Is that a "redband" trailer in your pants? Or are you just glad to see me?

Here comes Drogo!

Err..uhh,,I mean CONAN!

More Conan the Barbarian in 3D Videos

Robert E. Howard's Savage Sword #1

As discriminating and thrifty as I try to be in my comics purchases I keep running into titles that have me reaching for my wallet just about every week lately.
Robert E. Howard's Savage Sword is just such a title.

Dark Horse has gathered some great material that has so far rarely been seen in the world of Sword & Sorcery comics. We are all well familiar with Conan, Kull and most recently Solomon Kane, but Dark Horse is taking the unprecedented step in printing tales of some of Howard's other, lesser-known adventurers. Dark Agnes (the original template for Red Sonja), the Pict King Bran Mak Morn, and of course one of my personal favorites Francis Xavier Gordon also known as "El Borak".

Each appears in serialized form and shares the book with a tale of the one and only Conan.

If you're a Sword & Sorcery junkie like myself, you really cant pass on this.

Dreaming of an "Official" Hyborian War for the PC

On the back of the late issues of the old Savage Sword of Conan magazine there was always an ad for Hyborian War. Hyborian War was a Play by Mail (PBM) game of world conquest set in Conan’s world, basically Conan Risk.  I never got around to playing it, but in the latter years with the advent of computer gaming I was sure that someone would catch on to the idea of a large scale war game for the PC using the Hyborian setting, but it never happened. 

I recently found a great little war-game called Field of Glory. It’s a turn-based strategy game where you command an army and either recreate famous historical battle or create new ones.  Fields of Glory also has an online component where you can challenge other players. I’m having a lot of fun with it and I can’t help but think this would be awesome if it was adapted for Conan’s world.

I've enjoyed strategy games in the past, but the world building requirements of most of the bore me. I could care less about feeding the peasants, building a chapel, or upgrading a smithy so that I can have chariots. I just want to go out there and kick some ass.

My ideal game would be one where I was the Captain of a Free Company of mercenaries and I could have them travel about the world hiring on, fighting, recruiting, and generally adventuring.  I wouldn’t mind a small logistics and supply portion where I would have to find supplies to feed the men or buy new and better weapons.

My one nit with Field of Glory is that I haven’t found a way to improve the units, whether I win or lose a battle, the next battle all the units are as good as new just like in Chess, I want a way to hire Peasant Levy and through training and experience have them grow into more effective units. But other than that Field of Glory is a great way to while away a half hour or so.

A Conan for the new Millennium - What do you guys think?

What kind of conditioner do you think Conan uses? His hair doesn't seem to have a lot of "bounce".

 This is some really bad "green screen" work

 Not too bad here but his sword looks like he just took it out of the package. And he needs many more scars.

 Okay, this one is a bit more "Conanish"

The hangover (Sword & Sorcery style)

Carousing results table for Legends of Steel (revised)

01 Shanghaied! Your character awakens from his latest revel on a ship that has already set sail.

02 -03 Your character parties with a VIP, a dissolute noble, up and coming merchant, or an entertainer of repute.

04-06 Your character gets married while drunk. His spouse is very attractive.

07-09 Your character now owns a blade of exquisite quality and workmanship.

10-13 Your character gets married while drunk his spouse is not the slightest bit attractive.

14-16 Your character awakens with the poxed whore he was warned about last night.

17-18 Your character overhears whispering thieves and gains a lead on a vast sum of wealth.

19-20 Your character wins a ship or deed. The ships crew hasn’t been paid in weeks. The land title is to a large, rundown, possibly haunted, estate.

21-22 Your character pledges his service and eternal friendship to a total stranger.

23 Recruited! Your character gas joined the army.

24-40 Your character has spent half of his earnings on wenches, wine, narcotics, etc.

41-43 Your character has spent all of his earnings on wenches, wine, narcotics, etc.

44-56 Robbed while drunk - lose all your characters treasure and equipment.

57-60 Robbed and beaten while drunken, as above but your character wakes up with a wound.

61-63 Your character now owns a slave or the contract to an indentured servant.

64 Your character wakes up holding a basket. The basket has a baby and a note “Her name is Emily. Be kind to her.”

65-66 Your character drank some bad date wine, and is incapacitated for a week.

67 Your character wakes up to find he is wanted for murder (He’s completely innocent but that’s not the point).

68-69 Your character now owns an exotic mount (camel, elephant, ostrich, llama).

70-72 Your character defeated the town bully, ruffian or #1 bad guy. Everyone in town loves him, except the kin of the man he defeated.

