Taking some time off

For those of you who care enough to notice that I haven't posted much lately, there is a good reason.
Earlier this month I had a massive heart attack. To say it came as a pretty big surprise to me, my family and my doctor would be an understatement. Especially since I had just been checked out and given a clean bill of health.
Since I've only been home from the hospital for a week I honestly haven't felt much like posting and I actually intend to postpone the posts I have planned for a bit longer. My priorities have changed a bit over the past few weeks and to be honest, keeping up with this blog just isn't that high on my list right now.
I do appreciate the well wishes I've received from those that know me personally, but for at least the next month or so the blog will remain silent. Then I'll decide if I want to keep the blog up and going of if I want to find another way to occupy what little free time I have.

My 10 Favorite RPG Covers...now with pictures!

***Repost:
I was pressed for time and stupidly did not double check this post before I scheduled it to go online and as many of you pointed out there were no pictures. When I wrote the post the pics were there, but I either A) did not save that draft properly or B) accidentally made two posts and deleted the one with the pictures. Regardless the fact that the pics were missing was my mistake. So now I present this post as it was originally meant to be seen. Sorry about the goof up. ****

This list is completely dependent upon my mood and is likely to change, at least somewhat, from month to month, but as of this moment these are my favorite RPG book covers.

• 10. Rifts Ultimate Edition core rules

• 9. Rifts: Madhaven

• 8. Mutants & Masterminds 2e core rules

• 7. Pathfinder: Advanced Player's Guide

• 6. 4e D&D DMG

• 5. Secrets of the Surface World(HEX)

• 4. Hollow Earth Expedition (HEX)

• 3. AD&D Unearthed Arcana

• 2. Pathfinder RPG

• 1. 2e AD&D DMG

Still updating the other pages.

For those of you that care, I am still working on getting the promised links up on the other pages. Currently I am trying to get all of my RPG gaming links in order and up on the proper page. I've gotten a few put up and will definitely be more to soon.

I have tons of links to go through, organize and add, so it is taking me a bit longer than I thought it would. This may result in me consolidating a couple of the pages, but I assure you I am still working on it when I have the free-time (which is not very often) and I will get some more up soon.

More 2nd edition AD&D goodies and they're all mine....my precious....

My attempts to recover long lost 2e books as well as gain books I missed the first time is coming along quite well. I recently received my copies of the 2nd Edition AD&D revised PHB and DMG to go right along side of my original 2e PHB and DMG. I sat down and quickly thumbed through them before work. All I can say is, THAC0 or not I really want to play a 2e game now. It has been well over a decade since I've really played 2e and reading through these book made me remember just how much I enjoyed this edition.

I know there are a lot of 2e haters out there and you are welcome to your opinion, even though you are wrong, (just kidding) but to me AD&D 2e was a great game. I wish it got a bit more love by the OSR but I'm thankful that there are a few people out there working on keeping the system alive and revising it for today's gamers.

Revised 2e PHB

 

Revised 2e DMG

Original 2e Books

From the comments I've seen on some of the message boards there are more than a few 2e fans that will strongly disagree with my following comment, but I like the artwork on the original 2e books better than the revised versions. As a matter of fact the original 1989 DMG probably has my all time favorite RPG cover (Pathfinder and Hollow Earth Expedition tie for a close second). There is just something about that image of the dragon and wizard that sums up, for me at least, what D&D is all about. However, the interior of both of the revised books is much nicer than the original books and from what I can tell they are also much better organized.

Now I'm just waiting for my black cover 2e Monster Compendium to come in the mail.  Then I plan on picking up some campaign settings I missed, some of the faux leather bound spell books, and maybe some of the "Complete" series of books. I've really had my eye on The Complete Book of Necromancer, but it will probably have to wait a bit longer.

The greatest car commercial ever!

I came across this on Newsarama and just had to share it.
I'm sure more than a few of us can see ourselves in this mini-Vader. As a kid I know that I ran around in my Vader Halloween costume (it was one of those cheap plastic ones from the late 70's - early 80's) terrorizing anything and anyone who crossed my path on more than one occasion. If I had a costume that fit me now, I'd probably still do it.

Some more Old School Treasures rediscovered

Thanks to Northwest over on the Purple Worm forum, (If you're a 2e fan you really should check out the Purple Worm site) I have found a copy of the first D&D book I bought for myself. The book that really introduced me to not only D&D, but RPGs, the Expert Rulebook.

 

I had this as a kid, though not the rest of the box set, and traded it and another book for the 1e AD&D PHB and DMG. As I got older I started kicking myself in the butt for getting rid of this book, mostly for sentimental reasons. I spent years trying to find a copy, but the problem was my memory was faulty and all I could remember was that it was a blue DMG. This was only partially right and so everyone I asked and every search engine I tried never turned up a blue DMG at any point. No sooner did Northwest post the image than I immediately recognized the book and hoped on amazon.

I got a copy for under $5 and can now proudly place it in my continually growing RPG collection. I'll probably never play it, though I will read it and remember the fun I had learning the game. This book contributed to making me the geek I am today. I just wish I had kept my original.

Captain America on the Cover of Empire

Empire magazine is featuring Chris Evan in full Captain America gear on the cover. You can find articles about it all over the web, such where I found this image: comicbookmovie.com

 Say what you will, but I'm looking forward to this movie.