A bit different than my usual posts, but something that should interest most of the readers.

On Sunday, I had the opportunity to attend a sneak preview of Thor. The film can be summed up in one word: Wow.

Going in to the movie, I didn’t know what to expect. I’m usually the guy who goes out and finds out the whole plot before seeing the film, but this time I didn’t. I went in knowing that Thor ends up on earth without his powers, and that’s it.

I had no idea who Jane Foster (Natalie Portman’s character) even was.

I’m also not really familiar with Thor’s whole story, like I am with Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, Spider-Man and others. I know of him and all of the other Norse gods from actual mythology, but not from the comics. Warriors Three? Who?

I’m going to try to be spoiler-free, but I’ll be placing SPOILER ALERT in bold near anything that might be spoilerish.

One complaint I heard going into it is that people thought the Asgardians clothing looked too much like superhero costumes. Not at all. Once you see it on the screen, it looks like really badass armor.

If you’ve ever seen Loki’s headgear from the comics, you’ll be thinking, “how are they going to pull that off in the movie without it looking ridiculous and stupid?” Well, they did it. Instead, it looks imposing and, as it should, a bit satanic.

Another issue that was raised by the interwebs was that Heimdall, the guardian of the Bifrost, was a black Norse god. It wasn’t an issue that I had going in, but I was interested in seeing if it had any weight. After all, the Norse gods were the gods of the pale white guys up north.
This, I had absolutely no problem with. Heimdall was one of the best characters in the film, and it didn’t take away anything, as the movie explained that SPOILER the Asgardians are basically aliens, and it just so happened that the Norse worshiped them. END SPOILER. As such, having a Heimdall of a different race than previously portrayed was not an issue at all.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

The plot is incredibly Christological. Thor, a bearded and long-haired man, is sent down to Earth, where he experiences life as a mortal being. He sacrifices his own life for everyone else, not even fighting the Destroyer, but simply walking up to it and allowing it to take his life. Then, as he slowly dies, he tells Jane “It’s over. It’s over, you’re all safe,” then dies. I have seen in some biblical translations in which “It is finished” is translated as “It is over.” Hmm…

Then, upon his death, with a crack of thunder, he resurrects, in all of his power and glory, saving not only this earth, but his own as well.

END SPOILERS AGAIN

Asgard is beautifully rendered. I’m not sure how much of the interior shots were green screen, and how much was practical, as it all looked very realistic.

I was surprised at the intricacies in the plot. Being directed by Kenneth Branaugh, however, I shouldn’t have been. The whole thing feels very Shakespearian in nature, from the relationship of Thor and Loki, to a heated discussion between Loki and Odin.

I actually found Loki to be an incredibly sympathetic character, with his motivations conflicted and difficult for even him to process.

All in all, it is a fantastic piece of film. When it hits theaters on Friday, you should definitely check it out.

I just finished reading the Percy Jackson series, by Rick Riordan.  I didn’t even know these books existed until I saw a preview for the first movie.  I greatly enjoy “children’s” series; especially fantasy/magically based ones.  Therefore, I decided to give Percy Jackson a shot.

At first glance it feels like you’re reading a take-off of a Harry Potter like story; however, once you get into them you find they are pretty cleaver, witty and ripe for the harvesting of game ideas!

Click on the image for the link to the official Percy Jackson website

As you can guess by the title, the books are based around Greek Mythology.  In fact as you quickly discover in the books, the gods of Olympus are real.  And in the books those real gods have real demi-god children who battle real monsters.  If you ask me this is real cool

Greek mythology, in its own right, is full of possible adventures.  In the book there is much discussion over the children of the Big Three: Zeus, Poseidon and Hades.  Their children are thought to be more powerful than the children of the other Olympians i.e. Aphrodite, the goddess of love and Apollo, the god of the sun, poetry and prophecy.  Monsters are also plentiful in the Greek mythos.  There are Cyclopes, Minotaurs, mazes and dungeons including the Great Labyrinth.

After spending some time looking through our gaming shelf, I think that the Scion system would be perfect for playing a game of demi-god adventurers.  The system is light on rules and is heavily influenced by story-telling.  The first level of the Scion system is Hero, which would be a great  place for young inexperienced demi-gods to start their adventures.  As the players progress in the adventure they could easily expand their character’s development by incorporating the Scion: Demi-God and Scion: God books as well.

And I wouldn’t be a good fan of D&D 4e if I didn’t at least try to figure out a way to create a demi-god game here too!  Given that their are so many powers and characters are so powerful from even 1st level you could easily have all the characters be the children of one of the gods from the Players Handbook.  You would then give your character traits of their parent god.

