker without any setting information in the text. It's a generic 2d10 system? A quote from the Cyberpunk Genisys setting "We are making the game more about you and less about your dice, we changed from an old style 1d10 system to a 2d10 system."
• The Darkness Beneath Dalentown by Tim Bannock
• Legendary Planet: Dead Vault Descent by Legendary Games an adventure for the lukewarmly received Starfinder Adventure game.
• Lethal Lairs - Red Dragon and Lethal Lairs - White Dragon by Pointy Pony Publications

Tuesday May 15th

• Fitzhywel's Fantastical paraphernalia: Paper and Parchments by Michael Fitzhywei, 5 dollars for 30 different parchment backgrounds for player handouts. I could certainly find some use for these. No response to the question asked yesterday if they are usable for commercial use. I haven't ordered this or any of his other projects but they look enticing
• A 400 page ebook by Loren Wiseman, GROGNARD: Ruminations on 40 years in gaming.

Wednesday May 16th

• Eldritch Weapons (Savage Worlds) by Zadmar Games contains a way to generate magical weapons using a tarot technique with playing cards. 
• Escape from Goblin Dungeon by Sharp Mountain Games, an OSR adventure for first level adventures about escaping from a goblin dungeon. 
• SideQuests: Tritons of Mistvalley River, by Sidequests. A short adventure for 6th level 5th edition characters
• Another heartbreaker, ELEMENTAL Complete Guide from Gildor Games
• Mastery Monthly: May 2018, by Knights Crimson a Pay What you Want magazine about 5th Edition
• Star Frontiers: Face of the Enemy by WotC

Thursday May 17th

• SideQuests: The Assassin's Hideaway by Sidequests for 8th level 5th edition characters
• Crossword Dungeons by 5realms Publishing, which is a 1.00$ crossword. That is also a dungeon. 

If you find this post useful, and you'd like to see it every Friday, then now is the time to support my Patreon to make sure I can continue to afford housing and which totally enables putting this together every week. 
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SAO II

The first four episodes are unnecessary garbage.

Then it does turn into an interesting albeit dogged story. It feels more like the second half of SAO I. They took much of what didn’t work in the first series and ran with it, leaving behind the best parts.

Still, after you roll your eyes through four useless episodes it picks up for nine. This story could have been told in three or less so it can be frustrating however it’s also touching.

After thirteen episodes though they do a reveal. It gives you just enough time to figure it all out before they reveal it and the twist is a little offensive (probably not offensive the way the word is used by a SJW).

Then it goes on to make a point about the dangers of identifying with a virtual world. It goes half measure with the danger.

Wait, it’s not over… a whole episode recaps this season. One can’t deny the overwhelming power of the concept even though it’s somewhat wasted. Like the first season, there are two main plots that have very different feels. It can’t be stressed enough that much like the first season, the secondary plot is angsty, ‘mature,’ and even more angsty. Did I mention the angst? To be fair the angsty stuff is done a little better this time.

One of the big negative issues I had with this animated cartoon was the sheer number of spoilers in the intro credits. This changes with a new intro for the last part of the season which appears to be returning to it’s roots, bringing back some of the original charm from the first season. Just ‘some’ though as it’s still a little lacking. This should have been the intro all along for both seasons.

Somewhere along the way, the music got better.

A problem with this later plotline is that I personally forget who a couple characters are and some of the names just leave a fuzzy question mark over my head. The battles also lack the imagination from the first series.

Still, there are some good ideas here even though it slows down in pacing.

Suddenly for a few episodes it switches to an independent storyline that could be watched alone without seeing any of the previous ones. It leads us to the finale. This little cute story is neat, fun and inconsequential.

Until it isn’t. Then it’s attempt to be moving generated some hilarity. I gather the writers had a point however it’s overshadowed by absurdity.

Despite the potentially negative review this seems to be. I feel a sense of fulfillment I probably wouldn't have without seeing the whole thing. I doubt I’ll watch it again but if they make more, I’ll give it a whirl.

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Opening the book and seeing the date 2001 gives me an odd feeling of how that shouldn’t seem so long ago and yet the battle of HackMaster does seem well in the past. It’s a game that ran its course and veered off in a completely different direction than where it initially travelled. It ended. Debate away.

The inside cover has ads for the GMG, HoB (over 1600 creatures), Quest for the Unknown and Little Keep on the Borderlands.

Of those, B1 Quest for the Unknown is easily the greatest gem. It took a fantastic classic adventure and made it even better. I’ve used it more than any module.

Inside the opening page is an area for signatures to be used to rub your dice against for dice purging and luck charges. It never occured to me over the years to actually get any of those signatures although I’ve met a few of the Kenzer team. There is a Reality Check and Foreword, both of which were so funny that they alone sold me on the book purchase in a Michigan WOTC store. The same place that taught me the Wheel of Time CCG completely wrong.

At its core, 4e is a spoof of AD&D. This parody humour was the core of what the game could achieve, and veering in any direction away from it would spell it’s demise and the creation of some 5e game that bears little to no resemblance to any of the many things that made 4e work.

There’s an in game joke next that’s worth the read introducing the game from Hard Eight. Here we see the two realities of HackMaster. There’s the game itself, and the game as used in KODT. It’s not really an important distinction however it’s all part of the fun and tone of this rulebook which makes it a joy to read.

Following that is a page of errata I bound into the book and man, this book has a ton of errata. That part alone makes having ‘extra’ copies for your players a difficult and long process. You can’t even create characters reasonably correct without the heady errata.

Then we have 5 pages that are the Table of Contents. Impressive and a joke unto itself but also very helpful in finding things.

Welcome to HackMaster, the introduction to the game. Again, this is a fantastic read which most notably has a section on the use of the male pronoun. This book came out at a time when RPGs were forced to either use alternating male/female or just female pronouns to avoid vilification. This was well before the requirement of gender neutral speak. It would be interesting to see what they would say now if HackMaster in this form had continued.

HackMaster makes comments on it’s fictional history as a game as if this was the 4th edition of a game instead of a 1st. Indeed it could be seen that way, as a spiritual successor to AD&D2e as well as recovering from D&D3e to get the roots of the AD&D game (certainly not the roots of D&D itself).

Another part of this parody is the idea of mastering the game. Improving toward being in a Name Level Group, dice etiquette and more.

To be continued….

