Stranger Things - SNL

Barb Returns to "Stranger Things"

Stranger Things Meets A Charlie Brown Christmas

Into the Demon Idol

Joeb Bittman did a wonderful one page a few years back that I've converted for my niece's "Stranger Things" adventures. https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B7cav44145d9eno0NVF0cVB2U1U

Here are my conversion notes: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9YjloN1pieDJxWFU/view?usp=sharing
I've based two dungeon starters on her current epic and this provided a nice conclusion: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9NDhaODNvX2VCZ1E/view?usp=sharing and https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9WTNNQmV3Ym9lWnc/view?usp=sharing

I used this for the lizardman army: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9em0zb05xTzMyUW8/view?usp=sharing

I've heard Jobe based a longer adventure on this but I can't find it anywhere. 

(FYI for those interested the Idol was restored by feeding it the "summoning" gem from the altar starter while the "gate" gem sent the idol to the Vale of Shadows to trap Demogorgon within it there forever...or until Bridget & Company's next adventure!)

Fever Ray - If I had a heart (Vikings Soundtrack)

"Edge of Night" by Billy Boyd / Pippin Cover by Rachel Hardy

"I See Fire" Ed Sheeran Cover by Rachel Hardy (from 'The Hobbit: the Desolation of Smaug')

The Last Goodbye Cover - The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies

Quantum Is Calling

Anyone Can Quantum

APPENDIX N: INSPIRATIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL READING

Inspiration for all the fantasy work I have done stems directly from the love my father showed when I was a tad, for he spent many hours telling me stories he made up as he went along, tales of cloaked old men who could grant wishes, of magic rings and enchanted swords, or wicked sorcerers [sic] and dauntless swordsmen.

Then too, countless hundreds of comic books went down, and the long-gone EC ones certainly had their effect. Science fiction, fantasy, and horror movies were a big influence. In fact, all of us tend to get ample helpings of fantasy when we are very young from fairy tales such as those written by the Brothers Grimm and Andrew Lang. This often leads to reading books of mythology, paging through bestiaries, and consultation of compilations of the myths of various lands and peoples.

Upon such a base I built my interest in fantasy, being an avid reader of all science fiction and fantasy literature since 1950.

The following authors were of particular inspiration to me. In some cases I cite specific works, in others, I simply recommend all of their fantasy writing to you. From such sources, as well as any other imaginative writing or screenplay, you will be able to pluck kernels from which will grow the fruits of exciting campaigns. Good reading!

Anderson, Poul: THREE HEARTS AND THREE LIONS; THE HIGH CRUSADE; THE BROKEN SWORD
Bellairs, John: THE FACE IN THE FROST
Brackett, Leigh
Brown, Frederic
Burroughs, Edgar Rice: "Pellucidar" series; Mars series; Venus series
Carter, Lin: "World's End" series
de Camp, L. Sprague: LEST DARKNESS FALL; THE FALLIBLE FIEND; et al
de Camp & Pratt: "Harold Shea" series; THE CARNELIAN CUBE
Derleth, August
Dunsany, Lord
Farmer, P. J.: "The World of the Tiers" series; et al
Fox, Gardner: "Kothar" series; "Kyrik" series; et al
Howard, R. E.: "Conan" series
Lanier, Sterling: HIERO'S JOURNEY
Leiber, Fritz: "Fafhrd & Gray Mouser" series; et al
Lovecraft, H. P.
Merritt, A.: CREEP, SHADOW, CREEP; MOON POOL; DWELLERS IN THE MIRAGE; et al
Moorcock, Michael: STORMBRINGER; STEALER OF SOULS; "Hawkmoon" series (esp. the first three books)
Norton, Andre
Offutt, Andrew J.: editor of SWORDS AGAINST DARKNESS III
Pratt, Fletcher: BLUE STAR; et al
Saberhagen, Fred: CHANGELING EARTH; et al
St. Clair, Margaret: THE SHADOW PEOPLE; SIGN OF THE LABRYS
Tolkien, J. R. R.: THE HOBBIT; "Ring trilogy"
Vance, Jack: THE EYES OF THE OVERWORLD; THE DYING EARTH; et al
Weinbaum, Stanley
Wellman, Manley Wade
Williamson, Jack
Zelazny, Roger: JACK OF SHADOWS; "Amber" series; et al

The most immediate influences upon AD&D were probably de Camp & Pratt, R. E. Howard, Fritz Leiber, Jack Vance, H. P. Lovecraft, and A. Merritt; but all of the above authors, as well as many not listed, certainly helped to shape the form of the game. For this reason, and for the hours of reading enjoyment, I heartily recommend the works of these fine authors to you.

