Too Little Time

So why not try BtS: Time Stop at koboldquarterly.com here: http://www.koboldquarterly.com/k/article139.php

But really, there's just not enough time to post on this blog, the TO blog, and now I'm tweeting on twitter (under trickyowlbear). Quite a lot I'd like to get accomplished in the new year on the writing front--more BtS, BtM, a Traveller introductory adventure, an OSRIC adventure, and a straight 3.5/OGL adventure featuring the Dark Creepers & Stalkers which are the next BtM topic.

So, anyone have any exciting New Years plans? If you've been following my blog, you know I'm no fan of celebrating this "holiday" but tonight the group and I are heading out for midnight bowling in Reading. Should be amusing as I haven't bowled in many years. We haven't gamed at all in December so it'll be good to see the gang. Hopefully much gaming will commence in '09. Whatever your plans, be safe and happy!

Merry Christmas!

Although the holiday is officially 4 minutes past, I didn't want the day to go by without note on the blog here. I hope everyone who celebrates this joyous holiday had a great one. I personally had a good time both giving and receiving presents and spending time with the family. Tomorrow its back to work!

BtS: Darkness review

And here's another review, this one the first for Darkness: http://grandwiki.wikidot.com/rm2

Edit: If you swing by the Grand OGL Wiki above, I've arranged to have a discount coupon there for those who check out the review. Through that site, you can save 25 cents on this newest Behind the Spells release!

Compendium Review

Not sure who runs Apathy Blogs, but they seemed to enjoy BtS: Compendium: http://www.apathyblogs.com/2008/12/22/behind-the-spells-compendium/

BtS: Magic Aura at KQ

http://www.koboldquarterly.com/k/article128.php

The story and related research for this one came rather easily. It was the spell secret that proved difficult--how do you tweak a spell who's sole function is to show an illusion to someone who is actually looking for it? Find out through the link!

Compendium Review

New customer review over at Paizo for BtS: Compendium: http://paizo.com/store/byCompany/t/trickyOwlbearPublishing/behindTheSpells/v5748btpy83z0

Kind Words for BtS

Looks like BtS at Kobold Quarterly is getting some kind attention from various folks. Monte Cook wrote on Wolfgang's Open Design LJ: "It's pretty cool." For a more wordy opinion, see Robert Emerson's blog post here: http://emersonsbookshelf.blogspot.com/2008/12/kobold-quarterlys-behind-spells.html

The KQ Connection

If you had told me two weeks ago that I'd be writing for Kobold Quarterly, only the preeminent magazine who is more than capable of taking the place of poor deceased (print) Dragon, I'd have laughed. But, here we are. As I mentioned at the Tricky Owlbear blog, we're now producing smaller BtS issues exclusively for the KQ website. All thanks is due to Ed Healy, KQ's ad manager and host of the Atomic Array podcast (and an all-around nice guy). Check out Color Spray here: http://www.koboldquarterly.com/k/article117.php

In other news, Linda and I were out Xmas shopping yesterday and I got a surprising amount of presents bought (using no credit cards I might add!). It was 4 solid hours of shopping though and I was more than happy to come home and rest. :)

Still 6 Months Away But...

...let the Trek-gasm begin!!!

http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/startrek/

Compendium Review

Here's the latest words of critical praise, this time from Rpg-resource: http://www.rpg-resource.org.uk/index.php?article=3954&visual=4

Busy Busy

Before I launch into what's been going on, I feel I most post this review link to the BtS: Compendium for those of you who feel (rightly so too) that the Tricky Owlbear blog isn't worth checking on too often: http://paizo.com/store/byCompany/t/trickyOwlbearPublishing/behindTheSpells/v5748btpy83z0

"So how's the job going?" is a phrase I hear often. Well, it's going pretty damned well. I currently have two routes a day. The first is from 10am to 1pm and runs from the Pottsville area to Fleetwood and then returning to Muhlenburg. Then I have a little time to myself to grab some lunch and rest before heading out to be in Schulykill Haven by 3:30pm. From here I journey to Cressona, Pottsville again, and then north into what feels like the frontier of civilization (just northern Schuylkill Cty but that's close enough!) before returning to Muhlenburg between 6 and 6:30pm. All told, including travel to and from the start/end points, I work an 8-hour day; just happens to be split into two sections.

Last week was a bit rough as I was fighting the flu and some light-headedness but most of that seems to be done with. The money is good for my work and they even through me a Sat. route every other week for some extra bucks. Even with the upkeep to the car and the gas needed, the $$ is still worth my while. And a good thing too since I just got the bill for my ankle MRI (yikes!). At least that one was still under the insurance before I lost it.

Thanks to everyone who wished me well since it seems to be helping. Here's looking forward to many months of uneventful and financially fruitful driving.

New Job!

I love driving. Love it. I've always wanted to use my own vehicle to do courier work. Easy, high-paying, and no annoying people to deal with (except perhaps a brief road encounter in traffic). Well, my dream job has finally come. I was out doing some orientation for a company today and I'm one of 80+ independent contractors doing work out of the company's Muhlenburg hub. For the time being, I'll be making double what I've made in the past (before taxes, but still good!). The work could not be easier--picking up bank slips across Schuylkill County and transporting them either back to the warehouse or very close to the starting point in the evening. The hours are a bit longer than I'm used to (10am to 6:30-7pm) but the work is so easy who cares?! Driving is also a great time to get inspired through either the scenery (I'm driving through some very beautiful areas) or via music you're listening to. Should be some great brainstorming time for my writing projects and I'm getting paid for it to boot. Life is good.

