The Way of Kings: The Gamer Archive

I’m back after another long hiatus of the blog. As I went through some of my favorite blogs I noticed I’m not the only one who has had a dearth of posts in the past while. Life has a way of sweeping you up and putting blogging on low priority. Not to mention that it’s difficult to write new and interesting content. I don’t want to be one of those blogs that just rehashes what everyone else is saying.

Shadows Over Innistrad is a great expansion!

What have I been doing game wise? First, on the RPG front I have done nothing for as long as I can remember. I have the 5e PH but I haven’t even really done anything with it. I’ve still been playing Magic: The Gathering quite a bit. The new Shadows Over Innistrad set has been pretty awesome. I managed to win first place at the pre-release tournament at my friendly neighbourhood game store! Magic has been my go to game since it is fast to play and finding a group of players is easy.

 

Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower

My local game store is also big fans of Warhammer. I’ve tried a few times now to get into miniature war games. I’ve picked up the start of a fantasy orcs and goblins army, and 40k Blood Angels. I have yet to play any actual games with them yet which is a bit frustrating. Lastly I picked up two Games Workshop board games. Deathwatch Overkill and Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower. I’m very excited to get those put together and get some play time in. I’m not making any promises here, but I hope to write up a review of these games when time permits.

Deathwatch: Overkill

Finally, on the reading front I just finished rereading the first Dragonlance novel, Dragons of Autumn Twilight and I’ve now started on Brian Sanderson’s epic fantasy series The Way of Kings. Dragons of Autumn Twilight was a fun read. It’s not without its faults but I still enjoyed it. I don’t really understand what people have against Dragonlance. I think over the years, now having more distance from RPGs has put a few things in perspective for me. I no longer really understand the polarized nature of gamers. That is to say that as I’ve browsed various forums I’ve noticed this tendency for gamers to really come down hard on settings or games that they think suck. I don’t really see it as a healthy thing for the nerd community. But that’s probably a blog entry for another day. The short of it, be kind to each other fellow gamers.

Why all the hate?

As for Sandersons’s Way of Kings. Holy Shit. This is a great read. I can see how Sanderson was chosen to finish Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. The dude can write. His worlds are interesting, though the magic in this world has elements similar to his Mistborn series. I think that you could probably make many comparisons to the Way of Kings and the Mistborn series, yet each is also distinct and entertaining in it’s own way. Either way the book has been excellent and I highly recommend it.

Books 1 & 2 of The Stormlight Archive, do yourself a favour and read it.

Wheel of Time: The Eye of the World

One of the advantages of taking the train into school every morning is getting in a little reading. I've
tried getting in some studying while commuting but I've found I have a hard time really focusing. Instead I've been reading on my Kindle Paperwhite. I still prefer reading dead tree versions of whatever I'm reading but the conveniance of the Kindle is unbeatable. Its small and light making transportation perfect. I can read in the dark, and best of all the logistics of holding it and a cup of coffee while turning to the next page makes it perfect for the daily commute.  

I've long resisted the urge to read the Wheel of Time saga for a long time. The commitment of reading something like thirteen books is a little overwhelming. Not to mention I still haven't finished the Malazan series by Steven Erikson or George R.R. Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice yet. Honestly I'm not a huge fan of epic fantasy. I've found that Jordan when compared to Martin, or Erikson has his own style and tone that I find enjoyable and easy to read. I'm not sure I have the fortitude to make it through the entire series, but I do see myself at least finishing this book. It's been a nice distraction from all the serious studying and hard work involved in my current studies at college.

The Digital Dark Age Campaign Project

In my absence from the blog I've managed to get a bunch of reading done. These days I tend to be reading science fiction. I've been really enjoying the “Honor Harrington” series by David Weber. Book 5, “Flag in Exile” is the next one on the docket. I killed the first book of Weber's “Safehold” series  “Off Armageddon Reef” and was completely blown away. It was a fun read, that had a great story and well developed characters. Best of all it really made you think about the role of religion and the nature of humanity. In particular its one of those books that provides so many ideas that would be great in a D&D game. I devoured “March Upcountry” an awesome military sci-fi action novel by John Ringo and David Weber.This is the first book in their “Empire of Man” series. John Ringo's “A Hymn Before Battle” was also fucking fantastic. If your looking for military sci-fi you can't go wrong with Ringo.

