erg.

I hate seeing Plagiarism Algorithm clumsily recreating one of my casual jokes.

(What would 1950s Buffy be like? According to the “creator” it would be like Buffy with slightly different outfits, illustrating a slightly-more-effort fake movie trailer voiceover. And not even in black and white.)

Guilty

The idea of something having consequences, even small ones, has been much missed.

Dungeon Master's (Son's) Guide

The Mirror of all places has revealed the cover for the D&D 5.? Dungeon Master’s Guide. Featuring Venger, Skylla and Warduke. Ironically enough, Venger is Dungeon Master’s son. Which I guess makes this not your father’s D&D. Big pic at Bell of Lost Souls.

The Crowded Streets 2.09

Tonight in the finale of Vampire: The Masquerade - The Crowded Streets, some of the players unconvincingly gasped at the reveal of one of the villains.

Aiming to finish termtime game tomorrow, some time after the end of termtime room bookings.

Demon: The Fallen character art

Laura Foster is a thin brunette who dresses like she feels cold most of the time.

Haamiah of the Neberu, principle of Truth and advance guard of the Crimson Legion, is like a starfield on a clear autumn night.

Her eyes are the cold blue of the clearest day.

Last Dance 3.03

Tonight in Vampire: The Masquerade - Last Dance, a reminder of why you want a spotter when you go hunting on high Hunger in an unfamiliar location. Or four, in case you need to be hauled away from a victim.

Games at Cymera 2024

Games at Cymera 2024.

To Boldly Go

Star Trek Adventures up next as player. TOS era, maybe movies depending how much retconning of the look of a ship we settle on.

Brushing up on Continuing Mission.

Captain and security taken out of three other players. Maybe first officer or science, maybe an alien if nobody else does that. Not all three, so as not to just be Spock.

Not actually going to do the Efrosian professor despite liking that picture, or the sketchy civilian adviser as only four players.

Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser - a tragedy in four parts

The issues with Disney Parks’ six-thousand-dollar sorta-LARP hotel Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser, last discussed here when it was still open:

Given a four-hour analysis by Star Wars fan and theme park vlogger Jenny Nicholson, combining the idea and its weird marketing, her at times hilarious experience staying there, and breaking down just how bad it is as an example of the state of Disney parks and the hospitality and attraction industry.

Reactions at the Mary Sue. Not what I planned to watch for Orthodox Star Wars Day but here we are.

Thanks to Morgue for the news.

Oof.

The column. Wow.

V5 Last Dance planning

Important weekend planning: Since we've started a new arc and we’re about to have a break for June, do I make it three sessions in a row with the PCs playing or attending a gig?

Yes or yes?

FURIOSA

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is great occasionally brutal fun and definitely worth seeing as Big and Loud as you can. It has the basic inevitability problem of many prequels and covering decades rather than days lacks Fury Road’s relentless pure throughline, but falling short of a masterpiece is still aiming high.

One detail I particularly like - between the Gastown overlord painting, the work on the War Rig and the crowd singing to welcome the convoy, people (even the worst) still trying to have beauty in this world.

Curseborne promotional pamphlet

A look in and around the Curseborne promotional pamphlet.

An emphasis on modern horror and urban fantasy, suggesting it plays more like creepypasta than Being Human.

Kicking October.

Five Lineages - Dead, Hungry, Primal, Outcast and Sorcerer. Yes, that covers most of the classic WoD splats.

V5 Siren Song cover

Vampire: The Masquerade - Siren Song PBP at RPGnet

Based on this photo by Michael Aleo on Unsplash.

Last Dance cover update

I decided to change the title font to the one I used for Orphans and now Siren Song.

Independence Day

Check your electoral; register status and photo ID.

World Goth Day

A very merry World Goth Day to all who celebrate!

DARKNESS!

V5: City Of Angels 1.17

Vampire: The Masquerade - City Of Angels 1.17

Paris got to go clubbing, albeit for plot relevant reasons.

 Olivia Holt in her most V5-looking photoshoot

I hope the NPC we were there to find appreciates that I was polite enough not to interrupt her trying to bite somebody.

Highlander 2: Yellowknife

Long have I wondered about the early news that Highlander 2 would be subtitled Yellowknife, and concern an old enemy coming after Connor. I first thought it might be a character’s name or nickname. I later learned that it was a place in Canada. That made me think it would involve the colonial era or something.

