fbpx

Performance Check

Performance Check

The Post-Apocalyptic Fantasy Setting of Rygar

I absolutely adore metroidvania style games. I love the exploration, adventure, and the feeling of familiar content giving way to new content because of my personal advancement. I don’t even know how many hours I spent on the Metroid and ...
ClassesD&D 5ePerformance Check

The Strange Case of the Half-Orc Champion

It turns out that having a bone surgically re-broken, getting some bone graft shoved inside you, and then having a bunch of plates and screws put in you doesn’t lend itself to quick recovery. What I am saying is, I’m ...
Performance Check

The Legend of Zelda Franchise and the D&D Roadmap

In the spirit of journalistic, or at least hack-authorial, integrity, this article was written with a large amount of medically-prescribed opiates in my system. I had an osteotomy on my left shoulder done last week. As a life hack, I’d ...
DragonlancePerformance Check

Brothers Majere: The Dragonlance Book with Lich Sex

When I wrote about Lord Toede ages ago, I shared what I considered one of the more obscure and outlandish books in the Dragonlance novel library. In talking with some friends, I realized that while it was certainly bizarre, I ...
D&D 2ePerformance Check

Planescape, Gonzo Gaming, and Being Totally Rad

Cold eyelids that hide like a jewel      Hard eyes that grow soft for an hour; The heavy white limbs, and the cruel      Red mouth like a venomous flower; When these are gone by with their glories,      What shall rest of ...
Performance Check

Guilt, Dark Souls, and the Buried Giant

“That’s true, good lady, but then we boatmen have seen so many over the years it doesn’t take long to see beyond deceptions. Besides, when travellers speak of their most cherished memories, it’s impossible for them to disguise the truth.”– ...
Performance Check

The Almighty Johnsons, The Power of Self, and the Reverse ...

I had a conversation the other day regarding clerics, warlocks, and the nature of other-directed character advancement. It hadn’t ever been something I really considered, but it was a very important issue to the people I was speaking to at ...
Performance Check

Broad City, Player Agency, and Storyline Direction

Four and three and two and one. One of my favorite shows on TV right now is a show about young female friends in New York. They navigate the challenges of jobs, money, relationships, and feminism, examining some of the ...
Performance Check

Man in the High Castle and Alternate Histories

This week on Performance Check I’m looking at alternate histories. Poor Philip K. Dick. He’s had thirteen of his works adapted, many with multiple versions, and the resulting adaptations are largely crap. Sure, Blade Runner is great, Linklater’s adaptation of ...
Performance Check

Black Comedies, Discomfort, and Challenge

When I walked out of Kingsman: The Secret Service, I turned to my friend and said, “People are going to be angry about the last ten minutes.” Almost immediately, I began to read reviews and comments from people praising the ...