Poser and DAZ Studio artists, you hear it all the time. There is a big debate on how those that use Poser and DAZ aren't really artists. We all know that the people at Disney's Pixar take months working on and rendering those 3D movies (Disney shouldn't have bought Pixar, bleh!). And the typical Poser still can take a fraction of the time to set up (my latest image, using DAZ Studio Pro, took hours to set up properly).
Because of this, they feel that taking DAZ Studio and posing vickeys and mikeys are completely a cop out and all we do is press the "Make Art Button." Well, well, well, I suppose these people have forgotten all about Andy Worhal and Roy Lichtenstein.
Andy Warhol (August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American artist who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationship between artistic expression, celebrity culture and advertisement that flourished by the 1960s. After a successful career as a commercial illustrator, Warhol became a renowned and sometimes controversial artist. The Andy Warhol Museum in his native city, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, holds an extensive permanent collection of art and archives. It is the largest museum in the United States of America dedicated to a single artist.
Some of Andy Worhal's work:
Roy Lichtenstein (October 27, 1923 – September 29, 1997) was a prominent American pop artist. During the 1960s, his paintings were exhibited at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York City and along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, James Rosenquist and others he became a leading figure in the new art movement. His work defined the basic premise of pop art better than any other through parody. [2] Favoring the old-fashioned comic strip as subject matter, Lichtenstein produced hard-edged, precise compositions that documented while it parodied often in a tongue-in-cheek humorous manner. His work was heavily influenced by both popular advertising and the comic book style. He described Pop Art as, "not 'American' painting but actually industrial painting".[3]
Roy Lichtenstien was considered America's "Worst Artist." However, some of his industrial paintings have sold for more than 20 million dollars on the auction block. Here are some examples of Roy Lichtenstien's work.
both have led the Pop Art movement, of which the 3D Medium can be considered to be a part of. So, the next time some dude who think they know what they are talking about and accuses your use of DAZ Studio and Poser a cop out, then remind them of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstien. They have paved the way, and one of the pair was even called America's "Worst Artist." Remember, you are traveling in their shoes.
Apparently, two of my players have enjoyed the Adventure idea of The Wadjet Eye, so I'll be outlining it for them. Basically, when I outline adventures, I've become enamored about how Robin D. Laws does things, since I think in the same vein.
Do not think, just for a moment, that I'm going for Historicity here. Basically, in Egypt, there were three kingdoms, two Intermediate Periods, a Hellenic Period, and a Roman Period; and after that muslim domination. You can't put the history of Ancient Egypt fully together since during the Pre-Dynastic Period all you have to go on is the Book of Jubilees and the Book of Genesis, and the writings of Abraham by his own hand (The Book of Abraham). So, on with the outlining.
The Wadjet Eye (Tentative Title for a Pathfinder Adventure)
Setting: Ancient Egypt combined with Sinbad the Sailor. Or in a round about way, this is a dhow goes to Egypt. To be more precise, the setting is New Kingdom Egypt (18th Dynasty, when the Hyksos or the Israelites were "expelled" from Egypt) combined with Sinbad the Sailor from 1001 Arabian Nights.
Theme: Action and Adventure in a Romance of Ancient Egypt.
Premise: A theft has happened and the thief is discovered and being chased by the town guards. The thief drops the loot, a wadjet eye, in the laps of the PCs and the thief melts into the shadows. The PCs are mistaken for thieves and are being chased by the town guard.
The Climax: Our Heroes must continue the quest for the actual owner of the Wadjet Eye. But the Wadjet Eye has powers of it's own. Where they will lead, is anyone's guess. However, the search for the actual owner leads to an ancient tomb and a fabulous treasure guarded by a unliving, undead mummy.
THE NPCS
Lysander -- A red half dragon paladin who is overzealous in his charge in protecting his district. When a Wadjet Eye is stolen, it's his charge to bring back the thief for justice.
Menetnashte -- Egyptian wizard who wants the Wadjet Eye for his own purposes. He believes that the Eye will lead him to fabulous treasure that will eventually make him Pharaoh over all the land.
Nafretiri -- Egyptian Psion who also wants the Wadjet Eye for her purposes. She wants to keep it out of the hands of Menetnashte, but she also wants the treasure. What are her motives in wanting the treasure? Who can say? Maybe she wants the political power of Pharaoh.
Pharaoh -- the Pharaoh is the leader of Egypt. Pharaoh in this case is unnamed because of the role he plays. If the PCs meet the Pharaoh, he will try to mediate disputes and hear the PCs' side of the story. He is Just and Fair.
The Mummy Amenhotep (Amun-hotep) -- not really an NPC but a monster. The Mummy in this case is tasked with guarding the treasure. Amenhotep was consigned to Undeath by the priests of Anubis for a great wrong he committed. And he guards the treasures of the former Pharaoh before him.