Now decades later a Highlander show hosts have had a chance to look at the script and it... is not that.

(Warning: a few plagiarism algorithm illustrations throughout.)

We’re still in the future, and it’s also the Biblical Armageddon. And in amongst some poorly considered Holy Land issues and a prison for Immortal souls trapped in spheres and an unnecessary Olympic race and a space hotel and Conner turning out to be the angel Gabriel...

I just... I don’t get how it seemed this hard to make a Highlander sequel.

Like, yes, the original ends with Connor now free of immortality and with a new power that could be useful, but have some flashbacks (that aren’t to another planet) and an enemy who’s stolen immortality or has a magic weapon or something. An addition to the setting, but not... that much of one.

Chosen at 21

Buffy The Vampire Slayer ended on this day in 2003. I’m fine.

Longlegs trailer

Longlegs finally gets a trailer with some plot rather than ominous threatening vibes. It still has those too of course.

Last Dance 3.02

Tonight in Vampire: The Masquerade - Last Dance, the PCs visit a club they don’t hang out at.

Player: What’s this club like?

Me: OONCHA OONCHA OONCHA OONCHA

Player: Ah.

Also:

Colette: “Hey tense guy, what’s going on?”

Vincent: “You skip coffee one time and people think you’re dead.”

Colette: “Honey you are dead.”

Not Fade Away at 20

Angel ended on this day in 2004, and the Buffyverse on TV with it. I’m fine.

Rebus (2024)

The third TV version of Ian Rankin’s Rebus, this from BBC Scotland rather than STV, and looser than the last one as it rocks Rebus back to his most shambolic early middle age.

In the first episode his daughter calls him an arsehole and, as of this version, she is not wrong.

Vatican tightens rules on supernatural phenomena

Popular modern horror setting gets rules update, expect an edition war

Convention Of Thorns returns

The Vampire: The Masquerade historical mega-LARP Convention Of Thorns is returning after changing hands and pausing for recent years. Confirmed May 1st, I believe the 20-23 March and 13-16 November 2025 runs will be the first since V5 came out, so I wonder how that will affect things as it has some connections to the early new edition creative team. While it doesn’t adhere to canon for how the event went so it can play differently every time, would it model Hunger rather than Blood Points for example?

Back in its home in Poland, so not the handiest location for me personally - also I haven’t got a thing to wear - but I have always been tempted by how people I know and articles talked about playing it.

V5 mood music

Having been asked about music genre for the Vampire band play-by-post Siren’s Song, these have all played during or at the end of recent online V5 games, for example:

Agatha All Along

The title of the series premiering September 18th has been Agatha All Along!

Only Murders In The Building goes west

First trailer confirming August 27th as Only Murders In The Building heads to Hollywood, and also the west of the Arconia.

V5 PBP: Siren's Song

Recruitment and development thread.

Maybe going with a proven-to-work hook will help.

Siren’s Song

A city home to millions of people and haven for hundreds of vampires. A string of clubs Kindred investors use to lure victims. But also others where the Damned can go to feel free at night. A music scene with vampire and mortal bands.

Personal issues, getting and playing gigs, petty or serious rivalries with other Kindred and connected artists...

EVE Offline

Rose Bailey AMA on developing the cancelled EVE: The Storytelling Game at RPGnet.

Fun fact: I was offered a shot, and by the time I knew enough about the setting it was too late.

Last Dance 3.01

Tonight in Vampire: The Masquerade - Last Dance, the band had family issues but the Mardi Gras gig went on anyway.

And then someone from Vincent’s long history came to watch the show.

Also it wouldn’t surprise me if there really is an all night costume hire place near Broadway.

Casey: “I am not doing the USO Girl thing.”

Colette: “I am so doing the USO Girl thing!”

Roger Corman

Roger Corman, 1926-2024.

I have never seen the Aurora Borealis

And if I could come up with a good conspiracy theory for why people would fake them...

Eurovision 2024

The Witch Uncrowned seems like a workable fantasy saga title.

Oh no

May have once again been foolish enough to offer to run a play-by-post RPG that isn’t Buffy.

