* The party had to escort the prodigal prince of their country to the capital to get the courts to decide whether he or the council will rule.

* The first roll of the game (from Riem’s player) was a critical hit (natural 20)!

* After some fights with some monsters, the party discovers that they are led by Brutus, who joins them on their trip to the capital.

* The capital is under siege by rebels.

* We charge into the middle of the group, and suffer no fatalities. PCs have no casulties at all.

* Confirmed kills are as follows: Brutus (after drinking berserker potion): 250; Maldorl (with exploding potion and sword): 85; Riem (exploding potions (2)):140; Balasar:25. Enemy group size: 500. Enemy survivors: 0.

* Skyrim references (a couple of my friends got it for Christmas) were one for every five minutes. In a six hour session. Mainly because the natural 20 roll meant that the enemy who was hit got a broken knee because of Riem’s arrow.

*Maldorl and Bob the goon were POWs after last week.

*The other main characters were sent to rescue them, along with two other teams.

*Our team was in an airship that was shot down, as an all-powerful airship destroyer was also captured by the enemy last session.

*Our team had to stealth their way through the field their airship crashed in.

*They knocked out most of the guards sent to find them, except for the one Riem killed.(!)

*After trying in vain to sneak into the city through the front gate, the players actually listened to the DM and went in through the sewers, although Eberk and Torlan were left behind for blending reasons.

*The players happened upon an arena, where Maldorl and Bob were outnumbered 1:3. M&B won.

*The players went to free Maldorl and Bob, and ended up freeing the other arena fighters too.

*The players managed to rappell up to the area with the airship destroyer.

* Once they got it, an allied airship arrived and rescued them. Eberk and Torlan were already on it.

Mission Status: Total Success.

Epilogue: Riem promoted to Master Sergeant for heroism. Balasar promoted to Staff Sergeant for same reason. Morlan hospitalised for SEVERE injuries sustained in the line of duty. Bob promoted to Lance Corporal.

Best part: For the aftermath, since Eberk’s player was unavailable, I ended up rolling for him at a -5 penalty. I rolled a 5. After an unrelated roll, I did the exact same thing.

* Traveling 150 miles in 3 days over a desert.

*Intimidating a Warforged King

*A rendition of The Rock with airships.

Meanwhile, near the end of the campaign, I started playing the campaign I’m in now. We started with 3.5 (technically they started with the 3rd edition starter pack, while I, being an experienced roleplayer already, created my own character). We switched to 4.0 a couple years or so ago. We’ve had a few changes in players, but currently we seem to have a very stable group. We have two DMs (myself, and another player who actually was our groups first DM), and we switch off.

The point of this is, while I love Cthulhu Rising, no site about my Roleplaying adventures would be complete without a listing of some of my D&D stuff. So, I’m updating the site to reflect that.

Let’s first adress the 200-pound gorilla in the room: Michael Keaton was better than Christian Bale as Batman. Let’s first focus on Bale’s performance. Bale, to his credit, does do a very intimidating Batman. He obviously has the physicality, and he does have an intimidating voice. But the voice sounds like he’s having EXPLOSIVE DIARREHA. Also, when he’s not doing the voice, Bale’s Wayne still acts exactly like Batman, and would be the first person anyone would suspect. For Keaton’s Batman, we’ll go same order. Keaton worked out just for the role, and manages to sell himself as Batman physically. His voice is a whisper as Batman, but the whisper somehow proves extremely intimidating. Also his Bruce Wayne is very different from his Batman. Bruce is playboy, Batman is hero. This makes a lot of sense, and no one would even suspect him as  Batman. Both actors bring a certain psychological edge, but Keaton takes the cake.

Now let’s go for the Joker. Heath Ledger was great as the Joker, and so was Jack Nicholson. So instead of talking about performance, let’s talk about characterization. Ledger’s Joker is a sociopath, and kills all his accomplices in the very beginning. In a very real way he is a terrorist, and a force to be reckoned with. Nicholson’s Joker was also a force to be reckoned with, but in a different way. He is also a sociopath, but instead of being a terrorist at first, he works for a criminal syndicate. However, as soon as he is injured, he goes apes–t and becomes a terrorist, poisoning Gotham City, and attempting to kill hundreds. Also another plus to Nicholson’s Joker is that he and Batman are tied, while Ledger’s Joker and Batman just fight because they can. So all-in-all, I just have to go with Nicholson’s Joker.

The portrayals of Gordon are tied, so that’s sort of in Dark Knight’s favor, but something Batman has that The Dark Knight can’t make up for is Bob the Goon. “Nuff said. Stay tuned for part 3.

First of all, there is the music. Let’s start with Dark Knight. This movie has good music. As a percussionist, I appreciate the rythm section. It has a nice dark vibe, and sets the mood for the movie. However, Batman has better music. As a percussionist, I appreciate the use of a full percussion section to make a more interesting sound. It to has a dark vibe, but there is a difference. Well first of all, Batman has more musical range to convey emotions (anger, sadness, love), while Dark Knight practically plays the same song over and over. But then there is a direct comparison of both themes. The Dark Knight’s theme has repetitive bass, which can get you pumped. But honestly, what really gets me in the ass-kicking mood is Batman’s theme. You just can’t mess with it. But finally, what gets me is the endings. Dark Knight has practically the same dark music. But with Batman, in the end, has music that just sends chills down my spine.  It gives you a good feeling, and at the real end, it leaves an epilogue to it, as if leading directly into a sequel. Stay tuned for review part 2.

Stay tuned for zombie suvival story.