Dragon Wife -- Dragonslayers, Pages 1-6

The first real installment of the Dragon Wife is released!!

Enjoy this comic. There will be more to come! :)

Z-Depth Layers In DAZ Studio with Mood Master 2

This is a little tutorial that will teach you what a Z-Depth Layer is.  It doesn't go into setting one up, it just gives you a primer and how Mood Master (a Dreamlight Product) available at DAZ 3D can be used to set them up.  This tutorial uses DAZ Studio 3 Advanced and Mood Master Z-Depth Layers 2.

What is a Z-Depth Layer?

In CG, Z-depth layers are grayscale maps that are set up to simulate depth of field, fog, and depth mats.  They can lend an air of realism if applied correctly.   A typical Z-Depth layer looks like this:

This was generated by Mood Master 2, for use in my comic.  As I said, this post isn't about making them up in Photoshop or DAZ Studio from scratch (or even poser), it's about what they are and how they are used.  Once generated, a Z-Depth layer can be applied either in Photoshop or the Gimp, or if you use DAZ Studio, as a render layer.

Once combined, you can get something like this:

notice how the fog is applied?  You can get an instant effect that simulates haze, mist, humidity, or fog in your scene.  (the above scene includes Tyr for Michael 4, Hiro 4, Digital I's Biguana, Faveral's Medieval City, Stephanie 4 and another Michael 4.  Also, Dreamlight's Light Dome Pro 2.0 was used.)  Once applied, you usually have much much more realism in a scene.

I did a tutorial earlier on how to use Z-Depth layering to simulate humidity in a jungle scene.  However, since that tutorial is old now, I'll produce another tutorial on using Z-Depth layers to great effect.

Internet Surfing Makes You Smarter

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, surfing the Internet makes you smarter.  Doctor Mercola has jumped on this wonderful little tidbit and checked to verify the report.  And he found that it was astounding that one can, effectively, increase his critical thinking skills by surfing the Internet.  The Internet, like any technology, has brought both bad and good to us with the touch of our fingertips.  From the startling realization that Copyright is effectively broken by the Internet to a way you can access all kinds of disgusting and alluring stuff shows that the Internet is a vast repository of all Human Knowledge.

Back in Ancient Times, the rulers of Alexandria and Ephesus had put together extensive libraries.  Both apparently competed with each other, as the creation of the libraries brought the learned of the ancient World together.  Well, both libraries, including the Lyceum, were destroyed by interests that wanted to control learning.  That all changed with the introduction of the Printing Press.  And the next major revolution in technology was the computer, the home printer system, and the Internet.  Of all the technologies dealing with media, the Internet was the most revolutionary.

And even those that Rule hate it and are afraid of it.  For instance, there is a bill in Congress introduced that will allow the President to shut down the Internet in America in case of a Cyber Attack. (Senate bill 773)  If this bill passes, the President will have control over practically the majority of Internet Hubs on the planet.  He would be able to shut down the internet at any time he liked.

After all, when we surf the internet for information, the process activates many areas of our brain that is involved in cognition, choice making, and complex reasoning.   After all, reading isn't as natural as hunting and gathering for food.  In Paleolithic Times, the invention of Art was a big step in our evolution.  And writing was never invented in the first place, it was given to us (as the Egyptians say).  So, an archaic H. Sapiens man who started working with copper the first time and started working with pigments started using the Cerebrum of his brain.  After that, writing was discovered (or given by the Eloheim -- I prefer given), and we've had a media explosion of information ever since.  The paleolithic diet may be natural, but the act of reading isn't.

But the internet allows something that does come naturally to man.  The Act of Creation -- bringing something into existence -- is as natural to Man as breathing air.  The Internet, being a repository of all human knowledge, has made this act of creating much easier.

If you want to read Doctor Mercola's insights on the world wide web, you can go here.

Wrong on the Luminari

Okay, so I was dead wrong on all of my research about the Luminari today.  Well, the picture is still cool.  I'll have to work something else up for Nacht.

Meet Nacht, Goddess of the Drow

With the association with the talents of Tony Puryear, I present a non-challenging alternative to the Drow Goddess, Lolth.  This is Nacht, Goddess of the Drow and the Dark Side of the Elvish Luminari.

