James Raggi and the Albatross? revisited

 Bit of a philosophical ramble to come:

I posted late last year about James Raggi's reupping his working relationship with Zak Smith. That announcement was a Youtube video talking about Gencon, and in the last minute or so of that vid James gave Zak a bit of a soapbox moment to talk about his long running problems and that he will be "making games" with Raggi once again. While ZS kind of performatively huffed a smoke on the balcony of the apartment of the person he was long term couch surfing on, he mostly came off with a certain amount of bitterness, and it seemed less about Raggi's company or the work and more about his misfortunes which always seems to have to be the headline.

James Raggi the Third

I pondered if this was a good move for James. Ending his working relationship with Smith some years back, despite Zaks current claim that James was a "stupid coward," was from a business standpoint the best decision he could make. Fairly or unfairly, the name Zak S. had become toxic after the Mandy Morbid situation. Compiled to a large degree by negative interactions and bridge burnings with a lot of the online communithy. He seemed to have been eventually reduced to poverty and relying on others to live. He would end up posting mostly about personal hardships due to his cancellation, including being evicted and having several teeth removed (presumedly due to gum disease, which is most often due to lack of long term hygiene and regular cleanings before you need thousands of dollars to treat it)  presupposition apparently that he went broke from paying lawyers for all his lawsuits, though he claims to have won all those suits, so I am not sure how all that works (and I worked as a paralegal for several years). I have no deeper insight on that situation other than some guy named Ettin in Australia who had to pay what was theorized to be several thousand dollars (he said his several thousand dollar kickstarter for help covered it all). 

Just kidding, this is James

But because Raggi's company is based on edgy stuff, it may make sense to some that to have an embittered loose cannon is kind of punk rock to appeal to his die hard followers over a maybe more widely acceptable and consolatory "hey, I think these are great products and I look forward to working with James, the man who has given me a leg up despite the controversies. I hope people will give these high-quality books a look and will give me a second chance to work in the hobby I love. " It is clear that those bitter pills will remain, but will they help or hinder the company?

In the recent years that I am trying to be a fairer minded and balanced person, I don't want to pick on somebody who seems to have had their life turned upside down, deserved or not. We all get our lives turned upside down, and there can be various levels of self-sabotage or icky misfortune. So won't judge or make too much light of it. But I think most things are fair to bring up for context. 

For a big picture of the Zak controversies and a variety of lawsuits, the Coins and Scrolls blog has an extensive (and potentially biased to one degree or another) lay out of it all. Like with everything that comes from a personal place it can be taken with a grain of salt. Blog author Skerples is one of the folk who had negative experiences with ZS and posted about it extensively. It seems smartly laid out, and probably a lot true. The stuff you can research online if you cared enough. Like I said, for one reason or another, negative experiences. 

And most of those were in the higher profile days of the OSR blog and forum spheres. Tensions were high. In my own case for a time I was taking a sort of snarky Howard Stern, very forward (most often in a satiric sense I like to think) style and had some hot water situations that often were my fault to one degree or another to be sure. But I also didn't take any guff and I would often blog about it when maybe shoulda kept it private?  To me the real life rpg adjacent foibles are all part of the games that were in my life since I was a kid and I wanted to talk in an adult way about it all. Tales to tell in an often satire dripping way that might make it more humorous to some. YMMV.

When things got heated and I myself was having a lot of negative feelings, I stopped blogging and focused on actual DnD sessions when I wasn't working on a moving to a different state. That is were its at anyway. Doing the thing.  Running games. But Zak had this full cancellation, and he was clearly working on a brand up till then. HIM. HE was the brand. And looking forward from there who knows what was lost. A youtube channel perhaps started before all these Bob the World Builders and Ginny D people became big.  Could have ended up making millions I guess with luck and drive and a clear amount of talent that made his blog popular (along with the porn connection that was part of the brand, but with gaming the main focus. But mentioning big "gazongas" never hurts in looking for attention).

When Raggi does a youtube video, Zak involved or not, I have noticed that it often takes months for them to get a couple thousand views. So an online video log presence may not be fiscally lucrative.

And that may bring us to the current question. How are the new books, particularly Zaks, doing in sales? At the con and online.