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Last Monday, in the middle of all the things going on here, rolling up to a tricky Mother’s Day and with Joe’s mum still in hospital, I started not to feel so well. There was a pain in my leg up at the top, and I iced it, thought that maybe I should be going to yoga and tried to get on with everything I had to do. Tuesday morning, without wanting to be dramatic about the whole thing, the pain had spread from my inner thigh up and around to my back, and I was pretty sure something had gone wrong. It was swollen, it hurt, and at 5am I could no longer tolerate the pain and I was pretty sure I was dying of something, and me – the sort of person who thinks that if you don’t feel well you probably need some kale, a bath and to buck up in general – I went to the ER.  Once I was there they confirmed that it was super inflamed and swollen (got that, hot shots) ran some tests, and said the redness was likely cellulitis. They praised me for coming in and not just having a bath and some kale, and sent me home with some high powered antibiotics. Two days later I was back – telling them that their antibiotics were completely full of it, and that I was worse, not better, and the lot of them did more tests, and sent me home with a prescription anti-inflammatory, urging patience. I limped home, and cried. By Saturday I was a mess. I had a rash, I couldn’t sleep or eat for the pain, I was absolutely unable to say the word “groin” even one more time to anybody, and I managed somehow to stick it out until Monday, when my family Doctor took one look at me and said “No wonder you’re miserable. That’s shingles.”

From there, things got better – appropriate drugs for the pain, some antivirals, and the situation came down to a dull roar. There was the day where I took the suggested dose of the pain stuff and accidentally wound up as high as &#$%&$, but I’ve got a grip on the level now.. enough to keep me moving, but not so much that I don’t dare leave the house. (I gotta tell you though, I see why somebody might abuse this stuff. I felt terrific. Really tall.) I’m still not feeling good, and we’re still at the hospital all the time, but it’s clear I’m going to live, and now I’m leaning on distraction from the discomfort.

Wanna see a sweater? Great.

It’s Elliot’s finished Birthday sweater –

Pattern: Hearst

Yarn: Alpha B Yarn “Kiwi B”, an Australian Polworth that she dyed just for one of the Strung Along retreats a few years ago. The colourway’s named for the co-ordinates of Port Ludlow.

I think it looks great on him, and he seems to love it. We gave it a trial run in the park, over by the cherry blossoms.

It’s a little big, because it’s finally warming up here, and I wanted him to have a sweater he could wear this fall, I love it.

And that’s not just because I’m kinda high.*

*I think

Over at rpggeek.com I am reading through the new Mutant Crawl Classics RPG by posting a bit about each section and then saying what I think about it and inviting others to do the same.

Please take a look at https://rpggeek.com/thread/1994342/lets-read-mutant-crawl-classics and let me know what you think!

It's unspoken in the rulebooks all over the place.

You are just supposed to know certain things from the culture of wargaming. But it blew up way past that microculture.

The immediate casualty was the adventure. This has been my focus now for over a year. What went wrong? Why are the modules Gygax wrote good, while others that ape the style are so bad?

Keep on the BorderlandsLet's just start with the introductions. 
"You are not entering this world in the usual manner, for you are setting forth to be a Dungeon Master. Certainly there are stout fighters, mighty magic-users, wily thieves, and courageous clerics who will make their mark in the magical lands of D&D adventure. You, however, are above even the greatest of these, for as DM you are to become the Shaper of the Cosmos. It is you who will give form and content to all the universe. You will breathe life into the stillness, giving meaning and purpose to all the actions which are to follow. The others in your group will assume the roles of individuals and play their parts, but each can only perform within the bounds you will set. It is now up to you to create a magical realm filled with danger, mystery, and excitement, complete with countless challenges. Though your role is the greatest, it is also the most difficult. You must now prepare to become all things to all people."-Gary Gygax, "Keep on the Borderlands"
Let's see.
"You are not entering this world in the usual manner" is literal. He presents this powerfully as descending not only personally into the realm of fantasy, but the, and I quote, "become[ing] the Shaper of the Cosmos. It is you who will give form and content to all the universe."
Heady stuff. 
Let's look at the introduction of Return to Keep on the Borderlands by John D. Rateliff 1999, at the tail end of the dark ages of Dungeons & Dragons:
"Return to the Keep is an update of the classic adventure, detailing what has happened in the Caves of Chaos and the Keep itself in the two decades since brave adventurers cleaned out the monsters and departed for other challenges. The rules have been fully updated. . ., encounters have been fleshed out, and the section of advice to inexperienced Dungeon Masters expanded and rewritten. In the main, however, Keep on the Borderland remains what it has always been: A series of short adventures, distinct enough that player characters can catch their breath between each section, that smoothly segue together. Altogether, this adventure gives novice players and characters a chance to learn the ropes without getting in over their heads; characters who survive will have learned the basic tricks of their trade, just as players and Dungeon Masters will know the basics of good gaming."
What the f$% happened here? Do you see this shit? Apologies to Rateliff, but I try to edit my blog posts better then this introduction. There's just extra, redundant, words in excess of the words that are needed, for some reason that's a reason there's extra words for a reason. Right? 
"A series of short adventures." is the short description of "Adventures distinct enough that player characters can catch their breath between each section". How about "In the main, however". What purpose does that equivocation serve?
An example from one of the worst printed module of all time, N2, The Forest Oracle. Although terrible, it's common in quality to the vast majority of material on RPGnow and DM's Guild. But I'd rather not punch down on amature creator, so consider this a stand in for the type of dross you find on onebookshelf. 
"The Forest Oracle is an AD&D module for levels 2-4. It is an independent adventure, and not part of a series. It can be integrated into any existing campaign or played as a separate adventure to help initiate players into the world of AD&D." -Carl Smith Forest OracleEvery single word of the above introduction is patently obvious. The level range is on the cover. You can integrate any adventure into an existing campaign or play it as a separate adventure.  This is literal wasted space. Compare with original borderlands text.

The point I'm driving at here, is Gygax used every word of the introduction to drive home a mind-blowing idea, the introduction was copied for the sequel by a writer who writes as if he gets paid by the word, and the worst adventure writers don't even understand the point of the introduction so they just say truistic generic comments. "This is a module." or one of my personal favorites "This module is for X level characters, but you can run it with higher or lower characters if you increase or decrease the difficulty."

No shit?

Why did I pay? How does this help me? What does this do for me?

Dungeon Master TextThis text varies between each individual module.

Let's look at the original keep:
This module is another tool. It is a scenario or setting which will help you to understand the fine art of being a Dungeon Master as you introduce your group of players to your own fantasy world, your interpretation of the many worlds of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Adventure. THE KEEP ON THE BORDERLANDS is simply offered for your use as a way to move smoothly and rapidly into your own special continuing adventures or campaigns. Read the module thoroughly; you will notice that the details are left in your hands. This allows you to personalize the scenario, and suit it to what you and your players will find most enjoyable.Which commits the sin of being obvious, but considering the dearth of modules at the time, this was good advice then. Is the pass I'm giving the above text unfair?

