Not so long ago, the 4^th Edition DMGII came out. With the general high quality of 4E splatbooks so far, this looked promising: but for those out there for whom “promising” isn’t enough, this in-depth review should give you everything you need to know about the book, helping with the critical decision of whether or not to actually go out and buy it.

Continue reading 4E Dungeon Master’s Guide 2: In-Depth Review

I just have to say, anyone can buy me this anytime… You know, normally when you receive soap as a present you’re all like “what are you trying to say dude?” And they’re all like “your eau de dirty sock isn’t really working out…” (or perhaps more to the point “dude, we TOTALLY didn’t know what to get you…”). Well, this is completely awesome – it’s soap with d20’s in them. That’s right. I’ll just let that sink in a bit…

Continue reading Staying clean the nerdy way – d20 soap

There are some stereotypical characteristics of the “nerd” which are commonly believed. (Perhaps because there’s a grain of truth in there…) Now, there’s a range of these, but today we’re only interested in 2.

1. Nerds are antisocial, don’t do well at parties and sometimes their personal grooming habits are not as well developed as might be desired.

2. Nerds don’t like sport.

Well, thanks to the good people at Critical Miss (an on-line magazine for dysfunctional roleplayers), we can disprove the latter item by using the former. Their invention is Body Language Rugby. The full rules can be accessed from their latest edition – unfortunately now over 2 years old. The game is suitable for any large and boring gathering, such as a wedding reception, work function or soirée (Ho there, Soirée! No answer? I charge!) The players are split into two teams. An unwitting member of the crowd is “the ball.” “End zones” are nominated at either side of the room. Using nothing but body language, each side attempts to steer “the ball” into the opposing end zone. Points are tallied, and the side which has the highest points at the end of the night is declared the winner.

The field of play. Note the goal posts at the far end.

Huzzah for the guys at Critical Miss! Their magazine is filled with items like this, plus GMing tips for the acutely lazy GM, how to railroad your players, broken and inadvisable scenarios and other entertaining and educational games such as Nuke the Crap out of Europe.

Go forth and enjoy.

No really…

Most Australians probably don’t need much of an introduction to the band Tripod, three guys and one guitar who sing funny songs about being, well, three guys with one guitar. They are a regular staple on the comedy circuit and are, despite being very funny, excellent musicians as well.

Well, I will get to the point… I just, out of curiosity just checked out their official website. For anyone who played D&D back in the day (think AD&D 1, 2) their website is going to have you in stitches… I don’t want to ruin the surprise – go check it out here:

Official Tripod Website

For those of you who want a taste of what is to come, here is a sample song on YouTube…

Update: found this too… bloody funny…

Nerds love Monty Python, right? I mean, there’s even a programming language named after the group… Well, in another case of “there’s nothing new under the sun” it seems that Monty Python’s “Dead Parrot Sketch” is perhaps a little bit older than previously thought. A scholar of Ancient Greece by the name of William Berg has translated a joke book written in the 4th Century CE containing 265 jokes by the comedians Hierocles and Philagrius. This comedy pair compiled a list of jokes called “Philogelos: The Laugh Addict”.

In Monty Pythons sketch, a man attempts to return a dead Norwegian Blue Parrot to a particularly difficult shopkeep. In the ancient Greek version, it’s a dead slave. Obviously, times have changed, but the joke is surprisingly similar. Other jokes, it seems, have also withstood the test of time, appearing in modernised versions around the world also.

From the Telegraph’s article:

Jokes about wives, it seems, have always been fair game.

One joke goes: “A man tells a well-known wit: ‘I had your wife, without paying a penny’. The husband replies: “It’s my duty as a husband to couple with such a monstrosity. What made you do it?”

Brilliant… who would have thought that the roots of British humour were so old?

You can see Monty Python’s sketch on Youtube here:

The original joke can be found here in electronic book format.

Many of us grew up with Sesame Street. A lot of us still remember our favourite songs and animations, and we certainly have a little giggle (privately) over the characters that we loved as a kid. And while the vast majority of us grew out of watching Sesame Street, some of us I am sure still harken back to the good old days. Well, maybe Sesame Street grew up too.

So today kiddies, I’m going to teach you a little lesson about the Internets. The internet is a wonderful invention, and it’s so great to have technology at our fingertips. Here is a little song (which is quite possibly nsfw).

They are called Avenue Q and they do a stage show that is quite funny.

[thanks Miss T]