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So, did I mention Zombie Planet, the most excellent game and comic shop in Albany, has a new forum? Well, they do. Now you can register to keep up with all things ZP. Want to discuss your latest gripe about game X? Want to gush over game Y? Or are you simply looking for someone, anyone, to play with you? Well, stop in at the forum and see what’s there.
http://zombie-planet.proboards.com/index.cgi?
Q
So, I’ve mentioned Rebecca Mayes here before. She writes songs about video games. They aren’t exactly reviews or critiques, more like songs inspired by them, though they often have critical parts to them. The music is often ethereal and evocative, and always beautiful. Below is her offering for Halo 2. Usually, she pens her own lyrics, but these are the words of Marianne Williamson, as used by Nelson Mandela for his inauguration speech. Beautiful words on their own, but Rebecca manages to make them even more special. Listen.
Q
For my gaming friends: ever find yourself thinking that the rapier rules seem silly in D&D when stacked against a standard sword? You’re not alone. But consider the following video.
So, it would seem the rules for rapiers are not so bad. In fact, they may be underpowered.
Q
Liz has been working hard on art for me between bouts of getting married, holding down a full-time job, moving and all that piddly stuff. So, I thought I’d share some of her initial sketches.
The Trillids are one of the most interesting of the galaxy’s species, being the only known intelligent species to have three sexes. In fact, all complex life on their home-world Shemarbruc is trisexual. All three sexes — alpha, beta, and gamma — are rather short, with hairless, slightly moist, smooth grey-green skin, reminiscent of frog skin…The most obvious deviance from the humanoid form is in the facial features, set on a slightly bulbous cranium. While the eyes are quite human, with surprisingly similar coloring of the irises, they are large and deep-set, beneath strong brow ridges on a steeply sloped forehead. The nose is broad, and flattened, with fine crenations around the perimeter of the nares, while the lower half of the face protrudes slightly forward in an almost canine fashion. Trillids also lack external ear structures, having only large tympanic membranes beside their eyes, also protected somewhat by bony annular protrusions connected to the brow ridge.
These are initial sketches, and the final people look a little bit different. You’ll have to wait for the book to see what I mean.
The Loramyps are a semi-sessile, sapient plant species, resembling large, thick-boled bushes. Their roughly hemispherical canopies are thick with large, palmately compound purple-black leaves. The leaves are purple-black with a rough matte surface. In the spring they sport a multitude of huge creamy-white flowers resembling magnolia blossoms. They top out at around ten feet tall with ten foot diameter canopies and four foot diameter trunks. Their smooth, umber-colored trunks are bare up to about five feet from the ground where a sparse ring of flexible, whip-like, prehensile branches begins. These appendages, which can reach sometimes up to ten feet, are tipped with frilly yellow-green foliage, resembling down. When not in use, they are kept wrapped around the trunk.
We’re still dialoguing on these, but the Loramyp in the atrium is just about perfect, no?
The Durgens are a protean metal-based life form. They generally mass about 3.5 times an average male human, but being made of a denser material, they are smaller than humans. They average around 4’ 6’’ tall and weigh around 656 pounds. These beings generally take the form of whomever they are dealing with at the moment. If faced with a group of multiple species, they mimic the dominant one in the party…The Durgens have an unusual societal structure and might be better referred to as The Durgen, singular. They are a communal species, in the strictest sense of the word. Individual Durgens are but extensions of The Durgen, an enormous organism existing on their home-world, Hydoorgyr. From time to time, The Durgen buds off and sends its new Gemma out to accomplish some mission — help find food, rendezvous with visitors, explore new star systems, et cetera.
As always, Liz is a pleasure to work with. Y’all should definitely hire her to do something for you.
Slaintè,
Q
Production is steadily advancing on the Star Lost manuscript. Liz Radtke is steadily producing high quality art for the section on Aliens, and I’m getting the text laid out all pretty like. Here’s a sample spread from the Adventuring chapter.
Click to embiggen.