Tendonitis

That's the official diagnosis of my left ankle problem. The treatment is to wear a foot wrap, take 2 Aleve a day for 2 weeks, and do an exercise once a day until I see the doc again in a month. All in all, much better than I could have hoped for really. Much preferable to surgery. The whole process was actually pretty smooth. EIP (the extremity place where the MRI was performed) was especially friendly and fast and got the results to my local doc within a few hours. According to the technician there, EIP's pay program should bill me for my out-of-network cost even if my health plan doesn't recognize the facility. Not a bad deal.

Today is a rather dreary day so I'm hoping to get some writing done--specifically on BtS: Darkness which will be a kind of lead-in to BtM: Creeper.

Was in Atlantic City Wed with Linda and we gambled many hours away. Before the losing of money began, we hit some of the outlet shops across from the casinos. Believe it or not, the places were quite reasonable. I got three shirts for my sister's youngest, a reusable shopping bad for her, and two sheets of Disney stickers for her middle child all for $7! We had a great day even if we didn't come home ahead.

Links Note: If you travel to Mike Ferguson's blog from here, please don't be alarmed when my link here points to his new site: Emerald Lich! Here's wishing Mike many happy years at his new location.

Happy Autumnal Equinox 2008

It's that magical time of year when the leaves change, night begins to outpace the day, and harvest festivals of all types swing into gear. It's my absolute favorite time of year and there's plenty of activities to keep my interest. Hiking can increase in frequency as spider and their &#^$& webs are out cold so it's a great time to take advantage of "bush-whacking" wherein you can go off-trail to explore.

Also up for this month is Celticfest held in Bethlehem, PA this coming weekend. Not sure which day I'll get out there but one of them for sure. I usually buy my sister's birthday/Xmas present there as she's also into the Celtic seen. Unfortunately, for non-drinkers like myself you have to be cautious when to attend for nights are when many come out to eat, DRINK, and be merry. Still, even fighting through stinky crowds is worth it for the festival's vendors.

New to this fall season is me getting an MRI on my ankle tomorrow morning. Seems I likely aggravated an old injury sometime either late last year or early this year (can't point to a specific incident) and now it hurts me at various times during the day--most frequently when I'm barefoot (showers are flat and hard!). Thank goodness my health insurance is intact until month's end. Speaking of that, I've only just begun job-searching with any regularity. Not too concerned. The universe will provide.

Back on topic--enjoy your cool autumn season, whatever you do!

Now Selling On Ebay

See here for a list of my current auctions: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZvantas1

Among the more notables are the Rappan Athuk trilogy of adventures from Necromancer Games and a quite rare Three Days to Kill adventure from Atlas Games. Why rare? Well, this is the limited edition (#107 of 500) module printed and collated by hand to be ready in time for GenCon 2000 and was, in fact, the very first d20 product for sale.

Compendium Podcast

Our first product-specific podcast commentary is now available for Behind the Spells: Compendium which you can listen to/download here:
http://www.trickyowlbear.com/podcast/description/bts-compendium.php

Entering the World of Podcasts

Whether the roleplaying public is ready or not, Scot and I have delved into the wide world of podcasts! I sketched out an outline in about half an hour and then Scot and I just recorded an off the cuff "Podcast Zero" for Tricky Owlbear here: http://www.trickyowlbear.com/podcast/description/ep00.php

We're great fans of the Car Talk show for NPR (which you can find at http://www.cartalk.com/ ) so we left most of the laughs in! You can hear me utter the awkward phrase: "We would like to read people's emails..." and near the end of the show we pretty much have a breakdown. Thank goodness is was over by that point! In any case, we had great fun and hope you do as well. :)

Kudos

Here's some kind words posted for the Compendium from the man we hired to do layout for the book--the extremely talented Stephen Wark: http://www.chirographum.com/weblog/?p=3681

Compendium Reviewed!

In case you don't check out the Tricky Owlbear blog very often, here's a note to say that the Behind the Spells: Compendium has gotten its first official review! Not too shabby: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_reviews_info.php?&reviews_id=18174&products_id=56664

Lord Soth original art for sale

AS the layoff continues, I'm combing through my collection of D&D stuff to see what might make some $$ if offered up for sale. One item I'm willing to part with (reluctantly) is this original ink drawing from Valerie Valusek featuring everyone's favorite death knight: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=130249814978&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=003

Consider giving this artwork a good home.

Movies of the Week

Scot and I decided to do a double feature this week in the form of Clone Wars and Mummy 3. Since we went from one theater into the next directly (taking time only to stop for more popcorn), I had to really pee til all was said and done. Were the flicks worth urinary disruption? Let's find out.

Clone Wars was, hmm, I can't really say I was highly anticipating it. It's always fun to revisit the Star Wars universe but the animation style I saw in the previews did not overwhelm me. Still, the movie turned out to be not bad at all. The action is pretty much constant which is good since the dialogue is still Lucas-cringeworthy as it has been with the prequels. The basic plot is OK (Republic wanting to gain shipping lanes through the outer rim) but when that plot hinges on Jabba the Hutt's son then you have to inwardly groan. If you haven't seen it, I won't spoil you by describing the Huttling itself but both my brother and I were surprised by its..ah..cuteness. Another cool little scene (yes, I said cool) was when Anakin and Asohka were trying to get the Huttling and themselves into the Republic ship. When the ship dropped its shields and a few droid ships kamakazied into the hanger before the heroes it was very unexpected! All in all, though, a mindless romp through the SW playground with the faces you know and the combat you love. Go see it with no expectations and you'll do fine.

As for Mummy, I wasn't sure what to expect. The previews lead you astray in that you think the gang will fight yetis...not so much. Quite the opposite in fact, which annoyed me slightly. The plot was even more simple than the earlier two flicks in the trilogy and the movie seemed to move a little to quickly from plot point to plot point. Yes, they didn't need to take much time to reintriduce Rick, Eve, and the gang, but some more character time would have been nice. I missed Rachel Weisz but welcomed back the actor who potrays Jonathan with open arms (he opened a nightclub named Imhoteps--classic!). At the end, my brother and I both agreed that we actually preferred Clone Wars to Mummy 3.

