The Gifted: boXed in - Oct 31

‘The Gifted’ TV show has reached the S1 middle point – ‘boXed in’ – and it was a dozy. Put simply, the scriptwriters as well as the rest of ‘The Gifted’ crew, tried to make an episode showing ‘how the other half lives’ – namely Jace from the Sentinel Services. Did it work?

It all depends on how much the audience likes/hates Jace and everyone else from ‘The Gifted’. Every TV show is a product, trying to be sold to its customers, in this case – the audience. In addition, yes, it is not clear-cut how it works, but having good ideas and an appropriately good execution of those ideas helps: just look at ‘Arrowverse’ TV series (DC) as examples. If this does not happen, well… ‘The Catch’ got cancelled after 2 seasons, APB, (aired in winter 2017) – after just one. AC, of course, also got cancelled after 2 seasons, but it is also a possibility that that happened because of Hayley Atwell – some things just went wrong for Marvel at that moment in time, and it showed in S2/S3 of AoS as well…

Actually, it is not quite certain if AoS got over that problem back then: at the end of S3, the titular team was already in space and primed to have some space adventures – but they did not. Instead, AoS S4 was a mixed bag of various discarded ideas of the first three seasons, including the Ghost Rider, but even that does not appear to have stuck: so far, there is no mention of Gabriel Luna returning to AoS, so no Ghost Rider for S5, it seems.

Back to ‘The Gifted’? Well, so far it is going strong, it features a solid plot and it knows exactly what it supposed to be, unlike ‘InHumans’, for comparison. Unlike AoS, ‘InHumans’ greatest flaw isn’t revisions of the script; rather it is indecisiveness – where do they want to go as a show? As it was written regarding them the last time, ‘InHumans’ try to be action/adventure, a space soap opera, some sort of a romantic comedy, etc. – all at the same time, while trying to do so with a small cast as well. AC also had a small cast, but it knew precisely where it wanted to go, so it’s anyone’s guess where it had went wrong instead, while ‘InHumans’ are going all over the place, and it is hurting them. Pity.

On the other hand, ‘The Gifted’ also knows where it is going – in the X-Men direction, complete with direct references to the X-Men, so no problems here. The script might have been revised, but so far, there is no overt indication of that, so it is just guesswork. And the viewers love them, because of novelty, good acting, other reasons, etc. – so no problems in this area either. What next?

Well, next week Johnny/Thunderbird is going to spearhead a mission to learn if Sentinel Services are brainwashing mutants into fighting other mutants, Lauren/Dreamer makes a new friend with useful new powers and Clarice/Blink needs to make a choice.

…Oh wait, you mean in the in review? There is nothing much left – ‘The Gifted’ have delivered as they have done from the beginning, so let us wish them good luck and wait until the next episode!

InHumans, Gorgon - Oct 28

Regarding this week’s episode of ‘InHumans’ – it was… Well!

Firstly, it was – so far, ‘InHumans’ didn’t get cancelled as ‘Agent Carter’ (AC) did, even though the latter was the better show out of the two. Make no mistake, the actors are doing their best to sell ‘InHumans’, but again, the plot has failed – it is still rushed, still uninspired, and in this week’s episode – ‘Gorgon’ – it showed signs of revision; in particular, the titular character has died.

Here is the thing. It is depressing that Gorgon perished at the end of ep. 6, but nothing more. Mordis, who was fighting him, had also died, and this is just as depressing. By making the S1 of ‘InHumans’ only 8 episodes long, the authors – the script writers, whatever – were forced to rush everything, including character development, and as a result we have rather bizarre, pointless deaths of Mordis and Gorgon.

Yes, it is possible that the actors who played them had enough and wanted to leave; it’s always possible, but in this case – it is irrelevant: ‘InHumans’ have stabbed themselves in the foot by losing two more of their cast, including one from their main cast. And speaking of the InHumans and the main plotline…

WTF was that? During last week, some rebels approached Maximus’ new friend, who was quite slimy in his own way, and he allied with them, planning to trick Maximus and let the rebels overthrow him and save Attilan. That is actually a good plotline, but because team InHuman had limited time in RL, the plotline got cut down to Tibor – the friend in question – having a bunch of dialogues with Maximus, until the latter slits his throat and the rebel team just…surrenders. Seriously, all of the rebels’ participation got down to one or two dialogues with Tibor and the surrendering scene. Not much and very little acting. Are they even real actors or just extras?