As a kid I grew up on movies like Star Wars and Aliens and I loved Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Deep Space 9. Wrath of Khan will always be my favourite Star Trek movie even though the new ones are pretty rad. Yet at some point my love of sci-fi was dwarfed with fantasy. I started playing D&D and I lost interest. Recently that's changed and I've had a hard time being all that pumped about fantasy. At the very least I've lost interest in the traditional Tolkien type fantasy. More and more my thoughts turn to aliens, giant spaceships, psychic powers, and galactic empires. For a while now thoughts of a space opera campaign have been percolating in my mind. Something closer to science fantasy, but weighted more towards the science fiction side. I like the idea of nobles wielding laser swords, and mystical orders of psychics. I envision massive starships that travel faster than light through astral space that can only be navigated by guild pilots whose smoke special drugs.

Since my regular gaming has more or less stopped I haven't had much to blog about. For a while now I've been considering some kind of project to get my creative juices flowing. So I've decided that I would like to revamp my Digital Dark Age campaign setting and present it piece by piece on the blog. At this point I'm not sure what kind update schedule I will have, but I would like to shoot for once a week at the very least. So if this is something you find interesting be sure to check back in.

Look What Came In the Mail!!!

Well look at that, I got a whole weeks worth of blog posts in. Hot damn!

In even more exciting news (for me at least) yesterday I received my order from Noble Knight Games. I've already started digging into the Player's Guide and trying to get them creative juices flowing so I can get a Deadlands: Reloaded game started ASAP.

I've written about this before but the classic Deadlands was where I got my very first start as a Game Master, and the picture of Roland, the undead gunslinger on the book cover was what inspired the Zombiecowboy moniker I still use today. In some ways this sort of feels like I've come full circle. To quote Darth Vader, "When I left you I was but a learner, now I am the Master".

Ok, that was cheesy. But I feel like a kid in a candy store right now. Anyway, hopefully I can keep the blogging momentum up. I'm sure I'm going to have some thoughts to write about on these recently acquired book. Till then, Zombiecowboy out.

The Digital Dark Age: Appendix N

So heres a list of the major influences on the Digital Dark Age Campaign. None of it is presented in any particular order of importance. It's a sort of a freak show of science fiction with tones of cyberpunk, noir, pulp, and of course weird. Some are fairly self explanatory, others not so much.

• The Hyperion Cantos (Dan Simmons)
• Ilium/Olympos Cycle (Dan Simmons)
• Red Harvest (Dashiell Hammett)
• The Takeshi Kovacs Trilogy/Market Forces (Richard K. Morgan)
• Hellboy/B.P.R.D comic series (Mike Mignola)
• Path of Fury/ Honorverse (David Weber)
• Neuromancer (William Gibson)
• Snowcrash (Neal Stephenson)
• Northwest Smith (C. L. Moore)
• The Shadow Over Innsmouth (H. P. Lovecraft)
• Star Wars (George Lucas)
• Total Recall (Philip K. Dick)
• Firefly/Serenity (Joss Whedon)
• Appleseed (Masamune Shirow)
• Warhammer 40,000/Necromunda (Games Workshop)
• Heavy Gear RPG (Dream Pod 9)
• Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0 RPG (R. Talsorian Games)
• Shadowrun RPG (FASA)

That Is Not Dead Which Can Eternal Lie...

...And with strange aeons even death may die.

 And thats sorta what this blog has become, not dead but dreaming. Waiting for the stars to align or some such esoteric Lovecraftian babel.

I've been wanting to update the blog for a while now. However with a lack of actual gaming happening, and the priorities of school and family, I've either been too busy, or too tired.

So whats been happening in the past while?

Well I finished David Weber's “Out of the Dark”. Great read except the ending. One of the first times I actually ever wanted to throw a book across the room. I wont spoil it for you, but believe me when I say Weber gets a good square kick in your nuts on this one. However to Weber's credit I finished the first book in the Honor Harrington series “On Basilisk Station” and it was frigging awesome from start to finish. Next on deck is “The Honor of the Queen”. And of course I still have the first book in Weber's “Safehold series sitting on my shelf to get to as well as John Ringo's “A Hymn Before Battle”. Too many books not enough time and all that jazz.