The DM should be careful to give the player characters a reasonable chance to survive.Hopefully, they will quickly learn that the monsters here will work together and attack intelligently, if able. If this lesson is not learned, all that can be done is to allow the chips to fall where they may. Dead characters cannot be brought back to life here! Then, Gygax lines out his conception of Dungeons & Dragons:
The KEEP is a microcosm, a world in miniature. Within its walls your players will find what is basically a small village with a social order, and will meet opponents of a sort. Outside lies the way to the Caves of Chaos where monsters abound. As you build the campaign setting, you can use this module as a guide. Humankind and its allies have established strongholds—whether fortresses or organized countries—where the players’ characters will base themselves, interact with the society, and occasionally encounter foes of one sort or another. Surrounding these strongholds are lands which may be hostile to the bold adventurers. Perhaps there are areas of wilderness filled with dangerous creatures, or maybe the neighboring area is a land where chaos and evil rule (for wilderness adventures, see DUNGEONS & DRAGONS@ EXPERT SET). There are natural obstacles to consider, such as mountains, marshes, deserts, and seas. There can also be magical barriers, protections, and portals. Anything you can imagine could be part of your world if you so desire. The challenge to your imagination is to make a world which will bring the ultimate in fabulous and fantastic adventure to your players. A world which they may believe in.He is a priest, his sermon dense with meaning. Note particularly "will meet opponents of a sort" and "hostile foes of one sort or another".

Jeff Dee's art is a treasureThis is the first module, a teaching module, the first time many of these things had ever been seen. Yet the form of treating it as the first-ish publication anyone may ever see, is not something that other and later modules needed to copy. A lot of the text in the original B2 is almost an errata—a detailed description of procedures in play for lost or confused Dungeon Masters. Other then a few pointed notes, I'm going to excise this from the analysis, due to the singular artifact of "being first".  A rules addendum is tangential to our examination of Gygax's content versus the imitators of form.

Of particular note:
To defeat monsters and overcome problems, the DM must be a dispenser of information. Again, he or she must be fair - telling the party what it can see, but not what it cannot. Questions will be asked by players, either of the DM or of some character the party has encountered, and the DM must decide what to say. Information should never be given away that the characters have not found out - secret doors may be missed, treasure or magic items overlooked, or the wrong question asked of a townsperson. The players must be allowed to make their own choices. Therefore, it is important that the DM give accurate information, but the choice of action is the players’ decision.It's bolded like that in the original text.

In Return to the Keep on the Borderlands, the text and advice is largely similar and fascinating. Perhaps Ratcliffe was just warming up earlier and needed a sharper editor for that paragraph. I'd like to quote  things that indicate people carried true knowledge always with them, even as those who claimed to be kings had lost that knowledge. To wit:
"Boxed text can either be read out loud by the Dungeon Master, or simply paraphrased in his or her own words. Paraphrasing is often preferred by experienced Dungeon Masters. . ." "Players have a habit of doing the unexpected; resist the temptation to force them to follow a particular track." "For purposes of this adventure, the Dungeon Master is strongly urged to use the optional rule that grants experience points for treasure (at the rate of 1 XP per 1 gp value); this sends the message to the players that there are a multitude of right approaches to take (combat, stealth, negotiation), not a single preferred method of play."This was in 1999, before the release of 3rd edition, where traditional games of Dungeons & Dragons and Vampire were advising Dungeon Masters to invalidate their players choices, and modules consisted of badly constructed railroads of the sort a grade schooler might create. In the darkest moment the hobby of Dungeons & Dragons has experienced, light still shone.

Next time we're going to look at the background section of the adventures and dig into things both nitty and gritty.

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Coda #2 Main Cover by Matías Bergara

LOS ANGELES, CA (May 16, 2018) – BOOM! Studios is proud to present your first look at CODA #2, the next chapter of the critically-acclaimed broken fantasy epic from Eisner-nominated writer Simon Spurrier (Sandman, The Spire) and Matías Bergara (Cannibal, Supergirl). This all-new series, which sold out at a distributor level before the release of the first issue, reveals the aftermath of an apocalypse which wiped out nearly all magic from a once-wondrous fantasy world, in which an antisocial former bard named Hum seeks a way to save the soul of his wife with nothing but a foul-tempered mutant unicorn and his wits to protect him…but is unwillingly drawn into a brutal power struggle which will decide forever who rules the weird wasteland.

In CODA #2, featuring a main cover by Bergara, along with variant covers by Lee Garbett (Skyward) and Chris Wildgoose (Batgirl), a dangerous person from Hum’s past has returned. Now he’s bound, blindfolded and sent into exile on the back of Nag, his loyal Pentacorn. Things don’t seem like they can get worse for Hum…until they get much worse.

“If you liked the craziness that Si and Matias cooked up in the first issue of CODA, you’re gonna love where they take the story next – though Hum might think otherwise,” said Eric Harburn, Senior Editor, BOOM! Studios. “It’s exciting to see readers, retailers, and press all embrace the exciting new world created within the pages of this series, and it’s the team’s goal to make every issue more surprising than the last.”

CODA is the latest release from BOOM! Studios’ eponymous imprint, home to a world-class group of licensed comic book series and ambitious original series, including Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Planet of the Apes, WWE, Abbott, Mech Cadet Yu, Klaus and Grass Kings, which was recently nominated for two 2018 Eisner Awards.

Print copies of CODA #2 will available for sale on June 13, 2018 at local comic book shops (use comicshoplocator.com to find the nearest one) or at the BOOM! Studios webstore, though quantities may be limited. Digital copies can be purchased from content providers, including comiXology, iBooks, Google Play, and the BOOM! Studios app.

For continuing news on CODA and more from BOOM! Studios, stay tuned to www.boom-studios.com and follow @boomstudios on Twitter.
Coda #2 Variant Cover by Lee Garbett
Coda #2 Variant Cover by Chris Wildgoose

In a world of gaming where fighting aliens and shambling hordes of brain-eating zombies is too often the norm, a dose of reality at times is a welcome change of pace.

Even if, as is the case with This War of Mine the dose of reality is extremely dark, bleak, sad and just a tad depressing.

By saying all that I am not referring to the game which, as you will read, is quite excellent, but rather the atmosphere in which the game is set is far from a play of sunshine and lollipops.

In This War of Mine designers Michał Oracz and Jakub Wiśniewski, both with Awaken Realms the original publisher put players into a war-torn city. That is not unusual in the sense several games have players take on characters in elite military groups and head into similar settings. But with This War of Mine, you are a very ordinary citizen, with very ordinary skills, trying to survive in a place with little food, little water, little to stay warm, and little hope of survival.

And therein lies what makes This War of Mine special, it captures the ‘mood’ of the battle for survival well.

