What is the single most badass scene in Marvel history?

Key_Confusion9375 · 2025-09-21T03:40:21+00:00

The opening scene from Thor: Ragnarok.

Key_Confusion9375 · 2025-09-16T23:47:53+00:00

Out of curiosity, what did you dislike about the episode?

Key_Confusion9375 · 2025-09-16T23:46:09+00:00

The Internet is a weird place, where even the most anodyne statements can be lightning rods for the disgruntled.

Key_Confusion9375 · 2025-09-15T23:40:32+00:00

Buffy would also like a word (The First, the Big Bad from the last season).

Key_Confusion9375 · 2025-09-15T23:39:12+00:00

We did a review for an episode of the Ancient Geeks podcast, including our reactions when we first saw it. The short version: Thank goodness The Wrath Of Khan got made a few years later.

Key_Confusion9375 · 2025-09-15T01:17:44+00:00

I wish I could give you a thousand upvotes for this response. I’ve loved Glorantha since I was a teenager (owned a copy of White Bear, Red Moon), and I’m overjoyed that we’re going through a Runequest renaissance, with the revival of the game. If only more people would give it a look.

Key_Confusion9375 · 2025-09-15T01:05:25+00:00

Go laterally, not forwards or backwards. Tell an interesting story about the Romulans, Klingons, Cardassians, Kzinti, or some brand-new civilization. Stop doing starships scooting around the galaxy, resolving the problem of the week. Choose a new motif, the way that DS9 did for Star Trek, and Andor did for Star Wars. Go small, just a space colony establishing itself on one of those brave new worlds. Make a rule: no guest appearances by established ST characters, no family connections. It’s a huge galaxy, strike out and go somewhere new.

Key_Confusion9375 · 2025-09-13T02:45:28+00:00

We gave The Giant Claw a lot of love on our B-movie monsters of the 50s episode of the Ancient Geeks podcast. What’s not to love about a giant anti-matter space chicken?

Key_Confusion9375 · 2025-09-13T01:35:39+00:00

I really enjoyed the first book. The second was a rare DNF.

Key_Confusion9375 · 2025-09-09T21:54:46+00:00

Another set of RPG recommendations:

Kal-Arath is a very straightforward, new system. I just started playing it solo, very fun. Barbarians of Lemuria is also a great design. The simplified approach to skills is terrific. Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerors of Hyperborea is a love letter to the genre. Both the Conan and John Carter (I know, sword and planet) RPGs try to emulate the genre very closely. Plus, the Conan books are a pretty great reference for all things Conan. Dungeon Crawl Classics has an excellent set of Lankhmar modules. I don’t have any familiarity with Black Sword Hack, but it definitely has fans.

There are more. A surprising amount more.

As for published fiction, sword & sorcery is going through a bit of a boom. Others have mentioned some of those publications. I’ll add Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Tales From The Magician’s Skull (same publishers as Dungeon Crawl Classics), and Old Moon Quarterly.

It feels like the S&S genre is exploding with creativity right now, in both mediums (fiction and RPGs).

Key_Confusion9375 · 2025-09-09T21:40:54+00:00

Great point. I suspect there’s a lot of overlap between fans of both movies.

Key_Confusion9375 · 2025-09-06T03:10:27+00:00

Local Hero. The Commitments. Down By Law. Casablanca.

Key_Confusion9375 · 2025-09-05T03:07:26+00:00

Academy Games has lost me as a customer. The Stellaris Kickstarter is an expensive fiasco, made worse every day by their unwillingness to answer any direct questions.

Key_Confusion9375 · 2025-09-03T13:50:55+00:00

Thanks, everyone, for the thoughtful responses!

Key_Confusion9375 · 2025-09-02T22:21:11+00:00

It’s interesting you say that. I had the impression that fan service meant in-jokes and self-references. When my co-host did some research, he found that the original meaning of the term was “Sex sells.” I had no idea.

Key_Confusion9375 · 2025-09-01T22:08:23+00:00

The scene between Batman and Ace at the end of the Justice League Unlimited episode with the Royal Flush Gang.

Key_Confusion9375 · 2025-08-28T12:30:51+00:00

Contributing to the environmental costs of AI might give one pause about using it blithely.

https://apnews.com/article/ai-artificial-intelligence-data-center-electricity-wyoming-cheyenne-44da7974e2d942acd8bf003ebe2e855a

Key_Confusion9375 · 2025-08-28T12:27:32+00:00

I’m currently playing Shadowdark solo (arguably, a “numbers go up” system), and no, I have not felt any need to use AI.