This development affects ‘InHumans’ in another very important way – there is no scope. This TV series was intended to be something epic, involving both Earth and Moon, two different societies, and so far, it fails to deliver. On Earth, Medusa, Black Bolt and co. seem to be participating in what was a bad romantic comedy-drama, until Gorgon died, and Mordis, and even Locis, (last week) – not to mention some ‘ordinary’ humans... but it was still badly written, and over-the-top somehow, so when it came to the audience’s sympathies, it was still hit-and-miss – as it was with Gorgon’s death. (And Mordis’, supposedly).

Getting back to Attilan, the lack of scope there makes it hard to be unsympathetic to Maximus or sympathetic to the Royal family – so far, the ‘InHumans’ still feels like a bad drama or comedy, half-romantic, half-family. (Or even a sitcom). The only way it elicits strong emotions is when the actors pull out all the stops…and the script is not half bad. When it is, or even two-third bad, or beyond two-thirds, then ‘InHumans’ flop…as they do now: their numbers are low, they are really low, and that isn’t good. ‘The Catch’, which got cancelled around May 2017, had noticeably higher ratings at the end of its own S2, but still. Cancelled. If ‘InHumans’ got cancelled as well, (after the S1 finale, but still), it would still be bad…

Well, this is it for this time, see you next week!

The Gifted: eXit strategy - Oct 24

…We are back with ‘The Gifted’! Spoilers alert: Reed and Polaris have escaped the Sentinel Service custody!

Let us pause and acknowledge that so far, for all of ‘The Gifted’s’ advantages and pluses, we haven’t seen any actual sentinels; just some drones and spider robots (or is it robot spiders?). Both are cool, but are not exactly associated with the classic Sentinel – a humanoid robot, often of a giant size, that is designed to kill and capture mutants (in any combination of the two). Of course, given the fact that this is a live TV series with minimum CGI and animatronics, this is not surprising, but still… What next?

‘The Gifted’ continues to evolve its’ characters, showing that you do not need to have 22 episodes per season to accomplish that. It deliberately puts its characters into morally shady situations and it explains that sometimes to win a war you have to dirty yourself – and it drives this point home when Marcos/Eclipse goes to his old friends in the organized crime and has to torture a man so that they have to give him information about Lorna/Polaris’ and Reed’s transfer…

Speaking of Lorna/Polaris and Reed: on one hand, it was cathartic that the rescue became successful only when Reed got Lorna get over her hatred of authority figures/non-mutant humans/etc. That is good, but on the other, after Lorna had pulled out the metal screws from his leg, how he was able to make it to the getaway vehicle without them holding his leg together? Just what exactly was his medical condition (beyond the basic he got shot and could not walk in the premiere episode) and how bad was it?

Beyond the unnecessary criticism, of course, there is the twins’ progression, as the two of them continue to bond with each other…and are growing slightly apart away from the main team – it’s some sort of together but separate situation, it seems. Not unlike ‘InHumans’, ‘The Gifted’ are trying to give each character some sort of a major plotline on a regular, but rotating basis, but unlike ‘InHumans’, ‘The Gifted’ are actually making it work. …Possibly because they are not rushing the script as ‘InHumans’ do, but still… Anything else?

Aside from the Strucker family woes, ‘eXit strategy’, (aka this week’s episode) has introduced ‘Trader: A mutant who can cloud others’ vision to hide’, as a potential love interest for Dreamer, (the mutant who can manipulate the others’ memories), who has appeared in the previous episodes and has empowered Blink to rescue the Struckers and others from their universe’s version of Neighbourhood Watch or whatever. Now, of course, Blink will have to live with the consequences, as will Dreamer and the others, of course. This is a typical course for a TV series – some sort of a love/romantic drama, and it all depends on the viewers – how many of them care about this plot development and how many of them do not. Numbers tell, and if romance between Blink and Johnny, (or anyone else, really), does not sell, that is the end of that. In addition, there is always RL, as AoS and MCU have shown/experienced: whatever they had planned regarding the Ghost Rider, at the moment it seems to be over: NCB (Yo-Yo) has become a regular part of the cast, while Gabriel Luna (AoS’ version of the Ghost Rider) has not.