Queen of the Drow, the Night Goddess, Queen of the Land of Night
Intermediate Deity
Symbol: Blue hand superimposed on a Black Diamond shield
Home Plane: The Land of Night
Portfolio: Drow, the night, darkness
Worshipers: Drow
Cleric Alignments: CE, CN, CG
Deific Alignment: NG
Domains: Charm, Destruction, Magic, Trickery
Favored Weapon: Short sword

Nacht appears either as a beautiful, giant drow or as a human being.  She is worshipped by the dark luminari, which maintains a ruthless tyrannical reign over the drow in her name.  The dark Luminari paint her as a capricious goddess who is cruel and calculating and enjoys watching others suffer.  The Dark Luminari also paint her as forgiving to her true worshipers.  Something that isn't actually lost on her.

Nacht was truly one of the elvish pantheon of Gods, who along with the Moon Goddess Urania; were the deities of the Luminari.  In ancient times, during the Eladrin's reign, the Elven Court was united.  However, in the days when the Eladrin turned to the worship of the Sacred Word and found other gods, the Elven Court was worshiped by the lesser -- the Elves.

When the Elves came to Galatea, there was a distinct Schism between the light skinned Fair Elf Illuminati and the Dark Skinned Drow Luminari.  The result was a clash against Light and Darkness.  So the winners of the conflict -- the Illuminati -- say.  The defeat of the Luminari was the result that they drove them underground.  The Luminari then started a civilization of Drow underground, but even they have their divisions.  The society arose, built an underground empire, and is now gone decadent and is on the verge of crumbling to dust with the dark Luminari in complete control.

Testing the Creative Commons License

Testing the Creative Commons License is pretty much an idea I had today.  I thought with all the PAs having sales on their birthdays, I could give something back and teach them the value of a Creative Commons license.

I thought of a Remix contest of my comic.  Still the first issue is still in production, but a remix -- a contest of Derivative Works based on it -- will bring the Creative Commons license to the fore. I was thinking of starting it in September and holding it until Halloween.  The categories are:
Remix -- Best still.
Remix -- Best dojinshi (comic).

I want my work to live beyond my lifetime.  To not be forgotten after a media haze of hype.  A Creative Commons license is a big way of giving back to the community and ensuring this.  After taking so much, and creating a lot, I think its time to tell a story that everyone can copy and share.  Galatea is a shared world, more so by this license and not by any other.  I just want to release the first issue on Webcomics Nation and Hulu.com first.

The Dragon Wife heroic Cast!

Dragon Wife Heroes by ~Atlantean6 on deviantART

Here are the heroes of the Dragon Wife comic. The group is not your typical Dungeons and Dragons adventuring group. Okay. Left to right they are:

Varainye -- Her name means "Dirty Girl." Varainye is a barbarian, she wears short hair, and is strong for her type. She has been working out and increasing her physical strength. She is stronger than most women of her race, the Massalian Elves.

Greywulf -- Greywulf is an orcish shaman. He left home after getting tired of raiding and his shrewish wife. His tribe, the Ice Dragontooth Tribe, had labeled him as a deserter since he disappeared during a raid on Northumberland territory.

Tyr -- The fighter of the group. Not as powerful as Varainye when she goes into a rage, but he thinks coolly under pressure.

The Shaper -- "He's perfect."

Fyreheart -- Fyreheart is the Shaper's wife. She messes up his perfect life by introducing chaos and bringing his life totally out of control.

After these comes the villain menagerie.

A new Cast member . . .

He was known in the Forgotten Realms and the Lord of Justice . . .

And was said to perish during a battle against demons on Mount Celestia . . .

On Earth . . .

He is the God of Single Combat, Victory, and Heroic Glory.  He is the bravest, to brave the jaws of Fenrir and to chase him to the ends of the Earth.

However . . . He has returned . . .

To Galatea.

MAKEUP! Thank You!!

The cast is saved!  Here is Greywulf the Shaman with his pet sabretoothed tiger, Mess.  And don't tell me orc shamen can't have pets.  LOL!  I included a Z-Depth Layer for some fog effects (thanks to Moodmaster) so that the outdoor scene can have just a bit more realism.



