Michael J. Tresca gave 5 stars to: Rat on a Stick (Tunnels & Trolls)

Michael J. Tresca reviewed:

Rat on a Stick (Tunnels & Trolls) by George R. Paczolt

10 levels of McDonalds crossed with murder hobos, August 28, 2015

This review is from: Rat on a Stick (Tunnels & Trolls) (Paperback)

Ah, the 80s! This supplement was published in 1982 and is peppered with Judges Guild's trademark art, most of it by Kevin Siembedia before he launched Palladium. At heart, Rat On a Stick is 10-level dungeon. Designed by George R. Paczolt and Edward R.G. Mortimer, these two lovable scamps have put together a dungeon that's as randomly insane as it is fun.

Although it's nominally for Tunnels & Trolls or Monsters, Monsters rules, the adventure can "...easily be adapted to any other FRP rules. (No, don't ask me for the conversion factors. In our club, I handle he two mentioned above and leave the others alone.)" You got that? Don't ask for conversion rules, because George "leaves the other games" alone!

Also of note: This dungeon is (and the quotes are in the text itself) "just for fun." As a result, wandering monsters may occur repeatedly without worry of becoming extinct. Which is a good thing, because tigers roam the dungeon frequently.

It's also a good thing that this dungeon is just for fun, because instead of handwaving the rules for adventurers running a restaurant in a dungeon, there are two pages of rules for PCs running a rat-on-a-stick franchise. Only in this case, you literally kill the competition or it kills you.

Throughout the dungeon are adventurers just trying to get by. Some are on their way in, others are on their way out (in more ways than one), and some have set up shop. They all have porn names like Mighty Max, Wallopin' Willy, and Sabrina the Sumptuous.

The best part of the dungeon is Beast-Thing. This 500 Monster Rating critter secrets acid, is only slightly slower than the PCs, and is mindlessly aggressive. It lives on the 10th level but can show up on the 2nd in what can only be described as scaring the bejeezus out of low-level PCs.

There's really no rhyme or reason to what's going on in this dungeon, other than an excuse to kill stuff and maybe start a business. It's ten levels of McDonalds crossed with murder hobos and it is glorious.

Michael J. Tresca gave 4 stars to: Ancient Odysseys

Michael J. Tresca reviewed:

Ancient Odysseys: Treasure Awaits! Pocket Edition by Brett M. Bernstein

More thorough than the the OD&D boxed set, August 28, 2015

This review is from: Ancient Odysseys: Treasure Awaits! Pocket Edition (Paperback)

Precis Media provides an entire introductory booklet in the form of "Treasure Awaits," an introductory supplement for Ancient Odysseys.

"Treasure Awaits" is basically the Dungeons & Dragons boxed set, streamlined and winnowed down to its core components. It has four races (elves humans, dwarves, and "hoblings"), three vocations (rogues, wizards, and warriors), three attributes (fitness, awareness, and reasoning ranging from 1 to 5), and adventuring pursuits (skills, basically). This is not a game based on the Open Game License.

Ancient Odysseys is centered exclusively on dungeon crawling and as such does it very well. There's not a huge amount of math involved (tests are attribute plus pursuit plus a die roll) which makes it an ideal game for kids playing. As an introductory book, "Treasure Awaits" is surprisingly thorough, and certainly moreso than the original D&D boxed set.

Michael J. Tresca gave 2 stars to: The Red Mausoleum (Advanced Adventures)

Michael J. Tresca reviewed:

The Red Mausoleum (Advanced Adventures) by James Boney

Very 10-foot pole-y, August 28, 2015

This review is from: The Red Mausoleum (Advanced Adventures) (Paperback)

Expeditious Retreat Press continues the OSR with "The Red Mausoleum," an adventure for 6 to 8 adventurers for levels 12 to 15.

For those unfamiliar with the Old School Reference and Index Compilation (OSRIC), it's a recreation of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons using the Open Game License. It's available for free and one of the most successful Old School Renaissance (OSR)-style initiatives, widely embraced by players who want that AD&D feel.

