Simian Santa

 

For those who celebrate it, I wish you all a Merry Christmas! May God Bless you and your friends and family. Peace on Earth Good Will to Men.

Carnage of the Apes!

I had a appointment today that took me near a comic shop I used to frequent.  I used to really get into comics "back in the day", but for various reasons (cost being one) I haven't bought much in the way of comics in quite some time.  Anyway, I had a few extra minutes so went into the comic shop.  I spotted the below issue on the shelf and got excited.

Unfortunately, the Apes were just on the cover and had nothing to do with the content.  I think this was a missed opportunity.  Apparently Marvel has the Planet of the Apes license again and are doing variant Ape related covers on their main comic lines to promote it.  Personally, I think it would be really cool to have Carnage "zapped" through a portal and end up in The Forbidden Zone!  Imagine the Cat (er I mean Carnage) and Mouse games of him hunting down Soldier Apes in the ruins! Would make for a fun and entertaining one shot story-line.  Maybe could adapt this to an Apes Victorious or Mutant Future game. Personally I love pulling in stuff from all kinds of sources for my games, that's one of the things I especially love about the OSR, you can really mix and match, tweak and adapt all kinds of things to make the sort of campaign you and your group really want.

COBRA FANG Copter

 A follow up to yesterday's post.  Over the weekend I had to run into the local Five Below store and happened to go down the toy aisle..when I spotted the COBRA F.A.N.G. Copter!!! Love that classic cover art from back in the day.

     I always wanted the original action figure version of this as a kid back in the 80's, but never had one, so of course I had to grab this! Ok, I grabbed two of them!  Yesterday, I finally had a bit of free time to assemble one of them, with it being 99 degrees outside (110 when you factor in the heat index), staying indoors and playing with ..er I mean assembling Legos ...well Construction Blocks, is smart right?  

Nice little vehicle that captures the look and feel of the original.  Now I need to find a set of skirmish rules that will allow me to use it in some tabletop gaming!

Waldorf approves! and he finds fault with everything!  (Waldorf minifigure sold separately).

Love & Monsters

 

     Picked this up in the discounted DVD bin at the place that shall not be named "W".  I know the movie came out awhile ago, but I don't really go to the movies anymore and we purged majority of our pay TV Subscription channel stuff. The missus and I do more reading, gaming and yard stuff these days, TV just isn't our thing anymore. But to get back on topic, watched this one last night and really enjoyed it. The gamer in me found it to be loaded with usable gaming content, giant bugs and creepy crawlers!  Oh yeah! I can get behind that! Perfect inspiration for your Post Apocalyptic mutant bugs, or giant insect threats for your fantasy games! Plus the story-line in the movie was fun as well.  

Good Gaming! -B.B.

Memorial Day

 

Nice day for a drive!

 

 

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!!

Mos Eisley Vice

 To the tune of:

Low Rider

Spock,"This is highly illogical!"

Greedo,"Hurry up! I'm late for an appointment at the Cantina with a tramp freighter pilot!"

Thallo,"What manner of chariot is this?!""

Bionic Bigfoot,"Can I have a ride?!!...They act like they don't even see me!"

Threepio,"You said these were good seats?!"

Threepio 2," Why is this full of wine??"

Gamer Greetings! Adventures Dark & Deep!

 Hello Everyone!

      Thanks for the comments and private emails.  After a long absence, yes I know I said I was done, and several kind emails, I've decided to dip my toes back into blogging.  I won't go into all the reasons for my departure back at the first of the year, suffice that like everyone else, it has been a rough.. year , year and a half?. I am a nurse and things have been pretty bad at times. However, that's not the purpose of this post. I have resumed gaming again after a long break (partially Covid related, partially just cause of reasons).  I miss the interactions both online and in person.  I find myself with a stack of new gaming books (mostly OSR) and a hankerin to blog about them.  I was partially inspired by some recent posts by my friend Matt over on the MSJX blog about Creating. So who knows maybe I can start creating stuff again.