- E. Gary Gygax, 1979, AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide, p. 224

I've highlighted in black authors I love, particularly Fritz Leiber and J..R.R. Tolkien, the masters in my mind of epic and sword and sorcery. A modern list would certainly include George R.R. Marin's "A Song of Ice and Fire"novels series as essential.I would also add Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea novels, Clark Ashton Smith, Michael Shea and McKillip's Riddlemaster Trilogy.

For films I would include all of Peter Jackson's Middle Earth movies, Milius' Conan the Barbarian, Dragonslayer, The Princess Bride, Stardust, Ladyhawke and HBO's television series Game of Thrones as a start to the "A list".

-Mark Tygart, 2017

Nobel Prize-Winning Economist: We're Headed for Oligarchy

In a recent interview at the Economic Policy Institute, Nobel Prize-Winning economist and MIT professor Robert Solow riffed on the political effects of increasing inequality and concentration of wealth at the very top. "If that kind of concentration of wealth continues, then we get to be more and more an oligarchical country, a country that's run from the top," he said.

Solow's sentiments echo a point he made earlier this week in his review of Thomas Piketty's book in The New Republic. (Solow, it should be noted, is not the only Nobel Prize-winning economist to use the o-word in discussing Piketty's work.) Having examined and explained the trends Piketty identifies, Solow turns his attention to the possible measures that could be taken to ameliorate the inequality, and rejigger the system to favor merit over inheritance. Piketty, Solow says, favors an annual, global progressive tax on wealth, such that the benefits of a growing economy could be more widely felt.

This is a proposal that Solow cheers. But there is one problem: 

Piketty writes as if a tax on wealth might sometime soon have political viability in Europe, where there is already some experience with capital levies. I have no opinion about that. On this side of the Atlantic, there would seem to be no serious prospect of such an outcome. We are politically unable to preserve even an estate tax with real bite. If we could, that would be a reasonable place to start, not to mention a more steeply progressive income tax that did not favor income from capital as the current system does. But the built-in tendency for the top to outpace everyone else will not yield to minor patches. 

And this is, perhaps, the most significant point. Piketty has identified the mechanism by which inequality accelerates over time (Solow calls it, simply, the “rich-get-richer dynamic"). But the consequences of that distribution are not merely economic but political: A concentration of wealth leads to a concentration of power, which in turn protects the concentration of power. That our political system is incapable of tempering Piketty's dynamic is not a bizarre coincidence but a direct result.

"Wouldn’t it be interesting," Solow asks in his TNR review, "if the United States were to become the land of the free, the home of the brave, and the last refuge of increasing inequality at the top (and perhaps also at the bottom)? Would that work for you?"

It's working for some people, anyway.

(Source: The Atlantic)

Muck Monster: A Monster of the Week Mystery Starter

Sometimes I get two ideas for a concept and later write up the other idea as well.

This is "Lake Monster" 's Big Brother.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9U19iOWhBQXlvSzQ/view?usp=sharing

As with all my mystery starters feedback and war stories greatly appreciated.

Atuan Returns

Just a little revision to my most minor of creations, but I ran it again and I think it works better now with the new "labyrinth rules". It is a fun dungeon to use with newbies as you can have the monster eat or drain a minstrel and depart while they are learning the ropes.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9a3U2NjFWR0ptWjg/view?usp=sharing

For those interested this starter was always intended to be the sequel:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9N0UyRWJmbnF2cEE/view?usp=sharing

Breaker Morant

Breaker Morant

D. L. Kershen comments: "Breaker Morant tells the story of the court-martial of Harry Morant, Peter Handcock, and George Witton in South Africa in 1902. Yet, its overriding theme is war's evil. Breaker Morant is a beautiful anti-war statement—a plea for the end of the intrigues and crimes that war entails."

Although it is generally accepted that Morant and/or others in his regiment were responsible for the deaths of a number of Boer commandos, historical opinion is still divided over the central questions of the case — how many Boers were killed, by whom were they killed, and on whose orders? In his book, Born to Fight, Speed has photos of a number of Canadian Scouts wearing black feathers , a symbol that they would shoot any Boer captured under arms.

