C.T. Phipps's Blog, page 13

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...

Glass Onion review

     GLASS ONION is something that I've definitely missed the mark on reviewing as everyone who was a fan of KNIVES OUT probably watched the movie already and everyone who hasn't seen either should probably watch Knives Out first. However, if you are insane and still want to hear me rhapsodize on a fun mystery movie then, by all means, stay and enjoy the resulting article. It's a good movie and I kind of regret that its franchise was purchased by Netflix but it's not something that I worry about...

There are ten basic Vampire: The Masquerade plots

 I thought I'd share a bit of humor that I came up with and ended up meme-ing. 

Link: https://imgur.com/AAxKcqK

Vampire: The Masquerade: Dark Prince by Keith Herber review

 
    DARK PRINCE by Keith Herber is the first full-length novel for the World of Darkness and, more specifically, VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE setting. It was published in 1994 and introduced the character of Vannevar Thomas. It also imagined a complicated interlocking web of undead politics taking place behind closed doors in San Fransisco. 

    Dark Prince would have a single sequel in PRINCE OF THE CITY before having a lot of its lore retconned or ignored in SAN FRANSISCO BY NIGHT. Later, it would ...