So the New Legends of Monkey
The New Legends of Monkey (Netflix 2018)
A complete retelling of the tale, to make it an action-packed if somewhat duller version of the epic. Not recommended if you want to watch a version that is 100% faithful to either the letter or spirit of the novel*
Wondering the streets of Western Heaven
Today while writing for the Mandate of Heaven, a mega scenario pack for Monkey that also an expanded location guide for three locations in the Monkey-verse, I have wondered the streets of the Western Heaven, a city made of Jade and other precious gems and metals, inhabited by Chinese Immortals who run the universe.
I have visited the grand palace of the Jade Emperor, the magical residence of the Queen Mother of the West, her magical peach garden, the Forge of Lao Tzu, the Ministry of Thunder (responsible for dealing with supernatural criminals on Earth) and ended up in the Ministry of Records (where you can find the answer to any question as long as you don’t mind sifting through endless piles of scrolls). And any time I got lost I merely closed my eyes and found myself back at the Fountain of Dancing Phoenxies 🙂
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This Monkey is going to Heaven
I’m pleased to announce that last night I completed my final pass of error checking through of Monkey 2nd Incarnation. Its been a good 2 years since I made the dedicated decision to do a 2nd edition of the game and after all the hard work put in, not only by me but a host of others it looks fantastic and exceeds my expectations. Especially in the art department – +Peter Frain, +Daniel Barker and +jon hodgson have excelled here and produced illustrations that are a joy to behold. After the school run, I’ll be uploading it to DriveThru, sending out complimentary pdf copies to backers and ordering a print proof and generally starting the Begining of the End to get the book in other people’s hands 😀 (fingers xed wc 19th March)
This is my final 2nd Incarnation development post, I’ll let that just sink in 🙂
It might be cold and rainy outside, but it doesn’t have to be inside
So said one of my Kung Fu teachers many moons ago, when we turned up with long faces, and miserable spirits to class one cold January evening. I then went on to have one of the most fun and enjoyable classes I ever had. As a result, I find that sentence a nice little effective pick me up that never fails to work for me. It’s also quite true of the current state of Monkey and related projects. Its been a while since I posted anything here, back in November, and it might seem that after the excitement of the Kickstarter a year ago things have cooled off. Not so. These updates over at the Kickstarter pages explain how hot things are getting:
Read the posts for full details, but the short of it is the main Monkey Rule Book is now 88% fully through its first editorial/proofing pass, we are art complete, so layout and final check are all that stands between release in Feb for backers/March for general release. Mandate is not far behind, so I anticipate that should be April/May. Then monthly/Bimonthly releases for everything else (Ministry of Thunder adventure book, Golden Book of 101 Immortals supplement, Monkey Companion and Dragons Ascending to Heaven). 2018 is finally the year of the Monkey.
Monkey on Tour!
Another thing to look forward to I’ll be running the Mega Monkey in the form of The Mandate of Heaven at the upcoming 7 Hills (Sheffield March 24-25) and Continuum Conventions (July 20-23), in its three table version. Then Mandate gets retired and Ministry of Thunder takes over for a short run over Furnace (Sheffield October 7-8 ) and possibly Dragonmeet..
Monkey Quickstart
This is done but I’ve been holding off releasing this publically until one month before the rulebook book is ready. This 50-page pdf has a concise version fo the main rules, enough to play an included example adventure with two sets of four premade characters. The first set being the characters from the book, i.e. Monkey, Pigsy, Tripitaka and Sandy. The other being the sort of diverse set of four characters you can create using the rules in the main rulebook.
Finally, if all this isn’t enough to cheer you up during the grey month of January, here’s the last bit of art that Dan Barker did for the main rulebook, the Boy-God Demon Hunter Prince Natha.
Updates on Monkey and the Mandate of Heaven
This Monkey Monday I’m busy updating the Kickstarter backers of where I’m up to.
Monkey the Roleplaying Game has gone to final proof is more or less art complete (in the sense I might go “Oh I need a picture of the Jade Emperor!” i.e. last minute stuff) and I’m expecting to have the pdf out and to backers just before or just after Christmas.
Here’s the Wind Lord Feng Po as drawn by Peter Frain, one of the last batch of art.
Feng Po, a wind immortal, by Peter Frain
The Mandate of Heaven got its first run through of all three worlds running on three separate tables running in parallel at Furnace back at the beginning of October.
The Great Hall of Games!
Intermission snacks!
Dan Barker has done illustrations of all 15 pre-made characters.
Here’s Inevitable Sunshine from the Western Heaven.
Monkey available
Print + free PDF via the D101 Web Store.
The Mandate of Heaven
An epic set of adventures/sourcebook for Monkey. Behold the MEGA MONKEY!
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