The Life of Brian, Commentary

I've watched the Life of Brian today.  Basically, if anyone thinks that this movie is offensive to Christianity or Judaism, you have to get a life and look closer.  The movie essentially is based on what might happen if someone were completely mistaken for the Messiah.  The Christ, as he was portrayed in the movie, wasn't put down or made fun of.  In fact, I think Christianity was reverently handled.  What the movie did make fun of was the sheep mentality.


The Pythoners are actually geniuses when they put together their entertainment.  When they do a movie, they make a lot of social commentary on their day.  The movie does ridicule Authority.  From the Pharisee at the beginning to Pontius Pilate.  May I stress that the movie doesn't make fun of the Christ.


Basically, Brian is born about the same time as the Christ, around 4 BC.  About 33 years later, Brian begins his adventures.  He has an abusive mom (Terry Jones, I think), no father, and a hatred of the Romans.  He falls in with the wrong group, gets into a raid on the Fortress of Antony in order to kidnap the wife of Pilate.  However, he's truly innocent when his group (the People's Front) meets up with the Judean People's Front and the both of them get into a tussle over who planned what first.


Well, they die, and he is the only one left.  The Romans capture him and bring him before Pontius Pilate who initially wants to crucify him for trespassing and being an accessory to breaking and entering.  However, Brian claims that he's the son of a Roman Citizen and they get him confused with Biggus Dickus -- Pilate's friend from Rome.  He escapes, after a prisoner says that he is envious that he's getting crucified.

Having reached his so called friends, he leads the Romans right to them.  And the Romans visit not once, but three times.  On the third time, Brian falls to the street and takes on the guise of being a street preacher.  He preaches the Sermon on the Mount as best as he could from the Savior.  However, the people mistake him for the Savior and starts to follow him around enmasse (there's the Sheep Mentality).  All at once the new cult -- the Cult of Brian -- starts up.  At one point he tries to tell them to leave him alone, and he's not the Messiah, but the people are drunk with Sheeple thinking.


The next morning, they catch him naked and try to get more insight out of him.  Brian denies having any authority and tries to get them to think for themselves.  However, they are so drunk with Sheep think that they all answer in unison.  Finally he escapes, but his girlfriend tries to tell him that they want him to be a leader.  He eventually gets captured by the Romans, and was crucified.  The Romans try to have him released, but they mistake his identity for another.  So the people's front comes along and like untrue friends they abandon him to be crucified.  However, the JPF comes along, announces that they are a suicide squad and then stab themselves to death with gladii.  It ends when Eric Idle breaks out in a song.

The brilliant thing about the movie is that the central message is that we have the right to work out life for ourselves and to think for ourselves.  Which I think is really one of the themes of Christianity.  We work out our own salvation.  And there are several times in the scriptures where Yahweh and the Savior promote independent thought (in the Bible as well as modern Revelation).

The other brilliant thing about the movie is that it really portrays Terrorists as being ineffectual.  Just as ineffectual as governments (not that the suicide bombers are ineffectual, they cause terror more efficiently than the JPF).  Finally, the Sheep think.  What is strange is that the movie subtly hints that people are easily brainwashed when they want to be brainwashed.  Sheep think is an easy way to brainwash a massive amount of people and this method can be taken advantage of through propaganda.

The strangest thing about this movie is that:
--- It offends Christians.
--- Atheists seem to love it.

Christians should not be offended by this movie.  I don't find anything in this movie that offends Christ.  But it does touch on how a cult or a church can be formed.  As for Atheists, I really don't know how they get their kick off this movie.  They either perceive it makes fun of Christianity in some way or they make fun at the people who are taken by Sheep think.  What I think is that there are many Atheists who say that they are Atheists but are really not.  I find most of them to be confident people even if they are outspoken against Yahweh or any other god.  If it does speak out against Religion, I think its the Sheep think of a lot of people that Religion so often takes advantage of.

The Pythoners should be exonerated of the charge of blasphemy.  Really, there was no blasphemy in the film.  It's an innocent film about the stupidity of people, especially while in the grips of Sheep think.  The movie does have nudity in it, but we are all naked underneith, so what is the big deal?  And yes, there is a suggestion that they did have sex, but really the movie's message isn't about getting us to have sex out of wedlock.  The real message of the movie is what could have happened if someone was mistaken for the Savior.  Enjoy the movie, and remember to form your own opinion.