ACT ONE: -- The PCs were minding their own business fresh from a trading venture in Punt when they see a thief being chased by the town guard in the city of Aden. The thief bumps into them, and in the process passes the Wadjet eye and melts into the shadows afterwords.
-- The PCs are accosted by Lysander, a half-red Dragon paladin who is the lieutenant of the Wazir over the city of Aden. He apologizes to the PCs and asks them if they have seen the thief. When he sees the Wadjet Eye, he screams that the PCs are the thieves and tries to take them into custody.
-- After a little battle, the PCs are saved by the wizard Menetnashte, who desires the Wadjet Eye for he claims that he is the original owner of this particular eye. The PCs venture with him to sea to reach Egypt, with the paladin Lysander following them.
ACT TWO: -- After nearly reaching Egypt, the PCs' ship is attacked by pirates in the service of Nafretiri. The pirates are defeated and the PCs reach the port town of Sayid. There, while resting, Nafretiri visits the PCs and reveals the truth about Menetnashte -- that he hired the thief to steal the Wadjet Eye and to have the eye brought to her.
-- Confronting Menetnashte will mean that he denies the charge of wanting the treasures of the Pharaoh. He similarly accuses Nafretiri of the same desire for the royal treasure of Egypt. With both sides accusing the other of Megalomania, the PCs are reminded that they are still being hunted as Lysander attacks the PCs in order to retrieve the Wadjet Eye to be restored to its rightful owner.
-- It becomes a race to Luxor as the PCs must find that they must recover the treasures of Egypt in order to ascertain the truth.
-- On the way to the temple treasure, the PCs must brave the way there. On the way, they encounter: * Robbers * A basilisk * A lillend
ACT THREE: -- Reaching the Pharoah's treasure vault at Luxor, the PCs use the Eye to open the vaults and go in. However, both Nafretiri and Menetnashte appear there and all are revealed through their accusations of one another. Both accuse each other of wanting the treasures of Pharaoh and becoming the Pharaoh of Egypt for themselves.
-- All of this shouting arouses the mummy Amenhotep. Amenhotep, truly a lich, attacks the PCs and the wizard and psion. However, Menetnashte quickly claims being a servant of Amenhotep and accuses the PCs of wanting to steal the temple treasure. Amenhotep accepts the claim of servitude and attacks the PCs.
-- To defeat Amenhotep, the PCs must find his phylactery. The secrets of the lich Amenhotep is stored in a canopic jar that contains his brains. Once the canopic jar, in the image of Amen, is destroyed the lich will cease existing and pass on to the Spirit World.
-- After Amenhotep is destroyed, Lysander arrives with the Pharaoh. If the PCs do the right thing and give up the Wadjet Eye to the Pharaoh and tell the truth, the Pharaoh will judge with justice and fairness on the part of the PCs.
ACT IV: The PCs will be free to go and Nafretiri and Menetnashte will be arrested for treason and judgement. If the PCs do not surrender the Eye and claim the treasure for themselves, then the Pharaoh's army will overwhelm them and the Pharaoh will judge them and cast them into prison.
If it turns out good for the PCs, the PCs will be free to go. Nafretiri and Menetnashte will get their just deserts -- death for treason against the people of Egypt and their rightful ruler. And the PCs will travel on to Aden in their ship, free to go with any Egyptians they took as wives. As for the Wadjet Eye, it is delivered unto Pharaoh, who is the real owner of this particular eye.
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So ends the tentative outline. :)
Production Design:
This is to help fellow artists when they will be commissioned to do art for this adventure --
Has Loren Green finally slain the Dragon in Dungeons and Dragons?
Well, the game isn't, but the brand certainly is. Because of problems with the upper management of D&D, Monte Cook has left D&D Next's development team. Back when Wizards of the Coast started developing D&D Next, they brought in Monte Cook to help with development. I thought it was to smooth over relationships with the customers who weren't ready to give up D&D 3.x in the wake of the D&D that was like ST:Enterprise -- D&D the Fourth.
The news was released last monday and to say I'm not surprised. And Monte had this to say:
"Last week I decided that I would leave my contract position with Wizards of the Coast. I am no longer working on Dungeons & Dragons, although I may provide occasional consultation in the future. My decision is one based on differences of opinion with the company. However, I want to take this time to stress that my differences were not with my fellow designers, Rob Schwalb and Bruce Cordell. I enjoyed every moment of working with them over the past year. I have faith that they'll create a fun game. I'm rooting for them."
Basically, whether you like D&D fourth or not, the company alienated a large part of its customer base when it developed fourth to go after another demographic. The alienating was done in such a way during 2008 that it left a bad taste in many people's mouths. And Paizo, because of licensing reasons (mostly the GSL), developed Pathfinder.
