Fleamarket Friday: Counter-Measures To S.W.I.N.G...

Spinning off from the classic '60s-set Seventh Doctor adventure, Remembrance Of The Daleks, the forthcoming Counter-Measures series of audio dramas from Big Finish follows the adventures of a specialist team established by the British Government to investigate strange phenomena and dangerous technology.

The team's first missions - full-cast audio dramas starring the voice talents of Simon Williams, Pamela Salem, Karen Gledhill and Hugh Ross - involve a haunted warehouse, a ground-breaking artificial intelligence, a mysterious new town and a threat to the future of the country...

To me, this all sounds like perfect source material for inspiring a roleplaying campaign using James Desborough's popular Agents Of S.W.I.N.G. rules set. Just look at the logo - doesn't that just scream "spy-fi" to you?

The Counter-Measures jumping off-point, Remembrance Of The Daleks, was also the story that namechecked the legendary Bernard Quatermass and his British Rocket Group, so the crossover potential for period awesomeness is simply mindboggling.

The Big Finish website, where the box set of the show's first season is available for pre-order for £30, includes brief synopsis of these initial four stories for the Counter-Measures team:

Threshold by Paul Finch

A missing scientist and ghostly phenomena bring Gilmore and Allison to a factory in Bermondsey, and the discovery of a science that should not exist. As Rachel Jensen returns to help them, a new future for Counter-Measures is set in motion...

Artificial Intelligence by Matt Fitton

Investigating a suicide at the Sen-Gen Facility, the group discovers a new weapon in the Cold War – and Gilmore meets an old flame. Meanwhile Rachel discovers that she can’t trust anyone, not even the sound of her own voice...

The Pelage Project by Ian Potter

A case of industrial pollution leads the group to the new industrial town Pelage, and a dangerous meeting with its leader Ken Temple. And deep within the plant it appears that an alien invasion is already underway...

State of Emergency by Justin Richards

There are creatures from another dimension on the streets, and traitors in the halls of Westminster. When the government is in jeopardy, Rachel, Allison and Gilmore take on a faction staging a very un-British coup...

OVC Reminds Us That Comics Can Still Be Magical...

This cartoon - from Our Valued Customers - of a recent young customer's innocent enthusiasm upon reading through the latest issue of Justice League reminds us that, while it's easy to be cynical and hard-bitten about comic books and the industry as a whole, at their heart superhero comic books are incredible escapist fantasy for both the young and the old.

House Rulin' Our House Rules...

During our most recent games session, a couple of my existing "beta test" house rules were put to the test and ended up being finessed through actual play experience.

FORAGING: (a specialist skill of the Forester class) If Forester spends four hours obtaining food in the correct environment he can find sustenance for himself and up to four other people on a successful straight Saving Throw.

However, for every point he misses his Save by, he finds food for one less person (e.g. rolling 13 when your ST is 14 means you find food for three extra people, rolling a 12 means two extra etc).

Rolling exactly your Saving Throw means you find just the bare minimum, with quality (not quantity) increasing  proportionately for every point you roll over your Save.

HEALING WITH HERO POINTS: As the original Hero Point uses were written before I obtained the full Crypts & Things rules, this has now been modified to take into account the game's innovative use of the Constitution statistic in wounds and healing.

A Hero Point spent during combat on healing still just heals 1d6 Hit Points, however a Hero Point spent out of combat on healing now restores 1d6 Constitution points for the wounded character. This represents some kind of heroic measures taken to staunch bleeding, patch up serious war wounds etc

D&DVD Of The Week: Immortals (2011)

Tarsem Singh's reimagining of Greek mythology in Immortals is utterly bonkers. But (generally) in a good way. Sure it strays into confusion in the denouement, but for the most part it's a very straight-forward story dressed in Jean-Paul Gaultier.

Although Henry Cavill (the next Superman) is protagonist Theseus, the film truly belongs to the slightly underused Mickey Rourke who Colonel Kurtz's his way through his role as sadistic warlord Hyperion.

Hyperion - embittered by the death of his family by disease - seeks to bring an end to the time of the gods and has his army hunting down the powerful Epirus bow (which, in all honesty, is a cross between Hank The Ranger's bow in the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon and the Bow Of Kronos is dreadful Italian swords and sorcery flick Conquest) so he can free the imprisoned Titans from Mount Tarterus.

On the way, he kills Theseus' mother when he raids their cliff-side village but - foolishly - spares Theseus, sending him off to the salt mines.

Slave Theseus teams up with hot virgin visionary Phaedra (Freida Pinto) and cheeky thief Stavros (Stephen Dorff), escapes Hyperion's clutches, returns to his home village and finds the magical bow.