At its heart, This War of Mine is a fully co-operative play experience, allowing for one-to-six players an opportunity to play as a group of civilians trapped in a city torn by a military conflict. I’ll note here that the ability to solo play this one is a nice bonus, with the mood perhaps even more dramatically felt when you are facing the difficult decisions alone.

The game was originally on www.kickstarter for funding, where more than 9,500 backers raised in excess of 60,000 British pounds to get the game into production.

From the Kickstarter page; “to survive, you will need to make tough moral choices, delivered in a role-playing style. You will also scavenge, manage, fight, trade and upgrade your shelter. This tabletop adaptation is based on one of the biggest indie games of recent years. TWOM: TBG offers you an experience that is hard to come by in any other tabletop game. Combined with the highest quality components created by experienced companies, this title will fully engage you with its meaningful story. It is high time for board games to address important topics.”

So the theme is rather dark, and players should be aware of that going in.

The mood is enhanced by the Book of Scripts. The book adds to the game with hundreds of mini-adventures that were written to evoke a range of emotions.

“Some of them will have a direct influence on the gameplay, some not – but all of them will raise your level of immersion, so that you can feel what a group of civilians would feel being trapped in a war-torn city,” detailed the Kickstarter page.

The game has great replay value since players are constantly faced with decisions which if made differently would spin the game in different directions.

Through the rules and storybook, the game adjusts the events you face depending on your current situation, place and time.

So as an example, “at night you will go out and scavenge, searching for food, parts, meds, and weapons. During the day you will try to make the best of your resources. Deadly combat, trading, shelter management, tinkering, building and side events – it is all here and you need to learn fast to reach your ultimate goal; survival,” stated the Kickstarter page.

The game is great, although some things within gameplay are frustrating, or annoying. The need to find weapons, when a piece of pipe or 2X4 with a spike in it would be close at hand is frustrating. So too is the being raided almost every night. Players have limited ability to hide supply stashes or deal with intruders. That is frustrating because it happens a tad too often to seem realistic.

But overall, the mood is one of struggle and hopelessness in a generally realistic setting, a combination which sets this game apart and makes it one well worth exploring.

Thanks to fellow gamers Jeff Chasse, Trevor Lyons and Adam Daniels for their help in running through this game for review.

This story is a continuation of… firstcomicsnews.com/we-all-know-what-youve-done-neal/

Neal Adams’ response to the Ms. Mystic post in Bleeding Cool is disappointing.

https://www.bleedingcool.com/…/mike-netzer-vs-neal-adams-m…/

No, I did not expect an admission of what he’d done. Not so soon. But I expected a more coherent and defensible statement, not the shoddy piece of work, full of transparent lies and smears, with little, if any, substance.

His entire case rests upon “his” creation of Ms. Mystic for the New Heroes Portfolio, produced by Sal Quartuccio, according to his statement.

In his desperation to misrepresent the evidence I’ve shown in the past, including the Starspawn portfolio (which he mistakenly called Starchilde, another sign of shoddiness), the character that was the springboard for the design of Ms. Mystic – Neal said that after creating Ms. Mystic for the New Heroes Portfolio, he saw me working on a Starchilde character that looked “exactly like Ms Mystic,..super long hair and all!”

So while some elements of this dispute are of the he-said-she-said variety, there also exists documented evidence that would tip the balance of ambiguity. All we need to do is find a copy of my Starspawn portfolio and see what its publication date was.

If The New Heroes Portfolio preceded Starspawn, then Neal’s case would be strengthened.

If, however, Starspawn’s first appearance significantly precedes New Heroes, then we’ll have a better idea as to the lengths Neal would go to; the extent of the lies he will tell, in order to cover up his terrible deed.

The attached image provides the answer. My Starspawn design preceded The New Heroes Ms. Mystic by 2 years. That pretty much shuts the case on where the design for Ms. Mystic came from.

Neal might try to say that he created Ms. Mystic years before the New Heroes Portfolio, but I don’t believe even he thinks everyone is stupid enough to accept such a reckless backtrack from his earlier versions.

This piece of evidence alone reveals Neal’s strategy to cover up his heist of my property for 40 years. Dice up the history between us and toss it all together into a salad. Doesn’t matter what came first and what followed. The main thing is to take incidents that happened much earlier or later and confound the reader with chaos. All he has to say is that I’m crazy, went behind his back, became a messiah – and he thinks he’s off the hook.

Neal Adams puts his darkest side forward with this response. I understand he might not have much of a choice right now.

There’s too much at stake for him. His entire life and career have been geared towards propping up his name and reputation. Drudging up this story is a great threat to his life-work.

So what can he do? Not much except continue to tell lies, mix up the history so as to confuse the issue…and just remind everyone that I’m crazy. This is a big folly.

We are living in a different time than the past we knew. In today’s world, it is no longer possible to hide behind one’s stature and reputation, while performing, and covering up, deplorable and heinous acts.

If Neal continues to misrepresent this story, he will fail – and fall.

Harvey Weinstein’s demise will look like a climb to Mount Everest next to Neal’s. No one wants to see that. All that’s needed is for Neal to step up like a man and tell the truth. He can explain it in such a way that he would come out of it a hero.

Let’s consider, for example, that after saying Frank Miller was “white trash” in The Guardian, he managed to come out of it smelling like a rose.

He can even do much better with this story. All that’s needed for him to do it, is to simply tell the truth.

And there is also the messiah element in the background. Neal says it’s problematic. I don’t really know what he bases that on.

When Richard Johnston spearheaded comic book commentary in Lying in the Gutters, he seemed to feel it was at least comic-book-worthy to look into.

It really should all come out into the open, I agree, especially if it impacts Ms. Mystic’s creation. But it doesn’t. Ms. Mystic was created, and the first issue written and penciled nearly half a year before I had any inclination of the messiah to come. There was no “crazy” in the Ms. Mystic story.

Neal’s confounding of the timeline of events is a shabby sinister ploy, not based in any reality we all experienced.

It is not yet the time for a full disclosure of whether, and why, people thought I thought I was a messiah (or whichever way anyone would like to phrase it).

It might come about sometime soon, but it is presently irrelevant to Neal’s response.

The post 1192 appeared first on Looking For Group.

As three of the best Sarah Jane Adventures are repeated on CBBC on Sunday, we look back on the popular Doctor Who spin-off to mark its tenth anniversary... 2017-09-22T13:04:33+01:00 2017-09-22T13:04:33+01:00

Games are on Thursday nights sometime after 6:30PM at World's Best Comics, 9714 Warwick Blvd Newport News, Virginia 23601.

We had an extra large sausage and mushroom pizza. Once was not enough and some of the Players ordered pepperoni on their own, because we don't normally order it due to one player's personal phobia.

Map attached. Includes prior sessions on this level.