So it looks like D&D Next might be D&D Last if Loren Green doesn't get it together and realize that he has to treat his employees and customers like people and the game like a GAME. Fortunately, though, if Loren Green kills the D&D brand to get money like Perseus killed Cetus to save Andromeda; there are still dragons out there. the legacy of D&D -- the GAME -- will still live through the Open Gaming License and it's fans.
E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson created a game that was sorely needed by the public, at least by those who wanted to produce their own adventures after studying mythology and watching many of the Hollywood fantasy movies that were coming out at the time (you can also include Star Wars in the list). They opened a door that cannot be closed.
The hobby will continue after Loren Green has slain the dragon in Dungeons and Dragons. The brand may die, and people will be sorrowful, but the hobby will live on and creative intelligent people will still create D&D their way. To sum up, the face of D&D is dying but long live the D&D game.
So, do to my game mastering style, there is some need for some of my adventures to come out. I'm going to list a few ideas that I had:
* Psionics Adventure: a simple psionics adventure set in a land that is liken unto the Levant. Where the men and women wear skimpy, exotic outfits. Something akin to leather briefs and harnesses (A harness is liken unto ERB's harness worn by Barsoomian Martians).
* The Great Greek Adventure: A pseudo-greek land that inspires adventure with Classical Gods demanding to be worshipped. And an adventure set in therein.
* Mansion for sale: A mansion is for sale, however, it's cheap. Which means that the person or people who bought it is responsible for clearing the mansion out of nasty monsters that are lairing there. A twist on the classic adventure in a Dungeon Magazine -- Castle for Sale.
* The Golden Voyage of the Azgari. An adventure set in an Arabian Nights vein. The PCs are members of a large dhow's crew. They get involved in an adventure that has a princess, a magic curse, a far away land, and outfits worthy of The Golden Voyage of Sinbad.
* The Dark Shadow on Cemetery Hill. Strange events are plaguing the little sleepy town of Salem. Some blame the ghosts of Cemetery Hill. The town hires the PCs to investigate the source of the hauntings, which is said to be a house that belonged to the Funery Priest.
* The Caves of Alazgar. The Caves were cleared out before, but overtime the caves had become inhabited again by monsters. The PCs arrive when the Caves' population of monsters have increased to critical stages. And the PCs are called in to bring peace to the region.
* The Mystery of Castle Thornehold. The PCs are called in by the owners of Castle Thornehold to solve a difficult mystery. The adventure involves a ghost, a girl, magic, and the mystery itself.
* The Wadjet Eye. Another adventure of an Arabian Nights vein, this time set in an Egyptian theme. Everything goes well for the PCs until a fleeing thief drops a wadjet eye in their lap. Mistaken for the thieves, the PCs are taken for a ride as they learn not only the original owner wants the eye back, but someone else claims it for himself as well.
-- Vote for the Adventure you will like to have outlined! --
Sorry everyone, I've been playing Star Wars and in school for updating my blog. However, I found an interesting quote on QuestionCopyright.org.
"I'm fascinated by how artists say that their adherence to copyright is about money (even when they aren't making a living with their work) but that when you dig a little deeper it comes out that it's about fear. It's about the fear that someone will do what you're doing but do it better than you ever did." ------------------------------------------
It's nice to know that most of us are afraid that someone is going to do something better than what we did. Is it not?
So how does it stack up to World of Warcraft? Plain and simple, it does and it doesn't in plenty of aspects. World of Warcraft is or has, quite simply, a much better bang for your buck in an Arcade style MMO. You have LFGs, you have pugs, you can go up against the Lich King. There is simply no way, no how you can role-play there anymore since the role-players have all been driven off most WoW RP servers. The PvP is much more advanced in WoW, and you have much more advanced features.
In all honesty, though, World of Warcraft is better in the feature department because of it's development in features. So, can Star Wars get the ten million or eleven million subscribers that it needs to be number 1? Answer: maybe.
Star Wars: the Old Republic is thirty years a little too late to take advantage of the Star Wars craze of the early eighties when GL was inventing the story as he went along. Secondly, it's ten years too late to take advantage of the Star Wars renaissance. Fourthly, it's clearly not designed to be like WoW in conception.
Although Star Wars: the Old Republic is doing its own thing, you have got to realize that it has many features in common with World of Warcraft. The GUI is similar, and and the combat similar also. You sit there for much of the combat, not moving but standing like a D&D character trading blows with your enemy. that isn't realistic, but hp isn't too realistic either.