     The OSR is still going strong, and I'm happy to have acquired some great resources for my OSR games.  Today a few awesome new releases arrived in my mailbox. Joseph Bloch has released two new hardcovers for the Adventures Dark and Deep line.  He talks about them HERE.

New classes, races and more for your OSR table!
 

I love monster books, and The Book of Lost Beasts even has APES!!! (A la Planet of the Apes style) for your OSR games.

Well that's all for now,.  Not sure how regular my posts will be, but we shall see. I hope you all have a great week, are safe and healthy during these challenging times. I hope you get a chance to roll some dice with your friends and loved ones.

-Good Gaming

B.B.

Merry Christmas!

 

Been taking a break from social media, but wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

    

     Just a quick post here, some friends have emailed me to check on me. For those that don't know, I'm a nurse and where I live is in the midst of a Covid Surge.  My family and I are healthy, and doing our best to stay that way. However, I have friends, coworkers and acquaintances that have been sick or have lost loved ones. We have lost nurses to this disease.

      I wanted to express how Thankful I am for all the blessings in my life. I have a great family, wonderful friends, and a good life.  For that I am thankful.  I know these past few months have been difficult, and the future is uncertain, but I am thankful for what I have. This pandemic will end at some point and I look forward to rolling more dice with my friends, creating more adventures for us to share around the gametable (virtual or otherwise) and gathering again with friends and family. 

Be safe, take care and God Bless!

-Brutorz Bill

Happy New Year!

What's this a post on my blog? 
Several people are doing posts reflecting on 2019 and speculation as to what they will be doing in 2020. I recently realized 2019 marked my 40 years of playing/running RPG's.  I started gaming back in 1979.  Believe it or not, the first game I GM'd was Gamma World (1st edition), and not D&D.  D&D (and D&D based games) has always been in the background these past 40 years, but I've played a ton of other games over the years.  A big helping of Sci Fi has always been there (Traveller, Rifts, Gamma World, etc..).  Gaming has been a kind of therapy for me all these years. When things were gloomy or bleak, I could channel my energies into creating interesting worlds and characters to help get through the rough spots of my life. Hardly the evil Satanic influence, that they tried to say it was back in the day. LOL

As for 2019...in 2019, I did a good bit of gaming, played (& DM'd) a lot of 5E.  Ran a really fun Stars Without Number Campaign, that unfortunately had to end due to work schedules and life stuff.  Played Call of Cthulhu for the first time in a mini-campaign. Worked in other OSR games as time permitted.  Played way too much Fallout. Later in 2019, I found myself in full blown Sci Fi mode.  I just can't seem to get enough of it. Shows like The Expanse, Mandalorian, and more, helped to feed my sci fi cravings... So here marks the first day of the year 2020...wow, for an old guy like me 2020 sounds very sci fi... growing up as a kid, we were all led to believe the world would have been nuked by now...Glad we are still here!

2019 also marked the 10 year anniversary of this blog! Wow a decade of Green Skeleton Gaming Guild. Something I started on a whim, back in the early OSR days.  I readily admit I have not posted nearly as much as I did in the early days. On more than one occasion I considered taking the blog down. I spent a good bit of time (too much time) on G+ when it was a thing, I poke around on MeWe a bit now.  But the blog is still here, I launched it when the Mutant Future RPG was a new thing, and that took me back to my P.A. gaming roots.  Heck even my online handle, Brutorz Bill, was inspired by my first Gamma World character, named after a mutant horse (Brutorz).  Haven't played any P.A. gaming in awhile, but I'm sure I will circle back around to it at some point. The Mutant Epoch has been on my shelf waiting to be played for far too long.

So where do I see things going in 2020?  I'm a fickle gamer, back in the early days of the hobby, we'd play all kinds of different things without thinking anything of switching when someone had bought a new game or adventure, always rotating back to D&D or Gamma World at some point. I think I will keep the blog up, for now anyways, I may not post much, but I kind of like having it around. For 2020, I'd like to get more Sci Fi gaming in, maybe revisit my Stars Without Number Campaign, or try something new. Cepheus Engine looks pretty cool, and a buddy just sent me Tiny Frontiers. As for fantasy gaming; 5E as much as I have tried to like it, just doesn't really wow me.  I'm an old school gamer at heart I think so that's likely where you will find me. There are so many awesome OSR games out there I still need to try; Astonishing Swordsmen and Sorcerers of Hyperborea, Adventurer Conqueror King, B/X Essentials, Blood and Treasure etc...

