so how much did David Cook rock last night? i mean, i'm no Neil Diamond fan, but...oh, wait, we're not talking about that yet? what are we talking about?

NINJA! hell yeah!

though, just to be exact, i believe the plural form of ninja IS ninja. ;)

and kung fu is cooler than both ninja or pirate. there...now the gauntlet is thrown. :p
 

Kung fu...? Really?

Come on, if you want martial arts action, you can't beat ninja.

And if you want cool outfits and a life of adventure, you can't beat pirates.

Kung fu?

Feh.
 

Wait, Kung Fu as in the david Carridine TV (blech) show or as in Kung fu/wuxia movies (yesh)?

I've gotta go with Pirates mostly because they are more multicultural. There's piracy around the entire world vs. Ninjas which, with the exception of a few Sho Kosugi ninja movies..(American Ninja--sigh) is pretty much a Japanese thing.
 

I confess to being tempted to go into my post and edit it so it reads NINJA. And then I could point fingers and say "That Jordan, he's crazy." But I'll just stick by my original post.

And either way, ninja is way cooler than kung fu.
 

I'm afraid my RPG experiences have soured me on ninja/s/ae/i.

"Dude, we nixed Oriental Adventures splatbook. You're not a ninja. You're a rogue."

"Throwing stars are on the standard equipment list. I'm a neeen-ja!"

"You're a level seven character with nine hit points. How in the hell--?"

"Ninja do not need Constitution. I have a twenty-two Dex."

"And a six Strength. Can you even carry your own sword?"

"It's a katana. I attack you, western pig-elf-dog! Roll initiative."

"Fine!"

*cue instant party disintegration, many repetitions of "This is a stupid game, it's not realistic", and a request to switch from D&D to Champions so that certain people can build satisfactory ninja*

Yeah. Pirates win by default.
 

none of you understand the true power and sweetness of kung fu...sigh. i mean, everyone expects spies and assassins to be trained in deadly arts...but freaking monks? ninja are also overly dependent on trickery and outer devices. kung fu is all about skill, training and focusing your chi. Iron Fist versus the Hand...Iron Fist wins. :p
 

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Only in a comic about Iron Fist does he win that fight, honestly. The Hand should tool on his ass every time.

Ninjas have stealth and weaponry at their disposal.

Pirates have sheer numbers and, most importantly, friggin cannons.

Iron Fist = puddle of blood and fleshy bits.

Moreover, my point was simply, if you want martial arts, ninja provide that and more. In addition, they provide espionage and assassination.
 

Hey Suzene...

Despite my love of the ninja, I'll take Champions over D&D any day!

But I liked your scenario there. Reminded me of a scene out of Knights Of The Dinner Table.
 

Thanks, Christie. No argument on system prefs here. Champions is pretty much default with our group so far as superhero/modern-setting games go, it being a lot less restrictive and, you know, not completely broken at higher levels. We've never gotten it to work for fantasy, though. Our group wound up putting D&D 3.5 through a mulcher and what came out the other end is the system we currently keep on tap for sword-and-sorcery games. We've got a homebrew that we're testing out right now -- wuxia fantasy, oddly enough; our friend is getting to ninja his stabby little heart out -- so we'll see how that and 4th edition D&D wind up shifting things.
 

It's not pure fantasy like D & D, but you might be able to rework the Roll & Keep system from 7th Sea to use for Fantasy.

Either way, I recommend the game - 7th Sea has a great system, an amazing world, and captures swashbuckling adventures perfectly.

I mean, where else could you choose between playing a pirate, a musketeer a sorceror or Zorro?

Oh, and Jordan... to respond to your very first post... David Cook totally rocked on his second song. I thought his first one was kinda cool, but the second was pure Cook genius.
 

well, thank god we at least agree on that...with all this RPG talk, this blog was getting too geeky even for me.

and Iron Fist would completely own any Hand that came his way. I think "ninja" is actually just Japanese for "fodder." Seriously, ninja trained in group tactics tend to get utterly massacred by the skilled lone hero they're facing. the only time ninja truly prevail is if the lone hero is also a trained ninja. Batman, Daredevil, Wolverine...those guys can mop up. if they all teamed up and put on identical robes, Squirrel Girl could kick their ass. It's the law of inverse ninjatude...the more ninja you throw at a situation, the less effective they'll be.

now, Iron Fist is a highly trained kung fu warrior who can manipulate his own chi...enhanced to superhuman levels after he beat a FREAKING DRAGON!...in a number of ass kicking ways. Ninja fall down, go boom.

and hell, Enter the Dragon is all about Bruce Lee whooping on some pirate ass, so kung fu beats pirate as well. so, yeah, i'll take Iron Fist, Bruce Lee, Shang Chi, Spike Spiegel (kung fu space pirate!), Li Mu Bai, Kwai Chang Kaine or freaking Hong Kong Fooey over just about any ninja or pirate. because you get all of the coolness of both of those groups COMBINED, coupled with a quest for enlightenment.

but i'm just the kind of guy who likes a little spirituality in his ass kicking. ;)

and with that, i'm off to Austin! the next time we speak, i shall be in a different time zone! awaaaay!!!
 

Hmm...Well, for those interested check out Swordsman III The East is Red for Japanese Ninja fighting Chinese Wuxia swordsmen and Pirates as well. A little bit of everything.

I can't believe no one mentioned Naruto yet...that's spiritual right?....right?
 

Jordan,

After the post you just added, I don't think you get to call anything geeky.

And... as I said, Iron Fist would win in his book, because, well, it's his book.

But the Hand should, just by sheer dint of numbers, own him.

Then again, that's the curse of comics - in order to make the hero seem tough, they have him/her beat down on huge groups, and then try to make us afraid of those groups - even after we watch them seem like Keystone Cops.

By the way, Jordan... with your love of genre material and your theatrical background, and the fun you have on Supervillain Idol... you'd probably do really well with RPGs.
 

Jordan: Feh! I invite you to titillate my frosset pouch, sir. And have a good trip. ;)

Nunzio: I'll give 7th Sea a look, though it'll have a lot to live up to if it wants to displace Fifty Fathoms, which I recommend highly. It's meant for the Savage Worlds system, which I'm not terribly keen on, but it's a top-rate module. Basic premise is that horrible sea hags opened a portal to another world several generations ago, letting in their sea (as well as the occasional human fleet that's been lost to time) and slowly flooding the world, so the situation is a bit desperate. The Savage Worlds folk also put out Necessary Evil -- superhero setting, alien invasion, all the good guys get nuked and the only ones left to save the world are the villains that were safely tucked away in jail at the time. It was really fun to play though, but doesn't have nearly the replay value of Fifty Fathoms.
 

I'm really not sure what any of this is about (which isn't exactly surprising to those who know me) but it's bringing on serious flashbacks all the same.

Opening night, midnight show of 'Mortal Combat' in Mann's Chinese Theater back when there was just the one screen. Made for a kick-ass (pun intended) viewing experience, and for weeks afterwards we were all walking around saying things like "I don't NEED to run!"
 

I have nothing to say about ninjas. XTC, back me up on this. I'm not even sure what they are. But I going nuts here at my desk to hear what the two of you think about Idol. Do I have to pick up some ninja-knowledge to get the goods? Oh, I just remembered! They were the fighting teenage turtles! And some kind of Japanese warrior. I actually thought Castro was going to be OUT, but I think the ladies really like him. He really phoned it in this week, though. And such bad choices again. Archuletta--or his scary showbiz dad--was brilliant to choose America, and I said it before Simon. I promise.
 

Sigh... I guess once you open the American Idol door, you can't close it.

Neil Diamond week was a disappointment to me. Jason was a nightmare and really, REALLY should have been sent home.

David Cook's first song was a bit of a letdown to me, but his second song rocked.

Brooke's "I'm A Believer" was kind of hokey. But I thought "I Am... I Said" was pretty darn good. Just once she changed 'New York' to 'Arizona', I would have changed the next line as well. 'Caught between two shores'???

David Archuleta was a personal afront to me because he butchered my two favorite Neil Diamond songs. I've said it several times this week - I would have LOVED to have heard Michael Johns sing America. He could capture the anthem-ness and not the cheesiness.

And Syesha was good on the first (though not to my tastes) and really good on the second.

So, yes, crimes have been committed. It's time for Jason Castro to go home!

Now, Amy, go pick up our Amazing Agent Luna series. Ninjas are cool!

And Hilary, just rewatched the Mortal Kombat trailer. You have to go hunt it down. It has the line "You can't run from me, Shang..." followed by (insert your line here).
 

Okay, so the whole "I don't NEED to run" thing reminded me of just how much fun we had seeing that movie.

It was better than a movie based on a video game has any right to be (long before POTC was better than any movie based on a theme park ride had a right to be).

I remember on a trip to the Grand Canyon not too long after that (the trip that ultimately led to me and Christie becoming a couple), we were hiking down the canyon and people were shouting things to hear their voices boom off the canyon wall...

And I shouted, true geek that I am, "MORTAL KOMBAT!"

And damned if 4 or 5 people didn't shout it in reply.

Anyway, the things you remember...
 

Ok, Ninja fans--
Check this movie out if you've got a hankering for assassin action:
"Azumi"

-A
 

Thou shalt not mockest the Immortal Iron Fist!!!

Okay, just a little, but only about his boots...