D&D on Your Small Screens

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For this week's post, I wanted to share a cornucopia of links, all D&D related, but in wildly different areas.

First, up: Video Games

If you were a fan of the old SSI D&D games from the 80s, like Pool of Radiance and Eye of the Beholder, GOG (Good Old Games) has laboriously tracked down the rights owners, bought the game rights, and are in the process of updating the code for modern computers.

You can read more about their efforts here:
http://www.pcgamer.com/how-gog-rescued-13-forgotten-realms-games-from-licensing-hell/

Next Up: Digital Comics

DriveThruComics has recently made available a number of D&D comics in digital format. The back catalog is extensive enough to include the old DC comics (including the Dragonlance comics I previously reviewed and the Forgotten Realms comics) from the 80's, to newer D&D comics, including the wonderful 2010 series (set in the 4e realm of the Nentir Vale).

Other offerings include:
Ianto's Tomb - a Dark Sun mini-series
Several 4e and 5e era Forgotten Realms comics
Serveral mini series adapting Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance novels, like some of the early Drizzt novels, and the Dragonlance Chronicles books.

Check out their offerings here:
http://www.drivethrucomics.com/

And now for something completely different: Game Play

First, I have to admit, that I'm not a fan of watching people play D&D, so actual-play videos or podcasts are something I usually just skip over, but when I heard about the Geek & Sundry show Critical Role, I had to at least check out the first episode.

And I'm very glad I did. The show has an excellent lighting and sound, and in some ways a bit better than the recent WotC live stream games. The fact that all the players are voice actors means that everyone is able to stay "in character" 90% of the time really helps set the bar high for what a D&D game could be.

As a DM, I've been watching it to see the unfolding story, but also for how the DM, Matthew Mercer (@matthewmercer) does voices, descriptions, and anything else I can steal for my own games.

You can check out the G&S page here with links to all the past episodes:
http://geekandsundry.com/shows/critical-role/

Lastly, a bit of humor

What would D&D be without a little humor. I recently came across Dungeons & Dragons: Gangsta Edition on YouTube. It's a funny look at the game if the setting was more urban and less fantasy. The channel also has several variants, including D&D: Hipster Edition and The Game of Thrones Edition.

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