In 2012, South African historian Charles Leach published the book The Legend of Breaker Morant is DEAD and BURIED: A South African version of the Bushveldt Carbineers in the Zoutpansberg, May 1901 – April 1902. Based upon extensive research, Leach had complete access to unpublished South African sources and the papers of the Viljoen and Heese families.

Joe West, a British Bushveldt Carbineers researcher, wrote in response: "Charles Leach's impressive research has revealed that the crimes of Morant and his associates were worse than originally thought. In today's day and age Morant and Handcock plus several others would be arraigned before a War Crime Tribunal."

Morant's supporters, on the other hand, argue that he and Handcock were unfairly singled out for punishment even though many other British soldiers were known to have carried out summary executions of Boer prisoners. In their view, the two Australians were made scapegoats by the British, who were intent on concealing the existence of the "take no prisoners" policy against Boer insurgents — a policy which, they claim, had been promulgated by Kitchener himself.

However, Hamish Paterson, a South African military historian and a member of the Military History Society, has pointed out that the Bushveldt Carbineers were a British Imperial unit, not an Australian one: technically, the two "Aussies" were British officers.

 It said that while Morant and the others probably committed some crimes and may well have deserved disciplinary action, there is now persuasive evidence from several sources to show that the Kitchener 'no prisoners' order did indeed exist, that it was widely known among both the British and Australian troops and was carried out by many disparate units. It also asserted that the court-martial was fundamentally flawed in its procedures.

The graves of Morant and Handcock were left unattended for many years, but after the release of Beresford's film it became a popular place of pilgrimage for Australian tourists. In June 1998 the Australian Government spent $1,500 refurbishing the grave site with a new concrete slab. The marble cross which stood over the grave had been vandalised, as had many other gravestones nearby.

The most important primary source, the official records of the court-martial, vanished following the trial and their location remains a mystery. A report on the case from Kitchener to the Australian Governor-General (published in the Australian press on 7 April 1902) quotes Kitchener as saying that "the proceedings have been sent home" [i.e. to England].[this quote needs a citation] Whatever their actual fate, the transcripts have not been seen since the trial and evidently not even the Australian government was granted access to them.


The Australian government felt so strongly about this case that it insisted that none of its troops would be tried by the British military during World War I.

Quotes from the film Breaker Morant (1980):

George Wittow: [after Handcock has admitted to murdering the missionary] Major Thomas has been pleading justifying circumstances and now we're just lying.
Peter Handcock: We're lying? What about THEM? It's no bloody secret. Our graves were dug the day they arrested us at Fort Edwards.
George Wittow: Yeah, but killing a missionary, Peter?
Harry Morant: It's a new kind of war, George. A new war for a new century. I suppose this is the first time the enemy hasn't been in uniform. They're farmers. They come from small villages, and they shoot at from behind walls and from farmhouses. Some of them are women, some of them are children, and some of them... are missionaries, George.

Lt. Col. Denny: [regarding Kitchener's order to shoot any Boers taken prisoner] Do you really believe that Lord Kitchener, a man venerated throughout the world, would be capable of issuing an order of such barbarity?
Major Thomas: I don't know, sir. But I do know that orders that one would consider barbarous have already been issued in this war. Before I was asked to defend these soldiers, I spent some months destroying Boer farmhouses, burning their crops, herding their women and children into stinking refugee camps where thousands of them have already died from disease. Now these orders WERE issued, sir! And soldiers like myself and these men here have had to carry them out however damned reluctantly!

Harry Morant: It really ain't the place nor time to reel off rhyming diction, but yet we'll write a final rhyme while waiting crucifixion. For we bequeath a parting tip of sound advice for such men who come in transport ships to polish off the Dutchman. If you encounter any Boers, you really must not loot 'em, and if you wish to leave these shores, for pity's sake, don't shoot 'em. Let's toss a bumper down our throat before we pass to Heaven, and toast a trim-set petticoat we leave behind in Devon.

Sentry: Do you want the padre?
Harry Morant: No, thank you. I'm a pagan.
Sentry: And you?
Peter Handcock: What's a pagan?
Harry Morant: Well... it's somebody who doesn't believe there's a divine being dispensing justice to mankind.
Peter Handcock: I'm a pagan, too.

