Ouija: It Was Never Just A Game...

Without Olivia Cooke, there seems little to recommend Ouija: Origin Of Evil, although the backstory was one of the stronger elements of the 2014 original.

In 1965 Los Angeles, a widowed mother and her two daughters add a new stunt to bolster their séance scam business and unwittingly invite authentic evil into their home. When the youngest daughter is overtaken by the merciless spirit, this small family confronts unthinkable fears to save her and send her possessor back to the other side.

Villains & Vigilantes 3.0: More On Maxima...

Maxima appears on page 28 of Villains & Vigilantes 2.1

Following yesterday's HeroPress piece about the incredibly powerful character Maxima, the artist himself - and co-creator of Villains & Vigilantes - Jeff Dee contacted me with more information about the artwork's provenance.

He explained that it initially appeared in Villains & Vigilantes 2.1 (published by Monkey House Games in 2010, their update of the 1982 second edition rules).

It was then used to replace the original artwork (by someone else) that accompanied the Dragon magazine article when Monkey House was putting together its Maxima PDF.

As distribution of Dragon magazine was patchy at best over here in the UK during those pre-Internet dark ages, I never saw the July 1986 issue and so just presumed that the PDF artwork was the same as that of the published article.

I'm humbled that Jeff - who is clearly very busy behind-the-scenes working on material for the current Villains & Vigilantes 3.0: Mighty Protectors Kickstarter - took the time to help clarify the situation... and thus give me an excuse to rerun the Maxima strip!

A week-and-a-half into the Kickstarter and the campaign is going strong. Having hit its initial funding target, three stretch goals have subsequently been unlocked and a fourth is in sight at $28,000.

This will mean everyone who pledges at least $15 to the campaign will get a free PDF of Situation Room, a new 36-page introductory adventure for Mighty Protectors, written by the game's other co-creator Jack Herman and illustrated by Jeff.

A softcover of the adventure will also be available as an $8 add-on.

When the Mighty Protectors are called off-world for an interstellar emergency, their worst enemies - The Unhuman League - launch a blood curdling operation to take over America. Can you and your teammates stop them?

The Soundscape Of Luke Cage...

Part one of the Marvel’s Luke Cage Street Level Hero social video series explores the music that moves the show. These digital videos look to blend fiction with history by taking audiences behind the curtain on the themes that give the show it’s street-level authenticity and cultural relevance. Executive producer Cheo Hodari Coker , Mike Colter, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge of A Tribe Called Quest, A$AP Ferg and Method Man lend their commentary on how each episode is shaped by its score and musical influence.

In this Marvel live action series, a street-fighting ex-con battles crime on the streets of New York as the super hero, Luke Cage.

Torn From The Headlines: Proxima b...

An artist's impression of the surface of Proxima b                 Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

In case you missed it in the last couple of weeks, a potentially-habitable Earth-sized world has been found orbiting around Proxima Centauri, a mere 4.23 light years away (or 40 trillion km).

Sure, that's several thousand years away travelling with current technology, but hopefully this will spur both government and private space initiatives to press on with developing the next generation of propulsion systems.

You can read all about this exciting discovery at the BBC News website here and learn all about "other Earths", potentially habitable exoplanets, in this infographic from Futurism.

All of the planets listed at Futurism have the potential for adding a touch of 'realism' to the homeworlds of any alien races your player-characters meet, be that in pure sci-fi adventures, superhero games, or just unexpected alien invasions of Earth.

GM IDEAS: Proxima b...

An artist's impression of the surface of Proxima b                 Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

In case you missed it in the last couple of weeks, a potentially-habitable Earth-sized world has been found orbiting around Proxima Centauri, a mere 4.23 light years away (or 40 trillion km).

Sure, that's several thousand years away travelling with current technology, but hopefully this will spur both government and private space initiatives to press on with developing the next generation of propulsion systems.

You can read all about this exciting discovery at the BBC News website here and learn all about "other Earths", potentially habitable exoplanets, in this infographic from Futurism.

All of the planets listed at Futurism have the potential for adding a touch of 'realism' to the homeworlds of any alien races your player-characters meet, be that in pure sci-fi adventures, superhero games, or just unexpected alien invasions of Earth.

Retro Comic Book Cover Gallery...

Where Was Thor During Civil War?