Currently I'm reading the first novel in Clive Cussler/Grant Blackwood's “Fargo” series called “Spartan Gold”. So for the most part it's a fun read though at near the end its starting to drag a little. Hopefully the ending will pick it up. One thing of note is how all of the novels in any of Cussler's series are packed with great ideas for RPG adventures and campaigns. Particularly if you tear the ideas straight from the books for use in a modern action/adventure setting. Characters, exotic places, interesting historical bits, and crazy plots abound.

Lastly on the RPG front. I recently purchased the “Savage Worlds Deluxe Edition”, “Deadlands: Marshal's Handbook”, “Player's Guide”, “1880 Smith & Robards Catalog” (Explorers Edition all), and “The Last Sons” plot points campaign setting books. In addition I picked up a really nice Texas Hold'em poker set from Walmart. The intention is that I' ll finally get to try out running/playing Savage Worlds and get some gaming going on again. I've wanted to get a SW game started for a while but keep getting cold feet on it as well as “Gamer ADD”, unfamiliarity of the system, laziness, time constraints, etc. Hopefully with the substantial amount of money I sunk into these purchases I will have the motivation to make it happen.

So that pretty much sums up shit around here. I have every intention of updating the blog as much as I can realistically can. I have no intention of writing updates for the sake of updating. So if I have something of note to write I will. Till then you are the resistance. Zombiecowboy out.

Out Of The Dark

This post's title has a double meaning. For one it's about this blog finally coming out hibernation and me getting back to writing and blogging. But it's also the title of the book by David Weber that I'm currently reading.

I'm at a loss to explain exactly how David Weber's books have been completely off my radar up until recently. The first book of his I read was “In Fury Born” when a buddy of mine recently recommended it to me. This is military sci-fi at it's best! Set in mankind's far future, the book expands on Weber's earlier novel “Path of Fury”. The story follows the career of Alicia DeVries as she progressively moves higher in the ranks and more into more elite combat units. Then things get really interesting. After a particularity brutal combat mission DeVries becomes disillusioned with the military and quits to live a peaceful life on the frontier planet called Mathison's World. But this peaceful respite is not to last, and a short time after a pirate raid leaves DeVries family dead and her seething with the desire for revenge. Theres more, and I don't really want to spoil anything if you haven’t read this book yet. What I will say is that the book is packed with great action scenes, full of intrigue, and a bunch of interesting twists on typical science fiction literature. This is a dense well written book and it left me hungry for more.

That was when I picked up “Out of the Dark”. Based on a short story of the same name this book takes the old idea of aliens invading Earth and puts an interesting spin on it. The story begins with a race of aliens from the Galactic Hegemony observing Earth during the 15^th century. Horrified with just how savage Humanity is and fearing that one day we might reach the stars, a plan is put into motion. The Shongairi, another war like alien race are manipulated into attacking Earth. However, the Hegemony underestimated how quickly we are able to advance technologically and by the time the Shongairi arrive Earth is well into the 21^st century.

Weber is a prolific writer with over 40 novels or collaborations to his name. He has quickly become one of my favourite author's. In particular I can't wait to read his signature Honor Harrington Series, and his newest Safehold series. It's times like these that I wish I could read a lot faster! If your looking for some awesome science fiction to read trust me when I say you could do a lot worse than reading anything by David Weber.

What I’m Reading: It

Can an entire city be haunted?

This is the question the Mike Hanlon asks in the first interlude chapter of Stephen King’s novel "It". And what a "monster" (pardon the pun) of a novel "It" is (sorry again) that it took him four years to write. In fact I would be willing to bet my left testicle that this question was in fact the very seed, the simplistic what if? Snowball of an idea that grew and grew as King was compelled to produced this masterpiece of horror fiction.

Here’s the blurb from the inside cover of my copy:

Welcome to Derry, Maine….
It
It’s a Small city, a place as hauntingly familiar as your own hometown. Only in Derry, the haunting is real….
They were just kids when they first stumbled upon the horror. Now they are grown-up men and women who have gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness. But none of them can withstand the force that has drawn them back to Derry. To face that nightmare without an end, and an evil with out a name.

　
I freely admit that was not always a big King fan. I’ve read precious few of his books. This has been something that I’m slowly working to rectify. Previous to this point I've read The Stand, Dreamcatcher, and the first four books in the Dark Tower series (The Gunslinger, A Drawing of Three, The Wasteland, and Wizard in Glass). Just last year I read both Bag of Bones, and On Writing.

