Much Apologies to My One to Three Fans . . .

Sorry, guys. I know, in the beginning, I discussed the possibility of doing some movie reviews, but I don't think that'll actually happen.

The Return of the Heroes of Kelmarane . . .

Well, it's been about a month or two since I've last ran a game of D&D/Pathfinder/M&M/etc, and then tonight happened. The group and I were discussing the idea of doing a western game mixed with the superhero genre. We had some good ideas, but were all too attached to our old campaign to start anything new. The result was the return of the Legacy of Fire featuring Trevvis the priest, Draiden the monk, and Rooster the bad-ass.

When we last saw our heroes they were either parting ways or settling into their roles in the town of Kelmarane. Rooster opened a gunworks in the town, and supplied most of the firearms to the town guard. Trevvis took a role in the local churches as a figure of guidance as his vision slowly began to fade away, and Draiden went off to resolve some loose ends with the organization that originally sent him after Rooster. The return began with our heroes finding themselves as the respected guests of honor at the thirty second decennial Ruby Phoenix Tournament, held every decade in honor of the lost priest of Abadar.

The tournament went off without a hitch until a group of thieves and assassins working with the Council of Blades stormed the arena in our airship and began to wreak havoc on the village and it's festivities. The vagabonds fired down upon the celebration with ballistas and fireballs. The heroes sprung into action and stormed the ship, now joined by one of the competitors, Leserpherif, a monk/sorceror from the lands of Qadira, currently being portrayed by Ryan Gosling.



With their new ally at their side they set to work towards stopping the thieves and grounding their transport. Leserpherif brought down the ship with his magical might, but presented some problems in trusting the abilities of the other heroes without consenting them before recklessly firing at the scoundrels, putting Draiden in harms way.

After proving himself in defending what was left of the town from the invaders, the group found that the first airship was just a distraction from the other ship that was already getting away with the vault in the temple of Abadar that held the prizes to the tournament's winner(s). The group rallied again, and set towards the other airship. They followed the ship for two days to Hellmouth Gulf in the northern nation of Cheliax. The second ship made its way to the harbor, though the cargo quickly vanished into the gulf as the crew changed to more civil disguises.

The group split up in search of the remaining crew and their leader, but were met with little success until Draiden found an aristocrat with the help of a tip from a tavern owner. Draiden tracked the man down to his room and confronted him with violence. After besting him in combat, he used his clerical skills to force the truth from the stranger. This is when he learned the truth behind the attack on the tournament, and the possible whereabouts of the cargo. The man revealed himself as Ormak the Dawnstalker, currently being portrayed by Cillian Murphy from the Christopher Nolan Batman series.



After some exchange with Ormak, Draiden agrees to follow him to the location of the vault with an understanding that Ormak will betray him the first chance he gets.

All in all, it was a wonderful return session to a memorable campaign. The players enjoyed it, and the musical selection was a wonderful compliment to the atmosphere. Each player seems to have high hopes fro the future of the campaign, and I'm hoping to see some big developments as it unfolds.

This Year In Movies . . .

So it's been a fairly alright year for movies so far. I've only seen five new releases this year so far, but I've enjoyed the majority of them, and the rest of the year seems pretty promising.

I believe the first movie I saw this year was The Hunger Games. This is the first of the two movies that I didn't care for too much. I have yet to open the books from the series, but I've heard that they have a pretty strong following. The movie in itself presented a fairly neat concept, but it didn't give me enough of the history to really get sucked in, and a majority of the movie felt forced. When a moment presented itself that I knew was supposed to be emotional, I just couldn't get into it, and the action scenes were just awful.

I think the second movie I saw this year 21 Jump Street, and it was definitely one of my favorites this year. I didn't really know what to expect from the Tatum/Hill duo, but they really brought the film to life. It was definitely the second funniest movie that I'v seen this year.

Cabin in the Woods was the third, and by far my favorite. Joss Whedon put together a hilarious satire on the classic slasher situation that included many hilarious references to classic horror films. I sort of felt awkward at certain moments in the theater though since I knew I was one of the few laughing at scenes that would otherwise hold very little comical value.

The long awaited Avengers movie was fourth. Ever since we saw Samuel L. Jackson at the end of Iron Man we've been awaited the arrival of this one. It did a great job of making a team of supernatural heroes working together despite their differences and inner turmoils believable, and the action was just wonderful.

