Star Wars, as a roleplaying universe, is one that is near and dear to my heart. In fact, long before I got into Dungeons and Dragons, Star Wars was my gateway into the world of tabletop roleplaying games. My father had mentioned D&D to me before, and we’d even played Dungeon! , but Star Wars was my first foray into what would become a lifelong hobby. It should be no surprise that the universe of space wizards and scruffy looking nerf-herders drew me to roleplaying. After all, I was already wearing “Jedi robes” and swinging around plastic lightsabers as a wee lad. Obviously, it was an already beloved world of pretend play, I just needed some dice to go with it. Add a best friend who had acquired the West End D6 system books, and the rest is Never Say Dice history. How do you recreate the excitement and magic of Star Wars at the tabletop though? In celebration of Star Wars Day , I’ve done my best to answer that question for my regular Dungeons & Dragons players in what may becom

Over the years, I've heard many an author, agent, editor, and publisher claim (facetiously or otherwise) that the concept of “genre” exists solely to make it easier for bookstores to arrange their stock, that it’s ultimately a marketing invention to better move product. It’s funny, though, I don’t think I’ve ever heard this sentiment from the people who enjoy said product, jokingly or otherwise, whether they be readers, players, or audience members. A divide of this scale can’t help but lead to questions. Are both groups talking about the same thing? What exactly is a genre, anyway, and what role does it play in the telling and experiencing of stories? I first began to question "genre" in a college creative writing workshop. Until then, I had taken for granted that the categories of science fiction, fantasy, mystery, horror, and thriller had been structured and organized by nature like the Periodic Table. This certainty wasn’t broken by coursework or  some newfound clari

Welcome to the wrap up for this series on the adaptations of the Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe . If you missed them before, you can go back and read my reviews of the Disney version as well as the 1979 animated and BBC editions . In this post, we’ll review what little remains of the ITV adaptation and take a look at my overall rankings of the three full versions that I was able to find. Finally, we’ll take a quick look at what the future may hold for Narnia. ITV I can’t really compare the serialized ITV version to other productions, as most of it has been lost to history. That being said, I did find two existing parts on YouTube, and watched all sixteen surviving minutes - albeit in poor quality, even for 1967. It felt much like watching some of the earliest Doctor Who , once again taking me back to watching reruns on PBS as a kid. That isn’t the only time Narnia and Doctor Who are connected, but we’ll discuss that in another post. Episode 8, Parts 1 and 2 detail Aslan meeting Edm

  Recently, collective ranting amongst the NSD team about a listicle purporting to share "ten things that don't make sense" in the first Back to the Future film grew into a larger discussion about the nature of "Nitpick Culture" - (mostly) online media "criticism" centered on throwing out as many "mistakes" or "plot holes" in a work as possible, whether there's an actual problem or not, and often contradicting itself in the process. Youtubers Shaun and Jack Saint have done some excellent video essays on the subject, but we wanted to have our own conversation, both as fans and as creators.   Bugsy : Let's talk about the specific post that set this all in motion, since it's not only about a topic we each know very well, but also embodies quite a few aspects of "Nitpick Culture" in general. Andy, how would you respond to the author of "Back To The Future: 10 Things That Make No Sense About The Original Mo

The momentous, long-awaited release of Bill & Ted Face the Music has finally taken place, and your most-humble friends at Never Say Dice have undertaken this journey (of indeterminate bogusness) to discuss it with you, our truly excellent readers . By necessity, this conversation will have some spoilers, so if you haven't seen it yet, go forward in time to when you have, then come back to today and pick up right here. Bugsy : Well, Andy, it actually exists. After rumors and legends and delays and everything else, a third Bill & Ted movie is out there in the world, and we should take a minute to appreciate that. This wasn't a cynical studio cash grab to exploit nostalgia from a long-dormant property, but a labor of love from both the series' creators and the fans, and, regardless of anything else, I'm happy that it's here and we're able to talk about it. Andy : It is also a truly triumphant film. I may have a few small issues with it, but we'll get i

We'll cut to the chase - as (dare I say) nerdy kids in the late 80s and early 90s, how could we not have seen the Bill & Ted movies? So, as the release of Bill & Ted Face the Music approaches, we've re-watched the original films and dove a bit into the alternate media adventures of our two favorite time-travelling San Dimans .   Bugsy : What were your thoughts on the on Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure this time around the Time Circuits? I was amazed at how nearly every line has been burned into my head, even though I haven't seen it nearly as many times as most movies I can recite from memory - it's just that quotable. Andy : Between Marty McFly, Doctor Who, the Terminator, Captain Kirk, and our heroes of today Bill &Ted (as well as many many others), time travel was a big thing in that era. Indeed, we all know the boys and the girls were doing it. Aside from Back to the Future ,  Bill & Ted was probably my favorite time-travel franchise. Surpr