Harry Morant: There is an epitaph I'd like: Matthew 10:36. Well, Peter... this is what comes of 'empire building.'
Major Thomas: Matthew 10:36?
Minister: "And a man's foes shall be they of his own household."

(Source: Wikipedia & IMDB)

Geek Wisdom

You’re no hero.
You’re an adventurer:
a reaver,
a cutpurse,
a heathen-slayer,
a tight-lipped warlock guarding long-dead secrets.
You seek gold and glory,
winning it with sword and spell,
caked in the blood and filth of the weak, the dark, the demons, and the vanquished.
There are treasures to be won deep underneath,
and you shall have them...

-Dungeon Crawl Classics Introduction

New Dungeon World Adventure Starter: Gothic

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9bFZQUnJEUXRET3c/view?usp=sharing

I'm back to doing my sub-genre fantasy series of dungeon starters, this time it is a starter that is entitled Gothic.

What can I say? I read Nifft the Lean by Michael Shea and before you know it a City-State of the Vampire Queen and her saltwater crocodile infested marshes of Blackwater had added themselves to my Dungeon World map:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9TThUbWNSNFljejg/view?usp=sharing

Tanith's still looking for the Horn of Dagoth: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9a1g2UEdQcmVSUWM/view?usp=sharing
by the bye

I intend this to be a one night or tournamental adventure starter where the players race to shut down the Mad Alchemist's machine before a lightning powered flesh golem awakens and destroys (or tries to destroy) everyone; my little valentine to Mary Shelley(and James Whale).

Monster of the Week Mystery Starter: Lake Monster

This is my little tribute to Neil Gaiman's American Gods, which I hope would not be too apparent to hunter fans. As with all my mystery starters feedback and war stories greatly appreciated.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9WFhNWldGSkVycm8/view?usp=sharing

New Mystery Starter for Monster of the Week: Monster Movie

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9VjY2Z2hRTi1YNXc/view?usp=sharing

“Just above the cavern's mouth was a narrow ledge of rock running horizontally, and of a few inches in width. On this natural shelf, reflected in the water, I saw, hanging downwards, a decayed fragment of goat-skin, rotten with age, but which might have been bound round something, long years before. Upon this, as if escaped from its folds, rested a Head.

It was a human head, severed at the neck, but fresh and unfaded as if but newly dead. It bore the features of a woman - of a woman of more perfect loveliness than was ever told of in tale, or sculptured in marble, or painted on canvas. Every feature, every line was of the truest beauty, cast in the noblest mould - the face of a goddess. But upon that perfect countenance was the mark of eternal pain, of deathless agony and suffering past words. The forehead was lined and knit, the death-white lips were tightly pressed in speechless torment; in the wide eyes seemed yet to lurk the flame of an unquenchable fire; while around the fair brows, in place of hair, curled and coiled the stark bodies of venomous serpents, stiff in death, but their loathsome forms still erect, their evil heads yet thrust forward as if to strike.

My heart ceased beating, and the chill of death crept over my limbs, as with eyes starting from their sockets I stared at that awful head, reflected in the pool. For hours it seemed to me I gazed fascinated, as the bird by the eye of the snake that has charmed it. I was as incapable of thought as movement, till suddenly forgotten school-room learning began to cross my brain, and I knew that I looked at the reflection of Medusa, the Gorgon, fairest and foulest of living things, the unclean creature, half woman, half eagle, slain by the hero Perseus, and one glimpse of whose tortured face turned the luckless beholder into stone with the horror of it. ("The Gorgon's Head")”

― Gertrude Bacon, The Gentlewomen of Evil: An Anthology of Rare Supernatural Stories from the Pens of Victorian Ladies

New Dungeon Starter: Black Pearls & Black Water

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7cav44145d9TThUbWNSNFljejg/view?usp=sharing

“The world is fixed, we say: fish in the sea, birds in the air. But in the mangrove swamps by the Niger, fish climb trees and ogle uneasy naturalists who try unsuccessfully to chase them back to the water. There are things still coming ashore. ” ― Loren Eiseley

Geek poet

The World Is Too Much with Us

The world is too much with us; late and soon,

Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers;

Little we see in Nature that is ours;

We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!

This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,

The winds that will be howling at all hours,

And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,

For this, for everything, we are out of tune;

It moves us not. --Great God! I'd rather be

A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn;

So might I, standing on this pleasant lea,

Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;

Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea;

Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.

- William Wordsworth