I didn’t make it to any of Aggiecon as I devoted myself to catching up on work. I enjoyed hearing about the convention from Reesa and Steve, and last night Reesa and I took in the con’s Rocky Horror Picture Show performance, which was quite enjoyable. Rocky was particularly well played by a handsome and extremely unshy young man. I was actually a ‘virgin’ but we got there late (just in time for Timewarp) and so I wasn’t able to get properly devirginized. Next time…
I’ve heard a rumor that the whole cast was ‘banned’ from doing RHPS ever again for Aggiecon, due to some extremely juvenile behavior on the part of the con director. Given some other weirdness this year I might give it a bit of weight. I hope it’s not true, they were enthusiastic and sexy.
Lately I’ve been playing a lot of Mabinogi, a relatively new MMORPG which just came out of beta testing in the English speaking world (it has already been quite successful in Asia). The game is free to download and play. but you can pay real world money for extras. So far I am really enjoying it and using it to catwax with abandon. Do any of you play? I would not mind some lower level characters to party with. My character Caspar (on the Mari server) is level 18 (about halfway to 19). I’ve been training myself mostly in Archery with a little regular melee on the side.
I’ve got a couple more book reviews ready to go, and some others in the works. I’ll keep you posted…
21 responses so far ↓
1 josh // Mar 31, 2008 at 9:27 am
Speaking of gaming… The Vlad novels often read something like a D&D game. The main characters are all high-level PCs with minions and artifacts. They even devolve into rules-lawyer discussions (particularly Aliera and Sethra). And the rules for magic are wonderfully abstruse at times. I’ve often thought there should be a GURPS Dragaera or some other game system to play, it would be tons of fun.
2 kit // Mar 31, 2008 at 9:44 am
Well Steve is a longtime D&D player — I’ll let you draw your own conclusions about how that might have affected the creation of Dragaera. :) I’m sure he’d love it if someone wrote rules for Dragaera, though an official GURPS or D20 book would be sweet.
Steve wants me to run a campaign of some kind for the household, but I don’t know when I’ll have the time to do that as well as write — my games are meticulously planned and I think a lot of the same energy goes into my writing nowadays. Plus I’ve never been much of a D&D player which is his preferred system… Modern/urban fantasy settings, which are my fav leave him cold and he’s too squeamish for horror RPGs, which I also like. I’m sure well figure something out one of these days, the urge to game can be vicious when it hits and all of us in this house are susceptible.
3 Miramon // Mar 31, 2008 at 9:54 am
S l o o o w l y downloading Mabinogi now. After having worked for Turbine from 2003-2007, MMORPGs have something of a lowered appeal for me these days, perhaps I was overexposed to their internals.
But I haven’t played one for a couple of years, so who knows, maybe it will be good….
So is this game based on Welsh mythology, or is Mabinogi just a random name (after the fashion of various other asian games)?
4 kit // Mar 31, 2008 at 10:20 am
There is at least some basis in Welsh mythology, although I wouldn’t expect much accuracy. The new main quest just got released and it has something to do with the goddess Morrighan…
5 Bawrence // Mar 31, 2008 at 11:08 am
Looks a little too toony for my tastes, but come over to http://www.gamegate.gr and play Lineage 2 Kamael with me. See Pascal or Kreet ingame.
6 Jonathan Prejean // Mar 31, 2008 at 12:31 pm
The Vlad novels often read something like a D&D game.
Sometime while I was at A&M (’92-’96), I adapted the Amber diceless role-playing game to Dragaera, after I had got all my friends hooked on skzb’s books. I thought at the time that it was fitting to take a system designed for Zelazny as a model for adapting the Jhereg series to an RPG. Instead of Pattern (basic and advanced), Logrus, Shape-Shifting, and Trump, the powers were Sorcery (basic and advanced), Witchcraft, Psionics, and Necromancy. I was going for the Robert E. Howard/Conan feel with the bad wizard being the opponent for the party of swashbuckling heroes (Dzur and Lyorn) and the good priest/witch type (Easterner). I can’t remember whether Athyra came out just before the campaign or after we already started, but we still had a lot of fun with that one despite that novel having pretty much stolen my thunder. :-)
7 Miramon // Mar 31, 2008 at 2:13 pm
OK, I’m Miramon@Mari, level 11 now. It does seem like a nice little game considering the price…. I suspect it will grow dull after a while, but if you don’t play it as an obsession, it might not be too bad.