Okay, so I have two cents to put in on the subject of role players and being human characters.  I have a response, but I think people in general may agree.  Here’s the short and skinny:  I think that most people that refuse to play human characters have one of three reasons:

1.)    I am a human every day of my life.  I am essentially not truly better at anything than any other person unless I hone that skill or feature myself.  I am boring, every day old Patrick.  I am myself, every day.  Why would I want to role play a human as well?  I mean, it seems to me that the likelihood of me enjoying the fact that I am role playing precisely what I am gets old quickly.  Besides, humans are portrayed as a species that has no true features, except an extra feat at first level.  In most cases, whoop die doo.  Who gives a #$%@?

2.)    The more likely and less glamorous answer.  Movies.  How badass would it be to play a dwarf or an elf after watching the two of them get into a friendly competition on who has more kills in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  Yeah sure, the human character ends up getting to be the King, and that’s groovy, but look at the fighting sequences.  Few of the humans get to have really visually exciting fights in most movies that involve multiple species.  In fact, most of the time we’re considered a lesser race. 

3.)    The psychological analysis; People tend to play characters that match either their personalities, or the thing that they want to be most.  Some people are just shallow and are into Elves because they are beautiful people, and those people want to be just like those characters.  Some people are into dwarves because said people like to be closer to the earth- like to work with their hands, like to just be that scruffy guy.  Some people seem themselves as an ugly brute, and have the tendency to be that character.

Now, I may be completely off base with my observations, but they are my observations.  I’ve played a human in my role playing career enough times to count on one hand.  I like being something else, and occasionally stepping out of the reality of mortality.  In my mind, things are as they are for a true reason.  People have their favorite class, species, and even as specific as weapon.  The true logic of it all, is that people have their own reasons for everything, as simple as that thing may be.

Keep gamin’ lads and lasses… I’ll be watching.

OMG!  I just saw the funniest video on youtube.com  It was awesome!  Nothing like a band singing about the Lord of the Rings (LOTR).  I must confess that I love the LOTR movies and the books are pretty good too, if not a tiny bit wordy at moments…. This video just cracked me up though.

Makes me wish a little bit that I could be part of making a music video like that.  Or even better: What if you were to have a campaign where your PC’s still were varied in race and class BUT in order to solve puzzles or continue the plot it turned into a crazy musical number.

You know you can see it… You and the other players are deep in the mines and you see the Elven writing over an archway, it’s a riddle, what are you going to do?  I’ll tell you… You’re going to pick up your varying instruments and rock it out like middle earth has never seen!

Awesome: Watch Below!

So, I’ve been thinking a bit about the various Disney movies we all grew up on, and I realized that the plot of Aladdin lends itself perfectly to a sweeping RPG adventure. It would go like this:

The story begins with a 3rd level Bard (from the upcoming PHB2) who has taken the Sneak of Shadows feat, riding on the back of a camel (Page 11, Adventurer’s Vault) and tells about the story of Aladdin. On a dark night, when Jafar, the 11th level Wizard with the Spellguard Wizard Paragon Path (Page 63, Forgotten Realms Player’s Guide) to the Sultan of Agrabah, attempts to access the Cave of Wonders (An adventure for 4-5 characters of 8th level), a trove where a Bag of Holding in the shape of a lamp containing a djinni (hopefully found in the MM2 when it’s released) is hidden. He and his talking parrot (a creature whom Jafar accidentally released from a Bag of Tricks [Page 183, Adventurer's Vault] who won’t leave), learn that the only one who can enter the Cave of Wonders is the metaphorical “Diamond in the Rough” (A riddle, Page 83, DMG).
Meanwhile, in the palace of Agrabah, Jasmine, the beautiful teenage daughter of the Sultan and a 1st level Warlord, must be married before her upcoming birthday, but she rejects every prince she meets, as she wants to be married for true love and not merely for wealth. Her father attempts a Skill Challenge against her, but fails. Later Jasmine, frustrated with “having her life lived for her,” climbs (DC 15) over the palace walls, and sees the marketplace for the first time, where she meets the street urchin, a 4th level Rogue named Aladdin and his pet monkey, Abu. Jafar uses a 10th level Ritual, “Consult Mystic Sages” (PFB Page 302) to see that the ”diamond in the rough” is Aladdin. Jafar sends a group of guards to capture Aladdin while Jasmine is still with him. Jasmine tells Jafar to release him, but Jafar lies and tells her he is already dead.