PART 1.

++++ START OF SESSION ++++

Before continuing on, the party debated much on what to do with the stone statue of Aerys. The point was made that her butterfly-like wings should have collapsed under their own weight but I ignored that. I was simply ready for her Player to simply take over her sidekick Tanzen, and be done with it.

Gnomex offered the Lesser Reanimation spell, unfortunately, the party had no access to reverse the Flesh to Stone. So they decided to call in a mark. The asked Numrendir to get on his communicator from The City of the Gods (module DA3) and call for help.

The party waited 5 minutes and a scroll materialized before them, the contents thereof being a Stone to Flesh spell. Going through the procedure, the spell was cast, followed by Gnomex and his Lesser Reanimation spell. Aerys survived the Resurrection Survival die roll by the way, her Constitution score is now down to a 5.

There's a drawback with Lesser Reanimation however, unlike a regular Raise Dead, the recipient gets three new random flaws. Of those flaws known, she got, Shaky Hands, Loud Talker, and Alcoholic. (Shaky Hands is not good for a Thief character, but Aerys will have to make do. Being a Loud Talker will attract more Wandering Monsters, and the Alcoholism will require mandatory court ordered enrollment in AA.) Must be something in the afterlife that did this to her, as it drove her to drink.

Aerys woke up thirsty and was quite loud about it.

Having done that, the party set off in marching order through the next door. Following the narrow passageway they came to an octagonal room with a dead body. Using Huang's Monk limitation test, they discovered no magical items of worth so they moved past and on to the next door.

(Note the party previously had discovered the rules limitation for Monks having no more than three magic items. They simply maxxed out Huang with three magic items. If he attempts to pick an item up and it slides off like a greased pig, it must be magical. Instant magic item detection sans spell use.)

This door had runes on it that needed to be deciphered basically the kind of code that could be compared with a custom license plate. The Party spent ten minutes on it. It was rather lame so I won't mention the cipher. What to do with the cipher was the next and the party just didn't get it, so as was the norm, they gave up and sent their remaining Goblin escort to open the door. It turned out to be another narrow ten foot passageway ending in another door. Sending the hapless Goblin to the next door triggered a trap, as soon as he got to the next door, a forcecage appeared filling the entire short hallway. (Think of it as glowing lines like a Tholian web in Star Trek but only one inch apart.) So the Goblin was stuck there.

The party thought about it and attempted to cast Dispel Magic on the Forcecage to no effect.

The only remaining thing to do was open the next door. (There was another stupid puzzle to be solved but I won't go into that.) The poor Goblin turned the knob (whether it was locked or no, it didn't matter), and as soon as he did so, a Horned Devil appeared and ate the poor little thing right up. It then turned towards the Party and simply made idle gruesome threats as devils are wont to do.

There was an impasse. The Party couldn't dispel the Forcecage, neither could the devil. Both sides decided to wait it out.

After what seemed like three hours, the devil faded out, and the Forcecage also faded out shortly thereafter.

Was the trap reset or just a one time trap? Tune in next week.

++++ OUT OF CHEESE ERROR ++++

BT

BBBB

PART 2.

++++ CHARACTER ROSTER ++++

CHARACTERS
Grok the Dwarf, a third level WitchRanger (Battlemage subclass of Magic User).
Aerys, an Elvariel, a Fingersmith (Thief class).
Baronet Huang - a Master of the West Wind of the Stone Tiger Order, (Monk class).
Numrendir - a human Conjurist (a Conjuror, Magic User subclass)
Junkbot Jackson - a human Tracker/Friar (a Ranger 5th and Cleric 6th level).

NPCs/Proteges:
Baronetess Honda - a Human Datai Samurai, Steward of Catan (formerly Temple of the Frog)
Gnomex, a Gnome Adept of Geardal Ironhand (Cleric class.)
Tanzen - a Fae-Born first level Exciter. (Fourth level Invoker, a Magic User subclass).
Fundisha - a half-Elf Swordsperson/Tout (Fighter and Infiltrator, a Thief subclass).

CAPTURED CHARACTERS (both PCs and NPCs)
Gerry Castagere, human Fingersmith, (Thief class) and ever loving devotee of Elefus, abandoned to the Blood Cult in the City of Brass on the Plane of Fire.

MISSING/OFFLINE/RETIRED CHARACTERS
Count Elefus, a human Abbot of Heimdall (Cleric class). RETIRED
Felipe the Dwarf, a third level Sigil (Chosen One subclass of Cleric).
Jacko, an Albino Dork Elf, a Master Espion (Infiltrator, subclass of Thief).
Serena 2.0 - First Level Battle Mage Second (a Protege of Jacko).
Sir Weasel, human Guild Soldier, Warlock, & Champion (Thief, Magic User, & Fighter classes) he stayed back in BlackMoor.
- and nine Pilgrim henchmen of various levels. (They wear hoodies.)
Slade Wilson - Dwarven Professional (a Bounty Hunter, Fighter subclass) Left behind at Catan.

BT

BBBB

++++ RECORD KEEPING ++++

PART 3.

This is also posted on three forums, and a blog.
http://blackmoor.mystara.net/forums/viewforum.php?f=76
http://www.furiouslyeclectic.com/forum/f...php?fid=13
http://www.kenzerco.com/forums/forumdisp...ster-Tales
http://furiouslyeclectic.com/hackmoor/

--

Tracy Johnson
Old fashioned text games hosted below:
http://empire.openmpe.com/empire/
BT

NNNN

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Discover The Perfect Interdimensional Get-Rich-Quick Scheme from BOOM! Studios in June 2018

LOS ANGELES, CA (May 16, 2018) – BOOM! Studios is proud to present your first look at BY NIGHT #1, kicking off an all-new twelve-issue monthly series in June 2018 from Eisner Award-nominated writer John Allison (Giant Days) and artist Christine Larsen (Adventure Time) about coming home, discovering identity, and accidentally smashing a hole to another dimension.

Aspiring documentarian (and actual chemistry major) Jane has recently reunited with her former best friend Heather, amateur urban explorer. When a trip into an abandoned industrial building leads them to another world, their plan begins to unfold—create a documentary about the world and become filthy, filthy rich. The other side of the portal is filled with monsters, magic and a chance for a whole new life. All they have to do is step through…

“I love a good spooky tale, especially in the hands of folks as deft and funny as John and Christine,” said Shannon Watters, Senior Editor, BOOM! Studios. “This is already one of my favorite series to read each month, and I know it’ll be one of yours too.”

