The other day... The kids (5yo twins) had found a boxfull of dice and Katie was playing with them while Teddy was busy with Ratchet & Clank. Katie was all ready to have fun just rolling the dice, but I asked her if she wanted to see what kind of games me and my friends play with dice.
She did! I told her we play story games. I said that we were going to make up somebody to be in the story, and I mentioned that she could play a warrior or a dragon or, or a princess, or a --
Princess won by a mile. She was definitely going the princess route.
I asked this princess's name. "Princess Katie." Subtlety has never been her strong point.
I asked her to tell me some things about Princess Katie that I could write down on a piece of paper. First we got:
* Likes Flowers
* Likes Ponies
She's definitely in that hyper-girly stage.
I asked if she had any "powers," and you BET she did. She could freeze people into blocks of ice, and she could also use magic fire to thaw them out.
* Freeze Power
* Fire Power
I set the scene that her favorite pony had been kidnapped, and she had to rescue him. She agreed and decided that Evil Birds had carried him off. We had a short little story about rescuing them, and finding lots of other ponies captive too, and rescuing them and bringing them to their homes. Every so often I called for a roll of 1,2,3 or 4,5,6 to decide which direction the story took. It was a tiny little story but it was fun and she loved it.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Ron on Bacchanal
Ron does a great job in this post explaining the difference between Bacchanal and Penthouse Letters.* I believe it was 'Anyway' that pointed me at it.
* (Note to younger readers: a long time ago, before the world wide web, people had to buy magazines to look at naked people and read naughty stories. Yes, it was a dark age. Thank us oldsters that we invented the internet so you didn't have to worry about that, you can go out and try to hook up with hot babes on myspace by text messaging them with a cellphone, or whatever the hell kids do these days.)
* (Note to younger readers: a long time ago, before the world wide web, people had to buy magazines to look at naked people and read naughty stories. Yes, it was a dark age. Thank us oldsters that we invented the internet so you didn't have to worry about that, you can go out and try to hook up with hot babes on myspace by text messaging them with a cellphone, or whatever the hell kids do these days.)
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Apparently a My Life With Master Sourcebook of Some Kind?
"In [the book] A Cup of Cold Water, Ed Heil gives us a timely reminder of the virtues and ultimate victory won by genuine servants of the Master. Hardback."
Link
Link
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
No Gencon For Ed, No Ed For Gencon
I've decided not to do Gencon after all, at the last minute.
Sucks to miss a chance to see the cool Forgies again, and meet new people like (for example) John Harper, and Lxndr, whom I've met only briefly before.
But I had other issues to think about this week and decided my best course is to put it off till next year.
Have an awesome time, everyone who's going, Joe included. :)
Sucks to miss a chance to see the cool Forgies again, and meet new people like (for example) John Harper, and Lxndr, whom I've met only briefly before.
But I had other issues to think about this week and decided my best course is to put it off till next year.
Have an awesome time, everyone who's going, Joe included. :)
Monday, July 24, 2006
Shout Out from Half Meme
Paul Czege put together a really cool ad for Bacchanal, with kind words for a drawing of mine.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
These Folks Need Dogs
Just how messed up can tiny, isolated-against-the-world religious communities get? I dunno, check out this article about rape and incest among the Amish.
"This approach is rooted in the Amish notion of Gelassenheit, or submission. Church members abide by their clergymen; children obey their parents; sisters mind their brothers; and wives defer to their husbands (divorce is taboo). With each act of submission, the Amish follow the lesson of Jesus when he died on the cross rather than resist his adversaries."
Gelassenheit is a lot like the Faith's "stewardship" but expressed from the point of view of the stewardees, not the stewards.
Apologies to any I give offense to by comparing real-world tragedies to roleplaying game adventures. But it's not as if Dogs is D&D.
"This approach is rooted in the Amish notion of Gelassenheit, or submission. Church members abide by their clergymen; children obey their parents; sisters mind their brothers; and wives defer to their husbands (divorce is taboo). With each act of submission, the Amish follow the lesson of Jesus when he died on the cross rather than resist his adversaries."
Gelassenheit is a lot like the Faith's "stewardship" but expressed from the point of view of the stewardees, not the stewards.
Apologies to any I give offense to by comparing real-world tragedies to roleplaying game adventures. But it's not as if Dogs is D&D.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Business Casual For a Martian Warlord - Part 2
I had originally planed on only making the characters for the Nine Worlds game, but since we had some time, I thought it would be best to get right into the playing out a few scenes, and get a feel for the system, and I'm glad I did.
I started a scene, and decided, with approval of the players, to have Scopas (played by James) and Cohen (played by Randy) be together. They were on Mercury, and both had reasons to go to Hades. Scopas wanted to make sure the shades of his friends would be together -- he reasoned that since one had committed suicide, they might not be able to be together. Perhaps that one was in Tarterus. Cohen had a Muse for transporting a Thanatoi agent and his cargo safely to Hades. I figured what the heck, they are both going the same way...