I’m also working on a follow-up to the smash hit Morgenstern’s Spellbook, entitled Resnet’s Spellbook. Resnet (who you may remember as having a spell named for her in Morgenstern’s Spellbook) is the younger sister of Rasmus Morgenstern. Though following the path of the bard, Resnet also shares her brother’s penchant for collecting new spells. She tends to be more selective of practical spells than Rasmus, though, so this volume is decidedly less quirky than the previous. Once completed, it will be sold both individually and as a bundle with Morgenstern’s Spellbook (called the Morgenstern Family Album).
In other news, I am completing formalities to use Lightning Source as the POD printer for Hudspeth Games. I was introduced to Lightning Source through DriveThruRPG as their POD supplier. They do fairly good work, and I’m familiar with their policies, so I thought I’d give a go at cutting out the middle man. If things go right, you should see print versions of Hudspeth Games’ works at such fine retail outlets as Amazon.com.
Finally, my birthday is coming up, and to celebrate all Hudspeth Games titles at DriveThruRPG will be on sale (50% off) from 9/29/10 through 10/1/10. Sweet deals!
Slaintè,
Q
Here’s a track by an indie artist Wil Wheaton mentioned on his blog. Listen to it all the way, and be surprised.
Q
Okay, I’ve shown you the ICD tablet competitors, and they’re really cool gadgets. But this one. This one I want.
Lenovo is close to releasing the U1 Hybrid — a netbook that snaps apart and becomes a tablet. Check it.
Here’s a link to an engadget review. This guy looks sweet. It’s been delayed a bit because they’ve decided not to use the Skylight OS demoed here, but to switch to Android, since it’s robust and they’ve had good luck with it on some of their smart phones. (Says something about an OS when you dump your own for it.)
The reason H and I have been down on the iPad and its ilk is that, while it is more flexible than an eReader, it is still very limited because of its format. The U1 looks like it will provide the best of the netbook and tablet worlds. Perhaps by year’s end it will have been out long enough for some decent reviews. I’ve wanted a color, large screen alternative to my Nook for reading large-format PDF eBooks that don’t reflow well to the smaller Nook screen. I’ve contemplated a netbook, which would allow me to write or do email as well as read PDFs and track my D&D characters live at the game (yes, I am that geeky). I hope the U1 is all it’s cracked up to be.
A while back I posted about ICD’s Vega tablet as a serious competitor of the iPad. Here’s a look at a similar, but smaller device that may be available in the US sooner. Dunno. Looks like it’ll be tied to Verizon Wireless rather than T-Mobile, as the Vega is. Either way, it’s a sweet bit of tech! Here’s a SlashGear write-up on the Ultra.
Merriam Webster’s online dictionary recently started showing little vlogs about etymology and grammar called Ask the Editor. They are usually witty, and always informative. Here’s one of my favorites…
http://www.merriam-webster.com/video/0015-octopus.htm
(For some reason, they don’t allow embedding.)
I get to see RUSH in concert at SPAC Friday night with Heather…for free!!!!
Heather managed to snag some free tickets from the GE Volunteers organization. W00t!
Don’t know yet where we are seated, but who cares? It’s RUSH and it’s FREE.
Q
There's a sale comin' on! Friday the 23rd - Monday the 26th DriveThru will be having a 25% off sale, and Hudspeth Games’ products will be included. So, if you’ve been putting off buying some stuff, the time is coming this weekend!
…says Wil Wheaton about his design for a new T-shirt available through J!nx.com.
"Never forget your roots.
In this modern era of Dwarven Forge terrain, full-color dungeon tiles, power cards and pre-painted minis, let's remember where we started: sitting on the floor, surrounded by books and dice, building dungeons with nothing more than a pencil, some graph paper, and our imagination."
-Wil
The shirt boasts a great design by Miguel Rojas.
I want one.
I had a great weekend this past. Saturday was a hike up to the Snow Hole near Petersburgh in the Taconic mountain range with Joe Levy and Karen Traite. I’ll be eternally grateful to them for getting me off my butt and back on a hike. It’s been nearly a decade since I’ve gone on a nature walk like Heather and I used to do, with camera in hand.