A Paladin using Greywulf's tutorial

I went for something a little more traditional this time.  Again the Paladin shows up in the Freya outfit, but with different textures.  This is Victoria 4, morphed to be overpoweringly strong with full Aiko morphs (I suspect a Strength of 18 to 20).

Since I didn't get the painterly essentials that Greywulf used, and the background was already taken with good depth of field, I have chosen to just try to do pretty much replicate the last steps in his tutorial.  What I did was use the background photo as pure background, rendered the render with a light setup that matched the background, and proceeded to load it into photoshop and photoshop away.

I first copied the background layer.  Next, I went to filters -> blur -> radial blur and made sure that the blur was of good quality.  I then also made sure that there was a spin on it at a rating of ten.  I applied it and then made the upper layer at 55% transparency.  This gave it a misty and dreamy effect (different than using a z-Depth layer).  I finally played with the Saturation settings to get a more painterly look but not too much as it would ruin the background.

I wondered if I were ready to post on the CGsociety, or if I'm getting close.  The CGsociety has best renders on display, as they have artists who are dedicated to their craft.

Milo D. Indarys, Dark Elf of Morrowind

Morrowind Dark Elf by ~Atlantean6 on deviantART

My interpretation of a Morrowind Dunmer, or Dark Elf as they are called.  This is Milo D. Indarys.  She is a crusader -- that is -- a knight combined with a cleric, essentially a paladin.  She is of House Rendoran, and is related to the Indarys clan.  In ESIV: Oblivion, the Indarys clan has the distinction of being led by the Neverarine.  In fact, they are so important that one of them governs Cheydinhal as a count (Count Indarys).

If you want to use her for Roleplaying, here are her basic stats:

Milo D. Indarys
[level 3 paladin (3rd), Warlord with the Initiate of the Faith feat (4th); AL LG; most used skills: Diplomacy, Heal, and Intimidate]

First thoughts: DMG 4e

My first thoughts:

WotC should have packaged the DMG with the PHB.  It would have saved the PHB.

James Wyatt wrote the DMG, and it looks like he is the sole author.  He joins the ranks of John Curtis III, Gary Gygax, Robin Laws, and other luminaries that wrote on this craft.  I really think he deserves his place.

I still like skill challenges. More on this later.

Minions are a great add to the game (they are discussed in the MM, to be sure).  Pretty much something that was added by Robin in 3rd Edition with his Burning Shaolin adventure.  

It's been told to me that the DMG had all the roleplaying, if that is so, then Wizards really should have combined them together.  A lot of people are paying $60 for the Pathfinder RPG, I bet a lot of people would have paid $60 for a Dungeons and Dragons RPG.  Although you still get that annoying *you must use miniatures* rule.  you can throw that out, but you throw out all the other rules that depend on it.

I really think that the DMG is the best book out of the three.  It's written well and concise.  Although I won't get a chance to run the adventure in the back of the DMG.  I really don't want to break up my group over something like 4th edition.  Still, I wonder if I can still play a military wizard. . .

----------------------------------------------------------

Note, this is just my first impression of the DMG.  So, it's stream of consciousness on what went through my mind when I read it.  My PHB review may have been a good example of how *not* to write a review, but then the PHB is organized badly, and there is just too much in the PHB to take in.  The PHB was written wrongly, that is all there is to it.  The DMG rounds it out, and the DMG should have been packaged with the PHB.  It would have made the PHB seem a lot more complete.

Atlantis will be more of a reality!!

I might be able to get started working on a silver screen version of Atlantis.  I really want to do T.V. but what ever gets me started. :)  Hopefully I'll be able to make the models available for DAZ.  ESPECIALLY the Sahuagin!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

This is an underwater version I'm doing, so it's going to be cool!!

Remember Morrowind?

Morrowind was a game that said you can do anything you like.  Even raid sacred tombs for important stuff.  The guide to Morrowind was packed with locations that had all sorts of juicy bits.  Although Morrowind wasn't as BIG as Daggerfall, the game had giving you a lot to do and explore.  A roleplaying game adventure should have these options, although usually page count prevents the writer from including some options.