BY NIGHT #1, featuring a main cover by Christine Larsen and a variant cover by John Allison, is the latest release from BOOM! Studios’ critically acclaimed BOOM! Box imprint, home to popular original series such as Lumberjanes by Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Brooklyn A. Allen, and Noelle Stevenson; Giant Days by John Allison, Lissa Treiman, and Max Sarin; The Backstagers by James Tynion IV and Rian Sygh; SLAM! by Pamela Ribon, Veronica Fish & Mar Julia; Fence by C.S. Pacat and Johanna The Mad; and Goldie Vance by Hope Larson and Brittney Williams.

Print copies of BY NIGHT #1 will be available for sale at local comic book shops (use comicshoplocator.com to find the nearest one) on June 13. Digital copies of BY NIGHT #1 will be available to purchase on digital book marketplaces, including ComiXology, iBooks, Google Books, and the BOOM! Studios app.

For news on BY NIGHT and more from BOOM! Studios, stay tuned to www.boom-studios.com and follow @boomstudios on Twitter.

#1 Series on The CW THE FLASH: THE COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON

 

Plus Exhilarating Added Content Including New Featurettes, DC Crossover Event and much more!

 

Own the Blu-ray™ & DVD August 28, 2018

 

BURBANK, CA (May 16, 2018) – Just in time for the fifth season premiere of the highest-rated series on The CW, you will be zooming into stores to pick up The Flash: The Complete Fourth Season as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment releases the Blu-ray and DVD on August 28, 2018. With nearly 4.2 million weekly viewers, The Flash is currently The CW’s highest-rated series.* Fans will be able to catch up on the fourth season as they speed-watch all 23 electrifying episodes, including the epic DC Crossover, new featurettes, the series’ 2017 Comic-Con Panel and more. The Flash: The Complete Fourth Season is priced to own at $49.99 SRP for the DVD and $54.97 SRP for the Blu-ray which includes a Digital Copy. The Flash: The Complete Fourth Season is also available to own on Digital via purchase from digital retailers.

 

*Source: Nielsen National TV View, 2017-18 broadcast season to date (09/18/2017 – 03/18/2018), Live + 7 Day ratings; excluding movies, sports, repeats, specials, less than 3 telecasts.

 

In Season Four, the mission of Barry Allen, aka The Flash (Grant Gustin), is once more to protect Central City from metahuman threats. First, he’ll have to escape the Speed Force. With Barry trapped, the job of protecting Central City falls to his family – Detective Joe West (Jesse L. Martin); his fiancée, Iris West (Candice Patton); and Wally West/Kid Flash (Keiynan Lonsdale) – and the team at S.T.A.R. Labs – Dr. Caitlin Snow/Killer Frost (Danielle Panabaker), Cisco Ramon/Vibe (Carlos Valdes) and brilliant scientist Harrison Wells (Tom Cavanagh). When a powerful villain threatens to level the city if The Flash doesn’t appear, Cisco risks everything to break Barry out of the Speed Force. But this is only the first move of a life-or-death chess game with Clifford DeVoe aka The Thinker (Neil Sandilands), a mastermind who’s always ten steps ahead of Barry, no matter how fast he’s running.  Shocking surprises come fast and furious in all 23 action-packed adventures featuring The Fastest Man Alive.

 

“After four seasons on the air, The Flash continues to be the one of the most popular shows on The CW,” said Rosemary Markson, WBHE Senior Vice President, Television Marketing. “We’re thrilled to offer loyal fans 25 hours of entertainment with the complete fourth season and captivating extra content.”

 

With Blu-ray’s unsurpassed picture and sound, The Flash: The Complete Fourth Season Blu-ray release will include 1080p Full HD Video with DTS-HD Master Audio for English 5.1. In addition to featuring all 23 episodes of season four in high-definition as well as a digital copy of the season, the 4-disc Blu-ray will also include all four crossover episodes, a tremendous value and collectors opportunity.

 

The Flash stars Grant Gustin (Arrow, Glee), Candice Patton (The Game), Danielle Panabaker (Justified, Necessary Roughness), Carlos Valdes (Arrow, Once), Keiynan Lonsdale (Insurgent), with Tom Cavanagh (Ed, The Following), and Jesse L. Martin (Law & Order). Based on the characters from DC, The Flash is produced by Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television, with executive producers Greg Berlanti (Arrow, Supergirl, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Riverdale), Todd Helbing (Spartacus, Black Sails) and Sarah Schechter (Arrow, Riverdale, Black Lightning, Supergirl).

 

SPECIAL FEATURES

• The Best of DC TV’s Comic-Con Panels San Diego 2017
• Inside the Crossover: Crisis on Earth-X
• The Elongated Man
• Flash Time on Amunet Black with Katee, Eric and Sterling
• The Fastest Mind Alive: The Thinker

23 ONE-HOUR EPISODES

 

1. “The Flash Reborn”
2. “Mixed Signals”
3. “Luck Be A Lady”
4. “Elongated Journey Into Night”
5. “Girls Night Out”
6. “When Harry Met Harry…”
7. “Therefore I Am”
8. “Crisis on Earth-X: Part 3”
9. “Don’t Run”
10. “The Trial of the Flash”
11. “The Elongated Knight Rises”
12. “Honey, I Shrunk Team Flash”
13. “True Colors”
14. “Subject 9”
15. “Enter Flashtime”
16. “Run, Iris, Run”
17. “Null and Annoyed”
18. “Lose Yourself”
19. “Fury Rogue”
20. “Therefore She Is”
21. “Harry and the Harrisons”
22. “Think Fast”
23. “We Are The Flash

 

 

DIGITAL

The fourth season of The Flash is also currently available to own on Digital. Digital allows consumers to instantly stream and download all episodes to watch anywhere and anytime on their favorite devices.  Digital is available from various retailers including Amazon Video, iTunes, PlayStation, Vudu, Xbox and others. A Digital Copy is also included with the purchase of specially marked Blu-ray discs for redemption and cloud storage.

 

 

 

BASICS

Street Date: August 28, 2018

Order Due Date: July 24, 2018

BD and DVD Presented in 16×9 widescreen format

Running Time: Feature: Approx 1,380 min

Enhanced Content: Approx 138 min

 

DVD Price: $49.99 SRP 5 DVD-9s Audio – English (5.1) Subtitles – ESDH, Spanish, French

 

BLU-RAY

Price: $54.97 SRP

4-Disc Elite 4 BD-50s

BD Audio –DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 – English

BD Subtitles – ESDH, Spanish, French

It’s Time To Finish What He Started… ARROW:  THE COMPLETE SIXTH SEASON

 

Contains All Action-Packed Episodes from the Sixth Season,

Plus a Crossover Featurette, 2017 Comic-Con Panel, and More!