True, the S5 of AoS seems to be taking the titular agents into space, (but apparently there’s no S.W.O.R.D. yet), where the Ghost Rider doesn’t appear to fit in, but Marvel often does odd things with its’ characters; back in the comics, the Ghost Rider is teaming up with Satana, Helstrom and few others ala the Defenders to save the world, (probably), without any connection to S.H.I.E.L.D. It is like the Fenris twins – there are so many incarnations of any given character that it becomes hard to keep track of what is canon and what is not, yeah?

…Riverdale and co., BTW, don’t have this problem because there is no ‘Archies’ canon – there are a lot of comics, of course, depicting the adventures of Archie, Jughead, Betty & Veronica, etc. – but they aren’t connected to each other, each is a standalone adventure, and between that, how the entire franchise changed at least once each decade, and some other factors, Riverdale isn’t breaking any canon – it is just another incarnation of the comics’ multiverse, though the franchise itself treats it as a separate entity from the rest of the multiverse in question. What will come out of that is currently unknown.

…Back to ‘The Gifted’? There is nothing else to add, sadly. The Strucker family continues to evolve, as do the initial members of the Mutants’ Underground Network; Marcos met his ex, now the leader of a drug cartel, and neither of them ended happy from this encounter, leaving open a venue for new romantic misadventures as well as morally shady decisions. Really, ‘The Gifted’ is playing with a traditional set of characters, but it is doing so extremely well. Thus, for now let us leave them, and go and talk about something else the next time we meet.

InHumans, Something InHuman - Oct 21

‘InHumans’ the TV series, (as well as the character themselves) have found themselves going over the midpoint and into the final stretch. In this week’s episode, ‘Something InHuman…’ the main focus was on Karnak, as he and his new girlfriend battle the rest of marijuana farmers/smugglers/whatever the proper noun was. Karnak is not very likable, but it must be admitted that his character grew somewhat between the S1 beginning and now: he is less arrogant and more considerate to the others (and their feelings) than he was before. Credit probably goes to Ken Leung and his great acting – as Karnak, just as Eme Ikwuakor did his best to make Gorgon likable. The problem is still in the budget – for example, in this episode, Ken and Eme had to play both the adult Karnak and Gorgon and their younger versions, (as they argue about the U.S. flag on the moon), and it does not really work.

The same problem, namely the budget, is the probable reason as to why Karnak’s human girlfriend had to leave at the end of this episode, while another InHuman – Locus – just dies, after forcing Medusa (and maybe Black Bolt) to admit that maybe the InHuman society needs reforms, and either Maximus delivers them, or they do, (or someone else – see below). Even Karnak was confused by Locus’ demise, as he admitted that her wounds were not fatal. So why?

…Whatever in-universe reason they will give on the show, in RL it’s probable the fact that ‘InHumans’ couldn’t pay both Sumire (Locus) and JGH (Jen, Karnak’s girlfriend) to stay in ‘InHumans’ full time, so they are cutting them out. In AoS, the plotlines got shuffled and rearranged on a regular basis, which has led to lower ratings. In ‘InHumans’, this is not the case – the plotline is consistent, but also bone-thin, metaphorically speaking. In AoS, because of the reshuffling, characters came and went depending on whether or not they were required, and maybe whether or not they got along with the rest of AoS crew, (it is possible that they did not). This, plus the general disrespect of the show’s characters, caused the numbers to plummet. In ‘InHumans’, the characters are respected, but the show is apparently on a tighter budget than the IMAX premiere could have suggested, plus…

Plus as it was already discussed in an earlier episode, the plot feels rushed, especially in places. The first two episodes moved very, very slowly, so to compensate for that, the current episodes, (IV and V), are moving much faster, on occasion forcing the characters and actors to rush through plot development points, diminishing the whatever good will the ‘InHumans’ TV series have accumulated so far.

The other negative impact that the tight budget is inflicting on ‘InHumans’ is the relatively tight cast that ‘InHumans’ are supporting: there’re the core cast – the Royal family and now Louise – there’re the supporting characters, such as Declan and Sammy – and everyone else, who comes and goes, like Gorgon’s new friends, who appear to have vanished sometime between the last episode and this one.

