Refusing to grow old...

As a gamer, I think one of the things that has had a significant impact in the way I view life... is the fact that I refuse to grow old.

Not in the bad, "I refuse to mature and take on responsibility" way, but rather in the way that refuses to forget the power and majesty of play and the imagination.

One of the most appropriate things I've found that's trying to espouse this same ideal is the new Johnny Depp movie... Finding Neverland.

Aimless until I saw the star...

It's Christmas again, and I find myself in a different life once again.

For one thing, I'm now working for a different corporation, and I'm back to a normal day shift. I'm working to build a long term career, and I'm going to be travelling to places I've never been to. I feel like a bottle of oil and water that's been shaken up... badly.

I admit it... I'm a creature of habit and routine, and now I'm still in the process of sorting things out.

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Growing old is freaky, I feel like I'm being accelerated through a tunnel moving along the hypercube of time. I'm sitting perfectly still, and I'm still getting nauseous.

I get this feeling whenever I'm about to embark on another chapter of my life.

I guess I sound crazy when I talk like this, but that's really how it is. If I was ever attuned to the Sphere of Entropy (in Mage-speak), then this must be how sensing destiny might be. And if my gut feel is right, I'm in for one heck of a ride.

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Now for the good part. Looking out into the night on my way home, the countless parol that hung from everywhere served as the koan that woke me up from my daze.

The Star

I must have looked really stupid, staring out from the overpass on top of the MRT in Quezon Avenue, looking at the string of stars that led off into the horizon. Perhaps it was my Catholic upbringing, but the Christmas Star was a reminder that no matter how utterly displaced I was... there was guidance from someone Greater.

There was hope.

There was someone making sure that I was okay.

Top anime on my wishlist....

if there was an anime that I'd love to have a complete copy of, it would be the Heroic Legend of Arislan, an old anime that came out quite some time ago (around the early nineties, I think.) Arislan centered on the saga of a young prince who lost his kingdom, and accompanied only by his loyal vassal, and a group of loyalists and friends, fights to reclaim the throne that was lost to him.

It's a very cool anime that's composed of only 6 or so volumes, including a movie-length first episode. The characters are compelling, the artwork superb, and the music is exotic, lending much to a very different kind of fantasy setting, that is at once familiar... without being stale.

There are no orcs, or dwarves or even elves in this anime, just humans, and it is the uniquely human aspects of the characters that make them so interesting to watch. Of course, one can always expect slight exaggeration in how well the characters do stuff, but hey, it's all part of a fantastic show.

Hoo-hah!

Right... this is what I usually do every sunday. I take up arnis a bit and try to keep myself somewhat active, especially after sitting around the office all week.

Hasn't helped much if you notice the belly.

I gotta do something about that. :p

Ascendance

Hmm...

I'm mulling about the idea of running a game set in the World of Darkness again. Still in the planning stages though, but I'm thinking of actually making it organized for once. As such, I'm going to try and make this little blog a sounding board for creating a campaign, beginning from the very basics, and building it up into what will hopefully be a successful game.

For starters, it's going to be a Mage: the Ascension game.

Why Mage? Because it's the most flexible in the three core World of Darkness games in terms of stories. Games can range from the level of personal struggle, to occult conspiracy to battles fought over the very nature of reality itself.

Mage has always been a game of discovery... and knowledge, and I'm thinking of putting that as the core of this campaign. The nature of disovery, the boundaries of knowledge, and the price for such knowledge. Questions I want to raise to the characters involve just how much they plan to risk to gain the knowledge they want... or even need. Where is the line drawn between how much you know, and how much you should know? And when can you tell if the knowledge you have is the right kind, or if its just eating you up in the inside?

At the same time, I want to play up the wonder of discovery, reaching out to find the beautiful among the ruins, to sow hope with the knowledge gained and used properly. Mage is a cerebral game of concepts, bizzare circumstances and lateral thinking, and I want to reward creative thinking in my players, and to encourage their characters to seek what it truly means to Ascend.

I'm sure that these are lofty ideals, and most likely, my rather jovial approach to GMing might not match this at first, but I've got to take the time to settle in and build the mood, working on the fact that this is meant to be the the World of Darkness, and only the characters can truly build a haven of hope for those who need it.

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Things I plan to incorporate into the game:

Cinematic Storytelling

One of my strengths in GMing RPGs has been the ability to pull off holding very cinematic games. I can build vivid scenes and detailed locations, taking the time to make establishing shots, and basically add life to combat and chase scenes. I'm not sure if my Anime/HK Cinema take on things will work as well here as it did in Legend of the Five Rings or Exalted but I'm sure that I can work something out eventually.

A Cast of Thousands

This, I have to work on. I'm not a genius when it comes to making NPCs like Nicco, so I've got to really sit down and start putting some life into the setting. I need to work on finding the right mix of usefulness and interaction that will make my players feel that they're not the only ones running around in the World of Darkness... and their lives aren't the only ones that matter.

A Worthy Challenge

I'm guilty of being too soft on my players. So far in all my gaming life, I've never really thrown a solid "balls-to-the-wall" challenge to my players when it comes to combat. Sure I've had one or two powerful beings running around, but nothing that was truly nerve wracking for the players. An additional note to this is the fact that I need to start making some pretty good antagonists.

Organization

Now this is something I've got to work on. I'll be using a blog as part of an effort to keep my notes clean and organized for this game. Once I've got a campaign blog set up, I'll be posting a link here for it.

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Now that I've written this, I've just begun to realize the scope of a project like this. Thankfully, my day job is about to begin, and hopefully that means I've got more time to plan something that isn't from the mind of a sleep deprived zombie.

Poll time: If you guys were to play in a game of Mage, what do you guys want to see?

The Avatar

By far one of my favorite protagonists in CRPG history is the Avatar. Born in the 4th installment of the venerable Ultima series, the Avatar is the embodiment of the 8 virtues of the land of Britannia:

Compassion

Compassion is the ability to be sympathetic to the feelings and sufferings of others. To share their pain, and, to do what thou can to ease their misery. Show compassion in all thy dealings, lest they heart grow hard and cold.

Honesty

Thou shalt not steal or lie, but more than this, seek the truth in all things. Strive to be honest in all thy actions. Look deep into thyself, for only by knowing yourself can thou know truth.

Valor

Valor is more than just courage in battle, or in the face of great danger. True valor is the courage to stand by thy convictions and, to act in defence of them. Courage also, to look at thy failings and, bravely, take action to rectify them.

Humility

True humility is the opposite of pride, without humility the path of the Avatar will be a rocky one. For, if thy spirit is filled with pride then how cans't thou learn? Thus shed thy pride, that thou may humbly follow the virtues of the Avatar.

Sacrifice

Sacrifice is to love thy fellow creatures enough, that thou art bravely able to give of thyself. To give without thought of reward or gain. To sacrifice that which thou dos't need to aid those that are in need. Delve deep into thy heart and soul that thou may find true generosity of spirit.

Honor

When thou givest thy word thou art bound by it. Whatever the perils thy word is thy bond. But, true honour is more than this, thus the Paladin, who values honesty and valour, for from them cometh true honour. A pure heart is an honourable heart.

Justice

Do not be hasty in thy judgements, but take time to learn the truth. Search thy heart also, and find love where thou cans't. Thus thy judgements will be tempered with mercy.

Spirituality

Spirituality is the ability to be at peace with thyself and the world. Thus the Ranger, who finds joy and calmness in closeness to nature. To seek also, the true nature of thy inner self. To strive to follow the three principles of truth, love and courage in all thy dealings, both with thyself and, with all things that live. To find true spirituality is to be blessed indeed, for tis but the first step on a path that will lead to great wisdom and true peace.

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Not a bad set of Virtues, if you think about it. It shows you how much thought people put into the older CRPGs...

And the world changes once again...

Hey,

I'm not sure if this will be the last post I will make from the cold and dark confines of this break room. I've just received word from the company that I've applied in that I've been accepted, and they want me to start by next week.

Am I happy? I suppose. It's a new job, albeit really far from where I live. It's going to be a junior management position that will pretty much suit the course I took up in college. Finally, it's going to be a day job, regular hours where the night is reserved for sleeping.

Am I worried about the future? Even more so. I'm not getting any younger (God, I never thought I'd actually write that) and finding a job where I can establish a true career is on the top of my list. I'm sure that I've got a lot of peers of my age which think I'm over-reacting, but the truth of the matter is, my family isn't really in any financial position to afford me the luxury of actually bumming around.

Times have changed. The two restaurants we've had are closed and the family is still working off a debt incurred to pay for them. My dad is stationed in China now just so he can earn a monthly wage to payoff the debt. Part of my income is dedicated to helping in that effort as well.

Hopefully this move will be a good one. With any luck, I'll be able to carve a place for myself in that company, and establish a real presence, and begin working in earnest to establishing my future.

