D&D nerdity
In case you forgot about the huge nerd thing, I got a copy of the 2024 Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook. I also obtained and read the play test material they have been putting out for a year or so before the release. There are some good points to it. The changes to the classes are mostly actual improvements. The Monk class got some much needed love, which is cool.
Don’t toss out your 2014 versions just yet though. Part of the upgrade was to make the races (yes, they call them species now and I’m not offended by that…)less important in character generation. You are no longer denying your sorcerer the highest level of min/maxing if you don’t start with a teifling. The character origins/backgrounds picked up the slack. Which is cool by me.
What does bother me is they really cut down on the level of detail on the various races. Dwarves are just dwarves now. Most of the “species” just have a single page dedicated to them. Of course the bloody Elves get two pages. In the 2014 book, there were multiple pages for each race, including detailed descriptions, examples of names (including regional variations, especially for the humans, since they spread all over the place), and other bits of detail that the role (as opposed to roll) players fornicating love.
Now they did add several new species covered in the 2024 book, which is good, including Orcs. There are two glaring omissions from the 2014 book however. Specifically Half-Orcs and Half-Elves. Apparently racial purity is now a priority at Wizards of the Coast.
They had a some rules (just a couple of paragraphs) in play test rules for mixed race humanoids, those rules are conspicuously missing from the 2024 book. I know it’s a honking big book, and there were editorial decisions to be made, but we are really talking about two paragraphs.
One of the main NPCs in the incredibly popular video game Baldur’s Gate 3 is a half-elf. Now you will have much wailing from the nerds about how they can’t play Shadowheart when the 2024 book gets a wider distribution.
Enough on that rant. The webcomic Does Not Play Well with Others (http://www.doesnotplaywellwithothers.com/) has some excellent D&D based gags. Those focuses on the ongoing D&D sessions some of the main characters have with the aliens who live down the street. I printed out this comic (https://www.doesnotplaywellwithothers.com/comic/pwc-0596) and inserted it at page 298 of the 2024 Player’s Handbook.
Monday Book Pick: Revenge of the Analog
Revenge of the Analog by David Sax
I picked up the hardcover at my local library book sale. Support your local library folks. This book was published in 2016, so the author did most of his research in 2015 and maybe 2014. My observation, made about a decade later, is that he was spot on. The book is broken into three main parts, with some extras tossed in at the end. Paper, Vinyl, and film. Sax’s observation that in the early 21st century era of electronics, people are returning to an analog experience. Stop by your local office supply store, and you will find $20 plus notebooks displayed near the register, and non-digital cameras, i.e. film, a bit farther in. Stuff you didn’t see during the post PDA ‘Smartphone’ rise. Look at the music section of your local Target or Barnes and Noble. Lots of vinyl records that people are paying a premium for. The books goes into the details on this return to analog, including how manufactures had to track down equipment once thought obsolete in order to meet the rising demand for vinyl and film. They recovered abandoned vinyl presses and refurbished them. They are now running nearly 24/7 to make Taylor Swift more money. The music companies are very fond of vinyl, their profit margins are much higher, and it’s harder to bootleg. On a recent business trip, I observed about half the people in a conference room taking handwritten notes in notebooks sitting on top of their closed laptops. Bottom line, analog is more personal. People related to it better. Taking pictures with film can be imperfect, unlike the trend in digital photography, and people like the serendipity of that process. There is also a section on how a rich investor spent his own money to start a high end watch factory in Detroit. His belief was that there was an untapped manual workforce abandoned by the auto industry. Check out Shinola. Luxury watches and other goods handmade in Detroit. An interesting and thoughtful read. Check it out.
Friday B-Movie Pick: Cleopatra
Cleopatra
The Ceil B. DeMille version starting Claudette Colbert, which earned five Academy Award nominations. This was back in 1934, when you got the awards for merit, so definitely worth checking out. This was a major production back then, and I prefer it to the 1963 version.
