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Original articles, news, features, interviews, hot takes and opinion from Nerd Culture Network, covering movies, TV, anime, gaming, books and events.
Anime Hot Take: Why kris should stop being a pain in the arse and just watch Mushi-shi already
Happy Birthday buddy, now stop being a dick and let's have a talk.
By Pheebs
The ABC's of DND: J is for...
Some of the best monsters in Dungeons & Dragons draw inspiration from real life and today we are venturing into the myths and legends of China. Traditional folklore surrounding jiangshi is wonderfully eccentric, and nearly all of it can become fun gameplay. Jiangshi offer something many undead don't: personality. A skeleton attacks because it's ordered to. A zombie attacks because it's hungry. A jiangshi attacks because something has gone terribly wrong with death itself.
By Pheebs
Anime Hot Take: Isekai is the death of world building
This is why I’ll Never Watch Another Isekai Anime. I have finally reached the point in my life where I have to take a stand. I’m over it I have endured enough reincarnated office workers. I have witnessed enough medieval guilds. I have heard enough explanations of mana. I have met enough demon lords. I have watched enough protagonists discover, with great surprise, that the fantasy world they have just arrived in contains both magic and women.
By Pheebs
The ABC's of DND: I is for...
Today we delve into the wonderful world of I, and I must admit that for this one I was a little adrift. At first I thought perhaps I can spin it and make it a post about I the DM being the greatest monster of all, but then I remembered. I have a million tags inside my monster manual of cool monsters and surely there is one there which satisfies today’s letter?
By Pheebs
The ABC's of DND: H is for...
One of the greatest DM’s ever to put pen to paper once wrote; “Cry Havoc! and let slip the dogs of war.” And who am I to ignore the OG bard? This week we are going to talk about dogs, sort of.
By Pheebs
Anime's Long-Title Epidemic: Why Does Every Show Read Like a Spoiler?
There was a time when anime titles were simple. Naruto. Bleach. Death Note. Monster. One word. Maybe two. They sounded cool, mysterious, and memorable. Sometimes they made sense, and other times they were an obscure reference. Afterall, what does Bleach have to do with sword wielding shinigami? I guess they both clean up.
By Pheebs
The ABC's of DND: G is for...
This week we are talking about the big lads. No really. Massive. Mountain-sized. "I cast Fly because I refuse to deal with stairs anymore" levels of big.
By Pheebs
The ABC's of DND: F is for...
There are a few monsters which have become truly synonymous with D&D, Dragons, beholders, mindflayers and today's offering, fiends. No infernal bargain, cultists ceremony, or a wizard who makes one tiny mistake with a summoning circle is complete without a Fiend.
By Pheebs
The ABC's of DND: E is for...
Previously I spoke about ancient horrors lurking beneath the waves, but not every memorable monster has to be a world-ending aberration with enough psychic power to make even your squishy wizard cry. Sometimes the best monsters are the ones that catch your players completely off guard. They look harmless. They sound harmless. And then, before anyone has realised what is happening, the party has somehow found itself in a situation that has spiralled gloriously out of control.
By Pheebs
The ABC's of DND: D is for...
Note to author: Don’t write dragon. Don’t write dragon. Don’t write dragon. This week we are going to talk about dragons… Psych bitches! (Hmmm I wonder if Lee will let me post this article with a swear right at the beginning? Only one way to find out.)
By Pheebs
The ABC's of DND: C is for...
Today we are taking a deep dive. At first I thought it would be cool to do a Couatl, bit after deciding that a Couatl was too much like a dragon to count (what with this whole series being about taking the dragons out of D&D), I decided to delve into the D&D vault.
By Pheebs
The ABC's of DnD: B is for...
Like B-movies, and B-sides, there are a lot of B-monsters out there to choose from. Basilisks, and Behir, Bone-whelks and Bulete’s all made it to a shortlist… which then became a long list. But today we will be stepping out of the core rules and into one of the supplemental books; Volo’s Guide to Monsters.
By Pheebs
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