As someone who played AD&D for over a decade, I remember the game's flaws without the shine of nostalgia. And one of those is the Tomb of Horrors. The Tomb is frequently mentioned as a kind of "when I played D&D, we walked backwards in the snow!" rite of passage for adventurers. I ran it for my players and they were unhappy with me, with one character putting his arm in a sphere of annihilation. I ended up tweaking the adventure so that he only lost his arm (vs. being utterly annihilated), but it was an important lesson in how an adventure could be really wrong for my group -- who expected some basic fairness in how they approached the game. Author James C. Boney remembers the Tomb and he set out to resurrect it in OSRIC format.

The Red Mausoleum has a plot more than just grave robbing; the PCs are retaliating against undead raids originating from it. The PCs are rewarded 50 gp for the head of every undead creature. Which is weird, because I'm not entirely sure undead heads look different from dead heads. What's to stop an unscrupulous party from beheading a bunch of corpses and handing them over?

Also, clever PCs might decide that rather than going through the insane contortions to figure out how to get into the mausoleum by the front door by trailing one of the undead raiders back to a hidden cave that "reveals the edge of the Sistermoors within easy walking distance of the PC's base village." This will easily skip most of the levels of the dungeon, and given that the bad guys ride nightmares, having a highly accessible tunnel seems unnecessary -- just send incorporeal undead and flyers out of a difficult-to-reach access point.

There are other things that bug me too. A Hall of Honored Dead that was built for 24 knights contains a series of summoned guardians that get pumped out every three rounds, ranging from squirrels to a troll to black puddings. There are hordes of undead roaming the lower levels that don't pose a significant threat to the PCs, which means it's just a long slog of dice rolling. It feels like a pile of monsters is being thrown at the PCs to make up for the fact that 15th level characters can probably plow through most opponents.

Despite these flaws, the adventure works hard to include puzzles and riddles that unlock its secrets. As a DM my players would get frustrated and either leave or resort to destructive magic. In my experience this isn't much fun, but if you play hardcore where everything is out to kill the PCs and nobody dares move without poking the floor and ceiling with a 10-foot pole, The Red Mausoleum is for you!

Michael J. Tresca gave 5 stars to: The League of Regrettable Superheroes

Michael J. Tresca reviewed:

The League of Regrettable Superheroes: Half-Baked Heroes from Comic Book History by Jon Morris

A who's-who of future superhero movies, August 5, 2015

This review is from: The League of Regrettable Superheroes: Half-Baked Heroes from Comic Book History (Hardcover)

It's easy these days to think of superheroes as highly polished, camera-ready icons that finely tread the line between believable and heroic. But the reality is superheroes went through various stages that reflected the times, from playfully irreverent (Golden Age) to freakishly weird (Silver Age) to mother effin EXTREME!!! (modern age) and the book is divided into sections reflecting the goofiest superhero casualties of each.

The irony of it all is that any one of these characters would make an awesome Adult Swim cartoon or weird short -- they would easily find their home on the Internet. Whether it's the witchy rhyming Mother Hubbard (page 47), the zippy Speed Centaur (page 59), the zippier Zippo (page 63), the animated mannequin Brother Power the Geek (page 70), Fatman the human flying saucer (page 80), or the aptly named Adam X - the Extreme (page 104), this book has an unfortunate superhero for every situation. And yes, it has U.S. 1 the superhero space trucker (page 126).

If I didn't like it so much I would take points off for including ROM, Spaceknight (page 118) but the rest of the book is so good I'll let it slide. In fact, the book is so good that by the end you'll be convinced there's probably hundreds of these goofball characters just waiting to be tapped. With the superhero trend waning, it's probably only a matter of time before this book becomes a who's-who of future superhero movies.