I hope that the people closest to me are proud of me. I've come a long way from the aimless, frightened bum that I used to be when I graduated college. I'm still scared at times, and also indecisive at others, but I guess it really took four years of Real Life (tm) to beat the lessons into my head. Discipline, Willpower, and the Courage to face the future are some of the toughest things to learn, but hopefully, I won't forget them.

Of course, there's also the fact that there are a lot of lessons that I have yet to learn.

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Typing out this entry, I just remembered a few things I've read before regarding my profile in various horoscope thingys. All three things I've looked into: the secret of Names, the western Zodiac and the Chinese Zodiac have all mentioned something about my particular life.

It is in my middle age that the lessons of life will begin to take root in my personality, and it is then that I will achieve true happiness and success in work.

Here's hoping that the lessons I'm still learning will keep on growing on me.

Typing in Cold, Dark Places

Here I am once again typing out a new blog entry in the relative quiet of the company break room. Things have been pretty quiet as of late, with work, sleep, and the occasional book to break things up.

All this quiet and air-conditioned, darkroom solitude has got me thinking. I'm not one to get all depressed and everything, but hearing about people who pull ahead in life leaves me disappointed in myself. Better cut this particular train of thought before it balloons into something unmanageable.

---- snip ----

I just noticed that when it comes to strategy games, I'm always short of brilliance due to my lack of long term planning. Whether it's Chess, Go, Legend of the Five Rings, Warhammer or even Puerto Rico, I'm prone to short term success, but not luck in the long run. Taking a step back to look over things, I think I'll do way better if I start taking my time to think things over. I'm no strategic savant, and rushing will only screw me over.

I wonder what will happen if I actually manage to come up with a good long term strategy? Who knows? I might actually start racking up some victories for once.

The Red Star!

Finally, after waiting for so long in anticipation (and the sudden realization that I had actually bought d20 Modern only for the sole reason of playing in this setting) I hold in my hands a copy of The Red Star d20 Campaign Setting!



It's a hardbound sourcebook from Green Ronin Publishing's Mythic Vistas sourcebook line for the d20 system. Personally facilitated in the writing by the creator of the Red Star, Mr. Christian Gossett, the book does very well in conveying the setting of the award-winning comic book.

The Red Star is a fantastic setting, and the Campaign Setting lives up to it by taking the D20 Modern Corebook and taking it to a whole new direction. New Base Classes, Feats, Skills, Equipment, Vehicles and Spells make the entire setting plausible for a military campaign.

Having only just flipped through the rules so far, I don't see any glaring difficulties in it. Some of the Protokols seem to have really high kasting check DCs, but I think that's pretty much expected for the effect they have in and out of the battlefied. I think it's a great touch that the spells are not so much grounded on the "fantastic" as much as the practical in a setting filled with Industrial Technology with Magic. Supply Protokols, Armor Piercing Protokols and even Bridge Laying Protokols make the spells unique to the setting, and they mesh well with the feel of the world.

The Art is top-notch, hands down. Sure most of it comes from the comic (except for a few panels which I expect to see in future issues of the Red Star) but it fits it nonetheless.

The Red Star D20 is one of the few products that has absolutely floored me in D2o. I'm not a big fan of the system, preferring the Storytelling or HERO systems for rules, I make a special exception for this book. The tweaks made to the d20 Modern game made it flow smoother in my opinion.

I'll make a deeper review of the book when I get a chance to sit down and really mull over the nitty gritty aspects of it, but as a parting shot, let me leave you guys with a link to the opening cinematic of the Red Star videogame coming out on the X Box and the PS2 over HERE.

There's a reason I play John Armstrong...

I am the mission.

You're a mecha pilot!

You might be a sub-category of bishounen, but this hardly matters since you don't notice anything that didn't feature in the last edition of Guns'n'Ammo magazine. You have been trained since an unfeasibly early age to be a machine of death and destruction. If you've noticed an annoying girl following you around and repeatedly getting into danger and requiring rescue recently, run like hell - she's probably your love interest... Which generic anime character are you?

Energy Beverage Roundup!

Out of a sheer fit of boredom, I have decided to try out four energy drinks available in the market today. Of course, these reviews may be biased according to me and the shift I was at when I took them, but these are my results so far:

Bacchus:

You guys already read what I thought of this drink on my last post. I can see why Koreans made this. It's enough to give a little buzz to keep clicking a mouse in Ragnarok Online, but hardly enough to maintain decent human conversation or performing tasks more complicated than folding paper. Tastes like battery acid. Heck even the can looks like a penlight battery.

Energy Rating: 2/5
Taste: 1/5

Lipovitan:

The Japanese are a funny people. Not only do they cultivate such amazing biological marvels such as the Colon Cancer busting Lactobacilli Shirota Strain (*not a proven pharmaceutical claim), but also the strange bottled menace known as Lipovitan. Having only tried the regular version (for fear the the IRA formulation, which is targeted to the female physiology might have irreversible effects on me). I can safely say that Lipovitan is pretty much Bacchus without the apple flavor and with less of that strange gritty suspension feel in the mouth. Drinking it is about as enjoyable and poking yourself in the eye with a toothpick, but it has about the same effect on keeping yourself awake.

Energy Rating 3/5
Taste: 1/5

Pepsi X Energy Cola

Okay, here's an idea. We take a caffine laden carbonated drink, and then empty a packet of Extra Joss into the damn thing, package it in a cool black bottle and call ourselves innovative. That's what Pepsi did with the X Energy Cola. The packaging caters to the "hip, active, and dehydrating crowds in a club because I'm so frigging high on Ecstacy" crowd. The taste however, is unmistakable. It's carbon bubbles biting on your throat as it goes down does not help the vile taste of battery acid from hanging around your tongue, making you feel that you'd rather run your tongue over sandpaper to get it out. The buzz you get out of it though is substantial, almost comparable to that of Lipovitan, and the cola taste does sort of mask things until the aftertaste hits.

Energy Rating: 2.5/5
Taste: 2/5 before the aftertaste, 1/5 when it hits.

Red Bull Supreme Energy Drink

So far, all the drinks I've reviewed hail from different countries, and show off the kind of people that need what kind of energy for their day to day activities. Koreans don't need much, the Japanese have synthesized some sort of energy that would probably only be used when running from the Yakuza, and the Americans created some vile tasting fizz that only serves to fuel the hedonistic dance of the first world capitalist economy. (*wow... too much Red Star there.)

Anyway, it only makes sense that the most powerful of energy drinks hails from the mighty country of Thailand. Location of hot spices, exotic destinations, Kickboxing and Streetfighter's Sagat. In this adventurous land where children grow up in kickboxing schools ruining their legs and desensitizing themselves to pain in order to win in backwater warehouse fights (note that I know nothing about Thailand for real), they come out with Red Bull Supreme.

Aptly named, this bottle contains the very essence of Thailand itself, completely concentrated vicious Thai energy drained from the Chi of thousands of Kickboxers punishing themselves by repeatedly kicking trees to toughen their legs. Seriously though, it's got one mean kick, and is enough to keep anyone awake. The taste is a similar experience for your tastebuds. Oddly enough, if you can keep your wits about you after the first swig of this stuff, you're good to go. Just force it all down and you'll be okay for the rest of the night... and most of next morning.

Energy 6/5
Taste 1/5

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And that's it for today's Energy Beverage Roundup! If you haven't noticed, Energy Drinks aren't really well known for their taste, but do things gradually. Look for the one that does the most for you, and avoid taking Red Bull right away. Taking too many of these also has some side effects, as the rest that you're cutting out on with these drinks will catch up with you eventually. So make sure to get rest as well... artifical means will only keep you going for so long.

Anyone have any ideas for what I should review next? :)

Rest Days and Blog Toys

Hey guys!

Here I am, on a monday morning, getting in as much rest as I can before tackling another week of calls and angry callers. It's not going to win me any awards, but hey it's work.

Not that I'm being naive, I'm looking at other options. Ones that might offer more stability than what I'm on now. I'm all for company loyalty, but I've been burned more than once, and I'm not going down with the ship this time.

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On other news, you guys might have seen my new blogpet. Just in case you guys didn't know, you can click on it repeatedly to have a conversation with it. Pretty amusing to while away the time. Not to mention it tries to read your mood depending on what you write on your blog. :)

Energy in a can...

Bacchus...

such a strange name for a can of energy stuff. Supposedly composed of several energy boosting components, this is the drink I had on the 12 hour shift day. My verdict... the taste, not the components, will keep you awake.

To be fair, at least the can tries to look competent, as after close observation during my 15 minute break, I realized what it was trying to look like: a "AA" battery. My realization is that it gives about as much of a charge as one, not enough to do anything aside from turn on a few lights.

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As you can all tell, I'm bored. I'm in my lunch hour right now, and I'm working on getting some rest for now. The couches are full of sleeping people, so I can't nape, and I'm turning irritable on the phone. Not a good sign...

