THROWBACK THURSDAY: Two Great Tastes, One Great Flavour

One of the many ways that Knights of The Dinner Table has resonated with me through the years is the characters' (and creator Jolly Blackburn's) unwavering love for Hawk The Slayer.

The film is frequently referenced in the comic strips, particularly by hardcore gamers Dave and Bob.

Sarah: I thought you guys loved The Lord of the Rings movies.

Bob: Hey, don't get us wrong. Lord of the Rings is great, but let's be honest. It's no Hawk the Slayer.

Dave: Hawk the Slayer is based on sound role-playing principles. Lord of the Rings just got it wrong.

- Knights of the Dinner Table, Special Edition #2, Paperhack Writer

I was a particularly happy geek when, during the build-up to the (sadly failed) Kickstarter for Hawk The Hunter, I was able to put one of the film's producers in touch with Jolly, to arrange an interview with writer/director Terry Marcel to plug the crowdfunding campaign.

Apropos of nothing in particular, I came across this fine piece of artwork by Steven Cummings for the cover of Knights of the Dinner Table #215, from 2014.

In his comments about the cover, Jolly wrote:

"When Steven Cummings asked if he could do a Hawk the Slayer tribute cover for us, I tripped over myself rushing to the keyboard to respond, “HELLYES!!”. I love the resulting piece. The Knights would be both thrilled and PROUD."

THROWBACK THURSDAY: HAWK THE SIGNATURES!

Earlier this year I talked about the magic of signed items, but among my small collection of such I have an old paperback that I now consider priceless.

Here follows the two-stage yarn of what makes it so.

First, we must travel back through the mists of time to 2011, when rumours started circulating that the writer/director of 1980's Hawk The Slayer (the greatest Dungeons & Dragons movie of all time), Terry Marcel, was - finally - seeking funding for the long-awaited sequel, Hawk The Hunter.

Sadly, we know what became of that, but I'm jumping ahead.

Although my memories of what transpired are hazy these days, I know that because I had written voluminously and passionately about Hawk The Slayer online for years I somehow got in contact with one of the producers for the planned sequel.

And he offered to get my old copy of the novelisation (which Terry was also co-author, with script partner Harry Robertson, of) signed by Terry Marcel himself.

I'll confess I was anxious about mailing the book away. Purchasing it when I was a youngster is one of my few, remaining solid memories from those days. 

But the producer was true to his word and got Terry to sign it. Not just sign it, as you can see above, but also inscribe the opening text of the movie.

Then, four years later, in the build-up to the film-funding Kickstarter, my producer-contact wove his magic again, asking me if I'd like the coolest elf in cinema history, Crow aka actor Ray Charleson (pictured below, holding The Mindsword), to also sign my book?

Again, I was slightly anxious about mailing the book off. Not that my contact wouldn't come through, but that something would happen to it in the post.

And, again, I needn't have worried. Everything went as promised.

As I said  earlier, my memory may not be what it used to be, yet I can still vividly recall buying that book in WH Smiths in Tunbridge Wells. It was dark and I'd popped in after school on the way to catching the bus home. I was 15 and the book cost the grand sum of one pound.

Who'd have thought that one day it would be priceless?

THROWBACK THURSDAY: Following The Whispering Road Made Us All Both Storytellers and Gamers

Back at the tail end of 2018, the Tuesday Knights (our tabletop roleplaying gaming group) did something unusual: something that goes against my zealous protection of our precious, limited gaming slots. We played a one-shot. And I really enjoyed it. I mean I really, really enjoyed it. 

I'm still quite adamant that while we are bound to "one gaming session a month" (meaning a maximum of 12 a year, and we rarely achieve that for sundry health, family, and work reasons) I would rather play (or run) something with the potential to become an open-ended "forever campaign".

However, let's flashback to December 20, 2018, and see what I wrote in my gaming log:

This week's RPG session with the Tuesday Knights could, possibly, have proved to be a game-changer.

It was our first exposure to a so-called "storytelling game" - Brent Newhall's The Whispering Road - and I was anxious about getting my head around playing a game devoid of such traditional mechanical trappings as character statistics, hit points, armour class, experience points, equipment lists etc

Instead, our character's were made up of a number of traits (some were personality quirks, others minor abilities or powers) and a "need".

Further taking us out of our comfort zone, there was no definitive setting for the game and it didn't even require a gamesmaster!

Clare, whose game it was, took the role of "Architect", meaning she framed the story and set the scene, while Pete was nominated as "Driver", making it his job to ensure the story kept moving and we didn't get bogged down in rules discussions or non-gaming distractions (not, it turned out, that he needed to worry about that because we all quickly got on board with The Whispering Road).

Beforehand, via our super-secret Facebook group, Clare had nudged us to create a setting for the game: and we cooked up a snow-bound Medieval land (which in play veered between Celtic and Norse) where saints and demons walked the land, and everyone had a pet mouse as a companion.

Our characters were:

• Ceitlen (Pete) - first born daughter of the chieftain, guardian of the clan's symbolic magical shield, whose motivation was protecting the shield and what it stood for (ie. the community);
• Torg (me) - third born (second son) of the chieftain, a trickster and troublemaker, who wanted to prove that he could be as good a hero as Ceitlen;
• Glau (Kevin) - a miserable farmer, gifted with a magical spade and the ability to see the future, who just wanted the snow to stop;
• Master Mouse (Erica) - the custodian of the clan's mice, and a mentor to all, who wanted people to listen to her advice;
• Sister Prudence (Clare) - a nun and fanatical follower of Little St Therese (patron saint of mice), who sought to stem the rising tide of secularism in the village.

After everyone described their typical day in the village, the story began with Glau coming to the chieftain with dire warnings that the snows were getting worse.

The village was whipped up into a frenzy, and, led by an army of mice to clear a path, headed up into the mountains to find the cause of the supernaturally worsening weather.

After being ambushed by dire wolves (not common in these 'ere parts), the bulk of the village were sent home for their own protection, leaving our small group of heroes to carry on.