Jafar, disguised as an old man, and passing a Bluff check against Aladdin, releases Aladdin from prison and leads him to the Cave of Wonders. They are told by the tiger-shaped head of the cave to touch nothing but the lamp. Aladdin enters the cave and encounters a Flying Carpet (Wondrous Item, Page 254) before finding the lamp. The magic of the cave succeeds in a +15 attack against Abu’s Will, forcing Abu to try to steal a ruby, failing a Thievery roll, and causes the cave to start collapsing, but the carpet helps them to the entrance, succeeding in a complex Skill Challenge to evade the collapsing cave. Jafar takes the lamp from them and tries to kill them but Abu wins the initiative, takes the lamp back and bites his arm causing him to knock Abu back into the cave just as it collapses.

When Aladdin awakens, he is given the lamp, and after rubbing it (a Daily power) a djinni is unleashed, who is bound in Dimensional Shackles, revealing that he will grant Aladdin access to the Wish spell three times. Aladdin dupes the genie into freeing them from the cave without using a wish.

Jafar, having lost the lamp, plans to trick the Sultan into marrying him forcefully to Jasmine, then kill off both of them.

While contemplating his wishes, Aladdin asks for the genie’s opinion. The genie admits he would wish for freedom, since he is a prisoner to his lamp for 1000 x d10 years and must follow the orders of the lamp’s master. Aladdin promises to wish him free with his last wish. Happily the genie grants Aladdin his first wish: making him a prince so he can marry Jasmine. They parade to the Sultan’s palace, breaking in the door, (DC 25), much to Jafar’s dismay, but Jasmine initially rejects “Prince Ali”, due to her having a higher Diplomac bonus, considering him a buffoon like all the others before him. Later that night, Aladdin meets Jasmine, and takes her on a magic carpet ride through the sky (a series of Skill Challenges). She soon realizes through an Insight check that he is the same boy she met in the streets and that he has lied to her. Aladdin comes up with a story that he sometimes dressed as a “commoner” to escape the pressures of palace life, and she believes him when he passes a Diplomacy check. Aladdin returns her home and they kiss.

Jafar sends the guards, who gain Combat Advantage and win a Surprise Round, slapping Aladdin in chains and throwing him off a cliff into the ocean. The lamp falls from inside his turban, and rubs against his limp hands luckily releasing the genie, who then rescues Aladdin as the second wish after liberally interpreting Aladdin’s nodding head. Aladdin returns to the palace, smashing Jafar’s staff (beating a DC 15 Strength Check) and revealing the vizier’s plot to Jasmine and the Sultan. Jafar realises Aladdin’s identity (a successful Perception Check), and escapes (using Stealth). Surprised by Aladdin’s bravery, the Sultan decides that Aladdin should be King. This made Aladdin stuck in a dilemma as he needs it to use his final wish to become king, but resulting in breaking his promise that he made to Genie to free him. Iago later steals the genie’s lamp (a Thievery check) and brings it to Jafar, who becomes the genie’s new master and uses his first wish to become sultan. Jafar then wishes to become a powerful sorcerer, turning him into a 30th Level Infernal Pact Warlock, and turns Aladdin back to rags, sending him to a blizzard-swept, far-off place.

Aladdin uses the magic carpet to return to Agrabah, where Jafar is keeping the Sultan, the Genie, and Jasmine as his slaves. He offers Jasmine a place as his queen and wife, but she refuses, succeeding in her own Diplomacy check against his. Jasmine then notices Aladdin passing a Stealth check to make it into the palace, who was about to get the lamp. She tries to make a diversion by tricking Jafar into believing that she’s desperately in love with him, passing a Diplomacy check. Jasmine gives Jafar an extremely passionate kiss, but he he makes a Perception check and sees Aladdin’s reflection in her tiara. Aladdin fights Jafar as he transforms into a giant cobra. When Jafar boasts that he is “the most powerful being on Earth,” Aladdin tells him that he isn’t as powerful as the genie, passing a Diplomacy check. Jafar uses his final wish to become a djinni and tries to gain control of the with his powers. But he forgets that djinni are bound to their lamps as Dimensional Shackles are clasped to him, and is sucked into his new black lamp dragging Iago with him. The genie then flicks the lamp into the Cave of Wonders.

Aladdin and Jasmine say goodbye to each other now that Aladdin is not a prince so they cannot be married. Aladdin wishes for the genie’s freedom, much to the genie’s surprise and happiness. Since Jasmine loves Aladdin, the Sultan changes the law so that Jasmine can marry anyone she chooses and she chooses Aladdin. The genie then leaves to explore the world while Aladdin and Jasmine celebrate their engagement.