The Snow Hole hike was a good one, too. Perfect for an older naturist who hasn’t been on a real hike in too long. There were steep parts, but they only lasted long enough to make you think, “I may have to sit down in a second.” Just as I would get desperate, I’d look up and the trail would level out a few strides ahead. It would stay level long enough for me to catch my breath, then dip down or climb up again for a short period. While I was tired when we came back to the trailhead four hours after starting, I wasn’t about to fall over.
Along the way we spotted a red-tailed hawk soaring in the thermals over a small blue-berry infested meadow (which isn’t as good as it sounds when the berries are only 2mm unripe bumps). I tried to get some good pics of the hawk, but he was too fast, and all I could get were silhouettes.
The Snow Hole itself was only slightly disappointing. A deep crevice in the rocks, the Hole stays cool year round because of the thermal mass of the rocks that form its walls and the abundant shade of the trees above. Sometimes you can even find snow in early summer. We did not, and that was the only disappointing part. The hole was colder than my basement, a good 50° if I had to guess, and very damp. There was gorgeous moss everywhere, not to mention graffiti from the late 1800’s. A couple of birds flitted around, and the bugs did not. After about ten minutes down there, Karen was even getting cold.
So, we climbed out of the hole (no mean feat) and had lunch after which Karen found a geocache near her impromptu toilet. We had quick read and signed our names, lamenting the lack of snow. Then we headed back down to the car.
Here’s an album* of pictures from the walk:
Have a great week!
Q
*All photos not showing people are released under a Creative Commons 3.0 noncommercial, share-alike, attribution license. Photos of people are ©2010 Quentin Hudspeth and may not be distributed or used without my written permission.
Here's a new product that might give the iPad a run for its money. The Vega, from Innovated Converged Devices (out of Seattle), runs Android 2.0 on an NVIDIA Tegra processor. With a built in 32 GB SD hard drive, support for an expansion SD hard drive, and a firkin' huge 15 inch screen size (11 and 7 inch sizes will be available), not to mention freedom from the iPrison of Apple apps, the Vega could be the go to multimedia pad. And, come on, that docking station is just cute! Originally announced in late 2009 for a mid-2010 release, currently it appears only available in the UK with T-Mobile 3G connectivity.
The video below is lousy, but it showcases some interesting feature of the prototypical Vega. Check out the product page at ICD.
I've been working with artist Liz Radtke again on concepts for the Kalens of Star Lost. Can I just say that she so frickin rocks! Her first attempt (the golden retriever) was too dog-like and too butch. That stemmed from my inadequate description. The next iteration (the other four pix) was awesome. I don’t claim that she reached into my brain and pulled out the perfect image. I can’t because I didn’t have a fully formed image in mind, just pieces of what I knew should be there:
Kalens are a tall, svelte, furry species, most closely related to terrestrial marsupials. They are, however, asexual and androgynous…Their facial features offer an interesting mix of familiar terrestrial animals. Their ears are tall, pointy, and tufted, like a lynx‘s. Their eyes are large like those of a lemur. And their snouts are slightly extended, but short, like an affenpinscher‘s, with a wide mouth full of small, sharp front teeth, and a surfeit of wide molars in back…
From that, and a short critique on the first draft, she has managed to create a fully formed creature that looks like the best stuff you see in the special features menu of a scifi movie. Sweet!
Remember Caltrops, that first supplement from Hudspeth Games? Well, it just got its firs review over at DriveThruRPG. Here’s what NB Neil had to say:
This is a great little supplement for GMs looking to add some flavor for characters, especially the betting kind. It's a short read with two simple dice games that NPCs may be playing or more interestingly that your players can play to pass the time.
Some of my players aren't as into the roleplaying portions of the game and end up heading off to the local tavern for some gambling. Though I'm sure I could have come up with some games for them to play rather than a simple skill challenge, this supplement gives two good examples with the background that goblins often play these with marked caltrops. A little fluff and a little crunch. My kind of supplement. Break out the d4's and ante up.
Rating:[4 of 5 Stars!]