Each option would be a treasure or an encounter.  I started to do this with my Atlantis adventure, almost absent mindedly.  The PCs would go there, raid a tomb, and have some fun.  Or an option led you to a strange encounter, or some treasure in some unusual places.  (in my Atlantis adventure, I already listed some interesting encounters - a Bronze Dragon and an abandoned pirate's cove).

The idea is to have fun with an adventure or video game.  I'm off to play more morrowind!! :)  And yes, I usually play a Telvanni. :)

Atlantis again...

I have been getting promptings to add to the Atlantis myth for a long time.  That is why I keep coming back to this subject.   Atlantis is one of my passions, obviously.  I've been watching a series on Magical Egypt, to see if I can get any ideas about what life was like in the mythic past.

At the moment, I'm adding a couple of special materials to D&D/Pathfinder.  Titanium Steel and Transparent Aluminum (which is a technology I think only we have but I can be wrong about that).  Transparent Aluminum (Aluminum Oxynitrate) is a special material that is, well . . . TRANSPARENT! :) It is also virtually indestructible, and is capable of being molded into glass like material.  I don't know if it can be sharpened, but for armor I do believe it will work because of its lightweight properties. Just that modest conscious people will have to wear underthings.

I have been mulling over doing a 4e version.  I don't know about that, though.  I still don't understand the SRD perfectly.  The OGL version is the one that is being written right now.  Atlantis is a place of high technology, magic, and psionics.







This particular episode of Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World shows what I'm talking about. In Atlantis, you will be able to play psions, psychic warriors (or battle minds), wizards, sorcerers and other classes.  This is the ancient mythic world, and there will be things available not usually available in a fantasy world.  Like submarines, SCUBA, and genetic engineering.  When a city of survivors is forced to live under the sea, you have to make certain advancements to live under the sea.  Domed cities would not be impossible without certain technologies -- and transparent aluminum is one of them.

I've been getting promptings for a long, long while.  And it's about time to get it all done.  I have what people said about Atlantis.  Most everything really, including Plato's letters to Critias and Timaeus.  I think I can draw on everything said about it.  Instead of being a terrestial city (which there are many RPG books written on that subject), I'm going to do the underwater aspect. 

Beneath the waves of the Sea of your campaign world are three domed cities . . . the Kingdom of Atlantis.

Atlantis!!

The pull of Atlantis is again, undeniable.  I'm mulling ideas in my head on what to do.   Anyway, here is Homo Marinus.

When Atlantis drank the seas, the Atlanteans were forced to convert three cities from terrestial cities to underwater colonies.  Using powerful magic, powerful psionics, and high technology; the cities of Atlantis, Tritonis, and Cleitos were converted into a small underwater kingdom.  Located in a shallow sea, the Atlanteans converted some of their number into beings capable of breathing underwater using genetic engineering rather than magic.  They are known as Aquatic Humans (h. Marinus).  They are known colloquially as squid (Systemic Osmoform) and as divers (Cetacean diving reflex).

Racial Traits
Average Hieght: 5'10"-6'2"
Average Weight: Male -- 180 lbs - 200 lbs.
                            Female -- 160 lbs -- 190 lbs.

Ability Scores: +2 to one ability score of your choice.
Size: Medium
Speed: 6 squares on land, Swim 6 (30 ft. without miniatures)
Vision: Low Light vision

Languages: Atlantean, Aquan, Low Common
Bonus At Will power:  You know one extra at-will power from your class.
Bonus Feat: Aquatic Humans, both divers and squid, gain a bonus feat at 1st level.
Bonus Skill: You gain training in one additional skill from your class skill list.

Aquatic Human Builds:
        Squid -- Squid are bio-engineered with salt water tolerance, gills, and have a vulnerability to desiccant.  Squid gain a +2 to Fortitude saves to save against localized pressure up to 50 fathoms.  Desiccants dry out the gills and the skin.  Treat desiccants as Dark Toxin [Chapter 3, Combat Encounters, Dungeon Master's Guide [4th edition]).
       Divers -- Divers are bio-engineered for oxygen retention, and the capacity to collapse their lungs.  They also have high salt water tolerance.  Divers gain a +2 to Fortitude Saves to save against localized pressure up to 50 fathoms.


Play an aquatic human if you want . . .
* to be a decisive, resourceful hero who's home is under the sea.
* To have versatility.
* To be able to excel at the fighter, rogue, and warlord classes.

