Rockin' Spycraft New Years Eve

For the 2nd (I think this is the second time) year in a row, we're playing Spycraft to ring in the new year*. While the Cuthberts were vacationing in the Caribbean (sp?), they must have been quite inspired for Chuck is running this game in that tropical locale. As I've said before, modern games aren't really my thing but Chuck does run some good Spycraft (an ability I'm certain his military background aids greatly). Last year we played through the midnight hour and toasted with champagne but this year we're gaming from 1 to 9pm since folks have to cut out early. Scot, for example, must be certain to have wife Zlatka home to Philly so she can work the next morning. How many folks shop at Lord & Taylor on New Year's Day I cannot fathom.

*If you investigate last year's post on this matter, you'll find that I think the new year's is a sham of a "holiday." We're celebrating the calendar! Whoopee! While we're at it, let's celebrate the changing of the months and have New Month's Day off. Now there's a holiday I can get behind. Despite my hostility to the tradition, enjoy yourselves this weekend. I think we've all earned it.

Time For Another Review

Temporality strikes again and inspires another review on RPGNow: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_reviews_info.php?products_id=6874&reviews_id=14842 (I'm pleased someone noticed the easter egg in the adventure hooks section)

And then there's my casino trip yesterday. Overall, naturally, I had a blast and I think Linda and Kristi did as well. Seems we weren't the only folks who weren't working and decided to go to Atlantic City though! The casinos were rather crowded and some quite smoky. Took $220 and returned with $130. The remainder has been returned to the work bonus envelope with the money I did not take with me which leaves a goodly number of bucks for indulgence purchases later.

Merry Christmas!

Yeah, yeah, it was yesterday and maybe you don't celebrate it. Too bad! Christmas was good to me this year. I snagged the following in no particular order: iPod Nano (wee!), 1 lb. vanilla butter creams, an "Ion" pen by Cross, new sweater, $25 Wawa gift card, my work bonus, new winter bed blanket, Marvin the Martian on a peanut butter cup-filled tree, and the 80s version of Trivial Pursuit (which my brother beat me at by a very slim margin last night).

A good haul, methinks. Some of my work bonus will be travelling with me, Linda, and her daughter Kristi to Atlantic City on Wednesday. If I'm really lucky, maybe I'll be receiving more bucks for the holiday! So did the rest of you pick up anything spiffy for the holiday? Maybe you gave something you're particularly proud of? Either way, I hope everyone's special time of year was indeed very special.

Ah, and before I forget (again). Here's the mock-up cover of the Hoards book I worked for so long to get published.


And it's appropriate for the season too!

Blade Barrier review

From prolific reviewer Chris Gath comes the next in his saga to review the BtS series: Blade Barrier. Check it out here: http://www.enworld.org/reviews.php?do=review&reviewid=3242236

So, what else is going on? Not much. I'm more or less taking a break for the holidays. Catching up on more reading (now on to Hand of Fire, the final leg in the Spellfire trilogy journey by Ed Greenwood) and need to make one last trip to the malls tonight. A Celtic store in Bethlehem called Donegal Square sends out a flyer in early December. After getting the coupon portion of it stamped, you can then cash it in for $20 during the week between Christmas and New Year's (with a purchase of $40 or more, naturally). I usually take that opportunity to pick up a neat celtic pin for cheap to add to my collection. Gotta do that and get my brother a card to stick his present into (you already knew your gift, Scot!).

Temporality Review

This one rolling in on d20zines: http://d20zines.com/v7/node/2977

The bumps and bruises of the book are laid bare but that's not a bad thing. I wasn't even aware of a missing table and I'm not sure the carry over to print changed anything. Oh well, what's done is done. Thanks for your time on this, Stephen!

Midnight's Mask

Just finished reading the third installment of Kemp's Erevis Cale trilogy. Pretty entertaining overall. Much like The Last Mythal I found myself turning pages with all due speed. Without spoiling anything for those yet to read the book, I can say that the characters filled out nicely and the resolution leaves sets up a large canvas on which to paint upcoming books. However, I did not care at all for the villain's scheme and I certainly won't be stealing it for my own campaign.

Watch Out...I'm Back!

Back home, that is. Perhaps even more exciting is the fact that the Behind the Spells compilation has been finished and handed in. As I thought, the final product does indeed weigh in at a little over 90,000 words. That's a lot of magical goodness! I'll keep you apprised as the book nears release.

"What's next?" you ask. Well, the only thing really pending is that fiction piece I was doing for Reality Deviants. I feel really bad about not getting that finished yet but it's not like I'm under contract or anything. Besides that, Phil and I were discussing a spin-off pdf series called Behind the Monsters (no, I am not kidding). Such a series would feature the origins, tactics, and what not of your favorite MM critters. Personally, I'm just not sure if I'm up for another series right now. There's also the discussion about tweaking the Behind the Spells series for use in OSRIC games. That might be easy enough to do in a relatively short time. We'll see.

As for Christmas shopping, I only have Scot yet to buy for. As requested, he'll likely get some money (hmmm, I think I mentioned this a few posts ago). We had our drug store Christmas dinner party last night at a nice restaurant called Oak Hill. I can tell you that their pecan crusted chicken is very good. For the gift exchange there, my sister Katy had my name and got me the first three seasons of the Gummi Bears! Yet another good cartoon you just don't see around anymore. Ah, soon my childhood shows will be mine again! After that, Katy, Linda, and I hopped out to Lehigh Valley for another round of shopping. All in all, it's been a very good week.

Elmore Sale

My inbox today held some advertising for a good sale going on for some classic Larry Elmore 80s D&D prints. Check them out if you're into the old school look: http://www.larryelmore.com/index.htm

Away & Book Review

I'm house-sitting this week at the Cuthberts (the owners of the furnished barn where we game) so don't expect too much chatter here at the Rest. It looks like I'll be finishing up a longish section explaining the "Spell Secrets" section of the Behind the Spells before handing it in. The book will be over 90k words so that's good enough for me. :)

Finished up The Last Mythal on Sunday and I have to admit that the trilogy was a good read after all. Thank goodness the central characters developed into likeable heroes and that Fflar really blossomed by the end. I've started Midnight's Mask by Paul Kemp and am enjoying it already (enough that I read 60+ pages before bed last night--a lot for me!). I really have to keep reading more as it nicely takes the edge off one's day.

What Happened?

How did a whole week go by without my posting anything? My three readers must be in withdrawal by now. Here's something cool--Phil just posted the top 20 products for November for Ronin Arts. Guess who has 5 products in the list: http://www.roninarts.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24

More than halfway through the BtS marathon checking. I added a couple new things to Magic Missile (namely a new spell secret, new variant, and new magic item) in consideration of the average reviews for that issue. My planar players will recognize the new special weapon, the blastbow! Gives you a sci-fi feel without the sci-fi. :)

Christmas shopping continues apace. The only person on my list who is without a gift as of yet is Scot. Do I slip my bro some cash or try to think up the perfect gift (which might just be cash considering looming school loans)?

Work Continues

Had a pleasant weekend and hope you did too. Finished up Paul Kemp's second novel in the Erevis Cale trilogy and now I'll start the 3rd in Richard Baker's Last Mythal trilogy hopefully tomorrow. We gamed today but not D&D. I can count the amount of times on one hand that I've played Vampire but today, I can honestly say, was the most enjoyable yet. Greg has an intriguing plot gearing up and I'm looking forward to its unfolding. I'm also getting a feel for my Gangrel character and enjoying beating the crap out of our enemies while being surly.

In writing news, I'm about halfway through checking the BtS issues for typos and anything that needs clarifying. So far the total word count is 42,501. I'm guessing the compilation will clock in at upwards of 90,000 words once the new material is in place. The omnibus will make one sweet addition to d20 bookshelves, if I do say so myself.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone enjoys the holiday today and doesn't eat too much. Why does everyone say that? Eh, who cares if you eat too much? You only live once! :)

And here's something to give thanks for; Fantasy Flight Games is having another unbeatable $5 sale on many of their products. Go wild!: http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/5dsale.html

Quite the Sale!

A store called Comic Masters was going to have a massive store wide sale today for the holiday. On my previous trip, the guy there said even the WotC books could be up to half off. Like any good red-blooded D&D consumer, I dutifully noted the sale on my calendar. Well, I'm back from my little shopping trip and, sure enough, the rack of rpg stuff was indeed "50% off"! Here's the lineup of books I nabbed at half retail price...

Voyage of the Golden Dragon (Eberron adventure)
Secrets of Xen'Drick (Eberron)
Red Hand of Doom (don't worry Brad, I won't read it) ;)
Champions of Valor
Tome of Magic
Monster Manual IV

These were all titles I wasn't going to worry about buying but, like I said to the guy today, how can you pass up 50% off? I also managed to get some more Christmas shopping done. Now it's back to some Behind the Spells work before the holiday.

Another Review for the Week

Chris Gath provides a look at the 5th installment of Behind the Spells, in this case Dancing Lights: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_reviews_info.php?products_id=6034&reviews_id=14580

Timely Delivery!

