I have been playing table-top RPGs since 1980, and painting miniatures since 1983. Not once, in that entire time, have I thought that paper miniatures would be a viable replacement for 3-D figures. There is something immersive to the art of gaming with miniatures; playing with well painted minis helps pull me into that world.

“Ere we Go! ‘Ere We GO!!! OY! OY! OY!”

This past weekend, I played Pathfinder at a friends house. He had the cardboard pawns that come with the PF Beginner’s box set, and a somewhat sad truth hit me: I was having just as much fun with the 2-D pawns as I have with a full set of miniatures. Even better, paper miniatures and pawns cost a lot less, too. A brief tour of Paizo’s web store shows entire pawn collections based off of Adventure Path series, so you can field every monster and NPC in your module for less than $20.

Another aspect of table-top gaming that I have been enjoying is the Virtual Table Top. Systems like Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds allow you to set up a dungeon with overhead tokens and game with your friends online. Both systems work pretty well, and are a great way to game with friends that don’t live in the area. My only hang-up with either system is that the actual table-top part of the game can be a little clunky to navigate.

3D Virtual Tabletop changes all that. While this system does not manage game mechanics for you, it does manage your dungeon set up beautifully. 3D Virtual Tabletop takes the pawn idea to the next level, allowing you to move 3-D tokens about the virtual battle-mat. You can change direction or facing, load new maps, and even design your own pawns for your game.

One of the most exciting things in 3D Virtual Tabletop is that you can drop just about any picture into your library to be used as a pawn. I did a series of drawings a few months back for a Steampunk fantasy game; using 3D Virtual Tabletop, I was able to make a pawn of my Elf Gunslinger and import it into the game, which led to a lot of excitement in the house. And the real icing on the cake? You can do all of this on your tablet. So cool! If you don’t like the idea of huddling around your iPad during a gaming session, you could always put it up on your television. I did this last night with a mini-HDMI cable off of my Kindle Fire HD, and everything looked amazing.

You can zoom about the tabletop with your fingers, change your facing, rotate the table, or even flip the table-top up for a cool overhead view. When you switch to overhead, your pawns get turned into little round tokens automatically, which allows you to manage your game more tactically. When your done with overhead, you can switch right back to the side view and get back to your game!

Maps can be imported, too. I was able to take one of my Paizo map PDFs and import it right onto the 3D Virtual Tabletop, and even match the snap-to grid right to the same scale as my map. The possibilities here are endless, and you could run just about any game you wanted off of this system.

The only downside to 3D Virtual Tabletop right now is that it is still in early development. There is not a way to share your maps across devices, so you couldn’t use the system to game with your long-range friends. This is being remedied soon, with servers being set up to allow you to host games eventually. The developer is constantly updating and tweaking the interface, with noticeable improvements with both iOS and Android versions in the past weak.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es1J5EZ2JyM

I was really dumb-stuck with this system for gaming, and cannot wait to put it to use with my Pathfinder group. I have already started to put together my own set of Pawns, and have been making new pawns using PDF images from Paizo. This is some real high-octane stuff! Highly recommended.

Man of Steel, the first installment in a rebooted Superman film franchise, is at once a breathtaking monument to the grand scale of storytelling befitting a character like Superman, and a monument to a new age in superhero storytelling. On some levels, that combination works very, very well. On other levels, it falls very, very flat.

I found myself awed by half of Man of Steel. When it was right, it was so right, firing on all cylinders. When it was off, it seemed almost idiotic, tone deaf to what Superman is and what he represents.

The best parts of the movie were captured by the father’s of Superman, Jor-el (played by Russel Crowe) and Jonathan Kent (played by Kevin Costner). Putting aside the fact that we really didn’t need to see another origin story for the character, these two actors did all of the heavy lifting and made every one of their scenes memorable and stand up against prior iterations and the expectations of today’s audience.

The retelling of the origin story seemed to be a symptom of the David Goyer script. There seemed to be a need, beyond all reason, to emulate the script from Batman Begins, tying the origin into the present and showing the definition of the hero coming from the circumstances. It was a winning formula for Batman Begins, but I don’t think it quite worked here.