Faux Pas for McCain

Grabbed from Elaine Cunningham's LJ...

"An excerpt from a post by Michael Goldfarb on the blog of John McCain's official website:

'It may be typical of the pro-Obama Dungeons & Dragons crowd to disparage a fellow countryman's memory of war from the comfort of mom's basement, but most Americans have the humility and gratitude to respect and learn from the memories of men who suffered on behalf of others.'

Excuse me? It's a little unnerving to see this sort of sneering, dismissive, cheap-shot cliche employed on the blog of a presidential candidate. Insulting ANY portion of the electorate is bad politics, and employing shallow, silly generalizations is bad writing.Another thing that bothers me about this? The men and women in uniform who play D&D and read game-related novels--and there are quite a few of them--deserve better.Over the years I've heard from many servicemen who are a long, long way from home. I've mailed signed books, and donated novels and gaming supplies to base libraries.

For a couple of years, I exchanged emails with a young serviceman stationed in South Korea. He organized a yearly fundraiser at his base, collecting signed items the others might want to purchase and donating the proceeds to a local orphanage. I've talked to quite a few gamers at cons who have served in the military. And I've noticed that book signings near military bases generally have a stronger turn-out. (Submarine bases in particular--those guys like to stock up.) In short, it is my observation that "the D&D crowd" includes quite a few people who have shown themselves willing to suffer on behalf of others. Those I'm been privleged to meet, both in person and online, are exemplary young men. I'm guessing any one of them could teach Mr. Goldfarb a few things about the art of showing respect."

Ebay

Before I forget and the auctions are over, I'm purging some unwanted Grenadier figs here: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZvantas1

I'll be sorting through my collection of stuff to see what else I can sell since my wallet's on life support for the time being.

And Now For Something...

...well you know the rest. Seems I'm going to have more free time to devote to writing as I was laid off indefinitely from my lab job this past Friday. The manager didn't want to do it to me in particular but things are so slow at the moment that, I think, some 15 of us are off on the unemployment train. Still, what with unemployment being extended to like 39 weeks and the pay (I hope) being enough to cover my monthly bills, it's a good thing. I picked up the Traveller core book and downloaded Mongoose's publisher developer pack. Now I can buckle down and crank out some Traveller goodness for Tricky Owlbear as we definitely need a new direction to go with our products.

In campaign news, my "Stop 4th Edition!" story arc has hit a unique landmark in that next session will see the integration of two adventuring parties into one mega-story! The planar PCs, who are the main PCs, are assaulting a land base of the evil chidahn, dragonfly-men from a foreign dimension. The chidahn are generating some kind of magical field around a gigantic artifact in orbit of a planet which is keeping their brethren in a prison pocket-dimension. When the artifact dies, it will loose its bond with the glyph gates which currently "caps" the prison demiplane. Unfortunately, the artifact's other function is to keep energy flows between the gates steady and, when it dies, the backlash of chaotic power will explode violently through each glyph gate in the multiverse--forever changing the realms they are on in ways impossible to predict (i.e. cause 4th edition). Now, if somehow the artifact can be destroyed on purpose instead of letting it die, the sudden collapse will actually "plug" the stream of power it controls--forever sealing the chidahn's prison while keeping the gate's from overloading. But how does one destroy an artifact the size of a small moon?

Enter the previous campaign's story arc involving Orcus and his meteor-thrower. While the planar PCs gear up to assault the shield-making chidahn base inside a dormany volcano, the Protectorate will make contact with the previous campaign's PCs since they are the ones most experienced with the doomsday weapon still in orbit of Toril. Will those PCs agree to help? Why wouldn't they, it's what adventurers do after all--save the multiverse! I hope everyone who's gamed in either campaign can make it next time for a Return of the Jedi-ish finale of epic proportions. One party takes down the shield while the other takes out the artifact. Simple enough, right? Mwahahaha! I'm looking forward to seeing how one group of players handles two PCs apiece as we switch back and forth between groups. One thing is certain--it will not be boring!

Star Trek XI

Like most geeks, I'm keeping tabs on what's going on with the new Star Trek movie coming out in May 2009. Looks like someone from AICN got a brief preview of two scenes and chats about it here: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/37648

But it is this line in particular that stood out to me: I can't emphasise how real they look. They all use models, no super shiny pure CGI like in Nemesis.

That just does my heart a world of good. The models are what made the ship scenes for me. They're much more real than the plethora of CGI thrown at movie-goers today (I'm looking at you, Lucas, and those insipid Indy IV prairie dogs). Star Trek XI just keeps sounding better and better.

"The 11th Hour" Review

This was a pdf I wrote a couple years back featuring a unique (well, unique among rpgs anyway) twist and no suggested combat encounters. Frequent reviewer of all things, Chris Gath, has kindly posted a review of The 11th Hour pdf on his enworld blog: http://www.enworld.org/forum/blog.php?b=546

Shadowbred

I just finished this first novel in a new trilogy from WotC by Paul Kemp and, let me tell you, it was damned good! Sembian political maneuvering, Shadovar machinations, a jail break inside a magic-dead zone--this book keeps you reading happily until the cliffhanger ending. I know this title has been available for awhile but I'm trying to read these gradually since there's such a break in between the novel's release dates. Hate to read book one only to forget what's going on by the time book two comes out the following year. You know what I'm talking about.

Still, there's something about title character Cale which just doesn't sit right with me. Maybe I've read to many Drizzit novels, but I'm weary of the bad dude trying to make good routine. Granted, Cale is more "dark" than everyone's favorite dark elf but...I can't really put my finger on it. The fact that Cale gives in to his dark side once in awhile is more realistic...eh, I've never been good at book reports. I say go read it (and the other Cale books) and judge for yourselves. Good stuff, all the same.