Now, this does not need to be a handicap: ‘Agent Carter’ (AC) too had a very tightly knit cast, especially in the first season, but AC was a different show from ‘InHumans’: it was essentially a spy show, with some elements of a mystery, while ‘InHumans’ are trying to be something else, maybe a sci-fi/Marvel™ version of GoT…but you cannot do this on a tight budget, and establishing a believable universe in just 8 episodes isn’t easy either. Consequently, in this episode, we had a rushed evolution of Maximus’ character into a villain, and are already introduced to some rebel group that is planning to get rid of Maximus and the rest of the Royal family (and establish a republic or something else).

Now, on paper, this sounds interesting, but again, the lack of extras will be telling in the last 2-3 episodes of ‘InHumans’ S1. For example, in the nest episode, (‘Gorgon’), Gorgon and Karnak will be fighting Auran’s InHuman army…but so far Auran doesn’t have an army: there’s her, there’s Mortius, and…some other InHuman, a woman, who can manipulate plants. Basically, 3 against 4, if BB and Medusa join Karnak and Gorgon, and if Sammy and Crystal (and Lockjaw) join as well (in the next episode) then it’s the villains who are outnumbered…making it hard to sympathize with the heroes…and the same goes for the eventual showdown with Maximus himself: unless he had acquired some sort of InHuman powers himself by now, he simply won’t be a challenge for BB…so why are we supposed to root for the Royal family, exactly?

This is a question without an answer but again – it is the actors’ acting that makes ‘InHumans’ palatable at all, (even Isabelle and Chad’s lukewarm Crystal and Dave come across as somewhat likable in this episode), so no blame goes for them. Therefore, let us part ways for now and wait for next time, and the next subject (for the next journal entry).

The Gifted - eXodus, Oct 17

…Continuing, or perhaps – developing, the plot of ‘The Gifted’, we saw ‘eXodus’ the episode last night. Despite its’ name, there was nothing Biblical about it; rather, it had Mrs. Strucker contacting her brother, but failing to secure much help from him because reasons, while her husband tried to make a deal with the Sentinel Services but reneged on them because it was the right thing to do, (at least from his P.O.V.), while Blink ended up saving everyone from the local version of KKK when Dreamer messed with her head – but we got carried away… maybe.

Let us start anew. ‘The Gifted’ continues to impress us with the actors and their acting; the plot is still miles better than that of ‘InHumans’ for comparison, but it has flaws of its own: for one thing, there is much less humor in it than even in ‘InHumans’. ‘InHumans’ own gags are largely visual; for example, in last week’s episode, ‘Medusa’, the titular character and her new friend Louise escape from the police by wearing a couple of crazy-ass bonnets (or hats). It looked ridiculous, and it worked – or could have worked, if ‘InHumans’ script was not getting a rush job because S1 of ‘InHumans’ is just 8 episodes long… S1 of ‘The Gifted’ has only 10 episodes, true, but it still takes more time for the characters to develop than ‘InHumans’ do, and does do better drama, (or tries to be a sci-fi version of GoT – apparently Maximus, the main villain of ‘InHumans’, was also Ramsay Bolton of GoT’s Westeros. Hah.) It is more subdued than ‘InHumans’ are, with fewer brighter colors, and a distinct taste of the noir genre around it. What next?

Well, there is also the romantic angle – between Lorna/Polaris and Eclipse, the would-be love triangle between Blink and Johnny/Thunderbird and Dreamer. I confess that I’m not overwhelmed by either of them; ‘The Gifted’ could just as well focus on the relationship between the Strucker parents, (who also love each other) and the changes in the plot would be…not exactly minimal, but not that substantial either. The love triangle especially feels forced, as if it is there only to provide the drama between Blink and Thunderbird in their upcoming relationship with each other – but again, it still feels more real than most of relationships on ‘InHumans’, especially that of Crystal and her new not-Lockjaw friend…