Which he then quickly loses to Hyperion's forces!

It's at this point we first see the gods really getting their hands dirty - having been bound not to intervene directly in man's affairs unless their old foes the Titans are released  - and it's clear that Singh is treating the gods as comic book superheroes, pulled straight from the pages of DC or Marvel.

While all the combat in Immortals is stylised to some degree it's really the scenes where the gods are fighting, either mortals or Titans, that the cool factor is really ramped up to 11. This is some of the finest superpowered conflict seen in movies... and it isn't even (strictly) a superhero film.

Stripped of its trapping, the plot of Immortals is so simplistic it's not really of great concern - this is a visual feast rather than an intellectual one - and it's only in the closing scenes where things get so twisted around that even the most casual viewer will be scratching his head and going: "Huh?"

Light-weight and fun, this is adrenalin-fuelled popcorn fodder for gamers looking to get themselves pumped up before their next round of tabletop roleplaying or video gaming.

GAME MATERIAL:

Divine Horses:
A gift from the gods, a "divine horse" is the ultimate "one-use" item. It resembles a normal horse, but can gallop twice as fast and cover any distance (without the need for food, water or rest) - with up to two normal-sized humans on its back - but only once. When the horse reaches the end of its single journey, its heart gives out and it dies.

Doctor Who: The Face Of Evil (1977)

The TARDIS materialises on a jungle planet (that looks like it was dressed in bubble wrap by Elton John's interior designer) and the Fourth Doctor soon finds himself caught up in a holy war between the two native tribes - the savage Sevateem and the more advanced Tesh.

His position is made all the more precarious by his startling resemblance to a giant carved head in a nearby mountain that supposedly depicts "the Evil One".

It doesn't take The Doctor long, having befriended exiled Sevateem beauty Leela (Louise Jameson), to deduce that the tribes are the descendants of Earth colonists who crash landed on the planet manyy, many years ago - the Sevateem being the "survey team" who set out to explore the planet, while the Tesh (technicians) stayed and worked on the ship.

His only, personal, involvement came about from a barely remembered "unscreened adventure" where he had visited the ship before and tried to help repair the computer in a particularly extreme fashion, little realising that it had actually achieved sentience by that stage.

Chris Boucher's The Face Of Evil wears its influences on its sleeve, the story has strong Star Trek overtones with its central foe being a computer that cannot be overcome by force alone, while the giant carving of The Doctor's face brings back memories of a similar situation that faced Arthur Dent in Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy and the invisible aliens that terrorise the Sevateem are very reminiscent of Forbidden Planet.

After a rather uncomfortable start where The Doctor appears to be delivering his first monologue to the audience - a rather bizarre breaking of the fourth wall that never works in a serious show like this - the script soon settles down as a great satire of organised religion (especially given that both tribes believe themselves to be following the same 'god').

However, it's mainly remembered for introducing the scantily clad Leela to the TARDIS - a move that kept 11-year-old me, and a lot of dads watching the show with their kids, very happy for many years (at least until Peri appeared on the scene, of course).

The Doctor/Leela dynamic initially is odd one as he tends to be rather patronising towards her and while his dislike of her more brutal ways is understandable he never appears to tell her "why" they are wrong, just that they are.

In his first appearance, the leader of the Tesh, Jabel (Leon Eagles), is shown to have psychic powers strong enough to render The Doctor unconscious - however this monumental mind control then deserts him later on as he never again uses this rather useful ability to keep The Doctor in order (or anyone else come to that, and given the resolution of the story it's bizarre to believe he would bother 'negotiating' with the Sevateem when he is clearly such a powerful psychic).

Ultimately, The Face Of Evil is a strange little tale that is, in many ways, left unresolved. Once The Doctor undoes his earlier mistake, he leaves as soon as possible and we never really explore the ultimate fall-out of this resolution. It would have been interesting to discover what happened to the two tribes in the wake of The Doctor's departure.

Join The Doctor Online And Visit Worlds In Time...

The first browser-based, free-to-play multiplayer online game based on Doctor Who - Doctor Who: Worlds in Time - was officially launched this week by BBC Worldwide Digital Entertainment and Games.

Created in partnership with Three Rings, the award-winning developer of persistent online worlds Puzzle Pirates and Spiral Knights, the game transports fans and gamers alike on a journey throughout the boundless Doctor Who universe.

Doctor Who: Worlds in Time offers something for everyone, including an intriguing narrative for sci-fi followers and serious gamers and stimulating micro-missions for game enthusiasts looking for a quick pick-up-and-play game.