I likes me some Dragon Age. It's a pretty cool game, with a detailed world, a decent story and fairly robust mechanics. While I haven't gotten too far with it, since I don't play it very often, I've thoroughly enjoyed what I've seen so far. So, I was delighted to stumble across a link to the first episode in a new machinima series based in the Dragon Age world and using the Dragon Age animation engine. It takes place after the ending of the game, with the Darkspawn threat routed (the main objective of the game) and fleeing back to whence they came.
This series follows the life of Grey Warden Kristoff after he helps end the Darkspawn blight. The Grey Wardens are the traditional line of defense against the Darkspawn when they inevitably rise in another blight. It’s a gripping and dramatic tale, and it really makes me want to get back into the game. Some new threat appears to be rising from the ashes of the recent war
Warning!!! High Gore Content!!!
My latest supplement, Playing the Market, has just gone live at DriveThruRPG, and before I could even post this, it has a five-star review (from featured reviewer Devon Kelly):
Playing the market is a handy little supplement. At 15 pages, it's a breeze to read. The text is well written and easy to understand.
At first, the mechanic to determine availability and price of items seems very simple and not very special. But once it begins to get into determining the scarcity of an item, that's when it really shines! The system for Modern/Future is understandably more complex, but it also determines how much time will be needed to obtain an item.
I downloaded both PDF versions that were available and was pleased to see that one is formatted to read on a computer screen and the other is formatted for printing. That's a very nice plus.
This is well worth the price and is a wonderful supplement for those gamers who want to add in a little more uncertainty to the in-game shopping experience!
Rating:[5 of 5 Stars!]
Life is sweet.
Just had to share this video from the Spitzer Space Telescope team. Wil Wheaton posted it at his blog. He gets to play Irwin, and a delightfully cheesy talk-show version of himself. Co-stars are Amy Okuda of The Guild, and Ed Wasser of Babylon 5.
Can’t get enough of Tuba-bot? Check out more videos at http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/videos/irrelevant/.
Q
Note: Cross posted from Quentin Hudspeth's Journal.I’ve been searching around for the perfect font to do the cover of Star Lost.
Below is a slide show of a cover mock-up with 15 different fonts. These are the finalists from the wonderful fonts I’ve been able to find. But, it’s difficult to decide which font best embodies the feel of Star Lost I have in mind. I’d like your opinions, especially those who playtested it. Which of these fonts best matches your inner vision of the world we shared?
Note: Cross posted from Quentin Hudspeth's Journal.…and that pretty much makes life worth living, all on its own.
Yesterday, Kaylin came into the study while I was working on a prototype cover for Star Lost (my space opera RPG). She saw the screen and asked if I was working on my game (meaning, I think, Igor, which we had played together last week). I told her it was art for the role-playing game the gaming group had been playing for a while, and she said “Oh” or some other phrase of recognition. Then she gave me a big squeeze and said “I love you” in exactly the same tone I use when I say it to her after she’s done something cool or weird or just Kaylinish, and I really mean, “I’m proud of you, and, You’re just cool, and You are so totally frickin’ froody, how could the universe have managed without you these billions of years?” I choked up a bit as she danced off to take her shower. It don’t get much better than that.
Q
Note: Cross posted from Quentin Hudspeth's Journal.| The Gathering Storm (Wheel of Time, Book 12) | |
|---|---|
| Yesterday I finished reading The Gathering Storm, the 12th installment of the Wheel of Time series. Many of you know that author Robert Jordan died before finishing his super-series, but did you know that his editor (and wife) and his publishers found an excellent writer to finish it? Brandon Sanderson has done what many thought impossible — seamlessly meld his own style with a near-perfect emulation of Jordan’s. The Gathering Storm is easily one of the better of the recent volumes. Sanderson handles Jordan’s bloated cast with deft assuredness. Though focusing mainly on events surrounding Rand and Egwene, all of the important characters get a nod. Working from Jordan’s final notes, this first novel of the final three ties up a lot of threads and brings us on an emotionally charged ride with a nice parallel plot that sets Rand’s inner turmoil beside Egwene’s outer struggle. It may be simply because the 11th book is a somewhat distant memory, but it may be that Sanderson’s effort is a better read than the last few volumes. At the least now, the ending seems much closer than the horizon. |  |
Today I was catching the latest installment of Shamus Young Plays LotRO, when I saw an ad at the bottom for the latest installment of Rebecca Mayes Muses. Curious, I clicked on the link and got sucked in for several hours catching up on old posts. Below is the video that hooked me. Ms. Mayes brings something unique to the game-review industry. Rather than writing clinical reviews of games, she gives us aural discussions of the games she plays. And, this isn’t just some videocast babble. She sings about games and gaming. That’s right. Her songs are to game reviews what haiku are to poetry. She boils down the essence of the “reviewed” games into complex musical essays and sets them to video. Even if you are not a gamer, if you love good music, her videos are worth watching. Go on, give her a try.