One point of interest in ‘The Gifted’ (so far) is the possibility that the Strucker children might be MCU’s new incarnation of the Fenris twins of the comics. When I came across them, in a ‘Black Panther’ story arc, they were villains, working for a super-villain who planned to take over Wakanda... yes, it sounds familiar, because the ‘Black Panther’ 2018 movie is also about a villain – Killmonger – who plans to take over Wakanda, though in the comics Killmonger was already vanquished and gone and his protégés were trying to take over Wakanda instead… I admit that I quit some time after the Fenris twins appeared in the comics, but got defeated, when Black Panther got his friends to fight them, including Luke Cage, (from ‘The Defenders’) and Ororo/Storm from X-Men proper. In the comics she and Black Panther were married, then got divorced, Black Panther married someone else… the comics sometimes go directly into soap opera territory… anyhow, I quit when I heard that prince Namor destroyed Wakanda instead – again.

Namor is the prince, or the king of Atlantis in MCU, and usually associated with the X-Men rather than the Avengers, so he is more likely to appear in ‘The Gifted’ (or ‘Legion’ for that matter) than in any of the Avengers’ movies, or AoS, even. For reasons that I do not know about, he does not like Wakanda, it seems, so he destroyed it – in ‘Avengers vs. X-Men’ story arc, where the Avengers fought the mutants over the Phoenix force, and lost initially, after the Phoenix force got spread over several mutants, including Namor – who used it to destroy Wakanda the first time, and the second time he used something else, and then he regretted it and went to Dr. Doom for help and the latter refused him… yes. That Dr. Doom. I am not sure what he is up to these days, his last major story arc was the Battleworld one, I think, now he is the Infamous Iron Man, or maybe not… Did we digress?

Maybe yes – it is doubtful that ‘The Gifted’ will have anything to do with ‘Black Panther’ and vice versa, but on the other hand? The world, and characters, of MCU, are extremely fluid, pliable and protean, so it is anyone’s guess how any particular characters are going to end up looking as next, or what role they are going to play. The Stryker twins in the TV series are already beginning to dress alike – sort of – so if they are going to end up as some sort of Wonder-Twins, good for them!

…As for us, this is it for today – until next time, everyone! 

InHumans, Medusa - Oct 14

Firstly. Today’s talk will involve various spoilers, so quit now…or read ahead. Okay?

Secondly, Marvel’s ‘InHumans’, S1, has arrived at the midway point. And?

And if the first two episodes, (the double whammy, so to speak) were something of an insipid, immature, or etc. waste of time, ‘Medusa’ did not waste any time, (here I’m talking about the episode, not the character), but rather it rushed and forced things – the plot, the dialogue, etc. The adventures of Medusa and Louise, for example, felt forced, and also abbreviated: it might’ve been better for them to bond, (just the two of them) for two episodes, rather than one; as it was, their new friendship just doesn’t feel genuine; the relationship of Black Bolt and Sammy came across as better here, (no insult to Medusa or Louise intended)… SS (Medusa) and Ellen (Louise) did the best that they could, but while the actors’ acting had, well, carried the first two episodes of S1, this time they did not do such a good job, so - yeah.

Conversely, of course, if Medusa and Louise’s bonding felt abrupt and rushed and forced, the relationship between Medusa’s sister Crystal, (Isabelle) and Dave (Chad) feels worse; the presence of Dave’s ex-girlfriend Audrey (Liv) doesn’t help the matter any either: Audrey and Crystal are played by two different actresses, (i.e. Isabelle Cornish and Liv Hewson, duh!), but they are almost never in the same shot together: were they filmed at different times in RL or what? Minds want to know, you know!

(Lockjaw, of course, is adorable, and he is one of the reasons why I am watching ‘InHumans’ in the first place, BTW. No problems with Lockjaw, no sir!)

Therefore, the only plotline that delivered in a realistic, believable and workable manner in this week’s episode is Karnak’s, who apparently had sex with an Earth woman at the end of this week’s episode. (Um). Unfortunately, the woman in question is also a cannabis farmer, an illegal one, and her boss is somewhat crazy – he already killed another of their coworkers and judging by the promo for the next week? He is going after Karnak and Karnak’s new lady friend next. Not good…but from what I hear, Karnak is going to make it at least to the sixth episode of this season, so…we will have to see.

Well, this is all I have for this week’s episode of ‘InHumans’ – see you next time!