 

The Crusade Continues On Blu-ray™ & DVD August 14, 2018

 

BURBANK, CA (May 16, 2018) –The CW’s longest-running DC series will be coming to a city near you on August 14, 2018 as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment releases Arrow: The Complete Sixth Season on Blu-ray and DVD. Averaging 2.3 million Viewers weekly for each original episode, Arrow is the #3 series on The CW season-to-date amongst Adults 18-34, behind only The Flash and Black Lightning.* The release contains all 23 exhilarating episodes from the sixth season, plus the show’s 2017 Comic-Con Panel, the crossover featurette and much more. Arrow: The Complete Sixth Season is priced to own at $44.98 SRP for the DVD and $49.99 SRP for the Blu-ray which includes a Digital Copy. Arrow: The Complete Sixth Season is also available to own on Digital via purchase from digital retailers.

 

*Source: Nielsen National TV View, 2017-18 broadcast season to date (09/18/2017 – 03/18/2018), Live + 7 Day ratings; excluding movies, sports, repeats, specials, less than 3 telecasts

 

Following the devastating explosion on Lian Yu, Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) returns home to confront a challenge unlike any he’s ever faced: fatherhood. Oliver is determined to embrace this new role while continuing to serve and protect Star City as both Mayor and The Green Arrow. But enemies past and present, including Black Siren (Katie Cassidy), Vigilante (Johann Urb), Ricardo Diaz (Kirk Acevedo), Cayden James (Michael Emerson) and others, threaten him on all fronts. And bonds within the ranks of Team Arrow—veteran John Diggle (David Ramsey); tech genius Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards); former police captain Quentin Lance (Paul Blackthorne) and brilliant inventor Curtis Holt (Echo Kellum), plus newest team members Rene Ramirez/Wild Dog (Rick Gonzalez) and metahuman Dinah Drake (Juliana Harkavy)—have become dangerously decayed. The future of Star City is at stake in all 23 of Season Six’s ferociously fast-paced, can’t-miss episodes.

 

“Just in time for the season seven premiere on The CW, fans can catch up on all 23 gripping episodes from the sixth season,” said Rosemary Markson, WBHE Senior Vice President, Television Marketing. “Arrow retains a solid fan base who can continue to build their collections with this latest season and enjoy the new behind-the-scenes extras included in the set.”

 

With Blu-ray’s unsurpassed picture and sound, Arrow: The Complete Sixth Season Blu-ray release will include 1080p Full HD Video with DTS-HD Master Audio for English 5.1. In addition to featuring all 23 episodes of season six in high-definition as well as a digital copy of the season, the 4-disc Blu-ray will also include all four crossover episodes, a tremendous value and collectors opportunity.

Arrow stars Stephen Amell (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows), David Ramsey (Dexter), Willa Holland (The O.C.), Emily Bett Rickards (Brooklyn), Echo Kellum (Sean Saves The World), Rick Gonzalez (Reaper) and Juliana Harkavy (Dolphin Tale), with Katie Cassidy (A Nightmare on Elm Street) and Paul Blackthorne (The River, The Dresden Files) . Based on the characters from DC, Arrow is produced by Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros. Television, with executive producers Greg Berlanti (The Flash, Supergirl, Riverdale, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow), Marc Guggenheim (DC’s Legends of Tomorrow), Wendy Mericle (Desperate Housewives) and Sarah Schechter (The Flash, Supergirl, Blindspot, Black Lightning).

BLU-RAY & DVD FEATURES

• The Best of DC TV’s Comic-Con Panels San Diego 2017
• The Split of a Man: Deathstroke
• Inside the Crossover: Crisis on Earth-X
• Revenge in Ones and Zeros: The Story of Cayden James

 

23 ONE-HOUR EPISODES

1. “Fallout”
2. “Tribute”
3. “Next of Kin”
4. “Reversal”
5. “Deathstroke Returns”
6. “Promises Kept”
7. “Thanksgiving”
8. “Crisis on Earth-X, Part 2”
9. “Irreconcilable Differences”
10. “Divided”
11. “We Fall”
12. “All for Nothing”
13. “The Devil’s Greatest Trick”
14. “Collision Course”
15. “Doppelgänger”
16. “The Thanatos Guild”
17. “Brothers in Arms”
18. “Fundamentals”
19. “The Dragon”
20. “Shifting Allegiances”
21. “Docket No. 11-19-41-73”
22. “The Ties That Bind“
23. Life Sentence

 

 

DIGITAL

The sixth season of Arrow is also currently available to own on Digital. Digital allows consumers to instantly stream and download all episodes to watch anywhere and anytime on their favorite devices.  Digital is available from various retailers including Amazon Video, iTunes, PlayStation, Vudu, Xbox and others. A Digital Copy is also included with the purchase of specially marked Blu-ray discs for redemption and cloud storage.

 

BASICS

Street Date: August 14, 2018

BD and DVD Presented in 16×9 widescreen format

Running Time: Feature: Approx 1,380 min

Enhanced Content: Approx 116 min

 

DVD Price: $44.98 SRP 5 DVD-9s Audio – English (5.1) Subtitles – ESDH, Spanish, French

 

BLU-RAY

Price: $49.99 SRP

4-Disc Elite

BD Audio –DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 – English

BD Subtitles – ESDH, Spanish, French

THE MAN OF STEEL FACES HIS MOST FORMIDABLE FOE IN AN ALL-NEW ANIMATED FILM FROM

WARNER BROS. HOME ENTERTAINMENT

AND DC ENTERTAINMENT

THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN

COMING AUGUST 7, 2018 TO

Ultra HD BLU-RAY™ combo pack,

BLU-RAY™ COMBO PACK AND DVD

 

BURBANK, CA (May 16, 2018) – The Man of Steel meets his ultimate match when Doomsday comes to Earth – hell bent on destroying everything and everyone in his path, including the Justice League – in the all-new, action-packed The Death of Superman, part of the popular series of DC Universe Movies. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment, the feature-length animated film arrives from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on Digital starting July 24, 2018, and on Ultra HD Blu-ray™ Combo Pack, Blu-ray™ Combo Pack and DVD August 7, 2018.

 

The Death of Superman will be available on Ultra HD Blu-ray™ Combo Pack ($39.99 SRP), Blu-ray™ Deluxe Gift Set ($39.99 SRP), Blu-ray™ Combo Pack ($24.98 SRP) and DVD ($19.98 SRP), as well as on Digital ($19.99 HD, $14.99 SD). The Ultra HD Blu-ray™ Combo Pack features an Ultra HD Blu-ray™ disc in 4K with HDR and a Blu-ray™ disc featuring the film; the Blu-ray™ Deluxe Gift Set includes a collectible Superman figurine; the Blu-ray™ Combo Pack features the film in hi-definition; and the DVD features the movie in standard definition. The Ultra HD Blu-ray™ and Blu-ray Combo Pack™ include a digital version of the film.