Physical Qualities

Aquatic humans are fully capable of living under the sea.  They are sturdier of build than their human cousins, having a subcutaneous layer of fat under their skin.  Their muscles are also a little more robust and tend towards swimmer's builds.  Aquatic humans are fully capable of mating with terrestrial humans, the mother's ova chooses which kind of Aquatic Human the child will be.  A mother who is a squid will always have squid children.  Conversely, a mother who is a diver will always have diver children; doesn't matter if the father is a diver, squid, or human.  divers and squid fathers mating with terrestrial mothers will have terrestrial children.

Aquatic humans are mammalian in form, but do not grow facial hair.  All aquatic humans are hairless except for the hair on their bodies.  Aquatic humans have lifespans comparable to humans.  Aquatic humans living on the surface tend towards Polynesian style.  Most are perfectly topless or shirtless squid gills are located on the back.  Aquatic human fighters and warlords tend to wear armor made from special dense lightweight ceramics that has been hydrodynamically designed.  Only warlord leaders wear armor made from bronze or orichalcum.  Some Aquatic Humanoids wear armor fashioned from Aluminum Oxynitride (transparent aluminium) because of its lightweight and indestructible properties.  Rogues typically wear no armor at all, as armor slows them down.  If aquatic human rogues must wear armor, it's typically made from transparent aluminium.  In Atlantis, Aquatic Humans tend to wear the styles of Atlantis.   This can range any where from a speedo for males and bikini for females to the chiton and himaton.

Aquatic humans fashion their weapons from bronze, steel, or transparent aluminum.


Playing an Aquatic Human
An aquatic human's psychology is still the same as a human.   See the Player's Handbook One for more information.

=========

GAH!  Okay, I'm a geek.  I just did my first race statblock for 4th Edition!!

Although this should follow the GSL and SRD, I do believe that the Creative Commons License on this site trumps the GSL.

The Book Liberator

Perhaps the best tool to fighting censorship.

http://questioncopyright.org/bookliberator

Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition -- first thoughts!

OH GAD!

This isn't my review, but these are the thought that ran through my head while scanning the PHB.

The writing insults my intelligence.  I'm not a sixth grader, but the first page of the book talks down to me as if I am.

I like the dragonborn.  Yep, it's true, I like the dragonborn.

I'm pidgon holed!! Painfully obvious, but true.  I am pigeonholed. There is just so much Wizards could have done with Dungeons and Dragons 4th edition.

Ah, the Paladin.  Captain Moroni fighting for the freedom of his people.  Leading the troops.  Or a Christian Knight fighting for a clan of goblins, or saving them from a fate worse than death . . . AH . . . WHAT?!  THAT DEFIES ALL LOGIC AND PHYSICS!! The Divine Challenge ability.   Your reason, and apparently mine, for playing a paladin.  Oh the idiocy of it all, I'm reduced to playing a sterotypical paladin that prays at church, is good to other people, is turned into a meat shield, and if he isn't attacked by his enemy his enemy is divinely smited.  When I play the paladin, I want to play some romantic paladin in polished, shiny armor that would save damsels in distress and quest for holy grails and be the paragon of virtue.  I can't even play a Miles Gloriosus!

Wizards, with powers so fair and so powerful . . . I want to play . . . hey, how come I have only two roles?!? The wizard, born with the ability to use 100% of his brain.  Reduced to making war or controlling the battlefield.  What happened to the wonder, the romance, the appeal?

Warlords . . . what the paladin could have been.

Powers.  Good Idea.  I like.

Skill Challenges.  Good idea, I like them.

Miniature use.  Okay, where are my sissors?  I am not going to spend $1,000 on miniatures just for these rules.  I'm going to use a different battle mechanic.

Rituals. Finally, some real spells.  But why are they in the back?

My Cousin's summary of the game.  "4th Edition is exactly like WoW, I'm sorry, but there is no other way to describe the game.  You have to play these four roles and there is no way in or out or around it.  I'm sorry."

After skimming the book, I have to agree with him.  Give me a few days to read the PHB in depth and in detail.  But, after reading the PHB, I feel cheated!

Coming Soon . . .