I stumbled upon an old ruin (Torg, as a "rascal", had more traits than anyone else and these included a couple of doses of "dumb luck" as well as being the group's "magic-user"), from where we headed to an ice cave that actually turned out to be a frost giantess called Midhilda.

Before we knew this, she had rolled a giant boulder at us, which had crushed Ceitlen's shield and shattered it in to three pieces.

While the others were determined to talk to the giantess, Torg transformed into a mouse and started to scuttle up her leg, with a typically Viking-esque bloody plan in mind to kill her (thinking he would be saving the village that way and proving himself).

However, Master Mouse called out to him to stop because they had discovered that she was simply looking for her giant boyfriend Jordmund.

Unfortunately, giants' sense of time isn't the same as ours and we discovered he'd passed through this area hundreds of years ago.

During the conversation, she also revealed that her oversized enchanted sword had been shattered, and Torg suggested that he could magically repair it using one of the fragments of Ceitlen's shield.

Ceitlen, already upset over the loss of the shield (despite Master Mouse explaining to her that it was only a symbol and she was still protecting the community), was initially not happy about this.

But then she came round to the idea and tried to claim it as her own, much to Torg's annoyance. He lost his rag, which - in turn - freaked out the giant (who couldn't handle extreme's of human emotion) and so Master Mouse and Sister Prudence had to calm down Midhilda and Torg.

Assisted by a small coterie of mice summoned by Prudence, Torg then wove the pieces of shield and sword together with some colourful sorcerous hand gestures, and went on to proudly explain that this was also forging a bond between the frost giants and our village.

And, boy, was he feeling smug about all this... right up until the point where Midhilda declared that her new magical sword would be named after Ceitlen.

Torg's jaw hit the floor (and everyone - including me - around the table roared with laughter).

In return, Midhilda handed Ceitlen with a large fragment from her old broken sword, which could be reforged into a new shield.

We all returned to the village, satisfied that our story arcs had been achieved, the magical snows had eased, and Midhilda had opened a new pass through the mountains for us.

Writing up the adventure primarily from Torg's POV and my recollections, I haven't really done the evening's game justice.

It was a surprisingly layered escapade, with everyone's actions dictated by whether they were satisfying their own character's needs or those of others in the group.

When you're not spending 20 minutes on a fight sequence, it frees up time for character development and The Whispering Road was all about co-operation and working together to achieve our goals (even when they were pulling us in opposite directions).

Although I'm not a fan of listening to "actual play" recordings, part of me wishes I'd recorded the evening on my phone to release as a podcast.

From the initial group world-building, through the speedy character creation, right up to the hilarious climax of the story and the satisfying denouement, this really was a game unlike any we've played before.

I've always been fascinated by the simple idea of characters who are related by blood somehow, and the dynamic of Pete's Ceitlen  and my Torg unfolded brilliantly as both of us tried to one-up each other: Ceitlen with her strength and charisma, Torg with his tricksiness.

Unintentionally, as Kevin pointed out, this developed into a perfect Thor/Loki dynamic.

The whole adventure was contained to a single, two-and-a-half hour session, but - because the game was structured into scenes (with prompts for The Architect) and acts - the story we freestyled together really felt as though it came together like a movie.

I backed The Whispering Road on Kickstarter, in early 2014, on behalf of Nick and Clare, thinking it might make an interesting introductory RPG for my godson Alec (it's inspired by Studio Ghibli films, which Clare is a great fan of, and doesn't revolve around killing things that look different to you and then stealing their stuff).

Little did I realise that it would actually serve as The Tuesday Knights' introduction to the weird and wonderful world of Story Games!

I was so impressed by The Whispering Road and the story-crafting techniques the game subtly deployed throughout, as well as Clare's first stint at running a roleplaying game for adults (as opposed to her children).

There were simple dice-rolling mechanics for resolving conflicts (for instance, in a fight the roll would say whether you won or lost, not dictate a blow-by-blow account of the battle), complementing the system's aim of creating a thematic narrative, driven by the characters' needs and desires.

We weren't restricted - or bound - by the rules, in fact they encouraged our creativity and communal storytelling skills.

What's happening to us? Are we becoming New Age gamers? Are we waving goodbye to the Old School Renaissance and becoming Story Game aficionados?

I think it's a bit early to be binning all our d20 rulebooks, but I can definitely see us returning to The Whispering Road.

The evening ended with talks of a 'sequel movie' to our adventure, but, as much as I really liked all the characters the Tuesday Knights had cooked up, my mind was racing towards other settings and environments I'd love to explore via the game's very open mechanics.

It was a shame Simon was unable to make our final gathering of 2018, as it was a grand send-off to another fine year of gaming.

POSSE POWER!!!

Photo by Reda Bluo

Since this blog celebrated its first six months of active service back in May, another brave soul has joined our Posse of Followers: Tom D.

This pushes membership to a very lucky 13, but we could always do better! We're very welcoming around these 'ere parts.

Look to the right and you will see in the side column (below the current 'featured article') a widget entitled Join The Posse. Under avatars for my current followers is a button marked Follow.

Simply press that and - all being well - your avatar will join the ranks of this group of brave heroes.

I do think you'll need a Google account for this to work (Blogger, after all, is a Google thing).

Not only does this mean, my expertly crafted prose will appear in your Google "Reading List" but it demonstrates to me that you're interested in my waffle and support what I'm doing (without having to part with a single red cent, sign up to a Patreon, or back my Kickstarter).

For those of you new around here, my blog is kind of a broad church at present with a mix of film (and TV) reviews, trailers, books, comic books (particularly Titan's Conan and other Howardverse titles), and underpinning it all a life-long love of tabletop roleplaying games.

I also love swords-and-sorcery, monster horror, westerns, Star Wars, B-movies, select superheroes (primarily Superman and Fantastic Four these days), curry, pizzas, my long-suffering wife, Rachel, and our cute little doggo, Alice.

And probably other things that have slipped out of my Swiss Cheesed brain.

I also write, occasionally, about my health: the idea being that, as a stroke survivor, I can share both the highs and lows of my ongoing physical and mental battles. I try to limit this, at most, to once a week (although, where pertinent, it can slip into posts about other things).

Anyway, you're here now, reading this, so why wouldn't you want to join the Posse?