Zak, far left, and DnD executive Mike Mearls at far right,
 a guy who game Smith the high profile opportunity to
consult on DnD 5e, and for reasons decided to sue.
This was about a decade ago and were happier times.

Raggi went to Gencon and sold the new line. And the online store has the new books (investments and collectables to be sure more than settings that will be used). They include Zak's remake of Red and Pleasant Land (many of his detractors love this book, which makes me kind of tempted to just have to look through) and his new Asia theme land meets Mystery Flesh Pit  the Nebulith. 

The last year or so I have been following James, though though not really buying as far as his material (trying to minimalize my life and collectables), which is high quality and often appealing to own. But I like Raggi's goings on for the same reason I like the backstage real-life story of what goes on in Pro wrestling over the actual in ring hoo haw. I think the guy (who seems a big wrestling fan) and his life is kind of fascinating. All the moving on a whim to another country (to stalk a girl maybe potentially? Citation needed. But hey, we all been in love, right?) and getting a grant from Finland to fund his rpg company and all the travel and all that. 

Raggi and Zak in 2017 Gencom booth wheeling
and dealing. I like Zak's cheery looking sales tactic.
"Please buy this eye sore!" ..but happier times. BTW
I think ZS is still banned by Gencon, so these two
hustling together at a high-profile thing again is unlikely

So I saw his quickie after Gencon video (that I cannot seem to find right now..deleted?), lying in bed, bemoaning a simple fact. Nobody at the con of note wanted to review the Zak stuff. No names given, but we can guess. Youtubers. Prof DM maybe. Seth Skokowski probably. Ginny D probably not. But seems they refused a copy. James bemoans this. But yes, the name is still toxic to some. 

Surely they will get sales online from the faithful.  But how did they do at Gencon? James must spend a lot on getting the books shipped ahead of his travel and all that. Did the curious see the shiny covers and quality paper and snap them up? Or any of the books for sale? Or were most of the people there to meet Matt Mercer and his vocal squad and buy 5th/2024 material? Fucking dice and oddball containers for them. At this point in time, are there a large amount of people in the states actively playing DnD who want to buy something, such as Zaks two that are full on settings, for mostly collectability or to a very small degree start new ongoing campaigns with these fairly unique combo settings/DnD performance art books by somebody they probably have not heard of. 

For some context to that thought, I moved to a new city in a different state/ I played at a local shop (didn't know nobody in town, yall) learning 5th ed, then since Covid several decently long campaigns online with Roll20. Lately I run every week, and am involved in two other campaigns run by players of mine (this is the best group I have every had). In all that, these last several years, I have asked local gamers if they heard of  Raggi or Zak at some point or another (in relation usually to the old school renaissance with no mention of controversies) and nobody has ever heard these names. 

In Los Angeles before I left some folk did. But these were all older school dudes. And many did not. But I had a guy in a bunch of DnD and Traveller games, a middle age dude who taught yoga or something, who said he was running Vornhiem. So some gamers knew. But that particular guy was close to 12 years ago, and right before I left LA I did not game for over a year. In that time Critical Role had billboards around the city. Current DnD was blowing up, and younger people were jumping in (and now all the players I am playing with on the reg are like 24-35). LOTFP is not on store shelves. Its stuff is only rarely brought up by bigger streamers. The bettter known old school forums like Dragonfoot the old timey regulars mostly talk about the frustrations of getting good takeout or finding replacement parts for their 40 year old lawnmowers. So who is buying the stuff Raggi makes?

I of course have no numbers. But that is the question. Inquiring minds want to know. Not to goof, but because it is interesting. That yoga guy I mentioned was running that setting 10 or 12 years ago. That  feels like still the golden age of LOTFP and Zak. Then If I recall Zak made like 70 grand off that Demon City kickstarter that happened right before the Mandy Morbid stuff and the cancellation (and Demon City was delivered something like 5 years late..at least to those who did not decide they did not want it and wanted their names taken off the doner list because reasons). 

Zak many years ago in happier times
(is there a theme here?). This photo is 
from his clearly self written entry, though
info about the abuse allegations are still 
there so I guess he could not get them removed. 