I got home from work to find three packages waiting for me. The first is 3 boxes of delicious Wolfgang candy (vanilla butter creams = yummy!). Package two held an autographed copy of the soundtrack to Big Trouble in Little China (not signed by John Carpenter but rather Alan Howarth, a producer of the cd; still cool though). Package #3 is the best of all--print copies of Temporality!!!!!!!! With new sleek/simple page border art and what appears to be more art in general, this book might just be the pinnacle of my d20 writing career (at least so far it is). If you haven't picked the book up yet in print, you're missing out. Bring the power of time to your campaign! :)

New Review

Chris Gath, a staff reviewer for RPGNow, expressed interest in reviewing the Behind the Spells series after winning BtS: Shield in a pdf giveaway I held some months ago. Since then he's reviewed not only that one but the first three issues in the line. Today, issue four--Animate Dead--rolled off his review line. Have a look here: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_reviews_info.php?products_id=6001&reviews_id=14552

Today will see continued work on the BtS collection and some leaf cleaning around the house. Oh, and for those of you who are Ronin Arts fans, Phil has opened his own store complete with discussion forum here: http://www.roninarts.com/

Fun Reading

Quick entry. When you've got some minutes to string together, have a look at these RPG morivational posters. Quite a hoot!

http://www.cruisegazing.com/RPG_Motivational/page_01.htm

BtS Finale and Collection News!

After handing in the final issue (Dispel Magic) last night, I awoke to find not only the pdf already on sale but also a press release from Phil concerning the printed collection. Guess I'd better get to work! Read all about it here: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=180378

[Um, ignore those blank entries below. Blogger was acting up this morning.]

Gone Too Soon

Just saw that composer Basil Poledouris passed away on Nov 8 at the way too early age of 61. For those of you who don't follow movie soundtracks, Basil was responsible for the great Conan the Barbarian score as well as many others including Starship Troopers, Robocop, and Hunt for Red October. I had hoped he would be tapped to score the still developing 3rd Conan film but can now only hope his great themes are at least used in some way.

Also of note is the passing of Jack Palance. I'm too young to have appreciated his cowboy works of decades past but did not miss his fantastic turn as Curly in the City Slickers films. Jack was a Pennsylvania native who eventually came to Hollywood after brief stints as a prize fighter, football player, journalist, and Army man. He also enjoyed writing poetry and fiction ("Believe it...or not!").

Rest in peace, gentlemen.

Apply Directly to the What?!

Loralee (one of my two bosses) enjoys the HeadOn commercials so much (see the blog entry where I mock them along with WotC's Races of... books) that when someone gave her a mock ad of a similar product, she brought it into the store to share with us. Be sure you're not drinking anything when you click the below pic as it may come out your nose!

PDF Sale A-Plenty

Can't say as I've been keeping up on the whole RPGNow merger with Drivethru and the ENWorld gamestore, but I do know that Dark Quest Games is continuing their sale on pdfs. My own precious Temporality can now be had in pdf form at 30% off here: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=6874

On a side note, has anyone picked this up in print yet? I have yet to receive my author's copies and may just break down and order it from amazon.

Work Phrases

If I can remember these little tidbits until I get home, they'll make nice little snippets for my blog readers. Today's phrase of the day was spoken by me to one of our old women customers. She wanted something for motion sickness so I displayed the packages of Dramamine and Bonine we carry. Since each are powered by 25mg of Meclizine, they are (at least as far as I'm concerned) identical. Both products even came in packages of 8 so the only difference was that the Bonine were chewable. When the woman said she wasn't sure which to pick, I said that it was her choice and offered this helpful interrrogative:

"Do you prefer to chew or swallow?"

Inside I was both cringing and giggling at the risque line. It's a good thing not everyone's mind is as firmly in the gutter as my own. As it turned out, she prefers to swallow. :)

Ebay Ahoy

Just a quickie tonight. I'm offering up a smattering of books and the ST: Next Gen widescreen movie collection here: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZvantas1QQhtZ-1

New CDs

I'm a supporter of brick and mortar establishments. I'll drive an hour+ to a game store to see what they have and then drop up to $20 (usually for minis these days) just because I like to have somewhere to drive to and want to support their continued existence in some small way. When it comes to the difficult to find items, however, then I go internet. Who doesn't these days, right? More and more I find myself becoming an Amazon junkie. As "unknown" soundtracks from favorite composers come onto my radar, I invariably find myself buying them from amazon.

My newest acquisitions? Both early James Horner outings: Battle Beyond the Stars/Humanoids from the Deep and the brief but well done Brainstorm. The first two for one combo was released by GNPCrescendo and apparently dubbed from the original vinyls. Oh well, I'm just happy to have the music. Not a lot of standout bits on first listen but further runs may prove more fruitful. On the other hand, Brainstorm I find particularly pleasing and should find an excellent fit in the planar campaign's eerie finale.

As for gaming, I've begun dispel magic and hope to have it completed by the end of the weekend. Anyone know if the name of Orcus is fair game? I mean, Necromancer Games uses him and his likeness but do they have a special agreement with WotC? Perhaps I'll just go to those boards and ask them.

Happy Halloween!

I believe it is also New Years Eve for the celtic calendar. So a twin celebration is in order here at the 'ol blogstead. Not too much to mention today. Need to get off my sorry ass and write BtS: Dispel Magic before folks lose interest altogether.

We had a bang-up game on Sunday as the PCs in the planar campaign whooped the forces of the Faceless One and his Cult of Chaos. However, the homecoming and expectant relaxation is put on indefinite hold when the PCs return to Sigil to find things not quite right. The city appears to have been the site of a tremendous battle and, at first glance, no creatures are stirring. This is where I left the group as a cliffhanger to the planar campaign's first season finale. As for last Sunday's game, there was much XP to be had as the group defeated cultists, gibbering mouthers, troblins (from Tome of Horrors II), a young black dragon, and the Faceless One himself (a mutated ineffable horror from FR's Underdark sourcebook) amidst the chaos of a random teleportation chamber (see the spell secret from BtS: Teleport).

I think the group enjoyed the nearly 9-hour long session but it sure was a tiring experience for this DM. I had the adventure planned out in my head (as any DM should before "going into battle") but, when time was slipping away too fast, I had to axe the Faceless One's lair. Since I had little more than a map of it anyway, I wasn't too unhappy with that split-second decision.

Happy Sewing!

Here's a slight departure for the 'ol blog but I assure you it's for a good cause. My mom runs a fabric shop in town and she has recently begun to sell her wares online. If you or anyone you know (because even gamers have moms and grandmoms!) has quilting or similar needs, have them visit http://www.happysewingroom.com/. Buyers will get the personal service and low prices they deserve. Tell her Bret sent you! :)

And because no entry should be without some game chatter, I'm prepping the second part of the planar campaign adventure began last time against the Cult of Chaos. It will involve more strange monsters, an epic field battle, and the hopeful foiling of the twisted plot of the cult's leader the Faceless One. (Adventure features subject to change. No money back guarantee. Void where prohibited.)

The Path to Hobbylancing Contentment

I was just looking for the current rank of Temporality on RPGNow's charts by company and product type and it doesn't even come up in the top 20 anymore. It's frustrating that a product which has been reviewed so favorably isn't racking up more sales. I'm experiencing similar dissatisfaction with the sales of Behind the Spells and other pdfs I've written. Am I to assume that consumers aren't interested in my work and just shuffle off to another kind of writing market? Well, duh, of course not. So, just what is the problem then? Several answers present themselves.

Name Recognition--I'm no Monte Cook or Steve Kenson but I'd like to think that people in the online community have heard of Bret Boyd. And that's all I'm aiming for, mind you, the online community. I'd be deluding myself if I thought that casual gamers who never venture off the WotC boards were my target audience. Over the six odd years I've been doing this I've written (as a contributor and solo) a lot of products. Hard to say though if I'm making penetration into d20 stardom. Since folks usually support authors they like, I can only infer that I'm below the radar since no products of mine have been universally panned. Although I wonder what penning an abysmally awful product would do for my notoriety.

Marketing--When a product of mine is available, I give it all the pimping I can without (hopefully) being a nuisance about it. Press releases are posted to Gaming Report, ENWorld, and RPG.net. If a message board thread surfaces that is directly related to my product, then I pimp it once there as well. If web surfers even casually follow the gaming news, then they at least see my PR for a brief moment.

Topic--Even I'll admit that my pdfs aren't exactly mainstream works. Temporality and Dread Codex are extremely limited in scope (and the latter is useful just to DMs). But the bulk of my Ronin Arts work is player-friendly and should, at their low cost, sell like hot cakes. I've often thought that my short pdfs do tend to be on the Tim Burton-esque wierd side of the gaming table. Is that a strength in itself? Guess not given slumping sales. Perhaps it's just a glut in the fantasy genre too. I mean, given all of the other support for d20 fantasy out there, why would someone even look for more material they may never use in a weekly or monthly game?

Are there any definitive paths to hobbylancing riches for someone like me? Nope. And therein lies the conclusion to all of this--at least for me. Balancing what one expects with what one gets. Sure, I'd like to sell a gajillion bucks worth of product and only write whenever I feel like it but these two things are incompatible. At this point, I want to expend a smallish amount of effort and see where that leads me. It seems that my returns are exactly what I should expect for my efforts then.

Every other hobbylancer must look at his own situation the same way when he's feeling like this. Got bad sales? Well, if you're not trying to feed yourself (much less a family), then consider your work an exercise. For as surely as your body needs to flex its muscles, so too does your mind. In a way, hobbylancers have it better than our big name counterparts. Our work comes from deep in the creative soul, where it has come to a boil on its own time. The result is a more engaging product as opposed to the "forced creativity" of 9 to 5'ers. And, perhaps, over time, our products will be recognized for their inner shine and we will be given appropriate validation--the true wealth of a hobbylancer.

Reading List

Being in the middle of two trilogies is probably not the best idea. I just finished Farthest Reach in Richard Baker's "The Last Mythal" trilogy and as much as I thought the first book was ho-hum is how much I enjoyed this second book. The characters were a bit more alive and the plot engaging to the point that I really wanted to see what happened next. That said, if it wasn't a Realms novel, I may not have been as interested as there's definitely a change in the Heartlands power struggle going on.