After meeting The Doctor in the TARDIS, players travel to various immersive worlds (including Ember, Mars and New New York) and work together to defend civilization against infamous villains (including the Autons, Clockwork Robots and Zygons) bent on creating chaos and destruction in the universe.

Since the open preview launch in December 2011, the BBC and Three Rings have worked to make more Doctor Who environments available, as well as introduce additional virtual items and create deeply engaging communal features.

“Worlds in Time offers players a multitude of elements and opportunities to socialize,” said Robert Nashak, executive vice-president, BBC Worldwide Digital Entertainment and Games. “From introducing beloved characters and progressive storylines to presenting additional guild play, our goal is to become the largest Doctor Who community ever assembled, while also being an enjoyable experience for all users.”

While Doctor Who: Worlds in Time is free-to-play, players can enrich their gameplay and hasten their progress through the purchase of Chronons, which help them to customize their avatars, complete mini-games, build new contraptions and more.

“I have been a fan of Doctor Who since I was a child, so developing this game with BBC Worldwide is a dream come true,” said Daniel James, CEO of Three Rings Design, Inc. “Like The Doctor, we have our own mission, to provide Doctor Who fans an experience matched only by the wondrous TV series, and casual gamers a warm opportunity to discover the marvelous world for themselves. It’s exciting to see the Doctor Who universe come to life in such a unique way.”

Doctor Who, one of BBC Worldwide’s flagship brands, is the longest-running science fiction series in the world and will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2013.

While a quintessentially British show, 2011 was the biggest year ever for Doctor Who on BBC AMERICA with record ratings and mass critical acclaim. The series broadcasts in more than 70 million homes and On Demand across all major digital platforms.

Bill On The Appeal Of "Evil"...

Wonder Woman Wednesday...

Game Of Thrones - Season 2: The More You Love Trailer

On Spartacus Tonight...

The Return Of K-9's Nemesis Is "Sick!"

The Internet is a funny old place. That pretty much goes without saying, and yet I'm still constantly amazed by the virtual friendships I have struck up in the last five years - since I began casting my thoughts out randomly into the aether through a variety of blogs.

One such acquaintance is actor/stuntman/comedian/all-round good guy Connor van Vuuren - star of the Australian Doctor Who "spin-off" K-9. Connor played Drake, the evil security chief who was always chasing after the Tin Dog and its teenaged compadres... and to say I was less than flattering about Connor's performance would be an understatement!

Luckily, he took my comments in good spirit and has stayed in touch (after jokingly threatening to crush my genitals with Drake's robotic hand), keeping me abreast of the comedy show he and his brother, Christiaan, have been working on.

"When an Australian man is quarantined with a deadly infectious disease, he re-unites with his estranged brother (an obsessive gamer) and enters a fantasy world within his computer, where he joins an epic quest to destroy all evil online."

Sick!, a pilot/telemovie that Connor describes as "comic fantasy hip-hopera", premiers on Australian MTV next Sunday (March 18) and will be available to view online from April.

Map-A-Monday: Star Wars Galaxy

Makes A Change From Monkeys...

The Reader Survey Has Closed!

The phone lines are now closed and the results are being tallied. If you call now, your vote will not be counted and you may still be charged.

As they say on TV talent shows.

More accurately the I'd Rather Be Killing Monsters... reader survey is now closed and I'm going over the results.

Thank you to everyone who participated. It has been a great eye-opener, ego-boost and cold slap of reality around the chops to me.

Expect some form of amateur analysis later this week.

Now Look What You've Gone And Made Me Do...

The Next Piece Of The Gamesroom Jigsaw...

The next piece of art has been hung in the gamesroom stairwell - my treasured George Perez poster of the New Teen Titans.

Dating from 1983, this poster was originally Blu-tacked to the back of my bedroom door when I still lived at home with my parents and features my all-time favourite superheroic team of crime fighters - the Teen Titans from the era of Marv Wolfman and George Perez.

This was the comic book title that first got me into seriously collecting comics and remains, for me, a benchmark of what can be achieved with superpowered crime-busters.

The poster was frayed round the edges, stained and faded but the picture framers did a good job of concealing the edges while the ageing effects just emphasis the poster's history to me.

Meanwhile, the rest of the gamesroom is looking increasing like one of the "honey-holes" that Mike and Frank visit on American Pickers, in their never-ending quest for "rusty gold".

I'm trying to dissuade Rachel from coming up here at the moment as I expect she would be less than impressed by the state of chaos that reigns in the gamesroom - compared to the rest of her well-organised house!

However, I'm still persisting in publishing pictures of my mess, so that once it's all cleaned up and everything is just how I want it I can then "compare and contrast" the before and after shots.