Act Now! Until May 24th, Steam is offering Portal free to all Steam members (free to join!). If you haven’t played the legendary game full of awesomeness and cake, then now’s your chance. Don’t punish yourself a moment longer. Get it. Play it. Love it.
Note: Cross posted from Quentin Hudspeth's Journal.
My second DriveThruRPG offering, Morgenstern’s Spellbook is going live as I type.
Morgenstern’s Spellbook is a collection of 60 new and original spells. It’s designed to be used whole, as a treasure item, or as a new source of spells for your campaign. It was originally conceived during a spate of productivity while guest-DMing for Joe Levy’s recent D&D campaign.
As with all my RPG work, the pdf is available through DriveThruRPG. I’m also setting this one up for print on demand, since it’s around 26 pages.
Slaintè,
Q
Note: Cross posted from Quentin Hudspeth's Journal.
My second DriveThruRPG offering, Morgenstern’s Spellbook is going live as I type.
Morgenstern’s Spellbook is a collection of 60 new and original spells. It’s designed to be used whole, as a treasure item, or as a new source of spells for your campaign. It was originally conceived during a spate of productivity while guest-DMing for Joe Levy’s recent D&D campaign.
As with all my RPG work, the pdf is available through DriveThruRPG. I’m also setting this one up for print on demand, since it’s around 26 pages.
Slaintè,
Q
Note: Cross posted from Quentin Hudspeth's Journal.Whooooooo!!! Yeah! Feel the exhilaration.
Rush. One of the most influential bands EVAR, both musically and philosophically. Finally, the story behind the band. This summer. Be there.
I was introduced to Rush in the late 80s when my best friend’s brother set Hold Your Fire to some computer animation he scripted (similar to the old bouncing lines screen saver). He also did a Tangerine Dream song, whose name escapes me. It was Brett Milner who brought me to the two bands who helped form my musical tastes, informed my personal philosophy, and all around just made my world a better place to live and listen in.
Since that time, I have purchase Rush’s catalogue on cassette and replaced them on CD. It started with A Farewell to Kings, the tape of which I pretty much wore out. That’s still one of my favorite albums, and the top of their epic rock phase. And I intend to keep on buying their stuff as it comes out. Even their most disappointing efforts (Test for Echo) are only mediocre, and equal to the best of the pap on the airwaves.
So, here’s to the hope that this movie will bring Rush to a fresh new generation of listeners who get as much out of their work as I have.
Thanks Neil, Geddy and Alex. You rock on.
Q
Note: Cross posted from Quentin Hudspeth's Journal.
I just set up the product page for Caltrops at DriveThruRPG. It’s awesome!
I’m also getting the Hudspeth Games website up and running. It’s barebones, right now, with placeholder text for all but the Caltrops page. But I hope to flesh it out more over the next couple of weeks.
I’ve also started the layout process for Morgenstern’s Spellbook, a collection of quirky spells recently used in our bi-weekly campaign. Look for that in the next few weeks as well.
Q
Note: Cross posted from Quentin Hudspeth's Journal.I recently threw together a generic fantasy game supplement featuring two dice games. The conceit I hung them on was that they were played by this race of goblins that lived in the highlands of a fictitious world, who like to use caltrops for gaming implements. Liz Hooper, a friend of a friend, has graciously agreed to do a bit of cover art for the project. Here is her initial sketch, which I think is incredible. I can’t wait for the finished product. If you want to see more of her work, she has also illustrated an upcoming RPG called Do. The design blog for that is here, and you can catch sketch work in past archive months, like January.