In my defence, it was to prevent jinxing someone else’s offer.

Call Of Cthulhu at the Fringe

Call of Cthulhu comes to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival - Actual Play with Keeper Mike Mason and players including Josephine McAdam, August 23-24th. Thanks to the University History & Games Lab for organising.

Batman: Caped Crusader

Batman: Caped Crusader first images at Empire, ahead of the series arriving on Amazon Prime on August 1st.

The look actually makes me think of the 40s Superman cartoons, less angular than the Batman: The Animated Series designs. Maybe the 40s style Catwoman has me thinking that way.

The Hunt For Gollum

A spinoff film of The Hunt For Gollum (could be fine with Andy Serkis making it) reminds me of what I imagined would happen if Marvel had gotten the Middle-earth licence and done it like Conan with a few comic series about individual characters (Aragorn, Gandalf, Bilbo... a prequel series about Helm Hammerhand or something) having new adventures vaguely related to the stories - might be fun but not going to be a big deal.

Just came up with a supervillain by accident

Doing the current RPGnet Marvel What If character draft, I came up with a spin on the Scorpion based on his origin as a detective, made him the main security guy for the evil megacorp and said “As a villain hook, what would happen if a Shadowrun team had a recurring megacorp security antagonist.” And I think that totally works as a villain idea. Not directly for something like Shadowrun as he’s likely to get killed by the PCs, but for a similar corp-fighting setup.

I hope my players appreciate Colette

Vampire: The Masquerade session as player(!) recovering possibly-important items from a late elder’s safe and handing them over to someone who can examine them supernaturally, and just hoping they won’t send us in the wrong direction.

Maskwitches Redux

Maskwitches of Forgotten Doggerland Redux Edition, six days on Kickstarter and funded in hours.

Curseborne Character Creation

Not one but two Curseborne chargen previews this weekend. Here’s one.

The Fall Guy (2024)

The Fall Guy is a lot of fun. Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt do funny and charming, naturally there are plenty of stunts and fights, and I think the mystery plot even works!

Talk on the way back now has me thinking about movies within movies that actually look good. The film Singin’ In The Rain is about is probably a pretty solid early talkies musical.

May The Fourth

A very merry May the Fourth to Dee Bradley Baker in particular!

Star Wars: The Bad Batch 3.07 voice acting credits

Garbage, Song To The Siren

Garbage doing Song To The Siren in a forceful rather than wistful way, from new EP Lie To Me.

Dracula Day

Dracula Daily has risen from the grave (obviously). Sadly the only Hungarian restaurant in Edinburgh shut a couple years ago so I have no easy way to try the paprika chicek Jonathan Harker is so into.

Random fantasy scene

The princess and her friends enter the royal treasure vault (think creamy marble, gold, lit sconces) and moves the statue of her great-grandfather, the land’s founding sorcerer king. She angrily accuses him of having been a despot and a monster, locked away by his own son, and cries as she renounces her crown. She has suffered terribly in the last few weeks.

The statue cracks, the air shimmers, and the sorcerer appears, smirking. (Think Joe Pantoliano as Cypher in a gold robe.)

One of the allies accuses him of orchestrating this. “You could never escape until the kingdom fell. You needed to make one of your own descendants so crushed she despaired.”

The princess punches him. He staggers back, catches himself, wipes blood from his nose and sneers.

“But I have tried other ways. Many other paths.”

The sorcerer waves a hand and more versions of him appear.

“And now I will take my realm back from my ungrateful children.”

But the princess shakes her head. “You needed me to feel helpless.” She doesn’t any more.

One of the other versions of the sorcerer fails to fully appear, still and transparent.

Her allies faces off with the sorcerer doubles, who now look rather uncertain.

And then another version appears, wearing travelling clothes, followed by an apprentice.

“Ah, this must be the road not travelled. Well, we must all confront our worst self at some point...”

Flesh Of The Gods

The writer of Se7en and director of Mandy announce an 80s clubland vampire movie with Kristen Stewart and Oscar Isaac. I know they haven’t started filming yet but can I reserve tickets now?

The Bad Batch

Star Wars: The Bad Batch

3.15: The Cavalry Has Arrived

A double-length finale, so we got the equivalent of as many episodes of every season. They could have put a cliffhanger right around the reveal of...