‘Fraid Not, Chief

The Most August Etty Biggs-Wharton, Chair of the Imperial Defense Commission, sat in her office and eyed the guardsman in front of her with disfavor. He stood at an unprofessional slouch. "Well?" she demanded of the guardsman. "Have you secured the inner doors?" It was true that the guards were greatly outnumbered by the crowd...

The Prometheans Demand Blood

“One more day of blood sacrifice,” Pierce chanted. One more day. Painted in congealed arterial spray and clotting fluids, with sweat streaking his jowls and plastering expensively styled hair to his skull, he shrieked the shibboleths and prayed that this be would the day. The day his god would reward his devotion by ending the...

A baptism of stains

Imagine something with me, if you will. Visualize a gigantic crowd -- a great big festival, let's say. A modern version of the World's Fairs that were held in more innocent times. A showcase of technology and cultural advancement. It's jam-packed with people of all nationalities, mixing and mingling. There's food and drink to be...

Rounding up the mavericks: Hoodies, pulps, and participles

Corralling a few interesting things I've run across in the last few days... Git along, little dogies! Bulletproof hoodies!? via Gunpowder and Ink... I love hoodies. Especially ones that can stop up to a .44 magnum.There is also this:LIFETIME WARRANTY: If you get shot (God forbid) with our hoodies on, we’ll send you a replacement...

Menagerie (aka the Amazing Elephant Girl) – An origin story

After the second session of our superhero roleplaying campaign, my daughter decided to write something about her character's background. That old-school TSR-developed game system really helps fire up the imagination. Janey Nevitt turned into an animal for the first time when she was six years old. She had been walking hand-in-hand with her father in...

The Return of the Indestructible Girl – Or, this is why we play

Friends, THIS is why we play our geeky games. My son posted the following on his blog after our second Marvel Super Hero Roleplaying session. I'd link to it, but it's friends only, so he let me republish it here. Table-top RPGs are really fun. You get to make a character and interact with a...

The indestructible girl! Classic Marvel roleplaying campaign, week 2 (part 2)

Here's another flash-fiction story I wrote by way of setting up the second week of our Marvel superheroes roleplaying campaign. Wednesday, in the not too distant future Sidney Malloy puts her strawberry protein smoothie in the cup holder, wipes the sweat off her brow, and turns the treadmill up a notch. On the curved, wall-to-wall...

The amazing elephant girl! Classic Marvel roleplaying campaign, week 2 (part 1)

So here's a little thing I wrote -- I guess you could call it flash fiction -- to get the players set up for our second Marvel Superheroes roleplaying game session. It picks up the tale a few days after our characters' first superhero action ever. Wednesday, in the not too distant future The alarm...

Rounding up the mavericks

So I missed my usual post last Thursday. Looking at the blog stats, it's easy to tell; people don't visit when there's nothing to visit. As for why I missed it, that's a tale as old as time. And probably less interesting than watching paint dry. Boiling it down to the essence, a multitude of...