Click to enlarge.
Q
I first told you about Shamus Young back when he was doing his uproariously funny DM of the Rings parody of Lord of the Rings (as though it were a campaign of D&D). Now Shamus is playing through Lord of the Rings Online, and treating us to his wonderful humor along the way. From taking pot shots at the Middle Earth Strip mall (merchants row) in a town besieged by brigands to upbraiding guards for holing up in the lodge and guarding the food, Shamus takes us on a wonderful ride through the grind of hunting spiders, wolves and bandits.
Whether you’re a fan of LotR, LotR, or MMO’s in general, I think you’ll enjoy
I worry about attacks from foreign terrorists. A little. I mean, who doesn't. But I worry about attacks from our homegrown terrorists even more. At least we can keep a somewhat better eye on them here.
Note: Cross posted from Quentin Hudspeth's Journal.I just might make some money from something I do for free!
Headless Hydra Games is looking for submissions of new (and unique) spells for a new Pathfinder compatible Spell Compendium (http://paizo.com/paizo/messageboards/paizoPublishing/pathfinder/pathfinderRPG/products/licensees/headlessHydraGamesSpellCompendiumPleaseRead).
I’ve submitted a lot of spells that I’ve thrown together over the last decade. If Axel chooses even one for inclusion in the book, I’ll be stoked. So, if any of you out there have an interesting spell or two up your sleeve, you may want to contribute. The book will be released under the open gaming license, so you don’t even lose the ability to publish them elsewhere, if you’re of a mind to.
Q
Note: Cross posted from Quentin Hudspeth's Journal.For One Tiny Instant, Physicists May Have Broken a Law of Nature
(PhysOrg.com) -- For a brief instant, it appears, scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island recently discovered a law of nature had been broken.
Note: Cross posted from Quentin Hudspeth's Journal.Daniel Solis has a project coming out called Happy Birthday, Robot. It’s a storytelling game centered around a robot. You can find out more here where there is some actual play posted along with further descriptions of the game. He’s using KickStarter to drum up interest in a limited print run of signed and numbered hardback editions of the game. Daniel is an excellent (award winning) layout artist and illustrator. It promises to be a beautiful book. It will also be released as a PDF if you’re interested in that. Either way, you should check it out, and if you’d be interested in a purchase, pledge to the kickstart.
Q
Note: Cross posted from Quentin Hudspeth's Journal.More fingerstyle maniacs from Candyrat Records. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNrRmyqemP0
Note: Cross posted from Quentin Hudspeth's Journal.Well, I’ve finished self-editing the 400 page tome that is Star Lost. I’ve just sent the PDF off to a couple of friends who agreed to look it over. When I get their comments digested in about a month I’ll see if Colin is still up for layout duty, or if I’ll be on my own, or something in between. While Word is a great word processor and can do some swanky things like hyperlinked ToCs and indeces, it’s pretty lousy for making a pretty document. Since I gots no $$, I’m going to have to publish without art (unless someone is crazy enough to provide free art), so I’ll need the tidiest layout I can get.
But for the next stretch of time I won’t be thinking about Star Lost, instead working on some smaller projects I’ve started along the way that are near completion. There’s Gaming the Market, a small cross-genre supplement for randomizing the shopping experience. And there’s also Caltrops, a dice game involving everyone’s favorite pyramidal dice. I’ve also got to get the Hudspeth Games website dressed out (anyone out there want to help? Know Drupal?). After that we’ll see. I’ve been kicking around an idea for both a novel and new game within the same setting. I think I want to focus on the novel, but my lizard brain keeps throwing other ideas at me instead.
Enough updates. Gotta go think about what to cook for dinner.
Q
For some reason, I couldn’t test all the plugins at once, so here we go again, down the list.
For inserting a link to a file and attaching it.
Note: Cross posted from Quentin Hudspeth's Journal.