8 Anthony // Mar 31, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Hmm. I’m a longtime D&D player myself, and shamelessly steal names from Steve’s books left and right. I am currently playing on a NWN2 persistant world that has a heavy roleplaying focus. Sort of a frontier realm which is somewhat lawless and kind of a swashbuckling type place.
http://www.dragoncoast.org
Note: NWN2 online is free to play and provides one with countless hours of entertainment, as you can create your own modules and run them for friends as well.
9 Anthony // Mar 31, 2008 at 2:34 pm
As a side note, several years ago, I ran an adventure that followed the Taltos novel’s storyline. It was a fantastic adventure, and even won an award at an RPGA event in Dallas, TX.
10 kit // Mar 31, 2008 at 2:38 pm
Miramon@7: Yes I don’t tend to obsess about any game forever… but if it keeps me entertained for a while then it’s done its job.
I sent you a friend request so we can do party quests. The game is a lot more fun when you are in a team and I think that will keep the enjoyment going for me a while longer.
Right now though I am headed napwards..
11 skzb // Mar 31, 2008 at 2:43 pm
I love hearing about convention drama and gossip, but as I rule, I consider it as reliable as Fox News; it’s usually worth getting six or seven independent accounts of something before passing it on.
12 GWW // Mar 31, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Is it just me… or would anyone else hate trying to roleplay in a CRPG with Steve?
Would be like finding out your driving coach is Michael Schumacher.
I mean… it would be badass… but intimidating all at the same time I think.
13 starwed // Apr 1, 2008 at 4:13 am
I actually discovered the Vlad novels through Steve’s interview in Dragon magazine, more than a decade ago.
Also, the best free, online RPG is clearly http://kingdomofloathing.com. :)
14 kit // Apr 1, 2008 at 4:37 am
Reesa and I played Kingdom of Loathing for quite a while with some friends. You can look up my characters if you’re curious. I played Silverpalmleaf and Vapor Daddy and Reesa played MonkeyChef.
As Vapor Daddy I actually encountered and beat one of the ultra-rare monsters, then sold it’s item for phat meat.
15 Dan // Apr 1, 2008 at 7:44 am
Hey wow, thanks a bunch for this link. Been looking for something to do when I get bored of LotRO, and this game looks pretty great.
16 Rathgar // Apr 1, 2008 at 7:58 am
I’m a big fan of RHPS, but I have to say I don’t favor what the audience floor show part of it has evolved into. When it started out it was just some folks getting dressed up, maybe an interjection here and there, but it has gotten to the point where the audience is shouting during the entire movie. Shouting over the dialogue, shouting over the music. It really detracts from ones ability to enjoy the movie itself. If you haven’t actually seen the movie, I’d recommend renting/netflixing the DVD and watching it at home.
17 skzb // Apr 1, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Thanks, Rathgar; I feel validated. I thought I was the only one who felt that way.
18 kit // Apr 1, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Dan@15: Look for me there and we’ll go beat stuff up together with Miramon. I probably won’t be on much today though…
I did experience some ugly lag playing yesterday, so if it continues I may lead an exodus to one of the lest busy servers. I haven’t had much trouble during my peak playing hours, though, which admittedly are not most people’s (i.e. late at night).
Rathgar@16: I have actually watched the movie a few times and think its a fantastic experience. I was only a virgin in the sense of the floorshow.
I found it to be an interesting experience, fascinating people watching and sometimes funny. I can imagine going back again, but I find it hard to understand the appeal that would drive people to attend that every week…
19 Ada Kerman // Apr 3, 2008 at 7:16 pm
I’m Eilonwy on Mari now, I left Caspar a friend request and figured I should comment here so you know who Eilonwy is. I’m up to level 4 or 5, doing the very newbie quests.
20 Stacy // Apr 6, 2008 at 6:40 pm
A long time ago (I can’t remember how many years), I actually did start writing up GURPS rules for Dragaera – even had a few Emails with Steve regarding it. Alas, there wasn’t enough interest to keep it up and actually play, which still baffles me.
21 James // Apr 13, 2008 at 12:46 pm
I thought it was y’all coming in on Saturday night (the only night I stayed to watch). Hopefully Steve enjoyed the Con. There was a lot going on in the background that I hope the guests and con-goers didn’t see much of.
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