I hope this post finds you healthy and happy. I hope 2020 is a year of fun, laughs and lots of gaming. 
May The Force Be With You!  -B.B.

"Gaming" with Little Man!

Pardon if this is a bit off topic, but had to share. My grandson is about to turn 4, and he is getting at the age where we can sit down in the floor, set up his growing collection of action figures, build a fort for them and do a bit of "gaming".

Yes that is a Mutant Green Baboon driving a Hovercraft!  He did that himself, guess a love of apes runs in his DNA!  -Good Times!

Deathlok the Demolisher

In addition to the copy of WeirdWorld mentioned yesterday,  I got a copy of Deathlok The Demolisher (The Complete Collection).

I've always liked this Marvel character, even though he was never really mainstream Marvel. I guess the Futuristic Cyborg nature of him appealed to the Gamma World fan in me. I've only had a few single issues with him in it over the years, so I'm really excited to be able to read up on his stories and adventures.  Definitely should have some good material in this one for gaming purposes as well.

In other news, I'm considering getting back to posting on my blog more. I let it slide, what with Graduate School, Work and posting more on G+, now with G+ going away, I'm thinking I may revisit blogging a bit more. Not sure if the audience is still out there, I know things have changed. I think next year will mark the 10 year anniversary of this blog. Wow, time flies.  The OSR is what brought me back to gaming and got me started blogging in the first place. More to come!

What a great week!!!

 In spite of the heat and the storms it has been a good week. As I posted earlier I was able to try out online gaming for the first time with Christian. I wasn't able to participate in Free RPG Day, was out of town, but a good friend picked up an item for me that I really wanted. The Starfinder First Contact book.

I'm looking forward to giving it a read.
I'm blessed to be in a fantastic gaming group. Last night we played another session in our group's Curse of Strahd 5E Campaign.

The entire game session was role-playing. No combat, just the players interacting with each other and the different NPC's. The DM did a great job and the 4 hours just flew by. It wasn't until I was heading home that I realized we didn't have a single fight all night and it was loads of fun. I talked to the group and when we wrap up the Curse of Strahd Campaign (probably late Fall). They'd like me to run Starfinder!  I'm excited, the rules aren't even out yet, but I want to give them a spin. What we've heard about the game so far has everyone excited. So I've started working up some ideas for my upcoming Starfinder Campaign.

Also this week, I was a kickstarter for the Mutant Crawl Classics RPG. The PDF was released this week to kickstarters, so I've been reading through it in my spare (ha ha) time. It looks really cool, and I'm sure it will be put in the gaming rotation at some point.

I got some great books in the mail from my buddy since 8th grade, Tormentor. Somehow he always remembers my Birthday, even though I try to keep it on the down-low. Thanks Tormentor!

On a personal note, I got the best gift of all. I don't talk much about my personal life on the blog. Try to keep it about gaming. But felt this was appropriate. My grandson is getting close to 3 years old. He stays with us some of the time. He is developmentally delayed, and undergoing evaluation for autism We have worked hard to find ways to play, talk and interact with him. This week was the first time that he and I had truly interactive play. He was listening to me, following directions and truly playing with me. I'll never forget that smile and the gleam in his eyes when he and I were playing. That first magical moment is something I will treasure forever.  Well thanks for letting me share.
I hope you all have a fantastic weekend! Get some gaming in this weekend and spend time with friends and family! They are what makes it all worthwhile!
Good Gaming -B.B.

Memorial Day

Hunter Prey A Fun Sci Fi Movie!

Well not to whine but so far 2013 is kicking my butt, I'm dealing with my SECOND bout of the FLU since Christmas (oh and I dutifully got my Flu Shot back in Oct.), had the Stomach Flu, and my job is threatening to cut some of us come February. Wow... Needless to say gaming and blogging have been low on my priority list. While convalesing on the couch I was able to finally watch Hunter Prey a cool looking Indy Sci Fi film I've been wanting to see for quite awhile.