An unprofessional Review of the 4e Player's Handbook on this very blog.  And on RPG.net, a professional, unbiased review.  Want a biased review from me?  Read this blog.  Want to see me at my professional best?  Read RPG.net.

Either way, you will know how I feel about the game once I've read it.

Reviewers of 4th Edition D&D forgot the GSL

The GSL forms the most important reason NOT to purchase the player's handbook of 4th Edition D&D.  Well, until now.  Looking at the reviews of the players handbook, everyone seems to have forgotten the most important part of the game.

The. G. S. L.

In a day when we live on a planet with an Internet, the GSL should be the most important factor in your decision to buy 4th Ed. D&D.  And I was so mad, so HOPPING mad that this most important factor of the game was ignored, I want to buy a copy of the players handbook myself and give it a review. On. RPG. NET.

I really feel like they missed the boat.  The GSL should have been the most important factor when buying a Dungeons and Dragons product when we live on a planet with an Internet.  It's my most important factor, and it should be a lot of people's important factor when it came to buying this game.   On my count, Wizards of the Coast is guilty of Behavior Befitting a Monopoly:

1. Sending Cease and Desist Letters to loyal fans.
2. Stealing 30 years worth of Gamer History.
3. Allowing their legal counsel to fleece them of important funds defending their copyright.

This behavior will continue as long as it is legal for the government to grant monopolies over so called "Intellectual Property."  Do us all a favor you rabid Dungeons and Dragons fan boys, and don't purchase 5th edition unless it is Artist/Author friendly like 3rd Edition was. 

Writing an Adventure: the Step Outline

Step outlining is a trick some script writers use to write their scripts for television and movies.  A step outline is a first draft of how your story should go.  For RPGs, it's good to start with a Step Outline and build from there.  Take for instance, I'll write a step outline for "The Fainting Disease, Pt 2" in my World of Warcraft RPG Campaign.

Start with the Premise, a twist, and a climax.  These are to help you stay on top of the story.

Premise: the Heroes have found the ghoul they needed, but they felt it was too easy.  All tracks lead to Zulgordo as the one who hexxed Dave, the bronze merchant.  It seems he has escaped while Zulgordo's lackeys slowed the PCs down.

The Twist: Zulgordo is making his way to Zul'Gurub.  However, he stops at the ruins of Ziata'jal to catch his breath.  He knows the PCs will be after him to make good on his due, so he seeks to confuse the PCs here.  He calls on some big allies to help with the PCs.  A couple of ogres from the Crystalvale Mine.

The Climax:  Zulgordo faces the PCs in a battle royal. If the PCs wins, they can force Zulgordo to make good on his debt.

Outline.

Act I. the PCs chase Zulgordo, who is making his way to Zul'Gurub.  The PCs face monsters along the way, most likely animals such as gorillas, panthers (leopards), and dromeosaurs (Deinonychus, Velociraptor, Megaraptor, and Utahraptor).  The dromaeosaurs of Stranglethorn Vale are Utahraptors.


ACT II.  Stopping at the Ziata'jal ruins, Zulgordo has some time to plan his pursuers, the PCs.  He prepares a hallucinogen from his mojos.  When the PCs make it to Ziata'jal and fights some of the jungle trolls there, Zulgordo uses the mixture and throws it to the ground, creating a mist of sleeping (Sleep or Windborne Slumbers).  The PCs must save or they go to sleep. 


B. Capture.  The PCs are captured by Zulgordo, who gloats over their capture.  He tells them that the jungle trolls of Stranglethorn Vale are not the a part of the Darkspear Tribe.  They have no qualms about eating their captives.  As Zulgordo laughs and reveals his plans: he plans to let the jungle trolls eat them!  So the jungle trolls set about preparing a cooking pot and a stew which they will stew the PCs.  Can the PCs escape in time?  (note: the PCs do not have a rogue among them).



ACT III.  The PCs manage to escape capture and face Zulgordo.  However, the witch doctor has some unlikely allies.  Powerful ogres have joined the jungle troll.  The ogres, however, are big, dump, and stupid.   The PCs must still defeat them.  When the PCs defeat the ogres, Zulgordo flees, but not very far.  The PCs catch up to him and capture him.  What they do then is up to them.

Spell Ribbons for free!!