The Gifted - rX, Oct 10

…Now about the new episode of ‘Gifted’ from last night… no, no specific details are coming – we have been celebrating Thanksgiving just somewhat too hard last night, so most of specific details are blurry.

(It was not supposed to be this way, but it got out of hand. Sometimes this happens).

‘rX’ was still a good episode, but this is to be expected, as practically all of TV shows are better than AoS is at this point; ‘InHumans’ had to go an extra mile in the wrong direction to acquire a disadvantage against AoS (and ‘Gifted’, and ‘Legion’, and etc.) in this not-a-race, but now that the initial hurdle is over, they are catching it up fast; now their biggest disadvantage is their shortness of S1 – 8 episodes isn’t quite enough to make a good lasting impression, especially with the first two damaged by the IMAX experiment, (and that is essentially one-quarter of the entire S1 – not good), but we’ll see how it works.

‘Gifted’ do not have this problem, and they are already developing for the long haul in a good way – there simply is not anything to complain about, not really. It works, and all you had to do, last night, at least was to enjoy this week’s episode and wait for the next week’s. That is it. Anything else?

Probably not. NCB is now a regular character on AoS, while ‘For Honor’ seems to be intent on introducing various art/drawing styles, (such as cubism and minimalism and etc.) as part of its’ armor design. WTF, and where are they going? FH is a fighting game, kind of, as ‘Injustice’ is, so what is with the new quasi-intellectual twist on it? Seriously, do people care about fauvism anymore, and if they do, do they play games like FH while they are at it? If they do, good for them, if they do not, then FH has a problem – but hey, what does it have to go with ‘Gifted’ and MCU?

…Nothing, so far, so let us take a break for now and rejoin sometime in the future. Until then – good-bye, people!

InHumans, Divided - Oct 7

The third episode of ‘InHumans’ have aired, and… it was good? Even the first two episodes weren’t exactly bad, (more like insipid), and now ‘InHumans’ seem to have gotten over that slump and are working to become a fairly decent TV show, complete with some very interesting action and plot developments. (Of course, Lockjaw also got hurt at the end of ‘Divide’. That sucks. Hopefully, he will get better soon.) So, what is the problem?

One thing that works against ‘InHumans’ is the shortness of the S1 – only 8 episodes or so, whereas AoS has 22 episodes per season, (so far, but still). As a result, it is natural that ‘InHumans’ have picked up speed, but this leads to another problem – where are they going? With AoS, (or any ‘Arrowverse’ shows) it is simple – the characters have to save the world from the latest Big Bad (Hydra, Hive, AIDA, etc.). Yes, this is very much like BtVS, and as their S4 finale has shown, they seem to be seeking direct allusions with BtVS (and AtS), which is kind of sad, because AoS has started as an ‘original’ TV series, and now devolved into a BtVS imitation, (sort of).

In other news, team AoS have hired NCB (Elena Rodriguez/Yo-Yo/Slingshot) as a full-time member. Yay for them! Considering that AoS is facing new opposition on top of the old one, (such as ‘Legion’), this move might be the one to make all the difference in the end. Go NCB!

Back to ‘InHumans’. If AoS plot formula and finale is straightforward and predictable, theirs’ is…also, and kind of less exciting than AoS’ is, too. So far, here the conflict is between Maximus and his allies and the rest of the royal family – will they or won’t they be able to oust Maximus from the throne? It is not a bad plot, but after GoT viewers are not too impressed; so far the series have premiered with fairly solid numbers of viewers and ratings, considering the PR disaster that was the IMAX premiere, yeah – but ‘InHumans’ have persevered.

Unfortunately, at this point – almost the halfway mark – the viewers have remained largely untouched by the InHumans’ political plight; most of them seem to be following the TV show because they are fans of the InHumans’ comic incarnations, and that isn’t the best foundation to build a fan base upon, but…what would you do? ‘InHumans’ have already been bumped by several years, so now they got to show their best – and hope that it will be good enough.

So, see you in the future, everyone! Cheers!

Pathfinder: OB VII - Oct 4

As our journey through the Occult Bestiary goes to the conclusion, here's still another creature from it - a psychic vampire, made from a clown from the Villains Codex. How it looks?

