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Nov 102011
Carja
Nov 102011
Happy Thanksgiving everybody!
Yup! As a Canadian, I celebrate Thanksgiving on the second Monday of October, rather than in November like my neighbours to the south. Whatever day you celebrate it, it’s nice to take a moment to look back on your year and be thankful for all that you have.
I’m thankful that another year has passed without me being run over by a bus (my default disaster). That’s 37 years without a mass transit mauling. Woot!
I’m also thankful that:
- I have family and friends who love and support me;
- I’m gainfully employed, have a roof over my head and food in my belly;
- I have the means to share my thoughts, musings and creative outbursts with the world (that would be this site of course!
Those are the biggies. They get dots. I’m also thankful for little things like having a new place to buy comic books every week, new seasons of my favourite shows as well as new favourite shows (even if some will not last into the new year) and getting to attend another Comic-Con this year.
We celebrated with a delicious chicken dinner (thanks Fab) and a rousing game of Blood Bowl Team Manager (Thanksgiving and football go hand in hand, right?) where my elves came in last to the humans and the orcs.
Until next week, you’ve been blogged!
Nov 092011
From the journal of Ardebast Raconteur:
When the Six Heroes recruited furs to help them in their crusade to control Man, there were the animals that could learn (sometimes called the Awakened) and those who couldn’t. Those who could formed The Order. The symbol of the Order is a Tree with six branches (one for each of the Six Heroes).
The Order is also the name of the government of Pelaria. In the days when Pelaria was young, the land was ruled over by a monarch chosen from the clans of the Six Heroes. This tradition came to an end when King Pepetus decreed that Pelaria should be officially governed by The Order, a council of six furs who had long served as advisors to the monarch anyway. The goal of The Order is the advancement of all furs, not just the Awakened, though their policies more often favour the Awakened over the Wild.
The animals who couldn’t or wouldn’t learn the lessons of the Six Heroes were labelled the Wild. Not surprisingly, the Wild have no symbol, as the very concept is lost on them.
The Wild is made up of two subsets, those who live in peace with the Order and those who don’t. Those who do, live in dens and packs throughout Pelaria, while some even allow themselves to be domesticated by the Awakened. Those who don’t have been pushed back beyond Pelaria’s borders to the Wild Territories. These are the wildest of animals who will not hesitate to attack another fur. Because of their violent tendencies, their population remains low as they fight amongst themselves.
Some of the more advanced members of the Wild have begun to organize their Wild kin and some unscrupulous furs of the Order have even taken to supporting their cause. This represents a growing threat to the Order. However, it is commonly accepted that overt action taken against the violent subset of the Wild could lead to conflict with the more peaceful subset who could view this as the first step in wiping out the Wild completely.
Nov 082011
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Nov 072011
I love games! Not the mind games that people sometimes play, mind you. I’m talking about games of the board, card, role-playing and video variety.
I have a hefty game collection. Until about a year ago, I had dozens of games that I had never even played before. Now with two gaming groups, I’ve managed to play a good number of them. I’d even go as far to say that I have more games that I have played than I haven’t. Some are winners (Mansions of Madness, Heroscape, Battlestar Galactica) while others, not so much (Android, Order of the Stick (sadly, though the expansion might help)). Regardless of how fun the game is, it’s always interesting to see the different game designs. After a while, you get an idea of what works and what doesn’t.
It’s been a longtime dream to design and publish my own game. Back in high school I came up with Snoopopoly (Peanuts Monopoly), Peanuts the Roleplaying Game. I obtained a copy of Starfleet Battles that had no rules included. so I developed my own. It was a simple pass/fail system. It wasn’t the most elaborate of systems, but we played for quite a while just because of how weird I made the setting.
A couple of years later, during my college days, when collectible card games were the hot thing, I created a Ronin Warriors CCG. I remember scouring the internet for screen captures of the show to put on my cards and then printing, cutting out and gluing my cards to doubles of my Star Wars CCG cards. I got to test it out a couple of times and I thought it was alright.
Since then, I’ve had dozens of game ideas, inspired by various shows, movies and genres. I’d work out some of the basic ideas, but inevitably I’d set the idea aside. It’s not like I was ever get those games published, right?
Well, over the last while there’s been a print-on-demand movement that’s picked up steam that’s a real game-changer (pun intended). I’ve already put it to use in my Cafepress store. But just last week, Danny V. shared a link with me: The Game Crafter. It’s a business built on letting people design and upload their games which are then available for order. When an order comes through, The Game Crafter prints up the required number of copies and blammo! You’ve sold a game! Awesome!
Now, there’s a reason to actually push through the game design process! My dream will become a reality. There will be Age of Animus games available for sale within the next year. Woot! Woot!