Marathon Shift...

Fantastic.

Here I am, getting as much rest as I possibly can before today. Its not going to be fun today, and I hope I make it though without any problems.

12-hour shift.

My God.

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The account is shaky at the moment. The performance scores of the entire account have not been meeting the targets set by the client, and with the VP of the client company here to witness it first hand, the meeting at 8:15 pm with the entire account may not be a good thing. Regular shift starts at 9:00 pm and ends at 6:00 am then I've got overtime for two more hours until 8:00 pm.

I hope the energy drink thingy I bought is enough to keep me alive through today.

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I'm really trying to keep myself going nowadays. Its getting really difficult on the financial end for the family right now, and I'm finding myself more and more pressured to pin this job down, even as I feel that the pressures are building. I'm polishing my resume as we speak... only to be on the safe side.

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I need a diversion. Thankfully HERO 5th takes a long time to build characters for. Just for the sake of keeping sharp, I'm thinking of building a superhero character for each of the archetypes there are for comic superheroes.

Gadgeteer
Power Armor
Martial Artist
Supernatural
Energy Projector
Mentalist
Brick

and whatever else comes to mind. All hail escapism, the last bastion of true sanity in the world.

Quiet Time to Think

Hey guys,

It's been a while since my last post, I know, but things have been hectic. My girlfriend just left for Singapore yesterday to accompany her mother for cancer treatments in the hospital there. She'll be staying there for the next six months, and I have to admit that I feel like a large chunk of who I am is missing. Thankfully, there's still a lot of options to keep in touch.

Work is a little iffy right now to be honest. The head honcho for our account has disappeared under the phrase "no longer connected to the account" quite suddenly, and the pressure over here is escalating. Rumors are flying and everyone is bracing for the worst. I'm not sure what this is leading to, but here we go again... why the hell is it that whenever I seem to find a job, the boat starts sinking? It makes me thankful that I'm not a pilot or something.

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Enough moping, on the upside, I've just had my PC upgraded, and it's doing pretty well. I'm pushing it's limits with a few of the high-benchmark games I have over there. Right now, my playlist includes:

Warcraft III
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War
Ragnarok Online
Neverwinter Nights
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

So far I'm satisfied, except for the last one. I'm experiencing a bug in KotOR where my character starts running straight ahead, and doesn't stop. Does anyone know how to fix this?

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Anyway, I'm off to get ready for my shift at work. Life doesn't look too good right now, but I'll manage. I've got my kitty with me (even when she's not physically here), my best friend Kate to back me up, and everyone else to rely on and remind me that I can get through this.

So here we go again... visor down, lance in hand and mounted on my steed I go. The Quest for the Grail never ends.

Hazard pay had better account for this

There's nothing quite like discussing someone's mortgage and trying to inform them that they have to pay more every month for the next year because of an increase in their taxes. There's nothing more like doing that while in the middle of an Earthquake.

It was around 3:15am this morning when it hit. We were on the 35th floor of an office building, taking calls, when the rumbling started. I ignored it at first, still too busy trying to convince the man that the company I represent isn't some evil Anime Mega-Corporation trying to steal his money when I felt the floor shaking up and down. I brushed it off as probably something in the air-conditioning.

Then I realized that we had centralized air conditioning, and that couldn't be possible. That was when the rumbling grew even more powerful, making it feel like I was standing on top of a powerful engine.

"Okay, sir. If it'll be all right with you, let's just stop a little here..."

"What?"

"We're currently experiencing an earthquake, sir."

"Oh my God!"

"It's alright sir, let me just take a look around, everything is shaking pretty badly, but we're alright so far."

"But it's an earthquake!"

"Yes sir."

"I can hear people screaming behind you!"

"That they are, sir."

"Oh God."

"Well, it seems to have stopped shaking. Now the building is starting to sway. Just allow me to catch my bearings again and we'll get right back to your Escrow."

"Wait, are you guys all right?"

"It looks like the building is still standing. I'll tell you now that it's not fun getting caught in an earthquake on the 35th floor."

"I can imagine... we're getting Hurricanes over here, but at least we've got a warning, you know?"

"Good point, Sir. At least you know now that even when there's an earthquake, we're still here to help you out with your house payments."

"Yeah... you guys should get paid for this."

The swaying part was the most annoying, it was imperceptible to everything around you except for the fact that your body somehow knew that something was terribly wrong.

Oh well. The good part about it is that it's over now and there wasn't anything severe that happened. News has it that it was about a 6 on the richter scale... pretty strong, admittedly... I'm just glad that everything is still okay.

Here and Now...

Hey there,

Updating has been sparse this week due to a forced 10 hour shift for the past two days. I've never known the true power of the lack of sleep as I have now, having seen myself accidentaly fall asleep in the middle of a call and end up screwing over my documentation.

It's tough work, and now that I'm supposed to be back on an 8 hour shift, another great surprise hits me... I've been moved to the 11 - 8 shift this week. Oh well, at least it's only two more days to go, but the 11 - 8 is the toughest shift because it's the one where I get the least amount of sleep.

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Game wise, I'm still working on the characters for Christine's Ghost Girl/ Fatal Frame idea, and the modified version of my character, John Armstrong's powered armor for the upcoming HERO games that Alex is holding.

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Just spent most of my September allotment for expenses even before my first paycheck arrived. :p I know it's an impulse purchase, but I saw Metabarons #1 on the shelf in Comic Quest and I couldn't help but buy it right then and there. Othon's story is by far the most human of all of them, and I can't help but feel that the Metabarons story is one of madness as much as it is of epic tragedy.

I also saw Red Star: Prison of Souls, but with the P1,600.00 price tag on it, I couldn't buy it just yet. ;_;

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My next article in Seeker is going to give me a hard time. The Editor wants me to write about Eberron, the new D&D setting that just arrived. The problem is, I've never even seen the inside of the book, much less read or played it. I'm hoping that at the very least I'll be able to get my hands on a review copy, but I'm vaguely aware that my hopes are in vain.

I certainly don't want to write based on second hand information, and I'm crossing my fingers that they reconsider and allow me to write about the new World of Darkness instead.

Tribute to an old man...

I'd like to take this moment to dedicate this post to the passing of my father's most competent, trusted, and opinionated mentor, the irreplacable Mr. Steve LaTorre.

Mr. LaTorre, or "Lolo Steve" as we've always known him, died early this morning from complications from a throat operation. It was the first news I got today, and one that I have difficulty coping with.

It's funny how Lolo Steve's death affected me. I rarely see him, but the times that I have had a profound effect on me. Lolo Steve was my ideal old man, when I grow old, he was the ideal that I aspired to be, successful, intelligent, sarcastic and endearing. He was a foul-mouthed old man at times, who always had something to say about anything, but past the initial shock of being subjected to his language and his unrestricted opinion, he was an intelligent and caring man.

He has always treated my father as his charge... he took my father under his wing from being a simple supervisor in a factory, and taught him the ins and outs of management. Seeing the two of them together during the parties when Lolo Steve would visit was always touching, as I felt that the two shared a bond that lasted decades. They would sit down and talk, and I'd see them, with Lolo steve with his trademark beer and cigarette, and they'd discuss anything from business to his failing health.

The sad thing about all of this was Lolo Steve had called up just yesterday, looking for my dad over the phone. I guess he somehow knew he was about to go, and just wanted to say goodbye.

Looking Forward to the Weekend.

Hey,

In early at the office today for more mandatory overtime. Things are hectic over here, but I'm not letting that get to me. I guess I've grown up over the past few years, and I'm taking my responsibilities a little more seriously now. Work is Work now, and no more of the wishy-washiness and half-hearted dedication.

Doesn't mean that it's any easier though. I'm weaning myself off the multivitamins now, going on just one pill a day to make sure that I don't poison myself with too much medicine in my system. Work, like I said, is hectic, with very high standards set for both the call times and the standards. Given the nature of my work, it's a high stress situation, but somehow I'm making things meet.

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And so I look forward to the weekend, the only time where I get to relax and perhaps live a little. Got Nicco's Exalted game on the afternoon, and Alex's HERO game up in the evening. My parents wonder at how I can sit around and just play a game that involves just talk for hours on end, but I'm thankful that they allow me to go anyway.

I'll be bringing along the new World of Darkness book for kicks, and see what it'll look like if we try making ourselves in the system. That should be interesting... I'd most likely be Vampire feed. :p Can't wait to see the new Mage: the Awakening when it comes out, if Vampire is going to be any sort of indication, the new Mage will be incredible.

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Speaking of characters, I've been mulling about the possibility of making a new superhero character for Alex's Champions campaign. So far, I've got a power-suit equipped energy projector type hero based of Voltes V, but I'm thinking of what else to play.