So now. Right now. With DnD still strong, many popular new things like Shadowdark going strong, is the market for this stuff still good? Like 80 grand a year good for Raggi to have a living after paying for the productions costs and convention travel and paying the artists. I know nothing, but my notion is that even for great looking books the market is way down from several years ago for alternative stuff that has little connection to the big poplar games right now. 

"Hey guys, do you want to try a campaign set in Alice in Wonderland plus Dracula?" It sounds kind of cool to me, and some folks of course would, but I suspect most more or less casual players who don't collect lots of game stuff would kind of laugh it off. 

I am guessing that most sales are to the faithful to Raggi and Zak who are getting older but have been on the ride thru the OSR. And of course, Europeans who eat up the odd grim dark. Then what after that, impulse buys of pretty bookies with cool covers? They ain't cheap, so I would think that is limited.

But maybe that is the thing. Collectability. That could make for a thousand or so sales, and for a book that cost around a hundred bucks or more maybe that is enough?

We will likely never see actual (proven) numbers, but I guess the bottom line is I would like to see Raggi and his company continue even if I never buy one of the books. I am all for alternatives. In love, in politics, in friends, and in my gaming. And the production of weird but high quality books that aren't just overpriced DnD supplements is probably a good thing. 

Cheers

Is the Fantastic Four...fantastic?

 Spoilers maybe potentially...

As a Marvel kid who from a very young age had comics in my collection from before my time, and a handful were very old (I had some issues that were between original FF issues 12-60...lotsa Wyatt Wingfoot, Diablo, and Dragon Man) and I really loved those. That eventually inspired me as a young adult in the 80's and early 90's to collect new issues for some years (until those fuckers started to cost like 250 or more a pop).

Loved those great Kirby touches. Like having
Namor take a big fish dump while watching TV

But so many of us who are not total seniors yet, we experienced Jack Kirby through reprints and graphic novels. That distinctive 60's futurepunk look for technology and outer space objects (often just a big wall made of abstract shapes and who the hell knows what it is kind of stuff). 

We don't really get it in its purest Kirby form in this new film, but it is there. That homage is what was making me hopeful about this. The Kirbyness was most present in Galactus scenes. 

First, the cast. Not bad. Pretty much unknowns except for very overexposed Pedro Pascal. He was fine as Richards, but he was a different Reed than I was familiar with. Quiet and moody. My Mr. F is a nerd, but also had a 60's manliness and a can-do attitude. 

and maybe a little rough when he is 
explaining to his wife how to listen

But I think my real problem is they got an overexposed guy to play him. I saw a commercial the other day for the FF appearing at Universal Citywalk or something, and that unknown Reed would have been better. For one thing, Mr. F and Sue Storm are kind of old for the parts. In the comics Reed is in his 40's and Sue in her 20's. A trophy wife deal. Vanessa Kirby is 37 and Pedro is 50. C'mon. 

There is some chemistry between the leads. Though at least Kirby is in a relationship with somebody else last I read, they had many instances of public affection at interviews. 

Yes, this blog is a gossip page now

But seriously, I'm pretty sure there is one main thing about him that would keep Pedro for pursuing his lovely lead...

not that there is anything wrong with that..

Ben Grimm was...ben Grimm. No cartoonish Bronx accept or way of talking. He sounds more like a college literature grad than the "Crips! Shut yer yap! Why I outta!" comic book Noo Yawk working stiff stuff. But ok. Johnny Storm is not as woke as I expected. I heard they were going to make him gay. But he is a bit of a hot shot, he liked to get sniz on the reg, but he is also often a voice of reason here, and I think also a bit of a scientist now. I think they all are. But yeah they keep the horndog aspect. He's hot for Silver Surfer, and she pretty much looks like the Oscars trophy. Really, Human Torch is the big standout in the film. Smart, funny, and fearless. He was the big suprise here. 

As far as FF films I still think ...

we all know what the best FF movie was

Some basic dislikes:

The eye candy was good, but it still moved too slow. The action was...not very actiony. Ben Grimms big display of power was running through some pillars to know a building down. 