Tricky Owlbear Store

We just set up our own little corner of cafepress here: http://www.cafepress.com/trickyowlbear

Our wonderful logo by Rick Hershey is the only image on the items for now but we're brainstorming new images so keep watching!

Podcasts

One of my web-buddies, Ed Healy, started up a podcast recently here: http://www.atomicarray.com/

It's good stuff! They spoke with Richard Iorio of Rogue Games about his cool-sounding game Colonial Gothic. I know Ed through Kobold Quarterly, but he's far busier than being involved with one magazine. See his info here: http://www.linkedin.com/in/ephealy

So what podcasts do you listen to? I can't say there's one in particular that I go to again and again (can't seem to find the time).

Vacation Thoughts

My long vacation is at an end and tomorrow it's back to work. So what did I do with my time off? The first portion--last Thursday thru the weekend--was a blur of preparing and unleashing the planar adventure. Entitled "The End of Days, part I" the module saw the unfolding of my "Stop 4th Edition!" story arc. As you may or may not know, the planar campaign is based in Sigil where the party belongs to an organization called the Protectorate. This power group runs missions through Starg--er, I mean glyph gates that are scattered throughout the multiverse. For this story arc, there is a nemesis called the chidahn, a militant race of humanoid dragonfly-men from another dimension bent on the annihilation of our multiverse. Apparently, the chidahn invaded millennia ago but were stopped by the gatebuilders. The PCs learned that the gatebuilders used an artifact to capture the chidahn and trap them in a special demi-plane; the artifact sending some kind of magical wave outward through all glyph gates. Some of the chidahn escaped imprisonment and went into a kind of coccoon-like stasis.

But now that artifact is nearly spent (or, as referred to in the module, "is dying") and the glyph gates are coughing up chidahn at random places. Unless the PCs can fix the problem, the artifact will be spent and a massive shockwave of power will explode through the gates, wreaking havoc on any world they are on and unleash the chidahn from imprisonment (some of this info will be revealed next game). Should be fun!

After Sunday, my last week was spent going in day trips: hiking, Atlantic City, and, perhaps my favorite trip this week, going to the Princeton Record Exchange in NJ. The place isn't huge but it's got a lot of music and dvds. And by music I mean everthing from cds to vinyl. Most items are used and the prices are thus quite good. I picked up 2 cds, the special edition of Highlander and 2 seasons of JAG that Scot, Zlaty and I have been watching. Friday was a stay at home day. Sat saw an outing to Red Robin and back-to-back mini-golfing sessions with Scot, Zlaty, and the Cuthberts. Much fun was had. Today was the customary cleaning and relaxing.

Tomorrow marks the first anniversary of Tricky Owlbear's existence and we'll have a special announcement about a certain product everyone's been waiting for.

Celebrate Your Independence

Although you probably think this is a 4th of July post, it is not. (All the same--Happy 4th!!) What this post is, however, is a call to cherish the gaming legacy we pave everyday. What the heck am I talking about? How often do you get a slight feeling of guilt or shyness when you admit to a stranger that you roleplay (be it D&D or whatever)? I thought about this the other day and realized--there is no reason for shame! Gamers of my age and older who are still playing are actually blazing a trail for everyone behind us. There is no basis of comparison or standard by which gamers of our generation can be judged since we are the first. We shall determine at what age it is "socially acceptable" to game.

I'm not espousing that gaming be equated to "coolness" but we have the opportunity to make it less awkward at the very least. If we unite in our common response of, "I'm gaming this weekend," then soon it will be just like saying, "I'm fishing" or "I'm golfing." Hmm, maybe we can get some bumper stickers made:" Gone Gaming'"

So this 4th of July, revel in your gaming independence and, like this country's founding fathers, be a beacon of hope for all roleplayers to follow.

"Free iPod with Braces"

I saw this little gem of an ad on the way home from Delaware today and had to snicker. But on reflection, why the heck doesn't this dentist just forgo the ipod and reduce the price of braces? It's not like the kids are paying for them anyway, right? Besides, a kid still can't sing in public to his new ipod sporting those braces without risking public humiliation. :)

Moving on, today is Day 1 of my extended holiday from work. There's a mandatory shutdown all next week plus the option of not coming in today or tomorrow. Guess which option I exercised? That's right, 10 more days of vacation--woot! Okay, so it's not all sunshine as not all of those days are with pay (one of them to be precise). But I'm hoping to make some of that lost money up when Linda and I do the Borgata in Atlantic City next Wed. You never know!

Weekend Happenings and the GSL

Blogger ate my previous post where I addressed the GSL but we'll see if I can sum it up here: I don't care for it one bit. It's a moot point, I suppose, since I don't plan on jumping into 4e anyway (either as a roleplayer or as a publisher) but you have to admit that the "we can revoke this at will" clause is a bit disturbing. Not to mention the fact that if you convert a current 3.5/OGL product to 4e then it can never go back. "Bah," I say, "To hell with that crap." It's been nice adventuring with D&D's owners over the last 25 years (give or take) but now I'll be stepping off the bus, thank you.

Elsewhere in RPG news, Joe Goodman contacted me on Friday. He was interested in my freelancing schedule and, although it pained me to say it, I had to bow out of the request for writing. I loved working with Goodman Games but 4e (as noted above) is not something I'll be participating in and that is, understandably, Goodman's push for now. On the brighter side, when I mentioned needing most of my time to devote to Tricky Owlbear, Joe said he thought out "Behind the..." lines were a great idea. Nice to see other publishers (especially one so noteworthy) liking our stuff!

