Going Back to 2nd Edition

Some of you may ask: Why are you going back to AD&D, 2nd Edition?  The answer is simple: I really don't think 4e is cutting it.  Fourth Edition isn't written for the Roleplayer, it's written for someone else.  Although people argue the point, and I do understand why they do; but they don't understand the changes or what the game represents for me.

While I can write for Pathfinder, and I have, I'm feeling pretty nostalgic for the old AD&D game.  I miss the days when the game was supported more by FLUFF than by CRUNCH.  Although AD&D has some rules systems that don't make any sense (THAC0 or "to hit Armor Class 0", for instance), AD&D's set up allowed for roleplaying in a variety of campaigns based on a variety of themes.  And all the Dragon Articles written in the 90's had a roleplaying basis (I still have the Dragon Archive).

So, what if you enjoy Pathfinder, or 4e?  There's nothing to stop me for putting up some conversion guidelines.  I really like Pathfinder, and I really don't mind writing conversion guidelines for 4e.  But really, making a campaign 2nd Edition shouldn't really make a whole lot of difference except for these players, the back dragon issues have a lot of relevance.  Most people have ignored these issues when playing the next two editions, which is sad because they can be used for inspiration for roleplaying.

I'll have something new for you to look at sooner or later. :)

End of Summer series -- Caitlin

Celebrate the End of the Summer with Caitlin -- the morph for Celtic Elegance by Phoenix1966.  Caitlin is unusual in that she actually came with DAZ Studio mats.  The mats worked very well in presenting her like she looks in Poser. I didn't do much with the eyes, but the Stephanie morph kind of wrecked havoc with her head, bringing it a little out of proportion (a little.  It bothers me a little).

Here is a head portrait.

Portrait of a Girl

Portrait of a Beautiful Girl by ~Atlantean6 on deviantART

I have not done a straight Portrait render in a while.  This is Silver's and Rebelmommy's Syrin, with the surfaces adjusted for DAZ Studio.  The surfaces aren't at all perfect, but I hope I made up for it by creating a soft light layer in postwork.  The hair is Aprilish's Pony-tail 2.

The spotlight I used had to be adjusted so I won't wash out the background. :)  I'm getting very good at this.  :)

Important GM Resources

Studying the epics of the world is important for a Game Master to do to improve his games.  The Ramayana is one epic, and so are the Vedas.  The Ramayana is written, or attributed to, Valmiki.  The stories of Rama and Sita make good watching, and reading.

This series is from 1986.  It's subtitled in English.

And goes on from there.  Also, there is a personal interpretation of the Ramayana by Valmiki done by Nina Paley.  This is, of course, "Sita Sings the Blues."   The Fundamentalists got all in a huff and a puff that it was written and Stated that the Ramayana was owned by them.  Valmiki probably thought it should be owned by the World because the Ramayana is Hinduism's greatest and best known epic.





Enjoy both films. Get inspired.

Here is the beginning of the Anime RG Veda from CLAMP.


Watch Rg Veda OVA_1 [En Sub] 1of2 in Animation  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Here is the not so good, but great in the Day, Hercules! Which is a movie that is based on the Argonautic Expedition.



It's actually a good movie. Steve Reaves is playing Hercules, which is the Danite Judge Samson. Speaking of Samson:



There is Cecil B. Demille's Samson and Deliah! :)

These should be a well rounded start to the World's Mythology. View at your pleasure and get inspired for your games.

Steal this Location!!

Appleby-in-Westmorland

Introduction: Every gamemaster needs a location or two to start an adventure rolling.  Especially a location with a set of adventure sites that will inspire the PCs and the GM to make their own adventures and write their own stories.  The stats are written for Rolemaster but can be quickly adapted to any Roleplaying Game.

The county of Appleby-in-Westmorland is based on the city of Appleby-in-Westmorland; strangely enough; in England.  The county is set in West Cumbria but it can be used as a locale in just about any game setting.  Castle Appleby is the home of the Count of Appleby: Lord Janus de Vipont.  Over the years, the castle was upgraded from a Motte and Bailey castle by the family of Vipont to a Gothic structure.  Castle Appleby protects the town of Westmorland.  The town itself is a bustling medieval small city, with buildings that hang over the streets.  Many of the homes are jettied, and there are a few townhouses for sale.