• Of course, honestly, the best way to follow the action on Cowboys, Capes, and Claws is to add this blog to your Feedly aggregator or similar RSS feed reader application (it almost sounds as though I know what I'm talking about!)

Dragonbane Kickstarters Open Up 40 Years Of History

Dragonbane, Free League's English translation of the venerable Swedish roleplaying game Drakar och Demoner, comes with no official setting for its adventures.

However, two current Kickstarters (translating and updating Swedish source materials) are offering the original Swedish campaign setting - Ereb Altor - and the first standalone adventure - Twin Mountains - to modern Dragonbane players.

Both Kickstarters have already funded, guaranteeing their production.

Running until July 16, the Ereb Altor Kickstarter consists of four gorgeous-looking hardbacks, with maps, where you can find - among many other things - the locations of the adventures already published by Free League (such as Misty Vale). 

As well as new kin, heroic abilities, foes, and monsters, the setting guide includes:

"A chapter exploring Ereb Altor's history as one of Sweden's most enduring fantasy roleplaying settings."

Two of the four books concern The Copper Sea: one a player's guide to the region, including rules for seafaring adventures,  and one a gamesmaster's guide and sandbox campaign book.

The final book in the Kickstarter is Call of The Siren, an epic campaign.

Pop over to the Kickstarter's page to learn much more about all the goodness on offer.

Meanwhile, the Return to Twin Mountains crowdfunding campaign, which runs until July 31, will produce a 72-page, softback, standalone sequel to the classic 1983 adventure, Twin Mountains.

Forty years ago, a few daring adventurers from Sarnath left The Bagpipe inn in the small village of Windwoe and set off for the burial mound where the sorcerers Swarzard and Kobbler lay. After a few fierce battles against trolls and reptile men, they managed to enter the burial mound and face the dangers within. But they also found riches and the infamous demon sword Dziggetai.

Four decades have now passed, and something seems to have come back to life down by the Twin Mountains. Rumours of this reach Sarnath, and a new group of adventurers sets off for Windwoe to buy a talkative old man a beer at The Bagpipe. What is happening on the peaks of Simenov and Menov? And where did Dziggetai end up all those years ago?

It is time to journey back to the Twin Mountains.

To learn much more, and make your pledge, you can visit the adventure's Kickstarter page here.

Hawk The Hunter: What Could Have Been

Terry Marcel, director of Hawk The Slayer, talks with Oliver McNeil, of The Fantasy Podcast and The School of Wizards and Witches, back in 2015, just as it looked as though we might get a sequel (Hawk The Hunter) - with the aid of Kickstarter.

Sadly, as we know, that never happened.

However, the interview also covers the samurai roots of Hawk The Slayer, the film's Easter Eggs, its world's creatures and magic, the casting of Lost's John Terry and Jack Palance, Terry's tantalising plans to take the Hawk brand to television, the Dark Knight TV series, how we almost had Tom Hardy as Hawk back in 2009, and handing over the reins to a younger director.

Ah, those were the days! What could have been...

Honestly, it breaks my heart to hear all these plans and imagine a world where Hawk got the Renaissance it deserves, and we could all be watching a TV show, reading an ongoing comic book series, and even playing video games based upon the most Dungeons & Dragons film of all time.

While we bathe in the warm glow of "what might have been", here also is a selection of interviews that Rebellion conducted with the lovely and optimistic Terry Marcel prior to the launch of the doomed Kickstarter:

THROWBACK THURSDAY: When Hawk Failed To Fly!

Back in October 2015, I was devastated when the Kickstarter campaign to secure the final funding for the proposed Hawk The Slayer sequel, Hawk The Hunter, fell well short of its goal.

Getting the bit between my teeth, I penned an amateur dissection of what I felt went wrong.

Remember this was written over 10 years ago. In the meantime 2000AD (published by Rebellion) has run a number of original Hawk The Slayer comic strips, but - as far as I am aware - Hawk The Hunter as a movie property is dead and buried.

You can read my commentary from back then below:

The Kickstarter to secure the final slice of funding to get the long-awaited Hawk The Slayer sequel off the ground ended this week, having raised a pitiful five per cent of its target.

The Hawk The Hunter campaign started with great gusto, screenings at FrightFest in London and at a convention in the States, a slew of magazine and news website coverage.

Then nothing...

It was as though the campaign organisers were just sitting back, expecting the cash to come flooding in. Or they simply didn't understand how Kickstarter works.

The campaign launched on August 30, and ran until October 1, hoping to raise a cool half-a-million dollars, the final 20 per cent of the finances needed to get the film made.

In that time there were only three updates to the campaign, the last being on September 1, where the writer/director of the original Hawk The Slayer, Terry Marcel, said: "Just wanted to let you know we've raised $4.5M on this project, we need the final $500K to make this happen."

Through the duration of the campaign we heard nothing from the director chosen for the new film, nor from Rebellion (the comic publishers and video game company providing the special effects), no sample footage, no tunes from Rick Wakeman, or anything that might spur people to invest... beyond simple nostalgia for the original cult classic.

In the end the Kickstarter raised just under $27,000.

You just need to look at the Kicktraq data for the campaign (which is more readable actually on the Kicktraq site) to see the enthusiasm was there at the start, but then dropped away dramatically.

Days before the end of the campaign, producer Andrew Grocock posted a message to the Official Hawk The Hunter Facebook page spelling out some of the reasons why the campaign had faltered so spectacularly.

First up, a couple of their pre-release promotional videos on YouTube were removed because of music clearance issues:

"The first two videos were then taken down from YouTube by the representative of the Harry Robertson Estate [citing] Soundtrack Copyright as we’d used a few seconds of original Hawk the Slayer music without permission.

We were also issued with a statement that under no circumstances were we allowed to use the HtS soundtrack music to promote the sequel Hawk the Hunter."

Luckily co-producer Jason Kingsley, head of Rebellion, stepped in and helped create an alternative launch video.

Then, despite some success with getting Terry in front of reporters to talk about the campaign, Andrew said:

"Many newspaper, magazine, RPG and games-based media outlets refused to help promote or mention our campaign as Kickstarters are not wholly recognised as being 'FOR REAL'. Games Workshop Weekly newsletter being one opportunity that was a ‘NO’ and disappointed me the most."

