Note to DVD makers: when episode 21 conclusively writes out your master villain and replaces him with someone new, episode 22 should probably not feature the first guy as antagonist.

Of course, on the sleeve, episode 22 is in the #20 spot, and 21 is the season finale.

Note 2 to DVD makers: make sure the episode order on the discs matches the order on the sleeve :)

Just saw the latest Narnia movie. It sensibly tries to put a stronger narrative in place than the basically-a-travelogue novel, and is mostly very good fun. It does feel a bit rushed in places, and a bit trite in others, but the cast is good, and most of the humour works. It also features a delightfully creepy monster design near the end.

Worth seeing on the big screen, unless the (Aslan) Jesus thing makes you angry.

I saw the 2D version, for the record.

I'll be attending Arcanacon on Jan 21 and 22 next year.  Assuming I find eight sessions of games I want to play, I'll be going to every session on those two days.  I won't be attending on Jan 20th (only one session anyway), or the 23rd (as I am flying back to Brisbane at lunch time).

For those looking to catch up away from a gaming table, there will be plenty of opportunity as I'll actually be in Mebourne starting from the evening of Jan 15th.  I'll be at Brickventions during the day on the 16th, and doing touristy things from the 17th-20th (possibly including one overnight stay out of town), but most evenings ought to be free.  I'll be based in St Kilda, near the intersection of Barkly and Milford Streets, but should be able to travel.

 

I attended Phenomenon 2010 in Canberra over the weekend.  Played in eight games.  The stand-out for me was Days and Knights of Landsend, which was basically a daytime soap in a D&D setting.  Great fun.  Honourable mentions also go to the Serenity game, A Leaf on the Wind, and to The Heist.  Both of these were good fun, and well-constructed, though they had some minor flaws.  (Leaf was too focused on one PC, while Heist had never been played with six characters before, and the sixth character was, frankly, hosed).

Dishonorable mention to The Cabinet of Dr Makundi, which was painfully bad.  I believe this was cobbled together last minute due to unforeseen circumstances (and possibly by someone other than the originally intended writer).  Whatever the reasons, it was very badly structured and developed.  I can definitely see how a game with the same premise and ending could be made to be a lot of fun ... this was not that game.  Even lotusvine hated it, and she can usually find the fun in anything.

Watched the final last night. The songs, anyway - not the voting. I knew who won (since it's becoming very hard not to get spoiled before the delayed telecast), and it's not like the voting is all that exciting anyway.

Random thoughts ...

• The semi-finals really rob the final of the "what the hell was that!?" factor. Almost all the really bizarre or bad acts have been weeded out before hand.
• At least we can still rely on the UK to be flat and/or off-key.  Pity we can't rely on them to be interesting.
• Big props to Spain for never missing a beat despite the stage being invaded by a spectator.
• The winning entry was a nice little song, performed with genuine enthusiasm.  I have no real complaints about it; certainly I like it much better than last year's winner.
• Ballads.  Seriously, Europe.  When was the last time a ballad won?  Why do you keep sending them?
• France and Ukraine's entries seem to be quite polarising.  Personally, I liked the former but not the latter.

I recently finished "Dragon Age: Origins" and am now working my way through the "Awakenings" expansion. This is a pair of games about which I have mixed feelings. There are some cool ideas, and there are one or two segments of the game that I have really enjoyed, but the core story of "Origins" was frankly unimpressive. All the bits of that game that I enjoyed best were around the periphery: NPC backgrounds and personalities, and some specific sequences that had little to do with the main arc. Several times, when faced with stages in the main story, I felt frustrated at the options given ... especially as conversations in the game hinted at other options that would have been more satisfying, but those were not actually present.

Thus far, the core story arc of "Awakenings" has been more interesting. Which is good, because the NPCs - while certainly not bad - haven't impressed me as much as in the first one.

"Dragon Age" is worth a look if you're hard up for fantasy gaming, and enjoyed the "Baldur's Gate" or "Neverwinter Nights" games.

I now have the Pathfinder SRD and a dice-rolling app on my iPhone.

It's a slippery slope, this mobile phone business.

Borderlands bills itself as a "roleplaying shooter". Which is utter tosh, to be honest. Bolting an XP system onto a shooter doesn't make it a roleplaying game any more than slapping a wig on a crocodile will make it a lion.

That said, it's quite a fun shooter. It looks nice, and has an amusing pulpy, Mad Max meets Starcraft kind of vibe to it.

We played Zero last night, a 1997 RPG inspired by the artwork of Steve Stone. The short description would be "The Matrix, only with psychic powers and biomechanical cyborgs instead of Wuxia powers and Keanu Reeves. And you're the first people to see through the lies.".

Very interesting, clever mechanics: you'd never believe that a character with one attribute and 6-10 skills (from a list of 20) would offer such rich mechanical choice. But it does. Great tone and style. Lousy introductory adventure, alas. But apart from that (and post-game, we quickly pow-wowed a much better alternative), it was quite impressive.

Yes, that is bacon and cheese between two slices of chicken.

And it's half the calories of a Whopper, to boot.

I've recently caught several episodes of the 1999-2002 tv series. It's totally gonzo. They've run into dinosaur-men, vampires, time-lost druids from Stonehenge, and even a German pilot from a secret base in the Azores (!!).

