Wordslinging Critic: Skyline

Green Lantern Movie Trailer

Green Lantern trailer
Well there it is, folks. The much anticipated Green Lantern movie. I've, personally, been waiting for this movie for a long time and now it's almost upon us.

I have a few thoughts, however, on the trailer and what it's telling us.

Clearly, it seems Ryan Reynolds is portraying a much looser and carefree Hal Jordan than what's been presented in the comic books. Honestly, I assume the movie producers/directors/writers/whoevers did this because they felt a carefree Hal Jordan would be much more entertaining to watch than the clean-cut Boy Scout Hal Jordan we all know.

I can't say I agree with this, but I'm willing to give it a shot and see if it works.

The CG looks pretty all right. I can't say it's the most spectacular CG I've seen (literally everything in outer space, including the people, is CG), but again, trailers are usually created before last minute cleaning up so maybe it'll look nicer in the actual film.

Otherwise, I have to say that this movie looks AMAZING. I can't wait to see one of my top five superheroes finally on the big screen!

And speaking of my top five superheroes on the big screen, the Deadpool movie trailer should be coming out soon, so whenever that rears its ugly, cancerous head, I'll get back to you guys about my thoughts.

Tabletop Tales: The On-Going Legend

I have to admit, it must be one of the indications that you're a good storyteller/character creator when others begin using your characters in their games as NPCs.

And I don't just mean a game that's based in the same world as your original character in which that campagin's events take place chronologically AFTER the events your character was part of. No...I'm talking about a completely different timeline, different world, and even a different game system altogether!


Let me explain.


One of my favorite (and in my opinion, one of my greatest) creations I ever made was a Dungeons and Dragons character named Pak-cha. I won't go into too much detail about what Pak-cha is, so I'll simply say he's a 7-foot-tall five armed praying mantis creature that's REALLY strong. I mean really REALLY strong. 


Anyway, I made this character for the D&D campaign I was playing, played it through, and retired the character from play at the campaign's end. After it was over, I thought nothing more of it than how awesome the character had been.


Then, Pak-cha appeared in the sequel to the campaign he was a character in as an NPC. Nothing major...he just showed up as a deus ex machina once or twice. Don't get me wrong...him being there gave me a lofty sense of pride, but it was a normal progression for him to be there.


But this is where it gets ridiculous....ridiculously AWESOME.


I had told many of my gaming buddies about Pak-cha and his many exploits (and his exploits are AMAZING btw). My friends found him to be pretty amazing as well, thanks to my expertly told narratives detailing his encounters and conflicts. Again, I thought nothing of me doing this. I just assumed it was one gamer sharing with other gamers his amazing creation.


It wasn't until a few months ago that my buddy called me up about a BESM (BESM is an anime/manga themed roleplaying game) campaign he was going to run and if he could use Pak-cha as a villain. I was taken aback by this but happily consented to the use of my creation.


Then, ANOTHER friend asked if he could us Pak-cha in his Exalted game! It was as if my character had taken on other parallel lives of its own, being reincarnated for further glory in other worlds and other scenarios. A testament and example to good character craftsmanship, Pak-cha continued to live on well after I had completed my playing of him.


I am so proud.


And furthermore, it seems Wizard of the Coast decided to take my idea and steal it for themselves. Don't believe me? Look here at some of their 4e material.


Pak'Cha? REALLY? You guys are thieving bastard.


The mechanics are obviously different, but that name was taken from me. I simply know it to be true. How do I know? I created Pak-cha long before 4e came out back in the days of 3.5. Wizards of the Coast can suck it.

EDIT: I also remember another buddy that used Pak-cha, again as a villain, in his D&D game. Man, my praying mantis gets around a lot :D

Tabletop Connoisseur: Quick Guide to Roleplaying Terms

I break down the basics of roleplaying terminology for the roleplaying-impaired!

Wordslinging Critic: Morning Glory

Top 6 Alternative Spider-Man Costumes

Spider-Man. He's my all-time favorite superhero. Period. The end.

No amount of bad stories, poor writing decisions, ridiculous artwork, or terrible movies will make my love of the ol' webhead diminish. He's also one of the most recognizable superheroes in today's media (following, more than likely, Batman and *cough*Superman*cough*).

I mean, EVERYONE recognizes the red and blue tights! The web design! The huge eyes! No one would look at Spidey and think "Hey, it's (insert name of some OTHER hero here)" because it just doesn't happen.