CLOWN CR 9

Human psychic vampire slayer 8

CE Medium undead (augmented humanoid)

Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., thoughtsense; Perception +18

DEFENSE

AC 21, touch 13, flat-footed 14

hp 126 (8d10+88)

Fort +10, Ref +12, Will +6 (+4 vs. mind reading)

Defensive Abilities channel resistance +4; DR 10/cold iron and magic; Immune undead traits; Resist cold 10, fire 10

Weaknesses psychic vampire weaknesses

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft.

Melee +1 handaxe +13/+8 (1d6+6/x3) or

           Slam (1d4+6 plus drain psychic energy)

Ranged handaxe +12/+7 (1d6+5/x3)

Special Attacks drain psychic energy (DC 25), possession, sneak attack +2d6, studied target (2^nd, swift action)

Psychic Magic (CL 8^th; Concentration +12)

8 PE—burst of adrenaline (1 PE), haste (3 PE), mental block (2 PE, DC 22), spider climb (2 PE)

STATISTICS

Str 18, Dex 18, Con 0, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 20

Base Atk +8; CMB +11; CMD 24

Feats Alertness (B), Combat Expertise (B), Deceitful, Dodge (B), Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative (B), Iron Will (B), Lightning Reflexes, Toughness, Weapon Focus (handaxe)

Skills Acrobatics 16, Bluff +31, Climb +12, Disguise +23, Intimidate +19, Perception +18, Perform (comedy) +16, Stealth +24 Racial Modifiers +8 Bluff, +8 Perception, +8 Stealth

Languages Common

SQ possess object, slayer talents (bleeding attack +2, combat trick, foil scrutiny, surprise attacks), stalker, track +4

Combat Gear potion of invisibility; Other Gear +1 glamered studded leather, +1 handaxe, handaxes (2), cloak of resistance +1, disguise kit, entertainer’s outfit, 254 gp.

The Gifted: eXposed - Oct 3

…And it came to pass that ‘The Gifted’ TV series premiered earlier this month. Where to begin?

This is the opposite of Marvel’s ‘InHumans’. ‘The Gifted’ are designed to deal, to discuss, to confront and etc. some very specific issues that bother the modern society in RL of our times – namely, the relation between the individual and the state, (i.e., a government of a country, say – USA, as opposed to Canada or Mexico)… Fair enough, and it is still better than what ‘InHumans’ are doing – yes, most of them are in the United States, (the state of Hawaii, to be precise), down on Earth, but they are still detached from Earth – there’s nothing happening down there, most of them, except for Medusa and Black Bolt, but that is a mess in its own right, as I talked about it; the problem is not just in the fact that BB’s take down by Hawaiian police is poorly choreographed, but because it is done by the police (rather than some specialized task force), and then the king of the InHumans is taken to a police district, where he has his mugshot and etc.

Let us think about it for a moment. By now, the InHumans are firmly a part of MCU due to AoS, which has introduced them by the second half of S2, which was several years ago, both in MCU and RL. By now, there are some InHumans on Earth, (whose connection to BB’s and Medusa’s subjects was not discussed yet), and BB has sent Triton to rescue one of them, but Maximus’ minions have intercepted them, and the girl is apparently dead, while Triton has escaped into the ocean…

Rewind and re-examine. As the first two episodes of ‘InHumans’ showed us, the titular characters have several ways of coming and going to Earth – Lockjaw can take them there, (and he’s adorable), or they can use some sort of a sentient stone wall, (another transformed InHuman?) that can also deliver them to our planet. This is a very large suspension of disbelief, and as a new TV show, ‘InHumans’ cannot afford to miscalculate, here.

Yes, ‘InHumans’ is a sci-fi action/adventure TV show about a race of sentient beings that live in a hidden city on the moon…except for those that live down on Earth in Li Shi…or just got transformed after Li Shi fell and their Terragenesis crystals contaminated the fish of Earth…wait. We became sidetracked.

Both ‘InHumans’ and ‘The Gifted’ are sci-fi, action, and adventure shows, but ‘The Gifted’ is trying to related to RL issues and does its’ best to show an analogue to RL USA, (kind of as how ‘Will & Grace’ does, and that is certainly not a sci-fi show). Again, one might argue just how accurate that depiction is from RL terms, but this is still better that what the ‘InHumans’ have done in the series’ premiere – they are seemingly detached from RL or just connected by some tenuous threads… ‘The Gifted’ underwent a much greater effort – and fights that were choreographed much better – when dealing with this sort of thing. Anything else?

