Are You Afraid of The Dark?

Probably not an appropriate topic for the Christmas season, but it's something that's been on my mind lately.

For one thing, why take Oz dark? Why not simply make it more realistic or consistent? I think it's because people tend to view Oz as a bright, pleasant place and the easiest way to create a contrast is to go all the way dark.

Another question that is relevant to ask is: What makes something dark? For those of you who don't know, it takes more than vampires to make something dark.

Darkness in fiction (and gaming) has to do with the role of evil in the story. If evil is winning, or has already won, it's dark. If the heroes live in the Good Kingdom and fight against the armies of the Evil Kingdom next door, you've got a fairly light situation. If the heroes live in the Evil Kingdom, and are rebels against the Evil King, then you've got darkness.

Both Caliber Comics and Disney produced a dark version of Oz by allowing it to be conquered by the Nome King. While this technique is effective, and lets your favorite Oz characters become heroic freedom fighters, it's a pretty severe change to the setting.

Another way to "darken" a setting is to apply a "dark mirror," taking things that are normally good and making them evil. A dark mirror Oz may have the Wizard, or Ozma, or Glinda in charge, but they are dark versions of their literary selves, harming others for their own self-gratification. Wicked uses this technique, casting the Wizard as the antagonist and Elphaba as a crusader for Animal rights.

With all this dark Oz stuff going around, I'm wondering if I should try and come up with a supplement for AiO with advice and suggestions for running a dark campaign.

If You Thought Star Wars: Episode 1 Was Bad...

...well, I'm right there with you on that one.

On a completely different subject, I have completed my first podcast. The Adventures in Oz Podcast Episode 1 is now available!

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While I had wanted to do a podcast for some time, getting it together proved to be something of a challenge. For one thing, I wanted a co-host, or at least someone to talk to. I find podcasts more fun to listen to if it's not just one voice, especially if there's a little banter and crosstalk going on. But it never really presented itself. Sure, I could have asked someone, but where's the fun in that?

I was nearly giving up when the whole Oz: Dark and Terrible thing came up. Having managed to get my hands on a copy (I actually traded someone a copy of AiO for it), I decided that my review of it would be long enough that it would probably be boring to read, but probably a good length for a podcast.

So once I had everything written and recorded, then began the arduous process of editing. I had no idea I was such a Shatner. So many pauses! Thankfully, I was able to trim them out and shave about 10 minutes off of the recording time.

Just a little commercial here: The Big 25 Sale is still going on at RPGNow, DriveThruRPG, and Lulu.com. On top of that, Lulu is offering coupon codes out the wazoo this holiday season. Until December 14, you can get free ground shipping with the coupon code HOLIDAY305. And they're also giving out a new coupon code every day until Christmas here. And remember, these coupon codes are cumulative (not sure exactly how, but they are) with the Big 25 discount of 25% off.

The Big 25 sale is ongoing through Christmas Day, so if your favorite Oz fan or gamer gets forgotten by Santa, it's easy to fix. Just check out one of the participating sites and order the instant gratification download and start playing the sample adventure, "The Jaded City of Oz."

Oz Character of the Month: Zeb Hugson

Something of an unusual choice this month. I already did Santa Claus last December, so the easy one is done.


Name: Zeb Hugson
First Appearance: Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz
Template: Child in Oz

Size: 2

Athletics: 4
Awareness: 4
Brains: 1
Presence: 2 (horsemanship)
Sneaking: 3
Wits: 3

Traits:

Friends List: Jim the Cab-Horse

Goodbye Thanksgiving, it's time for Christmas already!

I'm sure many of you are getting stuffed with turkey today, and plan on doing your shopping tomorrow on the infamous Black Friday. But thanks to the glories of the internet, some stores never close. And some of those stores are mine.

Starting today is the Big 25 sale at RPGnow, DrivethruRPG, and Lulu.com (print and PDF). From November 25 (Thanksgiving Day) through December 25 (Christmas Day), you can save 25% on Adventures in Oz: Fantasy Roleplaying Beyond the Yellow Brick Road. That's only $5.99 for the PDF or $11.24 for print.

Also, a new item is available today. Now you can get your own poster map of Oz over at Zazzle.com. It's the same map from the Adventures in Oz rulebook, now for display on your wall or wherever you put your Oz collectibles.

In other news, I got my hands on a copy of Oz: Dark and Terrible and am planning on posting a review in podcast form. Watch this space for updates on that.

Getting Ready

Sorry about the late blog post.

As much as I hate the mad mercantile rush around Christmas, I am forcing myself to participate. I've got a couple things that will be happening come Thanksgiving Day. I'll be having a Christmas sale at Lulu, DriveThruRPG, and RPGnow. And I'll be debuting a new product over at Zazzle. on that day as well.

Slightly farther out: I've been working on getting POD book printing through OneBookShelf. The first proof copy I ordered had some problems, and I had to get the file massaged before trying again. I ordered my second proof copy today. If that passes inspection, people can buy a print copy of AiO from DriveThruRPG and RPGnow. That also means that I'll be able to sell that holy grail of modern RPG marketing: The Print/PDF Bundle.

I am working on a new product right now: You've all seen my "Oz Character of the Month"? Well, I'm planning on putting that information onto nicely formatted character sheets. I've got a collection picked out featuring characters you've seen before and some statted out for the first time in this product. Illustrations have been provided by Oz illustrator S.P. Maldonado. I just need to do a little more writing, then get it certified and laid out pretty. No timetable yet, but I'm hoping it'll be available during the Christmas holiday season.

I Hate Christmas!

Actually, I really enjoy Christmas. While I don't get as many toys anymore (damn growing up!), it's still fun to check up with the family and play with the nephews' toys (though they're getting older now).

What I don't like about Christmas is how aggressively mercantile it's become. While out shopping for Halloween candy, I see displays with Christmas trees and Santa Claus. Thanksgiving gets no breathing room at all. It's primarily used to mark the day before "Black Friday", which is the day that people trample other people to death at Wal-Mart... I mean, the biggest shopping day of the year.

The worst part about this is that this is my first Christmas on the other side of the fence. As someone with something to sell, I'm going to have to find a way to tap all of this mercantile Christmas spirit while trying to make sure that I don't lose my personal love of Christmas.

Oz Character of the Month: Jack Pumpkinhead

There are those who would say I'm late with this one, but I say I'm right on time.

Name: Jack Pumpkinhead
First Appearance: The Marvelous Land of Oz
Template: Crafted Person

Size: 3

Athletics: 2
Awareness: 3
Brains: 2 (pumpkins)
Presence: 3
Sneaking: 1
Wits: 2

Traits: Crafted, Craftsman: Pumpkins

Friends List: Ozma

Jack Pumpkinhead is the most curiously mortal being in the land of Oz. While his wooden body will not wear out, his pumpkin head spoils on a regular basis. So he maintains a pumpkin farm in the Winkie country near the Emerald City so he always has a fresh pumpkin on hand to carve into a new head whenever he needs it. He has also carved a home from a particularly large pumpkin where he entertains guests and serves them various pumpkin-based delicacies, made from pumpkins that he has no need of as heads.