On to other things. It was "Free RPG Day" this past Saturday and did you get out there to peruse the offered goodies? I sure did, along with Scot and Zlaty. We each nabbed, among other things, Mongoose's Traveller-0 booklet and Goodman's Punjar primer and the sweet looking Paizo adventure. We went to a little place called Cyborg One, located in Doyelstown, PA. They were nice enough to let each of us pick up multiple titles. I bought some of the new D&D minis out of courtesy and Scot bought one of the White Wolf Mage books for a few % off.

Sat. night the three of us along with Greg and Heather took the RISK--Star Wars Classic edition out for a test drive after having purchased it last Wed. Good stuff even though we did not finish the game before folks had to scurry home around midnight (are we getting too old or what?!).

Sunday saw some room cleaning (bought a new rug Friday night--6'x9' for only $40 from Pier 1) and then a trip with my parents to Delaware Park. It must have been my day as I turned $180 into $352.50. Not bad for 2 hours work.

This week will be spent in module prep as the planar PCs delve further into the mystery surrounding my "Stop 4th Edition!" story arc.

Birthday Treats

Today I turn a venerable 33 years old. Decided to take a vacation day from work and Linda and I are headed for a fun-filled day to Atlantic City. I received a very nice card from my grandmother (containing some money) as well as a $50 gift card to Borders from the parents. Not bad so far! Here's hoping AC delivers something nice. Wish us luck!

IJ: KotCS

Oh, where to begin reviewing this Indiana Jones sequel? Don't expect the following discussion to be spoiler free...

Aliens: At first, I thought I'd have a problem with aliens in the movie. But as the "story" unfolded, it wasn't that bad. I mean, the movie was true to the era it depicted, right? So, aliens as subject matter...okay. But how about that look? Did it seem to anyone else that the crystal skull seemed to be a miniaturized version of the critters from Cameron's Aliens? I had no problem with their supposed purpose on Earth as archaeologists (and while they're here, why not teach the locals of the time farming, etc.?). So...aliens not terrible.

Russians: Couldn't Indy fight, oh I don't know, Russians that sound like Russians? With Ms. Blanchett as Colonel Doctor Spunky, it's like casting Tim Curry as a Russian (oh yeah, they did that in Congo but at least his accent was passable). As a whole, these baddies were just bland. I mean, how did they not only grab a convoy of American vehicles but also gain access to the location of Area 51? And apparently their accuracy is on par with that of stormtroopers since they couldn't hit Jones at a mere 10 feet distance. Just, blech. Next time, flush the Russians and bring back the Nazis (perhaps in the form of Oddessa).

Jones: Harrison still looked good as Indy but man did he manage to mumble alot of his lines. Uh, Mr. Ford, could you please pay attention to what you're doing?

Plot: There's really too much to go over in one blog post. Let's just say that what plot there was was strung together loosely by minor characters and Indy was just along for the ride. He stumbled from plot point to plot point like a drunken sailor. It was good to see Marian again but she was pretty much useless except to (repeatedly) reinforce the fact that Shia's character Mutt was Indy's son. By the end, their marraige just had no emotional impact on me. It's been too long since we've seen her and it's not as if any of the characters were in danger throughout the movie anyway. Between the overly long jungle chase/fight, the waterfall drops, and their immunity to Russian bullets, any sense of jeopardy was shifted to whether or not the theater's popcorn was too salty.

Music: At the very least, I was expecting a decent Williams soundtrack. Bzzz! Wrong again. Between the snippets I've heard online and what I could hear in the theater, I'm not impressed. It was nice to hear the Ark theme, Last Crusade father/son theme, and Marion's theme again but any new material was simply phoned in by the composer. The skull's theme and action cues were brief and uninspired.

The Good?: There were a couple brief authentic chuckles for me. First was when Indy and Mutt slid through the library and the student asked a question of Jones. And then again when the kid was told not to stay in the library for real archaeology. Second was when Indy rocketed the jungle shredder and, after the CGI had dissipated, John Hurt's Ox repeated his mantra, "Henry Jones Jr." Another soft giggle came when Indy began to insist that Mutt finish school after he found out the kid was his son. Although that joke was visited too many times.

Final Thought: The true measure of a movie for me is whether I plan on adding it to my dvd collection. Sadly, the answer here is "no." I will not tell anyone, despite what I've noted above, not to go see KotCS. It is, after all, and Indiana Jones flick. Just don't expect it to be as good as the others. Indy's good years are gone as a franchise. Unfortunately, they had to make just one more movie in order to figure that out.

Holiday Weekend

Been awhile! How's everyone doing? Not too much planned here for the 3-day weekend but I'll find something to occupy my time. There's scant work to do yet to finish BtS: Feather Fall so that's one goal. I'll probably finish my re-read of Dragons of Spring Dawning (I was going through these and splicing in the new Lost Chronicles trilogy by Weis & Hickman but with the recent report that the final book will not be published, I figured I'd just better finish reading the original trilogy and move on). I started Paul Kemp's Shadowbred but am not terribly far into yet. Yeah, I know it's been out for awhile but trilogys take so long to come out that I didn't want to rush jumping into it lest I forget what happened in the book before the one that is most recently released.

As you can see from the Tricky Owlbear blog, the print version of BtS: Compendium is coming along well. There's a long thread on the Paizo board where I'm hawking it to the folks there who don't appear to have any knowledge of the series (gasp!). Come on over and join the fun here: http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/community/gaming/dnd/behindTheSpellsCompendiumPrintUpdate

In other news, one of my co-workers died suddenly this week and I attended his memorial service yesterday with about 15 other co-workers in Reading, PA. Robert "Buz" Wrenn was a good man who I spoke with every day, sometimes at length, as I made my way through the plant. He was only 47 and the cause of death is not yet known (to me anyway--rumor is blood clot). Tragic...he leaves behind numerous children and a wife who not long ago lost her first husband. :(

This is a weekend to remember fallen military men and women but don't stop there in your remembrances. Take a little time to recall the good times with all lost friends and relatives...and cherish the lives of those you can still spend time with. Have a great weekend!