The actors of ‘The Gifted’ are just as good as those of ‘InHumans’ and were more inspired by their show; no offence to the cast of ‘InHumans’ – they were the ones who rescued the show, if anyone did – but even they had their limits; the talks between Maximus and Crystal in particular felt flat and uninspired – those two characters may or may not get together, but the actors certainly don’t have any chemistry between them, period.

Conversely, the characters of ‘The Gifted’ have plenty of chemistry between each other, sexual or not, which is good, because it also shows how the actors (of ‘The Gifted’) respect their characters. Otherwise, as AoS has shown, the entire show suffers – and yes, AoS has four full seasons now, and it is going for a fifth (currently), but still. Between ‘The Gifted’, InHumans’, and the upcoming TV versions of ‘The Runaways’ and ‘Cloak & Dagger’, there is no indication that this state of affairs will last…

That is it for now; see you all later!

Pathfinder: OB VI - Oct 2

Getting back to 'Occult Bestiary', here's someone else - a reborn samsaran character, (made from one of the characters from 'NPC Gallery'). How it goes?

MERCENARY HEALER CR 1/2

XP 200

Reborn Samsaran cleric 1

LE Medium humanoid (samsaran)

Init +1; Senses low-light vision; Perception +2

DEFENSE

AC 17, touch 11, flat-footed 16 (+6 armor, +1 Dex)

hp 7 (1d8-1)

Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +4

Weaknesses aura transparancy

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft.

Melee morningstar –1 (1d8–1)

Ranged light crossbow +2 (1d8/19–20)

Special Attacks channel negative energy 6/day (DC 13, 1d6)

Psychic Magic (CL 1^st; concentration +2)

5 PE—burst of insight (1 PE), detect psychic significance (0 PE), object reading (2 PE), psychic reading (1 PE)

Domain Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1st; concentration +3)

5/day—inspiring word (1 round)

Cleric Spells Prepared (CL 1st; concentration +3)

1st—cure light wounds, longstride r^D, protection from good

0 (at will)—detect magic, mending, read magic

D Domain spell; Domains Nobility, Travel

STATISTICS

Str 8, Dex 12, Con 11, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 17

Base Atk +0; CMB –1; CMD 10

Feats Psychic Sensitivity (B), Weapon Focus (light crossbow)

Skills Appraise +6, Diplomacy +7, Knowledge (religion) +6, Spellcraft +4

Languages Common, Samsaran

SQ aura, +10 base speed from Travel domain, agile feet (5/day), psychic learning

Combat Gearpotion of cure light wounds, tanglefoot bags (2); Other Gear chainmail, light crossbow with 20 bolts, morningstar, silver unholy symbol, 22 gp

Pathfinder: Planes of Power - Oct 1

For a change, here's a creature from the 'Planes of Power' book instead - a griffon, infused with the element of water. How it looks?

element-infused GRIFFON CR 5

XP 1,200

N Large outsider (amphibious, aquatic, native, water)

Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent; Perception +14

DEFENSE

AC 17, touch 11, flat-footed 15 (+2 Dex, +6 natural, –1 size)

hp 42 (5d10+15)

Fort +7, Ref +6, Will +4

Defensive Abilities indistinct form, stability

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft., fly 80 ft. (average), swim 80 ft.

Melee bite +8 (1d6+7), 2 talons +7 (1d6+7)

Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.

Special Attacks pounce, rake (2 claws +7, 1d4+7), toppling strike

STATISTICS

Str 20, Dex 19, Con 16, Int 7, Wis 11, Cha 10

Base Atk +5; CMB +9; CMD 21 (25 vs. trip)

Feats Iron Will, Skill Focus (Perception), Weapon Focus (bite)

Skills Acrobatics +14, Fly +10, Perception +14; Racial Modifiers +4 Acrobatics, +4 Perception

Languages Aquan (cannot speak), Common (cannot speak)

ECOLOGY

Environment temperate hills

Organization solitary, pair, or pride (6–10)

Treasure incidental