Greywulf the Shaman by ~Atlantean6 on deviantART

MAKEUP!

I'm having a problem with Ghost of MacBeth's War Orc.  The injection won't morph his head! GoM's War Orc is probably the closest one can get to the World of Warcraft orc without the obvious troglodyte gait.  Although the green skin is quite obivious I might have to think about casting a werewolf/worgen/jackal lord in the place of the orc shaman.

With the father's day Voucher I can probably get the Night Wolf morph set, which is on sale now.  That means an Anubis-like character with superheroic proportions and anatomy (which every Anthroanimal artist has been doing with Anubis these days).  I don't know what is happening.  Michael 4 just won't plain morph into an orc.  GoM is working with me on this. I did everything I could. I even did a fresh install of GoM's War Orc.

This would mean creating a new race for the comic's universe.  Where they come from, how they became Anthro-Wolfmen, and what their culture is and everything.  It also could create potential problems.  The idea is for a wise orc in the name of Greywulf to help guide our hero through his problems with his Dragon Wife, Fyreheart.  Until our hero figures out for what purpose Fyreheart's in his life and learns the lesson, the orc would be his guide.  The role has to change now, since my casting problems are quite big at the moment.  I want to continue with my comic, but casting is holding it up.

It's quite infuriating. 

Dragon Wife Comic

The first part of the Dragon Wife Comic, the part where the Creative Commons license is introduced and explained, is complete.  Their was scripting, which was the license. Aside from having lots of fun doing it, I wrote about six pages explaining how the Creative Commons license actually works.

Overcoming a culture of permission is going to take time and a lot of work and lots of ketchup (note to Red Dragons: the Surgeon General of the Coast has announced that eating Wizards of the Coast's legal department may be hazardous to your health.)

So here are the comics:

hehehe.

One more. . .

Fire Dragon, DAZ Studio Render

Quim Abella's Fire Dragon did not ship with any DS mats.  Well, until I had some time with them.

Press on the image for BIG! of course. :)  I've completed mats for the main body.  I just need to do mats for the accessories for Millennium Dragon 2.  All Mats as .dsa .

YAY!

Dracandos

Here is a new character for the manga, the Dragon Wife.  It is Dracandos, one of Fyreheart's brothers.  He's a little apart from Dragon society, so he's the only one who sympathizes with Fyreheart over her choice of a mate.

I haven't chosen which way he'll swing yet; but since he becomes a very beautiful man when he shapechanges into a human and has a strange way about him that puts men off guard but makes women and dragonesses swoon.  He is also smarter than his sibling and is allied with his sister's husband.

The Dragon Wife is going to be interesting, indeed, and does require mature readers.  Remember, I won't endorse bara, yayoi, or yuri story derivatives.  Rendered in DAZ Studio Advanced.  The DAZ Mat settings were a bear to figure out, and I still have to tweak them a bit.  This isn't a perfect DAZ material setting for Dracandos, or Fyreheart.

Elton's and Fyreheart's Bios

Their bios are done!  The first is Fyreheart.  :)

Fyreheart was made by combining She-Freak 4 (100%) with the Girl 4 (40%) and Aiko 4 (30%).  Her breasts were also expanded, because she thinks big human breasts are sexy to humans (size: 20%, Large 20%, Implant 15%, Natural 20&, Cleavage 42%, Diameter 10%, Natural 100%, Areola Perk: 100%, nipples 100%, nipples big 100%).

She's an airhead. :)  She makes life impossible for our hero, introducing chaos on a scale not even seen.  Her dragonform is on the lower right.  For a bonus, a pin-up of Fyreheart in her preferred style of fashion.

Can't fault her, now can you? :)

Now, our hero's Bio!


Dragon Wife Char Bio by ~Atlantean6 on deviantART

Everything was cool until he married a Dragon.  And well, you know the rest. :D

The Dragon Wife comic!

Imagine being at once confident over knowing who you really are and then thrust into a situation where you lose control of your life because of your wife?  The Dragon Wife comic idea came out of the DAZ 3D forums and one member's remark.