In the end, the Hawk The Hunter campaign received pledges from only 375 backers (which, of course, now won't be collected). If it was just members of the Official Facebook Group who were backing it that's still less than 60 per cent of the group's 639 membership.

If self-professed fans of the franchise weren't even willing to chip in $10, what chance did Terry and Andrew have of raising $500,000 from others  who weren't so invested in the world of Hawk The Slayer?

Let's consider for a moment Iron Sky (the 2012 fan-funded Nazis-on-the-Moon 'comedy'). That was a pretty awful film that makes Hawk The Slayer look Oscar-worthy in comparison, yet its sequel, The Coming Race, raised $614,599 from 8,807 backers on IndieGoGo at the start of the year.

The current Mythica film Kickstarter (the third fantasy flick, from indie film company Arrowstorm, in a five-part saga) has gotten over 1,000 pledges already, while the second part got 1,382 and the first 1,527.

Both the Iron Sky crew and Arrowstorm get crowdfunding, understand the need to keep their backers enthused so they continue to spread the message, regularly update their sites while their campaigns are running, drip feed new titbits about the production or new investment incentives etc

Earlier in the week, when it was clear the Hawk The Hunter fundraiser wouldn't reach its goal, Terry posted an upbeat message on the film's website:

"As you may be aware, the Kickstarter campaign was unsuccessful so we are re-evaluating the project. I hope to have news before the end of the year."

However, this needs to be taken in tandem with Andrew's earlier message, which said:

"You all know the resulting failure of the Kickstarter, the numbers of which cannot justify holding onto our studio, post [production], CGI and equity pledged investment..."

So, it looks as though, if Hawk The Hunter is ever to move ahead, it's not going to be simply a question of making the movie with the $4.5 million they had raised, as they may not even have all of that now.

It's very easy to sit back here, behind my keyboard, and armchair quarterback what went wrong, but given that, in some shape or form, Hawk The Hunter has been 'in the works' for more than 30 years, you have to question some of the decisions made as the film raced towards its final hurdle.

Besides the music clearance issue discussed above, I found a number of the high value rewards on offer for the campaign rather strange, for instance:

• $250 for a 15-second bespoke voice message (even though there was no indication who the actors would be in the film).

or

• $3,000 to be an extra for a day in a tavern scene (I don't know how much extras get paid these days, but to pay three grand to appear in the background of a scene seems a mite excessive. It didn't even state where the filming would be taking place, so you could have coughed up the money then found it was being filmed somewhere you couldn't get to)

And the thing was, about the bulk of these high-end incentives, as written, you didn't even get a digital download, let along a DVD, of the movie when it was completed... or any other of the lower price incentives!

One person chipped in for a Mind Sword prop replica, a couple went for framed art, and three were hoping for a pair of premiere tickets, but most of the high-priced items didn't attract any interest.

I guess, because there was the big launch at FrightFest, Terry and his team felt committed to run the campaign to completion, but given the lack of anything from its organisers after the first few days, sadly, I'm not surprised that few others were interested in pitching in.

I'm still holding out hope that Hawk will live again, but if this campaign couldn't even muster the full support of its own fans, maybe the wider world just isn't that bothered about seeing Hawk do battle with Voltan again.

Perhaps, the Hawk The Slayer video game will still come out from Rebellion, perhaps they'll still publish the comic that was mentioned in passing during the initial promotion, or perhaps we'll have to make do with our shiny new Blu-Rays of Hawk The Slayer...

WALL OF HAWK!

For my birthday in 2019, Rachel agreed to pay for my two original Hawk The Slayer posters to be framed professionally.

The following January they went up (thanks to Rachel's dad) in the gamesroom, and I couldn't be happier.

The top one is a quad poster that would have been displayed outside a cinema, while beneath that is an official art print that was produced to coincide with the launch of the (sadly failed) 2015 Kickstarter to fund the sequel, Hawk The Hunter.

It's signed by Hawk's co-creator and director of the 1980's original movie, Terry Marcel.

Then beneath that I have a signed picture of Annette Crosbie as the Abbess, and a stock publicity picture of the legendary Jack Palance as Voltan.

"Half a Year, Half a Year, Half a Year Onward..."

Photo by NASA Hubble Space Telescope on Unsplash

Apologies to Alfred, Lord Tennyson for butchering his iconic opening to The Charge of The Light Brigade for the sake of a cheeky headline.

This blog has now been on "active duty" for six months now... and seems to be ticking over nicely.

To be honest, it actually feels much longer, like the gravitational pull of a black hole warping my perception of time. On one hand life is racing by at an accelerated rate, while on the other the blog wades slowly through treacle.

I realise this iteration of my blogging 'career' has grown out of the detritus and chaos left by my previous near twenty years of blogging, but I somehow fooled myself into thinking that that would make it easier to stay focussed on what I wanted this new edition to be.

This has not been the case.

Of course, I wish there was more tabletop roleplaying gaming material on it, as that was one of the main reasons for returning to the bloggosphere and it's always been where, I felt, I was the most creative.

Previous blogs have boasted gameable material, monsters, magic, and houserules as and when such tickled my fancy or I was suitably inspired. But so far - for the reasons I mentioned the other day - there's been bupkis.

I also wish my health - both physical and mental - was in a better place, but ultimately that's all down to me ensuring I pull my finger out and take positive steps to alleviate those issues.

The erratic heartbeat of the blog's views/hit count over six months

Behind-the-scenes, a conversation the other month with Tim Brannan (of The Other Side) finally managed to rid myself of my obsession with "hits" and where they were coming from.

Looking at the views individual posts are getting also paints a very different picture to the occasional tidal wave of bots scraping the blog as a whole for whatever it is they think they might find here.

Each article gets a pretty consistent amount of visitors that I'm very happy with. When you look at the blog's widgets charting "popular posts" for the week, the "scores" that separate each are usually only one or two hits apart.