Perhaps my biggest complaints about the film, though, were about Henry Cavill and Amy Adams.

Cavill is a more than capable Superman. In fact, I think he was fantastic as Superman… But Superman isn’t the whole part. And Cavill’s Clark Kent was simply Superman in plain clothes. There was no rich dichotomy in the character and when he does, eventually, put on the glasses, there’s not a hint of Clark Kent nerdiness.

Amy Adams plays Lois Lane in this film. I love Amy Adams. I love Lois Lane. The problem is that Amy Adams and Lois Lane are like oil and vinegar. They just don’t come together. Adams as Lois falls very flat. Absent is all the spunk and strength of every single iteration of the character in recent memory, but she borders on being a helpless Mary Sue. And there’s not a single good reason she’s brought up to Zod’s ship except that she helps advance the plot and inject Jor-el into the situation. Logic flies right out the window.

That’s not the only place where logic fails… I imagine members of the military will cringe at how two military men seem to be everywhere, doing every single job there is to be done on their own. And the level of destruction in Metropolis borders on the absurd. It’s like they saw the level of destruction in New York in The Avengers and just had to top it, even though there wasn’t a single compelling reason to do so. Millions of people died in this movie, from Zod’s plan, to collateral damage caused by Superman, and it just seems out of character.

Can we also admit to how ham-fisted the Jesus moment in the film was? It felt so awkward and out of place I couldn’t believe it.

Perhaps I’m old fashioned and just prefer the dopey optimism of Superman in years past. Maybe it’s my age showing. But when that optimism was tapped into in the film, I thought it was brilliant and beautiful and true to character. When that optimism was gone and we were left with a retread of Superman II by way of Batman Begins, I was a little bored.

I understand people wanted to see Supes punch stuff after he did relatively little fighting in Superman Returns, but this was bit too over the top for my tastes.

I accept that my opinion might well be in the minority, but I think there was something about what makes Superman a great character, Lois too for that matter, that just didn’t make it up to the screen. And that’s a shame.

Did I enjoy the film? Yes. Large swaths of it. Was it fun? Not terribly. It was gritty and trite for too much of the time.

But the film will do very well, and I hope the next will give us a more well-rounded Superman, one that feels less monotone overall.

Can Luke help save Leia & Wedge from a Star Destroyer? Is the Rebel Alliance doomed from a security leak? GONK checks out Brian Wood’s Star Wars #6. (more…)

This review will contain spoilers, anything going beyond the scope of the episode will be done in white text and will be preceded by *Spoiler*, episode spoilers will not be prefaced.

Last week was brutal. I knew it was coming and it was still brutal. Today we’ll see the aftermath of the Red Wedding but don’t forget that Dany also sacked Yunkai and Joffrey is set to be married soon. The Red Wedding was so powerful it’s hard to remember there are still a lot of story lines in intense places.

The Good

• Gods I didn’t think they’d start so brutally but showing RobbWind reminds us how awful last week really was.
• Switching to King’s Landing right after the Stark slaughter is a great juxtaposition. It was also really nice to see Sansa enjoying her life even married to Tyrion.
• Joffrey is as giddy as a school boy and a sick fuck combined. So perfectly great to hate.
• I know I should hate Tywin but I can’t. Putting Joffrey in his place makes him extra awesome. Tyrion lays out why for us.
• The more Hodor the better. Even yelling down a well at the Night Fort. I’ve also missed a lot of stories from the books so Bran telling the story of the Rat Cook made me especially happy. *Spoiler* Wouldn’t mind a Frey Pie right about now.
• Few better words than “the Blackfish escaped.” The biggest badass in the riverlands on the loose.
• And ladies and gentlemen please remember today as the day you found out that the man tormenting Theon is Roose Bolton’s son, Ramsey.
• Sam the Slayer and Bran the Warg! Also Jojen, you’re a creeper.
• At least Theon’s sister is more loyal than his dad.
• This has been “Who Grew Up Worse” with Davos and Gendry.
• Tyrion is the last person I want to try and keep up with if wine is involved.
• GAD DAMN Arya!!!!!!!!!!  Valar Mohgulis.
• I want a new show. I want Arya and Sandor Seek Revenge! Each episode they hunt and murder Freys and Boltons while playing The Rains of Castamere.
• Something about Davos…I just love me an Onion Knight. Also stop burning shit Melisandre, you damn pyro.
• Welcome home Jaime, nobody knows who you are without your white cloak.
• Looks like Yunkai is protected by the Dragon now.