Blaster bolts are like blanks (death by blanks) and lightsabers don't really cut. So that's the arcade style of the game. Like I said, it has a lot of features in common with WoW in order to compete with WoW. Many of its players are coming from WoW. But they are also coming with to high expectations . . .
a). Star Wars: the Old Republic does not have pugs or LFGs. Newbies have to miss out on a lot of good content (the Flashpoints, which are ST:TOR's equivalent of dungeons) in order to advance their characters.
b). Server population is low. The population of the game is spread out among many different servers, so you don't get the help you deserve when asking for Flashpoints.
c). The Galaxy isn't fully open. An Imperial Guild can't go in and raid Coruscant, and a Republic Guild can't go in and raid Drommund Kas. What is worse, Imperials can't go in and raid Tython, and the Republicans can go in and raid Korriban.
d). There are no guild banks, but that is coming in patch 1.2
e). There isn't any good PvP, like Arena PvP.
f). There aren't any planned sporting events.
So, what does Star Wars have over Blizzard's WoW?
a). Star Wars lore -- Star Wars is incredibly rich. The story and mythology of the Star Wars Universe has grown beyond George Lucas. The story is bigger than him, both symbolically and literally. Although it started with an idea and a need: "There isn't anything good in the theaters." "I'm going to do a Space Western." -- has gone beyond a simple honest film maker turned blustering blow hard because he can't take FAME well at all.
Star Wars has more than 30 years living in the minds of the public, and owned by the minds of the public. There are novels, video games, movies, t.v. shows, CRPGs, and now . . . an MMO. Star Wars is bigger than World of Warcraft in lore and history, spanning more than hundred of thousands of years.
b). Voice acting and better modeling. The graphics and voice acting of each character is awesome! It's everything you'd expect an MMO to be in this time and place. Each character has a voice and a mini-movie. People are just going to be, pardon the expression, blown away by the expressiveness and the way that the Star Wars universe just comes to life.
c). Rich story telling -- each class has a rich story being told through play. There is a legacy system in which you can add a last name to your characters (i.e. Starstrider for one thing). You can create a legacy for your alts. From bank alts to regular, "I advance my alts so I can do things in the guild."
You can marry characters together, make them brothers, sisters, cousins, siblings, aunts, uncles, daughters, and sons. And you can customize your characters' abilities according to their legacy. You can't do that in WoW.
So, is SW:TOR better than World of Warcraft? Yes. Will it survive World of Warcraft? Maybe. My advice is to buy the game and to play it. This is the only chance you have to live your fantasy that you had when you saw Star Wars the first time.
But I don't know about you. As for me, I'm playing a human Jedi Shadow, a Miraluka Jedi, and a Sith Sorcerer. I'm going to build a legacy with these characters, marrying my Jedi Shadow and true blood Sith Sorcerer together to get an interesting family. A Star Wars legacy like anything Goerge Lucas can think of.
I was going to write this post on the SW:TOR forums, but I am not allowed to write there, currently. So, this is entirely my commentary based on the knowledge I gathered over the years on Swordsmanship. So, we better go over what makes Lightsabers so special. Although originally thought of for TOR players, I adjusted this for SAGA players -- who might be the most to benefit.
The Sword
First of all, we need to look at the sword. The sword has been around since at least the Bronze Age. It's early form is that of a long dagger. The sword requires a heavy hilt to balance it, but it is a misnomer that a broadsword is 50 pounds. A well made steel broadsword is only 3 and half pounds at the most, this makes a fifty pound sword a theory, since the heaviest sword is the Scottish Claymore. A treatise on sword weight is given on ARMA.
However, it is more fantastic to see a bronze age sword being made and a steal sword replica being forged.
Bronze Casting
The Lightsaber
The problem with the Lightsaber is that it's physics aren't properly understood according to how it functions. Theoretically, it creates a blade of hard light that can cut through anything. Physicists say it's anything from a blade of plasma to a blade of energy. The result: you actually have a weapon that all of it's weight is in the hilt. It is possible to have "hard" Energy. For this you need to understand the physics of Energy and Matter. If Matter is energy spent, then a Lightsaber is in-between energy spent and energy yet to be spent. Since we don't understand the Lightsaber, it's physics are beyond our understanding.
The Lightsaber Forms
There are seven basic lightsaber forms, and thousands, if not millions, of styles built on each one. Roleplaying a lightsaber form according to the various Roleplaying Games is up to the player and not up to the rules. Never the less, this analysis isn't an expert's opinion, just a martial artist's.
SHI-CHO The way of the Sarlacc/the way of the Man
Shii-Cho is the basic lightsaber form. This is the form taught to all lightsaber duelists, whether you are Darth Revan or Luke Skywalker. It's balanced and provides the Jedi some defense as well as offense. It's a good beginning form.
Shii-Cho and the Real World:
In the real world, men started bronze casting swords out of copper and forging swords out of ore (iron) since the Flood. It became a real industry during Nimrod's time (i.e. during the time of the Prophet Elias).
Therefore the first sword fighting forms were developed by the Sumerians, the Chinese, and Egyptians. However, the civilization of "Bronze Age"America turned to iron, and little is known of their sword making techniques.
