Tuesday, December 4, 2012

What's It Worth to You?

Or to me for that matter.

Stumbled on on a website that calculates the worth of other websites.
http://www.worthofweb.com/website-value/

Where does the Other Side rank?

timbrannan.blogspot.com website worth badge
http://www.worthofweb.com/website-value/http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/

The whole thing is worth $1,971 (at the time of this post).

That's a little depressing.  I would have hoped for more.
Well that's just money, I am sure the Other Side is worth far more XP!

So go there and see what you are worth on the web.

Beginnings Blogfest

I am going to be participating in L.G. Keltner's "The Beginnings Blogfest".


Go to her blog at Writing Off the Edge to learn more and to sign up.
http://lgkeltner.blogspot.com/2012/12/announcing-beginnings-blogfest.html

I am going to be writing about how and why I started this blog with some history and insights to the projects that prompted me to do it.

There are a lot of blogs that I read everyday and I would love to know what got you all going.  Some might have started with an idea already formed and started with a bang.  Others, like me, might have posted a few "hey I guess I am blogging!" posts.

So share your stories with the world.  Blogfests are a fun way to learn more about blogging, others inside and outside your local community and help give you new writing prompts.

So thank you L.G. for getting this started!  I love how I have a whole month+ to get ready for it.
Looking forward to it.

Monday, December 3, 2012

The Witch Print Edition Update

Just got the word from Elf Lair Games that the files for The Witch Print version are loaded.

You can read the details here:
http://elflairgames.blogspot.com/2012/12/spellcraft-swordplay-bundle-and-witch.html and
http://wastedlandsfantasy.blogspot.com/2012/12/elf-lair-games-developments.html

You can also pick up a bundled version of Spellcraft & Swordplay.

So looking forward to getting this out to everyone.

Teach Your Kids to Game Week

DriveThruRPG is running a special all this week.

Teach Your Kids to Game Week.

Lots of kid and family friendly games that are easy to learn and fun to play.
While my boys are beyond this stage now (thy jump back and forth between 3e, 4e and AD&D1) there are a lot of great games here.

My favorites on the list include:


Be sure to check these out.

Starships & Spacemen 2e

Just picked up Starships & Spacemen 2e.



So far I like it.  I like that it is compatible with Labyrinth Lord and Mutant Future and I like that it specifically has a cool Star Trek vibe about it.
Love to try it out sometime.




Sunday, December 2, 2012

The Return of the OSRIC Player's Guide

Last year you might remember the drama concerning the OSRIC Player's Guides.

http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2011/10/other-osric-players-guide.html
http://timbrannan.blogspot.com/2011/10/more-osric-players-guide-woes.html

Well one of them is now back.

This is the OSRIC Player's Guide that was the stripped down and edited version of OSRIC just for players.
It was/is edited by Steve Robertson (formerly of the Bree Yark blog)  and features a bunch of art from him as well.

You can get the PDF fro free at his website or pick up a soft or hard cover at Lulu.
http://www.vanquishingleviathan.com/ and you can see some pics of it over at RPG.Net:
http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?665558-OSRIC-Player-s-Guide-is-up-for-sale!

Of the two Player's Guides, this one was the better of the two.  This one does feature a lot of new art from the editor (he does not call himself the author which is good) and it was edited.
The other was just a copy-and-paste job with some art found on the internet.

It is worth checking out.

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Zatannurday: Zatanna Covers

Recently the Justice League Detroit Blog recently did a post  on the top 20 Zatanna covers.  It is worth checking out.
http://justiceleaguedetroit.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-top-20-zatanna-covers.html

While I liked the covers that were picked I didn't always like the reasons or the order.
So here are some of my favorite covers and why.  I am not putting them in any particular order.


Up first a Catwoman cover from Catwoman 50.  I like how you know this is a Catwoman book but Zee is larger  than life.  Plus it is a great bit of art and sets up the story well.


Zatanna #1 of the legendary Paul Dini run.  MUST reading for any Dini or Zatanna fan.


Not the first Justice League Dark cover, but I like how Zee is front and center here.   Surrounded by magic and featuring her new costume.  Love the look on her face. 


I rather like this one. It has all the things we expect to see in a Zatanna cover except for maybe her top hat.


 Fishnet on the arms didn't start in JLC.  I love how her eye seems to be glowing.


Love this cover too.  I like the black/dark blue lipstick.


 Everyday Magic is just a great collection I love the title.  I also love this cover.  Zee is not hyper-sexualized, but still attractive and feminine in her tux.  Plus I dig the boots.



More stars and more "Cute" Zee.  I like Adam Hughes art and I think he does a particularily good job of drawing women that look like women.  Like Frank mentions on Justice League Detroit. This reminds that Zee can be sweet, but she is no stranger to the dark.  Speaking of which...


I am on record as not being a big fan of Identity Crisis.  But it is/was such a pivotal moment in the history of the character I would be remiss if I didn't include it.  Plus this cover has other things going on.  First it features Zee in her "Supers" costume.  Not often seen anymore.  Also she is once again front and center here.  She is the focus, not the Gods standing around her.


An iconic cover.  More of the fishnet gloves too.


I like this cover. It has a lot of the iconic Zatanna imagery.  Her hat, fish nets, magic.  It has been said that among the supers a woman in a tux, top hat, tails and fishnets looks sorta...well dull.  I don't think so.  They have messed with her style before and this really is the one that works the best.


Going back a bit here.  This is the collection of the earliest Zatanna stories.  The cover is newer than that rest of the book, but that is cool.  I think it also very evocative of what Zatanna is all about.

There are others to be sure.  But these are the ones I most wanted to talk about.