Here is a spellcaster showing us the newest DAZ Freebie -- Spellribbons!  These are 3D spellcasting VFX.  They allow one to cast spells but in a 3D manner, providing a low cost (for now) alternative to HeroFX (which I still have and use!)

The ribbons create some interesting effects as they wind up the spellcaster's arms.  This can't be done with HeroFX Extreme, since they are 2D special effects that are rendered directly in Poser and DAZ Studio.  The other thing you can get is Blondie's Sci-Fi Effects, which are very, very good!

Enjoy them, as they are a free download now from DAZ.  :)  On sale for $0.00.  I like them as they are currently used, and I'm grateful to them.  Note, though, that they are really part of a set.  A new set of low cost clothing available for V4.  Check them out too. ;)

World of Warcraft RPG Campaign

I had my first WoW game in quite a while with a good set of players.  It was the best game I had without planning.  The campaign is produced like a T.V. show.

Episode 1 --
"The Fainting Disease, pt. 1"
The First Episode was unplanned, do to me not knowing everything about the characters.  It's a formula episode: go to a dungeon and fight monsters.  The quest was to find the cure for a goblin's fainting spells.  As far as the priest wanted, it was a component from a ghoul; however someone else was involved.

List of Players:

Ako -- Troll warrior who is sexually attracted to his own sex.  Played by Zegai.
Alanasorel Sunsorrow -- a High Elf who declared allegiance to the Blood Elves.  She is a scout/tinker with a colorful past.   Played by Demona.
A Blood Elf Paladin -- Who is actually a paladin of Tyranny (a lawful evil paladin), but is acting like the stereotypical D&D Paladin.  Pious, hypocritical, arrogant, willing to KILL!  Played by Brandon.
Magnus -- Magnus is a Blood Elf Warlock who seems to be talented with speaking many different languages, he has a gift of tongues.  He has a companion, named Adjoa.  Adjoa is a female forest troll who is trying to work on Ako and get him to be with her.  Played by Shadow_of_Corgon.

ACT I
The First Act was set in Booty Bay.  Getting everyone together wasn't at all easy.  It took an extended time to put everyone together and get them going.  A goblin merchant tried to pawn off stuff to Ako, whne Ako threatened him after the goblin suggested the slave market.  He suddenly fainted and his sister came to his rescue.  After getting everyone together, the goblin sister discusses the fainting disease that her brother had.

She mentions that the disease can be cured by getting a piece of a ghoul at the ruins of Jub'al.  The PCs all band together, and they take Alanasorel's blimp together.  However, a powerful thunderstorm raged, and she wanted to fly through it!  The heroes had a trying time to fly through the thunderstorm.  Lightning had hit the blimp and caused it to list.  It also put one of the crew in harm's way as she threatened to fall into the ocean. They managed to save the crew member and continue their voyage without any more mishaps. 

ACT II
They survived the storm and made it to an island inhabited by water elementals.  Here is where they met Alana's friend, who wandered on board topless.  She cursed, and ran downstairs and put something on more modest after realizing what was on board.  Ako also spotted an old enemy on the Island.  A warlock he tussled with.  He convinced everyone not to stop at the island.   Then the heroes continued on, driving through the air to the ruins of Jub'al.  The paladin, however, struck a "romance" with Alanasorel's friend.

ACT III

The group made it to Jub'al and landed the craft.  Ako and the paladin, with a sore bottom because Alanasorel's friend had spanked him for inappropriate advances; disembarked and was attacked.  They were attacked by two ghouls and a Sea Witch.  The Sea Witch attacks with a dirt to mud spell, and caused Ako and the blimp to start sinking in the mud.  Avoiding the attack, the Sea Witch casts another spell -- lesser ice bolt; at the paladin.  The ice bolt strikes and reduces his movement by half.

At this point everyone rolled initiative and we started combat.  The combat was fast and furious; but slow at play.  The Sea Witch took the brunt of the damage: she was bashed, burned, cut, and bashed again.  Also the ghouls managed to do an AoO on Ako.  But he was so well armored that they couldn't get through to him.  Finally, he critical striked the Sea Witch and a ghoul and managed to defeat them.  The other ghoul was dispatched by the Blood Knight paladin.  With their enemies defeated, they find out that the troll witch doctor Zulgordo hired the Sea Witch to slow down the goblin merchant or anyone affiliated with him.