Many swordsmanship forms have been lost in the last seven(?) thousand years. If Shii-Cho has a real world counterpart, you are looking at medieval swordsmanship. although this fight between Hector and Achilles can also demonstrate Shii-Cho.
I know I showed this before on my blog, but it really gives the point of Shii-Cho. Although you are fighting with weapons that have no weight, Medieval European Swordsmanship is really much more elegant than we give it credit for. Shii-Cho is best represented by Medieval European Swordsmanship.
Roleplaying a Jedi using Shii-Cho: The player should describe his Jedi making a powerful stance and moves that relies on making cuts and blocking cuts. Parrying in Shii-cho isn't about style, style comes later. Parrying is preventing someone else's lightsaber from hitting you and cutting you with a blade that is as hot as the sun -- theoretically.
The Shii-Cho duelist is worried about surviving a fight rather than looking good. Yet, European Swordsmanship does allow for some theatrics. You can describe your blade twirling around, and you can throw your blade with some accuracy without the Force. Dodging is your best friend when using Shii-Cho.
MAKASHI The Way of the Ysalamiri/the Way of the Crane
Just as the Arte of Defence in Europe is the evolution of Medieval Swordsmanship, so Makashi is to Shii-Cho. Makashi is probably the ultimate in dueling. Makashi depends on speed rather than pure strength like Shien does. It's about making precise strikes and parrying those precise strikes. It's all about lightsaber to lightsaber combat, as a Jedi and Sith fight, they fight with their lightsabers.
On Earth, the Art of Defense moved from parrying cuts to parrying piercing strikes. Your weapons have changed also, as you went from flat cutting blades to little more than long pins that can penetrate your enemy. Lightsaber wielders depend on parrying slashes and precise strikes when defending against Makashi wielders, as they use slashes and precision strikes.
Makashi can be excellently seen when watching the Princess Bride.
Roleplaying Makashi: Makashi is a lightsaber form that relies on slashes and precision strikes. As a player, you must make a lot of declared shots at specific parts of the body. The heart, brain, eyes, wrists, throat and lungs are your primary targets.
SORESU The Way of the Minoc/the Way of the Apatosaur
We are moving outside the realm of Terrestrial Martial Arts when we use Soresu, as it is based on parrying blaster bolts rather than lightsaber to lightsaber combat. Since there is no weapon designed to parry bullets, and you can't see bullets anyway, it's best to think of Soresu as the pinnacle of defense.
The only example is to look at Obi-Wan Kenobi's lightsaber combat.
Roleplaying Soresu: You are defending yourself with your lightsaber against blaster bolts. This requires quick reflexes and certain force powers and lightsaber forms. A soresu specialist has high dexterity, so dexterity can't be your dump stat. Soresu specialists are like Akido masters, they can handle many attacks at once. Feats like Improved Defenses are critical to the Soresu specialist.
Associated Lightsaber Forms: Circle of Shelter, Deflecting Slash
ATARU The Way of the Hawk Bat/the Way of the Monkey
We are moving away from Medieval Fighting Forms to the Oriental. However, if Hercules/Heracles was a Jedi, he would specialize in Ataru. This is because Ataru specialists rely on the entire human body in order to win the fight. Ataru combatants give it their all. It's the most acrobatic, and has as its' only analog among my knowledge Tai Chi Quan.
If focused, a Jedi master of Ataru is nigh unstoppable. The form is designed to cut through many combatants at once while moving in a single direction. You cannot stop an Ataru master if he's moving, even if he strikes at you little. He is pure power, dexterity, and strength. Here, in this clip from Hero, we demonstrate Ataru in the moves of Flying Snow and Broken Sword as they battle their way into the palace of Chinese Warlord Qin.
Another way of thinking about Ataru combat is to actually look at the Monkey style of Kung Fu. The Style was developed by a prisoner who observed the monkeys and their society. He learned a great deal from the animals and how they fought. There are five styles of Monkey Kung Fu. Perhaps the best way to learn Ataru fighting is to not only study the Hong Kong fight choreographers, but to watch the Forbidden Kingdom and take careful notes of Jackie's fight sequences in the film.
Roleplaying Ataru: Describe you fights as if you are giving your all. Jump and run while you fight your enemies. While you can get away with whirlwind attack, in real life, a duelist can not take his eyes off his enemy. But you are always in motion during a battle. Dexerity and Strength are your most important stats when playing an Ataru duelist.
SHIEN/DJEM-SO The Way of the Krayat Dragon/The Way of the Tiger
In associated martial arts, we move away from the Chinese to the Japanese and their Kenjutsu. However Japanese Kenjutsu has thousands of styles, and the Legend of the Five Rings: the fantasy of Rokugan has seven major Kenjutsu Styles -- from the Crane to the Lion and beyond. However, in the world of Star Wars, Shien is manifested as one form.
