The 5E Crowd, and Goblins

I was trying to reply to a post on Blogger, but the thing appears to be glitched up so I’m posting my thoughts here. I don't seem to fit in with the 5E crowd. That's D&D Next, the 5th edition of Dungeons & Dragons (a Hasbro IP). A friend talked me into a new 5E …

Fantasy Movies: Conan the Barbarian

Fantasy movies have struggled for respect. Unlike science fiction, it’s been difficult for fantasy to find its feet and be taken seriously. And the culprits would appear to be the writers and the production companies. You can point to award-winning science-fiction movies like 2001, Slaughterhouse-Five, The Terminator or even Back to the Future, but for …

Theater of the Mind

I’ve been doing a lot of online gaming, as you may have guessed. As a result, I’m interacting with a lot of gamers. They’re from all over, and of all generations. As to my own history with rpgs, I was introduced to (original) D&D at a convention in New York City in 1975. I bought …

Mad Men: A Retrospective

This series seemed like a slam-dunk for me, because it’s set in New York in the 1960s. I tried to watch it years ago, but I got turned off by the characters and dropped it after two episodes. However, I decided to give Mad Men one more chance after watching Once Upon a Time in …

Dragon Age: Origins – A Review

I recently ran through this game and am playing the extra content at the moment. Since I recently posted about isometric versus first-person role-playing games, writing about this one is a natural follow-up. First of all, the mechanics. It’s an interesting hybrid of third- and first-person gaming. You mouse-wheel in from third-person and can get …

Classic Cinema: The Magnificent Ambersons – A Review

There’s a blogger I follow who’s been using his pandemic time to review a lot of television and cinema. He’s “Gen X,” which may have contributed to his review of Citizen Kane, which was rather dismissive. He also didn’t seem overly enthusiastic about Casablanca. (For the record he likes comic book movies.) I, on the …

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – A Review

I’ve seen most of Quentin Tarantino’s films over the years. I like his enthusiasm and his proclivity for making cultural references within the stories. I’m not really a fan of violence and gore though, so when things get too over-the-top I’m likely to avert my gaze. But overall I respect the man and enjoy his …

Published Gaming Products: For Everyone, or Just the Referee?

(That’s a rhetorical question) I know what it's like to be a fan of something, and want to game with it. Referee or player, you can bring a lot of enthusiasm to a group this way, and make things more enjoyable for everyone. Enthusiasm is catching. But let’s look at a referee who decides to …

Kill Them With Fire! Or, How Does The Dragon React?

Adventurers have murdered your orc tribe and stumbled onto your lair. What’s a dragon to do? Today I had a conversation about the “dragon” in Dungeons and Dragons. That’s as iconic as it gets when it comes to This Game of Ours. Gamers have often debated how dragons think and act, and I’m no different. …

Shadowrun, Planescape, and the Isometric RPG – A Retrospective Review

I like RPGs. I upgraded my computer a few years ago, which allowed me to run a bunch of games that I formerly had to put off. After playing through Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas, Fallout 4, Oblivion and Skyrim, I asked myself, “what now?” What is the common element in the slew of games …