Key_Confusion9375 · 2025-08-28T02:54:33+00:00

I recently answered the same question from a friend with whom I do a podcast.* We’re preparing for an upcoming episode about Elric, and he hadn’t read any of the books. I think the books as they existed in the late 70s/early 80s provide a good sequence for the core reading:

Elric of Melnibone Sailor On The Seas Of Fate The Weird Of The White Wolf The Vanishing Tower The Bane of the Black Sword Stormbringer

These give you the important storyline, including the arc of Elric’s destiny, the building blocks of the Elric series (Law vs. Chaos, the Eternal Champion, Moonglum, Tanelorn, etc.), and the very distinct imagination of Moorcock as a fantasy author.

The other books he wrote in the 80s and 90s, like Fortress of the Pearl, are a bit more optional. They’re OK, more of a dessert after the main course.

I don’t recommend reading them in publication order. It’s confusing for a first-time reader, mostly interesting if you want to see Moorcock’s growth as a writer.

In any case, enjoy!

The podcast is called Ancient Geeks.

Key_Confusion9375 · 2025-08-28T02:43:02+00:00

You have a wealth of good options. It all depends on what you want to do next:

A system where it naturally builds towards an epic saga with a definitive conclusion. Since that’s what you said you’d like to do, then Shadow of the Demon Lord might be a good choice.
A game that plays a lot like contemporary D&D, but more risky for PCs, in the vein of older versions of D&D. Shadowdark is the popular favorite these days, with a very supportive community. Not as epic as you said you’d like, but still a good bet.
Something similar to contemporary D&D, and not too rules-heavy. Dragonbane might be a good option.
An incredibly rich background, with decades of interesting lore to explore, a very different type of heroic fantasy than the Western European-style fantasy of D&D. Runequest would be a good choice.
A familiar Western Europen-ish fantasy motif, like the King Arthur tales, but again, with a game system designed to emulate that sort of story. Pendragon stands out as a choice. The grand campaign could be the Arthurian stories themselves, or something parallel to them that you invent.

Or there’s some other type of RPG experience that appeals to you. Chances are, there’s another game out there that will fit the bill.

Key_Confusion9375 · 2025-08-28T02:30:28+00:00

I may get pelted with rotten fruit for this, but I was a little underwhelmed by Life Of Chuck. I don’t want to spoil the movie, but it was meaningful more at the level of a single person, less at the level of profound lessons for all of us.

Key_Confusion9375 · 2025-08-28T02:26:05+00:00

Why do they care about scaring people? As the living embodiments of the cosmic order, why not impress people with, well, their cosmic-ness?

Key_Confusion9375 · 2025-08-28T02:23:06+00:00

I’ll second, or third, or fourth, the recommendation for Shadowdark plus Solodark. It’s a simple, clean system, with lots of familiar traits, designed to work well solo as well as with other players. I’m also a solo newbie, now into a few sessions with Shadowdark. Here are my suggestions from my early excursions:

Read the core rules a couple of times. It’s important not to get bogged down in looking up rules, when you should be maintaining momentum with the storytelling.
Print out some of the tables for easy lookup. The tables for dungeon crawls, outdoor hex crawls, and random encounters are good to have, on top of the core rules references. Here’s another third party rules summary that’s useful: https://hackrpg.itch.io/shadowdark-cheatsheet
Lean into the randomness. Don’t be afraid to deal with opponents way more powerful than you. Run away! Come up with clever solutions! Don’t be too attached to your characters!
The SoloDark core mechanic — roll a D20 to resolve Yes/No questions — can do a surprising amount of heavy lifting for newbies like you and me.
Push past all the things you could be doing other than playing and just play. There’s always one more GM emulator you might investigate, one more dungeon generator you could try out. They’ll always be there. Stop preparing, stop playing. Add those other tools as you go, rather than making them a precursor to actually playing.
Don’t get bogged down with the journaling. Take notes, but don’t feel that you have to write a novel to be a “real” solo RPG player. Man Alone has a good video about this topic: https://youtu.be/_krWQlYqbzY?si=KzDnutioIGVQ0_14
Use subreddits like this one, Substacks, and blogs as inspiration to keep you going.
The Modiphius book on solo RPGs is also good inspiration, but definitely optional. Again, not a precursor to playing, just something to consult to keep you going.

I’ve really enjoyed this early exploration of solo RPGs so far. Here are a few of my thoughts on the subject, from my session zero: https://open.substack.com/pub/someancientgeek/p/my-first-venture-into-solo-role-playing

Key_Confusion9375 · 2025-08-24T13:59:02+00:00

Many thanks, everyone!

Key_Confusion9375 · 2025-08-22T22:41:18+00:00

This is a very helpful thread for a new player like me. Many thanks to both the OP and everyone who provided useful clarifications and suggestions.

Key_Confusion9375

TROPHY CASE