C.T. Phipps's Blog, page 12

Argylle (2024) review

     If Michael Bay isn't willing or able to do the GI Joe movies then Matthew Vaughn might be the person to do so. As the guy who did the Kingsmen movies, he clearly has a great love for the Roger Moore era of James Bond flicks which is something that the more serious Connery and Craig fans turn their noses up. Given GI Joe is basically doing to special forces missions what Bond did to spies, I think it might be a good fit.

    ARGYLLE is basically another entry into the Kingsman franchise in te...

Vampire: The Masquerade: Blood Sigils review

    BLOOD SIGILS is a supplement for VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE FIFTH EDITION. Itis a supplement detailing the use of Blood Sorcery, Thin Blooded Alchemy, andthe black market that has emerged around the use of magic among vampires(called “The Scene”).

    Blood magic supplements were quite popular in earlier editions of Vampire:The Masquerade and it is surprising its taken this long to have abook discussing its use. Could the book have contained more information onthings like Oblivion and ...

GI Joe: Classified by Kelley Skovron review

    I wouldn’t normally think of GI Joe as science fiction even if I would normally be quite happy to put it under Young Adult. It is, now that I think about it, a children’s series. I know, right? Crazy. I mean, I’m forty-three years old and I watched it as a child. How strange it hasn’t been consistently updated to keep up with my changing tastes and maturity level like all other media has been.

    Well, unless you count SPHINX from Venture Brothers. Still, I stumbled upon this book qui...

GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra review

    This is going to be less of a review than a retrospective and rant. GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra is fine. It's got a bunch of flaws and die hard nutjobs like myself will nitpick it to death about continuity changes but it's got decent action, comedy, and an update of the GI Joe premise. If they'd changed a few things here and there, it'd go from a three star movie to a four star action extravaganza. It's just the sequel that ran this incarnation of the franchise into the ground.

    The premise ...

Ten Tips for using Hauglosk in W5

W5 Chronicle Tips

Ten Tips to running the Cult of Fenris in W5Why metaplot matters in the World of Darkness 101 Adventure Hooks for Werewolf: The Apocalypse 5th EditionTen Tips for using Hauglosk in W5

    One of the more controversial elements of Werewolf: The Apocalypse 5th Edition is the introduction of the condition of Hauglosk. Hauglosk is effectively the opposite of Harano. While a Garou suffering Harano is someone who sinks into all consuming despair and depression from the futility of thei...

World's Worst Superhero Excerpt - Prologue

 What comes after THE SUPERVILLAINY SAGA? Here's an amazing sneak peak.

Prologue - World's WorstSuperhero

"Updateson the New Angeles Disaster will continue throughout the hour. The exact deathtoll is difficult to determine but is expected to be in the hundreds if notthousands. The perpetrator of this colossal evil has not been identified butthe Foundation for World Harmony has released the statement to be on thelookout for self-styled superhero, Captain Treason--"

"Thatis not my name!"...

Writing Update - February 2024

Hey folks,

A current update for my writing. My next book likely to be out is TALES OF HASTUR, which will be the next anthology in the BOOK OF CTHULHU series that contains yet another John Henry Booth story. I have plans on one final book in the CTHULHU ARMAGEDDON series after it, reflecting the long journey and ideas that I have done with it but please pick up a copy of THE TREE OF AZATHOTH first. 

The next book I intend to work on after that will be the final (for now) Supervillainy Saga book, TH...

Prince of the City by Keith Herber

    PRINCE OF THE CITY by Keith Herber is both a prequel as well as sequel to the book DARK PRINCE by the same author. It is one of the early VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE novels that is set in the WORLD OF DARKNESS where supernatural entities live among us, hiding their existence so they can prey upon us better. Dark Prince was a fantastic novel with a hard gritty street-crime edge and a loathsome protagonist that, nevertheless, manages to undergo serious character development. It introduced the char...

Wraith: The Oblivion: The Ebon Mask by Richard Lee Byers review

    THE EBON MASK by Richard Lee Byers is a novel set in the WRAITH: THE OBLIVION gameline. I was never a fan of Wraith while it was being printed but am reasonably familiar with the world. You play as one of the truly dead, a spirit who has found themselves in the Underworld, and must figure out how to deal with the complicated relationship between this world (called the Skinlands) and the politics of the great beyond.

    The Ebon Mask, book one of the Dark Kingdoms Trilogy, is divi...

Halo season one review

    HALO is one of the all-time most successful video game franchises. It's also a very well-developed science fiction setting with the books including some of my favorite outside of STAR TREK and STAR WARS. While not necessarily apparent in the video game, the setting is incredibly dark with humanity reduced to near-extinction and the only hope of humanity being the SPARTAN-IIs that are made from kidnapped children.

    Halo has a lot of appeal for the fact the first three games are all-time cla...