Dungeons & Dragons & Drawing

Once upon a time Often upon fifteen+ years ago, I played that little role-playing game called Dungeons and Dragons. As you'll notice in the "Labels" section on the right, I've mentioned D&D here before, plus in a short product description for Nerdy With Children a few years back. I owe my cousins for introducing it to me, because I loved it, and used it (like many people have) to build storytelling skills, plan and write novels, and enjoy a whole lot of adventures with my friends. I guess you could say this is my attempt to pay it forward!

I've mentioned in earlier posts that, after a long hiatus from dungeon-delving games, I eventually found Descent 2nd Edition. I'm still a rabid Descent fan, which I value for its artwork, its relative simplicity (compared to RPGs, which it isn't), and its short preparation time. In other words, I've appreciated not having to fill what I remember as the very time-consuming role of "Dungeon Master."

However, a few months ago, I discovered a Humble Bundle for an RPG called Pathfinder, which is D&D 3rd edition's Open License rule system re-branded by Paizo Publishing. I wasn't eager to jump back into tabletop RPGs; if anything, I avoided it. However, the bundle included digital copies of hundreds of dollars worth of rulebooks and quest modules for less than $20, which was hard to ignore. I mentioned it to a father and son at my church as well as my two boys, and they all convinced me to go for it.

Descent 2nd Edition Painted Miniatures, Part 1

For a long time I looked for a dungeon-delving board game the likes of Milton Bradley's HeroQuest, which I had largely ignored as a teenager in favor of more complex RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons. As an adult and father, I wanted something easier to teach my kids and to play in a single sitting, with more emphasis on miniatures than role-playing. Unfortunately, HeroQuest is outdated, and maybe slightly too simplistic. After checking out some of D&D's own beginner games and others like it, I decided Descent: Journeys in the Dark Second Edition was the best combination of quality, quantity, and compelling rules. Though not perfect and certainly a bit more complicated than advertised, it has been an extremely enjoyable hobby. I've been playing for a few years now, primarily with a group of friends in a monthly game night, but also with my wife and kids.

One thing I knew I'd never do, though, is paint the little plastic miniatures, which is otherwise a time-honored tradition in this arena. I just wasn't committed enough and doubted my artistic ability. Then my brother Michael - one of the regular players in my monthly group - acquired Imperial Assault, a Star Wars-themed version of Descent made by the same company (Fantasy Flight Games). He quickly painted his miniatures, and realizing he had a knack for it, offered to paint some of mine, too. Since I own the base game of Descent and most of the expansions, I doubted he'd be able to paint very many of them. Instead, he has now nearly finished my current collection, and the results have been phenomenal!

I never could have guessed how much it adds to the experience to play with painted figures. Some might wish they came painted already, but I've thoroughly enjoyed waiting to see my brother's latest work. Though I've been a bit stingy about sticking to the artwork, he has added just enough creative touches and stylistic choices for these to bear his signature, which is way more meaningful to me than figures painted in a factory. So naturally, I have to show them off! I can't do it all in one post, so to start out, here are the figures from the base game campaign, "The Shadow Rune." Michael took the pictures, too, but stood them on Imperial Assault map tiles because he didn't have access to mine (they look identical from a distance).

"Ready Player One" Review

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A revival of '80s geek culture has been going on for a while now, especially as evidenced by (maybe caused by?) the dominance of superhero movies and the rebooting of sci-fi franchises. What's more, these often make more '80s references in the form of "easter eggs" and in-jokes. Some are subtle and surprising (Tony Stark catches a SHIELD officer playing Galaga) while others are the sum total of the appeal (practically every other line in Guardians of the Galaxy). Ready Player One author Ernest Cline tapped into this trend in a big way, admittedly slightly earlier than either of those examples (2011).

The thing is, the '80s "wink winks" are starting to wear on me. I don't know if it's because I only really remember half of the '80s, having been born at the first part of that decade, or because the references are becoming a lazy shortcut to humor and audience appreciation.

Ready Player One is a book full of those forced references. The difference is that these aren't usually played for humor. They're at the heart of the plot and setting because both were created by someone even more obsessed with '80s culture than Star-Lord. Sometimes this works really well. Other times it's like reading Wikipedia. For chapters on end. Especially in the beginning.

Despite how it sounds, I enjoyed this book and felt completely engrossed in the plot - especially once it actually got going. It worked on me the way The Big Bang Theory does (and coincidentally, both feature Wil Wheaton as himself). Unfortunately, said sitcom tends to divide audiences, offending some for its perpetuation of geek and other stereotypes. This book has some of that going on, too. Occasionally Cline tries to balance the pure escapism by challenging some of those stereotypes (and pure escapism itself), but these moments feel a little clumsy and disingenuous. See the SPOILERS section below for examples.