With that done, I could move on to Final Gate, the last book in the trilogy. Indeed I would like to do just that but I've been neglecting the second book of the "Erevis Cale" trilogy by Paul Kemp and need to jump back to that before I totally forget the events of the first. Guess I'll bounce back to Baker and then return to finish up Kemp before moving on to some non-TSR reading like my recent Conan or Gray Mouser purchases.

What Have You Stolen Lately?

It seems that invariably when I watch something cool on TV I think of how I can work it into a module for my group. Tonight it was a battle against impossible odds on Battlestar Galactica and an interesting notion of "adventurer training" while viewing Top Gun. One film I come back to again and again is The Hunt for Red October. It's one of those movies that, when I come across it, just have to sit down and watch. Red October has many cool elements to steal, not the least of which is the plot.

I've used "the defector" idea once in a 2nd edition adventure of the same name. The PCs were to meet and escort a high-ranking agent of the Realms' Zhentarim who was smuggling a prototype weapon known as "the shaper"--an item capable of shaping itself into any weapon the wielder wished*. I can't say that the module turned out to be anything overly exciting so I keep searching for new ways to use Red October in a current campaign. Keeps the movie fresh, I suppose, despite it being two decades old.

Quite often when I do find something to steal from tv/movies it is unrecognizable in the fantasy genre. Not that it matters when it is recognized, mind you. True originality has its place too but, as the old saying goes, there's nothing new under the sun. So what have you stolen lately from mainstream media? Did your group call you out on a replicated scene, plot, or character?

*The mutable weapon concept entered the d20 arena in the form of Mallyate, part of Ronin Arts' "Athenaeum Arcane" line of pdfs.

Apply Directly to the Forehead

Races of Boredom--A title for WotC's upcoming book? Nah, they already produced it under three other names--Races of the Wild/Stone/Destiny. I was just flipping through the second of these (I own the first two) when it occured to me what utter crap it has within its over-priced pages. I opened to a random page and my brain was lavished with the details of gnomish grooming. Dear god, how have my games gone on without this priceless knowledge?! A few more page turns and I learn that gnomish weddings last up to a week. How 'bout that for a juicy roleplaying tidbit? Ugh; I paid real money for this?

Over the years, I've found that sourcebooks on races and classes we already know about to be filled with this type of superfluous bric-a-brac. If Wizards wants more people to buy their stuff, perhaps they should fill the books with, oh I don't know, new and interesting information (notice the second condition "interesting"). Whether I'm a player or a DM, I'd like some shred of information that either: a) I can directly port into my next game; or b) inspires me to think of something that I will use/mention in my next game. For me, it is often a matter of that old mantra: "Less is more." Several chapters in the aforementioned books can be reduced to a handful of paragraphs. Gnomish psychology? No thanks. How about more new races like that goliath? Okay, perhaps they're not that good either but at least it's something new and interesting! And don't even get me started on Races of Destiny. Devoting sections of the book to explaining humans to human players is akin to explaining the concepts of D&D to 'ol E. Gary Gygax.

So how does this rant tie in with the entry's title? Well, if you live in the US, you must have seen the Head On commercials where a model applies some type of pain reliever "directly to the forehead." The tagline annoyingly repeats three times in a row. One of my bosses looked this stuff up online and discovered that the primary ingredient is some type of wax. No wonder it has no usage limitations! And yet, demand has apparently risen to the point that the other boss decided to stock the crap in the store (I noticed when stopping there to visit my sister today). My point is that both the Races books and Head On are pretty much interchangeable--both offer a lot of glitter without the gold.

Lightning Bolt!

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Vacation Continues

Coming up on the middle of my vacation, things are going well. Linda and I had a wonderful trip to Atlantic City on Monday and yesterday was a grab-bag day of grocery shopping, hiking, and calculating XP from Sunday's adventure. Today will be spent going to one of my favorite game stores and (maybe) mowing the grass with a dose of reading and watching Lost tonight.

For your viewing pleasure, another review has surfaced for Temporality. I don't want to jinx myself, but the book continues to get good reviews! Have a look: http://www.enworld.org/reviews.php?do=review&reviewid=3115114

Gaming is Good

The adventure today went, I think, not too badly. New guy Mike Ferguson was a welcome addition and I hope he continues to join us (I promise there'll be more for your warlock to blast next time ). I never feel very comfortable when I don't write the entire adventure but it went along without too many dull spots and actually ended with an unintentional cliffhanger. With any luck, perhaps we'll pick it up at the end of the month.

In Behind the Spells news, I'm not sure what to tell those of you waiting for the next issue. I handed in lightning bolt a while ago and, while I know Phil is busy moving into his new home, he's now released a few titles. Guess I'll have to email him to see what's what.

BtS Review

A new review has rolled in for Behind the Spells: Mirror Image. I'll be the first to admit that this early issue wasn't the best of the series but at least it's a good review. Have a look: http://www.enworld.org/reviews.php?do=review&reviewid=3104489

At Last, We Play!

It's been a number of weeks, but we're finally able to game this coming Sunday. This installment will be of my Protectorate planar campaign and see the introduction of Mike Ferguson (the player and his PC) to the group. For more on Mike, click the "Musings of the Emerald Lich" link to the right.

Since I like to devote the days prior to a module to getting it ready, I likely won't be working further on BtS: Dispel Magic until next week. But seeing as how L. Bolt isn't released yet, no one will notice.

And did you hear about the shootings in Lancaster Cty. yesterday at the Amish school? I saw some of a report last night. Geez, you'd think a small Amish school would be safe from such senseless violence. I'm surprised any of the adults agreed to be interviewed. What struck me most, I think, is the Amish's unwavering faith. The interviewees spoke of already forgiving the gunman and knowing the community must move on. That kind of conviction is incredible. I only pray that all of the critically injured girls recover quickly in body and mind.

And Then There Was One

BtS: Lightning Bolt was handed in last night. It turned out to be a neat little piece explaining why there are no sorcerers in previous editions of D&D. That's the beauty of these pdfs. I never know where they're going to go until I really get into them. In detailing who the creators are, I've found myself almost inadvertently tying in all kinds of easter eggs for readers who have some familiarity with previous editions. Fun! That just leaves Dispel Magic which is already in development.

And thanks to everyone who bought my second issue of the series--Fireball. I see it has climbed to a "Silver Pick" and I think that's a fine accomplishment for one of these pdfs. Several of the early ones are comfortably in the Copper status and that makes me feel good too.

Last, but not least, if you're like me and are into '80s nostalgia, you'll want to head on over to www.80sTees.com. Use the coupon code "Fallin4Tees" and you'll receive 20% off your order. Some sweet memories to be had there!

Celticfest & A Birthday

Yikes! How did a whole week go by without a post?! No matter. On with the post...

The second last week of September is a good one because it is the time of Celticfest in Bethlehem, PA. I should go and spend some time soaking up the bands and food but I usually just go for the vendors. This year is no exception. Linda could no accompany me this year so my sister Katy and I drove out and had a great time. She got a cool Wiccan pendant for her birthday (which isn't until Dec 4 but buying something from the 'fest for her is becoming a tradition). I grabbed a historical replica in ceramic of a curled dragon seen in old English church choir stalls (at least according to the blurb on the piece's back). Also bought a T-shirt and a new pin. All of these purchases are also becoming a tradition.

Today was spent celebrating my youngest nephew's birthday at my sister's. Mikael turned 3 yesterday and he is so cute. Very well spoken and intelligent for his age. At the moment, I'm mulling over the history to BtS: Lightning Bolt, having already come up with the spell secrets and related research concepts. On a related note, people seem to be picking up older issues of the series as time between current releases has lagged a bit (my apologies). Wonder why that is...not that I'm complaining.

Work Weekend

Although nothing is set in stone, I plan on making this a work weekend. There's still that 20,000 word fiction piece for Reality Deviants as well as putting together some adventure proposals for GG (due Monday) and working on BtS: Lightning Bolt. I feel like reading more Dragons of the Dwarven Depths and, indeed, that may come to pass, but the temptation to relax must be fought lest I do nothing. Not sure how I got out of the creative cycle but with luck it'll come back again with little prompting. Time now for a hike to kick-start those juices. Have a great weekend!

True Seeing

A quick turnaround from Phil sees the availability of the new issue of Behind the Spells. Grab your copy here: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=7665

Not much else to report. I'm slowly cobbling together a plot or two for the DCC mid-level compilation book. Tonight, I'm hoping to have more inspiration after my reflexology session.

I'm Back!

While away, I did manage to finish BtS: True Seeing and scribble some notes for Lightning Bolt. Now I need to put together some adventure ideas for the mid-level follow up to DCC: The Adventure Begins. My group may have some playtesting ahead in the near future. :)

Made a point to stop by Best Buy today to pick up Lucas' latest cash generator--the Star Wars trilogy on dvd with the added "bonus" of the original theatrical versions. Bonus, yeah right. I don't know why they even bothered to put on the special edition version since the Bonus is what most fans are buying it for (correct me if I'm wrong). Much to my surprise, Best Buy had all three together in a cool collector's tin! It was about $10 more but I'm a sucker for collectibles and at least the 3 dvds won't be loose on the shelf.

Speaking of buying things, did you get over to Goodman Games yet and pick up DCC #12.5 with 1st edition rules? This was a limited GenCon '06 release and they're only printing enough to match the pre-orders. Hurry! You've only got until Friday to get your order in: http://www.goodman-games.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=6644#6644

Pseudo-Vacation

I'll be in and out of the house for the next few days and may not get much blogging done (not like I do anyway). As I have before (probably in June), I'll be house/pet-sitting about 10 minutes away, this time until Wednesday. While there, I hope to finish BtS: True Seeing and do most of the creative legwork for the final two issues as well.