Next, Randy set the scene. Things were going fine until Cohen announced that they would be making a stop on Mars for supplies. Actually, he was smuggling arms to New Sparta. They were approached in Mars aetherspace by a Marian port authority ship, and were boarded. Ah, conflict. Would they find the hidden contraband? Turns out they did, but the conflict was a real nail-bitter, as Randy and I tied for Fate. The first tie-breaker was a tie. As was the second! The third card allowed me to win, but only barely. They Eclipse was being escorted down to Thracia. Things were not looking good.
James was up and said that Scopas had a contact on Mars, a warlord in fact, named Celeus. He had done some courier work for the warlord in the past, and thought he might be able to help. Scopas and Cohen were escorted to Celeus' estate in Thracia, and met with the warlord. It was in this scene that I coined the phrase "business casual for a warlord of Mars." I was trying to describe him and that is what popped into my ridiculous head. Another conflict. Basically, both Scopas and Cohen wanted to convince Celeus to help them, worded slightly differently, and the warlord did not want to get his hands dirty in their little affair. Once again, Randy and I tied for Fate, but I beat James. First tie-breaker... a tie! Second? Tie again! We were both sweating, and he was sure he was going to get hosed again, but he pulled it off.
The narration was pretty interesting. Scopas, who lost, had been using Arete, and Cosmos to boot. He was trying to use the truth, create a logical case for why Celeus should help them. It fell on deaf ears. Cohen on the other hand, went the Hubirs route, creating false documents, and a magically glib tongue. The warlord was all ears. He totally fell for it.
Another interesting thing... when I was stating out Celeus, the idea popped into my head that he should have the Muse "See the Free Spartan League Succeed." Yep, the warlord was secretly working against Ares. Randy worked into his narration that Cohen let it be known that the weapons were for the League The warlord assured him they would be delivered. His Muse was resolved. And he won a few points which he put into a new Muse "Deliver telluric weapons to Celeus." Holy crap! So in two short scenes, he went from smuggler/explorer to subverter of Ares rule. I approve. The Eclipse and it's crew was released, and that is where we ended for them.
Next up was Amaris (played by Tammy.) We started with her arriving in Arcadia after traveling by foot for many days. She had to see Artemis, convince her to help get Amaris' centaur friends back. She went to the Primarch's temple, but was turned away by the priestess-bureaucrats. Their Lady could not be bothered, they said. Amaris, being the raised-in-the-wild-child that she is, challenged the priestess to a duel. If she won, they would take her to see Artemis. She succeeded and was taken to the Primarch's inner temple.
Artemis was sitting on a bench, fletching some arrows. Amaris pleaded her case, begging the Primarch to help track down those that took the centaurs. Artemis was sympathetic, but said that if they were off-world, it would hard for her to help. She had to defend Luna, and could not spare the resources. Conflict time. And wouldn't you know it, Amaris won. We were all pretty shocked. Her fate was one point higher. Artemis was moved by the girl's story, and saw a bit of herself in Amaris. She promised she would do what she could... at that point it was pretty late, so we stopped for the evening. Tammy actually resolved two Muses, and is now sitting on some Valor.
First game, one of the characters gets into a conflict with a Primarch, and wins. Damn. Another character is working against the interests of another Primarch. I love this game.
And here I was at the beginning of the game thinking "What should I do? I know, I'm gonna stat out a kraken. Yeah, maybe we can have that kraken that killed Scopas' friend show up." All I had to do was sit back and let the players hand me some nice and juicy conflicts. Oh, mind you, I'll be keeping those kraken stats handy. It's a long way from Mars to Hades after all...
We only get to play once a month, and decided that we would try and get some playing in next month at Gen Con while we're there. Maybe Ed can join in, eh?
I started a scene, and decided, with approval of the players, to have Scopas (played by James) and Cohen (played by Randy) be together. They were on Mercury, and both had reasons to go to Hades. Scopas wanted to make sure the shades of his friends would be together -- he reasoned that since one had committed suicide, they might not be able to be together. Perhaps that one was in Tarterus. Cohen had a Muse for transporting a Thanatoi agent and his cargo safely to Hades. I figured what the heck, they are both going the same way...
Next, Randy set the scene. Things were going fine until Cohen announced that they would be making a stop on Mars for supplies. Actually, he was smuggling arms to New Sparta. They were approached in Mars aetherspace by a Marian port authority ship, and were boarded. Ah, conflict. Would they find the hidden contraband? Turns out they did, but the conflict was a real nail-bitter, as Randy and I tied for Fate. The first tie-breaker was a tie. As was the second! The third card allowed me to win, but only barely. They Eclipse was being escorted down to Thracia. Things were not looking good.
James was up and said that Scopas had a contact on Mars, a warlord in fact, named Celeus. He had done some courier work for the warlord in the past, and thought he might be able to help. Scopas and Cohen were escorted to Celeus' estate in Thracia, and met with the warlord. It was in this scene that I coined the phrase "business casual for a warlord of Mars." I was trying to describe him and that is what popped into my ridiculous head. Another conflict. Basically, both Scopas and Cohen wanted to convince Celeus to help them, worded slightly differently, and the warlord did not want to get his hands dirty in their little affair. Once again, Randy and I tied for Fate, but I beat James. First tie-breaker... a tie! Second? Tie again! We were both sweating, and he was sure he was going to get hosed again, but he pulled it off.
The narration was pretty interesting. Scopas, who lost, had been using Arete, and Cosmos to boot. He was trying to use the truth, create a logical case for why Celeus should help them. It fell on deaf ears. Cohen on the other hand, went the Hubirs route, creating false documents, and a magically glib tongue. The warlord was all ears. He totally fell for it.
Another interesting thing... when I was stating out Celeus, the idea popped into my head that he should have the Muse "See the Free Spartan League Succeed." Yep, the warlord was secretly working against Ares. Randy worked into his narration that Cohen let it be known that the weapons were for the League The warlord assured him they would be delivered. His Muse was resolved. And he won a few points which he put into a new Muse "Deliver telluric weapons to Celeus." Holy crap! So in two short scenes, he went from smuggler/explorer to subverter of Ares rule. I approve. The Eclipse and it's crew was released, and that is where we ended for them.
Next up was Amaris (played by Tammy.) We started with her arriving in Arcadia after traveling by foot for many days. She had to see Artemis, convince her to help get Amaris' centaur friends back. She went to the Primarch's temple, but was turned away by the priestess-bureaucrats. Their Lady could not be bothered, they said. Amaris, being the raised-in-the-wild-child that she is, challenged the priestess to a duel. If she won, they would take her to see Artemis. She succeeded and was taken to the Primarch's inner temple.
Artemis was sitting on a bench, fletching some arrows. Amaris pleaded her case, begging the Primarch to help track down those that took the centaurs. Artemis was sympathetic, but said that if they were off-world, it would hard for her to help. She had to defend Luna, and could not spare the resources. Conflict time. And wouldn't you know it, Amaris won. We were all pretty shocked. Her fate was one point higher. Artemis was moved by the girl's story, and saw a bit of herself in Amaris. She promised she would do what she could... at that point it was pretty late, so we stopped for the evening. Tammy actually resolved two Muses, and is now sitting on some Valor.
First game, one of the characters gets into a conflict with a Primarch, and wins. Damn. Another character is working against the interests of another Primarch. I love this game.
And here I was at the beginning of the game thinking "What should I do? I know, I'm gonna stat out a kraken. Yeah, maybe we can have that kraken that killed Scopas' friend show up." All I had to do was sit back and let the players hand me some nice and juicy conflicts. Oh, mind you, I'll be keeping those kraken stats handy. It's a long way from Mars to Hades after all...
We only get to play once a month, and decided that we would try and get some playing in next month at Gen Con while we're there. Maybe Ed can join in, eh?
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Business Casual For a Martian Warlord - Part 1
Joe here. Wow, I haven't posted here since December. Sorry Ed for making you do all the work!
Last night, I started my new Nine Worlds game. My group had just finished a season of Primetime Adventures, and I was ready to try running something different. I'd have been itching to do some 9W for a while. I had only planned on doing character creation, but we finished pretty early, so we ran a few scenes. Holy crap, it was awesome. I'd run some 9W with Ed quite a while a go, but this was the first time with multiple players, and it really was something.
First off, for the characters:
Cohen (played by Randy) - He was originally from Earth, spent some time teaching at the University of Delphi, and now runs a cargo/smuggling aethership, called the Eclipse. He is searching for the lost secrets of the Cyclopes telluric weapons.
Scopas (played by James) - He is a former freelance courier from Mercury, know for his speed. Recently everything fell apart... one of his partners was killed a kraken and their spouse, his other partner, committed suicide. He wants to see that kraken slain, by his own hand, and be sure that the shades of his partners are together for eternity.
Amaris (played by Tammy) - She was born and raised in the wilds of Luna by a clan of centaurs. They were recently attacked and the centaurs not killed were kidnapped, taken off-world. She wants to find out who took the only family she's ever known from her and free them, preferably with help from Artemis.
Lots of connections, good muses, place to go, creatures to kill. My mind was abuzz with ideas, so we started. It just so happened that Cohen was heading to Hades to transport a Thanatoi and his "cargo." He took on another passenger, Scopas, who had his own reasons for going to Hades...
More coming!
Last night, I started my new Nine Worlds game. My group had just finished a season of Primetime Adventures, and I was ready to try running something different. I'd have been itching to do some 9W for a while. I had only planned on doing character creation, but we finished pretty early, so we ran a few scenes. Holy crap, it was awesome. I'd run some 9W with Ed quite a while a go, but this was the first time with multiple players, and it really was something.
First off, for the characters:
Cohen (played by Randy) - He was originally from Earth, spent some time teaching at the University of Delphi, and now runs a cargo/smuggling aethership, called the Eclipse. He is searching for the lost secrets of the Cyclopes telluric weapons.
Scopas (played by James) - He is a former freelance courier from Mercury, know for his speed. Recently everything fell apart... one of his partners was killed a kraken and their spouse, his other partner, committed suicide. He wants to see that kraken slain, by his own hand, and be sure that the shades of his partners are together for eternity.
Amaris (played by Tammy) - She was born and raised in the wilds of Luna by a clan of centaurs. They were recently attacked and the centaurs not killed were kidnapped, taken off-world. She wants to find out who took the only family she's ever known from her and free them, preferably with help from Artemis.
Lots of connections, good muses, place to go, creatures to kill. My mind was abuzz with ideas, so we started. It just so happened that Cohen was heading to Hades to transport a Thanatoi and his "cargo." He took on another passenger, Scopas, who had his own reasons for going to Hades...
More coming!
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Downtown Milwaukee Is Sinking
Seriously. Insert your own "years of stress from fat gamers at Gencons past" joke here.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
D20 Old School
Last night when I went to play D&D with some good local friends, I actually scrounged together a sack full of dice and brought it along. This seemed like a big step, for some reason.
When I got there I searched for D20s and I only found two. They were both the old-fashioned "0-9 twice" D20s. One of them (the oldest) had one set of 0-9 inked in in green, and one set in red -- green indicated 11 through 20, of course. The other had 0-9 twice with a tiny plus mark engraved next to one of the sets of 0-9.
I rolled the latter and got a 1+, or 11. I was like "OK, 1, with the plus, that's eleven..." and I got a bunch of hootin and hollerin' about these crazy fancy new age dice with a plus on 'em like a fudge die or something. (I've got a bit of a rep as a Forge nerd among these guys.) I tried to explain about the old 0-9 twice dice, which serve equally well as percentile and twenty-sided, and which were de rigeur before ten sided dice came out and usurped the role (roll?) of percentile dice from the icosahedrons.
They were all "yeah whatever" and the conversation went to other things, but -- is it really that old school to use 0-9 twice dice? I mean, I remember when ten-sideds first came out. Is it so unheard of to use the old kinda dice anymore?
Do these kids today know *nothing* about how "back in my day we used icosahedrons as percentiles, ten-siders, AND twenty-siders, and we LOVED it dammit! Uphill, both ways!"?
hoo boy.
When I got there I searched for D20s and I only found two. They were both the old-fashioned "0-9 twice" D20s. One of them (the oldest) had one set of 0-9 inked in in green, and one set in red -- green indicated 11 through 20, of course. The other had 0-9 twice with a tiny plus mark engraved next to one of the sets of 0-9.
I rolled the latter and got a 1+, or 11. I was like "OK, 1, with the plus, that's eleven..." and I got a bunch of hootin and hollerin' about these crazy fancy new age dice with a plus on 'em like a fudge die or something. (I've got a bit of a rep as a Forge nerd among these guys.) I tried to explain about the old 0-9 twice dice, which serve equally well as percentile and twenty-sided, and which were de rigeur before ten sided dice came out and usurped the role (roll?) of percentile dice from the icosahedrons.
They were all "yeah whatever" and the conversation went to other things, but -- is it really that old school to use 0-9 twice dice? I mean, I remember when ten-sideds first came out. Is it so unheard of to use the old kinda dice anymore?
Do these kids today know *nothing* about how "back in my day we used icosahedrons as percentiles, ten-siders, AND twenty-siders, and we LOVED it dammit! Uphill, both ways!"?
hoo boy.
Friday, June 09, 2006
Liz at the Forge
Liz Danforth, my favorite fantasy artist EVAR since I was like TEN YEARS OLD, shows up on the Forge, and her first post is a reply to one of mine. How cool is that? (Joe pointed this out to me.)
Of course, she'd posted to a really really old thread, and woke it up, and people started replying, so Ron had to come in and put the smack down on the various posters. It's kinda funny cause he's simultaneously Mr Stern Moderator, and a google-eyed Danforth fanboy like myself.
Of course, she'd posted to a really really old thread, and woke it up, and people started replying, so Ron had to come in and put the smack down on the various posters. It's kinda funny cause he's simultaneously Mr Stern Moderator, and a google-eyed Danforth fanboy like myself.
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