These days I'm much more focussed on getting comments - either directly on the blog or on Facebook (where I promote all my posts). Comments, for me, are the lifeblood of blogging and the best, most genuine, reflection of a true connection with your readership.

Obviously, I'd prefer more people left messages on the actual blog, but Facebook has the bonus that readers can simply react to a post without the necessity of sharing their more detailed thoughts on my nonsense. 

Maybe, eventually, I'll write something revolutionary and suddenly my site will blow up with large-scale, genuine engagement, but in the real world I'm more than content to just keep posting my posts for my circle of friends and acquaintances. 

As this new blog continues to grow, I would like to develop that hardcore band of followers - my posse, if you will.

My goal is for "quality" over "quantity". As I've just said, I'm not striving for hits and clicks. Just a coterie of readers willing to interact with my babble, offer constructive criticism, and engage in conversations.

Look to the right and you will see in the side column (below the current 'featured article') a widget entitled Join The Posse. Under avatars for my current Followers is a button marked Follow.

Simply press that and - all being well - your avatar will join the ranks of this group of brave heroes.

I do think you'll need a Google account for this to work (Blogger, after all, is a Google thing).

Not only does this mean that my expertly crafted prose will appear in your Google "Reading List" but it demonstrates to me that you're interested in my waffle and support what I'm doing (without having to part with a single red cent, sign up to Patreon, or back my Kickstarter).

Since I last brought this subject up, I've had two new recruits join our happy little party: my best mate, Paul, and my old online pal Ivy aka The Happy Whisk.

DO YOU WANT TO JOIN MY POSSE?

Photo by Alex Moliski

As this new blog continues to grow (out of the detritus and chaos left by my previous near twenty years of blogging), I'm always looking to develop my hardcore band of followers - my posse, if you will.

Look to the right and you will see in the side column (below the current 'featured article') a widget entitled Join The Posse. Under avatars for my current followers is a button marked Follow.

Simply press that and - all being well - your avatar will join the ranks of this group of brave heroes.

I do think you'll need a Google account for this to work (Blogger, after all, is a Google thing).

Not only does this mean, my expertly crafted prose will appear in your Google "Reading List" but it demonstrates to me that you're interested in my waffle and support what I'm doing (without having to part with a single red cent, sign up to a Patreon, or back my Kickstarter).

In recent weeks, the posse has attracted three new members: my good lady wife, Rachel (who blogs about dolls houses at Miniatures Make Me Happy); my dear Canadian friend Norm Collins; and the "witch-king of gaming" Timothy S Brannan (who blogs about roleplaying games and witches, and witches in roleplaying games, over on The Other Side).

You're already here, reading this, so why wouldn't you want to join them?

• Of course, honestly, the best way to follow the action on Cowboys, Capes, and Claws is to add this blog to your Feedly aggregator or similar RSS feed reader application (it almost sounds as though I know what I'm doing!)

Honestly, I Can Justify Buying These Two New Games

Remember back in February when I implied that I wasn't going to buy any new roleplaying games?

Well, much to no one's surprise, that pledge didn't exactly last. Although I would argue that my recent purchases may have some degree of utility in my proposed 'anime-influenced' fantasy campaign that I'm hoping to run with Twilight Sword.

In the past week, I have acquired the Pirate Borg Starter Set and the core rulebook (and some add-ons) for the new Conan: The Hyborian Age roleplaying game.

Both are peak examples of modern production standards, although I know already my chances of actually running either are next to next to zero.

These are reference works, first and foremost, because I am fascinated by pirates and I am fascinated by Conan, and always imagine slipping elements of both into my fantasy games.

First off, though, I have to point out, for those who aren't already aware, the Pirate Borg Starter Set is probably the best RPG starter set I have ever seen.

For a ridiculously low cost (when you consider what's included), you get all of this in the solid, deep box:

That's an introductory rulebook, a campaign book, item cards, a pack of character sheets, some reusable character sheets with felt pens, three sheets of card counters, several battle mats and game maps, and a full set of  gorgeous (stylishly simple) dice.

None of these are cheap quality or flimsy. These items are designed for use at the games table. Even the inside surface of the box lids (top and bottom) have useful charts and tables on.

Much of this material, obviously, can be used with other game systems - which is good, as I still dream of running a nautical adventure, even if not with this elegant Mörk Borg hack.

My other purchase - this time from eBay - was an ex-Kickstarter bundle of core material for the, as yet, unreleased to retail new Conan roleplaying game, published by Monolith.

Unlike Pirate Borg, I haven't read more than a few lines of this yet, but from what I've seen it looks a reasonable simple and uncluttered system (especially compared to previous Conan RPGs that were overwhelmed by character feats, abilities, splat books etc).

I already appreciate the use of large text and white space (as you can see from the random selection of pages below), which tells me this should be straight forward for a numpty like me to grok.

As well as the core rulebook, my eBay bundle included a large map of Conan's world in the Hyborian Age, two packs of blank character sheets, and a collection of ready reference rules sheets to use when running the game.

DEATHSTALKER WEEK: Deathstalker (2025)

Warrior and scavenger Deathstalker (Daniel Bernhardt) is pulled into the "machinations of the gods" when he steals a magical amulet from a dying prince on a battlefield.

Teaming up with goblin-dwarf wizard Doodad (Laurie Field, voiced by Patton Oswald) and thief Brisbayne (Christina Orjalo), this trio of rogues have to first undo the curse on Deathstalker that has bound the amulet to him.

Then they have to find an (impractical) four-bladed magical sword and thwart the apocalyptic plans of the evil sorcerer Nekromemnon (Nicholas Rice), his right-hand goon, the undead Jotak (Paul Lazenby) and their legions of monstrous Dreadite soldiers.

Written and directed by Psycho Goreman's Steven Kostanski (who was born three years after the original Deathstalker was released) Deathstalker (2025) is a loving tribute to vintage, low-budget, swords-and-sorcery flicks.

It is set in a land awash with Hawk The Slayer mist, and our heroes fight their way through a never-ending onslaught of Power Rangers (and Psycho Goreman) style rubber-suit monsters and Evil Dead-style stop-motion creations.