That said, this book is really more safe than offensive or controversial, focused more on nostalgia than originality. The cover blurb calls it a cross between Willy Wonka and The Matrix, and it's startling how accurate that is. All its really fun elements are not just borrowed from other games and movies; they are those games and movies, so you can only enjoy it as much as you enjoy watching someone else play Pac Man or watch WarGames. I spent much of the book distracted by the knowledge that this is being made into a movie, wondering how they will possibly get the rights to all those properties or recreate them in a way that doesn't just look like a supercut of unrelated characters and settings. I predict the movie will fall short in its inevitable comparison to Wreck-it Ralph, especially if it keeps the content that prevents it from being appropriate for kids. It will probably be more at home alongside lesser known but successful teen action/comedies like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

The thing is, Ready Player One knows what it is, which is every gamer's dream: a conflict that can only be overcome by being good at games and knowing otherwise useless trivia! For as long as such a premise can possibly work, this one does.

Ninja Turtles and Other Mutants: An Illustrated History

teenagemutantninjaturtlesmovie.com

Egyptian Gods. Fairy tale creatures. Mickey Mouse. Animals have always been used to tell stories, but in these cases - and many, many others - they don't just talk, as in, say, The Jungle Book or Finding Nemo. They also stand upright, wear clothing, and generally behave like humans. They are anthropomorphic (anthro, "human being" + morphe, "form").

In these past two weeks, two blockbusters featuring humanoid animals were released: Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy with Rocket Raccoon, and the rebooted Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Critics loved the first and hated the second. Neither quite lived up to my expectations. Admittedly, the hype itself was more entertaining in both cases, allowing me to revisit my longstanding love of "mutant" characters and how they have fueled my own imagination. So I give you my TMNT review by way of this lengthy illustrated history!

Roundup: PSN Downloadable Games

Happy Easter and Passover! Aside from heartwarming, faith-building religious celebrations (and pretty unrelated but associated secular traditions), my kids and I took advantage of some PlayStation Network sales going on this weekend. A simple tweet would have sufficed for passing these along, but I decided to share my impression of one in particular:

Jurassic Park: The Game - Full Season
Released 11.15.2011
Teen
1 player
$0.99 (This weekend only!)


One of the things I've come to love about downloadable games is how much more affordable they are than disks. We've been known to pay the dreaded new release price on games like Lego Marvel Super Heroes, usually as gifts, even though the price always drops over time. We make sure we'll like these games before buying, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't prefer to pay less (legally, of course). With Jurassic Park: The Game, we got all four chapters of Telltale's episodic story for only a dollar, which means I'd be happy even if it was only okay. That's what I was expecting based on reviews, but after completing Chapter 1 today, I'm even happier with this deal. It's more than okay.

I'm a huge Jurassic Park fan (I've read the book more than any other, and consider the movie a classic), so maybe I'm easy to please. Then again, knowing the material as well as I do, it was also possible I'd be extra critical. The game is based on the first film, taking place during and after its events, so I do wonder why Chapter 1 hints at a larger, free-roaming group of velociraptors when the movie Park only had three that didn't escape until the last act. Maybe Telltale pulled some material from the book, which ends with the discovery that the raptors had built an underground nest and were breeding all along (a concept explored in the movie relative to other species). In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the writers did pull from the book, given the subtle scientific details woven into the game's story and extras. I don't recall Harding having a daughter in the book, so they're clearing picking and choosing; still, that strikes me as both appropriate and agreeable, and in many ways results in a story that feels more Jurassic Park than the sequel films. Michael Crichton, the book's author, was reluctant to write the sequel (The Lost World), but I wonder if he ever considered a story that runs concurrent to the original, as these writers did.

The main complaint I noticed in reviews is that there's more story than game. You know those cinematic moments in other games where you lose full control of your character and have to press the right sequence of buttons to survive something dramatic? That accounts for most of the gameplay here. There's no free roaming, no traditional fighting, no leveling up, etc. It's like a "choose your own adventure" novel on screen. However, if I'm being honest, the story and characters are what draw me to video games in the first place; once those run their course, I quickly lose interest in repeat play-throughs, competition modes, and elusive trophies. (The Batman: Arkham series is sort of an exception to this...but that's because it's Batman.)

In other words, Jurassic Park: The Game has surprised me with its authenticity, tension, and depth, and I'm very interested to see how Chapter 2 will pick up on the cliffhanger ending of Chapter 1. The deserved Teen rating and single player restriction means it's not a game I can share with my kids yet (much to their disappointment), but once they're ready for the movie itself, they'll be ready for this.

And while I'm on the topic of downloadable games, here are the others we've collected. Prices are subject to change and not all are exclusive to the PSN.

"Desolation of Smaug" Review

I have finally seen The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. What's more, I got to see it with my son James, who was, I must admit, slightly more entertaining in his enthusiasm than the film itself. But before I regale you with my unsolicited review, I should of course start by rewinding to last year and my thoughts after seeing the first installment: