Achieve Nerdvana

When you’re a roleplayer, you’re damn lucky to find a good group to throw dice with. You’re even luckier to find an imaginative, knowledgable, and fair Game Master. But when you’re Dungeon Master writes and publishes his own D20 game system book for Dungeons & Dragons and let’s you game test it, that’s when you’ve achieved Nerdvana. …Yeah, I’m talking about me!

Secrets of Pact Magic by Dario Nardi allows spellcasters to bind elemental, fiendish, and epic spirits and wield their long lost power. Implementing pact magic into a D&D campaign opens up a whole new way to practice powerful (and often perilous) magic — and opens doors to some very interesting adventures, to say the least.

I caught up with Dario at Orc Con in Los Angeles and talked to him about what it takes to create and write a RPG book, his favorite part of the game testing phase, and how players and DMs can take advantage of pact magic to make their campaigns more fun.

You can learn more at PactMagic.com. But first, check out the Achieve Nerdvana Exclusive Interview!

Every week guest columnist The Silver Wake Boarder takes time out of his busy galactic travels to offer his thoughts on the latest episode of the greatest tv show ever.

Silver Actual.

- What do you get the Harbinger of Death? …Maybe acting lessons?

- When the cylons kept saying we have to see the hybrid I thought they where going to show her a Prius.

- For the longest time we haven’t seen a good death on BSG and they give us the death of a glorified extra?

- I like the fact that Gaius is now the preacher on the old time gospel hour.

- President Roslin coming to terms with her death is getting a little old. To quote Chris de Burgh “Don’t pay the ferry man till you get to the other side.”

- Was it just me or did anyone else see a few wires in Gatta’s leg along with some veins and tendons?

- Why couldn’t Anders have touched the Cylon water? That would have been cool.

Till next time.

Silver Wake Boarder just sent me these cell phone pics from a local movie theater (The Vista) here in Hollywood. The usher at the door of the theater ripping tickets is dressed as Iron Man. So I ask you: poor bastard or working man’s hero?

I give you the trailer for the animated series coming this August - Star Wars: The Clone Wars…

However, don’t get your hopes up for stories that happen Post Vader. “”Whatever it is that happens afterward,” the 63-year-old filmmaker said, “that isn’t the core ‘Star Wars’ story that I like to tell.”

The stories that DO interest him are the ones that take place before Skywalker dons the black mask, which is why the Lucasfilm Animation venture will add a seventh feature film to the “Star Wars” canon on Aug. 15 with “The Clone Wars.”

Nice to know we got our priorities straight, right? Ahh, humans — when threatened by climate crisis and war, we turn to building architecture out of toys.

Read more and check out more pics at Daily Mail.

Here is the first image of the “Lost” star Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as the G.I. Joe favorite, Heavy Duty.

The first thing that they’ve done right? I ask you…

Nar posted a great article about a steampunk style computer a while ago, so when I came across a blog from my good parenting friends at meconium about a Star Wars steampunk action figure line, I knew it had to be shared with the rest of y’all.

Sillof’s Workshop has a huge line of custom made action figures for you to drool over: Gaslight Justice League, Victorian Avengers and Star Wars in half a dozen styles, including the aforementioned Steampunk.

Here’s 3PO to whet your appetite:

Take a gander at them yourself, download some new desktop theme pics and get pissed the next time you look at the shitty action figures they put out for movies nowadays. (EX: see below)

Marvel have only just announced that they will indeed be producing a Captain America movie, set to debut May 6, 2011, but already the rumors are flying around as to who will be wielding the famous shield.

Early reports around the web have been saying that Marvel is in fact looking towards the star of “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days” and “Sahara” to wield the mighty shield. I don’t see it. I’m fine with McConaughey as an actor, but I don’t see him being behind a mask, and then come time for the Avenger’s film, leading a team of people with much better acting chops (i.e. Downey, Jr and Norton). Marvel may being looking this way, but it’s seriously making me look the other way..

Your thoughts oh world wide web?

In 1945, the Nazis went to the moon. In 2018, they’re coming back. The following video is well worth the two minutes it will take you to watch it. I mean, UFOs, the dark side of the moon, Nazis in space suits! The effects are beautiful and the premise is great, SO…

Check out the promo trailer for the Finnish sci-fi film, Iron Sky!

Via Twitch

maskless? seriously? not sure how I feel about it. your thoughts?

Every week guest columnist The Silver Wake Boarder takes time out of his busy galactic travels to offer his thoughts on the latest episode of the greatest tv show ever.

Silver actual.

Got to tell you folks, this one was a let down. Last weeks preview made it look like the Chief was going to go off on everyone. Didn’t happen. Now, it’s cool that Chief makes peace with Gaius, but violence is better in his case. Or does Gaius have a clue who a cylon is after screwing a few of them?

Now to staRRRRRbuck. It’s not easy being the boss now is it? It was cool seeing Leoben again. He’s very creepy, and I like it. When Leoben and Anders spoke of the civil war of the Cylon was nice.

But all in all, folks, not much to report.

Another score for human-robot relations! As I’ve predicted all along, robots are not destined to ONLY serve DARPA (programmed warfare, surveillance, you know the drill). They can also SERVE ME. An Omelet.

It’s important to note that the bipedal humanoid robot in the following video isn’t being programmed to make a ham and cheese omelet, but trained — by showing the robot how to make breakfast, just as you would show another human.

Researcher Sylvain Calinon and his team at the Learning Algorithms and Systems Laboratory in Switzerland are training Chief Cook Robot using a three phase approach: demonstration, modeling, and reproduction.

Instead of simply memorizing the movements, the ‘bot generalizes the actions and is able to identify when to properly use them. It’ll also speak as it learns, and let researchers know what it’s doing. If HOAP-3 has any questions, the team uses a remote (or in this case, a Wii remote) to answer them.

Dvice via Robots.Net

Marvel Entertainment has released these photos of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in the upcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine film which is due for a release on May 1, 2009 (the day I turn 30, a coinkydink?)

These aren’t actually available for blogs and such yet, but I worked my magic. Just for you. Many Bothans died to bring us this information. Enjoy

For those of you who didn’t see Iron Man this weekend, not only did you miss one KICK ASS action flick, you also missed a new look at what is likely to be another kick ass action flick — The Dark Knight. This trailer features much more Harvey Dent and new looks of The Joker. Check it out:

With all the Avengers talk, let’s talk about the new DVD coming out in August…

The film will be set in the future and feature completely new characters, although elements from the Marvel Universe will be used. The film features the Avengers’ teenage children, (who decide to become superheroes after their parents are killed by Ultron), an elderly Tony Stark, (who mentors the new heroes), and an elderly Bruce Banner. Promotional art and preview images have shown that the heroes are modeled after Captain America, Black Panther, Thor, the Wasp and Hawkeye.

A good idea? or Marvel cashing in on the hype that the post credits of Iron Man created?