This form is best seen in screen Kenjutsu. Akira Kurosawa's the Seven Samurai has many scenes in which stage Kenjutsu is revealed. This one shows the battle between a Kensai and an Upstart, that should give you the soul of what Shien/Djem-So is all about.
Roleplaying Shien: The Shien/Djem-So Duelist is all about strength and physical offensive force. You make powerful cuts and powerful slashes at your enemy. The Shien duelist has one thought in his mind: "The best defense is a good offense." This is his lightsaber fighting philosophy. He wants the battle to be over and quick, so he uses overwhelming force to defeat his opponent. If a Roman Legionary or a Samurai from the Lion Clan of Rokugan was to become a Jedi, he would be training his student in Shien/Djem-So.
Suggested Feats: Power Attack is your most essential feat; then: Powerful Charge, Bantha Rush, Cleave, Great Cleave, Rapid Strike
Niman is what you get if a duelist learns Medieval Swordsmanship, the Arte of Defence, Tai-Chi Quan, and Kenjutsu all in one go and managed to piece everything together in one balanced whole. The Niman duelist practices a fluid style that moves from form to form in almost imperceptible ways.
They also combine force based attacks in their fighting styles, as they are able to telekinetically pull and shove their enemy. Niman specialists have a relaxed approach to swordsmanship. Niman dueling is represented in Episode I.
Roleplaying the Niman Specialist: Niman is perfect for the Jedi Sage type character. If you are building a Jedi Sage from SW:TOR, you rely on a balance of blade work and Force attacks, or do battle in favor of Force Attacks. You use the Force to push your enemies away or to pull them in. Your blade work is very fluid, but has a relaxed quality about it. Your important stats are constitution, charisma, and dexterity.
JUYO/VAAPAD The Way of the Vornskyr/The Way of the Lion
With Juyo, we finally come full circle. This is Medieval Swordsmanship at it's worst, elevated (or delevated) to common Street Fighting. It's all about dirty tricks, there is no honor in Juyo or Vaapad, or at least little of it. You can hit below the belt, for instance.
Juyo's strongest analog is Gladiator training. In Spartacus (Kurt Russel) they reconstruct Gladiator training, and at the end of the film, they were defeated by Roman Legionaries. The problem with Gladiators is that they are trained extremely differently than Roman Legionaries. This is not so with Juyo duelists. The Sith Marauders are definitely organized in SW:TOR, and they did use their abilities to great effect.
Roleplaying a Juyo Specialist: One phrase sums up your combat: "anything goes." You are straddling the line between the Light and the Dark Side when you use Juyo. There is no honor in your fighting, and you fight dirty. You look for anything that will give you an advantage. You can throw dust in your opponent's eyes, for instance, and then cut him down. Your targets are the Instant Kill zones, Cripple zones, and Slow Kill zones. The first rule in Juyo dueling is go for the instant kill first. You call the neck and the heart. Second rule is to cripple your opponent by slashing off his arms or legs. Third rule is to go for the slow kill, but you got to kill your opponent quickly or they can still kill you while they slowly die.
Suggested Feats: Power Attack, Dodge, Mobility, Cleave, Relentless Attack, Follow Through
Summary: The Invasion of Aine deals with a invasion of a celtic town in Eastern Utah by gnolls. The reasons have not been put in the adventure but it's about stolen land. The player characters are caught unawares and must deal with the invasion. There's only one problem: Gnolls in Pathfinder have 1 full hit dice. Thus they have one 1 level. So, they, the gnolls, will be going up against PCs of 4th level.
Recommended: For a scientifically correct gaming experience, I'll be recommending Advanced d20 Magic.
Required: I am leaning to Psionics Unleashed since I know the 3.5 psionics system forwards and backwards.
THE INVASION OF AINE
I.ACT 1 – CHAOS IN AINE
A.The adventure is set in Eastern Utah.
a.Specifically, Dinosaur Land. Eastern Utah is verdant enough for habitation by humans or gnolls.
i.The gnoll tribes are wandering hunter/gatherers.
1.They are a Neolithic society with the ability of crafting steel.
ii.Humans on the raising of beef cattle and farming.
1.Humans are a late iron age society.
iii.Aine is a human celt colony in North America, specifically, in Vernal, Utah.