Set in the world of Galatea, Elton (yes, named after me) had it made.  A powerful and young up and coming shaper, he was personable and charismatic.  He had friends all over Galatea and the Caithness Isles, and some beyond that besides.  Even the orc warrior Greywulf had called him friend.  Well, that is until the Lord of Nottingham sent him on a quest to slay the Dragon that was inhabiting an old monastery for slaughtering the local livestock.

He found the dragon Fyreheart, who begged and begged him not to kill her since she was innocent of the crimes.  Besides, she only hunts wild game (and the occasional cattle who had lost their ways).  Believing her, he goes to find out what had really happened.  It seems that a band of raiders had done the deed.  Bringing them to justice, he returns to Fyreheart who is overjoyed that her honor and her life was saved.

Also, his life has changed forever since poor Elton is now stuck with Fyreheart, FOREVER!!  She says that she is eternally in his debt and wants to marry him!  How in the world is this possible?  Gasping, our hero is thrust into a world where his life goes out of control because of his dragonness wife.

Inspired by: I Dream of Jeannie
                  Bewitched!
                  You Can't Take It With You

Supported by his friend Greywulf the Orc Warrior, he tries to keep his dragon wife a secret from the Lord of Nottingham and his inquisitive Wizard -- Doctor Dancey.  Follow their misadventures!  This is going to be a fun ride! 

A New Design for a New Day!

I present to you, a new design layout for my blog! :D

The Dragon Wife

In some universes, a man can get away with marrying a dragon.  Especially if the dragon who marries them marries them according to the laws of dragonkind and humankind. 




Here is such a pair.  She's usually in human form while among humans, but sometimes, she takes her draconic form.  They were married by dragons and humans, although the priest who married them thought he was marrying a man and a true woman together.

Here they are without the background.  This would most likely appear on a T-shirt, or a coaster.

Morph details: The man is Hiro.  His dragon wife is a hybrid of Aiko 4 and the Girl.  Her body is 10% Victoria, 60% the Girl, and 3% Aiko.

Attributions:
Hiro and Michael 4: DAZ 3D
Elite Jeremy Texture: DAZ 3D
Quain Hair -- AprilYsh
Lord of Battles -  Valandar
The Girl 4 - DAZ 3D
Aiko 4 - DAZ 3D
Victoria 4 - DAZ 3D
Aiko 4 Realistic Textures isa - mutedbanshee (DAZ 3D), diffusion skin by myself.
Eweyai -- Bobbie25 (DAZ 3D)
Garden Escape Arbor -- ArtCollaborations (DAZ 3D)
DMR Kay -- Danie, Marforno, and Rhiannon (DAZ store)
Vamp Syndori -- Vexiphine and Adiene (RMP)
Walking Couples poses - wenke (RMP)
Forest Cyclorama -- DAZ 3D

(if I am going to participate in Free Culture, I need to make sure everyone gets credit.)

Here she is in her dragon form. ;)

Elementalism in Pathfinder Design Philosophy

fire elementalist by ~maddama on deviantART

(note, picture is posted for non-comercial purposes and is drawn by the artist known on Deviant Art as Maddama.)
One of the more interesting things I've done to Elementalism is create a class that doesn't work.  Is a little too much of a channel for the PC to go down a certain path.  This goes against the design philosophy of 3rd Edition at the time.  One guy complained it should have been a prestige class.

However, there was no way to change it.  However, change is slow.  But thanks to Pathfinder, we can rest assured that change is coming that will recreate the class that will fit more in closely with the design philosophies of 3rd edition.  The idea is to facilitate creativity and design while in play, not to strictly have them go down the path.   So, the update will go away from that and follow the trends set forth in Pathfinder so that a PC will have more fun playing an Elementalist.

Copyright Law hurts the Economy

Did you know that Copyrights actually hurt rather than help the Economy?   Did you know that sending a DMCA hurts rather than help the economy?  Did you know that Big Media is the only industry that hurts it's own consumers?  Can you really conceive of an industry that hurts it's consumers in such a way?

Copyright laws hurt the Economy and they hurt Free Enterprise.  Two serious videos -- one out of Canada and one that interviews two economists from the Washington University in Saint Louis.





Copyright harms the economy, it harms the consumer, and it prevents a man or a woman to participate in the political process of the American Republic.