I guess I mention Sue's age. She should be just out of college, not at an age where her biological clock is running out. 

Pedro again. Tired of his face. And his interview comments in the marketing leading up kind of made him the new Rachel Zegler (look her up). 

They are from the 60's but are coming to modern day. I feel like they will become about being time displaced. The 60's of their world has high tech thanks to Reed, but still they will be out of touch. How will they approach that. Constant Beetles references?

I heard Reed will be leading character in upcoming films, even leading the Avengers. So where does that leave the rest of the FF?

Some basic Likes:

Gratitude that Kang is no longer the threat (though I hear he will show up at some point). Should have been Doom all the way (though he might have been ruined in Ant Man 3).

Herbie. As a kid I hated that he was in the cartoon rather than Torch. But he works well here. 

The whole 60's vibe. Very Fallout..out of place tech.

The early montage where many FF classic villains were mentioned. Actual action against the Red Ghosts super apes and Mole Man...plus mentions of Diablo and Puppet Master. 

Cheers

Superman Review and yeah some spoilers

 

As a kid and into my teens Spider Man was my favorite superhero, the comic I collected the most of, and the collection I much later made a lot of money on in the early days of Ebay. I was a Marvel kid for sure, but at swap meets and thrift shops I encountered and took possession of a lot of DC. I would not actually collect DC until I was into my 20's, and those were very specific. Suicide Squad and Johan Hex were almost complete sets I had.

But the big three, you know, Superman, Batman, and even Wonder Woman were in my collection. At some point as a young man Superman became my favorite overall hero. Whether a big blue boy scout, or a troubled and alienated being, Supes in any flavor was OK by me. 

What we get in James Gunns Superman is a mildly flawed, kind of corny and loveable Man of Steel. He really comes off less like the 70's Reeves Superman, and more like that films goofy Clark Kent. This movies Clark actually seems cooler than his Superman identity. 

Superman starts the movie off all beat to shit, and his cousins dog Krypto drags him to the Fortress of Solitude where Supes assistant Robots put him on a gurney and expose him to magnified sunlight to bring him back near peak. Yes, if this all sounds very 50's and 60's Superman then you are on the nose. James Gunn is looking to vintage and kind of cartoony DC for his inspiration. Anyway, Supes is right back in action and back to getting his ass kicked. All up and down Metropolis. 

Nick Holt is a great Luthor. Both evilly funny and at times terrifying. Though he seems to be a good boss to his assistants. He doesn't hit anybody like you might expect from this Luthor. He just breaks a glass and tells them to clean it up. They hop right to it so they must be well paid. And the most abuse he heaps on his girlfriend Miss Teshmacher is throwing a pencil at her. But at some point he does jail her in his prison dimension where what appears to be another former gif is already imprisoned. So yeah, that seems kind of dark. 

So Luthors scheme is to out Superman as a fraud or something, and when he unscrambles the speech by Supes Krypton parents where it is heavily implied they sent him to rule (Gunn ripping off Invincible it seems) rather than protect. When humanity is supplied the scandalous info (confirmed to be genuine by Mr. Terrific) they turn on Superman. This rewriting of Supes parents is probably the most controversial addition by Gunn. But it sets up an incredible montage of how great Clarks Earth parents were to him growing up, and how they inspired him to be good, not some prince of aliens from an ice planet on the other side of the galaxy. I actually got misty at that point. Gunn got me. 

My toxic fandom cronies online are not going to like how much I like the movie. It is not as woke as I feared. Any political stuff is blurred enough that you can add what you like. The foreign war portrayed could be Israel, or it could be Ukraine. So pick your preferred flavor of global injustice. 

The back up cast is pretty good. They are all there. Lois, pal Jimmy (who it turns out is a dork who somehow gets unbelievable supermodel sniz on the reg)

 Perry White (who nowadays is ironical black), office slut Cat Grant, and others.

Of the other heroes Guy Gardner is good, Hawkgirl may as well not even be there (though she gets her own wicked moments on the battlefield), but Mr. Terrific is, well, Terrific. The most obscure of the bunch, I loved him in the comics. Worlds smartest man as well as super athlete. His abilities, and technology, and attitude are right out of the comics. He might be the most accurate portrayal of a comics hero ever. He needs his own movie. 