B.The Player Characters are humans who have to deal with an gnoll raid.
a.PCs professions may include:
i.Barbarian – shepherd
ii.Bard -- Storyteller
iii.Cleric – Pagan Temple Priest
iv.Druid – Mountain Wise Man
v.Fighter – Town guard, warrior
vi.Monk – Greco-Roman Athlete
vii.Paladin - Town leader.
viii.Ranger – Forest runner
ix.Rogue – Tavern keeper
x.Sorcerer – Tailor/Seamstress
xi.Wizard – Alchemist
xii.Psion – Sculptor
xiii.Psychic Warrior – Town Warrior
xiv.Soulknife – Scout
xv.Wilder - Musician
C.The gnoll invasion is led by gnoll females, to be consistent with their hyena inspiration
a.The leader of team 1 is Akwasibah, a gnoll Mother of the Fighter class. She has the equivalent rank of colonel or captain.
b.Makena, gnoll Mother rogue of the group and leader of team 2. She has delusions of grandeur.
c.Shani, gnoll Mother sorceress. She leads team 3, and she is the kind one. She is along to make sure no blood is spilt.
d.Lusala, leader of team 4 and a male. He’s a psychopath. He is “one who cannot be tamed,” a berserker.
Okay, what is wrong with this picture? Lets count the ways.
* She's not wearing a bra. yes, she isn't wearing a bra.
* She's fighting two werewolves. Yes, that's right, she is definitely fighting two werewolves.
* Her figure is very fantastic and not very realistic. Correct, her figure is fantastic, and so is her outfit. Also the situation is unrealistic, and caters to men. No woman would realistically fight two werewolves alone in the woods just to prove her womanhood, even if you asked her too. If a werewolf is ravaging your house, your wife will scream like a girl and depend on you to save her, no matter how gun-ho and Red Sonja-like she presents herself.
Okay, so lets talk about Sexism in D&D. This has become a hot topic for this month. Sarah Darkmagic has complained that D&D is sexist. That it caters to one demographic -- white men who can't get a date even when they run around trying to decide who is better: Captain Kirk or Captain Picard. I'm in that demographic and I find this talk stimulating, but what is the problem?
D&D is based on the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, John Norman, Frank Frazetta, Lanhkmar, Michael Moorcock, the Celtic Sagas, the Arthurian Romances, Greek Myth, Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian (there can only be one source for Conan spinoffs, baby!), and the Universal Monster Movies. Okay, so that's not the problem. The problem is how Dungeons and Dragons is marketed. Sarah Darkmagic wants D&D to be marketed to a wider audience and she invokes Sexism to do this.
Why are you complaining that D&D is sexist in it's marketing when it is clear that D&D was originally inspired by the adventure tales of Conan the Barbarian, Tarzan, and John Carter of Mars? Dungeons and Dragons is a quandary for those who are offended by it's art. Who feel that they face sexism everyday and they want to escape. But why invoke sexism? What do you want out of D&D that it doesn't already provide?
Okay, Marketing is a problem. But really, Dungeons and Dragons wasn't designed to hit the demographic of women that want to escape from Sexism. It was designed for young men to live out their fantasies in Myth and Legend. It's not a Romance Game designed for women, it's Dungeons and Dragons. You go into dungeons, hit your enemy, defeat him and scour the dungeon for treasure. So, you call for it to appeal to a wider audience.
Well, lets talk about that problem. Too appeal for a wider demographic, say D&D players of African ancestry, you have to make up a world for them that appeals to them. Perhaps based on Sub-Saharan Africa. The first thing to do is get a writer who meets your top priorities -- a game writer that knows all about mythological sub-saharan Africa.
Have him produce a document, and then get artists who can draw sub-saharan Africa competently. Then lay it out, get it printed, and distributed. Writing a game setting set just in Africa would be pretty smart. Not only are you widening your customer base, your traditional customers may buy a copy of the game. They could set it in their own world and explore a sub-saharan Africa setting like the English and French did in the 19th Century. While gamers of color would explore a setting they have a vested interest in. No change there, since you can do anything as to portraying the natives. beautiful black girls can still wear leopard skin bikinis or more traditional african dress and no one would really complain.
Sorry to bust everyone's bubble, but Atlas Games had released Nyambe: African Adventures for the d20 System. The only problem, though, it didn't have the marketing power house of Wizards of the Coast behind it.
Perhaps Wizards of the Coast can't be bothered with such a niche product. However, Nyambe is a complete campaign setting based on Sub-Sahara Africa and it's myths.
It's a setting that blends African myth and legend with high fantasy. And by all rights, it did a good job. But it didn't come out of Wizards of the Coast, that's the problem. So, what about Paizo?
Paizo does have an adventure set in the Mwangi Expanse. Here it is:
The adventure is designed around an awakened Gorilla and a Gorilla God. However, all the major human actors are white. Okay, so it's not a good example.
What about a D&D campaign that doesn't carry the Sexism against women? How about a campaign set in a Matriarchy? Although it will satisfy a lot of women who complain about sexism in D&D, a Matriarchy culture exists only in a few remote centers of the world. And everything is backwards. Well, almost everything. The women rule, and the cultures are generally seen as more egalitarian. Again, a product Wizards of the Coast won't consider releasing. A Matriarchal campaign, with a perfect or ideal Matriarchy at it's center, will have to be produced outside both Paizo and Wizards of the Coast.