A Pathfinder Update to Elementalism as presented in Occult Lore?

Well, someone would say: "ABOUT BLOODY FREAKING TIME!"

I am currently writing an update that will expand the rules of Elementalism in Atlas Games' Occult Lore and update them to Pathfinder.  After all, I wrote the rules first and no one else will do it or are too scared to do it.

Basically, the premise of Elementalism are arcane spellcasters which are capable of magically manipulating the 4 classical elements.  Fire is ignamancy, air is auramancy, water is aquamancy, and earth is terramancy.  I am expanding on what is written, going into how the four schools have been developed from divination techniques into magical techniques that rival the Wizard's magical powers.

I am also including a few NPCs.  Including an updated, and more powerful, elemental council.  Along with a few npcs of lower level so that people will get an idea of the power elementalists pack.  I'll be including a few new spells -- like firebolt for instance -- to help expand the repertoire of the Elemental grimoire.

The best part about this is . . . I get to add a Creative Commons attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License, so that both 3rd Edition 3rd party companies and 4th Edition 3rd party companies will be able to use the media as they see fit.  Convert the class, translate the document, do whatever you like as long as I am attributed correctly ("authored by Elton Robb" would do nicely).  And of course, I reserve the right for prosecution for fraud.  I'm not releasing this into the public domain, just including a free license so everyone can SHARE in the benefits of buying the media, reading it, and putting it into their favorite games.

I told you this is the most dangerous blog in Gaming. *wink!*

Intellectual Property Myths

The people at deoxy.org said this is public domain and can be distributed freely.

Intellectual property is an ancient principle.

Not true. Intellectual property is an explicitly modern notion, having made its debut quite recently. The first patent law was enacted in 1623, and the precursor of modern copyright—the Statute of Anne—came into being in 1710. These early laws were limited in scope and restricted to only a few types of information; the broader interperatation of these principles used today in the western world is quite modern, certain elements having been added only within the last few years.

Intellectual property is recognized worldwide.

As the US's recent standoff with China demonstrates, intellectual property is not a concept which has worldwide acceptance. Indeed, a major foreign policy objective of the United States has been to force other nations to comply with its own intellectual property agenda—an unwelcome form of intellectual imperialism which is all too frequently ignored by watchdog groups.

Without intellectual property, no one will produce original work.

Given that intellectual property law made its debut in 1623, we may correctly consider any work produced before this time to dispell the myth. Man created for millenia before the advent of intellectual property; he will create for many more millenia after it is abandoned.

Intellectual property is necessary to create incentives for the production of original works.

This intellectual property myth has become the mantra of IP supporters. Often repeated, never questioned, the idea that creativity depends on a government granted monopoly needs no justification in the minds of most IP boosters. Sadly, however, they are mistaken: intellectual property "rights" are not essential to creation, and in some circumstances even deter it. Consider, for instance, the software industry. Free for years from the limitations of intellectual property, the industry flourished, becoming by all accounts one of the most creative of environments in the modern world. With the recent introduction of patent law into computing, however, many individual programmers live in fear of lawsuits from large corporations who claim "ownership" of techniques such as the scroll-buffer. Who benefits from this? Certainly not the creator! Intellectual property law, from its inception, has been about publishers and other powerful firms as much as it has been about creative individuals; the latter often find their interests poorly defended by IP.

Even if people did create works without intellectual property protections, the quality of these works would be substandard.

Only if "Julius Caesar", Plutarch's "Lives", "The Last Supper", and Handel's "Messiah" are "substandard"! All of these, including such pivotal creations as the Bible, the Koran, and the hundreds of Sutras were created in a world without intellectual property. IP boosters claim that weakening intellectual property law means giving up great literature, music, and art; in fact, history shows us that this is not the case.

The "best" creators won't work without intellectual property protections.

Once again, history proves this to be false. Shakespeare, Plato, Confucius, Hero, Chaucer, Handel, and many others of the finest names in world literature, music, art, and invention worked in an environment free of intellectual property restrictions. Clearly, genius does not require copyright to produce!

To take away intellectual property rights is to deny creators the right to profit from their labors.