73-74 Your character wakes up in a luxury suite with a beautiful courtesan and twice the money he had last night.

75-76 Your character awakens clutching a note in his hand. The note has a desperate message written on it.

77-79 Your character wakes up in a nobleman’s guestroom and is mistaken for a legendary hero.

80-85 Your character now owns the tavern, wine shop, or brothel he woke up in.

86-96 Your character is incarcerated for drunken hooliganism.

97-99 Your character wakes up with the “mother of all hangovers” but no other ill effects.

100  Last night she was the sexiest wench in the tavern. Your character now wakes to find “she” is really a “he.”

Ruins of Hyboria- a great reference work with a lousy cover.

Like many of you, I’m one of those who actually read The Lord of the Rings decades before the movie came out. I would get the books out every couple of years and reread them as I did so I would wonder what this locale would look like or how to stat out that character. When Lord of the Rings came out I was an instant fan, sure they left out a couple of favorite characters and missed a few beats here and there, but for all of that I finally got a glimpse of Middle Earth beyond the Brothers Hildebrandt calendars. For me LoTR was a feast for the eyes. And such is the case with Ruins of Hyboria.

From Conan to Thundarr, Ruins are a staple of Sword and Sorcery fiction. In Ruins of Hyboria we are not only provided with a system to help create and flesh out ruins of our own creation. But we are also treated to full descriptions of some of the more famous ruins in the Conan saga.

Ruins of Hyboria starts with a unique system for generating ruins, I say unique because in goes much further than just laying out the size, location and denizens of the ruins. The generator takes into account many of the social aspects of the ruin back when it was a new and vibrant location. What was the nature of the ruin, who were the builders, how did it meet its fate and so on. If one wants they can get as detailed as what types of clothing and musical instruments would be found in the ruins treasure chambers. The particulars are up to the GM, but just the fact that such questions are presented for consideration is appealing.

The next section gives an overview of various Hyborian nations and the different types of ruins most likely found within those nations. The book links the ruins not only with the current population (legends and rumors about the ruins) but also with the motivations of the builders of the ruins. Each description is just two or three paragraphs in length but it conveys enough information for the GM to choose and begin fleshing out a ruin for his own use. Personally I would have liked to have seen this section expanded. Most of the ruins are of cities, I would have liked to have seen more temples, border forts, villas, and villages. One such locale was the Castle of Count Valbroso, who met his end in the Conan story The Hour of the Dragon; I thought its addition was a nice touch.

Ruins of Hyboria then goes into detailed descriptions of ruins from some of the most popular Conan stories such as Queen of the Black coast, Red Nails, The Devil in Iron, and many more. Histories, legends, layouts, maps, and denizens of these ruins are provided. I really enjoyed reading these interpretations of locales from some of my favorite stories.

The final section is a sort of GM’s toolkit of advice and tips for running an adventure in a ruin setting. From cave-ins to spiked man traps, there are more hazards than just the ravening packs of ghouls to contend with. A bestiary of creatures, a handful of new Feats round out this section and bring the book to a close.

As with almost all the books in the Conan Line from Mongoose, Ruins of Hyboria is an excellent sourcebook even if you don’t use the D20 rules engine. The only fault I can find in this book is my own dislike of the cover art. The picture on the cover looks like Conan is In the middle of a jailbreak, rather than entering a ruined temple. I know, “don’t judge a book by its cover.” But I do all the time, I’m just glad I was able to get past the cover of Ruins of Hyboria and into the treasure trove of gaming goodness inside.

Motivational Monday

Brokeback Barbarian

So wrong, yet so funny.

Sword & Sorcery flavored Caption Contest at Heromachine.com

I've teamed up with my good buddy Jeff Hebert over at Heromachine.com to offer you the chance to win your very own custom black and white illustration from a professional illustrator!

It's like going to a comic book convention and getting a drawing, only free.

And over the internet.

And without scantily clad models for new gaming systems running around.

Here are a few links to some of the prize winners in the past so you can get an idea of what you might have done:
Hephaestian, a blacksmith babe; Celtica, an Irish warrior princess; Cyborg Ranger; a Vampire Pirate; and Deadlands character Jessie McTavish.

And all you Bloggers out there pass the word along. Let's show Jeff some Geek Karma!

Pulp Thursday

Turok son of stone DVD
The classic Dell comic character who had a brief resurgence at the end of the 20th century is headed to DVD. The trailer looks cool. With all the dinosaurs chomping people in half , it’s probably safe to say this one ain’t for the kiddies.