Zulgordo managed to high tail it out of Jub'al to another ruin.  Although the right ghoul was found; the true perpetrator of the  curse or disease had eluded them.  The episode ended with everyone sure that they should pursue the malefactor.

Next Episode:

"The Fainting Disease, Pt. 2"

My first video!

I was getting tired of the videos shown on YouTube that was afrocentric.  I decided to post one of my own.  I did this one up this morning.  I hope you enjoy it.  I wanted to inject a little truth in the human origin story.

The Industry that killed the Internet

Seriously, do you want your Computer to work for you, or Disney?  Wierdos like Disney want to put survelliance on the Internet, including 3 strikes law that England has become famous for.  Although B.S. in the White House (Barry Soetoro, a.k.a. Barrack Obama) wants to shut down the Internet.  Which is just as bad, if not worse.

Here is Nina Paley's newest Minute Mime, celebrating the Electronic Frontier Foundation; which explains what happens if you support DRM from a company like Sony.  Here is a link, instead of putting up on my blog.  One of the best things about Copyright is that it's government sponsored.  But the bad thing about Copyright is that people think they own our culture.  Our culture is owned by a few instead by all.

Happy birthday, Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Central Casting by Paul Jaquays

My cousin sent me a copy of Central Casting by Paul Jaquays.  Actually, he sent me a copy of all four books.  This is the first time I'm using them, since he told me about them.

Basically, are your 4th Edition characters cookie cutter characters from a MMORPG?  Does your Pathfinder characters need a little more umph? Are you tired of playing characters that are bland and are a lot more like the stock characters of Shakespeare and hollywood movies [Prince John the Bastard of Aragon from Much Ado About Nothing, the local bum in Westerns, and the stereotypical mob boss in Crime movies]?  Do you want to inject more life into your characters besides playing a stock action hero?  Would you like to play something that isn't a trope?

Of course you do. :)  Central Casting makes it so that your life is easier in generating a background for your character.  In this case, Central Casting -- Heroes of Legend.  The first edition is 96 pages and includes several pages of tables to for this end.  The second edition is double this.  So far, for my cousin's barbarian sorcerer character we've discovered that he is --
1. human.
2. a Barbarian.
3. he's legit of birth.
4. His father went off on a mission for his god (probably idol worship) and never came back.
5. he has 3 siblings -- two brothers and a sister.
6. he was born second.
5. he has a friend, and his grandfather died of a heart attack.
6. And we still need to decide the religion of his wayward father and his friend and the Something Wonderful!

After that, we get into adult events and then we determine his alignment through his traits.  We still have to find out how he learned sorcery.  But all in all, it was a great way to cast his character.  Everything is decided randomly (old school, I know, but people tend to play the same type of character over and over; randomness injects a little more variety).   You use all sorts of dice -- d20, d4, d6, d10, d8, d12.  And you can randomly roll everything from culture (primitive, nomad, barbarian, civilized, decadent civilized), to race.  The table includes human, elf, dwarf, halfling, half-elf, monster -- which is further broken down to Beastman (centaur, minotaur, faun, saytr, goatmen, shifter, or anthro-animal), Reptileman (Dragonborn, Yaun-ti, lizardfolk, troglodyte, kobold, etc.), orc and half-orc.

The cultures are explained.  Barbarian isn't just a class, it's a culture--a lifestyle -- to Central Casting. Other tables include adolescent events, special events, apprenticeship events, several occupations, Enslaved, Imprisoned, ah -- Le Amour, to deities, to personality traits.  And GM specials (which the GM injects a little something special into a PC's life.)  A character is born through the use of this book!

Nose Art

Nose Art on a Vanguard by ~Atlantean6 on deviantART

Two people of a Vanguard crew show off their nose art on their Vanguard.  Yes, I was inspired by bomber nose art for this one.  A lot of bomber nose art is pinup art, a lot based on Disney and other characters such as Betty Boop; and some with inspiring nose art like a shark's mouth, or something aggressive (aka the Flying Tiger).

This was based on the Pinup.

Sci-Fi Render

Now a change of pace.  A Sci-Fi render.

So, I've been wondering what a pin-up or nose art would be like for the Vanguard.  Should I do some nose art?