This myth is based on the idea that the only way to make money off of creation is to "sell" the ideas which are produced. In fact, this is not true. Consulting, support, performance, service: these are all ways in which creators can make money off of their abilities without appealing to intellectual property rights. Even if there were no copyright, a band could still make money by charging for live performances, for instance; an even better example is found in academia, where a great deal of idea production takes place without the ideas being "sold" to the universities which sponsor their creators. Removing intellectual property rights would not deny creators the right to profit from their labors; it would, however, allow all of society to share in the benefits of their work.

Intellectual property follows directly from the notion of physical property.

Physical property rights are derived from the basic fact that a physical object can't be in two places at once. In order to keep people from squabbling over material objects, we use a system of rights to say "who gets what". Information, however, differs from physical property in a number of ways, one of which being that it can be in many places at the same time. Let's say that Fred gives Barney an apple; after this, Fred no longer has the apple. If, on the other hand, Fred tells Barney about the apple, Fred still knows about the apple. Fred gave the information to Barney, but Fred still has it! Clearly, then, there is no need for Fred and Barney to squabble over who "owns" the information about the apple: to do such would be to try to treat information like an object, an idea which is clearly flawed.

As the debate over the future of intellectual property unfolds, it will be more important than ever for participants, and bystanders, to have good information concerning the nature of IP. By removing the myths and misconceptions which surround intellectual property, we can make better decisions as to its proper status in our society.

The Artist as Cobbler

How does one really make it big in the RPG market?  How does any artist make it big in an age when we have the most perfect copy machine ever devised?  (Death to Copyright!)  ahem . . . Simple, you set up your audience to be your distribution point.

Really, as Authors of RPG products, we really should have the gumption to stand up to Wizards of the Coast and the others and flip them off.  Figuratively.  Although there is at times when I want to actually give them the bird for stealing our work.  The question is, why does an Author need to give away his rights to something when there is this Internet thing sitting there, just waiting and wanting to be used?  And people use it, let me tell you!

One of the complaints I frequently hear on DAZ 3D from a certain published artist is simply that people steal his work and put it up on warez sites and they have competitions to see how much they can steal.  Really, such an attitude is one that is either ignorant of the internet or ignorant of what Copyright actually is (a monopoly of distribution over a particular piece).  As an author, it is our blessing to make up stuff and translate it into a readable form.  As an artist, we are blessed to imitate nature or life and to translate what we see onto canvas or the computer screen.

When we publish our work on the Internet, we are either taking a gamble and hope that the "thieves" don't steal our work (naive as that is).  And as authors, publish our work through Wizards of the Coast, give up our rights, and let them steal our work through the rigamarole of legal agreements and contracts.  Or we can publish our work on the Internet and let the audience distribute our work.  The first one, where Wizards of the Coast and other companies buys our work for pennies of what its actually worth, used to be the only way we can be published.  But then there is this instant copy machine built by copy machines across the world.

So the second, and scariest, option is to cobble your work together and have your audience distribute it for you.  However, the second option obviously involves you selling your work to your audience.  Using a free license, and giving your audience the option of actually being your publisher often goes against everything we are taught.  However, it is human instinct (if men have instincts) to actually release your work for free and to copy another person's work; making small changes as it goes.  Copyright is an artificial invention that goes against this instinct.

So going this second option means endless promotion of your work in order to make it big.  It can be done, but the scary part of it is flying to conventions, setting up your own merchandising, setting up your own physical copy of your books; selling t-shirts, coasters, buttons, mouse pads, everything you can think of.  Being a cobbler means releasing your work for free and promoting yourself and your work in order to make it big.   Sure, Wizards of the Coast offers some psuedo-fame.  But only a few RPG designers out of Wizards of the Coast are actually household names among our community (Monte Cook and Jonathan Tweet for examples).  And Stonemason is one example who has made it big among the Poser Artist world.  So, as I see it, you either gamble with the fickleness of a company; or you do all the hard work of promoting yourself and your work.

Which would you choose?

Cover Done!

Warlock and Space Demon.

This is my Cover Image for Pathfinding Classes: the Warlock.  This is a Warlock with her Space Demon.  Okay, Voidwalkers are tough to do, even using pwEffect.  I think having Air Giants would make it easier, but for right now, I'm using an elite skin with diffuse and ambient set to darker colors.

