Random Rambles of Late

Picture Linked

Went shopping this evening after the first day of school to replenish my depleted larder.  I ran across the above, BLAECORN UNIDRAGON Russian Imperial Stout (for clearer picture, see here).  At over twelve dollars for 1 & 3/8 pint, it's a little rich for my blood.  Anybody ever try it?

I picked up James Enge's Blood of Ambrose.  I remember it was getting a lot of great buzz a few years back when it came out, but there is something stubborn in me that resists new books in a way that I do not resist new movies.  So I know I'm late to the party, but so far, this book is a first rate piece of sword and sorcery -- well-written, attention grabbing and holding, interesting characters.  It seems that the good buzz was justified.  I'm pretty sure this is going to turn out to be a "Strongly Recommend."

When the hell did summer get so short and school years get so long?  Happy Mythopoeic Monday, all!

Madness of the Butterfrog

I have featured the work of Hugo "Butterfrog" Solis on my blog in the past, but as I have gotten busier, and at the same time tried to keep up with the doings of more and more creative folks, he too has gotten busier.  Little did I know that amongst his current projects, he had taken up turning his nom-de-net into a Pathfinder RPG creature.  Download your free guide to the freaky butterfrog, here.

Further, the guidebook serves as a guide to create more variant butterfrogs for PFRPG, with a chance to win prizes and glory.  To join in this madness, read more about the contest here.
Bon Frogage!

GM at the Improv

Little Game in the Big Woods

Well, another summer comes to an end in which I have done a lot less gaming than I had hoped to do.  The only place I even got to game was in some time away in Minnesota to see my daughter.  I ran Pathfinder a game for her and her boyfriend.  Now, I had come pretty much fresh off of the teaching the last summer session.  They wanted a full Pathfinder game we could play in about a three solid days, and I had not time to prepare.

I've recently been enjoying the Iron GM podcast (see below), and was inspired to hear about the contest's assigning of special ingredients that had to be worked into the adventure that the contestants ran and interviews with the winners and their methods.  An interview with Wolfgang Baur likewise brought up how he DMed using a Monster Manual, which brought back lots of memories of college gaming.  I realized that the twin demands of no time to prepare like I did while running Rise of the Runelords and giving the players what they wanted (and not helping them to chose something prepared and then preparing them to play something that fit what they chose) would best be met by improvisational game-mastering.  So with only the first PF Bestiary to draw from (though I did keep my stack of recent KQs and Book of Drakes at hand in case), I asked the two players to give me eight elements for the game.  Their contributions are below.

NUMBER: 11
COLOR: Green
LOCATION: Beach
BBEG: Sylar
THEME: Hunger
OBJECT: Pineapple
EVENT: Shipwreck
NPC: Maes Hughes

Now, the game had to be set somewhere, so I used the Ygg setting (see tabs above) as that is the setting I had been thinking about that didn't require an authority outside myself for "getting it right" and one of it's great cities: the trade hub of the North, Farlangora.  A quick look at the Wikipedia entry from pineapple got me thinking -- I wanted a culturally specific term for the fruit that did not come from their resemblance to pine cones.  Thinking about their exoticness and how difficult and expensive it would be to transport them in a pre-scientific fantasy world,I realized that in a world where pineapples were hard to get, they would be greatly coveted.  It's difficult to get my head into a world where I couldn't have pineapple just about any time I wanted it, and most people would have never tasted them.  This plus the "crown" on top inspired me to rename Yggian variety of pineapple, "kingfruit."

So I thought of an undercover fey contingent in Farlangora that would have their own black market.  Such a presence in the city would be lucrative (think the fair in Stardust or the Goblin Market in Rossetti or Hellboy II) and a point of trade between the mundane and fey.  Something difficult to get like a kingfruit could be greatly desired by the fey as well -- especially if their was something that was hungry for them.  Magic is keeping the green pineapples from spoiling, but also will be used to ripen the pineapples as they are sold.