Labor Day

Here in my little corner of the world, blue skies and 70 degree weather grace us. My brother and his wife were successfully moved yesterday and now the homestead can return to normal. They've got alot to unpack but their apartment is a great improvement over the "shoebox" of the old one. Today I'm hoping to make some headway on BtS: True Seeing, go for a much needed hike, mow the grass, and finish up Dragons of Autumn Twilight before jumping into the new Dragonlance book I mentioned a few entries ago (Dwarven Depths).

Whatever you're doing today, make it fun.

The Longest Day

Yesterday began the first day of Medicare Part D supplmental coverage for those persons using the PACE program (it's the lottery funded insurance for senior citizens in PA). For the patients, it's a good thing because now they have two insurances working for them (the supplement is billed by our computer first and then PACE processes--hopefully--whatever amount is left and ends with some kind of copay). Unfortunately, the process is not so good for us pharmacies. Not only do people not have their insurance cards yet, some don't have a clue when asked about it!!!

To sum up, it was a very loooong day on Friday when you combine this headache with normal beginning of the month traffic in the store. Insurances were called to find out what coverage PACE people were supposed to have. Even when the customer definitely said they had no other insurance, we would input the card numbers given over the phone and then, when the card worked, informed them, "Yes, you do have another card."

The real unfortuante part of all of this is that these poor old people shouldn't have to deal with this crap. Even younger minds like ours have a rough time deciphering insurance sometimes. I just heard today how a 90-year-old wept because, although she had her new card, her friend up the street did not. Ridiculous.

Guards & Wards

At long last, Behind the Spells: Guards & Wards is available. If RPGNow can get itself functioning properly (been wonky since yesterday), you can get your copy here: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=7613

I've decided to do true seeing as my last random BtS. As you may recall, lightning bolt and dispel magic will be rounding out the series after that. Hope you all have a great upcoming weekend. If I don't post, I'm busy moving my brother's and his wife's belongings back to Philadelphia (moved here a few weeks ago until new lease could begin). With the help of some of my gaming companions, the move on Sunday should hopefully be painless.

New BtS Reviews

Two new reviews just popped up for BtS: Acid Arrow and Shocking Grasp. The first is here: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_reviews_info.php?products_id=6626&reviews_id=13854 and the second here: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_reviews_info.php?products_id=6931&reviews_id=13855

Gaming Sunday

I was prepping a (hopefully) cool module for yesterday's game in an attempt to make Mike Ferguson's visit to our gaming group as good as possible. When an email from him the night before said he was regrettably unable to attend, I lost a bit of momentum. The adventure as conceptualized was a mystery/dungeon crawl but, at the time, I wasn't overly happy with my lack of details. So, at my brother Scot's suggestion, I decided to put that module on the back burner and think up a full-on jaguar-folk adventure. (The jag-folk being the bad guys of the planar campaign and nearly TPKing the group in the previous battle.) I didn't want to use the jag-folk in Mike's intro module since they really wouldn't resonate with him (or his PC). This was 10:30pm before the day of the module.

The end result of some intense thinking and scribbling? Not a bad time! Pressed for a comfortable amount of prep time, I utilized the stats of the jag-folk warriors seen last time as well as the same leader. What the heck, the players wouldn't know the difference. I also came up with a half-assed plot involving the jag's kidnapping of a transmuter who was pressed into service to fashion a magic item that would (and did) overpower the stone golems protecting the Protectorate's headquarters on Sigil (how's that for a run-on sentence?). The party managed to find the plot, beat the cats and even discover how they control the oft-fought cat-headed obsidian quasi-elementals--an ancient pact with an elemental lord named Kosh gave the jag-folk warrior caste a handful of "elemental wells" to summon the creatures from. Did you follow that? Eh, guess you had to be there.

To sum up, you needn't always be overly prepared to run an adventure. I had my bad guy stats, a map stolen from Necromancer Games' Fane of the Witch-King, and a loose thread tying points A-B-C. Sprinkle in some of my wacky NPCs, simmer for 6 hours with players, and you've got a recipe for some gaming goodness. Serve with pizza and enjoy!

Yet Another Temporality Review

This one from the aforementioned Dr Who yahoo group. I did point out that the book is now for sale in print but this review is again for the pdf (although there is, of course, no difference in content). Anywho, let's get on with the review...

"As someone who regularly picks through d20 and OGL content in searchof rules to reuse or repurpose, Temporality is an invaluable resource.For the other 95% of gamers who don't care what is, or isn't, OpenContent (and just want to play the damn game), Temporality is an invaluable resource.

The author has tirelessly ploughed through dozens of different products to pull together a near-definitive time-travel compendium. At 159 pages, my print-out is impressively weighty, and well set-out so as to be of use to player and GMs alike.The first ten chapters set out what players need to know, and offer some well defined concepts which sit comfortably together as background for time travel in the world of D&D. How time and time travel work, though realm- and plane-based, work well within the D&D context, but also share some basic similarities to how they might function within a d20 modern environment.

In Doctor Who terms (remembering its the angle we tend to be coming from) there are some clear analogies - 'the Continuum' is the Vortex,' Havens' are E-Space/CVEs, and 'shifting' is a method of time travel very close to the way a Tardis travels. The laws of time and the temporal mechanics, while not how I might have set them out, are clear and consistent enough for even the most anal retentive gamer.

The concept of renouncement - giving up years of one's life to relive that time again - is one of my favourite issues explored in the book,and establishes a trend: the best bits of the book tend to be the new and original elements. New prestige classes - the Fated and theTemporalists - also work well, with the latter providing an excellent variant class that would work well for the Dr. Who seen in the 60s movies. Except for the emphasis on the arcane. The focus on dealing with time primarily through magic rather thanfeats is a strong reminder that the book is - first and foremost - a fantasy resource. Much of the compiled content fits the spells/monsters/items stereotype, and my greatest disappointment was that only two new skills were presented. There ARE some interesting new feats (mostly relating to reincarnation, which gets a chapter all to itself) useful, perhaps, for ancestor-focused time-travel adventures.

Where Chapters 1-10 present a solid, non-contradictory overview of a single type of time travel game, Chapter 11 begins to open things up, and the book goes on to consider how to bring time travel to existing games, how to base a game around time travel, and giving some thought to how a GM can deal with crossovers between D&D and d20 Modern. It would have been nice to see some more exploration of alternate temporal mechanics. There is, for example, a minimal focus on paradox. This felt like an opportunity missed, and one source not tapped into was Mongoose's Encyclopedia Arcane: Chronomancy, arguably the best TimeTravel product produced for 3rd ed. d20.

I was pleasantly surprised to find a sample adventure - Roanaoke: The Lost Colony, which again reinforced my belief that the original content of the book is best. This proved to be a high point before thebook drifts into ever-so-necessary but seen-before weapon/monster territory during the last few chapters. While I applaud the diligence needed to pull Temporality together, but finding two variant time spiders in different parts of the book screamed "padding", and made me feel that the quantity of imported content outweighed the need for quality: an original monster or two here would have been nice.

The section of enemies and allies worked well for me though, with some more original and entertaining content raising the bar above that seen in the books imports. The book's equivalent of the Time Lords' CIA, the ATO, had me thinking that one change of letter to ATF could havebeen sooo funny in a cross-over adventure. The Temporal Psychologists firmly became my all-time favourite role-playing time-travel concept, and I've already got plans to make them antagonists for a Tenth Doctor adventure.

Overall, Temporality a robust piece of work that felt very much like a GURPs product, easily worth double or triple the online cost. I've mentioned Chronomancy not being sourced, and the Netbook of Time is another worthwhile omission, but these are minor niggles. It certainly has me looking forward to a d20 Modern-focused Temporality II, but the author should rely less on imports and more on original content next time around (and should probably go and read Lawrence Miles' The Book of the War to get some ideas that really fit in with some of his ownthoughts and concepts).

At least 8/10 I reckon."

So overall pretty darned good, in that reviewer's opinion. The only thing I would really take issue with is the omission of Mongoose's Chronomancy. I hated that book's approach to "time travel" (of which there really isn't any) and wanted none of its OGC in my book because the basic premises just didn't jive.

Temporality Scores a Copper

After four months, my book has finally achieved Copper status on RPGNow; meaning at least 50 people have bought it. Not exactly a hot seller, but I think with all of the press releases for the print edition, it's actually helped the pdf. Don't ask me why, but Temporality now leads not only the current Dark Quest Sales but is also #1 in the d20 sci-fi section.

In a related bit of news, the moderator of a Dr. Who d20 yahoo group just dicovered Temporality and told his group about it. He invited me this morning to join the group and field questions about it. Believe or not, despite my time travel affinity, I never got into the whole Dr Who thing. Hopefully, that won't come up when I discuss the book withi interested persons in the group. One person already said they were going to pick up the pdf tonight and have a read. That's how I'll conquer the world, one sale at a time. :)

Still Going...

I'm slooooowly putting together BtS: Guards and Wards but am hopeful to have it finished today. That said, it may take a few days or more to get onto the market as I saw Phil is in the middle of purchasing a new home. Writing took a back seat to module making as I had to come up with a quickie scenario for our high-level FR PCs when my brother Scot was unable to attend the scheduled "Lost Vault..." adventure continuation. I used a FR adventure by Skip Williams called "Secrets of Arch Wood" from a Dungeon from last year. Not bad; we got through half of it before I really started running out of gas (and time). I also wanted to make sure and get home to see the William Shatner roast on Comedy Central Sunday night. Glad I did--hilarious!