Michael J. Tresca gave 5 stars to: Alligator Assortment - 12 per pack

Michael J. Tresca reviewed:

Alligator Assortment - 12 per pack by SmallToys

Cheaper than the Visejaw Crocodile, June 16, 2015

This review is from: Alligator Assortment - 12 per pack (Toy)

Inspired by my success with giant spiders, I picked up a pack of party favor alligators to fill the role of packs of crocodiles and alligators in my Fifth Edition Dungeons & Dragons game. Crocodiles are large sized, so the Visejaw Crocodile is the nearest approximation at $8 each. Or you could just buy this 12-pack of crocodiles for eight bucks (including shipping).

The crocodiles, which you can buy from Amazon here, come in three poses: crocodile, crocodile with its mouth open, and alligator. You can tell the difference because the alligator has a pointed snout.

Like the giant spiders, you can get 12 of these critters for cheap or pay the same price for just one. Overall I was happy with how they turned out.

Michael J. Tresca gave 5 stars to: ~ 12 ~ Spiders ~ Approx. 2 Inch Plastic ~ New ~ Science, Insects, Halloween Table Sprinkles

Michael J. Tresca reviewed:

~ 12 ~ Spiders ~ Approx. 2 Inch Plastic ~ New ~ Science, Insects, Halloween Table Sprinkles by Rhode Island Novelty

Cheaper than $264!, June 16, 2015

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This review is from: ~ 12 ~ Spiders ~ Approx. 2 Inch Plastic ~ New ~ Science, Insects, Halloween Table Sprinkles (Toy)

One of the changes of the Fifth Edition of Dungeons & Dragons is that there is no longer a sliding scale for certain common monsters like monstrous spiders. They have been returned to their "giant" status, and you can't very well have a giant spider that's tiny-sized, can you? So now the only kind of giant spider is a large-sized spider, which made a lot of miniatures useless. A large monstrous spider miniature retails for $22 with shipping included. But I'm here to tell you that you can have 12 giant spiders for under five bucks.

It doesn't help that giant spiders tend to come in packs. For the moment I'm leaving aside the medium-sized wolf spiders because I have plenty of those that fit the bill (specifically, the deathjump spider from D&D miniatures).

The answer: party favors. Party favors are surprisingly well-sculpted and colorfully painted. I ordered them for $4.49 and free shipping thanks to Amazon prime (you can order yours here). What you get is four different types of spiders, three of each: the flat-thorax huntsman spider, the hairy house spider, the smooth black widow spider, and the brown recluse. Mind you, I had to interpret what these spiders were meant to represent by the shape of each sculpt, so this list isn't necessarily accurate. I based them all first and then painted them according to the type of spider I thought they should represent.

Did it work? 12 giant spiders (four types, three each) would normally cost me $264 in D&D miniatures or even Reaper Bones' giant spider at $6 (shipping included). Not bad for a toy!

Michael J. Tresca gave 5 stars to: Slimes (2) Dark Heaven Legends Miniature

Michael J. Tresca reviewed:

Slimes (2) Dark Heaven Legends Miniature by Reaper

Large slimes, but no gray ooze, June 14, 2015

This review is from: Slimes (2) Dark Heaven Legends Miniature (Toy)

In the adventure The Battle of Emridy Meadows there's a possibility of encountering a gray ooze. I don't know what it is about Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, but gray oozes show up a lot. I bought the gelatinous cube option for the Reaper Bones II Kickstarter and got two slimes in the bargain. There's just one problem: gray oozes are medium size and these two slimes are large.

It occurred to me that the translucent slimes are best served by the color beneath them. Since the other two large notable oozes in D&D are the ochre jelly and black pudding, I just painted the bottom of each (in the case of the black pudding, this wasn't even necessary since it's a black base). Then I used a black wash for the black pudding and a yellow wash for the ochre jelly. To pick up the detail of the sculpts, I used a drybrush (gray for the black pudding, flesh color for the ochre jelly).

Both oozes still pick up the light behind them and are translucent enough to seem gelatinous. The ochre jelly in particular is striking. There's an art to the type of ooze the sculpt represents. Ochre jelly, for example, can compress itself to squeeze through an opening, while black puddings are more or less giant blobs. The slimmer ooze fits the ochre jelly better.

These sculpts are perfect for what they represent. But we still need a good medium-sized gray ooze.