 

The Death of Superman ultimately finds Superman in a fight to the finish when the Man of Steel becomes the only hero who can stand in the way of the monstrous creature Doomsday and his unstoppable rampage of destruction.

 

As the inaugural film in the DC Universe Movies series, Superman Doomsday told an abridged version of “The Death Of Superman,” DC Comics’ landmark 1992-93 comic phenomenon. But with a runtime of 75 minutes, the film focused on a core, singular storyline. The new, animated The Death of Superman, the first of a two-part film experience that will conclude with Reign of the Supermen in early 2019, restores many of the moments and characters that fans hold dear to their hearts.

 

The all-star cast is led by Jerry O’Connell (Crossing Jordan, Stand By Me), Rebecca Romijn (X-Men, The Librarians) and Rainn Wilson (The Office) as the voices of Superman, Lois Lane and Lex Luthor, respectively. The potent trio is joined by the DC Universe Movies’ returning voices of the Justice League: Jason O’Mara (The Man in High Castle, Terra Nova) as Batman, Rosario Dawson (Sin City, Rent, Daredevil) as Wonder Woman, Shemar Moore (S.W.A.T., Criminal Minds) as Cyborg, Nathan Fillion (Castle, ABC’s upcoming The Rookie) as Green Lantern/Hal Jordan, Matt Lanter (Timeless) as Aquaman, and Christopher Gorham (Covert Affairs, Ugly Betty) as The Flash.

 

The cast also features Nyambi Nyambi (Mike & Molly, The Good Fight) as Martian Manhunter, Rocky Carroll (NCIS) as Silas Stone, Patrick Fabian (Better Call Saul) as Hank Henshaw, Toks Olagundoye (Castle) as Cat Grant, Max Mittleman (Justice League Action) as Jimmy Olsen, Charles Halford (Constantine) as Bibbo Bibbowski, Jonathan Adams (Last Man Standing) as the Mayor, Paul Eiding (Ben 10: Omniverse) as Pa Kent, Jennifer Hale (Green Lantern: The Animated Series) as Ma Kent, Trevor Devall (Suicide Squad: Hell To Pay) as Dabney Donovan & Bruno Mannheim, Rick Pasqualone (Mafia II & Mafia III video games) as Turpin, Amanda Troop (Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts) as Sawyer, Erica Luttrell (Salvation) as Mercy, and Cress Williams (Black Lightning) as John Henry Irons.

 

Producer Sam Liu (Gotham by Gaslight, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract) co-directs The Death of Superman with Jake Castorena (Justice League Action) from a script by New York Times best-selling author Peter J. Tomasi (Green Lantern: Emerald Knights). Executive Producers are Sam Register and James Tucker (Suicide Squad: Hell To Pay, Justice League Dark).

 

“As Superman celebrates his 80th anniversary, we felt the time was right to finally tell the unabridged version of this iconic story,” said Mary Ellen Thomas, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Vice President, Family & Animation Marketing. “This is a landmark tale in comics history, and we wanted to bring the entire story – with all the characters and details the fans have clamored for – to animated life.”

 

The Death of Superman Enhanced Content

Ultra HD Blu-ray™ Combo Pack, Blu-ray™ Deluxe Gift Set, Blu-ray™ Combo Pack and Digital

 

The Death of Superman: The Brawl That Topped Them All (Featurette) – Experience the battle between Superman and Doomsday like never before as creators of the iconic comic and the new film explore the nuances of “The Greatest Fight” with the help of a martial arts expert.

 

A Sneak Peek at DC Universe’s Next Animated Movie, Reign of the Supermen – An exciting look at the next film in the two-part saga that brings the epic and emotional story of a world without the Man of Steel to life.

 

From the DC Comics Vault: Legion of Superheroes, “Dark Victory: Part 1” – After eliminating Imperiex, Brainiac 5 takes over his army and plans to take over the universe. With Superman thought to be dead, the other Legionnaires must stop him before it is too late!

 

From the DC Comics Vault: Legion of Superheroes, “Dark Victory: Part 2” – The Legion faces Imperiex in a final battle, while a traitor lurks in their midst.

 

 

DVD

A Sneak Peek at DC Universe’s Next Animated Movie, Reign of the Supermen – An exciting look at the next film in the two-part saga that brings the epic and emotional story of a world without the Man of Steel to life.

 

 

MARKETING SUPPORT

The Death of Superman will be supported by a national online, promotional, and publicity campaign.

 

BASICS

Street Date: August 7, 2018

Run Time:  72 minutes

Languages: English

BOOM! Studios Continues Week Long Spotlight on Top Middle Grade Comics

LOS ANGELES, CA (May 16, 2018) – BOOM! Studios is proud to continue KaBOOM! Summer Blast, a week-long spotlight on the best middle grade comic books and graphic novels from the award-winning imprint in the coming months with an extended first look at RUINWORLD #1, the debut issue of writer/artist Derek Laufman’s hit middle grade comics series.

Intrepid adventurers Pogo and Rex are on a quest for fame and fortune. Their discovery of a special map leads them on an epic journey through dangers, demons and old enemies. There’s one tiny problem—they’ve already lost the map. Now they’ll have to survive the greatest dangers of a world where threats hide behind every corner…if they can find a way to first survive each other’s best intentions first!

RUINWORLD #1 features a main cover by Derek Laufman (Adventure Time) and a variant cover by Sean Galloway (Teen Titans Go!).

“If you’re a fan of adventure, comedy or being happier than you can imagine, RUINWORLD was made for you,” said Whitney Leopard, Editor, BOOM! Studios. “Derek brings a charm and wit along with a great eye for action that makes this series unlike anything else on the stands. Pogo and Rex will steal your heart from the moment you meet them – but don’t worry, they’re pretty terrible thieves so they’ll give it back to you right away.”

RUINWORLD is the latest release from BOOM! Studios’ critically acclaimed KaBOOM! imprint, publisher of world-class licensed series such as Adventure Time, Steven Universe, Over the Garden Wall, Peanuts, and Garfield, along with original series like Mega Princess by Kelly Thompson and  Brianne Drouhard, Brave Chef Brianna by Sam Sykes and Selina Espiritu and The Deep by Tom Taylor and James Brouwer.

Print copies of RUINWORLD #1 will be available for sale on July 11th at local comic book shops (use comicshoplocator.com to find the nearest one) or at the BOOM! Studios webstore. Digital copies can be purchased from content providers, including comiXology, iBooks, Google Play, and the BOOM! Studios app.

For more on RUINWORLD and more exclusive previews as part of KaBOOM! Summer Blast, stay tuned to www.boom-studios.com and follow @boomstudios on Twitter.