Adventurers hardly pass through the town, making the ancient sites worth investigating.  The ancient sites include:
* A chalk etching of a horse in the countryside.
* At least three ancient forts.
* A cave called Kinsmouth Grotto
* An ancient stone circle.

More later . . .  including hints that the Count is actually a vampire. :)

Adapting ERB

Because of complaints, I'm adapting Edgar Rice Burroughs' At the Earth's Core to the Silver Screen while I work out another story of Atlantis.  ERB produced some of the best fiction of his day.  Although my brother continually claims that Greek myths and Homeric poetry are superior to anything we can storycraft.  I don't know whats with him.

At the Earth's Core presents the idea that the Earth is hollow.  Hollow Earth theories compete with present accepted theories that the Earth is a solid sphere.  However, legend and a few others say this isn't at all so.  The hidden Lemurian kingdom of Agartha is the hollow world.  Also, a hidden kingdom of our brethren -- the Ten Tribes of Israel, is also in the Hollow World.  The Ten Tribes of Israel is ruled by a High Priest; while Agartha is ruled by the Luminari.

But I digress.  At the Earth's Core isn't about Agartha or the kingdom of the Ten Tribes.  It's about Pellucidar.  And its an awesome story to adapt.  Not to mention it's one of ERB's stories that was published before 1923. :)

When Copyright Goes Bad

Here's a new video that should scare you.



Copyright Law has been expanding.

Atlantis: Script progress

I signed up on Scripped.com and started writing the movie: Atlantis.  No Sea Devils yet, but you can be sure that they will show up.

Some notes:
Wizards and Druids = the Wise.  I don't want to call them wizards or sorcerers, I want to downplay it as much as possible.  The Wise are capable of casting magic.  There are different traditions that the wise follows.

There are scientists in the script, and it seems to be focused on science.

Priests = They are also part of the Wise.


I've got three pages done already.  I'll be adding more later.  The script has the feeling of "Star Wars under water."  In other words, the storyforming process demanded a story focused around an event rather than a character, an idea, or a world.  The movie should be science fiction rather than fantasy.  Oh, and meet the antagonists of this movie:

The Elderscrolls 4: Oblivion

Whoa, I finished this game.  I don't know if it's my girlfriend or what, but I finally finished it after two years of buying it.  Really, it's a good game for cinematics and I think that's why its on CNN's list.  Like I trust CNN for anything newsworthy these days.

Oblivion was put out by Bethesda Softworks, or Bethesda Game Studios like about 3 years ago.  There was some controversy when a young woman retextured the female body to be bare chested.  The agency that handled video game ratings were in an uproar.  And really, this whole thing should tell you why having ratings on video games is a hypocrisy (actually, I think the ratings exist to prevent Censorship, but censorship is still censorship).   The game ended on a high note; but the Empire that Uriel Septim's ancestors built is in danger of crumbling.

The best part about the game is that it can be modified by its players.  Both Oblivion and Morrowind are the only PC games that have the distinction of actually being modified by its players to produce unique game experiences.  There are many outfits available for the game for free for download, and there are many overhauls.

The Mods I use are Robert's Male Body and Exem's Eye Candy body (soon to change to Robert's female body), Ruin-Tail's Tale, Battlehorn Castle, The Knights of the Nine, Shivering Isles, and Spell Tomes.  I was thinking of getting Kvatch Rebuilt but being the Earl of Battlehorn Castle and the Crusader of the Nine is more than enough, thank you. I have never played a vampire, however.  I really do not like vampires.

This is Bethsoft's second best game, mostly because on how it handled mods or plugins.  The story isn't all that great, and the quests are something to be desired.  But the game still lets you be what you want to be.  That's the whole point of the game in the first place, and why there are player-made mods.

A game built on that philosophy that lets you do what you want to do in the World is probably the best thing a company can do.  BethSoft should continue to make games that are capable of being modified by the players.  However, alas, no more single player CRPGs.  The ES are the last of the single player as MMOs are the in thing now.  TES V is going to be an MMO, and MMO's are harder to be modified by player content than Morrowind or Oblivion.

That's the last I'm saying about it.

Morrowind Fan Art

Here's another example of Morrowind Fan Art.