Dark Kingdom
Image comics came out with the Death Dealer comic a few months ago. Now we have Dark Kingdom set to hit the shelves in April. So far, it looks like Image is gonna do the whole Molly Hatchet catalogue.




Red Nails
There may never be a Red Nails animated DVD, but by the Gods there will be a complete audio version available for download!






Italian pulp
The Acrobatic flea gave me the heads up on this one.
I have no idea what this site is saying, but I had a great time checking it out.
Here is the skinny on it:
La Domenica del Corriere (”Sunday Courier”) was Sunday insert for Corriere della Sera, an Italian newspaper that ran for 90 years, from 1899 to 1989. For most of that time the section featured a full-page illustration on its cover each week.
These were often dramatic gouache or watercolor illustrations, almost in a pulp-illustration vein, but they presumably illustrated actual news stories (think of all of the notable and dramatic events that occurred during that period of time).
There is a site devoted to them at www.illustrated-history.org/, containing an archive of the illustrations and a bit of the history.
There is a search function on the home page that allows you to search by region (Per luoghi), by artist (Per autore) or event (Ricerca avanzata), with attendant drop-down menus.
It appears that there is a concentration on two artists in particular, Walter Molino (above left) and Achillies Beltrame (above right), whose work is sought after by collectors. Searching for these two may be a good place to start. Once you are on a page with a featured illustration, clicking on that image provides a pop-up with a wonderfully large reproduction of the painting. (I’ve included a full-size crop from a small section of each illustration above.) You can also informally browse from an illustration page to other pages by incrementing or decrementing the database number at the end of the URL in your browser’s address field.
Some of the illustrations are less interesting than others and there is some repetition of subject as they looked for sensational topics to illustrate (lots of train wrecks and other disasters), but some of these images are just wonderful and make the trouble of searching and browsing worth your while.
This is intended to be more of an illustrated history than an appreciation of the artists, but it serves as both. You can take a fascinating stroll through the early to mid 20th Century and view some wonderful pulp-style illustrations in the process.
I also found a blog on a site devoted to the paper, Blog del Club Domenica del Corriere, also in Italian, that features the illustrations, but doesn’t dwell on them exclusively.




Gold Monkey
Now I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up…It’s just a rumor…But, “Tales of the Gold Monkey” could finally be headed for DVD!

And that is your Pulp Thursday Report!

Conan on 45

I added a little Conan treat to my “Forgotten files” site.

Pulp Thursday

Pulp goodness for a new generation!

“Planet Stories™ presents classic fantasy, science fiction, and science fantasy novels and short story collections to a generation of new readers and lifelong fans. Unforgettable tales from acknowledged masters like Michael Moorcock, Leigh Brackett, C.L. Moore, and Henry Kuttner stand side by side with lesser known but no less worthy yarns from tomorrow's superstars. Introductions from popular modern authors like Joe R. Lansdale, Ben Bova, and Michael Moorcock provide amusing and informative entry points to each book. With new releases every month, Planet Stories promises a master class in the genre aimed at building the greatest fantasy and science fiction library ever assembled.”





Retro space with Atomic Rocket
Here’s a cool page that has a lot of information on Rockets and other space goodies. Atomic Rocket is great place to go for inspiration for a retro space pulp game.




The Golden Compass
A little Victorian era pulp heading to the theaters this winter. Sam Elliot? I’m there.




Blade Runner: The Final Cut.

If you haven’t seen this movie on the big screen, then you haven’t seen this movie.
Here’s where it will be playing for a lucky few.

11/16 - Detroit (Main Art, Detroit - 35mm)
11/18 - Austin (Paramount, Austin - 35mm)
11/30 - San Francisco (Embarcadero, San Francisco - 35mm)
11/30 - Dallas (The Inwood, Dallas - 35mm)
11/30 - San Diego (Ken, San Diego - 35mm)
11/30 - Minneapolis (Uptown, Minneapolis - 35mm)
12/7 - Denver (The Landmark @ Greenwood Village - Digital)
12/7 - Philadelphia (The Ritz 5, Philadelphia - 35mm)
12/25 - Boston (The Brattle, Cambridge - 35mm)
1/2/08 - Austin (The Paramount, Austin - 35mm)
1/4/08 - Nashville (The Belcourt, Nashville - 35mm)
1/18/08 - Durham (Carolina, Durham - 35mm)
2/1/08 - Columbus (Drexel Gateway, Columbus - 35mm)
2/15/08 - San Francisco (Castro, San Francisco - 35mm)
2/29/08 - Sacramento (Crest, Sacramento - 35mm)




Coming in Summer of 2025!

They’re still working on it.

