Videos and Images: Baby Monkey

...riding on a pig. Backwards.

Fiction: Personal Touch, Part I

Until a young man named Ehrlich began working at the bank as the newest clerk, Mr. Gift – then the assistant manager – usually arrived at the bank first. However, even on a normal day the first employee to arrive found the night watchman and janitorial service present.

Grumpy RPG Column: Blacks and Gaming

Episode 8 – Blacks in Gaming

• For Black History Month, this column discusses the role of blacks in tabletop role-playing games.
• The essay employs the term black rather than African-American or Africa because most fantasy settings do not have an America or an Africa, even if they do include black people.
• Race is an important part of character creation, though there it usually refers to what should be called different species (elves, orcs, humans, etc.) and there is no real mechanical difference between blacks and whites.
• The default assumption of both the text and art of most RGP games is the characters are white.
• White Wolf Games are transgressive and progressive, making an effort to include blacks in the text and art of their games.
• Some fantasy versions of Africa do exist, though your mileage may vary as to the quality and results.
• RPGS lag behind other areas of society – such as business, sports and politics – in terms of including blacks. This will change only when fans make it change.

Links;

• Steve Sumner’s essay on Race in D&D-
• Chris Vav Dyke’s essay on Race in D&D-
• Atlantic Monthly Comments on Van Dyke’s essay
• ENWorld discussion of racially diverse artwork-
  Black History Month
• Black
• White
• Blood Meridian
• Dante,
• Ember
• Seelah
• Roy Greenhilt
• Monte Cook’s observations about gaming art
• Blacks are better than 12% of the population
• Black’s will have purchasing power exceeding $1 trillion
• Tokenism.
• Travis Williams
• The African continent in the Rifts game line
• Kindred of the Ebony Kingdom
• Africa had its own underworld kingdom
• Shaman mages
• African settings Nyambe
• Atlas Games
• Acererak

Videos and Images: Blacks and Gaming

Though February is Black History month in America, over the last 21 days I have not seen any discussions in the gaming blogosphere of blacks in gaming as characters, the product of black writers and artists or gaming as something in which blacks might be interested. This week I will make an effort to broach. Today, the G.C. blog features black character in art and videos on black gamers and black cosplayers. On Wednesday my podcast column will discuss the issue.

Game Content: Kukeri Ritual

Many people in odd costumes dance through the streets on their way to the square, as part of a community act which drives evil spirits away from the area.

Level: 10
Category: Binding
Time: 6 Hours
Duration: 4 months
Component Cost: 400 gp
Market Price: N/A gp
Key Skill: Religion

Kukeri is a traditional ritual to scare away evil spirits, with a costumed people performing the ritual. The costumes cover most of the body and include decorated wooden masks of animals (sometimes double-faced) and bells attached to the belt. The people perform the ritual early in the year, between the second half of the winter year and before the spring. The kukeri, or costumed people, traditionally visit the peoples' houses before dawn so that "the sun would not catch them on the road." After sunup, the performers gather at the square to dance wildly and amuse the people.

The communal nature of the event creates a large-scale effect similar to magic circle ritual. For the ensuing four months from the date of the ritual covering the spring planting season and much of the summer growing season, undead and immortals of level 3 or lower cannot willingly enter the village where the ritual was conducted or the adjacent farmlands. The kukeri drives away any such creatures already present. Successfully conducting the ritual requires participation, in some capacity, of the majority of the people living in the community and performance during the late winter.

Adventure Hooks;

• Assassination: The kukeri ritual is important as it does much to protect the community and the next one will witness a visit by an important dignitary, who will be an honored guest. The party learns enemies of the dignitary, wearing kukeri costumes, intend to get close enough to the man to assassinate him. What do they do?
• Dance Fever: In a moment of comedy, some members of the party are present when the headpiece of a kukeri costume falls off, revealing this wearer to be several goblins, sitting on each others’ shoulders so they can pass for a man sized creature in the costume. If interrogated they reveal they wanted to see what all the fuss and other was about and to get some candy apples.
• Sabotage: An evil warlock, on behalf of the sinister forces which grant him power, intends to disrupt a kukeri festival with explosive attacking that will kill many people and prevent the successful completion of the ritual, making the village subject to attacks during the critical planting season.

Grumpy RPG Reviews: The Book of Erotic Fantasy

Videos and Images: Happy Valentines Days

Just a little something to mark this special day...



Have I mention lately that I am a horrible person? Oh yes, I am.

Game Content: Cupid

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The son of gods, Cupid is the personification of physical love, affection, and related feelings and actions. He fell in love with a mortal man at some point. This went better than anyone could have expected, so much so that malign gods intervened out of boredom and their own inherent malevolence. They blinded Cupid’s lover, cast him back into the mortal world from where he came, and hid his whereabouts from Cupid. Since he lost his lover, Cupid continues to ensure the love goes around, though there is now an edge to Cupid he did not previously possess.

Grumpy RPG Journal: Feb. 9, 1911

Click to Play

A podcast entry of a silly game journal.

Episode 7 – Second Game Journal

• A second, and unfortunately probably final, game journal entry.
• Wilhelm and Ferdinand are present, while Pious and Nicholas are absent.
• The group continues through the Raider’s module.

Videos and Images: Posters... and the Babe with the Power

A couple of images I made a while back.

This I found Friday and it made me laugh.

Fiction: The Haunting House

Art felt relieved to discover his house stolen.

Though Arthur prided himself on being a practical man he sensed something fundamentally wrong with the First House, although the would-be home had been aesthetically attractive.

Grumpy RPG Reviews: The Forest Oracle