However, Spidey (and others with the Spider persona) have donned various other costumes throughout the Spider-Man history. Several were....pretty horrible. A good handful were, however, very very cool and a, in my opinion, a welcome change from the traditional duds.

And here, I'll countdown the top 6 alternative costumes that Spidey (and Spidey people) have worn.

#6: The Amazing/Bombastic Bag-Man

Only seen once each, Bag-Man has become almost synonymous with Spidey forgetting/not having his costume. Improvisation is the key to success, as some say, and the web-head is not a stranger to this tactic.

The first instance was when he left his symbiotic black costume with the Fantastic Four to study and forgot to bring a spare to wear home. The FF was nice enough to lend him a spare suit and a handy paper bag for his face (not to mention a nice "Kick Me" sign provided by the Human Torch).

The second instant was when he was caught in a criminal situation, again, without his suit. Not willing to let the bad guys go, he donned another trusty paper bag (as well as stripping off his shirt) and going to town on them.

The Bag-Man persona shows us not only that Spidey refuses to let the lack of a costume stop him from doing what's right, but also that he has a sense of humor about himself. Willing to lampoon himself (sometimes begrudgingly or unknowingly, but still), Spidey gave us all laughs when he donned those bags.


#5: Blood Spider

Blood Spider is just a BADASS name. His costume, though having some slight design flaws and color scheme issues, is equally badass.

In one of Spidey's stories, the Red Skull and Taskmaster made a copy of Spider-Man (everyone was doing it, so why not them?) and gave him a costume similar to the black symbiote costume. Add in a web tank on the back and suction cups on the hands and feet, and you suddenly have your own web-head copy (not that there weren't enough running around, am I right guys?)

Now, the loose wires going from the tank to the shooters on the hands were a rather...er...poor aesthetic choice and I'm not crazy about the yellow color scheme (more a fan of the red and dark blue/black, really), but what better way to strike fear into your enemy than to send a clone of himself (there's that word...).


#4: Cosmic Spider-Man

What happens when you give our favorite wall-crawler incredible, godlike power? He changes his clothes, of course!

During a lab accident, Spidey was temporarily granted the Uni-Power (the powers of Captain Universe, for you unenlightened out there). The Uni-Power granted him advanced senses, even greater strength, telekinesis, and a kick ass costume!

I mean, seriously, if I was a villain and saw Spider-Man show up in THAT costume, I'd shit my pants and expect to have my insides turned into my outsides. It's intimidating to say the least. Unfortunately, power trips like this usually don't last long, and Spidey lost the super godlike crazy powers not long after receiving them. However, he did have both the powers and costume long enough to leave a lasting impression that if you give Spidey a scary costume AND superior powers, it'll be something special.


#3: Ben Reilly's Spider-Man costume

Good ol' Ben Reilly. Y'know, I honestly liked Ben. I know he was introduced as part of that horrible, messy clone saga debacle, but I really did like him. He wanted so much to have a normal life without having to worry about being a clone. But...Spider-fans know how that all turned out.

Ben started out his Spider-career as the Scarlet Spider, sporting a costume a little similar to Spider-Man's but ultimately different in a tacky way (really, dude, a sweatshirt?). Eventually, he switched over to using a design more closely-resembling Peter's costume and thus we have the Ben Reilly costume.

I like this costume because it says one thing to me: no matter who it is behind the mask, it's still Spider-Man as long as they do what's right. Though Reilly's costume was mildly different from Peter's he still sported the traditional red and blue, the web design, the spider emblem, and everyone knew it was Spider-Man they were looking at. Taking the name of Spider-Man and merely putting a minor spin on the appearance simply said to fans "Yeah...I may be a different guy, but I'm still your Spider-Man, and I'm still going to do what you guys love to see me do"


#2: Iron Spider

Now, before I get into it, I want to say that I LOVE this costume. It is, personally, my favorite alternative costume. But it isn't the BEST alternative costume. That aside, let's dive in.

Right before Marvel's "Civil War" event hit and following Spidey's "The Other" storyline, Tony Stark took it upon himself to craft our friendly neighborhood you-know-who a brand new costume using the latest of Stark technology. A fully integrated, technologically enhanced super spider suit akin to the Iron Man tech. This suit provided Peter with a wide variety of tech gadgets, like radio, varying vision settings, bio-monitoring equipment, and other things. The COOLEST feature, of course, had to be the retractable arms that were controlled by Spidey mentally.

