fantasy » Life of Andrew

White Cloud Worlds at Lopdell House Gallery

Mar 252012

The Lopdell House Gallery in Titirangi is (somewhat bizarrely) showing works by New Zealand fantasy artists, most of whom seem to work for Weta digital.

It is strange experience to walk around a gallery viewing images that would normally be wrapped around a cheap paperback, or printed on a piece of cardboard as part of a game. In fact, at least one of the artists has done work for Magic The Gathering. I know this because they framed a collection of his cards.

All the work is of a high standard but it has that same interchangeable fantasy style that is common in a genre where most of the work is (I assume) commercial commissions. Despite all the art being from this country there is not much recognisably New Zealand in this art. A few images depict Maori legends, but in a very generically stylized fashion. It is not that the images are bad, just uninspired although thankfully, the exhibition is light on scantily clad warrior-babe cliché. Still, it is a bit of a thrill to see full sized images of fantasy scenes in a proper gallery setting.

White Cloud Worlds is at the Lopdell House Gallery until the 15th of April, 2012.

Game Review : Wrath of Ashardalon

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Jul 292011

Things are not going well for the villagers that live near the dark volcano that dominates the landscape. The smoke and ash the billows from the inaccessible crater is only a minor problem, far worse are the horrible creatures that dwell in the crevices that split the mountain’s flanks. And lurking somewhere deep within the lava-fulled depths – Ashardalon awaits!

First things first – Wrath of Ashardalon is an official Dungeons and Dragons game, played like you would a D&D adventure with simplified combat with the game mechanics taking the place of the DM. Still reading? Very well, let us continue…

Up to 5 adventures can play, each selecting a different pre-defined character but choosing a subset of the available abilities to start with. Each turn, the a player moves his character around the board and possibly attacks a monster if one is in range. At the start of the game, the board consists of a single 4*4 tile but if a player ends his move on an edge then pick a random tile and place it on the board, exposing a new part of the dungeon. At least one monster is placed on each new tile. Usually an encounter card is drawn as well, these have effects (almost always bad) ranging from the current player being hit by an arrow from the shadows to everyone taking damage from poison gas.

Then it is the monsters turn to move, the current player does that before ending his turn. The monsters all behave slightly differently, but the cards carefully explain what to do. Combat is very simple – roll a 20 sided dice and add the attack value to see if it meets the armour class of the defender. Most monsters can be dispatched with one or two hits so bookkeeping is kept to a minimum.

The ultimate goal changes depending on the scenario chosen at the start of the game. In our most recent game we had to fight our way through the random tunnels to find a special tile that opened into a large chamber filled with monsters led by a special “villain” monster with extra abilities. Our first attempt failed utterly but we got there in the end.

One word best describes Wrath of Ashardalon – hardcore! The box contains a vast amount of cards, tokens, thick cardboard map tiles, and 42 unpainted plastic figurines. The figurines are different from the normal D&D figures but detailed and suitable monstrous. The map tiles are very heavy card-stock and the art in nice throughout; full marks for presentation. The rulebook looks good but has a uphill battle trying to explain things, especially since many of the rules only apply during certain scenarios. It was only on our second game that we felt we were playing things correctly and even then we had problems.

The closest thing I could compare Wrath of Ashardalon to is the old Gauntlet arcade game from the 80s. The game forces you to move fast, uncovering the dungeon quickly to reach your goal. The clock is ticking since horrible events befall your party nearly every turn. Trying to mop up every single monster before continuing only leads to defeat; far better to keep moving and conserve your meagre resources as long as possible.

Wrath of Asgardalon certainly can be fun, but is really only for experienced players. The game balance is brutally stacked against the players, so everyone has to be making the most of their abilities all the time. Even then blind chance can completely screw you (and everyone else) over with no chance to counter it.

Recommended only if you have a group of friends who really like Dungeons and Dragons and Losing and Restarting.

Game Review : Cutthroat Caverns

Games No Responses »

Apr 142010

A motley band of adventurers descends into the inky darkness of the caverns in the quest for the fabulous artefact rumoured to lie somewhere deep within. Working together they should be more than a match for the terrifying creatures that wait in the shadows, but each member knows that only the most glorious amongst them will be able to claim the prize; perhaps a little backstabbing may help things along.

Cutthroat Caverns (boardgamegeek, publishers site) is a clever little game where players fight monsters as a team to gain “prestige”, the player at the end of game (usually 10 encounters) with the most prestige wins. Combat is handled by cards (there is no board), during each round the players each play one (or sometimes more) attack cards face down. These are then revealed to determine how much damage the current creature has suffered. If the creature is still alive, it gets a chance to retaliate in kind, usually striking a random player for some damage of its own.