I've ordered all three seasons on DVD. The show never got a 'proper' ending, as it was cancelled, but honestly, it's not the kind of thing where that's going to matter.

Ladies and gentlemen: The Doom Comic.

It's strange the conversations you have on rpg.net.  This was the result of one recent one.

(Obviously, the Fraggly ones aren't mine. No infringement intended, yada yada.)


Pick a Silly Creature
When you're playing Fraggle Rock, most people get to be Fraggles.  As everyone knows, Fraggles are the best.  Unfortunately, someone has to play all the other things in the world.  That's just the way it is.  That poor individual is the "Silly Creature".

Defining Your Fragglishness
Write down a very brief description of your Fraggle's basic personality or archetype.  This should be just a couple of words ("idealistic dreamer", "hyperactive and competitive", "the smallest Fraggle", "a devoted friend"). This is your Fragglishness.

Using Your Fragglishness
Whenever you want to do something (see Playing and Singing below), and you can convince the Silly Creature that your Fragglishness would help you do it, you get to roll an extra six-sided die (this is called "the Fraggle die").

Example
Silly Creature: "Junior Gorg tries to grab you! It's going to be Hard to dodge!"
Splork the Fraggle: "Ah, but I'm 'the smallest fraggle', so I can wriggle between his big, bulky fingers and escape!"
Silly Creature: "Sure, add a Fraggle die to your roll."

It's Nice to Have Friends
If you're trying to do something, and the Silly Creature thinks that it is a situation where your friends can help you, then - if they have a useful Fragglishness - you can get Fraggle dice for each of them, too.  Provided they are willing to help you, of course.  It's Nice to Have Friends!

Even if your friends don't have an appropriate Fragglishness for a task, if they all agree to help you, then you get one bonus Fraggle die for that.  It really is Nice to Have Friends!

Playing and Singing
Whenever a Fraggle wants to do something (or avoid having something happen to them), the Silly Creature decides how hard it will be.

The Fraggle then rolls a number of six-sided diceo, based on how hard the Silly Person decided the task was. Don't forget to roll any bonus dice, such as from Fragglishness, or Friends, as well!

Easy - four dice
Medium - three dice
Hard - two dice
Impossible! - one die

If two or more of the dice come up with the same number, the Fraggle succeeds.  Yay!

Fraggle Adventures
Fraggles are always having adventures.  Whether it be exploring new caves, collecting radishes from the Gorg's garden, visiting the All-Knowing Trash Heap, or even (gulp!) going into Outer Space!  It's the Silly Creature's job to come up with the exciting things that happen on your adventure, but don't forget that it is your job as Fraggles to think of adventurous stuff to do!  Nobody likes a boring Fraggle, after all.

Learning Lessons
The adventures that a Fraggle gets up to teaches them lots of things.  Sometimes these lessons are simple ("Gorgs are mean"),a nd sometimes they aren't ("never assume your own values apply to other people").  When the Silly Creature decides that an adventure is over, they will ask you to write down a lesson that your Fraggle learned.  In future adventures, you can use these lessons to help you do things.  If you come up against a situation where this lesson could help you, you can ask the Silly Creature if it will let you roll an extra die, just like your Fragglishness (you might even get a die for your Fragglishness at the same time!). However, unlike your Fragglishness, which you can use as much as the Silly Creature will let you, you can only use each lesson you have learned once per adventure.

I know True Blood isn't to all tastes - there's one person at least reading this who hates it - but I've found the mix of schlocky modern horror and way over-the-top soap opera to be good fun.

But this?

"sources confirm that actress Brit Morgan — best known from ABC Family’s short-lived drama The Middleman — has scored the pivotal role of Debbie Pelt, the psycho ex girlfriend of werewolf Alcide."

Is awesome news: Brit Morgan was one of the best things on the wonderful Middleman, and it should be great fun to see the zany but loveable Lacey re-cast as a crazy True Blood villain.

(also: Debbie Pelt as a werewolf's lover? That's some comic-book levels of goofy, right there)

Played two more games on the final day of the convention.

( Final Spoilers )

I had a good time, though this Arcanacon definitely lacked a "wow" game, for me. There were several good games (and several not-good ones) but nothing that I'll still be talking about in years to come.

Only played two games this time. Spent the evening session watching zombie movies and eating tasty food.

( Possible Spoilers )

Played three more games.

( More spoilers )

Flight down was uneventful, though delayed twenty minutes. Accommodation this year was a bit of a last minute thing and so is further from the con and a lot more basic than usual. On the other hand, two of us are sharing a room for $80 a night so you can't really complain about the price.

Arcanacon is at its usual location, though there is construction going on there that has changed the layout a bit. Rego went smoothly. Canteen seems to be working well too. The pies this year are a cut above the usual convention fare.

Played three games:

( Spoilers! )

I gotta admit, first impressions of Left 4 Dead is that it is pretty darn awesome.

Have to see how the gameplay holds up, but this is the first pure-FPS since Doom 2 that I've really been excited about.

Just managed to get a copy of Space: 1889 for $10 plus postage.

Jolly good show, what?