I Want to Play This Game and Never Stop

This eagle is stunned by all the awesome

Like them or not, Muse has an awesome song called Knights of Cydonia, with an equally awesome video that you need to go watch right now. Go. Okay, back with us? Awesome, right? Yes, I know this is old news, just humor me here. I first got hip to this song through Guitar Hero III, and then to this hysterically campy video through some casual YouTube surfing. I watched, mouth agape, and in the silence I looked around at Jacko and Munin and Riff and Shade and everybody else and said, "We need to play this game, right now!" I do that a lot. I'll see some crazy thing like the Knights of Cydonia video or get really into a book (or series) and decide that I need to do some role-playing in that setting. So, let's talk about great and/or hilarious settings we want to play in, shall we?

Two Great Tastes that Taste Great Together

What the hell is this? Awesome, that's what.

So, today's post isn't going to be very long or insightful, 'cause I've got Rogues and Traders to write about. I've got something on my mind though, and that's the time-honored tradition of the mash-up.

The Devil is in the Details

Well, yeah. In this case it is.

Confession time. I'm a huge bibliophile, and I've got a pretty obsessive personality. This means that every so often I get into an author, really into an author, and then must devour all of their works as fast as I can until my eyes fall out. This happened a couple of years ago when I finally got around to reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, a book about gay, Jewish comic book artists by Michael Chabon. It was a very good read, so I immediately glommed on to Chabon. This guy is awesome! I must have MORE! So I dug around and found a book called The Mysteries of Pittsburgh which is a book about gay...Jewish...college kids...wait a minute... Anyway, a book about Pittsburgh? A book about a city that may, in fact, be my very favorite city East of the Mississippi ever? Sign me the hell up! So off I went to the library and got big ol' stack of Chabon's books and took them eagerly home. The next day I trooped back to the library and, bitterly disappointed, dumped all those books back into the book drop? Why? Well, the reason lies at the heart of today's post.

A Very Special Episode: Freelancing is for Suckers

Am I doing this right?

Goddamn, it's been forever since I've updated here at the Gamewerks. It's not like I have a good excuse, 'cause I don't really. I mean, I've been busy with being Nervous McNewdad, my family came on up to visit, I started finishing my basement, and I'm still writing about Space Marines. Also, I need to get this writing sample done for Pinnacle and I should probably, you know, get my games ready for Origins. What I have been doing is doing entirely too much moping about and not enough writing. Remember how I said I was gonna write a novel this year? Yeeaaaaah... It's June already and I don't have word one written. Awesome. So, I'm going to start the week with something a little different. Yet again, it's a very special episode of MCGW.

Mr. Mom

This isn't fiction, it's a goddamned documentary

So, last September when I got laid the hell off from Palladium, I'll admit I felt a little bleak. I hadn't lost a job since before The Wife and I were married way back in '02, when I got fired from selling Harleys because I liked motorcycles too much. Anyway, as I stood there in my hallway staring at my phone trying to process what had just happened, my brain shifted on down into survival gear. Well, to be honest, first it shifted into "crawl into a bottle of Wild Turkey and listen to a lot of Hank Williams" mode. Then, as I struggled through the five stages of grief and helped an Austin Nichols exec make a boat payment, and after I dealt with, "Fuck, I'm a freelancer again!", I had a little epiphany. I had a baby on the way, I was a writer, I work from home, I'm good at multi-tasking and staying work focused, I keep long hours, I'm not necessarily opposed to bodily functions...I was going to be Mr. Mom!

Wednesday Bonus Post: Good News, Everyone!

Didn't see that coming...

Good news, indeed. I got an email from the guys at Pinnacle Entertainment Group this morning. You know, the guys who make Savage Worlds and Deadlands? Anyway, looks like I have maybe an opportunity for some work with them, which'll be great because I absolutely love Deadlands, and have ever since it came out. All I have to do now is fit research on a new system and setting and an accompanying essay test/writing sample  in with my regular work of Fantasy Flight stuff, changing diapers, and begging for work. As usual, I'll let you know how it goes.