Since my last post, another review has slipped under the door for Temporality. Nothing verbose, but here it is: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_reviews_info.php?products_id=6874&reviews_id=13780

A bit of freelancing news: A top tier d20 company recently announced an open call for freelancer resumes on the RPGFreelance group. Since my Behind the Spells is finishing up soon, I thought "why not?" and sent in my list of works and note of interest in writing for this company. More on this later.

Reflexology

Don't think I mentioned this before so now's a good time as I'm at a loss for other blog material (almost). I had a reflexology session tonight (as I do every 4 weeks). The woman's name is Carol and she is just the nicest person you could ever hope to meet. I always feel refreshed and at peace when I leave. Reflexology, IIRC, is a method by which the body's energy paths are flushed and/or aligned by certain pressure applications to the bottom of the feet. And after the pressure session comes one heck of a great foot massage. Carol performs a whole retinue of similar holistic "procedures" form reikki (sp?) to a simple full body massage. My session costs a mere $50 for 2 hours of bliss.

Here's some store comicness I keep forgetting to post about. Our town had a sidewalk sale (as it does every Aug) and it usually brings into the store the usual bunch of yokels who oggle the fountain (broken for a couple years now) and just generally look around our old time establishment. Sometimes though, much like during King Frost Parade in Oct, we get some real nut-jobs. The strangest encounter for sidewalk sale last weekend came by phone. An old man at the other end asked, "Do you have any shuttlecocks?" Being a badminton pro in college (OK, I only took it as a phys ed), I knew what a shuttlecock was and that we most certainly did not carry them in our pharmacy. The man, undaunted, replied, "Oh, I need it to keep my arm mobilized." (or words to that effect). "Ah, you're talking about an arm splint," I clarified. "Yeah," he said, "they're called shutlecocks."

Whatever you say, buddy. After that, I informed Loralee that it had to be time soon to go home.

Attn: Steve

I saw your interest in the Stormbringer book and sent you an email Monday night. This morning, that email was bounced back to me (yes, I removed the REMOVETHIS part). In any case, here was the brief reply I'd sent....

"Hi there, Steve. How's that Temporality review coming along? ;) (Sorry, had to ask)

As for the book, it's in pretty good shape. Just to be clear, here's a pic of the item we're talking about: http://index.rpg.net/pictures/show-pic.phtml?picid=200

There's some edge and corner wear but the inside is unmarked and the map still attached on the inside rear cover. However, this map does have about a 3" tear through the Marshes of Mist section. Feel free to make me an offer!"

RA Reloaded Redux

Much to my surprise, my Amazon.com order of RAR arrived today! It's #304 and, alas, has no golden ticket entitling me to other cool crap. Still, it's going to be my "work copy" as the corners are a bit dinged. The other shall remain untouched on my shelf. :)

Not getting much writing done today as I took a trip to Doylestown. After feeling under the weather and not getting out over the last few weeks it felt good to shop. Picked up Dragons of Faerun, 3 booster boxes of minis, and some used cds. Besides catching a bit of tv and perhaps watching some more of 24's first season (dvds loaned from brother), I must start thinking about next week's planar campaign module. Mike Ferguson (of DCC fame) is joining the group for this outing and I'd like to have something good to go (as opposed to those adventures which I half finish and then just kinda wing).

And don't forget those books up for sale below. I've already been contacted about the Stormbringer title.

I Can Almost Taste It!

No, I'm not talking about stuffed crust pizza. I'm talking about this: http://www.rpgblog.org/photos/gen_con_2006/imgp2418.html

Take a look at the lower left section of the rack. My book!!!!!

Rappan Athuk: Reloaded

I received my copy of this mega-box set yesterday and all I can say is: Woo-Hoo! The contents include 3 booklets--one for the adventures, second for NPCs/monsters, third for Ed Bourelle-icious maps! On the back of this limited edition box set of 1000 is a stamped number (mine is #38) after the phrase "Official Killer DM" (hehe) and inside is a card signed by Clark and Bill of Necromancer Games indicating the box's limited status. The box clocks in at $74.99 and customers were told to order early since it would likely sell out quickly. I did and so did it. However, this puppy is too cool to have just one copy so I decided to order another cheaper one through Amazon (where it appears to be selling for $30 less). Whether I get a second or not isn't really important but I thought "what the heck?" It's just a neat keepsake. Even if I don't run the adventures, I have no doubt that the stats and/or maps will see use in my campaigns. (Edit: just got an email from Amazon saying it shipped--yippee for a 2nd copy!)

In other news, I've begun work on BtS: Guards and Wards (did I mention that before?) which means there's only one other spell to choose after this. I already decided to end the series with, appropriately enough, Dispel Magic and wouldn't forgive myself if I didn't do an issue on Lightning Bolt. That leaves one more before the series ends at 36 issues. Not a bad run.

To round out this entry, how about a book sale? In an effort to make even more room on the shelves (and some $$ in my pocket), I'm giving up the following (feel free to make me an offer before they make their way to Ebay sometime this week)...
Pocket Magica (Green Ronin)
Corwyl: Village of Wood Elves (GR)
Complete Guide to Liches (Goodman-1st printing, 3.0)
Book of All Spells (Fast Forward's gigantic spell compendium)
Psionics Handbook (WotC, 3.0)
If Thoughts Could Kill (Malhavoc, 3.0)
Psionics Toolkit (Fiery Dragon, 3.0)

And for a few older items how about...
Final Challenge (solitaire module from Mayfair Games--AD&D compatible)
Stormbringer, 4th ed (Chaosium)
WGR2: Treasures of Greyhawk (AD&D)
EX1: Dungeonland (AD&D)

Buy My Book!

Is it too wierd to continue looking at my book on Amazon.com? I decided to add to the consumer wiki there. Have a look (and buy!) Temporality: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0974664588/ref=pd_ecc_rvi_1/104-0848169-5847948?ie=UTF8

Temporality in Print!

At long last, the ultimate resource for all of your time travel needs is available to caress and fondle and...um, maybe that's just my fantasy. ;) You can pick up this book with your other goodies at GenCon or at your normal gaming venues. See the press release here: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=170926

Update for today: Not a couple hours after handing it in, BtS: Cure Wounds is up for sale! Check out some cool new info for any spell with cure in the title here: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=7493

Another Temporality Review

I'm only too happy that my book continues to rate well by reviewers. Makes it worth the many months of development that went into it. Read the review here: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_reviews_info.php?products_id=6874&reviews_id=13705

Not much else happening. I'm battling some anxiety-induced acid reflux (don't ask me where the anxiety came from but I'm glad it's subsided) and think I'm just about out of the woods. I was growing greatly concerned over my condition but have finally realized that whatever I was worried about was bullshit. Life is good. Now it's time to heal.

A Bit Of News

According to Monte Cook's site (one of the 3rd edition designers for those of you who don't follow such things), he's stepping away from RPGs, leaving the great work Ptolus as his magnum opus. I'm so glad I decided to get a copy. :)

A couple entries ago, I mentioned Christian Walker's Iridia zine. For the most recent installment (7/31), he's reviewed BtS: Dancing Lights. You can listen to the review for yourself here (just click that little "POD" symbol): http://www.iridiazine.net/issues.htm

I'm hoping to finish up BtS: Cure Wounds tomorrow before the new Stargates come on. The backstory I came up with is pretty damned good this time if I do say so myself. This issue was stumping me until I looked up cure light wounds in the 1e and 2e PHBs. Did you know that these healing spells were originally of the necromancy school before becoming conjuration in 3e? Believe it or not, this discovery spurred the backstory. Strange what can inspire you. Hope everyone's beating the heat if you're anywhere near me.

Props for David Hamilton

All of the interior artwork for Temporality was done by artist David Hamilton. I happened to find myself perusing his website the other day and saw several of those pieces now on display there. One in particular caught my eye (as it had the first time upon seeing it): http://www.skewedperspective.com/dangerousartist/June06Images/25-wizcoun-dq.jpg There's just something about this piece--a wizard feverishly trying to work out the specifics of a time travel jaunt (or at least that't what I think of). The piece so engaged me that I decided to ask if I could purchase the original from David. What better keepsake for my book than to have an original art piece signed and dated by the artist? To my surprise and pleasure, David agreed. He commented that he usually doesn't let originals go but, since I was the author, how could he refuse? David is very nice and my blog-readers should know that he also does art on commission for anyone who asks. Check out his site here and tell him I sent you! http://www.dangerousartist.com/

R.I.P. Mako

I knew him first as Conan's wizard companion and most recently as the evil Aku from Samurai Jack. Rest In Peace: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0538683/

Behind the Spells print requests?

If you'd like to see something included in the print compilation of my series, now is the time to make your voice heard. I've started up a thread on ENWorld not only for this purpose but also to see just how many people are interested in the book: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?p=2974270#post2974270

Iridia

Not terribly long ago, a roleplayer named Christian Walker produced a print zine called Scrollworks. This pamphlet was a handful of pages and cost little to subscribe but was always an entertaining read and a welcome sight in my mailbox. Unfortunately, Scrollworks did not survive. But Christian was recently at it again (not able to shake that writing bug, eh CW?) and is producing another zine called Iridia; link here: http://www.iridiazine.net/index.htm

Iridia can be received in the mail by only asking, although I did originally donate $20 or so to the cost. Also, you can download neat little podcasts about each issue or even download a pdf of the zine one week after it's been mailed out to subscribers. In the most recent issue (July 25), I was mentioned both in name (for commenting that I enjoy the podcasts) and product (BtS: Dancing Lights will receive a review in the next issue). Christian is a good man and you could do worse than spend a few minutes seeing what he's up to.