Some initial ideas I have would be to make some sort of Martial Artist / Brick type of character, someone who can take a moderate amount of damage while kicking butt with some hand to hand combat. I'm tempted to try and figure out some cinematic "moves" that would work great in a fighting videogame to apply for this kind of character.

Looking back at it, I don't have that many favorite superheroes... Batman is certainly one of them, and Robin and Nightwing due to association. But as for the Marvel Superheroes, I have to admit that I'm not too impressed with the X-men, or with the Fantastic Four. I dunno, I guess it just doesn't work for me very much.

Oh well, I guess I'll just wait for inspiration to strike... I'm sure it will eventually. :p

A whole new World (of Darkness)

Alright,

I've succumbed to the temptation the moment I heard that it was out, and now a brand-new, shiny copy of the World of Darkness Storyteller System Rulebook sits on my shelf. I haven't had a chance to really sit down and read it as of yet, but I am a happy man.

From what I've seen the system is cleaner, and less prone to confuse people, making it a lot easier to teach the system to newbies, and allowing Storytellers more time to teach the more esoteric rules for the Supernaturals, like Vampiric Disciplines, Werewolf Gifts and Mage Spheres, if ever.

Mage is still slated for around June next year, giving me ample time to finish my Mage: Revised collection, and maybe even and "End of the World" campaign based on the Ascension book that's on my shelf as well. :)

New blogger feature for kicks.

Hey guys

If I ever end up typing something that you find to be amusing enough to share to your friends, then don't hesitate to click on the little email icon thingy at the end of the post. That'll allow you to go and send that post off to someone else via e-mail.

Now if only I had stuff up here fit to send... :p but that's another thing entirely, I suppose.

Last Song Syndrome...

Hey Julie
by Fountains of Wayne

Working all day for a mean little man
With a clip-on tie and a rub-on tan
He's got me running 'round the office like a dog around a track
But when I get home,You're always there to rub my back

Hey Julie,Look what they're doing to me
Trying to trip me up
Trying to wear me down
Julie, I swear, it's so hard to bear it
And I'd never make it through without you around

Hours on the phone making pointless calls
I got a desk full of papers that means nothing at all
Sometimes I catch myself staring into space
Counting down the hours 'til I get to see your face

Hey Julie,Look what they're doing to me
Trying to trip me up
Trying to wear me down
Julie, I swear, it's so hard to bear it
And I'd never make it through with out you around
No, I'd never make it through with out you around

[Bridge]How did it come to be
That you and I must be
Far away from each other every day?
Why must I spend my time
Filling up my mind
With facts and figures that never add up anyway?
They never add up anyway

Working all day for a mean little guy
With a bad toupee and a soup-stained tie
He's got me running 'round the office
Like a gerbil on a wheel
He can tell me what to do
But he can't tell me what to feel

Hey Julie,Look what they're doing to me
Trying to trip me up
Trying to wear me down
Julie, I swear, it's so hard to bear it
And I'd never make it through with out you around
No, I'd never make it through without you around
No, I'd never make it through with out you around

Hungry, Sick and Stranded

Fantastic.

It finally happened. After several weeks in night shift, and a grueling week of pulling overtime, my body broke down and got hit with a cold. I spent tuesday evening at home, nursing the mother of all colds and trying to get my voice back so I could get to work again.

Today, I'm here, still with a cold, sniffling and having a hard time breathing, and I'm in the office. Heck, even my customers who listen to me are telling me to go home and get some rest.

Better yet, with the storm outside, the elevators of the building are down as I type this. Power fluctuation knocked most of the building out, and only the generators are keeping the lights and PCs in this place running.

It's my lunch hour right now, and the elevators are down, food is a good 30 stories below. I'm hungry, sick and annoyed... perfect for blogging. :p

Now that I think about it, maybe I should have stayed home instead.

And the list goes ever on...

Hmm...

I'm feeling a little on the OC side today, so I'll list down all the RPG books that I've got lying around the house.

D20 System

Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook 3.0
Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide 3.0
Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual 3.0

Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed
Plague of Dreams - An Arcana Unearthed Adventure

Engel

Ravenloft Campaign Setting 3.0
Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead

Spycraft

Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3.0

Big Eyes, Small Mouth D20

D20 Modern

White Wolf

World of Darkness: Combat

Dark Ages: Vampire
Dark Ages: Vampire Storyteller's Companion
Dark Ages: Mage
Blood and Silk

Werewolf: the Wild West
Frontier Secrets
The Wild West Companion

Adventure!

Exalted
Exalted Player's Guide
Book of Three Circles
Scavenger Sons
Exalted: the Dragonblooded
Castebook: Zenith
Savage Seas

Mage: the Ascension Revised edition
Mage Storyteller's Companion
Mage Storyteller's Handbook
Mage Guide to the Traditions
Mage Guide to the Technocracy
Bitter Road
Sorcerer Revised
Book of Madness
Dragons of the East
Lost Paths 1: Ahl-I-Batin and Taftani
Dead Magic
Dead Magic 2
Manifesto: Transmissions of the Rogue Council
Blood Treachery
Convention Book: Iteration - X
Tradition Book: Akashic Brotherhood
Tradition Book: Cult of Ecstacy
Tradition Book: Celestial Chorus
Tradition Book: Dreamspeakers
Tradition Book: Euthanatos
Tradition Book: Hollow Ones
Tradition Book: Order of Hermes
Tradition Book: Sons of Ether
Tradition Book: Verbena
(and still going... I've got two more Mage books left here in the Philippines to buy someday)

Mummy: the Ressurection

Orpheus

Others

Metabarons Roleplaying Game
Sengoku
Mekton Zeta
Tri-Stat Dx
Legend of the Five Rings 1st Edition

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Wow... now that I've had a chance to put that all on a list, I just realized how many books I had. Not that it's a bad thing though. :) I'm looking forward to getting more, all in good time.

More RPG rumor mill goodness...

Completely unsubstantiated by anything in writing as of yet... but the rumor mill has it going that Alderac Entertainment is dropping the D20 license in a new (and 3rd) edition of their Legend of the Five Rings RPG!

My inner Lion Samurai is celebrating... I've never been a big fan of the D20 system's treatment of the L5R setting, and the tendency of it to make things too tactical. My first epic campaign was an L5R game, and it holds a special place in my gaming history. :)

Rumors also indicate that the new edition will be centered on the new Diamond Edition of the card game. Should be interesting to see what changes would happen then...

Quiz!

You're Leona. You realize that you have a dark side, which if let loose may cause unpleasant things happen to people, especially the ones you love. You don't want to see them hurt, therefore you strike at the heart of the problem and strive to overcome your dark side at whatever cost
necessary.

Take the KOF characters Quiz!

Interesting.

Admittedly, I do feel this way sometimes. It's hard to avoid being a prick sometimes, especially without prolonged contact with "humane" society. I feel a little disconnected right now, and I wish I could get rid of this feeling that I'm doing more harm than good to the people I consider closest to me.

So to those who have been offended by things I have said, or have done, or failed to do, I offer my most sincere of apologies.

----

On the other side of things...

The new World of Darkness RPG is officially out!

I haven't actually seen it with my own eyes just yet, but I'm more than eager to flip through a copy. I'm very enthusiastic about this new edition of the World of Darkness, and I think that it'll be great to be able to tell new stories with this game.

And even better... the Capcom World Tournament RPG is also coming out towards the end of the year. I know next to nothing about this game, but heck... it's Street Fighter! What else could you ask for?

Along with the Red Star, things are shaping up to be a great time to be a Gamer! :p

Dammit... at least there's the RED STAR

I had a huge post here a while ago.

Then IE decided to take it all away with a stupid error.

Gah.

---

oh well... looking at the bad stuff won't help.

here's something to make me smile. Taken from the Green Ronin Website.

The RED STAR Campaign setting!

A Mythic Vistas Sourcebook for the d20 SystemWritten by T.S. Luikart and Ian SturrockCover by Christian Gossett192 pages, full-color hardbackMSRP: $34.95GRR1406ISBN: 1-932442-31-6

Archangel Studios' The Red Star took the comic world by storm in 2000, with its innovative storyline and gorgeous computer-generated art. Now Green Ronin brings this award-winning world to the d20 System with The Red Star Campaign Setting. The epic mythology of the Soviet Union comes to life in a bold setting that combines science fiction and sorcery.

While the workers and peasants of the U.R.R.S suffer under the rule of Imbohl, a murderous sorcerer of incredible power, the Heroes of the Red Star struggle to rekindle the true spirit of the Revolution and to save the very souls of their people. Will you join the cause of Marcus, Maya, and Makita, pitting your will against the Skyfurnaces and Military Industrial Sorcery of Imbohl's regime?