How about Homosexual gamers? Why not try to cater to them? Even though D&D books are filled to the brim with Beefcake (even the Sorcerer, Hennet, looked like he could take on Redgar), focusing around homosexual gamers can be problematic. What do they want to see to make them feel better? Yaoi -- which is depictions of light-hearted homosexual relationships, or Guro -- which is much more grittier and can include male on male rape.
First of all, there are marking problems with both of these. Yaoi, which is lighthearted, is aimed primarily at young women. You can typically get beautiful men kissing each other and having a fulfilling relationship. You put this into a D&D book, and you get some confused customers. They want scenes of adventure, and not two men kissing each other and having a deep relationship with each other in order to fulfill a woman's fantasy. So, that leaves Guro, where you have more realistic, more mature homosexual relationships depicted. Really, from a marketing standpoint, do you really want to sell D&D books with this sort of imagery inside them?
D&D sells better with images like this:
Not this:
But this is how to market D&D better to appeal to a wider audience? What steps can we take to make women, black gamers, and homosexual gamers feel better? Well, if you try to make D&D appeal to everyone, it won't sell, ever. You are lumping everything in, and the end result is a mishmash that won't taste good and will probably not appeal to anyone.
However, the Black Gamer market is definitely worthy to cater to with the existing D&D books. All Wizards of the Coast can do is create a Sub-Saharan Setting, make it Black gamer friendly, and market it. Sub-saharan Africa doesn't have to be a niche product, it can be a core product. And even white gamers would buy a product if: the number of white actors in art is kept down to a minimum -- or even taken out entirely. Wizards of the Coast can enlarge it's customer base if it does the demographic research among black gamers and white gamers. Check to see if caucasian customers would buy such a product, and produce it and market it for 5th Edition. I bet the customer base would increase.
Now about those that scream Sexism in D&D. First of all realize that it's not only women who are discriminated against in the new Dungeon Punk style -- men are also. Wayne Reynolds draws men with in human musculatures -- i.e. BEEFCAKE. The style is so inhuman that his men look not in proportion. Every time I look at one of Wayne Renolds' men, I have a dissonance disconnect. Then there is CHEESECAKE in D&D, and it's over emphasized with the Dungeon Punk style, thats true. But in Second Edition D&D, there is always good examples of women who aren't always there as eye candy.
So, instead of making a niche product that is based on the idealistic matriarchy (and that's putting it over the top), how about hiring a more varied artist base? By having a varied artist base, you can't always guarantee that cheesecake will go away; but you will get less sorceresses in loin cloths and more women in full armor, or full dresses, or fully clothed.
Finally, there is Homosexual Men. If homosexual gamers are into yaoi and are more pleased by yaoi stories, they wouldn't be gaming in Dungeons and Dragons. Homosexuals into yaoi are looking for something different. They want deep character stories where the boys share their love at the end, than going into Dungeons and beating up on goblins. That leaves Guro imagery. However, Dirk Benedict made the call that if the A-Team would be produced today, it would be called "the Gay Team."
So, to appeal to the Homosexual gamer, you need more pictures of male camaraderie. You don't need to dip into Guro -- where you get homosexual sex, sometimes of a rape nature. And you don't need to dip into yaoi, which depends on deepened Character stories and caters more to young women than to homosexual gamers and aren't representative of D&D at all.
Of the three, to appeal to a wider audience, WotC just needs to do three things:
1. Produce a setting based on Sub-saharan Africa and leaving out caucasian genotypes or representing them at a bare minimum and have African genotype characters represented in the art overwhelmingly.
2. Take a more moderate approach to Art and in how men and women are depicted in the D&D books. Less beefcake and cheesecake, and more realism.
3. Do not do yaoi, yuri, or guro, but put more pictures of an all male team in your books. Or a team made up of tomboys so as to go for the gay and lesbian demographics.
4. finally, as to the last two, moderation is the key. Sure, we want to see varied teams, but remember there are those that feel comfortable with a team of men being comrades, and those that are comfortable to see a team of tomboys try to make it in their world.
That's pretty much all that I have to say about it. However, for those calling for change -- and to Sarah Darkmagic in particular, you have to realize that tons of market research went into D&D. To get what you want, you also have to realize that market research has to be done. To prompt such market research, go to GENCON and make yourselves heard. Tell all your gamer friends to attend GenCon this year (if possible) and show the WotC representatives that people of all kinds play D&D. Attend the RPGAs, hold games of your own, do everything you can to show that D&D has one true demographic -- the Creative, Scholarly, and Intelligent who want to play games catered to them besides Chess and Checkers.
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