The fighting continues until the creature’s health is reduced to zero – the twist being that only the player that struck the killing blow gets all the prestige regardless of how much damage they did over the course of the rumble. This scoring system provides the tension in the game; you usually have a range of attacks in your hand but there is no point playing your strongest cards unless you are sure that you are going to be the one who makes the kill. On the other hand, someone is going to have to do some damage to the monster or else it will make mincemeat out of party.

In addition to attack cards, there are also “items” that can be picked up along the way (representing potions and magical amulets, etc) which confer certain benefits. There are also “action” cards that can be played at certain times to aid or disrupt attacks, hopefully in ways that will be of benefit.

So far so good, Cutthroat Caverns neatly encapsulates the cheesy DnD hack-n-slash games without all the bother. What really makes the game fun is the variety of the monsters, each one is almost a different game. Some attack randomly, some can not be damaged by certain attacks, some attack the players that attacked for the most damage (or least damage, or simply who hit first) last turn, others damage everybody equally at the end of each turn. It is this randomness (10 creatures are drawn each game out of a larger pool) that ensures that each game is totally different.

Although the game has a high random component, it seems remarkably well balanced. Most of our games have ended with the party very nearly dead at the end of the 10 creatures, which leads to some very tense final encounters. It is possible to get killed, which removes that player from the game, but this will normally only happen towards end so it is not too unfair.

Cutthroat Caverns is obviously aimed at players who enjoy the trappings of role playing, but the game is simple and fast-paced enough to appeal to nearly everyone. If anything, playing it reminds me of Magic the Gathering, it is a much easier game but supports the same fast paced shifting of strategies and crazy reversals. 3 to 6 players are able to play, the more the merrier.

Highly recommended.

Film Review : Avatar

Culture 4 Responses »

Jan 032010

James Cameron has always been an interesting film maker. Although on one level most of his films could be classified as pulpy genre-related fare, they usually have a more interesting subtext lurking below the explosions. Previous Cameron films have investigated such themes as mother/daughter relationships, humanity’s fear of the unknown, musings on fate and predestination, and whether it is morally acceptable (and perhaps even admirable) to slum it with a good looking lower class boy for a few weeks before you get married even though an ocean liner might not be the best place to do so. So it is with a heavy heart that I have to say Avatar is a slight disappointment.

The planet of Pandora (Who names these planets? What were they thinking?) has some stuff that humans want to mine. Unfortunately, the best place to get it is right on top of where the indigenous population (8 foot tall skinny blue people called the Navi) live in harmony with their world. The Navi are distrustful of the humans, so in order to investigate the Navi a bit more, the humans create the titular avatars – mindless Navi bodies that certain individuals can “drive around” remotely. The main character is just such an individual, and he (or his avatar) quickly becomes involved in the local tribe. Although the humans would prefer that the Navi move on without violence, it is clear that a military solution, led by a crazed marine, might be more expedient…

It is almost impossible to spoil anything about Avatar’s plot, no doubt you have already guessed the direction it which it unfolds. It is a shame that for all the risks involved in making what is apparently the most expensive movie ever made (it certainly looks like it), the story is as safe as an after-school special. The film could have made some interesting points about colonialism, or environmentalism, the military, or even feminism, but instead chooses to unspool a conventional yarn where the good guys are selfless and the bad guys are crazy and evil. It is not that is it a bad story per say, just something we have all seen many times before.

I saw Avatar in 3D, it is by far the best 3D experience so far. The lush jungles and mist-shrouded peaks of Pandora look amazing – Avatar is simply the greatest visual treat I have ever seen. The contrast between the sharp grey lines of the human base with the colourful, glowing environment outside is very well rendered. James Cameron has always been interested in portraying technology and Avatar is no exception – a nice touch is that all of the displays that the humans use during the movie are also in 3D. There are a thousand little details like that I loved about Avatar, it is just a shame that the whole thing isn’t as great as the sum of its parts. However, anyone who shares Cameron’s love for helicopters and giant robots and things being blown up by helicopters and giant robots will be thrilled.

Highly recommended if you can see it on the big screen in 3D. Otherwise only recommended if you like this sort of thing (but who doesn’t?)

Book Review : Three Books

Culture 3 Responses »

May 052009

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell: A Novel by Susanna Clarke

Possibly going for the title of “Most English Book Ever Written”, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell tells the unlikely story of two magicians in the early 1800s, a time when magic is all-but forgotten. The two title characters have very different approaches to magic and life in general, and it their alliance/rivalry that drives the story.

As historical fantasy goes, this is pretty good stuff. It is written in a pastiche of Dickens and Austen, and draws a lot from the English folk-tales that I read a lot of as a kid, with fairies and witches behind every tree. The only criticism I can think of is that it is quite long and does go on a bit. But if you can stand the deliberately baroque style then you will enjoy reading this.

Highly recommended if you like this sort of thing

The Complete Chronicles of Conan By Robert E. Howard

I am not sure how, but up until now I have managed to avoid reading any of the thirty thousand Conan stories Howard wrote during his short lifetime. Set during a vanished age of savage heroics and ancient cities reclaimed vast deserts, Conan wanders around getting involved in various plots. Almost all of these stories contain two or more of the following elements: an ancient cult, a god-like being from another world, a princess whose clothes fall off, pirates, and giant snakes. Also, Conan beats up an awful lot of random people he happens to meet.

Despite the fact that all the stories are very similar, I enjoyed reading this collection (actually I am not sure that this is the same book, but they are essentially interchangeable). Howard, the original fantasy dweeb, had a straightforward way of telling a story that makes for easy, undemanding reading, and who doesn’t enjoy a musclebound barbarian slicing up a huge bat to rescue a naked chick? The casual racism is less easy to overlook, but this is not uncommon in books this old.

Recommended only if you like this sort of thing

Measuring The World By Daniel Kehlmann

More historical fiction stuff, this time featuring the real historic figures of Gauss and Alexander von Humboldt in early 1800s Germany. Both men are obsessed with measurements. Gauss, a super-genius, needs only has flashes of insight to encompass in his mind a world he does not feel a part of. von Humboldt is an explorer who becomes legendary for his globe trotting exploits and careful observations. The book contrasts their different approaches in the face of the difficulties of the time.

I am in two minds about this book, it is written in a very conversational style that perhaps does not do the story justice. It may have lost something from being translated from German, but it just didn’t grab me. The story is fascinating though, especially von Humboldt’s part. I hadn’t heard of him before but he certainly lived a rich life.

I think what really lets the book down is that just about everyone mentioned comes across as extremely unlikable, as if 19th century Germany was filled with complete bastards. This may or may not have been true but it makes for hard reading.

Interesting but not really recommended

Book Bragging Rights (Fantasy Edition)

Culture 6 Responses »

Mar 082009

Alright! This is the last one of these I am going to do, partly due to the time they take, but mostly because they make me look bad.

Fantasy is a much (and accurately) maligned genre. Unlike SciFi, Fantasy cannot pretend that its authors are offering up visions of our future, nor do novels containing doughty heroes slaughtering goblinoid lesser racers lend themselves to commentary on the human condition, except in the most ironic way. Still, I will admit to enjoying some olde-time dragon slayage as much as the next man.

I got this list from the same site as the SciFi list, but you can see they were scratching to find 100 fantasy books worth mentioning. Several items are more “Magic Realism” which is publisher-speak for “telepathic policeman” or some-such nonsense. Others are could have easily been labeled SciFi. Still more just aren’t really that good.
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Game Review : Talisman

Games No Responses »

Jan 172008

This is a review of a very geeky game, so those not interested can view some pictures of animals by clicking on this bear:

Still with me? Talisman is a board game with a premise similar to Dungeons and Dragons. Each player takes a archetypal character (Warrior, Elf, etc) with certain statistics and abilities and participates in an epic quest. Along the way they accumulate items and spells that (mostly) make him more powerful and able to survive attacks from various threats – including the other players.

Unlike D&D, Talisman is played on a board that represents the fantastic landscape. The layout is very simple, consisting of three concentric rings of locations. Players normally move either left or right around the ring they are on as many spares as indicated by the dice, but there are various ways of moving either in or out a ring. The goal is to get to the magical item in the middle of the board and use it to remove the other players from the game. Each turn, the players move to a new square and perform the action listed there, which usually involves drawing at least one card. Sometimes these cards are good (say some money or a magic item), but more likely than not it will be some sort of creature to be defeated. Combat is resolved with a simple dice role modified by the current statistics of the character.

And thats about it.

Talisman is not a game of deep strategy, you have very few choices each turn (basically role a dice then chose either left or right). In many ways it is only slightly more complex than Snakes and Ladders. The appeal of the game is in the setting; show me a person who doesn’t like wandering around a fantasy world battling Ogres and I will show you a man with no soul (or a man would rather be outdoors, or a man with better things to do, or a woman.)

We were playing the new 4th edition (Talisman dates back to the 1980s.) The board is very nice, but I thought that the rest of the components seemed a bit on the cheap side. Also some of the rules seemed really unclear. Actually I was pretty disappointed with the whole package – it really is too simple to be fun. Maybe if each game lasted for 30 minutes it would be worthwhile, but with 5 players we stopped after almost 3 hours with no end in sight.

Not really recommended

5 Ways to Tell If You Are Living In a Fantasy or Science-Fiction Novel

Culture 1 Response »

May 302007

When you come across a thin building taller than 6 stories high, do a quick check to see if it is a tower. If it is then you have no problems, provided you are a law abiding citizen. However, if it could be a spire then you are in trouble; it is undoubtedly inhabited by an evil wizard or the matriarch of an alien insectoid race. It’s probably too late to run.

Learn to tell the difference (I know what the movie is called, but I know spires when I see them)

This a tip for the the mechanically minded. Find an excuse to look under the hood of the nearest powered vehicle. If you see a motor or an engine then you are sitting pretty, this applies to anything from the smallest Morris Minor to the space shuttle. Woe betide you if you spy any kind of drive. Although the vehicle can probably fly or travel trough time, drives are notoriously unreliable especially during the inevitable alien attack.

If you ever find yourself in a forest, jungle, or otherwise surrounded by vegetation of significant size, take a minute to look around. If the foliage is green, or even lush you are probably OK, but if it is verdant then the undergrowth conceals lurking enemies, or is itself dangerous. One exception – if any of the leaves appear to be sun-dappled then you will probably soon come across a rather dopey princess riding a unicorn or something. In either case, my advice is to run like hell.

She may be cute but beware; she has no boat skills and smells like onions

An Experiment: Find a space that does not get a lot of fresh air, like a seldom-opened wardrobe or garden shed, and take a deep breath. If the air is musty or stale you are OK. Dank air is cause for concern, and if the air is close then watch out!

Finally, if you are not squeamish, you night like to try a quick autopsy on any recently killed animals or humanoids. Pay particular attention to the fluids that escape from the body. In the real world you will see mainly blood (red) and possibly bile (green or yellow) – this is a good sign.

In contrast, fantasy creatures are filled to gills with sticky black ichor, often under great pressure so the merest prick with a blade results in a great shower of the stuff. If you see any then watch out, since the corpse will most likely rise again soon.

Diagram showing the differences in human vs orc anatomy – note the large ichor sac on the right figure

Movie Review: Pan’s Labyrinth

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May 272007

A young girl travels with her mother to a remote military base in the Spanish countryside to live with her stepfather, an army captain. While there, she meets a magical faun who gives her three fantastic quests to carry out. This would be complicated enough, but in the meantime it is 1944 and the Spanish civil war rages on, the fort that they are staying at is full of intrigue, the girl’s mother pregnancy is not going well, and her new stepfather is a sadistic fascist.

Pan’s Labyrinth is the type of magic realism that is not often seen in movies. I guess it resembles older films like The Wizard of Oz and Labyrinth in some ways, but Pan’s Labyrinth is a much darker tale despite featuring such a young protagonist.

This guy has excellent hand-eye coordination

The film is also unusual in that the story focuses more on the events in the real world, while the fantasy elements exist more as a subplot. In fact, you could edit out the fantasy scenes altogether and still have a complete story. The deliberate contrast between the sinister creatures the girl must encounter in her quest with the more mundane human monsters she must live with is well done. This is not a story for young children – the film earns its R16 certification with several gory scenes.

Pan’s Labyrinth is one of the better films I have seen all year; highly recommended!

Movie Review: The 7^th Voyage of Sinbad

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May 162007

The legendary sailor is forced to form a crew of untrustworthy criminals and sail to a remote island filled with every kind of stop-montion animated peril when his fiancÃ©e is cursed.

I had good memories of the Sinbad from watching them on TV as a child, and I am happy to report that The 7^th Voyage of Sinbad has aged quite well for a nearly 50 year old fantasy film. The plot is simplistic to the extreme and is mainly an excuse to move from action set-piece to action set-piece, but it gets the job done. Unlike other films of the era (and today), 7th Voyage does not skimp on the special effects, with magical creatures in abundance. Unfortunately, they don’t really do much except fight Sinbad’s crew or each other.

The special effects are by the famous Ray Harryhausen. By todays standards they are not terribly convincing, but they are still immensely appealing due to fantastic (in both senses of the word) design and detail. Many of the creatures exhibit more emotion than most of the cast, and you can see the care and skill that went into the animation.

Highly recommended if you like this sort of thing