And that is your Pulp Thursday report!

Pulp Thursday

I found an interesting article regarding REH and racism.

http://www.destructoid.com/racism-in-age-of-conan-s-hyborian-age-36626.phtml





A couple of weeks ago I reported on Adamant Entertainments new line of Pulp adventures. I finally had a chance to look it over.
“The Crimson Emperor” is an adventure split into 5 parts. According to Adamant Entertainment each part can either be played as a standalone session or as part of a larger Pulp serial campaign. I purchased the first installment “Politics of Terror” and am happy to report that the product delivers. It’s a solid no frills adventure steeped in the politics of the 1930’s, specifically the run for the white house by a popular senator who is tough on organized crime. The information is sufficient to give both the players and the GM a sense of how to get the players involved in the adventure. The adventure is written for the D20 system but there would be absolutely no problem in converting it to the pulp engine of your choice. I have only purchased episode one, but I was pleased enough with it that I’ll give episode two a try. I’ll fill you all in on that one soon.





Conan the Phenomenon
http://www.darkhorse.com/profile/profile.php?sku=10-673

*Pssst!* Amazon has it for under $20.00!



And that’s your Pulp Thursday report!

Buy Crom!

One of my oldest online pals, Mike Crawford has a great action figure review site.
MWCtoys.com. This time a round he gives his thoughts on the new Conan figure popping up at a Meijers and Walmart near you!

File this under "Just too cool"

As you all know, I'm a big fan of the Sword & Sorcery genre.
One of my favorite RPG's is the Conan RPG from TSR created By David "Zeb" Cook.

Zeb was one of the "Old Guard" at TSR who Co-Authored the classic "Isle of Dread" Module, and had a hand in just about every AD&D product in the 80's.

I'm part of an effort to help revive that Game system as an open gaming system. It has been dubbed "ZeFRS" (Zeb's Fantasy Roleplaying System).

We are working on a website to house the rules, a PDF fanzine, and a messageboard to coordinate efforts.

Imagine our surprise when we got a message from "Zeb" himself. He gave us a big thumbs up for our efforts

It made my day.

An update on the ZeFRS project

Back in April I posted about a project to bring the TSR Conan game back from the dead.
The ZeFRS project is making steady strides towards becoming a reality. Over half of the core book has been uploaded to a website, there is a PDF copy being prepared, we have a dedicated forum to toss about ideas and discuss all aspects of the Sword and Sorcery genre, and we are preparing a Fanzine titled “Scrolls of the Red Brotherhood”. All in all a very solid effort from a group formed around a three year old discussion thread on RPGNet.


There was a similar effort begun for the FASERIP gaming system a couple of months back- there was a lot of buzz and over $1000.00 was raised to pay Phil Reed to write it. That project has since languished. It seems that Phil got a full time job, and the project we paid him for was promptly put on the back burner, the last update was in April. I’m sure it’ll eventually arrive, but I’m getting ho-hum about it. I’d much rather divert my enthusiasm to ZeFRS.

Here we go again...

Well it looks like it's on again. after months of nothing, the Red Nails website is back up and running. there are promises of frequent updates and creator blogs and an actual future release. Uh-huh.




I refuse to get excited over this though. Remember those Peanuts comics where Lucy would try to convince Charlie Brown to try and kick the football just one more time? Unfortunately that's how I feel about ever seeing this project completed.

A new look for an old friend

It looks like the "Old School" gaming renaissance is going full speed ahead. We have OSRIC for 1st edition AD&D, Four Color for the FASERIP (AKA: The Marvel Superheroes RPG), a new re-mastered facelift for Star Frontiers, and now one of my personal favorites; The TSR Conan Game is getting the SRD-style treatment with ZeFRS (Zeb’s Fantasy Roleplaying System). ZeFRS is aptly named because the system is extremely light and fast playing. There is an active discussion thread going on over at RPGnet. So all you Conan and Sword and Sorcery fans come on by and join in. It’s a good chance to get in on the ground floor of a fan based revival of a great game that has flown under the radar for too long.

What does The Evil DM want for his birthday?

I'm not too sure when this is coming out. but I guarantee you I'll be the first on my block with it!

This also looks great! Amazon has it for pre order for under $12.00

Finally a decent Conan

Well it's not a 1/6 scale action figure (that would too damn much to ask for I guess)but this Marvel Legends scale figure is the best one I've seen yet. Looks like it will hit the shelves in August.



It may not be my favorite scale but it beats the hell out of the McFarlane Toys Conan, which was a non-articulated piece of crap. Pete rose makes a terrible Conan.