In a follow-up to my art post, I believe I'll be able to sell all four of the prints to one person (thanks, Warren!). It's gratifying to know that these will be going to a good home (a new home at that...probably needs decoration!).

Art for Sale

In another attempt to scrounge up more "pay off my bills" funds, I've decided to part with some of my artwork. I wanted to offer the first on my blog to you dedicated readers. It is a Larry Elmore piece called "Mountain Conflict" as seen here: http://www.larryelmore.com/popups/color/co081.htm

This is a lithograph and, as you can see after clicking on the link, costs $45. Now, mine is nothing special except that Larry has autographed it and written "Good Gaming" underneath the picture. Admittedly, you could have him do this anyway when you order from the site. However, if you buy the lithograph from me, you get a presumably lower number for this limited edition piece (406/1500) and I'll only charge you $35 plus the cost of shipping.

I've also got a trio of other lithographs by Elmore which are no longer available in that format and are extremely low numbers in the limited edition scheme. These are "Deadlock" (6/2000), "Crystal Shard" (3/2000), and "Death of Sturm" (2/2000). However, all are not only signed like the one above but include my name--"Good Gaming, Bret" in ink below the pics. Would anyone still want these knowing this? I guess one could just frame over that bit but then you lose the name of the piece as well. So just why am I selling these, you ask? Well, I ordered these four prints back in '03 from Larry's site. When they arrived, all was as expected. However, not long after this, a second batch of the same prints arrived at my door. Huh? Being the honest person I am, I emailed Elmore's site to tell them about the mix up and prepared to return the second set (which also included the same personalizations as the first). This was the response from Andrea West via email on 4/21/03...

"Bret, this was our mistake, we realized it this morning, so they are yours. TSR owns the right to those prints, and we were recently informed that we could only sell them if they were sold as a limited edition, so we actually just started numbering them...lucky for you as you got some of the first numbers. :)"

Sure enough, the first batch of prints had no such numbering, which I hadn't even noticed. So, I decided to frame those "illegal" ones for posterity. Since I don't really need these others, I'm selling them (if anyone wants them that is). I'm not sure whether I'll go Ebay yet or not. I'll keep you informed and, in the meantime, consider picking up the first piece I'm offering above. Email me if you have any questions or would like to purchase this great work (dmbretb [at] comcast [dot] net).

Status Quo

Looks like some dust is collecting on the 'ol blog since Wednesday. Sorry but I've got nothing new to report. We played another bit of Lost Vault of Thazhar Rho (probably butchered that name as usual) and no one died. I enlarge person'd my cleric of Torm to deal with some kobolds. At a suggestion from my brother, I decided to trample the little devils, slaying at least 8 of them in one fell swoop. Well, the heat of the moment must have clogged my brain because I soon after recalled that, unless I actually have the trample special attack then I shouldn't have been able to use it. Brad (the DM) let it slide. I still feel kinda bad but the whole scene was pretty amusing and, in the end, that's all that matters.

Piracy

No, this isn't a movie review for Pirates of the Carribean 2 but rather my own brush with identity theft and internet piracy. A few minutes ago, I encountered a blog where the person was listing the nationalities who use his P2P files on E-Mule. That rat bastard has many WotC, Green Ronin, and Mongoose titles as well as numerous Behind the Spell issues! I emailed Phil Reed about it since he's dealt with this before. Although, to be honest, I don't know what can be done.

And I can't believe I didn't mention this on the 'ol blog before but I had a brush with identity theft a couple weeks ago. It was on a Wednesday, I recall receiving an email from my Discover card account verifying my change in email address. Huh? For some reason, I didn't bother to investigate until the next morning. I typed in my user ID and password--invalid!!! Thank goodness I was able to verify who I was by using the other security stuff like card #, mother's maiden name, etc. When I clicked on the new user info, I found that I had moved to the Bronx and possessed a yahoo email (which I do, but it sure as hell wasn't this one!). And then I realized that someone had gotten ahold of my personal info.

Despite the fact that I should be getting ready to go to work, I immediately changed the info back to what it should be and called Discover. Two very nice English-speaking (because you know that's rare!) women helped me. My card was shut down and a new one issued to me immediately. It was only by some fluke that the identity thief had not charged anything to the card yet. Crisis averted...this time. Be vigilant my blog-readers!

Review and a New Dragonlance Novel

Just saw a review pop up for BtS: Prestidigitation here: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_reviews_info.php?products_id=6746&reviews_id=13537 I've also started the next issue--BtS: Cure Wounds. I've already come up with some neat spell secrets. The origins of these healing spells may also be a cool read.

Stayed inside yesterday to try and beat the heat. After a hectic morning getting the first batch of Ebay books to the post office, I started reading Outbound Flight and also constructed the book shelf bought with Linda while in Delaware last Sunday. Yeah, I know that shelf construction isn't exactly conducive to beating the heat but it had to be done and I needed a solid block of time. Now that it's erected and holding some stuff, I feel better (and feel like buying more books!).

In addition to the Star Wars novel, I started to re-read Dragons of Autumn Twilight on Saturday in preparation for Dragons of the Dwarven Depths. If you haven't been paying much attention to the new WotC novels, you may not realize that Weis and Hickman have returned to the Chronicles trilogy to fill in the gaps between novels. The first of these has just been released and I plan on reading it after Autumn Twilight to see how it "fits" in terms of feel. Read about the new book here: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dlnovel/956467200

"New" Books

Just a quick note that I've been assembling some of the ficiton I've queried folks about here. I received Swords Against Death by Leiber and Night Arrant by Gygax and have other Gord books--Sea of Death and City of Hawks--on order. I'll also be picking up the other requisite Lanhkmar books (thanks Steve for your list!). If you're looking for older titles like these, you probably can't do much better than to shop the other sellers on Amazon for great prices.

Art Stuff

I've sorta kinda fell into art director boots with the Hoards project. I've forwarded a cover suggestion from Brannon Hollingsworth but otherwise came up with 20+ art requests for the interior as well as a page border description. I though it would take more time to come up with these but the text fortunately speaks for me (or maybe to me). Hopefully the entire process is as expedient.

A little surprise dropped into my Inbox this evening in the form of Vegeance in Freeport fan mail. A purchaser of the adventure found it to be a "darn good adventure" and asked for tips given the nature of his campaign. He was also surprised that I would include my email within the module and encourage comments/questions. In truth, feedback is always welcome (whether it's fan or hate mail) as it makes me take a more critical look at my stuff. In this case, pondering changes to the adventure given that the person's campaign was forwarded 2 years from when Vengeance should take place was fun.

Ah, I almost forgot. A comprehensive review has appeared for BtS: Fireball from reviewer extraordinaire Chris Gath: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_reviews_info.php?products_id=5926&reviews_id=13514

Extreme Heat = Writing

For today and the next few days, we here in PA (and elsewhere I'm sure) are suffering with 90+ degree weather. Yeah, people have it worse elsewhere but I can still bitch on my blog about it. :) So instead of going hiking and risking heat exhaustion, I'm working inside. My first round of Ebay auctions went better than expected and here's hoping the next round does as well. As I type this I'm finishing up BtS: Sleep, quite happy with the result (considering I did not have a backstory 48 hours ago).

Also on the docket today is the creation of art requests for a long-ago finished project called Hoards. Originally started under the auspices of Enkwell Press (a company which never got out of the gate), this d20 treasure resource brings you many new items of wonder. Here's the official blurb I wrote when this book had a slight chance of being published through Green Ronin...

""Players and Game Masters alike, take heart! Here, at last, is the supplement you've been waiting for! Hoards provides the d20 community with all-new, fully fleshed-out treasures from every category--coins, gems, art objects, mundane, and, of course, magic items. This useful tome comes ready to work alongside your DMG when treasure is rolled for randomly. Hoards doesn't replace that favorite treasure book, it expands on it. Each of these fantastic new items also comes complete with the appropriate skill or Bardic Knowledge check a character needs to roll to know its unique background. No more grasping for that elusive DC, it's all right here! Add to this sample hoards of every Encounter Level, themed hoards for oft-encountered situations and environments, the riotous Appearance Anomalies table, and the Antique Item Generator, and you've got one handy book which belongs on any d20 enthusiast's shelf. Allow the hoards of Hoards to jumpstart your imagination today!"

Hoards is now under the care of Dark Quest Games after I brought it to them following the implosion of Enkwell. I spent a great deal of time on this book and really believe people will enjoy it. Acting as editor, developer, and author, I did not want to see the project evaporate. Neal said he's got a hole in the schedule and wants to push Hoards to the front. I'll be working up those art requests this evening so here's hoping this book finally makes it to market!

Lastly, another brief review of Vengeance in Freeport has appeared. At least it is again favorable: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_reviews_info.php?products_id=4950&reviews_id=13481

Wall of...

I keep forgetting to post that the newest Behind the Spells is out. This one focuses on the various wall of spells: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=7319 I just can't seem to hit upon a good backstory for BtS: Sleep which is still on the to-do list. Hopefully I'll put it in the can this weekend. As for tonight, the Stargates return!! I'll be plopped in front of my TV between 8 and 11pm tonight if anyone needs me. :)

Twilight Falling

I finished this book by Paul Kemp the other night and must say I enjoyed my first exposure to the man's work. The other two books in the Cale trilogy are on the shelf but I think I'll space them out between other books (much like I would have to if reading book as they were published). Perhaps next I'll jump into Outbound Flight by Zahn or some of the Coming of Conan the Cimmerian I just picked up this week. Either way, I look forward to seeing what happens to poor Erevis Cale when next we meet. I was happy to have identified the slaadi before they were named (and without reaching for the Monster Manual) and was surprised by the book's cliffhanger ending (which doesn't happen normally in FR books). My only complaint is that Cale still doesn't feel fully fleshed out. This may be because it's not the first story to feature him. In any event, it was still a good yarn that clipped along well with some above average writing.