And, yes, the infamous porcine-faced humanoid makes a return appearance, although he's had a bit of a glow-up since the original movies. You may call him a pig-man, but to me he's a Gygaxian orc.

The ultimate weapon that Stalker is seeking - as I suspected the other day - is even an on-the-nose homage to Alert Pyun's The Sword and The Sorcerer.

In fact, the only thing that really differentiates this from the earlier Deathstalker movies is the total absence of sleaze. There's no nudity (gratuitous or otherwise), not even a hint of sexual tension between Stalker and Brisbayne. Instead, they are treated as <shudder> equals!

And, you know what, I didn't miss it. Deathstalker's linear plot is a blood-spattered, non-stop riot of over-the-top cartoonish violence, interspersed with some witty dialogue, subtle foreshadowing, and a cavalcade of rubbery monsters that could easily have just rolled out of an old school Dungeons & Dragons adventure.

You may recognise him as Kirill from John Wick or Agent Johnson from The Matrix Reloaded, but Daniel Bernhardt, who has a definite air of Jon Hamm in his mien, is superb as the titular antihero and the door is definitely left wide open at the end for sequels.

I, for one, would welcome further adventures with Bernhardt reprising the role.

The only nit I would pick with Kostanski's script - and this is as much personal taste as anything - is giving Deathstalker a backstory that necessitates him having a "pre-Deathstalker" name.

Honestly, this is completely unnecessary as the name could have been excised from the script and it would have read just as well if he was a "man with no name" type.

The film was part-funded by Kickstarter in 2024, but (for reasons) as there were no Blu-Rays (or even DVDs) on offer as incentives I just chipped in at the lowest level to get my name in the credits... because I'm easily pleased.

This did mean I had to import the Blu-Ray off my own back this week - thanks to eBay.

I know there are going to be those who moan about what's missing from the traditional Deathstalker formula (even though, surprisingly having now seen the film, it is front-and-centre in the comic book spin-off released by Vault Comics in the wake of the Kickstarter).

However, if anything, 2025's Deathstalker proves you can still make outrageous, trashy, dark fantasy sword-and-sorcery movies in this day and age that cater to audiences both old and new.

My "thank you" in the credits: best $10 I've ever invested in a Kickstarter 😉

You Know What Your D&D Games Need? Deathstalker!

Although the Kickstarter-funded reimagining of/sequel to the original - and infamous - swords-and-sleaze classic Deathstalker has yet to materialise on these shores, my old pal Pun (of Halls of the Nephilim) stumbled over a fresh treat on DriveThruRPG.

It's a free, official, 18-page PDF called the Deathstalker D&D 5e Compendium, and describes itself as follows:

Bring the world of Deathstalker into your Dungeons & Dragons 5e games with this guide from Shout! Studios and ProgCore Fantasy. Featuring full D&D5e stats for 12 of Deathstalker's deadly adversaries and two powerful magical artifacts, all straight from the new Deathstalker film by Steven Kostanski.

This compendium is produced by the ProgCore Fantasy team for Shout! Studios, and is offered FREE in conjunction with the February 17 2026 Blu-ray release of Deathstalker.

Fearing spoilers, as is my wont, I've only skimmed the booklet. I was impressed by the variety of creatures on display, but I noticed a couple of things in particular that piqued my interest:

Firstly, Deathstalker seems to have had a real human man name before he was Deathstalker, which, to me, rather demystifies the character and fails to understand the central joke at the heart of the original quartet of low-budget movies.

Secondly, one of the magical items is a multi-bladed sword called Light of Talon. Is this iteration of Deathstalker also the long-awaited sequel to Albert Pyun's The Sword and The Sorcerer? Does this signal the establishment of a Deathstalker'verse???

THROWBACK THURSDAY: When Jeff Dee Drew The Acrobatic Flea

Dreams do come true.

Over the years many, many amazing artist friends (and DC artist Des Taylor) have kindly turned my signature Villains & Vigilantes character into works of art.

However, I never could have imagined - when I was sketching out the character back in the early '80s for Steve's original campaign - that one day I'd be able to see him drawn by the definitive V&V artist (and the game's co-creator): Jeff Dee.

This came about as one of the rewards for backing the Villains & Vigilantes Third Edition (aka The Mighty Protectors) Kickstarter back in late 2016.

This incredible work of art arrived at my front door in August 2020 and I was as ridiculously pumped then as I still am today by it.

My favourite RPG character... drawn by Jeff Dee... world-renowned Dungeons & Dragons artist from the golden age of TSR modules, comic book artist, and co-creator of the game that Steve, Pete, Nick, and I played endlessly in our youth.

I still can't quite believe it.

He Answers To Only One Name: Deathstalker!

In Deathstalker, the Kingdom of Abraxeon is under siege by the Dreadites, heralds of the long-dead sorcerer Nekromemnon. When Deathstalker recovers a cursed amulet from a corpse-strewn battlefield, he's marked by dark magick and hunted by monstrous assassins. To survive, he must break the curse and face the rising evil. Death is just the beginning… of great adventure!

Deathstalker is a reimagining of (or sequel to) the cult 1983 classic of the same name that became the poster child for blending sleaze and gore in low-budget "barbarian and babes" fantasy flicks (usually direct-to-video).

This Kickstarter-funded revival of the franchise is written and directed by Steven Kostanski, who gave us the delightful Psycho Goreman in 2020 and the magnificent Lovecraftian horror of The Void in 2016.

The Tuesday Knights May Be On An Extended Hiatus, But The Gaming Wheels Are Still Turning

Today is the 17th anniversary of the first gathering of our gaming group, The Tuesday Knights.

However, we are currently on an extended hiatus - for various reasons we haven't gamed since May and now, of course, I'm rather entangled in a medical "mystery" as science tries to figure out why my legs aren't working properly!

I've thus pulled the plug on my supers' game, as Pete has stepped up with a new system he has invested in, to continue his long-running time travel/alternate reality campaign, which has so far bounced from GURPS Atomic Horror to Hollow Earth Expedition.

Next up will be Outgunned, which I'm very excited about as it's a game I was seriously considering picking up when it was launched through some crowdfunding programme or another. It's "cinematic action" vibe really appeals to me, so I'm looking forward to playing this.