It did not disappoint, I wish the Sci Fi channel would show stuff like this, instead of wrestling and their usual weird movie of the week (Ghost Tornado I'm looking at you!). I highly enjoyed Hunter Prey! The main aliens look like the Tau from 40k, the battle armor they wear is sort of a cross between Clone Trooper armor and Boba Fetts armor. There is one alien named Karza (Micronauts! anyone!), and a sort of orc like Bounty Hunter with a bit of Greedo attitude in him.
 All in all a fun movie! Hope everyone has a good rest of their weekend, stay healthy!!!

Orden Ogan!

My best bud Tormentor Rocks! He sent me a surprise Christmas package with some great Prog Metal including a band I'd never heard of Orden Ogan.  I found a video for one of their songs, very cool and with a nice Post Apocalyptic vibe to it!
Enjoy!

Happy Gary Gygax Day!!

Just wanted to take a moment and say thanks Gary!

On Hiatus...

After a bit of time and thought and some more time and thought,  I've decided to put my blog on hiatus.  I haven't really posted much content-wise in awhile anyways.  I'm finding myself with other interests, responsibilities and hobbies these days, and would rather not just do "filler posts".   I'm not planning on Nuking my blog, so if there is some old content you like it should still be around.  So for now...

                     "So Long and Thanks for all the Bananas!"

Mid South Con!

I've been quiet of late, but believe it or not I've been gaming my Butt off! Woo Hoo!
This weekend is Mid South Con in Memphis! I took Friday off from work and have spent the whole weekend doing non-stop gaming!  I've had a blast! I don't have many pictures to show you because frankly I was having so much fun that I forgot about taking pictures. LOL
Friday I got to join in my buddy Boomer's awesome Imperials vs. Rebels tabletop game!

The Rebels managed to get into better tactial position and sadly it was not a good day for the Imperials! LOL

Even though my side lost, I still had a ton of fun!
Next up I got to get into some OLD School Gaming with an old friend of mine who came into town for the Con and one of the players was an old buddy I used to game with but haven't been able to in a long time, due to work and such.

Yeah, good stuff, the DM took us through the Classic B4: Lost City! Our group was a mixture of old Grognards like me and young folks.  It was fun watching the youngsters try to get their head around D&D with no Feats, Skills or..."Shifting". The Cleric repeatedly said,"Why can't I cast a healing spell?!!!" We accomplished our goal in the time allowed, though we lost several party members in the process. Old School D&D is Brutal!  Especially with folks who don't quite get the whole "Teamwork" concept.  It was great fun to go through this classic game/module. I really appreciate Todd running this for us!
And speaking of Brutal...

I finally got to play Dungeon Crawl Classics!  My wife even joined in this one with me.  Another old buddy of mine ran this one.  I think I ran into more gaming buddies from my past at this Con than at any other. Good Times.
DCC RPG is pretty interesting.  We played zero level characters "The Funnel" I believe is what it is called.  My wife wasn't sure about running 4 characters at once but she quickly got into it.  The characters were basically lowly peasant smucks an were dropping like flies! The party had lost 2 by the second room and another was injured! LOL  By the end of the adventure we had lost TEN characters!!! I managed to keep three of my four alive and my wife lost 2 of her four, it was alot of fun.  We didn't use the new dice types too much: d24 etc.. but I'm definately gonna pick this up when it comes out. The crit tables alone are awesome!  My wife admitted after the game that she really like the "Funnel" concept and would definately be up to playing DCC again.  I think she will be playing "Helgestus the Armorer" Now a first level fighter again for sure!
   That's it for now, I picked up some pretty cool swag, Some Sword & Sorcery Comics, a book of Encounters, Synnibar!!, and some other stuff.  I'll try to post about that later, gotta go do some chores now while their is still some weekend left.  I hope you get to get some gaming in this weekend.  I gotta say, the past two days of Nerdom have really re-ignited my excitement over gaming.
Have a great day!