In drug store news, here's a quote of the day I wanted to post from Wednesday: "Come here, I have to smell you!" This was spoken with heartfelt longing by a younger woman to one of our middle-aged female customers when the latter entered the store. What?! I thought while walking into the back. Sometimes the workplace is stranger than the fiction I read.

Out With the Old...

...and in with the, well, old (sort of). My trip to Days of Knights today was quite pleasant. The people were sociable and the selection was very good (although I already owned much of the d20 I wanted). I did pick up the print version of Hot Pursuit (the chase rules from Adamant), some new minis, Coils of Set (Necromancer/Kenzer), and something I've been looking for--the Maztica box set (this being the old mentioned above). In an effort to gain back some of the $$ spent, I've dumped more stuff onto the altar of Ebay: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZvantas1QQhtZ-1

Delaware Day Trips

On Sunday, Linda and I took a trip to Dover Downs just to have a change of scenery for the 'ol slot machine trip. It was alright but nothing we have to rush back to. For the amount of time it takes to get there (2 hours from Birdsboro), we might as well just go to Atlantic City. However, we did enjoy some tax-free shopping at places like Big Lots!, Borders (where I picked up my first fiction involving that most famous of barbarians Conan), and Staples. Since I spent more money than I should have that day, I was going to spend my day off today at home/hiking. But after seeing a thread about game stores in the Philly area on ENWorld, I planned an impromptu trip today to a store called "Days of Knights" as seen here: http://www.daysofknights.com/

Oddly enough, I'll find myself back in Delaware. I suppose this will be another 2 hour one-way trip but that's no big deal. Driving gives me more time to brainstorm adventures and rpg writing. I might just drop by the Christiana Mall while I'm close since we missed seeing it on Sunday. With nothing that sorely needs my attention (except maybe my bank account), it'll be nice to have yet another day trip where I don't really have to return at a special time. Wish me luck finding some rpg bargains.

Ebay Sales

If anyone is interested in picking up some cheap d20, head over to my Ebay sales page: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZvantas1QQhtZ-1

I unfortunately make a habit of collecting whatever interesting d20 titles cross my path (especially if those books are on sale). But facts are facts and my shelves are way too crowded. I may add more to that sale list over the week so keep watching. Of course, I might just advertise some titles here for direct purchase. Can't hurt and then you don't have to worry about getting sniped!

Well Met!

Yesterday I saw a thread over on rpg.net looking for gaming-related blogs. 24 hours later I get some comments from new people who followed my link here. This is a post to say "Hi!" to everyone visiting for the first time. If you have a few spare minutes, feel free to dig around the archives here. I've almost been blogging for a year so there isn't overly much compared to other industry blogs. Sometimes I'll blab about my writings and other time my life at the local drug store where I toil. With luck, half of the time I'm interesting and the other half amusing. You be the judge.

With the new flow of traffic, I decided to link to two of the newcomers' own blogs. The first is noted author Paul Kemp, of Realms fame. The other is fellow freelancer Michael Ferguson (see the Emerald Lich link) who I see lives dangerously close to me in Phillipsburg, NJ. He has penned, among other things, the Complete Guide to Liches (to which I added some content for that book's 3.5 revision) as well as being contributor to Goodman's The Adventure Begins. And speaking of that newest Dungeon Crawl Classic, it is now available for sale at your favorite web and brick and mortar stores. I wrote an adventure called "By Invitation Only" which my home group playtested around the beginning of the year. Here's a link to the book ( http://www.goodman-games.com/5028preview.php ) and the blurb from my adventure...

"The heroes are invited to a remote mountain dwelling where a dying adventurer wants them to take his treasure. But to gain the treasure, the heroes must first beat his dungeon and thereby prove their worthiness."

Here's another sound byte, this one from work today: "I'm not an idiot." This spoken by pharmacist Loralee to about the 5th or 6th person in a chain of transferred insurance people on the phone. She was attempting to discover why a promised prior authorization for a prescription was not being filled by the company (Express Scripts if you're interested). This particular man was being rude and Loralee gives as good as she gets. She demanded to know his name (which he gave as "Max") and to speak with his supervisor. Instead, he shunted her back to the main phone menu. After a half hour or so, she called EXP back to lodge a formal complaint. The woman she reached said it would be looked into. Ah, another fun day at the store.

Writing Style Ramblings

(Hmm, I just noticed that my thumb is stained...hope it's not from these Pepperidge Farm pretzel fish I'm eating! No matter, on with the blog!)

While I wait for BtS: The Walls to make its apperance for sale, I'm starting BtS: Sleep. After that it's five more issues and then done. I'm eager to start on that fiction piece for Reality Deviant Press (as mentioned a few entries ago) but find myself stalled. I mean, I'm eager to write but hate outlining everything out first. I have a basic plot in mind and my protagonist and the sidekick are fully realized but shouldn't one have the plot fleshed out at the beginning? I feel I'm an author who just throws the characters into the story and then sees how they react. Unfortunately, a good story this does not make.

The trouble is that I've been writing these very small pieces for Behind the Spells. Once I have the story in mind, I just start it and then somehow the whole thing falls together en route. With 1,200 words, that seems to be working. But with between 15,000 and 20,000 words, I think not. It's been so long since I wrote fiction that I can't remember just how I went about it. I could just start and then go back and revise but you have to understand that I hate revision. The piece should be like Mozart wrote it--bam!; there it is...fin. Well, no Mozart genius here but I believe I've lived longer than he did so that's a plus.

Another of my problems is vocabulary. I've noticed that my online-speak contains the same words over and over. They say an author should read alot (to help in that department as well as in others I imagine). Chalk that up as another problem. My mastery of the written word is stagnant but at least I realize it. I'm hoping to improve that by reading more each day even if it's just the newspaper at work.

However, while grammar and vocabulary may have atrophied over my d20 career, I'm pleased to say that my writing method has vastly improved. Did I ever mention that I used to write everything out longhand before moving to a computer (which was a typewriter when I started)? Short stories were drafted by hand and then the major revision process would be while typing it up. Yeah, I know it sounds archaic but it worked for me. When I started to get more business after the d20 boom, this process continued. In Mystic Eye Games' Foul Locales: Beyond the Walls, I wrote a locale called "Am'Elvat." This elven festival included not only the customary 5,000+ fluff but also about 3 dozen NPCs statted out and described. I can still remember penning all of that out on many pages of legal pad (which I've since sold as part of an Ebay auction).

The change came with Goodman Games' Complete Guide to Dragonkin. I knew that there was no way to write a 45,000-word book out longhand and then go the computer and expect to keep a deadline. After extensive notes, I went to the computer right away. Thank the gods this broke me of the longhand curse! Since then I don't think any of my projects have been wholly penned by hand (the exception being NPCs and monsters which still have their mathematical portions sketched out on paper for safety's sake).

Ah, I forgot to mention that I did indeed send off a proposal for 3 articles to Dragon. The first idea was to use regular objects as familiars (which are animated in the process). The second highlights a beholder's spellbook and the unusual (and deadly!) spells kept inside. The third and final idea involves a generic secret society I've had at the back of my mind for many years called The Circle. They revere the natural cycle of the world and therefore their chief foes are the undead. This article for "Bazaar of the Bizarre" describes six or seven magic items commonplace to this group's members.

Soundtrack Chat

Inspired by Ari Marmell's recent livejournal entry (see here: http://mouseferatu.livejournal.com/) about James Horner's Troy score, I'm posting this little soundtrack question: Are special effects killing soundtracks? This isn't aimed at Troy but rather at the newest Star Wars trilogy. All three movies had sub par scores (in my opinion) from John Williams. Think about this. Williams is responsible for a bevy of fantastic scores from Indiana Jones to Superman to Jurassic Park to the original Star Wars trilogy and so much more. Why would the latest trilogy's score not be up to the challenge. From what I've read, Lucas tweaked with the films until the very last second--tweaking the special effects, naturally, because he has that power. Nothing wrong with this, of course. It's a director's right I guess. But what does this do to the soundtrack? I'm betting that Williams never even saw bits that made it into the movie long after he finished scoring. Especially Episode I where bit of tracks are actually recycled. I was severely disappointed.

So what do you think? As big-budget special effects movies increase their technological development, will the soundtracks to them suffer? Maybe my whole reasoning is off here but I'd like to see some evidence.
Edit: Oh, and Happy 4th everyone!!!! I'll be staying indoors for most of the day; pehaps getting out for a short hike despite the heat and humidity. Hope everyone remains happy and safe.

Never Rains, But It Pours

Finally the rain has ceased here in east-central PA. The Schuylkill River is the highest I've ever seen it. A bridge was roped off by police because the far side (away from town) was apparently underwater. I'm glad our house is at a position where it never falls prey to flooding (*knocks wood*).

I forgot to mention the other day that I finished reading Greenwood and Cunningham's City of Splendors novel about that greatest of Realmsian cities--Waterdeep. If you haven't read it yet, let me save you some time--don't. It is clear where Ed stops writing and Elaine begins. Now, don't get me wrong. I enjoy what each writer brings to the table in terms of style but Ed almost seemed lost on this one and he had the pleasure (I believe) of writing the first 2/3 of the book! One of Elaine's more noted characters, Elaith Craulnober, receives some attention here but it isn't until the last few acts where he does anything. Yeah, I know, the book isn't about him. However, I'm hard pressed to state what exactly the book was about. Waterdhavian nobles realizing they need to give a damn to see the city prosper? I guess so. And two of them are made Lords at the end! The antagonists were laughable and hopefully will not make a return.