Everybody loves a nutty dog, but Krypto gets annoying at times. Cousin Supergirl, played by the chin girl from House of the Dragon, shows up for like a minute at the end to collect her dog, and is clearly drunk. When she leaves she calls Supe a bitch, which I thought was funny. She is a party girl. This is all a reference the Woman of Tomorrow graphic novel where Supergirl likes to go to yellow sun planets so she can actually get drunk, and a story that the upcoming movie will be based on. 

Superman starts and ends the movie beat to shit. There is a certain lack of the respect the character gets in other media. Authorities and other heroes treat him more like the popular high school quarterback than a demigod. And it's OK. This is Superman early in his career. There is room to grow. 

Oh yeah, some pretty good songs selected like James Gunn do. 

So yes, I do recommend it. It's a good time at the movies. 

Cheers.

Inuyasha - my latest Anime Obsession

 

Inuyasha is a manga and anime from the early 2000's. The manga was created by Rumiko Takahashi, the same lady who created one of my long-time guilty pleasures from way back, Ranma 1/2. Though Inuyasha has some familiar humor as found in Ranma, this work is far more dark in tone. 

I first noticed the anime years ago. It was on Fox Kids or Toonami or something. I just looked for a couple minutes, shrugged, and moved on. There were so many animes on in these TV blocks at the time; Yugi Oh, Pokemon, etc and most did not appeal to me on the surface. 

Then the same thing happed that happened to me with Lupin the Third and Sailor Moon the last two or three years: Pluto TV added a channel dedicated to Inuyasha. On Pluto you get commercials, but you also get uncut and uncensored original Japanese versions with subtitles. 

So I started watching. And it only took a couple of episodes to hook me in. Epic combat, an interesting backdrop, amusing humor, and cute female characters. It has been maybe three weeks, and just like those other anime properties I got to love through Pluto, I'm pretty much just watching episodes here and there more or less at random. The channel left on as I go about my day around the house. I'm fairly hip to the basic story and characters and am still learning. I may actually start watching from the beginning, I'm so into it at this point. I think it will appeal to DnD folk in large part because the battles seem like high level DnD...strong characters using abilities and powerful weapons. 

So the story is set against the Sengoku Period of Japan. This was a chaotic and violent time in the 1400's that went on for a long time. No central power and feudal warlords in endless battles against each other. You actually do not see a lot of that, the human factor mostly being encountered in small put upon villages or bandits in out of the way places. Farmers and such trying to get by during these troubled times.

During this time there is also the threat of demons, or more traditionally "Yokai" which is a term that encompasses a great range of supernatural entities which includes various spirit folk including ghosts and traditional Oni demons. The presence of a powerful wish granting item called the Shikon Jewel has masses of demons appearing to claim it. 

50 Years prior to the start of the main story, a half demon dog half human named Inuyasha and the human priestess he loves, Kikyo, are manipulated by the powerful spider demon Naraku into a confrontation over the jewel that ends up with Inuyasha being pinned to a tree by an arrow. He hangs there for 50 years. 

Kagome is a 14-year-old schoolgirl in our time period who lives at a shrine her family runs. 

She discovers a magical well on the property that is a gateway to the era of Inuyasha, and she also happens to be the reincarnation of Kikyo. Kagome enters the well and is transported, and almost instantly encounters Inuyasha on the tree. She frees him, and the half demon at first thinks it is Kikyo. The jewel ends up shattered into many pieces, and those shards are cast out across the lands. And there is your hook. 

Inuyasha and Kagome set out to find the shards, and at the same time Naraku the demon lord and pretty much every demon in the land go searching for the shards. Some already have pieces, and often gain great power from them. Kagome has the power to sense the shards, which makes things a little easier. 

 

One of Narakus many forms

Inuyasha and Kagome are of course the romantic leads. With Kagome being smart and pragmatic, and Inuyasha being a bit of a wild child prone to violence, they are often at odds. I'm not sure how yet, but Kagome early on is given the power to make Inuyasha faceplant to the ground when she utters the command "sit!" It happens a lot but is always funny. 