I think we might still be playing in the same Indiana Jones-inspired inter-war setting in which our HEX game was set, presumably using the Outgunned Adventure supplement, although, to be honest, I wouldn't mind our characters sliding into contemporary bodies for a bit of John Wick/James Bond action.

In the meantime, I've superficially been kicking around some alternate systems for me to try out on the gang once I'm feeling better and Pete takes his next break from his long-running game (currently 32 sessions over 36 months).

Top contenders for further investigation on my behalf are:

GO FER YER GUN! But rather than a straight Western, I'd be looking to "Dark Tower it up" by easily blending some magic and monsters into the mix. This would be very easy to do with the simple d20 rules of Go Fer Yer Gun! 

ALIEN RPG (EVOLVED): I haven't read enough of the original edition to really get my head round the system, but there's a new edition out later this year (I didn't back the Kickstarter) and I really love the setting.

STAR TREK ADVENTURES (2nd Edition): I've never really grokked the 2d20 system that Modiphius uses to power most of its RPGs, but I know a lot of online buddies talk of playing in ongoing, long-running campaigns with this game. And who doesn't love Star Trek, right? I have the starter set for the new edition, just need to get round to reading the books.

PLANET OF THE APES: Another setting I adore. I can't help imagining the team as crashed astronauts on a post-apocalyptic Earth being pursued by trumpet-blowing gorillas.

The rules are variation on the old West End Games d6 system, which many, many people speak highly of although I've never played it. I didn't back the Planet of The Apes Kickstarter in the end, but the rule books are due out early next year.

BEYOND THE VEIL: While my previous possibilities are essentially variations on a theme, just with different settings, Beyond The Veil is nothing like any of those.

It's a roleplaying game about ghost-hunters in contemporary times. Not superheroes or trained astronauts, but members of the public - both believers and non-believers - brought together to scientifically investigate claims of the supernatural. It's The X-Files, Uncanny podcast and Stephen King horror, mingled with UFOs, cryptids and ghost stories, as read about through the pages of The Fortean Times.

Beyond The Veil is due to hit Kickstarter in a couple of months, but I already have the introductory Prologue booklet, which I'm halfway through reading.

And Now For Something (Almost) Completely Different

My bargain haul

Like a great many geeks of a certain age, I love - and am continually inspired by - Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars series of pulp novels.

Way, way back in 2018 Modiphius Entertainment was Kickstarting a John Carter roleplaying game (one of their 'everything at once' splurge releases of multiple books, miniatures, dice, tile sets etc) and, for a minute, I was 'all-in'.

But then, it struck me that (a) I'm not really a fan of their 2d20 house system, (b) releasing everything at once means a LOT of reading (and their books tend towards the tiny text-heavy), and (c) none of my gaming group had ever expressed any interest in Barsoom or John Carter, which would mean having to 'teach' them all about the Martian cultures, language etc on top of a new set of rules.

So, I cancelled my Kickstarter pledge and consigned the game to the dusty halls of my "what could have been" dream storage unit.

As far as I could tell, after the initial gush of books (that were part of the Kickstarter), Modiphius didn't do anything else with the setting and let it fade, with the system only popping up in the occasional sale listing.

Books from Modiphius tend to be beautifully produced, often hardbacks, and sport a heft price tag. 

I've got their Conan The Barbarian core rules book and the more recent Dune one, but mainly to look nice on my shelves. Both of these were acquired via eBay for a fraction of their 'recommended retail price'. 

Conan - like John Carter - is another property that Modiphius no longer supports (although old John Carter books remain available at full retail cost). 

The license for Conan has reverted to Heroic Signatures, who are publishing a fresh roleplaying game through Monolith, which is due out later this year.

Conan RPG from Modiphius

The last, active, mention of John Carter in connection to roleplaying I remember seeing was a 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons supplement as part of a Kickstarter for an audiobook series.

And with that, John Carter - as a roleplaying game - slipped out of my mind.

Until, the other day, when an advert popped up somewhere for a Modiphius "moving warehouse" sale. And I thought: why not take a look?

And I was gobsmacked: the few John Carter items they had listed were going for pennies.

I didn't really need a new game, but how could I resist the core, hardback, rules for £4; tile sets (airships and ruins) for £1.50 each (which have potential utility in a variety of settings); and a player's guide and character cards/tokens set also for £1.50 each?

With postage, I got this lot (see picture at top of article) for under £20, saving almost a hundred quid on their original list price. 

Will I do anything with these rules? Who knows? Or will they just sit prettily on my shelves next to Conan and Dune?

At least, now, seven years later, I actually have the John Carter core books in hand, and I'm sure there are other companies out there manufacturing John Carter-inspired miniatures to sword fight across the deck of my airships!

Of course, I could let this slide on a technicality by reminding you that John Carter himself - before he was transported to Barsoom/Mars - was an American Civil War veteran, a Confederate captain from Virginia, which kinda makes him part of my on-going Western theme.

Prey (2022)

Set in 1719 on America's Northern Great Plains, Prey follows eager young Comanche warrior Naru (Legion's Amber Midthunder), who struggles for acceptance by the male warriors in her tribe, despite her formidable tracking and herbal medicine skills.

Even her brother Taabe (Dakota Beavers) can't fully acknowledge her prowess.

However, when she spots a fiery "thunderbird" in the skies, she takes it as a sign that it's time for her "kuhtaamia", a coming-of-age ritual where you hunt something that can also hunt you.

When an enigmatic creature, presumed to be a lion or a bear, threatens her community, Naru goes off on her own to prove herself.

Only, it turns out that the big beastie in the woods is actually an alien Yautja (Dane DiLiegro) aka a Predator, who has come to Earth for some sport.

Escaping the alien killing machine, Naru and Taabe fall into the hands of a veritable army of brutish French fur trappers.

Even tooled-up with (admittedly primitive) rifles and pistols, the French prove to be little more than target practice for the heavy-armed, high-tech alien as it cuts a bloody swathe through their numbers on its hunt for more challenging prey.

Rhythmically paced, with no time for padding or slack, Prey is a lean, stripped back to basics, entry into the Predator franchise.