I've since moved on to a trilogy recommended to me by Brad (of Chilled Monkey Brains blog-fame). Brad, please kick me next time we meet for not starting these sooner. I'm about a third of the way through the first of the Erevis Cale trilogy and am really enjoying it. Cale needs to grow on me a bit more before I can really get a sense of what he is and how he'll react to situations but anything involving the Zhentarim, Cyrics vs. Banites, the Shadow Weave, and assassins gets an "A" in my book.

Speaking of new books, can anyone point me to a chronological listing of the Lankhmar books? I'd like to give these a try and want to read them in their order of appearance. Perhaps I'll find some inspiration for my own fiction piece about Delrick Jhomes (mentioned in previous blog entry).

I feel remiss in not mentioning that my brother's wife is currently experiencing some medical woes. After falling in the lobby of their downtown Philadelphia apartment and brutally fracturing her leg, Zlatka went to have the leg rebroken in preparation for future surgery. This was done without pain killers while she was conscious--twice. Scot can chime in with the whole story but suffice it to say it was not a good experience for anyone involved. Now, after finally getting things straight with that after being put under, she awaits proper surgery next week. Send some good thoughts Scot's and Zlatka's way, won't you?

Retirement My Ass

So a few months back I decided to really back off of freelancing; focusing only on my Behind the Spells and trying to catch up on some reading. Guess what? I'm back!! Over the last few days I've gathered up some ideas and am ready to return to the d20 fray. Here's what I'm planning...

*Behind the Spells: It's not over yet. There are 7 issues remaining to fill out subscription obligations. After this, the print version hopefully won't be far behind. As I finish up the pdf series, I'm thinking of things to add to the print version to make it more desirable even to those who have the pdfs. The compilation will utilize errata that's been pointed out in reviews. Magic Missile will be fleshed out to be more on par with the other releases. As the very first in the series, MM was a prototype. The mechanics presented will either get a makeover or additions (maybe both!). There will also be a section on how spell secrets can be discovered in a campaign.

*Dragon Magazine ideas: It's high time I again submit to this grand 'ol mag. After rejections during the 2nd edition days, I hope to break in with some cool ideas under the new-ish regime of Erik Mona. One idea I have is an article on rules for using objects as familiars. Things like coins, cloaks, and even rope can be an arcane casters best friend!

*Fiction: While I never did dive back into fiction writing, I was asked yesterday by David Jarvis (of Reality Deviant Press) to contribute to a series of fiction pdfs he's planning. After some thought, I decided to go for it. I'm bringing along a character based on an NPC I wrote for Foul Locales: Behind the Gates. Delrick Jhomes, investigator of arcane matters (and an NPC in a past campaign), will be involved in a mystery concerning the return of a death cult thought long extinct. The human's companion is a small sentient ooze named Teek who communicates with Delrick via telepathy. If this sounds at all interesting, keep an eye out for more news.

*Castles & Crusades: Let's try this again. I just ordered the 2nd printing of the C&C PHB (from the sale I mentioned previously) and would like to write a module for this system. If you recall, there was talk of doing this through Ronin Arts some time ago but it never came to fruition. I've got the new writer's guidelines from Steve Chenault (Troll Lord honcho) and am eager to ponder some ideas. Steve said to email him in two weeks. Likely, this is due to their attendance at Origins this weekend but that's just a guess.

*Temporal Digest: Somehow I'm still going to follow up on this as well. Since a lot of the contents are likely going to be tweaked OGC, this series shouldn't be too tough to start up and continue.

That's it for now! If something falls through the cracks here, there's always something else to work on--moving back to pdfs-only or pitching DCCs for example. This post was inspired by Mike Mearls most recent livejournal entry. In it, he states that, at present, there is no reason to freelance. Bah! Link: http://mearls.livejournal.com/126121.html

New Link

Over there on the right you'll notice a new link to something called "Choose Death." No, this isn't some kind of advertising for a suicide cult but rather the blog of newly named Dungeon Crawl Classics line developer Harley Stroh. A prolific writer of these "old school" adventures, Harley seems like a perfect fit to oversee the line. Congrats and here's to perhaps working with you in the future! [Note that Harley, myself, and several other d20 scribes penned the contents of the just released DCC #29: The Adventure Begins! as seen here: http://www.goodmangames.com/5028preview.php

One Week Later

Yikes! Has it been a whole week since I posted something here?! Well, I handed in BtS: Antimagic Field and am slowly putting together BtS: The Walls which includes every casters' favorite wall of... spells. Did you know that each of the wall spells was crafted by a different race but at the same time? You'll be able to read about it soon enough!

I've begun work on the first Temporal Digest for Dark Quest by compiling a list of OGC spells from Necromancer's Eldritch Sorcery. This series of pdfs will replace my Behind the Spells work load (although I don't plan on releasing them once per week I can tell you). The TD series will focus on "new" (read OGC) stuff melded with my Temporality concepts and include info for all time periods of gaming (I hope). Looks like I'll have to suck it up and learn some d20Modern now.

This weekend is wide open so I hope to accomplish some writing and reading. After the busyness of last weekend and the agonizingly slow pace of the past work week, it's nice to have a little down time. Oh, and for those interested, Troll Lord Games is having a very good sale--$10 for each book! Check out their newly redesigned site here but be quick because the sale ends soon: http://www.trolllord.com/newsite/

Graduates & Dungeon Crawls

No, this isn't the name of a new game I'm developing. It's a brief description for the upcoming weekend. Tomorrow is a trip to Philadelphia for my brother's graduation from Drexel Univ. His degree is in Information Systems (which appears to be a bullshit phrase for "computer stuff"). Sunday is a day of gaming as we return to the Lost Vault of Thazhar Rho" (DCC #2) under Brad's capable DMing. It will be nice for me to play instead of being in the captain's chair. :)

Hoping to get the lion's share of BtS: Antimagic Field completed tonight. Despite being owed a few hundred dollars yet from Dark Quest, I opened discussions with Neal to pen small expansion supplements for Temporality. I've been compiling a list of spells to copy and tweak from Necromancer Games' Eldritch Sorcery. Also plan on developing some new havens and perhaps an adventure or two based on my book.

Invisibility

The new issue is available here: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=7171 Up next is BtS: Antimagic Field. After that, just half a dozen more until the end. I'm actually looking forward to it (if only to see the finished print product!). I'd also like to pen a few supplements/expansions for Temporality.

I wrote a longer post here earlier but blogger ate it. Suffice it to say that I'm back from pet-/house-sitting (as of Sunday evening) and am happy to get back to business as usual. I'm feeling lazy on my day off today and, while I should write, will likely just go for a hike and read.

Mid-Week Update

Okay, there's not much to say but I felt that I needed to blog something. I'm putting the finishing touches on BtS: Invisibility tonight and must finish it before bed. This is because as of tomorrow I'll be house/petsitting for an older couple about 10 minutes from my place. There dog, Chipper, is very well behaved and I pretty much consider the "job" a kind of vacation. My tour of duty there will be from Thursday through Sunday. The only problem is getting up extra early so I can commute back to Hamburg and prepare for work.

At work today marked the triumphant return of "librarian kid". This is a hell-spawned child from the Chinese eatery two doors up from the drug store. He's been conspicuously absent from my place of business for many months. I learned from Shirley (who owns the herbal store between the drug store and chinese place) that LK is now growing plants and visiting her on an almost daily basis. Today he came into the store for a pair of tweezers, assorted gum and, of all things, women's razors. When Loralee (who was manning the register) informed him the total was upwards of $7, LK did a quick count of the change that had been dumped from his Wolfgang Candy truck tin (which he likely stole from someplace). He then decided he didn't need half of the packs of gum or the tweezers. After paying for the rest and eventually leaving, I said that he would definitely be back. Sure enough, the next person to come through the door was LK. Turns out whoever he bought the razors for didn't want them so he got some money back.

And then the questions started..."Do you have any, ah, things for the car...to make it smell?" Air fresheners, I wondered and asked him as much. He repeated his questioning ramble and I acknowledged it with the same answer, "We don't have any." He then moved over to the Listerine and asked, "What's this for?" I had flashbacks to my last encounter with LK where he asked me what the hell everything cost at the candy counter. I wasn't about to go through something similar with half a grilled cheese sandwich getting cold. So I answered, "That's for your mouth, not your car." He answered, "I know." Then why the fuck did you just ask me, I thought. And then, going against nearly 14 years of faithfully waiting on customers, I turned my back on LK and walked into the back where the rest of my dinner waited.

It worked! LK left the store without further discussion. Now, that may have been mean of me but (despite my having the great amounts of patience) if he thinks he'll be visiting the drug store all summer to get his inane questions answered, he'd better think again.

Angels & Demons

Some twists I saw coming, some I didn't. This is after just finishing Dan Brown's "prequel" to the DaVinci Code. The ending was certainly more satisfying, that's for sure. I'm pleased Hollywood is also preparing a movie based on this book as well. Mr. Brown can write a good yarn and I feel that I've learned a few things about pacing and working with characters.

In RPG news, another review found its way online today, this one for the first in the Behind the Spells series--Magic Missile: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_reviews_info.php?cPath=260_283&products_id=5862&reviews_id=13115 Chris (who penned the Temporality review linked below) gives thorough reviews and honest critiques. I'm providing the BtS series to him in order in the hopes he will review the entire run.