The reason I like this suit so much is because Spider-Man, while wearing the suit, went toe-to-toe with Captain America. During the fight, Spidey knew full-well he stood no chance against his (at the time) former ally since Cap was familiar with all of Spidey's moves. Except...Spidey had gained a few new "moves" thanks to the suit. With it, the webhead was able to draw first blood on Cap before the fight was abruptly ended.

Now, his time in the suit was brief, but memorable, and unfortunately he had to ditch it thanks to some betrayals from the suit's creator, but nonetheless it was really really really cool seeing Spidey in a spider-like suit. Even if it was gold and red.


#1: The Black Suit

 

Who honestly didn't see this choice coming? 

Originally an alien symbiote picked up from an alien world (and eventually becoming one of his greatest villains, Venom), the black suit was a drastic, yet fan-favored, change from the traditional duds. After ridding himself of the symbiote version of the suit, Spidey frequently returned to a normal cloth version of the black suit on numerous occasions (including right after the "Civil War" storyline). 

The black suit is cool because it's representative of so many things for the wall-crawler. On most occasions, it's used to show his dark side...the angry, violent, edgy Spider-Man that was typically associated with the Venom-driven tendencies. And why shouldn't it? It's downright SCARY. Comparatively, the red and blue threads are positively warm and inviting when put against the black suit.

However, other times the black suit has been used to show a sense of deep emotion and mourning. Specifically, following the "Civil War" storyline, Spidey adopted the threads to express his sorrow at the loss of some comrades and the regret he had for having to battle against what were once his allies. 

Though it may be a bit lacking in subtlety for the purpose of expressing it, the black suit shows us that even our favorite joke-slinging webhead can have a dark side.

Wordslinging Critic: Machete

Tabletop Tales: A Different Kind of Shadowrun

So...my friend Jim (one of the players of our "regular" Shadowrun game) decided he wanted to run a side game using the Shadowrun system. However, he wanted to veer away from the typical Shadowrun setting (2072 Earth) and try something a little different...

Welcome to Shadowrun: Ancient Earth!

Jim basically took the Shadowrun system, tweaked the skills, weapons, etc., and put it all into a romanticized ancient Earth setting.

So far, the Ancient Earth group has played two sessions, but I'm REALLY enjoying it. Essentially, we're all members of a hunter/gatherer tribe of primitive Native American-esque people.

Now, going into this game, I had to think about a concept that would FIT, but would also be something different from what the other players were making. What they were making, you may ask? Well...

• Adam created a skilled hunter character that specialized in using the spear. 
• Amy created a shamanistic type character that specialized in herbology
• Wes created an almost purely artisan-type character that could make nearly anything needed (given the materials)
• And Eric created a huge, lumbering, child-minded beast-like individual that preferred using rocks as weapons

So, what is missing from this party? Two things: a talker, and a scientist. Well...I use the term "scientist" loosely but an intelligence based, logically-thinking, cause-and-effect studying individual.

And thus, Aune was born! Aune is the talker and the thinker of the party (though, as I've found out in this last session, that the thinking is all a team effort). Aune is a Charisma heavy creature, having nearly every social skill available. He lies, he negotiates, he soothes, he scares, and in time, he will inspire. In addition to that, I'm going to have Aune grow into a science-like medium, studying new substances and plants to find out hidden properties that can be exploited.

His current scientific endeavors? Fire arrows and smoke pellets. The fire arrows were simple once I worked out a rudimentary design based on the materials I had available. I'm hoping to improve upon it over time, but what I've come up with will do. The smoke pellets, however, are a bit trickier.

My idea is to craft a small clay pot. Maybe something...a bit smaller than a tennis ball. Inside the pot will be placed the first of two substances. A clay barrier will be fashioned and fit into the pot to separate the first substance from the rest of pot. In the second half of the pot will be placed a second substance. Than, the pot will be sealed with a clay cover, creating a breakable sphere-ish device. The trick is that the two substances, whatever they turn out to be, will create a smoke-heavy reaction when combined. When the pot is thrown and breaks, the two substances will combine, react, and create the smoke screen.

Now, all of these ideas are handy no matter what we're facing. Aune's motivation, at the start of the game, was to discover new and usable materials. After it was determined, in-game, that our party would be heading into the unknown southern lands where "demons" supposedly dwell, his motivation changed to proving the "demons" were nothing more than stories.

Tonight's session, however, caused his motivation to shift one final time. Our party came upon a situation that outright PROVES demons DO exist, thus destroying Aune's motivation. So what is his motivation now? Fighting the supernatural....with science!

What better motivation to tie into his abilities than fighting back supernatural evil using his brain and the natural world as weapons against them?

Well...I thought it was cool.