I Can't Picture Villains & Vigilantes Without The Amazing Art Of Jeff Dee...

The original art from the Maxima article in Dragon magazine

As part of my championing of the current Villains &Vigilantes 3.0: Mighty Protectors Kickstarter, I was extolling the virtues of Jeff Dee's art the other day and mentioned that I owned a couple of original pieces by him.

As well as Dr Killjoy & Spoilsport, several years I also purchased the original art (pictured above) from the Maxima article written by Jack Herman and published in Dragon magazine #111, July 1986.

As well as spelling out the mind-bogglingly powerful character's backstory, the article also addresses the problems of incorporating Maxima, or similarly OTT characters, into your campaign.

The article is a free download from Monkey House Games' website (right at the bottom of the page), and includes the statistics for Maxima (the most powerful character I've ever seen in the game) for use in Second Edition Villains & Vigilantes games.

As she's now listed officially as a member of The Mighty Protectors, it will be interesting to see how she translates into the new rules system of the forthcoming Third Edition of Villains & Vigilantes.

Unlike the Dr Killjoy & Spoilsport piece, I haven't yet got round to framing the Maxima art, as it's not a standard size.

However, as Rachel and I are intending to clear up my gamesroom this autumn, ahead of 50th birthday, I'm hoping I'll finally get round to displaying it as it deserves.

Westworld Looks Seriously Messed Up!

Torn From The Headlines: Beauty Is In The Geekdom Of The Beholder...

Miss Out Of This World 1960, At The Flying Saucers Convention, Los Angeles

Forget Miss World, she's Miss "Out Of This World"!

Goodstuff's Cyber World has published a fascinating portfolio of niche pageant winner photographs... from Miss Slade Rule, 1958, to Miss Magic Marker, of 1954, and on to Miss Pussycat, 1965 (minds out of gutter, please).

If there's time travel in your campaign, then surely one of these 'nerdy' pageant winners can pop up as an NPC somewhere, striving to destroy stereotypes while reinforcing the message of "good posture", "the correct use of T-squares", the joy of "atomic energy" etc

Mo' Blair Witch, Mo' Problems!

And Then There Was That Time Rachel Got Kidnapped By Pirates...

August Bank Holiday Monday means a trip to Military Odyssey in Detling for the Family Knight... complete with a rental mobility scooter to help me stay active for longer (and Alice loves travelling in my lap as well, although that's not really what it was designed for).

Military Odyssey is a three-day event, celebrating living history and military re-enactment from Ancient History right through to the modern day - with the usual predominance of Second World War groups.

The weather did us proud, especially after last year's torrential downpour that left Alice looking like a miserable drowned rat.

As ever with these affairs, the variety of stalls are often just as entertaining as the displays (what sort of household would proudly display mugs with Hitler's face or swastikas on? Not the sort of thing you'd break out for granny when she pops round for afternoon tea!)

One of the highlights of the day though was when Rachel got "kidnapped" by a pirate and locked in the pillory so I could take embarrassing photos that would then end up on Facebook and here!

As Rachel was gamely playing along, I think the pirate and his mate would have quite happily left her shackled up while I went off and did a bit more perusing, but somehow it didn't feel right.

The pirates, authentically smelling of booze, were great chaps, clearly enjoying themselves (as you can probably tell from the photo above).

In fact, everyone we spoke to was entertaining and often educational. We had discussions with re-enactors about Western frontier living, Medieval Japanese food, film costuming, life on the Home Front (always a favourite of Rachel's with her penchant for vintage fashions) etc

And, as ever, Alice was a great ice-breaker, enjoying the variety of costumed laps she could jump into and different doggies she could play around with (as quite a number of the displays had resident canines as well).

Another surprising highlight came when a 60-plus pony express rider in the Wild West encampment saw my T-shirt and, without any prompting, recited the Green Lantern oath. I certainly wasn't expecting that!

You can find more of our pictures of the day over on my Facebook page here.

Villains & Vigilantes 3.0: Mighty Protectors - All This And World War Two...

The Villains & Vigilantes 3.0: Mighty Protectors' Kickstarter has blown open another stretch goal by breaking through the $24,000 barrier.

This now means that everyone who pledges at least $55 to the campaign receives a PDF of War Heroes, a new 300-plus page World War II sourcebook for Mighty Protectors and 2.1, written by Brian Adams, illustrated by Scott Sackett.