The Red Star Campaign Setting provides everything you need to have exciting d20 adventures, from new classes, equipment, vehicles, and sorcery rules to stats for all the comic's important characters. Comic fans will thrill to the world and character details revealed, and the lavish use of Christian Gossett's inspiring art. Whether you are a d20 System gamer looking for a unique and original new setting or a comic enthusiast looking for the ultimate Red Star sourcebook, The Red Star Campaign Setting delivers.

Requires the Use of the d20 Modern Roleplaying Game, Published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

Check out the cover here! http://www.greenronin.com/images/product/grr1406_450.jpg

This is a fantastic comic, and I'm looking forward to getting my hands on this book. :)

Bow to the sexy alien putty guy!

This, my students, is a Dralasite.

A very old character race from my very first RPG: Star Frontiers, now suddenly resurrected from the very depths of RPG obscurity by the latest in the D20 Modern line: D20 Future.

I'll probably never own a copy of D20 Modern (unless I buy it second hand from someone,) but it warms my heart to see this guy again.

More than meets the eye...

You are Optimus Prime!

Vast, red and ready to turn into a lorry at the slightest provocation, you are a robot to be reckoned with. Although sickeningly noble, you just can't resist a good interplanetary war, especially when Orson Welles is involved. You have friends who can shoot tapes from their chests. Tapes that turn into panthers. And other friends who are dinosaurs. Dinosaurs who jump out of planes. Will you have my children?

Tell the world you're an Autobot with the following non-heat-sensitive sticker:

Which Colossal Death Robot Are You?
Brought to you by Rum and Monkey

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Woohoo!

Autobots, transform!

New Funky Flash Stuff.

From the man who brought you Kenya comes:

Magical Trevor!

Even more catchy nonsense songs to weird looping flash.

:p

Flatlining with Blogger

Hey guys!

Just wanted to make sure that people still know that I'm alive. The night shift has done nothing to aid in my blogging to be honest, as my schedules revolve around getting to work, working, and crashing to bed when I get home.

It doesn't leave much to be done, believe me.

I'm starting to think that the sun actually fuels people similarly to plants. Even with the same amount of hours in a day, working in night shift tends to screw with your energy levels.

----

Work-wise I think I'm doing okay though. Got two commendations for getting "happy customers" over the phones this week, which is most likely a freak accident of being lucky enough to get callers who ask to speak to your supervisor to say something good for a change.

It's an interesting experience to be honest. But I think I need a lot of stress release. You can't always avoid speaking with people which will teach you just how limited your patience is. Because I'm working in customer support, I've experienced being shouted at for just greeting a customer, getting scathing insults and generally trying to smooth over ruffled feathers, all while trying to maintain an average talk time of 5.25 minutes.

Hey, at least I'm earning money.

----

Going to be in Arnis today, and I think that's a good thing. While I'm usually a lazy bum who couldn't be bothered to get out of my chair, I think hitting things is a good way to release stress. I'm not that good at it though, and I'm pretty sure that somewhere my instructor is still a tad disappointed at my lack of mobility.

I do make a good training dummy apparently. I don't flinch from near hits in demonstrations.

----

Gaming wise, I'm thinking of how to plan a game for once. While I'm confident with my abilities as a GM, I do tend to be on the low end of the planning side, and thus some of my games seem to lack the same amount of detail and focus that the other GMs have.

I'm not ambitious enough to think that I can run a gigantic epic on the fly, and so I'd better get to rolling up my sleeves and learning to sit down and plan for it. :p

Seeker #4 article is done as well, and I'm looking forward to seeing it in print eventually.

----

Man, I'm grateful for weekends. It's the time when friends are there to keep me sane. The lack of actual social contact with people outside the office is driving me just plain nuts.

Focus, focus, focus!

I'm slipping.

Been a little too wonky from the alternate sleep schedule I'm having but I'm getting back in focus now. Working on three different things at the moment, one of which is terribly overdue, but from the way things are looking right now, I'll have it up to date and operational by the end of the week.

----

Anyway, if you guys are looking for a place to stay, or have a place you want to put up for sale or rent, surf on over to HanapBahay.com.ph the Pinoy Home and Property Finder! Prospective buyers will find complete data to make an informed decision, while Sellers will find that the ad rates are definitely very affordable.

Check it out guys! You might find something you like. :)

Reposting a quiz...

Hmm...

It looks like that blogger is getting more and more complicated by adding more features to dress up the posts. Not that I mind, but it does tempt one to spend more time sprucing up the posts with colors and stuff now that it's easier to do.

Anyway, first of all I'd like to repost the Mage: the Ascension Quiz for the benefit of my co-workers who are interested in the game. It might help you guys with what Tradition in the game fits your natural perception of the world best:

Here's my result for today (it varies on my mood apparently)


Rock on; you're a Cultist of Ecstasy. Magic is the
result of moving beyond the limitations of the
human form, the constraints of body, mind, and
perception. You do this through EXPERIENCE:
the physical, the emotional, and the spiritual.
Chances are you're rebellious, artistic,
philosophical, radical, meditative, or all of
the above. Most people see you as a hippie, a
druggie who sees "enlightment" in a
ketamine haze, but you merely rediscover what
the ancients saw in the natural world: rhythms
that are gateways to the trance state, through
which anything is possible.


Which Tradition Mage Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Whoa... never got this result before. Must be due to my lack of sleep.

Feels like Christmas

Well, it looks like that the Crimson Skies packs I've ordered from ebay just arrived today, and I have to say that it's satisfying to open a package and sift through foam peanuts in order to see six factory fresh packs all still sealed in there.

I've developed a liking for the Crimson Skies universe ever since I've heard of it. Originally a board game from FASA Corporation, it's a game based in an alternate version of the United States of 1937, with a few drastic changes. As their blurb puts it:

"The year is 1937. The United States has shattered under the weight of the Great Depression, regional Prohibition and mounting isolationism. The transcontinental railroad and the budding highway system have become useless as they now cross hostile borders. Commerce and trade leave the ground as air travel—once a national obsession—now becomes a vital lifeline connecting allied countries. Giant zeppelins crisscross the skies, carrying both passengers and cargo. It is a time of gunship diplomacy and airship piracy. It is the age of the fighter pilot and a time of daredevil adventure and sinister intrigue. It is the world of Crimson Skies…"

The game focuses primarily on pulp action and dogfights with miniatures. I'm not lucky enough to have discovered this game when it was still coming out from FASA, so I got the next best thing. It turns out that Wizkids came out with a simpler, miniatures based version, and that's the game that I picked up. Alas, it looks like Wizkids is also putting the brakes on the production on other expansions on the game (apparently it's a niche thing) so I'll have to content myself with the ones that I already have.

----

On other notes, I've been taking a few live calls already for the past two days. So far the experience has been interesting, though I don't really have all that many funny stories to relate yet. I'm pretty sure that'll come in time, once I start taking calls full time. Getting a hang of the system that we're using at work takes a bit of practice, and I find myself trying to figure out how to handle an issue as effectively as possible. My trainer wasn't kidding when she said that the work we'd be doing would be relatively complicated compared to the other accounts. We're sort of operating as part researchers, part customer care and part educators. It's not enough that we find what the hell went wrong, we have to make sure the customers don't get pissed and tell them what they have to do and what we'll be doing to fix their issues.

So far, I think I'm doing okay, but I'm pushing myself to learn how to do things faster and more efficiently. I'm planning to work my ass off all day, and apply to any and every promotion that rears it's head in my presence.

Just the Beginning...

I just got my finals results today, and I'm really happy about it. Passing was what was on my mind while taking it, but it turned out that I got 98%!

That's just the beginning though. Tonight, I'll be taking on real calls for the first time, and technically that's when I get to see how things are on the floor for real.

----

Speaking of beginnings, we ran into a group of D&D gamers in Greenbelt 3 last weekend, and it turns out that they're a relatively new group to the hobby. I've invited them to the AEGIS mailing list, and it looks like they're all hyped about the prospect of meeting new people and trying new games.

Now I remember why I became a semi-active advocate of the hobby. It's not enough that I enjoy the games I run (or play in), but I want to share the experience with other people. There's a lot more to these games than just rolling dice and drawing looks from other tables in greenbelt when we announce our character's actions, or speak in character. It's fun, and that's exactly what I want to share.

Besides, the more the hobby supports it's fans, the greater the amount of money goes into the hobby, driving down prices, and expanding the diversity of games. It's a win-win situation for me.

I'm sure that most of the hobby store owners will agree with me. In the long run, what makes a game sell is the fact that there's a community for it. Playing is a social activity for the most part, and like kids, if there's nobody to play with, it just won't be fun anymore.

What I'm hoping though, is that we can sustain their interest and their continued participation in the AEGIS community.

Cult of Personality

Personality Quiz Meme!

Wackiness: 54/100
Rationality: 92/100
Constructiveness: 70/100
Leadership: 84/100

You are a WRCL--Wacky Rational Constructive Leader. This makes you a golden god. People gravitate to you, and you make them feel good. You are smart, charismatic, and interesting. You may be too sensitive to others reactions, especially criticism. Your self-opinion and mood depends greatly on those around you.