Monday Book Pick: The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare by Damien Lewis
Going from adventures in the “Unreal” to adventures in the very real. This book is about creation and evolution of British Special Warfare troops in WWII. The focus is on the creation of the SOE (Special Operations Executive) by Winston Churchill and its eventual merger with the SAS/SBS operating the North African and Mediterranean theaters, including action in Greece and Italy. These were very unconventional warriors conducting very unconventional warfare, which made them much more effective in their ability to tie down or defeat much larger units of German and Italian conventional troops. Adventure in literature is often described as someone else in a lot of trouble, far away. Keep in mind, this book is non-fiction. The collection British, Danish, American, and Greek soldiers put themselves in incredible danger, and didn’t always get away to fight another day. Guy Richie is putting a movie soon based on this book, which I’m expecting to be well done, but do yourself a favor and read the book, including the official descriptions of the actions that won them multiple medals for valor in combat.
Monday Book Pick: Knight Watch
Filed under: Baen Books, Monday Book Pick, RPG, Science Fiction
Knight Watch by Tim Akers
This book had me laughing out loud. Uber-nerd goes the Ren Faire, and his opponent in the sword and board competition turns into a dragon, which he slays by driving his mom’s Volvo into its head. This gets him involved with Knight Watch, an organization that protects reality from it’s mythic past. If you have any experience with fantasy gaming, especially Dungeons and Dragons, you will get a lot of the ‘in jokes.’ The protagonist John is a classic sword and board Tank, and his ex-girlfriend is an Elven Princess with her magical longbow. I really enjoyed this book, and the sequel.
Monday Book Pick: The Color of Magic
The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett
The very first Discworld novel. The start of a very long comic fantasy series. Loads of fun. Give it a try, and then be prepared to dive into the remaining 39 books in the series.
Monday Book Pick: Athenaeum, Inc.: Door Number three
Athenaeum, Inc.: Door Number Three by Dan Kemp
To be honest, I knew I was going to buy this when read that author was a former Army NCO and a fan of both John Ringo and Larry Correia. Kemp mixed elements of the Paladin of Shadows and Dead Six series into his own blend, which was a really fun read that I didn’t want to put down until I finished. My major problem with this book is that there no sequel yet. The book was full of Easter Eggs, which I highlighted heavily for future research. Which I admit resulted in my getting a Rocket City Trash Panda hat, despite my serious lack of interest in professional baseball. Be prepared into deep dives into various types of deep nerdness: gun, watch, knife, and Hong Kong tactical tailors. Oh, and his deep obsession with Asian women. As the author says, writing this book was cheaper than therapy. This would make fun movie, and one that Joe Bob Briggs would recommend.
Friday B-Movie Pick: Samurai Cop
This classic from 1991 has the Joe Bob Briggs seal of approval. It’s got gun fu, sword fu, and kung fu. There is also plenty of gratuitous nudity. The production values make you long for the high quality of Dolemite. This is a movie with aspirations of being a B-Movie, which made it so fun to watch. One plus is Gerald Okamura, he raised the value of the acting and the martial ars scenes. In the days of the local video store, it would have been well worth the rental. Check it out.
Friday B-Movie Pick Archive
Monday Book Pick: It’s Always Darkest
It’s Always Darkest by Frank Schildiner
This book is set in Philip Jose Farmer’s “Nine” universe. I really enjoyed this book, the main character, Langston Dupont, is a mirror universe version of The Shadow with an more Asian flavor, and is one of The Nine‘s candidates. He still makes use of twin .45 semi-automatic pistols and the echoing mocking laugh though. The very select pool of individuals who gain immortality (at least very, very slow aging) at the cost of being the complete servants of the nine member ruling council who have been influencing the fate of mankind for thousands of years. Dupont has turned against his masters after close to a century of service, including his childhood training. The author is a martial arts instructor, and writes really good fight scenes. Something I really appreciate. A fun read set in 1970s and added bonus, a fight scene featuring one of my favorite bladed weapons!
Monday Book Pick: The Black Mountain
The Black Mountain by Rex Stout
Not only does Nero Wolfe leave the Brownstone in this book, he leaves the country! The murder of his childhood friend, and the violent death of his adopted daughter force him to travel to the land of birth to track down the killer and bring him to justice
I’m day late on this one…Close enough for government work…