The “Bad”

• I just want to hear someone say “the North remembers” so badly. So close yet so far.
• Hey sonny boy I treated you like shit all your life because I decided I couldn’t murder a baby Lannister.-Parenting from Tywin
• I really didn’t need so much about Theon’s lost cock.
• *Spoiler* Reek Reek it rhymes with meek. You must remember your name.
• *Spoiler* Where the fuck is Cold Hands?
• Balon Greyjoy was sent a letter and present containing a penis. That is some fucked up shit. “Well he was a dipshit and now he’s got no cock so what good is he?” Father of the Year right there.
• Gods Ygriite, 3 arrows? Not cool. 
• *Spoiler* Woah woah woah we don’t name children until their second name day north of the Wall!

Solid episode but after last week there is nothing they could have done to live up to the Red Wedding. Everything is just setting up the start of Season 4. Jon and Sam back at the Wall. Jaime back in the capitol. Stannis changing plans. Yara heading to save Theon from Roose Bolton’s bastard. Next season already has a whole lot to do just from this episode.

This season has been a wild ride and I’m ready to go back and watch it all again. We’ve got a long long while before we head back to Westeros.

This is an amazing platformer set to and stylized to music, a perfect game for a Saturday morning stream.

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After fleeing from the local massacre-happy militia, Jedi Masters K’Kruhk & Zao and their younglings now have to contend with natives and the arrival of the Empire. How much more can the Jedi take, in the finale of the ‘Fire Carrier’ storyline for Star Wars: Dark Times? (more…)

Friends and neighbors, I don’t know if I can do a weekly review of  the “Teen Wolf.” The reason is not due to my age, one that would seemingly render me completely out of touch with the goings on of Beacon Hills. Nor is it because the show is void of character, wit, or suspense. It’s got all of those things. Ne, it is simply because my review every week would be “DAMN THAT WAS FUN,” peppered with “Stiles is really funny.”

So instead I will give a short, spoiler free recap that will allow the new viewer to seamlessly join in the fun, and hopefully will provide some squeeing points for the established fan. Stay tuned after my recap for the super special weekly feature.

Last night, Isaac opened the show on the back of a motorcyle being driven by an extremely accomplised female driver. She was trying to elude the new kids in town – twin wolves (who are reminiscent of a younger, weirder Taylor Lautner) who have a really cool werepower. Like, really cool.  Isaac and new girl survive with terrible injuries and end up in Beacon Hills General where it’s implied that Scott McCall is kind of a big deal. Allison is back in town, and Scott tries to get a tattoo to celebrate the fact that he neither called nor texted her all summer (Teen Wolf, guys), but it just won’t take and his wolfen skin rejects the ink. In search of more permanence, Scott looks for help where he always finds trouble – to Derek Hale. Turns out werewolves can be tattooed your garden variety blowtorch. Like, it doesn’t even have to be mystical. Meanwhile, a pack of alphas are in town – yeah, I don’t really get it either but who cares – and they have grody toenails and a bone to pick with Derek. Shocking. Oh, and Lydia has been at the epicenter of several bizarre animal meltdowns because you guys seriously I know she is no longer totally human but they just won’t tell us what she is (other than a sexually empowered female character who is not referred to as a slut and oh my god I can’t believe Mtv is the one doing it right)!!!

And now, your weekly Grumpy Derek.

This review will contain spoilers, anything going beyond the scope of the episode will be done in white text and will be preceded by *Spoiler*, episode spoilers will not be prefaced.

It’s the big showdown of Dawn of the Jedi: the mad Daegan Lok and Force Hound Xesh against the Je’daii on their tail. Who will triumph? (more…)

Ania Solo and her friends run into an Imperial Knight – but is he an ally or an enemy? This week’s Star Wars: Legacy #3 is full of monsters and revelations. (more…)