You think fast and have a smart mouth, is a hoot to your friends and razorwire to your enemies. You hold a grudge like a brass ring. You crackle.

Although you have a leader's personality, you often choose not to lead, as leaders stray too far from their audience. You probably weren't very popular in high school--the joke's on them!

You may be a rock star.

One more challenge... and a little respect for Mage

Finals today.

This is the other "Make-or-Break" part of training for my new job. I'm not really nervous, but I'm pretty sure that I'd still need good luck. I've studied, and I've got little mental notes floating about my mind right now on little reminders, rules and things not to forget.

This is as ready as I'll ever be.

Wish me luck?

----

On the hobby end of things, I came upon this review of Mage: the Ascension as a game line in general, dealing with the themes and changes of the game from its initial incarnation over to the revised edtion that currently graces my shelves.

Presenting, Señor Mortgage!

I kid you not. Here I am, only two weeks from hitting the floor in a call center and dealing with homeowners on their Mortgages, and I see THIS. Man, I should see a doctor about this... I'm picking up weird links like crazy. :p

Raining on a parade...

Sometimes people get handed the short stick.

Saturday morning came with a rather sad announcement from those who were taking the English assessment tests for the call center I'm working for. Of the six that took the test, three were taken out. One of them was ecstatic, the other indignant, and the last quietly accepted the event. After much haggling, our trainer managed to pull the indignant one out of the fire, but the quiet one was denied a second chance by the people above.

She joins the two others who have left before, but for a different reason, and to be honest, I can't help but feel sad about the whole affair.

I'm just hoping that the rest of those in training with me do extremely well in the finals on Tuesday.

I'll be working my ass off to score as high as I possibly can.

Short Quizzes

Due to an utter lack of anything to say right now, I'm posting a few quiz results...

Zing!
You are the nearly perfectly timed sarcasm and wit
that often takes a shot at your fellow peers.
Usually followed by a laugh (because everyone
knows you're joking) and done in good spirit.
You like to make people laugh.


- What Kind of Insult Are You? -
brought to you by Quizilla

okay... I think that's fairly accurate. Now here's something for Shar:

align=left>
I adopted a cute lil' pirate fetus
from Fetusmart! Hooray fetus!

Arrgh! I be raised from a jar, matey!

Living in a fantasy...

I guess it just occured to me that I don't really write much about my life here in this blog. Most of the time it's about my hobbies, or with random musings that I've come up with. While that's all fine and good, I can't help but wonder why I don't seem to have much to put up here.

Right now, I'm living in a curious sort of zen-state. I've learned to deal with the pressures of work, the issues at home, and my responsibilities as a friend, companion, significant other and game master. I've dealt with everything the world has tossed at me at one time or another, various paradigm shifts that have decimated my expectations and beliefs at fundamental levels.

A few of the lessons I've learned are the simple ones that everyone should learn at one time or another:

- Learn who your true friends are and cherish them, nurture your relationship with the deserving, and you will also be elevated to their stature.

- Public opinion is hardly ever an accurate indication of anything. Most people are too concerned thinking about what other people think that they lose themselves. You forge your identity, be proud of your handiwork.

- Inspiration is a rare and wonderful thing. No matter what the cause, run with it, play it out, write it down or put it on paper. Everyone has the soul of an artist, it's just a matter of applying what you feel to a medium of expression.

- Words are good, but we take deeds. Honest and sincere intent, coupled with words and promises are only the beginning. The rest of it comes from good, hard work.

- What seem to be great sacrifices now, reap greater rewards later. Karma comes and goes, often hitting you in the back of the head when you least expect it.

- Time is money. Hence if you can pay with time, rather than money, do so. It allows you to spend your current cash on more important things.

- Cattle prods are the wave of the future. Do not hesitate to zap fools if they approach you. If enough of us do it, it will become socially acceptible by the principle of common usage. (taken from Dilbert)

It's not much admittedly, but I guess it's a start. I mean twenty four years of living is probably not what most people would consider to be a long time, but I think that these things are worth bearing in mind.

what do you guys think?

Enchantment VS. Sorcery

Okay, here's my take on Enchantresses and Sorceresses in general as I mentioned in the last entry. Personally, I find the Enchantress more endearing primarily because of the fact that they need not resort to crude methods such as the promise of violence (although they can if they really want to.

While I will admit that the term, "Sorceress" is really a catch-all for women who cast magic, I find that the Enchantress has enough merit to stand on her own. The Myths are full of women who have used magics that fall under the umbrella of Enchantment rather than the more direct magic attributed to other practices.

Take Medea from Jason and the Argonauts, for example. Her exploits paint her as not the kind of woman you'd like to anger, but she admittedly has style... even if she exhibited a kind of sly murderous streak that most modern individuals would consider to be mentally disturbed.

In most fantasy literature, Enchanters and Enchantresses usually get the job done with the judicious use of wit, cunning and charm. Rarely relying on destructive forces, they empower objects (like the ever popular magical swords), brew potions, and achieve a form of mental domination over people. There is hardly ever a grand display of special effects of light and sound, but the results are still as potent.

I guess I'm writing this as a tribute to the other side of the Arthurian mythos. While the Knights are certainly those that set off (often with only courage as their only companion) on their Quests, it is the role of the Wizards, and the Enchantresses to provide them strength. Even as Circe helped Odysseus, Medea assisted Jason, and the Lady of the Lake watched over King Arthur, no epic is complete without the wise, cunning and sometimes frightening female enchantress watching from the shadows.

It's certainly something to think about as I go on with life, knowing that somewhere, the Enchantress is waiting for me to find what I've been questing for.

All Hail the Fourth of July, and more Art Appreciation

Yes, for the first time in my life, I've actually had a chance to celebrate the Fourth of July for a real reason. :)

Working for a call center with a US Bank as an account sort of allows for that kind of thing. I know it's a minor thing, especially since most of the Philippines' three day weekends are now working days (or nights, rather) for me, but I like to celebrate things for the heck of it.

---

A guilty pleasure of mine is to sift through several Art Boards such as the Sijun Boards or Conceptart.Org for pictures that grab my attention or grand inspiration for my RPG games. The picture in my previous post came from one of those boards.

And now for today's picture, called "Enchantress" It's rather large so I had to link it to open to a new window, but PLEASE check it out. It's a fantastic pic.

I really like the whole Chinese vibe she has going on with the details of her costume.

For some reason, I find myself liking Enchantresses more than I like Sorceresses (is there such a word?) Blame it on my fascination on the Arthurian mythos again, but I find the Enchantresses seem to have a hell of a lot more style and finesse than a sorceress. While a Sorceress may call down lightning or fry her foes with fireballs, an enchantress doesn't have to go that far to achieve her ends. Heck, an enchantress makes a great friend, just don't go pissing her off.

Anyway, I'd go more into this discussion on Enchantresses vs. Sorceresses when I get back. Gotta head off to work. Catch you guys tomorrow!

Exalted Musings

If there's something that this picture reminds me of, it's a roleplaying game that I'm really fond of called Exalted. I'd go into detail, but rather than bore you guys, it's a game about demigods elevated by their deities to perform feats of greatness and bringing about change in the world.

The game itself styles it's heroes in a similar fashion to the Mythical heroes that we only see in books (and in very few movies, like Troy). These are individuals with incredible power, and yet possess crippling hubris and failings that can make their losses into tragedies that sweep entire nations.

While I'm a big fan of the Epic storyline and world-sweeping adventures, I also appreciate the smaller things in RPG worlds. In Exalted for example, I'm currently playing a Zenith Caste Priest King. It's my first time to play something that even remotely looks religious (even in game terms) but I find that my character spends more time trying to forge bonds in his community and fostering the love and trust of his people rather than going out and fighting the good fight.

Which is odd considering that he's fashioned to be a cross between the Rock in "the Scorpion King" and Moses from "Prince of Egypt" carrying a 5-foot long golden ceremonial warclub. You'll see once I get Nicco to scan an image of my character. :)

Words of wisdom

Virtue is more to man than either water or fire. I have seen men die from treading on water and fire, but I have never seen a man die from treading the course of virtue.
Confucius, The Confucian Analects

----

The man's got a point. Of course, the saying points to men of virtue in their daily lives. Martyrs and patriots who die in the service of their beliefs are exempt from this. :p

Quick Post

hey guys,

I'm off to work in a few minutes, but my Kitty just shared a little webcomic with me, and I think it's pretty damn good. It's called Strings of Fate, and it's a love story crossed with the Chinese Zodiac, kinda like Fruits Basket but not.

Well, I'd go into more depth, but I really gotta go now.

Check it out here!

Blogger ads are windows to your soul...