House Redoran Warrior by ~Atlantean6 on deviantART

This is the twin sister of the former Hoplite. Her name is Drelyne Indarys while her twin sister is Ulvena Indarys. Drelyne Indarys is one of the foot soldiers who is fighting in Solstheim. Here, she is posing before she is set off. She is expected to marry Elam Gindu of House Redoran. Her sister is like Mistress Dratha, and mistrusts most men.

Scripps and Atlantis

I'll be writing my first screenplay, Echos of Atlantis using Scripped.  But first things first, storycrafting.  It's important to get the messy details down.  I'm going for a Character Story on this one, instead of a Milieu story.  This is because the Fantasy starts right away instead of when the character gets to Atlantis.

Basic Tagline: Echos of Atlantis is about a young man who carries the blood of Atlantean Royalty.  He finds out about his heritage and must rally the Atlanteans to break the power of the Sahuagin that threaten Atlantis' existence.

The story takes place in a Fantasy America.  Where there are Wizards, Tinkers, Psions, Warriors, Thieves, and evil kings.  The Evil King Agrippa holds sway over the Kingdom of York, which includes the States of New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.  Opposing Evil King Agrippa is the Puritan Socialists of Massachusetts and the Southern Crown Colonies.  What the three little petty nations don't know is that there is a movement led by a small circle of Radicals that want to get rid of their socialists, evil kings, and crown colonies once and for all and to unify the lands into a new Republic.

The Atlanteans are the survivors of an ancient deluge and occupy the cities of Cleitos, Tritonis, and Atlantis.  Atlantis is off the coast of Bermuda.  Tritonis is off the coast of Manhattan, and Cleitos is off the coast of North Carolina.  However, the Atlanteans are in disarray as their Autocrat Atalescas was slain by the Sahuagin King of Xyluff in the last campaign.

Faced with defeat, one of the Atlanteans go to Heartford to find the last known heir to the throne of Atlantis.  The one foretold that will unify the three cities of Atlantis and defeat the evil sahuagin of Xyluff once and for all.

Now doesn't that sound cool?  I think so. :)

Review: The Tale of Ruin-Tail (Oblivion Mod)

It's been oppressively hot, but I found out about a mod for Oblivion I wanted to try.  It's called Ruin-Tail's Tale and by gum the man was inspired to write it.  Basically, its about a companion for your Oblivion character named Ruin-Tail.  He's an Argonian (lizard-man/fok) who is tortured by morality and his conscience.  He left his sect of Dark Brotherhood and sought freedom.  You run into him, and you start your adventures with him.  The tale can turn into one of "infamy", "Friendship," or "Romance."  When I was playing it, when it came to go "romance" or "friendship", my character was blind-sided by Ruin-Tail's declaration of love (or as near as he could get to it).  Relunctantly, my character confessed he shared the same feelings.   However, there was no way of explaining to Ruin-Tail that my character preferred to have a Platonic Romance over an erotic one.

The mod is based on Wiedu's mod Soulefein for Balder's Gate II.  The writer felt that a companion with an engaging storyline is better than most companion mods.  You get a companion, he or she fights for you, and you don't really build characterization.  Ruin-Tail's mod is really high quality, and the best mod I've seen for Oblivion.  And it is an old mod.

The story presented in Ruin-Tail's Tale is a love story.  Whether you follow "Romance", "Friendship", or "Infamy," it's classified as a love story because of the deep friendship both of you build together.    it is also tragic since Ruin-Tail and you split up at the end of his tale.  I love the mod, myself.  Morrowind mods don't reach this kind of quality.  At the end, I was thinking up a novelization of the mod about my character's and Ruin-Tail's exploits told in a series of books for Oblivion, meant to be added after the Ruin-Tail's Tale has run its course.

There is nothing gross about the mod.  I checked the dialogue and there is nothing there that is too deeply suggestive.  However, this is probably something that can only happen in a game like Oblivion.  Love story plots in D&D is often hard to run let alone write.  The reason why Fear is so popular to inspire is because most DMs and Players fear love stories.  It's either not manly or they feel it intrudes on them somehow.  Quite frankly, I don't blame them for feeling this way.

But it is the best mod for Oblivion I played with Companions.  And it's done so well it's a wonderful mod.  It's both great and sad that it's unique.

Next: Romance, the tale of Ruin-Tail and the Crusader.