Still no official news on Captain America, although The Office guy, John Krasinski is thankfully out, as are others, and a few more are in, so who knows at this point.

Looks like Mr. Smith himself, Hugo Weaving, will be playing Red Skull, which I couldn’t be more thrilled about. I’ll keep you posted.

First let me start by explaining what I originally used role playing handbooks for. I owned the 3.5 edition Player’s Handbook for D&D, and White Wolf’s Vampire: The Masquerade early on, but not because I was actually playing either of them with a DM or storyteller, or a crew of fellow geeks. I used them for character creation.

I am a writer, if you haven’t figured that out yet, and not only for ranting opinionated blogs like this one. I write fiction. The format of role playing handbook character sheets and subsequent measurements for, say, strength, as an example, really helps in imagining the actual strength of a character. And it doesn’t just have to be a character for role playing.

You can fill out a character sheet and by the end have a well-rounded character for a story, or your latest role playing endeavor, with a clearer picture of what that character is like and what they are actually capable of.

Another great feature is sample stories and snippets of fiction about the world the role play is set in. Shall your campaign play out in Eberron, or maybe Forgotten Realms? Both have their own fiction series.

FORGOTTEN REALMS

The shadowy wizards of Netheril gather their power in the north. Countless undead muster to the east in the land of Thay. Ancient evil stirs to the south, where monsters rule. Across the sea, to the west, a continent that was once part of another world beckons with elemental glory. The denizens of the planes are restless in the realigned cosmic order. Old dynasties endure, and new ones gaze about with covetous eyes.

Where is your place, and what deeds shall see you through?

Of course the main purpose of these books is to aid not only in character creation and setting, but also general game play for role playing in these respective worlds.

I did a previous blog on D&D’s progression up to the current 4th edition, and explained how the biggest change is in how much the system is morphing into a pen and paper World of Warcraft. In some ways this is true for all role playing games.

We have certainly seen an influx of role playing games that are based off of already existing video games, films, and television.

Like Serenity, for example

I wasn’t overly impressed with that one, despite being a huge fan of the Firefly series, since they limit you from actually being like your favorite character.

I couldn’t be a Companion like Inara, but something only vaguely along the same lines, and then it really isn’t role playing in the universe I was expecting.

But since I have not yet gone through the Big Damn Heroes Handbook, maybe things have changed.

White Wolf has a live action game for EverQuest, which maintains its status as one of the most popular and memorable series of all time. And of course there are always new editions and new settings for classic worlds to change up their system a little, like White Wolf’s Dark Ages for Vampire, returning to a medieval setting instead of modern day, and maybe banking a little more off of die-hard D&D fans.

We have role playing games set in the past, the present, and the future. There are more versions and worlds than you could shake a fist at in most comic books stores and online. The trick is finding the ones that work for you.

But that’s the beauty of this evolution. Everything is available, which means you can pick and choose whatever you want and make your own rules to satisfy your style of game play.

I am currently involved in a campaign for 4th edition D&D with my husband as DM, and my girlfriends as my party members in what we are calling our Evil Bitch Campaign.

I am eternally grateful that my husband never bothers with weight restrictions on what we are carrying or what we pick up, because then we would constantly have to deviate from our story to destroy or sell things when we just want to play.

Some people complain that there is something lost when we have too many options, that we are actually worse off when we have so many more choices in life than we used to, but I disagree. Choice is how we improve upon ourselves and the world. Sometimes the worlds of Arcadia or Middle Earth.

It only bothers me when those original versions become harder to find, like classic guidebooks for D&D, or that allusive White Wolf Changeling edition I can’t seem to find anywhere.

And it’s not this one, or the shining new one that cuts out half the race options.

I am almost tempted to give some homework to you fine readers that you take certain concepts from your favorite role playing worlds and combine them to create a single usable character.

I’m sure some campaign somewhere could use a Vampire with Glamour abilities masquerading as a Companion with her spaceship crew of misfit Elves and Tauren.

~G³

It’s time to a look at cosplay once again, as I prepare for Anime Central in Chicago this year with two main costumes, along with already starting on my costume for the following year to hopefully debut at Comic Con 2011. I will walk you through what I have done so far, some tricks of the trade, and how having good friends with more sewing talent than you can always come in handy.

Thanks for tuning in.

 

Images taken from:

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4art/20090930/ph
http://images.halloweencostumeideas.com/accessories_captain_america.jpg

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