With the exception of A Drawing of Three I enjoyed all of his novels very much. But it was the last two books I found extremely difficult to put down. The kind of books that grips you by the balls and keeps you up all-night reading. The kind of book that refuses to loosen its firm, and tenacious grip on your family jewels. Today I myself just as helplessly addicted now. That’s right, this novel has made of me an unapologetic Stephen King crackwhore and I will suffer no intervention to save my soul.

I think it was probably the fact that Bag of Bones and Dreamcatcher both touched on the town of Derry that compelled me to delve deeper into the mythos surrounding it. I knew that the Dark Tower series had its tendrils streching throughout many of King’s other stories. Yet I had no idea that such a great number of his stories seemed to intersect with that cursed place. As I explored more I discovered that the City was first really fleshed out in his novel "It" and that the town also played a significant role in the novel Insomnia.

Like some Lovecraftian antiquarian I felt compelled to unearth things better left alone and undisturbed. According to wikipedia, Derry was King’s homage to Lovecraft’s Arkham. If that’s true and I have no idea if it is, I can see, or more appropriately "feel" the haunting similarities between these two fictional New England towns. If any Call of Cthuhu Keeper worth his salt wanted to get the proper feel for how to run a town as troubled as Arkham, then reading "It" would be a great primer.

For what its worth, I’ve been enjoying the proverbial shit out of this book. I would urge anyone into King's other books or into horror in general to pick this one up and give it a shot. Worst case scenario, you’ll have lots of kindling for you’re next fire, or a great doorstop. But quite frankly I’d be surprised if it came to that. In fact I’m sure that this book will one day be hailed as an one more American classic.

10 Books That Should Be On Your Bookshelf

I wish this was what my Man Cave looked like!

Like many people I'm a book lover. I don't buy a lot of books, and when I do I tend to pick them up second hand from a used book store. If I borrow a book from the library or a friend and read a book or author that I feels really kicks ass I try to pick up a copy for my own personal library in the Man Cave. Yeah, I have a Man Cave, and it is my personal opinion that everyman should have his own personal sanctuary, a home away from home if you will.

Anyway, I thought I would share some of my personal Top 10 novels  from my collection. These are books that I would actively replace if my house ever burnt down (knock on wood), or would re-read if the right mood struck me.

10. The Witching Hour- Anne Rice
This is the first in the Mayfair Witches trilogy. Strangely, I've never read her vampire chronicles.

9. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy- Douglas Adams
Hilarious, I've re-read this classic a few times now.

8. Clear and Present Danger- Tom Clancy
One of my favorite of Clancy's and his Jack Ryan stories Patriot Games, and The Hunt for Red October (the books, not the movies) also really good.

7. Druss the Legend-David Gemmell
My first introduction to the Drenai stories, Druss, and Gemmell's writing. Gemmell is AMAZING. If your into fantasy you need to read Gemmell's stuff. It's a major bummer he'll never write again.

6. The Dragonbone Chair-Tad Williams
The first in the Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn series, this is great epic fiction. Totally on par with Tolkien in my opinion.

5. Imajica-Clive Barker
Barker's imagination and ability to create weird magical worlds is amazing. This book so big it's sold in two separate volumes is a great sample of his genius. His more recent and uncompleted Abarat series also stands out.

4. Bag of Bones- Stephen King
King is the master. This compelling modern ghost story was haunting and brilliant and proves that King is a great writer.

3. Altered Carbon- Richard K. Morgan
Modern hard boiled science fiction. Morgan does cyberpunk right in his first of the Takeshi Kovacs trilogy.
while his stand alone novel Market Forces showcases and interesting twist to the corporate side cyberpunk fiction.

2. The Gunslinger-Stephen King
There's a reason King is on this list twice. The first novel in the Dark Towers series is short and sweet, leaving you with a hankering for more. I've re-read this multiple times as well.

1. Hyperion-Dan Simmons
Dan Simmons is my all time favorite writer. It's hard to go wrong with almost any of his novels, but Hyperion is just so original and fresh. It's like a mixed bag of sci-fi and fantasy. In it's composition it's almost like reading a series of connected short stories combined into a larger narrative. I've also re-read this multiple times and loved it every time.

Obviously this list just scratches the surface of my reading and favorite authors. I love a lot of books and authors so this list might fluctuate a little. Consider this list more of a wine sampling than anything else. I also really love discovering new authors as well. So who are your favorite authors and books? What are the gems of your collection? Have problem with my list? Lets here it in the comments section.