The supplement contains 70 characters, period vehicles and equipment, maps, a timeline, and optional rules for an ultra-low-powered commandos campaign.

This has also unlocked a softcover print version of War Heroes as a $32 add-on.

And, as a bonus, everyone who pledges at least $30 to the Kickstarter receives a PDF set of Mighty Protectors character sheets for all 18 characters from the legendary V&V starter adventure Crisis at Crusader Citadel.

Next up is the $28,000 stretch goal, which unlocks Situation Room, a new 36-page introductory adventure for Mighty Protectors, by Jack Herman and Jeff Dee.

Perfect For Dicing With Death!

The latest addition to the Infinite Dice Pool: five black resin dice (about 1.5cm each side) with tony embossed skulls instead of the more traditional pips.

Unsurprisingly, these beauts, that I snagged from eBay and are produced by Puckator, are branded as 'Dice With Death'!

Sure, I've got more than enough d6, but as with the other week's Joker dice, I couldn't pass up these eye-catching novelties.

Archie's Gonna Be Seeing Red...

This November 16 (make a note of the date on your calendar), Riverdale's other well-known redhead (and a favourite of +Timothy Brannan), Cheryl Blossom, finally makes an appearance in issue 14 of Mark Waid's new Archie comic. With art by Morning Glories' Joe Eisma.

Once, Veronica Lodge was the Princess of Riverdale, flowers strewn at her feet everywhere she walked. Now she’s a just regular student at a private school full of Mean Girls who’ve made her their Betty, led by their Queen Bee, the alluring and diabolical Cheryl Blossom.

Check out the variant covers, by Derek Charm and Alitha Martinez, in this article.

Meanwhile, before the one-hour, live-action, Riverdale drama pilot airs on The CW next year, you can read an interview here, at Nylon, with Camila Mendes (Veronica) and Lili Reinhart (Betty), about bringing 21st Century versions of the comic book stalwarts to the small screen.

And as 2016 is Archie Comics' 75th Anniversary, why not bone up on 75 fascinating facts about the publisher here on CBC Books?

Special note on 'point 55', about Archie-themed podcasts: it references HeroPress favourite The Riverdale Podcast (which, sadly, is coming to an end this weekend, on September 3, after four-and-a-half-years of regular weekly episodes).

Musical Monday: It's All Devo (Gerald Casale)

The Knights At The Castle...

This Bank Holiday weekend Hever Castle is hosting a three-day Tudor event (because of its connections with Anne Boleyn et al)

Therefore, the family Knight decided to pop down the road an check it out (instead of going all the way to Herstmonceux for the Medieval Festival again) as part of our long-weekend excitement.

Unsurprisingly, this was right in my wheelhouse: jousting, battle re-enactments, living history, the works.

Had some fascinating chats with the re-enactors and got to be a big kid trying on helmets and getting to swing a variety of weapons, including my first outing with a pole-arm (a bill, I believe).

I'm now more convinced than ever that pole-arms are totally impractical weapons for dungeon explorers! Sorry, Mr Gygax!

I also got to heft an axe, which I was rather taken by.

Even though it rained on and off, it was a brilliant day out. Alice always has a great time at Hever because she gets to meet lots of other dogs as well as plenty of friendly strangers.

I still can't get used to the amount of attention she gets; it makes Rachel and I very happy to see the smiles our puppy can bring out in complete strangers.

And it's really sweet when, later in the day, someone who met her earlier, will suddenly cry out: "Oh, it's Alice", when they spot her again.

A quick lesson in the half-swording technique

Kiss My Axe! As you can tell from the grin I rather liked the axe!

Ye Olde Authentic Dogge Bowle

The obligatory family selfie - although Alice was more interested in all the other people!

Torn From The Headlines: Ghost Islands...

There are few sights as evocative for gamers as an abandoned ruin, but then to put it on a island is just the cherry on the cake.

Those incredible people at Atlas Obscura have compiled a list of "Incredible Ruins Of 12 Abandoned Island" that are guaranteed to get your creative juices flowing, especially if you're thinking about locales for contemporary horror tales, ghost stories, contained zombie infestations, or such like.

You Weren't Expecting That...

August's Picture Parade...