The most recent movie that I've seen is probably my least favorite so far. Snow White and the Huntsman left me leaving the theater with very few good things to say. The film lacked continuity, proper dialogue, and any sort of believable plot. The entire thing did a great job of showing just how much money we're trying to milk out of old titles that did well back in the day. This movie will probably be the first in my series of video reviews, and I apologize again for the delay. The only excuse I can really give is that I'm incredibly lazy.

Now let's talk about some of the movies coming out later this year, starting with the three that I'm most excited about: Prometheus, The Dark Knight Rises, and Les Miserables.

Ridley Scott has released so much footage for Prometheus that I sort of feel that I've already seen the movie. It's presenting itself as a prequel to the original, and that has me more excited than anything since the original is one of the best in the series. In all honesty though, I'm trying to hold back my excitement. I'll just say that it's good so long as it's better than Aliens 3.

The Dark Knight Rises is the third, and final, installment in Nolan's trilogy. With a strong villain like Bane coming to the screen and some potential involvement with the League of Shadows from Begins, I think this movie will be pretty awesome. Nolan's realistic take on the franchise has done a lot to breath some fresh air into the character, and it'll be nice to see a broken bat on the screen to hopefully get rid of some of this "In Batman We Trust" (not an actual title for the hype) nonsense that we've seen all over the internet.

I didn't know what to expect when I heard that Hugh Jackman would be taking the lead role in the new Les Miserables production set to hit theaters this winter, but after seeing the trailer on the big screen, and hearing Hathaway sing I can completely say that this movie is going to be just wonderful. See for yourselves:



There are many other films set to release this year that have me pretty excited, but none as much as the above three. Pixar's new feature, Brave, releases later this year, and it looks visually astounding (eat it Avatar. You never impressed me anyway). I haven't seen anything else by the directors, but Lawless and Great Gatsby have me a little excited. The new Bourne movie with Jeremy Renner looks like a fun sequel in the franchise, and I'm hoping to see a Damon Renner team up in the future.

I'm certain there were more releases to discuss, but I need to get some rest before work. I apologize again for the delay in the reviews, and the sudden change from Kick Ass to Snow White, but I'll do my best to set some solid deadlines and adhere to them once I get a couple videos under my feet.

Why Do I Keep Doing This?

The title is in reference to the fact that I only seem to deprive myself of solid sleep during work nights. I've been doing this for about a month now. There is no good excuse for the fact that I'll be running on four hours tomorrow aside from the fact that I'd rather hang out with friends than sleep.

 In other news, I bought a cheap camera to use in place of my webcam for the reviews and what-not. This means that the Kick Ass blog should be up by this Friday. My plan is to review my notes, read the comic again, review my notes, go to Ray's for brainstorming, review my notes, film the review, edit, and then upload. Assuming I don't break too many copyright laws then the video should be up by the new deadline. I'm sorry for the delay (I have two fans now).

In comic book news, DC revealed that Alan Scott, Green Lantern of Earth 2 and first person to use the title, is going to be their new gay character. I sort of figured it'd either be a GL or a villain. I guess they chose the best one for the job. Alan Scott has two kids that I can remember (before the retcon), Jade and Obsidian (Obsidian already being a gay character). I don't understand why DC feels the need to "re-boot" every so often. They should focus on developing their characters to save sales rather than rebuilding them all together.

 I become distracted too easily. The only real downside to this is that I forget to inhale my cigarettes and the flame goes out. I need to work on that. This post has no real point aside from serving as another distraction for sleep.

Friendship Is Magic . . .

It's another late night in which I know I have to get up for work in about four and a half hour, but I don't care. I just can't sleep. I mean, I probably could sleep if I wanted to, but I just don't want to. I feel like there are so many other things I could be doing to feel "productive". Productive is a relative term that I'm using to mean "blog" in this instance.

The past couple weeks have seen some pretty exciting nights for me, and most of the exciting nights involved either drinking or smoking. If I had to sum up the events in one word, I'd stand the risk of looking like a "fag" by using the word "friendship". The nights I've been spending with my friends have really helped me define what it means to be happy. Without them, I wouldn't have the happiness that I'm holding so valuable in life.

I've been spending a lot of time analyzing my past lately, and making comparisons between my present self and myself five years ago. Let's start with the five years ago version. The year was 2007. I had just arrived at Morehead State University for my first year of college. The campus life was great. There were so many new faces, and it sort of represented the opportunity for a fresh start. Sure, I wasted that opportunity by doing absolutely nothing to change myself, but the opportunity was there none the less. I was afraid of alcohol for what it did to my dad. I was afraid of nicotine for what it did to my mom. I wouldn't touch drugs out of fear of what they'd do to my legal status. The most experimentation I found myself participating in was the sort of thing that only comes up after a night of partying.

Let's take a second to analyze me now. I find myself drinking when the opportunity arises, and smoking is a daily habit of mine now so long as I have four dollars in my wallet. It's a huge change from the kid that would break down at the sight of his friends enjoying themselves whilst partaking in the more dangerous relaxation methods.

I compare the two and wonder how these guys would get along if they ever met. What would current-me say if he met straight-edge-me? I'm almost certain that we'd hate each other from both ends, and for reasons that we'd both feel justified in. Young me was uptight and stubborn. He was afraid to try new things, and seemed like a very closed-minded dude. Current-me gave in to peer pressure and relies on crutches to relax in his day to day life. The one thing that we had in common was that we were both pretty happy, and that's the one thing that tears the thought from my mind. I was happy then, and I'm happy now. It's hard to say that I grew through the experiences since I don't think I'm any more or less happy today than I was then. It's just an interesting thing that stays on my mind at times. If I could go back in time and speak to young-me, I'd probably call him a faggot and offer him a smoke.

Back to the friends. A big constant in all of this is that I've always felt a strong connection to those around me. I've never really been short of friends. I love the conversations that we share, and I love the experiences even more.

I don't really know where this post was going, so I'll just end it with this, the moment I realized that Pinkie Pie was my favorite pony:

The Heroes of Kelmarane (A Brief History) . . .

Since I first began playing Dungeons and Dragons in 2003 I've been involved in many games (campaigns). I've played dozens of characters, and have ran hundreds of sessions. Some of the games have been one shots (only occurring once) while others have been ongoing. In all of the games I've been involved in, none have been as exciting as the recent run of Paizo's Adventure Path: The Legacy of Fire.

The Legacy of Fire begins with the players each being brought into the group for one reason or another (usually mercenary work or slavery) and having to work together from the beginning to squelch a fire that erupts in camp shortly after they arrive. They must then investigate the origin of the fire, and bring the arsonist to justice. Along the way they meet several of the camps' regulars, and gain a good sense of the personalities and ethical minds that they will be working with closely as they try to accomplish their goal of freeing Kelmarane from a band of gnolls and their new chief.



The group moves to a log abandoned monastery, which gives some foreshadowing towards the threat that looms over the Adventure Path's climax. Upon investigating the monastery they come across a group of small rat-like creatures known as Pugwampis. Pugwampis are terrible little gremlins that bring bad-luck everywhere they go. The group ends up making friends with the creatures, and find a shared sense of entertainment in them.



After cleansing the monastery, the group moves into town. After several strikes against the town they make a full on assault of the Battle Market (a center of entertainment and blood-sport in the town). With some conflict along the way, they send the chief to the afterlife. Their final task in freeing the town is moving to the lower levels of the local church and investigating the potential source of the invasion.

This concluded chapter one, and in that those few chapters I found a sense of enjoyment in the game that I had never felt so easily in a game before then. As I analyzed the reason for this enjoyment I found the answer to be a simple one. The game was fun because everyone around the table wanted to be there. Beyond that, they genuinely enjoyed the characters that they created, and found great enjoyment in playing them physically and mentally. It's something that a GM dreams of feeling. The best part is that this feeling stayed around for the following five chapters, and is still around even into talks of a second story arc.

The first Adventure Path took the players to various locales, including a couple planes of existence. They've made many friends along their journey, and even more enemies. Even in their extensive travels, they barely got to explore their past. Each character has a rich past that presents the opportunity for so much adventure. It's often hard to hold back the excitement.

I'll begin with Rooster. Rooster is one of the most straightforward characters in the campaign. He's rough, tough, and answers to no-one. He can easily be described as an homage to Clint Eastwood and various other protagonists from the classic Spaghetti Westerns. He comes from the isolated nation of Alknestar, a magic devoid land that excels in scientific discovery and industry. Alkenstar's largest attraction is its gunworks, though it rarely exports such goods.

After the murder of his grandfather, Rooster set out to find the man responsible. He now carries with him two revolvers, and a custom made rifle. He is never without ammunition. He is one of the few in the group that wished to find a family and settle down. After the group disappeared for three years, he returned to Kelmarane to find that he had a daughter of three years by the name of Anna. Rooster can currently be found in the town of Kelmarane as its Guard Captain. He also runs a small gunworks of his own.

Each player has chosen an actor to represent a visual image of their hero. Rooster is currently being "played" by Adam Baldwin from t.v.s Chuck, and Firefly.



Next on the list of heroes is Draiden Ker Gerrstein. Draiden is played by Jeremy Renner (The Avengers, Hurt Locker, The Town). He comes into the game in search of a man wanted for multiple murders. He is the most unpredictable of all the heroes, and it seems like his moral compass took some time to develop. He is prone to rushing into rooms, which usually ends badly for him. He is versed in unarmed combat with some experience in healing. The has recovered from a pesh addiction that he fell into out of jealousy for an NPC with a larger moral compass than his own. The end of the first story arc saw the reveal that Draiden was not originally sent after one person, but was also tasked with bringing in Rooster.



Draiden has not succeeded much romantically, although he did enjoy a brief stay at the Pleasure Palace Ruins in Kaikashon, and he also had a brief relationship with a harpy. The relationship did not last long though as Draiden dragged her through a dangerous situation that saw her demise. Draiden is currently traveling back to the headquarters of the organization that sent him after Rooster with the intentions of gaining control of the organization, and ridding it of its corruption.

The third and final hero of the group, and my personal favorite, is Trevvis Maddox. Trevvis is played by the fabulous Ron Pearlman (Hellboy, Season of the Witch, Drive). Trevvis' focus lies heavily in his training with his shield and longsword, though his faith rewards him with various spellcasting prowess including those of restorative and healing arts.

Trevvis has never expressed interest in any relationship aside from that of friendship, and this is likely explained by his age since Trevvis is nearing his early sixties. Trevvis' biggest problem currently is that he cares too much, and this has cursed him with the inability to accept death. The abuse of his ability to revive the dead has recently attracted the attention of the Inevitables from Mechanus (a group of emotionless machines that patrol order in all the planes). To continue to abuse his powers would mean eternal imprisonment by the Inevitables.

Trevvis can currently be found in Kelmarane standing as head adviser to its church of Iomedae. Trevvis constantly thinks about the condition and whereabouts of his two younger brothers, one of which left at an earlier age while Trevvis and the youngest remained at their church.



Well, that pretty much recaps the party. The first adventure saw the heroes caught up in a plot where they had to stop a long imprisoned genie from resurrecting a herald of Rovagug that could potentially destroy reality. The next story arc will likely focus on the history of each character while showing the corruption that comes with too much power.

I hope you enjoyed this post. It's my longest so far, but I had a lot of fun writing it. If you play D&D or Pathfinder I would highly recommend checking out Paizo's Adventure Paths. Each one is usually six books long and has enough story to take your characters from level one to fifteen. They are perfect for a GM that has trouble writing stories, has little free-time, or just wants a break.

I'll do my best to provide updates regarding the future adventures of the Heroes of Kelmarane, and might go into details about some of the threats and friends that the group has encountered along the way.

I Apologize For The Delay . . .

My most recent post revealed my intentions for this blog in that I would be using it as a review site for various items from the media that I perceive. Unfortunately, I'm already off to a bad start. I intended to have a Kick Ass review up for your viewing pleasure in time for the holiday, but seeing as how I am currently out of booze/smokes/and money, I'm going to have to wait until the next payday to begin filming. Since I work all weekend then I likely won't have the video recorded until June 4th, but don't worry. I'll be watching more movies in the meantime and brainstorming with friends so that I can bring you (the one fan) the most enjoyable experience that I can materialize.

In other news, I got to see my second UFC event last night. All in all it showcased some pretty awesome fights. Miller got fucked by Dolloway, but Dos Santos handed Mir his own ass by the end of it. I'd call the fights a pretty big success.

I didn't intend to drink as much as I did during the fights, but seeing as how the SoCo bottle is empty, I'm left to assume that I went overboard. I remember bits and pieces of the night including: crying, preventing fights, trying to avoid the urge to hit on Paul's girlfriend, giving items from my trunk away to Paul and Amber, and smoking the hell out of the rest of my cigarettes. That being said, it was a very enjoyable night, and I was lucky to wake up hangover free.

I apologize again for the delay with the reviews, but here's something to hold you over in the meantime: