Movie Review: "Fire and Ice" (1983)

This week, I wanted to give a shout out to perhaps the most ambitious barbarian-themed fantasy film produced in the wake of "Conan the Barbarian" (1982), the classic animated Swords & Sorcery yarn, "Fire and Ice":

In "Fire and Ice," the evil Queen Juliana of Icepeak and her sociopathic and totally not gay son, Lord Nekron, seek to conquer the world with dark sorcery by unleashing a seemingly unstoppable glacier.  As the glacier nears the last free kingdom of Firekeep, subhuman minions from Icepeak kidnap the scantily-clad Princess Teegra to marry Nekron.

Teegra escapes and meets up with Larn, a handsome hunky barbarian warrior wearing only a loincloth, the displaced survivor of a village destroyed by the glacier.  After Larn is knocked unconscious and Teegra is once again kidnapped by the subhumans, we meet the real star of the show, the mysterious badass who's so mysterious that his name is never given in the movie (although he's called Darkwolf in the credits)!  Thus, when we watched this flick in the ancient 80s, my friend Chris dubbed him "Cat Dude".

All we ever learn about Cat Dude is that he's a ridiculous badass and an unstoppable murder machine. While Larn is the ostensible hero of the film, Cat Dude is the one who actually gets things done.  

Things end up as you might expect from a Swords & Sorcery yarn (hint, it involves Cat Dude's axe and Nekron's chest).

"Fire and Ice" is a basic good vs. evil story and if that's how you judge this movie, it's not very good as the plot is straightforward and the second act drags a bit.  However, as collaboration between noted animation director Ralph Bakshi and his long-time friend, the all-time great fantasy illustrator Frank Frazetta, it's metal!

The film is basically a Frazetta painting turned into a movie, which is unsurprising since Frazetta provided the character designs and the fantasy setting.  There's many a mighty thew and scantily clad bosom to be found, and the flick is visually stunning, depicting a savage and primitive world filled with horrific monstrosities, weird and wild landscapes, lost ancient civilizations and copious amounts of dark sorcery.

Also notable is the film's use of rotoscoping, in which scenes were shot in live action and then traced onto animation cels, as with Bakshi's earlier adaptation of Lord of the Rings.  This provides an amazing sense of realism to the characters' motions.

For comparison, here is actress Cynthia Leake:

And here is Princess Teegra:

So, if you want to see an epic animated Swords & Sorcery yarn featuring barbarians, buxom babes, and lots of things getting murdered, check out this overlooked gem!  

RPG Design: Character Advancement

This week, I wanted to discussed an issue that is important in almost all tabletop role-playing games with campaign play, Character Advancement:

By "Character Advancement," I mean the mechanical advancement of a character rather than narrative or other development of a character (e.g., becoming a landed noble in a fantasy game, gaining magic items, etc.).  Traveller (1977) is a role-playing game that famously originally didn't have any Character Advancement system (i.e., the PCs were rewarded with, among other things, information about the setting).  In addition, RPGs not intended for campaign play (e.g., Fiasco) also lack any Character Advancement system.

However, almost every other RPG incorporates some system for Character Advancement, of which there are many different types, including:

• Leveling (e.g., D&D)

In D&D and similar games, once a PC has accumulated a sufficient number of Experience Points, their Level increases (i.e., they level up), resulting in mechanically defined increases in some of the PC’s capabilities.

Some games, such as older iterations of D&D, try to use Character Advancement as a balancing mechanism by having different Experience Point requirements for different classes.  However, the success of this balancing mechanism is questionable.

Leveling is the most common type of Character Advancement.

• Ongoing Point Buy (e.g., GURPS, WoD)

A continuation of Point Buy from Chargen, once a PC has accumulated a sufficient number of Experience Points, they receive a mechanically defined number of Points to further improve the character.

Ongoing Point Buy is probably the second most common type of Character Advancement.

• Advancement through Use (e.g., Call of Cthulhu)

Like it says on the tin, a PC advances through successful use of skills (e.g., Call of Cthulhu) or what have you.  While this may be a realistic approach, it can also result in players trying to squeeze in skill checks even in such are not appropriate.


Of course, there are also other possible Character Advancement systems, including non-mechanical advancement, such as Milestones in Fate Core:

"A milestone is a moment during the game where you have the chance to change or advance your character. We call them milestones because they usually happen at significant “break points” in the action of a game—the end of a session, the end of a scenario, and the end of a story arc, respectively."

Basically, the above is advancement through narrative fiat.


While not every role-playing game features Character Advancement, for those that do, it is a key method to maintaining player interest in the game and to increase player investment in their character.  "The Hero's Journey" is a part of humanity's collective unconscious and most people love feeling more powerful and seeing numbers go up.

Character Advancement in RPGs was a key innovation of Dave Arneson, as leveling was one of the key differences between Blackmoor and the earlier Braunsteins of the Midwest Military Simulation Association (MMSA).  So, many thanks to the Cheeky Wizard!

TV Review: "The Vision of Escaflowne (天空のエスカフローネ)" (1996)

This week, I wanted to give a shout out to an epic animated fantasy series that's one of the best of the 1990s, The Vision of Escaflowne:

"Was it all just a dream? Or maybe a vision?

No, it was real."

Set on both Earth and a fantasy world named Gaea, "The Vision of Escaflowne" follows the adventures of a teenage girl named Kanzaki Hitomi, who has a mystic connection to both places.  Whilst in the middle of professing her love for the high school track captain, Hitomi encounters Van, the teenage King of the small Gaean nation of Fanelia, and a dragon.

After defeating the dragon, Hitomi and Van are teleported back to Gaea, where Earth and the Moon are visible in the night sky and where Earth is called the Mystic Moon.  This is the first clue to the viewer that the series' has yet to be discovered backstory.

Shortly thereafter, Van uses the dragon's heart to power up the eponymous mecha Escaflowne, just as the Zaibach Empire invades his country.  Hitomi and Van are then swept up into Zaibach's conquest of the rest of Gaea, meeting a host of other characters along the way, including a jealous teenage catgirl.

It's a rather punishing game to have a drink every time Merle says, "Lord Vaaaaaan!"


Despite the bishōnen aesthetic of the male characters, "The Vision of Escaflowne" has a clever and well written story, with surprising depth and dramatic weight and some unexpected twists, without veering too much into melodrama.  Plus, there's a good balance between funny and poignant moments.  Additionally, the series successfully blends different genres (e.g., High Fantasy, Mecha, etc.) and puts its own distinctive spin on things.

Also notable are the wonderful soundtrack by Yoko Kanno and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and the eye popping visuals: this series is animation of a quality not previous seen before on a TV show.  The mecha design is top notch, including work from the legendary Kawamori Shōji of Macross fame.  There are also some pretty boss fight scenes.

A worldwide hit, "The Vision of Escaflowne" remains a beloved anime that is quite rewatchable more than 20 years later.  If you're looking for a fast-paced fantasy action anime filled with creativity, a wonderfully-fleshed out background and many well-designed characters, this may be for you!

RPG Game Play: Really Bad Stats

Last year, I discussed the issue of Stat Inflation (the incentive for players to play characters with higher statistics) in role-playing games which use Random Roll for character creation. 

This week, I wanted to talk about the opposite side of the coin: characters with Really Bad Stats.

If you use Random Roll for character creation, eventually Random Number Generation (RNG) will catch up and give you a character with Really Bad Stats.  And by "Really Bad Stats," I'm not talking merely below average but rather, bottom of the barrel (in D&D terms, I'm talking 3s, 4s or 5s) and I'm talking having more than one Really Bad Stat (even in a well designed game, it's usually possible to play around one Really Bad Stat).

So, this begs the question: Does having a character with Really Bad Stats materially affect fun?

Well, it depends.

Firstly, some players simply don't care about their character having Really Bad Stats.

Secondly, in some games, this is a moot question since some or all stats have no or little mechanical effect.  For example, in OD&D, a PC's Strength, Intelligence and Wisdom no mechanical effect other than possibly an XP bonus.  OD&D's other stats, except for Charisma, don't significantly effect gameplay either.

Thirdly, the circumstances can matter a great deal: it's different playing a character in a one shot or that doesn't otherwise require much mental investment in the character by the player. For example, it's easy enough to play up Really Bad Stats for comedic effect.

However, what about a character where the GM is looking for significant mental investment by the player in the character and wants to play a long-term campaign?  In other words, a player cannot simply wait until next session to play a different character.

Two common reasons that people play tabletop role-playing games are for escapist fantasy and for wish fulfillment.  Really Bad Stats can put a damper on both of those.

There's also the issue of fairness.  It's not really fair to having one character be significantly mechanically worse than the others.  Really Bad Stats can mitigated by the GM if he is able to provide the character with Really Bad Stats alternate ways to be effective and is able to still give the character their time in the spotlight.  However, this does require a level of trust in the GM and really should be expressly stated in the group's social contract.

Culture: Beer (~3000 BC)

Last year, I mentioned that eating well is one of things that makes life worth living!

This week, I wanted to take a look at the other side of cuisine and give a shout out to one of the oldest and most widely loved beverages of all time, Beer:

Beer is the third most popular drink in the world after water and tea.  And whether one calls this liquid awesomeness a cold one, a brewskie, or real man's Zima, people have been enjoying beer for a long, long time.  For example, during the building of the Great Pyramids of Giza, each worker got a daily ration of four to five liters of beer, serving as both nutrition and refreshment that was crucial to the Pyramids' construction.

Related to the invention of bread (it is theorized that beer-like beverages were independently developed throughout the world soon after a tribe or culture had domesticated cereal), beer has been arguably partly responsible for humanity's ability to develop technology and build civilization.  Unsurprisingly, the Code of Hammurabi included laws regulating beer and beer parlors.

Fermentation is one of the earliest chemical processes mastered by humanity.  Barley brewed beer has been around since at least 3100 BC, as per archaeological evidence (ancient pottery jars) from Godin Tepe in the Zagros Mountains of modern day western Iran.  

The oldest surviving beer recipe is the "Hymn to Ninkasi," the Sumerian goddess of brewing:

"Given birth by the flowing water ......, tenderly cared for by Ninhursaja! Ninkasi, given birth by the flowing water ......, tenderly cared for by Ninhursaja!

Having founded your town upon wax, she completed its great walls for you. Ninkasi, having founded your town upon wax, she completed its great walls for you.

Your father is Enki, the lord Nudimmud, and your mother is Ninti, the queen of the abzu. Ninkasi, your father is Enki, the lord Nudimmud, and your mother is Ninti, the queen of the abzu.

It is you who handle the ...... and dough with a big shovel, mixing, in a pit, the beerbread with sweet aromatics. Ninkasi, it is you who handle the ...... and dough with a big shovel, mixing, in a pit, the beerbread with sweet aromatics.

It is you who bake the beerbread in the big oven, and put in order the piles of hulled grain. Ninkasi, it is you who bake the beerbread in the big oven, and put in order the piles of hulled grain.

It is you who water the earth-covered malt; the noble dogs guard it even from the potentates (?). Ninkasi, it is you who water the earth-covered malt; the noble dogs guard it even from the potentates (?).

It is you who soak the malt in a jar; the waves rise, the waves fall. Ninkasi, it is you who soak the malt in a jar; the waves rise, the waves fall.

It is you who spread the cooked mash on large reed mats; coolness overcomes ....... Ninkasi, it is you who spread the cooked mash on large reed mats; coolness overcomes .......

It is you who hold with both hands the great sweetwort, brewing it with honey and wine. Ninkasi, it is you who hold with both hands the great sweetwort, brewing it with honey and wine.

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You ...... the sweetwort to the vessel. Ninkasi, ....... You ...... the sweetwort to the vessel.

You place the fermenting vat, which makes a pleasant sound, appropriately on top of a large collector vat. Ninkasi, you place the fermenting vat, which makes a pleasant sound, appropriately on top of a large collector vat.

It is you who pour out the filtered beer of the collector vat; it is like the onrush of the Tigris and the Euphrates. Ninkasi, it is you who pour out the filtered beer of the collector vat; it is like the onrush of the Tigris and the Euphrates."

As befits the followers of Ninkasi, many ancient beer meisters in Mesopotamia were women, and making beer was one of the few trades open women at the time.  This is a reflection of the responsibility that women had to supply both bread and beer to the household. 

In contrast with today's brews, ancient beers were often thick, more of a gruel than a beverage, and sometimes early beer drinkers used straws to avoid the bitter solids left over from fermentation.  In addition, some beers contained ingredients that would be unusual to modern beer drinkers, such as berries, honey and narcotic herbs!

But perhaps the biggest difference between ancient beers and modern beers is the latter's use of hops, which started in Germany in the 9th century.  Germany, of course, is home to the most epic of beer festivals, Oktoberfest, which has been held annually for over two centuries!

So, whether you are drinking craft brew or your favorite commercial megabrand, remember that you are doing your own small part to further civilization.  Cheers!