I Am Iron Man...

...the last words of this really good movie which I saw last night. There was excitement aplenty and a couple good laughs (by good, I mean which make me do so out loud and not just chuckle at). I know nothing about Iron Man's comic history and I don't feel like I missed a thing in my ignorance. Go see this flick if you enjoy superhero movies in general (also got to see IJ: KotCS and The Dark Knight previews = good).

And this must be the weekend for good things as more GSL details shake loose. Looks like companies can now produce OGL and 4e products as long as they are on a product line basis--meaning a company can publish for both rules sets but not in the same line. I couldn't do a Behind the Spells 4e upgrade unless I somehow created a whole new way of going about it. But, to be honest, the rules I've seen as of now still haven't convinced me that I'll be dabbling in the 4e sandbox anyway so that's OK. I can always change my mind down the line and jump in at any time.

I'm working this weekend on completing BtS: Feather Fall in an effort to stick to Tricky Owlbear's release schedule. BtM: Gargoyle is in layout with Scot now. Looks dreary out today anyway so I say it's a good day to work inside.

In other news, my sister Katy arrived safely with her family in Hawaii yesterday. Her husband is in the Army and was just reposted there from Arizona. Katy is expecting her 3rd child within a month's time so I'm glad they're situated for awhile. Er, well, they're in a hotel room until more permanent accomodations are procured for them but at least the military doesn't let you in the street. :)

GSL = Ugh

While not officially released as of this moment (or even finished yet, for all I know), the OGL replacement--GSL (Game System License)--looks to be about as appealing as a trip to the proctologist. If you haven't yet read the newest gossip (including comments from WotC folk), please see the front page of ENWorld...all done? Okay, good.

So, why do you suppose WotC wants to put the genie back in the bottle? And by the genie I mean the third party support started and nurtured by the OGL back in 2000. Is it to keep some of their market share from splintering into 3rd party pockets? Perhaps, but Hasbro is a juggernaut and I doubt the loss of a few bucks would prompt the horrendous way they're handling the GSL's formation and release. And I mean horrendous in every sense of the word--from the early $5K fee to jerking those truly interested companies around who would have plunked down that outrageous fee, to delaying, to backtracking on what was said before, to now, 49 days before 4e's release, still not knowing what the hell they're doing.

Oh, what's that Scott Rouse, you're still listening to what people are saying on the messageboards so you can continue to nudge the GSL's language appropriately. Dear Lord, people, make a fucking decision. You're not going to please everyone so stop trying. Of course, pleasing people isn't apparently a goal considering today's revelation that not only will the former d20 logo have to be filed off all third-party products by year's end but also that a company will not be able to release 3e products and 4e products--choose the fate of your company!

Do you know what all this is telling me? That the decision makers at WotC are scared. Scared that their precious new golden game cannot stand on its own two feet. Scared that fans who are willing to buy the core books will then flee in terror back to 3e supporters after they see what the company has wrought. Why else force third-parties to make the choice (again, nothing is set in stone but this looks like the way it's headed)?

For the record, I'm very glad that I had Tricky Owlbear produce products only under the OGL umbrella. Before 4e's announcement, I knew the logo might cause a problem down the road and thought it best to leave it off our stuff. We can sell the pdfs just fine without it, thank you very much. Consumers are savvy enough to know what "v3.5/OGL compatible" means.

In any case, it'll be very interesting to see what eventually shakes out of WotC with the GSL but I won't be surprised to hear more fan and company disapproval before it's all said and done. Viva la 3.5!

Good Game!

The planar campaign's recent installment--"Calamar"--went according to plan. An island prison accessed only by a carefully controlled glyph gate was the dumping ground for the more dangerous criminals of the gnome-dominated Fendaris Imperium (hah, did you hear that WotC, gnomes will crush you!). Not long before the PCs arrival, another team from the Protectorate was sent on a standard recon mission (note: the campaign, if you haven't been keeping track, is essentially a Stargate rip-off without goa'uld) and they are overdue to report back. When the PCs arrive, it seems the prisoners are loose and the guards are dead (wouldn't much of an adventure without that, eh?). Seems the Imperium enjoyed implanting mind flayer tadpoles into inmates to make them very susceptible to suggestion (thereafter being productive, if docile, members of society). But now, they decided to implant those creatures into the resident trio of chuul (thus making uchuulon from the Stormwrack supplement) and then all hell broke loose. To make this long story short, one member of the other team was recovered (just barely avoiding implantation) and the PCs recovered the piece of the glyph gate needed to make it function and return home.

On A Lighter Note

Looks like we're playing a planar campaign adventure tomorrow by yours truly. Scot recently ran an adventure that nearly ended in a TPK. Only my ninja and our spiker fighter survived the Steel Dragons' assault (a FR power group Scot made up). The centaur and paladin were either slain and then taken away or simply stolen away by the force, our PCs weren't sure. That little thread will be played out under Scot's able DMing another time while the rest of the characters (with spikey Ahre and sneaky Silfaan having time to recover now) are off on another mission for the Protectorate.

For this adventure, which I'm calling "Calamar," the trip might be one-way. But what they cannot expect is a reunion with a PC who went MIA during the season premiere. Should be an exciting adventure!

Bitchy People

How many of you know/are related to/work with this type of person? These are the folks who, it seems, nothing pleases them. Sometimes they seem happy but, oh my, don't get on their bad side or they'll snipe you while your back is turned something fierce. What happened to their smile? Why do they turn on their fellow human beings like rabid animals at the drop of a hat? I'd suggest doing a study if only they were safe enough to be near for any amount of time. Unfortunately, when you do work with these people, it affects you negatively as well. Can't be helped...you start turning into one of them and only until you realize and admit it can you start to pull away. I say if you have a problem with someone, take it to them face to face.