Pathfinding Classes: The Warlock text is complete!

I just completed writing the text for Pathfinding Classes: the Warlock; a series of works where I am testing third tier and second tier publishing of Open Game Content from other companies (such as Atlas Games, Blizzard Entertainment, Paizo Publishing, and Guardians of Order [defunct]).

The first product deals with the Warlock, a class presented in the World of Warcraft RPG.  I converted all the spells for use for Pathfinder, adding my own subtle touches to make them unique (for instance, the rules for Shadow Bolt comes from Relics and Rituals).  Next comes illustration (in DAZ Studio) and typesetting and layout in Adobe Indesign.  After that, the work will be published for free download on various PDF download sites.

For ease of use, the document uses the OGL instead of the GSL.  All of it that I wrote that is not Open Game Content due to being declared Open Game Content by another company comes with a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 U.S. License Attached.  In other words, the work lives in you when you play the Warlock class in your games and only in you.

If you use 4e, you need to convert this version of the Warlock class yourself.  I cannot and will not help you.  The GSL is too limiting and I could attract the ire of Wizards of the Coast's run away legal department (I blame Hasbro).  Anyway, if you enjoy using Pathfinding Classes: the Warlock in your games I'll be happy to accept a donation to my paypal account for the work that I've put into this.

This is the beginning of a revolution.  We who author products for Dungeons and Dragons and other roleplaying games are the RPG Content Industry.  The companies need us as much as they need your dollars to produce things for your enjoyment.  Enjoy the fruits of my labor once it is released.

How to make your own Firebolt

You can make your own Firebolt in Photoshop by viewing and following this tutorial on Youtube.

Likewise, here's what I did today. :)

Who Owns the Firebolt Spell?

There is at least two different firebolt spells "owned" [as in monopolized] as far as d20 is concerned by at least three competing entities: Blizzard Entertainment and Sony Online Entertainment represent two of them.  One represents the Fireball spell from World of Warcraft, and the other the Firebolt spell from Everquest.


Here are the spells in question.  First the EverQuack -- I mean Everquest version.

Fire Bolt
Evocation [fire]
Level: Wiz 3
Spell Line: Flame Bolt
Mana: 7
Components: V, S
Casting Time: 1 action.
Recast: Instant.
Range: Long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
Target: 1 creature.
Duration: Instantaneous
Spell Resistance: yes

A bolt of fire shoots from the caster's outstretched hand, dealing 4d8 points of fire damage.  The caster must make a ranged attack to hit the target. (from EverQuest the Roleplaying Game Player's Handbook)

Here is the WoW version.

Firebolt
Evocation [fire]
Components: V,S
Casting Time: 1 Standard Action.
Range: Medium (100 ft. + 10 ft / level)
Target: 1 creature.
Duration: Instantaneous.
Saving Throw: Reflex half; Fortitude negates.
Spell Resistance: yes.

A ball of molten flame is created in your hand and is hurled towards your target.  The target takes 1d6 points of fire damage per level (maximum 15d6), plus an additional +4 points of fire damage per round for the next four rounds. If the target makes its reflex save, it takes half damage from the initial blast and does not take the additional damage.  blah. .blah. . . blah.

(from More Magic and Mayhem).

Okay.., Question is . . . WHO HAS THE MONOPOLY ON THE WORDS FIRE AND BOLT when combined together?  Answer is strictly, no one.  However, they could both argue that their monopoly is mantained over the likeness of the two spells in question.  Hence, another reason why Copyright sucks. (BTW, what moron thought it would be great to include spell names as an inclusion to Product Identity?)

Succubus

Okay, it's not a D&D or a WoW succubus.  But it's a good start at depicting one.

Curse of Weakness

Curse of Weakness by ~Atlantean6 on deviantART

This Warlock is casting curse of weakness against an orc foe.  In D&D 4e, curse of weakness would be a per encounter power instead of an at will power.  In 3e, it's a spell that can be cast that reduces strength, sort of like ray of enfeeblement.

The morph is Jammin'Wolfie's Tindra Thompson, and the orc is Ghost of MacBeth's War Orc morph for M4/F4.  Fun, eh?