Item - Necro-Groundhog of the Awfully Dark Graveyard of Excruciating, Arcane Death

Once again, I'm the author here, so I'm not going to write a review. I do have to say, though, that while I think this book contains the single funniest concept I've devised so far, it's not actually as good as my earlier work; I think I was so happy with my idea that I got lazy in the execution. Nonetheless, I do find myself chuckling at my own jokes as I flip through the book (I'm shameless, I know). The plot is actually based on a true story told to me by Jim Hall, a Marine that I shared several computer science classes with; his tale of battle with an evil, graveyard-lurking groundhog was too inspirational to ignore -- I'll leave it to the reader to figure out exactly which bits I made up to embellish the awful truth. Also, to those wondering about the Jeff Goldblum rule, it's a reference to the Lost World: Jurassic Park Role-Playing Game Book, which gives Jeff Goldblum's character very high stats not because it's logical but (I suspect) simply because he's Jeff Goldblum. Obscure, I know, but I couldn't resist. Finally, I should note that this is the final solo adventure in this series, unless some other author cares to take up the job (which I find unlikely). While I admire their work, I haven't had wonderful experiences working with 9th Level, mainly due to poor communication -- it was a little disturbing to find out third-hand about the publication of this book, and I wasn't altogether happy with the title (my manuscript was called simply Graveyard of the Necrogroundhog, and I wasn't all that thrilled about beating the extra-long title gag further into the ground). I'm also disappointed that Jode, who illustrated the first book, was never even given a chance to do art for this one -- he had some really great ideas, and they would have looked nicer than what has been used here (check out his preliminary work on the big-headed bird's carcass and the depressed dragon if you need pictorial evidence). There are no hard feelings, really, but my desire to be involved in the world of baby-eating Kobolds seems to have left me. 'Twas fun while it lasted, though!

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