We've only got one turn on this earth here so why not make the best of it? Smile and be cordial to your fellow man. If more of us did this, than maybe the world would be a better place.

(Nothing recent prompted this post...just felt like venting as it was stewing inside me for a long time)

Sanctuary

It's been awhile since the last release, but I'm still slowly writing the Behind the Spells series. This time it's Sanctuary that comes under my edition-spanning magnifier. Even after 38 releases now, it's fun to come up alternate ideas and histories for these classic spells. See the Tricky Owlbear blog for links to this latest product.

Okay, my last Gygax tribute link

I told myself I wouldn't post another link about the great DM's passing, but this article is simply too excellent not to pass along: http://www.wired.com/gaming/virtualworlds/news/2008/03/ff_gygax?currentPage=all#

I appreciate that you get insight from both Gygax and Arneson, as I'd never really understood the rift between the two. It's a shame no one knows the terms of the settlement with Arneson suing TSR.

New Dog!

Although still in mourning for Veronica, a situation arose that we could not turn a blind eye to. A pure-bred cocker spaniel, of slightly darker coloring than Veronica, was being given away by a woman Linda and Kristi know. After discussing it with them, my family agreed the 8-week old female sounded very promising. Kristi brought the pup (named Princess by the other family) to her place so my mom and I could go have a look. Well, we were certain she'd be coming home with us before we even got there. Sure enough, this puppy is too cute and has a spunky personality to boot! Since the other family wanted nothing for the pup except that she get a nice home, we took her home as our own. En route, I suggested the name Jasmine since none of us were happy with Princess (although it went with the Princess theme and this is my favorite Disney animated princess--er, as much as a grown man can have one of those :-)).

We're keeping Jasmine in the laundry room for now to sleep and, now on night #2, she appears to be taking it in stride. We're all happy to have her as a member of the family and hope she gives us as many or more happy years as Veronica.

Good Gygax Obit

By the NY Times no less: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/05/arts/05gygax.html?_r=2&ref=arts&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

And, for a bit of fun: http://www.woot.com/Blog/BlogEntry.aspx?BlogEntryId=4118

On the rpg.net thread I took this link from, a witty poster remarked, "I just hope someone took his stuff." Priceless! :-)

Vantage Point

Caught this movie last night with Scot and Zlaty. It was pretty good. The story comes at you from several different--you guessed--vantages and that works well enough as a story-telling device (although I sure wouldn't want it with every movie). Dennis Quaid and the gang show up with decent performances all but nothing that wowed me. I caught most of the plot twists before they happened so, while my movie watching has been at an all-time low of late, I'm not too rusty yet. There's a good car chase and the President tries to kick some terrorist ass as well*. Overall, I'd give it an 8 out of 10. Has this been out for awhile? There were only 3 other people in the theater aside from our trio.

*For the best in terrorist ass-kicking from a U.S. President, make sure to watch Air Force One with Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman; definitely a nail-biter worth your time.

RIP E. Gary Gygax

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=49750

His was a name that will forever be mingled with my formative years. I wouldn't be published today without Gary and the inspiring creation that is Dungeons & Dragons.

4E and Me

I look at information like this and it looks like gobbledy-gook to me: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=220481

Okay, I shouldn't make snap judgements against a game that isn't off the assembly line yet. But I can tell you this--4E may be a fine game, but it is not Dungeons & Dragons.

Powerball!

Played $20 tonight and won $100. Not too shabby. One white ball shy of paying off my credit card debt. Maybe next time. :)

RIP Veronica

My golden-haired cocker spaniel of some 16-odd years was put down today. In her waning years, age had robbed most of her vision and hearing as well as endowing her with a generous amount of arthritis. Still, when my dad took her to the vet I had no idea they were possibly thinking to make it her last trip. When I returned home from having supper and Veronica wasn't seen lying in the next room, I knew the time had come. I was upset more that I didn't have the chance to say goodbye. Was it probably for the best, given the vet said he gave her 6 months to a year at this visit? I guess, but it's still very tough to loose a family member--even a furry one.

Danger on the Highway

When driving, my motto is: Always assume the other driver is going to do something stupid. Now, this motto is normally applied to drivers at intersections but yesterday I discovered I have to assume this everywhere. While coming home on the interstate yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the highway was merely wet and a bit slushy at spots (we have had some moderate snows and ice over the last couple days). So, here I am passing an 18-wheeler at casual highway speed when I notice the truck start to drift into my lane. This kind of thing happens when windy so I at first assumed this was the case here. Not so! Apparently, the driver didn't notice I was next to him and was bringing his rig into my lane. There was little to do except brake and try to squeeze into the space between the passing lane and the concrete median.

Unfortunately, given the recent snows, that space I was entering was a packed nightmare of snow, gravel, and who knows what else. Of course, my braking only caused me to lose control of the car and I began to slide toward the concrete median with little hope of correcting my course. When I did hit something, it turned out to be the snow packed there which diverted me back toward the passing lane. But my braking was now causing some fish-tailing action and I suddenly remembered that you were supposed to pump the brakes while sliding. My foot came off the brake and I immediately had more control. By this time, the trucker realized what had happened and was already parking off the highway ahead to the right. After coasting a bit for a van to pass by me, I regained solid road and, after determining that the car was still driving OK, proceeded home. The trucker was stopped and looking out his window but I didn't want to tempt the fates by stopping and chatting along the busy interstate so I passed him by.