Friday Bonus Post: Into the Mouth of Madness...

Delicious, delicious madness. Here, in all it's hilarious glory, is my Cthulhu themed birthday cake. It was enjoyed by one and all, then we were all dragged screaming into the maddening void. Which, you know, is typical for a Thursday. Ia! Ia!

Better Late than Never, Eh?

It's ours, Precious!

Today is our birthday, Precious. I know it's been woefully quiet this week at the Gamewerks, but don't fret Gentle Readers. The Furnaces are burning and the gears are grinding and the belts are moving in the background as I scramble to finish up a couple Rogue Trader assignments for Fantasy Flight. I'll make it up to you next week, as I plan to spend the next four days alternating, like Hemingway, between fits of drunken debauchery and furious, inspired writing. Next week we're going to talk about Dwarves, scale, and my awesome Cthulhu birthday cake. In the meantime, please check out these fine establishments for all of your game blog needs.

Phoning it in...

Ironic and/or witty pop culture reference here...

It's Tuesday and there's no new post! I totally have a good excuse for it, though. Want to hear it? I became a father on Sunday, to a beautiful little girl named Katya. So, since babby is now formed and has stolen my brain, I'm declaring it Phoning it in week at the Gamewerks. I'll make a couple of small posts I have half done, or maybe not. All depends. Anyway gentle readers, if you don't see anything this week, don't worry. A little girl has control of my brains.

Friday Bonus Post! They're Crafty, and They're Just My Type!

Obligatory Beastie Boys Reference...

So, looks like maybe I'll be picking up some work with Crafty Games here soon. I'm pretty stoked, as I've been looking at porting AEGIS vs. SPIDER over to a cross between Spycraft and Mutants and Masterminds. Crafty Games does some good work, and I'm looking forward to whatever they scruple to throw my way. I'll keep you informed, gentle readers, if anything should come of it.

I Love It When A Bonus Post Comes Together: When Life Imitates (sorta) Art...

As one of the bajillion children born around our nation's bi-centennial, fully half of whom were named Jason and the other half Jennifer, I had the pleasure of growing up in the golden age of affable, cartoony, fantasy violence of 80s television. It was as fun time, a lighter time, a time before every other program was a Law and Order spin-off about rape. These were the days when you could trust Sledgehammer to shoot that big-ass magnum of his willy-nilly and blow up half of LA to catch a purse snatcher and no one would get hurt because he knew what he was doing. A time when Hulk Hogan could tie the spine of some poor, nameless heel into a pretzel on Friday night and be solving mysteries with the whole WWF gang on Saturday morning. And, most importantly, when you could watch a fugitive secret commando unit who had been imprisoned for crimes they didn't commit, and were currently operating as soldiers of fortune in the LA area, blast through the streets of Riverside or Glendale or wherever in a homemade IFV welded up from an old Delta 88 and some rusty-ass sheet steel while hanging out the windows rattling off full-auto bursts from their M-16s or Uzis or whatever was in the budget that week and generally having a ripping good time while no one really got hurt. "But Jason" you ask, "What does all this nostalgia for hilariously weak plots and hokey, poorly delivered dialogue have to do with games?" I'm glad you asked, gentle reader. It has everything to do with an idea I had about the A-Team as a party of player characters. Would you like to know more? Well, carry on..

General Kala, Deadline Approaching!

 

What do you mean, "Deadline Approaching"?

That's right kids, deadline is indeed approaching. Due to deadline approaching, and my current distance from making it, today's post will pretty much be a hilarious Flash Gordon reference and a picture of the deliciously campy General Kala. Oh, and a video of the amazing movie trailer. So, have a good weekend, and wish me luck. We'll talk more Monday.

Friday Bonus Post: You Like Me! You Really Like Me!

 

Yes indeed, you do like me! Well, at least the people at RPG Blogger's Network like me. I've been added to their list of fine gaming 'blogs, a list that includes Zach Houghton's RPGBlogII so, you know, I'm in good company. I recommend you surf on over and have a look at all the other 'blogs, and tell them I said hi.