RPG Resources: Walking with Cavemen (part 4: the Survivors)

Don't make any mistake, I fully believe that Evolution, Intelligent Design, and Panspermia all played a part in the Origin of Man. But I don't deny that Paleoanthropology still provides wonderful RPG insights. Here is Walking with Cavemen, part of part 4 that someone will allow embedding (the BBC is delirious with Copyright monopolies).

The end of part 4 deals with h. Sapiens Sapiens.   Specifically the Upper Paleolithic Age.  The RPG material comes from there.  Sometimes, the Stone Age provides great ideas for an RPG campaign.  Some people still live in the Upper Paleolithic Age today, and some still live in the Neolithic Age (there is a whole tribe of white people in Java that still does).  To play a campaign in the Neolithic Age can be done, and these videos are a great place to start.

D&D Size Comparison: Human, Elf, Half-Elf

Nudity Warning!!

James Mulligan did a D&D size comparison on Elfwood where he sketched all the female races as naked as they could be.  I thought I'd do the same, even for the races and their sexes.  These represented are the females.

Proportions -- Human uses DMR Kay's proportions (a little barbarian) with NGM injected.  The human is sized using Steph's Petite dialed to .3 .  Half-Elf uses Julie head and skin, but not her proportions.  I used the Elite Utopian body dialed to .3, and Steph's petite dialed to .6 .  Elf uses the Syndori mats and morph, with Steph Petite dialed to .8 to .9.  

Patriotic Pin-Up

I really should do the pose and the expression of a pin-up girl who is actually from next door.  Anyhow, here is Stephanie 4, again, showing off her patriotism. 

I really should stop doing these. :)

Elven Tavern Lass (/w Stephanie 4!)

An Elvish tavern wench.  The tavern is an elven inn, and the background behind the wench was misty.  So I generated a Z-Depth layer using Mood Master 2, and using the fog, I reduced the render layer to 50%, and combined the layers in Photoshop, making the Z-Depth layer at 60% opacity.  I then used a warming filter, and wholla . . . a beautiful elven wench.  Not exactly a pinup by pinup artists' standards, but there nontheless. :)

Enjoy!

The Wilderlands of High Fantasy

One of the best campaign worlds I've come across happens to be the Wilderlands of High Fantasy.  Man the campaign setting is completely creative.  There are red men, green men, men of all sorts of different colors (including the white, yellow, dusky, and black men of Earth).

The Wilderlands has a rich tradition of being descended from Conan, Gor, Barsoom, Jondor, Pelucidar, and other early sources of fantasy including Tarzan of the Apes.  Those early fantasies of the 20th century come out of the romanticization of the Stone Age (not including Tarzan).  Coming after the Wilderlands second is Forgotten Realms during it's 1st edition days.  Then Krynn, then Eberron, then Greyhawk, then the world of Warcraft.

Sword and Sorcery is a genre that comes out of combining a pseudo-medieval culture with that of the ancient ages and mixing in a little bit of magic.  Sword and Sorcery is gritty.  Sorcerers are often depicted as evil and magic as often as dangerous.  The hero is one with a sword or some other weapon out to destroy powerful artifacts of magic.

Thomboy Varainye by ~Atlantean6 on deviantART

There are many tropes that were created because of it.  The chainmail bikini for instance is often attributed to Red Sonja, the She Devil with a Sword (it's actually a scale mail bikini she wears).  However, running a campaign in the Wilderlands requires some knowledge of how sword and sorcery works.

The Wilderlands is one where everything seems to be mixed in for fun.  You have your Cavemen of the Stone Age along with musketeers.  However, civilization in the Wilderlands seems to be failing.  Nations are like little city states (via Points of Light).  And the wilderness around the Wilderlands are dangerous and foreboding.  The points of Light thing works in the Wilderlands because the campaign is specifically designed for the Points of Light.

Running a Campaign: The Wilderlands is specifically designed for campaigning in the Fantasy of Yesteryear.  While you can use Conan the Barbarian RPG, I'm going to use Pathfinder. :)  This is going to be neat! :)

Heh, A Yu-Gi-Oh! card for you

Yep, I rendered the picture in the middle.

What do you think?

Orc Barbarian

As if that's original. *grins*

Here is an orc that is in the desert. He's wearing barbarian clothes, but that's hardly anything new (M4's wardrobe is severely lacking, I've even tried Poser Addicts for different clothes).