There was a bit of shimmying going on with the front driver side wheel but I made it home without further incident. Looking at the tire, I noticed that my run-in with the snow pack had sheared a thin 2-inch area off right above the hubcap. To make sure all was well, I went immediately to a local tire place to have them check it out. The guy there said that, often with vehicles forced off the road into snow or mud, material is shoved under the wheel well and affects the tire balance. That's probably what happened and was easily corrected. Twenty dollars and less than 10 minutes later I was back in action with just that little scar as a reminder that you really must expect other drivers are going to do something stupid.

Indiana Jones teaser

See it here now: http://www.indianajones.com/site/index.html

Looks darned good!

Old Books Die Hard

Got some cleaning in this weekend and devoured some Star Wars fiction--Tim Zahn style. I just love this guy's style and interwoven plots. After finishing Allegiance yesterday I couldn't help but pick Heir to the Empire off my shelf and start rereading it (and plan to go through that trilogy in its entirety). Grand Admiral Thrawn was definitely one of my literary idols in the 90s. Such a cool calculating villain you just can't help but root for him.

Is it just me or do y0u never hear about people rereading favorite books? Sure, there's always new stuff to read that is possibly as good or better than favorite books of the past but why not revisit the old goodies when in the mood? It's the same as popping in a dvd of a favorite movie...which I suspect folks do with some frequency. Could be the time requirement, I suppose. A dvd only requires a couple hours of your time and can be combined with socializing when necessary while books require solitude and many hours of time.

But maybe nostalgic longing for certain books is a trait reinforced by D&D culture itself. The shared experience inherent in the hobby's infancy and a longing for it is evident when you look at WotC's recent Expedition to... adventures, Goodman's DCCs, and even Necro Games' "1st edition feel." Every gamer around in the 70s & 80s would give his eye teeth to grab the wonder and excitement of those early days. So why not help out that nostalgia gland by re-experiencing one of your personal "classic" novels? It might just reignite some lost gaming passion.

No News...

...is good news? Apologies for my lack of posting but there isn't much going on I can speak about. I'm happy to have SG: Atlantis back on for my viewing pleasure as well as Psych on USA. Been doing some gambling this week, mostly at Delaware Park (avoid Mohegan Sun/Pocono Downs if you like your money!). All in all, I came out just $45 behind. Not bad for 4 trips in one week. Today I'm devoting the afternoon to cleaning and end of year paperwork filing (a few weeks late but yeah well).

Should finish up BtS: Sanctuary today and start on either Feather Fall or BtM: Gargoyle this week. Also plotting out an adventure involving dark creepers and stalkers called When Heroes Fall.

My Bro

After quite some time without blogging (I even removed him from the blogroll), my brother Scot is back on the scene. Check out his rambling here: http://zoomquick.blogspot.com/

What Have They Done to You?

Here's a look at the Realms through D&D Insider's most recent article (written app. a century after when the 4e Realms will take place): http://www.therpgsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8810

Why not just call the Spellplague "Wild Magic, part II" and be done with it? And no more Unther? Although I didn't use the country every game, I still liked having it down there. Don't care for more draconic races so I'm not inclined to use 4e's dragonborn anywhere (especially in my Realms). And the Netherese only managed to take over Sembia in 100 years?! They're clearly not as badass as I thought. 4e Realms just continues to get less and less appealing.

More eBay

Decided to part with my spare copy of Rappan Athuk: Reloaded box set #304! See it and a couple other items here: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZvantas1

Jones'in for Jones?

Have a look: http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2008/02/indianajones200802

Not sure how I feel about the sci-fi overtones but I trust these guys to make a damned good movie.

Thoughts for 2008

Hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday season. I know I did. But that's all in the past now and we must look ahead to the new year. What's on deck? Let's ponder...

On the freelancing front, we have Domains of Adventure which I'm (supposed to be) writing for Highmoon. We did get the first one out the door: http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=50939 I'm due to pen the second locale any time now (sorry Daniel, you know how this time of year is). I think that's it for freelancing.

Tricky Owlbear has consumed the bulk of my writing time of late and deservedly so. I finished BtM: Skeleton and Scot has it for layout. Shortly to be finished is BtS: Sanctuary and then I think I'm moving onto BtM: Gargoyle and, as mentioned above, the next locale for Highmoon. The Owlbear's plans have changed since 4th edition's announcement and, quite frankly, aren't in any kind of finalized state yet. I'd like to keep supporting 3.x edition if there are any buyers (at the moment such consumers are in hiding it seems). There won't be any Campaign Theme Packs as mentioned in the TO blog but I'd still like to pen an OSRIC adventure or two to test those waters.

Speaking of adventures, I'm thinking of re-tooling the Invasion: Freeport outline for a neutral city and 3.x adventure but am unsure it would come together before 4th edition PR really grabs people and holds onto their wallets tightly. Just too many uncertainties for the pdf biz right now. And what do I think of 4e, you ask? Not sure. There are many things I don't like the look of right now (Realms changes and wacky spellcasting being the biggies) but any of them could change until the game is released. Will Tricky Owlbear support 4e? I'm not saying yet but would be foolish to not do so if it proves as popular as 3e.

In non-rpg news, my new job as a lab tech at a pharmaceutical company is still not going badly. Do I see myself there for an extended period of time? Nah, but it's a good stepping stone to greater things. I'm even keeping my foot in the drug store, having worked for David the Sat. before Christmas and doing so again this Sat. morning. It was nice seeing some of the customers again and seeing what's been changed in the store itself. Am I still glad I left? You bet.

Now it's time to get back to relaxing on this New Year's Day. I'm reading some Timothy Zahn Allegiance, his newest Star Wars offering set between Ep IV and V. Even before starting this book, I've had a hankering to reread the Heir to the Empire trilogy and maybe even Margaret Weis' Star of the Guardians books. Guess I'll pile those on the growing "to do" list for '08. :)