Taking place several hundred years before Arnie faced a Predator in Central America, this prequel engages a willing audience from its opening sequences - introducing us to the Comanche way of life - through to its kinetic, blood-soaked final act.

On one hand, it's a slow burn as the diametrically opposed hunters - human and alien - work towards their eventual confrontation, but on the other the film is beautifully and dramatically composed, making great use of the Canadian wilderness in which it was shot.

Assisted by her (thankfully) indestructible canine companion, Amber Midthunder is a charismatic action lead, although her Naru segues a bit too comfortably from hunting animals and fighting the Predator to out-and-out murdering Frenchmen.

Writer-director Dan Trachtenberg's script, co-written with Patrick Aison, does a great job of foreshadowing important elements that will eventually contribute to Naru's inevitable victory over the seemingly indestructible Yautja.

In the latter half of the 99-minute movie, however, it does tend to lean too heavily on emulating the original 1987 Predator and having Taabe actually say "if it bleeds, we can kill it" is a real cringe moment in an otherwise solid script.

What I'd like to see now is more of these "historical Predators": how about one set a hundred or so years later in the Wild West, or feudal Japan (Yautja vs samurai and ninja), or Medieval Europe (as depicted in the Kickstarter-funded Predator: Dark Ages, back in 2015), or during The Battle of The Somme (or some other grim First World War setting), or Victorian London, or the Stone Age?

The possibilities are endless. Although, if humanity wins every time you have to wonder why the Predators keep coming back!

Yummy (2019)

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Young Belgium couple Alison (Maaike Neuville) and Michael (Bart Hollanders), and Alison's mum Sylvia (Annick Christiaens), go to a dodgy Eastern European hospital so the women can get cheap plastic surgery (Alison to have a breast reduction and Sylvia a tummy tuck).

Upon arrival, Michael - a failed medical student (let down by his general clumsiness and his hemophobia) - is immediately suspicious of the shady doctors and disorganised nature of the facility.

As the women go off for their operations, the hospital's "fixer", Daniel (Benjamin Ramon), a charming scumbag, tries to distract Michael with a "behind-the-scenes" tour of the hospital.

However, while Daniel is stealing some drugs, Michael accidentally stumbles across the subject of a secret experiment, a restrained zombie woman he accidentally frees. 

Naturally chaos ensues in no time at all as a zombie plague spreads through the hospital, and our heroes try to survive and escape... without getting bitten.

For a largely run-of-the-mill outbreak flick, Yummy, Belgium's first zombie movie, is a lot of fun.

It quickly lifts itself above the deliberately dated, laddish 'humour' of its opening scenes into a manic midsection and then brings us crashing down to earth for a surprisingly nihilistic denouement, that comes close to rivalling the final moments of Romero's original Night of The Living Dead.

In fact, it's the leftfield surprises that writer/director Lars Damoiseaux, and co-writer Eveline Hagenbeek bring to Yummy that stick in the mind: for instance, there's a laugh-out-loud, yet simultaneously shocking, sequence with lothario TV star William (Tom Audenaert) that will stay with me forever.

Amidst the expected zombie movie blood and guts, this creative team have also served up their fair share of genuinely, inventive squirm-inducing moments that made even this old hand at the zombie-lark wince on more than one occasion.

Having dialogue seamlessly sliding between a variety of languages also helps add to the mystery of "what's going on", as key moments are neither in English nor subtitled.

It's a smart move that isn't overused, but helps prevent the audience from getting too far ahead of the protagonists.

Like so many one-off zombie movies, Yummy is only concerned with the genesis of the epidemic, but certainly leaves the door open for sequels down the line.

A worthy addition to the genre,  and financed in part by a crowdfunding campaign, Yummy is a well-balanced blend of throwback, tongue-in-cheek OTT Grand Guignol and full-on zombie gorefest, tempered by modern sensibilities and carried along by a solid cast and crew.

THROWBACK THURSDAY: I Think I Might Have A Problem... Or Could This Be Normal?

My collection of 10 Villains & Vigilantes rules books

I'm sure every 'serious' roleplayer has that one system that they own multiple copies of... for reasons.

My weakness, which should come as no surprise to readers old and new, is Villains & Vigilantes.

The other month postie delivered my latest eBay purchase: an original first edition of the game, in immaculate condition.

Sure, I already own my tattered original copy from the very early '80s, which is almost falling apart now, as well as reprint published by Monkey House Games in 2016.

Yet while I only recall actually playing this iteration of the game solo, before moving on to the elegant second edition, it holds a special place in my heart.

While all the books sport dynamic Jeff Dee art, out of the four different covers between the editions, I definitely have a strong affection for the original, even if my preferred rules are contained within the second edition.

The difference between first edition and second is striking, in much the same way that third edition (aka The Mighty Protectors) is a dramatic evolution from second.

I went all in on the 2016 Kickstarter to back the third edition because (a) I wanted Jeff Dee to draw to The Acrobatic Flea and (b) I wanted to support Jack Herman and Jeff Dee in their creative endeavours and help keep V&V alive.

And while I got to game with Jeff online, the fact that character creation required a spreadsheet had already made me realise this probably wasn't the rules system for me, however much I loved the game world. 

I don't regret pouring all that money into the Kickstarter because I still got some fantastic books (some of which include second edition stats as well) and got to play the game with one of my creative heroes... who also drew me an incredible illustration of my Acrobatic Flea.

The first edition of Villains & Vigilantes was my introduction to the idea of "superhero roleplaying games", which the next edition then solidified in my noggin and the rest, as they say, is history.

When sorting out my V&V rule books for the picture to illustrate this article it turned out I had more copies of the second edition (and 2.1) than I had previously realised, some well-read and annotated, one without a cover for some reason, and some pristine.

Why do I have so many copies? Honestly, I couldn't tell you. I think I just like to ensure I always have a version of the rules to hand, whenever I want to look something up or I have a wild idea for a hero or villain I want to stat up.

I certainly needn't worry about mislaying my copy of the core rules. 

My new purchase of an old favourite

Left to Right: My battered original, my new purchase, and the Monkey House reprint