While tinkering with the new template I used for this blog, I realized that the little Blogger ads on top can be thought of as a personality meter. Blogger takes note of the little things that you write on each post, reading into your interests and subconscious and using that offer you products that will most likely interest you.

Fascinating.

Okay, so I blame my strange sleep schedule for thinking that up, but hey, it gives people something to ponder whenever they see the ads on their blogs...

Yo

Surprise, surprise...

Well, talk about a big surpise.

I get home from work this morning, trying to sort out some overseas family stuff involving ebay and credit cards and I find an email from the Webster's Online Dictionary saying that a few stories I've written have been picked to be part of their references to modern literature on the use of a few words.

All I can say is, wow. I know it's still not the same as a written page in it, but at least now I can say that I'm in a dictionary. :D

If you're interested, they're over here and here.

New Horizons

If you guys are wondering on the sudden change of description on my blog, it's a little about how I feel right now. After my birthday and all, and with my new job and the change in my home life and the experiences I've had, I think it's time for me to get to work.

I'm realigning my Chakras, finding my source, seeking enlightenment, sailing for new horizons and questing for the Holy Grail. Not necessarily in that order, and more often all at once.

I've had enough fooling around. My mistakes are done and over with, and my experiences will always be a part of me. Now it's actually time to work towards Maslow's favorite part of his heirarchy.

Self-Actualization.

While it's true that I'll still have to contend with everything else in that damn heirarchy, I feel more than a nudge towards seeking something else. Call it ambition or madness, but I can sense that there's something waiting for me, beckoning me to find it.

I feel like an Arthurian knight errant, lost in the woods with nothing but his steed, and his sword, and faith in the existence of the Holy Grail.

I can't define my Holy Grail to you, to be honest, because I can't even define it to myself as of yet.

I just know that it's there.

And that somehow, all is right with the world.

Quick Quiz for the Bored

How to make a Jay Steven Anyong

Ingredients: 3 parts success 3 parts self-sufficiency 1 part ego

Method: Combine in a tall glass half filled with crushed ice. Add a little fitness if desired!

Username:

Personality cocktail
From Go-Quiz.com

Haha! Now all I have to do is to make this come true... shouldn't be too hard. At least I know I've got the ego part down pat. :p

Revisiting some old Vignettes

Well, since I had nothing else better to do, here are a few old stories I've written in my old web journal. I figure that I might as well move them here for redundancy, and as a reminder for me to keep writing.

It's funny how you read something you've written from before, and realize how well you actually wrote them, or how badly they turned out after all. :p

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Despair by Jay Steven Anyong

"Greetings," spoke the old sage, his snowy beard trembling with his quavering voice, "what dark thoughts ail you, young man?"

I turn to look at him, dressed in the luminous robes of a scholar, holding a long inkbrush as tall as I was, "Hello, Great Sage." I greet in response, "I was merely musing about the nature of despair."

"Ah." The old man nodded slowly, "Despair... such a powerful emotion for the young."

"For the young?" My eyebrow shot up, "Explain yourself, Great Sage."

"Despair is at it's most powerful, when one experiences it for the first time." the Great Sage said, sitting down with some difficulty on a small rock beside me.

"The first time?" I snorted, "That's comforting. You've only informed me that there will be others."

"Verily," the Great Sage replied, "There will be many more times when you will be awash with despair and hopelessness... however, there is a lesson to be learned in all our experiences."

"And this lesson is...?"

"That despair, while seemingly overwhelming, is but a passing shadow to one who looks towards the light." The Great Sage replied, looking out into the horizon, "Only cowards turn to violence upon others and themselves in the grip of despair. True virtue shines in those who brace themselves and conduct themselves with humility, grace, honesty and love, for those four are what will give you the strength to bend with the storm of despair and grow with it's passing."

I listened quietly, my heart and mind at war with each other.

The Great Sage looked at me and smiled, "My words are of little comfort, as they should be, young man. For my words cannot grant you humility, nor grace, nor honesty nor love. These can only come from you."

I nodded. My mind agreed, and my heart sighed with sadness.

The Great Sage was right. Mere words cannot take me away from my despair. Like an alchemist, I must seek to rise above the base and ascend to the divine.

I bow low to the Great Sage, and hoist my pack over my shoulder looking out into the coming storm.

----

Cold Shower by Jay Steven Anyong

He sang.

Throwing his head back, his eyes squeezed shut, feeling the icy water of the shower biting into the skin of his bare chest, he sang.

He sang a song of loneliness and of heartbreak even as he bowed his head, feeling the sharp sting of cold water on his scalp, before trickling down and raking his back like little claws, trailing their way down from his shoulders to the small of his back.

Warm tears streaked down his face as his voice cracked, a soft sob escaping his lips as he took a shuddering breath to sing the next line. The warmth of his tears washed away by another icy blast of cold as he reached the chorus.

He opened his eyes, forcing them to focus as the cold gripped him tighter. He sang harder, his voice getting louder as he looked down at the blood seeping down the drain, swirling around like a little crimson whirlpool.

He gasped, his next breath seemed so hard to draw...

He sang softly as he felt his knees give, and the razor fell from his hand, clattering on the bleached white tiles of the shower floor, as he finally felt his voice waver, no sound coming from his mouth.

He gave a sad smile as he felt his vision begin to fade, ending his song with her name, lost in the sound of the icy cold water hitting bleached white tiles

Half-Dazed Zombie; Nerd Toys and Mage: the Ascension

Well, it looks like my body clock hasn't completely adjusted after all. I'm awake two hours early typing out this blog trying to figure out how to knock myself out into lala land again.

Oh well. Since I'm here anyway, might as well make my half-awake state useful.

----


You're a Speak & Spell!! You nerd, you. Just
because you were disguised as a toy doesn't
mean you weren't educational, you sneaky
bastard.


What childhood toy from the 80s are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Great. I'm a Nerd Toy.

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Well, then again I am technically a Gamer Geek, so I guess I'm not really offended. Heck, I play RPGs and miniatures games and all sorts of other stuff that people would consider to be "toys". (Okay, minds out of the gutter to those who are thinking of other toys right now.)

Heck, I guess proof of this would be the fact that my favorite game , Mage: the Ascension, deals with heavy Philiosophy and a lot of high weirdness, conspiracy theories, religious conflict and the power of the singluar world view.

The basic premise of the game is this:

If you realized the spark of divinity within you, and found that you could use it to rewrite reality... what would you do?? Would you take advantage of it to make yourself rich? Will you solve world hunger? Would you explore the extent of your abilities? will you make yourself into a celebrity? Would you pimp yourself out to first world countries?

That's what Mage is about. :) It's about people who've found the ability to alter reality, and the things they have to go through in pursuit of their goals. Be it power, love, happiness or salvation. :) A little heavy on the reading, but excellent stuff. :)

oh, and just out of curiosity, if you guys are interested, can you guys take this quiz and tell me what you guys got? I think I can learn a lot out of the results of these. Most of the Game Bandits and Kirsikka already know the results they want, but I'm also curious about the guys who don't play Mage


You are a Euthanatos, bound to the Wheel of
Fortune. Others label you a "death
mage", but they do not see the necessity
of destruction, or how it allows new creation.
That is the burden you must bear, along with
the tragedy of Jhor: hold up your faith in your
vocation, lest you lose sight of your reason
for being, or worse, become a mindless killer.
You stand on the knife's edge, balancing
between extremes; your will must be strong
indeed to balance the universe with you in the
face of ridicule.


Which Tradition Mage Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

Welcome to the night life...

Well, it looks like I've pulled off part of my sleep pattern modification program, having spent the entire night awake until now. I'll hit the sack at around 6 or so, and hopefully my body will get enough sleep to prepare me for the night shift training that's starting tonight.

I've had some time to think about what I wrote last night. I guess I needed to blow off some steam... Thankfully the blog is designed for this kind of stuff. At least I don't have to take up too much of other people's time with my bitching. :p

So to make up for it, here's a cute and simple strip from Sinfest!

Tilting at windmills for all the right reasons

No sleep
No sleep until I'm done with finding the answer
Won't stop
Won't stop before I find the cure for this cancer

Sometimes I feel like going down, I'm so disconnected
Somehow I know that I am haunted to be wanted

I've been watching, I've been waiting
In the shadows for my time
I've been searching, I've been living
For tomorrows all my life

In the shadows by The Rasmus

----

Sometimes I wish that I could change the world.

Sometimes I feel that I could take away pain.

Sometimes I think that I can give all the answers.

Sometimes I'm told that I'm just fooling myself.

It's hard living a life where you just want other people to be happy. I've always been accused of being too much of a pushover and of trying too hard to please everyone. I think that they might be right.

I get twinges of guilt when I see someone I consider to be a friend struggling through a situation. I feel the call to reach out and help in any way possible...

Even if it may be wrong for me to do so.