The Beginning of the Adventure

The characters were a pygmy (halfling) druid, her friend a dwarf alchemist, a half-elf barbarian who worked as a bouncer a the Green Dragon (after having lost her job as a guard for one of the merchant houses -- charisma dump stat!), and a changeling fey-bloodline sorcerer, the supposed daughter of said merchant.  Alas, the daughter's family throws a party, and the key attraction, the kingsfruit, is delayed in arriving.  Thy pygmy was a freed slave and friend of the dwarf.  She worked at the Green Dragon Inn for room and board while waiting for the ship she had bought passage on to return to her home in the Lands of the Sun.  This was the same ship bringing eleven large crates of kingfruit for sale.  It wrecks on a beach below the town and is discovered with the kingfruit stolen and the captain missing the top of his head.  Thus the network of relations between the characters drew them into the situation to investigate.  While a crowd gathers on the beach at the wreck site, a group of skum charmed by a nixie appear to drag women off the beach to watery (eew!) nuptials.  This is just a ploy by the fey to draw suspicion onto resurgent skum activity.  This is where the heroes get their first fight.

Skummy went a courtin' - PF Bestiary

Prominent NPCS:

Inspector Oxyscopos - the chief inspector of the Harbor Watch.  The characters think they are dealing with him, but they are really dealing with a doppelganger who is working with the fey to steal the kingfruit.  The doppelganger cleaves the skulls of his victims open, like Sylar.  The PCs later discover Oxyscopos body, which shows signs of having been dead for more than a day.

Gershon Thusacles - introduced as the obnoxious Maes Hughes-like character at party thrown by the changeling sorceress' father, presumably unimportant, but the characters later learn that he is an assistant inspector with the Harbor Watch who takes over the case of the stolen kingfruit once Oxyscopos disappears.

Baratos Silberhülsen - the head of one of the great merchant houses of Farlangen.  Owner of the ship that wrecks, he stands to lose a fortune if the kingfruit is not recovered.

Ginger - Baratos' floozie.   So far, only a minor character.

Larsy Herringbone - proprietor of the Clockwork Gnome (you're welcome, Allen).  You will note his name is an anagram for Sylar.  He wore red and like Sylar, worked on clocks and clockwork mechanisms.  When the characters entered The Clockwork Gnome and met him, he had the top of the head of a Brazen Head off of it while he worked on it.  Larsy was a red herring for the real Sylar-style killer.  The players were tormented when they thought that their characters had befriended, and even aided, Larsy when they later made the false connection.  Use meta-knowledge for player fun, even as you guide your players (mine didn't need much guidance here at all) not to confuse their suspicions with their characters'!

Heraclesson - proprietor of the Green Dragon Inn. So far, only a minor character

Assessment

We had a good time this week and all their adventuring across the city got nowhere close to exhausting even the basic plot I had created on the fly, much less all the avenues their exploration and role-play opened up, and this reinforced for me how well improvisational GMing can go if you have good resources and a good imagination, and have kept your creative juices flowing even when you were not preparing to run a specific adventure.  My advice this Mythopoeic Monday is to get player input and go with it!  And if you haven't listened to the ENnie-nominated Iron GM podcast, click the link below and give it a try!

Concrete Inspiration for Characters

Character Creation Exercise

Grab four objects.  Arrange them together.  Suppose that they represent or even belong to a character.  Then flesh that character out.  

As I was clearing the shelves in my old office/library for its next regular occupant, I took the four above objects, put them on the shelf together, and snapped the picture above.  Whether you take the picture and set it aside for the future, or put the objects in front of you and begin brainstorming, I like this exercise for either RPG characters (and PC or NPC!) or fiction characters, and am working on a Pathfinder character that seems a real natural choice for these objects.

Have any of my esteemed readers used a method like this one?  I'd love to hear about how such an exercise went for you.  Does anyone regularly use an exercise like this one?  Or do you have a character to propose for the collection above?

Have Game, With Travel

Ah, summertime.  As I write this, my summer is rapidly coming to an end.  I look back on the past three weeks (short summer, huh?), and the gaming gear and reading that I brought with me, along with some acquisitions I picked up during these weeks, and I realize I brought more than enough to keep me entertained.  I only wish I had another three weeks to spend with it and interested parties!  So before I pack it up, I thought I'd post a couple of pictures to share.  So, what are the essentials you have to take with you, or the cream and timely stuff you would take with if you had room, when going away for an extended time?  It's sharing time!

A Glass Darkly

The latest entry to the Pathfinder Tales line is Nightglass by Liane Merciel.  As you can see from the image, the cover is beautifully illustrated by Tyler Walpole.  But Nightglass is really only the first part of the novel, ending on page 157.  However the fault is to be divided between Merciel and the editor, this addition lacks the level of cohesion required of a novel.  There is an admission of this fact in the formatting and division of Nightglass into Book I: Monsters and Book II: People, but the lack of development will not let Book I stand alone and, as it stands, it does not achieve unity with what follows. 

Book I: Monsters is grim.  Exceedingly grim: over 100 pages of growing up and coming of age at the mercy of a dark god and his twisted minions.  I can appreciate it as an exercise in world building, but this exceeds my tolerance for treatment of children in this kind of jeopardy of evil and of fundamental lostness on the part of the protagonist.  While it hints of more horrors than it actually details, the thoughtful reader with a vivid imagination may still find themselves disturbed.

Now, I am no opponent of literature's capacity to disturb, but when it comes to entertainment, it must disturb as a part of accomplishing its purpose.  If Book I’s purpose is to create the character and his predicament and Book II is his redemption from the realm of Monsters to the realm of People, then a tighter composition in which Book I is significantly shortened and the protagonist’s redemption begins earlier would bring about greater unity.  Giving into an excess of world-building and extraneous characterization in this case overcame the basic necessities: revulsion from the Nidalese way and sympathy for the main character.  To be clear, I am not saying that Book I as a whole was unnecessary.  On the contrary, Isiem could have appeared with little initial sympathy without the knowledge of how he was victimized by the followers of Zon-Kuthon.  Rather, what is at issue is balance, focus, and integration.

Book II is much more enjoyable.  Isiem the shadowmancer is fleeing the dark grasp of the evil god of he and his people’s slavery.  He struggles to survive in a harsh frontier and come to a life free of the shadows and of relationships twisted by domination and fear. 

In Book II, the classic trope of what is human and what is monstrous finds play as Isiem discovers that the fearsome, inhuman strix (pictured below) are more humane than the peoples he has known previously.  However, his escape from the world of the monstrously evil humans to the presumed, but human-hearted, monsters will only come with struggle, and this redemptive struggle makes Book II more plot-driven and active -- and ultimately, enjoyable.

I'm sorry to have to judge Nightglass as the weakest of the line so far.  In spite of its potential and its good parts, I grade it as it stands as a whole.
Grade: D

Brusting with Artistic Inspiration

If you've been following the MR blog, you know that this has been the year in which I finally got around to reading Steven Brust (or at least, the Steven Brust that everyone else was reading), and enjoyed his work a good deal.  If you are a Brust fan, be sure and catch this interview with him on Atomic Array.

Brust work's has inspired some gorgeous artwork over on DeviantArt that is not to missed.  So, with the kind permission of the artists, please feast your eyes on the these gorgeous and evocative interpretations, and if you aren't familiar with these artists, head on over to their DA sites (linked below) and give yourself an eyeful and them some love.

Vlad Taltos by Ashley Cope

Jhereg by Kerem Beyit

Grognards and Kobolds

My 2012 Economic Growth Program has resulted in my return to certain things I once enjoyed, like a KQ subscription.  (How sweet it is!)  So you will soon be hearing me talk about the religion articles in issue 21, but for now, I want to point out the growing connections between the Old School community and this excellent periodical.

If you find yourself a gamer who does not like 3rd and 4th era mechanics or new school RPGs like Dragon Age, you might question what KQ would offer you other than flavor material and inspiration.  The most recent issue shows that the magazine is open to Old School submissions as it continues to live out its polity of the "Switzerland of the Edition Wars."  Issue 22 includes nine monsters for Castles and Crusades.   It also contains a preview of another attempt to streamline the d20 system, undertaken by a mix of former TSR/Wizards designers, 13th Age.  If I were a gambling man, I'd take good odds on that the reason we haven't seen more reflects the submissions that Wolfgang Baur has [not] received.

KQ has also published on their blog an appreciation of the OSR written by long time D&D freelancer Steve Winter, who has also added an OSR Resources page to his blog.  (I recommend both of these blogs no matter what FRPG you play.  For that matter, writers who aren't gamers will also find items of interest.)  If this together with the C&C article isn't a toe in the water, then I'll be shocked.

So in addition to the inherent value of flavor and inspirational text (and art!) to Old School gamers, I would take this as a moment to be seized for those looking to spread the Old School love.  Go comment on Steve's post at KQ.  Look into submissions for the quarterly.  Even if your query was accepted to the KQ blog first, I know folks who started with blog publications and then went on to have things published in the quarterly and even in separate Open Design publications.  I know as a subscriber, I'd love to see things published for OS simulacra and evolved retro-games.

PS.  Steve, what's up with the OSR Croc?   I love it, but I feel like I'm missing a reference or something.

Batman: The Dark Knight Rises

Review: The Dark Knight Rises

It's difficult to know what to say about the tragic loss of life in Colorado at this film's opening, other than my prayers are with the victims and their families.  It's not difficult to know what to say about the film itself: it lives up to the hype.

While there will not be much surprise for the attentive viewer who knows the Batman stories well, The Dark Knight Rises is very well done, and continues the trend of excellence in films based on comic books.  I enjoyed the final installment to The Dark Knight series even more than the much-lauded Heath Ledger/Joker one, and at this point would put it in my top ten of comic book movies of all time.

Great action, satisfying wrap-up of characters arcs.  While the effects are not as impressive as the Avengers, I think it is more successful in terms of plot. (I can't believe I didn't get an Avengers review up!  Well, I was out-of-town.)  Great casting and acting in the other parts along with directing and writing continue to save the less than stellar Bale Batman.

Have we entered the Golden Age of Comic Book Cinema?  Are we getting spoiled or lucky?  Sure seems like great days for geeks.  Long may we rule the market!
GRADE: A
Not to be missed

PaizoCon 2012 Picture Gallery

The Gaming Room

The Store - A place of great evil and low Will saves.

Mike Welham - RPG Superstar 2012

Patrick Curtin - my roomie

Oh Jeremy.....

So evil, I had to show it twice.

That Mona fella - he sure is shifty looking.

Holger and his fiance Sabine

Mmmm...zombie chess

Soooo shiny.....

All hail our Digital Overlord

Holger with Richard Pett and Dave Gross

COSMO!  He's really certain I won't be back next year.  Something about "delete"....

Jess - mere hours before I nearly killed her PC.

Mike was serious about immersing himself in the Catfolk role.

Teter Tot!

Mike, Pat, Holger, Tom, and Tom's sons.

Steve (TOZ) and his wife Shana.

Musings from the Zombie: PaizoCon 2012 Retrospective

Hmmm....What are my thoughts on my first PaizoCon?  In a word.....

Mmmmmm......brainnnnsssss.

But seriously, it was a fantastic experience.  I'll admit, going into this I was a bit nervous.  I hadn't been to a Con in years, and I was going to one where I had never met anyone in the flesh.  These were all online friendships, something that's still somewhat new to me.  Hell, I was even going to room with someone I'd never met in person!  For someone who can, at times, be a bit paranoid, it was a leap of faith.

So there I was in the Seattle airport, and the first two people I met were Mike Welham and Jess Door - two PaizoCon veterans.  And Mike was the RPG Superstar winner of 2012!!  We met!  We shared a cab to the hotel!  We had lunch together.  All in all a pleasant experience with two awesome people.

Next up was my roomie - Patrick Curtin.  A funny guy, and a truly cool dude.  I'd like to think we hit it off pretty well.

That night was the Meet and Great at this place called Claimjumpers.  Some dude named Glen from New Zealand came and sat down at our table (after making sure we were fellow Paizonians), and sat with us the rest of the night.  I met Hugo Solis, among others.  Also got to meet Tom Riner (Tordek), his wife, and two of his sons.  Tom and his boys game with my brother and Wolfthulhu down in Houston, so it was a real pleasure to meet them. I had good food and plenty of beer (maybe a bit too much).

Next morning we got in the registration line, and when we got up to the head, a Paizo employee simply handed me my envelope, without me even saying who I was.  Clearly, I had a reputation with the Paizo folk.   That seemed to be enforced when I introduced myself to Cosmo, who responded with an "Oh, it's you.".  Hmmm, mayhaps my reputation amongst them is not all that good.  But Adam Daigle was much more cool with me, so maybe my rep ain't so bad after all.  And the PMG was so quiet, yet friendly. Friday I also got to meet Holger and his fiance Sabine - two really awesome people.

I didn't have any games I was signed up for, so I spent most of my first day shopping at the store (shakes fist), going to some seminars  (future APs was awesome), and generally hanging around.  Saturday, Mike got me into my first ever Pathfinder Society game.  Patrick joined us.  I got a chance to play my Dwarven Monk.  It was a blast.  Later on I did some more shopping (shakes fist), then we hit the Rise of the Rune Lords 5th Anniversary discussion and got our hardcovers signed by the aritists, writers, etc. 

Saturday night was the banquet!  I started at Gary's table, migrated over to Sara Marie's after eating (great food), then kind of milled about out in the hallway.  Poor Gary was so nervous, but he got through his presentation with no problems and I think his was the most talked about afterwards.

Sunday, we finally got around to playing my Crypt of Illusions -  a game that had been percolating in my poor, tender head for years.  I finished the draft development just for this occasion.  Mike, Jess, Holger, Patrick, and Steve all played, with me doing my best to slaughter them.  We had to call it a break early, but I think they still had fun.  Later, at lunch, I went through more of it with Mike, Patrick, and Jess.

After Sunday lunch, we said goodbye to Jess, then later on that night to Mike.  Patrick didn't leave until early the next morning, with me following not far behind.  Steve Schopmeyer (TOZ) and his lovely wife were kind enough to give me a ride to the airport.

All in all, it was a great experience.  One I hope to repeat another year - hopefully with more of my fellow FAWTLY Folk from the Paizo Boards.

Until then......mrgh.

Mythopoeic Monday Helps Find the Way!

FREE FANZINE!

Pathfinder fans:  Issue #7 of the excellent fanzine, Wayfinder, is now out!  Download your copy of the pdf here for free!  Friends and fellow Ramblers contributed both art and articles, so brace yourself for excellence.  It's packed with 94 pages of Pathfindery goodness.  Check it out to see Western Avistan in the Golarion setting developed.

Once you given it a look through, you can go enjoy the ever-improving art submitted at DA.

PaizoCon 2012 Banquet Stuff IX

Project Swallowtail--the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game--due for release GenCon 2013, is a cooperative, non-collectible card game. Skills, feats, items, spells, etc. have been translated from the PFRPG rules to a card mechanic. The Rise of the Runelords set is the first set, 400 cards that recreates the experience of the first book of Rise of the Runelords. Plays in an hour to an hour and a half. Talk to your venture captain about being part of the playtest!

PaizoCon 2012 Banquet Stuff VIII

Fun stuff from the future! Presented by Erik Mona and Space Amiri. First up is the plush goblin, with different outfits and such. Next is the Pathfinder Comic Book, created by Jim Zubkavich and a slew of cover artists. The comic book will be available as a subscription, which comes with a bag and board and features exclusive cover art (first issue has a cover illustration by Tyler Walpole). Each comic book will have a PFRPG encounter. Neeeeext, the upcoming Pathfinder Battles set (releasing roughly Jan. 2013) will tie in to the Shattered Star AP. It will have 55 minis, only Large, Medium, and Small figures. Amiri, everyone's favorite Lem (named after Lemmy), Sheila Hindmarch, Oriana (Grey Maiden) are the iconics featured in the set.

PaizoCon 2012 Banquet Stuff VII, now with more Gary Teter

Gary(!) talked about the new Pathfinder Society section with forums for each faction, and developing a way to upload character information to Paizo Paizo Game Space! A new way to play games--on-line in a virtual tabletop fashion. It runs in your web browser, with no software to install (not even a plugin). It will do all the prep work for you--maps, NPCs, and monsters. It will not implement the full Pathfinder rules. It's "not quite ready", and it won't be released when it's perfect...so, probably this summer, and Gary and his team will improve it as they go. Plus, IT'S FREE!!!!