Miroku is a young Buddist monk and demon exorciser who joins the group first. He seem lecherous as he is always asking young women to bear his child. But it turns out he wants to continue his bloodline as he inherited a dimensional portal in his hand he calls his "wind tunnel" that can suck in hordes of demons but is also slowly killing him. 

A warrior from a tribe of demon killers names Sango joins up. She usually travels in traditional garb but puts on her cool ninja suit when combat is called for. 

Sango wield a large magical boomerang 
made out of demon bone

And of course there is Inuyasha himself. 

He is a half human, half dog demon who possesses great strength and speed, whose only real weakness is the night of the new moon when he becomes full human (with black hair). Oh, and the aforementioned face planting courtesy of Kagome.

One of Inuyashas ongoing enemies is his full demon Brother Sesshomaru, a yokai lord and one of the most powerful individuals in the series. Sess has a beef with Inu because of some inheritance issue from their late father having to do with twin swords. Sesshomaru thinks he should have gotten the powerful killing weapon Inuyasha has, whereas Sess is stuck with a sword that is not as good for fighting but can heal and resurrect individuals. Though the aloof Sesshomaru claims to not care about anybody and especially humans, he at one point uses the sword to resurrect a little village girl he takes pity on named Rin who was killed by wolves. The grateful girl follows him around for the rest of the series, and years later (in another series) he marries her and they have children. 

Sess is very protective of Rin
which ends up being his one 
true weakness. 

There are many demons to hunt and kill in the episodes, whether to collect Shikon shards or just to save a put upon village. But Naraku is the main villain throughout. Naraku, being made up of many demons (long story), he can produce offspring to serve him. My favorite I think is Kagura from the early seasons. Often called The Wind Sorceress, she can indeed control the wind and is very powerful. For whatever reason she takes the appearance of a barefoot dancing geisha girl.

She also possesses feather earrings that can turn into a giant feather she can fly around on.

Kagura is a very deep character. Though created out of Naraku's flesh, she is immediately fiercely independent of him. While carrying  out his schemes grudginly, she constantly schemes his downfall, even covertly assisting Inuyasha and company when she can. She has even outright attacked the demon lord out of anger. Kagura is enamored of Sesshomaru and believes he is the only one powerful enough to take on Naraku so also seeks his help.

There are several seasons of the show, and some years later there was a follow up a about the children of Sesshomaru and Inuyasha and Kagome.

I'm still exploring it, but its not bad. Too much of it takes place in the modern era (for some reason the kids were hidden in our time as infants and only went to the feudal era as teens). But characters from the previous series eventually pop up and these are the best bits. 

Pluto TV channels are free to watch online (with commercials but again, uncensored) so check them out. 

Cheers

Isle of Dread - Have you been to Sharks Bay?

 

Not far from the village of Tanaroa and the great wall there is a bay with narrow beaches that is inhabited by several especially aggressive Bull Sharks. I don't think it is named, but i always referred to it as Sharks Bay. 

When I was envisioning this campaign, I wanted to use that area as more than just "there are sharks." So I thought it might be a good place for a ruin of the ancient civilization, and that evolved a bit more into a temple of the shark god. It is a crumbling ruin inside a great boulder, and it is now used by a shark god Shaman and some weresharks. 

I had this particular part of the bay be mostly sea cliffs. Even with some rope it is a bit of a difficult climb to get down there.

The temple itself was about 60 feet or so from the cliff bottom water line. During high tide the water in between would be several feet deep. But at low time it is just a few inches of water, a tidal pool area, where you can actually walk across to the entrance. 

Inside the crumbling ruin some rays of light from cracks above showed that it was sort of an indoor tidal pool itself. Some giant crabs and "Ochre Pods" that were sort of mini ochre jellies (looking like large tadpoles). Minor annoyances compared to the Shark God shaman and weresharks that entered once the alter and its treasure goodies were tampered with. 

After a pretty big fight the Shaman escaped (raising the local water level as he did so the party had to scramble back to the cliff as the tidal pool water raised enough for sharks to come swimming at them). 

I'm hoping to tap into him again, and the shark god itself, before the party leaves the island.