Maybe I'm a wimp. Maybe I'm a pushover. Maybe I find gratification and some semblance of place in the world by the way that I am percieved. Perhaps this is all a little selfish streak in me that wants to be noticed and praised for being a good little boy. Or it could even be the plain vanilla explanation that I just want to help.

A good friend of mine dubbed it the "Hero complex". I think she hit it right on the head. There's a little buzz you get when you help people out, and there's a corresponding pain of guilt when you feel that you're responsible for someone else's suffering.

Maybe I should learn to care selectively.

That might do the trick.

Care only when it is convenient to do so.

Help only when you will not lose anything while doing so.

Listen to those who would be able to repay you for your kindess.

Expect something in return.

Yeah, right.

I'm not like that.

In tribute to the Batman Family

I've always thought that the coolest thing in mainstream comic books was the Gotham universe. Here's a little pic showing the current crop of people which are making waves in Gotham, though I have to admit that Catwoman's new "goggle" costume seems a little... off to me. Also included are some of my other favorites, Barbara Gordon as the Oracle, Tim Drake as Robin, Nightwing and Helena Bertinelli as the Huntress.

I'm actually rather tempted to see if I can dig up the Hush storyline sometime.

24 and going...

Great, 24 now and still going. :p

I guess nothing much to write about honestly, aside from the fact that I've managed to get my co-worker's deadjournal address and I'm putting it up on my sidebar as a link. Shar's a pretty cool girl, and from the looks of it, she does poetry a hell of a lot better than I do. Which is probably also why I stick to prose.

For other links, here's Lara's website. Lara was our instructor for the Sykes Core Skills Training module, and it turns out that she's friends with more than a couple of AEGIS people, Adrian, Nabs and Tommy Lim. Small world, I guess.

---

I really should get back to writing. Maybe living with only the night to guide me will help out in bringing the angsty, moody, and melodramatic stuff out of me. ;) I'll end up as a coffee zombie, with dark circles under my bloodshot eyes, my hair haggard and unkempt, drooping over my face as I walk down the streets of Makati.

I can't wait.

Then again, I have to admit that Gothic stuff has it's appeal. I'm not a full goth by any means, but I find the culture fascinating. Then again, I'm a big fan of the whole World of Darkness, so big surprise, right?

A small message of thanks

Hey guys!

It's my birthday today, and I'd just like to take a little time to post a great big THANK YOU to everyone around me, for being there, and making me happy to be alive this day, and looking forward to the future. :)

Sudden updates...

Hey guys!

Been a little busy to actually post stuff over here thanks to getting into Sykes as a Customer Service Representative. The training's pretty extensive, and the actual Product Training is going to take a few more weeks.

---

Seeing Alex's menu of games, I figured I should list mine as well...

Games I'm running:
Ravenloft: Chronicles of the Penitent
Legend of the Five Rings

Games I've started:
Exalted: Hammer of the Gods
Adventure! - Z is for Zeppelin!

Games I plan to run:
Mage: the Ascension

Not much yet, but I'd better get to finishing them eventually. :)

Now this is cool...

You are most like Robin! A leader and fearless by
nature, you tend to dive straight into
something without thinking. You have a hard
time trusting your friends sometimes and you
are extremely serious when you have to. You
don't like being compared to someone you are a
rival with and sometimes your temper gets the
best of you. Out of all of your friends you
might be the one who dreams to be leader or is
the leader. Whatever the reason sometimes you
need to look before you leap.


Which Teen Titans Character Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

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Hehe, I've always thought Robin was cool. :) Thanks to Mitchie-Pooh! for the quiz. :)

Back from the North!

After a visit up to La Union with Alex, Lenard and Ross for a project, I'm finally back here at home with my computer. The trip was interesting to say the least, with the infernal bus rides of around 6 hours long.

The bus rides were long but a considerably amusing experience, with the lessons of freezing buses at night, and the mouthy grandmother who complained to anyone about anything. Add mighty balancing food vendors, the occasional missing passenger and a late night viewing of 13th Warrior, and I can say that I wasn't too bored.

The trip consisted of taking a lot of pictures off the digital camera for a project, but we did get to take a few pictures including:

Secret Agent Alex doing his best Solid Snake Impression!


and The Funky Eagle Plane!

Little known RPGs... This one's for the stingy people

Hey guys,

The RPG community in the Philippines is still not exactly large enough to be recognizable, unlike the gigantic behemoth that is the Pinoy anime community. As such, I guess it's time to hit low by promoting RPGs that require next to nothing to get into. In fact, I'm linking to several places where people can get samplers of games that are currently in the market.

As my Uncle say, "Free is very good price"

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1. Final Stand by Tim Denee

Final Stand can be best described as "one part Tekken and two parts Kung Fu Theatre". This 23 page PDF download contains one of the most amusing combat systems I have ever encountered in any game, amateur or professional.

Set in a rather generic backdrop known as Big City, Final Stand has a five minute character creation process using Stereotypes from Chinese movies that anyone can immediately recognize. In fact, playing up the quirks of each stereotype actually rewards the Character with Chi that he can use in combat.

Fast, Fun and a must have in any RPG collection.

2. Exalted Quickstart Rules by White Wolf Publishing

Exalted. By far the best new fantasy game out there that isn't related to d20, Exalted has players taking the roles of demigods. Champions of the gods whose awesome powers and incredible deeds can build kingdoms and topple empires. Anime-influenced action, epic storylines equal to Greek myths and storytelling potential that White Wolf is famous for.

While this free quickstart has some information on the game, I'd highly recommend checking out the real thing. I might cover Exalted's expansive setting in another article.

3.) Spycraft Lite by Alderac Entertainment

d20 Fans shouldn't be disappointed, at least one of the developers has decided that it would be good to show what their game can do without any cash out. Spycraft is a game of modern espionage much to the tune of Mission: Impossible. Unlike most other d20 books, Spycraft's Corebook doesn't require the use of any of the D&D corebooks to use... as long as you know how to generate character scores.

Game wise, Spycraft is excellent. While a little heavy on the GM planning part, the game boasts of excellent classes and gadgets to get the espionage vibe going on any dungeon delving group. For Spycraft Lite Character Sheets, click here.

4. Steampunk Mafia by Jay Steven Anyong

This alternate world game takes place in a fictional American City known as New Providence in the middle of 1920. It was a time of terror, as the mafia families took to the streets, robbing banks and stealing from businesses without fear. The police were powerless to stop them, because the Mafia had one very powerful advantage: 12 foot tall, Steampowered Mecha known as Kodiaks.

Players can take the side of either the Mafia or the Police and take to the streets to either protect, or conquer New Providence. This RPG is complete and free, and is designed by me. If you've got time, download it and give it a shot, heck you could even review it and post your thoughts over in the comments section, I'd be glad to hear from any of you.

Little known RPGs...

Given my penchant for running into strange games, I'm thinking of doing a series blogs about games that I personally think would rock, but aren't available here.

First up would be Jadeclaw, by Sanguine Productions Ltd.



Just what is Jadeclaw, anyway?

Jadeclaw would be pretty much summed up as an Anthropomorphic Fantasy Roleplaying Game set in a place that is similar to Mythic China. The one thing different about it though, is that you don't play humans. You play animals.

Remember all the Disney TV shows you've seen like Duck Tales, Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers and Tale Spin? Think about that and you've sort of got an idea of what the characters look like. While some people don't really care much for "furries", I think that the decision to make a game like this using animal races adds to the charm of the game.



Click on the picture to see a bigger version (opens in a new window)

So we've got humanoid animals running around a setting that's a reflection of Mythic China, what now?

Well, for one thing, Jadeclaw is actually pretty well recognized for the fact that it has a very well thought out setting, complete with Myths and a history of it's own Emperors and legendary heroes. Players can create pretty much any kind of character they want, from Serene Panda Monks, to wily Snake Advisors, to powerful Monkey Sorcerors to even roguish Fox Swordsmen.

The thing that I think is key to RPGs is that the setting has to be large enough to sustain a campaign. In this case, Jadeclaw has it in spades. To check out a rather lengthy (but very cool) background on the setting, click here

I'm pretty much impressed by this game despite the fact that Sanguine Productions isn't a very large company, and they don't have that much in terms of Marketing budget as compared to White Wolf or Wizards of the Coast. However, they've done very well in making the setting for the game, and while I've heard some detractors to the system it uses (number one complaint being the fact that the system get's very complex at times) I'm sure that it's still a book that's definitely worth checking out.

If it ever finds it's way over here, of course.

"I hate you, Milkman Dan"

If there's one particular comic strip character that truly makes my evil side laugh, it would definitely be Milkman Dan, the evil milkman who perpetually torments Karen in Red Meat.

here are a few examples of his utter lack of mercy:





of course, Karen is a quick learner.



interestingly enough, there's one particular strip in the series that made me wonder why I had a warm fuzzy feeling when I read it: